Summary
The fact of the matter is thatPokemonis simply not a challenging franchise. Time and time again, mainline entries prove that they’re more focused on getting each Trainer to theElite Four as comfortably as possible instead of offering a real challenge. Considering how much variety and customizationPokemonoffers in regards to party composition, it’s a shame the difficulty curve is historically so low.
But it wasn’t always like this. AlthoughPokemonhas built a reputation for its easy difficulty, previous Generations actually made it a point to offer a decent challenge. While this isn’t the case for all the earlier Generations,Pokemon’seasier curve is a recent trend. Believe it or not, there once was a time when Game Freakactually expected trainers to exert some effort; however, which is thehardestPokemongeneration?
Updated on August 08, 2025 by Mark Sammut:The specifications of the main Pokemon entries of every Generation have been added to the article.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violetis just not a challenge, especially for older players of the game. There are several reasons for that, but the game’s non-linear story plays a significant role in diminishing the difficulty. Trainers can go where they want in Paldea and train their Pokemon before even completing a single gym. In North Province (Area Three),eating a ham sandwich will spawn Chanseysthat grant the user an insane amount of EXP, which can basically break the game.
Trainer battles are completely optional inScarlet & Violet, and long gone are the days of needing to fight every trainer on every given road. Players can simply hop on Koraidon or Miraidon and surge through the landscapes. Even if people take on the trainers, the EXP. Share feature allows everyPokemonin the party to receive points to level up, making the process so much easier.
The gyms, team star raids, and TitanPokemonall offer somewhat of a challenge, but players can select the order, so the chances are they may end up being over-leveled for the task. With each of the gyms and team stars having their unique types, this all just makes catering a team to each task so much easier. The Elite Four has never been easier than inScarlet & Violet, with Pokemon boxes readily available in the trainer’s bag. Players can make a team for each member and swap them in prior to a battle, removing the need to create a well-rounded party that can survive a gauntlet.
This is also the case of the Champion of Paldea, Greeta, whose team doesn’t look like much when compared to the well-crafted teams of Cynthia and Blue of generations past. Greeta has three Pokemon weak to Fighting-types (one quad weak) and two Psychic-type Pokemon which can be taken down by solid Ghost, Bug, or Dark-types. The new Ghost/Fighting Annihlapewill have a field day when it comes to taking on Greeta. Her original team starts at level 61, which is considerably lower in comparison to some other trainers.
Greeta’s second team round is harder but still should be no match for trainers at that point in the game:
Generation 8 really should have been a turning point for the franchise. After years of structural stagnation,Sword&Shieldwas positioned as the games to finally transitionPokemonfrom 2D to 3D. It didn’t take long for the new generation to garner controversy, in large part due to Galar serving as the first region to actually exclude Pokemon from the final Pokédex.
If nothing else, these exclusions could have been an opportunity for GameFreak to refine the series’ dwindling dungeon decision and enemy balancing. Tragically, any attempts at in-game balancing are immediately offset by the aggressive Exp. Share system which more or less ensures a trainer’s entire party is perpetually over-leveled.
Even intentionally holding one’s team back, the Generation 8 games are pitifully easy. Gameplay borders on braindead, requiring next to no critical throughout from the player. Any depth combat can have will exclusively come from multiplayer.
Despite being essentially void of all challenge, the Gen 8 games still have some high-powered trainers who can be fun to battle. Mustard,the owner of the Isle of Armor’s Master Dojo, is a seasoned veteran who has not only traveled the world but has also been the Champion of the Galar region in his youth as well as a Fighting-type Gym Leader. The player can battle him multiple times; however, his true power can only be experienced in one’s third encounter with him at his dojo.
Here is Mustard’s team during his most powerful appearance after the Galarian Star Tournament:
Pokemon X&Ywere something of a big deal for the franchise. Although Generation 5 was composed of some very well-designed RPGs, the Generation didn’t really push the series forward.Generation 6takes a lot of steps forward for the series: deeper player customization, a 3D world (albeit still in the spirit of 2DPokemon,) and a dedication to online helpedX&Yshine.
