History ThatOneLevel / Pokemon

* The final level of ''VideoGame/PokemonXD'', Citadark Isle. Boy is it tedious, there's trainers everywhere all of which have Shadow Pokemon which need to be captured and are ones with low catch rates. So if one wants to get 100%, they have to keep the battle going that could've ended a while ago to capture the Shadow Pokemon & after that almost guaranteed you may need to heal. Which means one needs to backtrack to the Pokemon Center Machine to heal, which is a pain since in a attempt to milk as much trainers as much the path back to it is a little complex. And that's just the surface of the many things of Citadark Isle. At one point directly after a boss fight, a shortcut back to a healing machine opens up...and on the other end of the shortcut is a Cipher grunt who's there to stop anyone taking the shortcut. That fight isn't too hard, but it's ''mean'', especially if you're still hurting from the boss fight.

* The scrappy level for Red/Blue Rescue Team would be Purity Forest. It's 99 floors long, you can only bring one Pokémon, said Pokémon is reduced to level 1, and all of your money and [[BagOfSharing toolbox]] contents are destroyed. You're pretty much at the random generator's mercy here.

* Vast Poni Canyon might not be named Victory Road but it does have all the required elements to be one. It is just as long as past Victory Roads (maybe even longer), full of tough trainers and wild Pokémon. There are also a lot of branching paths, some can be difficult to spot and most need a Poke Ride to go through. It also begins with a boss against Kahuna Hapu, whose highest levelled Pokémon are level 48, (trainers before and after her are in the mid forties) and ends with a trial against the region's Dragon puedo-legendary (which is thankfully capable of being rendered anticlimactic). Then you have to face the BigBad and the Mascot Legendary. The only relief you get is periodic heals from Lillie.

** The Purifying Cave, yet another postgame dungeon in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically like the Worldcore, but ''this'' particular dungeon is a dungeon that forces players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error or be wrecked. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types. One example is Future Sight, which will hit Fighting types extremely hard. Also, Ice Pokémon and Flying Pokémon will become a possible threat to Grass types, with Flying types ''also'' hitting Fighting types hard. As an additional warning, one hit from an attack, and you are possibly dead. This means that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful. Luckily, you can bring two Pokémon with you, but if you faint, you're a goner, and it is back to the start of the Purifying Cave for you.

* The final level of ''VideoGame/PokemonXD'', Citadark Isle. Boy is it tedious, there's trainers everywhere all of which have Shadow Pokemon which need to be captured and are ones with low catch rates. So if one wants to get 100%, they have to keep the battle going that could've ended a while ago to capture the Shadow Pokemon & after that almost guaranteed you may need to heal. Which means one needs to backtrack to the Pokemon Center Machine to heal, which is a pain since in a attempt to milk as much trainers as much the path back to it is a little complex. And that's just the surface of the many things of Citadark Isle. At one point directly after a boss fight, a shortcut back to a healing machine opens up...and on the other end of the shortcut is a Cipher grunt who's GenreSavvy enough to be there to stop anyone taking the shortcut. That fight isn't too hard, but it's ''mean'', especially if you're still hurting from the boss fight.

** 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 Pokémon there, while most Pokémon 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 Pokémon 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 Pokémon moving at quadruple speed while Venomoth in the back spam Silver Wind on your team. The ''only'' saving grace is that its layouts are simple, unlike Magma Cavern.

* The Ice Path from ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' and remakes is another one, between the ice sliding and pushing boullders through holes and more ice...

** 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 Pokémon, 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.
*** Fortunately, you can also get that rare Pokémon by trading a Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee from R/B/Y and breeding it with a Ditto.

*** Stare closely at the screen and you can see that the sticky tiles are slightly darker than the ones that aren't. Nintendo always makes this trick in Pokémon games, like Koga's invisible wall Gym.
*** This was made far more obvious for the Platinum release as well.

