How to defeat Cynthia in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

our pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl The complete guide and walkthrough continues right after you beat Elite Four Lucian in the Pokémon League. It's finally time to face the champion, Cynthia. It's the final obstacle standing between you and an illustrious Hall of Famer.

After meeting her multiple times throughout the main story, it's no surprise that Cynthia is the champion of the Sinnoh Pokemon League. To this day, she is arguably one of the greatest trainers in Pokémon gaming history. It's no surprise that Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl marks the fourth generation in which she appears.

Updated December 26, 2024 by Andrew Scariati: Defeating Cynthia in BDSP is not an easy task. Because you'll need to bring the right Pokémon to take on Cynthia's team. To defeat Cynthia in BDSP, use the updated recommended team and strategy below. I've also added a team example below to help you prepare.

Cynthia Tim wearing brilliant diamonds and shining pearls

We'll get into what makes Cynthia so great in a moment. First, let's take a quick look at Cynthia's party. Don't be scared. We'll discuss in detail how to counter her, so by the end of this guide you'll be a contender for the newly crowned Champion of Sinnoh.

Cynthia's entire team

How to defeat Cynthia's Spiritrom

Spiritomb may seem like a bit of an odd clue at first, but it's an amazing choice that will get you going right out the door.

that The only weak type is Fairy. and its Extensive defense and special defense statistics It can eat up most of the non-STAB sprite attacks, as if it were a tackle straight from Route 201.

constant spam Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse will do Consistently lower your Pokemon's special defense. This means that without a plan, Spiritomb will make it 1-0 on Cynthia before the fight even really begins.

Then what you need is A lead that resists Spiritomb's attacks and can deal quite a bit of damage without taking much damage.

Empoleon is good for situations like this.Even if you choose Chimchar or Turtwig, there are plenty of other Pokémon that fit the bill.

Togekiss can use his STAB Fairy attack to quickly dispose of Spiritomb. At the same time, it blocks it with a wall.

any Heavy hitters like Tyranitar, Gyarados, Dialga, and Palkia; The back can also quickly reduce stamina with a powerful STAB attack. This is especially true if: Initiates a buff move such as Swords Dance or Dragon Dance..

How to beat Cynthia's Roserade

Roserade is much easier to handle. STAB Sludge Bomb allows you to attack many Pokemon at a frightening speed. It can take down powerful fire, flying, ice or ground moves in one go.

you can put it down Infernape, Staraptor, or any Pokemon with STAB Earthquake.But be careful how much damage they will take if their speed is faster than yours.

You only need to get hit once, but you don't want to give up 3/4 of your health bar so early in the fight.

How to beat Cynthia's Gastrodon

Gastrodon is one of Cynthia's. weakest link.

The important thing to remember here is that despite the original game's ability to maintain stickiness; Cynthia's Gastrodon now has the Storm Drain ability..

You can learn this the hard way by performing two Dragon Dances with Gyarados.

When you attack Gastrodon with a water-type move, it will transform into Gastrodon. Special attack buff.

Gastrodon attacked us with a Rock Tomb and took us to red HP.

Given that we couldn't one-shot it with Crunch or Avalanche, we had to switch to a second Rock Tomb or die.

If you can help, it would be really helpful to you Run Roserade or Torterra against Gastrodon. Both of them can OHKO with 4x the very effective STAB Grass attack.

How to beat Cynthia's Lucario

Strangely enough, Lucario isn't scary at all. Despite being a generally great Pokémon, it's the least annoying 'mon on Cynthia's team.

that Weak to fighting, fire, and ground attacks. Has lower base speed stats than Infernape, Staraptor, Aerodactyl, Crobat, Rapidash, Scyther, Charizard, Nintetales, Salamence, Houndoom, etc.

All of these Pokémon are accessible. At least one strong STAB moveFour of them have been consistent mainstays in our recommendations for the best Pokémon to bring to the Elite Four throughout this walkthrough.

Realistically speaking, there's a pretty good chance that Lucario won't even touch you.

How to beat Cynthia's Milotic

Milotic is a very annoying no-nonsense Pokémon.

There were no items in the original game, You now have a Flame Orb.

This may seem bad, but it's important to remember what came before. Signature Ability: Marvel Scale.

For those unfamiliar with this ability, it means: When Milotic has a status abnormality, defense increases by 50%.

In fact, you may take some damage each turn, but you can also parry attacks like you would with a wet wipe.

the best way make that your goal electric or lawn moving.

Given that Marvel Scale increases your defense, it doesn't matter whether you choose physical or special skills. Both deal roughly the same amount of damage.

Just remember this Milotic knows Ice Beam and can shred Grass 'mons with ease.

Roserade with Giga Drain is a decent choice when it works due to its health restoration ability, but it's out after one critical hit.

How to Beat Garchomp of Cythnia

This leads us to Cynthia's best and last Pokemon: Garchomp. Cynthia's 'Chomp' is famous among Pokemon fans as one of the most infamous Pokemon in the mainline games.

What makes matters worse is that this 'Chomp' is much better than the one in the original game. You have access to Swords Dance.

Garchomp has STAB Earthquake and Dragon Claw. Swords Dance allows you to one-shot almost anything. You throw it, regardless of effectiveness.

It also has incredible speed and attack statistics, allowing it to go 1v1 against just about anything available during your first Elite Four run.

Strangely enough, Garchomp is a great counter to Garchomp. This is possible if Garchomp's level is higher than Cynthia's.

If this fails, Weavile can be removed in one step using STAB Avalanche. If you are slower than that Equip the Focus Sash.

Mammoth wine can be swallowed in one go, Retaliate with Ice Fang or Avalanche and gain priority next turn with Ice Shard.

Nevertheless, if you don't want to go the ice route, Very effective at 4x against Garchomp. – Of course, physical ice moves are not the most powerful attacks in the world.

that Togekiss That saved you from Spiritomb. Resists everything Garchomp throws at you. You can bombard them with the highly effective Moonblast or Dazzling Gleams.

There are options here. Just consider your options before sending in all five of your other Pokémon and watch them drop like flies.

At least when a counter dies you can revive it by looting someone else.

A Pokemon team against the entire Elite Four

There you have it – the definitive guide to the complete Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl walkthrough, complete with a full breakdown of how to counter Cynthia's ridiculous team.

If you were to ask us now to narrow it down to six Pokemon to make the entire Elite Four, we would probably get a balanced mix of:

• A fully evolved starter
• Togekiss
• roserade
• Gyarados
• staraptor
• Dialga
• Palkia
• tyrant
• Houndoom
• Gartsov
• Magne Zone
• Luxray
• Salamence

If you have several of these Pokemon at your fingertips, but are having trouble putting together a complementary team; Here is an example you can use:

1. your starter
2. roserade
3. Togekiss
4. Gartsov
5. Houndoom
6. staraptor

This team has a great mix of offensive moves and strong resistance. Defeat Cynthia in BDSP.

Now that you've successfully entered the Hall of Fame, check out our post-game guide that will teach you everything you need to know about legendary Pokémon, shiny hunts, competitive battles, breeding, and more.