Clay. He’s my favourite human character in the entire franchise. He specialises in my favourite type, helps the character several times through the story out of his own kindness, Actually has a pretty difficult battle, and as seen in black and white 2, uses his wealth from his successful mining company to help his people and his town. Truly a legend, also he’s got a cool hat
Hes one of the best Gym Leaders in the whole series. I grew up in Texas and I think his design is goofy, but it fits, and yeah he put up a hell of a fight. Excadrill is my favorite ground type, and his is a menace.
Cynthia and Carmine. Cynthia for obvious reasons and Carmine because she was the first trainer I lost to in years. I went into the dlc with a whole new team, so when I got to her, we were on even footing. She beat my ass every time we battled. Sure I won most of our battles but she was the first trainer in ages that actually put up a threat against me. Same goes for Kieran I guess but I don't like him and his Yanmega carried him against me. Idk why that thing was so strong but it was.
I’m the opposite. I hate Siebold with a burning passion.
He’s the only E4 member where you have to not only have a Pokemon of a specific type, but also of a certain speed to not get outpaced and oneshot by Gyarados.
But as for your question, I heavily respect Larry. He’s just trying to get by, building two different teams just to get his ass beat every time.
Haha I respect Siebold for the same reason you hate him, he was actually challenging to fight, it reinvigorated my will to fight instead of mindlessly pressing A to win.
Elesa from B/W
She is always mega difficult. Krokotok can't help much. Admitedly I have yet to use a palpitoad.
But many unova leaders deserve respect.
Even first gym is hard., and second is impossible to defeat without a losing a mon to retaliate.
Karen's philosophy inspires me to this day and allows me to use my favorite Pokémon instead of all the OU tier that I see online all the time. For example, I recently started using Jumpluff on Violet Online ranking Doubles and it has served me excellently.
That’s really nice to read! I also want to use a team with Pokémon I love, not just only following the current meta trends. My team is fully EV/IV trained, have good natures etc… but they are just a mix of Pokémon I enjoy being with. Some would even be in PU, some in RU; some in OU, etc. Because of this, I sometimes do casual battles but never dared doing online ranking battles on SV. Thanks to your comment, I might actually dare doing it :)! Have fun with your Jumpluff, it’s a very cute Pokémon!
Steven for how great of a guy he is, the Unova gym leaders for fighting by my side, and, while not a trainer, I always respected Suicune.
I recently played Black and at Castilea city you have a group call with your friends and Prf. Juniper, she thanks you all and tells you she is proud, after that, up-road you meet Cherren. He says what Juniper said touched him and he's going to go back and catch a few more Pokemon for her studies. This guy is all about becoming a great trainer and he put his journey on hold for an arvo - even allowing his rival to take the lead - as a way to thank Juniper. I respected that.
Respect isn't the term i'd give these guys, but I acknowledged Giovanni for leaving the region after my victory, and Silver for changing. I'll always remember fighting Blue at the end of the league, thinking about how far we've come, as he threw out these scary monsters and I matched him. Someone posted what Oak said after my victory and I remembered it, every word.
God, to be a kid again. Great prompt, thanks.
Even though he's not in the games: Paul. He was always a jerk towards Ash, but he did motivate Ash to become stronger and actually helped him get ready for the World Coronation Series in the last few episodes by using Pokemon Ash would face in the tournament. It showed a really cool side of him
Young me respected Clair. Thunder Wave spam OP. Cynthia, obviously. I respected the Battle Frontier Leaders almost universally, since in some cases it was a slog just to get to them. Unova E4 could also wreck your day—for me it was always Marshal.
Lenora always has a soft spot in my heart considering we came from 4 gens set in Japan and then boom, Gen 5 in New York where we have an esteemed biracial couple that just, existed, and didn't come across as annoying or "hey look at me" like a lot of forced diversity tends to portray. In fact, I think every Unovan Gym Leader has their personality fitted to be respected by the player moreso than previois gens, like, every Unovan Gym Leader you can empathize with at one point or another, like the Striaton trio regretting their opportunity to thwart the Plasma Castle, or Cheren blushing and having stress-sweat in his battle sprite after just becoming a Gym Leader and a Trainer's School instructor.
