5 Hardest Pokémon Battles of All Time, Ranked

Pokémon is not a series that often challenges its players, but every so often, a battle from certain games raise the stakes due to their clever design. From intimidating Champions to optional bosses, Pokémon has seen its fair share of memorable Trainers who live in infamy for how strong their teams of pocket monsters are. However, a select few go beyond just “difficult,” bending the rules of their games to force players to adapt or lose.

Several Gym Leaders in the Pokémon series can be considered tough battles, but most of the time, they are easier to plan for due to their usage of a single Pokémon type. Elite Four trainers are similar, allowing you to plan for counters through your Pokémon more often than not. The truly dangerous opponents are the ones that don’t follow a specific pattern, testing your ability to not only have a diverse team of your own, but rely on each member of that team during the right situations.

5. Volo (Pokémon Legends: Arceus)

The spin-off game Pokémon Legends: Arceus changes up the series’ normal battle formula, making it far easier to defeat opponents with Strong or Agile-style attacks. That being said, Volo still tests everything you know about this unorthodox game in brutal fashion, wielding a diverse team of powerful Pokémon at a very high level. Trainers who go into this fight blindly can easily lose from a level mismatch alone, even if they have Pokémon who can counter certain creatures on Volo’s team.

What makes this fight truly challenging is how it breaks from a usual battle, as defeating Volo causes him to summon the Legendary Ghost/Dragon-type Pokémon Giratina once his team is down. This introduces a seventh Pokémon you have to beat, which has two phases — one in its normal form and another in its Origin form. Taking down a Level 70 Giratina twice will test your team’s endurance to its limit, forcing you to perfectly prepare for a grueling fight.

4. Red (Pokémon Gold/Silver + HeartGold/SoulSilver)

Another huge postgame challenge in Pokémon is the infamous battle against Red, the protagonist of the Gen 1 Pokémon Red and Blue games. For Pokémon Gold and Silver, and later the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes, this was the ultimate Pokémon battle, acting as the final duel of the postgame beyond the Johto region. Fighting Red was a culmination of your journey throughout both Johto and Kanto, remaining as one of the highest-level battles in the series.

Red wields the final evolutions of each Kanto starter Pokémon, including Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise. If that wasn’t enough, Red’s bulky Snorlax and Lapras balance out a team with an initial Pikachu that represents the hidden starter from Pokémon Yellow. Each Pokémon is at least Level 80, so matching Red requires a ton of grinding levels for your own team. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, environmental Hail hazards on Mt. Silver make this fight even tougher, demanding excellence with every move to give you a chance at winning.

3. Ghetsis (Pokémon Black 2/White 2)

Villain characters in Pokémon like Team Rocket’s Giovanni and Team Galactic’s Cyrus are no joke, but Ghetsis from Team Plasma is a unique blend of malicious. Ghetsis is the primary antagonist of Pokémon Black and White, as well as the Black 2 and White 2 sequels in the Unova region. In both games, Ghetsis’ vindictive nature translates to his team of Pokémon, who are uniquely suited to decimate teams without the right match-ups to face him.

Black 2 and White 2 perhaps holds Ghetsis’ strongest team, featuring a Leftovers wielding Cofagrigus initially as a tough wall to break through. Ghetsis has a variety of potent attackers that openly get past weaknesses to throw off your plans. For example, Ghetsis’ Water/Ground-type Seismitoad can’t be affected by Electric-type moves that would normally counter a Water-type. At the same time, the Eelektross on Ghetsis’ team has the Levitate ability, preventing Ground-type moves that typically target Electric-types from taking it out.

A Drapion and Toxicroak create more aggressive opponents, but Ghetsis’ scariest Pokémon is his Level 52 Hydreigon. This Dark/Dragon-type was forced to evolve early, with its Frustration move’s potential being maxed out due to the Pokémon’s hatred toward its Trainer. Levitate and a Life Orb that boosts Hydreigon’s attacking power tenfold creates one of the strongest signature Pokémon on any Trainer’s team in the series, making it easy to fall to Ghetsis fast.

2. Cynthia (Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)

From the foreboding piano of her theme alone, Cynthia strikes fear in the hearts of all Pokémon players who remember the Sinnoh region’s Champion. Cynthia is perhaps the hardest Champion to beat from any mainline series, wielding a team that covers its own weaknesses and smartly switches between Pokémon to keep the upper hand during the fight. To this day, Cynthia remains one of the only opponents in Pokémon that actively adapts during battle in the same way that players do.

The balance of Cynthia’s team is infamous no matter what game she shows up in, but her original team in Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum is by far her strongest. Cynthia starts with a Pokémon players will never have seen up until that point in the game — Spiritomb. This Ghost/Dark-type, during Gen 4’s games, had no weaknesses players could exploit. This forced them to fight through the Pokémon’s Pressure to simply reach the next stage of the battle. Replaying this classic battle with the restrictions of Pokemon available in Gen 4 adds an extra layer to Cynthia’s battle.

Cynthia’s team continues to be strong with Lucario, Roserade, and Milotic all fulfilling different roles on her team to leave no vulnerable spots. A truly terrifying Level 62 Garchomp is the stuff of nightmares, with a Gastrodon or Togekiss rounding out a team that has equal parts attacking, special attacking, and defensive prowess. Identifying type match-ups and coming prepared is the only surefire way to win this battle, but even if you do, it’s almost impossible to do so without having one of your Pokémon faint.

1. Evice (Pokémon Colosseum)

With someone like Cynthia, having Evice from Pokémon Colosseum at the top of this list might raise some eyebrows. However, those familiar with Evice know just how difficult this trainer is to fight, and that’s before you consider the roster for this Pokémon spin-off is greatly reduced compared to other games. With fewer options at your disposal, Evice can feel like an impossible challenge, for a variety of reasons.

First of all, Evice’s team is simply ridiculous, featuring a Tyranitar, Salamence, Slowking, Slaking, Scizor, and Machamp for a pure attacking group of Pokemon. The way Evice fights is completely in service to his team’s aggression, using attacking boosting items to bolster their Attack stat, often leading to his Pokémon knocking out yours in one hit. Furthermore, Evice can remove the weaknesses of his team, using moves like Slowking’s Skill Swap to remove Slaking’s Truant, an ability that would normally allow the immensely powerful Normal-type to only attack once every other turn.

Each single Pokémon in Evice’s team is especially brutal in a different way, from Scizor’s Swords Dance increasing its Attack, Machamp’s high crit chance Cross Chop, to Tyranitar’s use of Thunder and Blizzard in its moves. Combined with healing items to regenerate his team, Evice is among the most aggravating and despicable fights in the Pokémon series, easily acting as the hardest battle you’ll ever have.

What Pokémon trainer did you have the hardest time beating in the Pokémon series? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!