Who Are the Best Gym Leaders at Every Rank?

[@mistaken_stranger8343]

Moral of the story, don't underestimate the normal type.

[@emperorcubone]

Honestly, it's got a bunch of great Pokémon, ever since Gen 1.

[@cubicklecub]

@@emperorcubone Persian, Tauros, Kangaskhan

[@c0mpu73rguy]

I never did, Normal type may not have many advantages but it also doesn't have many weaknesses, especially with the pokemon that can be found in the game's early routes... What I'm saying is that I hate you Whitney, you and your Miltank.

[@mistaken_stranger8343]

@@cubicklecub don't forget snorlax.

[@cubicklecub]

@@mistaken_stranger8343 yeah Snorlax is really good ! Happiny too !

[@joltx9909]

I love how volkner has an luxray in platinum. came at him with a gabite only to be dealt with by a vicious ice fang. great stuff

[@gengarcrobat1576]

I swept him easily with my gastrodon in Diamond. Claire with her Kingdra is the hardest final gym leader

[@joltx9909]

@@gengarcrobat1576 no doubt about her being the hardest with kingdra having only dragon as weakness in gen 4. Just mentioned its coverage which caught me by surprise

[@joltx9909]

Plus remember not everyone has a gastrodon on their team. If you come with hippowdown or torterra? An easy sweep could prove to be actually challenging

[@gengarcrobat1576]

@@joltx9909 I've also swept all of his team except Electavire with a Torterra too

[@gengarcrobat1576]

@@joltx9909 But even so Claire is more challenging

[@ej-epicjourney5351]

I mean, now you obviously have to rank the gym leaders of each type specialty.

[@emperorcubone]

Hah, good point!

[@fireblast8972]

That's going to be difficult since it's either going to boil down to whose gym is furthest along in their respective region, or be a lot of symantecs

[@ej-epicjourney5351]

@@fireblast8972 The easiest solution is to compare the strongest versions of their teams from each game against each other, which should give everyone except the Kalos leaders a fair shot (though now that I think about it, that would mean that Blue wins his bracket by default since he's the only leader without a specialty.

[@breakfaith3031]

@@ej-epicjourney5351 That's why Blue is my favorite gym leader, not even the league can tell him what to do. he already beat lance's arse once and lance isn't looking to go through that again

[@ej-epicjourney5351]

@@breakfaith3031 I suppose what could be done is compare Blue's strongest teams from different games against each other, see which version of Blue is the best.

[@PantaroParatroopa]

I think it's high time we get a Normal-type Elite Four member, or even a Normal-focused Champion.

[@momom5429]

It's weird that we got a bug type E4 member but never a Normal one. Come to think of it, we've even had a champion whose ace was a bug type (Alder), but never one whose ace was normal.

[@flukemunga2236]

@@momom5429 Bug is the second best pokemon type, normal is more ok.

[@NerdishGeekish]

Oh boy... I can only imagine Whitney as an E4 member...

[@roscoedash6673]

@@NerdishGeekish they should have Whitney grow up and move to a new region and become the champion

[@asmodeus58XX]

So long as they don't have a freaking Miltank.

[@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093]

I think clair deserves at least honorable mention. Shes a dragon type trainer but with two water types which mitigates her ice weakness. I admittedly wasn't running the best team for her (typhlosion, togetic, sudowudo, ambipom, sunflora, politoad) so my view point is probably a bit skewed but I think she put up a strong fight.

[@sergelevesque2718]

If you really played Gold/Silver without guides, you would have been totally caught unprepared for her Kingdra.

[@melancholicthinker9291]

Golds team from the manga, ayyy that’s solid I can respect that

[@ivanbackfromthecardshop8093]

@@melancholicthinker9291 yeah it was pretty fun. Also made lance a pretty hard fight.

[@ryanvandenberg3119]

Not to mention Kingdra is only weak to other dragons, which is a type you can not get at this point unless you trade. Also in HGSS Kingdra has Dragon Pulse, and Hydro Pump (2 very strong STAB moves.) and I think you have the hardest final gym leader in the series.

[@GhostbusterPalu]

You're not the only dude who had a hard time with Clair tbh

[@XGame80]

About Sabrina, ghosts and bugs can’t stop her because in gen 1, the only attacking ghost type attack, lick, was only 30 base power. That doesn’t even matter, because, for some reason, psychic was immune to ghost, instead of weak to it, which was definently a mistake. And bugs aren’t stopping it because the only good move was twineedle, and only beedrill could learn it, who had horrible stats and was weak to psychic because of that poison typing.

[@emperorcubone]

Right, they probably would have been bad even with combined special stats, but all that just makes her nigh unstoppable.

[@mattchewbilliken827]

Jolteon can learn pin missle at lvl 48 in gen 1, not the best, but not weak to psychic atleast. Sidenote, this is actually the first I've heard about having to fight Koga first, feeling like an idiot right now for always fighting Sabrina before him XD

[@XGame80]

@@mattchewbilliken827 but jolteon’s base attack is 65, so…

[@mattchewbilliken827]

@@XGame80 meh, Jolteon has been a favorite mine since the beginning

[@kejammin]

Correct even the Ghost type were mixed with poison unless you had a gengar with a higher base speed she would 1shot you

[@Joey15811]

Grant is the gym i always struggle with because amaura always thunder waves and hax and tyrunt resists water and grass. In a nuzlock he is tough if you don’t roll a flabebe or fighting type

[@emperorcubone]

I honestly forgot he was there, but he holds down the bicycle town for sure!