* The Reflection Cave. Good god, the Reflection Cave. It's the first cave with random encounters that you face (The Glittering Cave has a certain amount of wild Pokemon that are scripted to come out). The mirrors make it very hard to see where you're going, there are a ton of dead ends, and the worse part is you can find wild WOBBUFFET here. All Wobbuffet have the ability Shadow Tag, which prevents you from fleeing the battle or even swapping out. It's also incredibly defensive, which means it can easily survive the attacks you have to use to finish the battle and it knows both Counter and Mirror Coat which can reflect your attacks back for DOUBLE DAMAGE. If you run into a wild Wobbuffet, expect to lose at least one Pokemon to it. And did I mention there are still trainers to fight? And majority of those you cannot avoid because they face the mirrors, so they ''will'' see you pasing by behind them. This place can become a nightmare.

** The ''Lava Zone'' has one notorious side-quest that's both 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]] '''[[OhCrap 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]].
*** Oh, and did we mention that the Torkoal will chase you all the way to where Camerupt is and will still ram into you afterwards?

* The final level of Pokemon XD, Citadark Isle. Boy is it tedious, there's trainers everywhere all of which have Shadow Pokemon which need to be captured and are ones with low catch rates. So if one wants to get 100%, they have to keep the battle going that could've ended a while ago to capture the Shadow Pokemon & after that almost guarenteed you may need to heal. Which means one needs to backtrack to the Pokemon Center Machine to heal, which is a pain since in a attempt to milk as much trainers as much the path back to it is a little complex. And that's just the surface of the many things of Citadark Isle. At one point directly after a boss fight, a shortcut back to a healing machine opens up...and on the other end of the shortcut is a Cipher grunt who's GenreSavvy enough to be there to stop anyone taking the shortcut. That fight isn't too hard, but it's ''mean'', especially if you're still hurting from the boss fight.

** The Purifying Cave, yet another postgame dungeon in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically like the Worldcore, but ''this'' particular dungeon is a dungeon that forces players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error or be wrecked. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types. One example is Future Sight, which will hit Fighting types extremely hard. Also, Ice Pokémon and Flying Pokémon will become a possible threat Grass types, with Flying types ''also'' hitting Fighting types hard. As an additional warning, one hit from an attack, and you are possibly dead. This means that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful. Luckily, you can bring two Pokémon with you, but if you faint, you're a goner, and it is back to the start of the Purifying Cave for you.

** The Purifying Cave, yet another postgame dungeon in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically like the Worldcore, but ''this'' particular dungeon is a dungeon that forces players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error or be wrecked. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types. One example is Future Sight, which will hit Fighting types extremely hard. Also, Ice Pokémon and Flying Pokémon will a possible threat Grass types, with Flying types ''also'' hitting Fighting types hard. As an additional warning, one hit from an attack, and you are possibly dead. This means that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful. Luckily, you can bring two Pokémon with you, but if you faint, you're a goner, and it is back to the start of the Purifying Cave for you.

* The final level of Pokemon XD, Citadark Isle. Boy is it tedious, there's trainers everywhere all of which Shadow Pokemon which need to be captured and are ones with low catch rates. So if one wants to get 100%, they have to keep the battle going that could've ended a while ago to capture the Shadow Pokemon & after that almost guarenteed you may need to heal. Which means one needs to backtrack to the Pokemon Center Machine to heal, which is a pain since in a attempt to milk as much trainers as much the path back to it is a little complex. And that's just the surface of the many things of Citadark Isle.

** Similarly, if you or your partner is a Fire type, Surrounded Sea will royally screw you over. And it has "50" floors. Really, any dungeon that has an overall type advantage against your team turns into one of these.

** The Worldcore, in which you must play as your partner solo in the postgame in order to [[spoiler: get you to come back to the Pokemon World.]] It is basically '''EVERY SINGLE ENEMY SIMILAR TO THOSE FROM [[spoiler: MUNNA]]'S GANG IN THE DUNGEON!''' Whirlipede can and will eat your Reviver Seeds and Oran Berries with its Bug Bite. Munna (similar to the [[spoiler: Munna from the main storyline]]) can use Yawn and Psybeam on you to inflict Sleep and Confusion respectivley, and Salamence and Chandelure can seriously hit you hard in the face. And Arceus help you if your partner is a Grass type.

** The Purifying Cave, in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically like the Worldcore, but ''this'' particular dungeon is a dungeon that forces players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error or be wrecked. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types. One example is Future Sight, which will hit Fighting types extremely hard. Also, Ice Pokémon and Flying Pokémon will a possible threat Grass types, with Flying types ''also'' hitting Fighting types hard. As an additional warning, one hit from an attack, and you are possibly dead. This means that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful. Luckily, you can bring two Pokémon with you, but if you faint, you're a goner, and it is back to the start of the Purifying Cave for you.

