John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon2
Euphie - Sylveon
Ornstein - D-Linoone
The New Normal – 8-5 – Cynthia's Rise
I shouldn't have been surprised at the large turnout, since a match like this was bound to attract attention. Especially since it was known that members of the Sinnoh Elite Four would be watching.
However, I was more impressed at the work that the Research Centre had put into create a makeshift battel arena, with everything practically being set up overnight. I was a little ashamed that they didn't ask me to help out, because I knew Cynthia and many workers at the lab had been running around late into the night trying to get this all organized in time while also publicizing the event so that people would come.
Despite ALL of this, when I saw her this morning at breakfast, she still looked completely hale and hearty, with not an inch of tiredness on her. She was her usual pristine self.
At least it was clear that her efforts paid off, because we were just able to accommodate the huge crowd of people who had specifically come over to watch our battle, despite the very short notice.
I was sure most of them were here because of the novelty of watching a foreign Elite Four member in battle. For all the success that I knew Cynthia would have in the future, at the moment she was still an unknown. With not much popularity outside of the niche scientific community.
However, that would all change by the end of this battle. I was sure of it.
As Flint had mentioned yesterday, he was in attendance alongside Elite Four Aaron, but I hadn't managed to meet them yet. He must be somewhere in the crowds, though I failed to spot him. Will told me that he was unfortunately unable to attend, as he and Lucian were busy discussing a big deal together regarding trade between our regions, but he wished me the best of luck and to "create a display worthy of our newfound cooperation between Indigo and Sinnoh".
So with that thoughtful comment in mind, I headed over to the training fields where our battle was going to take place. It was a slow journey, as I was frequently accosted by many members of the public who were REALLY interested in getting to meet a foreign Elite Four member. I could have ignored them, but instead, I did my due diligence and made sure to shake hands and take pictures as appropriate.
This match was supposed to boost the idea of unity, after all, so I may as well do my part.
It took some time, but I finally arrived at my side of the arena. Cynthia had been patiently waiting, looking completely at ease about the battle to come, and she shot me an anticipatory grin as she saw me take my place opposite her.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" One of the scientists turned temporary referee announced, "WE HERE AT CELESTIC TOWN HAVE BEEN PROUD TO BE HOSTING ELITE JOHN FROM INDIGO IN OUR FINE HALLS! BUT TODAY! WE HAVE THE GREAT HONOUR OF HOSTING A BATTLE BETWEEN HIM AND ONE OF OUR ESTEEMED RESEARCHERS AND PREVIOUS WINNER OF THE SINNOH CONFERENCE, CYNTHIA!"
The crowd cheered loudly, and the shouts of my name drowned out the immediate surroundings. Unsurprisingly, I received most of the attention, but Cynthia looked completely unbothered by it.
"AND NOW, ENOUGH RAMBLING FROM ME! LET'S GET RIGHT INTO THE BATTLE! THIS WILL BE A 3V3 MATCH WITH ONE SWITCH ALLOWED!" The referee explained, his voice turning slightly hoarse with all the shouting that he was clearly not used to, "TRAINERS, ARE YOU READY?!"
The cheers and screams of the crowd got even louder, but Cynthia and I zoned them out and simply nodded, our eyes locked onto each other. Despite myself, a small anticipatory grin split across my face, as the same happened with hers.
Neither of us could have trained very much in preparation for this battle, as we both barely had any advanced notice. Even though we both knew this wasn't going to be a very serious match, with both us agreeing to hold back, we were both buzzing with excitement and anticipation as we prepared to face off against each other.
Cynthia's whole demeanor had changed. Gone was the nerdy and passionate scientist. Gone was her façade of being an eager and diligent student, making use of every opportunity to learn.
Instead, the eyes that stared at me were those of a Champion.
"THREE!" I shoved those thoughts away for now, my mind now entirely focused on the battle ahead.
"TWO!" I clutched my Premier Ball tighter, hoping that I picked the right choice for my lead. Even if this battle wasn't going to be very serious, I would NOT underestimate Cynthia.
"ONE!" We both released our Pokémon at the same time.
