>>25188876like
>>25188891 and
>>25188930 said, levels are not as important as the individual pokemon's stats/moves. When I choose to overgrind it's normally for an evolution (gastro/amph) or move (not a thing this time). Whitney specifically is really hard because besides Lickitung all her pokemon are fully evolved.
That said, I was pretty even with Morty, and made it through with no losses. Everyone was 30 at the start of the battle besides lairon/torterra who I leveled up to 32 just so they could evolve.