The Best and Worst Pokemon Champions

[Music] foreign [Music] good morning everybody good morning it's jpr and welcome back to another video the Pokemon League champion has arguably the biggest role of any trainer in the game in most cases the champion is not only the Capstone on your Pokemon Adventure but also serves as your final impression on the game as a whole sometimes the champion fight is so good it can be the defining moment of the entire region you see Sinnoh but we're not just talking about the fights here no a champion is much more than just the strongest trainer it's also how they represent and serve their regions that matters so today I'm taking an in-depth look at every Regional Champion to find the best and worst now to clarify I'll only be discussing Champions who actually hold the position at the end of the Elite Four challenge so sorry to Red nimona mustard and peony but they serve much more prominent roles than just being a champion also I'm not gonna discuss the Champions when they're not on League Duty like Steven showing up in Kanto or Cynthia vacationing in univa if they've clocked out of work then I'm not bringing it up simple as that now of course the first official Champion battle was against Blue at Indigo Plateau and I'm gonna say he's on the best side seeing as how this was the first Pokemon League many people didn't know there was a champion fight beyond the Elite Four good old false advertising for the Pokemon League committee eh so blue showing up as champion at the end was a really cool plot twist and one that brings the game full circle there's something satisfyingly poetic about the first and last battle being against the same person a person who wants to win more than anything else making it win a Pokemon's most competitive Rivals and the fact that he always has the starter that beats yours ensures that most trainers will find this fight relatively challenging my only question is if Lance was the champion and got bumped down who was the first Elite Four member who got booted out this question has always bothered me but it doesn't overshadow an otherwise awesome development which is why it's so puzzling that let's go Pikachu and let's go Eevee managed to pull off the same exact thing but infinitely worse I will never understand the purpose of Trace he literally just does everything that blue did but worse if you're going to produce a brand new character at least make him do something that blue didn't do especially not making him Champion that would be nice since it's established that this game somehow happened after red and blue but also isn't Canon to the main series timeline either why not just go wild and make red the champion that to me feels a lot more believable than Trace one look at trace's team and I have no earthly idea how this guy possibly beat any of the Elite Four like Cobra you've got a Mega Pidgeot he has three moves I'm not impressed even recreating the plot twist doesn't work for anyone over the age of five because at this point it's common knowledge that blue was the original champion and Trace just plays the exact same role that blue did worst category for sure moving on okay now Lance is a very weird case to me he's the first Champion to kinda establish the norm after blue he participates in taking down Team Rocket in the main story he doesn't tell you he's a champion and then whoa he's the champion it's not as cool of a plot twist as any of the other Champions because with preconceived Knowledge from the Kanto games you should already know it also just kind of feels like a downgrade because he's only champion because red beat blue and then immediately gave up the title to travel instead so from the moment you see this guy you know he's not the game's actual strongest trainer regardless I do like Lance as a character and I feel like he embodies what a champion should be like he teaches people the importance of raising Pokemon properly and he also periodically turns into Batman and thrashes the bad guys for fun and I know everyone Rags on this guy for his team and the fact that he's technically a flying Master instead of a dragon master and he has three under level Dragonites and all that but you know I'm gonna stick up for my boy first of all he's not a Game Dev he can help but there's only two dragons to choose from and also three Dragonites that's three pseudo legendaries which is two and a half more than your average champion and he specifically designs them to specialize in electric Fire and Ice moves with the electric and Ice ones being completely indiscernible from each other so you don't even know how to prep properly is the team a little boring compared to every other Champions team sure but it was also a restriction of the times I think Lance is just true neutral he's neither good nor bad and I mostly say that because Steven is basically just a repeat of Lance but executed way better I always liked how Steven is just this random Rock obsessed dude who you periodically run into but also happens to be the Region's strongest trainer he also just fits hohen remarkably well with it being a region with so much emphasis on exploring an ancient lore and in the remakes mega stones Steven checks all the boxes as this Region's perfect rep I don't think he's the hardest champion in the world but hey I'll give him credits despite being branded as a Steel type Champion only two of his Pokemon are weak to earthquake so Matt knows how to build a team he also made me think that Skarmory was a gen 3 Pokemon for a long time when I was a kid and that's kind of baller not gonna lie but I also played gold so there just wasn't a Skarmory and jono in general it probably wasn't that hard to fool me also in the remix Mega Metagross props to him he's the one trainer in Gen 6 who's actually challenging the only bad thing about Steven is that he gave us Wallace now I love Pokemon Emerald I still think this is a top three Pokemon game but Wallace being the champion is a decision that puzzled me even as a kid and even now I'm so puzzled that my Puzzler is sore now yes the Delta episode did explain