The Hardest Pokémon League Ever

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Part 5 of my first playthrough of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond!
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Edited by Katie Rose

[@MandJTVPlays]

Today is my birthday so if you want to get me (and yourself) a gift then get something from mandjtvmerch.com :)

[@fawnpotter3730]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKEY!!! WE LOVE YOU❤️

[@keiranskene5898]

Happy Birthday Mikey

[@Severed_storm]

Happy birthday

[@sgutar_6491]

Happy birthday

[@TheTylerVernon]

Happy birthday Mike! Sagittarius season ☀️

[@justadude450]

Imagine if enemy pokemon also had affection, just Imagine "Cynthia's Garchomp toughed it out so she wouldn't be sad"

[@OneWay4D73]

Anime protagonist powers are only for protagonists.

[@vernessawashington9007]

@@XemoXmetalXchickX same lol

[@abhishekanilkumar2629]

If that happened I'll get out of the e4 building and never return

[@zimonzieclown1633]

@@OneWay4D73 Well, remember that everyone is the protagonist in their own story.

[@MrHdog111]

Would be very anime if that happened 🤣

[@neverfasty]

I love the fact that the elite four is still difficult. This game made many changes, but the fact that made the elite four actually as difficult or harder than the original is such a beautiful idea and the fact they still kept the challenge is by far the best idea by them.

[@MLmaster135]

the elite four and cynthia actually is harder than the original, mostly due to the fact they actually have held items now, cuz the og dp and plat only had sitrus berry on the ace mon. there were also surprisingly held items on the gym leaders mons throughout the main story in bd/sp too, from gardenia onwards(gardenia's miracle seed turtwig, light clay maylene's meditite, black belt maylene machoke), even cyrus has held items. this actually improved the main story battles quite a bit due to the updated gen 5-8 movesets for the old mons and item changes(like fantina's gengar having a berry due to the loss of levitate), though it means little due to exp share, its actually a pretty big improvement over the originals, as they have actual items that aren't sitrus berry. if you were to look up the teams and compare bd/sp to og dp and plat you'll find bd/sp actually has items on all/most of the important trainers(gym leaders, cyrus, e4 and cynthia) mons mainstory-wise, and especially in the eventual rematches. whereas the other 2 games, dp and plat, quite literally only have a sitrus berry on their ace, even plat's rematches only have a sitrus berry. all that aside, i really like how they made the E4 and especially cynthia more challenging than they were before this time around, especially cynthia's garchomp having dragon claw over dragon rush. and flint's mess of a team actually being functional with baton pass and minimize's revised to +2 evasion(since gen 5) drifblim

[@Gogeta2501]

I fucked them up Glad I had Tyhplosion and Roserade and Lucario on my team they helped big time ofcourse staraptor and Raichu and Empoleon too.

[@HouseHawk62]

@@MLmaster135 they made them competent which I love and most fans have been begging for. Hopefully they use this template for games going forward.

[@Caleb_Zurita]

I’ve also heard that this games AI is also WAY smarter than in previous Pokémon games. I’m so glad that this Elite 4 + Champion is difficult

[@zacharypowers2175]

@@Caleb_Zurita yeah, the ai will even kind of anticipate switch outs sometimes by using a move that is only normal effectiveness relative to who you were using before switching when you are below 1/3 health when deciding moves

[@zachw566]

I feel like in this game, the Elite Four actually earn their title as “Elite”

[@wonder777warrior6]

good lord imagine if they had this with a new gen 1 remake with these same mechanics and Lance has three dragonites to deal with. along with possibly his own garchomp and hydreigon. that will be the hardest battle.

[@CharzzTheAnimated]

@@wonder777warrior6 SEND IN THE LAPRAS LEGION! **WAR HORN TOOTS**

[@kabeezy232jr]

Black/2 and White/2 had a pretty challenging elite 4 as well

[@fadhilmulyono9230]

I would imagine Game Freak creating a Pokemon game where most of the major boss battles are perfectly competitive

[@robertlupa8273]

@@wonder777warrior6 Multiscale Dragonite[s] 😨

[@I_SupaNova]

She’s insane. Hardest champion by far. Never struggled so much in a battle in my life. This is the one game, where it actually matters what Pokémon you choose to have on your journey.

[@I_SupaNova]

@T-Army yeah he’s tough too. But I don’t think I ever lost to him.

[@l-x-10]

It's says something when the only other champion to even come close to her is Red, *A PLAYER CHARACTER!*

[@jembozaba4864]

I beat her with nothing but Fire Types. It was definitely difficult. But I did it

[@JacobVibeTurtle]

@@jembozaba4864 i did it the boring way and went in with just manaphy and tail glowed the league into next year 😅

[@ShinyDarkrai2K]

I eventually got her garchomp by leech seed stalling

[@NezyVenus]

I was literally down to the revive-and-die strategy where I was just hoping one of my pokemon would survive with 1 hp due to affection. It eventually worked and I managed to land an ice beam taking down the Garchomp. My least graceful champion battle ever 😂

[@Lokear]

I did that with Lucian because I suck at battles. After that, I was so worried for Cynthia if I had to do that before even reaching her. (I just ended up resetting every time I lost until literally everything RNG-based went my way)

[@LEGACY.2001]

I had a leach seed on garchomp and my Hunchkrow had survive on 1 hp earlier, leveled up and than against garchomp once again survived on that 1 hp and with leach seed heal manage to beat it and live after rough skin damage

[@theoboy2716]

Literally did the same thing with empoleon

[@elenaaaissigma]

Cynthia doesn’t play graceful no more. Can’t wait for failed Nuzlocke attempts

[@DorajtheExplorer]

i did the exact same strategy, the garchomp is hell

[@coldzoroark6440]

Flint's Drifblim has no attacking moves. It's moveset is Will-o-Wisp, Minimize, Strength Sap, and Baton Pass. Which is honestly scary, due to it baton passing to Infernape with upped evasiveness.

[@marisentaku2159]

I used Taunt on Houndoom to render the thing utterly useless

[@ACasualCustomer]

@@marisentaku2159 Same haha. His Loppuny gave me trouble for some reasons

[@dennisddt1146]

Yep, that minimize baton pass to Infernape majorly fucked me up on my first attempt. A single minimize made Infernape dodge a 100 accuracy move, 4 times in a row...

[@BSmokeyGaming]

Surprisingly Drifblim was my only problem in my E4 playthrough, other than that my run was good till I ran too Cynthia Milotic. She keep spamming Recover knowing she’ll lose to my Electrivire cause my Electrivire outspeed her Milotic.

[@Cutiegrl5897]

his drifblim with minimize, ugh. I taught my luxray shock wave (since it never misses) and it was much easier

[@visitjoan3158]

“How is her garchomp faster than my weevile?” It’s Cynthia’s garchamp

[@23x1mfatihrayyan7]

Agree

[@otterofconfusion3850]

Well, Jolly, Max Speed EV, Max 5/6IV.

[@gymleaderhasan]

Lol garchamp

[@gymleaderhasan]

Also, Weavile*

[@Drayy-143]

I guess the reason why garchamp is because Cynthia is champion?🤔

[@marquis_bryan]

My mom started her Sinnoh Journey a couple months ago. Shes taking her time and she's about to battle Maylene. Her team at the moment is Prinplup, Dustox, Absol, Gyarados, Mismagious & Staravia. They're all mid 30s leveled so she hasn't lost a battle at all yet. Shes got a good attitude so far with her journey.

[@Mrloophole]

Hope she keeps it

[@anonymous8737]

cute

[@neeraj3434]

Any updates?

