Chapter 44: Versus Shinji, At Least Let Me Spill Some Blood, Won't You?

Amidst the stirring music, as the game shifted into battle mode, a prompt suddenly appeared before Cynthia’s eyes:

— “Formidable Trainer: Shinji has come to challenge you!”

The sight immediately put Cynthia into a serious mindset.

She knew from the game’s design that such intense battle music and notifications only appeared when facing powerful opponents—like Gym Leaders or rivals.

In other words, this NPC before her was likely a challenging adversary.

Meanwhile, viewers in the live chat flooded the screen with questions:

“Shinji? Who’s that? Never heard of him… Has he appeared in the game before?”

“No idea. Probably just some random NPC. Doesn’t look very strong.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Every character introduced like this tends to be special in this game!”

“True, Emerald doesn’t waste space on weaklings.”

As the speculation about the challenger’s identity continued, Cynthia selected from her team and decided to send out the versatile Empoleon first.

Shinji followed suit, throwing a Poké Ball to release his lead Pokémon.

Before them stood a Pokémon covered in orange-yellow lightning patterns, with a plug-like structure atop its head.

It was an Electric-type Pokémon—Electivire.

The protrusion on its head could unleash terrifying electrical power, and its physical strength was formidable, ranking among the top attackers in the Electric-type category.

No wonder it was such a popular Electric-type Pokémon.

In the first turn, Cynthia intended to use Giga Drain immediately but reconsidered and switched to the move Fake Out.

Since Empoleon was Water and Grass-type, it wasn’t afraid of Electric attacks and could safely stay on the field.

Whether Shinji switched Pokémon or ordered Electivire to attack, Fake Out would hit, causing the opponent to lose a turn—guaranteed profit.

Following her command, Empoleon swung its arms, conjuring a massive purple mist-formed palm that slammed hard onto Electivire.

The latter visibly stiffened for a moment.

“Electivire flinched!”

It didn’t vanish in a flash of red light, meaning Shinji wasn’t swapping out Pokémon.

In the second turn, Cynthia used Giga Drain to counterattack.

Electivire’s potential moves like Fire Punch or Ice Punch posed no threat to Empoleon.

Yet, the unexpected happened next.

“Electivire’s Choice Scarf increased its speed!”

“Electivire used Volt Switch!”

Electivire transformed into a golden flash, collided fiercely with Empoleon, draining a third of its health bar, then disappeared back into its Poké Ball.

Out on the field came a Pokémon with a hard shell, its back covered in rocks and plants, resembling a turtle.

Cynthia’s brows furrowed instantly.

This was none other than Torterra, the evolved form of Turtwig, one of the Sinnoh region’s starter Pokémon.

Being from Sinnoh herself, Cynthia usually felt a special fondness when seeing this Pokémon.

But here, that feeling dissipated.

Because Torterra’s dual typing complemented each other perfectly against Empoleon.

Neither Water nor Grass moves would be super effective against it.

Moreover, Torterra’s defensive capabilities were exceptional, making it a tough nut to crack.

As Cynthia anticipated, Empoleon’s Giga Drain only reduced Torterra’s health by less than a quarter.

Then, a familiar scene unfolded.

A bright white glow appeared on Torterra’s body, absorbed internally, restoring some of its health and turning its health bar green again.

“Torterra’s Leftovers restored some of its HP!”

Wait—why does everyone have Leftovers?

Cynthia sighed inwardly.

After quick calculation, she made her decision.

Despite the Leftovers, prolonged attrition wouldn’t let Empoleon win easily.

Torterra’s high durability meant its offensive output was modest.

Empoleon wasn’t afraid of Grass or Ground moves, and Giga Drain converted half the damage dealt into healing, outpacing the Leftovers’ recovery.

With this judgment, Cynthia used Giga Drain again, a deep green glow radiating from Empoleon as it struck Torterra and returned as light particles.

If Empoleon weren’t at full health, these particles would have replenished its HP.

But Torterra showed no signs of playing the long game.

Instead of attacking, it retracted all limbs into its shell, flipped backward, and spun upright.

Like a circular board, it began spinning rapidly, creating a whirlwind.

Dark gray and red lights swirled on its body, and a game notification popped up:

“Torterra used Swords Dance! Its Attack rose sharply!”

The chat exploded:

“??”

“Torterra can learn Swords Dance??”

“Wait, why is it suddenly powering up in the middle of this trade?”

“Leftovers plus Swords Dance? That’s some serious dedication…”

“See? Emerald doesn’t keep slackers around.”

Cynthia’s expression grew complicated.

Swords Dance was one of the strongest physical attack boosts, notoriously difficult to learn, especially for heavy-bodied Pokémon, as it required spinning their body like a blade at high speed.

Did this mean many Pokémon previously thought incapable of learning Swords Dance might actually be able to?

Or was it simply a game-specific quirk?