[@felipenetoprimoquintograu71]

ISNT flabebe the most possible encounter in route 4? If you don’t get it you get a ralts which is far better

[@felipenetoprimoquintograu71]

because it’s much more offensive and useful because of the psychic type

[@AznYunHou]

Plus Tyrunt has Strong Jaw Bite

[@flukemunga2236]

Yeah he ruined two nuzlocks for me

[@ajh22895]

Lenora's Herdier and Watchog are quite strong to go up against in a Nuzlocke. Herdier with Take Down and Watchog with Retaliate. You basically need Roggenrola to defeat her.

[@substandardnerd]

For the second gym leaders, I remember Brawly, especially in Emerald, being brutal with his nearly unkillable Makuhita and Bulk Up spam

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

Principally if you don't use a Sableye

[@jgr7487]

you do have the possibility to have Tailow, Ralts & Sableye in your team, which makes him quite an easier leader.

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

@@jgr7487 in my Sapphire playthrough i used Swellow and Gardevoir so it was easy, and Sableye in my first emerald one it was really easy, but the one I am doing now it's horrible I was with just a lotad and a combusken, I had countless attempts until I beat him, but I'm stuck in the Elite Four/champion.

[@rickyo7061]

@@asafesseidonsapphire never thought about using a sableye for him. That's a good choice

[@asafesseidonsapphire]

@@rickyo7061 it literally doesn't take damage, spam fury swipes until it's dead, really it's just that

[@katieb9428]

I’d love to see a best and worst gym leader of every type

[@emperorcubone]

Hmm, interesting idea...

[@katieb9428]

@@emperorcubone Thank you 😊

[@JoshusBarber]

Man I wonder who the best Dark type leader will be?

[@bluekirby_64]

@@JoshusBarber I know right? There's so many, it will be a tough choice.

[@katieb9428]

@@JoshusBarber 🤣

[@ericgabrielalvesdecarvalho3496]

I am currently playing pokemon Black 2 withouth a starter and oh man, Cheren is hard, and when i deleted water gun on psyduck i tried soo much that i realized that if i wanted to win i needed water gun i tried 12 times withouth that move

[@edmg7]

I mostly agree with these picks. But similar to the weakest list I disagree with your pick for the 8th gym. Volkner may not have been one of the easier 8th leaders but I don't think he's the hardest. Claire seemed to give a lot more grief to players despite being right after an ice area, probably due to her use of paralysis and the difficulty in grinding in Johto. Raihan was also a bit of a challenge since he used pretty good doubles strategies (which seems like a situation where changing your strategy is a bit more mandatory than Volkner's).

[@Sunaki1000]

There exist for some Reason, a Group who swears Kingdra is a Pushover. No Idea where this People come from, but the Gymleaders of Emerald and the Jotho Games are both absolutely terrifying due to Kingdra.

[@edmg7]

@@Sunaki1000 hmm, for some reason I really struggled with Kingdra in Silver, but I kind of forgot Wallace even had one.

[@jackbrownio3]

It would be a cool challenge to have to face these Gym Leaders in order. It’d be a cool mod to have their teams replace the gun leaders in one of the newer regions

[@emperorcubone]

I'm sure somebody could make a fan game for it.

[@justinokeke2027]

@@emperorcubone I don't agree with the 8th gym leader I think it should be raihain

[@rickyo7061]

What do you mean in order? You already face them in order

[@vitormoura6003]

@@rickyo7061 These gym leaders in order, in the same game

[@VioletStreak02]

@@justinokeke2027 raihan was easy, I just spammed dazzling gleam and earthquake

[@Dark_Side_Productions]

I love the Gym Leaders! I’ve suggested this before, but I think you should rank the best and worst gym puzzles. It could be really fun to compare the most and least interesting trials that lead you to a ranking!

[@Zekken_The_Lodestar]

My list from worst to best: Melony/Gordie Piers Raihan Opal Bea/Allister Nessa Milo Kabu

[@zekrom77777]

The best pokemon content. ❤️

[@sergelevesque2718]

"With Sabrina you should probably just assume that she's out of your league..." Dreams... crushed!

[@QuinnBuckland]

I always figured Raihan was tougher than Volkner

[@rickyo7061]

Right, same. Volkner is easy. He's one of the worst gym leaders in my opinion. But, i like his character

[@spkyscrysklltn]

Definitely.

[@arhkadian2389]

I think he forgot about Juan and claire. That kingdra is a pain.

[@Kurominos1]

Raihan is actually easyer then piers his whole thing is the sandstorm even non of his pokemon directly benefit from it also he sends out gigalith and Sandaconda together one makes a sandstorm ,,,the other one would also create one when get hit so yeah ,,, sandacondas ability gets completly wastet cause the sandstorm is already out at this point i mean in game he literally says Piers almost beatet him even Raihan used Dynamax and Piers dont so well ,,,,

[@QuinnBuckland]

​@@Kurominos1 I didn't say anything about Pierce, I said Volkner. Volkner is super easy, Raihan at least poses a bit of a challenge.

[@Jman20077]

Honestly, I’ve played tons of Pokémon games and the only gym leaders that actually gave me a hard time where Norman and Raihan. I genuinely lost to these gym leaders countless times.

[@emperorcubone]

Really, Raihan? You should use more Ground types...