[@rahilnadim1582]

Any updates??

[@Crow-ti3vp]

Any updates???

[@x-Lilith-x]

I'd love to see Cynthia's Garchomp have Effection. I can just imagine: "Garchomp would not faint in front of Cynthia........just because". "Garchomp's willpower has caused your pokemon to faint" "Cynthia looks upset: Garchomp decides to Mega Evolve, it is now wise to turn off the game"

[@Not_thaawesome]

Garchomp viciously attacked you Edit: HOLY the number of likes

[@adityasharma-xh8dx]

Seeing cynthia sad garchomp tranformed into garatina to haunt you for eternity in your real life.

[@averagejosh6699]

If it goes mega, it’s slower. Your own Garchomp can kill with Dragon Claw.

[@wowwhatamoment8398]

“Garchomp is outside your house” “You can try to run but Garchomp outspeeds you”

[@eddiecraig8684]

Her garchomp was trained excellent

[@dr.narwhalmd4885]

This was easily the hardest elite four and I absolutely loved it. However I did not absolutely love being a bit underleveled and being unable to kill Flint's Drifblim before it minimized fully, used STRENGTH SAP, AND THEN BATON PASSED TO INFERNAPE. Either way though when I finally beat them I actually felt accomplished.

[@dragonstouch1042]

It knows Strength Sap and Baton Pass?!

[@ultmewtwo]

@@dragonstouch1042 it's tunt bait I glad after seeing the gym leaders use stars moves that I kept tunt on my starter

[@MandJTVPlays]

jesus I never encountered that and that is straight up evil

[@present2060]

Man that's tough

[@Seddyhere]

Thankfully I can 1 shot it with Luxray. That sounds like a nightmare

[@dachking6657]

I’ve never actually feared a Pokémon League before…every single one I’ve ever done was a first try. But idk man…the amount of people talking about how crazy this one is and the fact that they all have perfect competitive teams (correct natures, EVs, abilities, good held items, etc.) makes me a bit wary.

[@MandJTVPlays]

You should be

[@thedragonwarrior5861]

Be afraid. Be very afraid

[@JCGeography]

I beat sw&sh league first try I swept with Tyranitar and Charizard

[@Reptar01]

@@MandJTVPlays should've got a jolly nature weavile oof

[@somechessplayer1080]

@@MandJTVPlays bro I one shotted cynthias garchomp with my garchomp Also happy birthday!!!

[@dubbingsync]

Say what you want about Affection and how it feels “cheaty” it does lead to some very good story moments in games. Like how my incineroar toughed out a hit that should have knocked it out during the ultra necrozma fight and managed to beat it the next turn. It felt like a proper moment from the anime to me.

[@alanmiraanime]

That’s why I love affection, while it makes the game easier, it makes important battles WAY more memorable.

[@D.W.M.T.Y.A.W._CheckAbout_]

Yesssss truue

[@msfs19941]

Just today my Machoke toughed out a hit that should have knocked it out, then cured itself of poison so I wouldn't worry. Then I got the final hit.....against one of the four. Cynthia ended me though.

[@rebeccasutton2401]

I remember when in sheild when my starter lived through a attack in the battle against Leon

[@shadowsnake5133]

It's also 99% avoidable, with the exlusions being certain fully evolved pokemon requiring friendship. And even then, they're not exactly required.

[@JayPi1016]

Still remember how people thought Cynthia would be easy with fairy types and other variables now,. So Pokémon saw that as a challenge and made the league harder than ever before. You gotta love the irony.

[@dragonstouch1042]

Yeah eat the Jolly nature Poison Jab with a side of Yache Berry and Swords Dance for dessert

[@ava-ls5bl]

@@dragonstouch1042 Cynthia has competitive level team now

[@kenkr9449]

@@ava-ls5bl wasn't her garchomp already competitively good in originals??

[@daltonbaecht6778]

@@kenkr9449 yes but now it's even better

[@ava-ls5bl]

@@daltonbaecht6778 yeah with her damn swords dance and stuff

[@JuniperVT]

Everyone has full IV, EV trained, and competitive natures, held items, etc, for the e4. It's actually so nice. Some real level of difficulty for people who are supposed to be the best battlers in the region not getting slapped around by a 10 year old

[@LuminouShadow]

agreed!

[@thetabbyguy921]

Except they chose to include affection to ruin everything

[@notvex3987]

@@thetabbyguy921 if affection wasnt a thing people would lose 70% of nuzlockes unless they ev and iv train their mons to cynthia without overleveling

[@thetabbyguy921]

@@notvex3987 so you're literally arguing a mechanic is good because it's op and makes any battle a for sure win

[@notvex3987]

@@thetabbyguy921 im not saying its good,the mainline pokemon games arent even completely about difficulty anyways,it makes it feel more immersive,besides affection doesnt ruin everything,not lile its a 100% guaranteed chance you heal to full hp or something,mikey just got ungodly lucky If you dont want affection to make things harder then you can literally do so by spending like 30 minutes grinding for money and getting bitter herbs

[@idkwhatimdoing5840]

Can we appreciate Mikey for taking the time to post on his birthday and provide such quality content, happy birthday!

[@prosto-random]

Wait. Today is Mikey's bday ?

[@gus7807]

@@prosto-random yes its on the top comment :)

[@prosto-random]

Wow

[@tamzidahmed9706]

I am pretty sure he didn’t record this today. He just had to upload it today.

[@prosto-random]

Well. Happy late birthday to Mikey

[@chefjake7531]

I love how everyone got lucky with affection or a quick claw to win against that damn garchomp

[@pimwouters3170]

I even got lucky with a Fissure hit by my Wormadam in a bug only playthrough 😂

[@kuriako8551]

I used parish song to kill it 😂

[@adrianpaulochoa9825]

Man i had to get a lucky crit lmao

[@houdaopps536]

same 😂

[@GhostFreak2344]

Destiny bond for me

[@6extaEspada]

I really like how hard the elite four is, the held items, moves, sometimes even switching strats, this is what an elite four should be instead of just higher level gym leaders and also Happy Birthday Mikey :D

[@S33_.]

*coughs* SHOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOO!

[@luisandreibero2530]

@@tiluu7966 what the absolute hell

[@blueblade6174]

@@S33_. lol!!!

[@blueblade6174]

Indeed. Every mainline Pokémon game from here on should try to be a lot like this league.

[@glitter4686]

@@luisandreibero2530 that was for you

[@arraneeno]

I swear the friendship mechanic is literally the only way to get anywhere close yo beating Cynthia without a full team of lvl80+ pokemon. I feel like it's the games way of rewarding you for having a well balanced team to carry you that far

[@7ven896]

Bro I beat Cynthia on 1 HP do to affection

[@godzillagamer75]

I two shot her Garchomp but only because I friended up my team to level 66

[@hardgaming1076]

i spammed a ton of x items to outspeed and one hit ko. but yeah that garchomp is tough

[@bohunk9746]

My whole team was only level 62 and I only lost my startaptor to garchomp, Cynthia is not difficult if you know what you’re doing

[@xavierglover1478]

me with my adamant orb boosted roar of time

[@Cornberry]

I used like 20 revives in my battle with Cynthia, and eventually just kept trading out Empoleon and Togekiss to wear down the Garchomp’s PP. longest champion battle I’ve ever had

[@muzanjacksonkuy]

Same but did use as much revies

[@falconunlimited4505]

I used the same strat, but traded out with Luxray for Intimidate.

