History ThatOneLevel / Pokemon

* Escorting the bug-phobic mechanic in the first PokemonRanger game. He freaked out and made you start over if he - or YOU, for some unfathomable reason - touched so much as a single bug. Oh, and you have to escort him through the most bug-infested area of the game, with loads who will either just float around randomly but quickly, or CHASE AFTER YOU - many of the latter being FASTER THAN YOU ARE.

** EVERY Victory Road is a pain in the backside, but the fourth generation ones are just the only ones where some fat guy will [[DroneJam just sit in front of a door, refusing to let you through]], until you beat the game. It's a pretty blatant BrokenBridge and quite a slap in the face.

* Sky Pillar in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''. You have to use the Mach Bike and do everything exactly right in regards to speed and sharp turns to get across the floor before you fall through it. And in Emerald, you have to do it to progress the storyline, because you need to wake up Rayquaza to calm Kyogre and Groudon. Then you have to do it all over again later to catch the darn thing. On top of that, the resident Claydol are just waiting to explode in your face. (The Banette, Altaria and Sableye aren't terrible, really, though Sableye isn't weak to anything you throw at it and Banette, being a ghost, is invulnerable to Normal or Fighting attacks.) Just bring lots of repel unless you're out to catch one.

* One of the annoying bits of Pokémon is that the Fire starter is usually the strongest, but your rival, the Water Gym, the Rock Gym (hi Brock and Roxanne, ThatOneBoss) all do double damage to it and have your strongest moves halved or negated. Also, the early wild Water Pokémon usually suck pretty badly. There are three solutions. Get a Magikarp, level it up to a Gyarados, and give it some Water move. Get a Geodude/Diglett and let it learn Earthquake or Magnitude, which are super effective against Rock-types. Or, majorly level up your Fire Pokémon until it can take out every enemy in one hit (or teach it [=SolarBeam=] if it is compatible with the move).

*** Fixed even further in Black and White 2, where the first Leader is Normal-type.

** What's especially annoying is the whole point of going into Mt. Mortar is to get a rare Pokémon, and if you have all six party spots full you have to leave, ditch the extra Pokemon, then ''go through it again''. But the game doesn't tell you that until you actually get to the character who gives it to you. In fact, the game doesn't even tell you that you'll get a rare Pokémon by entering the mountain.

** Forget the Diglett, it's the DemonicSpiders that are the resident Dugtrio that are the worst part. They are brutally strong for this stage in the game, possessing high attack and insane speed, plus powerful moves like Magnitude and Slash. And they are several levels higher than the local gym leader's strongest pokemon. It's not uncommon for entire teams to be swept and knocked out by one wild Dugtrio, especially if you didn't choose Bulbasaur or Squirtle.

* Sky Pillar in ''PokemonRubyAndSapphire''. You have to use the Mach Bike and do everything exactly right in regards to speed and sharp turns to get across the floor before you fall through it. And in Emerald, you have to do it to progress the storyline, because you need to wake up Rayquaza to calm Kyogre and Groudon. Then you have to do it all over again later to catch the darn thing. On top of that, the resident Claydol are just waiting to explode in your face. (The Banette, Altaria and Sableye aren't terrible, really, though Sableye isn't weak to anything you throw at it and Banette, being a ghost, is invulnerable to Normal or Fighting attacks.) Just bring lots of repel unless you're out to catch one.

** In the main story mode, Sky Tower can be a tough climb. Early floors have you dealing with ghosts, who can travel through walls and attack your Pokemon there, while most Pokemon cannot attack into walls. There are also floors that activate different weather, including Hail, which drains your health faster than you can heal it off, forcing you to scramble for the exit. Enemies also start getting nastier, featuring lots of enemies with the PP-draining Pressure ability, foes like Venomoth who use Silver Wind to hit anyone in the same room as it, and Aerodactyl, who can use not only Supersonic to confuse you, but also Agility to make ''all the enemy Pokémon in the same room move at double speed''. And in these later levels, it isn't uncommon to stumble into a Monster House, which dumps ten or so Pokemon at you all at once. [[HoldYourHippogriffs Arceus help you]] if two or more Aerodactyl drop in, as their combined Agility will mean you'll be ganged up on all sides by Pokemon moving at quadruple speed while Venomoth in the back spam Silver Wind on your team.
* Aegis Cave in [[PokemonMysteryDungeon Pokemon Mystery Dungeon]] Explorers of Time/Darkness. It's not a hard dungeon-- there are ample oran berries and the Unown aren't that tough at all. But you have to find stones that Unown drop, of their own letter-shape, to spell out I-C-E, R-O-C-K, and S-T-E-E-L. Not every type appears, and even then, the stones are dropped maybe a quarter of the time. And you have to keep repeating a three-floor section until you get all the letters you need so you can go on and fight the appropriate Legendary Golem (who, thankfully, aren't that tough). And did I mention you can't save in between, so you HAVE to do this all in one go? Fortunately, much of the annoyance can be simplified, thanks to an inherent quirk of the Legendary Golems. Simply put, bring a Fighting type.
** ''Explorers of Sky'' brought us the ultimate dungeon: Destiny Tower. Like Purity Forest, it has 99 floors, you're only allowed to bring in your leader and its level will be lowered to 1, and you're not allowed to bring in any items or money. It also prevents you from using your IQ skills [[hottip:*: which keeps Reviver Seeds from activating thanks to no Item Master]], and keeps traps hidden when you step on them. Worst part? Some of these traps are absolute cruelty, with the worst one being the "Grudge" trap, which gives a PERMANENT grudge status to EVERY SINGLE POKEMON ON THE FLOOR. And for the icing on the cake, you can't be rescued, so if you're knocked out even one time, you have to start all over again. Good luck getting to the top.