[@Jman20077]

@@emperorcubone, I’m not really a strategic player and usually just use whatever Pokémon I like, But for this battle I hade to make an entirely new team because of how difficult it was. Every single battle he would sweep my team with ground and dragon types, And since it’s a double battle, Some of my team members where out-sped and hit twice. Even after I made a new team, It took me a few tries to defeat him.

[@AshenDust_]

I think Nessa is a really hard second gym leader. All her Pokémon have Water, Dark and Normal coverage, and I don’t think any Pokémon you can get up to that point resists all 3, and her Dreadnaw has a 75 Base Power STAB coming from a 115 attack stat outside of Dynamax, and a 130 Base Power move in Dynamax that sets up rain for it’s swift swim, it will OKO or 2 hit KO most Pokémon on your team, from my experience, even outside of dynamax, and it’s very bulky too, so unless you pick Grookey you have to get a strong grass type to kill it, and in a Nuzlocke, often that isn’t possible. Out of all my Nuzlocke attempts at the game, she was the trainer I most consistently lost Pokémon too, and in my original playthrough, I had to use more potions on her than the champion.

[@kimododorkon]

Manectric was the best mon I had against her.

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

@@kimododorkon Good pick. My choice was Roserade; granted, Drednaw at times was able to outspeed because she had a nature that hindered her speed and that stat was a paltry 2 or 3 in the IV area. But she swept her team in Hulbury. I would have gone with Thwackey had it not been for Drednaw's defense.

[@implodingcolon1058]

9:34 Is she foreshadowing Gold/Ethan's arrival?

[@matiasvalentine2628]

For me (based on experience): First: Cheren Second: Lenora Third: Fantina (Platinum) Fourth: Elesa 5th: Norman 6th: Sabrina 7th: Tate and Liza (Emerald) 8th: Raihan

[@paulyd2406]

Emperor Cubone Sir!! Love the Fascinating Video Title as I'm watching it while commenting! Keep Up The Great Work As Always!! 🙂

[@emperorcubone]

Thank you friend!

[@paulyd2406]

@@emperorcubone Your welcome. I just happened to be at work instead of sleeping like I should've been thus why I commented so quickly and wanted to ensure you got a genuine praising compliment too 🙂

[@umapessoa240]

Elesa is even harder when you consider that her team counters all three starters. Both her Emolga have flying attacks to take on Servind and Pignite, Zebstrika has Flame Charge for Servine and all have electric attacks for Dewott, assuming that’s the stage they’re at for the leveling.

[@emperorcubone]

That's a really good point too! Can't just spam your starter the whole game...

[@daniel6678]

Obviously Sabrina is the runaway winner for the sixth gym, but I feel like Winona deserves honorable mention. She has surprisingly strong type coverage (that Skarmory is a tank!), and you’d better go in with a plan for her Altaria or else she’ll set up Dragon Dance and sweep through your team. I’ll also give a shout-out to Tate and Liza’s Emerald team. They’re kind of a joke in Ruby and Sapphire with only two Pokemon, but just that extra Claydol alone skyrockets their difficulty.

[@rioranger5268]

Am I seriously the only one that found winona 10 times harder than sabrina? I literally swept with a graveller, all you need is high speed and spdef so you outspeed the venomoth and the kadabra and take a hit from zam

[@daniel6678]

@@rioranger5268 It's been ages since I've played a Kanto game, so I'm mostly just taking people's word for it. I played Emerald much more recently and Winona was one of, if not the, hardest gym in the game. It's worth noting though that Sabrina is almost certainly the hardest if you're just looking at gen 1, just because of how broken gen 1 is.

[@takaotheijnbattleship4534]

When I was young, I was playing two Pokémon games alternating, those being HeartGold and Platinum. I reached the third gyms, and while Whitney was rather annoying, Fantina was the bane of my 6-year-old existence. It was probably just my inexperience at the time, and even though she may not seem that bad now, the Platinum rendition of Fantina will always remain as my hardest third gym leader.

[@hamukoreal]

honestly, i agree. even as an adult now i struggle with fantina. mainly because i pick piplup and her mismagius has magical leaf... which destroys me combined with confuse ray....

[@kimododorkon]

Whitney was honestly kinda easy for me, even though Ron (my Quilava) wasn't a Physical attacker, I just spammed Rock Smash and eventually defeated her. Took about 5 minutes.

[@harbour08]

Whitney .... (Curls up in corner and starts rocking back and forth) ..... Whitney

[@colinvandenberg3446]

I always pick up Rock Tomb at the desert before Nimbassa, nd teach it to Krockorock/Excadrill to handle Elesa's Emolgas.

[@emperorcubone]

You need it for sure!

[@robertlupa8273]

And that's good game design - give the player options to solve their problem!

[@SJrad]

Oh and in oras, one of his slakings have retaliate which does devastating damage after you just knocked out a Pokémon.

[@kimododorkon]

My Electrike was my last Pokémon against Norman, but i still managed to defeat him...

[@MLittleBrony]

Norman is the first in-game Trainer to get me to EV train. how i beat him years ago, i don't know.

[@AdachiSimp]

Waking up with a new Emperor Cubone video always make my day 100% better

[@emperorcubone]

And the fact that I can help makes my day better!