[@theKeshaWarrior]

I had to do the exact same fucking thing it was terrible.

[@sugaemen]

I did the same with my starter and gardevoir who hade trace so it killed garchomp through reverse rough skin😭

[@darkangelsdrakestangel3125]

Same happened to me lol

[@laneleach]

Cynthia's Garchomp has a counter for all of it's main weaknesses, it's berry weakens ice type moves, it knows poison jab, and dragon on dragon is basically a death sentence with her.

[@l-x-10]

Don't forget it also has Flamethrower to double screw Ice types

[@JoeThomas-lu6fy]

@@l-x-10 It got rid of Flamethrower for Poison Jab. I'm surprised they didn't make it even harder and give it Iron Head for Ice and Fairy.

[@l-x-10]

@@JoeThomas-lu6fy I didn't know they changed it's move set thanks for letting me know. Also iron head Garchomop... 😬

[@JoeThomas-lu6fy]

@@l-x-10 It's probably for the best they didn't do that.

[@l-x-10]

@@JoeThomas-lu6fy Agreed

[@lancearcei8512]

I remember fighting Cynthia without knowing her team and boy did I have a fun time with her Milotic. I didn’t have one good Grass type Pokémon or move to deal with it and it’s Marvel Scale. I legit almost LOST BECAUSE OF A LIZZO SERPENT.

[@Hildr]

SAME!

[@faridkhan6037]

True. The Milotic and Garchomp were horrible!

[@kielebenellenewad]

Try using a Gallade and teach it Grasskwont

[@nickgarcia6572]

That happened to me when I originally played thru Diamond. I don't think i had a single team member with a grass or electric move...

[@KS-xk2so]

Yeah, everyone knows Garchomp is going to suck and plans for it, but if you don't have something in your back pocket for Milotic, you're boned. Especially if your team is light on grass and thunder. I ended up setting up my Magmortar with a Power Herb, just to crush it with a 1 turn Solarbeam.

[@jlmmedia09]

Infernape, years after losing to Snorlax, came in with a comeback and beat Snorlax. This character development makes Zuko's arc look like child's play. Make way for the *real* fire bender, Zuko.

[@FritzFoxPirate]

Haha yes!

[@isaacleillhikar4566]

Howler avenged Luda.

[@mrkillinghunt3r]

Yea Yea Poketips Fan

[@incomments2864]

If it wasn’t for the “affection” feature in this game, she could of easily wrecked us all the first time and probably more times.

[@Pixelite_]

I got destroyed three times with affection and I only won by getting hilariously lucky (1HP on my last Pokémon)

[@dorian8801]

@@Pixelite_ SAME, my starter empoleon held on with 1 hp, last pokemon, and affection saved me LOL. All this after getting destroyed 3 times before, grinding up to 66 level average, and still cutting it close.

[@babrad]

If it bothers you, try the Herb Medicine from Eterna City, not only "Revival Herb" is a Max Revive, they also drop affection by a lot, to the point of 3 herbs dropping almost completely a max happiness pokemon. Apart from evolutions that depend on it or attacks like return, it wont affect anything else in your gameplay.

[@BTCthavillian]

I got waxed like 3 times before i beat her

[@SweKillz99]

@@babrad yeah its good there are items that can nerf the affection at least!!!

[@Nioriel26]

BDSP was my first ever Nuzlocke. Had a level limit. I'm honestly shocked I beat her. My Whiscash was the sole survivor with 3 HP. The elite 4 in this game is crazy.

[@Sam-je2xj]

Whiscash the Chad

[@robertlupa8273]

Literally how?!

[@Jordinbtalks]

Regular playthrough, I won with my golduck at 1HP… I hated this battle so much

[@spiciestbirb]

​@@Sam-je2xjwhischad

[@Davi_EEEE]

HEY did you know whiscash can learn dragon dance?

[@archellothewolf2083]

So happy to see Cynthia is just as brutal as I remember.

[@396dog8]

Even worse in the remake

[@archellothewolf2083]

@@396dog8 I mean obviously. She's aware we're all older. She knows there's new items and abilities to use. She didn't hold back when we were kids, she sure as hell ain't doing it now.

[@doylemuhammad9823]

@@archellothewolf2083 I felt the pain that garchomp must’ve delivered to you reading this 😂

[@archellothewolf2083]

@@doylemuhammad9823 Oddly I think I'm one of the few people that rarely had trouble with her Garchomp. For whatever reason, depending on the playthrough, it was either the unbreakable Milotic or her bulldozer of a Lucario that haunted my nightmares.

[@doylemuhammad9823]

@@archellothewolf2083 bro That recover & full restore spam on Milotic + the ice beam drops got me so bad 😩

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

I love seeing so many veteran Poketubers struggling with the league because it makes me pumped to get there myself! I only have 5 mons (levels 51-56) and just earned badge 7: Infernape (Jolly) Roserade (Timid) Magnezone (Timid) Alakazam (Timid) Staraptor (Adamant) I'm struggling trying to find out which Pokemon should be number 6. I'm thinking Weavile or Mamoswine, but I've spent HOURS underground and caught more than 30 Sneasel but all have crappy natures and one I caught with Jolly nature DOESN'T KNOW ANY OF ITS ICE EGG MOVES!!! Really need to get something good to face Garchomp...

[@csquare.2059]

You could try a moonblast gardevoir, I used one and it worked pretty great

[@ohmeohmicah]

"infernape, roserade, magnezone, staraptor" how original. "alakazam" daring today, aren't we? (fr tho i've never seen alakazam on a bdsp team, that is so rare, kudos for thinking out the box)

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

@@csquare.2059 I would but Alakazam and Roserade both know Dazzling Gleam.

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

@@ohmeohmicah I didn't have a team fully planned. For me, I added Pokemon I caught that just happened to have AMAZING abilities. I'll edit my post to have the abilities listed. I was gonna use Mew, but the 3rd Abra I caught while leveling up to learn Flame Wheel at lv 17 with Chimchar had Timid nature and Synchronize abiliity. I couldn't pass that up! A group with a person in a Pokemon Facebook group and I had Alakazam before I even set foot into Eterna Forest.

[@MadLadDonutAlt]

@@OurKindofEntertainment i feel like mamoswine would be better (atleast for me) since it can tank more hits

[@jamesdinius7769]

Oh yeah, they buffed the hell out of Cynthia's Garchomp. It has perfect IVs and is fully EV trained (mostly speed and attack with some HP investment). It's not exactly a meta competitive build but it is still wildly powerful for a main-story play-through opponent. I saw an analysis that her gen 4 Garchomp would have to be scaled to level 80 to have this much speed and level 90 to have this much attack. (oh and the EVs and IVs apply to her whole team, and I'm pretty sure the E4 has some EVs too, but I don't think they are fully trained and still have random IVs.)

[@arvi4766]

try to have a speed upping nature garchomp ( like jolly ) dont use timid grind it out on all defence and speed evs

[@ElysiaWhitemoonOmega]

it is jolly also, and has a yache berry, his weavile would have died anyway because the berry would have halved his ice attack

[@arvi4766]

@@ElysiaWhitemoonOmega have an ice shard slave, like swinub

[@CasualVideoGamer]

It's insane how they really buffed up the Elite 4. I remember the E4 being a real challenge when gen 1 came out. Gen 2 was really difficult cause I didn't understand the importance of held items and the level differences really got to me (not to mention not having access to most evolution stones). But after that, most E4 were really simple (not counting Cynthia because she was just beast mode). What they did to these remakes really makes me appreciate the challenge again. Sure it took them needing to use held items, have great coverage, AND have great IV/EV distributions, but that's still a challenge. Just feel bad for the kids that got the games and had tears against Cynthia without realizing her power.

