While Cynthia was still staring at the screen in disbelief, the chat seemed absolutely delighted by her reaction.
[NightOwl99: HAHAHAHA, LOOK AT HER FACE.]
[OldSaveFile: Years from now, she’ll still remember the terror of being bullied by this stupid bird.]
[KeyboardWarrior: Boss, I’m scared.
Please make it stop.]
…
Then Cynthia remembered something and forced herself to suppress her shock.
The damage might have been absurd, but that did not necessarily mean it was bad for her.
Torchic let out a sharp cry as crimson flames suddenly flared around its body.
[Torchic’s Blaze activated!]
Cynthia had already read the description of Blaze.
Once Torchic’s HP fell below one-third, the power of its Fire-type moves increased dramatically.
[Torchic used Ember!]
A bright stream of flame burst from Torchic’s mouth and swept over Archen.
However, when the fire cleared, Archen’s HP bar had not vanished as Cynthia expected.
It had lost less than half.
[It’s not very effective…]
At the same time, the barrier surrounding Cynthia’s side of the field began to flicker.
[Reflect will wear off soon!]
Cynthia looked at Torchic, which was hanging on with a sliver of health, then at Archen, which still had more than half of its HP remaining.
She raised a hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.
If Ember was resisted, there was only one reasonable explanation.
‘This thing is Rock/Flying?’
How did those two types even end up on the same Pokémon?
She had never heard of a species with that particular combination.
Fire dealt neutral damage to Flying but was resisted by Rock, so the final result was reduced damage.
That part made sense.
What did not make sense was Archen’s ridiculous offensive power.
Flying attacks were only neutral against Torchic, yet a basic Peck had almost erased its entire health bar through Reflect.
Cynthia did not have time to dwell on it.
Reflect had only one turn remaining.
Torchic certainly could not survive another attack, and it was too slow to move first.
Dottler was sitting in the back at roughly half health.
Even if Cynthia switched it in while Reflect was still active, Archen would almost certainly outspeed it and knock it out immediately.
No matter how she looked at the situation, there was no path to victory.
Cynthia did not hesitate.
She reloaded the save.
The screen changed, and once again she stood in front of Roxanne.
This time, however, she did not immediately start the battle.
The double-switch strategy was correct.
With it, she could handle both Tirtouga and Skiddo.
The real problem was Archen.
She still had three empty slots in her party.
She could easily go catch another two Pokémon, train them, and overwhelm Archen with sheer numbers.
But Cynthia did not move.
Instead, she began thinking seriously about whether she could win the battle as it was.
Three Pokémon against three Pokémon.
A fair match.
Could she find a way to win under those conditions?
She spent quite some time considering every possibility and still came up empty.
With the typings of her current three Pokémon, Archen was simply too difficult to deal with.
Was she really going to have to catch more Pokémon and win through a numbers advantage?
More importantly…
Why had that Peck done so much damage?
“How is that damage calculated?” Cynthia finally asked the chat.
The viewers immediately began throwing explanations at her from every direction.
Choice Band.
Same-Type Attack Bonus.
Individual Values.
Effort Values.
Nature modifiers.
And Archen’s Ability, Defeatist.
Cynthia listened carefully, comparing each concept with what she knew about Pokémon training in the real world.
After a moment of silence, she began asking questions one after another.
“Where do you get a Choice Band?
What exactly are Effort Values?
How many does my Torchic have?
How much does a Nature modify its stats?
And what does Archen’s Ability do?”
The chat happily continued the lesson.
[SpreadsheetMage: You don’t know Choice Band?
It locks you into the first move you use, but boosts physical moves by fifty percent.]
[FrameDataGuy: Don’t forget STAB.
If a Flying-type uses a Flying-type move, that’s another 1.5× modifier.]
[DamageCalcNerd: So you’re multiplying the base damage by 1.5 for STAB and then 1.5 again for Choice Band.
And Archen has BASE 110 ATTACK.
That’s ridiculous this early.]
[GuideReader: IVs are basically a Pokémon’s natural stat potential.
The difference between 0 and 31 IVs is pretty significant.
EVs are training investment—you defeat certain Pokémon to raise specific stats, and a fully invested stat can gain a big bonus.]
[MinMaxEnjoyer: On Insane Mode, Roxanne’s Archen absolutely has max Attack IVs and full Attack EVs.
Probably an Attack-boosting, Special Attack-lowering Nature too.]
[ActuallyStrategyGuy: The good news is its Ability is Defeatist.
Once its HP drops to half or less, both Attack and Special Attack get cut in half.]