[@augstradus]

Waking up at 2 pm... Luxury. (jk timezones and stuff)

[@asmodeus58XX]

Most of them don't even have a contest. I would give the second rank to Misty, because her Starmie is difficult even with a Bulbasaur, and thank Arceus GF didn't gave her ace a Psychic move, forcing you to get a Pikachu instead. Depending on your starter, Flannery could give Elesa a run for her money, but only on Emerald, and that's out the window. Even with a Marshtomp (which only has a single Fire resistance, not a double one), Overheat can be brutal. The difference between her RS team and her Emerald team is night and day, with that Camerupt that gives quite a fight. Her Torkoal now has Attract (*Triggered*) and Body Slam, a White Herb for one stat-reduce-free Overheat, and even a possible Light Screen effect that further reduces Water damage. As for Rock or Ground, that 140 base defense will make them laughable. Might as well attack with a neutral special type, like Psychic or something. Not to mention, if Flannery does actually battle Elesa, she might sweep her entire team with her Camerupt alone. Most of Elesa's arsenal will be worthless, and none of her Pokemon can take an Overheat so well. Also, Elesa's Zebstrika is male, which means Attract will devastate him. I also think fifth rank should be Fantina, and eighth should be Claire. Honestly, her Kingdra literally has no weaknesses.

[@kimododorkon]

I lost to Flannery like 5 times before I actually defeated her

[@coyraig8332]

You forgot about the sun

[@asmodeus58XX]

@@coyraig8332 The sun is self explanatory. If Flannery was played by a person, and not by a rather stupid AI, she would be the hardest gym leader in Emerald by far. The only Pokemon with a double Fire resistance at that point would be a Magcargo, and, well, it probably won't take a sunboosted Overheat well anyway.

[@kimododorkon]

This is what happens when a Crobat is your strongest Pokémon

[@Acrum99]

Maybe, but Elesa is still more annoying with her Emolgas. Also, yes, Claire should totally win the eighth rank.

[@jackcooney1651]

Ok so here’s the thing about Norman Use protect every non loafing turn. None of the Slakings can hit you.

[@galaxyquestminute7490]

Or teach Dig. Same basic idea

[@jackcooney1651]

@@galaxyquestminute7490 yeah

[@mr.nerd3.142]

That works fine, but you have to get past the rest of his team, including his surprisingly tricky Vigoroth, first.

[@jackcooney1651]

@@mr.nerd3.142 It's not as simple as I made it out to be for emerald, but in r/s and oras, it's exactly as simple as I described. Vigoroth usually isn't much of a threat to me ig

[@mr.nerd3.142]

@@jackcooney1651 fair enough.

[@AhmedHussain-ju6xd]

Nice to see another one of your uploads

[@gustavoschiller6852]

I disagree on Volkner he may have a Octillery on his team but he's to slow and his only water type move has a base power of 60 and and accuracy of 85 which makes him easy to counter meanwhile Clair is a far more challenging Gym Leader since you most likely don't have a Pokemon that can do suppereffective damage to her Kingdra by the time you're on Blackthorn City

[@legomaster4188]

I remember trying to cheeze norman with protect. but his vigoroth killed it

[@emperorcubone]

There's a reason he didn't bring a third Slaking...

[@mr.nerd3.142]

Everyone always underestimates his Vigoroth!

[@scubasteevo7013]

I love Volkners Electivire in Platinum. It knows Ice Punch.

[@lepenguin1907]

I had a full team before the second Kalos gym. It was still difficult.

[@emperorcubone]

Yeah, Kalos has the biggest gap between the first two gyms of any game, but even with all the prep time it can still be hard.

[@matthaisstupidus]

8:30 Hey, dont underestimate that Eiscue! Legit killed my DMAX EXCADRILL in a nuzlocke, that thing is a PAIN to fight in the hail!

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

6:18 Chuck actually was really difficult for me because of the Hypnosis and Focus Punch combo on Primeape.

[@andrewmeschke3281]

I had to like. I agree with every single choice. Edit: I also consider Fantina in Platinum to be the toughest third Gym Leader because of her status condition strategies and level 24 Mismagius

[@isaaclim8645]

@8:16 i love how their color palette is so cohesive. Pastel blues, pinks and purples So satisfying

[@michaelballack3051]

Very good list! I personally disagree with Norman tho. If u have a pokemon with Protect you can easily cheese the Slakings. Pokemon such as Torkoal, Pelipper, Anorith and Corpish learn it in their lvl 20's for example.

[@juniorjedi2563]

“Her greatest tools are [her two Emolga].” In a game where the idea of people using Pokémon as tools is a major plot point, and something frowned upon. Wow.

[@emperorcubone]

Are you telling us you're Team Plasma? Cause she went to actively fight them, so I think we know where she lines up...

[@juniorjedi2563]

No, I’m one of Rood’s ex-Team Plasma guys.

[@npcmcishark7379]

What keeps me alive during Tuesdays

[@emperorcubone]

Aw, thank you! Glad to sustain you...

[@liamheneghan4977]

Yay I was hoping this was coming!

[@emperorcubone]

I hadn't planned it, but you can get me to do just about anything by watching the first 100K times...

[@takaotheijnbattleship4534]

Raihan loves to eat my Pokémon in the various challenge nuzlockes I do. When both Pokémon decide to attack one of mine, that one almost always ends up going down. He's really the toughest spot of any SW/SH locke I do, so he personally gets my designation of the hardest 8th gym.

[@bdt2002gaming]

These two videos prove helpful in a sort of tier list I’m trying to make right now. More specifically, I’m trying to compare every Gym Leader in Pokémon relative to each other and organize them by strength/difficulty levels.

[@emperorcubone]

Cool! Although I will say these aren't *official by any means, a case could be made for some other ones but it is interesting.

[@_larchiviste_]

There are three 5th gen gym leaders and people used to complain about it. Just saying 😂 Tbh I love them and am really glad you chose them, overall your final lineup is solid and your video is, too!!

