6 Ways to Make Pokemon X and Y More Challenging

Pokemon has been around for fifteen years now, and many modern PokeFans, myself included, have been playing the series since its original North American release in 1998. Back then I recall Pokemon Red and Blue being much more difficult than Pokemon is today--the Elite Four's Agatha, with her Gengar, springs to mind as notoriously hard to beat--but much of that difficulty probably had to do with age. I was only nine years old, after all. Now, however, I have little trouble clearing every Pokemon game, most recently Pokemon X and Y, which I found to be the easiest Pokemon adventure I've ever gone on. 

Part of the problem is, as an adult, it's easy to figure out Pokemon's elemental system and exploit the hundreds of trainers you fight during the course of any given Pokemon adventure. Furthermore, Game Freak and Nintendo are reluctant to add a proper higher difficulty to these games. Of course, the Pokemon games are known for being customizable to the player's experience, so it's quite easy to add a few self-imposed rules to make each adventure more challenging and therefore more engaging.

Below are six ways to make Pokemon X and Y more difficult. I've found they work well; be that as it may, if you ramp up the difficulty in some other way, let us know in the comments!

 

#6 Forgo the Exp. Share

The Exp. Share, available in every  main-series Pokemon game, received an upgrade (or downgrade, depending on how you look at it) in Pokemon X and Y which makes the game the easiest Pokemon yet. Before X and Y, the Exp. Share would dish out experience points to a Pokemon who did not participate in battle only if that Pokemon was holding the item itself. Now, however, the Exp. Share awards experience to your entire team of Pokemon. If the Exp. Share remains on for the course of the game, your Pokemon will far exceed the level of every trainer you meet. 

However tempting it may be to use it, turning off that Exp. Share as soon as you get it will assure your adventure through X and Y's Kalos region is much more challenging. Your team will always be slightly lower level than the trainers you meet, so creating a diverse team of Pokemon to counter most situations becomes more of a necessity. 

 

#5 Put aside Legendaries, Pseudo-Legendaries, and Mega Evolutions

Legendary Pokemon are legendary for a reason. The stats of Xerneas and Yvetal, the mythological mascots of Pokemon X and Y respectively, far exceed that of the majority of the Pokemon you'll meet through your adventure. Since you encounter these legendary creatures throughout the course of the story, it's mighty tempting to slot them into your party and use them to crush every trainer you meet afterword. 

Keep those mythological beasts of PokeLore locked up inside your PC storage system and out of your party. Doing so will make the battles ahead a lot less one sided without what essentially amounts to a God or Deity on your side. While you're at it, ditch pseudo-legendary Pokemon, which include most three-stage dragon types like Dragonite, Hydregion, and Goodra, and avoid using the newly introduced Mega Evolutions as well. Mega Evolutions power Pokemon up to be on-par or stronger than many legendary Pokemon in X and Y, and a well-trained Dragonite can wreck just about any opponent. 

 

#4 Do a mono-type run

Pokemon  is heavily based on its elemental system. Fire beats grass, grass beats water, and water beats fire. With the introduction of the new fairy type, there are now 18 possible elements individual Pokemon can subscribe to. What's more, Pokemon can have more than one type. Using a well balanced team of many different types means you'll be prepared for just about every Pokemon battle you fight. Which, of course, is a bad thing if you're looking for a steeper challenge. 

Pick your favorite type, such as grass, and only use Pokemon of that typing. Those Pokemon can be dual typed--such as grass/poison--but they must carry with them the strengths and weaknesses that come from being a plant. Avoid using overpowered types, such as fighting, ground, and electric as these types have few weaknesses and many strengths. 

 

#3 Only heal outside of battle or at Pokemon Centers

This one takes a bit of self control. Using a paralyze heal or awakening to cure an impaired Pokemon is often the easiest way to stave off frustration in the midst of battle. However, using items gives you a rather unfair advantage over your NPC opponents because most won't use them, thus making many battles a walk in the park. Well, gym leaders do heal their Pokemon, but they're the bosses of the Pokemon world and should be allowed an advantage or two over you. 

You can take this method to the next level by not using items at all and only healing at Pokemon Centers. This requires even more patience because frequent trips out of caves and back to town can become tedious, but it's also a sure-fire way to make Pokemon X and Y much harder.

 

#2 Switch off the "Switch" battle style

Open up the options menu. Scroll down to Battle Style, and switch it to  Set instead of Switch. In the default Switch mode, you will be asked to change Pokemon after every creature you defeat, giving you an unfair advantage over opponents. With Set on, you won't be given this option and, if you want to change Pokemon, it'll have to take a hit to come into play. 

Pretty straight forward, right? This is a must for those who want challenging Pokemon battles.

 

#1 Do a Nuzlocke run

I've attempted a few Nuzlocke runs in the past, and they have all ended in bitter failure because  Nuzlocke runs are the most hardcore and difficult way to play Pokemon. Nuzlocke runs were designed to make replaying Pokemon games more exciting and varied, alleviating any repetitiveness and lack of challenge garnered through a dozen retreaded adventures. There are a lot of self-imposed rules in a Nuzlocke run, some of them optional, but these four rules are considered necessary:

1. If a Pokemon faints, it is "dead" and cannot be used anymore.

2. If you run out of Pokemon, it's game over and you must restart. 

3. You can only catch the first Pokemon you meet in each area with no second chances.

4. You can only use Pokemon you captured yourself, which excludes Pokemon given to you during the course of the story. Excluding your starter Pokemon, of course. 

Yeah, Nuzlocke runs are tough. They're easily the most difficult way to play Pokemon; therefore, if you really want a challenging Pokemon experience, but don't want to wallow in misery after 25 hours of play time when your starter "dies," you should consider the five other points in this list before diving into the deep end.

You can read more the rules of a Nuzlocke run here. Good luck.