The climax of every Pokemon journey comes once you've defeated 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Elite Four and finally achieved the rank of Champion. However, most Pokemon games leave it at that and your only option as Champion is to re-battle those you've defeated before or go somewhere else.
However, Alola is the first and only region that makes you defend your title against other trainers. Some are well established, some are up-and-comers, but all of them are welcome challenges that make you feel like a champion. So let's take a look at which trainers are tough enough and which ones need to go back to Route 1.
12 Sophocles
The Electric Trial Captain Sophocles is one of the most disappointing trainers on this list. Elec𝐆tric types have only one weakness: Ground. And three members of hওis team have a four times weakness to Ground-type attacks. This means, to get through him, you basically just need to spam Earthquake.
He does attempt to have a counter with Vikavolt, an Electric/Bug type that has Levitate, but it doesn't have any moves to attack Ground-type Pokemon. Instead of Energy Ball, it knows Guillotine. To be frank, it's very easy to bulldoze through this team.
11 Faba
Faba is one of the creepier characters in all of Pokemon, but what do you expect when your ace is a Hypno? He has a team full of Psychic types and most of them are pretty good! Alakazam, Slowbro, and Alolan🦋 Raichu are all Special Attackers that can wreck a team.
What puts Faba near the top of this list is the fact that he has no answers to any of Psychic's weaknesses. Only one of his Pokemon has a move that's Super Effective against Ghost types, and two team members have moves to take out Dark-types. To make matters worse, Faba's team is only in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Sun and Moon, meaning it caps at level 61. Overall, Faba just isn't a threat.
10 Molayne
Molayne is another trainer who will only challenge you in Sun and Moon, but it feels a bit more justifiable since he's a member of the Elite Four in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. That beings said, his team can actually be pretty tough since he's a Steel-type specialist.
Molayne's team has three incredibly powerful competitive Pokemon: Magneton, Metagross, and Skarmory. On top of them, he has an Alolan Sandslash and Dugtrio to cover his Ground and Fire weaknesses respectively. Unfortunately, they're not the greatest answers, and Molayne's whole team can be taken out by a solid Fire type.
9 Hapu
Hapu is the final Island Kahuna you'll battle in the main story, and lives up to that title by having a team of hard-hitting Ground types. Seriously, she may have one of the strongest teams of all the different champion challengers in terms of physical attacks.
Unfortunately, this does do much for type coverage. Hapu has a lot of great answers against Ice types, with Steel and Rock-type moves spread across her entire team, but there still aren't really any counters for Grass or Water types. But if you don't happen to have either of those types on your team, Hapu could easily beat you with pure force.
8 Youngster Tristan 🐲
Tristan is easily the biggest surprise in all of Alola. He's the Youngster asking Professor Kukui for advice at the very beginning of the game. Apparently that advice worked because he somehow made it past the Elite Four and is challenging you, the Champion.
And for being one of the weakest and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:most common trainer classes out there, his team isn't terrible either. It's just at a lower level than everyone else's. It's fairly balanced with Emolga, Sharpedo, Alolan Exeggutor, Magmortar, and Tauros. Move over, Joey, because Tristan is in the top percentage of all Youngsters.
7 Plumeria
Another pleasant surprise on this list is Plumeria. An Admin for Team Skull, her Poison-type team ꧒is filled with speedy sweepers and defensive walls. It actually feels like she has a team that is built somewhat competitively.
She even answers her type weaknesses better than previous trainers with two great Psychic-type counters: Gengar and Alolan Muk. And even though they're not the best solutions, she can attempt to take down Ground types with Crobat and Toxapex. Plumeria may seem easy, but she can wipe the floor with you if you're not prepared.
6 Ryuki
Dragon-type Pokemon have always been a challenge to face because of their sheer power and access to a variety of different moves. Ryuki takes advantage of this completely with a 𒅌team filled with some fo the toughest Dragons in the entire series. His Garchomp, Dragonite, and Kommo-o are brutally strong, and could sweep a team enti⭕rely on their own.
The downside to Ryuki's team is that they can easily be defeated with a Fairy type. Only two of his Pokemon have moves to counter them, and one of them has a four times weakness to Fairy. But if you happen to be missing one of those, Ryuki could take you out with his wild ferocity.
5 Guzma
Like Plumeria, Guzma is much tougher here than he was in the main story. His Bug-type team may seem weak just because it's a team of Bugs, but each Pokemon more than pulls its own weight.
First of all, every teammember has an Super Effective move against Rock-type Pokemon. He even has plenty of answers to any Flying types that may try to take out his insects. Guzma's only real weakness lies with Fire-type Pokemon, which is where his signature Golisopod comes in. As a Champion challenger, Guzma is a trainer that could really bug you.
4 Lusamine
The biggest weakness for most of the previous trainers was their monotype teams and how they worked around their weaknesses. But from now on that won't be an issue because we have some well-balanced teams with a variety of different types.
Take, for example, Lusamine. She sports some particularly powerful defensive Pokemon, including Magic Guard Clefable, Marvel Scale Milotic, and Fluffy Bewear while her other two, Lilligant and Lopunny, are there for type coverage. The only reason she isn't higher up on this list is because her coverage Pokemon aren't that great, but she can still be a force to be reckoned with.
3 Hau
Hau is your main rival for the entirety of the Alola games, so it only makes sense that the team he challenges you wꦑith would be strong. He has a minimum of three fast sweepers with Alolan Raichu, Tauros, and Noivern. And while he uses the starter that you have an advantage against, he counters it with an Eeveelution.
Unfortunately his team has some downsides. He uses a Crabominable that is not very good despite its 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:amazing offensive typing. Also, two of the Eeveelutions, Leafeon and Flareon, just aren't that threatening. But the real kicker is that Hau's starter only uses three moves. And when you're battling the League Champ, you have got to be more prepared than that.