[[quoteright:202:[[VIdeoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Miltank_of_doom_3160.jpg]]]]
Behold the tales of Franchise/{{Pokemon}} bosses, Gym Leaders, and Grand Masters for whom lulz at the player's expense flow more readily than the water in the Eclo Wastes.

'''NOTE''': FinalBoss and WakeUpCallBoss can't be added unless they are overpowerful by ''their'' standards. BonusBoss is now completely banned, as they are optional and their standards of power can't be measured. Also keep in mind that these are not universal opinions.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: [[Video Game/Pokemon Red And Blue Generation I: Red, Blue and Yellow ]]
, plus [[VideoGameRemake FireRed and LeafGreen]] ]]
* Misty's Starmie is effectively an OU strong Pokémon fighting against unevolved Pokémon. Starmie is guaranteed to be faster and stronger than anything you will have at that point and it does very high damage even for mons that resist Water. In [=FireRed=] and [=LeafGreen,=] her Starmie has switched [=BubbleBeam=] for Water Pulse which confuses you about once every three turns it's used. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard As we all know, if the opponents use a move with an effect, it will almost always instantly activate.]]
* Erika might not seem like much trouble, but if she manages to get the first attack in, be prepared for her to spam the single most annoying attack of Gen 1: Wrap. Unlike the version of the attack you're now familiar with, Gen 1 Wrap prevented your Pokémon from taking any actions while they were caught. And guess what she'll do the moment your Pokémon is free from her Wrap attack. That's right, use Wrap again, preventing you from doing anything more than watching as the attack chips away your helpless Pokémon's health at a painfully slow pace to add insult to injury and God forbid she manages to paralyze your Pokémon while they're suffering wrap. You'll essentially be stuck in an infinite juggle.
* Sabrina at Gen 1. Her team of Psychic-type Pokémon is fifteen to eighteen (depending on which version you're playing) levels higher than the last gym leader. It doesn't help much that Psychic-types were also [[GameBreaker extremely overpowered]] in Gen I due to a glitch making them immune rather than weak to Ghost, contrary to in-game advice and Nintendo's own guides, and a [[FakeBalance poorly-balanced elemental system]] in which Psychic's only weakness, Bug, had godawful Pokemon and moves. She doesn't let up for GSC / HGSS either.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[Video Game/Pokemon Gold And Silver Generation II: Gold, Silver and Crystal ]]
, plus [[VideoGameRemake HeartGold and SoulSilver]] ]]
* Whitney from Gen II -- her Miltank, to be precise. It has an attack called "Rollout" which gets stronger on subsequent use, and if it [[IncrediblyLamePun gets rolling]], you're dead. Assume death is imminent should you have picked Cyndaquil for your starter, who's weak to Rock-type attacks. She has Attract, which will stun your male Pokémon 50% of the time (bear in mind that for Pokémon with different gender rates, the males are usually more likely to appear than the females, which is especially true for the starters) as well as Stomp, which is a strong attack (at least at the time you'll be facing her) that can make your Pokémon flinch. So you finally got it down to red health? Miltank's got Milk Drink, which restores nearly all of her HP. In [=HeartGold=] & [=SoulSilver=], they gave her the ability "Scrappy" ([[TheScrappy how appropriate]]) which allows it to hit Ghost-types with Normal-type attacks. On top of that, they gave it a Lum Berry as a hold item, so inflicting a status ailment on it will just make it heal itself. This is even referenced in the anime, where Ash takes Whitney on in a 3-on-3 battle, and Miltank takes all three of his Pokémon out in one Rollout, getting so strong that she deals a OneHitKO to them, and Ash loses the match. This is not only possible in the games, it's downright probable. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thM0W0WhtB4 This song]] sums it up nicely.
* In Gen II's remake, Bugsy can qualify for this if you're not thinking. Scyther gained a move called ''U-Turn'', which takes Scyther off the field to protect him from retaliation. The real horror comes from a strategy with Scyther: Once Bugsy's two cocoon Pokémon faint, Scyther has a STAB 70 power Bug-type attack without drawback (and with Scyther's good attack stat spells trouble) and the other attacks get a boost from Technician, Scyther's ability.
* Remember how sending out a Gastly never works? Well, to be more precise, ''you'' sending out a Gastly never works. Meet Morty. This guy has Gengar, which is what Gastly eventually becomes when you've actually bothered to train (and trade) it instead of backtracking, picking it up and hoping its immunity to Normal- and Fighting-type attacks will magically do away with the trouble in Whitney's Miltank you're having. Some exact stats for this species of Pokémon: Speed -- don't bother, it'll move first unless you inflict it with paralysis; Special Attack -- you may now start crying. Before you manage to exploit its weaknesses, Gengar will in all likelihood hurl Shadow Balls at you until your Pokémon faint or use Hypnosis to put them to sleep. Then it'll hit you with Dream Eater, one of the most powerful Psychic-type attacks in the game. Refer to that thing's Special Attack stat from earlier and note that half the damage dealt will heal Gengar. Figured you'd switch out? Nope, it knows Mean Look. If that pathetic sleeping wreck over there having its dreams munched on was your only hope of defeating Gengar you'll have to use a Revive, which at that point of the game is a strategy that will get you bankrupt.
* Clair, the 8th gym leader from Gold/Silver/Crystal/[=HeartGold=]/[=SoulSilver=]. What makes her bad is TheAce of her team. Gyarados and Dragonair exist only to make you feel like you can win. With 3 of her Pokémon down she brings out Kingdra, a Water/Dragon-type you will grow to hate. You know that Ice attack you used on the Dragonair? Neutral damage. That Electric attack you beat Gyarados with? Neutral damage. The only attacks that are can score a super-effective hit are Dragon attacks...a department in which you're seriously lacking. It gets STAB on Dragon Pulse and Hydro Pump (both powerful moves) and, if it gets a critical hit, its Sniper ability ups the power bonus from double to triple. [[{{Jerkass}} Then she has the gall to not give you the badge after you survive hell.]]
