Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum - Champion Cynthia | Reacting To Video Game Music! 

4:31 "Sounds like I'm in a spiral of chaos" it's so funny because Cynthia's 1st Pokemon is a Spiritomb

Never clicked on a video so quickly. Really felt compelled to relive childhood trauma

I love Cynthia so much. When people talk about "Well designed and written female characters" in games she is my number 1. She kicks so much ass but is still caring when she needs to be.

Gotta love Cynthia's song, but I always feel like there's something missing if the first few seconds doesn't have the Spiritomb cry, it's ingrained into my synapses.

It's awesome how you included the encounter theme before her main battle theme because I feel like the encounter music needs to come before someone hears the battle music. I love the encounter theme so much because it gives Cynthia the feeling of intimidation but also sophistication. It's styled like a Beethoven composition which is awesome. The battle theme has the perfect amount of intensity, there's also a feeling of fun at times. This theme also makes you feel intimidated and the drums have a good speed to them. I associate this theme with a difficult Pokemon battle lol. I love this theme a lot, I love this whole soundtrack a lot and is easily in my top 10. I honestly can't think of any straight up bad song in the main series Pokemon games. I can easily find some in the spin-offs.

Would love to hear a reaction to Zinnia’s theme!

One of these days you should give these songs from Pokemon Black/White a listen: Victory Road theme and the Elite Four theme. That game really nailed it when it comes to music

Up until Black and White Pokemon games always had a 3rd definitive version released after the first 2 in each generation. Red and Green in Japan had Blue and Yellow kinda fits that over here, Gold and Silver had Crystal, Ruby and Sapphire had Emerald and Diamond and Pearl had Platinum. Black and White had full on sequels with Black 2 and White 2 instead then X and Y didn't have anything despite there being hints in the game about a potential Z version and Sun and Moon had enhanced versions but it was still split into 2 with Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The 2 most recent generations have used DLC for Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet instead of releasing a new version of fundamentally the same game.

The definitely cut no corners IN MUSIC. Don't worry about it

The fiercest Champion fight. Steven Stone holds a similar place for me

Someone with the power Ruinius quartet , ace academy next please😊

Legit one of the hardest battles in the whole series. And in the remakes they made Cynthia even harder by giving her team the stats of competitive Pokemon. 😵‍💫

The Black/white Cyntia jumpscare is one of the most memorable moments of any pokemon game

My childhood... :D To answer some questions: The piano melody plays when you enter the room before her fight begins. Volo is her ancestor because Legends Arceus takes place in the same region, in the distant past, hence why they share the motif. Diamond/Pearl came out first, Platinum is kind of an "enhanced" version with the exclusive Pokemon from both games and some added content, but it's the same game for the most part.

Theres probably a lot of people that are filled with dread as soon as they hear Cynthia’s encounter theme, as she’s one of the most iconic and notoriously difficult Champions. As was noted, Legends Arceus is a prequel set in the distant past of the same region that DP/Platinum is set in. Volo is Cynthia’s ancestor from that time, hence them having that same musical motif and even having a clear physical resemblance to one another. For me the contrast between Cynthia’s encounter and battle themes actually matches her character quite well. As outside of Pokemon battles she’s a kind, polite person, yet in battles she’s brutal.

The "Encounter" part of the song is something most trainers have in these games. It's typically played when they spot you in the overworld to challenge you to a battle. In Cynthias case, it's when you enter the Champion room. Then as it transitions to the battle scene and the battle theme plays. The way Cynthias battle theme starts makes the transition extra sick imo.

I get the foreign but nostalgic. I mean, there's a clear continuity of Pokemon music - I feel you can usually tell that something is meant to be a loopable pokemon battle theme? - but it's foreign because it's still flavoured with the generation... the soundfont, the vibe of the region (similar instruments or genres), all sorts of things that stand out. Same thing with the design language of pokemon designs or such. And yeah Cynthia oh baby Cynthia. Legit likely still the strongest champion of the series. What makes this infamous is, yeah, Wielder Volo is Cynthia's ancestor, and their theme is a remix of Cynthia's encounter. Why the encounter? Because Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, she's the 'story final boss' (as the League Champion) and was terrifying. But then in generation 5 (Black/White, one gen later) there's a surprise battle that you are NOT prepared for, heralded by THAT ENCOUNTER THEME. THAT second encounter is probably what turned her from a "Ok that was a tough fight! cool!" to

