What a Thrill!

While Cynthia was dumbfounded, the chat seemed quite satisfied.

[Hahahaha, look at the streamer's expression.]

[Years later, will the streamer still remember the fear of being dominated by Archen?]

[You scared the boss to tears.]

But the next moment, Cynthia seemed to remember something and forcibly suppressed her shock.

Although her opponent's damage was high, that might not necessarily be a bad thing.

On the field, Torchic let out a crisp cry, and scarlet flames instantly ignited across its body!

[Torchic's Blaze ability activated!]

Cynthia had already seen this ability before. Once its HP fell below one-third, the power of Fire-type moves would increase significantly!

[Torchic used Ember!]

A dazzling tongue of flame erupted from Torchic's beak and swept toward Archen!

However, when the flames dispersed, Archen's HP bar had not been emptied as Cynthia had imagined. It had only dropped by less than half.

[It's not very effective!]

At the same time, the Light Screen on the field began to shatter.

[Light Screen is about to disappear!]

Cynthia looked at Torchic, which had only a sliver of HP left on the screen, then at Archen, which still had more than half its HP. She could not help raising a hand to her forehead, feeling slightly dizzy.

If it was not very effective, then there was only one possibility...

This thing... was Flying- and Rock-type?

How could those two types even be put together?

She had never heard of a Pokémon with that type combination!

Fire dealt normal damage to Flying, but half damage to Rock, making it not very effective overall.

And while Flying also dealt normal damage to Fire, why was this Archen's damage... so high?

There was no time to dwell on those questions. Cynthia began seriously considering her options.

Light Screen could last for one more turn, but Torchic definitely could not endure another hit. It had no chance to move.

On top of that, the opponent was even faster than Torchic. If the half-HP Dottler came in from the back, then even if Light Screen had not disappeared, it would probably just be instantly one-shot before it could move.

No matter how she looked at it, this seemed like a dead end.

She did not hesitate and directly chose to reload the save.

The screen shifted, and Cynthia once again stood before Roxanne.

But she did not hurry to challenge her. Instead, she began thinking of a way to deal with the battle.

First, switching twice to set up the screens was correct. Carracosta and Skiddo could both be dealt with that way.

But this Pokémon called Archen seemed completely impossible for her to handle.

Although she still had three empty slots on her team and could easily catch and train two more Pokémon to finish off Archen.

Cynthia did not do that. Instead, she began thinking seriously.

It was three against three right now. It was a fair battle.

Could she win this battle under those conditions?

But after thinking for a long time, she still could not find a solution. With the typings of her current three Pokémon, the opponent's final Pokémon was simply too difficult to handle.

Did she really have no choice but to catch new Pokémon and win through superior numbers?

The key question was, why had that single Peck dealt so much damage just now?

"How... is that damage calculated?"

Cynthia could not help asking the chat.

The chat began explaining all at once—what Choice Band was, how same-type attack bonus was calculated, the difference made by IVs, the bonuses from EVs, nature modifiers, and Archen's Defeatist ability.

Cynthia listened intently, comparing those concepts to Pokémon training in reality. After a moment of silence, she suddenly asked.

"Where do I get this Choice Band? What do EVs mean? How many EVs does my Torchic have? And what are nature modifiers? What ability does Archen have?"

[You don't even know what Choice Band is? It locks you into the first move you choose, but physical moves get a straight fifty percent power boost!]

[And there's the same-type attack bonus. Flying-types using Flying moves get a 1.5x bonus!]

[Base damage gets multiplied by 1.5 and then another 1.5, plus Archen has a base Attack stat of 110. That's outrageous in the early game.]

[IVs are a Pokémon's innate talent. A perfect IV Pokémon and a zero IV Pokémon can differ by more than thirty stat points. EVs are acquired through training—you fight specific monsters to raise specific stats. Max EVs can add more than sixty points.]

[On Insane Mode, Roxanne's Archen definitely has max Attack IVs and EVs, with a nature that boosts Attack and lowers Special Attack.]

[But you don't need to be too scared, streamer. This thing has high base stats, but its ability is Defeatist. Once its HP drops below half, both its Attack and Special Attack are halved.]

