Top 10 Hardest Gym Leaders

The top 10 most difficult gym leader battles across all of main series Pokemon
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Pokemon videos about new Pokemon games, retro Pokemon games, or just Pokemon in general!
Edited by KeeLoker! / keeloker
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#Pokemon

[@MandJTV]

Go to buyraycon.com/mandjtv for 20% off your order, plus free shipping! Brought to you by Raycon.

[@Mckenzielambert3380]

Hi

[@lorelaimorace-kk1xz]

oh i heard of that earbuds YOOOOOO

[@TheNico2000]

10:28

[@ProjectEAUX]

14 minutes ago

[@playersnake]

Please continue the Pokémon types then vs now series

[@flygonathome]

I was going to say Mikey is in his WatchMojo era now but the difference is Mikey knows what he's talking about

[@SirStazian]

Lmao true

[@garvgupta3567]

This comment made my day.

[@aehrol46]

he's already done a lot of list videos before tho

[@Conduit_king]

Fr like they said that totk Ganondorf is THE hardest Zelda boss like I get it that he's kinda hard but HARDEST is a stretch

[@d04lvallier]

​@AMindnamedAdamlately? it was already bad and missinformative 10 years ago lmao

[@AhmedHussain-ju6xd]

"They see me rolling, they hating" -Miltank

[@JordanMendoza-uh9ct]

We don’t talk about Miltank

[@PanTheGrrAngyTiger]

This needs to be more popular 😂

[@Necroverse19]

She wasn't even hard...

[@AhmedHussain-ju6xd]

@@Necroverse19 With prepararyion she's easy. Most people who didnt know her team or dont plan struggle with her. The machop trade and a female geodude. most people don't do in game trades and only use new pokemon introduced in a gen for their first run. miltanks stats, and attract can cancel the predominantly male starters makes it difficult to fight her

[@Ilikesceptile11]

​@@Necroverse19honestly I agree, she's more so frustrating than hard

[@williamoconnell12]

As someone who wants to get into competitive pokemon, this video was really educational and taught me what “synergy” actually looks like in a battle. The gym teams are really well thought out when you’re not 15 levels ahead and spamming close combat and hydro pump to get through them.

[@frankcaggiano8282]

If you're looking to get into competitive doubles (VGC), check out Wolfey and Cybertron if you haven't. Both amazing, renowned players with solid content and commentary.

[@ronin85]

Yeah you can say that.

[@F14thunderhawk]

its fairly obvious when youre doing non-overleveled runs that Unova and Paldea have the hardest gym challenges. Which is impressive because Unova's challenge comes primarily from lack of variety in the opportunities you have to construct teams until gym 7/8, where as Paldea lets you catch ANYTHING you need. Even then if youre intentionally cheesing gymleaders Paldea will throw brick walls at you outside of Katy one of the weakest gym leaders to ever exist.

[@otdtyh]

I haven't played Pokemon in YEARS, and as soon as this video popped up I whispered, "Miltank." and remembered how I actually shed tears over this battle.

[@HuskerNinja]

“If you need specific Pokémon to make a fight easy, then the fight isn’t easy.” PREACH

[@zeked4200]

Idk...I kinda disagree. By that logic, if you pick Charmander and need to catch a water/grass Pokémon to beat Brock...does that make him a tough fight? Kinda...but I think if only having one specific Pokémon allows you to sweep the fight...then that fight was pretty easy. If you need to assemble a whole crew with different types and coverages...that's a tough fight.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

nah that doesn't work here, pokemon has type effectiveness for a reason

[@Jeikobu]

In line with Lenora, I literally have never had a problem with her, I just...use STAB moves to hit her hard.

[@Unison23]

@@zeked4200Brock is definitely hard if you didn’t start with Bulbasaur or Squirtle because you’d then need to catch a specific Pokémon to beat him consistently. You can still beat him with a Charmander tho

[@Redfork2000]

@@zeked4200 Brock's difficulty really depends on your starter. Brock is a pushover if you chose Squirtle or Bulbasaur, but if you chose Charmander, then he definitely is a hard fight. I say this as someone who picked Charmander as my first ever starter. I remember my Charmander evolved into Charmeleon before I could beat Brock. Brock is so early in the game that your options to deal with him are very limited unless you picked a starter that's good against him. So for people who chose the starters that are good against him, he's an easy fight, but for those like me that picked Charmander, he's definitely a hard fight. Compare this to say, Blaine. By the time you get to him, there's so many options at your disposal to deal with him. In fact, you can't even get to Blaine without a Pokémon that knows Surf, so by the time you get to him you already have a counter pretty much guaranteed. So I'd say Blaine is an easy fight. Regardless of what Pokémon you have on your team, you definitely have the means to beat him without much trouble. I think the principle to keep in mind is that each player will have a different team when they reach that gym leader, thus a fight is easy if most regular team compositions can handle it easily, but it's difficult if most team compositions you could have by that point of the game struggle with it. If it's a fight that's very hard unless you go out of your way to seek a specific counter, then it isn't really that easy. For example, when I'm playing in Kanto, I consider Lt. Surge to be pretty easy, so I don't really bother going out of my way to get a specific counter for him. I know that my team as it is will be perfectly capable of handling him without much issues, even if I don't have any Ground moves (Though you do get Dig before that, but it doesn't feel like a "necessity" to have to beat Lt. Surge without struggling). You could also get the specific counter the game offers you near the gym, a Diglett from Diglett's Cave, but it's still a pretty easy fight even without the counter. But then later on when the fight against Sabrina is up ahead, I feel compelled to specifically prepare for her fight in advance. On a regular playthrough, this means catching a Snorlax to serve as my counter. With its great bulk and physical attack, it's one of the best counters for Sabrina. While it is possible to beat Sabrina without a specific counter like Snorlax, it's definitely much harder to do so. While you could argue that I'd probably pick up a Snorlax anyway since it's such a good Pokémon, the point I'm trying to get at is that when you feel like you need to seek out a specific counter in order to make the fight easy, then the fight isn't easy. Is Sabrina easy if I can bring in a Snorlax and just body her physically frail Psychic types while tanking her attacks with Snorlax's great bulk? Sure, the fight was easy for me in that case because I prepared for it and had a specific Pokémon to mostly trivialize the fight, but that doesn't make it an easy fight in the general sense. It's still a challenging fight with most team compositions.