Cynthia is one of the nicest people in the franchise, yet her Pokémon team is amongst the strongest there have ever been, in the anime, she went undefeated for FIFTEEN YEARS and not for a lack of trying, she was officially the second strongest trainer in the world (I call BS, no way the no. 1 was actually stronger than her), her Garchomp was so powerful, so feared that in the battle before Ash defeated her, when Garchomp entered the field, literal gregorian chants played, that thing was a Dark Souls boss.

Champion Cynthia... oh the trauma

Cynthia is the champion and probably the hardest one in the series. As you walk into her arena the intro plays which is just such an intimidating set-up. There's also a later entry where she appears as a super boss. You walk into a random house in a beach town and this music starts playing, with her standing ominously at the opposite side of the room. Terrifying stuff!

"I'm guessing that's her main Pokemon" Kind sir, we prefer to call it the destroyer of childhood dreams and innocence.

Ah Cynthia, the terror of her and, because of how much the developers know the impact, future pokemon generations, a champion who used an incredibly diverse team with good coverage. A big factor leading into why she became so notorious was the lack of information available at the time due to this being early DS, so social media wasn't really a thing yet. Combined with her team being the aces from 2 of the strongest gym leaders in the game and a 3rd being from the last game's champion, a super rare egg evolution that required an item only 2 could be obtained in the game, a no weakness (at the time) opener who could only be obtained by a convoluted hidden technique that hadn't yet been discovered, and then her ace being a psudeo-legendary that would go on to wreck havoc on the competitive meta, and you begin to see why she was such a hard fight, one many people lost against numerous times. Add her encounter theme playing every time you reached her again, and it became burned into the minds of those who endured on, becoming the sound of dread and impending defeat.

Cynthia was so popular she got to make a cameo appearance in Black and White as well where you can also battle her as a kind of bonus boss fight, you just come across her house at random and her piano theme just starts playing.

The Encounter Theme was composed and arranged by Go Ichinose. The Battle Theme was composed an arranged by Junichi Masuda! =D But there's many, _many_ more versions of this track, not just Hitomi Sato's arrangement for Volo in Legends Arceus! ^^

Oh God as soon as that battle theme started I immediately flashed back to "Spiritomb is exerting its Pressure!"

Oh shoot Truegreen! He's quite a big name in the Pokémon RU-vid scene - he's an awesome beacon for fan content in the community, fan art, and music

What’s so funny about Cynthia is that initially she doesn’t look like the type that would have such chaos music or a stacked team that would rock your shit. When you first meet her she’s basically just a history buff and mythology nerd and “oh yeah I’m also the champion of Sinnoh and one of the strongest trainers like ever but that’s not really important did you know that back in ancient times-“

Cynthia is an absolutely terrifying opponent; one of if not *the* most difficult Champion battles in the series' history. There was an old meme that went around when I was in my early 20s (I'm mid 30s now) that you couldn't find her battle theme on youtube without the 'low health alert' sound also playing in the background. The music is chaotic because the fight is chaotic. Cynthia's encounter embodies the saying "No plan survives contact with the enemy."

Just to help clarify if there's some ambiguity. The Encounter/Battle theme split is based on how the game plays out. Before a battle with a trainer, there is *some* amount of talking they do as a preamble; even if it's simply a Youngster telling you "I like shorts. They're comfy and easy to wear!" More important trainers get more dialog and may have scripted sequences of sprite movement or whatnot. This preamble is the "Encounter" where a small loop tune plays. Then that gives way to the actual battle itself, which carries its own music.

One of the coolest battle themes in the series. Dpp doesn’t have my favorite soundtrack of the ds era, but there are some bangers in there. I love that drum ostinato so much, it really drives the battle theme. Idk if I would be so bold as to call this my fav champion theme, but if it isn’t it’s very damn close.