* Sky Pillar in ''PokemonRubyAndSapphire''. You have to use the Mach Bike and do everything exactly right in regards to speed and sharp turns to get across the floor before you fall through it. And in Emerald, you have to do it to progress the storyline, because you need to wake up Rayquaza to calm Kyogre and Groudon. Then you have to do it all over again later to catch the darn thing. On top of that, the resident Claydol are just waiting to explode in your face. (the Banette, Altaria and Sableye aren't terrible, really, though Sableye isn't weak to anything you throw at it and Banette, being a ghost, is only vulnerable to psychic attacks.) Just bring lots of repel unless you're out to catch one.

* Sky Pillar in ''PokemonRubyAndSapphire''. You have to use the Mach Bike and do everything exactly right in regards to speed and sharp turns to get across the floor before you fall through it. And in Emerald, you have to do it to progress the storyline, because you need to wake up Rayquaza to calm Kyogre and Groudon. Then you have to do it all over again later to catch the darn thing. On top of that, the resident Claydol are just waiting to explode in your face. (the Banette, Altaria and Sableye aren't terrible, really, though Sableye isn't weak to anything you throw at it.) Just bring lots of repel unless you're out to catch one.

* '''''Five''''' generations of games and the developers '''''still''''' haven't figured out just how horrendously '''''boring''''' the caves are? Repetitive scenery, little sense of direction, and the possibility of being attacked by those '''''[[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Zubats]]''''' at any time.

* One of the annoying bits of Pokémon is that the Fire starter is usually the strongest, but your rival, the Water Gym, the Rock Gym (hi Brock and Roxanne, ThatOneBoss) all do double damage to it and have your strongest moves halved or negated. Also, the early wild Water Pokémon usually suck pretty badly. There are three solutions. Get a Magikarp, level it up to a Gyarados, and give it some Water move. Get a Geodude/Diglett and let it learn Earthquake or Magnitude, which are super effective against Rock-types. Or, majorly level up your Fire Pokémon until it can take out every enemy in one hit (or teach it SolarBeam if it is compatible with the move).

*** Likewise, Sky has Zero Isle Center. Foes begin at Level 90 and quickly make their way to Level 99 but give no EXP Points whatsoever. Similarly to Destiny Tower, traps only become visible when you step on them, and there are the Grudge Traps which give never-ending Grudge status to every Pokemon on the floor. Get ready to be hammered by lots of traps and monster houses. And your inventory options are limited, so be prepared.

** ''Explorers of Sky'' brought us the ultimate dungeon: Destiny Tower. Like Purity Forest, it has 99 floors, you're only allowed to bring in your leader and its level will be lowered to 1, and you're not allowed to bring in any items or money. It also prevents you from using your IQ skills, and keeps traps hidden when you step on them. Worst part? Some of these traps are absolute cruelty, with the worst one being the "Grudge" trap, which gives a PERMANENT grudge status to EVERY SINGLE POKEMON ON THE FLOOR. Good luck getting to the top.

** While not as bad, there's also Western Cave. 99 floors, no food items not in Kecleon Shops, and Tyranitars swarm the middle floors and activate Sand Stream. This dungeon will throw everything at you, including the kitchen sink, if you aren't high leveled. And your reward for making it to the last of those 99 floors? Mewtwo [[spoiler: (who should be a complete joke compared to some of the bosses you've faced, especially after making it past those previous 98 floors. Also, he won't join you the first time. That's right, you have to go through the cave a SECOND time to recruit him]]. But on the plus side, the wild foes give LOTS of EXP points. Expect to gain at least ten levels per one go through to the end. Have fun ([[YourMileageMayVary see that whichever way you will]]).