[@Silver_Sonic_23]

I misread the title as "hottest gym leaders," and looking at the thumbnail, that also works. Sabrina, Raihan, and Clair are all pretty hot.

[@rrb9233]

Lmao

[@lordvader1993ger]

Agreed, three of the best.

[@BisexualG00SE]

I mean, I agree

[@TheStormRX]

If Marnie counts, Then...

[@venomgaming7014]

*true*

[@nightmare348]

Whitney and her cursed Miltank is what nightmares are made of

[@dankmctwist6575]

Yeah i’ve just started cheesing it tbh. I let her rollout get out on an onix since it can easily tank and spam screeches with onix, then switch to a heracross (or any fighting type, I just love hera) and one shot it😭

[@GabetheMagician_22]

I recently started to play pokémon soul silver for the first time, and she completly destroyed me in the first battle. I won the second time, but my luck with the other gym leaders isn't doing much better 🥲

[@Omnitrixter_memes]

20:28 *Mikey Puts clair as the 3rd most difficult gym trainer.* *Me who sweeped her with a butterfree and Quagsire.* :😂

[@Qahnaarin-xp6dz]

My favorite Whitney memory. "Ill bring the machop for security." 1st turn clefairy used metronome, metronome used aeroblast. Muscle fainted. 😂

[@SangsangaHlawndo-xb5yc]

Aeroblast?Damn.Did you win though?

[@ohhReina]

I had an Oddish go up against Clefairy once-it got Sacred Fire out of Metronome. 😐😐😐

[@mamamia5905]

@@ohhReinaoh my God that same thing happened to me lmaooo

[@kenthuang436]

I fought her Clefairy in HG once and it used a Metronome Psycho Boost on Muscle.

[@leftlegleg]

If you think whitney is easy, play the game Pokérogue, a web-based version of a pokemon RPG, it’s really fun, just google “Pokerogue” it appears instantly. She is horrible to fight. She has a clefable with a healing move and insane bulk, her miltank has extremely high stats. I paralysed her miltank and she just switched out and i died. I hate her and unless i have a fighting, rock or ghost type, i just accept that the run’s lost. And if you think i’m just bad at the game, play it yourself, any gym leader is quite difficult. Even easy gym leaders like larry are quite difficult, and hard gym leaders? Yikes.

[@SogekingFirebirdStar]

I love that any time Mickey complains about Whitney and Clair throwing tantrums, he does so by throwing a tantrum himself.

[@voidtectonic]

I can imagine their gym trainers, actually cheering up and celebrating with the player when they win because it's so difficult, and that's why Whitney and Clair throw fits.

[@OldGreggIRL]

Mickle*

[@Tee.X030]

@@fenixrises9854*John Michael wingull

[@DarkEclipse23]

It comes with the territory it seems 😂

[@jeffreygao3956]

Just feast on her tears!

[@Link_724]

4:00 Just wanna mention surf didn't hit your allies until gen 4 so it made T&L exceptionally easy with just being able to double spam surf.

[@bewearstar9462]

This is why muddy water is the better surf

[@zaeemnasarullah]

But Muddy Water is only 85% accurate, whereas Surf is 100% accurate.

[@bewearstar9462]

@@zaeemnasarullah but it doesn't hurt your allies in double battles

[@Link_724]

@zaeemnasarullah gets it. Hitting both of your targets and your pokemon that could resist it is better than just your opponent and both pokemon having a 15% chance to miss.

[@bewearstar9462]

​@Link_724 true but it's could be worse

[@ericthompson749]

In Heartgold/Soulsilver, you can get Heracross by using Headbutt in Azalea Town and have it learn Brick Break at level 19, making the Miltank fight easier.

[@nine_tails137]

That was literally the only way I was able to beat Whitney's Miltank! Cause Muscle the Machop, is way too slow!

[@anjugupta8367]

EASIER, more life pathetic. Whitney was the easiest gym leader for me because I had a level 20 heracross that OHKOed both her pokemon

[@princeapoopoo5787]

Heracross gang Heracross gang

[@nine_tails137]

@@anjugupta8367 I didn't even have a Heracross during my first few attempts against Whitney! Muscle the Machop was too slow, My Quilava got attracted and stomped into submission, it healed any status I inflicted with a Lum Berry, it used milk drink to restore any damage I inflicted, and even my level 20ish Magnemite couldn't survive long enough to KO it! Even with Sturdy! It wasn't until I caught a female Heracross, and taught it Brick Break at level 15, that I was finally able to KO Whitney's Miltank!

[@HiroUey]

​@@anjugupta8367Congrats, you went out of your way to get a pokemon to specifically beat her, now try that fight without the Heracross.

[@CookiehsAndDreams]

I now can't stop imagining an Arcanine running majestically, but then getting overtaken by a Miltank aggressively barreling past it like a bowling ball.

[@lln-pk2zs]

Then you go to Sinnoh, and find the same racers being overtaken by a Purugly for some reasons.

[@nickywal]

​@@lln-pk2zsnot going to lie, the first time I saw that alpha in legends I ran. Stupid Mars and her stupid cat

[@Grey_Warden_Invasion]

Imagining that made me laugh. 😂

[@verylostdoommarauder]

The fact that two Johto gym leaders are the only ones in the whole series to give you trouble with getting the badge is actually pretty funny.

[@bulbasaur15]

# 0001 I'd argue Jasmine to be on this list too. Yeah true enough she's not a sore loser like Whitney and Clair but the fact that you have to climb the lighthouse only to find out that she can't battle you because Ampharos needs medicine, then Surf across to Cianwood, get the medicine, Surf back (or Fly back via Chuck), climb the lighthouse AGAIN, and then finally give the medicine for Ampharos, to finally get the right to battle her! At least with Clair the Dragon's Den is just getting across some whirlpools and answering a few questions.