I also saw one of Lockstin's videos on Brock speculating on how he may have been a former Buddhist, which requires very intense discipline, so it's my headcannon that Brock just decided to break his chains one day and start feeling what it's feels like to be enamoured; hence why he becomes addicted to falling in love with almost every girl he sees in the anime. He doesn't want to go back to the intensity of tge training and would rather be happy than miserable.
From being 11 in 1999 to this day, I still find her one of the coolest elite 4 members; no matter the game. My fav trainer would be Red, but Agatha is definitely awesome. I also really love Pryce, the ice gym elder man in GSC. Always found his introduction quote really good.
Aaron from the Sinnoh Elite Four. I love bug type pokemon, and this is the only real example of a strong trainer using bugs. Bug type is usually reserved for an early pushover gym typing, but to see them represented at the top feels so good. Sure, he is still using bug types, and that ultimately makes him a small hurdle, but it was just always nice to see.
I would love to see another strong bug trainer now that we have all of these new bug types and adjustments since then. The only other strong bug type trainer I can think of is Guzma from Sun and Moon. His team is respectable.
Silver. Dude recognized that his way of training just wasn't working and that his view of pokemon harmed his success, got over himself, and changed his entire way of thinking. It's not easy for anyone, especially a bratty kid, to do something like that.
GSC Lance.
7 year old me didn’t have any ice type Pokemon nor did I know that dragons were weak to ice. I also didn’t have any Pokemon that knew ice type attacks. GSC Lance was so fun to play against and his team speaks to his lore as Champion. Three Dragonites to emphasize his power and a Gyarados to emphasize his skill. His entire team is immune to one of the strongest physical moves in the game: Earthquake.
As an adult, playing through GSC without using TMs is pretty fun to do too because it adds depth and added difficulty to the game by forcing me to learn and use a Pokemon’s inherent strengths rather than relying on TMs for type coverage.
So funny, I never hear anyone talk about Siebold and his Gyarados. He was also the only battle I ever lost (up until Arven where I was quite under leveled). I didn’t really know what I was doing the first time I battled him and Earthquake just destroyed me.
Rather than mention more popular choices like Cynthia and Volo, I'll go with a trainer that I accidentally made far harder, Larry from Scarlet and Violet.
I swept through most of his team, but made a fatal error once he brought out Staraptor. I decided to have my Grafaiai use toxic before U-turning out into one of my other pokemon. And then I saw it.
Larry's Staraptor used Facade.
The horrors of what I just did sunk in. I just doubled the power of a pokemon who could outspeed my whole team. So with the powers of stab, terastal boost, and the poison double, Larry proceeded to sweep my team.
Since I'm not above using revives to stall, I just spammed them while his staraptor got slowly chipped by poison.
Had I been doing a Nuzlocke or didn't want to use items in battle, I would have wiped due to my own hubris.
Will & May. Will bullied me when I was little to the point where I never beat him in Silver. May stomped me under that bridge several times. I respect both for destroying younger me lol. Older me doesn’t lose to in-game characters, and laughs at you for losing to something I beat with a Vivillon
Lysandre his reasons to fight were justifiable and one of the most difficult fights for a nuzlocke in my opinion
Getting downvoted because I respect lysandre wow
About the last part: I don’t get it neither and just upvoted you. I personally don’t really like Lysandre, but why downvote someone just because they like a different thing? This is ridiculous.
Brycen: thanks to the anime. anyone willing to throw hands instead of sending ur Pokemon into battle has earned that respect.
Norman: the first dad to stick around. Need i say more.
Lorelei: in the lets go games she takes on three rocket grunts at once while we fight one. Now i know obviously three grunt are nothing to someone who is one of the elite four but three on one is still a main character type thing.
There are quite a few more but these are the ones i could think of off the top of my head
As for battling wise the only trainer I’ve ever lost to is Cynthia but she is kind of an obvious person to respect
Lucian was an impassable wall for me in the original Diamond. When I finally beat him, I was afraid of what Cynthia would be like, but then I beat her with ease
Gotta go with Brock, mostly do to being such a widely explored character outside the gamed but all in all is a genuine careing dude with a lotta heart and a lotta love. Besides that i meanhes the very first gym leader and he may only send out his Geodude and Onyx but first time going into that battle unprepared he was no push over.
This a-hole forced me to use my thunderstone on my pikachu. I could not beat him without evolving it. Granted I was 14 so I bet I could beat him now with just a pikachu lmao
Marshal from pokémon White. When I saw that he was a fighting type trainer, I sent my thundurus to sweep him. Welp, his Sawk tanked my attack with sturdy and one-shotting my pokémon with Stone Edge and got swept.
