Ask any long-time fan about Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and they’ll probably get a nostalgic glint in their eye before immediately complaining about Miltank. It’s a rite of passage. The gen 2 gym leaders represent a weird, experimental era for Game Freak where the developers were clearly trying to figure out how to top the original Kanto experience without just repeating the same beats. They didn't always succeed. In fact, if you look at the actual data and team compositions of these eight bosses, the Johto journey is an absolute mess of missed opportunities and bizarre balancing decisions.
Whitney’s Rollout is the stuff of nightmares. We all know that. But have you ever actually looked at Falkner’s Pidgeotto? It’s level 9. Nine! That is lower than some of the wild Pokémon you find in the tall grass just a few routes later. This massive disparity in difficulty—jumping from a pushover bird to a literal tank with hooves—is why the Johto region feels so uneven.
The Identity Crisis of Johto’s Bosses
The biggest gripe people have, and honestly, they're right, is that the gen 2 gym leaders don't even use the new Pokémon. It sounds fake, but it's true. Falkner? He uses Pidgey and Pidgeotto. Both Kanto. Bugsy? Metapod, Kakuna, and Scyther. All Kanto. Morty? A full team of the Gastly line. Again, Kanto.
It’s baffling.
Johto introduced 100 brand-new creatures, yet the people who are supposed to showcase the region’s strength are stuck in the past. Why doesn't Bugsy have a Scizor or a Heracross? Why does Morty not have a Misdreavus, which was the only new Ghost-type added in 1999? The answer usually points toward the "sequel" nature of Gen 2. Game Freak viewed Johto and Kanto as two halves of a whole, but it ended up making the Johto leaders feel like secondary characters in their own game.
The Whitney Wall and the Miltank Mythos
Let’s talk about the cow. Whitney is the third gym leader in Goldenrod City, and she is arguably the first "hard" boss in the series. Her Clefairy is a distraction. The real threat is Miltank.
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What makes Miltank such a nightmare isn't just the move Rollout. It’s the combination of Attract, Stomp (which has a flinch chance), and Milk Drink. If you picked a male starter—which most kids did—Attract effectively shuts you down 50% of the time. Then, she heals. It’s a loop of frustration. Veteran players know the secret, though: you have to go to the Goldenrod Department Store and trade a Drowzee for a Machop named "Rocky." Without that Fighting-type advantage, you’re basically throwing yourself into a meat grinder.
Honestly, Whitney’s difficulty spike is a design flaw. It’s not that she’s "good," it’s that the game hasn't given you enough high-level encounters to naturally match her base stats by that point. You're forced to grind or cheese the mechanics.
The Mid-Game Slump: Chuck, Jasmine, and Pryce
Once you get past the trauma of Goldenrod, the game enters a weird state where you can basically fight the next few leaders in any order. This is where the gen 2 gym leaders really lose their momentum. Because the game doesn't know if you're going to fight Chuck or Pryce first, their levels are nearly identical.
Chuck sits at Level 27-30.
Pryce sits at Level 27-31.
By the time you get to Pryce’s Piloswine, you’ve likely already explored half the map, making his "Iceberg" title feel a bit hollow. He’s a total pushover if you have any Fire or Electric moves. Jasmine is the only one who provides a genuine threat because Steel-type was brand new at the time. Her Steelix has a physical defense stat of 200. In 2000, that was an astronomical number for a mid-game boss. If you didn’t pick Cyndaquil, you were in for a long, tedious battle of attrition.
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Morty and the Ghostly Letdown
Morty should have been the cool, mysterious heart of Ecruteak City. He lives in a town steeped in lore about Ho-Oh and Lugia. But his team is just... four variations of the same Pokémon.
- Gastly (Level 21)
- Haunter (Level 21)
- Gengar (Level 25)
- Haunter (Level 23)
It’s lazy. There is no other way to put it. This was the perfect chance to introduce Misdreavus to the player. Instead, Misdreavus was relegated to Mt. Silver—the literal end-game area—meaning most players never even saw it until the credits had already rolled. This is a recurring theme with gen 2 gym leaders. They feel like they were designed before the new 100 Pokémon were finalized.