"Start off strong, Luna!"
"As we trained, Spiritomb!"
As I suspected, a small looking rock emerged and plopped itself into the ground opposite my Clefable, before large ghostly tendrils suddenly exploded out of it, revealing an ocean of cackling faces that were attached to each limb.
Despite the display, I inwardly cheered. This was exactly what I was hoping for.
"Moonblast, Luna! Blast it!"
"Shadow Sneak, Spiritomb! Get close!"
A glimmering orb of blinding light formed above Luna, shooting forwards like a ball of destruction as it flew towards Spiritomb. In response, Spiritomb dived into its own shadow, disappearing from the field entirely as it rushed forwards, simultaneously dodging out of the way of the Moonblast.
But I was ready for this.
"Calm Mind, Luna. Start setting up."
"Reappear and Taunt, Spiritomb! Before it sets up!"
Luna closed her eyes as she began channeling her inner energies, but she didn't make much progress as Spiritomb quickly emerged from its shadow and emitting a burst of Dark energy that drove Luna into a rage, cancelling her attempts to set up.
"DAZZLING GLEAM, NOW!"
Instead of being momentarily disoriented by the Taunt, Luna surprised Spiritomb by suddenly exploding with a brilliant light that unleashed a swift torrent of Fairy energy around her. Taken by surprise, the many ghosts that composed Spiritomb's body let out a wailing cry of pain as the surge of Fairy energy ripped through them.
The ghosts comprising Spiritomb flickered and wailed, but the vortex of ghosts that made up Spiritomb pulled itself back together quickly – a demonstration of its tenacity and its training.
Despite this, the small frown on Cynthia's face was a good indicator of her surprise. Did she expect her Spiritomb to have been tankier?
"Pain Split, Spiritomb! Heal yourself!"
"Ignore it and Moonblast, Luna! You'll out damage it!"
Spiritomb fired off a beam of energy towards Luna, latching onto her and rapidly splitting their health between them. However, just like I ordered, Luna simply ignored this interaction and instead fired off another huge orb of concentrated Fairy energy. The Moonblast sped forwards before detonating in a shower of Fairy energy that sent Spiritomb reeling back.
A distorted cacophony of wails and cries came out from the many spirits of Spiritomb; its avatar drooping slightly as its spinning vortex of ghosts now spun slower and with far less enthusiasm from before. It's once haunting visage had been cowed into something far more pathetic.
Luna continued to dominate the match. Pain Split might be able to equalize their health, but Spiritomb was too slow and passive to really threaten Luna. Both Luna and Spiritomb fought in a similar way, relying on self-healing moves and their natural endurance to outlast their opponents.
Unfortunately for Cynthia, Luna was just better.
Spiritomb tried, but it got battered over and over again with an overwhelming barrage of Fairy attacks that it failed to heal through. Furthermore, to make matters worse for Cynthia, the haze of rage had now faded from Luna's eyes as the effects of the Taunt wore off, returning a huge plethora of options for Luna to make use of once again.
"Shadow Sneak and Confuse Ray, Spiritomb! Disorient it and get close!"
"Safeguard, Luna. Take no chances."
Spiritomb dove back into its shadow once again, sneaking closer to Luna as it simultaneously fired off a ray of dazzling light that flew towards Luna. However, Luna shut down that attempt as a blue barrier formed around her, engulfing her protectively from the attempted status move.
I had plenty of experience fighting against a Spiritomb from all my training with Karen. I was going to take no risks as I shut down Cynthia's options one by one. This would be no great victory, but a methodical destruction of Cynthia's Spiritomb that slowly allowed Luna to make use of her inherently powerful Fairy type moves to beat Spiritomb.
But Cynthia was nothing if not persistent. She knew she couldn't switch out; a switch would be too costly for her and would only make the situation worse for her as it didn't deal with the problem of Luna.
What followed was a series of attacks by Cynthia to try to penetrate Luna's defences. Yet Luna refused to fall, serving as the impenetrable Fairy wall that blocked all of its attempts. No matter what she tried, her Spiritomb just wasn't strong or flexible enough to break through Luna's innately high defence.