[@linkal_8097]

@Ultra Legendary Master basically when beating pokemon in a battle it will dictate what stats will go up when leveling up. So certain pokemon give speed EVs, others give Attack EVs etc. so EV training is essentially grinding against pokemon that give certain EVs

[@linkal_8097]

@Ultra Legendary Master exactly

[@linkal_8097]

@Ultra Legendary Master although for most casual playthroughs, IVs and EVs aren’t too important as USUALLY the Pokémon you face won’t have competitive movesest

[@linkal_8097]

@Ultra Legendary Master no, only the pokemon who were sent out while fighting the pokemon. it's not like Exp. Share

[@robertlupa8273]

I got my ass kicked by the *BW* Elite 4 a few months ago because I was slightly underleveled and it was _still_ pretty tough after the grind. If you don't have something that can resist Ghost and hit back, Shauntal _will_ destroy you.

[@Agent719]

Ya know, they did a really good job with this E4. But if they really wanted to tilt the players? "Cythnia's Garchomp evaded the attack in time to her shout!"

[@NotAlt3418]

"Cynthia's Garchomp toughed it out so she wouldn't feel sad!"

[@j.c.2560]

nah i just icebeam freezed it with empoleon which was my last mon and was at 1 hp cuz of affection

[@ashtasheran6970]

Instant ragequit

[@aerialmacaroon6312]

Or better yet; your team is scared so they can’t perform great

[@kamentrainerhorn2073]

What the *FU-*

[@goomba9956]

Cynthia's garchomp has Max speed EVs, jolly nature, and Max speed ivs, so that's why it outsped.

[@BOOMERS._]

Quick claw came in clutch

[@mcmuffin1236]

I had a mamsowine who was able to outspeed her

[@michaeldavid1566]

204 isn't max EV

[@AeroLeaf4]

@@mcmuffin1236 did it have Ice Shard?

[@mcmuffin1236]

@@AeroLeaf4 no i just used ice fang but looking back i might have imagined my mamoswine outspeeding her garchomp since im in the post game right now and my mamoswine only has 170 speed

[@amalroshan3242]

I would love to see cynthia's origin story and rise to power as an anime..it would be fun to see a competent trainer work her way up the ladder.

[@exaltedfalcheon1793]

What about it being a game?

[@Nemesis_Slime]

The Avatar Kyoshi of Pokemon League Champions

[@SuperUmizoomi]

16:50 this was my exact reaction when i battled Cynthia, i read flame orb and immediately was like "please don't have guts" i still lost the first attempt and only won the second bc my lucario got dragon claw which i beat garchomp with

[@xatuyou8045]

I found that treating it like a competitive battle and actually using stealth rock helped a lot. I was able to beat garchomp with intimidate strats but it still went through most of my team.

[@HouseHawk62]

I LOVE this version of the Elite Four and Cynthia (and honestly all of the important story battles) because they made their teams engaging, competent AI, EVERY Pokémon has a held item that compliments them, beneficial natures, and that’s before you get to the rematches. Vastly superior battles to the originals and even Platinum. This needs to be the base they use for major fights in all Pokémon games going forward.

[@TopFloorTy]

One time I had my empoleon left and I was fighting her milotic and I used x defense x speed and a work up then I managed to defeat her milotic the. Her garchomp came and I was so surprised that I outsped her garchomp hit a ice when and it went down in one hit

[@BioniclesaurKing4t2]

Yeah. If only they'd done anything like that for rest of the game prior to the League, where Platinum's dominance remains unchallenged.

[@KingJH0510]

the problem with having a harder league is that it makes the already easy main game look even easier if they had done the same with all the gym leaders, barry, and team galactic, the game would feel much more balanced overall and wouldnt just be a snoozefest then you suddenly have to grind for the league

[@SrMissileMonkey]

As an added, if they're going to have affection they should give it to all the major NPCs post badge 3/4 since by that time you have enough knowledge to know how battles go so the training wheels (in that sense) ought to come off, and the occasional Ace Trainer NPC so as to really throw players through a loop.

[@Soda-iv2hz]

@Merciless Freak do u want attention that bad? 😂

[@foreverchefn]

They also are perfect IV's (even where a special attacker has 0 att ivs and a physical attacker has 0 spatt ivs), and are EV trained and have the right natures, like cynthias jolly garchomp. Basically ILCA took the "pokmeon is too easy" to heart and just juiced up everything possible edit: ILCA is lit, gamefreak didn't do this

[@mrnelis8037]

but y'all still forgetting an important factor. we, "the older ones" are doing the math stuff, a seven year old doesn't, so i can imagine this level of competitivity being extra hard on them

[@maxjohnson65]

Not sure if you realize this, but Gamefreak is still completely deaf. This game has nothing to do with Gamefreak. Its from a different studio, ILCA. If you want to give credit for the improved difficulty, give it to ILCA. Not Gamefreak.

[@maxjohnson65]

@@mrnelis8037 This is exactly why we need a challenge mode setting at the very start of the game. So kids can stay on the kid difficulty while older fans can actually get a decent difficulty curve.

[@mrnelis8037]

@@maxjohnson65 this is the best solution, if only the companies would listen better to their consumers/players

[@Firesnake905]

@@mrnelis8037 They would rather target the younger audience than the older one. It is after all a "kid game" series. At least, that is how Nintendo markets it.

[@ronzstavo]

I love how everyone has these giant strategies to beating Cynthia and then there's me who uses Belly Drum Snorlax to sweep

[@Zenitsu-pb8ow]

Lol same

[@Zenitsu-pb8ow]

Btw you know that music that played in the cynthia battle with the spiritomb the super hype music?

[@cesarflamenco9484]

Mines was using Abomasnow and Levitate Bronzong. Abomasnow sets up Hail and Ice Shards Garchomp using up its Yache Berry. After Abomasnow goes down to a Poison Jab, Bronzong is sent out, who is literally immune to two of Garchomp's attacks and resist one. With Garchomp helpless, Bronzong can use Hail powered Weather Ball and KO Garchomp with no problem.

[@imtheonewhoaskedlol]

@@cesarflamenco9484you know what your doing.

[@adolfstalin1497]

I was using dragon dance gyarados

[@darrenleeyoung907]

Man, I love the Og gym challenges, and the fact that they made this pokemon game more difficult than sword and shield, makes it more intense and rewarding!

[@MiguelMartinon]

@Merciless Freak agreed.

[@LoganPrather1]

Gotta say, happy to see the main storyline battles becoming harder. One of my biggest complaints in recent years is that the main playthrough was too easy and didn't pose a proper challenge.

[@DepressedFrenchy]

The Elite 4 in brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl has perfect EV and IV, good items and strats. And they get even better during the rematches. They trully went the extra miles and made all the rematches and the Elite 4 in general much MUCH harder and competitively Good, they get good coverage moves and excelent items during the second rematch too.

[@f.fadairo4249]

i just hope they can do this for gen 9 and every pokemon game in the league fights moving forward

[@lokekennee8850]

@@f.fadairo4249 Not gonna happen, this is probably gonna traumatise the kids, which this game is directed at.

[@f.fadairo4249]

@@lokekennee8850 im glad it is 😅😂

[@SrMissileMonkey]

@Wanna Be a Smurt Person Trying OR........ Give it to the major NPCs and maybe the occasional Ace Trainer.

