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Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP)
How to Beat Champion Cynthia Guide
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This guide covers everything you need to know to beat Cynthia, the Champion of the Elite Four in in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, a Pokemon remake for the Nintendo Switch. Read on to learn about Cynthia's Pokemon team and types, and recommended Pokemon to use against Champion Cynthia!
| All Cynthia Battles | |
|---|---|
| Cynthia Chamption Battle | Cynthia Rematches |
| Elite Four Lucian | Champion Cynthia |
|---|---|
| Lucian | Cynthia |
List of Contents
Champion Cynthia's Pokemon Team and Types
Type and Suggested Level
 |
|
| Type Specialty | All Around |
|---|---|
| Suggested Level | Lv. 70 ~ Lv. 75 |
Champion Cynthia's Pokemon
| Pokemon | Type | Ability / Item | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
 Spiritomb(Lvl. 61) |
|
Pressure
Sitrus Berry |
・Shadow Ball ・Dark Pulse ・Psychic ・Sucker Punch |
 Roserade(Lvl. 60) |
|
Poison Point
Expert Belt |
・Dazzling Gleam ・Shadow Ball ・Sludge Bomb ・Energy Ball |
 Gastrodon(Lvl. 60) |
|
Storm Drain
Leftovers |
・Scald ・Earthquake ・Sludge Bomb ・Rock Tomb |
 Lucario(Lvl. 63) |
|
Inner Focus
Wise Glasses |
・Aura Sphere ・Dragon Pulse ・Flash Cannon ・Nasty Plot |
 Milotic(Lvl. 63) |
|
Marvel Scale
Flame Orb |
・Recover ・Mirror Coat ・Ice Beam ・Scald |
 Garchomp(Lvl. 66) |
|
Rough Skin
Yache Berry |
・Dragon Claw ・Earthquake ・Swords Dance ・Poison Jab |
How to Beat Champion Cynthia
Defeat Spiritomb with a High Power Attack or Fairy Type Move
Because Spiritomb has high defenses and its ability, Pressure, increases your PP usage by 2 per move, quickly defeat it with either a high powered attack or a super effective Fairy type move.
Get Ready during Gastrodon and Roserade
We recommend using healing items such as Full Restores and Revives to heal as many team members as you can during Gastrodon and Roserade to prepare for the later half of the battle when Cynthia will bring our more powerful Pokemon, such as Lucario and Garchomp.
Use a Physical Move on Milotic then Finish it off with Special Moves
Cynthia's Milotic holds a Flame Orb and has the ability Marvel Scale, which increases its Defense when inflicted by a status condition. The Flame Orb only takes effect on the second turn, so we recommend using a Physical Move on the first turn then Special Moves to finish it off.
If you have Luxray on your team, a great combo attack would be to start with Spark then finish it off with Thunderbolt.
Quickly Defeat Lucario with Super Effective Moves
Lucario is another powerful Pokemon that can sharply raise its Special Attack with the move Nasty Plot. Take it out quickly with a super effective move such as Close Combat (Staraptor), Flare Blitz (Rapidash), or Earthquake (Garchomp).
Lower Garchomp's Attack Stat with Intimidate
Garchomp is Cynthia's highest-level Pokemon and can sharply raise its Attack with Swords Dance. Bring out a Pokemon with the Intimidate ability to decrease its attack. If you have more than one Pokemon with Intimidate, you can continuously switch them out while using Revives to keep them alive.
Let Gyarados Learn Ice Fang
Becuase Garchomp is 4x weak against Ice, we recommend equipping one of your Pokemon with an Ice type move like Ice Fang or Ice Beam. Gyarados has a good match up against Garchomp, especially since it already has the ability Intimidate.
You can go to the Move Reminder to let Gyarados relearn the move Ice Fang and use it against Garchomp. Since Garchomp holds a Yache Berry, the first attack will only inflict half the damage, but afterwards, you can take full advantage of this weakness.
