How to Defeat Whitney's Miltank in Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal

Last Updated: September 3, 2020

Whitney, the Normal-type gym leader of Goldenrod City in Johto, is notorious among Pokémon fans for being difficult to defeat, and for good reason - her Clefairy is easy enough, but her Miltank is one tough cow. This article will show you a few different methods of defeating her Miltank without much trouble in Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal.

Method 1

Method 1 of 7:

Using Muscle the Machop

1
Go to the top floor of the Goldenrod Department Store, where you'll find a man who wants to trade you his Machop, Muscle. He'll ask for Drowzee in Gold and Silver, and Abra in Crystal. Both can be found on Route 34, the route below Goldenrod City. Abra can also be bought from the Game Corner for 200 coins if you don't want to deal with it fleeing from a wild battle.
2
Level Muscle to at least level 18. Whitney's Miltank is level 20, so you'll want to level it up high enough to stand a chance against the Miltank.

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3
Use its Low Kick and Karate Chop attacks against the Miltank. Given that those attacks are Fighting-type attacks, they'll be super effective. It'll also be resistant to Miltank's Rollout (a Rock-type attack).

Method 2

Method 2 of 7:

Using an Accuracy-Lowering Strategy

1
Have a Pokémon with an attack that lowers accuracy such as Smokescreen or Sand-Attack. If you started with Cyndaquil, it'll learn Smokescreen while Pidgey can learn Sand-Attack. Both should be evolved to their second forms by the time you reach Whitney.
2
Use your accuracy-lowering attack against the Miltank. By lowering its accuracy, its attacks will miss more often, giving you a better chance of defeating it.
3
After using your accuracy-lowering attack against the Miltank a few times, attack it. Special attacks such as Thundershock or Ember will work better than physical attacks, given Miltank's lower special defense. You can buy Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Ice Punch in the Goldenrod Department Store if you have any Pokémon that can learn one or more of those attacks (Abra, in particular, can learn all three and has a high special attack).

Method 3

Method 3 of 7:

Using a Curse Strategy

1
Capture a Gastly and have it learn Curse. Curse will cut down Gastly's HP in exchange for a curse that damages the opposing Pokémon every turn.
2
Use Curse against her Miltank. Stomp won't affect your Gastly, so if your Gastly is female, Miltank will have to resort to Rollout, which will be unlikely to KO your Gastly on the first turn.
3
Attack and/or status the Miltank while it's under the curse. Eventually, Miltank should go down to a combination of your attack damage and the damage from the curse.

Method 4

Method 4 of 7:

Using a Status-Inflicting Strategy

1
Get a Pokémon with an attack that inflicts a status on the opposing Pokémon. By this point, you'll be able to inflict paralysis, poison, or sleep. If you started with Chikorita, it'll be able to learn Stun Spore and Poison Powder.
- Paralysis lowers a Pokémons' speed and has a 25% chance of stopping the Pokémon from making a move during a turn.
- Poison damages the opponent a bit at the end of their turn.
- Sleep makes the opponent fall asleep, preventing them from moving until they wake up.
2
Use your status-inflicting attack on the Miltank. Poison or paralysis is your best bet here, given that sleep isn't always reliable, but whichever you use is your preference.
3
Attack the Miltank while it's under the status you inflict on it.

Method 5

Method 5 of 7:

Using a Rollout Strategy

1
Get the TM for Rollout, which is north of Goldenrod City on Route 35.
2
Teach it to a compatible Pokémon, which includes Geodude and Quilava.
3
Use Rollout on Clefairy. By the time Clefairy is KO'd, Rollout should have already gone for 3 or 4 turns, making it very powerful. When Miltank comes out, it'll be hit by Rollout, and (depending on your level) should do a good amount of damage against it, if not a one-hit KO. If it misses at any point, you get flinched by Miltank's Stomp attack, or your Pokémon is immobilized by love through Attract, though, Rollout will end, making this strategy dependent on luck.

Method 6

Method 6 of 7:

Using a Wall Strategy

1
Catch a Geodude or Onix. Preferably, a female one, since a female one will be immune to Attract. You can trade a Bellsprout for Onix in Violet City, or catch one in Union Cave. Geodude can also be caught in Union Cave, along with Dark Cave and the bottom part of Route 46.
2
Use it against the Miltank. Both Geodude and Onix are Rock/Ground-types and have high defense, making them a good choice to use against Whitney.

Method 7

Method 7 of 7:

Using a Rage Strategy

1
Choose Totodile as your starter Pokémon and have it learn Rage. Rage is an attack that increases your attack power when you're hit, as long as it's used consecutively. By the time you reach Whitney, Totodile should have evolved into Croconaw.
2
Use Rage against Clefairy. If you get lucky, Clefairy will use Double Slap and hit you 5 times with it, increasing your attack power with each hit. By the time it's KO'd and Miltank comes out, you should hopefully have enough attack power to do a good amount of damage against Miltank. If you use a different attack, though, the attack power will reset, so be sure that you're using it constantly.

Community Q&A

Question

I tried everything against Whitney and she keeps using milk drink. What do I do?

Lugia2453

Top Answerer

If all else fails, try to drain her milk tank out of milk drink PP. It only has 10 PP, so once it runs out of PP, she won't be able to use it.
Question

I have tried many times, countering Miltank's Rollout with my own Quilava's Rollout, but I always need 3 or more tries. What am I doing wrong?

Lugia2453

Top Answerer

Miltank is bulky enough to take a few good hits from a physical attack, so you're not doing anything wrong. Try inflicting some damage from another Pokemon first before using Rollout.
Question

Could I soft reset for a female Machop so I will be immune to Miltank's Attract?

Lugia2453

Top Answerer

The in-game trade Machop will always be female, so there's no need to soft reset for it.

Warnings

Avoid using a Fire, Flying, or Bug-type in battle for prolonged periods, as Rollout is super effective against those types.

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Helpful 9 Not Helpful 1
If you use a male Pokémon against Miltank, it'll use Attract, making it so your Pokémon may not attack 50% of the time.

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Don't let Miltank's Rollout get too powerful, or you can expect any Pokémon that doesn't resist it to be KO'd in one hit.

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