I always thought that the games AI was purposely designed to be... well pushovers. This is after all a game designed for children as young as 6 years old to pick up, play, and enjoy.
Whenever I want to see complicated AI, I go to the "Battle Frontier" permitted that there actually is one within the game I'm playing. That's where they hide all the intelligent AI. Almost all the games have minor intelligence within their AI when you're looking towards the more competitive PVE within the game.
I remember when I was playing B&W, although it was a lame competitive addition, the Battle Subway had some pretty intelligent and creative AI, some so much so that they were practically cheating.
Although the battle subway was repetitive and annoying, I still have to admit, it had some of the most complicated battle patterns and team designs I had ever seen for most of the competitive aspects of the AI within the game. Sometimes I think that the badly designed progression within the battle subway was made as a prototype to test how far they could push their competitive AI. (I actually can't remember exactly, but was the data for the various trainers within the Subway pulled off of the internet? I seem to remember that... I can't remember if it was previously designed AI by the game creators, or if it was based on certain saved player information from the internet? Been so long since I played that game.)
The serious AI that has always been entertaining and sometimes near impossible to predict, has always been any NPC trainer designed within the battle frontier. Sometimes you can gain an advantage over them if they are type focused, but even then they often follow relatively competitive strategies, making them often exciting to fight against, and a very interesting and entertaining challenge.
I'm actually trying to learn about the Battle Frontier in the past games, in order to attempt replicating and expanding it within a hacked game. The Pokemon games in general need more competitive AI (IMO).
Masters of Hoenn





"Somewhere off in a distant world, an island exists, where the ocean only meets the sand, where the weather is always warm. An adventure begins, traveling from the vast lands into the deep seas, chasing into the heart of the tropics, where the plants are vibrant and the beasts are fantastic. We will find each other there, chasing the fleeting dreams of a land full of beauty and potential."