>>56393971>Is the level curve meme real?As a person that has replayed GSC and HGSS a lot, yes and no.
It is undeniable that Johto's progression is different from the rest of the regions. It's a lot slower. Enemy Pokemon are not very strong in the Johto section of the game, so Exp grinding is not very fast. However, this is because levels don't get very high in the Johto section of the games. Think about it, Lance's strongest pokemon is only level 50. Compare this to something like DP Cynthia, whose strongest is level 66. People think there's something wrong with the Johto games when their pokemon are only in the 40s when they reach the Johto's Elite 4, they don't realize that they're actually in a good spot. Being in the 30-40s in Johto is like being in the 50-60s in Sinnoh or most other regions, but people don't realize that. They only focus on how low their pokemon's levels are without realizing they're actually at a appropriate level at that part of the game.
So yes, Johto's lower levels does make grinding slow in Johto, however you don't really NEED to grind in the first place. It is an exaggerated issue. Plus, I would argue that HGSS is a little bit better with exp gain than GSC, so the level curve is even less of an issue there.
>b-but Red!You have the Elite 4 rematches at that point, earning you all the exp you will ever need.