* Karen of the Elite Four in HG/SS. Her Houndoom's speed is VERY hard to match. Once it's set up with Nasty Plot, your annihilation is really a matter of choice. Either it'll inflict flinch with Dark Pulses or roast you with Flamethrowers, both STAB-boosted, guaranteed to slaughter half your team. Afterwards, there's Gengar, which when you finally bring it to within an inch of its life, it uses [[TakingYouWithMe Destiny Bond]].
* Jasmine in GSC/HGSS has two Magnemite and a Steelix, both of whom have rather high levels for that stage in the game. It doesn't help that Steel has a load of resistances, making her a tricky fight for the unprepared.
* Chuck uses many variations of the Focus Punch strategies (some that are used by many competitive battlers) to make him terrifying. His horrifying Primeape in HG/SS will spam Double Team, then Focus Punch you to death. And it's pretty fast as well.
* Blue in [=HeartGold/SoulSilver=]. Your team will be nerfed by Exeggutor's Trick Room, making the slowest Pokémon move first. The MightyGlacier aspect of Pokémon like Machamp and Rhydon is thus conveniently removed, [[LightningBruiser allowing them to destroy you.]] Of course, if you choose to rematch him, he turns out to have gotten a Tyranitar. [[OhCrap Oh crap,]] indeed.
* Bruno of the Elite Four in the remakes has a Machamp with No Guard, which allows it to still hit your mons even if you use a move like Fly or Dig. Unless you manage to get a one-hit kill on it, good luck.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[Video Game/Pokemon Ruby And Sapphire Generation III: Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald ]]
]]
* Brawly is the second gym leader you face in the game, and this guy hits hard. In Ruby and Sapphire, his first Pokémon is a Machop that knows Leer to lower your defenses, Bulk Up to raise its attack ''and'' defense, as well as Karate Chop and Seismic Toss, two fairly strong moves at that point in the game. Then Brawly sends out his Makuhita: A rather bulky bruiser if you can't pick at it's weaknesses. In Emerald, his Makuhita knows the super-powerful Vital Throw, along with Reversal, which is a move that becomes stronger when Makuhita's HP is reduced. One of the main problems when fighting him is the absurd jump in levels between the first gym and his gym, which is nearly right afterwards.
* Wattson, especially in Emerald. He uses four Pokémon, all of which know Shock Wave, an attack that NEVER misses. Plus, all of his Pokémon get STAB on it, essentially turning it into a Thunderbolt with perfect accuracy. His various Pokémon have moves like Selfdestruct, a sacrificial attack that is five times as powerful than the standard Quick Attack (and that's without the fact that it halves the defense of the target in Gen 3); Rollout, a move that becomes more powerful after every successful hit; Thunder Wave, an ability that quarters a Pokémon's speed and makes it unable to attack half the time; and [=SonicBoom,=] a move that ignores-type effectiveness and can destroy any opponent in two or three hits. Compounding this is the typing; if you had taken Mudkip at the start or caught a Geodude in Granite Cave, you're in for an easy time, but other than that, there is little in the way of dealing any good damage to his steel types and enduring the damage he does.
** What's even worse is his Voltorb ''is actually too low-level to learn Rollout or Selfdestruct'', both of which it somehow has. TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, indeed, and god help you if you're doing a [[SelfImposedChallenge Nuzlocke Run]].
* Norman. This guy is only the fifth gym leader, yet he has ''two'' Slakings, which have the highest attack stat of any non-legendary Pokémon up to then and a ton of HP. Even though they can only attack every other turn, they are still capable of [=KOing=] a Pokémon in one hit. He also has a Vigoroth, which is less powerful but pretty fast, able to attack before most other Pokémon you probably own, and isn't crippled by Truant. Finally, all three Pokémon come equipped with Facade, an attack that ''doubles in power'' if the user is poisoned, burned, or paralyzed. So if you're trying to break him with stuff like Thunder Wave, he'll just throw attacks at you that are only 10 points weaker than a ''[[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Hyper Beam]]''; and that's not counting the bonus Slaking gets from being the same-type as Facade. Norman is so tough in Ruby and Sapphire that when they updated all the Gym Rosters for Emerald he was the only one to get nerfed -- he still has Vigoroth and a Slaking but the other Slaking is replaced with Linoone and Spinda. Spinda is still annoying, though, because it uses Teeter Dance. Don't forget the berries or Full Heals if you can find them, or prepare for a fast switch out.
* Winona is basically the Whitney of Gen 3, having a fairly easy team up until her very last Pokemon, and it's a doozy. Winona uses Flying types, and her last Pokemon is an Altaria which knows the deadly combo of Earthquake and Dragon Dance, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard which she can't learn at the level you fight her at]]. Your Electric types? Watch as their attacks do normal damage (which are dampened by Altaria's very high Special Defense) and they get wasted by Earthquake. Your Rock types? You can get maybe one solid hit in before they fall to Earthquake as well. The rest of your team? By now Altaria's probably had the time to boost her attack and speed with Dragon Dance, setting her up perfectly to sweep your entire team with powered up Earthquake and Aerial Ace techniques.
