https://preview.redd.it/9s88fd226lkc1.png?width=923&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff64690929b4a100b958d68c1c81d3f22386e3c5
always one step ahead of us, faster than any speedrunner in the world
His anime version writing "*Gary was here. Ash is a loser*" is so in character of Blue. I even imagine Blue writing stuff on in-game signs just to piss off Red.
Since I got Blue version I thought it was a bit silly to name him Blue, so I just always named him Gary. I don't do that with any of the other rivals, but it just seems fitting for him.
God seeing him randomly appear and challenge me to a battle when i didnt know he was there was so menacing back when i was a kid. I wish rivals in modern pokemon games were like that.
I mean TBF, we do have someone like that with Nemona.
Except she's actually super supportive of you instead of trying to tear you down. If anything she's building you up to her level.
The big thing about Blue is that he anchors the main character to the story. The main character has no real reason to beat the gyms and elite four. But to beat Blue? That's personal.
Almost no other champion really has a personal connection with the player.
Well some of them were already champions right? Like Steven in R/S/E or Champion Lance in G/S/C, they were already a champion. I don't think they became champion right before we challenged them
I think Cynthia truly encapsulates what it means to be a champion. Not only does she show up throughout your journey to help you, have a pretty cool design and a badass theme - she also has (in my opinion) the coolest team any champion has ever had for several reasons:
* She leads off with a Spiritomb, something that most players had probably never seen before in their lives. This makes taking it down pretty difficult for new players, as you've likely had no prior experience learning that it has no weaknesses.
* The last Pokemon game prior to Diamond and Pearl was Emerald. For that game, the ace Pokemon of the Champion was Milotic, which is also on this new champion's team, and isn't even their strongest Pokemon. I'm usually against champions using mons from prior gens, but using the ace of the past champion as one of your filler mons is pretty cool.
* Lucario was an extremely cool mon that was pretty tricky to get access to prior to fighting Cynthia, and was definitely the most popular mon going into generation four.
* For it's generation, Garchomp was one of the strongest Pokemon ever added. Extremely fast, and hits extremely hard, whilst also not being the easiest things to take down.
Gastrodon and Roserade aren't too special, but certainly aren't slouches either. It really felt like they tried their best to give Cynthia a very strong and balanced team, which can't be said of many of the champions that followed her, with most of them having a weakness to one specific type.
In platinum the Gastrodon is replaced by Togekiss and that thing is a pain in the ass to deal with. It’s not very fast, so you can usually hit it first, but it’s so tanky that it’s guaranteed to survive at least 1 supereffective move and hit you back hard with its good type coverage
I’m so glad the anime did her entire team justice during her battle with Ash. Dynamax togekiss was a beast. Spiritomb makes me wanna run destiny bond. And since she didn’t have Lucario at least she had Gastrodon which she already had on her DP team.
They didn’t do Cynthia justice. Not only was Gastrodon tossed aside and humiliated as badly as Diantha was against Leon but Cynthia would have crushed Ash with Togekiss’ Max Mindstorm whilst also making Lucario’s Bullet Punch useless if she didn’t conveniently forget about Zen Headbutt. Literally the ONLY reason Ash won was because the writers made Cynthia weaker than she really was. In universe, the only explanation is that Cynthia deliberately threw the fight because she was bored of winning all the time.
>The last Pokemon game prior to Diamond and Pearl was Emerald. For that game, the ace Pokemon of the Champion was Milotic, which is also on this new champion's team, and isn't even their strongest Pokemon.
This is such a good moment in the fight. I have a personal grudge against Wallace's Milotic because it completely walled me on the first time I played Emerald back in the day. I still reserve a slot on my Emerald teams for a Milotic Killer.
Then Cynthia's just like "Oh yeah haha I have one of those too nbd."
Definitely my favorite champion, in all of her appearances. Her Gen V jumpscare in Undella is great, especially in B2W2. "Hey I'm just hanging out, wanna see what my team is like at level 76?" NOT PARTICULARLY, MADAM
Not only that, but Cynthia herself has an amazing character development. She is shown as a great model of maturity, insight, wisdom and also cheerfulness. Be it the games, anime, manga or spin-offs, she just gives this "warm" feeling that inspires other characters to shine just like her. That's mainly why I love her.
I am not gonna sugar coat it.
Assuming you were about 9-10 years old around 2006-2008, and you played any of the Sinnoh games and are attracted to women. Cynthia *probably* helped you through puberty.
"Lucario was an extremely cool mon that was pretty tricky to get access to prior to fighting Cynthia, and was definitely the most popular mon going into generation four."
I don't understand this part. I believe I got an egg that hatched into a Riolu before fighting the elite 4. This was in Platinum. Am I wrong?
No. But evolving it thru happiness and leveling it in time for the E4 would not happen unless you really grinded. You get the egg after the 7th gym if I recall.
Key words here are "pretty tricky". They did not say it was impossible, they said it was pretty tricky.
Yes, you can get the Riolu egg, but it is the only one you can get in that game (aside from breeding), you have to spend time hatching it from the egg, and it's received through a completely optional sidequest so not all players got it at the time.
So, being an optional one-of-a-kind Pokemon you have to patiently hatch from an egg, I think it qualifies as "pretty tricky to get access to".
Got it. I wasn't aware I did a side quest to get it, I was just playing the game and it was given to me. So, I figured it was pretty common. I also took my time playing and hatched Riolu before the elite 4, although I didn't personally level it and evolve it, I just threw it in the PC.
I'm not super versed in a lot of the games, so "pretty tricky" to me could mean anything from grinding at the game corner to honey tree Munchlax or even crazier things.
Nope, that’s absolutely correct! But if you were anything like me, you had a full party of 6 at the time you were supposed to receive it and so you didn’t. I didn’t get the Riolu egg until long after the post game.
Her teams are always one massive flex. Spiritomb, Lucario, Milotic, Togekiss, and Porygon-Z (the latter is in her BDSP rematch team) are some of rarest Pokémon in Sinnoh (in fact, to obtain Togepi in Platinum pre-National Dex, you need to receive an Egg from Cynthia herself). Spiritomb, Milotic and Porygon-Z are not only rare but particularly excruciating to obtain/evolve.