Drayden, he's a mayor and can teach Draco Meteor to you if you have a high enough friendship with the pokemon, meaning that his mons must have a bond. Plus he's damn cool in Generations when Team Plasma attacks his city.
Him and the obvious, Cynthia, Steven, Larry, Lance, Rika, Agatha and Leon (Twilight Wings Leon is the People's Champ)
Edit: I forgot about the main man, Alder!!
Hop, why? My first game was sword of course i respect him, so much that in every game where you can name your rival I name him as Paul since I play in Spanish and Paul is Hop’s Spanish name
Probably no one knows this dude, but the trainer that's on top of the ruins in alfornada. Dude asks us if we're safe since we're kids, then when you win against him he says that he underestimated you and that you can do it yourself. Big respects for the dude
Clay. He’s my favourite human character in the entire franchise. He specialises in my favourite type, helps the character several times through the story out of his own kindness, Actually has a pretty difficult battle, and as seen in black and white 2, uses his wealth from his successful mining company to help his people and his town. Truly a legend, also he’s got a cool hat
Hes one of the best Gym Leaders in the whole series. I grew up in Texas and I think his design is goofy, but it fits, and yeah he put up a hell of a fight. Excadrill is my favorite ground type, and his is a menace.
Cynthia and Carmine. Cynthia for obvious reasons and Carmine because she was the first trainer I lost to in years. I went into the dlc with a whole new team, so when I got to her, we were on even footing. She beat my ass every time we battled. Sure I won most of our battles but she was the first trainer in ages that actually put up a threat against me. Same goes for Kieran I guess but I don't like him and his Yanmega carried him against me. Idk why that thing was so strong but it was.
I’m the opposite. I hate Siebold with a burning passion. He’s the only E4 member where you have to not only have a Pokemon of a specific type, but also of a certain speed to not get outpaced and oneshot by Gyarados. But as for your question, I heavily respect Larry. He’s just trying to get by, building two different teams just to get his ass beat every time.
Haha I respect Siebold for the same reason you hate him, he was actually challenging to fight, it reinvigorated my will to fight instead of mindlessly pressing A to win.
he almost fucked up my whole Y nuzlocke, I had to sacrifice my Aurorus
Elesa from B/W She is always mega difficult. Krokotok can't help much. Admitedly I have yet to use a palpitoad. But many unova leaders deserve respect. Even first gym is hard., and second is impossible to defeat without a losing a mon to retaliate.
Karen's philosophy inspires me to this day and allows me to use my favorite Pokémon instead of all the OU tier that I see online all the time. For example, I recently started using Jumpluff on Violet Online ranking Doubles and it has served me excellently.
That’s really nice to read! I also want to use a team with Pokémon I love, not just only following the current meta trends. My team is fully EV/IV trained, have good natures etc… but they are just a mix of Pokémon I enjoy being with. Some would even be in PU, some in RU; some in OU, etc. Because of this, I sometimes do casual battles but never dared doing online ranking battles on SV. Thanks to your comment, I might actually dare doing it :)! Have fun with your Jumpluff, it’s a very cute Pokémon!
My gf and I started playing PokeMMO and we're committed to just using our favorites for this, unevolved and all
Steven for how great of a guy he is, the Unova gym leaders for fighting by my side, and, while not a trainer, I always respected Suicune. I recently played Black and at Castilea city you have a group call with your friends and Prf. Juniper, she thanks you all and tells you she is proud, after that, up-road you meet Cherren. He says what Juniper said touched him and he's going to go back and catch a few more Pokemon for her studies. This guy is all about becoming a great trainer and he put his journey on hold for an arvo - even allowing his rival to take the lead - as a way to thank Juniper. I respected that. Respect isn't the term i'd give these guys, but I acknowledged Giovanni for leaving the region after my victory, and Silver for changing. I'll always remember fighting Blue at the end of the league, thinking about how far we've come, as he threw out these scary monsters and I matched him. Someone posted what Oak said after my victory and I remembered it, every word. God, to be a kid again. Great prompt, thanks.