[@bibigamer502]

⁠@@bulbasaur15I mean with Jasmine what she has you do is out of actually caring for another living being with Clare it’s cause she’s upset she isn’t stopping trainers from getting to the Pokémon League

[@RodimusMinor1987]

​@@bulbasaur15 Jasmine is only difficult if you don't have super effective damage, I swept her with a Quagsire

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@bibigamer502 Plus, Jasmine's a lovely ballerina.

[@geeconners7541]

These female johto gym leaders are something else Whitney cries Jasmine is depressed (Ampharos) Clair throws a tantrum AND KAREN...... is elite but needed a tyranitar❤ 9.5/10

[@cesar_rdz05]

You should do a “Elite 4s ranked by difficulty” next!

[@leafeon8956]

I thought the title said "hottest gym leaders" and I honestly didn't think it was too out of place

[@TheMonkieKing4]

Same😅

[@adiwakoski3380]

Mmm, yes, because I also think Raihan is sexy.....hey, wait a minute, he IS hot-

[@BrianStorm742]

That's easy. 10) Burgh, 9) Tulip, 8) Grant, 7) Milo, 6) Flannery, 5) Brock, 4) Winona, 3) Elesa, 2) Wallace, 1) Nessa

[@Sharde-xe1sn]

Dude it lead with candice are you alright

[@leafeon8956]

@@Sharde-xe1sn no, I'm dyslexic 👍

[@brodymuser2947]

Im telling you now, this thumbnail will change 😂

[@olin1034]

Will this age well?

[@elsiegreen2704]

😂

[@AaronWest-tt6kr]

True

[@bupendrakumaran4054]

Maybe

[@Chill_Zee]

They always do 😂

[@joyaday606]

I will never get bored watching Mikey complaining about Whitney’s Milktank lmao

[@matthewwasser5621]

I had the player guide for the gen 2 games and their remakes. Those guides said, before going to Goldenrod City to take care of team rocket, go through Ice Cave and catch a Jynx. Put it in the first spot of your team while battling through the radio tower. By the time you defeat team rocked your Jynx should be strong enough to single handedly defeat the Blackthorn gym.

[@PedroHenrique-mk5zi]

Houndoom and Sneasel are the best counters to Froslass. -Resist Blizzard -Resist Shadow Ball -Immune to Psychic -Feint Attack always hits, bypassing Snow Cloak and Double Team, AND it's super-effective, AND it's Stab.

[@pokemonbb4227]

Cool

[@nevenpatrk9661]

Funny enough, that is exactly how I beat Candace in my Hardcore Nuzlocke of Platinum. I was shocked on how easy this fight was when I swept her team with just Houndoom and Infernape.

[@kipolem53]

Clemont's dang Heliolisk has Dry Skin so my water moves dont work on it, that is so not right.

[@devilrider39000000]

I would also recommend Umbreon, it gets access to stab feint attack and its incredibly bulky.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

​@@kipolem53 why would you use a Water type mon in an Electric gym?

[@trexep]

24:08 Mikey was so annoyed by Beedrill he tapped into Grunty Boi voice for a moment. 😂

[@user-lt1zt2yy2x]

This was a really, fun and entertaining video to watch. I do wish that during sabrina's analysis you mentioned Alpharad's struggles with her and the use of perish song

[@nimbuscloud9464]

Love your videos 😁😁 Can you make a video about ranking every starters in the main series games. Love to see it

[@levistokes3960]

I'm so glad you mentioned that about normal types. It is deceptively hard to deal with. I want to see a normal type elite 4 at some point. High level normal types are terrifying.

[@taylord2006]

This! They could make such a tough normal type E4 or Champ battle! I would love to see it.

[@bigmemvb]

Well Larry is a Normal type specialist... just not in the elite four battle

[@PJNyte]

​@bigmemvb Shout out to his staraptor who has ONLY facade for some damn reason 😊

[@Landeroony]

@@PJNytefacade is all you need

[@joshuakim5240]

Imagine a Normal type E4 member who just aggressively spams STAB Boomburst.

[@ShinyGligarRequeim]

‘Sheer heart attack has no weakness’s’ Iono’s mismagius: And I took that personally

[@kipolem53]

Say,w hat happens if you Soak a TErastalized Pokemon? Or is Soak no longer extant in Pokemon games like Pursuit?

[@VMajor411]

SONO CHI NO SADAME

[@Aisphodel]

@@kipolem53 It fails.

[@kwonk5298]

@@VMajor411JOJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@astarteswillum5259]

Is that you, Kira?

[@warlockceo1549]

I gotta say, really surprised that Bugsy isn't here. Second gym leader in Johto and has a very strong Pokemon in Scyther. Scyther, for those unaware, has a base stat total of 500, the same as Scizor and Kleavor. Scyther's attack is base 110 and its speed is base 105. In Gold/Silver/Crystal, Scyther only has Quick Attack, Fury Cutter and Leer. If you're bulky, it'll use Leer. If not, it's likely to spam Fury Cutter which increases in power with every usage. In Heart Gold/Soul Silver, Scyther now has U-Turn instead of Fury Cutter. While this may seem easier to deal with, it allows Scyther to get a free move on most Pokemon because of its speed, and then let Kakuna or Metapod tank the hit for it, likely dealing significant damage to even a Cyndaquil. U-Turn also has a higher initial Power stat than Fury Cutter which means it will do higher initial damage than Fury Cutter, potentially one-hitting more of your Pokemon. Oh, and it's one level higher in HGSS. It also has a Sitrus Berry which allows it to heal 25% of its HP when its HP drops below 50%. It also gains Focus Energy which will just let it get crits all day long if you give it one turn to set it up. If it thinks you're on low HP, it'll probably finish you off with Quick Attack. There are few Pokemon before this point that resist Bug or Normal and I know that I had tons of trouble with it. OH YEAH, AND BEFORE I FORGET, it has TECHNICIAN!!! This allows any move of base Power 60 or less to have an increase to their Power by 50%! This means that Quick Attack is a base 60 Power move instead of 40. Bugsy's Scyther is an absolute menace. Sure, you can beat it in one to two turns with Cyndaquil or even Quilava if you have it by that point but if you chose Totodile or Chikorita, what is your plan here? Spinarak? Hoothoot? Sentret? Bellsprout? Good luck. Get grinding.

