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Early Johto Gym Strategies

How to beat Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney, and Morty without overleveling or cheese strategies.

These are the first four Johto gym leaders. All of them have teams designed to punish you for not understanding type matchups or abilities.

You don't need to overlevel. You need to bring the right Pokémon.

Falkner (Violet City)

Badge: Zephyr Badge Type: Flying Level Range: 9-13

His Team

  • Natu (Lv. 10): Peck, Leer, Night Shade, Mud-Slap.
  • Hoothoot (Lv. 11): Tackle, Hypnosis, Peck, Confusion.
  • Pidgeotto (Lv. 13): His ace. Gust, Mud-Slap, Quick Attack, Roost.

What Makes This Hard

Pidgeotto's Roost stalls weak teams, and Mud-Slap punishes Electric-types. Hoothoot’s Hypnosis can also waste turns.

What Works

Rock-types: Geodude is available on Route 46 and Union Cave. Rock Throw one-shots everything Falkner has. Geodude doesn't care about Gust.

Electric-types: Mareep is on Route 32 (before the gym if you backtrack). Thunder Shock handles Hoothoot. Be mindful of Pidgeotto’s Mud-Slap against Electric-types.

Ice-types: If you got the Eevee from Bill and evolved it into Glaceon, Ice Shard one-shots Pidgeotto. Unlikely at this point in the game, but worth mentioning.

What Doesn't Work

Normal-types. They don't resist Flying and they don't hit super-effectively. You'll win, but you'll waste healing items.

Strategy

  1. Lead with Geodude or Mareep.
  2. Rock Throw or Thunder Shock through Natu and Hoothoot.
  3. If Pidgeotto uses Roost, hit it again before it heals.
  4. Don't let the fight drag out. Falkner's team gets stronger the longer you take.

10-12. If you're higher, you're overleveled. If you're lower, catch a Geodude.

Related: Type Chart

Bugsy (Azalea Town)

Badge: Hive Badge Type: Bug Level Range: 14-17

His Team

  • Butterfree (Lv. 14): PoisonPowder and Sleep Powder set up; Confusion for damage.
  • Beedrill (Lv. 14): Poison Sting and utility.
  • Yanma (Lv. 14): Quick Attack, Double Team, Sonic Boom.
  • Scyther (Lv. 17): His ace. Fast, with U-turn/Pursuit pressure.

What Makes This Hard

Scyther’s Speed and pivoting. If you let screens/sleep land from Butterfree, the fight snowballs.

What Works

Fire-types: Quilava (if you picked Cyndaquil) incinerates everything. Ember or Flame Wheel deletes Scyther.

Rock-types: Geodude still works. Rock Throw crushes Butterfree, Beedrill, and Yanma; Magnitude punishes Scyther.

Flying-types: Pidgeotto, Fearow, or Hoothoot with Wing Attack cleanly handle Bugs.

What Doesn't Work

Grass-types. Bug resists Grass. You'll deal chip damage and get punished by fast Bug STAB.

Strategy

  1. Remove Butterfree first. Sleep/Poison and screens make the fight harder if they stay up.
  2. Save your Fire-type for Scyther. Don't waste it on Yanma.
  3. If you don't have a Fire-type, use a Rock-type and heal before Scyther.
  4. Watch out for Quick Attack. It hits first. Don't stay in on low HP.

14-16. Scizor is Lv. 17. You don't need to match it if you have the right type.

Related: Abilities Guide

Whitney (Goldenrod City)

Badge: Plain Badge Type: Normal Level Range: 18-20

Her Team

  • Clefairy (Lv. 18): Metronome and Disarming Voice; can force bad turns with Attract.
  • Teddiursa (Lv. 20): Early Normal coverage with status/utility.
  • Munchlax (Lv. 19): Defense Curl + Rollout package; Attract.
  • Miltank (Lv. 21): Defense Curl + Rollout, Stomp, and Fresh Snack. Scrappy lets her hit Ghost-types.

What Makes This Hard

Miltank. Rollout starts weak but doubles in power every turn. By turn 3, it's one-shotting fragile teams. Fresh Snack undoes your damage. Scrappy means you can't hide behind a Ghost-type.

This is the first fight where you can't brute-force your way through with your starter.

