Chapter 34: Dewford Gym, Brawly's Maneuver?

Fortunately, after the man stopped her to ask his questions, nothing unexpected happened.

Once Cynthia chose the "I like fishing" option, he excitedly handed her a fishing rod and some bait. He even thoughtfully instructed her on how to use the rod to fish. Of course, the "fishing" here did not refer to the traditional sense, but rather using special bait to lure out Water-type Pokémon living in the water.

After receiving the rod, Cynthia suddenly realized something. She had previously considered building a team centered around "Rain" weather based on the "Swift Swim" ability when she caught her Lombre. Without a doubt, most of the members of such a team would be Water-type Pokémon. "Fishing," it seemed, was a highly efficient way to acquire Water-type Pokémon.

Looking at the rod in her bag, she couldn't help but feel an itch to head to the nearby seaside and cast a line to try it out. But in the end, Cynthia held back and tucked the rod away. She would wait until after she challenged the Gym.

...

After going to the Pokémon Center to restore her team's stamina, Cynthia stepped into the Dewford Gym, beginning her second Gym battle. Meanwhile, the live stream chat was buzzing with discussions about the Dewford Gym.

"Heading to the second Gym already... as expected of the streamer."
"Speaking of which, the Gym shouldn't be too hard, right? Fighting-type Pokémon... they don't seem very strong."
"True, and now that she has Ludicolo, Cynthia's combat power is not what it used to be."
"Hard to say. Think about how difficult the first Gym was... logically, the second Gym should only be harder, not easier, right?"
"My gut tells me the streamer is about to get wrecked again, lol."

Unlike the Rustboro Gym, the Dewford Gym was pitch black, with very low visibility, requiring her to fumble her way through the darkness. However, having gained experience navigating the dark in Granite Cave, it didn't take long for Cynthia to defeat the NPCs guarding the Gym and eventually reach a massive arena.

On the other side of the arena, Brawly looked up. As their eyes met, a giant exclamation mark appeared above Brawly's head, and his cheerful, sunny voice rang out.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. It seems your strength isn't bad at all. But that alone... is not enough! Let me show you the charm of Fighting-type Pokémon and teach you a proper lesson!"

Intense, high-energy music began to play, ripples swept across the screen, and the battle commenced!

Brawly stepped forward and threw his Poké Ball. A Pokémon with orange skin, sharp eyes, and muscular arms suddenly appeared! Cynthia raised her eyebrows slightly, feeling a bit surprised.

—It’s actually him?

Her opponent was Combusken, one of the starter Pokémon from the Hoenn region, and the evolved form of her rival's Torchic! Unlike Torchic, Combusken gained the Fighting-type upon evolution, which was exactly why it appeared here.

According to the rules of a Gym battle, Cynthia, as the challenger, could send out her Pokémon second. Facing Combusken, she didn't hesitate to choose Ludicolo as her lead! Since Fighting-types don't resist each other, Teddiursa, as a Normal-type, would be at a disadvantage against Combusken. Meanwhile, Grovyle’s Grass-typing was weak to Combusken’s Fire-type. The best choice in her current team was naturally Ludicolo, who possessed the Water-type to counter the Fire-type.

As Ludicolo entered the fray, the official start of the Gym battle was declared. After a brief moment of thought, Cynthia chose the move "Zen Headbutt"! Although using "Bubble Beam," a STAB move that was super-effective against Combusken, seemed like it would deal more damage, Cynthia understood from her previous battle with Roxanne that these NPCs possessed extremely high battle intelligence. In the first turn after sending out Ludicolo, Brawly was very likely to swap out his Pokémon to avoid the type disadvantage. Thus, "Zen Headbutt," which dealt double damage to all Fighting-type Pokémon, was undoubtedly the best choice.

This was a prediction by Cynthia! She didn't even realize that she had subconsciously learned an important aspect of competitive Pokémon battling: "predicting the backline."

However, as pink light gathered above Ludicolo's head and psychic energy condensed, she realized something was wrong.

—Faced with a type disadvantage, Brawly didn't switch his Pokémon!

The Zen Headbutt, formed by psychic energy, landed precisely on Combusken's body. Under the effect of the type advantage, it dealt a massive amount of damage! Combusken's health bar plummeted, leaving it with only a sliver of yellow health! Seeing this, the viewers in the live stream couldn't help but get excited.

"Holy crap, that much damage! As expected of a final-stage evolution Pokémon!"
"Pineapple God, Pineapple God, Pineapple God!"
"Show some respect, that's the River God!"
"Brawly feels kind of dumb, he's nowhere near as good as Roxanne. He doesn't even know to switch when facing a countered Pokémon. That was a wasted prediction by the streamer."

As the chat debated, Cynthia frowned, thinking rapidly. Given the level of AI for the 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 Pokémon, Ludicolo was weak to Flying-type moves. It just so happened that Combusken had the potential to learn Flying-type moves, such as "Aerial Ace," which had a high hit rate in reality, or "Air Slash," which had high power and a chance to cause flinching. However, these were both high-level Flying-type moves; according to the game's settings, a Combusken in its second stage of evolution shouldn't necessarily be able to learn them.

While Cynthia pondered, Combusken, having gained the initiative, began to act! Unexpectedly, it didn't launch an attack at Ludicolo but instead raised its arms above its head and began to spin rapidly in place! Sharp air currents surged around its body, and a flash of red light flickered!

[Combusken used Swords Dance!]
[Combusken’s Attack stat rose sharply!]

Seeing this, the chat burst into laughter.

"Does this Brawly know how to play? Setting up buffs while facing a counter? Does he not want to win?"
"Exactly. What's the point of buffing? Even if he's faster than Ludicolo, it doesn't matter, but he's slower! Ludicolo will take him out next turn before he can even use one move!"
"Isn't this just giving away a Pokémon for free? It's in the bag, totally in the bag!"

In the eyes of the audience, Brawly's behavior was undoubtedly irrational. What was the point of such a buff? But unlike the viewers, as Cynthia looked at Combusken, who was surrounded by a glowing red aura, she felt an ominous premonition for some reason!

No, this isn't right. There's a problem!

Sure enough, the next moment, a powerful gust of wind erupted from Combusken! A silver-white radiance enveloped it! The game's notification popped up:

[The opposing Combusken's "Speed Boost" ability triggered!]
[Combusken’s Speed rose!!!]