** The Submerged Cave, a dungeon that you must get through, has very OP Water types that will give Fire type players/partners a tough time. Filled with Pokemon that will find many ways to KO you, such as rain boosting Water type moves for those enemy Pokemon, your worst challenge is Seadra, who will spam Hydro Pump. You also have a guest Pokemon for this dungeon, so if Seadra takes it out and then evolves into Kingdra, you're screwed.
** The postgame story has the Sand Dune of Spirits, in which getting there is a must in order to [[spoiler: find Xatu to find out how to bring your partner back.]] However, those who turned into a Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Tepig, or Fennekin are going to find out just how brutal this dungeon possibly is. For starters, you need to do the whole thing solo, and it is filled with Rock and Ground types that will knock you out in a flash. There are also Growlithe and Houndoom that live here, and they have Flash Fire, which boosts Fire type attacks when hit by another Fire type attack. You need to be careful here.
** Mystery Forest, another postgame dungeon that you must do solo in order to [[spoiler: find Mew]], is far more worse than Submerged Cave. It is chock full of literally Poison types, even Venomoth, which can and will give you a hard time. Ariados will gladly munch away your Reviver Seeds and Oran Berries. There is also Trubbish which will use Toxic Spikes without a care in the entire world. But the worst is yet to come; also living in the forest are '''Haunter''' and '''Vileplume'''! Haunter will spam Hypnosis, and Vileplume will spam Stun Powder and Poison Powder. It can also hit hard with its Grass type attacks if you are a Water type. And if Haunter and Vileplume are together to take you out, you are completely screwed.
** The Purifying Cave, in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically like the Worldcore, but with it turned into a dungeon that forces players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types. One example is Future Sight, which will hit Fighting Types extremely hard. Also, Ice Pokémon and Flying Pokemon will a possible threat Grass types. As an additional warning, one hit, and you are possibly dead. This means that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful. Luckily, you can bring two Pokemon with you, but if you faint, you're a goner, and it is back to the start of the Purifying Cave for you.

** The post game story has the Sand Dune of Spirits, in which getting there is a must in order to [[spoiler: find Xatu to find out how to bring your partner back.]] However, those who turned into a Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Tepig, or Fennekin are going to find out just how brutal this dungeon possibly is. For starters, you need to do the whole thing solo, and it is filled with Rock and Ground types that will knock you out in a flash. There are also Growlithe and Houndoom that live here, and they have Flash Fire, which boosts Fire type attacks when hit by another Fire type attack. You need to be careful here.
** Mystery Forest, another dungeon that you must do solo, will make sure you never [[spoiler: reach the end to find Mew.]] It is chock full of literally Poison types, even Venomoth, which can and will give you a hard time. Ariados will gladly munch away your Reviver Seeds and Oran Berries. There is also Trubish which will use Toxic Spikes without a care in the entire world. But the worse is yet to come; also living in the forest are '''Haunter''' and '''Vileplume'''! Haunter will spam Hypnosis, and Vileplume will spam Stun Powder and Poison Powder. It can also hit hard with its Grass type attacks if you are a Water type. [[spoiler: At least you get to find Mew and then recruit him once you '''do''' beat the dungeon.]]
** The Purifying Cave, in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically a dungeon that puts players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types. One example is Future Sight, which will hit Fighting Types extremely hard. Also, Ice Pokémon will possibly one-shot Grass types. This means that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful.

** Mystery Forest will make sure you never [[spoiler: reach the end to find Mew.]] It is chock full of literally Poison types, even Venomoth, which can and will give you a hard time. Ariados will gladly munch away your Reviver Seeds and Oran Berries. There is also Trubish which will use Toxic Spikes without a care in the entire world. But the worse is yet to come; also living in the forest are '''Haunter''' and '''Vileplume'''! Haunter will spam Hypnosis, and Vileplume will spam Stun Powder and Poison Powder. It can also hit hard with its Grass type attacks if you are a Water type. [[spoiler: At least you get to find Mew and then recruit him once you '''do''' beat the dungeon.]]
** The Purifying Cave, in which you need to do in order to [[spoiler: save Mew, who is said to have some of Dark Matter's energy in him,]] is basically a dungeon that puts players who turned into a Grass type or Riolu at the start of the game to use trial and error. There are Psychic types and Ice types, and even Flying types, meaning that your ultimate skills are put to the test, so you need to be extra careful.