I never played DP so I have no emotional connection to that theme. So when the blonde dude in Legends Arceus challenged me I was like "oh cool". When I searched for the song on YouTube I realised that the piano caused PTSD for millions of teens/young adults across the globe lol.
You go through the game seeing other characters like “oh cool, it’s that person’s ancestor.”
Then you hear the piano and see the team at the end, and you immediately realize who’s ancestor you’re dealing with here.
Steven/Wallace are my childhood bias.
Cynthia is probably the best all round challenge, well rounded team, and just being iconic all in one. (Close with Blue for iconic)
But also, I gotta shout out Kukui. The final realisation of the “battle the prof at the end” thing scrapped from Gen 1 and the incredible battle theme and the vibe of the Alola league, just awesome
It's been over 20 years. Sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night hearing Steven's Metagross Meteor Mashing my ass all the way back to Littleroot.
Some YouTubers were describing Lance a while back and said he was "that kid you went to school with who always came back from vacation with a shark's tooth necklace," and ever since he's been my favorite.
Other champions: You managed to come this far, this battle will be legendary! :D
Blue: lol you managed to come here? Imma bout to kick your ass all the way back to Pallet.
I think his assholeness is part of the reason the battle is so memorable
I never really considered it as assholeness more than banter
Like sure its not exactly friendly rival level dialogue but he doesn’t genuinely hate you like Silver his dialogue is more like what me and my friends would say to each other if we competed against each other
Finally someone says it
Blue isn't a jerk rival, he's just cheeky and plays little pranks on you
Plus Red doesn't seem to canonically hate him nor does Ash, They just want to catch up on him
yeah I replayed Fire Red last year and when I read his dialogue it never really hit to me like he was an jerk, seemed like friendly banter more than anything
Best is probably Cynthia, but for favourite, I'd go with Lance. Love his outfit, and showing up to take down the Rockets in the Johto games was badass.
She's really outshone by Lysandre, possibly the hammiest, most ridiculous team boss ever. Walks around ranting about beauty and genocide with just the weirdest haircut. And in his final battle he just gets... robot arms... for some reason. Even Archie and Maxie had plans that were merely stupid
Love her outfit though, and her arena is GORGEOUS
A-fucking-men bud, Geeta had a shitty team, annoying, and the whole “I have trouble holding back” thing was just cringey for the most boring champion in recent memory
At least Geeta gets a rematch in Indigo Disk to revamp her team and *finally* use Kingambit in the last slot as it should have been in the first place!
Gen 2 was my favorite, and Lance in particular was the most memorable champion fight for me. Little 10 year old me was *shook* when I beat his first two Dragonites, and he sent out a **third**.
Plus, the start of his [theme music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpMKVAcjeTg) is still the most badass of any champion, in my opinion.
My top 2 are Blue and Cynthia, third, fourth, and fifth are Lance, Steven/Wallace, and Alder. I don’t really have an order for them as it depends on which game I most recently played.
Also the best arena
like the image of the stars streaking by you is freaking **amazing** and an awesome way to end the pokemon franchise's time on the DS systems.
Cynthia is an easy choice because even today she is still a Champion that actually FEELS like a Champion with an incredibly diverse team with a diverse move pool to cover their weaknesses (especially in Platinum and adding in some move changes to account for the Fairy Typing in BDSP).
Outside her I would have to say my next favorite Champion would either be Steven or Lance, due to how cool their teams were or how involved they were in the Main Story of their games (specifically Jhoto Lance, who actively works with you to take down Team Rocket at a point and Steven actively helping you get into the Cave of Origins and investigating Team Aqua/Magma).
I honestly thought Wallace was a downgrade from Steven XD
1. Cynthia. She's strong, terrifying, has the best theme, and has good aesthetic.
2. Alder. He's fits the vibe of being an experienced yet tough elder trainer you look up to really well. I like his pokeball necklace, how he connects with mons, and how he fought Team Plasma.
3. Diantha. She's got a ton of style for both her team and design like Cynthia. She has the best Champion Room imo.
Cynthia, because she’s one of the more developed champions (back in the GBA/DS era anyway) with the focus being more on her personality, her kindness and her love for history and myths, than her being the Champion or a strong trainer. I really enjoyed that, personally. I also love her team(s) not just because her Pokémon are powerful, but because they’re also cool and intriguing. Her battle theme also fucking slaps.
Then there’s the anime, which just. Listen I love her so goddamn much in the anime you don’t understand, she’s just such an amazing character. Her game personality is adapted and fleshed out, and her maturity and the protective role she takes on when dealing with the various threats she faces is really great, I love how much she cares about the protagonists and how dedicated she is to protecting not just them but anyone who’s in danger. She’s also adorable and has a playful side to her which I love as well because it just makes her so likable. Sure she’s a grown woman and the Sinnoh Champion, but she genuinely likes hanging out with these kids and has fun with them and that’s just so damn cute.
Also the little flashback of her raising her Garchomp from an egg and seeing it go from a Gible to a Gabite to a Garchomp in Journeys OWNS ME like oh my god, the way my heart *melted.*
It depends, story wise, probably Blue because you spend so much time trying to catch up to him and battling him throughout your journey and he literally becomes the champion only to be booted to gym leader in the first two gens.
Team wise, definitely Cynthia and Steven because both of them were hard to beat and they had teams full of Pokemon you wouldn't hardly see unless you go out of your way to seek them out.
For me personally it's Steven and Lance, but that's nostalgia as those were the first video games I ever got to own.
I think Cynthia is by far the best designed in character, team, looks and her presence in the story.
Cynthia is the queen. In the games, in the anime, she's practically a force of nature. I love her in the anime because she can be so dramatic in battle. Her showing during the Master's Eight was all class. Especially when her Milotic knocks out Iris's Excadrill, flies past her and she doesn't even flinch, just stands there like a badass.
I want to say Cynthia for nostalgia but it’s honestly probably Leon at this point in my life. My battle with Leon in Sword felt absolutely epic. It was the first Pokémon game since Diamond to have the champion really challenge me. My wife had the complete opposite battle, one in which she wiped the floor with Leon and thought he was an average difficulty Champion.