* Tate and Liza in ''Emerald''. ''Ruby/Sapphire'' are pretty easy, as all you have to go through are Solrock and Lunatone. The ''Emerald'' version is not. It's fought in a Double Battle, a brand-new mechanic not seen much prior to this fight, which requires much more strategy than Single Battles. You first need to fight through a [[SquishyWizard Xatu]] (which can either use Confuse Ray on your fighters or Calm Mind to jack up its stats, aside from flat-out attacking with Psychic) and a [[StoneWall Claydol]] (which spams Earthquake and [=AncientPower=]). Then there's Solrock and Lunatone you have to deal with, who, despite their seven (six thanks to their Abilities) weaknesses, are surprisingly hard to take down. Solrock will use Sunny Day to power up its Flamethrower and insantly use [=SolarBeam=], as well as from also jacking up its stats and attacking with Psychic, while Lunatone will put up Light Screen (Claydol knows it, too) to raise the opposing team's already high Special Defense, put you to sleep with Hypnosis, and do the same Psychic/Calm Mind combo. The team is also prone to using Sunny Day (Xatu has it, as well as Solrock) to weaken Water damage done to three of their four Pokemon and power up Solrock's moves, as well as moves (such as the aforementioned Claydol's Earthquake) that avoided hitting their teammate while annihilating your team. The innate weakness (Dark) was hard to pick at, because of the Dark type being a Special attack stat at the time, which wasn't really that effective against their specially bulky psychic type Pokemon.
* In Ruby and Sapphire, the last gym leader is Wallace, who is easy save for his Milotic. But if you are playing Emerald...good luck. Wallace is replaced by Juan, and this guy doesn't play around. He starts out with his Luvdisc, which has a lot of Speed and loves to spam confusion (and Attract if your Pokémon is male) - terrible stats apart from Speed don't matter much when your Pokémon is busily killing ''itself''. And that's just the starting point - his other Pokémon will be quite happy to Rain Dance, boosting the power of their Water moves to ridiculous levels. Want to try a strong Electric-type? Forget it, he has Whiscash, who is not only immune to Electric, but hits it hard with STAB Earthquake. And his Sealeo is all too happy to annoy you with the seldom seen but incredibly nasty Encore. Of course, all of this pales in comparison to his trump card: Kingdra. It has the ability Swift Swim, meaning that while it's raining, outspeeding it is nigh impossible, and that's on top of the rain boosting its power. It also uses the obnoxious Chesto-Rest strategy, allowing it to fully heal its HP and remove status at no cost (but only once; of course, after that once, Juan is all too happy to use Max Potions when its HP gets low). Did we mention Kingdra also has [[ThatOneAttack Double]] [[LuckBasedMission Team]]? [[SarcasmMode Have fun with that.]]
* You were led to believe Steven only trained Steel types. Wrong! His very first Pokémon, a Skarmory, has Spikes, which deals damage to any Pokémon you switch in, assuming it doesn't fly or levitate. And it has Toxic, a Poison type move that gets worse each turn. Think you'll use a Fire type to incinerate his Steel types? Not happening: five of his Pokémon can counter Fire, and in fact, trying to use a substitute type will eventually run you into a wall. You will need a well rounded team to fight against him. To make matters worse, his Claydol knows Light Screen and Reflect, which increases the already high defense of all his Pokémon.
* Wallace's champion team in Emerald may be an example of this, especially if you played Ruby or Sapphire before hand and were expecting Steven and therefore started with Torchic, not thinking that you'd need to take a Grass-type along. Wailord has a ''ton'' of HP, so it'll take a couple hits even if you have super-effective moves; Tentacruel has [[StandardStatusEffects Toxic]]; Milotic has Toxic as well as ''Recover''; and Ludicolo has [[LuckBasedMission Double Team]], Leech Seed, and isn't weak to Grass or Electric.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[Video Game/Pokemon Diamond And Pearl Generation IV: Diamond, Pearl and Platinum ]]
]]
* Fantina is one of these. Her Pokémon have powerful Psychic-types moves that can easily mess you up pretty badly. In Platinum, her first two Pokémon are pretty easy, but the Mismagius can easily wipe you out. It doesn't help that they're immune to both Ground and Normal-types due to their Levitate ability.
* [[BigBad Cyrus]]. Gyarados used Waterfall! Bam, you're dead. Reload. Gyarados used Earthquake! Bam, you're dead. Gyarados used Ice Fang! Bam, you're dead. In Platinum, his Gyarados has a Quick Claw. So even if you have an Electabuzz, Magneton, or something really fast with an Electric attack, he might get you before you can slam him. His team movesets are much better than what you have faced up to that point as well.
* Flint. So you're geared up with your Water, Ground, or Rock-type Pokémon, ready to stomp those Fire-types of his. But then you find out that ''three of his five Pokémon'' aren't Fire-type. The Infernape was outright terrifying due to its high level and great coverage (Flare Blitz, Thunderpunch, Earthquake, and Mach Punch). He usually starts off with Sunny Day, and then the "fun" really begins. His Infernape's Flare Blitz combined with Sunny Day will pretty much instantly defeat anything that isn't resistant to Fire, or immune to it in the case of Pokémon with the ability Flash Fire, and even then he still knows Earthquake to take care of them. He's no slouch in Platinum either. He has more Fire-type Pokémon than he does in Diamond and Pearl, which would prompt one to use a Water or Ground type. Think again. If his Houndoom or Rapidash manage to use Sunny Day, you're in trouble. Rapidash is pretty damn fast, (especially against a Rock or Ground type), and it WILL use Solarbeam to OHKO the Pokémon you thought would give you an easy win against his team. Even Garchomp, if it gets a critical hit.
* And then there's Lucian, who directly follows Flint in the Elite 4. He's a Psychic-type user, and his team is nasty. Mr. Mime using Reflect and Light Screen will stop your one-shots. There's also Alakazam, with huge speed and special attack, and then there's his Bronzong. Remember that little Bronzor that kicked your butt before? Meet its big brother. Its type combination already limits your options, but then throw in a Levitate skill to axe the omnipotent Earthquake attack. Oh, and it can throw Earthquake at you too.