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl came out in 2007 for the Nintendo DS. Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum make up the main games of Generation 4. Platinum is an enhanced 3rd version of the first two, coming out later and adding new content, as well as fixing up some problems with the engine that made DP play kind of slowly in battles. Platinum is one of my favorite main series Pokemon games. There's just so much to love about it. As for composers, Go Ichinose composed the encounter music, and Junichi Masuda composed the battle music. (Hitomi Sato also did a lot of music for Diamond and Pearl, but did not work on either of these songs).

TRUEGREEN7??????? THAT TRUEGREEN7???????? now that was a jumpscare

Hey, to explain Volo/Cynthia Volo is the ancestor of Cynthia ; and most people will probably tell you they used Cynthia Encounter them as a Battle theme for Volo However, the part less people know is the Cynthia Battle Theme is Volo Encounter Theme ; there was actually a full swap Diamond/Pearl are the original version of the game ; Platinum is the "deluxe" version, sorta The Pokemon you see behind Cynthia is named Garchomp ; it is her ace and a Pokemon that was so good it could rival with the legendary pokemon - meaning you couldn't just sweep her with overpowered Pokemon ; making her one of the hardest fight in the game that most people actually lose the 1st time ; making the "Encounter" music that much more impactful

You said you played Yellow. That is basically to Red and Blue what Platinum is to Diamond and Pearl; a version released after that is essentially the enhanced version. It started with Yellow being more like the show, but then we got Crystal for Gold and Silver, Emerald for Ruby and Sapphire, Platinum for Diamond and Pearl, etc., which was more centered around a certain legendary Pokemon of that generation, providing new areas, story, and Pokemon (never played Crystal so not sure what that one adds exactly).

So yes you are right. Cynthia is wielder Volo's descendant. They even use the same pokemon team if i remember correctly. But this is my 2nd favorite champion theme if you include the lead up of the encounter music into the battle theme. My favorite is the champion from black/white 2.

The Woman who strikes terror in hearts of every Pokemon fan The Greatest Champion Ever, Cynthia 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

No matter what game you fight Cynthia in, she always has a well-balanced team to fight you with and she takes no prisoners and gives zero f---s. Even the Sword/Shield anime made it abundantly clear. When Ash had to face her in the semifinals, she gave him the fight of his life, especially since she had access to Mega Evolution there.

Not sure if anyone’s mentioned this but “ wielder” is a title. Volo’s game was based in ancient times so it’s the way of calling someone a “pokemon trainer” in the past

Ah yes, the piano that instilled fear into a whole generation, also my favorite character from pokemon's female cast. Her team in genuinely a nightmare to beat, especially with the fairy type not existing in the OG games. Literally the first thing she throws out at you is a pokemon who at the time had zero weaknesses. Also her ace pokemon garchomp (shown in the video) is so strong that it took till just recently for it to be kicked out of one the strongest normal competive tiers OU. Also back in the days when mega evolution was a thing, basically specific mons had a specific temporary evolution that buffed them, garchomp had one, but it was debated on if you should even use it because it nerfed its speed. Now imagine having to fight that to beat the game....especially as a small child who didn't understand mechanics. Her team was evil and the remake only made it worse by giving her mons trained stats and items. Final topic, I don't think pokemon has any legitimately "bad" music off the top of my head, but the mobile game PokemonGO has a contender. To celebrate the event of Necrozma coming to the game, they made a special remix of all its themes. Normally it sounds great, but something Niantic did bitcrushed the song to all hell. The upload I saw mentioned they had to reduce the audio decibels, and when someone asked for the original they sent it. Listening to that was pure pain and it just becomes bitcrushed noise after a bit...

Cynthia and Lance, the two best champions with the two best themes.

Shoutouts to Truegreen7 for the request of an all time classic Pokémon song as well as for being a great content creator. If you’re seeing this keep it up dude! Same to you Jesse since you give some of my favorite osts the love they deserve.

Imagine if you started in Red and Blue and your very original strat of "I'll just use my over leveled starter pokemon the whole game" worked for generations 1, 2 and 3 and then suddenly stopped on the last battle of the 4th. 😂

Cynthia is the most formidable pokemon champion, that badass song fits her very well.

Yeah, Cynthias opening theme really gives you this sense of immense scale. As if the task before you is monumental. Then the battle theme itself kicks in, becoming opressive. At some point eaerly in the fight, the song goes lighter, and hopefull, but keeping the dark undertones. But that hope doesn't last, and as her stronger team members come out, it dives back down into this opressive feeling. It has some bright spots combined with the dark, as if the song itself is mocking you for thinking you could win.