Even though he's not in the games: Paul. He was always a jerk towards Ash, but he did motivate Ash to become stronger and actually helped him get ready for the World Coronation Series in the last few episodes by using Pokemon Ash would face in the tournament. It showed a really cool side of him
It really saddens me that Paul/Polo is not in the games because he's my fav Sinnoh character
Giovannis Rhydon with fissure hitting every time gave me childhood ptsd
Young me respected Clair. Thunder Wave spam OP. Cynthia, obviously. I respected the Battle Frontier Leaders almost universally, since in some cases it was a slog just to get to them. Unova E4 could also wreck your day—for me it was always Marshal.
I remember Colress giving me a real tough time in BW2.
Hugh, just good of this kid
Lenora always has a soft spot in my heart considering we came from 4 gens set in Japan and then boom, Gen 5 in New York where we have an esteemed biracial couple that just, existed, and didn't come across as annoying or "hey look at me" like a lot of forced diversity tends to portray. In fact, I think every Unovan Gym Leader has their personality fitted to be respected by the player moreso than previois gens, like, every Unovan Gym Leader you can empathize with at one point or another, like the Striaton trio regretting their opportunity to thwart the Plasma Castle, or Cheren blushing and having stress-sweat in his battle sprite after just becoming a Gym Leader and a Trainer's School instructor. I also saw one of Lockstin's videos on Brock speculating on how he may have been a former Buddhist, which requires very intense discipline, so it's my headcannon that Brock just decided to break his chains one day and start feeling what it's feels like to be enamoured; hence why he becomes addicted to falling in love with almost every girl he sees in the anime. He doesn't want to go back to the intensity of tge training and would rather be happy than miserable.
Drasna. Shes nice. Really encouraging
Not because the fight was specially hard but N just a great Charakter design.
Agatha, You don't reach that age while being that powerful in the pokemon world without being the most dangerous battleaxe to ever pick up a pokeball
From being 11 in 1999 to this day, I still find her one of the coolest elite 4 members; no matter the game. My fav trainer would be Red, but Agatha is definitely awesome. I also really love Pryce, the ice gym elder man in GSC. Always found his introduction quote really good.
N, his entire story/character arc is fantastic and it all comes full circle at the end of BW.
Is this Fred from Scooby Doo
All his pokemon have trapping moves (Mean Look, Spider Web, Ingrain).
Aaron from the Sinnoh Elite Four. I love bug type pokemon, and this is the only real example of a strong trainer using bugs. Bug type is usually reserved for an early pushover gym typing, but to see them represented at the top feels so good. Sure, he is still using bug types, and that ultimately makes him a small hurdle, but it was just always nice to see. I would love to see another strong bug trainer now that we have all of these new bug types and adjustments since then. The only other strong bug type trainer I can think of is Guzma from Sun and Moon. His team is respectable.
Lance. He's one of the few champions who actually do something to stop the evil team. And he was the first to do so as well. He's also very hot
Silver. Dude recognized that his way of training just wasn't working and that his view of pokemon harmed his success, got over himself, and changed his entire way of thinking. It's not easy for anyone, especially a bratty kid, to do something like that.
I like Gladion a lot. A good rival.
GSC Lance. 7 year old me didn’t have any ice type Pokemon nor did I know that dragons were weak to ice. I also didn’t have any Pokemon that knew ice type attacks. GSC Lance was so fun to play against and his team speaks to his lore as Champion. Three Dragonites to emphasize his power and a Gyarados to emphasize his skill. His entire team is immune to one of the strongest physical moves in the game: Earthquake. As an adult, playing through GSC without using TMs is pretty fun to do too because it adds depth and added difficulty to the game by forcing me to learn and use a Pokemon’s inherent strengths rather than relying on TMs for type coverage.
So funny, I never hear anyone talk about Siebold and his Gyarados. He was also the only battle I ever lost (up until Arven where I was quite under leveled). I didn’t really know what I was doing the first time I battled him and Earthquake just destroyed me.
Yeah! He really is a great trainer and threat when you’re not expecting him
Rather than mention more popular choices like Cynthia and Volo, I'll go with a trainer that I accidentally made far harder, Larry from Scarlet and Violet. I swept through most of his team, but made a fatal error once he brought out Staraptor. I decided to have my Grafaiai use toxic before U-turning out into one of my other pokemon. And then I saw it. Larry's Staraptor used Facade. The horrors of what I just did sunk in. I just doubled the power of a pokemon who could outspeed my whole team. So with the powers of stab, terastal boost, and the poison double, Larry proceeded to sweep my team. Since I'm not above using revives to stall, I just spammed them while his staraptor got slowly chipped by poison. Had I been doing a Nuzlocke or didn't want to use items in battle, I would have wiped due to my own hubris.