[@jambon2730]

If we're talking about 3rd gym leader , then fantina deserve a spot as well She's INCREDIBLY tough in platinum and even more than Whitney depending of your team Mismagius has an absurd coverage, stab and base stats for so early in the game

[@carbon6111]

I was watching someone play Platinum for the first time and Fantina took him like 2 streams to beat. It was very entertaining to watch.

[@momom5429]

For second gym leaders, I'd have probably put Misty personally, since her Starmie was a step above anything else you fought at that point, especially in gen 1. After that I agree with everything until gyms 7 and 8, and in both those cases, my change has a similar reasoning. Emerald Tate and Liza are a double battle and use extremely challenging earthquake strategies most trainers wouldn't be ready for. They're a run ender for a lot of nuzlockes, and take new players multiple tries to get through. Raihan in Sword and Shield similarly has the diverse sand team for his double battle so if you go in expecting to just take on some dragons, you'll be in serious trouble.

[@RaiHyuugaRoxas]

I wanted to comment about Raihan being harder than people give him credit for! He first NPC Outside of Battle Facilities with a weather based team and if Volkner gets credit for going out of his Type Specialty Raihan does the same thing... He is also one of the only few double battles in the entire main game of Sword and Shield! I personally think Sword and Shield are only sooo easy because it's not our first Pokémon game! By now we know of balanced teams, Type advantage, good move sets and how to work around our opponents strategy! Some Trainers in Sword and Shield are quite hard if you think about it in relation to other Trainers you fought in games before! But now most of us are experienced enough to easily handle most of them with ease. That's pretty much my unpopular opinion!

[@kimododorkon]

I taught my Inteleon Ice Beam just to learn that he had a Steel/Dragon type...made me have to switch to my Cincinno with Dig.

[@RaiHyuugaRoxas]

Exactly what I mean! Raihan throws some real curve balls at you! He is only "easy" because we know of Type Coverage and Match-ups since it's not most of our first Pokémon game so we know how to build a balanced team without major weaknesses or missing Type Coverage... That's why I think Sword and Shield are not as easy as many veterans or experienced players claim! I started my Pokémon and to an extent Gamer journey with Pokémon Red on an old gray Gameboy Classic, but I recognize that we were all dumb doo-doos when we started our first Pokémon game. So are Sword and Shield on the bit easier side for most of us? Probably but we shouldn't forget why that is the case, because we have experienced these games already! If Leon and Raihan would've been in older games, every one would say how strong they are for their respective places in the story mainly, because of their fairly balanced teams and strategies! That's pretty much my take on it. Leave or take it. If you find grammar and/or spelling mistakes congrats English is not my native language!

[@kimododorkon]

@@RaiHyuugaRoxas Exactly my point. This was before I had my Meowstic (base 104 speed), which is somehow faster than my Inteleon (base 120 speed). Back then, Ron (my Intelon) was still my strongest. now, Pico (my Meowstic) is. Raihan is in one of my top 5 hardest gym Leaders to defeat, behind my girl Flannery and Norman. I lost to Flannery 5 times before I beat her, and my only mon left against Norman was my level 25 Electrike who only won thanks to Quick Attack. Thank you.

[@acetrainerleo483]

Misty is my favorite gym leader. Like many i love her in the anime and nostalgia since my first game was firered my charmeleon and i lost to her alot at first. Plus shes one of the characters in terms of humans that makes me feel better after a bad day. Which happened alot growing up like most pokefans.

[@jgr7487]

and using psychic moves helps a lot, as all Grass types until then are also Poison.

[@dominichusbands7042]

This video will make my lunchtime that much more enjoyable

[@DarkBearDojo]

I would argue for Raihan as nearing the top of the 8th gym leader bracket. For the most part, you’re batting 1v1 but that changes with Raihan when it’s a double battle and he has a real strategy based on sandstorms.

[@williamryansennett]

I was just about to type this, I remember when I realized it would be a double battle on my first play through and looking at my team to see no natural synchronization for an actually thought out double battle strat gave me the hardest time out of final gyms. Even on my second play through it slipped my mind but by the third I had a plan from the beginning of the game 😂

[@jonahdengler3858]

Drayden’s position wasn’t exactly a demotion; it was just put in the 7th position due to Victory Road’s former entrance being blocked off due to a landslide. Humilau City had to take over for the final gym city after that of course, and we even got Route 23, before finally reaching Victory Road.

[@gliscorX]

This video only proves how good Gen 5 is.

[@rboss5919]

'Jasmine could be tougher' Me who used to struggle more with Jasmine than Whitney or Claire: ... Admittedly this is before I realized that Quagsire can just own her gym.

[@robertlupa8273]

I had a Quagsire, but I forgot Steelix was weak to Water. :/ Probably the toughest and most exciting gym battle in Johto for me.

[@nicholasilluzzi1087]

I'd put Clair as the most difficult 8th gym leader. Her Kingdra, with it's one Dragon weakness, makes whatever type diversity you've acquired up to that point irrelevant. It's incredibly powerful, plus it's water typing can deal with any Piloswine you've managed to catch at that point. Add in three strong Dragonair, and she is certainly one of the most difficult challenges in Johto.