Most of the Pokemon games get a third version with some minor updates and content later. That's what yellow was to red/blue. There's also crystal for gold/silver, emerald for ruby/sapphire, and platinum for diamond/pearl, etc

Fun fact you’ve technically already heard her encounter theme via a theme called battle pokemon wielder Volo

If you thought this was good check out the Black 2/White 2 version!

Cynthia's background is that she's an archaeologist who specialised in the research of ancient mythology and legendary pokemon. The region she's the champion of, Sinnoh, is directly tied to legendary pokemon who are allegories to real life deities. the gods of space, time and antimatter; below Arceus who created of the universe. (pokemon lore goes deep) being a researcher, Cynthia's team is a collection of pokemon who were extremely rare in diamond, pearl and platinum. Her battle theme feeling very anxious and foreign reflects how the player is likely to have never seen these Pokémon before. She's also potentially the strongest trainer in any of the games.

YESSS MORE POKEMON. This theme slaps and has given so many trauma

We are here🥳 trugreen7 is a fan too? Nice hes one of the biggest poketubers

I think this champion theme is fairly overrated but I understand peoples love for cynthia as a character so I can't be too surprised this is the one everyone talks about

Truegreen7 coming thru tho

Hearing her Encounter theme Triggered my Cynthia pstd

Anxiety: the battle theme

This is legit the hardest Pokémon battle ever and also the best one tied with the epic one against Red

Cynthia is a Champion, the final fight in a pokemon game, and even as far as Champions go shes one of if not THE hardest one. Her encounter theme is iconic not just because it sounds cool but because she appears in another game in a random house post-game and that encounter theme plays right as you enter it, so a lot of people would go "oh no, cynthia"

Ah, the theme of getting your boxart legendary outsped and oneshotted, no matter the version.

FINALLY another good pokemon ost

The X and Y Gym Battle theme can be considered as not that good by people. It's not bad just mid and not memorable.

Since you're reacting to videogame music in general mind checking out Ezio's Family theme from Assassin's Creed II? It's one of my favorite pieces of all time, sounds so orchestral and beautiful and turns a bit rock-ier when you least expect it, you'll love it!

The first time a battle in Pokemon had difficulty and cannot be easily brute forced. Until then, most games you'd probably be overleveled by the time you get to the champion. But not only are her pokemon quite high level for somebody playing the game organically, but they're chosen strategically. She's also probably the most memorable champion because she has a job outside of the league, a renowned archaeologist in the world of pokemon who probably knows the most of that "lore" that goes so deep out of anyone (short of maybe the immortal errant king who was there for most of it). The fact that she participates in your journey by frequently meeting up with you to talk about history is pretty cool, it's rare for the champion to take an interest in helping aspiring trainers directly instead of working in background politics.

When pokémon fans discuss about the strongest trainer in the franchise Cynthia is never out of the discussion, a lot placing her as the strongest trainer. That fast and menacing piano literally traumatized a whole generation of trainers back in the day when you meet her and find out is the last obstacle of your journey or your team is too weak to fight her. As a trainer, Cynthia makes honor to the reputation she build herself. With a strong and balanced team, that unlike the rest of characters, has a team that was built for competitive battles, starting with a spiritomb that in her debute it didn't have weaknesses, a tanky gastrodon, two special and balanced attackers with her lucario and roserade, a togekiss that was a menance with the ability serene grace and air slash, which was almost guaranted to make you flinch, missing a turn, and the powerhouse that is the pseudo-legendary garchomp, her strongest pokémon. In Pokémon Platinum, they changed her gastrodon for a milotic, a pokémon that resisted as much as gastrodon and hit stronger than gastrodon. And in the remakes of Diamond and Pearl she was made even stronger with a better AI that reacted almost like a real player and a better constructed team. In Leyends Arceus is even more terryfing since her ancestor Volo has an orchestal version of her encounter team as a battle team and he is also the strongest of that game with a battle of six against eight since after his team, which is similar to Cynthia's, you have to fight Giratina TWICE after. No matter the game, if Sinnoh or Cynthia are involved, she is a foce to be wary about, even if is not directly her.

