Pokemon's top 5 Toughest Gym Leaders

Pokémon’s top 5 Toughest Gym Leaders

Pokémon Gym’s act as the boss levels to Pokémon games. They usually have an interesting design and puzzle inside and usually each gym leader has a unique and memorable design. There is a problem of course. Gym leaders are usually pretty weak. This is partly due to only using one type and partly due to and let’s be honest, being accessible to kids. The GameCube games were noticeably harder with some tough fights but the main series of handheld games are mostly filled with battles that are pretty easy with a team of properly levelled Pokémon. Occasionally however you stumble across a pretty difficult gym leader who poses a good challenge. I list what I think to be the five toughest below.

 

5. Misty, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

If you look at the tough battles from online lists Misty is barely ever mentioned yet I’d often have massive trouble with her. Staryu wasn’t much of an issue, Starmie on the other hand was a massive pain. Starmire is a fast Pokémon for a final evolution meaning it can out speed pretty much everything at this stage of the game.

 

Its main attack was water pulse which was not only a move with a decent damage output for that stage of the game but also has a chance to cause some really irritating confusion. The other move of note to be used by Starmie is recover, which instantly recovers half its hp. Take into account its high special attack, decent defensive stats and good typing for what you can throw at it at this stage of the game and you have one tough customer.

 

4. Whitney, Pokémon’s Generation 2

We all know this one and Whitney’s infamous Miltank needs no introduction. Countless internet memes have been created in this things honour and it’s perhaps this that makes her so satisfying to beat as afterwards she runs of crying. Yeah nothing quite makes us happy than making a little girl cry.

 

Whitney’s Clefairy isn’t really an issue. It goes down fairly easily and while it can occasionally do some annoying stuff with metronome but it doesn’t have the offense to pose a problem. The problem as everyone knows is Miltank.

 

Miltank has tank in its name for a reason. This dumb thing will sometimes just not die. Being a normal type means if you don’t have a fighting type of something with a fighting type move you cannot abuse any sort of type advantage which can after be key in gym battles. Then there’s its moveset. Attract will prevent you from attacking if you are using a male Pokémon. Defence curl boosts its already high defence and then rollout can do some serious damage. There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already be said, that cow is a massive pain.

 

Why is she not higher up? Honestly I never had that much of a problem with her. Look at me, such a Pokémon master but while I can see the frustrations that are without a doubt possible with her and in later play trough’s with strange team ideas I did sometimes have an issue, in my first few journeys in generation 2 I took her down without being sent back to the Pokémon centre once.

 

3. Clair, Generation 2

This to me is the toughest gym leader in generation 2, not Whitney. Clair uses dragon types which are well known for being pretty over powered and notably in the time the generation 2 games were made only had 2 weaknesses, ice and other dragons, two typed Pokémon that are difficult to obtain.

 

Clair’s Gyarados could be a pain without an electric type on your team but a quick swift thunderbolt would take it down without issue. She also had Dragonairs, that being dragon type had some very useful resistances, including to what your starter Pokémon could throw at them.  They also like to paralyse and thus slow your Pokémon down.

 

Finally there’s a powerful Kingdra to contend with. It uses a powerful water and dragon attack that grants is a same type attack bonus as well as hyper beam, a very high damaging normal type move, meaning your Pokémon probably doesn’t resist all its moves. Water and dragon type also means its only weakness back then was dragons as dragon slaying fairy’s hadn’t been thought of yet. The only dragon type Pokémon in the game is the Dratini line that you find in the dragon shrine, a place you cannot enter yet and another Kingdra, something that evolves in a really awkward way involving trading a Seadra with a dragon scale.

 

This is all well and good but its Kindgra’s final move that really makes it insufferable. We all know the most annoying thing in a Pokémon battle is messing with accuracy. Naturally Kingdra uses smokescreen. Want to whittle down its health and be one hit away with your best and final Pokémon only to miss because you have smoke in your eyes? If yes then this is the battle for you.

 

2. Norman, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

Firstly it’s important to note that the Ruby and Sapphie version of Norman was more difficult for one reason that second Slaking. Terrible ability aside Slaking is a beast, its stats are absurd, surpassing those of many legendries. Its ability is atrocious, making it attack only once every other turn however at this stage of the game it’s naturally got enough defences to take some hits as well as its normal typing only having 1 weakness. You are also at a point in the game where moves are not that strong meaning taking down these guys is a real issue.

 

The first time I fought Norman his Slaking wiped my whole team. Since Slaking is surprisingly fast I decided to paralyze it, not realising what façade did. It didn’t go well. I beat Norman eventually and it was a fantastic victory for my 7 year old self but I never forgot how tough Norman was and all because of those damn Slaking’s. Oh yeah he had a Vigoroth too, it was decent enough I guess. Whitney may the well-known tough normal type gym leader but Norman was always the toughest in my eyes.

 

1. Fanitna, Pokémon Platinum

Seriously, how come no one ever mentions this battle and more specifically her Mismagius? That thing was ridiculous. I’ll discuss her other Pokémon first. They were decent but nothing special. She had a Duskull that could use will o wisp as well as take a hit with some decent defences. She also had a Haunter that was a little frail however could hit hard and fast as well as use hypnosis to put anything it fought to sleep.

 

The big problem however was Mismagius. I had such trouble with this thing and unlike Nroman’s Slakings, this was a problem to me at an age where I was old enough to actually use half a brain cell and I still couldn’t take this thing down without more grinding than I’d like to admit. Was I really the only one to struggle with Fantina. Her Mismagius was very fast, hit like a truck with plenty of good coverage moves and good take a hit from an unevolved Pokémon that you were almost certainly using. Down to her tough Pokémon, difficult to counter ghost types and being in shcok that the French person didn’t immediately surrender, Fantina was definitely the toughest gym leader in the history of Pokémon.