[@silverkyrie4714]

You talk about Norman's Slakings and Vigoroth, but his Linoone was actually what used to give me the most trouble because of Belly Drum and it's high speed. Sure, Belly Drum is fairly easy to prepare for, just make sure to take it out first turn when it looses half it's health to set-up. But if you don't do that, if you're saving your stronger Pokemon for Slaking and give Linoone the chance to set-up on your weaker Pokemon, or if it's your first playthrough and you just aren't expecting it, it can easily pull off a Belly Drum sweep. His Spinda is definitely his easiest to deal with but it's Teeter Dance can still be incredibly frustrating if you have bad luck.

[@arnenesbye2420]

I used larion with Iron defence, he couldnt do anything to it.

[@Amelia4111]

WE DON'T USE THE WORD ITS AS A PRONOUN IF THERE'S AN APOSTROPHE IN IT!

[@Amelia4111]

@@arnenesbye2420 THE I IN LAIRON SHOULD BE BEFORE THE R, NOT AFTER THE R! THE C IN DEFENSE IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN S!

[@arnenesbye2420]

@@Amelia4111 Ok, noted

[@patricklaplante8461]

For the elite four idea, you could always make the decisions based on if everyone had the same levels of pokemon and sort of do a top 5 or top 8 and a bottom 5 or 8 just for comparison purposes on the typing and different pokémon they have as opposed to factoring in levels as well. Then of course for champions you can choose your strongest and weakest. Maybe you can even do a best/worst rival if you haven't done it already!

[@stijnburgers719]

Very nice video!

[@Orangeninja5000]

For Whitney, I think you also should have mentioned, in HGSS, they give it the ability Scrappy. Meaning any plan to overcome Stomp flinching is immediately negated, and furthermore, it has a LUM BERRY, so trying to burn it, sleep it, or paralyze it will take more than one try and that can definitely be enough to make you lose.

[@AznYunHou]

I was honestly expecting Raihan as the last slot since Double Battle Sandstorm team is pretty unexpected. I think Melony is the strongest Ice leader but can understand why she didn't get the 6th slot cause Sabrina is a beast. Eiscue replenishes it's defense with hail, Galarian Darmanitan has Zen mode coverage and Lapras is one of the strongest Gigantamax I've faced, using my Gigantamax Machamp it took the battle passed the 3 turns due to Lapras Gmax move protection effect

[@mr.nerd3.142]

I actually found Raihan to be quite tricky. But I had a Golurk with good stats and a diverse move set that carried me through the battle, despite having the ability Klutz.

[@Darthskippygp]

What you can do is rank each of the elite 4 from weakest to strongest and then compair them to the others of the same rank from each game. You could even do this to the games you have to fight in order to give a more even playing field.

[@pinkprincess6136]

I love the best gym leader video.

[@JaelinBezel]

My Torkoal learning protect in the middle of norman’s gym battle was so freaking clutch

[@ryanvandenberg3119]

I believe Roark deserves some attention for toughest 1st gym leader. I usually start with Piplup, and I still end up losing to him on my first try. Cranidos has one of the highest attack stats in the game, and combine that with some strong moves (I remember him using headbutt quite a bit), and the fact that your weak water moves probably won't be enough to OHKO him (he is not 4X weak to water like the rest of his team) and you have a nice challenge for so early in the game.

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

2:32 Every 2nd Gym Leader (including Olivia), except Grant, has a name that ends in Y or A (or the Y sound).

[@Valo915]

Still gotta say my favorite is Pierce. He may not necessarily been the strongest but at the same time it was the 1st major battle in sword and shield where dynamaxing was not an option. I being a seasoned player was able to take it down without much of a problem however it was the only gym my son had to give me his switch and have me beat for him on his 1st play.

[@robertlupa8273]

He even has Intimidate on his Scrafty, which is it's hidden ability. Not to mention his Obstagoon has full EV investment in both defenses to compensate for the lack of Dynamax. That's pretty advanced for a Gym Leader.

[@captaincortez4917]

*cue the Happy Meatball Dance*

[@mesplin3]

What about Misty gen 1? The starmie is hard unless you pick bulbasaur

[@Dpmt]

Having a Bulbasaur or Pikachu was pretty much mandatory to get passed Misty easily. I remember a great deal of frustration hunting for 5% encounter rate Pikachu in Viridian Forest.

[@zeospark9715]

Kabu was SO tough for me. Not only he uses 3 fully evolved Pokemon even for the 3rd gym leader, but even one of them has a G-Max form. There is a reason he is, in game, referred to as the "roadblock" for many trainers. Yes, I know he is easy with a water type and if you have caught a Chewtie/Dreadnaw. But I didn't have a good water type at the time and he was wrecking me for it lol

[@CmdrUD87]

When I clicked on the title, I though you would rank more how fleshed out the characters are. And for most trainers, Sun/Moon is just head and shoulders above the other there. That being said, I definitely remember running into Flannery and was a bit unprepared. I did beat her, but that was a very tough fight

[@the_godbodor7026]

3 of the 8 are Unovan with Elisa on the list, I am pleased

[@kingxavierlovely]

imo 1. Brock, little did I know getting a charmander would have me suffer throughout the Kanto gym challenge 2. Lenora, dear god that watchog.... 3. Whitney that monster 4. Elesa, great team construction 5. Fantina, idk why she just terrorized me. 6. Sabrina was elite four level truly 7. Candice's medicham was deadly 8. Tie between Giovanni and Volkner

[@TheChefEgg]

Funny thing about Grant, is that he becomes a complete pushover when you realize you can trade a Luvdisc for a Steelix right before his gym.