* The champion battle with Cynthia is by far one of the most difficult fights of the franchise. Her team is very highly leveled even compared to the fight immediately before her, has varied types, and boasts perfect [=EVs=] and [=IVs=] across the board, meaning that they're far stronger than normal Pokémon you might fight at the same level. She has Spiritomb, which has no weaknesses to any types; you just have to have a mon strong enough to hit it until it dies. And then there's her Garchomp, a monster of a Pokémon that is so utterly overpowered ''Website/{{Smogon}} [[GameBreaker banned it from its competitive play rules altogether during the 4th gen competitive metagame.]]''

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Generation V: [[Video Game/Pokemon Black And White Black and White ]]
and [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Black 2 and White 2]] ]]
* Gen V follows the tradition of Normal-type Gym Leaders being ThatOneBoss with Lenora. Her Watchog knows Retaliate, a Normal-type move with a very respectable base power of 70. However, if a Pokémon in the user's party faints on the same turn, it doubles to a whopping 140, and that's not even counting STAB. Since Watchog will always be Lenora's second Pokémon, it can Retaliate right after you defeat Herdier, and it can OHKO pretty much anything you throw at it. It doesn't stop there, either. Her Watchog knows Crunch, a very powerful move at that point in the game, and can put your Pokémon to sleep with Hypnosis. Herdier is no pushover either, having stats comparable to Watchog's and knowing Take Down, which hurts a lot coming from a Normal-type.
** Likewise, Black and White 2 gives us the first Gym Leader, Cheren. All his Pokemon know Work Up, and while his Patrat isn't that big a deal, his Lillipup is. It'll probably be faster than you unless you have Snivy, and if it sets up the Work Up, there's little you can do once it uses it once or twice, and it'll probably sweep your team, unless you managed to migrate some items or rare Pokemon from the Dream Radar or something. And in Challenge Mode he has a Pidove whose only attack is Quick Attack, and paralyzing that won't do you much good. And players who got the game in the beginning and got the wi-fi event Genesect quickly found out that it won't obey until you have the first badge,thus destroying any CurbStompBattle hopes. Thought catching a Riolu from Floccessy Ranch would help (something that a kid at the entrance to the Gym suggests)? Riolu doesn't learn any damaging Fighting type moves (other than Counter, which can be helpful in this fight, although it's very luck-based) until about level 16, which is very difficult to get up to this early in the game.
* We also have the fourth Gym Leader, Elesa. She uses two Emolga (Electric/Flying) and one Zebstrika (Electric). Her two Emolga are immune to Ground and know Double Team — even worse, one of the trainers you meet before her ''also'' has an Emolga. Then her Zebstrika is so fast and so strong it mows down anything that comes in its path. And all three get Volt Switch, which does reasonable damage and switches them out against anything that isn't Ground. Thought to bring an Excadrill? Zebstrika knows Flame Charge, which can kill it in one hit, and Emolga is immune to Ground-type attacks.
** Elesa has been toned down slightly in Black 2 and White 2. She has the only Emolga in the entire Gym now, which Clyde will warn you about upon entering. However, she is still annoying. Volt Switch is back from the last game, and all her Pokémon are all pretty quick, making it difficult to time your attacks properly. Her second Emolga has been replaced by a Flaffy which knows both Thunder Wave and Confuse Ray. Her Zebstrika is still ridiculous, and has been given a Sitrus Berry so it can heal itself. Finally, like most Gym Leaders, she'll use a healing item during the battle. Huge pain all around, but at least the Gym is easier to navigate.
* Elesa even has the dubious honor of coming after ''another'' ThatOneBoss: N. Or more specifically, his Sigilyph, which has insane stats for that section of the game - its Speed is high enough to nearly guarantee it the first strike against anything you throw at it, and it knows Tailwind to eliminate the "nearly". Its Special Attack is high enough to virtually guarantee a OneHitKill on pretty much any Pokémon that doesn't resist both its Psybeam AND its Air Cutter. Think trying to resist both Electric and Flying is a nightmare? Trying to resist Psychic and Flying may well be even harder. Think it's a GlassCannon? Not at that point in the game it isn't. Want to try wearing it down with Poison? Don't bother, it has Magic Guard. Burn doesn't work either, as all its attacks are Special.
* Even within the Elite Four, Marshal can be pretty difficult, because all his Fighting-types have very high attack. His Sawk has Sturdy, which keeps you from [=OHKOing=] it. Throh and Conkeldurr have big HP and will likely not be taken down without you receiving a big hit in return, and in the rematch, he has a Breloom with Spore (Black/White) or a Lucario and Medicham (Black 2/White 2), the former of which has high Special Attack, especially for a Fighting-type; and the latter of which has a devastatingly strong STAB Hi Jump Kick and the [[FireIceLightning elemental punches]]. If you're about to die, Lucario ''will'' slam you with [=ExtremeSpeed=], unless you have a Ghost-type.
* Shauntal can be a pain considering most of her Pokémon have a secondary type, meaning that they're actually somewhat well-balanced in comparison to other Elite Four members. They also have high defenses ([[StoneWall Cofagrigus]] and Jellicent/Drifblim), high power ([[MightyGlacier Golurk]] and [[SquishyWizard Chandelure]], which have the highest physical and special attack stats of all Ghost-types, respectively), or are just plain fast ([[FragileSpeedster Froslass]] and Mismagius). Also, her Mismagius knows ''Perish Song.'' Be glad it doesn't know Mean Look. Oh, and if you brought along a Poison or Fighting-type, look out, as all of her mons except Golurk know Psychic.
* If your Pokémon happen to be kinda slow, Clay's Excadrill will likely [[TotalPartyKill wipe out your entire team]]. Made worse by the use of Hone Claws which increases Attack and Accuracy. Unless your Pokémon can go first, it's gonna wipe the floor with your team.
** Clay is even harder in the sequel. Your Rival warns you that he's tough, and you should take that warning seriously. All three of his Pokemon are fast, and all three know Bulldoze, a powerful move that reduces the speed of a Pokemon that it hits, ''automatically''. You have the best chance if you chose Oshawott as a starter, but bringing another strong Water Type (like an Azumarill with the Huge Power Ability that you can get by catching an Azurill at Flossy Ranch and evolving it) is recommended.