And, as if to insult to injury, Luna was able to simply heal off any of the damage that WAS inflicted with a Softboiled. From an outsider's perspective, it would have looked like I was utterly crushing Cynthia in this battle.
But I knew better. It was only like this because Spiritomb was a completely terrible matchup against Luna.
Eventually, after a dozen more exchanges, the battle finally reached the tipping point.
"Phantom Force again, Spiritomb! Smash hard again!"
"Dazzling Gleam when it gets close! Blast them away!"
Despite the depth of exhaustion that it must have been feeling, Spiritomb still vanished into nothing as it prepared a Phantom Force. In the meanwhile, Luna stood tall as she always did, alert and waiting for the right moment to strike.
And then Spiritomb suddenly appeared right in front of Luna, slamming into her as ghostly energy struck from all sides. But Luna only stumbled slightly before unleashing another Dazzling Gleam that tore through what remained of Spiritomb's health, causing the mass of ghosts to let out a piercing wail of pain.
But Cynthia had one last trick up her sleeve.
"DESTINY BOND! BRING IT DOWN!"
"LIFE DEW! HEAL IT UP NOW!"
With its last bit of energy, Spiritomb let out a final weak cackle as its many eyes flashed an eerie purple. Purple light shot out from its eyes as they engulfed Luna, hoping to bring her down with its last-ditch attempt.
But I was not some inexperienced trainer that had never fought a Ghost type before. I saw this coming ever since Cynthia struggled and failed to break through Luna's defenses. It was the most obvious way for her to eke out a knockout with her Spiritomb. Which was why I was prepared.
Luna released small droplets of water that splashed onto Spiritomb's collapsed avatar, forcing it to heal up against its will. But only just enough so that it wouldn't be able to bring Luna down with her Destiny Bond.
Cynthia's pursed her lips as she watched her last-ditch attempt fail to accomplish anything. And without any ceremony, as soon as the Destiny Bond wore off, I ordered Luna to finish Spiritomb off with a final Moonblast.
"OH! THAT MUST BE THE POWER OF THE FAIRY TYPE! WHAT A DOMINATING DISPLAY FROM THE INDIGO ELITE FOUR, KNOCKING OUT CYNTHIA'S SPIRITOMB AND BRINGING THE MATCH TO 1-0!" The referee called out over the overly excited crowd, "THE CHALLENGER HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!"
"…I had underestimated the effectiveness of your Fairy type attacks against my Spiritomb." Cynthia admitted to me as she withdrew her fainted Spiritomb, "Normally, Spiritomb is capable of enduring through far more punishment than that. That's the first time I've seen it overwhelmed like this; guess I need more practice dealing with the new type."
"I'm sure you can think of someone to bring down my Clefable." I replied with a shrug, "Bruno managed it with a Fighting type, after all."
"Funny you should say that, because I have just the thing in mind…" She said with a smirk as she threw out another Pokéball, causing a Roserade to emerge on the field, her prickly and poisonous thorns gleaming in the morning sun. Despite being smaller than Luna, Roserade's eyes were confident and menacing; her every intention seeking to avenge her fallen teammate.
Luna immediately tensed up, as did I. We both knew we did not hold the advantage in this match. Could we afford to switch?
In a real match, I would have. But not in a showmatch like this. It was time for an uphill battle.
"Growth, Roserade. Start setting up."
"Flamethrower, Luna! Scorch it!"
Roserade closed her eyes as a green orb formed on the crown of her head, causing further orbs of green to gather into her as if they were nutrients being absorbed into the roots of a plant, and Roserade flashed green as she became empowered. In response, Luna unleashed a stream of fire that shot forwards like a lance, engulfing Roserade in a torrent of flames.
However, Roserade did not dodge nor flinch. She simply endured through the attack by relying on her impressive Special Defenses and the grueling training Cynthia must have put her through. Despite the scorching flames searing through her health, she continued channeling her Growth – remaining in full concentration in spite of the pain she was in.