[@seanammon6993]

I feel like Misty was a fairly strong second gym and deserves mention

[@Dark_Side_Productions]

For me, Grant was actually easy. I swept his team with a level 24 Lucario I managed to evolve before the fight with him- yet another reason why you should catch Riolu on Route 22 when you play X or Y.

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

Good work!! All I needed was a lv. 24 Machop myself and it almost OHKO'd both his fossils.

[@jerryakatony5724]

I’m glad we got a Kalos rep in this video. I love Kalos, but we all know it isn’t the toughest game, so seeing it in the video because of Grant was a welcome and pleasant surprise.

[@Amelia4111]

WE DON'T SAY AIN'T, WE SAY ISN'T!

[@swampy725]

I actually never found any difficulty with Whitney tbh There are many counters like: cubone, geodude.......etc ........ Heck even if you spam rage on double slap on clef and you will get a +100 base power more

[@pokebot451gonbow5]

Rock or fighting type with srab plus female shuts her down and for the model using a rock move on Sandile can deal with her.

[@harbour08]

I feel you its just that most of us didn't use geodudes because like zubat and tentacuel they were annoying due to pop up rate and looked weak. Didnt really do cubone either and at 9 years old, we werent forming too much rage strategies lol

[@jgr7487]

where can you find Cubone before her gym? yes, I always use my female Geodude with Rock Smash against her, but it's always a tense battle.

[@jgr7487]

@@pokebot451gonbow5 Sandile? how can you get a Sandile in a Gen 2 or 4 game?

[@jgr7487]

@@harbour08 oh, I love myself some Zubats & Geodudes.

[@artistethan4877]

Best poketuber

[@spagandhi]

I think Norman’s slaking can be cheesed with Dig or Protect too easily to earn his spot. Clay meanwhile will absolutely steamroll you if you don’t prepare

[@pilkkimies]

I remember when I first played w2. I Lost like 5 times against Cheren

[@kyleduplessis4601]

Idea for a video : what if every gym leader was a contest trainer. Basically saying what category they'd perform under, the Pokémon they would use and the moves said Pokémon would have that helps it perform best. We've seen gym leaders like Wallace, Fanteana and Jasmine take part in contests, so I think it would be cool to see how other gym leaders would do. Just an idea🤷‍♂️

[@emperorcubone]

Huh, it would be funny to see their contest areas of specialty like Cool, Tough, Cute, etc. instead of types...

[@gengarcrobat1576]

"...and frail Ice types." I see someone forgot about Mamoswine

[@toddfromhoen]

Hmmm, i agree, but from my personal experience i would put winnona for the toughest 6th gym and clair for the last

[@taichimokubaful]

My pick would be: 1. Cheren. Absolutely. Total respect for that Lilipup 2. Misty. Starmie, that early in the game. Quite few options to face it with. 3. Whitney. Sure. But I give an honorable mention to Fantina in Platinum. 4. Elesa. But also Morty and his Hypnosis/Dream Eater combo is nasty. 5. Maybe I would put Clay over Norman. There are no easy counters for all of his pokémons. 6. This one is difficult. Because I would say Sabrina... But in the first Gen I always catch Snorlax, with rest and amnesia. That dude can eat her entire team for breakfast. Maybe Winnona: if her Altaria sets up Dragon Dance you are in big trouble. 7. Dryden. 8. Clair. If I recall well, her Kingdra has virtually no weaknesses, since it's only weak to Dragon and you can't have dragons before her gym. Also she is level 40, and the strongest wild pokémon in Johto are level 20-25.

[@emperorcubone]

A lot of similarities, I like your other picks as well.

[@harbour08]

I was thinking misty too, even with ivysaur and wartortle with bite It just killed my nuzlocke with both

[@harbour08]

I agree with Clair Kingdra had me scared. Dragonbreath was weak and Outrage was nowhere in sight for any of my pokemon

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

In order from easiest to hardest: 1st Gym Leaders: Brock (non-Pokemon Yellow), Roxanne (non-Pokemon Emerald), Striaton Brothers, Viola, Falkner, Roxanne (Pokemon Emerald), Milo, Roark, Cheren, Ilima, Brock (Pokemon Yellow) 2nd Gym Leaders: Brawly, Roxie, Nessa, Gardenia, Misty, Hala, Grant, Bugsy, Lenora 3rd Gym Leaders: Lt. Surge, Maylene, Korrina, Burgh, Fantina, Kabu, Mallow, Wattson, Whitney 4th Gym Leaders: Ramos, Olivia, Erika, Maylene, Allister, Wake, Bea, Morty, Elesa 5th Gym Leaders: Opal, Clemont, Wake, Sophocles, Koga, Fantina, Clay, Chuck, Norman 6th Gym Leaders: Skyla, Valerie, Gordie, Jasmine, Byron, Melony, Acerola, Winona, Sabrina 7th Gym Leaders: Tate & Liza (non-Pokemon Emerald), Pryce, Blaine, Brycen, Piers, Nanu, Tate & Liza (Pokemon Emerald), Candice, Olympia, Drayden 8th Gym Leaders: Giovanni (Generation 1), Marlon, Wallace, Giovanni (non-Generation 1), Volkner, Hapu, Juan, Wulfric, Drayden/Iris, Raihan, Clair VURP!: Brock, Falkner, Roxanne, Roark, Striaton Brothers, Cheren, Viola, Ilima, Milo Misty, Bugsy, Brawly, Gardenia, Roxie, Grant, Lenora, Hala, Nessa Surge, Whitney, Wattson, Fantina, Maylene, Burgh, Korrina, Mallow, Kabu Erika, Morty, Flannery, Maylene, Wake, Elesa, Ramos, Olivia, Bea, Allister Koga, Chuck, Norman, Wake, Fantina, Clay, Clemont, Sophocles, Opal Sabrina, Jasmine, Winona, Byron, Skyla, Valerie, Acerola, Gordie, Melony Blaine, Pryce, Tateliza, Candice, Brycen, Drayden, Olympia, Nanu, Piers Giovanni, Clair, Wallace, Juan, Volkner, Drayden/Iris, Marlon, Wulfric, Hapu, Raihan Until Gen 8, the 6th Gym Leader was the only one that was the same between all games of the same region.