[Do you get it now, streamer? It was born freakishly strong and came with god-tier gear, while your Torchic is a fragile commoner charging in with a pot lid. Without Reflect, it would've been dead ages ago.]

As she watched the chat chatter away, Cynthia seriously analyzed the information before falling into thought.

Pokémon battles in reality also had the concept of training, but they would never become such cold numerical calculations as they did in a game.

But since these were the rules of the game, she had to make use of them.

After thinking for a moment, she asked again.

"How do status conditions work?"

The chat continued eagerly explaining: burns lowered physical Attack and caused continuous HP loss, paralysis reduced Speed and had a chance to prevent movement, while poison removed one-eighth of HP every turn.

Then quite a few people began urging her to go catch new Pokémon.

[Streamer, go catch some new Pokémon. These three definitely can't win.]

[Seriously, go check out that cave in the upper-right. You can catch some Rock-types to fight Archen.]

But after looking at those messages, Cynthia only thought for a moment before exiting the menu, opening her bag, and making a move that left the entire chat baffled.

She took the healing Oran Berry off Dottler and gave it to Torchic.

Then she turned around, walked toward Roxanne once more, and issued another challenge!

The chat exploded.

[??? Am I seeing things? Streamer, what are you doing?]

[You took Dottler's Berry away? How is it supposed to survive? Doesn't setting up screens require HP?]

[You gave Torchic an Oran Berry? Even if it gets one heal, with that body, it's still getting one-shot!]

While everyone was still confused, the battle had already begun!

Just like the previous attempts, Roxanne led with Carracosta, while Cynthia led with Shroomish.

Roxanne switched to Skiddo, and Cynthia switched twice into Dottler!

Skiddo used Rock Slide, taking away one-third of Dottler's HP.

But this time, Cynthia did not choose to set up a screen!

She glanced at the Skiddo across from her, her finger hovering over the keyboard before directly selecting an attacking move!

"Struggle Bug!"

Dark red light burst from Dottler's body and shot toward Skiddo!

And at the instant it hit, Dottler's body also erupted with a brilliant radiance!

[Dottler's Swarm ability activated!]

[The power of Bug-type moves increased!]

[It's super effective!]

The notifications appeared one after another, and Skiddo's HP bar was instantly emptied. It was directly one-shot!

The chat immediately caught on.

[Eh, so not holding the Berry was actually the right call?]

[That's true. If the Berry healed it, Swarm wouldn't activate...]

[The streamer must've stumbled into that by accident, right? I refuse to believe she calculated it!]

[Yeah, and even then, Archen still can't be dealt with.]

At the same time, on the battlefield, Roxanne withdrew Skiddo and sent out Carracosta!

Dottler still had one-third of its HP left. Cynthia did not hesitate and directly selected Light Screen!

A golden barrier unfolded!

And as expected, Carracosta once again chose Shell Smash!

Its Attack, Special Attack, and Speed soared, while its defenses plummeted!

A new turn began—the first turn of Light Screen.

After Shell Smash, Carracosta was far faster than Dottler. A Rock Slide came crashing down!

[Carracosta used Rock Slide!]

Dottler's already meager HP bar was instantly emptied, and it collapsed!

Without the Berry's recovery, even with Reflect, it could not withstand the boosted Rock Slide.

[Good work, Dottler.]

[Go, Shroomish!]

Cynthia sent out Shroomish.

The second turn of Light Screen.

Shroomish entered the field. Facing Carracosta, whose defenses had greatly fallen after Shell Smash, Cynthia did not hesitate in the slightest and used Bullet Seed.

Carracosta's Rock Slide landed, but with Reflect's help, Shroomish still had one-third of its HP remaining.

Next, Carracosta's defense, already greatly reduced by Shell Smash, was practically nonexistent under Bullet Seed's four-times-effective assault. Half its HP bar instantly vanished!

The second hit followed immediately after!

[Hit twice! It's super effective!]

[Carracosta fainted!]

The third turn of Light Screen!

Roxanne withdrew Carracosta and sent out her final Pokémon.

[Roxanne sent out Archen!]

That colorful ancient bird appeared on the field again, radiating a suffocating sense of pressure.

