The 10 HARDEST Gyms In Pokemon Games

Hammerlocke Stadium

“Pokémon Sword” & “Shield” (2019)

Even in the more recent games, with strategies and tactics having evolved, dragon types are still some of the more intimidating to face in battle. At Hammerlocke Stadium, players must face three trainers in Double Battles, each of which utilizes a different weather condition, which just adds another factor to consider. While these aren’t too terrible, the leader, Raihan, is one of the most challenging fights in the game. His Gigalith summons a sand storm as soon as it enters, which increases its special defense while hurting your team. His Sandaconda also produces a sand storm as soon as it takes damage, and he’ll Gigantamax his Duraludon at the first opportunity. It’s a lot to deal with.

Mossdeep City Gym

“Pokémon Ruby” & Sapphire” (2003)

This Psychic-type gym features a huge system of tiles that whisk you off in the direction they’re pointing. And there are switches you must pull to change the direction of certain tiles. The whole thing makes avoiding any trainers pretty much impossible. Meaning, you’ll probably have to leave, heal, and reactivate all those switches. On top of the powerful Psychic Pokémon, Tate and Liza can also be a pain, since they’re the only leaders in the game that offer a double battle. While in “Ruby” and “Sapphire,” they fight with Lunatone and Solrock, the enhanced “Emerald” gives them each an extra Pokémon. The use of Sunny Day to make it so Solrock’s Solar Beam doesn’t require an extra turn to charge is particularly deadly.

Fuchsia City Gym

“Pokémon Red” & “Blue” (1998)

No matter the RPG, dealing with Poison is a huge hassle. And so, when players found themselves in a Poison-type gym in the original games, they may have found themselves overwhelmed. Especially considering most of the trainers used Psychic and Ground-types that just know Poison attacks. There’s also the annoyance of having to navigate a maze of invisible walls in order to reach the leader, Koga. He really does use Poison-types though, four of them. And he doesn’t hesitate to use attacks that will have your team take extra damage. If you didn’t have a healthy supply of Antidotes on hand, the trainers inside the Fuchsia City Gym would make you regret it.

Laverre City Gym

“Pokémon X” & “Y” (2013)

With the introduction of Fairy-types, “Pokémon X” and “Y” gave us a pretty challenging gym in Laverre City. Not only did you have to make it through a warp panel puzzle, with trainers waiting at each turn. But those trainers packed Pokémon that players were still getting used to, acting as complete foils to Dragon-types with the highest special defense of any type on average. Worst of all, of course, was the fight against the gym’s leader, Valerie. Her Mawile’s dual Steel/Fairy type made it extra durable, Mr. Mime’s psychic moves could reduce the damage it took, and her Sylveon, while just being generally strong, also had the ability Cute Charm, which had a chance to infatuate your Pokémon if it landed a direct hit, making it so they wouldn’t attack it again.

Hearthome City Gym

“Pokémon Diamond” & “Pearl” (2007)

Even though they had a weakness by this point, Hearthome City Gym shows that Ghost-types are still not to be underestimated. Each floor features a math puzzle that, if you get it wrong, leads to a trainer battle. Going up against teams of Ghost-types is no joke. Since there aren’t that many Dark-types, your other option to hit their weakness is your own Ghost Pokémon, which is naturally a risk. Regardless, leader Fantina’s line-up of Drifblim, Gengar, and Mismagius is a nightmare to contend with. Gengar and Mismagius’ use of Confuse Ray makes them absolute menaces, regardless of what type you’re using. Mismagius also uses Shadow Ball, one of the more problematic Ghost-type attacks.

Blackthorn City Gym

“Pokémon Gold” & “Silver” (2000)

Here we have another Dragon-type gym, and one that’s equally annoying due to its leader. To reach Clair, you must first push boulders through specific holes on the gym’s second floor in order to cross lava on the first, all while dealing with trainers. Your only option for type advantage is to hit them with ice or dragon-type attacks. However, Clair naturally isn’t so easily dealt with. She has three Dragonairs; on top of each knowing Thunder Wave, which has a chance to paralyze your Pokémon, they each know an attack that can target certain weaknesses: Surf, Thunder Bolt, and Ice Beam. Her final Pokemon is a Kingdra, which negates any Ice-type advantage you may have been hoping for, since it is a dual Water/Dragon-type.

Nimbasa City Gym

“Pokémon Black” & “White” (2011)

What makes this Electric-type gym tough is that it goes against what you’d expect. Designed like a theme park, it consists of several roller coaster cars that take you to different areas. The trainers you’ll find either use Emolga or Blitzle. The problem with Emolga is that it’s a flying type, on top of an electric one. That means if you were hoping to use Ground-type attacks to gain advantage over the Electric-types, its flight makes it completely immune. Blitzle, on the other hand, knows Flame Charge. So if you used Grass-types to gain resistance, that move would be your undoing. Elesa, the leader, uses two Emolgas and Blitzle’s evolved form, Zebstrika. As a mid-game gym leader, she’s understandably pretty tough.

Goldenrod City Gym “Pokémon Gold” & “Silver” (2000)

It has been decades, yet there are scores of players who still share trauma over the fight against Whitney, the leader of the Goldenrod City Gym. In all honesty, most of the gym, which specializes in Normal-types, isn’t too strenuous. There aren’t any puzzles, and the Pokemon the trainers use aren’t all that powerful. But then you get to Whitney, who uses a Clefairy and a Miltank. It’s that stupid cow Pokémon that caused so many of us to rage. Attract causes Pokémon of the opposite gender to not attack, and Milk Drink can refill half of its HP. But the move that everyone really struggled with was Rollout. This Rock-type attack takes up five turns, but grows stronger after every hit. Miltank could literally roll through your team, earning it iconicism and notoriety.

Petalburg City Gym “Pokémon Ruby” & Sapphire” (2003)

Another Normal-type gym, the challenge here lies not necessarily in the Pokémon the trainers use, but in what items accompany their fight. Each room comes with a sign, warning you what to expect. For example, the trainer inside the Zero Reduction room will use a Guard Spec., preventing stat reduction, while the trainer inside the One-Hit KO room will use a Dire Hit, which boosts their Pokémon’s critical hit rate. Once you make it through three rooms, you’ll find Norman, the leader and your father, who is best described as a tank. Norman uses two Slakings with one Vigoroth in between them. Although Slaking’s ability, Truant, makes it inactive every other turn, the Slack Off move can restore half its HP while Yawn puts your Pokemon to sleep after a turn. They’re also incredibly beefy, with a lot of health and high base attack.

Saffron City Gym “Pokémon Red” & “Blue” (1998)

The Psychic-type gym in Saffron City is the hardest found in the original games. You’ll have to make it through a series of warp tiles, which makes avoiding trainers and leaving to heal difficult. Also, at this point, Psychic-types were pretty overpowered. In terms of type advantages, you could either use Ghost-types, of which there were very few, or Bug-types, which were very weak. Even still, a couple trainers had Ghost-types, which were a pain. At the end, you were greeted by Sabrina, who utilized a team of heavy hitters with impressive stats. Kadabra, Mr. Mime, and Alakazam all had the capability of messing you up. And there was even a Venomoth in the middle just to throw you off. Sabrina makes some of the later fights in Gen I look like a cakewalk.

Did we leave off a gym that gave you a hard time? Share your trials and tribulations in the comments. And if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great gaming videos every day!