diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 49b80d4d4..0e52e50e9 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ asynctest
 black
 flake8
 pre-commit
-pyre-check==0.0.43
+pyre-check==0.0.41
 pytest
 pytest-asyncio
 pytest-cov
diff --git a/src/poke_env/player/player_network_interface.py b/src/poke_env/player/player_network_interface.py
index 9b72140c7..9e260f0a0 100644
--- a/src/poke_env/player/player_network_interface.py
+++ b/src/poke_env/player/player_network_interface.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 from asyncio import ensure_future
 from asyncio import Event
 from asyncio import Lock
+from asyncio import sleep
+from time import perf_counter
 from typing import List
 from typing import Optional
 
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ async def _change_avatar(self, avatar_id: Optional[int]) -> None:
         :param avatar_id: The new avatar id. If None, nothing happens.
         :type avatar_id: int
         """
-        assert self.logged_in.is_set()
+        self._wait_for_login()
         if avatar_id is not None:
             await self._send_message(f"/avatar {avatar_id}")
 
@@ -159,6 +161,11 @@ async def _handle_message(self, message: str) -> None:
                 raise NotImplementedError("Unhandled message: %s" % message)
         except CancelledError as e:
             self.logger.critical("CancelledError intercepted. %s", e)
+        except Exception as exception:
+            self.logger.exception(
+                "Unhandled exception raised while handling message:\n%s", message
+            )
+            raise exception
 
     async def _log_in(self, split_message: List[str]) -> None:
         """Log the player with specified username and password.
@@ -211,6 +218,16 @@ async def _send_message(
             await self._websocket.send(to_send)
         self.logger.info(">>> %s", to_send)
 
+    def _wait_for_login(
+        self, checking_interval: float = 0.001, wait_for: int = 5
+    ) -> None:
+        start = perf_counter()
+        while perf_counter() - start < wait_for:
+            sleep(checking_interval)
+            if self.logged_in:
+                return
+        assert self.logged_in
+
     async def listen(self) -> None:
         """Listen to a showdown websocket and dispatch messages to be handled."""
         self.logger.info("Starting listening to showdown websocket")