10 Hardest Battles in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet (& How to Beat Them) (2024)

has many characters that make the game fun and unique, with each character bringing their own distinct design and personality. Most of the time, the player will be able to confront these characters as potential rivals, battling them in an effort to become stronger over the course of the journey, and in doing so forge a new friendship. However, some of these characters are stronger than others.

There are players who are supposed to be powerful but can be easily managed. Some though, provide the necessary challenge that the player characters want. Pokémon Scarlet & Violet even goes the extra mile by mixing up the strategies of their opponents to make them that much more fun to battle. So, here are Paldea's toughest opponents.

10 Poppy Is Young, But One of the Toughest Trainers in Paldea

• Poppy is the first member of the Elite Four the player faces.
• Her Steel-type Pokémon are highly defensive but try to avoid the weaknesses of the type.

Poppy is arguably one of the toughest of the Elite Four due to her specialization in Steel-types. This already gives her a highly defensive team, but matters are made more complicated by the fact that almost half her team circumvents the usual weaknesses of Steel with either secondary types or unique abilities. One of the best examples of this is her Tinkaton, a Fairy/Steel-type. The only way to get past that is with either a Fire or Ground-type for super effective moves.

Likewise, Pokémon such as Bronzong have the ability known as Levitate, which makes them immune to Ground-type attacks. Adding to the difficulty of landing a decent blow is this: Bronzong can activate Light Screen, potentially weakening all Special moves a player's team can use, making it take that much longer to wear down Poppy's team. It makes sense then why such a young girl managed to become one of the top trainers in the Paldea Region.

9 Hassel Lives Up to Past Dragon-type Users

• Hassel's Dragon-type team makes use of high damage and high defense to wear down an opponent.
• Some of them do have some moves that can inflict status conditions.

Like any Dragon-type user, Hassel's team combines durability with high damage output. The trick with Hassel is that the biggest weaknesses to his team are typically other Dragon-types, but as they are the hardest type in the game to catch and acquire, it suddenly becomes that much more challenging to do so. For players who don't have any Dragon-types, their best bet would be to bring in any kind of Fairy-type that can outrun Hassel's team.

Fortunately for players, Hassel's team mostly specializes in damage output with a few rare exceptions. Some of his Pokémon's moves have secondary effects that could hinder a player's team if they manage to go off. For example, his Noivern's use of Air Slash has the potential to make a slower Pokémon flinch, essentially wasting their turn. His Flapple can also use Leech Seed, potentially wearing down a team while restoring the health of Hassel's Pokémon.

8 Ortega's Pokémon Can Take Hits and Strike Back Just as Hard

• Ortega uses Fairy-type Pokémon that have high defensive stats.
• He makes use of status moves to weaken his opponent's team.

Ortega's real advantage comes from most of his Pokémon being highly defensive. Each of the Pokémon on his team is already tough enough to get through unless players set up for a one-hit KO, but if not then they are in for a long battle. Perhaps his most dangerous Pokémon, aside from the Ruchbah Starmobile, is his Azumarill. Sporting several different types of physical attacking moves, this is bolstered by Azumarill's ability, Huge Power, which doubles its Attack stat, making any hit that goes off potentially deadly.

One aspect of the battle with Ortega that adds to the intensity is that all of his Pokémon have moves that can hinder a player's team. From Confuse Ray to Charm, each of these status moves makes it less likely that a player's team will land any hits before the sheer force of Ortega's attacks takes them down. The recommendations for this particular fight are to prepare Pokémon that have both a type advantage over Ortega's team and move faster because if he manages to set up the right conditions, he can wipe out an opponent.

7 Arven's Final Two Pokémon Can Change the Entire Battle

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• Arven's two most dangerous Pokémon are Garganacl and Mabosstiff.
• Both have high attack and defense stats.

The final battle with Arven, at least in the main story, is tough for two reasons: Garganacl and Mabosstiff. The first obstacle is the Garganacl, one of the only pure Rock-type Pokémon in the game. Garganacl's claim to fame is its high attack and defensive stats. With moves that take advantage of both, such as Stone Edge, Earthquake, and Body Press, players can find themselves up against the wall really quickly. In addition, Garganacl possesses the move Stealth Rock, which allows him to lay entry hazards that do damage to Pokémon just coming onto the battlefield. Thankfully, he doesn't break out this Pokémon sooner, nor does he have the move Salt Cure, which can whittle a set amount of damage away from a Pokémon indefinitely.

The next problem is the Mabosstiff. While it does not have as high a defense as Garganacl, it is the Pokémon Arven will terrastrialize, turning it into an even more powerful Dark-type Pokémon. Combining that with Mabosstiff's Crunch attack and players can expect a massive amount of damage done to their team if they are not careful. Fortunately, Dark-type Pokémon have a few weaknesses that can be exploited by the players to make the fight a little more even.

6 Iono Tries to Eliminate Her Team's Weaknesses

• Iono tries to eliminate the sole weakness of Electric-types Pokémon.
• Two of her Pokémon are immune to Ground-type attacks.

The Electric-type Gym Leader Iono takes advantage of her Pokémon's only weakness being Ground-type attacks by eliminating that weakness altogether. Two of her Pokémon are actually immune to Ground-type attacks, meaning players who had hoped for a single strategy to win will need to adapt either on the fly or beforehand to prepare for Iono's team. Adding to the difficulty is that most of her team has high speed stats, allowing them to land blows before most other Pokémon can strike them.