* The FinalBoss, [[spoiler: Ghetsis]], can be a real hair-puller, coming immediately after another difficult fight without so much as a chance to save - ''thankfully'' your Pokémon are fully healed between the fights, but this is still a trick the franchise rarely pulls. Some of his Pokémon are more deadly than others; Bouffalant can rip through whole teams with a powerful STAB move (and has amazing defenses), Eelektross is an Electric Pokémon with Levitate (which means no weaknesses) and has the offensive stats to do more than stall. But that's just preparing you for his worst: an [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard underleveled]] Hydreigon. This thing is monstrous. Aside from the fact that it's almost certainly a couple levels above you, it has astonishingly good type coverage. Thought you'd throw that legendary you just got at it? Guess again, it'll massacre it with [=STAB=] Dragon Pulses. Okay, so you'll try Ice. Now he's either melting it with Fire Blast or shattering it with Focus Blast. Finally, if you can whittle it down, [[spoiler: Ghetsis]] tends to use a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Full Restore]] right before you can finish it off. DespairEventHorizon is right through that door.
** In the sequels he doesn't let up much. His Cofagrigus has high Defense and will use Protect to guard and Toxic to wear down your team, and also can override your Ability when hit. His Toxicroak also is very strong, has increased priority by Sucker Punch, and resists both its types, so good luck taking it out without using a Psychic-type. Drapion is immune to the Psychic-type attacks you obliterated the Toxicroak with and has high Attack and only one weakness. Seismitoad is probably the least threat, but it's immune to Electric and has only one weakness, which nobody else in his team shares. The Eelektross is just about the same as it was before, though it's got Thunderbolt instead of Wild Charge. And the Hydreigon? It's at a '''lower''' level (52, 56 in challenge mode) than before! It only uses its inferior but usable physical moveset and has less type coverage, (Dragon Rush, Crunch, Rock Slide, and Frustration) thankfully. [[FridgeBrilliance This lesser quality team is likely related to a change in his behavior compared to two years ago]].
* Black 2 and White 2 throw a pretty hard boss at you in the Plasma Frigate, in the form of Colress. His first Pokémon is a Magneton. Sounds easy enough, right? That is, until you find out it has Sturdy, so you can't OHKO it unless you have Mold Breaker, and it will proceed to Thunder Wave you unless you're a Ground-type. To add on to that, it holds the Eviolite, which boosts its Defenses by 50%, so it's bulky, too. Next up, it uses Volt Switch to get out of there while hitting you rather hard. His Magnezone has Sturdy and Thunder Wave too, so beware that. He also has a Beheeyem with Calm Mind that can boost up and hit you pretty hard. In addition, his Klinklang boosts up with Gear Grind, and is immune to Ground-type attacks at first thanks to the Air Balloon item. All of that goes without saying that if you're playing Black 2, you need to solve a very annoying password section ''just to get to him'', and in White 2 you have to deactivate the switches littered across the Plasma Frigate. He even poses a ''bigger'' challenge than the team Ghetsis uses in a later fight.
* For the Champion, [[spoiler:Iris]] is quite more difficult than the previous Champion. The first mon you're up against is... wait for it... '''''another''''' underleveled Hydreigon. It will plow through your team with STAB Dragon Pulses, Surfs and Flamethrowers, which hit everything in the ''game'' for at least neutral damage. [[note]]In the rematch teams, her Hydreigon's moveset is the exact same as Ghetsis' first Hydreigon. Yep.[[/note]] Then, once you get through that, you'll have to fight through an Archeops, which is quite fast and has offensive stats that are just through the roof. If you don't defeat it quickly, it'll use Endeavor to bring you back down to its health, which will easily let another mon finish you off. Lapras isn't too bad, although it's got high health, some strong attacks, and knows Sing. If you're slow, Druddigon and Aggron will definitely give you trouble (plus, Aggron's sky-high Defense will make it a challenge to take out with non-effective physical attacks, and Druddigon carries a Life Orb to power up its attacks even more). And then there's her Haxorus. It knows Dragon Dance to boost its very high Attack ''and'' decent Speed, as well as some strong moves like Dual Chop (which hits twice), X-Scissor, and [[ThatOneAttack Earthquake]]. It's got Mold Breaker as its Ability, so if you brought in somebody with Levitate, they're still not safe. Oh, and you can't one-shot it from full health because of its Focus Sash. Have fun.
** And Arceus help you if you're playing on Challenge Mode, because her team's movesets get a ''complete'' redesign. Hydreigon has Fire Blast and Focus Blast, Druddigon gets Outrage and Thunder/Fire Punch, Lapras gets three [=VHPSAs=][[note]]120 base-power special moves, i.e. Hydro Pump, Blizzard and Fire Blast, the inaccurate versions of their counterparts like Surf and Thunderbolt[[/note]] along with Sing, Aggron has ''Head Smash'' instead of Rock Slide, and suffers no recoil thanks to Rock Head. Archeops gets Stone Edge, and Acrobatics with the Flying Gem, as well, and finally, Haxorus gets Outrage instead of Dual Chop. And in the rematches in Challenge Mode, Druddigon is replaced by ''Salamence''. In fact, all her Pokémon (and those of the rest of the Elite Four for that matter) get odd held items that either boost the power of their moves or accuracy. So yeah, this is not a battle to underestimate.
* The last few bosses in the White Treehollow/Black Tower are likely to turn into this. By areas 9 and 10, they're using Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres in their teams, and every one of their mons is at or in the 70s level-wise. Fortunately, you can enter with any Pokemon you want; there are no conditions to what team you can have. So you could just come with a team of (Legendary, even) Pokemon that are 20 levels stronger than that if you want.
