The HARDEST Pokemon Games

You might be scratching your head to the topic of the title today. Every main series game is considered to be the same difficulty but how the player experiences the game will be different for everyone. However, today, I'm going over games put out by Pokemon that are, what I consider, to be difficult compared to the majority of the main series games. So yes I am mostly pulling from side Pokemon games as they stray away from the traditional main series game formulas in order to be their own entity.

5. Pokemon Ultra Sun & Moon-3DS

Yes, I find Ultra Sun & Moon to be the hardest of the main series Pokemon games and I'll gladly explain. Ultra Sun & Moon broke tradition in the main series games as to eliminate Pokemon Gyms and instead utilize Trials. Trials require the player to go through an obstacle course and or puzzle and at the end of the trial you have to fight a Totem Pokemon. Totem Pokemon are Pokemon that are bigger and stronger than the average Pokemon, the equivalent of an Alpha you'd find in Pokemon Legends Arceus. The Totem Pokemon are capable of using Z-Moves, get battle perks like periodic Stat increases AND can call backup Pokemon into battle as to fight along side it. The big issue with Totem Pokemon is that they're considered to be boss fights, are ridiculously strong and that they can call up to two other Pokémon to fight against you while you can only have one of your own Pokemon out on the field at a time. So, a 3 Vs 1 battle is already unfair on top of all the other bullshit Totems can do. Let's not forget the Ultra Necrozma battle at the end of the game that's considered to be one of the most difficult boss fights in Pokemon history. It's one of the hardest due to how it's an amalgamation of three legendary Pokemon, you CANT catch it and how it can one shot your entire team even if you level grind. Yeah, Ultra Sun & Moon are difficult games and rightfully the most difficult of all the main series games. Well, in my opinion at least.

4. Pokepark 2 Wonders Beyond-Wii

Although Pokepark is a cute and fun side series Pokemon put out in the late 2000s, it has more than a fair share of difficulty. There's such an emphasis on battling in this game. On a motion reliant console too might I add which added onto the difficulty. Unlike the main series games where you can level grind and become stronger, that ain't the case here in Pokepark. Instead, you have to look high and low, even reloading your save file in order to find currency, before you have to pay someone to train your 4 available characters to become stronger in battle. Even after you level up the protagonists, you need to be able to fight which is tricky as all heck on a Wii controller as in order to use most attacks you have to swing around your controller which might not sound too bad but it's horrible for those new to the game. Let's not forget the boss battles. There's so many boss battles in this game... You need to know which of the four protagonists you want to use in battle BEFORE you engage as you can't swap out mid battle. Each Protagonist has something the other protagonist lacks. While Oshawortt is a well rounded fighter, it lacks in speed. While Snivy is very fast, it lacks in strength. While Tepig is a powerhouse, it's VERY slow While Pikachu is a good mid tier. Which means before each fight you have to strategize and determine which character is the best suited based on the boss Pokemon's typing, if they're a ranged or close ranged fighter, etc. Most of the time boss battles are a type none of the protagonists are effective against too!!! I love this game don't get me wrong, but it's a bit annoying half of the time as you countlessly lose to bosses and it's a crap ton of trial and error.

3. Pokemon XD Gale Of Darkness-Gamecube

I absolutely hate it whenever games require you to pump in hours upon hours of level grinding due to insane spikes in difficulty. While yes, I love this game, it's in my top 10 favorites, I won't deny that this game is annoyingly difficult at times. Pokemon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness utilize two things no other games have: they're both played entirely in Double Battles & that there's Shadow Pokemon. Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon of whom have their stats boosted, have no type weaknesses and are effective against ALL Pokemon no matter their typing on top of the fact that every Shadow is almost always atleast 3 levels higher than your team. When you capture a Shadow Pokemon BUT fail to defeat its trainer, you DONT keep the Pokemon. That means you have to restart the fight and can't keep the Pokemon, despite catching it previously, unless you defeated the trainer UNLIKE the previous game where this mechanic was reversed. With the entire game played in Double Battles, you have to worry about yourself AND trainers who utilize double battle strategies/moves like Helping Hand, Follow Me, Earthquake, etc. Now let's revisit a point I had mentioned earlier. The dramatic spikes in difficulty. Almost everytime you defeat a boss battle, the next area of the game has trainers 20+ levels stronger than the previous boss. This repeatative dramatic spike in difficulty leaves the player with no other choice but to withdraw from the story and level grind for HOURS in order to even be able to stand a chance against the next part/area of the story. The game is fun don't get me wrong, but having to occasionally withdraw from the story to level grind leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