She had no time to ponder.

A Torterra with two stages of Attack boost posed a serious threat to Empoleon.

Switching Pokémon was unwise; Torterra’s high defense meant neither Munchlax nor Grotle could defeat it within two turns.

And Torterra, powered by Swords Dance, could easily cripple both.

Faced with no other options, Cynthia took a deep breath and clicked the top-right corner to restart the game.

The experience over the past days had taught her one thing: sometimes, conceding is not shameful.

Unlike real battles, in-game battles could be retried indefinitely, which was part of the game’s appeal.

Of course, restarts came at a cost—you had to accept your character might remain broke for a while.

Cynthia logged in again smoothly, entering the battle with Shinji once more, again sending out Empoleon.

Shinji’s lead Pokémon remained Electivire.

The same sequence followed: Electivire’s Choice Scarf boosted its speed, it used Volt Switch to retreat and switched in Torterra.

But this time, Empoleon didn’t attack.

Instead, accompanied by cheerful, playful music, it began a side-to-side dance.

“Empoleon used Teeter Dance!”

“Torterra became confused!”

Yes, Cynthia had replaced Empoleon’s Bubble Beam with Teeter Dance before logging in!

Teeter Dance was a status move causing the opponent to become confused with 100% accuracy.

Control techniques like this were key to handling a durable Pokémon like Torterra, especially one with boosting moves.

But confusion alone might not suffice.

So, at the start of the second turn, Cynthia commanded Empoleon to use Zen Headbutt.

Zen Headbutt had a 20% chance to flinch, which, combined with confusion, greatly reduced Torterra’s chance to act.

As expected, luck was on her side: Torterra flinched and skipped its turn.

On the next turn, confusion caused it to hit itself.

Then, Torterra managed to use Swords Dance but by then, its HP was already below half, making the boost meaningless.

Thus, Empoleon defeated Shinji’s Torterra with barely any status loss.

Moreover, Giga Drain healed the damage Electivire’s Volt Switch had caused.

By this point, the battle clearly tipped in Cynthia’s favor.

Shinji’s team had only three Pokémon.

Besides Torterra and Electivire, only one remained unseen.

But when Shinji sent out his final Pokémon, Cynthia’s brow furrowed again.

A snow-white figure appeared, slender and graceful like a maiden, shrouded in a faint icy mist that lent an air of mystery.

It was none other than Froslass, the Ice/Ghost-type Pokémon.

Fortunately, Water resisted Ice, so Empoleon wasn’t at a disadvantage.

In Cynthia’s experience, Froslass excelled in speed and special attack, likely to attempt a power boost strategy.

She chose to play it safe and used Teeter Dance again.

Unexpectedly, Froslass moved first.

It raised both sleeves, conjured a strange orb of chaotic light, and struck Empoleon’s head.

“Froslass used Confuse Ray!”

“Empoleon became confused!”

“Empoleon attacked itself due to confusion!”

Despite having dealt with Torterra, this battle against Shinji remained quite challenging.

Two minutes later, after Munchlax lost most of its health and Empoleon was rendered unable to fight, Cynthia finally secured victory.

The battle ended, and Shinji reappeared on screen, snorting coldly, his face dark.

“This time I lost because my Pokémon were useless.”

“Next time… I’ll bring stronger Pokémon to take revenge. Just wait.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

The chat erupted:

“What’s wrong with this guy? Blaming his Pokémon for losing? Does he even deserve to be a trainer?”

“Yeah, I thought he had some skill, but his attitude’s terrible.”

“Streamer, next time you meet him, knock his teeth out!”

Clearly, viewers disapproved strongly of Shinji’s lack of respect for his Pokémon.

Cynthia stared at the screen, deep in thought.

She’d met trainers like him before, but there were distinctions.

Some refused to admit their own shortcomings, venting frustration on their Pokémon and shirking responsibility.

Others sought ultimate strength, demanding perfection from themselves and their Pokémon, discarding any that couldn’t keep up.

Regardless, Cynthia found both attitudes unacceptable.

After all, the most important thing for a trainer was the bond shared with their Pokémon.

Lost in thought, she decided to find the city’s Pokémon Center to heal her team.

But soon, she froze.

Her character remained unable to act.

A sense of foreboding arose within her.

Sure enough, the stirring battle music blared again.

A familiar figure strode swiftly toward her.

It was her rival, the “Black-Haired Boy”!

“Oh, what a coincidence, Strawberry Ice Cream, you’re here too?”

“Since we’ve locked eyes, let’s battle!”

Cynthia: ?

Alright, battle’s fine.

But could you at least let me heal my Pokémon first?

Who starts a battle like a consecutive gauntlet?

(Next Wednesday’s release! Last chance to ask for Monday reads! Daily ten-thousand-word updates for a whole month! Hope everyone supports with a first subscription, thank you!)