How To Beat Cynthia At The Pokemon League In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond And Shining Pearl. Those who want to be the best in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl will have to compete against a slew of formidable Pokemon Trainers. First, they must defeat all eight of Sinnoh’s gym leaders, which will be no easy task. They’ll then have to brave the dangers of Victory Road before facing the Elite Four, a group of veteran trainers. Even after doing so, however, one major challenge remains: players must also defeat Sinnoh’s reigning Pokemon Champion, Cynthia.
Though Cynthia appears at various points throughout Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, it is only after players defeat the Elite Four that she is revealed to be the relic.
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How to Get Ready for Cynthia
Preparing for Cynthia’s battle is made all the more difficult by the fact that it occurs immediately after players have defeated the Elite Four. This means that the team formed by the players to defeat Aaron, Bertha, Flint, and Lucian must also be capable of defeating Cynthia. Needless to say, players should bring plenty of healing items with them so that they can recover HP in-between battles. Given that the strongest moves in the game tend to have lower PP than others, this should also include a few Ethers. Unfortunately, PP restoring items, such as Potions and Revives, cannot be purchased, so players must have discovered and saved them.
Cynthia, unlike the Elite Four before her, has no clear type preference, with her six Pokemon representing a total of nine different types. Fortunately, the fact that all but one of them are dual-type Pokemon makes hitting weakness easier. Milotic and Gastrodon shouldn’t cause too much trouble if players have a Pokemon with a strong grass-type attack somewhere in their team, while ice-type attacks can take care of both Garchomp and Roserade. The latter can also be easily defeated with fire-type moves, which will be useful against Lucario. Spiritomb’s only real weakness is to fairy-type attacks, but players can simply use brute force to tame it.
Given that both Palkia and Dialga can learn Blizzard using TM14, which can be found at Lake Acuity or purchased at the Veilstone City Department Store, they should be the player’s go-to Pokemon for ice-type attacks. Those who chose Infernape as their starter should already have fire-type attacks covered, but Rapidash is a more than capable stand-in for everyone else. Haunter / Gengar can learn Dazzling Gleam with TM21, which can be obtained from the Team Galactic HQ or the Department Store. Giga Drain, which can be found on Route 209 by using Surf, can also be learned by both Pokemon.
How to Get Rid of Cynthia
| Champion Cynthia (₱13,464) | |
|---|---|
| Spiritomb (Lvl. 61) | Dark Pulse |
| Psychic | |
| Shadow Ball | |
| Sucker Punch | |
| Lucario (Lvl. 63) | Aura Sphere |
| Dragon Pulse | |
| Flash Canon | |
| Nasty Plot | |
| Roserade (Lvl. 60) | Dazzling Gleam |
| Energy Ball | |
| Shadow Ball | |
| Sludge Bomb | |
| Gastrodon (Lvl. 60) | Earthquake |
| Scald | |
| Rock Tomb | |
| Sludge Bomb | |
| Milotic (Lvl. 63) | Ice Beam |
| Mirror Coat | |
| Recover | |
| Scald | |
| Garchomp (Lvl 66) | Dragon Claw |
| Earthquake | |
| Poison Jab | |
| Swords Dance |
Cynthia will begin with Spiritomb, so players should ideally begin with a Pokemon that knows Dazzling Gleam or another strong fairy-type attack. They’ll want to try to take it out in a single hit if possible, because Cynthia will withdraw it and throw out Lucario if they don’t. Players should switch to their fire-type attacker here, though if they happen to have a Gastrodon for the Elite Four, this is also a good choice because it can take Lucario out with Earth Power. If Roserade appears next, players can either stay with their fire-type attacker if it is already out, or switch to Palkia / Dialga and deal with it with Blizzard or another powerful ice-type attack like Ice Beam.
Gastrodon and Milotic are usually the first to appear. So players should switch to their grass-type attacker and annihilate them. The latter can be a nuisance to deal with due to its ability to use Rest to recover HP. But given its weight of 357 lbs. Grass Knot should hit with 100 attack power. Which should be enough to take it down with a single hit. If players haven’t already defeated it, Spiritomb will appear next, followed by Cynthia’s final and most powerful Pokemon, Garchomp.
What to Do After You’ve Been Defeated by Cynthia
After defeating Cynthia, Professor Rowan will appear and enter the player’s Pokemon into the Hall of Fame. After the credits, players will be returned to Twinleaf town, where their adversary has left a message instructing them to board a ship bound for Snowpoint City. This will transport players to a new Island where they can battle powerful trainers. But it is just one of many pieces of post-game content in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. Players can also catch the three Lake Guardians and work their way through the Pokedex. Unlocking the National Dex and the Ramanas Park area, where even more Legendary Pokemon can be found.