[@HiroUey]

Cyndaquil/Quilava, Pidgey, Spearow and or Geodude. You have options for Scyther, I hate being that person but yeah, Bugsy has never been a problem for me.

[@qwertyrhoads9295]

The rest of Bugsy's team is horrendously bad.

[@aetheralmeowstic2392]

Give Bugsy a Kleavor

[@warlockceo1549]

@@qwertyrhoads9295 Which is why U-Turn is ideal.

[@deckofsomethings5320]

Great video! Sabrina has always been my favorite gym leader, love seeing her on the list...and at #2 no less😊

[@tytool2385]

"Haxoropodeez nuts" absolutly loving it.

[@ndholme1499]

Seems you beat me to it

[@SirenPandaSabo]

YeS!

[@metaeditzz6934]

He finally brought Top 10’s back.. now we Types Then VS Now

[@jeffreygao3956]

Because what is there to cover with the rest of the types? Fire going from maybe good if you can use Fire Spin trapping to valuable for resisting key types like Steel and Fairy.

[@theoaremevano3227]

Then vs. now is probably more of a wait and see series, since new games continue to throw in new factors and Pokemon that can change the situation for a type. A type that might not be worth covering now could benefit significantly, or take a massive hit in later generations, or both, back to back, which is just as worthwhile to cover.

[@patrickzalatoris3206]

Let's also just talk about water, cuz there's just not enough water type pokemon in the franchise!

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

Ice is the only type I can see where "Then vs Now" would work as they got buffed in SV

[@kylepaup]

I still remember how hard Brock was when Gen 1 came out. We were all in middle school and had no idea about Pokemon. So you waltz up with a team that has no chance against him. I was a Bulbasaur guy, and that made it easier, but when you don't understand all the type advantages, special vs physical attacks, status conditions, and you were like most kids who picked a Charmander, it was an extremely tough battle until you found a friend who could tell you what to do. I remember how smart I felt when I figured out I could get a Jolteon with pin missile to help take down Sabrina's Alakazam.

[@AnArmyOfFish]

I'm glad Clair is on this list, I remember specifically being stuck there for a couple weeks I ended up trading over Lucario from my Pokemon Diamond and leveling until he learned Dragon Pulse - without him it was just teamwipe after teamwipe

[@AS-AnimationStuff]

I actually had a crazy moment with the Lenora fight where I won despite being under leveled because sent out my Roggenrola and spammed Sand Attack till Watchhog couldn’t do anything, and then sent out my Servine and spammed Leaf Tornado, getting an accuracy decrease with it too. I’ve loved Roggenrola like a son ever since.

[@satyanarayannayak9216]

What a wholesome story

[@Void_Echoes]

I deadass keep forgetting that “if it’s not 100% accurate it’s 50% accurate” was meant to be a joke because it genuinely feels true, especially in competitive

[@frankcaggiano8282]

I missed 4 hurricanes in a row the other day, followed up by the opponent hitting 3 in hurricanes a row and getting 2 confusions. I cried

[@Jlaps941]

I’ll never forget Aaron Zheng’s Rotom missing 5 will-o-wisps in a row 😂

[@silver_was_found]

we love focus miss. and stone miss. and fire miss.

[@silver_was_found]

@@Jlaps941 will-o-miss :)

[@KugelBlitz0]

Arcanine: Runs across the land majestically Miltank: ROLLING AROUND AT THE SPEED OF SOUND

[@itzraiden6588]

I honestly miss the 'Greetings Pokefans Michael here.'

[@onerustydatsun951]

I had a risky but fun way to beat Whitney using Ghastly and Scyther. Start with Ghastly and Mean Look Clefairy to prevent switching, and naybe a hypnosis to prevent any Metronone hijinx. Then switch to Scyther and start setting up Fury Cutter. By the time Fury Cutter is powerful enough to one -shot Clefairy with its relatively high HP after Whitney heals it, it’s powered enough to one -shot Miltank or do so much damage that Miltank tries to heal using Milk Drink. It’s a risky setup because Fury Cutter can miss occasionally and Scyther has a 4x weakness to Rollout, but it’s a very satisfying way to win when it works

[@frankcaggiano8282]

I love using Chikorita, it's my favourite starter of all time, and it trivialises miltank, funnily enough. By the time you're fighting Whitney, it has Poisonpowder/Reflect/Synthesis, and miltank basically just gets boned. By the time rollout would be doing enough damage, it's dead. Stomp does nothing, even if you flinch 2-3 times under reflect you're still above half and doing fine, even if a bit annoyed haha. Feels good watching that sausage-nipple-swinging bugger just slowly melt. Gen 4, though, it has Lum Berry because game freak was feeling sadistic at the time lmao

[@guszwierlein2811]

I just get Rocky the Onix and I teach it Mud Slap. I will make that Miltank miss Rollout every time.

[@TheShiningEnergy]

There's also Heracross, if you're patient enough to headbutt trees untill you get one.

[@DukeDarkshadow]

Gastly using Mean Look is pointless if you're gonna switch it out to Scyther right away. Mean Look is only in effect if the Pokemon that uses it stays in battle.

[@THE.OLD.CALLER.BRONZONG]

"AUTOBOTS ROLLOUT" -miltank

[@paraskharkwal226]

I played a rom hack as a kid where they gave Whitney's milktank curse in its moveset. It was terrifying. Imagine already having problem with killing it and then it starts spamming curse on u , it's speed is reduced , sure but the defences were crazy. Pair it with the heal

[@Grey_Warden_Invasion]

For some reason I keep forgetting about the normal type gym leader when it comes to hardest gym leaders. (Though,... I keep forgetting about all gen 5 gym leaders in general) But now that you mentioned it, she really was one of the gym leaders who gave me the most trouble.