that Steven wanted more freedom to pursue his hobbies and that Wallace was the next strongest guy in line for the throne which hey more power to him for doing what he loves go off King but this is just the retroactive explanation in Emerald itself the game where he is Champion there is no explanation also Wallace is like a part-time coordinator so he's definitely got stuff to do too his battle also feels kind of lame because we just fought one a couple hours earlier who is also a water type user this is the actual too much water complaint that Hoenn should get I'm also just opposed to the idea of the champion ever repping one of the three stutter types because you'll always screw over one of them maybe this is their way of making it up to Sceptile users but honestly septao could still fight three of Steven's Pokemon and I might add Wallace does nothing to stop Team Magma or Aqua Steven is retired and still does more to help than Wallace does Wallace just stands at the bottom of the cave of origin and goes hmm Rayquaza must be out there somewhere but I ain't getting him good luck trash tiered Champion your people are depending on you Wallace and now for Cynthia look I know this take is colder than the Arctic sea but Cynthia is trash okay I'm kidding but I know I had you there for a sec Cynthia kind of takes on a similar role as Steven she's a researcher of ancient Sinnoh myths and she too AIDS in the fight against Team Galactic in Platinum yeah she doesn't actually do anything in Diamond and Pearl and I think everyone just kind of forgets about that but that's okay because if we judge Sinnoh based on Diamond and Pearl alone nobody would like it Platinum truly does take her character to the next level though making her a much more interesting counter to Cyrus's point of view and of course it should go without saying but she is one of the hardest if not the hardest champion of all time to defeat in battle it's amazing how her fight has left an impression on almost everybody regardless of which game it's in I especially enjoy knowing that she was a past pupil Professor Rowan's meaning that her journey mirrors the players in many ways most Champions don't have a ton of backstory but with Cynthia you can at least infer what her Journeys were like and with her varied team that doesn't stick to one type she feels more like a graduated protagonist than a typical Champion for sure one of the best but you can also be one of the best viewer course that is by subscribing which puts you in my top 10 percent of favorite people I don't know if we've hit 180 000 subscribers by now but that would be an awesome Christmas present regardless so be sure to subscribe for more videos it's free I promise so univa takes two very different approaches with its two Champions and I think they're both pretty good Alder is the first Champion to openly tell you that he's the champion he doesn't keep it a secret like the previous ones do but obviously this was done for the purpose of enhancing the story and building up to his confrontation with Ed he's also a very different champion in the sense that he's not in his prime anymore he's a fading Legend filled with grief after losing his original partner Pokemon and apparently the reason why he has so many pokeballs around his neck is because he was too old to learn how the storage system worked yes that's actually Canon which isn't really important but I found it extremely funny while he doesn't overtly specialize in any type I always enjoyed how he's like a pseudo bug Champion it's a type that I never thought be represented at a level this high and I think in a way it's a metaphor for all those more down-to-earth personality plus he actually practices what he preaches he prefers to bring strength out of overlooked Pokemon rather than pursue the strongest ones and he actually manages to be somewhat challenging despite using what looks like a very underwhelming team he may have ultimately lost to end in Team Plasma but I still think he's a very interesting take on what it means to be a champion Iris on the other hand while not getting much in terms of character development does a good job at representing the overarching themes of Black 2 and White 2. that being growth and change iris is the opposite of Alder she's young impulsive and full of raw talent for Pokemon battling well Alder is just kind of writing out his days as Champion her overtaking the throne was certainly a surprise but thematically I would say it works her team especially in challenge mode is frighteningly well put together and the battle itself is a dazzlingly great send-off to the 2D Sprite based era of Pokemon from the full Sprite versus screen to one of the coolest battle backgrounds of all time there was no better way to cap this era off Iris gets the full 10 points for presentation my biggest gripe is that she's not very involved in the story events and I kind of feel like that was intentional to keep her identity more of a surprise but still it could have been done a little bit better I definitely enjoyed Iris as a champion overall though now Diantha when it comes to uninvolved Champions none are quite as bad as her callous face is probably the third biggest Regional Crisis behind hoen and Sinnoh with the Ultimate Weapon threatening to kill every one and everything and she's just like sorry but I'm an actress in filming this Region's next summer blockbuster morbius is more important real champions like Cynthia and Alder saw through the villains real intentions the moment they met meanwhile Diantha is having drinks with Lysander and doesn't have a clue she's just thinking oh he's a billionaire they never do anything bad right and her team is almost as uninteresting as her personality is these first three Pokemon were already used by Grant and Karina Goodra is just a typical pseudo legendary pick and Gore guys what is this thing actually going to do to anybody Mega gardev or is the only thing keeping the squad together she's just the less interesting and less challenging version of diamond and pearl Cynthia it's shocking how little she has going