What Works

Rock-types: Geodude (again). Rock Throw chunks Miltank. Geodude's Defense lets it survive Rollout. Evolve it to Graveler before this fight if possible.

Fighting-types: Machop is available early. Low Kick or Karate Chop hits Miltank super-effectively. Heracross (Headbutt trees) deletes Miltank with Brick Break.

Ghost-types: Gastly from Sprout Tower. Miltank's Scrappy lets Normal moves hit Ghosts, but Gastly can outspeed and use Curse to drain her HP. Risky, but viable.

Status moves: Thunder Wave, Toxic, or Will-O-Wisp. Paralyze or poison Miltank and stall out Rollout. Let her hit herself to death while you heal.

What Doesn't Work

Trying to tank Rollout. You can't. By turn 3, Rollout one-shots anything that isn't a Rock-type.

Strategy

  1. Kill Clefairy fast. Metronome is random. Encore is annoying. Don't let her waste your time.
  2. Send out your Rock-type or Fighting-type against Miltank.
  3. If Rollout starts, switch to a Pokémon you don't care about and let it faint. Rollout resets when she misses or when you switch.
  4. Paralyze or poison Miltank if you can. It buys you time.
  5. Don't try to outheal Fresh Snack. You won't. Kill her in 3–4 hits or lock her down with status.

18-20. This fight isn't about levels. It's about bringing the right Pokémon.

Related: Common Beginner Mistakes

Morty (Ecruteak City)

Badge: Fog Badge Type: Ghost Level Range: 23-25

His Team

  • Haunter (Lv. 24): Levitate; Hypnosis pressure plus coverage.
  • Haunter (Lv. 24) or Noctowl (Lv. 24) [Faithful]: Sleep support.
  • Misdreavus (Lv. 25): Disarming Voice, Dark Pulse, Nasty Plot, Shadow Ball.
  • Gengar (Lv. 26): Hypnosis, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Dream Eater. Ability varies: Cursed Body (Faithful) or Levitate (Polished).

What Makes This Hard

Hypnosis. If you're asleep, Dream Eater kills you. Morty's entire strategy is putting you to sleep and healing off your HP.

Levitate on Haunter (and Gengar on Polished builds) blocks Earthquake/Magnitude. On Faithful builds, Gengar has Cursed Body, so Ground moves work.

What Works

Dark-types: Dark resists Ghost and hits it super-effectively. Umbreon walls Morty; Sneasel shreds with Bite/Feint Attack.

Normal-types: Immune to Ghost moves, but beware Hypnosis/Dream Eater and Gengar’s Thunderbolt. Don’t assume a free wall.

Psychic-types: Drowzee or Hypno. Insomnia prevents sleep, and Psychic hits Poison-types hard. It is not super-effective vs Ghost.

Fast attackers: Anything with high Speed that can hit before Hypnosis. Crobat, Jolteon, or Alakazam. Kill his team before they put you to sleep.

What Doesn't Work

Fighting-types. Ghost resists Fighting. You'll deal no damage and eat Hypnosis.

Poison-types. Ghost resists Poison. Same problem.

Strategy

  1. Bring a Dark-type or Normal-type. You're immune to Ghost moves. Morty can't do anything to you.
  2. If you don't have a Dark-type or Normal-type, bring Awakening items or a Pokémon with Insomnia.
  3. Kill Gastly and Haunter first. They're frailer than Gengar.
  4. Watch out for Misdreavus's Perish Song. Switch out before the counter hits zero.
  5. Don't try to set up. Morty will Hypnosis you and ruin your sweep.

24–26. Morty's team is fast. You need to outspeed or tank Hypnosis.

Related: Type Chart

General Advice for Early Gyms

  • Catch Geodude. It walls Falkner, Bugsy, and Whitney. One Pokémon solves three gyms.
  • Don't overlevel. Polished Crystal uses modern EXP scaling; overleveled Pokémon gain less. You don’t need to be 5+ above the leader.
  • Use items. X Attack, X Defend, and Guard Spec are cheap and effective. Don't hoard them.
  • Save before the fight. If you lose, you know what went wrong. Adjust your team and try again.
  • Talk to NPCs outside the gym. They'll tell you what type the leader uses. Plan accordingly.

Related: Difficulty Scaling