Cue in the low HP pokemon sounds

Cynthia is just out of this world. Even with several minutes of grinding, you still gonna be defeated by her main pokemon Garchomp. On another note, have you listened to Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 - Iris Champion Theme? In my opinion, her theme and Cynthia's theme are on par, and are battling for the no.1 spot in my top pokemon champion themes. 💓💓💞💞

Its funny ... I just watched the Volo reaction last night lol, and here we are with his descendant.

I can already hear the low hp theme.

Pure, unadulterated PTSD

For Pokemon music that people don't like, I can't really think of much? People generally praise all of the game's soundtracks and every game/generation seems to have some popular ones. For me, I personally find the original version of Lavender Town (the one from the RBY games) to be very grating, but it's only that version for me, and I find the other versions (GSC, FRLG, HGSS, LG, etc.) to be perfectly fine.

YESSSSS YOU GET TO REACT TO CYNTHIA Thank you so much for the reaction, Jesse, and for requesting it, whoever requested it! ^^

Lets be real. Every gen since 3 has had BANGERS of OST.

Some people probably getting PTSD watching this video. Imagine you are a kid playing pokemon for fun then suddenly the game devs decided to insert a character with an competitive team. And there we go, people who are just having fun getting destroyed left and right. 🤣🤣

This theme, similar to Lance, perfectly makes the player feel woefully unprepared. But Lance's team had a vulnerability to rock/ice/electric. Cynthia doesn't really have a clear and exploitable weakness.

Once I hear the piano confrontation music 😭 my heart rate go brrrr 📈. So glad they included that as a rec cause Cynthia isn't the same without her piano jumpscare of doom 😂. What I love about pokemon boss music is that no matter how intense it gets you can think while listening to them, this is a turn based strategy game afterall. Also they sound super nostalgic with their familiar construction of elements 😊

I remember playing Pokémon Arceus which is set in the distant past of diamond and pearl and Cynthia’s ancestor thrashed me around like a unwanted dog toy. 😵‍💫

Love your content, and these songs always slap. A little funny being confused by there being three versions (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum) when you mention your experience being with Yellow, which was itself the third version of it's generation (along with Red and Blue). But while all the pokemon generations up to the point of Platinum had followed the standard of two games released simultaneously followed by a third enhanced version (Red/Blue followed by Yellow, Gold/Silver followed by Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire followed by Emerald, Diamond/Pearl followed by Platinum) it was also the last game to follow this trend. The next games, Black and White, were followed up by full sequels in Black 2 and White 2. Then X and Y got nothing. Sun and Moon were followed up by Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, so two versions like Black and White got, but they were still more along the line of enhanced versions than sequels. And after that they moved to the Switch and have had any follow-ups be in the form of DLC rather than new versions. (This isn't counting full remakes, which don't seem to get a third version regardless. Those being Fire Red/Leaf Green, Heart Gold/Soul Silver, Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, and in a not quite a remake but also definitely a remake Let's Go: Pikachu and Let's Go: Eevee.) And it seems like Legends games will only ever get one game, so even simpler (though currently we only have Legends: Arceus and the announced Legends: Z-A to go by, so it's hard to call anything a trend when you don't quite have 2 entries yet for sample size).

10:20 Listen to "The Drought" from Pokemon Ruby. Entirely in context, a legendary pokemon has just been awakened and immediately started causing a massive heatwave across the region, drying up water and threatening the lives of the residents. I can't exactly say it's a "bad" composition, but it is so outstandingly SCARY and unnerving that it makes you want to hear it as little as possible. It gets the point across of telling you "THIS IS REALLY BAD AND YOU SHOULD HURRY TO STOP THIS MONSTER!" There's also the infamous Lavender Town theme from the original Pokemon game that is infamous to the point of causing an urban legend about causing people to become suicidal.

I use the encounter theme as my ring tone. It's hilarious. Also, in this comment section, people flinging around the concept of PTSD as if it's mild stress from a video game boss as opposed to the extremely serious condition that it is. Seriously people, be considerate of others and stop using these terms so loosely.