for her now alola is weird who could we and Howe technically aren't even Champions they're just the final battle to become Champion so I guess I'll just say Kukui being the last boss was cool albeit somewhat predictable when you knew that he was the one building the league his team is good enough his history is a strong trainer is well established and just in general it's pretty cool for the last fight to be against the professor back in the day a lot of people were predicting the Sycamore will be the champion of callow since he was the first battling Professor aside from glitch Professor Oak and boy that would have been a lot better than what actually happened but for it to happen at gym leader wakukui was still pretty cool as for Hal this just feels like the blue twist again but only because they realize that house Arc and sun and moon was really underwhelming compared to the rest of the characters and I don't know but it's just not as cool here I'm sorry guys I actually do like ultrasound and Ultra Moon I know I've been ragging on these games a lot in recent videos I promise I'll have have something good to say about them eventually just not today okay so let's discuss Leon I don't know why there's so much Leon slander to be honest look I get it hating on sword and shield is hip and cool and I actually agree most of the time but not for Leon this guy is like the one thing I can confidently say was pulled off decently well in sword and shield most people just seem to hate how he constantly flaunts that he's the unbeatable Champion but like he's playing a character and gather the Pokemon League competition is a true sporting event and he's this Region's King George and Tom Brady rolled together I don't think it's as much of an ego thing as him just accepting his role as the modern day hero of gather plus he actually backs it up he stops numerous rampaging Dynamax Pokemon he fights eternitus I mean he loses but he fights eternitus like you guys realize that's still more than any other Champion has ever done to stop a crisis right he actually tries to keep the player and his brother safe before thrusting him into battle and I think that's really admirable and yeah some people might find him really easy to be just because sword and shield has crazy power creep issues among other things but truthfully his Team rocks it's arguably the best team for any Champion it's in Cynthia's tier for sure and even after losing his title he dedicates himself to training the next generation of trainers of the battle tower so that Gallery can be the strongest region in the world does that sound like an ego obsessed maniac to you you can argue all day about how strong Leon really is but at the end of it all this man is still my favorite champion no Champion feels as important to the Region's identity and growth as Leon does to Galler he's a rightful inspiration to all who travel here Leon you have my respect which is great because I can't say the same thing about our last champion Gita the only thing she is getting is her butt cakes by just about everybody if looking at this team wasn't enough of an insult to your eyes just remember that her entire personality is basically just I am strong but jpr that was Leon's personality too you might be saying to which I say no Liang was also bad directions and again he actually was strong literally the only defining trait that she has throughout the game is that she's the top champion and she says garbage like I am utterly incapable of holding back in Pokemon battles and then she sends out avalog and go goat are you kidding now I know some of you might be huffing that Hopi in the Kalos DLC is coming in the go-goat and avalog are actually intentional references to this more likely I think her team is actually meant to represent the six notable biomes of paldia as pathra is the desert in the West Province go-goat is the highlands of the South Province Volusia is Lake casaroya or just the sea in general avalug is Mount glaciado King Gambit is the bamboo forest in the East and glamora is area zero I think the only reason she doesn't use Pokemon like Max caliburus a Titan or arbolifa is because other trainers already do I don't think it's any deeper than that but you know what let's just pretend that her team is referencing Kalos instead if that were the case why not go with pyroar or clawitzer or anything with these two anything at all and that's just the beginning of the problems why doesn't valooza have to Layaway without that move this Pokemon is practically useless why does glamora come out last if its ability sets up toxic spikes this should have been the lead what doesn't King Gamba come out last so they can get the most out of its Supreme Overlord ability is this nitpicky maybe but if you claim to be the top champion of all Champions I would expect that you use some Battle Tactics to your advantage anyway I would love to talk about the stuff that Gita does outside of this battle but there's none of that actually this is pretty much it nimona absolutely should have dethroned her before you got there I know she's like the true final boss of the Victory Road storyline but man I just wish Guido wasn't involved at all and there you have it that is my take on every single Pokemon champion let me know who your favorites and least favorites are in the comments section down below but of course be sure to subscribe and leave a like on this video I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year and I'll see you guys next time

Channel: JPRPokeTrainer98

Views: 287,227

Keywords: Pokemon, JPRPT98, JPRPokeTrainer98, Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Champions, Pokemon Master, Ash Ketchum, Cynthia, Steven, Blue, Lance, Alder, Iris, Diantha, Kukui, Hau, Leon, Geeta, Nemona, Red, Battle Theme, Battle Music, Ranking Every, Best and Worst, Geeta Battle, Pokemon Cards, Pokemon TCG, Pokemon Card Opening, Anipoke, Ash-Greninja, Pikachu, Charizard, Koraidon, Miraidon, Legendary Pokemon, Mythical Pokemon

Id: MhpF5dRVSj4

Length: 15min 26sec (926 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 23 2022