Were there any basic NPC trainers that gave you some trouble?

[Lyrebird]

A few near the end of Victory Road. By then a lot of HP done and dusted and trying to grind as well.

 

[Boss1708]

An NPC in BW2, near the Plasma Frigate in the post game, he took my team down, twice I think. And then I beat Colress on the first try...

 

[Osprey]

Funny how everyone complains about how XY were too easy, but some of the most difficult NPC fights I can remember came from that game. Frank & Sly, Hawlucha girl, the guy with the Volbeat... oh, and the duo with the Furfrou. They can wipe you out if you're not prepared.

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

I've never had a problem with NPCs because I always have my Pokemon levels 5-10 levels higher than what's in the area. That is, until the invention of Sky Battles, probably because of how limited those things are. There was a Sky Trainer in X and Y that caught me off-guard because they had an Aerodactyl and I had nothing to counter it (all I had was Charizard). It went exactly as you'd expect it to go; poorly.

I bet you the designers knew exactly that people would only have Charizard or Talonflame as their only Flying-type and wanted to add that Aerodactyl fight in there for that sole purpose.

 

[planet Jane]

There is an umbrella girl somewhere in Sapphire (I think it's that game anyway) that has a shockingly well-coordinated Rain Dance team for an NPC.

Easy to get caught off-guard. Though I'm struggling to remember what specifically was on said team.

 

[Arcalargo]

Youngster Calvin on Kanto Route 3, a lvl 14 Spearow is not difficult normally but in a Nuzlocke it is a deadly thing when you just can't get a good anti flyer. I will normally lose one, sometimes two pokés to that Jerkbird. Normally for me thought, I'm over leveled and NPC's just can't touch me. It's just the early ones where you can get bit in the ass by a crit that are the most troublesome for me.

 

[Almonds]

That ace trainer duo in Pearl. I don't remember their exact team, but one of them had a Gyarados, and I got KO'd to them.

Just googled and discovered it was Dennis and Maya.

 

[PanicAttack]

There's one female Jr. Trainer on Route 10 right after Rock Tunnel in Red that caused me the only blackout I had in my recent playthrough. She only has Pidgey and Pidgeotto, but after the slog that is Rock Tunnel, my team was in no fit state for a battle.

 

[Silverwynde]

I had trouble with Cooltrainer Jennifer in Sapphire. She has a Milotic, and it's surprisingly strong. It kept spamming Recover and Water Pulse. I barely managed to beat her - I literally had one Pokemon left when I was through with her.

Ugh, her. I remember her on my Ruby play-through and she was enraging. Every single time I had that Milotic on the ropes it would use Recover, which made me want to scream. I was able to beat her but my healing items took a severe hit and I pretty much swore off ever raising a Feebas to use on an in-game team, I hated Milotic so much after that.

 

[Zexy]

Cool Trainer Brooke in the Route 111-113 border gave me some trouble in some run. It was Pokemon Emerald with Treecko as my starter if I remember correctly.

Route 210 in Platinum was also full of strong Trainers. Including a tag team duo with a Gyarados and a Lightningrod Pokemon.

 

[Muur]

I've never had a problem with NPCs because I always have my Pokemon levels 5-10 levels higher than what's in the area. That is, until the invention of Sky Battles, probably because of how limited those things are. There was a Sky Trainer in X and Y that caught me off-guard because they had an Aerodactyl and I had nothing to counter it (all I had was Charizard). It went exactly as you'd expect it to go; poorly.

I bet you the designers knew exactly that people would only have Charizard or Talonflame as their only Flying-type and wanted to add that Aerodactyl fight in there for that sole purpose.

Indeed, I got wrecked by that Aerodactly since i also only had a Charizard lol... only battle I actually got wiped out in.

 

[Aphrodite]

That one doctor NPC in B2W2 that had a Clefable (I don't remember his location, but I think it was on one of the mountains)
.

Oh gosh. Worst moment of my life. Ye second time around when I played this game, I was at least prepared with a Zangoose with Close Combat to take this out. This battle took forever, the first time, though.

