While Garchomp was still trying to figure out what on earth Felix had just been talking about, Cynthia had already turned her attention back to the computer.
She loaded yesterday’s save file, and the livestream went live the moment the game finished starting up.
Almost immediately, the viewer count began climbing from zero.
Within seconds, seven or eight people had already entered, and messages started pouring across the screen.
[NightOwl99: HOLY CRAP, SHE’S LIVE AGAIN!]
[CoffeeAt2AM: You’re up this early?
Damn, you’re dedicated.]
[KeyboardWarrior: Dedicated my ass.
She streamed for less than an hour yesterday and vanished without saying goodbye.
Explain yourself.]
[LagDetector: Did your power suddenly go out yesterday or something?
Did it only just come back?]
Cynthia’s expression became slightly complicated as she read the complaints.
It was not as though she had wanted to stop playing.
The café had only given her one hour.
“I’m sorry.
Something came up yesterday,” she explained to the camera.
“I’ll be streaming a little longer today.
Around two hours.”
That only prompted another wave of comments.
[WeekendGamer: TWO HOURS?!
At that point you might as well go home and grow fruit.
Two hours a day is criminal.]
[TrollFace87: We told you to cosplay Cynthia, not copy her work schedule too!]
[RealSimp: She’s the Sinnoh Champion.
Obviously she’s busy.
Two hours a day is perfectly reasonable.]
…
Cynthia did not spend much time chatting with them.
Her fingers settled over the keyboard, and the focus returned to her eyes.
Time to continue.
She loaded the save.
The screen flashed, and her character reappeared at the entrance to the Rustboro Gym.
With yesterday’s experience behind her, the first two Gym Trainers posed no real obstacle.
Their teams were nowhere near as viciously optimized as Roxanne’s, and Cynthia quickly fought her way back to the young woman in the gray skirt.
[Welcome to the Rustboro Gym!
I’m Roxanne, the Gym Leader!]
[Allow me to demonstrate the sturdy strength and resolve of Rock-type Pokémon!]
The familiar dialogue appeared.
The same energetic electronic battle theme began playing.
The battle started.
This time, Cynthia led with Dottler.
Roxanne once again opened with Tirtouga.
Cynthia immediately selected Reflect.
Every Pokémon she had seen in this Gym so far appeared to rely primarily on physical attacks, so there was no question which screen she wanted first.
Before Dottler could move, however, Tirtouga suddenly trembled.
A red glow erupted around its body.
[Tirtouga used Shell Smash!]
Its shell burst apart in a flash of light.
[Tirtouga’s Attack rose sharply!]
[Tirtouga’s Sp.
Atk rose sharply!]
[Tirtouga’s Speed rose sharply!]
[Tirtouga’s Defense fell!]
[Tirtouga’s Sp.
Def fell!]
Only afterward did Dottler finally put up Reflect.
Cynthia’s expression tightened.
She had just realized a serious problem.
She had already checked Dottler’s stats.
It was built primarily for defense and support, with very little offensive power.
Its better attacking stat was Special Attack, but even that was nothing impressive.
Tirtouga, meanwhile, had just used Shell Smash.
Its defenses had fallen, but Dottler still could not punish that weakness effectively.
And nothing was stopping Tirtouga from using Shell Smash again.
Even if Cynthia switched Pokémon next turn, a second boost would leave Tirtouga so powerful that Reflect might barely matter.
‘What do I do now?’
…
The answer, as it turned out, was that she got demolished.
Dottler remained on the field and used Struggle Bug, but the attack barely scratched Tirtouga.
Tirtouga used Shell Smash again.
Dottler attacked with Struggle Bug a second time, finally bringing Tirtouga down to around half health.
Then came a third Shell Smash.
At that point, Tirtouga became completely uncontrollable.
One Ancient Power wiped Dottler out.
Shroomish came in next, but Tirtouga’s massively boosted Speed allowed it to move first and crush Shroomish with Rock Slide.
Torchic fared even worse.
It went down in a single hit.
[CYNTHIA blacked out!]
The screen faded to gray yet again.
The chat immediately erupted into laughter.
[GlassCanon: Who said the turtle was weaker than the plant thing yesterday?
This turtle seems pretty damn good to me.]
[RulesLawyer404: Shell Smash at Level 16?
Roxanne, I’m going to need to see that Tirtouga’s paperwork.]
[LateNightGrinder: HAHAHA she got swept again.]
[MemeAccount47: SHELL SMASH!
SHELL SMASH!
GLORIOUS SELF-DESTRUCTION!]
…
Cynthia stared at the screen with a deep frown.
This time, instead of immediately thinking about what new Pokémon she should catch, she replayed the entire loss in her head.
Shell Smash.
Sacrifice Defense and Special Defense in exchange for enormous boosts to both offenses and Speed.
