Seen November 29th, 2015
Posted November 29th, 2015
59 posts
9 Years
As the title suggests,

which gym leader/elite 4 member or even league champion was the most annoying for you to battle in any generation?

Whitney the Goldenrod City Normal type gym leader in G/S/E & HH/SS and her f****** Miltank will forever go down as the bane of my existence. I jumped for joy once I beat her!!!!!
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Nah

Age 30
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Seen 5 Hours Ago
Posted 5 Hours Ago
15,645 posts
9.5 Years
It kinda depends on what Pokemon you're using. Gardenia was such a ***** to deal with on my Rock monotype in Platinum, but she's pretty easy on all my other playthroughs in Sinnoh.

And I'm pretty sure that Whiteny's Miltank was the bane of everyone's childhood Pokemon journey back in the day {XD}

But someone who's consistently never been that easy for me is Cynthia. That Garchomp was evil in the PWT I tell you.
Nah ンン
“No, I... I have to be strong. Everyone expects me to."
Seen November 29th, 2015
Posted November 29th, 2015
59 posts
9 Years
It kinda depends on what Pokemon you're using. Gardenia was such a ***** to deal with on my Rock monotype in Platinum, but she's pretty easy on all my other playthroughs in Sinnoh.

And I'm pretty sure that Whiteny's Miltank was the bane of everyone's childhood Pokemon journey back in the day {XD}

But someone who's consistently never been that easy for me is Cynthia. That Garchomp was evil in the PWT I tell you.
omg i'd had pleasantly forgotten about that hax Garchomp.........now I'm having 'Nam flash backs:|

I think I did a back flip when I finally beat it.
FC:0104-1008-0061
IGN-MIKE
FRIEND SAFARI: GRASS 1)Quilladin 2)Sawsbuck 3)Pansage

National/Living Pokedex completed July 11,2014{XD}
Whitney and Clair were generally problematic with Miltank and Kingdra (though the latter much less)

Champion Gary (R/B/Y), Cynthia, Burgh (Leavanny), Tate & Liza (emerald), Elesa (Volt Switch Emolgas), and Lance (both Elite Four appearances) may catch you off guard without prior knowledge of their teams as well. What makes them so distinct from the others is that they all have the tendency to destroy you over and over.

I won't go through the PWT, as many revamped teams wrecked in there, but will mention the Frontier Brains Dahlia (second battle), Anabel and Brandon (either battle for both) as they, too, will probably wreck your teams on your first few tries.

Hiatus

Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
For Gym Leader, I would say Volkner from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Although some did find him to be easy (his team members weren't that difficult to take down; one - two Earthquakes per member would do the trick), none of my Pokémon knew any ground-type attack when I had first faced him, causing things to be a bit frustrating. Plus, they were also sort of under-leveled, as I didn't find myself training enough.

Elite Four member---definitely Lance from Kanto. His team's consists of dragon-types, fully, many of which are bulky and hard-hitting. Even if your Pokémon knew moves such as Ice Beam, they would still endure, somehow, and strike back at you even harder; it was tough. To get him defeated, it took me approximately four to seven tries, which is a lot! I've had to rely on recovery items, too.

As for Champion, it's also got to be Lance. Aside from him, however, I would say Steven; like Lance, his crew is both bulky and offensive, making it difficult to defeat. Due to similar reasons, Wallace is also pretty tough.
Female
Seen February 19th, 2015
Posted February 13th, 2015
257 posts
8.6 Years
Whitney's easy, if you ask me. All you need is a female Machop/Heracross and spam Fighting type attacks.

As for me, I find these Trainers to be hard...