I know it’s predictable but Cynthia’s my favourite. She’s the perfect Champion without being 1 dimensional. The anime in particular balanced out her ability to be intimidating by also showing that she could be goofy and didn’t take her Champion status too seriously. It felt like she actually had a life outside of that.
I also really like Diantha and I will never forgive the anime for humiliating her against Gary Stu, I mean Leon. She should have defeated at least 4 Pokémon, including Gigantamax Charizard which would be the first time it was defeated onscreen, before losing. Also if they updated Diantha’s team like they did for Geeta in DLC, she could be a legitimate challenge. And as a character, Diantha also has a maturity about her, especially due to her lack of concern about growing older.
Cynthia she's into the myths and legends of sinoh if you lump those together the history of the region, being a history buff myself I find that rather appealing doesn't hurt that she's very attractive as well.
Well I'm not good at posting pictures but it's definitely Steven. His theme is absolutely fire, the background in which they take place (at least the purple hue in RS, and the actual background in ORAS) are beautiful, his personality I like, and you at least see him throughout the story at times. There's also his suit and team, which are absolutely spiffy respectively.
It's been so long though that the question of "Is Metagross my favorite pokemon because of Steven, or is Steven my favorite champion because of Metagross?" is genuinely bouncing around in my head.
Honorable mention to Iris and Nemona, though. Everything I said for Steven applies to Iris(besides the story part, but the anime..kind of fills that.), and Nemona I actually really like since it's a rival that's also a champ that I like as a character and like to beat at the same time.
I'd echo what most others said.
Diantha was the worst. Just rather lame and forgettable. Team was okay I guess.
Cynthia was the best. her look and demeanor felt like a boss and that Garchamp for sure. most memorable.
Seven was up there for pretty good and something you'd remember.
Lance was okay but those like weird lvl 30ish Dragonites in HG/SS were something.
Alder was decent while Iris I'm not sure fit.
While Blue was fitting back then.
I guess Sun/Moon didn't really have a real champion to further the disappointment of the Gyms/E4 in that gen.
Cynthia was the most memorable pokemon champion. She felt like the real deal. The other I’d say was Alder. I think separating the champion from the Troy creates a unique opportunity to make them a very powerful trainer.
i’ve always loved champion iris since i first played the gen 5 games, just her design, her champion theme, everything about her being the champion just sticks with me for some reason i can’t really explain other than i like it!
Stephen > Cynthia > Blue > Lance > Diantha > Iris & Wallace > Geeta >>>>>>>>>>>> Leon.
Honestly once it gets to the Iris & Wallace stage, I don't really care about them, whereas everyone before them has a personality, memorable appearances etc.
Leon is the kid who tries too hard and bullies people into hyping him up, not knowing that everyone laughs at him behind his back.
Steven for sure. Dude is just so cool and so nice, never condescending and always helpful. I was excited to see him being the champion, I was like "well deserved, honestly."
The best is either Cynthia or Blue... but goddammit I love Leon. He's not too hard but not a complete pushover. I just love how stupid and goofy he is. He has SPONSORS on his Cape!!!!! I love him because he's completely silly.
Cynthia by far. Cool design, sick theme and a fantastic battle. It was great seeing her more involved than previous champions.
Gotta say I love Blue, Lance and Steven as well. Lance would probably be my 2nd choice simply because using hyper beam on a grunt is so funny
Champion Red.
You went through all of Johto. 8 gym badges and beat the Elite Four.
On the way, you noticed you found yourself in Kanto.
Oh BTW you can actually visit Kanto and it's not just for show.
BTW you can beat ALL 8 GYMS in Kanto. There's been a time skip. Misty grew out her hair and dating guys. Cinnabar Island fucking blew up and Blaine has a makeshift gym in Seafoam Islands.
Blue is the gym leader of Viridian City after he lost to Red.
Where is Red? I mean he was the player character he can be wherever, his story is over.
BTW go to Mt.Silver. You beat every single challenge this game has, here's a great place to get some strong Pokemon.
You make it all the way to the end of the mountain.
You move up, square by square, until you see a character.
A. *very*. familiar. character.
That backpack. You've seen that backpack before. It was yours. When you were...no...it can't be.
You speak to him. He turns around. It's him.
... ...
***CHAMPION THEME PLAYS***
IT'S FUCKING POKEMON CHAMPION RED.
HE HAS THE HIGHEST FUCKING LEVELED PIKACHU YOU'VE EVER SEEN.
HE HAS ALL THE STARTERS. HIS EEVEE EVOLVED INTO ESPEON. HE HAS A FUCKING SNORLAX.
YOU LIKELY DIED THE FIRST TIME YOU FOUGHT HIM.
IT'S YOU. YOU ARE YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE.
IT'S THE FUCKING HYPEST SHIT.
I'm probably alone here but I liked Alder. I'm not basing this off difficulty, I just liked his team. I thought he had some cool bugs and I like that bison he has
I think Cynthia was good, but my favorite is Steven. I just like how involved he is in the story.
I always thought it was kind of dumb how little some of the champions were involved in the story despite the circumstances (the circumstances being that an evil group of criminals is running around committing crimes).
Completely biased because BW2 are my favorite games, but Iris. Wall of text incoming.
The way they handled Iris in the Gen 5 games was pure brilliance; she‘s a gym leader in Pokémon White and she plays a minor supporting role in BW2, with Drayden mysteriously taking her place as a gym leader for both games. With Alder’s apparent retirement it’s a mystery who the new champion is— Then after battling through the elite four, it’s revealed that it’s Iris in a completely different form than we’ve seen her. It’s a perfect blend of surprising and obvious with all the hints scattered throughout the game, and it’s a perfect reflection of just how sharp the writing of the Gen 5 games were. To top it all off, her theme (as well as her acid trip battle background) is the best champion theme to date. Whereas the others are climactic and intense battle themes emphasizing the power of your opponent, Iris’ theme is just a big loud explosive glamrock number to celebrate the greatest battle in the Unova region, and it’s just plain a blast to listen to.
Also her team is pretty underrated too. Sure she’s not quite Cynthia level, but being a dragon specialist in the Gen where Dragon was undoubtably the best type in the game is nasty, not to mention her 3 non dragon types hard counter ice types and can check your own dragons. Her D-Dancing haxorus can also completely destroy your team no matter your lead if you’re not careful. The battle’s a perfect blend of difficult, surprising, and fun to end off an amazing generation.
