Whitney: The Goldenrod Gym Leader Who Cries When She Loses

She cries after every defeat, and the game makes the player wait for her. Whitney runs the Gym in Goldenrod City and champions the Normal type, the third stop on the Johto journey. She's also a Gym Leader you first have to coax out of another building before you can hope for a battle. Between a radio tower quiz, a sports dome and an inter-regional tournament, the games have given her far more lines than her rank would suggest.

Contents

• Goldenrod City, the Normal type and the Plain Badge
• The empty Gym, the Radio Card and the tears
• The Pokéathlon, the rematch and the world tournament
• In the anime, and on cards
• In the manga: a race, a kidnapping, a League
• Whitney at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Goldenrod City, the Normal type and the Plain Badge

Whitney defends the Goldenrod City Gym with a lineup of Normal-type Pokémon. Her Plain Badge comes third of the eight on the journey through the Johto region, which puts her early in the progression.

In Gold, Silver and Crystal, the visit follows the expected routine: you get past the Gym's obstacles, then face the Gym Leader at the end. This is the tamest version of her encounter, and the only one where she's actually where the player expects to find her.

The mobile game sums up her personality in one line: a Gym Leader bursting with energy, deeply attached to the Pokémon she fields, and not great at handling failure. That last trait isn't just a profile detail — the main games built an entire scene around it.

The empty Gym, the Radio Card and the tears

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Trainer who pushes open the Gym door finds no one there. Whitney has set up camp at the Goldenrod Radio Tower and refuses to budge until she has won the Radio Card, the item she came there to get.

The deadlock isn't broken by a battle but by a quiz: you have to answer the tower's questions correctly before the Gym Leader finally agrees to return to her post. So the Badge depends first on a knowledge test, not a duel.

Victory doesn't close the case, either. Once beaten, Whitney bursts into tears and stays put; you have to pretend to leave before a girl from the Gym explains that these tears follow every one of her defeats and always pass. Only by going back to talk to her does the player leave with the Plain Badge.

The Pokéathlon, the rematch and the world tournament

The remakes give her a second post at the Pokéathlon Dome: she's the one who welcomes the player on their first visit and explains the events. She also competes there, and can be one of the three opponents on the Speed Course in the Supreme Cup.

The rematch, for its part, takes a two-step appointment. First you have to register her number in your Pokégear by running into her on the sixth floor of the Goldenrod Department Store, where she drops by every day between noon and 4 p.m.; the battle itself then only takes place on Saturdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:59 p.m., at the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City.

Black 2 and White 2 invite her to the Pokémon World Tournament, in several events, including the Type Expert Tournament, for single-type specialists, and the Johto Leaders Tournament. The gender and Ability of her Pokémon vary from one battle to the next, and she fields three, four or six of them depending on the format.

The mobile game has featured her since launch, in her remake outfit, with a Miltank as her default partner. Two alternate sync pairs round out the set: a Wigglytuff obtained with scout tickets, and a Girafarig unlocked by maxing out her friendship level in the Trainer Lodge. Her holiday outfit, meanwhile, pairs her with a Winter Form Sawsbuck.

🐄 The Pokémon in her lineup have their own section: see the Pokémon plushies.

In the anime, and on cards

The original series gives her two back-to-back episodes and a family tie the games ignore: there, Milton is her uncle. Their first meeting ends in a clear win for the Gym Leader over Ash.

The rematch doesn't take place in the Gym but outdoors, on a hill near Moomoo Farm, and the outcome flips: this time, Whitney loses. Over two episodes, the series lets her experience both possible outcomes.

On the trading card side, her name showed up late: the Sun & Moon—Lost Thunder expansion, released in France on November 2, 2018, carries her first card. Her Pokémon, on the other hand, had already been illustrated in a Japanese expansion released in August 2001.

In the manga: a race, a kidnapping, a League

The manga adaptation brings her in through the radio. Gold, chasing after a Smeargle, bursts into the Radio Tower mid-recording and cuts off the show hosted there by Mary along with the Gym Leader. To make amends, he agrees to take her on in a race.

The contest never reaches the finish line: a Rhydon kidnaps Whitney along the way and the race is called off. Gold gets her out of there with a Sudowoodo caught just moments earlier, turning their first showdown into a rescue.

She later comes back to visit Pryce, accompanied by Mary and two other public figures, and finds herself facing what looks like Suicune — actually an ice statue the Gym Leader had carved to train against. Her run ends at the League tournament, where Misty knocks her out.

Whitney at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Which Badge does Whitney give out?
  The Plain Badge, the third of the eight Badges on the Johto journey. Her Gym is in Goldenrod City, where she fields Normal-type Pokémon.
• Why can't you find Whitney in HeartGold and SoulSilver?
  Because she has left her Gym for the Goldenrod Radio Tower, determined to win the Radio Card. You have to answer the tower's questions correctly for her to return to her post.
• Why does Whitney cry after the battle?
  A girl from the Gym explains that the Gym Leader cries after every defeat, and that it always passes. You have to pretend to leave, then come back and talk to her to finally get the Badge.
• How do you get a rematch against Whitney?
  By registering her number in your Pokégear on the sixth floor of the Goldenrod Department Store, where she goes between noon and 4 p.m. The battle then takes place on Saturdays at the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City.
• Which Pokémon partner with Whitney in the mobile game?
  A Miltank by default, then a Wigglytuff and a Girafarig as alternate sync pairs. Her holiday outfit pairs her with a Winter Form Sawsbuck.

In short

Whitney holds an unusual place in the Johto League: an early-journey Badge, but a Gym Leader you have to go and fetch outside her Gym. The remakes turned a routine stop into a small investigation, with a quiz at the Radio Tower and tears you have to wait out patiently. For a Normal-type specialist, her career is anything but normal.