*** [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]] but when this troper got to the bottom of dungeon for second time, he gained so much power that [[spoiler: [[TrueFinalBoss Darkrai]]]] was nothing when compared to cruelty of dungeon.

** The ''Lava Zone'' has one notorious side-quest that's bot frustrating and difficult. Long story short, you have to bring some iron ore (that you get via drill) down to where Camerupt is so that you can use it to make a new lever for the furnace (the old one broke). However, not only do you have to deal with the shoddy camera angles in the game (causing you to get stuck in areas that you think you can walk on), but you also have to deal with Torkoal. A lot of Torkoal. [[RuleOfThree A]] '''[[RuleOfThree lot]]''' [[RuleOfThree of]] '''[[RuleOfThree very angry Torkoal]]''' that will constantly ram into you causing you to drop the iron you need to fix the furnace and advance in the game. Did we mention that ''any'' time you carry an item, you move at about one-fourth of your normal speed, you can't dash, and you are unable to use Thunderbolt? [[SarcasmMode Good luck getting past all those angry Torkoal]].

** Though at least Rock Climb isn't a completely atrocious move (for an HM, anyway)--it's got fairly decent attack and can cause opponents to become confused.

** Though at least Rock Climb isn't a completely atrocious move as far as HMs go. It's got fairly decent attack and can cause opponents to become confused.

* Five generations of games and they still haven't figured out just how horrendously boring the caves are? Repetitive scenery, little sense of direction and the possibility of being attacked by [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Zubat]] at any time.

** In the main story mode, Sky Tower can be a [[{{Understatement}} tough climb]]. Early floors have you dealing with ghosts, who can travel through walls and attack your Pokemon there, while most Pokemon cannot attack into walls. There are also floors that activate different weather, including Hail, which drains your health faster than you can heal it off, forcing you to scramble for the exit. Enemies also start getting nastier, featuring lots of enemies with the PP-draining Pressure ability, foes like Venomoth who use Silver Wind to hit anyone in the same room as it, and Aerodactyl, who can use not only Supersonic to confuse you, but also Agility to make ''all the enemy Pokémon in the same room move at double speed''. And in these later levels, it isn't uncommon to stumble into a Monster House, which dumps ten or so Pokemon at you all at once. [[HoldYourHippogriffs Arceus help you]] if two or more Aerodactyl drop in, as their combined Agility will mean you'll be ganged up on all sides by Pokemon moving at quadruple speed while Venomoth in the back spam Silver Wind on your team.

** In the main story mode, Sky Tower can be a tough climb. Early floors have you dealing with ghosts, who can travel through walls and attack your Pokemon there, while most Pokemon cannot attack into walls. There are also floors that activate different weather, including Hail, which drains your health faster than you can heal it off, forcing you to scramble for the exit. Enemies also start getting nastier, featuring lots of enemies with the PP-draining Pressure ability, foes like Venomoth who use Silver Wind to hit anyone in the same room as it, and Aerodactyl, who can use Agility to make ''all the enemy Pokémon in the same room move at double speed''. And in these later levels, it isn't uncommon to stumble into a Monster House, which dumps ten or so Pokemon at you all at once. Arceus help you if two or more Aerodactyl drop in, as their combined Agility will mean you'll be ganged up on all sides by Pokemon moving at quadruple speed while Venomoth in the back spam Silver Wind on your team.

** The ''Lava Zone'' has one notorious side-quest that's bot frustrating and difficult. Long story short, you have to bring some iron ore (that you get via drill) down to where Camerupt is so that you can use it to make a new lever for the furnace (the old one broke). However, not only do you have to deal with the shoddy camera angles in the game (causing you to get stuck in areas that you think you can walk on), but you also have to deal with Torkal. A lot of Torkal. [[RuleOfThree A]] '''[[RuleOfThree lot]]''' [[RuleOfThree of]] '''[[RuleOfThree very angry Torkal]]''' that will constantly ram into you causing you to drop the iron you need to fix the furnace and advance in the game. Did we mention that ''any'' time you carry an item, you move about a fourth nor normal speed, you can't dash, and you are unable to use Thunderbolt? [[SarcasmMode Good luck getting past all those angry Torkal]].
*** Oh, and [[ItGetsWorse did we mention that the Torkal will chase you all the way to where Camerupt is and will still ram into you afterwards?]]

** Though at least Rock Climb isn't a completely atrocious move as far as HMs go. It's got fairly decent attack and I believe can cause opponents to flinch.