Pokemon games have never been famous for their difficulty, but many of these games have varied massively on how hard they are to complete. Some are widely considered a breeze, while others test a player's skills to greater heights than many other JRPGs.
When picking a game to replay, or choosing a classic one to try out, you should be completely aware of what level of difficulty you're about to face. There are several traits that Pokemon games have included over the years that make some adventures incredibly easy and others that have made for some immense challenges.
Updated March 6, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: We've not only re-evaluated the list, moving a few games around in the process, but we've also added the latest entries in the franchise.
22 Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu & Let's Go Eevee
This revisit to Kanto on the Nintendo Switch makes a lot of changes to the usual Pokemon formula. Wild battles are a thing of the past and the games have rarely been this accessible to the youngest of the young.
With all that said, the games are sorely lacking in difficulty. Not only do they hand you an extra-powerful Pikachu or Eevee as your starter, but you can even teach them powerful moves of any type you want by visiting a few NPCs in Pokemon Centers. It's totally viable to play the entire game with one Pokemon, and it almost seems to encourage it.
21 Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
Despite being remakes of Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire, which will appear much later on this list, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire are almost a joke in their challenge level. Many foes give ludicrous amounts of experience, and from your starter's Mega Evolution to a free Latios or Latias, it's difficult to fail in this adventure.
That's not to say it isn't fun, and it had a wonderful competitive scene thanks to its many new Mega Evolutions and access to various legendaries. That said, you'll absolutely need a personal restriction like a Nuzlocke challenge if you want a little more bite with this game.
20 Pokemon X & Y
Like Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, the Kalos games released beforehand also gave trainers a few too many tools. A free Kanto starter and more Mega Evolutions made for degenerative teams, but this game at least had new Pokemon and Gyms that players might not be as familiar with.
That novelty makes it much more interesting to replay it, and might result in some Gym Leaders and rivals catching you off-guard. Will it make you sweat at all, though? No, probably not.
19 Pokemon Sword
Despite being extremely similar, Pokemon Sword & Shield do have some key differences that impact their respective difficulty levels. While most of the split versions mainly stick to their Pokemon as the primary changes, Pokemon Sword suffers due to some version-exclusive Gym Leaders with very little substance.
Namely, these would be Bea and Gordie. Both of them have competitive Pokemon, but they have too many weaknesses and shortcomings in their movepools to be a challenge. They end up being remarkably easy to beat, and this is further pronounced by Dynamax making most Gym Leaders a breeze with the right strategy.
18 Pokemon Shield
Pokemon Shield ramps things up a bit compared to its companion. This is mostly due to the Ghost-type Gym Leader, Allister, who replaces Bea in this version and has a much stronger team. It features both fast and defensive Pokemon with fewer common weaknesses.
Even Melony beats out Gordie in the late game thanks to her Ice-type proficiency. Her team still has a similar number of weaknesses — however, her defensive stats are much more well-rounded on teammates like Lapras. And her speedier Pokemon can actually threaten your team, making Pokemon Shield the harder Pokemon game between the eighth generation picks.
17 Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
While they were hotly awaited by the community, these games do leave something to be desired in the difficulty department. For the most part. Between permanent experience share and the affection system that may have you witnessing your Pokemon survive deadly hits multiple times in a row, the game isn't too challenging.
That's not to say there aren't challenges, though. The Elite Four ramps up the difficulty quite a bit, and Cynthia herself is something of a demon. For most of the game, though? Not so much.
16 Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver
Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver have some especially strange traits. While being mostly identical to the original Pokemon Gold & Silver, several bits make them far easier. Some of this has to do with Special and Physical moves being divided, which makes many of the weakest Pokemon far stronger.
However, it ends up being substantially easier due to its status as a fourth-generation game, as it doesn't prevent you from evolving certain Pokemon like Gligar and Aipon into their new evolutions. This can lead to some absurdly powerful Pokemon that you aren't expected to have, and it ends up being a much simpler experience as a result.
15 Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
The original Sinnoh games from the Nintendo DS aren't as difficult as they are boring. In theory, it should be quite difficult due to its level spike, as many trainers like Cynthia late in the game can be astonishingly more powerful than an average trainer's team.
Unfortunately, most of the game's Gym Leaders have pretty predictable weaknesses, and there's a lack of certain Pokemon types to utilize this level advantage. Flint, the Fire-type expert from the Elite Four, actually has very few Fire-types because of the problems with Sinnoh's Pokedex, meaning Grass and Steel-types had an unusual advantage.
14 Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
The latest mainline games in the Pokemon series are notable for letting you venture off into high-leveled areas nearly right off the bat. Their three-pronged approach to storytelling meets this relative freedom head-first, letting people choose to do things in a 'bad' order, leading to the potential for some real challenge if you try to face a Gym Leader or other boss-type encounter too early.
That doesn't mean Scarlet & Violet are by any means difficult if played at roughly the most anticipated path, with Gym Leaders and Team Star captains fought at more appropriate intervals. There are so many ways to buff up your Pokemon in this game that it's still pretty much your game to lose, however.
13 Pokemon Black & White
Pokemon Black & White is where the difficulty on our list ramps up a bit, as Unova brought an entirely new set of challenges that no player had ever faced before. No original Pokemon in the main story meant teams could look incredibly different from each other and forced you to create a diverse team to make your way through it.
The main problem in this game is Team Plasma, which ends up being disappointingly easy to defeat in nearly every story segment. Few members use evolved Pokemon and their teams rarely consist of unusual partners, making your new foe N the only real threat from this major aspect of the game.