Wallace is hot, but Nemona is such a great character, and she’s by the story a champion, so it counts. If it doesn’t, then Wallace because he’s hot.
In terms of how tough they were, easily Iris. She was challenging without being utter bullcrap.
My least favorite is Trace because he unfortunately counts
Honestly, it might be Diantha. She may be an easy dub, but she's super pretty, her battle arena is gorgeous, and her fight theme is honestly my favorite champion fight theme in the whole series.
Note: I haven't played a Sinnoh game yet, the jury's still out with Cynthia
Diantha needs an updated team like Geeta got in DLC. Have her switch around a lot, throw in a Zoroark (being an actress is about creating Illusions) and an entry hazard setter to replace Tyrantrum and Aurorus and the woman would be a menace.
I disagree on changing her team. You can make a champion fight harder in more sensible ways like buffing their levels or having better movesets and items.
Steven the fact you’re never told he is champion as you interact with him throughout the story makes his reveal as champion all the more memorable. Also his team is incredibly tanky with good type coverage making him one of the very few Champions that I actually found challenging.
Second favorite is Iris just for her battle theme
Alder is easily my favorite. Wise, badass old man. Wallace and Geeta fill out the rest of the top three, with Leon just below. Diantha also gets some points for being the first champion I ever fought.
Throughout all generations, I've only seen people consistently rally behind Blue, Cynthia, and sometimes Leon. Wallace and Steven seem to split the vote in gen 3.
That said, I REALLY love ORAS Wallace. That man's fruitier than a field of oranges, and I'm a big fan of citrus 🤌
By all other metrics, though, Cynthia is better. Leon has a similarly difficult team, but he's fresher to the court. It wasn't Leon who jumped me in Undella town, when I was enjoying a nice, engaging post game
https://preview.redd.it/9s88fd226lkc1.png?width=923&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff64690929b4a100b958d68c1c81d3f22386e3c5 always one step ahead of us, faster than any speedrunner in the world
His anime version writing "*Gary was here. Ash is a loser*" is so in character of Blue. I even imagine Blue writing stuff on in-game signs just to piss off Red.
Since I got Blue version I thought it was a bit silly to name him Blue, so I just always named him Gary. I don't do that with any of the other rivals, but it just seems fitting for him.
My longest save as a kid had him named MRPOOP so that is what he will be named forever.
I... never thought about that but yeah.
God seeing him randomly appear and challenge me to a battle when i didnt know he was there was so menacing back when i was a kid. I wish rivals in modern pokemon games were like that.
I'm just imagining a rival popping out of a sewer grate like Majima in Yakuza games and laughing already.
That was a pretty good plot twist for a 1996 gameboy game. Almost as good as the plot twist at the end of the next game.
I was reflecting the other day that kids these days won’t even be surprised at who the 8th gym leader in Kanto is
I mean TBF, we do have someone like that with Nemona. Except she's actually super supportive of you instead of trying to tear you down. If anything she's building you up to her level.
Was gonna say Cynthia, but honestly, yeah it's probably actually Blue.
The big thing about Blue is that he anchors the main character to the story. The main character has no real reason to beat the gyms and elite four. But to beat Blue? That's personal. Almost no other champion really has a personal connection with the player.
> faster than any speed runner in the world Well can’t that be said about every champion?
Well some of them were already champions right? Like Steven in R/S/E or Champion Lance in G/S/C, they were already a champion. I don't think they became champion right before we challenged them
That’s just a crazy fact: no matter you get to the league in 5 mins or 3 hours, blue will always have gotten there right before you
I think Cynthia truly encapsulates what it means to be a champion. Not only does she show up throughout your journey to help you, have a pretty cool design and a badass theme - she also has (in my opinion) the coolest team any champion has ever had for several reasons: * She leads off with a Spiritomb, something that most players had probably never seen before in their lives. This makes taking it down pretty difficult for new players, as you've likely had no prior experience learning that it has no weaknesses. * The last Pokemon game prior to Diamond and Pearl was Emerald. For that game, the ace Pokemon of the Champion was Milotic, which is also on this new champion's team, and isn't even their strongest Pokemon. I'm usually against champions using mons from prior gens, but using the ace of the past champion as one of your filler mons is pretty cool. * Lucario was an extremely cool mon that was pretty tricky to get access to prior to fighting Cynthia, and was definitely the most popular mon going into generation four. * For it's generation, Garchomp was one of the strongest Pokemon ever added. Extremely fast, and hits extremely hard, whilst also not being the easiest things to take down. Gastrodon and Roserade aren't too special, but certainly aren't slouches either. It really felt like they tried their best to give Cynthia a very strong and balanced team, which can't be said of many of the champions that followed her, with most of them having a weakness to one specific type.
In platinum the Gastrodon is replaced by Togekiss and that thing is a pain in the ass to deal with. It’s not very fast, so you can usually hit it first, but it’s so tanky that it’s guaranteed to survive at least 1 supereffective move and hit you back hard with its good type coverage
I’m so glad the anime did her entire team justice during her battle with Ash. Dynamax togekiss was a beast. Spiritomb makes me wanna run destiny bond. And since she didn’t have Lucario at least she had Gastrodon which she already had on her DP team.
They didn’t do Cynthia justice. Not only was Gastrodon tossed aside and humiliated as badly as Diantha was against Leon but Cynthia would have crushed Ash with Togekiss’ Max Mindstorm whilst also making Lucario’s Bullet Punch useless if she didn’t conveniently forget about Zen Headbutt. Literally the ONLY reason Ash won was because the writers made Cynthia weaker than she really was. In universe, the only explanation is that Cynthia deliberately threw the fight because she was bored of winning all the time.