** Level 6's boss has: a mon with ludicrously high Special Attack (Porygon-Z/Togekiss), a Fighting-type with an item that synergizes with its ability (Breloom heals itself with its Toxic Orb and Heracross's Attack raises to titanic levels thanks to Guts and its Flame Orb), and a fossil Pokemon (Armaldo/Rampardos) with a Choice Scarf, making it outspeed your team while it spams its most powerful move.
** Level 7's boss has: the two MagikarpPower serpents (Gyarados/Milotic), a really strong Ice-type (Weavile/Mamoswine), the former of which can't be one-shotted from full health and the latter has a [[CastFromHitPoints Life Orb]], and [[StoneWall Dusknoir]]/[[MagicKnight Lucario]], the latter of which also can't be one-shotted from full health.
** Level 8's boss has: one of the Sinnoh starters ([[FragileSpeedster Infernape]]/[[MightyGlacier Torterra]]), two extremely fast and strong mons (Archeops/Arcanine) that get stronger at low health if they use their berries, and for good measure, ''[[OlympusMons Tornadus and Thundurus.]]'' Tornadus packs a devastating STAB Hurricane, and Thundurus will go first and Thunder Wave your team into submission, while his Red Card will force you to switch (to somebody who's weak to him, if you're unlucky) if you don't kill him in one hit.
** Level 9's boss has: one of the pseudo-legendaries (Hydreigon/Salamence) and a member of the first two gens' legendary trio (Articuno and Entei/ Moltres and Raikou). Moltres will blast you to bits with an instant [=SolarBeam=] or Sky Attack, Salamance's Yache Berry will reduce your doubly-strong ice attacks to just singly-strong, and Raikou is immune to Ground at first (and can use Magnet Rise to ensure that).
** And then there's level 10. The boss there on the first time has a member of the Eon Duo (Latios/Latias), a psuedo-legendary for good measure ([[GameBreaker Garchomp]]/Dragonite), and a Volcarona, which can't be one-shotted thanks to its Focus Sash (so much for your Rock attacks, eh?). On subsequent runs, the psuedo-legendary and Volcarona have been replaced by even more legendaries (Suicune and Heatran/Zapdos and Cressalia). Hoo boy.
** It is even more tricky in the regards the floors ''very'' time-cosuming with 3 and 4 floors each. You have to fight the trainers regardless to get hints (especially if you want to know if the Gate Trainer is even on the level or not), chipping away your mons PP and health until you can find a Doctor on the level. Until then, have fun fighting while being unable to cure them of their status ailments and HP outside of using berries.
** Fortunately, if you manage to beat these guys, the rewards are certainly worth it. After clearing certain floors, shops open in the city outside, letting you buy rare Evolution Items that are very hard to get otherwise, like Elemental Stones. Unfortunately, the items are different depending on which version of the game you're playing, but you can use the Memory Link feature to switch the cities and obtain the other items. (Of course, that means challenging and defeating the ''other'' dungeon, but by then, hopefully, it won't be anything you can't handle.)

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Game/Pokemon Ranger ]]

* Charizard in the first game. The second time with him is a lot harder. Not only does he like to fly around while blowing flames, but his fireballs scatter much more densely, making it hard to circle him -- and even with assists, it takes a lot of loops to get him. It also doesn't help that if you take too long, he flees the battle and you have to start all over again...
* Several players have a pretty rough time with Steelix, too. Even when he coils up (which is about the only time that circling him is even ''possible''), his sheer size makes drawing those loops awkward. Having multiple Water and/or Fighting assists comes highly recommended.
* Drapion is a rather irritating boss due to the fact that you face two group captures directly before it. And that you come to a full stop at one part unless you happen to have a Normal-type Poké Assist ready.
* Flygon. You're not allowed any other Pokémon because it's a "test" and the bloody thing resists Plusle/Minun's assists. And it's incredibly fast, making it nigh-impossible to get the amount of circles you need to finish the battle.
* Entei. Not only is the whole thing a SequentialBoss, you have to deal with the fact that it basically attacks the entire screen. And in the refight, you can only bring three Pokémon for the whole thing...
* Metagross can be a real pain if you don't have the right assists. It pretty much fills the screen with beams and makes shields for itself.
* [[spoiler:Regigigas]] in the second and third games causes damage just by WALKING. It's easy to screw up and lose and assisting Pokémon, and your Styler gets damaged if you don't circle the thing '''immediately''' before or after it launches an attack.
* Ditto in Guardian Signs. You thought fighting each of the beasts individually was bad, this thing will transform into each of them over the course of the fight. Unless you have a variety of Poké Assists, you're in for a long fight.
* Feraligatr in the third game. It's not so bad before and after it rages, but while it's raging, it tackles ''all. the. time.'' And 9 times out of 10, it will charge off screen so you can't circle it between attacks, not that there's much time in between for circling it. And each tackle does 10 points of damage.
* Salamence in the first game. Like with Flygon, you aren't allowed to have other Pokémon with you. Unlike Flygon, however, it's slow but more than makes up for it by having to draw a ridiculous amount of circles around it (22, surprassed only by ''three'' Pokémon[[hottip:*:Meganium's 25, Metagross's 30 and PSYDUCK's 32]]). It also outright ''ignores'' your starter's assist, and likes to fly above the battlefield for long stretches of time, meaning you can't circle it. Simply ''landing'' counts as an attack, and it ''hurts''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Game/Pokemon Colosseum ]]

* Cipher Admins; this isn't so much because they were difficult to defeat but because you had to spend ages trying to capture the legendary beasts while keeping ''yours'' alive. Especially Ein...Despite being nearly ten levels up, Raikou's Thunderdance combo hurts. He's also a big fan of inflicting the Confusion status, and as is usual for the Pokémon games when you face a boss (like Ein) your team will suddenly become about 250% more susceptible to the detrimental effects of status ailments.
