Pokemon: Rising From The Dark Chapter 377 - 629 - Steven vs Cynthia

Steven was a little overwheld hearing what Aoki had said.

There was soone else waiting for him?

He rembered that he had no friends other than a few close ones like Aoki. If soone had been waiting for him in Verdanturf Town, they would have surely contacted him by now.

Speaking of which, Aoki walked past Steven and noticed Cynthia standing at the gym entrance, dressed in a black robe.

Just before Steven returned, Aoki had already returned all of Cynthia's Pokémon to her.

"Well, she's right behind you—you can handle the rest yourself," Aoki said, as if he had done his part and the rest was up to Steven.

For a mont, Steven was confused.

But when he turned around and saw the imposing Cynthia standing at the door, he understood after a brief pause.

"Cynthia?" Steven asked.

"Steven Stone, I challenge you to a battle," Cynthia said coolly, her expression unreadable.

"Alright!" Surprisingly, Steven agreed imdiately.

Then he turned and whispered to Aoki, "So the person waiting for was Cynthia?"

Now it was Aoki's turn to be puzzled. Did Steven and Cynthia know each other?

"Yeah."

"That's good. I thought it was just a fan. But Cynthia… I've been looking forward to battling her." Steven lightly patted his chest and let out a relieved sigh.

"???" Aoki could only stare in confusion.

"You don't know? Cynthia is huge online. Her reputation isn't any smaller than mine—maybe even bigger. But she's different from . Her fa cos purely from battle prowess. They call her the 'Battle Queen,'" Steven explained, as if Aoki had been living under a rock.

"By the way, have you fought her before?" Steven asked again.

Aoki nodded honestly. "Once. Just a one-on-one."

"How'd it go?"

"She's strong. I lost."

"Even if you lost, that just makes want to battle her more. My strength has improved a lot lately—I need to see how I stack up against her." Steven flashed a confident smile.

As Aoki and Steven whispered, Cynthia quietly approached, curious about their conversation.

Though Cynthia was naturally reserved, after spending a week together, she and Aoki had beco sothing like friends.

Around those she was comfortable with, Cynthia's icy deanor softened slightly—though to outsiders, she still seed aloof.

However, once a battle began, she underwent a complete transformation.

"I'll arrange the battlefield for you," Aoki said, noticing Cynthia's sudden presence. He gave Steven a knowing look before leaving to prepare the gym's arena.

The battle between these two didn't require anything elaborate—just a standard field would do. Since the gym was already maintained, the setup was quick.

With Aoki gone, an awkward silence settled between Steven and Cynthia.

But soon, Aoki returned with the arena ready. If they had anything to say, they could let their battle do the talking.

As for Steven's current strength, Aoki could only guess.

When they had last tead up at Mount Chimney, Steven had been strong—but still slightly below Cynthia.

Aoki's own skills had grown during his training journey, and Steven's must have as well—perhaps even more than his own.

After all, Steven's two tang had rged and evolved into a mighty tagross.

This wasn't just a simple fusion—it was an exponential boost in power and experience.

tagross had accumulated more battle knowledge than most Pokémon, and Aoki could only imagine how much stronger it had beco.

Aoki took his place as referee, watching as the two prepared to fight.

After a brief discussion, they decided on a three-on-three singles battle.

The first to lose all three Pokémon would be the loser.

With no audience present, the gym held only the three of them.

As a courtesy, Steven sent out his first Pokémon with a confident flourish.

The mont the Pokéball opened, a shiny tagross appeared on the field.

Leading with his ace showed just how seriously Steven took this battle.

Seeing Steven's choice, Cynthia's expression sharpened. She knew Steven had a Hoenn pseudo-legendary. That ant she couldn't rely solely on Pokémon strength—this would co down to training and strategy.

As tagross took the field, Aoki's system scanned its data:

Pokémon: tagross (Shiny)(Blue)

Gender: Genderless

Level: 49

Type: Steel/Psychic

Ability: Clear Body

Held Items: tal Coat, Chople Berry

Egg Moves: None

Basic Moves: Psychic, tal Claw, Magnet Rise, Take Down, Pursuit, Bullet Punch, Miracle Eye, Zen Headbutt, Scary Face, Iron Defense, Agility, teor Mash, Hamr Arm

Learnt Moves: Gravity, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Zen Headbutt, Magnet Rise, Icy Wind, Signal Beam, Trick Room

TM Moves: Protect, Psychic, Hidden Power (Flying), Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Calm Mind, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Substitute, Flash Cannon, Rest, Rain Dance, Rock Polish, Snore

Steven's tagross had reached the peak of Elite strength—just shy of reaching Champion-tier.

Its blue potential was one tier above Cynthia's Garchomp, and Garchomp's strongest strategy—sandstorm synergy—would struggle against tagross.

Steven had even taught tagross Rain Dance, which could disrupt Garchomp's sandstorm.

Though tagross was doubly weak to Ground-type moves, its ability to float via Magnet Rise—combined with its Psychic levitation—made landing a hit difficult.

It also resisted Dragon-type moves, giving it a slight type advantage.

The outco would hinge on move mastery and the Trainers' adaptability.

In Aoki's eyes, this could go either way.

Compared to Cynthia's fierce Garchomp, Steven's tagross was slightly better trained—likely due to Aoki's long-term support.

Though Garchomp had recovered to peak condition under Aoki's care, it still lagged slightly behind Steven's tagross.

However, Cynthia's battle instincts were sharper than Steven's.

After all, Steven split his ti between business and training, while Cynthia devoted herself entirely to Pokémon battles.

"Garchomp, Earthquake!"

"tagross, Magnet Rise—then Ice Punch!"

Hearing "Ice Punch," Cynthia's eye twitched slightly.