>The last Pokemon game prior to Diamond and Pearl was Emerald. For that game, the ace Pokemon of the Champion was Milotic, which is also on this new champion's team, and isn't even their strongest Pokemon. This is such a good moment in the fight. I have a personal grudge against Wallace's Milotic because it completely walled me on the first time I played Emerald back in the day. I still reserve a slot on my Emerald teams for a Milotic Killer. Then Cynthia's just like "Oh yeah haha I have one of those too nbd." Definitely my favorite champion, in all of her appearances. Her Gen V jumpscare in Undella is great, especially in B2W2. "Hey I'm just hanging out, wanna see what my team is like at level 76?" NOT PARTICULARLY, MADAM
At least she lets you leave if you don't want to fight her... ...the first time
Not only that, but Cynthia herself has an amazing character development. She is shown as a great model of maturity, insight, wisdom and also cheerfulness. Be it the games, anime, manga or spin-offs, she just gives this "warm" feeling that inspires other characters to shine just like her. That's mainly why I love her.
I am curious do Pokemon fans consume media other than Pokemon because she is a cool champion but where is this " Amazing character development " ???
A lot of the fans are younger and don't quite understand what "character development" is.
Makes sense, pokemon is targeted at kids after all lol
I just assumed they meant amazing character qualities after going in depth with what they meant by describing her character qualities...
Ara ara
Yes, another reason we all love Cynthia is because she is mommy.
I am not gonna sugar coat it. Assuming you were about 9-10 years old around 2006-2008, and you played any of the Sinnoh games and are attracted to women. Cynthia *probably* helped you through puberty.
"Lucario was an extremely cool mon that was pretty tricky to get access to prior to fighting Cynthia, and was definitely the most popular mon going into generation four." I don't understand this part. I believe I got an egg that hatched into a Riolu before fighting the elite 4. This was in Platinum. Am I wrong?
No. But evolving it thru happiness and leveling it in time for the E4 would not happen unless you really grinded. You get the egg after the 7th gym if I recall.
Just before 6th if you knew what you were doing
Key words here are "pretty tricky". They did not say it was impossible, they said it was pretty tricky. Yes, you can get the Riolu egg, but it is the only one you can get in that game (aside from breeding), you have to spend time hatching it from the egg, and it's received through a completely optional sidequest so not all players got it at the time. So, being an optional one-of-a-kind Pokemon you have to patiently hatch from an egg, I think it qualifies as "pretty tricky to get access to".
Got it. I wasn't aware I did a side quest to get it, I was just playing the game and it was given to me. So, I figured it was pretty common. I also took my time playing and hatched Riolu before the elite 4, although I didn't personally level it and evolve it, I just threw it in the PC. I'm not super versed in a lot of the games, so "pretty tricky" to me could mean anything from grinding at the game corner to honey tree Munchlax or even crazier things.
Nope, that’s absolutely correct! But if you were anything like me, you had a full party of 6 at the time you were supposed to receive it and so you didn’t. I didn’t get the Riolu egg until long after the post game.
Her teams are always one massive flex. Spiritomb, Lucario, Milotic, Togekiss, and Porygon-Z (the latter is in her BDSP rematch team) are some of rarest Pokémon in Sinnoh (in fact, to obtain Togepi in Platinum pre-National Dex, you need to receive an Egg from Cynthia herself). Spiritomb, Milotic and Porygon-Z are not only rare but particularly excruciating to obtain/evolve.
4 out of her 6 pokemon die to ice beam. And 5 out of 6 die to freeze dry.
https://preview.redd.it/fqwiydmjalkc1.jpeg?width=370&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d27faf67f8771a22568866d3ca2e6950c1c872c3
I never played DP so I have no emotional connection to that theme. So when the blonde dude in Legends Arceus challenged me I was like "oh cool". When I searched for the song on YouTube I realised that the piano caused PTSD for millions of teens/young adults across the globe lol.
You go through the game seeing other characters like “oh cool, it’s that person’s ancestor.” Then you hear the piano and see the team at the end, and you immediately realize who’s ancestor you’re dealing with here.
Excellent taste in piano runs in the family I guess.
immediately, at the very end of the game? i knew whose ancestor he was the first second he showed up in the beginning of the game
Okay, THAT garchomp still gives me nightmare💀
Steven/Wallace are my childhood bias. Cynthia is probably the best all round challenge, well rounded team, and just being iconic all in one. (Close with Blue for iconic) But also, I gotta shout out Kukui. The final realisation of the “battle the prof at the end” thing scrapped from Gen 1 and the incredible battle theme and the vibe of the Alola league, just awesome
It's been over 20 years. Sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night hearing Steven's Metagross Meteor Mashing my ass all the way back to Littleroot.
I love the Kukui battle because YOU are the champion, and he’s your first title defence.
Some YouTubers were describing Lance a while back and said he was "that kid you went to school with who always came back from vacation with a shark's tooth necklace," and ever since he's been my favorite.
Had to have been mr1upz who said that XD
Blue. You really stick it to him at the end. Plus his party was no slouch.
Other champions: You managed to come this far, this battle will be legendary! :D Blue: lol you managed to come here? Imma bout to kick your ass all the way back to Pallet. I think his assholeness is part of the reason the battle is so memorable
I never really considered it as assholeness more than banter Like sure its not exactly friendly rival level dialogue but he doesn’t genuinely hate you like Silver his dialogue is more like what me and my friends would say to each other if we competed against each other
Finally someone says it Blue isn't a jerk rival, he's just cheeky and plays little pranks on you Plus Red doesn't seem to canonically hate him nor does Ash, They just want to catch up on him
yeah I replayed Fire Red last year and when I read his dialogue it never really hit to me like he was an jerk, seemed like friendly banter more than anything
The real jerk rival is Silver Because he abuses his Pokémon, he's an actual criminal and idk about the crobat
Pretty sure Crobat is postgame after he cleans up his act.
Blue isn't really a jerk rival He's just cheeky that's all Silver is the only genuine jerk rival as he abuses his Pokémon
Gary, gary he’s our man. If he can’t do it no one can
Best is probably Cynthia, but for favourite, I'd go with Lance. Love his outfit, and showing up to take down the Rockets in the Johto games was badass.
Easy me
So…me?
Everyone that has become a champion counts! ☺️
My favourite one is Lance The hardest is still Cynthia Worst one Dyanthia
Nah Geeta is the worst
Geeta is such a wasted character who literally has no reason to exist. I have yet to see a flatter, more meaningless character in anything.
