>>19162211It's a lot easier in HGSS, and that's only because there are far more moves available than there were in GS.
Meanwhile, Whitneys miltank has a very good moveset for what's available thus far in the game, on top of it already having solid stats, a great typing (in gen 2 anyway) and being at a pretty solid level (20) where it isn't much easier to get higher leveled without a bit of grinding.
I used to have a lot of trouble with whitney when I first played the game when I was younger. Back then, I just used super potions on my pokemon over and over and over again until she finally ran out of a certain move and I could beat her. I would just switch from healthy pokemon that could take a couple of hits to healthy pokemon that could take 3 hits. heal, switch, heal, switch, heal, switch. It was awful.
Then on my second go around I found the guy who trades a machop. I didn't know then that fighting was super effective against normal (i only thought it was super effective against rock, back then there were hardly any fighting type moves available that were better than anything else the pokemon could learn, and in game NPCs rarely used a fighting type move).
When I tried fighting whitney and my croconaw and pidgeotto got demolished to her rock-rolling murder spree, I switched in machop as a last ditch hope. He beefed her hit without giving a fuck and smashed her with karate chops. It was incredibly satisfying when I beat her with ease. Felt like I learned a valuable lesson.
I also learned that game freak is actually very helpful when it comes to gym leaders and their pokemon. Just about every gym leader has at least one or two pokemon nearby available to catch that can help out with the gym. Without fail, which is nice. It also encourages you to try out the "local flavor" of a new area if you're having trouble at the gym.