More importantly, Roxanne had behaved differently from the previous battle.
The moment Cynthia led with Dottler, Tirtouga immediately chose Shell Smash, almost as though Roxanne had recognized that Dottler intended to set Reflect.
‘The NPCs in this game actually understand battle situations?’
Cynthia took a slow breath and reloaded.
Leading with Dottler clearly was not going to work.
She needed a different approach.
After only a few seconds of thought, an idea came to her.
The battle began again.
Roxanne once more sent out Tirtouga.
This time, Cynthia returned to her original lead.
Shroomish.
Just as in their first match, Roxanne immediately switched because Shroomish threatened to knock Tirtouga out with a Grass-type attack.
[Roxanne withdrew Tirtouga!]
[Roxanne sent out Skiddo!]
Cynthia watched Skiddo appear and narrowed her eyes.
Last time, she had attacked it with Bullet Seed, triggered Sap Sipper five times, and handed it enough Attack boosts to run through her entire team.
That was not happening twice.
As Skiddo entered the field, Shroomish did not attack.
Instead, it was recalled in a flash of white light.
[Come back, Shroomish!]
[Go, Dottler!]
Dottler appeared opposite Skiddo.
Cynthia had selected a switch on the same turn Roxanne did, so neither Pokémon attacked.
Dottler entered the field completely unharmed.
Cynthia gave a small nod.
Exactly as she had hoped.
If she led directly with Dottler, Tirtouga was free to set up Shell Smash and become a problem she could not contain.
But if she led with Shroomish, Roxanne would respect the Grass-type threat and switch into Skiddo.
By switching at the same time, Cynthia could bring Dottler in against a far more manageable opponent and create a safe opportunity to set Reflect.
The chat immediately noticed what she had done.
[SweatyCasual: Is she REALLY a beginner?
She’s already doing double switches?]
[NoSleepClub: That had to be accidental.
No way she figured that out this quickly.]
[ActuallyStrategyGuy: It’s not that crazy.
The NPC’s switch pattern is obvious.
She didn’t exactly hard-read a human opponent.]
[TrollFace87: Prediction skills still worse than the real Cynthia though.]
…
The next turn began.
Skiddo moved first.
It stamped one hoof against the ground, and a huge mass of stone formed overhead before crashing down toward Dottler.
[Skiddo used Rock Slide!]
Crash!
The rocks shattered against Dottler, taking away roughly two-thirds of its HP.
The damage was substantial, but still within Cynthia’s expectations.
The Oran Berry Dottler was holding immediately activated and restored a sizable portion of the lost health.
Then light flashed in front of Dottler.
A translucent golden barrier spread outward, surrounding Cynthia’s side of the battlefield.
[Dottler used Reflect!]
For the next five turns, physical damage received by Cynthia’s team would be cut in half.
The next turn began.
Cynthia immediately chose Struggle Bug.
Skiddo moved first once again and repeated its previous attack.
[Skiddo used Rock Slide!]
This time, when the rocks smashed into Dottler, the damage was dramatically reduced.
It lost less than a third of its health.
Between Reflect and the recovery from its Oran Berry, Dottler remained safely in the yellow.
Bug-type energy gathered around it and surged forward in the form of a dark-red wave.
[Dottler used Struggle Bug!]
The attack struck Skiddo.
A bright flash burst across the screen.
[A critical hit!]
[It’s super effective!]
Cynthia blinked.
A second later, Skiddo cried out as its HP bar dropped straight to zero.
[Skiddo fainted!]
The viewers immediately reacted.
[CritWatcher: Another crit?
Your crit rate is getting suspicious.]
[ProbabilityNerd: Seriously.
She kept critting wild Pokémon while grinding too.
Is the streamer’s Ability Super Luck or what?]
…
Cynthia studied the notification thoughtfully.
So when the chat said “crit,” they meant a critical hit.
She had seen the message a few times while grinding earlier.
It appeared to trigger randomly, and when it did, the attack dealt significantly more damage.
She wondered whether there were ways to deliberately increase the odds.
That question would have to wait.
Roxanne had already recalled Skiddo and was sending out her second Pokémon.
[Roxanne sent out Tirtouga!
Lv.
16]
Cynthia’s gaze sharpened.
This was the Pokémon that had swept her entire team in the previous attempt.
Its whole strategy revolved around Shell Smash.
And if Roxanne’s AI really could evaluate the battlefield, then with Reflect already active and Dottler unable to threaten an immediate knockout, Tirtouga would most likely decide that it had room to set up.
In that case—
“Come back, Dottler!”
Cynthia switched again.
[Go, Shroomish!]
Dottler disappeared, and Shroomish took its place.
The moment Shroomish hit the field, Tirtouga behaved exactly as Cynthia predicted.
Its shell burst open.
[Tirtouga used Shell Smash!]