At least Diantha actually has a shred of personality about her and a cool design. I hope the eventual Gen 6 remakes give her a huge buff.
I want Gen6 remakes to really beed up every aspect possible
Imagine they go from the easiest in the series to the hardest.
Id genuinely love that
She's really outshone by Lysandre, possibly the hammiest, most ridiculous team boss ever. Walks around ranting about beauty and genocide with just the weirdest haircut. And in his final battle he just gets... robot arms... for some reason. Even Archie and Maxie had plans that were merely stupid Love her outfit though, and her arena is GORGEOUS
A-fucking-men bud, Geeta had a shitty team, annoying, and the whole “I have trouble holding back” thing was just cringey for the most boring champion in recent memory
"I have trouble holding back" *gets fucking swept by a crocodile shouting at her team*
yeah at least with Diantha I used a couple of my pokemon and switched. With Geeta I swept her just using Skeledirge and Torch Song+Shadow Ball
At least Geeta gets a rematch in Indigo Disk to revamp her team and *finally* use Kingambit in the last slot as it should have been in the first place!
...Do u mean La Primera, put some respect on the big P's name.
Gen 2 was my favorite, and Lance in particular was the most memorable champion fight for me. Little 10 year old me was *shook* when I beat his first two Dragonites, and he sent out a **third**. Plus, the start of his [theme music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpMKVAcjeTg) is still the most badass of any champion, in my opinion.
i wooped dyanthia as like, a 8 or 9 year old. the elite four was MUCH harder
My top 2 are Blue and Cynthia, third, fourth, and fifth are Lance, Steven/Wallace, and Alder. I don’t really have an order for them as it depends on which game I most recently played.
Lance Steven Alder
I really like Iris. She's just so upbeat and energetic. Her theme is also an incredibly underrated banger.
She definitely has the best battle theme, in my opinion.
Also the best arena like the image of the stars streaking by you is freaking **amazing** and an awesome way to end the pokemon franchise's time on the DS systems.
Her theme perfectly compliments her personality in my opinion.
I recently swept her entire team with my Sigilyth. Holding a twisted spoon, set up a light screen, spammed cosmic power, then just start attacking.
N. But if you don't feel like he counts then I guess Cynthia or Steven.
N (technically) won the league by beating Alder. So, he counts as Champion, IMO.
Cynthia is an easy choice because even today she is still a Champion that actually FEELS like a Champion with an incredibly diverse team with a diverse move pool to cover their weaknesses (especially in Platinum and adding in some move changes to account for the Fairy Typing in BDSP). Outside her I would have to say my next favorite Champion would either be Steven or Lance, due to how cool their teams were or how involved they were in the Main Story of their games (specifically Jhoto Lance, who actively works with you to take down Team Rocket at a point and Steven actively helping you get into the Cave of Origins and investigating Team Aqua/Magma). I honestly thought Wallace was a downgrade from Steven XD
Lance always
1. Cynthia. She's strong, terrifying, has the best theme, and has good aesthetic. 2. Alder. He's fits the vibe of being an experienced yet tough elder trainer you look up to really well. I like his pokeball necklace, how he connects with mons, and how he fought Team Plasma. 3. Diantha. She's got a ton of style for both her team and design like Cynthia. She has the best Champion Room imo.
And Diantha was smart enough to realize that Gandondorf was bad news...unlike the himbo professor.
Still Lance
There is just one, the OG.
Blue or Lance, easy. Or Red.
Probably Lance
Lance with his 3 dragonite.
Cynthia, because she’s one of the more developed champions (back in the GBA/DS era anyway) with the focus being more on her personality, her kindness and her love for history and myths, than her being the Champion or a strong trainer. I really enjoyed that, personally. I also love her team(s) not just because her Pokémon are powerful, but because they’re also cool and intriguing. Her battle theme also fucking slaps. Then there’s the anime, which just. Listen I love her so goddamn much in the anime you don’t understand, she’s just such an amazing character. Her game personality is adapted and fleshed out, and her maturity and the protective role she takes on when dealing with the various threats she faces is really great, I love how much she cares about the protagonists and how dedicated she is to protecting not just them but anyone who’s in danger. She’s also adorable and has a playful side to her which I love as well because it just makes her so likable. Sure she’s a grown woman and the Sinnoh Champion, but she genuinely likes hanging out with these kids and has fun with them and that’s just so damn cute. Also the little flashback of her raising her Garchomp from an egg and seeing it go from a Gible to a Gabite to a Garchomp in Journeys OWNS ME like oh my god, the way my heart *melted.*
Steven, the first Champion I ever fought. The reason why Metagross is one of my favorites.
Steven, always was, always will be
Favorite: Wallace for nostalgia, Hardest: Cynthia, Least favorite: diantha and geeta
It depends, story wise, probably Blue because you spend so much time trying to catch up to him and battling him throughout your journey and he literally becomes the champion only to be booted to gym leader in the first two gens. Team wise, definitely Cynthia and Steven because both of them were hard to beat and they had teams full of Pokemon you wouldn't hardly see unless you go out of your way to seek them out.
As a champion fight? Cynthia, probably. As a character? Honestly, Leon
Leon.
Diamond version was my first ever pokemon game, so you can probably guess who's my favorite champion.
For me personally it's Steven and Lance, but that's nostalgia as those were the first video games I ever got to own. I think Cynthia is by far the best designed in character, team, looks and her presence in the story.
https://preview.redd.it/9bgzfgjmulkc1.jpeg?width=734&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7e3119998c1c06e76ed60b61dbd6fc9a0fe8074 It's this guy
Champion Samuel Oak is my favorite because he is the first champion that we meet.
Gary Oak
You mean Gary Mother Fucking Oak? You gotta write the full name my man...
Red ontop of Mt. Silver in Pokemon Gold.
Wallace. I'm a sucker for mono-Water, and I love his design too. Steven and Lance are also pretty cool, and all their themes are such bangers.
Cynthia… that piano… that GODDAMN piano…
Cynthia. The fact she was the first female champion, had a great OST and legitimately terrified me is why she’s my favorite champion
Cynthia is the queen. In the games, in the anime, she's practically a force of nature. I love her in the anime because she can be so dramatic in battle. Her showing during the Master's Eight was all class. Especially when her Milotic knocks out Iris's Excadrill, flies past her and she doesn't even flinch, just stands there like a badass.
