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How would you rank the Pokémon champions from strongest to weakest?

SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
I'm pretty sure lore wise Leon is the strongest champion and man he is hella strong and difficult to beat but cynthia was probably harder coz there didn't exist the exp share for all Pokemon and coz Pokemon games weren't that handpicky then. Lance was terrifying too. Steven was never terrifying for me. Diantha was a pushover so was kukui. Alder was in a rematch so that doesn't count and he wasn't that hard. Iris was a bit difficult.
So my ranking is
1. Cynthia/Leon (Lore wise Leon but considering game mechanics then it's cynthia)
2. Iris
3. Lance
4. Alder
5. Steven
6. Kukui
7. Diantha
 

Emboar_Rulez

Pokémon Master (Kinda)
I'm pretty sure lore wise Leon is the strongest champion and man he is hella strong and difficult to beat but cynthia was probably harder coz there didn't exist the exp share for all Pokemon and coz Pokemon games weren't that handpicky then. Lance was terrifying too. Steven was never terrifying for me. Diantha was a pushover so was kukui. Alder was in a rematch so that doesn't count and he wasn't that hard. Iris was a bit difficult.
So my ranking is
1. Cynthia/Leon (Lore wise Leon but considering game mechanics then it's cynthia)
2. Iris
3. Lance
4. Alder
5. Steven
6. Kukui
7. Diantha

What about Trace,Blue,and N/Ghetsis?
 

Aduro

Mt.BtlMaster
Going by the first matches in the first games in which they are champion:
Pretty Tough
Cynthia (genuinely well-balanced teams, Garchomp was OP)
Kukui (rocks and tailwind with a strong team, also quite well-balanced)
Steven (Used a small variety of types with good defensive synergy. Metagross was a powerhouse, while Skarmory's toxic could be a problem with so many bulky mons in the back)
Iris (Has a couple of mons that handle dragon's ice weakness well. .)

Pretty Easy
Leon (strong individual mons, and adapts his team around the starter that beats yours to help with coverage, but like all SwSh NPCs he's terrible at using Dynamax at the right time. And he's kind of a basic powergamer).
Trace (never played this one, but looks like he's weaker than Yellow Blue, but a lot tougher than RBG Blue, no synergy. Mons have low BST but diverse typing.).
Lance (super vulnerable to bolt-beam, three underleveled dragonites = three ice beams)
Alder (super weak to rock, but escavalier hits surprisingly hard and Volc can sweep easily)

Complete pushover
Wallace (a mono-water team, rain just helps me nuke everything with thunder. Only troublesome mons were the ludicolo with leech seed and double team and the stally milotic)
Diantha (super weak to steel, and ice, no real team synergy, Mega Gardevoir and Goodra were the only really problematic one)
Blue (dude you are the champion, why does your Arcanine have ember? Why don't Exeggutor or Rhyhorn have any STAB moves?)
 
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SerGoldenhandtheJust

Deluded Dreamer
Going by the first matches in the first games in which they are champion:
Pretty Tough
Cynthia (genuinely well-balanced teams, Garchomp was OP)
Kukui (rocks and tailwind with a strong team, also quite well-balanced)
Steven (Used a small variety of types with good defensive synergy. Metagross was a powerhouse, while Skarmory's toxic could be a problem with so many bulky mons in the back)
Iris (Has a couple of mons that handle dragon's ice weakness well. .)

Pretty Easy
Leon (strong individual mons, and adapts his team around the starter that beats your to help with coverage, but like all SwSh NPCs he's terrible at using Dynamax at the right time. And he's kind of a basic powergamer).
Trace (never played this one, but looks like he's weaker than Yellow Blue, but a lot tougher than RBG Blue, no synergy. Mons have low BST but diverse typing.).
Lance (super vulnerable to bolt-beam, three underleveled dragonites = three ice beams)
Alder (super weak to rock, but escavalier hits surprisingly hard and Volc can sweep easily)

Complete pushover
Wallace (a mono-water team, rain just helps me nuke everything with thunder. Only troublesome mon was the ludicolo with leech seed and double team and the stally milotic)
Diantha (super weak to steel, and ice, no real team synergy, Mega Gardevoir and Goodra were the only really problematic one)
Blue (dude you are the champion, why does your Arcanine have ember? Why don't Exeggutor or Rhyhorn have any STAB moves?)

Trace is definitely stronger than yellow blue with his mega pidgeot and all.
 