Sabrina (Gym Leader, RBY/FRLG)
Lorelei (Elite Four, RBY/FRLG. Never got to the Champion thanks to her.)
Clair (Gym Leader, GSC/HGSS)
Brawly (Gym Leader, RSE/ORAS)
Flannery (Gym Leader, RSE/ORAS)
Tate and Liza (Gym Leader, RSE/ORAS. I have difficulty in them only in Emerald, however.)
Whitney's easy, if you ask me. All you need is a female Machop/Heracross and spam Fighting type attacks.
Thing is, it wasn't that simple for many:
1) machop wasn't actually available before Whitney (G/S/C) afaik. Plus, many probably don't even know the new NPC in HG/SS Goldenrod's Dept. store that trades one for a Drowzee
2) Heracross can take hours to find. Heck, it only appears during the day/morning and not all trees particularly have it. For the old games, nearest place you can find it was in Azalea in Crystal...players on other versions would literally have to walk all the way back to the first two towns to get it. Not everyone gets that detail of information.
3) i don't completely recall movesets, but I don't think there were so much options for fighting moves that early in the game either.
4) Players who haven't played the series before or avoid guides will almost definitely not get those, and they'd usually end up relying on their starters' strength.

now, I do not disagree with you. Disregarding #4 and assuming that trading was also an option, then you could say that Whitney is, after all, easy to defeat once you think about it. Mud Slap/Sand Attack is the easiest counter, for example.
Female
Seen February 19th, 2015
Posted February 13th, 2015
257 posts
8.6 Years
Thing is, it wasn't that simple for many:
1) machop wasn't actually available before Whitney (G/S/C) afaik. Plus, many probably don't even know the new NPC in HG/SS Goldenrod's Dept. store that trades one for a Drowzee
2) Heracross can take hours to find. Heck, it only appears during the day/morning and not all trees particularly have it. For the old games, nearest place you can find it was in Azalea in Crystal...players on other versions would literally have to walk all the way back to the first two towns to get it. Not everyone gets that detail of information.
3) i don't completely recall movesets, but I don't think there were so much options for fighting moves that early in the game either.
4) Players who haven't played the series before or avoid guides will almost definitely not get those, and they'd usually end up relying on their starters' strength.

now, I do not disagree with you. Disregarding #4 and assuming that trading was also an option, then you could say that Whitney is, after all, easy to defeat once you think about it. Mud Slap/Sand Attack is the easiest counter, for example.
Oh, I see. Thing is, I've only played the remakes, and one of the Pokémon I used was a Heracross. So yeah, I've never really experienced the pain of battling Whitney because I never played the originals. I could now see why people find her Miltank to be frustrating, however.
Oh, I see. Thing is, I've only played the remakes, and one of the Pokémon I used was a Heracross. So yeah, I've never really experienced the pain of battling Whitney because I never played the originals. I could now see why people find her Miltank to be frustrating, however.
That, I understand. I really haven't seen many of the "next-gen" players complain about Whitney in the past few years, so I guess it was just a thing of the past. I'm thinking because she now seems somewhat "nerfed" thanks to the new movesets, the phys/spec split, and the -1 level Miltank got (w/c means something, considering her base stats --speed, most importantly)
MISTY.

Misty in the original games, the first time around, gave me so much trouble I nearly stopped playing the game entirely. I picked Charmander, which didn't help. Brock was torturous, but I had a Butterfree, so it wasn't TOO bad. But that bloody Starmie of Misty's, and her tendency to use healing items...even afterwards I've always felt like I've struggled with Misty, even if only slightly. I can train and overtrain and I still feel that twinge of anxiety going up against that Starmie...

Altairis

take me ☆ take you

Female
database database
Seen December 29th, 2022
Posted October 5th, 2018
5,170 posts
11 Years
MISTY.

Misty in the original games, the first time around, gave me so much trouble I nearly stopped playing the game entirely. I picked Charmander, which didn't help. Brock was torturous, but I had a Butterfree, so it wasn't TOO bad. But that bloody Starmie of Misty's, and her tendency to use healing items...even afterwards I've always felt like I've struggled with Misty, even if only slightly. I can train and overtrain and I still feel that twinge of anxiety going up against that Starmie...
I have to agree with you, though it's really my fault that Misty was difficult, as I never EVER picked Bulbasaur and usually only went with Charmander :p

Cynthia was actually hard as well. Her team full of baddies including Spiritomb and Garchomp were pretty difficult to take down and could also deal a lot of damage to my team. Took me a couple tries the first time.