At that very moment, Cynthia directly saved the game.

Then she selected Stun Spore.

Archen was faster. One Peck directly took out Shroomish.

[Shroomish fainted.]

Cynthia showed no expression and immediately reloaded!

Back to the moment Archen entered the field.

She selected the powder again, got taken out by Peck again, and reloaded again!

The chat was utterly confused.

[What is she doing? Is she throwing Pokémon away?]

[Huh? Is the streamer gambling on a miss? Peck never misses!]

But by the third attempt, someone had already realized something.

[Oh, the streamer is gambling on Effect Spore triggering!]

[Holy crap, that's actually it. I nearly forgot about that.]

Cynthia stared intently at the screen and reloaded once more.

According to the game description, Shroomish's Effect Spore ability had a thirty percent chance to inflict paralysis or poison on an opponent when hit by a contact move!

And Archen's Peck seemed to be a contact move!

The fourth reload!

Archen's beak became an afterimage as it pierced through Shroomish's body!

[It's super effective!]

[Shroomish fainted!]

But at the instant Shroomish collapsed, purple bubbles suddenly emerged from Archen's body!

[Archen is poisoned!]

At the end of the turn, Archen's HP dropped slightly from the poison.

Now, the fourth turn of Light Screen began!

[Go, Torchic!]

Cynthia sent out Torchic and selected Ember.

Archen was still ridiculously fast, and another Peck came striking in!

[Archen used Peck!]

The damage was still terrifying. Torchic's HP bar instantly dropped to the bottom, leaving only a tiny sliver!

But!

A green light suddenly flashed around Torchic's body. The Berry removed from Dottler activated at that very moment!

Its HP instantly recovered to a little over one-third of its maximum!

The chat began flooding with messages:

[So why give it that Berry?]

[It could've used one Blaze-boosted Ember at low HP, but now it healed and Blaze can't even activate!]

Cynthia did not reply to the chat, only watched the screen.

Torchic spat flames at Archen, taking less than a third of his HP.

At the end of the turn, Archen is poisoned took effect again, dropping his HP to half and making it flash an unhealthy yellow.

A new turn began.

This was the most crucial turn—and the final moment Light Screen would remain!

Cynthia selected Ember again.

Archen attacked once more as well!

[Archen used Peck!]

This strike should have instantly killed Torchic, who no longer had Blaze to fall back on!

But at the instant the damage was calculated, a red light suddenly burst from Archen's body, enveloping him as his momentum plummeted!

[Defeatist activated!]

Archen's HP had fallen below half, triggering Defeatist and directly halving his Attack!

On top of that, there was the berry's healing and Light Screen's damage reduction!

The supposedly fatal Peck landed, yet Torchic did not fall.

His HP was like a candle flickering in the wind, with only 3 points remaining!

Cynthia's gaze sharpened. Now!

Torchic's HP had fallen below one-third!

[Torchic used Ember!]

[Torchic's Blaze activated!]

This was the real purpose behind removing the berry myself—I didn't need Dottler to survive. I needed a breaking point where he could eat the berry in desperate circumstances to trigger Defeatist, then use his remaining HP to trigger Blaze!

Flames surged forth, engulfing Archen!

Archen's HP bar instantly plummeted, but like Torchic's, it still retained the last sliver of red.

As long as the next turn arrived, he could act first again and take away Torchic's final sliver of HP.

But just then, purple light flashed, and his body suddenly convulsed.

[Archen is poisoned!]

[Archen took damage from poison!]

The poison's corrosion took away his final sliver of HP at the very last moment!

[Archen fainted!]

[You defeated Gym Leader Roxanne!]

Rousing music suddenly erupted alongside a cheerful notification chime!

At the same time, Cynthia let out a long breath in front of her computer and leaned back in her chair.

How long had it been since she'd experienced something like this?

The exhilaration of seizing that single chance at victory amid countless deductions, calculations, and battles decided by the narrowest margins, then finally turning the situation around.

Could a game really bring such exhilaration—the kind found in battles pushed to the absolute limit...?

She gently closed her eyes, but a sincere smile curved her lips.

That was... truly exhilarating.