[@Amelia4111]

SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT ILIMA, HALA, OLIVIA, MALLOW, SOPHOCLES, ACEROLA, NANU, AND HAPU ARE NOT GYM LEADERS!

[@FroyoMNS]

Volkner is actually closer to the bottom than the top of my 8th Gym difficulty rankings. In my opinion only Wulfric and Giovanni are definitely easier.

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

Why are the 3rd Gym Leaders (except in Kanto and Kalos) always the hardest? Also, why are they always in bigger cities than the previous Gym Leaders?

[@luisvelez1952]

Emperor Cubone I liked the video and Do you hope that the Gym leaders and Elite 4 will have their Pokémon team a bit diverse like volkner and Flint from the 💎 and pearl from gen 4 and also their Pokémon Hidden ability’s like Cynthia garchomp have Rough Skin and Flint infernape have the iron fist 👊 ability to be better in battle

[@shadowmetroid18]

I gotta give it to Raihan for being the one difficult battle in all of Sword and Shield. I was expecting big dragon go brrr but when I found out he actually had a sand team going I was pleasantly surprised. Plus his duraladon absolutely destroyed my gardevoir which was my solution for Dragons.

[@simon6157]

Bring any ice type and he can't do a thing

[@takaotheijnbattleship4534]

Here is my complete list: 1: Roxanne (Emerald) 2: Lenora 3: Fantina (Platinum) 4: Elesa 5: Fantina (D/P) (No other 5th gym leader really deserves this spot, they're all pretty much pushovers IMO.) 6: Sabrina 7: Drayden 8: Raihan

[@emperorcubone]

I agree, the fifth ones were weirdly out of balance, but I do find it funny that Fantina gets 2 spots...

[@WindySilver]

Whitney is a nightmare. I still remember when I took her on in SoulSilver and RNG decided that her Clefairy's Metronome shall dish out a Roar of Time. Yes, a Roar of Time. That was not a fun battle.

[@emperorcubone]

Haha, wow. And most people overlook her Clefairy.

[@onijester56]

In Gen 2 (Silver/Crystal), I explicitly turned my starter Cyndaquil into a Quasi-HM-user with "Brick Break". This meant I had a potent enough Fighting-type move to take on Whitney with. And Gen 1 also applies to the Remakes, since there's very few actual Dark-type moves and the selection of Bug-type and Ghost-type Pokemon and moves isn't that much better than in Gen 1. Yeah, the occasional "Bite" exists, and the Abra line isn't as totally unstoppable with the Special Split. But still, Sabrina remains no slouch.

[@literallygrass1328]

You're talking about bw2 drammen, which has a really long distance between him and skyla. You go through reversal mountain, the route under and above undella town. Once you go through that top route, you go through that one town with the fire blast, thunder and BLIZZARD tm, you have another route, the bridge town, another route, then you're at the dragon city and STILL have another route accessible to the left. That's a lot of time. If it was bw, you'd only have two routes.

[@Amelia4111]

HIS NAME IS DRAYDEN, NOT DRAMMEN!

[@rboss5919]

I can agree on Cheren though Azurill/Marill does learn Charm which means you can actually lower their attacks more than they can raise them. Otherwise you just have to power through and try to knock out everything aqap. That said, the lack of bulky and rock/steel type pokemon that early (I mean I guess you could friendship grind Riolu until it evolves) definitely makes Cheren even tougher. As does the fact that Riolu doesnt even learn a reliable fighting move until 15 which is above the cap under HC Nuzlocke rules.

[@GhostbusterPalu]

I think Volkner becomes easier if you manage to bring a Ground-type. Steelix, Golem, Quagsire, Gastrodon and ofc, Garchomp can make a good job out of them. If you picked Chimchar, Infernape can also make short work out of Ambipom.

[@Whale-Shark-Katie]

I agree with most of these except the last one, IMO the hardest final gym leader has to be Raihan, leading with an extremely defensive rock type in Gigalith to handle any ice types and a pretty solid dragon type in Flygon puts your team in a pretty tough spot from the start, but then he sends out his Sandaconda which can paralyse your Pokémon, and then his extremely defensive Duraludon, which has none of the dragon types usual weaknesses, completely destroying any fairy or ice types you may have brought as preparation

[@JMalaby89]

I think it's still gotta be Clay. Sure, Slaking have stats, but it's so easy to play around them - just use any 2-turn move so they whiff when you land. Additionally, a lack of good coverage to deal with normal resists is crippling.

[@matjepson2192]

I always just kinda assumed the gym leaders would have their Platinum teams in the remakes. Excited by the idea they could have their original teams

[@andrewkatz5689]

I hope they use the Platinum teams for gym leaders/elite 4 in BDSP. The teams just didn't make sense in Diamond and Pearl.

[@emperorcubone]

I will say Flint needs his Platinum team; a "Fire" user with majority other types is far from Elite...