Emboar_Rulez

Pokémon Master (Kinda)
Do you guys think the champion in Black 2 is stronger than the champion in Black? Also is Kukui stronger than Hau in your opinion?
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
SerGoldenhandtheJust said:
I'm pretty sure lore wise Leon is the strongest champion and man he is hella strong and difficult to beat but cynthia was probably harder coz there didn't exist the exp share for all Pokemon and coz Pokemon games weren't that handpicky then. Lance was terrifying too. Steven was never terrifying for me. Diantha was a pushover so was kukui. Alder was in a rematch so that doesn't count and he wasn't that hard. Iris was a bit difficult.
So my ranking is
1. Cynthia/Leon (Lore wise Leon but considering game mechanics then it's cynthia)
2. Iris
3. Lance
4. Alder
5. Steven
6. Kukui
7. Diantha

I pretty much agree on this ranking, although I'd personally put Iris at Shirona's (Cynthia's) level since I had a difficult time against her in both Black 2 and White 2 for some reason. But Carnet (Diantha) is definitely the weakest Champion so far.
 

Emboar_Rulez

Pokémon Master (Kinda)
If I had to rate the champions based on how hard they were for me then it would go

Iris I only beat her when i froze Hydreigon with ice fang

Cynthia Idont think this needs a explanation

Ghetsis I was a noob and didn't know type advantages and stuff

Lance I didn't have a ice type and won by using explosion with Golem

Leon Didn't have goood typings to match his team plus his team had good coverage

Steven/Diantha both were easy

Kukui/Hau didnt loose once to them and my Decidueye swept like half of there teams.

Trace Total Cake walk
 

Ignition

We are so back Zygardebros
Do you guys think the champion in Black 2 is stronger than the champion in Black? Also is Kukui stronger than Hau in your opinion?
Alder was easy with Emboar literally being able to solo his team/most of him team so I think Iris was harder. Kukui was definitely more difficult than Hau
 
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shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
Ranking them by Tiers.

Rank S- So Rank S is specifically for Champions where almost their entire team are pretty well-rounded and full of incredibly dangerous battlers.

1. Cynthia

Rank A - So Rank A is specifically for Champions whose teams are fairly challenging but ultimately their teams are cemented as "difficult" due to a few incredibly powerful Pokemon that hold their team together like Iris's Hydreigon/Haxorus, Steven Stone's Metagross or Lance's inappropriately leveled Dragonites.

2. Lance
3. Iris
4. Steven Stone

Rank B - So Rank B is for Champions & Kukui whose teams are fairly challenging but there's not really a single particular Pokemon that is so insanely strong that it holds the team together.

5. Kukui
6. Green Oak
7. Alder
8. Wallace

Rank C - Just easy. Leon's definitely a bit more challenging than Diantha and Trace but ultimately their teams are just easy to beat.

9. Leon
10. Diantha
11. Trace
 

ayo

New Member
For me it would be

1. Cynthia (her team is diverse with great movesets)
2. Lance (mostly because of Thunder Wave)
3. Iris (a Haxorus with Focus Sash is a nasty surprise)
4. Steven (Claydol and Cradily are annoying)
5. Blue (even in FR/LG, his team's movesets aren't that good)
6. Wallace (Milotic is tough, Double Team on Ludicolo is annoying)
7. Alder (even Volcarona is easily take down with physical attacks)
what about red
 

Storm the Lycanroc

Oshawott Squad
Strongest:
Cynthia - Her entire team has great coverage and that Garchomp alone is the embodiment of nightmares.
Steven - Lots of bulky Rock and Steel types that make it important to have the right type advantages. Both Metagross and Aggron can be quite problematic.
Lance - With three Dragonites his team is very bulky and quite time consuming to lower their health.
Iris - Has a diverse team the fact she has items on every Pokemon is quite daunting.

Weakest:
Leon - He claims to be the strongest trainer in the region but I know he's a total blowhard. It was quite satisfying to defeat him and put his ego in the right place. Plus you just gotta stall for a few turns for his Gigantimax Charizard to return to normal. After that just use one rock type move and you win!
Diantha - She's probably the most forgettable champion because she only appears once or twice in the story to talk to the player. Her team is rather weak and has no consistency or overall theme.
Hau - Not to challenging since you'll most likely have the type advantages to defeat him.


Unknown:
Alder - I'll admit I never actually went back to the Elite Four in BW since I was busy doing other things. So I have no personal experience battling him.
Kukui - Only played through original SM once or twice and don't really recall how difficult the battle with him was.
 
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RedBlastoise

Cerulean Blues
Cynthia, Lance and Steven seem like the strongest ones. Alder and Wallace are mid-tier and Kukui, Diantha and Leon are lower tier.
 
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