>>48700844I think gen's 1 and 2 were more difficult, given you went into all three games with an expected level of pokemon experience for that generation.
it's why people cry about getting ass blasted by brock or whitney, despite those gym leaders being absolute trash in terms of an effective difficulty. the gym leaders aren't super difficult battles, they're just basic gimmicks/strategy to try and deter your progress, while offering insight into more advanced mechanics. I think gen 7 did a decent job of carrying this throughout, but I wouldn't say it was the best at it, definitely 3rd or even 4th after gen 3, but miles ahead of trash like gens 8 and 6.
