The Hardest Gym Leader --- For You

[wraith89]

Eh the first gym was rather okay. Asides from a critical hit Incinerate that hit my Snivy for lethal damage, I was fine even without the opposite elemental monkey.

Problem with Lenora is that Retaliate that comes out after Herdier faints is going to be very lethal (left like 20 HP on my 72 HP Servine). I know there are a couple of fighters available in the following route (Throh/Sawk/Timburr), but you will need to grind to allow them to take a hit or two from Herdier's Take Down. Relying on one slow Pokemon to take down two otherwise powerful ones is tough. Nonetheless, I believe the fighters were placed at that specific route for a reason, despite the fact it is a weird habitat for them to be in. That being said, Watchog itself is not a pushover. I believe it also had stuff like Crunch and Hypnosis to further mess with your Pokemon, and at that stage it was pretty fast for a Pokemon. It's a pushover in the late stage of the game, and if that thing remained Lenora's signature Pokemon during theoretical rematches, it would easily be handed over 9001 times over. But at this point of the game, incredibly tough.

Strange. I found Burgh quite the pushover. But maybe because I had a Tranquill (the only other Pokemon I had at this point was Servine in my party). I'm sure they would have been nightmares otherwise for Servine, and it took two Air Cutters to take Leavanny down. Struggle Bug on the other hand is just... meh. It's annoying but not thoroughly dangerous. I'll bet Pignite would make this gym much easier though.

Elesa wasn't too tough for my Servine (who was overleveled at this point at 35). However Emolgas were frankly very annoying and Zebstrika can hurt. To be frank, I don't remember what happened, but nothing too serious really because I wouldn't have sent out Tranquill against an Electric gym! I think I spammed Growth + Return or something... I forget. Problem here is all three starters are weak to whatever Elesa has to offer (Aerial Ace hits Servine and Pignite super effectively, electric attacks are the bane of Dewott's existence). I think they intentionally made this one tough because people fanboy over Elesa, but they do offer Ground Pokemon much before this gym, making it easier. Unfortunately, two of her Pokemon happen to be Flying types. Great -__-

Clay came at the wrong time; I was able to spam Coil on my Serperior and Leaf Blade his whole team to death. I wonder how it would be otherwise. Now, I caught a Vanillite just outside the Cold Storage place, and I think they were trying to help you out with it because Ice beats Ground. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be, as Vanillite's Icy Wind didn't OHKO the Drilburs used by the Jr. Trainers, and even after speed reduction it was still slower than a Drilbur who Metal Claw'd it to death. It certainly isn't happening; the Pokemon offered at this point is hardly of any use. Now there are also Grass Pokemon in the next route (Deerlings and such) which may be of some help, but I didn't try that approach yet. All of the starters has some sort of advantage against his Pokemon, though Emboar is weak to Ground attacks and Palpitoad can still hurt him.

Skyla is... nearly naked. What the heck? Only one of her Pokemon knows Acrobatics, and that is Swoobat. Other than that, they all fall prey to whatever you have at this point. Funny how Zebstrika is available at level 27 in the rainy route near the town, so yeah, I thought this gym was pretty easy. I used Serperior's Coil + Return, however. Seems to work every time.

In Celestial Tower they offer you some Litwicks to catch in the wild to fight against Brycen. It still sucks though, and Brycen wasn't too challenging. I used my Vanillish's Flash Cannon (TM found in Twist Mountain) and Litwick (level 40 after intense grinding) to fight him. Litwick trollishly needed one extra level to evolve. Cryogonal took minimal damage from either Flash Cannon or Flame Burst though because of its incredibly high special defence. Fighting that thing requires physical attacks and someone who can resist Ice moves. Emboar comes into mind.

The dragon gym was annoying, but Serperior's Coil + Return worked because all they would do is spam Dragon Dance and Dragon Tail has negative priority. Cryogonal's problem is... it's too rare, but in theory I think it should work. I tried Vanillish against the trainers in the gym. While holding an Eviolite, over 50% of its HP got chunked off from Fraxure's Dragon Claw who was faster than Vanillish. I hate how overpowered these new Pokemon are

Overall I still think the hardest is Lenora. I find some justifications in people claiming for Elesa or strangely Clay, but all in all I think it depends on what Pokemon you have on your team. I just picked the ones I think looks cool, which basically spelled disaster for me during the E4, but still worked nonetheless. The leveling curve was at least better than HGSS's sudden level spikes, I'll give you that much.

[Jabberwox]

When you have Krokorok, Elesa is no trouble

When you have Pignite, Clay is a LOT of trouble... I had Pignite, Tirtouga, and a couple of others which were no good against the Steel-type. I only won that battle by sheer luck. Clay's Excadrill is nasty...

Easiest for me would have to be Brycen

[wademan2636]

For Lenora, the trick is: after you knock out the Herdier, switch to a pokemon you don't plan on using and use the turn to heal up your main pokemon. Chances are, retaliate will take out the pokemon you don't need. That gives you a free switch into your main pokemon for the fight.

Elesa is the hardest, because her Emolgas are flying type. There aren't a lot of types that can dish out damage while also taking volt switches. A Boldore is a decent option, but it won't be able to take too many volt switches. I find that Drilburs are very effective, as well as Yamasks and Sandiles.

[Crystal Walrein]

I think I actually had to reboot the most times whilst trying to defeat Lenora. Damn Watchog and its Confuse Ray.

[Nintz]

Personnaly, I found Elessa hardest in my current playthrough.

Those Emolga were tough to take down, though I found that my Petillil and its Sleep Powder helped to some degree. Zebstika was actually tougher though. Almost all of my pokemon were under-leveled and kept getting one-hit KO'd. Eventually, my lvl. 28 (or so) Pignite was able to take it down with a couple of Flame Charges (with potions).

Striaton City gave me trouble on my first try. I didn't have the monkey yet. Turns out Patrat's bide is really effective here.

Lenora also gave me a headache, though. I hadn't quite gotten a Pignite when I first arrived. Went out and trained a little, taught my Lvl. 18 Pignite Rock Smash, and voila! No more problems.

Burgh was easy, due to Pignite.

Clay actually took only two tries. My team at this point was Pignite, Vanillite, Ducklett, Gothita, and really under-leveled Blitzle and Sandile. Vanillite was able to one-hit his Krokorak with Avalanche. Pignite (equipped with quick claw) was able to get a flame charge on Excadrill, before fainting. Sent out the sacrificial lambs Blitzle and Sandile while I healed Pignite, then hit Excadrill again, fainting it. Palpitoad then came out. Turned out that my Ducklett helped here. By being a water-flying, it was immune to all of his ground attacks, and resistant to Muddy Water. Aqua Ring, and just one potion required to beat it.

I have not yet fought Skyla, but I have a lvl. 32 Joltik with me.

Brycen will be very easy with my Pignite/Emboar, and I'll have a Vanillish for Drayden. So I think the toughest is over for me.