Magus
patreon
Chapter 16: Cynthia's Gym Battle, Roxanne's Ace?
🕑 Added 2025-08-10 15:54:50 +0000 UTCThis "Fluffy" ability was first discovered on a Pokémon called Wooloo from the Galar region.
The discovery story was somewhat amusing—a farmer who raised many Wooloo noticed they were particularly afraid of torches, so he reported this to the local research institution.
Logically speaking, sheep covered in wool being afraid of fire was quite normal.
But the local research institution, having nothing better to do, investigated further and accidentally discovered Wooloo's ability.
Cynthia hadn’t expected this Stufful’s ability to be exactly the same as Wooloo’s.
She planned to tell Professor Oak about it later, along with the clue about the Swift Swim ability.
From the current in-game perspective, this was undoubtedly an excellent ability, giving Stufful an effective 50% damage reduction against most physical attacks!
Although it passively added a Fire-type weakness, Lotad in the team could cover this weakness, making the downside practically negligible.
Overall, it was an ability whose benefits far outweighed its drawbacks.
After confirming Stufful’s status, Cynthia retraced her path back to the Rustboro Gym entrance and entered.
Just as she had predicted, Stufful easily defeated the gym’s blocking NPCs with a single “Force Palm.”
She finally stood before Gym Leader Roxanne.
“The rocky earth can support everything, and I’ll show you the charm of Rock-type Pokémon!”
With Roxanne’s declaration and triumphant music, the gym battle officially began.
Roxanne naturally sent out lileep first.
Cynthia chose Stufful to take the field.
At this moment, the chat was cheering Cynthia on.
【Go Cynthia! Show them Champion strength too!】
【Is this annoyingly tanky lileep finally going to get what’s coming to it?】
【Cynthia! Cynthia! Cynthia!】
Cynthia’s gaze sharpened, her demeanor instantly changing as an invisible aura emanated from her—her “serious mode.”
If other Elite Four members or Champions saw this, they’d probably be shocked.
This was a state Cynthia only entered when battling fellow Champion-level trainers.
And now, she was adopting it because of a game.
Facing lileep, Cynthia immediately chose “Force Palm.”
But a red light flashed, and lileep instantly disappeared.
【Gym Leader Roxanne withdrew lileep!】
【Gym Leader Roxanne sent out Cranidos!】
A blue, dinosaur-like Pokémon with protrusions on its head appeared—Cranidos, a Rock-type.
“Want to preserve lileep’s condition?”
Although real-world battles didn’t allow such casual switching, Cynthia quickly understood her opponent’s purpose.
But she wasn’t worried—Cranidos was also weak to “Force Palm.”
Based on Stufful’s previous performance, unless the opponent was very bulky, one super-effective Force Palm could knock out a same-level Pokémon.
So even if Roxanne switched in Cranidos, it would only delay the inevitable by one turn.
But after being hit, Cranidos’s plummeting HP bar suddenly stopped.
【Cranidos’s Focus Sash let it endure the attack!】
【Its HP was preserved!】
The chat erupted in confusion.
【GG This gym leader is cheating!】
【Focus Sash? What’s that? It can lock HP?】
Cynthia was also surprised—neither in the real world nor in “Battle Road” had such an item appeared before.
She quickly deduced its effect: it allowed a Pokémon to survive a fatal hit with 1 HP, likely with activation conditions and only once per battle.
Otherwise, it would be completely unbalanced.
Cynthia ordered another Force Palm to finish Cranidos, but the blue figure moved first.
It slammed into Stufful with such force that the screen shook violently.
【Cranidos used Take Down!】
【Critical hit!】
Stufful’s HP bar emptied instantly—a one-shot KO.
The chat exploded.
【Stufful—bro!!】
【Holy crap, what kind of damage is this?】
【Another critical hit? Oh my god】
Cynthia was thoughtful but said nothing.
After a moment, she closed and restarted the game—a trick she’d learned from Iono’s stream.
Restarting still counted as a loss, with money deducted, but gym battles deducted relatively little.
Otherwise, a certain Electric-type streamer might be in debt by hundreds of thousands.
Cynthia began the challenge again.
Once more: Roxanne sent out lileep, Cynthia sent out Stufful, lileep switched to Cranidos, Focus Sash activated.
But this time, Cynthia switched to Lotad.
Cranidos’s Take Down landed—another critical hit!
Lotad fainted, but Cranidos also fainted from recoil damage.
The chat began to catch on, and Cynthia explained calmly:
“No matter what, Stufful must be preserved for lileep, so we protect it here. Take Down has high power but causes recoil. Switching lets us keep Stufful at full health.”
She sighed. “I didn’t expect another critical hit.”
—After the battle, she’d definitely need to comfort Lotad.
Roxanne sent out lileep again, and Stufful returned to face it.
Both sides had lost one Pokémon.
Cynthia chose Force Palm.
This time, Roxanne didn’t switch.
Stufful charged, its arms glowing with brownish-yellow energy, striking lileep hard.
【It’s super effective!】
lileep’s HP dropped below half, flashing yellow.
It swayed, light gathering at its head, then vanishing.
【lileep used Confuse Ray, but it missed!】
Cynthia wasn’t surprised—Confuse Ray had low accuracy and often missed.
But when the turn ended, lileep’s “Leftovers” restored its HP to green.
That wasn’t good—combined with “Ingrain,” lileep could recover over half its HP each turn.
If Force Palm’s damage didn’t exceed that, Stufful would lose due to limited PP.
Unless she landed a critical hit or paralysis…
Cynthia attacked again, and this time, lileep was paralyzed.
On its turn, paralysis activated, and it couldn’t move.
Without recovery, it fell into the red.
On the next turn, Stufful’s attack finished it.
The chat went wild.
【We won!!】
【Finally defeated this annoying guy!】
【Got it on the second try!】
Many viewers knew how difficult lileep was from Iono’s stream.
Not only had Cynthia beaten it, she’d also taken down Cranidos.
Now Roxanne had only one Pokémon left, while Cynthia still had a healthy Stufful and a full-health Treecko.
Victory seemed certain.
But Cynthia remained calm—her instincts told her the battle wasn’t over.
Roxanne appeared on screen again, smiling confidently.
“I admit your performance is excellent, but I won’t lose to you! My Rock-type Pokémon and I will fight until the very last moment! Come out, my pride!”
A bird-like Pokémon with red, blue, and yellow feathers and a massive beak appeared.
The chat was puzzled.
【Another new Pokémon? What species is this?】
【I suddenly have a bad feeling】
Cynthia was also surprised—she’d never seen it before.
“Archen?” she read from the screen. Could it be another ancient fossil Pokémon?
Her focus returned—whatever it was, she had to win.
She selected “Force Palm.”
But Archen moved first, streaking forward in a blur.
【Archen used Wing Attack!】
【It’s super effective!】
Stufful’s HP dropped to zero in one hit—a one-shot KO.