Another one also in the same Victory Road was some trainer (it might have been a female Ace Trainer) with a Darmanitan. Almost slaughtered my team. I had to outmaneuver it with lots of switching and healing, but I came out unscathed somehow...

And, also, a pair of Ace Trainers in the foggy route in Sinnoh. Specifically the one that had a Gyarados, and I think one also had Raichu. Horrible fight.

 

[zakisrage]

Funny how everyone complains about how XY were too easy, but some of the most difficult NPC fights I can remember came from that game. Frank & Sly, Hawlucha girl, the guy with the Volbeat... oh, and the duo with the Furfrou. They can wipe you out if you're not prepared.

Dear God, those ****ing Furfrou were a nightmare. I lost to them TWICE. (Luckily, the second time I saved my game before fighting them, but it was still annoying.) I didn't go back to beat them until after I beat Grant.

Ugh, her. I remember her on my Ruby play-through and she was enraging. Every single time I had that Milotic on the ropes it would use Recover, which made me want to scream. I was able to beat her but my healing items took a severe hit and I pretty much swore off ever raising a Feebas to use on an in-game team, I hated Milotic so much after that.

I felt the same way about Milotic. Wallace's Milotic was actually easier than hers. I remember that in Emerald they replaced her Milotic with a Sableye (which had no weaknesses at the time, but is a lot weaker than Milotic) because apparently people thought she was too hard. Surprisingly, Jennifer was easier in ORAS (at least for me - I've heard people having problems with her in ORAS too).

 

[Alola]

The battle girl in Reflection Cave (I think) with the Hawlucha. It's so random and unexpected, not to mention the Hawlucha is most likely faster than all of your current Pokemon while also having a higher BST. You can't paralyze it to slow it down (and it had Roost to heal!) and it proceeded to whallop my team after KOing Pikachu. It took about 2-3 Pokemon afterwards to bring it down.

Afterwards I smiled a bit for Gamefreak actually presenting an in-game challenge outside of notable Gym Leaders.

 

[zoroarctic]

2 in XY. First was the Sky Trainer outside Frost Cavern with the Swanna that knows Ice Beam. But the real nightmare was the female Ace Trainer in victory road with the Weavile. I decided to switch out to start the battle, giving Weavile a free power up. The results weren't pretty.

 

[Life]

Can't think of any, nope. Though I don't typically have problems with any trainers since my team is usually diverse enough to handle whatever needs to be dealt with. I vaguely remember the Battle Girl in XY with Hawlucha, but I can't imagine her giving me much trouble since my Doublade and Floette probably were enough to deal with it.

 

[henrymidfields]

Don't remember any except BW1, but I say that I couldn't work out my Pokémon effectively in the early part of the game. BW2 had the Victory Road Ace Trainer with Ampharos, but given how the Ampharos line is considered generally good, that was to be expected.

 

[ThatFireDragoon]

One in emerald. Cooltrainer Marcel before Lilycove City. I was nuzlocking the game and I had the misfortune of stepping into him.
His manectric proceeded to demolish my team, whenever I switched to my gardevoir to counter him he sent out Shiftry.
I can remember that battle taking atleast 5 minutes due to me just switching and healing and switching and healing and switching and healing.

 

[Kitsuu]

This battle has been mentioned before in this thread, but I have to agree with Ace Trainers Dennis and Maya being unnecessarily difficult in Diamond and Pearl. It's a double battle right before Veilstone City, and thankfully you can at least talk to them from the side to battle them separately. Dennis has a level 23 Gyarados, which at this early in the game is a nightmare to deal with. It can easily sweep your team with Thrash if you do not have an Electric move to one-shot it. Maya also has a level 23 Kadabra which can also be a threat. I think the developers realized how difficult this fight was, and completely changed both Dennis and Maya's team to something more manageable in Platinum.

 

[Camille]

In Emerald, several Trainers use Wobbuffet, and since my team lacked Dark types with special attacks or Ghosts with physical attacks, their Counter/Mirror Coat attacks always destroyed one of my team members. I also had trouble dealing with a Pokemaniac's Kangaskhan in Union Cave in Johto games, since she is pretty fast for this portion of the game and hits hard with Mega Punch.