>>41580595Having replayed ORAS recently, I have come to the conclusion that it is not difficult at all, especially when the game throws you plenty of bones such as Gen 6's generous EXP system, easier gym leaders overall, and Pokemon with better move pools. And you can go out of your way to get DexNav Pokemon with better individual strengths and egg moves, or use trainer rematches, or even poach Lucky Eggs off of Pelipper. They even give you a Mega Lati if you absolutely struggle with the game. You can blitz the game with a Mega, and you are fine.
USUM is a lot harder, but not as hard as I expected it to be. I am replaying it now with a mono-Dark team, and I got up to the start of Ula'Ula. In general, the individual trainers are not hard but the bosses can be if you are not prepared. If you go into any of these fights without grinding or training base points, you can lose. The most infamous fights are the three trials on Akala Island; Olivia can be difficult as well. These battles were an inconvenience when I actually went out of my way to train up my team in attack and grinding, and they were harder than expected. Araquanid did not go down in one hit when I used a fully attack trained Murkrow (note that I did not use Shap Beak or Flyinium Z), just Wing Attack. That still did not kill it. Imagine you did none of that training. Araquanid would get the set-up from Masquerain's Tailwind and use its rain boosted Water Bubble moves to make a dent on your team, even against Flying-types. Marowak can be difficult for unprepared teams, as you have two fully evolved Pokemon (one of which has Thick Club and that speed boost, making it unlkely for one of your Pokemon to go first unless you use priority). Marowak can rip apart unprepared teams. For me at least, it was not a problem since I used Alolan Raticate's Hustle boosted Sucker Punch, but if that missed I could have been in trouble. Lurantis with Comfey providing it Flower Shield, Sunny Day, and Floral Healing (1/2)