[@Red-Ranger3142]

27:04 HELP I’M DYING!😂

[@zaeemnasarullah]

32:51 Michael going from losing his cool to calmly thanking us for watching the video. 🤣🤣🤣

[@DarkRedPsycho92]

"WHAT ABOUT MY TEARS WHITNEY, HUH!?!?!?" 😡

[@Ghostmnm]

7:55 *Ultra Necrozma theme intensifies* Good luck to anyone nuzlocke USUM, if that zorua dies or doesn’t appear, and you also don’t get a fighting type that isn’t weak to any of it’s other moves (so bugger off crabominable)… I salute you, also try and get a fear rat

[@joshuabean7805]

I think the main things that made that fight hard were 1. The omni boost on an already ripped legendary. 2. The fact that most people were not sure of its type when they first encountered it so they likely did not have the right pokemon for the job at the time.

[@ash-ez2ru]

"WHAT ABOUT MY TEARS HUH WHITNEY?????" "tenchu so much for watching"

[@mr.benjamin6292]

I missed the days when Mikey was at odds with Grunty Boi. Seeing one of them get frustrated with the other makes me happy and nostalgic for well-written confrontational writing.❤❤

[@leftlegleg]

“WHY ARE YOU IN MY SHOWER???”

[@youtube-kit9450]

The fact that Whitney probably would be even harder if she only had the Miltank because now you can't set up or rage/rollout-cheese on her Clefairy is honestly fucking hilarious

[@totokekedile]

Excellent call to action. I legitimately thought I was subscribed. I definitely am now!

[@Jackaboy3695]

19:53 My favorite status condition is fainted

[@ES-dp6tw]

I'll always give a shout-out to Dwebble for making BW easier. With eviolite, it can better tank Elesa's Emolgas while setting up stealth rocks, punishing the switches, then go on to learn Shell Smash and crush Skyla, Brycen, all the rest.

[@dvillines26]

Crustle is so much fun to use in the Unova games

[@enigmatic2878]

His rant with Elisa made me feel lucky that my stupid strategy of just switching between intimadate krookorok and boldore against zebstrika's flame charge and emolga's aerial ace worked so well

[@_luciasanchez]

Great video! A fun video idea could be suggesting Teams/attacks to deal with difficult gym members, to get the best coverage or simply have a decent strategy. Por instance, I didn’t know winding down a Pokémon with status conditions could make the whole thing worse. It could include suggestions of Pokémon that are generally available to you at that stage in the game and min level you suggest per Pokemon.

[@Cressian]

Whitney is a menace. One playthru I was having such bad luck even with the Machop that I went out of my way to headbutt a Heracross out of a tree just for the higher base stats

[@THE.OLD.CALLER.BRONZONG]

FINALLY the sequal to Most dangerous gyms in pokemon IVE BEEN WAITING FOR YEARS

[@GoatyBoatyBH414]

We all know if Purplecliffe were in the place of Mikey in the thumbnail, his facial expressions would've been VERY different.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

man I hope they both patch up soon and come back as friends, really miss them and feel like a part of the charisma of the trio is gone

[@Eric-iq7sn]

@Purplecliffe Please do a reaction vid on this!!!

[@phil2921]

"Dragon, Dark, Fairy types are the strongest of all types" Normal-type Gym Leaders in this video: Hold my Silk Scarf

[@crossgear3042]

Totally agree with whitney. Decent high level for the third gym and its ability and combos are brutal and you dont get a lot to deal with that rollout and not many options for fighting

[@blazingstorms9648]

You can cheese the Norman fight pretty easily with a pokemon that knows protect.

[@arunsingla3452]

Dig work as well

[@TSLstudio2010]

*I would like to vote Lucian for one of the hardest Elite 4 members* (Diamond and Pearl version) His Bronzong is only weak to fire! Thanks to levitate and because steel resisted both ghost and dark in gen 4. Also it's really bulky and knows earthquake! Meanwhile, if you didn't pick Chimchar as your starter, there is quite change you don't have a fire Pokémon in your team. If you go into this battle with ghost moves, you might have problems with his Girafarig which is part normal and knows shadow ball and crunch. If you go in with dark types, you might have problems with Medichem having drain punch also his Alakazam knows focus blast (and recover). Last but not least, he starts of with Mr Mine, if you don't manage to defeat it directly it's able to so put on Reflect and/or Lightscreen (which cuts down half the damage in gen IV).

[@Redfork2000]

Lucian is definitely the hardest of the Sinnoh Elite Four by a lot. I think in general a team that has coverage to deal with the weaknesses of their type is much harder. I agree with this vote. I would also like to suggest Marshal. His team are not only hard hitters but they all come equipped with coverage to hit their weaknesses for super effective damage. Your Psychic and Flying types won't be safe as they have to deal with the amount of Rock and Dark moves these Pokémon have. Also Sawk having Sturdy means you won't one-shot it even with a super-effective move, giving a perfect chance for it to retaliate. Out of the Unova Elite Four, he's the one that gave me the most trouble by far.

[@nickminaj99]

I remember having to level up a boldore so it could learn stealth rock to beat Elesa. It was kind of fun though hadnt been gettin clapped in pokemon like that since i was a kid. Wish more gym battles made you have to think of a strategy

[@williamjones5334]

13:47 I've seen one speedrunner (at GDQ a few years back) who stated that the Hammerlocke gym is less a Dragon gym, and more a Weather gym.

[@robertwolff3580]

Whitney:*exists Heracross with brick break:Imma about to end her whole career

[@Svithi.N.98]

Yup. Exactly what I did in my heartgold playthrough. Whitney was easy. 😁 Probably difficult in GSC though because I don't think heracross got brickbreak

[@robertwolff3580]

@@Svithi.N.98no it only gets counter and to make it worse it gets it at like level 50

[@NoahGringauz]

As soon as i saw the title i knew he was gonna hate on Whittney

[@kipolem53]

No hating on Whitney she is beautiful! Plus with Pokemon going to the dark side with DEI, we must praise good looking female characters. If Roxanne is on any hate list, that would just be wrong.