ORAS/XYBW
Age 35
Male
Dream World
Seen December 21st, 2016
Posted October 8th, 2016
1,638 posts
10.8 Years
Cynthia is Champion so she doesn't count. She's definitely the hardest Champion though, and not just because of Garchomp.

I remember having trouble with Lucian in Platinum. His Alakazam has Focus Blast, and when it hits, it murders the Dark-types I usually use against him.

I think Wattson in RSE is a bit difficult, but that's the game's fault for not offering you a Ground-type Pokémon other than Geodude before the fight. Mudkip players have a BIG advantage here.


Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, the day Pokémon pulled a Dallas and jumped the shark.

Hiatus

Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted July 24th, 2021
12,283 posts
10.8 Years
Yeah, Cynthia was definitely one of the toughest, no doubt. Her Spiritomb was very bothersome; fairy-type moves exist now, back then, we didn't have them, causing this Pokémon to not have any weaknesses in any way. Plus, its bulk was very top-notch; it took some decent amount of hits to have Spiritomb finally taken down. Before it was defeated, though, it would already cause some good portion of damage to your team, and unless you've had any recovery items with you, it would make sure that things become easy for other party members of Cynthia; they would proceed to defeat you with little to no sweat.

Garchomp was another obstacle; it was pretty tough to out-speed, and its offenses were severely high. This Pokémon was able to take down any of your member with just a single blow, which is saying something. If it had access to some stat-boosting moves such as Dragon Dance, then it would have been even more difficult.

Cynthia was especially challenging on my end because when I had first faced her, my Pokémon were rather under-leveled; I didn't put much time into training, and wanted to complete the story-line as soon as possible.

Pendraflare

Age 32
Male
Pennsylvania
Seen July 30th, 2021
Posted March 29th, 2021
6,263 posts
9.8 Years
I do remember beating Cynthia in Pearl on my very first try, but that was over seven years ago, wow. And in my most recent play of Platinum (my Blue Mono-Color), I managed to defeat her without too much trouble despite being a couple levels below her, but that's irrelevant to this thread.

Anyway, I think Clair's Kingdra makes her one of the most aggravating Gym Leaders for me. I wanted to smash my 3DS with a hammer after what happened six months ago in a certain challenge of mine. ):<
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Astraea

The Storm of Friendship

Age 24
Male
IDK
Seen January 23rd, 2022
Posted November 11th, 2019
2,107 posts
9.7 Years
For me the toughest gym leader was Whitney from gsc, cause if the roll out miltank and when its close to death it used milk drink which was always frustrating, had to put many attempts before I could kill it and in e4, toughest one was loreli, she was like a wall with bulky pokemon, though somehow defeated it. And for champion blue was the toughest one, all other were easy for me just that blue was a little bit more powerful than Me every time I would battle him.

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
Anyway, I think Clair's Kingdra makes her one of the most aggravating Gym Leaders for me. I wanted to smash my 3DS with a hammer after what happened six months ago in a certain challenge of mine. ):<
I surely remember said challenge, a HeartGold Wedlocke. She killed your Noctowl and Hypno with critical hit Hydro Pumps breaking through your Light Screen, and it was even more scary thanks to her Sniper ability.

I do have to admit Clair is one of the hardest Gym Leaders ever because of said Kingdra, whose only weakness was Dragon and you didn't get much in the way of that type around the time you faced her. Whitney comes close with the annoying moveset present on her infamous Miltank.
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ChikoritaCheezits

The Green Leaf triumphs over all

Male
Illinois
Seen November 16th, 2021
Posted January 26th, 2015
122 posts
8.4 Years
I always found Clair to be frustrating. Her Kingdra's only weakness is not exactly the most common type in the game. I found her harder than Whitney since I have a strategy on dealing with her.

Oh, and Liza and Tate in Emerald. Their Emerald team has coverage on everything.
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Nah

Age 30
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Seen 5 Hours Ago
Posted 5 Hours Ago
15,645 posts
9.5 Years
I always seem to have troubles with Elesa. She really frustrates me, and I can never win a battle against her without losing a Pokemon.
You know what I really hated about her gym in Black/White?