That said, Generation 6 was not without its problems, taking steps back for the series. Notably, the difficulty curve was at its absolute lowest. BeforeSword&Shieldwasreleased,X&Ywere the easiestPokemongames by a wide margin. Despite being remakes of one of the harder Generations.Omega Ruby&Alpha Sapphire, unfortunately,didn’t fare much better, either.
The champion of the Kalos region, Diantha, is at the top of this trainer food chain, and her team is one of the few that can possibly give some trainers pause in battle. She has an Aurorus that is capable of setting up Light Screen and Reflect, which can make her team a bit tougher to knock out. Her Hawlucha will also buff itself with Sword Attack, so take it down quickly, and don’t let her Mega Gardevoir stick around too long, either. Here is Diantha’s team in detail:
Pokemon Sun&Moonwere letdowns for some as they attempted to reinvent a formula that had been growing stale on a mostly superficial level.Ultra SunandUltra Moonwere likewise polarizing. While Generation 7 isn’t as easy as Generation 6, it is still not difficult.
Beginning with Generation 6,Pokemonsimply stopped prioritizing offering any semblance of challenge. This could perhaps be excused inX&Yas the games were explicitly meant to be reintroductions to the franchise, but this ignores how Generation 1 wasn’t easy and the fact that Generation 7 doubled-down on all of its predecessor’s streamlining habits.
The leading Pokemon expert of the region, Professor Kukui, is arguably the toughest trainer on the Alola islands. In the player’s champion defense battle against him (Ultra Sun &Ultra Moon), he will come packing some of the highest-level NPC Pokemon in this Generation with most possessing somewhat viable movesets, like his his tricky Magnezone with Mirror Coat that can catch players off guard and his Braviary that is capable of buffing his team’s Speed as well as forcing out the player’s Pokemon with a status move. His 6th team slot will also depend on which starter the player chose, with the Prof having the final evolution of the line most type-effective against the player’s choice.
Pokemon Gold&Silverdeserve a lot of creditfor not only expanding upon the franchise mechanically but also offering more content on a scale reserved for only the grandest sequels. Generation 2 is a more accessible, more compelling adventure that takes Trainers across two regions in an epic that could have comfortably ended the series on a high.
It’s not unusual to see Generation 2’s praises sung high, but even at release,Gold&Silverhad some problems. Most notably, the difficulty curve. Generation 2 is so much easier than Generation 1, it’s jarring. The main game never requires the player to have a team any stronger than their 50s. If nothing else, there are a few choke points that recognize the lower curve as a means to combat it (Whitney, Silver’s fights, Lance, Red.)
Though, at the top of these moderate challenges is the legendary trainer Red, the former Kanto Champion (and protagonist from the Gen 1 games) who now lives as a hermit in Silver Cave, honing their might with their over-leveled team. Despite the Gen 2 games not being particularly hard, Red’s team stands out for having actual strategies that can potentially be dangerous, depending on the order in which he sends out his Pokemon. For example, if his Venusaur with Sunny Day is sent out before his Charizard, the player may have to deal with exceptionally powerful Fire-type attacks. He also has a Pikachu at a higher level than almost any other NPC Pokemon in the entire franchise and a Snorlax that simply refuses to go down, both of which should not be underestimated.
Here is Red’s team when one finds him in Silver Cave:
Generation 1 may be lacking in the modern quality of life fixtures, but on a pure design level, it features some of the franchise’s best dungeons and enemy party composition. There are always plenty of trainers to fight, wearing down even over-leveled Pokemon. The higher encounter rate plays into this as well, but Generation 1 knows how to approach difficulty.
This is best conveyed through the starters: Bulbasaur offers the easiest main game playthrough, Squirtle offers a decent challenge, and Charmander has a rough start akin to a hard mode. The curve balances itself out around the third Gym, but Generation 1 can be a decent challenge from start to finish. The Elite Four in particular can be a real wake-up call for any trainers relying primarily on their starter. Blue is one of the most formidable Champions in the series.
