In the courtyard of the Rockfist Gym, Luther and Cynthia sat on stone benches, sipping tea. On the left table sat Rockfist Gym's Leader, Endou, along with Matsuto. On the right sat Breakstone Gym's Leader, Akimoto, with his disciples.
Gym Leader Endou now looked as if he had lost his soul. Just twenty minutes ago, he had been relieved when what he thought was a misunderstanding turned out to be nothing serious. When he saw the so-called "assessment official" Cynthia arrive, looking as young as Luther, he thought she would be an easy inspector to handle.
Cold sweat trickled down Matsuto's forehead as he leaned close to whisper Cynthia's true identity to Endou, who hadn't kept up with Pokémon League news for years. Upon hearing it, Endou immediately felt his world spinning.
Since when did the League send Champions to conduct Gym evaluations?
Wasn't that going a bit too far?
From the moment Cynthia stepped into the Gym, she had been muttering under her breath, and Luther, sitting beside her, caught every word.
"The Gym's environment is terrible, two points at best. Such a spacious and carefully designed courtyard, complete with rock gardens and ponds… yet the Gym facilities themselves look like they've been dug out of the ground."
"And this battlefield? Just a bare patch of dirt? Even the land I use for growing Berries looks more pleasing than this."
"At least a Fighting-type Gym should have some kind of distinct décor… oh wait, it does. Those characters for 'Focus' on the wall, except the word 'heart' has almost rotted away. How poetic."
After making a round of observations, Cynthia found only one thing satisfactory: the Machamp standing beside Gym Leader Endou.
"The whole Gym is a mess, but at least this Machamp is decent. Though it's clearly reaching its twilight years, its muscles are still well-honed, and its stance when exerting power hasn't deformed. Its previous Trainer raised it well."
Luther got a firsthand look at just how harsh Cynthia was when it came to Pokémon battles. In her eyes, if not for that Machamp, Rockfist Gym would only have scored two points. Thanks to Machamp, she added three more, bringing it up to five.
The scene was tragic, Cynthia tore Rockfist Gym apart without restraint, sparing no feelings. She simply spoke whatever came to mind.
It wasn't that Cynthia lacked emotional intelligence, she simply carried out her duties with ruthless fairness. To her, a Gym Leader without sufficient strength deserved elimination.
A Gym Leader's role was to train and guide Pokémon Trainers. If one lacked that strength, they should step aside and let someone more capable take the position. Squatting on the post under the excuse of "preserving ancestral honor" only misled the younger generation.
Endou hadn't even revealed the last Pokémon he used in his battle with Luther, Breloom, before Cynthia flatly refused to fight in Rockfist Gym's so-called "vegetable patch" of a battlefield. She insisted they move the match to the courtyard.
Just as they arrived there, Breakstone Gym's Leader Akimoto, who had already been evaluated by Cynthia, came storming in with his disciples and apprentice Trainers, filling the place with people.
Rockfist Gym ended up with five points. Breakstone Gym only got four.
Rockfist Gym was an old, established Gym, handed down through generations. Breakstone Gym was newly approved, boasting brand-new facilities and providing Trainers with an excellent battle environment.
They had all the infrastructure expected of a core Gym, so even before Cynthia began her evaluation, Breakstone Gym automatically earned four points for environment.
But in the end, they stayed stuck at only four.
Snowpoint City was in a unique situation. It had been formed just three years ago by merging two neighboring towns. Each of those towns originally had its own Gym, and after merging, Snowpoint City inherited both.
The Pokémon League had long wanted to resolve this issue, but the merger was such a complicated process that things were only finalized this year.
Since Cynthia happened to be traveling to Snowpoint to examine an unearthed stone tablet, the League assigned her the task of Gym evaluations.
Rockfist Gym and Breakstone Gym had been at odds for years, knowing full well that Snowpoint City could only keep one Gym. Their rivalry had already led to plenty of friction.
The surprising thing was that Rockfist Gym had not been at a disadvantage.
The reason was simple, Breakstone Gym was just too weak. Meanwhile, Rockfist Gym still had that Machamp, which wasn't half bad.
In Cynthia's own words:
"I don't even know what kind of nonsense they call battles over there."
While the specifics of Breakstone Gym's performance weren't clear, the exasperation in Cynthia's voice made it obvious enough, Breakstone Gym… wasn't much to speak of.
Akimoto, the Leader of Breakstone Gym, had come running to Rockfist Gym purely to watch the assessment. Since Cynthia had judged his Breakstone Gym to be utterly pathetic, he wanted to see how Rockfist Gym would fare.
Could this shabby, rundown Gym really score higher than his?
Breloom was sent out as the last hope. Beside it, Machamp struggled to rise and join the fight, but Matsuto pressed it down and began applying Potion to its palms. The wounds and fatigue from its earlier battle with Luther had not fully recovered.
Cynthia, on the other hand, sent out her Garchomp.
Matsuto's face turned darker than ever, Cynthia had immediately brought out her trump card.
Gym Leader Endou ordered Breloom to use Dynamic Punch. Luther understood Endou's thinking. Even if he lost against a Champion, he wanted to go down swinging. The purpose of the assessment wasn't about winning or losing, it was about how one fought. So Endou showed no hesitation, leaning fully into his reckless, head-on style.
If Dynamic Punch connected, it would confuse Garchomp. Confusion might just create a chance to win.
But what Endou didn't understand was… Cynthia herself had risen to the top by fighting exactly that kind of reckless, headlong battle. Opening with wild offense, trading blows, those were the very tactics that had made her the number one Trainer in Sinnoh.
As for the second-best Trainer? Well, nobody had ever heard it was Endou.
Breloom's Dynamic Punch clashed head-on with Garchomp's full-powered Dragon Rush. Breloom hadn't even swung its fist yet, just meeting Garchomp's eyes, it froze under the crushing pressure of its aura.
Rooted in place, Breloom became the perfect target. With a single move, the battle was over.
Luther only needed to see each side's opening move to know the fight would be decided in an instant. There was nothing worth watching.
Matsuto knew Cynthia was strong, and he had expected his father to lose, but he hadn't expected it to be so one-sided. Not only did Endou fail to land a counterattack, he hadn't even managed to release a single move before being completely suppressed.
Watching Endou lose so swiftly, Akimoto actually felt a bit of glee.
His own battle against Cynthia had been just as lopsided. The only difference was that he had insisted on a full three-on-three match.
He had believed that if he could at least knock out one of Cynthia's Pokémon, he'd pass the evaluation.
…Or so he thought.
Cynthia had sent out Togekiss and used only one move, Air Slash.
Her first opponent fainted instantly. Her second endured briefly, but flinched and couldn't use a move before being finished by repeated Air Slashes.
The third tried harder, darting around the field to dodge the constant Air Slashes. But the moment it attempted to counterattack, it was struck down in a single blow.
Akimoto was furious, but didn't dare show it.
It was utterly humiliating!
The Pokémon League sending a Champion to conduct Gym assessments felt like a mockery. Cynthia fought with her full power, and small-time Gym Leaders like him had no hope of withstanding it.
He saw no sign that Cynthia had held back. She bulldozed through his Pokémon like a machine, leaving nothing standing.
If Luther had witnessed that battle at Breakstone Gym, he surely would have pulled Akimoto aside and advised him to watch Cynthia's match against Lucian.
"Full power? You've got to be dreaming."
(End of Chapter)
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