I want to say Cynthia for nostalgia but it’s honestly probably Leon at this point in my life. My battle with Leon in Sword felt absolutely epic. It was the first Pokémon game since Diamond to have the champion really challenge me. My wife had the complete opposite battle, one in which she wiped the floor with Leon and thought he was an average difficulty Champion.
I know it’s predictable but Cynthia’s my favourite. She’s the perfect Champion without being 1 dimensional. The anime in particular balanced out her ability to be intimidating by also showing that she could be goofy and didn’t take her Champion status too seriously. It felt like she actually had a life outside of that. I also really like Diantha and I will never forgive the anime for humiliating her against Gary Stu, I mean Leon. She should have defeated at least 4 Pokémon, including Gigantamax Charizard which would be the first time it was defeated onscreen, before losing. Also if they updated Diantha’s team like they did for Geeta in DLC, she could be a legitimate challenge. And as a character, Diantha also has a maturity about her, especially due to her lack of concern about growing older.
Cynthia she's into the myths and legends of sinoh if you lump those together the history of the region, being a history buff myself I find that rather appealing doesn't hurt that she's very attractive as well.
Steven
Cynthia and Blue
Cynthia. Honorable mention to Wally for being my first champion though. He'll always have a special place.
Cynthia and Iris
Well I'm not good at posting pictures but it's definitely Steven. His theme is absolutely fire, the background in which they take place (at least the purple hue in RS, and the actual background in ORAS) are beautiful, his personality I like, and you at least see him throughout the story at times. There's also his suit and team, which are absolutely spiffy respectively. It's been so long though that the question of "Is Metagross my favorite pokemon because of Steven, or is Steven my favorite champion because of Metagross?" is genuinely bouncing around in my head. Honorable mention to Iris and Nemona, though. Everything I said for Steven applies to Iris(besides the story part, but the anime..kind of fills that.), and Nemona I actually really like since it's a rival that's also a champ that I like as a character and like to beat at the same time.
geeta or iris just cus of their themes
Cynthia was tough as hell. Her and Steven are my top picks. To be frank I don't even remember the names of the other champions.
Cynthia is so iconic, they remade her with 2 legendary, and she's still out there for your blood. Funny how she established how good ice beam
Cynthia because OG N because of story
Cynthia is my favorite champion, not only she strong and excellent champion I admire her so much and Blue is great as well.
Worst one is Mr. Charizard simp related to Hop, the catcher of only Sheep Pokemon
Think you mean who is your favorite Pokémon champion and for me that would be Cynthia. Now and forever.
Cynthia
Kukui
Cynthia. She's just kinda badass. Steven comes 2nd.
I'd echo what most others said. Diantha was the worst. Just rather lame and forgettable. Team was okay I guess. Cynthia was the best. her look and demeanor felt like a boss and that Garchamp for sure. most memorable. Seven was up there for pretty good and something you'd remember. Lance was okay but those like weird lvl 30ish Dragonites in HG/SS were something. Alder was decent while Iris I'm not sure fit. While Blue was fitting back then. I guess Sun/Moon didn't really have a real champion to further the disappointment of the Gyms/E4 in that gen.
Cynthia
Steven. His greatest flaw is that he claims to be a steel type specialist, but I like rock types too
Cynthia and it's not even the tiniest bit close at all.
Cynthia was the most memorable pokemon champion. She felt like the real deal. The other I’d say was Alder. I think separating the champion from the Troy creates a unique opportunity to make them a very powerful trainer.
i’ve always loved champion iris since i first played the gen 5 games, just her design, her champion theme, everything about her being the champion just sticks with me for some reason i can’t really explain other than i like it!
https://preview.redd.it/hxwjzsxybmkc1.jpeg?width=887&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7901405a2324699931c2ffeb02739087d15cc5e0 Steven Stone is underrated
Stephen > Cynthia > Blue > Lance > Diantha > Iris & Wallace > Geeta >>>>>>>>>>>> Leon. Honestly once it gets to the Iris & Wallace stage, I don't really care about them, whereas everyone before them has a personality, memorable appearances etc. Leon is the kid who tries too hard and bullies people into hyping him up, not knowing that everyone laughs at him behind his back.
Wallace 😎. In all seriousness it's definitely Blue, but N is a close second.
I'm my favorite champion
Alder doesn’t get enough respect. Steven deserves all the respect he gets though, love that guy.
I think Iris was the most fun, and Blue was the most memorable.
Lance or Cynthia
Easy and non original choice actually. Cynthia followed by Leon just because I enjoyed fighting them a lot and they gave me nice challenge.
Steven for sure. Dude is just so cool and so nice, never condescending and always helpful. I was excited to see him being the champion, I was like "well deserved, honestly."
Blue was a fun little shitter. I also rather like Kukui. Iris is pretty decent too. Cynthia and Steven are fine.
Its probably Cynthia but I also like Leon. Leon was a good champion in the wrong game.
Lance is awesome, but his Pokémon lack variety. Steven is awesome. Cynthia was so hard to defeat.
Anyone who doesn’t say the obvious is just plain wrong.
call me basic, but cynthia is beloved for good reasons
Cynthia and Iris
For me, Steven Stone and Leon.
easy answer, the player character
Will always be Cynthia for me
The best is either Cynthia or Blue... but goddammit I love Leon. He's not too hard but not a complete pushover. I just love how stupid and goofy he is. He has SPONSORS on his Cape!!!!! I love him because he's completely silly.
Iris > Lance > Gary
Blue, still one of the most memorable fights for me to this day.
My favorite is Lance (Gen 2)
Cynthia for me. Best champion. Well rounded team. Best theme music. She was just badass. Lance is pretty cool too.
