Bonus Chapter: for reaching 500 power stones
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Fortunately, after the man blocked her path with his question, nothing particularly troublesome happened.
When Cynthia chose the "I like fishing" option, he excitedly handed her a fishing rod and some bait, even thoughtfully teaching her how to use it.
Of course, the "fishing" here wasn't traditional fishing, but using special bait to catch Water-type Pokémon living in the water.
After getting the fishing rod, Cynthia suddenly realized something.
Earlier, when she'd caught Lombre, she'd considered building a team centered around "rainy weather" based on his "Swift Swim" ability.
Undoubtedly, most of that team would consist of Water-type Pokémon.
And "fishing" seemed like an efficient way to obtain them.
Looking at the fishing rod in her bag, she felt tempted to try a few casts at the nearby ocean.
But ultimately, Cynthia resisted the urge and put the rod away.
She would go fishing after challenging the gym.
After restoring her team's HP at the Pokémon Center, Cynthia entered Dewford Gym and began her second gym battle!
Meanwhile, in the livestream chat, discussions about Dewford Gym were heating up.
[Already going for the second gym! That's our streamer for you.]
[Speaking of which, this gym shouldn't be too hard, right? Fighting-type Pokémon don't seem that strong.]
[True, and now that she has Ludicolo, Cynthia's battle power is on a whole different level.]
[Hard to say though. Think about how tough the first gym was... logically, the second gym should only get harder, not easier.]
[My gut tells me the streamer's about to get rekt again, hahaha]
Unlike Rustboro Gym, Dewford Gym was pitch black inside with very low visibility—you could barely feel your way forward in the darkness.
However, having just navigated Granite Cave, Cynthia quickly defeated the gym trainers and eventually reached a massive arena.
On the other side, Brawly looked up.
Their eyes met, and a huge exclamation point appeared over Brawly's head as his cheerful, sunny voice rang out.
[I didn't expect you to get here so fast! Looks like you've got some real skill!]
[But that alone won't be enough! Let me show you the charm of Fighting-type Pokémon and teach you a proper lesson!]
Intense, uplifting music began playing, ripples swept across the screen, and the battle commenced!
Brawly took the field, immediately throwing out a Pokéball. A Pokémon with an orange body, sharp eyes, and muscular arms appeared!
Looking at this Pokémon, Cynthia raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
—So it's him?
Her opponent was Combusken, one of the Hoenn starter Pokémon—the evolved form of Torchic, the same Pokémon her rival had chosen!
Unlike Torchic, Combusken had gained the Fighting-type as a secondary typing, which explained why it appeared here.
According to gym battle rules, Cynthia, as the challenger, could send out her Pokémon second.
Facing Combusken, she didn't hesitate to choose Ludicolo!
Since Fighting-types don't resist each other, Stufful, as a Normal-type, would be at a disadvantage against Combusken.
And Grovyle's Grass-typing would be weak to Combusken's Fire-type.
The best choice on her current team was naturally Ludicolo, with his Water-typing that resisted Fire!
With Ludicolo's entrance, the gym battle officially began.
After brief consideration, Cynthia chose the move "Zen Headbutt"!
It might seem that using the super effective STAB move "Bubble Beam" would deal more damage to Combusken.
But having learned from her previous battle with Roxanne, Cynthia understood these NPCs had extremely strong battle awareness.
Seeing Ludicolo on the first turn, Brawly would likely switch to avoid Combusken's type disadvantage.
In that case, "Zen Headbutt," which could deal double damage to all Fighting-types, was undoubtedly the best choice.
This was Cynthia's prediction!
She didn't even realize she had unconsciously learned an important aspect of Pokémon battle strategy—"reading the switch"!
However, as Ludicolo's head glowed with pink light and psychic energy gathered, she noticed something was wrong.
—Despite the type disadvantage, Brawly wasn't switching!
The psychic headbutt struck Combusken, dealing massive damage with the super effective hit!
Combusken's HP bar plummeted, dropping to just over one-third yellow health!
Seeing this, the livestream viewers got excited.
[Holy crap, that much damage! That's a fully evolved Pokémon for you!]
[Pineapple god! Pineapple god! Pineapple god!]
[Show some respect—he's the river god!]
[This Brawly seems pretty dumb. Can't compare to Roxanne at all. Doesn't even know how to switch when facing a type disadvantage. What a waste of the streamer's prediction.]
While the chat discussed, Cynthia frowned, thinking rapidly.
Given the AI intelligence level of NPCs in this game, there was no reason for Brawly not to switch.
—Unless he had a way to deal with Ludicolo!
As a Grass-type, Ludicolo would be weak to Flying-type moves.
And Combusken could potentially know Flying-type moves like the nearly perfect accuracy "Aerial Ace," or the high-power "Air Slash" that could cause flinching.
But logically, both were advanced moves, and under this game's mechanics, a second-stage Pokémon like Combusken shouldn't necessarily be able to learn them.
While Cynthia pondered, Combusken, having gained the turn, began to act!
Unexpectedly, instead of attacking Ludicolo, he raised both arms above his head and began spinning rapidly in place!
Sharp air currents swirled around him, and a red light flashed!
[Combusken used Swords Dance!]
[Combusken's Attack sharply rose!]
Seeing this, the chat burst into laughter.
[Does this Brawly even know how to play? Setting up boosts while facing a super effective Pokémon? Does he want to die?]
[Exactly! What's the point of boosting? It'd be one thing if he were faster than Ludicolo, but he's slower! Next turn, Ludicolo will knock him out before he can even attack!]
[He's basically giving away a free Pokémon. This is in the bag!]
In the viewers' eyes, Brawly's behavior seemed utterly incomprehensible.
—What was the point of such a boost?
But unlike the audience, looking at Combusken's body surrounded by red light, Cynthia suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
No, something was wrong.
Sure enough, the next moment, a powerful air current burst from Combusken's body!
Silver light enveloped him!
The game notification appeared—
[The opponent's Combusken's "Speed Boost" ability activated!]
[Combusken's Speed rose!!]
Thanks, everyone, for the monthly tickets, reading support, and recommendation tickets!! Have a great weekend!
Good luck to all the students taking exams! Go for it!!!