** The post game story has the Sand Dune of Spirits, in which getting there is a must in order to [[spoiler: find Xatu to find out how to bring your partner back.]] However, those who turned into a Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Tepig, or Fennekin are going to find out just how brutal this dungeon possibly is. For starters, you need to do the whole thing solo, and it is filled with Rock and Ground types that will knock you out in a flash. There are also Grolithe and Houndoom that live here, and they have Flash Fire, which boosts Fire type attacks when hit by another Fire type attack. You need to be careful here.

** The post game story has the Sand Dune of Spirits, in which getting there is a must in order to [[spoiler: find Xatu to find out how to bring your partner back.]] However, those who turned into a Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Tepig, or Fennekin are going to find out just how brutal this dungeon possibly is. For starters, you need to do the whole thing solo, and it is filled with Rock and Ground types that will knock you out in a flash, You need to be careful here.

* The Reflection Cave. Good god, the Reflection Cave. It's the first cave with random encounters that you face (The Glittering Cave has a certain amount of wild Pokemon that are scripted to come out). The mirrors make it very hard to see where you're going, there are a ton of dead ends, and the worse part is you can find wild WOBBUFFET here. All Wobbuffet have the ability Shadow Tag, which prevents you from fleeing the battle or even swapping out. It's also incredibly defensive, which means it can easily survive the attacks you have to use to finish the battle and it knows both Counter and Mirror Coat which can reflect your attacks back for DOUBLE DAMAGE. If you run into a wild Wobbuffet, expect to lose at least one Pokemon to it. And did I mention there are still trainers to fight? This place can become a nightmare.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' has the Cave of the Deep, which is the third in a string of five dungeons you need to do back to back. It's only 8 floors, but it's chock full of Ditto, and in this game when they Transform it ''confuses your entire party'' other than the Pokemon that it transformed into. They can also [[SchmuckBait disguise themselves as items]]. While you have two guests for this dungeon, including [[spoiler:a level 50 Mawile]], that means that the Ditto can potentially destroy you with that Pokemon's moves...if you don't destroy yourselves from confusion, that is.

** [[spoiler:The Great Glacier (first visit)]] in ''Gates to Infinity''. It's especially brutal for being right in the mid-game. First off, it's got ''[[MarathonLevel 14]]'' floors. Second, some floors have Hail active, which not only disables passive healing but does slight but steady damage over time, and nobody you have is immune to it. Third, you're stuck with a limited selection of party members, one of which [[TheLoad isn't very strong]] (and newly-recruited members are sent right off to Paradise, so no additional team building). Fourth, if the hail wasn't bad enough, the place is infested with Yamask and Trubbish, which will burn and poison your team, sapping their health even more (and poison disables passive healing even on the floors without Hail). Trubbish is especially bad, as it's got lots of health and it can prevent you from attacking if you hit it. And finally, it's right after a 10-floor dungeon [[spoiler:(Telluric Path)]] filled with more annoying enemies. To make things worse, you can't leave the dungeon at any time. You better pray you find a Pure Seed (which warps you to the stairs) for those Hail floors...

* What about the one Trick House in Gen III with all the arrow floors that only let you go one way? Thank God it's optional. (Liza and Tate's Gym, which has similar floors, is almost as tough.)

* Victory Road in these games is generally considered up there with 4th Gen's and BW2's as one of the hardest in the series. It's [[MarathonLevel long]] (the average Youtube LetsPlay takes around ''one and a half hours'' to get through it), requires Surf, Waterfall, Flash and Rock Smash and is filled with tough trainers (and in Emerald, there's one Pokemon that uses [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules a move it can't normally learn]]). And at the end (Ruby, Sapphire, and ORAS) or beginning (Emerald) you have to fight Wally... who's taken a major [[TookALevelInBadass level in badass]] since you last saw him.