...but I think that, start to finish, this is probably the most difficult Pokémon that I have played as an adult, and I have played them all.

I like how it lets you avoid a lot of trainers, so that you can be, more or less, on level with the Gym Leaders, whose AI is not completely braindead. I actually would have been reverse swept by the very first leader if not for his AI failing him when he was about to finish me off. Other than that, when I do fight regular trainers with more than three Pokemon(they can have more than three!?), it is a lot of fun.

I think the game actually hits a nice sweet spot for kids and not-so-casual gamers, especially when you take the Elite 4 into account. I have no problem with leaving Hardcore content to the post-game and PvP.