[@dylan3488]

@@kipolem53Yeesh incel ass comment right here

[@SpiritJay48]

I really thought I was gonna sweep Raihan with a Sylveon and a shiny gmax Lapras that my friend traded me that was too high of a level for me to control and then he brought out Duraludon and ruined my entire day. You have no idea how pleased I am that I'm not the only person who struggled with this.

[@CJ-fu5tf]

Okay I’m glad to see Michael is still putting out fire list videos

[@tyrantneptune3202]

Some additional tips acquired from my 20+ years of experience in Pokemon Candice - Use a Pokemon with Oder Sleuth, etc. I strongly recommend Houndoom in a Platinum run. Tate/Liza - You can fish up Sharpedo in Mossdeep City, which hit hard and faster than their mons with Crunch. Lenora - Throh is exceptionally bulky, Sawk's Low Sweep can hit hard and lower Watchog's speed, also having a higher base speed stat than it Elesa - Sandile/Krokorok with Rock Tomb, or Drilbur with Rock Throw/Slide, are probably your best options; Krokorok is undoubtedly better, having two excellent abilities in Moxie and Intimidate (to lower the power of Aerial Ace, Flame Charge, and Stomp) Raihan - Nothing really to add. Flygon or Garchomp are solid but risky; or you can just cheese the fight with an Urshifu Fantina - Your best Dark-type option in Platinum is Umbreon; you get Eevee in Hearthome, so just run around with a Soothe Bell until you've walked enough steps, then evolve it at night. Norman - Machamp is undoubtedly your strongest option, there are also the likes of Lairon and Golem for strong defensive choices Clair - Jynx is surprisingly strong, and has a good Speed stat, and can hit hard with Ice Punch in GSC. In HGSS, you will need to teach it Blizzard (inaccurate) or Ice Beam (only at the Game Corner or post-game Seafoam Island), as it doesn't learn ANY special ice attacks other than Powder Snow. Sabrina - Again, nothing much to add. Snorlax remains the best choice, along with Tauros Drayden/Iris - A Krookodile with Foul Play, or Zoroark in B2W2, can be very effective if they use Dragon Dance Juan - Again, Oder Sleuth is key here against Kingdra. Leech Seed can also slowly whittle it away along with Toxic (note that he has 3 full restores, though). Taunt can also potentially help Iono - Sandile is helpful here, resisting Mismagius's Hex and being immune to Charge Beam. Whitney - Muscle the Machop, of course. Onix is good, but Rocky the Onix is always Male, so avoid him. Finally, a female Heracross with Brick Break (lv19) can also work wonders, despite not resisting Rollout, though does share Miltank's high base stat total, being 10 points higher. Hope this helps!

[@yasinn9492]

Man, I remember I defeated Clair's Kingdra with a Parasect with Dry Skin in HeartGold. That battle was epic.

[@TheSebliterator]

Gym leaders, hell, almost every possible opponent in SS and SV (well, at least until Indigo Disk) felt lackluster primarily because of how easy it was to over-level your teams, it kind of sucked the fun out of battling after a while. You could get all the EXP candies you wanted in bulk thanks to the Raids with little to no restriction, this is what made for faster level progression and with that, lower time investments in grinding. Most, if not your entire team would be max level by the second half of the story, so you could breeze through it all like it were nothing. This is probably a dream come true for most speedrunners, but a true pokemon player is bound to be disappointed at the lack of challenge from said point on. The battles that were supposed to be hard ended up being trivial not just because of the easy xp candy acquisition but also in these games, you had a much wider variety of options to approach battles early-game, right off the bat, compared to previous games.

[@joshuabean7805]

I would argue that since SV made all trainer battles optional and the fact that raids are optional as well that SV is pretty easy to not get over leveled in as long as you aren't dumping candies into your team cause that's honestly on you if you do it at that point.

[@lukekennedy5472]

We need top ten hottest gym leaders now 💀💀 💀 👇

[@dannyhbthekiller4020]

We do but for both male and female gym leader

[@jeffreygao3956]

@@dannyhbthekiller4020 Arya bi?

[@prosto-random]

Number one is definitely gonna be flannery

[@wolfman2.055]

Yes

[@DarkEclipse23]

@@prosto-randomnah. Gonna be Karen 😂

[@Just_A_Bit_Dumb]

22:47 a common threat is that most difficult gym leaders- Me: Are women. -specialize in a type thar has very few weaknesses. Me: oh.

[@Undergroundchuck-gu5dv]

Bro

[@zzzzzzzzz7551]

I consider "overall" or running speed different from battle speed. In this regard, it could be posible for Miltank to be "realistically" faster than Arcanine in a battle

[@bryanjimenez1200]

I’m subscribed but I literally haven’t seen your videos anywhere for like all of 2024. This is the first video I’ve seen in like the whole year

[@Lupinemancer87]

I know Mikey said he doesn't care, but I'm one of those that has never had problems with Whitney. However, I absolutely love everytime he rants about her and her Miltank. I find it so hilarious and I'm laughing my ass off everytime.

[@frankcaggiano8282]

Miltank is only REALLY a problem for Cyndaquil, because of Rollout killing it 2 hits rather than 4. As a Chikroita purist, it's basically a meme fight for lil plant babby

[@Lupinemancer87]

@@frankcaggiano8282 Yeah, I was lucky enough that my Chikorita was female, so it was immune to Attract, and I'd spend a lot of time catching many Pokemon so my team was a bit over-leveled, so when I fought Whitney, I didn't struggle as much. Sure she still managed to knock out one or two of my Pokemon, but I beat her first try.

[@snnnaaaaaakeeeee4470]

​​​@@frankcaggiano8282Honestly with Cyndaquil I just killed the Milktank before Rollout could do too much damage. Think I might've been overleveled and packing too many items though. Clefairy was never an issue for me.