Its funny how your calling pearl, platinum, and diamond complicated when Gen 1 had Red,Blue,Green, and Yellow, with the multiple later remakes in Firered, Leafgreen, Lets go Evee and Lets go pikachu.

10:26 to answer your question, I'd say the Dragon's Den from Gold/Silver is generally considered pretty bad (or at least very divisive) And some songs can be considered disappointing. Vs Wally from Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire is good but is very short and loops quickly which can kinda ruin an otherwise good moment. I've seen some say that Vs Palkia / Dialga from D/P isn't "legendary" enough though I personally disagree. Vs Champion Alder is considered another disappointing one, though there's some nuance to that theme that explains why it's not as tense/hype as other Champion themes. Vs Elite Four from Scarlet/Violet got meme'd on cuz there was a bug that caused the intro to loop over and over, so a few people legitimately thought that the battle theme was just a loop of like 8 seconds but the song itself is pretty nice.

the only pokemon game with only bangers is gen 5, all gen 5 music is godlike, other games has some good, some awesome, some bad songs... but particulary gen 5 has the most played ost among all pokemon games

as far as "bad pokemon songs" go, I don't think this song is bad but its rather controversial and its Dragon's Den from Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal

There's *very few* objectively bad pokemon songs. There's a lot of music that's kinda grating to just listen to, like the Dragon Den theme and the pokemon ruby Drought event theme, but that fit in context, and a lot that lands less with people than others. I've looked and people have singled out the elite 4 music from X and Y, and a lot of it in a more general sense. Edit: Went back to listen to that myself, and I have no idea what they're talking about, I love it.

Oh Cynthia, godmother of PTSD and first female Champ of the pokemon series. When i first met her back in the days she wiped the floor with my pokemon. Her Ace Pokemon Garchomp was deadly. Usually u had to be overleveled to outspeed it. But its high speed, raw attack power and some of the strongest attacks in the game with having even higher attackpower because they were the same type as the pokemon itself, made it a nightmare. Plus she started with Spiritomb which had no easy to abuse weakness back then. U either needed specific attacks or pokemon skills to hit it effective, which sounds easier as it was giving the limitations of the avaiable pokemon in Perl/diamond. I will forever hate and love her.

Even her music puts pressure on you. She is hard, and her Garchomp is a monster. But her first pokemon, Spirit Tomb, had no weakness. And it never shows up until you battle her. So you have no clue how to even start. Nothing works, brute force or luck does not work or it's not reliable enough, you have to be almost perfect, people tend to actually train a team just to beat her.

Having 3 games was actually apart of the series from the beginning until diamond, pearl, and platinum. You played Yellow which was the third game to Red and Blue

In terms of bad Pokemon songs I would go with the battle theme for Zerkrom/Reshiram. Easily the most disappointing legendary battle themes for me especially coming after the incredible legendary themes in the game previous

Honestly, she's overrated, but her theme's really good. Don't feel too bad about your mixup in the recent games' quality, on the periphery, because of sales, you wouldn't know. This series is really one where the technical aspects are neglected in favor of the appearances, and even then, that's not been doing too good.

Like 6 different (major)channels uploaded something related to Cynthia's theme on the same day. The collective consciousness needs to chill the fuck out.

I place Diamond/Pearl’s soundtrack on par with Black/White

Hey bro if you want a really good Pokemon theme to react to PLEASE do Ruby and Sapphire Elite 4 that theme is an absolute banger

Now that you mention it, I can't really think of a bona fide 'bad' music track in Pokemon at all, each game has consistently had, at worst, good tracks

Cyrus’s theme is also great from DP. Amazing bass

Encounter theme and Cynthia Champion battle theme brings my child anxiety back, she has no chill.

Gen 4 music goes so hard You should check out the Lake Trio theme from this same generation if you haven't already

'A spiral of chaos' is the best way to describe going up against Cynthia.

Pokemon might have some stinkers, but honestly I don't remmeber any on top of my head cause there's so many ost. Maybe in one of the spin off games????

There are a lot of good battle themes in this game you must listen to including Giratina, Palkia/Dialga and Cyrus

Would love for you to check out both of Hops themes from pokemon Sword and Shield, there's a lot to digest with those tracks

Thank you Truegreen!

Ahhh Cynthia themes