[PlainEnglishPls: Basically, streamer: that thing was born freakishly strong, trained specifically to hit harder, and is wearing premium gear.
Your Torchic ran in wearing the equivalent of a saucepan lid.
Without Reflect, it would’ve been paste.]
Cynthia carefully analyzed everything she had just read.
Pokémon training in reality also involved natural aptitude, conditioning, and differences between individuals, but it could never be reduced to such cold, precise numerical formulas.
This was a game, though.
If those were the game’s rules, then she needed to exploit those rules.
After thinking for a moment, Cynthia asked another question.
“How do status conditions work here?”
The viewers answered just as enthusiastically.
Burn reduced a Pokémon’s physical Attack and dealt ongoing damage.
Paralysis reduced Speed and could occasionally prevent a Pokémon from moving altogether.
Poison dealt fixed damage at the end of every turn.
Once they finished explaining, several people started urging her to give up on the three-Pokémon challenge and expand her team.
[WeekendGamer: Just go catch more Pokémon.
These three aren’t beating Archen.]
[NoSleepClub: There’s a cave up to the right.
Go look around there and catch a Rock-type or something that can actually handle it.]
…
Cynthia read the messages for a moment, then closed the menu.
Instead of leaving the Gym, she opened her Bag and did something that left the chat completely confused.
She removed the Oran Berry from Dottler.
Then she gave it to Torchic.
Afterward, she turned around and challenged Roxanne again.
The chat exploded.
[LagDetector: ???
Am I seeing this right?
What are you doing?]
[SpreadsheetMage: You took Dottler’s Berry away?!
How is it supposed to survive long enough to set Reflect?!]
[DamageCalcNerd: Why give the Oran Berry to Torchic?
It’s so frail that healing a little won’t save it from getting one-shot anyway!]
…
While the viewers tried to understand her plan, the battle had already begun.
As before, Roxanne led with Tirtouga.
Cynthia led with Shroomish.
Roxanne switched into Skiddo.
Cynthia made the double switch into Dottler.
Skiddo used Rock Slide, taking away around two-thirds of Dottler’s health.
But this time, Cynthia did not use Reflect.
She looked at Skiddo, her finger already hovering over the command she wanted.
“Struggle Bug.”
Dark-red Bug-type energy burst from Dottler and surged toward Skiddo.
At the same moment, Dottler’s body began glowing brightly.
[Dottler’s Swarm activated!]
[Dottler’s Bug-type moves were powered up!]
[It’s super effective!]
The notifications appeared one after another.
Skiddo’s HP bar instantly dropped to zero.
[Skiddo fainted!]
The chat finally understood.
[MetaSlave: Wait…
taking off the Berry was actually correct?!]
[FrameDataGuy: Oh damn, yeah.
If the Oran Berry healed Dottler, Swarm wouldn’t activate.]
[TrollFace87: She lucked into that.
I refuse to believe she planned it.]
[OldSaveFile: Even if she did, Archen is still sitting at the end waiting to ruin her life.]
…
Roxanne recalled Skiddo and sent Tirtouga back out.
Dottler now had roughly one-third of its HP remaining.
Cynthia immediately selected Reflect.
A golden barrier spread across her side of the battlefield.
Tirtouga responded exactly as expected.
[Tirtouga used Shell Smash!]
Its Attack, Special Attack, and Speed rose sharply while both defenses fell.
The next turn began—the first full turn of Reflect.
Now boosted by Shell Smash, Tirtouga was far faster than Dottler.
[Tirtouga used Rock Slide!]
The barrage of rocks crashed down.
Dottler’s remaining HP disappeared instantly.
Without the Oran Berry to restore its health, even Reflect could not save it from a boosted Rock Slide.
[Dottler fainted!]
Cynthia showed no hesitation.
“Good work, Dottler.”
[Go, Shroomish!]
Shroomish took the field.
Reflect entered its second turn.
Facing a Tirtouga whose defenses had been heavily reduced by Shell Smash, Cynthia immediately selected Bullet Seed.
Tirtouga moved first.
[Tirtouga used Rock Slide!]
With Reflect cutting the damage, Shroomish survived with roughly one-third of its HP.
Then it retaliated.
Golden seeds shot from its mouth in rapid succession.
[Shroomish used Bullet Seed!]
The first hit tore away half of Tirtouga’s health.
The second followed immediately.
[Hit 2 times!]
[It’s super effective!]
[Tirtouga fainted!]
Reflect entered its third turn.
Roxanne recalled Tirtouga and sent out her final Pokémon.
[Roxanne sent out Archen!]
The colorful prehistoric bird appeared once again, carrying the same oppressive offensive threat as before.
