What battle do you dread the most in any Pokémon game?

[Ferret_Mustard]

I must admit: that May battle after Slateport in Emerald will always kill me.

 

[Moonwatcher]

After many Nuzlockes, I can say that the rival battle on route 110 in RS/ORAS is my one fear. Only once have I made it through without casualties, and twice it has been the catalyst for a failed run.

 

[Calaf]

The one that first comes to mind is the battle against Jupiter in the Galactic Hideout in Eterna City. That nasty Night Slash Skuntank has claimed more casualties than I'd like

 

[Vee]

HGSS has a lot of tough battles, not just Whitney's dreaded Miltank.

Morty's Gengar hits like a truck with Shadow Ball and Clair is out for blood with her Kingdra who only has one weakness (and using a Dragon type in that gym means you are weak to everything she can throw at you)

The rematch against Champion Lance takes the cake though, since he packs a team of absolute powerhouses such as Garchomp and Salamence. > < I struggled against him more than I did against Red.

 

[Wolf]

There's a battle girl in the Reflection Cave in X and Y and in a nuzlocke run she is terrifying.

 

[Ferret_Mustard]

There's a battle girl in the Reflection Cave in X and Y and in a nuzlocke run she is terrifying.

Hawlucha? Aerial Ace just makes it worse because the hp drains so fast

 

[BasedJarrod]

Most of the time for me it’s either the first major battle (Cheren or Triplets Trio in Unova, Hala in Alola), or the Champion Battle (Blue/Rival in FRLG, Lance in HGSS, Cynthia in either Sinnoh Game, or Stephen in RS). I appreciate the difficulty because it still feels fair as a fight. It feels like I have a real chance every time I lose.

 

[Dragonite]

I've played HeartGold / SoulSilver enough times that I've figured out how to not suffer through the game, but screw Clair and her ten-levels-stronger-than-everything-else-you've-fought Kingdra. Yeesh. It's almost like fan game material.

 

[Rockie]

I would say Ghetsis but he's the final boss of B/W so its good to just have a challenge at the end of the game. On the other hand, most 2nd or 3rd gym leaders end up having something that can kill a few team members in a nuzlocke-esque challenge. Honestly X/Y was easy with the EXP Share on but if you don't then be wary of Grant and his terrifying Tyrunt and astonishing Amaura.
Clairs Kingdra is also very scary. So is Juan's. Kingdras in general are a bit worrying.
There's commander Mars' Purugly and commander Jupiter's Skuntank as well, both horrendously strong for boss fights that happen before you even get to the 3rd gym. Speaking of, Fantina in Platinum is a real [censored] as well with that hench Mismagius.

 

[Quoake]

I always dread the gym battle with Wattson in Ruby and Sapphire. I often use Treecko, so I don't have a fantastic counter to that nasty Magneton. I also always dread the battle with Lenora, who can be really difficult even if you do catch Roggenrola, and Clair, who I never managed to defeat when I first played HeartGold (10-year-old me was not willing to grind). I didn't beat her until 3-4 years later when I tried to replay the game, which is kind of funny looking back. Funnily enough, I never had a lot of difficulty with Whitney.

 

[Dragonite]

I guess I might also comment on Whitney while I'm here: I know it looks awful on paper, and so, so, so many people I talk to have horror stories about the Miltank, but . . . I've never really struggled with her. I've only actually had the AI spam Rollout on my face on a few occasions, and generally by the third gym I have one or more things that can wreck it with poison or status or something.

Lucky, I guess?

 

[Wolf]

There's a battle girl in the Reflection Cave in X and Y and in a nuzlocke run she is terrifying.

Hawlucha? Aerial Ace just makes it worse because the hp drains so fast

It's the Throh with Revenge that scares me actually, I always avoid her in lockes

 

[Ferret_Mustard]

There's a battle girl in the Reflection Cave in X and Y and in a nuzlocke run she is terrifying.

Hawlucha? Aerial Ace just makes it worse because the hp drains so fast

It's the Throh with Revenge that scares me actually, I always avoid her in lockes

Ah! Rflection Cave as a whole was deadly. Hard trainers, Wobbuffet, and of course those Brains of Braun...shudder

 

[Neb]

There's a battle girl in the Reflection Cave in X and Y and in a nuzlocke run she is terrifying.

That actually ended my previous nuzlocke on X.

There’s also a Psychic on Kalos Route 5 with a Kadabra. With him having such a strong Pokémon at that point in the game, it’s really easy to get swept.

 

[HungryPiplup]

Fisherman with 6 Magikarp. It’s just dreadful annoying and there is always two fisherman trainers side by side in Pokémon Gold/Silver on the bridge. One has a nice team to beat and the other one has all those Magikarp. I never remember which one it is so I always stay away from both of them.

 

[SAF]

I'd say that Totems and in USUM are quite brutal. They took out my best bets and ended up making me twist my strategies. And Totem 's allies too, having their own way to mess me up.

 

[Ferret_Mustard]

I'd say that Totems and in USUM are quite brutal. They took out my best bets and ended up making me twist my strategies. And Totem 's allies too, having their own way to mess me up.

Totem Lurantis has ended 4 (count them!) Nuzlockes of mine. I just never get past it! Though after finally beating my first Nuzlocke in Y, Victory Road takes no prisoners either. Variation kills teams. This is true with totem Pokémon due to the wide variety of learnable TM moves they have.

 

[shhmew]

it's unoriginal but mars's purugly fight in the valley windworks always has me like "uuuugghhhhh". i don't even do lockes and i dread it every single time for some reason

early rival fights are often pretty scary too...

i just feel like early fights can be so Bleh because your team isn't quite established or beefy yet...

also when it comes to totems in alola, i actually enjoy the challenge those give, but uhhh the Lurantis one is definitely one i always just dread.

 

[thexuberant1]

Several of the aforementioned trainers gave me a hard time, especially Mars and her Purugly. I also struggled against the two ace trainers on Route 215 in D/P. The trainer with the Gyarados was especially difficult and I had to train my Pokemon a lot to defeat him.

 

[Solar]

Korrina's Lucarios on route who-cares