Although Blue’s team is different inPokemonYellowthan it was inRed & Blue, many consider the latter team compositions to be tougher, particularly the Kanto Champion’s Alakazam, which is the strongest Psychic Pokemon found in the game until one meets Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave. Players should also be wary of his Rhydon that knows one of the rare One-Hit-KO moves. It should also be mentioned that his team changes depending on the starter the player picked since he will have the final evolution of one of the others, along with a rotation of Gyarados, Exeggutor, or Arcanine depending on what coverage his team needs to support his starter. Here is Blue’s teamduring theRed & Bluechampion battle:
Ruby&Sapphireare far from the hardest games in the series, but the rest of Generation 3 does a really good job at offering a difficulty curve that’s accessible to newcomers while gripping for veterans.FireRedandLeafGreenare remakes of Generation 1, and they generally do a great job of upping the difficulty byjusta bit. With Gen 3’s new mechanics, the remakes become the definitive way to experience Kanto.
EmeraldrebalancesRuby & Sapphireby a fair bit, making the main game tougher in the process. Wallace is a weaker Champion than Steven, but the latter does return as one of the series’ more challenging post-game bosses. More importantly,Emeraldintroduces the Battle Frontier, and its first depiction is fairly difficult. Succeeding at the Battle Frontier requires a level of strategy the main games rarely ever need.
In this manner, Steven Stone echos the way Red went off into the depths of a dank cave for the solitude and space required to become a truly powerful trainer. Because of his training in Meteor Falls, where the player can find him after beating the Hoenn Elite Four and Champion, he has become the most powerful trainer in the region. His team boasts high levels and some decent movesets, though they are notably resilient due to being all Steel, Rock, and Ground types. Here is Steven’s team when encountered in Meteor Falls:
Generation 4 isn’t that much harder than Generation 3 – and certainly not when it comes to the Battle Frontier – butPlatinumis much harder thanEmeraldwas andHeartGoldandSoul Silverdo an incredible job at remaking Generation II, ironing out Johto’s imbalanced difficulty curve.
Not only is Sinnoh one of the tougher regions in general, butPlatinumalsobeefs up the storyline to include even more boss fights– many of which are actually a challenge. Cyrus was by no means a pushover inDiamond&Pearl, but he puts up a much better fight inPlatinum. More notably, Cynthia might very well be the single strongest Champion in the series.
As forHeartGoldandSoulSilver, it’s just nice to be able to play through a version of Johto that requires consistent thought. Johto itself is still on the easier side, but Kanto has been rebalanced and the post-game is harder on a whole.
The Sinnoh Champion Cynthia’s team(after the Stark Mountain event) is definitely the most dangerous team in the Generation for possessing such a variety of powerful strategies that no player can fully prepare for the fight with her unless they know what’s coming. Here is Cynthia’s team after Stark Mountain:
When looking atPokemonas just another series of RPGs, Generation 5 is the best of the bunch. Great storytelling, good party variety, and by far the best difficulty curve in the series. On their own,Black/WhiteandBlack 2/White 2offer a healthy challenge, but Generation 5 actually features easy and hard modes.
Challenge Mode inBlack 2/White 2might very well be the bestPokemonexperience there is. All trainers have higher-leveled Pokemon, and Gym Leaders and the Elite Four all have extra Pokemon. It’s a shame the franchise went from offering Challenge Mode in Generation 5 to plummeting the difficulty in Generation 4.
Although the NPC is considered the strongest in this Generation, the green-haired trainer known as N is more known for hisclose ties with either Reshiram or Zekrom(depending on the version). It is this trainer’s Season Battle teams that stand out as the strongest because in each season he has a different themed team that takes advantage of the immensely powerful weather mechanics. His Spring appearance brings a rain-based team that is something that would be viable in competitive gameplay against other real people.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available now for Nintendo Switch.
