>>49049712I blame the fact that after beating the elite four the Kanto post game seemed mostly just a small bit of extra content. Even collecting their badges seemed like just a victory lap. I may be not be remembering correctly but the entire region was barren enough that I think I only just leveled a few times through the entire time being there before meeting Red and seeing such a level jump. Felt like Red was meant more like a secret boss if anything. Elite Four was the only place to grind up levels at that point of the game.