** Dakim was ''far more annoying'' as you had to try to capture the legendary Fire Pokémon Entei, who was weak to Ground moves. Guess what Dakim's favorite move was? That's right, Earthquake! Every one of his Pokémon had it, and got STAB bonus from it as it hit everyone else on the field, which meant that if Entei came out too early, it was going to get knocked out before you could catch it. If their constant Earthquakes didn't defeat you, the high probability of Entei fainting too soon would probably have you replaying this fight over and over again.
*** Don't forget the fact that, when you catch a Shadow Pokémon, all they have is Shadow Rush (at least in Colosseum, anyway)...but before you catch them, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard their original trainers can use all of their other moves.]] Hence allowing the aforementioned Thunderdance combo. It also means that there's a chance that your Shadow Pokémon-owning opponent could use Shadow Rush, which gives recoil damage. This means that someone trying to catch a Shadow Pokémon had to be very careful about the opponent's HP; leaving it at 1 HP or near it could leave it vulnerable to its own recoil. At least the Shadow Pokémon owners generally didn't use Shadow Rush, but that doesn't mean the possibility was gone.
** Miror B, also because he has several Ludicolo that have Rain Dance to activate their abilities Rain Dish and Swift Swim which will either regenerate their health or make them faster than you. Not to mention the fact that they are all fully evolved Pokémon that are at a decent level and have very few weaknesses you can exploit at that point in the game.
* The final boss, Evice, is pretty difficult, but generally par for the last boss of a Pokémon game. However, should his Slaking and Slowking end up on the field together at any point, you're screwed. Slaking's stats are equal to those of Groudon's. Slowking ''will'' use Skill Swap at the first possible chance, which gives it Truant and [[OhCrap gives Slaking the ability to attack every turn.]] Say goodbye to any hope of beating it now.
* The second fight with Snattle in ''Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness'' also hurts quite a bit if you don't have the right number (or quality) of sweepers. Why? Starmie. It hits fast, hard, and if you haven't been dragging a tank of a Shadow Pokémon around to soak up the damage, it can wipe out an entire non-Shadow team. Its Shadow Solrock partner, by contrast, is almost insultingly easy after that thing.
** He can be a pain even the first time. His Sneasel likes to use Feint Attack, which results in your Pokemon flinching half the time. And Shadow Lunatone knows Shadow Sky. Translation: Five rounds of everyone on the field except it getting pummeled by shadow hits. It's like weather, but since Shadow is super effective, the combined effect of all the hits can take a chunk out of you.
** And even when you win, Cipher Peon Kleef proves DangerouslyGenreSavvy by ambushing your team as you go through the DoorToBefore, while the next healing machine is through him or another boss and the last one is a major backtrack. Thankfully Kleef is otherwise pathetic (a team of stallers with no Shadow Pokémon to snag) and XD allows saving anywhere, but it really hurts when your team has such major injuries.
** Thug Zook, when encountered outside the Key Lair immediately after [[spoiler:the Snag Machine is stolen]], is a ''nightmare''. He has a Shadow Zangoose with him that is above the typical level for that point in the game, and it will happily kill off one of your team members every single turn, first, without fail. Essentially this forces you to constantly pick away at it with the survivor, hoping you have enough firepower to kill it before it wipes out your whole team, and then proceed to spam Revives and healing items while his other Pokémon are busy trying to kill you less effectively. It's so bad that in the rematch with him, his mons ''haven't leveled up at all'', and he's still a very hard opponent to beat.
** Grand Master [[spoiler: Greevil]] can be this for the unprepared. ''Three'' Shadow Legendary Pokémon (the legendary birds) at Lv. 50+, plus another three relatively strong Shadow Pokémon (Exeggutor, Tauros, Rhydon) at Lv. 46+. What this means is that powerful attacks will be headed your way, and every attack against you will be super effective (Shadow attacks are super effective against non-Shadow Pokémon, but thankfully/possibly no same attack type bonus), as well as a low catch rate for the Legendary Pokémon. If you're not prepared, you'll run out of Revives and/or Snag Balls before all six can be snagged.
*** That said, the catch rate of the Legendary Birds was definitely higher in this game. You can allot 3-5 Ultra balls to catch each one, when it's in the red with a status condition, instead of 20 or so like in the main series games. At least for the actual battle, a potential helper presents itself right beforehand: Shadow Lugia. Just go into that part of the game with an empty slot and use your master ball. Of course, it does little damage to Greevil's all-Shadow team, but can withstand a lot of hits and help get their health down to snaggable levels.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Game/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series: [[Video Game/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team Rescue Team ]]
and [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Explorers]] ]]
* Those bloody group bosses. I'm talking to you, Luxio/Electrike tribe, [[spoiler:Dusknoir and Sableyes]], 'The Grand Master of All Things Bad' and their cronies. And let's not forget [[spoiler:Darkrai and pals]].
* Articuno in the first games. Its main attack is Powder Snow, which will hit both you and your partner and the damage is high enough to ''OHKO you''. Not even Pokemon that resist Ice are safe from it, so unless you brought plenty of Reviver Seeds, this is a battle that pretty much rides on luck.
* Primal Dialga is no pushover either. He packs a lot of HP. He's got a great defensive typing (Steel/Dragon). He's got the intimidator IQ skill, which more often than not prevents you from hitting him at melee range. And to top it off, he's got Roar of Time, which can hit both you and your partners from ''anywhere'' in the arena, is surprisingly accurate and deals triple digit damage (thankfully you can turn it into a double-edged sword via confusing it)...at a stage when you ''just'' reached triple digit HP, which means you'll really need those Oran Berries and Reviver Seeds. Oh, and did we mention that you fight in your unevolved forms and losing forces you to climb Temporal Tower again?
