I remember back in September I preferred Cynthia over Lance but honestly I actually like them both equally.
I don't mind that Lance's team isn't unique, it is actually challenging. In fact I found him more difficult rather than Cynthia, you see when I played Heartgold, I pretty much only had one Pokemon on my team that could do at least some damage towards Lance's Dragonite. The first time I battled him, I had absolutely no clue why people whinged over Lance, I used to think to myself that they were over exaggerating his strength to make newer players feel a bit nervous. Now I can see how wrong I was. :B
He was a nightmare. One of the worst and most difficult champions I've faced and I've faced four of them I think along with Red. I was really relieved when after fifteen minutes or so of me using countless electric moves (I had no ice,dragon or rock moves. :P) the Dragonite was finally taken down and I did a fist pump until I saw this text. Champion Lance is about to send in Dragonite, will you switch Pokemon?
I can't even express my feeling at that moment. I think I went berserk, thought this was it. Never playing another Pokemon game again. But I thought it was alright to give a go and after another few minutes of battling I'd won. It was a frustrating battle but looking back on it one of the most amazing I'd ever seen. <3
I love playing against Lance for this reason, for him to give me a challenge. I didn't care he had three of the same Pokemon, he's still one of my favourites even despite that ordeal. :B
And then there was Cynthia. I think back in 2009 when I was a newcomer to Pokemon, I remember my first battle with her. It took me about fifteen tries to beat her down I swear. I was eight so I guess that was understandable. :P
But I still loved her design and I liked all of the unique Pokemon she chose, there were some interesting varieties and the all ranges of types always had me guessing on what she would do next. I liked some of her strategies and she did prove a tough opponent.
All in all even though I usually find tough battles frustrating, I really liked these two champions. <3