Best Team to Beat Champion Cynthia
Best Pokemon to Beat Cynthia
| Pokemon | Recommended Moves |
|---|---|
 Gyarados
|
・Waterfall (Lv. 21) ・Crunch (Lv. 24) ・Dragon Dance (Lv. 36) ・Wide coverage due to access to both Water and Dark type moves. ・You can setup Dragon Dance during Gastrodon. ・Intimidate lowers Garchomp's Attack stat. |
 Staraptor
|
・Aerial Ace (Lv. 28) ・Close Combat (On Evolution) ・Brave Bird (Lv. 49) ・Has access to super effective moves against Lucario and Roserade. ・You can inflict high amounts of damage with Brave Bird. ・Intimidate lowers Garchomp's Attack stat. |
|
Gastrodon
|
・Earth Power (Lv. 39) ・Scald (TM49) ・Ice Beam (TM13) ・Great type match up against Lucario. ・Counter Garchomp with Ice Beam. ・High Defenses. |
Bring a team that can handle all five battles
As you will have to use the same party for battling Cynthia that you use against the four members of the Elite Four, it is important to bring a versatile team that is effective against all of the Elite Four members and gives coverage to Cynthia's team as well.
Elite Four Types and Weaknesses
| Trainer | Main Type | Primary Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron |
|
|
| Bertha |
|
|
| Flint |
|
|
| Lucian |
|
|
| Cynthia | All-Around | - |
All Elite Four Types and Pokemon
Best Elite Four Teams
Generally speaking, you will want to bring the six Pokemon you have trained to the highest level up to this point, and the team composition will likely not change much from the main team that you used throughout your adventure. Having a Grass, Fire, and Water type on your team will cover most of your bases, while allowing room for powerful Pokemon such as Lucario and Garchomp to help with odd matchups.
While Lucian, the fourth trainer, has a team mostly centered around psychic type Pokemon, it is not totally necessary to bring a Dark / Bug / Ghost Pokemon. While having some moves of this type on your team will certainly give you an edge, the majority of his Pokemon have low defense and can simply be overpowered without type effectiveness, and meanwhile Bronzong can be defeated with Fire attacks.
Best Team: Best Pokemon to Use for the Story
When Starting with Turtwig
| Best Elite Four Team When Starting With Turtwig | ||
|---|---|---|
 Torterra
|
 Rapidash
|
Garchomp
|
|
Lucario
|
Staraptor
|
Gyarados
|
When Starting with Chimchar
| Best Elite Four Team When Starting With Chimchar | ||
|---|---|---|
 Infernape
|
Gyarados
|
Garchomp
|
|
Staraptor
|
Lucario
|
Roserade
|
When Starting with Piplup
| Best Elite Four Team When Starting With Piplup | ||
|---|---|---|
 Empoleon
|
Rapidash
|
Garchomp
|
|
Lucario
|
Roserade
|
Staraptor
|
All Cynthia Battles
| All Cynthia Battles | |
|---|---|
| Cynthia Chamption Battle | Cynthia Rematches |
Pokemon BDSP Related Guides
Related Story Pages
| Previous Story Section | Current Story Section | Next Story Section |
|---|---|---|
| Getting the 8th Badge | Becoming the Champion | Post Game Guide |
Elite Four Trainers
| 1st Trainer | 2nd Trainer |
|---|---|
| Aaron | Bertha |
| 3rd Trainer | 4th Trainer |
| Flint | Lucian |
| Champion | |
| Cynthia | |
All Elite Four Types and Pokemon
Elite Four Rematches
| 1st Trainer | 2nd Trainer |
|---|---|
| Aaron | Bertha |
| 3rd Trainer | 4th Trainer |
| Flint | Lucian |
| Champion | |
| Cynthia | |
Comment
3 
Anonymous almost 4 years
Anonymous almost 4 yearsIf you know what you are going up against than you can use whatever team you want and prepare for the battle before hand. I used and usaring and with one swords dance it one shot almost everything. It knocked out the garchomp after taking a hit, resulting in a double knockout. This was in set battle style as well.
Author
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl (BDSP) Walkthrough & Guides Wiki
How to Beat Champion Cynthia Guide
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An average Absol lv 65-69 can solo OKO her whole team. Alternate swords dance and potions till you max attack. Night slash will work except against Garchomp and Roserade, use sucker punch for those two.