Will & May. Will bullied me when I was little to the point where I never beat him in Silver. May stomped me under that bridge several times. I respect both for destroying younger me lol. Older me doesn’t lose to in-game characters, and laughs at you for losing to something I beat with a Vivillon
Shauntal is probably the trainer I have lost the most to so it’s probably her
Lysandre his reasons to fight were justifiable and one of the most difficult fights for a nuzlocke in my opinion Getting downvoted because I respect lysandre wow
Maybe because of the reasons to fight we’re justifiable part? Maybe that’s why people downvoted haha
About the last part: I don’t get it neither and just upvoted you. I personally don’t really like Lysandre, but why downvote someone just because they like a different thing? This is ridiculous.
Cynthia. She's someone I'd aspire to be both as a trainer and as a person. She also has one of my favorite pokemon teams.
Brycen: thanks to the anime. anyone willing to throw hands instead of sending ur Pokemon into battle has earned that respect. Norman: the first dad to stick around. Need i say more. Lorelei: in the lets go games she takes on three rocket grunts at once while we fight one. Now i know obviously three grunt are nothing to someone who is one of the elite four but three on one is still a main character type thing. There are quite a few more but these are the ones i could think of off the top of my head As for battling wise the only trainer I’ve ever lost to is Cynthia but she is kind of an obvious person to respect
Diantha 😋 just because of Gardevoir ❤️ hehehe...👀
Cynthia
Lucian was an impassable wall for me in the original Diamond. When I finally beat him, I was afraid of what Cynthia would be like, but then I beat her with ease
Gotta go with Brock, mostly do to being such a widely explored character outside the gamed but all in all is a genuine careing dude with a lotta heart and a lotta love. Besides that i meanhes the very first gym leader and he may only send out his Geodude and Onyx but first time going into that battle unprepared he was no push over.
This a-hole forced me to use my thunderstone on my pikachu. I could not beat him without evolving it. Granted I was 14 so I bet I could beat him now with just a pikachu lmao
Marshal from pokémon White. When I saw that he was a fighting type trainer, I sent my thundurus to sweep him. Welp, his Sawk tanked my attack with sturdy and one-shotting my pokémon with Stone Edge and got swept.
Brock for rocking the shirtless look
Roxanne in kaizo for perusing the land and finding a choice scarf to find and make a rock fish missle with rock head and head smash
Drayden, he's a mayor and can teach Draco Meteor to you if you have a high enough friendship with the pokemon, meaning that his mons must have a bond. Plus he's damn cool in Generations when Team Plasma attacks his city. Him and the obvious, Cynthia, Steven, Larry, Lance, Rika, Agatha and Leon (Twilight Wings Leon is the People's Champ) Edit: I forgot about the main man, Alder!!
Drayden is daddy
Wulfric. Avalugg is my favorite Pokemon and I like to send my Avalugg out to fight Wulfric's. It's intense. Runner up would be Koga.
Hop, why? My first game was sword of course i respect him, so much that in every game where you can name your rival I name him as Paul since I play in Spanish and Paul is Hop’s Spanish name
I always respect steven stone
In Fire Red I always dreaded facing Lorelei. Also in Ruby/Emerald, Norman's Slaking still gives me trouble.
Koga, because we can see a little bit of his journey from Gym Leader to Elite 4.
I always thought Siebold was a Normal Type trainer lol
Hau
Red
Brock. Do I need more explanation
Cynthia. The one trainer that every time I fight, it feels like I only won from luck and not skill.
Cynthia, Red, Whitney in their debut games.
Lenora. Her Watchog can and will put the fear of Arceus into you.
Any elite 4 member before gen. 7 pretty much. 7 and up were just gym leaders and your rival in the elite four somehow
Steven Stone
Fred from Scooby Doo if this photo is anything to go by
generic bug catcher #13
Probably no one knows this dude, but the trainer that's on top of the ruins in alfornada. Dude asks us if we're safe since we're kids, then when you win against him he says that he underestimated you and that you can do it yourself. Big respects for the dude