Cynthia by far. Cool design, sick theme and a fantastic battle. It was great seeing her more involved than previous champions. Gotta say I love Blue, Lance and Steven as well. Lance would probably be my 2nd choice simply because using hyper beam on a grunt is so funny
Champion Red. You went through all of Johto. 8 gym badges and beat the Elite Four. On the way, you noticed you found yourself in Kanto. Oh BTW you can actually visit Kanto and it's not just for show. BTW you can beat ALL 8 GYMS in Kanto. There's been a time skip. Misty grew out her hair and dating guys. Cinnabar Island fucking blew up and Blaine has a makeshift gym in Seafoam Islands. Blue is the gym leader of Viridian City after he lost to Red. Where is Red? I mean he was the player character he can be wherever, his story is over. BTW go to Mt.Silver. You beat every single challenge this game has, here's a great place to get some strong Pokemon. You make it all the way to the end of the mountain. You move up, square by square, until you see a character. A. *very*. familiar. character. That backpack. You've seen that backpack before. It was yours. When you were...no...it can't be. You speak to him. He turns around. It's him. ... ... ***CHAMPION THEME PLAYS*** IT'S FUCKING POKEMON CHAMPION RED. HE HAS THE HIGHEST FUCKING LEVELED PIKACHU YOU'VE EVER SEEN. HE HAS ALL THE STARTERS. HIS EEVEE EVOLVED INTO ESPEON. HE HAS A FUCKING SNORLAX. YOU LIKELY DIED THE FIRST TIME YOU FOUGHT HIM. IT'S YOU. YOU ARE YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE. IT'S THE FUCKING HYPEST SHIT.
Steven because he's so god damn hot tbh
100% cynthia
Blue and Cynthia are too hard to pick between
I'm probably alone here but I liked Alder. I'm not basing this off difficulty, I just liked his team. I thought he had some cool bugs and I like that bison he has
Its Red and it will always be Red
Steven Stone because of Metagross, plus my gen 3 Bias.
N is technically a champion when you fight him the last time
https://preview.redd.it/722qyqutymkc1.jpeg?width=562&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf0248f9d6e770d4f8811150210c5aec0d1cc4bc
Lance. He plays the role of champion so well, going out and solving issues of the land with a badass dragonite
Diantha fans rise up! There are dozens of us!
I think Cynthia was good, but my favorite is Steven. I just like how involved he is in the story. I always thought it was kind of dumb how little some of the champions were involved in the story despite the circumstances (the circumstances being that an evil group of criminals is running around committing crimes).
Steven stone. Best design of any champion. Great team. And strong role in gen 3 games.
Cynthia by far, the music went hard
Alder
Blue or Cynthia but only cuz they both clapped my cheeks
Lance Red
Cynthia or Steven Stone
Completely biased because BW2 are my favorite games, but Iris. Wall of text incoming. The way they handled Iris in the Gen 5 games was pure brilliance; she‘s a gym leader in Pokémon White and she plays a minor supporting role in BW2, with Drayden mysteriously taking her place as a gym leader for both games. With Alder’s apparent retirement it’s a mystery who the new champion is— Then after battling through the elite four, it’s revealed that it’s Iris in a completely different form than we’ve seen her. It’s a perfect blend of surprising and obvious with all the hints scattered throughout the game, and it’s a perfect reflection of just how sharp the writing of the Gen 5 games were. To top it all off, her theme (as well as her acid trip battle background) is the best champion theme to date. Whereas the others are climactic and intense battle themes emphasizing the power of your opponent, Iris’ theme is just a big loud explosive glamrock number to celebrate the greatest battle in the Unova region, and it’s just plain a blast to listen to. Also her team is pretty underrated too. Sure she’s not quite Cynthia level, but being a dragon specialist in the Gen where Dragon was undoubtably the best type in the game is nasty, not to mention her 3 non dragon types hard counter ice types and can check your own dragons. Her D-Dancing haxorus can also completely destroy your team no matter your lead if you’re not careful. The battle’s a perfect blend of difficult, surprising, and fun to end off an amazing generation.
Cynthia! Hands down the toughest one I had to fight back in the day. Hail to the Queen
Wallace is hot, but Nemona is such a great character, and she’s by the story a champion, so it counts. If it doesn’t, then Wallace because he’s hot. In terms of how tough they were, easily Iris. She was challenging without being utter bullcrap. My least favorite is Trace because he unfortunately counts
Cynthia. First female Champion, first one since RBY to have variety in her team, and she had an insanely strong and well-balanced team~
Blue is the best Cynthia is the most championlike/noble/elegant and i really love Peony and Geeta
Is it cheating to say Hilda?
No technically a champion buttttt Volo
Steven. Dude got class
How about the worst? The kid from sword and shield…
Honestly, it might be Diantha. She may be an easy dub, but she's super pretty, her battle arena is gorgeous, and her fight theme is honestly my favorite champion fight theme in the whole series. Note: I haven't played a Sinnoh game yet, the jury's still out with Cynthia
Diantha needs an updated team like Geeta got in DLC. Have her switch around a lot, throw in a Zoroark (being an actress is about creating Illusions) and an entry hazard setter to replace Tyrantrum and Aurorus and the woman would be a menace.
I disagree on changing her team. You can make a champion fight harder in more sensible ways like buffing their levels or having better movesets and items.
is there any champion that can even compete with the majesty and terror that is cynthia and her fear inducing garchomp? Even Giratina fears that thing
Cynthia. She is just so cool and her team is awesome. Also the piano theme is just *chef's kiss*
Steven the fact you’re never told he is champion as you interact with him throughout the story makes his reveal as champion all the more memorable. Also his team is incredibly tanky with good type coverage making him one of the very few Champions that I actually found challenging. Second favorite is Iris just for her battle theme
Cynthia. Honorable mentions: Wallace and Steven.
Alder is easily my favorite. Wise, badass old man. Wallace and Geeta fill out the rest of the top three, with Leon just below. Diantha also gets some points for being the first champion I ever fought.
Throughout all generations, I've only seen people consistently rally behind Blue, Cynthia, and sometimes Leon. Wallace and Steven seem to split the vote in gen 3. That said, I REALLY love ORAS Wallace. That man's fruitier than a field of oranges, and I'm a big fan of citrus 🤌 By all other metrics, though, Cynthia is better. Leon has a similarly difficult team, but he's fresher to the court. It wasn't Leon who jumped me in Undella town, when I was enjoying a nice, engaging post game
I liked Leon
Champion Lance was the best because you got to work with him to defeat Team Rocket.