[@frankcaggiano8282]

@@snnnaaaaaakeeeee4470 clefairy may as well not even be there yeah lol, 99% of the time it just dies after wasting a turn or two doing nothing

[@jdsimmons97]

I always go for the long game when it comes to these battles. Stocking up on as much restoration and revival items I can buy and level up my Pokémon as much as I can till it's pointless until I move onto a better training area. Which can only happen if I defeat the gym leader or progress to the next area. I enjoy these tough battles because I have to learn how to go further than what I should be going.

[@briandear1401]

I remember picking totodile as my starter for silver. I made it to Whitney and used rage against her clefairy to which clefairy responded with double slap hitting totodile 5 times. It was the only time her miltank was no problem for me.

[@arthurrezende4943]

I am so thankful I was already aware of how difficult Whitney is before I played HGSS for the first time. EVERY single time I played through Johto I always bringed a Heracross with brick break to deal with the chubby cow. This is the only reason I never lost to her but the very threat of the Miltank forcing me to get the best counter possible just shows how insane this fight is lmaoooooo

[@remhauck1577]

I always do the same on any HGSS run. Made Heracross my favorite fighting type.

[@nine_tails137]

Same here. I caught a female Heracross, taught it Brick Break, and just barely won against her Miltank!

[@anjugupta8367]

I also used a heracross though I had always planned to use it throughout the playthrough because it's amazing and easily my favourite bug type

[@nine_tails137]

@@anjugupta8367 Same here. Heracross is one of my favorite Bug types along with Scizor. But the fact Female Heracross was the only way for me to win against Whitney's Miltank, just makes me despise both Whitney and her Miltank even more!

[@darklordofsword]

Sabrina gets even worse in Gen1 when you remember that critical hit rates in the first three games *were calculated based on the Pokémon's speed stat! So her Alakazam was fast, hit like a truck, had no weaknesses, AND KEPT BLOODY CRITTING!!! I always got through Whitney with a Nidorina. Poison Point + double kick.

[@elo_x4266]

Nice video, as always

[@dubbingsync]

I have only dealt with Whitney on the first battle once. And that’s just because I was playing a randomised game and had somehow managed to get a Golem. It is the only time I have had a Golem on my team and it’s the probably the only time I’ll ever use on. But it got me through that match.

[@sobbybot6728]

very glad you told me to check if I was subscribed. i have been enjoying your content for over a year at this point and i straight up didn't realise i wasn't somehow

[@iGreenOwl]

I’m gonna watch the video now, it looks awesome!! :DDD its always amazing when mikey posts

[@AtomBacon]

21:06 idk about golf and silver but at least in Crystal you can get a Jynx in Ixe Path that learns ice punch (which is special in gen 2) within a level or 2 of catching it. By the time you sweep all her gym trainers its ready for everything except kingdra, and even then neutral stab confusion can do solid damage with 115 spatk and 95 speed

[@antoniolopes1754]

I was never so happy to have a shedinja in hoen when I put Norman's slaking paralyzed I did well against Lenora, but with Drayden it was a fiasco. I dropped my bartic in the box after the third loss due to rock slide

[@Martin-wd2im]

More honorable mentions: 1. Flannery, Overheat in the sun is nasty 2. Winona, Altaria has DDance 3. Clay in BW, Excadrill has Hone Claws and it's a strong ace Imo Juan has to be top 3, that Kingdra is disgusting

[@magolor152]

Bugsy's scyther from hgss is up there for me, if you let that thing get off one focus energy you're very likely to get swept by technician boosted quick attacks

[@jacobkohr7243]

Flannery in Emerald derailed my first attempt at an Emerald Nuzlocke. I though Marshtomp would tank the hits and sweep, I learned very quickly that sun boosted Stab Overheat doesn't care about resistances.

[@Maddiez484]

Winona can easily end your Nuzloke, if her Atlaira, her ace pokemon, gets up too many Dragon Dances, Good Luck.

[@jacobkohr7243]

@@Maddiez484 Thanks man! I've already finished with zero deaths about a year ago. Hardcore nuzlocke to. Ice beam Marshtomp, Gyarados, and Magneton cleaned up Winona. The main thing with Flannery is having mutliple tanky resists (Marshtomp, Gyarados, Thick Fat Hariyama, Tentacruel). Nuzlockes get a lot easier when you realize you can swap your team around depending on the boss.

[@Maddiez484]

@@jacobkohr7243 Fair.

[@theothernoobbrother]

Havent even watched the full video but I already know that Whitney's gonna be #1😂

[@ninja_boy]

I remember the first time I beat Whitney in HG/SS in one try was due almost entirely to my Pineco, which had Protect (thus able to stop Rollout), a Pokemon I initially wasn't even planning on using in the battle. I think most of my Pokemon still fainted in that battle though. 😅

[@shrill_pkm]

Well designed list 💯

[@greenjay7471]

Some other counters to Whitney that should be mentioned for anyone that struggles with her are Heracross, who can be obtained after you teach a Pokémon headbutt in the Ilex Forest, Geodude in dark cave (also good for Bugsy and Falkner), and Bayleaf, if you aren’t one of those people who complain about type weaknesses without knowing how game mechanics actually work (it is a really bulky Pokémon that can challenge half of the Johto gym leader’s aces and win, including Clair’s Kingdra). Of course, Whitney’s fight is still incredibly difficult if you don’t know what you are doing, but the games are a test of knowledge.

[@theyellowferret5125]

Finally, somebody else who appreciates Meganium! I think I might cry. 😢

[@user-jd5zt4of8q]

Don't forget the Game Corner Dratini and Dragon Rage which 2HKO's Miltank or forces it into Milk Drink

[@RFDN0]

For Heracross, you need to backtrack to get it. It also is a low encounter pokemon, and you likely do not find it in a blind playthough. It literally took me years to learn where it appeared in gen 2. Geodude is a viable option, but unless you specifically catch a female one, the attract flinch issue still is an issue. I have done a bayleaf run. A big issue is that bayleaf does not resist either attack, and you don't get access to options to stall the battle and make decent progress. Damage output was not noticeably useful to the other starters. There are significantly better grass type pokemon for gen 2 just because of access to leech seed.

