Pokemon Scarlet And Violet: The Hardest Battles

Highlights

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet introduces more challenging battles with nine gym leaders, the Elite Four, a rival, an evil team, and titan Pokemon. The DLC adds even more difficulty to the games.
The final gym leader, Grusha, poses a threat with ice-type Pokemon. Fire types are countered by Grusha's powerful Beartic, Cetitian, and Altaria.
Director Clavell surprises players with a diverse team of level 60 Pokemon. His team changes to counter the player's starter choice, making strategy planning a nightmare.

The Pokemon games are known for one thing above all: the battles that players have along the way. Assembling a new team of Pokemon in a new region is only necessary as a means to finally defeat every gym leader and rival to become Pokemon Champion. Each of these battles will vary in difficulty throughout a playthrough, and the newest games in the franchise have more challenging battles than ever.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet adds more freedom to the series' formula. As a result, players now need to battle nine gym leaders, the Elite Four, a rival, an evil team, and a series of titan Pokemon. The DLC for this generation has added even more difficulty to the games than before. Therefore, there are some seriously challenging fights in the ninth generation.

8 Grusha

The Final Gym Challenge

The Gym Leader Grusha appearing in a cutscene in Scarlet & Violet

It stands to reason that the final gym leader in the region is one of the most difficult battles in the game. Although players can choose to challenge the gyms in Paldea in any order they want, Grusha still poses a threat even when faced as the final leader in the region. Grusha sits atop the highest peak in the region, and uses a carefully selected team of ice-type Pokemon.

6 Pokemon Gym Leaders Who Need Upgraded Teams

It's safe to say that the following Pokemon gym leaders need a few upgrades for their teams.

The obvious counter to an ice-type leader is a strong fire type. However, Grusha's level 47 Beartic is equipped with both Aqua Jet and Earthquake. If a player's fire Pokemon manage to overpower this beast, then Grusha's bulky Cetitian will certainly cause more trouble with the move Liquidation. Last of all is the gym leader's terastilized ice and dragon type, Altaria. This thing comes with the Moonlight ability, stalling out even the toughest of opponents.

7 Hassel

The Final Elite Four Member

Hassel looking cross while holding a pokeball in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

The dragon type usually makes an appearance as part of the final challenge in a Pokemon game, the Elite Four. In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet,Hassel is the trainer who uses this super-strong type as the fourth Elite Four member the player has to face in a row. Part of the challenge of the Elite Four is having to battle them back-to-back without a trip to the Pokemon Centre. Items between battles help the player progress, but this adds an element of PP and HP management to this challenge.

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Players are hardly rewarded for getting to Hassel during this challenge, though. This trainer has access to a part poison type with Dragalge, and a part grass type with Flapple. This means that players will be fighting off status conditions while also having to battle a terastilized pseudo-legendary in Baxcalibur. Choose a fairy type team member to help beat this challenge.

6 Director Clavell

A Diverse Team Can Be Troublesome

Director Clavell is a surprise battle that pops up at the end of the Team Star story-line. In order for the player to be given permission to go on to battle the leader of this evil team, they must first win against Director Clavell. The head of the Academy may appear to be a friendly ally, but his team of diverse Pokemon are something players should fear.

His team is all level 60, and Clavell finishes the battle by using the regional starter that is the opposite of the player's. Before getting to this final challenge, though, the player must first defeat his team, which also changes to counter the players' starter choice. Clavell will always use a powerful Oranguru and Abomasnow, but the rest of his team will shift between a Gyarados, Houndoom, Amoongus, and Polteageist. This all makes planning a strategy for this battle a nightmare.

5 Ogrepon

The Teal Mask DLC Challenge

Ogrepon Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Teal Mask DLC

The first half of the DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, The Teal Mask, focuses on the legendary Pokemon Ogrepon. This mysterious beast is feared by the local community, and is left to find shelter by hiding in a nearby cave. Ogrepon's reputation as an evil force is misunderstood by the town, and players will get the chance to liberate and catch Ogrepon by the end of this story.

Catching Ogrepon is not as easy as it sounds, however. This legendary Pokemon has a magic set of masks that allow it to terastilize four times before it is defeated. It goes through a fire, water, fighting, and grass phase, and its signature move, Ivy Cudgel, will change type to match its mask. This makes steamrolling this boss battle with one Pokemon almost impossible.

4 Iono

A Difficult Early Challenge

It is rare for such an early gym leader to pose such a unique threat. However, Iono is supposed to be challenged as the third gym leader in Paldea, and she can stop unprepared players in their tracks.

Firstly, her bulky Bellibolt will continue to raise its attack the more it is hit. However, the real challenge is Iono's last Pokemon, Mismagius. This ghost type is terastalized into an electric type with the Levitate ability. As a result, this Pokemon has no weaknesses. It will take a lot of effort for players to get passed this tricky hurdle.

3 Terpagos

The Final Challenge Of The Indigo Disk DLC

The battle against Terapagos in The Indigo Disc DLC is one of the hardest in the game. This special Pokemon is found at the bottom of Area Zero, and the player must fight it first in a simple battle against Kieran. The small legendary still packs a punch though, and can easily take out key team members with its normal, water, and psychic type moves.

The real challenge comes straight after this victory, as Terapagos enters its Stellar Stage. This battle is most like the shielded-stage raids against wild terastilzed Pokemon, and this turtle is a hard nut to crack. Its health goes down slowly, and any Pokemon that is hurt during the first stage of the fight will not be healed before this one. Carmine's Sinischa can help players during this fight, but it is still a complicated slog.

2 Arven

Another Diverse Team

The final challenge in the Titan story arc is fighting Arven and his recently rejuvenated Mabostiff. In this battle, Arven comes to the player with a full team of six Pokemon, and each one is a different type from the last. This makes preparing for this battle a pain.

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Arven starts off as what looks to be an easy challenge by sending out his Greedent. However, this bulky squirrel can regenerate its health and use Earthquake and Psychic to chip away at the player Pokemon's health. Then, it is a tricky slog to take down his uniquely typed grass and fire Pokemon, Scovillain, as well as new challenges like Toadscruel and a Garganacl that likes to set up stealth rocks. His last Pokemon is the ever sturdy Mabostiff, who is brimming with the dark-type Tera Energy.

1 AI Turo Or AI Sada

The Final Boss In The Main Game

Professor Sada and Professor Turo from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Everything in the main story of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet leads up to this final battle, and the trainer the player will face changes depending on the version they are playing. Area Zero is revealed to be the source of a time machine that is bringing the new Paradox forms of Pokemon to Paldea. Players who chose Pokemon Scarlet will fight an AI version of Professor Sada and her team of Paradox Pokemon from the past, and those playing Violet will face AI Turo, and his team of Paradox Pokemon from the future.

Both these teams of six will vary in type match ups depending on the version of the game, but all their Pokemon have one thing in common. All Paradox Pokemon have the stat total of a pseudo-legendary Pokemon. It is rare for anyone in the Pokemon franchise to have more than one of these high-stat Pokemon, but a team of all pseudo-legendaries is a new challenge in the series. In fact, it is the hardest challenge that players will face in all of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.