Hardest Gym Leaders?

[Eishiba]

Elesa for volt switching! Coward!
Lt. Surge cause his friggin Raichu was always like 5 levels higher than anything I had.

 

[Zero Moment]

People having trouble with Elesa?
Three words: Spider Web Galvantula.

Or Mean Look Anything, whatever.

 

[Nanabshuckle8]

Pt: Umm, that would be Candice with her damn blizzards, though all of the gyms were pretty easy if you had Infernape and Staraptor.

HG:For some reason none of the leaders were too hard, I never got subjected to the infamous rollout-Miltank. Lance was really the only one who beat me good and hard a few times, then I got a Steelix with Ice Fang, 'nuff said.

White: I think I struggeled a bit against Cilan, damn monkey, Lenoras Watchog was annoying and I beat Iris compleately on luck. Her Fraxxure usually got up a dragon dance and swept my team. Once I got through that I was faced by an even more threatening Haxorus. It used DD a couple of times and was sure to kill anything in it's way. And then I got a critical hit. Boom, dead.

 

[Norm]

All the 5th Gen Leaders were pushovers. I mean the E4 were not even remotely hard. I found Tate and Liza, I think, to be the hardest leader(s). I think the problem was because of the Calm Minding. After CM, their Psychics were sweeping everyone. Except for my trusty Torkoal, who had Amnesia :sunglasses: Whitney was not actually hard for me.

 

[Palamon]

Lenora's pretty hard because of that annoying Retaliate.

 

[shadow_lugia]

Kanto: I think Sabrina was hardest for me for two reasons: I thought you were supposed to defeat her before Koga until recently, and there are no Dark types in Kanto to troll her with. I don't think she ever gave me too much trouble, though.

Johto: Clair was hardest because, like with everyone else, I couldn't find anything to exploit her weaknesses. In my most recent run of SS it was slightly easier since I had a Dragonair that I bought from the Game Corner, but Dragon Pulse hit me harder than Dragon Rush hit her.

Hoenn: Wattson does give me occasional trouble because the only Ground types I can find before him are Marshtomp/Swampert and Nincada, the first of which I don't always pick and the second of which is horrible. I thought I could just whittle him down recently in Emerald with Shedinja, but he always hits with Supersonic and I always hit myself due to hax.
Tate and Liza were pretty easy in Ruby and Sapphire, but the addition of Xatu and Claydol in Emerald made them abso-freaking-lutely horrible. What especially gets me is that they're about 5 levels higher than everyone else in the game at that point. I just beat them earlier today; the gym trainers were in the mid-30s, they were at low-40s, and completely over-powerful. Fortunately, I got Gardevoir to set up 6 Calm Minds to wall everything they threw at her, stall them out to the point where there were no more offensive moves on Xatu and Lunatone (somehow got rid of Claydol), revive Sceptile and Leaf Blade/Psychic combo everything. They were evil and I wish video game characters could die horribly so I could crap on/in their graves (even though they're children).

Sinnoh: None of them were really challenging for me as far as I can remember. I guess Byron was a little more difficult because his Pokemon are so defensive, especially Bronzor/Bronzong. I hate Bronzong in any situation because it is just the most annoying Pokemon ever.

Unova: The gyms here were pretty easy for me, even Elesa, who apparently everyone else had trouble with because they did not own an amazing Palpitoad like me. In all honesty, the first gym was the hardest for me solely because I hate the monkey trio. They're not too difficult to take down, especially at low levels, but I just hate them as Pokemon. I chose Snivy as my starter, so I got to battle Chili, and unfortunately I received a Panpour, which is my least favorite of the monkeys. I hate Panpour and Simipour, and the only reason why I ever put it in my party after that gym is to use it as an HM slave for Cut. And that is the only problem I had with any Unova gym leader ever.

 

[Adriane]

Unova gym leaders are rather uninspired due to them having only Pokémon you could own yourself at that point, which was a first for the series (this also explains why the waiters have a Lillipup, but they could've just as easily subbed in the matching starter since that's essentially what they did with the monkeys). I'm also puzzled at the recent trend of leaders not having more than three Pokémon.