* Darkrai. It's hard enough getting to him with Cresselia in tow, and he wouldn't be all that hard to beat, being considerably weaker than Dialga, were it not for the exact same Cresselia whose relatively annoying tendency to throw herself into battle with just about everything becomes a downright suicide attempt against Darkrai, to whom Cresselia has a weakness. No matter how hard you try to keep her safe behind yourself and your partner, she will simply move right next to Darkrai all over again, allowing Darkrai to destroy her in 3-4 turns, if you are lucky. And, of course, as soon as she goes down, you all teleport out. The only way to overcome this is to take out Darkrai before Cresselia can go down, which is quite difficult, or fill your bag with revive seeds.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Game/Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity ]]

* The final battle with [[spoiler:Munna]] and cronies is truly a difficult fight. Try to use a Wonder Orb to cripple the team? Not gonna work, they've got a Team Skill that'll wipe it immediately. It's also a seven-on-four battle. [[spoiler:Munna]] herself will spam Hypnosis and Psybeam to inflict status ailments on you, and bulk up her defenses with Defense Curl (fortunately, Synchronoise, the other move she has, has no effect on anybody). Get put to sleep, and you're screwed; especially since you are closest to her. Toxicroak will spam annoying moves like Taunt and Swagger, Chandelure can confuse you (easily the most frustrating status ailment in the game), poison you, and hit you with Flame Burst, which deals an additional 10 damage to everyone in your party after hurting you. On top of that, the four Gigalith will spam Harden and Iron Defense to tank up their defenses, and may randomly survive fatal damage because of their Tough team skill. You ''will'' get stomped if you're not careful. Kyurem afterwards is almost a cakewalk compared to this.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Game/Pokemon Stadium ]]

* In the original ''Stadium's'' Pika Cup, the 7th opponent (second to last) you have to face is a Lass who bends the rules to her favor. The ruling states that the total level of the three Pokémon you use can't exceed 50. The computer, thus, gives you a choice of lvl 15 Pokémon (and you must use these if you can't connect your own Generation I game to the game, especially now since neither game will save due to the save battery in almost all copies by now being dead). Lass, however, has access to two lvl 20 Pokémon, a Gyrados and a Tentacruel. She's only able to use one, but she only needs one, as either could devastate your party. Her party is also well balanced and unpredictable. Pick Hitmonlee to face her Dewgong or Meowth? Surprise, she sends out Mr. Mime. Oh, and this is her in Round 1.
* The original ''Stadium's'' Prime Cup had a Gambler for your second opponent who specialized in having all of his Pokemon spamming OneHitKO moves, which back in the day had about a ''one in two'' chance of connecting. This means that he could use his [[TheDreaded Dragonite]] to Horn Drill or his [[LightningBruiser Dugtrio]] to Fissure you for an instant defeat. His Pokemon is a good combination of bulk and speed which means he will usually go first and potentially sweep your team if he's fortunate essentially turning this match into a giant LuckBasedMission. Also Arceus help you if [[spoiler: you're going for the Surf Pikachu challenge which requires you to use a team of your own Pokemon that has Pikachu in it to complete all eight rounds of the second Prime Cup.]]
* ''Stadium 2's'' Janine. She's easy in Round 1, but what's her strategy for Round 2? Baton Passing multiple layers of Double Team (a move normally banned in Website/{{Smogon}} competitive play for being [[LuckBasedMission too luck-based]]). All her Baton Pass targets can take a few good hits, have Confuse Ray, Attract, or Swagger to screw with your chances of hitting even further, and will wear you down with Toxic and Sandstorm. If you're planning to just switch out, take note that she's also packing Spikes and Mean Look. She will slowly torture you to death unless you come prepared with Haze and Heal Bell, but even then you're still at the mercy of many elements of luck.
* Erika had a really annoying rematch Vaporeon because of the former ruling that Sleep Talk could pick Rest again to restore the health. Vaporeon having a ton of HP and decent special defenses did not help matters at all.
* The Elite Four fights in both ''Stadium'' games. They consist of a gauntlet of five fights in a row, each very hard thanks to a mix between genuine difficulty and cheating on the AI's part, and if you lose, you have to start ''all over again''. Losing to Lance in ''Stadium 2'' when you were so close to defeating him is common, and insanely frustrating. It's sightly easier if you import your own tailor-made team from one of the main games, but if you don't have one or can't, you're stuck with using rental Pokémon, which make the fights ''a hell of a lot harder''.
* Sashay from the "little cup" Sunny Park Colosseum in ''Battle Revolution''. Especially her Treecko. That stupid thing spams Energy Ball like there's no tomorrow. A big attack like that on a little baby is a big surprise for those who aren't prepared!
* ''Everyone'' becomes ThatOneBoss on the "Level 50 -- Rank 8" setting. The boss of the Colosseum will throw uber legendaries at you just to screw you over. "Colosseum Leader Taylor sent out KYOGRE!"--cue rage quit--And it's not just the bosses! On rank 8, everyone leading up to the boss will use 3 legendaries at the very ''least''.
* And don't even get started on [[FinalBoss Mysterial]] and his annoying Chansey! Kingler, Golbat, and the rest are bad enough, but that Chansey is Normal-Type and hard to take out.
* The Courtyard Colosseum boss. His team varies due to the nature of the round-you and your opponent both select rental Pokemon from a pool-, but he usually has a Vigoroth. It has good stats to begin with, and it loves to OHKO or severely damage as many as it can of your team with Body Slam or Brick Break. Plus, it's Normal-type and resists everything but Fighting moves. If you choose Machop, you have fighting moves, but Vigoroth always seems to move first and remove the option. Then he has Gabite. You can damage or eliminate it with your own Gabite or Gible, but he usually gets Dragon Rush off first, taking yours out. And if he has Luxio, one Ice Fang will also take Gabite and Gible out. Then there's his Grovyle, with Leaf Storm.
----
Isn't it a little odd how almost every Gym Leader is on this list? [[EasyLevelsHardBosses No, not really]].