Cynthia immediately saved the game.
Then she selected Stun Spore.
Archen moved first and knocked Shroomish out with a single Peck.
[Shroomish fainted!]
Cynthia’s expression did not change.
She reloaded.
The game returned to the moment Archen entered the field.
Stun Spore again.
Peck again.
Shroomish fainted again.
Reload.
The chat had no idea what she was doing.
[KeyboardWarrior: What is she doing?
Repeatedly sacrificing Shroomish?]
[ProbabilityNerd: Is she trying to make Peck miss?
Peck isn’t going to miss, though.]
By the third reload, however, someone finally realized what Cynthia was aiming for.
[MechanicsGeek: Ohhh.
She’s fishing for Effect Spore!]
[GuideReader: Holy crap, yeah.
I completely forgot Shroomish had that.]
…
Cynthia kept her eyes fixed on the screen and reloaded again.
According to the Ability description, Shroomish’s Effect Spore had a chance to inflict paralysis, poison, or sleep whenever it was struck by a contact move.
And Peck clearly made physical contact.
Fourth attempt.
Archen’s beak blurred across the screen and struck Shroomish.
[It’s super effective!]
[Shroomish fainted!]
But at the exact moment Shroomish went down, purple bubbles suddenly rose around Archen.
[Archen was poisoned!]
At the end of the turn, poison chipped away a small portion of Archen’s HP.
Reflect entered its fourth turn.
[Go, Torchic!]
Cynthia sent out Torchic and immediately selected Ember.
Archen was still absurdly fast.
[Archen used Peck!]
Its beak struck Torchic.
The damage was just as terrifying as before, dropping Torchic to a tiny sliver of health.
But this time—
A green glow suddenly surrounded Torchic.
The Oran Berry Cynthia had taken from Dottler activated.
Torchic recovered enough HP to rise slightly above one-third.
The chat started scrolling.
[DamageCalcNerd: So what was the point of the Berry?]
[MetaSlave: She actually made it worse.
Torchic was in Blaze range, and now the Berry healed it OUT of Blaze range.]
…
Cynthia ignored them.
She simply watched.
Torchic fired Ember.
The flames struck Archen, taking away a little less than a third of its remaining health.
Then the turn ended.
Poison damaged Archen again.
Its HP slipped below half, the bar turning an unhealthy yellow.
A new turn began.
This was the crucial moment.
It was also the final turn before Reflect expired.
Cynthia selected Ember again.
Archen attacked first.
[Archen used Peck!]
Under normal circumstances, that attack would have finished Torchic.
But the instant damage was about to be calculated, a red aura suddenly flashed around Archen and its entire presence seemed to weaken.
[Archen’s Defeatist activated!]
With its HP reduced to half or below, Archen’s Attack and Special Attack were cut in half.
Combined with Reflect and the HP Torchic had recovered from its Oran Berry, the Peck that should have been fatal failed to finish it.
Torchic survived.
Barely.
Only 3 HP remained.
Cynthia’s eyes sharpened.
‘Now.’
Torchic’s health had fallen below one-third again.
[Torchic used Ember!]
[Torchic’s Blaze activated!]
That had been the real reason Cynthia moved the Oran Berry.
She had never needed Dottler to survive.
What she needed was for Torchic to survive the first Peck by dropping low enough to take the Berry, heal just above Blaze range, and remain alive long enough for poison to push Archen below half and activate Defeatist.
Then the second Peck, weakened by both Defeatist and Reflect, would leave Torchic back under one-third HP—allowing Blaze to activate at exactly the moment she needed it.
Torchic unleashed a roaring burst of flame.
The attack engulfed Archen.
Its HP plummeted.
But just like Torchic, Archen survived with the thinnest possible sliver of red remaining.
If another turn began, Archen would still move first and finish Torchic before it could attack again.
Then purple bubbles rose around its body.
Archen shuddered.
[Archen was hurt by poison!]
The final trace of HP disappeared.
[Archen fainted!]
[You defeated Gym Leader Roxanne!]
The energetic battle music gave way to the bright sound of victory.
…
Sitting in front of the computer, Cynthia slowly released the breath she had been holding and leaned back in her chair.
How long had it been since she had experienced something like this?
Running through possibility after possibility, calculating every interaction, then finding a single path to victory hidden inside the narrowest possible margin for error.
She knew this was only a game.
Yet the satisfaction was remarkably similar to what she felt after winning a battle that had pushed both her and Garchomp to their absolute limits.
Cynthia closed her eyes for a moment.
A genuine smile appeared on her face.
‘That was…
incredibly satisfying.’