All the while, Cynthia had a completely calm look in her eye, as if she had already expected this outcome. Had she already analyzed how strong Luna could hit to know that Roserade could pull something like this off without consequence? If so, then her ability to analyze her opponent's Pokémon was truly terrifying.
And now with her offences boosted, Cynthia moved to fight back.
"Leech Seed, Roserade! With something extra!"
"Calm Mind, Luna! You can ignore it!"
At first, I thought Cynthia was making a mistake. With Luna's Magic Guard ability, Luna would have been immune to the Leech Seed; allowing Luna the time to boost up her Special Attack and Special Defense.
However, when the seeds landed and took root on Luna, I barely caught sight of an extra seed that somehow planted itself into Luna – and instead of the Leech Seeds bouncing off harmlessly, they instead took root and latched themselves onto Luna.
Alarm bells were ringing in my head, and my eyes shot to Cynthia, who only smirked at my expression and didn't give anything away.
But then, as Luna continued setting up with Calm Mind, I saw the telltale signs of a Leech Seed sapping away Luna's health, draining away her health into Roserade. That was when the gears clicked into my mind, and I was both impressed and annoyed at myself for what had happened.
Yes, Leech Seed would usually be completely ineffective against Luna's Magic Guard ability. Instead, Cynthia had sneaked in a Worry Seed into her Leech Seed, switching Luna's ability from the useful Magic Guard to the near useless Insomnia; meaning that the Leech Seeds were able to implant themselves into Luna and slowly drain her health away.
Worse, Luna was now extremely vulnerable to being badly poisoned from a Toxic or from Poison attacks in general. I didn't know whether to applaud Cynthia for her deception or to grimace, because Luna was now in a terrible spot.
Knowing that I could no longer remain on the passive, I waited for Luna's boosts to settle in before I went all-out on the offense.
"Flamethrower again, Luna! Keep up the offense!"
"Grass Knot, Roserade. Trip it up."
Luna opened her mouth and let out another lance of searing flames that speared towards Roserade. However, with a level of agility not usually seen in grass types, Roserade spun out of the way, dodging the flames for just long enough to form a thick tendril of grass that latched onto one of Luna's legs, taking Luna by surprise as she tripped over.
"Sludge Bomb now, Roserade! Hit it hard!"
"Protect, Luna!"
A Protect shield quickly shimmered into place as Luna fell onto the ground, forming just in time to block the heavy orb of Poison from crashing directly onto Luna. Yet, as the large orb of Poison exploded 'harmlessly' on the Protect shield, the thick and viscous liquid filled with potent poisons didn't dissipate instantly, instead lingering around for long enough that it still splashed all over the Luna.
My frown grew as I saw that Luna had suddenly turned pale, a tell-tale sign of her being afflicted with Poison. This was bad. But it didn't change my plan. Luna was just on a more desperate timer.
"Psychic, Luna!"
"Giga Drain, Roserade! Heal yourself!"
"GRAVITY!"
As Luna fired off a blast of Psychic energy, Roserade once again tried to spin out of the way before it fired off its own Giga Drain. However, this time, Roserade was caught unaware as gravity suddenly intensified, the newfound crushing force causing her to crash down onto her knees. Completely unable to move.
Before Roserade could even realize what was happening, the powerful blast of Psychic energy exploded in her face, sending her stumbling back with a cry of pain as she was forced onto her back.
"Psychic again, Luna! While it's down!"
"LEAF STORM, ROSERADE! PUSH THROUGH THE GRAVITY!"
Luna grimaced, but pushed through the growing pain from the Poison as she unleashed another surge of Psychic energy. However, Roserade was not anywhere near as hurt as she seemed, and her eyes flashed a bright green she fired off a hurricane of leaves formed that shot forwards like a storm of green knives.
It spoke volumes about Roserade's ability to manipulate Grass energy as her Leaf Storm managed to overwhelm BOTH the crushing weight of the Gravity and the incoming blast of Psychic – and the whirlwind of leaves tore through everything in their path, leaving a trail of complete destruction in its wake as it transformed the surrounding area into battlefield of cuts.
"PROTECT, LUNA! NOW!"