12 Pokemon Sun & Moon
The first trip to Alola was certainly not a walk in the park, but it bounced a lot between absurd difficulty and beginner-friendly matches. The greatest challenges are the Totem Pokemon, a replacement for Gym Leaders that had ridiculous stats and two-on-one scenarios that absolutely test your team.
Unfortunately, these are combined with an incapable rival and a disappointing Elite Four, as well as an easily-resolved final battle with Lusamine. There are some testing moments early on when you're building your team, but once you've reached some final evolved forms, it's going to be a significantly simpler process of burning through opponents.
11 Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire
Despite the remakes being quite weak, the original Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire games are surprisingly challenging in the late-game. There are certainly some early-game challenges like Brawly's Makuhita and the infamous rival fight before the third gym. Still, the real challenges come with a unique double battle in the seventh gym and possibly the hardest Elite Four in the series so far.
Being the third generation of games, there are also some mechanics in this version that are unusually more frustrating, such as all Water-type moves being Special Attacks. It's easy to get used to them, especially for casual players who aren't as concerned about stats, but it's still not a walk in the park unless you do a little research.
10 Pokemon Legends: Arceus
The open nature of Pokemon Legends: Arceus makes it a bit tougher to rank, but we think we've put it about where it belongs. Rather than being handed a bunch of special tools on a silver platter, you've got to craft them; that alone makes enough of a difference to make PLA a little harder than other recent outings.
The fast-paced nature of the trainer battles also contributes, but the real difficulty stars here are the action-packed boss battles. All that said, Legends still isn't half as hard as the really ruthless Pokemon outings - it's noteworthy, however, for offering up more difficulty than other Switch-era Pokemon titles.
9 Pokemon Red & Blue
The classic Pokemon games are a great baseline for difficulty, as the original games have relatively smooth level scaling and wonderfully diverse teams for opponents. What holds it back is a serious balance problem, in that Psychic-type Pokemon like Starmie and Alakazam were grossly overpowered while Rock-types were basically unusable.
This meant the game could be quite easy in some places, but most players would likely have experienced this in a more balanced way. Playing with your own favorite Pokemon will always provide a greater challenge than just using the most overpowered options.
8 Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen
These balance problems were somewhat solved in the remakes of Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen, where many Pokemon were given new moves, abilities, and buffs to make them more relevant. Charmander getting Metal Claw is a prime example, as this new Steel-type move meant that those who chose this Fire-type starter weren't at such a steep disadvantage.
That said, it's not that much different from the original game in terms of difficulty, with some overpowered Pokemon still being as strong as ever. It's still frustrating to see Pokemon like Alakazam utterly obliterate the field.
7 Pokemon Gold & Silver
The real challenge with Pokemon Gold & Silver isn't in its Pokemon selection or Gym Leaders, but instead with its normal trainers. This game ends up feeling like the hardest Pokemon game because of its massive spike in levels later on.
You'll be fighting far more Zubat and Rattata in this game than any other region, and with so many of the new Johto Pokemon not having great moves or stats, you'll be struggling if you want to have more than three or four party members. This game isn't the hardest Pokemon game, but it gets way too difficult if you spread your team out too thin.
6 Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Yellow is in a relatively weird spot in terms of difficulty. On the one hand, it gives players access to all three Kanto starters, alongside a powerful Pikachu to start their team, meaning your team will likely be incredibly powerful compared to the original Kanto games.
On the other hand, there are tons of especially powerful opponents unique to this third version, including conflicts with Team Rocket and a much more intimidating Champion Blue waiting at the end. Not to mention the straight-up wall that is Brock early on; if you don't catch and raise something to supplement Pikachu, you're downright out of luck. We're calling it the toughest Kanto game, but your mileage may vary.
5 Pokemon Emerald
All of the original Hoenn games have managed to hold up really well, with the Elite Four being a great final test and the villain teams being fairly challenging thanks to the reliance on Fire, Water, and Dark-types. The first two games are still certainly great for this, but Emerald succeeds overall as the most challenging of the three.
In terms of quantity, Emerald's inclusion of the Battle Frontier makes for the most challenges and even features a post-game fight with Former Champion Steven. However, we should note that between an increase in the number of trainers per route (thus, more easy-to-snag experience points) and a more forgiving Wally fight near the end (at the beginning of Victory Road, rather than near the end), there's room to argue Ruby & Sapphire are harder in some ways.
4 Pokemon Crystal
Pokemon Crystal is almost perfectly identical to Pokemon Gold & Silver, with the Gym Leaders and your Rival having nearly identical levels and movesets. The main changes that came with Crystal include a new side plot with Suicune and a mix of version exclusives, but there's one key difference in its Pokedex that makes it harder.
That would be the lack of many Johto Pokemon that are widely considered some of the strongest in the game, particularly Ampharos and Girafarig. This will put a lot more pressure on you to find powerful Pokemon. While the variety in the wild is greater, the power levels of your options are made slightly weaker by the greater list of unobtainable Pokemon.
3 Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Platinum surely deserves at least top three placement, and it earns this with all the polish that the original Sinnoh games sorely lacked. This game featured a much more balanced Pokedex, stronger Gym Leaders, a fresh new Battle Frontier, and a much stronger Elite Four to build up to the final showdown with Cynthia.
It hardly feels unfair either, as the game gives you a much wider variety of options for your team that all feel reasonably powerful at the time you encounter them. You might struggle in certain parts of the game, but it's never anything you can't outwit with smart battling and a bit of grinding, and you'll come out of this journey perfectly tested in your skills as a Pokemon trainer.