Clair and the Kingdra Problem
Clair is the final hurdle in Blackthorn City, and she’s a massive jerk. Not just because of her personality—she literally refuses to give you the badge after you win—but because of her Kingdra.
In Gen 2, the Dragon/Water typing was broken. It only had one weakness: Dragon-type moves. And guess what? There were almost no good Dragon-type moves in the game. Dragon Breath was okay, but you usually didn't have access to it unless you were already training a Dratini. Most players ended up having to brute-force Kingdra with neutral damage while it spammed Smokescreen and Hyper Beam. It was a test of patience more than a test of skill.
Clair represents the peak of Johto's weirdness. She's difficult, but for the wrong reasons. She isn't outplaying you with strategy; she's outplaying you because the type-chart hadn't been balanced yet.
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The Kanto "Speedrun" Leaders
We can't talk about gen 2 gym leaders without mentioning the fact that you get to go back to Kanto and fight the original eight. On paper, this is the greatest post-game content in RPG history. In practice? It's a bit of a mixed bag.
Most of the Kanto leaders are bizarrely weak. Brock’s team is full of Level 40ish Pokémon that you can one-shot with a single Surf. The only real challenge in the Kanto half of the game is Blue. Blue is the only leader who has a diverse, high-level team that actually requires a strategy. He doesn't have a "type" theme, which makes him the most "modern" feeling boss in the entire game. He’s the precursor to how Champions are designed today.
The Level Curve Disaster
The most objective failure of the gen 2 gym leaders is the level curve. Look at the numbers.
Clair’s highest Pokémon is Level 40.
The Elite Four starts at Level 40.
But the final boss of the game, Red, has a Pikachu at Level 81.
There is a 40-level gap between the final gym and the final secret boss. This meant that if you wanted to actually beat Red, you had to spend dozens of hours mindlessly grinding against wild Pokémon in Mt. Silver because the gym leader rematches (which were added in HeartGold/SoulSilver) didn't exist in the original Game Boy Color versions.
How to Actually Beat Johto Today
If you're going back to play these games—whether it’s the originals or the DS remakes—you need a plan that accounts for the weirdness of the gen 2 gym leaders.
- Don't Sleep on Geodude: Seriously. Geodude resists Normal and Flying. He trivializes Falkner, Bugsy, and even Whitney. People hate on the pebble, but he's the MVP of the first three gyms.
- The Lapras Gift: You can catch a static Lapras in Union Cave every Friday. Do it. You need the Ice-type coverage for Clair, and the Water-type STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) for everything else.
- The Umbreon Pivot: If you get the Eevee from Bill in Goldenrod, turn it into an Umbreon. Its sheer bulk allows you to stall out Morty’s Gengar and Will’s Psychic-types later on.
- Ignore the "New" Pokémon: It's sad, but if you want an easy run, stick to Kanto classics. Pokémon like Alakazam, Golem, and Gyarados are simply better than 90% of the Johto newcomers because of how their stats were distributed.
The gen 2 gym leaders are a fascinating look at a franchise in transition. They are flawed, poorly leveled, and often ignore the very region they represent. Yet, they are some of the most memorable characters in the series. We remember them because they were part of a game that felt impossibly big at the time. Even if Morty should have had a Misdreavus, and even if Whitney’s Miltank is a war criminal, Johto wouldn't be the same without them.
To get the most out of your next Johto run, try a "Monotype" challenge or limit your team to only Johto-native Pokémon. It highlights just how difficult these leaders can be when you aren't using the same three Kanto powerhouses everyone used back in 2000. Stop by the Safari Zone or actually use the Headbutt mechanic on trees; you'll find a much more interesting game hiding behind the awkward level curve.