Why are the gym leaders so much harder in Emerald in particular? They all have a good amount of high leveled pokemon, multiple healing items, plus the aces typically have a consumable item. Like I'm aware that's not romhack tier hard or anything but compared to past pokemon games it's incredibly hard, like enough so that it stands out considerably. I'd argue it's harder than even BW2 challenge mode and USUM since those games give you more/significantly better tools to beat the battles with.
Also, unrelated but I really like how many double battles there are in these games. Been using a Marill and it's actually been a good doubles mon.
Anyway HOENN THREAD. All things hoenn appreciated