So I knew that her gym was an Electric type one ahead of time, and I went and caught a Sandile on Route 4 (partly because the Sandile line is also awesome). So I get to the gym and I'm all like "I'm totally gonna wreck this gym.

>3/4 of the Pokemon are Emolgas
>Sandile has no Rock moves atm



Making matters worse was the fact that the helper guy in the front of the gym doesn't warn you about the Emolgas until Black2/White2. Ya know, after I was already well aware of the Emolgas.
Nah ンン
“No, I... I have to be strong. Everyone expects me to."

ChikoritaCheezits

The Green Leaf triumphs over all

Male
Illinois
Seen November 16th, 2021
Posted January 26th, 2015
122 posts
8.4 Years
You know what I really hated about her gym in Black/White?

So I knew that her gym was an Electric type one ahead of time, and I went and caught a Sandile on Route 4 (partly because the Sandile line is also awesome). So I get to the gym and I'm all like "I'm totally gonna wreck this gym.

>3/4 of the Pokemon are Emolgas
>Sandile has no Rock moves atm



Making matters worse was the fact that the helper guy in the front of the gym doesn't warn you about the Emolgas until Black2/White2. Ya know, after I was already well aware of the Emolgas.
Ah yes, the gym leader who is a big troll. The worst part is it's electric type also cancels out its weakness to electric.
My Dream Team:

Female
Seen April 22nd, 2018
Posted March 2nd, 2018
895 posts
8.4 Years
Hmm, lemme see...

Gym Leader: Clair in GSC. That Kingdra is an absolute PAIN to fight. Unless you grinded up a Dragonair to L56 (for Outrage) or traded over something with Dragonbreath, you won't have ANYTHING that can do SE damage to the thing, and Kingdra can hit pretty hard. My best bet against it was to just hit it with a STAB Psychic from a (L40 or higher) Alakazam for maximum neutral damage.

Elite Four Member: Lorelei in RBY. Ironic that the first E4 member would be the hardest, but it's the truth. Bruno and Agatha had teams entirely weak to the (at the time) overpowered Psychic type, and Lance's team was full of Pokémon that had either crippling double weaknesses (Dragonite and Gyarados) or non-existent defense stats (Dragonair and Aerodactyl). Lorelei's Pokémon, on the other hand, were both bulky (at a time when Ice's weaknesses were either poor or nonexistent types) and hard-hitting, especially with their upgraded Yellow movesets. The Surf/Psychic/Amnesia Slowbro was something to be feared if you know anything about how Gen 1's mechanics worked. Unless you overleveled like hell, you pretty much needed Jolteon/Zapdos/Mew to get past her.

Champion: Blue in RBY. Regardless of whether it was the Red/Blue or Yellow team, Blue had both high levels and good type coverage working in his favor, as well as a slight element of surprise. (Who else didn't think we were going to have to fight him after Lance back when we first played?) Add in a kickass battle theme, and here, you had a Champion battle that truly felt like one.

Tirion

Lint Magnet

Male
In my house
Seen July 26th, 2016
Posted May 22nd, 2016
58 posts
8.7 Years
MISTY.

Misty in the original games, the first time around, gave me so much trouble I nearly stopped playing the game entirely. I picked Charmander, which didn't help. Brock was torturous, but I had a Butterfree, so it wasn't TOO bad. But that bloody Starmie of Misty's, and her tendency to use healing items...even afterwards I've always felt like I've struggled with Misty, even if only slightly. I can train and overtrain and I still feel that twinge of anxiety going up against that Starmie...
Oh gosh, yes...

Even with an overtrained Venusaur and Pikachu that Starmie is still powerful enough to 2-shot and survive multiple hits at a type disadvantage.
Maybe distance is the only cure
Far away from hurt is where healing occurs
But all you really wanna do is make them proud
Don't you?
Don't you?
It must be so hard in the mess you're always cleaning up
To believe in the ghost of unbroken love
But I promise you the truth is that you're loved
So loved
You're loved
So loved
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