My Fire Red team is basically a Charizard solo run. I have a level 45 Charizard, level 15 Pikachu, Wigglytuff, etc. I have nothing to fall back on. Although, I'm at level 45 at the 3rd gym, so it's not all bad.
Fail number two? Basically a Empoleon solo run in Platinum. I had a Prinplup, a Luxio, a Rotom, a Machop, and somthing else, I forgot. I was so happy when I got the Exp. Share. I kept getting raped by Gardenia, though. Once I got everything to level 30, my Prinplup was a level 48 Empoleon. Oh yeah, and the Machoke was basically an HM slave. This was at the 4th gym :P. My team is okay now, I have two lv 100s, three level 70s, and one level 50. It's okay, not perfect.
Also, the Elite Four really hit home. I had a level 70 Empoleon, and breezed through them with Surf (Flint got no mercy), by was stopped easily by Cynthia. I tried around seven times.
TIME NO. 1: I was out of Waterfalls and Surfs. Basically, I couldn't touch her Spiritomb. All I had left was Cut and Rock Climb. AND NO COMMENTS ABOUT MY EMPOLEON BEING AN HM SLAVE. IT IS NO MORE.
TIME NO. 2: I used a Leppa Berry right before Lucian, so I had 10 Surfs left. Needless to say, her Garchomp beat me with a single Earthquake.
TIME NO. 3: I beat the Elite Four with Empoleon, and tried to use my LEVEL 50 Giratina on Cynthia. It did not go well.
TIME NO. 4: I got a level 64 Rhypherior (Traded for my level 48 Lucario) and a level 64 Lucario (Traded for my Level FREAKING 20 FLAREON) through an online trade. Good team, eh? WRONG. Neither did much to the Elite Four, so I scapped that try and started grinding.
TIME NO. 5: I got a secret weapon: I traded my Lucario for a level 77 Garchomp, which instantly became my favorite Pokemon. Cynthia was TOTALLY ANNIHILATED. In 6 Dragon Rushes, none missed. And each of her Pokemon went down in one hit. The Garchomp is now Level 97 and my most-used Pokemon.
(If you must know, I traded the Rhypherior for a LEVEL 100, JAPENESE, FREAKING SHINY SALAMENCE. YEAH. EAT IT.)
I'm also at the 4th gym in Emerald, but I learned my lesson. I'm only using four Pokemon, a Grovyle, a Breloom, an Aron, and a Sableye. They're pretty okay, but I'm probably going to get stomped into the ground by Flannery. Brawly couldn't touch my Sableye, so that was amusing. A level 11, freshly caught Sableye against a level 21 Machop.
Anyway, those were my fails.