[@Emerald-The-Entomancer]

I remember one time while fighting Cynthia it was down to her garchomp and my banette(my only pokemon left). The battle lasted for like 10-15 minuets and at the end I landed a shadow force against it,but it had rough skin causing damage to banette,and they both fainted,AND IT DIDNT COUNT AS A WIN!!! I felt so defeated after that and I didn't touch the game for like a week

[@pimpking5000]

That's rough buddy

[@Sailor-Khione]

Even though I won, I felt so anxious afterwards that I haven't picked up the game hardly.

[@dhanvanthkarthik1777]

mikey: it's gonna go for a poison move also mikey: does not switch to flux the magnezone even though it is immune to poison(i know stealth has super effective moves and resists poison)

[@gabrielcarrasco8414]

I know the pain of your Weavile being outsped. Brought it out thinking easy dub. At that point I knew it had to be running a Jolly nature with IVs. They did everything to beef up this champion.

[@dragonstouch1042]

And even if you did outspeed, you’re not gonna one shot with the Yache berry

[@securityguardtemmie]

@@dragonstouch1042 and maxed evs

[@jamesdinius7769]

No, but as we saw, a Weavile should be able to take one hit. Even if Garchomp was max attack and adamant instead of jolly, it'd most likely be in a damage range (depending on the IVs involved). If Weavile out speeds, it wins.

[@cephery8482]

@@jamesdinius7769 it’s 200 evs in speed and atk (not actually max the first time around) jolly and perfect IVs in everything but special. Unless you’ve trained your weavile in def for some reason you’d need a very good defense IV to survive earthquake. If anything this garchomp was built to beat weavile exactly. But if you do want to sweep cynthia without ev training to outspeed garchomp, just bring a sticky web kricketune and set it up vs spiritomb.

[@capnfail5807]

Pro Tip: If you have a Roserade with Toxic Spikes in that second E4 battle, use it. The sturdy Golem is no joke. Also, Golem didn't outspeed Mikey's Roserade because of Bulldoze. It's just really, *really* fast! It OHKO'd my entire team when Roserade couldn't kill it in one hit.

[@ryanchoong4714]

Wait golem has 45 speed tho

[@notvex3987]

@@ryanchoong4714 the magic of Uhh Really bad evs and ivs

[@capnfail5807]

@@ryanchoong4714 I don't remember if it set up Rock Polish or something on the first turn, but it outsped my Infernape and Weavile when I sent them out

[@max4633]

Is it Max speed trained?

[@pageclayton6850]

The golem outsped my empoleon when it was 10 levels higher than the golem and it surprised me every time

[@jjveliz10]

I didn’t beat her on the first try because her Garchomp’s Rough Skin ability knocked out my Snorlax (which was my last Pokémon). Cynthia is still such a threat even after all these years. It’s insane how well balanced her team is.

[@Simipourfangirl]

This is why I look up pokemon before I go in.

[@boomfanfic-a-latta8996]

This is the first elite four I’ve seen that truly feels like they are the most powerful trainers They literally have strategies with held items and Flint even has HIDDEN ABILITY INFERNAPE This is unprecedented

[@somerandomjohn1329]

Minimize + baton pass drifblim Infernal senpai *KILL THEM ALL*

[@benny6148]

Fucking legendary

[@thisnameisstupid9133]

I beat Cynthia while being 4 levels under her Garchomp. I also used a less used team, Empoleon, Gastrodon, Roserade, Machamp, Froslass and Houndoom. Funny part is I originally used Staraptor but a Shiny Machoke appeared on victory road while I was farming and I KNEW I had to put this thing in the hall of fame. No guard dynamic punch rock slide is insane. I loved this team so much. I know some people use Roserade and Gastrodon but it’s mostly Garchomp and Luxray. This team is my favorite one.

[@theoboy2716]

That is pretty used. Ppl who didn't pick chimchar prob picked piplup like me and picked up houndoom as a fire mon like me. Then gastrodon and roserade are common options

[@thisnameisstupid9133]

@@theoboy2716 actually Houndoom is underused and most people pick infernape or torterra from what I’ve seen. Houndoom only popped up in popularity after this game lets you get it before the second gym. People for some reason think Empoleon is the worst one. I’m going off what the vast majority pick too. A lot of people pick garchomp over gastrodon, but it’s still a good pick. Roserade is always overshadowed by Luxray most of the time, so I went with that. I wanted a few strong reliable mons that aren’t used to the point of being unoriginal. Roserade and Gastrodon are far from SUPER OVERUSED. It’s always garchomp and luxray. And the starters will always have a good amount of usage but from what I’ve seen the least popular one is Piplup

[@vernessawashington9007]

Who did you use to beat garchomp

[@vernessawashington9007]

@@thisnameisstupid9133 in this game people barely 7se garchomp because you get it after the 6th gym gastrodon is very commonly used

[@zimonzieclown1633]

What form of Gastrodon did you use?

[@georgesaffos1197]

Yeah that's definitely a faithful recreation Now everyone can experience the despair the original Gen 4 players felt fighting Cynthia

[@garlicamvs6235]

It’s actually made harder that the og versions

[@grahamrafferty5969]

@@garlicamvs6235 you gotta keep in mind too, fairy types didn’t exist in gen 4, so that spiritomb and garchomp were even more terrifying, WITHOUT, the good items

[@garlicamvs6235]

@@grahamrafferty5969 yeah that’s fair

[@Darkslayer274]

@@garlicamvs6235 As it should, it's been too easy for years.

[@Alexgodofwar5662]

Yea no she still easy to beat

[@Adrian-ze9ud]

I know a Spanish KZbinr who used a water move against Cynthia's spiritomb. The next turn he used the same move, but Cynthia SWITCHED TO GASTRODON, WHO BOOSTED ITSELF WITH ITS ABILITY.

[@Flygoniaks]

"Is this a Hidden Ability Infernape???" Fun fact, Gym Leaders and other "boss trainers" in this game were occasionally using Hidden Ability Pokémon since Gardenia's Turtwig and Roserade!

[@javitelee9562]

That explains why that fucking Roserade can One Shot the crap outta birds with JUST Grass Knot. Technnician boost is NASTY AF

[@mrperson9838]

@@javitelee9562 oooooooooh

[@ralzornthegreat6753]

NANI!

[@Twitching100]

I feel better now that I lost 5 times against Cynthia before beating her

[@thepulverizer2800]

I’m still on my like 4th time now. Might give up honestly lmao don’t know what to do

[@metamaster626]

I’m really dreading the league I haven’t been in the underground since the tutorial so I gotta do some serious training there in order to stand even the slightest chance against the elite 4 and especially Cynthia

[@joey1723]

Only five times? You did well, mate!

[@rickrick8805]

@@metamaster626 i just beat the league today and let me tell you guys…. Holyshit i had my dialga and infernape lvl 78 and i still had a hard time

[@Lewellyn435]

I defeated her after my third try was tough but so much fun.

[@Lisa-yf2bz]

first time meeting Cynthia: scream in happiness second time: smiling for 20 min third time: smiling for 10 min . . . 100th time: crying

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

Cynthia in a nutshell!😎

[@Merz0r]

3:58 - "My love for my Pokemon make me Dutch." Gotta love the captions LOL.

