>>58169338
The cold hard truth is that Chikorita is the strongest Johto starter for a playthrough.
>b-b-but the gym matchups-
Largely negligible in practice since all the gyms it applies to are easy enough to the point where it just isn't an issue. The only gym strong enough to the point where it matters (Whitney) gets completely disemboweled by an appropriately leveled Bayleef.