Chapter 16: Cynthia’s Gym Battle, Azalea’s Ace?

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This "Fur Coat" ability was first discovered in a Pokémon called Wooloo from the Galar region. The reason for its discovery is somewhat amusing: a farm owner who raised a large number of Wooloo noticed that they were particularly afraid of torches, so he reported this to the local research institution. Logically, it makes sense that a sheep covered in thick wool would be afraid of fire. However, the researchers, having little else to do, decided to investigate this further, which unexpectedly led to the discovery of Wooloo’s special ability.

Cynthia never imagined that this Bewear would have exactly the same ability as Wooloo. She decided to report this, along with clues related to the "Unburden" ability, to Professor Oak.

From the current in-game perspective, this is undoubtedly a very advantageous ability, meaning Bewear effectively takes 50% less damage from most physical attacks! Although this passive ability adds a Fire-type weakness, considering that the team already includes Lotad to cover this flaw, the downside is practically negligible.

Overall, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

After understanding Bewear's status, Cynthia immediately retraced her steps to the entrance of the Canalave City Gym and entered.

As Cynthia had expected, Bewear easily crushed the blocking NPCs inside the gym with a single "Force Palm" attack.

Finally, she stood before the Gym Leader, Byron.

“The rocky earth can bear us all, and I will show you the charm of Rock-type Pokémon!” Byron declared as the stirring battle music began, signaling the start of the Gym battle.

Byron first sent out his Crustle.

Cynthia responded by choosing Bewear.

At that moment, the chat was filled with cheers for Cynthia.

“Go, Cynthia! Show them the champion’s power!”

“Is this bulky Crustle finally going to be taken down?”

“Cynthia, Cynthia, Cynthia!”

Cynthia’s gaze sharpened, her entire aura changing instantly. An invisible energy radiated from her, signaling she was fully serious. If other Elite Four members or champions saw this, they would surely be surprised.

This “serious mode” was reserved only for battles against equally strong champions.

Yet now, she assumed this stance for a mere game!

Facing Crustle, Cynthia did not hesitate and immediately used “Force Palm.”

But the next moment, a red light flashed, and Crustle vanished from the battlefield.

“Byron recalled Crustle!”

“Byron sent out Rampardos.”

With two notifications appearing, a new Poké Ball was released, revealing a blue, small dragon-like Pokémon with a distinctive ridge on its head.

This was Rampardos, a Rock-type Pokémon.

“Trying to preserve Crustle’s status, huh?”

Although in real-world battles, trainers cannot switch Pokémon so freely, Cynthia immediately understood Byron’s intention.

But she was not worried—this Rampardos was also a Rock-type, which “Force Palm” counters and cannot withstand.

Based on Bewear’s previous performance, as long as the opponent isn’t a bulky Pokémon, a single “Force Palm” should be able to one-shot an equally leveled opponent.

So even if Byron switched to Rampardos to absorb the hit, it would only delay the battle by one turn.

Yet, after being hit, Rampardos’s health bar rapidly dropped to near zero—but then suddenly stopped.

“Rampardos’s Focus Sash held on!”

“His HP remains intact!”

The chat exploded with question marks.

“Wow, this Gym Leader got lucky!”

“Focus Sash? What’s that? It can save HP?”

Cynthia was momentarily stunned. Neither in the real world nor in the "Battle Road" mode had she ever seen such an item.

But judging by the current situation, she roughly understood the item’s effect—it forces a Pokémon to keep at least one HP point when facing a potentially fatal blow.

If no other surprises occurred, this item likely had certain activation conditions and could only trigger once per battle.

Otherwise, it would be unbalanced and chaotic.

With this in mind, Cynthia commanded Bewear to use “Force Palm” again to finish off Rampardos’s last sliver of HP.

But unexpectedly, the blue figure on the opposite side moved first.

Rampardos charged forward and headbutted Bewear, causing the screen to shake violently.

“Rampardos used Headbutt!”

“A critical hit!”

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Bewear’s health bar above its head plummeted rapidly, instantly depleted by the single attack!

The chat scrolled wildly.

“Bear—bro!!”

“What the heck, that damage?!”

“Another critical hit? Oh my…”

Cynthia watched this scene thoughtfully, saying nothing.

After a moment, she closed the game window and relaunched the game.

She had learned this from Qishu’s livestream—that if a battle seemed unwinnable, one could restart the match this way.

Of course, restarting still counts as a loss, and the in-game money would still be deducted.

The good news was that money deducted for losing a Gym battle was relatively small.

Otherwise, some Electric-type streamer would have long been in massive debt.

Now, as Cynthia restarted her challenge against Byron, the same sequence repeated.

Byron sent out Crustle, Cynthia sent out Bewear.

Crustle switched to Rampardos, Bewear attacked; Focus Sash activated, and Rampardos survived.

Just as it seemed history would repeat itself...

Cynthia decisively switched Pokémon, sending out Lotad.

Rampardos charged with Headbutt again!

Another critical hit!

Lotad’s health bar rapidly dropped to zero.

But then, Rampardos’s last sliver of HP vanished.

“Rampardos took recoil damage.”

“Rampardos fainted!”