[@Simp4Bray]

That Garchomp is the fastest thing in the series. I used my Gengar against it, and it out sped it, and one shot it as well

[@claysumm5398]

it has 5 perfect ivs

[@superdude7254]

Michael: "That was a foolish" Me: Miscalculation? Michael: "Mistake" Also when I was fighting Cynthia's Garchomp I was reviving as many pokemon as I can and sent out my Togekiss praying it out speed's her Garchomp it didn't but her Garchomp used swords dance and I got it with a crit affection dazzling gleam and OHKO'd it

[@kamdentran40]

I thought I can beat garchomp with my Gengar then when it used Earthquake I thought my Gengar has the levitate ability but it didn’t. Almost kill Gengar, but it curse body disable Garchomp Earthquake which help me win the battle surprisingly since my Gengar was faster than Cynthia Garchomp.

[@awkwardunicorn9780]

Good job dude!

[@ivandekad7249]

Me after beating the E4 and Cynthia: "Oh my god that was no joke. Competitive ready teams with egg moves, hidden abilities, items galore and near perfect IVs and EVs. Man, even the poketubers will have a hard time with-" *remembering all the non-poketubers doing Nuzlockes with no idea what awaits at the end*

[@theunknown7683]

Pain and suffering awaits.

[@MiguelMartinon]

Just did it on Tuesday, first try nuzlocke Blissey, Luxray, Jirachi (I know it’s a mythical, but I paid $60 for sword so you better believe I’m getting my money’s worth), Garchomp, Clefable, and Floatzle. No items, set mode, no over-leveling [63 as it’s second to last ace level]. It was not that bad.

[@MiguelMartinon]

Almost forgot: It was a zero death run

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

@@MiguelMartinon You're a legend 😱

[@whisperingshadowXI]

@@MiguelMartinon Calling cap bro, livestream and upload on your channel or it didn't happen.

[@everythingisvision]

Mikey:**sees Barry’s Snorlax** Also Mikey:**Vietnam War Flashbacks**

[@TDSDyno]

You were so lucky on the Flint fight, that Drifblim has minimize, baton pass, will-o-wisp, and strength sap. I spent what felt like an hour fighting Flint

[@michaeldavid1566]

forgot will o wisp

[@nowhy1502]

it made me go mad i was audibly angry at it

[@santosic]

It got me with Minimize Baton Pass to Infernape. What an asshole move lol

[@angelicaph483]

@@santosic now i know the reason why baton pass is banned in competitive battles lol

[@datboiaj8506]

I’m so glad my luxray had thunderbolt with thunder plate and higher level to ohko

[@cornykova9902]

I was shocked when Drapion outsped my Rapidash, and then I looked up and found that they were all perfect iv's, competitive ability, tiem and nature, and heavily ev-trained (perfect for Cynthia), so I started calculating the speed they actually had and made sure to level my hitters above those thresholds. But then ... I'm up with crobat against Hippowdon, switch out Crobat to bait an ice punch on my Empoleon tag-in, and got hit by an earthquake ... That's straight-up cheating, and I'm sad I didn't record it, because I couldn't believe this myself. I've been playing pokemon since the beginning, and this never happened, EVER, in a non-competitive environment. The drifblim honestly didn't pose much of a threat, I ohko'd it with my luxray, I believe, so it could never set up minimize.

[@throwawayaccount5637]

Yeah lol, I noticed a lot that the gym leaders and such trainers just happened to know my exact strategy. Low HP flying type on an ice type to bait an ice move, but when I swap to Empoleon they just HAPPEN to use a super effective move despite it being hyper resisted by the other mon.

[@char5379]

Same happened here with her "predicting" my switch lol

[@markwilliamsbrown9889]

lol. The A.I. is advanced just like playing against a strong chess engine it can predict your next move

[@robertlupa8273]

I wonder if you set the game to not change the AI's decision for that turn and didn't switch - would it still use Earthquake?

[@HaxeRain]

@@throwawayaccount5637 there is a reason for that outside battle tower actually, the good AI for trainers, the one that chooses effective moves and so, has an inner calculator built in, so if a move is not super effective, it will go for what deals the most damage in less amount of moves, this has a flaw, which is when under certain hp thresholds, it becomes random what move it will use, otherwise it is highly consistent

[@Imamotherfreakingavocado]

Usually the remakes are easier than the original, but they really weren't messing around with this one. Gotta respect that they have a new weakness for Cynthia's ace Pokémon yet still managed to keep the fight just as hard, if not harder than the original

[@CrazyEmilykitty]

Second to that!

[@luisvelez1952]

All gym leaders should and Elite four should be more like Cynthia; diverse, different types and interesting 👻, 💦and 🐉=🏆

[@hazzmat9527]

This Pokémon league was traumatic, first one I've ever lost first time although shout out to blue in pokemon blue. Cynthia's garchomp terrifying. Though I handicapped myself with no infernape, grass types and no one with earthquake

[@melancholybobbyjoe]

When it came to her Milotic it was so tanky against my team I literally threw Blissey in and used reflect AND light screen and forced it to struggle LOL

[@zozoey_0537]

i used roserade with giga drain synthesis and leech seed to toxic stall LOL

[@ame-chan579]

That's so NASTY But we'll deserved, DEFINITELY well deserved

[@supadupa8088]

Same goes for me. I had my Gastrodon and spam recovery, body slam and earth power. And whenever I play Pokémon I always make sure to have a LOT of Leppa berries. Also, this fight made me use the X items, which I rarely use. After 5 minutes of spamming the three moves and some Leppa Berries later, I was able to make Milotic burn through all of its PP for all four of its attacks. I was able to take it down after two Earth Powers thanks to the X special attacks.

[@prof.reuniclus21]

@@supadupa8088 My West Sea Gastrodon named Sushi did the same but with Sludge Bomb instead of Body Slam (I had a -Atk Gastrodon) and it took ~20 minutes. I didn't use X items so I gave Cynthia the most infuriating battle of her life. The best part is that I had a Luxray with Wild Charge and Thunderbolt in the back.

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

@@prof.reuniclus21 Impressive battle Also that is a great name for a Gastrodon!🥰

[@infiniter4in178]

I did this today and started sweating so hard when she sent out Chompy. My own went down to her milotic, so she decided to kill 4 of the 5 remaining mons of my team. It ended with my Guardevoir affection surviving poison jab AND affection crit moonblast. I can't remember struggling with any champion since playing pearl as a little kid. Thank you ILCA, that was truly special.

[@XCVIII]

My Mamoswine 1 shot it with an ice type move through the berry and was 6 levels down. I was expecting there to be hours longer 😂

[@nicholascassar4520]

Just finished the second rematch with her and I barely won lol and I mamoswine

[@theunknown7683]

@@nicholascassar4520 bet you slept on the buffing of her team.

[@briansherrod1916]

We knew Cynthia was going to be a challenge but the rest of the elite four always surprises me!

[@roboticdreamer]

I'm at the Pokemon League in this game, and I convinced myself that I can defeat the Pokemon League in one try, thanks to a technique my sister taught me (get to the last Pokemon, use Perish Song, then keep reviving). That did not go according to plan.

[@ladyarcanine1432]

This League is very impressive. I really like the up tick in difficulty. I only won on my first try because, against Garchomp, my Floatzel got a clutch Freeze on his first Ice Beam and was able to take her out with the second.

[@devinharry4849]

Your Floatzel actually outspeed that thing? Wow

[@ladyarcanine1432]

@@devinharry4849 He sure did. I was surprised too.

[@goo3970]

Verified channel took your comment 😬

[@Richxwolf]

U ran a special attack flotzel lol

[@ladyarcanine1432]

@@Richxwolf Actually he has a neutral nature.

[@jakobrathbun4596]

So my buddy did some math and Cynthia’s Garchomp has the speed stat of like an 80+ Pokémon, I ended up losing twice to her. I’m happy they finally gave us a tough league again lol

[@Rain593]

It just has perfect IVs, max Evs and is Jolly.