A Protect shield rapidly formed around Luna, just in time to protect her against the incoming storm of leaves that battered against her. Luna's face became strained as she struggled to maintain the Protect shield, but the overwhelming power of the attack was pushing her to her limits.
Yet just as it seemed like she could hold on for no longer, the vortex of leaves suddenly scattered apart as the attack faded out, giving Luna a chance to breathe as she finally allowed the Protect shield to drop.
But that was all just a trap. The MOMENT Luna's Protect shield came down, the seemingly fallen leaves rapidly formed into another destructive storm, catching Luna completely off-guard as the leaves swallowed her up into its hungry maw.
I could barely hear her pained cries as the storm silenced all other noises; the only thing I could hear was the deafening howl of the wind. My fists clenched reflexively as I hoped that Luna's boosted Special Defenses would be enough to endure through the attack.
It wasn't.
As the tornado of leaves eventually faded away, all that was revealed was the unconscious body of Luna, cuts littering her body. She wasn't getting up from this.
"WHAT A DISPLAY – I NEVER KNEW CYNTHIA COULD FIGHT WITH SUCH STRENGTH! I THOUGHT THAT SHE WAS ONLY A RESEARCHER! BUT WOW DOES HER POKEMON HAVE SOME POWER IN THEM!" The referee said with considerable surprise, "BUT NEVER MIND THAT; THE BATTLE IS NOW AT 1-1! ELITE JOHN NOW HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON!"
The crowd let out shocked gasps of disbelief at Luna's defeat, surprise filling their eyes. Many of them had seen my battle against Bruno, so to see my Luna take out two of Bruno's Pokemon, and yet lose to an 'unknown' trainer's Roserade was something that completely stunned them. Especially after how easily I had taken out her Spiritomb.
I did not share their surprise at Luna's defeat. But I WAS impresssed at how deceptively and intelligently Cynthia could fight. That was an excellent bait.
But I could admire Cynthia's team later; I had a battle to win. And a plant to squash.
"Smough! Squash that plant! But don't eat it!"
My beloved Smough emerged onto the field with a threatening roar, causing the fallen leaves to shake on the ground from the volume alone. Smough glared at his opponent, his challenging eyes meeting calm ones. It had been some time since he had fought in a proper battle, but I had not neglected his training.
Roserade would not able to tank through Smough's attacks, that was for sure.
"Earthquake, Smough. And charge forwards!"
"Leap into the air and Energy Ball!"
Smough charged forwards as the ground cracked apart at the seams; the Earthquake ripped through the makeshift stadium with powerful tremors exploding out from the ground as the earth shattered around him. Roserade managed to dodge out of the way by jumping into the air while firing off a volley of Energy Balls that rained down on Smough.
However, with its Special Attack harshly dropped due to its earlier Leaf Storm, Smough merely let off a dismissive grunt as he allowed the Energy Balls to detonate harmlessly on him. Smough's Special Defense was even higher than Luna's – these Energy Balls weren't going to do anything to him.
"Stun Spore, Roserade! Paralyze it."
"Fire Punch, Smough. Ignite the spores!"
Realizing its attacks were ineffective, Roserade switched tactics and let out a huge cloud of yellow spores that fluttered towards Smough. However, before they could land and paralyze Smough, he waved a flaming fist in the air, leaving behind a trail of fire that simply scorched all the spores before they could paralyze him. Even the secretly hidden Leech Seed, which I initially didn't even realize was there, was also burnt up and turned to ash before they could implant themselves in Smough.
All the while, he continued charging forwards, getting ever closer to reaching Roserade.
"Retreat further and Grass Knot Roserade! Don't let it catch you!"
"Seismic Eruption, Smough! Trip it up!"
Roserade continued to back off, understanding that she was screwed if Smough ever got close enough to reach it. In the meanwhile, she tried to form a large tendril of grass around Smough's legs to trip him up, but Smough moved first.
Letting out a bellowing roar, Smough did a small hop and crashed loudly into the ground, causing the ground to shatter apart once again. Huge cracks spiderwebbed from his landing point as explosive tremors ravaged the arena, spreading destruction wherever they went. Roserade, caught off-guard, was only barely able to leap into the air in time with her pure reaction speed.