At this moment, some viewers in the livestream began to understand what was happening.

As they suspected, Cynthia calmly explained:

“No matter what, Bewear’s strength must be preserved to face Crustle, so we need to keep him healthy this battle.”

“Though Rampardos’s Headbutt is powerful, it causes recoil damage.”

“In other words, switching out a Pokémon lets us save Bewear so he can face Crustle at full strength!”

“I just didn’t expect… it would land another critical hit…”

Cynthia sighed softly.

—Once this battle ends, she must use the interaction feature to comfort Lotad.

No one likes being sent out only to be immediately knocked out by a headbutt.

While Cynthia pondered, Byron sent out Crustle once more.

Cynthia’s Bewear reappeared with a flash of red light, facing Crustle again.

The two Pokémon stood firm on the battlefield, as if only moments had passed, but both trainers had already lost one Pokémon each this short turn.

After a brief thought, Cynthia again chose “Force Palm.”

This time, Byron did not recall Crustle.

Bewear surged forward, arms erupting with a powerful brown-yellow energy, striking Crustle squarely.

“Bewear used Force Palm! It’s super effective!”

Crustle’s health rapidly dropped below half, flashing a deep yellow.

Then it swayed, a light shining from above its head but suddenly disappearing.

“Crustle used Strange Light, but it missed!”

Cynthia was not surprised because Strange Light has a low hit rate; Qishu’s livestream had shown similar results—at least four misses in ten uses.

Yet despite this advantage, Cynthia remained vigilant.

Bewear’s mighty physical attack inflicted heavy damage, but when the turn ended and the “Leftovers” item activated, Crustle’s health bar turned green again.

—This meant its HP had recovered to more than half.

For Cynthia, this was not ideal.

She commanded Bewear to use “Force Palm” again, pushing Crustle’s HP to the brink.

But in the next moment, a brilliant light shone over Crustle, instantly restoring its health to a healthy green.

Cynthia frowned slightly.

As expected, once Crustle’s HP fell below two-thirds, it immediately used “Recover” to heal itself.

Combined with Leftovers, it could regain more than half its HP every turn.

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If Bewear’s “Force Palm” damage did not exceed this threshold, it was certain Bewear would lose in the end.

Because in this game, the opponent’s Pokémon had infinite PP for moves, while the player’s PP was limited, and items could not be used to restore PP during battle.

From now on, unless Bewear could score a critical hit or trigger the one-third chance paralysis effect of “Force Palm”...

When PP was exhausted... trouble would arise.

While contemplating this, Cynthia ordered Bewear to use “Force Palm” once more.

Unexpectedly, as Bewear attacked, a dazzling electrical spark flashed over Crustle’s body.

“Crustle is paralyzed!”

Even more thrilling, when Crustle’s turn came, electricity flickered again over its body, indicating the paralysis effect activated, causing it to lose its turn!

Its HP failed to recover, now flashing dangerously red, like a candle flickering in the wind.

On the next turn, Bewear struck one last time, and Crustle’s final sliver of health vanished, losing its ability to battle.

Watching this, the chat exploded in celebration.

“Victory!!”

“Finally dealt with that troublesome guy!”

“As expected from the streamer, took him down on the second try!”

Many viewers had followed Qishu’s livestream and knew how difficult Crustle was to handle.

Yet now, Cynthia had defeated it on her second attempt.

Not only that, she had also taken down Byron’s other Pokémon, Rampardos!

Byron was now down to his last Pokémon, while Cynthia still had Bewear near full health and a fully healthy Treecko, which was strong against Rock types and had yet to appear.

By all accounts, victory seemed assured!

While the chat rejoiced, Cynthia’s gaze remained calm and focused on the screen.

As a champion, she knew the battle was not over; Byron’s last Pokémon had not yet appeared.

This was no longer a virtual game but a genuine trainer battle.

At that moment, Byron’s figure appeared on screen again, wearing a confident, respectful smile.

“I admit, your performance is excellent, with a will and strength as solid as rock, but I will not lose to you!”

“My Rock-type Pokémon and I will fight to the very last moment!”

“Come out, my pride!”

With his declaration, a flash of light revealed a new Pokémon before her.

It had a bird-like appearance, a body adorned in red, blue, and yellow, and a massive beak filled with jagged sharp teeth.

Though small in size, it radiated a primitive and fierce beauty.

Viewers in the livestream were stunned.

“Another new Pokémon? What species is this?”

“I suddenly have a bad feeling about this…”

Simultaneously, Cynthia stared at the bird-like Pokémon, momentarily taken aback.

She had never seen this Pokémon before.

Looking up at its head, she whispered,

“Archaeops?”

Could it be another ancient fossil Pokémon?

After a brief surprise, her gaze hardened.

No matter what this Pokémon was, she was determined to win!

She once again selected “Force Palm.”

But the next moment, unexpectedly, the Archaeops emitted a sharp cry and blurred into a dazzling tricolor afterimage, bursting forward with incredible speed toward Bewear!

“Archaeops used Wing Attack!”

“Super effective!”

Bewear’s HP immediately began to plummet, instantly wiped out!

—One hit knockout!