[@crimsonnote2861]

The fact that I had to make a competitive pokemon team to best this league boggled my mind. For the first time I had to use a really good setup and couldn't just sweep easy with a single mon or coverage moves. That wasn't enough. Post game Cynthia with her level 80 team was super terrifying. God bless shuckle for its beautiful defense 🤧

[@snailmix]

It is probably the toughest Pokémon league ever. But I still wouldn’t say it’s difficult if you know what you’re doing. It’s a pleasant surprise to see the Pokémon league not hold your hand for once

[@AleksaRabadziski]

It's not difficult if you like a little 8 year old boy switch pokemon when she is about to switch... That's why I want pokemon to turn off those features and if you want to switch... Then you should do it when pomemon trainer already pulled out they're pokémon and used their moves... Not wait to use OP counters when they are about to swithc....

[@chriskoloski32]

They gave the elite for max evs, pretty much perfect ivs, hidden abilities, and items. Man I'm actually gonna fail my nuzlocke at the end

[@Draeckon]

I thought the same watching this. I already lost to Fantina once and I'm on my second run because I forgot her Gengar has sludge bomb and both Gengar and Mismagius completely out-sped everyone on my team. Almost clutched it by PP-stalling away Mismagius' Phantom Force, but then of course she has Confuse Ray and my one hope of beating it hit himself in confusion... it was a sad loss. But seeing the Elite 4 and Cynthia... hoo boy. I'm not confident that I can win unless I do some heavy EV training... and maybe some IV/nature breeding while I'm at it...

[@chriskoloski32]

@@Draeckon well I lost my garchomp to volkner. I decided to have a gligar on my team for baiting earthquakes and reverse bating ice moves, my blissey had stealth rock minimize, my drapion had toxic spikes and a lot of bulk, and my froslass had hail with aurora veil to protect the team. Still failed hard

[@TySmithHerpingVA]

This elite 4 is excellent! I beat it my first time, but had to see the team layout and prepare for hours. Quick tip, everyone talks about Weavile for Garchomp, but don’t sleep on MAMOSWINE. I used one with a defense boosting nature and calced before the elite 4 that Ice Fang gets it low, Garchomp cannot one shot Mamoswine, and Ice Shard finishes it, and it worked! Just watching everyone else and in my experience, if Garchomp cannot one-shot your Pokémon, it seems the AI will Swords Dance. This means the first Ice Fang was free in my case.

[@nep906]

I even had a Weavile but her Garchomp was still faster! That jolly nature and those perfect EVs don't mess around.

[@gabrielcarrasco8414]

Ice Fang Gyrados is also pretty good. Immune to it's stab and can take at least one dragon claw.

[@jld12er30]

i used a clefable with cosmic power moonblast thunderbolt and flamethrower it ohko everything except garchomp but tanked its poison jab and killed it with moonblast, set up 6 cosmic power on spiritomb give it a sitrus berry and it will destroy cynthia team

[@tatertotsalad]

For as OP as I was going into the League with a team I thought was very good and well-rounded, I was quickly humbled by Cynthia.

[@wondeR_nUt]

This was my first main series game I played and I took 7 attempts to beat the league and now that I know this might be the hardest league I don’t feel as bad anymore

[@splaglius409]

I beat the league today, but it was one of the most challenging leagues I’ve faced in a long time! Sure, Aaron was easy, and Bertha & Lucian were decent, but Flint? Oh sweet Arcoos that was so rough, with his Steelix, Drifblim, and Infernape being really hard. And then Cynthia… There’s a reason she’s probably the strongest champion ever! Pokémon stepped up their game and made her so brutally tough! Her Milotic is particular being very annoying with its high special defense. Yet an amazing moment happened, where my Torterra managed to take out her Garchomp with two Wood Hammers! I was so proud! Easily the best Pokémon League at this time!

[@shadowkingdom275]

Kudos to you my friend

[@henzaen]

i literally win by outsetup her garchomp using curse torterra until i got to +6 😂😂

[@noemiandreanagy4692]

this league shows you that the power of friendship is eternal.

[@midnightbat344]

Since when elite four feel like fighting the pokemon tournament

[@tko-bx4bd]

“Oh they did the weird diamond and pearl thingys” is honestly probably the best way to describe these remakes in a nut shell

[@connordrake5713]

I think it's the reason why they(GameFreak) gave away gen 4 remake on ILCA so easily. :'( They don't care about gen 4 original diamond and pearl.

[@diamondguy1726]

It’s a remaster

[@deepanjanmandal3694]

@@connordrake5713 i dont know y people start disrespecting the best things always, i know that ur fav gen is no where close to dp be it the games or the anime but seriously it doesnt make any sense, change ur taste mate

[@TheKitKatThe]

@@deepanjanmandal3694 this person you replied to said that gamefreak doesn't care about diamond and pearl, you should've reread the comment before you made a comment about it and either way, diamond and pearl aren't the objective best pokemon games, let other people have opinions

[@eshaansimha3625]

Cynthia: I am the hardest boss battle Volo and Giratina: You disappoint me

[@hendeyjagger7489]

He mostly is that hard because of the weird battle system

[@MC_5]

Nah, Cynthia is still way way harder Volo might be bc of battle mechanics being different but Cynthia's still harder

[@robertlupa8273]

@@MC_5 How about we just say both are hard?

[@rockrobster27]

@@robertlupa8273yes I agree, it’s in the family after all

[@JeppyAMV]

This league was a great challenge. I did a one-shot run with the league. I had Cynthia switching out three times because of my Gastrodon. When her Garchomp and my Gastrodon were both in the red, I was surprised that my Gastrodon out sped her Garchomp and killed it after using ice beam.

[@TheRibottoStudios]

I know it can feel like cheating when your pokemon dodges, or heals a status due to affection, but I always loved that addition cause it made it feel more immersive. I can easily imagine myself yelling at my pokemon to dodge then attack and it makes battles more fun rather than it just being "attack, get hit, attack get hit".

[@raymaikeru]

I forever still wait for an anime-styled Pokémon game

[@kotaguy]

@@raymaikeru same

[@arcillanicoandreisalaveria3824]

It would... if the opponent can also have the affection thing. To keep difficulty. The devs should’ve given them the mega broken feature that they gave you. Plus not doing so gives us problems with world-building. Like this has the concerning implication that you’re the only person ever to care about their pokemon which is nonsensical.

[@puppetpup9030]

While fighting the last elite 4, I had a bidoof left on my team and it did the tough affection thing like 4 or 3 times in that battle from a earthquake

[@lokekennee8850]

@@arcillanicoandreisalaveria3824 And bag cannot be accessed during battle as an option would be best.

[@ItsMeDuh2022]

For some reason, Cynthia's Milotic gave me a LOT of trouble, and the only reason that I was able to beat her was because my Lopunny that I caught in the underground knew Cosmic Power 😅 That, and dropping it's defense with Iron Tail was the literal only reason I was able to win my first time. I LOVE that the league is still a challenge!

[@theawesomeman9821]

For me it was Gorchomp frustrating me.