However, that was when huge spears of rocks suddenly shot up from the ground, impaling the surprised Roserade and pinning the Roserade in the air in a cage of stone. To Roserade's credit, she immediately summoned a storm of razor sharp leaves as she tried to both cut her way out of the stony prison that kept her trapped while also firing some off at Smough to deter his approach.
It was a clever, if desperate, tactic that may have worked against other opponents, but it wasn't able to distract Smough for long enough before he reached his target.
Roserade let out as strangled gasp as she suddenly found herself crushed within Smough's vice-like grip, before that gasp turned into a pained cry as Smough ruthlessly smashed the much smaller Grass type into the ground.
Cynthia grimaced as I smiled. With Roserade trapped in Smough's grasp, we both knew that how this would end.
"SPORE! NOW!"
"Zen Headbutt, Smough! RAM IT!"
In desperation, Roserade hastily tried to put Smough to sleep by emitting a small cloud of spores, but she was barely able to create any before Smough brutally smashed their heads together with a devastating Zen Headbutt that impacted with such force that it even cracked the ground beneath them.
The small spores did managed to land on Smough, but Smough was always sleepy and lazy. He didn't even realize the status move had even landed.
"SNORLAXXX!" Letting out a powerful roar, Smough pummeled the helpless Roserade with a savage and brutal barrage of Fire Punches that smashed Roserade deeper into the ground, as if burying her further into the ground with each slam of his fists.
A sneaky tendril of grass tried to trip over Smough, but Roserade failed to execute the Grass Knot as she flinched repeatedly from Smough's violent assault.
"Earthquake, Smough! Finish it off!"
"That's enough! I'm withdrawing Roserade from the fight."
Smough was about to jump and crack the ground once again with another Earthquake, but Cynthia quickly intervened and moved to withdraw Roserade before the attack could land. She knew that Roserade would not be able to fight any longer.
"AND JOHN'S SNORLAX TRIUMPHS OVER CYNTHIA'S ROSERADE WITH A DEVESTATING ONSLAUGHT OF ATTACKS! ROSERADE DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE WHEN SNORLAX GOT CLOSE!" The referee shouted out, "THIS PUTS THE MATCH AT 2-1! WHAT A BACK AND FORTH FIGHT WE'VE GOTTEN SO FAR!"
"BUT NOW CHALLENGER CYNTHIA IS ON HER LAST POKEMON! CAN SHE MAKE A REVERSAL?! SHE HAS 30 SECONDS TO DECIDE WHO SHE'LL BE USING!"
This time, Cynthia fell silent as she stared at me thoughtfully, obviously deliberating on what her final Pokémon would be. I could see her mind whirling as she continued to sneak repeated glances towards Smough, eying up my Pokémon with a piercingly analytical gaze.
What did she see in Smough? And what was she prepared to reveal to counter him?
After all, this was only a showmatch. If Cynthia had the ambitions I thought she did, then she would be wary of revealing all of her tricks in a battle like this. This was a battle with most of the known world watching, so her performance here mattered greatly for her reputation. But this was ultimately still a battle for no stakes.
If she revealed too much, she might regret it later. It was a fine balance between a show of strength and showing too much.
Either way, I was excited to see what she would be bringing out last.
A.N. And this is the first part of the Cynthia fight! I hope you enjoyed it. I really struggled with writing this chapter because I wanted to show how strong Cynthia was while not downplaying John's own strengths.
But like I said, these were merely their weaker Pokémon. So while Cynthia might be on the backfoot now, but she's still got many tricks up her sleeve. And in a real 6v6 fight, Cynthia would be a much harder opponent. But then again, so would John.
This chapter has been BETAed by Allute! Thanks man!
Also, this chapter coincidentally marks the 1 year anniversary of this story. All I can say is thank you so much for your continued support for my story, and the fact that you all continue to interact and engage it. Thank you. I never expected this level of support when I first started, especially for my first story, so to see everyone continue to be supportive has been a great motivator for me to keep writing.
I appreciate each and every one of you. And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!