[@Lycan4]

My experience with this list: Candice: She was never a problem for me. Fire is my favorite type (Dragon a close second), and I always have one on my team, so... Ice doesn't last long when I'm around. Though, I will agree, Froslass is a great Pokemon, and I love this thing. A bit of a glass cannon, though. Tate and Lisa: I don't have significant memories of these two, other than the fact that because of the sprites, I thought they were both boys when I was a child. Even as a child, I understood type match-ups, and so always went for their weaknesses, making them trivial. I even used Fang the Mightyena against them once, and that thing completely destroyed them. Lonora: Yes! This woman took ACTUAL preparations to get through, thanks to that stupid Watchog! I refuse to use Throh and Sawk (don't like them), and I despise the Tepig line, so I had to just use brute non-Fighting force on this woman every time except for my first time, when I did use Tepig (then saw its evolutions, and never touched it again). Elisa: Also this woman! I tried using a Sandile against her, because Ground, but that's when I learned about Emolga. This woman and her stupid flying squirrels swept me multiple times before I managed to beat her! To this day, I despise Emolga. Raihan: I purposefully went into Sword and Shield as blind as I could, so I didn't know very much going into this game. I genuinely like Raihan, but I do agree. His team is difficult (as it should be, he's the final Gym Leader). I, too, thought I could sweep him with a Fairy type... until his Duraludon destroyed my Galarian Rapidash with a Steel move. That thing was a monster. Fantina: Other than my Nuzlocke, I don't have any prominent memories of this woman. She was never too difficult for me, aside from my Nuzlockes, but that's a given. (she also killed my Beautifly, which I had grown fond of, and I'm still salty about that) Norman: Norman wasn't that difficult for me, though those Slaking are truly tough. I always have either Blaziken (yes, I trained for the Blaziken) or Breloom on my team in this region, sometimes both. My go-to strat for these things is Leech Seed, and then punch them until they die. No Facade boosting to worry about. Clair: Again, I don't have prominent memories of this woman. Johto is my least-played region. Pretty sure I just over-leveled and brute-forced her, too. Sabrina: Yeah, another Gym leader that I used the brute-force strategy on again. Switching between Persian and Charizard, depending on the opponent. Yes, I defeated Alakazam with a cat. As a child! Whitney: THIS WOMAN, AND HER STUPID COW! I'm with you, Mikey, I HATE this thing! That things hooves should be colored red, because of the body count it must have! Even if you're over-leveled, this stupid chunk of beef is a PROBLEM!

[@powerprotoman]

So for my first playthrough of bw2 I had a Zubat it evolved into Golbat the fight before elesa, it became a crobat after getting the winning ko, it's a memory I'm very fond of

[@ShadowFiend777]

Funny thing is I actually did believe I was already subscribed but turns out I wasn't yet. Thanks for pointing that out, 😅 subbed for real!

[@Vivian_Does_Stuff]

28:00 yeah saw that coming, but still respect it

[@mayborneflower]

27:12 - Can confirm, I experimented with a Gameshark’d emulator and easily swept them by taking the first Gym Trainer’s Fraxure. One Dragon Dance was enough for a casual Dragon Claw sweep across the board.

[@Ghostmnm]

28:30 one of the reasons I haven’t replayed crystal is my first try Whitney win was a fluke, the clefairy’s metronome got sandstorm (which I didn’t realise was even IN gen 2) and the sandstorm killed the miltank

[@wahyudim.khalifa5803]

Weather moves were introduced in Gen 2 except for Hail (which is only available in Gens 3-8)

[@Moradollie]

All of us 1990s kids having Vietnam flashbacks to Whitney's milktank in gold-silver-crystal

[@Ilikesceptile11]

Honestly, I've never found Whitney hard, more so frustrating. I beat her as a child with just a bayleef in SoulSilver (aka her "harder team") and yeah she did do the usual BS but I did too by healing as well. And if you thought I was overleveled then my bayleef was only between level 20 to 25 and it carried the whole fight to the point that I didn't have to switch

[@elitovon2833]

25:58 alpharad got absolutely humbled and lost all but two Pokémon in his first Nuzlocke

[@SableJem]

Though Alpharad was HEAVILY underleveled there. He would have had an easier time if he leveled his pokemon.

[@SirePuns]

Man, I forgot just how painful Sabrina was in gen 1. And for Gen 3 (and the Let's Go! games) my strat basically involved how absurd psychic types are. So what I did was have an Alakazam of my own with shadow ball (well, except for the first time I beat FR, where I was steamrolling everything with a massively overleveld charizard)

[@mscottjohnson3424]

26:57 Fun Fact: like 'sheep' and 'fish', the correct plural for ALL Pokemon is the same as their singulars. 3 Pikachu 8 Flygon 17 Mewtwo Just how it works in Pokemon....grammar

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

Lenora took me MONTHS to beat as a kid. Elesa was hard, too, but I had Krokorok to deal with her. And I swear, I got PTSD from Fantina's Mismagius. She DEMOLISHES my team with her Psybeam and Shadow Ball if I don't prepare properly. I swore I got flashbacks when I was fighting Ione's in my Scarlet playthrough. Shout-out to Clodsire for carrying my team to victory.

[@kittylover62]

I remember I had to fight Fantina for my little sister's Diamond playthrough because she was so frustrated with her.

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

​​​@@kittylover62I've never actually fought her outside of Platinum, but I do have to fight her in Shining Pearl eventually. Either way, I get BAD MEMORIES whenever I fight her on repeat playthroughs.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

months? y'all play the main story of pokemon game for months?

[@CTSael]

@@theamazingspooderman2697Not every kid has all the time in the world to play video games, y’know? Some just prefer other activities and video games are of lower priority. If that’s not the case, then it could be parents granting limited screen time, and that extends to ALL electronics. It makes sense that some kids would need a month or more to make real progress in a game.

[@delphoxhoopa7289]

​@@CTSaelYup. It was basically a combination of repeated losses and juggling school. It was SUCH a satisfying feeling when I finally beat her, though. Definitely respect her as a worthy opponent, though, especially being a black woman myself.