[@mawile2468]

I was able to completely wall Milotic with Storm Drain Gastrodon. I was actually up 5-0 before Garchomp proceeded to nearly sweep my entire team. I had to keep switching out Staraptor for Intimidate before stalling him with Acid Armor Manaphy with Scald. I ultimately won 6-3 without using my 6th pokemon, but Garchomp probably would've outsped my Mismagius. But yeah, Staraptor was my MVP of the Elite 4, and I had actually gone back to Route 1 to catch Starly after getting all 8 badges because I needed a 6th pokemon

[@omarjanabi5801]

That stupid milotic spamming recover was the reason i lost

[@marisentaku2159]

I used Big Root Roserade to deal with this snake

[@lesaeromsse]

am i the only one who appreciates the water physics in this game? i love it

[@lunacomments3746]

YES! I was waiting to get this game until after finals because I would’ve totally been distracted from studying. Now I’m down to my last final and so excited to get this game. I’m so happy they kept the difficulty level!!

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

I hope you enjoy it!😉

[@jadedghostt]

I just BARELY beat Cynthia by ice beaming Garchomp with Empoleon, using my one max revive after the ice reducing berry was already used up. it was gnarly, it really came down to my starter there. it was nuts, I love that Cynthia is still a total beast

[@hungv147]

dang, your Empoleon survived an earthquake from Garchomp?

[@janovrom]

This was one of the most enjoyable leagues for me in a long time. The AI was good, the move pools as well (except for girafarig that had thunderbolt and killed my Gyarados -> going to Cynthia with 5 mons), and the items! I went in underleveled (avg 61) without any prior information (except the memories from older games). And immediately wiped on Aron's Heracross that outsped all of my team :D Round two was a smooth ride until that GIrafarig. And beating Cynthia was only thanks to Belly drum + Rest Snorlax that can be easily set up on Milotic. Surprisingly grinding HP, Atk EVs for few hours paid off and Garchomp went down in single Giga impact. Looking forward the rematches :)

[@Mr.Depressed06]

I just beat Cynthia on my first try and I felt like sharing it with somebody because I went from so nervous to so excited

[@p.m.e.7311]

You are a terrible deceiver unless you struggled hard against elite 4

[@archer8728]

I beat it on my first try too. Not that I didn’t end each battle with one Pokémon left, but I only won because of affection

[@dark_siren1235]

Honestly I found Cynthia to easy compared to the elite four members

[@fryzen404]

Same, Cynthia just KOd one of my Pokémons and that’s it. Thought it was too easy but then seeing y’all struggled that much makes me wonder

[@jebalitabb8228]

@@p.m.e.7311 it’s not hard, the game is so easy a 5 year old can beat it. XP share + affection mechanics = incredibly easy

[@ThewandererFN]

I enjoy the really difficult elite 4, people have been wanting it for a while. Nice touch to give elite 4 competitive sets, good evs and ivs and natures, as well as good items

[@thetabbyguy921]

I don't get these devs, going out of their way to make the league difficult like everyone wanted yet also including affection hacks to ruin it all

[@Cam-xn5qt]

I really like how they made each elite 4 member not just have their type it makes it more difficult for people who just spammed one pokemon over and aver

[@afikolami]

I love that you're not over level for the league battle. It makes the battles more exciting. Also, man Cynthia is brutal. I always lose the first battle against her in every game she was in, most notably that famous little summer beach house in Black & White.

[@newaccountgoofyahhslayer2771]

B2W2 cynthia was under level to my mons

[@BeAllEndAll-i3e]

Grinding levels in Pokémon is an art honestly

[@farahkhan2654]

Ok im not gonna lie seeing garchomp take down half of mikeys team had me rolling of the floor for a good minute

[@dragonstouch1042]

The PTSD is coming back

[@farahkhan2654]

@@dragonstouch1042 absolutely

[@angelicaph483]

@@dragonstouch1042 yeah lmao

[@ardelianelson2902]

They upped their game for the remakes, I was sweating during Cynthia. I was equal level, using held/healing items and beat her with my last two pokemon. My brother and I were actually racing and we were neck and neck, with very different teams.

[@Tmdamara]

18:40 The moment you realize they gave her a fully EV trained Garchomp lol 🤣

[@GoranDubravic]

My team in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond would be Torterra, Staraptor, Houndoom, Gardevoir, Magnetzone, and Gyrados are around mid 65-66s level!

[@ramamoorthy8211]

I beat Cynthia's garchomp with my own,and the funny thing was that mine was literally the exact same as her,it had the same nature the same iv,the same EVs and the same lvl so I pretty much won due to my garchomp winning in the first speed tiw

[@MisterRegretti]

Wow lol

[@cephery8482]

If yours was max speed it did just outspeed. Cynthias is only 204 speed and 52 hp unti the rematches. Even still needing a properly ev trained garchomp to win the mirror is crazy

[@_md_7189]

I've been torn on the new games. I love that they've made the Elite Four a more real challenge, but especially seeing how much affection came into play here makes me at least wish there was a way to disable it

[@kapiltaak4154]

Give your mons herbs at eterna the work as healing and from what I’ve heard they reduce friendship just give them a couple revival herbs and purposely faint your mons

[@Hirokey123]

So it's tied to happiness, anything that drops happiness will lower affection and you need only be at 150 happiness or below to not have any beneficial in-battle effects. Let your pokemon faint, revive them with revival herbs, and heal them with bitter herbs. It's not ideal but it works well enough, I grinded about an hour of this to get me down to the minimum happiness threshold before challenging the E4 (since they would inevitably gain some happiness from winning against the E4), I wanted to win on my own merits. Let me tell you beating this E4 with under leveled pokemon (my levels ranged from 56-61), no healing items, no X-items, set style, and no affection was the most satisfying thing I've ever done in a pokemon game. The E4 wasn't even when the challenge ended, on the contrary this E4 felt like an entry into what the rest of the post-game was like. Morimotto was devastating, several the gym leader rematches were brutal and even the ones I won were a struggle, the 2nd E4 rematch was a nightmare, and the 3rd rematch is hell I STILL can't beat 3rd match Cynthia.... Don't even get me started on the nightmare that is masterclass battle tower bosses.... Gen 5 was the last time I felt ANY challenge and after 8 years of easy as hell pokemon games it's nice to finally have such a meaty post-game and challenge to sink my teeth into.

[@WheelStart]

@@kapiltaak4154 Yeah, used herbs instead of potions

[@garlicamvs6235]

@@Hirokey123 I mean my problem with this game is the difficulty curve its like oh the 8 th gym that’s easy get to elite four well time to sweep the elite four 5 seconds later how the hell did the bug elite four almost sweep my team with drapion

[@FeetBist]

same thing happened to me here, i lost to her once. Second battle my floatzel absolutely destroyed, although he did get some affection dodges, he absolutely won me my battle by allowing me to use heals (same amount as cynthia) and taking out her garchomp by himself

[@NJ06sg14]

I remember, after so many tries, I got super lucky when one of my last Pokémon somehow lived the Earthquake and Ice Beamed her Garchomp and it got frozen. She unfroze it by full restoring, but it gave me a chance to one shot it with one more Ice Beam. Most epic thing that happened in any Pokémon play through I’ve done.

[@jeffreygao3956]

You swatted bugs, braved the sand dunes from Agatha’s sis, extinguished fire, snuffed out the mages, and beat a harrowing Champion battle disguised as your funeral! Victory to you! And happy birthday!

[@PapiBlackarot]

I'm so glad they made the ai smarter in these games. Them actually switching and having items is a nice but of added difficulty even if it's just a little bit harder

[@jackwirtz5822]

For the first time since like generation 4 or 5, this remakes makes me want to continue playing Shining Pearl / Brilliant Diamond thanks to the challenges the post game offers, which is something we all veterans need! I do say, this is one of the best remake Pokemon games since Heart gold / Soul Silver. Thank you...