With the recent release of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, players got the chance to battle Cynthia, the champion of the Sinnoh region, once again. With updated move-sets and tactics, this fight is more challenging than ever. In 2019, the franchise introduced the world to Leon, the champion of the Galar region, in Sword and Shield.
Both figures are beloved and provide final challenges for the player before they complete the main story. If the two were to square off against one another, each would have certain advantages and disadvantages, making this battle one that would be legendary in the Pokémon franchise. (Note: Cynthia's team will be the one she uses in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and both her and Leon's teams will be the ones they use during the initial Champion battle in their respective games)
Cynthia Would Defeat Leon
Cynthia's Team Has More Type Coverage
The typings of Cynthia's Pokémon account for 9 of the series's 18 types. The only Pocket Monsters on her team that share types are Gastrodon and Milotic, which share Water, and Gastrodon and Garchomp, which share Ground. This gives her more defensive coverage against opponents, as well as more Same Type Attack Bonuses to utilize offensively.
Leon, on the other hand, has a team that accounts for either 7 or 8 of the types, depending on his team composition. This coverage makes battling Cynthia even more challenging and helps her to be perhaps the best Pokémon League Champion.
Cynthia's Team Has Held Items
In her battle with the player in Generation IV, the only Pokémon with a held item is her Garchomp. In the BDSP battle, though, she utilizes held items on every one of her team members. Some of these items give her Pokémon a significant boost, including her Roserade's Expert Belt, which buffs the power of super-effective moves.
In addition, while Garchomp has an extreme vulnerability to Ice, Cynthia holds a Yache Berry, reducing the damage from one Ice-type attack and likely allowing it to retaliate. Furthermore, her Gastrodon has Leftovers, restoring its health a bit after each turn. This is viable because Gastrodon only has one type weakness, so it tends to stay in the battle for a decent chunk of time. Leftovers prolong this time even more. None of Leon's Pokémon hold items, which helps to push the battle in Cynthia's favor.
Cynthia's Team Has Better Strategies
Cynthia's team became much stronger between her Generation IV introduction and now partly because of new strategies she utilizes in battle. For instance, her Milotic has the Ability Marvel Scale, which significantly boosts Defense when Milotic is inflicted with a status condition. The Pokémon holds a Flame Orb, burning it and activating the Ability.
Additionally, her Garchomp has the Ability Rough Skin, and her Gastrodon has the Ability Storm Drain, which are better options than what they had in Generation IV. For trainers, there are certain Pokémon that are the best for beating her team, but even these must overcome the challenging matchups. Leon's Pokémon have decent Abilities, but they are not as viable as those on Cynthia's.
Leon Would Defeat Cynthia
Leon's Dragapult Should Out-Speed Cynthia's Entire Team
Dragapult may not be the strongest among all pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, but its absurdly high Speed stat gives it a significant advantage against certain members of Cynthia's team, namely Garchomp.
Cynthia's Garchomp's EV training makes it extremely fast, but as long as Leon's Dragapult also has a bit of EV training as well, it should be able to strike first and utilize its fantastic Attack stat to devastating effect. As a Dragon/Ghost-type, Dragapult gains a Same Type Attack Bonus on its Dragon-type attacks, which would deal super-effective damage to Garchomp. Even if Dragapult does not take Garchomp out in a single blow, it would make a significant dent in its health.
Leon Has More Pokémon Options
In Sword and Shield, Leon's team varies slightly depending on which starter the trainer chooses. He has four consistent team members: Aegislash, Dragapult, Haxorus, and Charizard, but he can also use Seismitoad and Cinderace if the player chose Grookey, Mr. Rime, and Inteleon if the player chose Scorbunny, or Rhyperior and Rillaboom if the player chose Sobble.
Assuming that Leon can pick and choose which of these six potential options he would like to use against Cynthia, he could create a team to counter hers fairly effectively. Cynthia's team is the same regardless of which starter the player chooses, so Leon has a slight advantage in this regard.
Leon Has Some Of The Best Pokémon From Multiple Regions
Aside from Milotic, all of Cynthia's Pokémon come from Sinnoh. While her team includes some of the strongest Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, Leon's features incredible Pocket Monsters from several regions. The consistent members of his team can all do incredible damage, especially Haxorus, which, though not a pseudo-Legendary, can easily compete with them in terms of strength.
Throughout Cynthia's team, only four attacks can do super-effective damage against Haxorus, leaving the Pokémon mostly unchecked for a large portion of the battle. Because of his access to a variety of Pokémon from different regions, the average base stat total for each of Leon's three teams is slightly higher than that of Cynthia's.