Red light surged around it as its offensive stats and Speed rose dramatically.
But its defenses fell in exchange.
And now Shroomish stood directly in front of it with Reflect still active.
One Shell Smash was nowhere near enough for Tirtouga to knock out a full-health Shroomish through Reflect.
“Bullet Seed.”
Cynthia selected the move without hesitation.
Tirtouga was now faster after its boost and acted first.
A barrage of rocks came crashing down.
[Tirtouga used Rock Slide!]
The attack slammed into Shroomish, instantly shaving away around two-thirds of its health.
Cynthia frowned.
Even through Reflect, the damage was that high?
Without the screen, that attack would unquestionably have knocked Shroomish out in one hit.
But battles were decided by what actually happened, not by what might have happened.
Now it was her turn.
Shroomish opened its mouth and unleashed a rapid stream of golden seeds.
[Shroomish used Bullet Seed!]
The first seed struck.
Tirtouga’s HP immediately dropped by half.
The second landed right behind it.
[Hit 2 times!]
[It’s super effective!]
[Tirtouga fainted!]
The chat began scrolling again.
One particular comment caught Cynthia’s attention.
[MechanicsGeek: Good thing she used Bullet Seed.
Multi-hit move bypasses Sturdy.
I’m betting Roxanne stayed in because Tirtouga has Sturdy and the AI thought it could survive one attack.]
Cynthia glanced at the comment and asked while waiting for Roxanne’s final Pokémon.
“What does the Ability Sturdy do?”
The answers came immediately.
[GuideReader: If a Pokémon with Sturdy is at full HP, it can’t be knocked out by a single hit.
It’ll survive with at least 1 HP.
Multi-hit moves can break through it because the later hits finish the job.]
[FrameDataGuy: Yep.
So Roxanne’s AI probably calculated that Tirtouga could live one hit and chose not to switch.]
Cynthia nodded in understanding and committed the information to memory.
At that moment, Roxanne sent out her final Pokémon.
[You’ve surprised me, but I won’t give up yet!]
[Roxanne sent out Archen!
Lv.
17]
The Poké Ball opened, releasing a peculiar Pokémon onto the battlefield.
It had brightly colored feathers and a sharp beak, yet parts of its body were covered in scales that looked almost like stone.
It resembled a strange halfway point between a bird and an ancient reptile.
The chat immediately erupted.
[MetaSlave: THERE IT IS!
I THOUGHT THEY REMOVED THIS THING!]
[SoundEffectGuy: DUN DUN DUUUUN!]
[NumberCruncher: Base 110 Attack in an unevolved Pokémon.
Absolute kindergarten war criminal.]
…
Cynthia’s expression grew more serious as she studied it.
Another Pokémon she had never seen.
Judging from its wings and feathers, it almost certainly had the Flying type.
That was bad news for her team.
Dottler and Shroomish both had poor matchups against Flying-type attacks.
Shroomish had less than a third of its HP remaining.
There was little chance it would survive against a Flying-type, but Cynthia had no intention of letting it go down without learning something about the opponent first.
After a second of thought, she selected Stun Spore.
The move should inflict some form of movement impairment.
Cynthia did not yet fully understand how paralysis worked within the game’s mechanics, but under the circumstances, it was the best option available.
At the very least, it made more sense than using a Grass-type attack against what was probably a Flying-type.
Shroomish never got the chance.
Archen spread its wings and lunged forward.
[Archen used Peck!]
[Archen’s Choice Band boosted the power of its move!]
[It’s super effective!]
The tiny sliver of HP remaining above Shroomish disappeared instantly.
[Shroomish fainted!]
Cynthia was not particularly surprised.
Even with Reflect active, Shroomish was not especially durable, had very little health remaining, and was weak to Flying.
Losing it there was entirely expected.
More importantly, Reflect still had two turns remaining.
That should be enough.
“Go, Torchic!”
Cynthia sent out her final Pokémon.
The last matchup began.
“Ember.”
She immediately chose Torchic’s strongest reliable attacking move.
Archen moved first again.
Its golden beak blurred as it rushed straight toward Torchic.
[Archen used Peck!]
Cynthia was not worried.
Peck was one of the weakest Flying-type attacks available, and Torchic was not weak to Flying.
With Reflect still active, there was no reason for the move to deal even half of Torchic’s health.
Then the attack connected.
Torchic’s HP plummeted.
The bar shot straight into the red, leaving behind only the thinnest sliver.
Cynthia stared.
“…?”
‘What kind of damage is that?!’
No type advantage.
Reflect was active.
And a basic Peck had nearly taken Torchic from full health to zero?
Without Reflect, would the game have expected Torchic to lose one health bar and then somehow owe Archen another half?
Cynthia stared at the move name again.
‘Are you sure that was Peck?’
Because that absolutely looked more like Brave Bird!