Chapter 188.5 - An Email from Flint (Bonus) (Patreon)

From: Elite Four Flint <fieryflint@sinnohleague>

To: Alex <me> Received: Feb 4, 3:04am (1 day ago)

Sup, Fairy Type.

I said I’d send you my tips on how Cynthia’s Pokémon fight. I’ve included them all here!

(Just be aware that these are only the Pokémon my team has personally faced in battle. She has a few in reserve.)

Let’s start simple.

Spiritomb: A real nasty one. Basically the perfect example of how mean a dual dark and ghost type can be. Capable of wide-ranged attacks that hit from any angle. Hard to locate in the shadows it conjures, too. Personally, I’d say try to focus on area attacks since it's otherwise hard to target on its own. Its most vulnerable point is its core, a stone that it tries to protect really well. Aim for that and you’ll likely deal critical damage.

Roserade: I learned the hard way to not engage it in melee. Look, the Pokémon isn’t good at up close fighting, since all of its moves specialize in attacking via range. That’s the trick, since getting up close just means it can poison your Pokémon all the more better. The slightest vulnerability, and expect your Pokémon to be crippled by whatever toxic sludge it summons at you.

Gastrodon: Now, Cynthia hasn’t used this old guy much recently, and, as far as I know, he’s actually retired from her team. He still shows up now and again, but it’s getting rare and rarer, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less of a threat. Gastrodon is all about summoning muck and mud, gunking down his opponents to slow them and make them difficult to fight. The flames of my own team members have been snuffed out from a properly-timed Muddy Water too many times to count, but the real thing to worry about is what happens after he sets up the field.

Almost every time (and I really mean every time) Gastrodon covers the field in mud, he’s followed up by the same Pokémon. Just picture this: the field's all muddy, your Pokémon is covered in gunk, it's getting hard to move, and then

BAM!

Togekiss: I hate her. Okay, I don't actually hate her, (she’s very kind) but she has to be the most annoying Pokémon to battle. Period. Not only does her species have a form of innate luck manipulation (how ridiculous is that?), but she's incredibly agile in the air. Volkner fought Cynthia once, and his team summoned an entire lightning storm. Togekiss dodged every single bolt.

Every.

Single.

Bolt.

(You gotta slow her down somehow, but it's up to you with how.)

Lucario: Honestly, when it comes to Cynthia's Lucario, just picture any Lucario but empowered to the nth degree. There's no special trick or techniques Lucario uses, just years and years of practicing honing his strength and skills. The old leader back in Veilstone, before Maylene, used to talk about fearing the Pokémon who practiced one move ten thousand times over the Pokémon that knew ten thousand moves. Lucario embodies that.

(Also, watch out for Lucario's Bone Club. He can summon a weapon, and it's a doozy.)

Milotic: My team already struggles to fight water types at times, and Milotic is probably the worst of the worst. Not only can she heal insanely well (what kind of a monster knows both Aqua Ring and Recover??), but she's incredible at fighting at range. Honestly, remember Lopunny’ Mirror Coat? Yeah, he was inspired to learn it by her. Don't underestimate her ranged attacks, either.

Finally....

Garchomp.

Garchomp: Don't.

(No, seriously, if Cynthia sends out her Garchomp, you're screwed. I've seen it reshape entire battlefields on a whim, sweep an entire Elite Four member's team, and it's even cleaved entire chunks of earth out just to toss it at other people as a basic attack. What's worse is that it can create cover incredibly easily, but getting up close means your Pokémon gets shredded by its claws or rough skin. Seriously. I have no clue how to face her Garchomp. You're better off trying to force a switch.)

Overall, when it comes to facing Cynthia, rate your victory from how many of her Pokémon you can knock out. Me and everyone else used to keep track of our highscores. Here's where we stood before she caught on and started to switch more than necessary:

Aaron: 2
Bertha: 4
Lucian: 3
Me: 3

And no matter what Lucian says, I did faint four of Cynthia's Pokémon! A purposefully self-destruct still counts as a faint!

Anyway

Good Luck.

You'll need it.

-Flint

P.S. Cynthia can Mega Evolve her Pokémon, but she's never even used it in a battle. Getting her to feel the need to use a Mega Pokémon would be an explicit victory in my books. It’s also a nightmare situation you should avoid.

P.S.S. (or is it P.P.S.?) Actually, you should try to bait a Mega Evolution out of her. I'm going to place a bet on you doing that

P.P.P.S.S.S. Don't mess it up.

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Author Note:

A semi-canon, half-joke, half-serious chapter in which Flint does his best to describe the horrors of battling Cynthia. There's references to this email in Chapter 189 (also posted today, make sure you don't miss it!), but it's not required reading.

I made sure to write this half asleep and hardly edited it for authenticity's sake. If you see a mistake, that's Flint making it, not me! Clearly.

Pokémon (and people) mentioned in this chapter (contains spoilers):
Garchomp
Gastrodon
Lucario
Milotic
Roserade
Spiritomb
Togekiss

Cynthia
Flint

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