 

[surskitty]

Unova gym leaders are rather uninspired due to them having only Pokémon you could own yourself at that point, which was a first for the series

weirdly, even though there are a LOT more possibilities following that rule in bw2, their lineups remain uninspired :(

 

[JHG]

Kanto: Sabrina(or maybe Misty or Koga.)
Johto: Whitney for sure. Faulkner if you started with Chikorita.
Hoenn: Norman or Winona.
Sinnoh: Fantina.
Unova: Elesa.
Kalos: Grant maybe?
Alola(treat Kahunas like they're Gym Leaders): Nanu.
Galar: Raihan or Opal if you're bad at trivia games.

 

[JHG]

But then starting with Chikorita makes the rest of the playthrough difficult.

 

[Marillyn]

I would definitely have to say Misty's Starmie was tough in R/B/Y. It made such a strong impression on me that I wound up using a Starmie on my own team after I got the opportunity, even entering the Hall of Fame with it.

In G/S/C, I'd say Whitney's Miltank was really tough as well if you weren't ready for it. That Rollout can really hurt.

In R/S/E, Roxanne's Nosepass is surprisingly tough to beat, and can catch you off guard easily.

Never finished Diamond/Pearl/Platinum.

In Black/White, Lenora's Watchog can really take your Pokémon out in some cheap ways with Hypnosis.

Never played Black 2 or White 2 (somehow missed that they were even released because I was focusing on the 3DS at that point).

Never finished X or Y.

Sun/Moon lacks gym leaders entirely, so I guess I can't answer for that one.

In Sword/Shield, Alistair's Mimikyu can trip you up if you're not careful.

In Scarlet/Violet, Larry (the Normal-type leader, I accidentally call him Norman sometimes) was pretty tough as far as gym leaders go, and one of the first times I've ever had trouble with a later gym leader in the game. The Staraptor got me on my first try.

 

[Murasaki]

In the original games Misty is tough if you start with Charmander.

 

[Can't think of a username]

I'm curious, people. Which gym leaders have you had the most consistent trouble with in Pokémon history?

For me, I'd have to say...

#4 Norman (Balance Badge) in R/S/E
#3 Whitney (Plain Badge) in G/S/C/HG/SS
#2 Misty (Cascade Badge) in R/B/Y/FR/LG

and my most troublesome is actually...

#1 Lenora (Basic Badge) in B/W

I dunno why, but I seem to have trouble against Normal-type gym leaders!

Normal-types are hard for everybody. I mean, they have one weakness (Fighting), and that type doesn't even RESIST Normal. And the earlier they are, the less counters you have for them. I mean, the only Pokémon that resist their STAB AND can use super effective STAB on pure Normal-types are Lucario, Cobalion, Terrakion and Crowned Zamazenta.

 

[Can't think of a username]

Also, for me, they were:
Sabrina for RBY
Whitney for GSC
Norman for RSE
Sabrina (again) for FRLG
Candice for DPPt
Whitney (again) for HGSS
Lenora for BW
Cheren for B2W2
None for XY (The Gym Leaders in those games are PATHETIC)
Norman (again) for ORAS
None for SMUSUM since those games don't have Gym Leaders
Sabrina (again again) for LGPE
Raihan for SwSh
Candice (again) for BDSP
Larry for SV

That's it.
Also, what were your hardest Elite Four members in each game?
I'd say:
Agatha for RBY
Karen for GSC
Drake for RSE
Agatha (again) for FRLG
Lucian for DPPt
Karen (again) for HGSS
Grimsley for BWB2W2
Wikstrom for XY
Drake (again) for ORAS
Acerola for SM
Molayne for USUM
Lance for LGPE
None for SwSh, since those games don't have an Elite Four
Lucian (again) for BDSP
Larry for SV

 

[Can't think of a username]

And if you're asking why is Candice was hard for me, that's because in a NUZLOCKE, her Medicham killed my Infernape AND my Steelix!