2. Pokemon Legends Arceus-Switch

The first time the Pokemon Company tackled a brand new gaming format and while it was groundbreaking and easily labled as one of the best Pokemon games ever made, this new style of gameplay had understable issues of its own considering how it's a first for the company. In Legends Arceus, the company tackled a new gaming format where the Pokemon can hunt the trainer, therefore leaving the player with little choice but to evade their pursuers by dodging attacks, using stunning items, running away or making the bold decision to battle them head on. Right out of the gate, this game holds nothing back. Nearly every single Pokemon the player will encounter will be of higher level than the player, especially early game. Unlike Sword & Shield where they implemented a level cap preventing players from capturing Pokemon above certain levels or warning them if a Pokemon is too overleveled for them to handle, Legends Arceus has absolutely no level caps when it comes to battling and capturing high level Pokemon. You could have a level 5 Oshawott and battle a level 70 Garchomp if you so like or better yet, you can capture said Garchomp if your heart so desired!!! Adding onto the difficulty of the fact that literally everything is out to kill the player, Alpha Pokemon exist. Alpha Pokemon are Pokemon that are bigger than average with outrageously high stats. They're VERY known for being able to one shot Pokemon. Furthermore, in Legends Arceus any trainer battle or most battles in the Wild allow for the opposing trainer to have 3 Pokemon on the field at a time BUT the player can only have 1 on the field at once. There's no such thing as turns either by the way. If a Pokemon has higher speed than the opponent, that Pokemon could squeeze in six attacks before the opponent can even bother to attack once. Let's not forget how Legends Arceus is also unforgiving! If at any point in time the player faints due to taking on too much damage, almost their entire inventory is lost. Legends Arceus is a game that's just unforgivingly difficult. So difficult, yet I can't decide if it's the most difficult. So, it's a tie for the hardest game Pokemon has put out there.

1. Pokemon Colosseum-Gamecube

Yes, my all time favorite Pokemon Game is also what I consider to be one of the hardest games Pokemon has put out to date. Even veteran/experienced fans find Colosseum to be the most difficult game to date for a large variety of reasons. Pokemon Colosseum is played entirely in double battles. Yes, doubles! When double battling, there's so much you have to worry about such as Stat increasing moves, speed, hidden abilities, moves that can attack the whole field at once. It's an endless list! Colosseum is also the first game to introduce Shadow Pokemon. Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon of whom have their stats boosted, have no type weaknesses and are effective against ALL Pokemon no matter their typing. Unlike it's sequel, Gale of Darkness, all Shadow Pokemon take recoil damage after their turn. Shadow Pokemon also tend to ignore their Trainer, therefore doing nothing on their turn which in itself is infuriating! But the reason people find this game to be so difficult is the absolute lack of Pokemon available for the player to use. Unlike the main series games where you can catch wild Pokemon whenever you feel like it, you CANT do that In Colosseum! In Colosseum you strictly can only capture Shadow Pokemon by stealing them off of other trainers. (Yes, the gimmick of this game is that the Protagonist literally steals Pokemon from other people BUT for good purposes) and/or obtain Pokemon through in game trades & gifts. In which the amount of Pokemon available to the player is sadly less than 40 Pokemon, most of them heaping piles of garbage as well or the good ones not available till endgame. Very very few Pokemon are even remotely good let alone stand a chance in this game. Not to forget how most of the obtainable Pokemon COULDN'T evolve in this game due to not receiving evolutions till more than 5 years later such as Murkrow, Aipom, Sneasle, Piloswine, Misdreavus, Yanma and many more to top it off. I've replayed this game more times than I can count and let me tell you, I've used the same team almost every single playthrough with an occasional lineup change due to how crappy most of the Pokemon available are. I absolutely love this game! But my goodness, this game is infuriatingly difficult due to the constant headache of using shitty Pokemon.

Honorable Mentions!

1. Pokken Tournament-Wii U & Switch
This game is entirely skill based and took on a gameplay inspired by Tekken & Street Fighter.

2. Pokemon Ranger-DS
This game runs on quite a bit of Luck and Skill. Having to trace circles around an attacking Pokemon without interruption a set number of times. The first game is infuriatingly difficult especially compared to the sequels as the sequels fixed everything the first game did incorrectly.

What do you think is the hardest Pokemon game?