The biggest threat on her team is the final Pokémon, Mismagius. Though a Ghost-type, Iono terrestrializes Mismagius into an Electric-type, allowing its Electric-type move, Charge Beam, to do even more damage. To make matters worse, Charge Beam has a high percent chance of increasing Mismagius' special attack, potentially making its next attack even more powerful. By this stage of the battle, players will either need to have something strong enough to take a few good hits or otherwise have the power to knock Mismagius out in one attack.

5 Ryme Is Unique Among Her Fellow Gym Leaders

• Ryme is a Ghost-type Gym Leader who performs in double battles.
• Her team is designed to guarantee she gets a few hits in.

Ryme is unique among all the Gym Leaders because her battle uses a double system. This means both opponents throw out two Pokémon at the same time. If players don't know this going in, they run the risk of their team not being organized in the most optimal way for the fight. The dual nature of the battle also means players can only gamble on which of Ryme's Pokémon will attack theirs. It all comes down to prioritizing which Pokémon of Ryme's is the biggest threat at the moment. Make no mistake though, at some point or other Ryme will get a hit in.

Her team is composed of Pokémon that can both take a punch and deal it. The Mimikyu is an obstacle that is guaranteed to punish players with its Disguise ability, allowing it to take one attack before finally being vulnerable to being knocked out. The Houdstone also has a high attack and defense stat, meaning it will do some damage before finally being taken down unless players have a Ghost-type on their team to try and dispatch it more quickly.

4 Eri Is the Toughest Member of Team Star

• Eri is the Fighting-type user of Team Star.
• Her Starmobile uses its ability and status moves to become almost unstoppable.

Eri might very well be the toughest member of Team Star, which makes sense considering she is the one responsible for training the team's grunts. As a Fighting-type user, Eri actually has a decent team that can dish out quite a bit of damage before players even make it to her Starmobile. Not all of her Pokémon rely on Fighting moves either, some such as Lucario have a diverse pool of moves that include Dragon Pulse and Dark Pulse, making it especially dangerous if players brought in a Psychic-type in anticipation of Eri's type preferences.

The Starmobile is the true challenge though. It possesses the Stamina ability known, which boosts its defensive stat every time it gets hit. For an already bulky Pokémon, this makes taking it down that much harder. If it can use its status move, Shift Gear though, then players are in deep trouble. This move will raise the attack stat by one stage, and its speed by two. At that point, the Starmobile will outrun, outlast, and overpower anything the player throws its way. This Pokémon must be taken down as quickly as possible.

3 Dondozo's Titan Battle is a Three-Stage Fight

• Dondozo's Titan Battle requires three fights instead of two.
• Dondozo is a naturally bulky Pokémon, making it hard to lower its health quickly.

While not a trainer battle, this is arguably the toughest of the Titan battles. This is because, unlike previous battles, the False Dragon Titan quest is divided into three battles instead of two. The player will face a Titan Dondozo after it consumes a Tatsugiriy, a terrifying opening for any kind of Pokémon battle. Dondozo itself is an incredibly defensive Pokémon, often whittling away at a player's health while it shrugs off most attacks. Once it has been weakened though, it will retreat to its Herba Mystica location.

From there, it will become even more powerful, acquiring the move Order Up, which depending on its form will grant the Pokémon a different kind of stat boost. Considering how bulky it is already, this could potentially make the Dondozo even more of a threat, further diminishing a player's team while they try to chip away at its health. Once this battle is over, the true Titan Pokémon, Tatsugiri, will reappear, but players will be healed by this point so that the fight is more balanced.

2 Nemona's Champion Battle is the Culmination of the Player's Gym Quest

• Nemona uses one of the Paldea Starter Pokémon against the player.
• She uses one of the most balanced teams in the entire game.

Here is the culmination of a player's journey alongside their friend and rival Nemona. She poses a unique challenge as one of the only other trainers in Paldea to use the final evolution of the region's starter Pokémon. Her biggest advantage is how whichever starter she selected can force a player to switch up their strategy. Beyond that, her Pokémon have a nice balance of speed, strength, and defense. Some of the biggest threats on her team though are her Goodra and Pawmot. Goodra is one of the few Pokémon she has that can use special attack moves and its defensive stats make it hard to remove.

Her team though does have one glaring weakness: Fighting-types. At least three of her Pokémon have a vulnerability to Fighting-type moves that can speed along the battle for the players. However, they are still fairly bulky Pokémon and can likely take a hit if the player is not careful. In addition, do not be surprised when Nemona terrestrializes her starter and uses its signature move, which will always do high damage and usually comes with some sort of stat boost.

1 Professor Sada and Professor Turo Challenge Players with the Unknown

• Professor Sada and Turo use Pokémon the player has never seen before.
• They also possess high stats making them potent even without their stat boosts.

This is considered to be the toughest battle in the entire main game. Whether it is Professor Sada or Turo, the key disadvantage most players have when battling the Paradox Pokémon these rogue professors break out is that they are seeing them for the very first time. This means they have no idea what the types of the Pokémon are, let alone what kind of moves or stat they might have. This is a serious hindrance as it forces the player to think tactically and make their best guess about what moves to use.

Increasing the danger to the player's team is that even without their unique stat-boosting abilities, the Paradox Pokémon are among some of the most powerful in the entire franchise. High stats are common for these Pokémon as a rule and as such they can be incredibly dangerous if the player isn't prepared or does not have the proper leveling to match them. Still, all these complications actually make it one of the most thrilling and rewarding experiences in the entire game.

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

RPG

Franchise

Pokemon

Platform(s)

Switch

Released

November 18, 2022

Developer(s)

Game Freak

Publisher(s)

Nintendo , The Pokemon Company

ESRB

E For Everyone Due To Mild Fantasy Violence

How Long To Beat

32 Hours

Metascore

72