It's really pointless to keep talking about who beat Misty. What really should be addressed is the simple fact that this game really is very unwelcoming to players, whether they're new or not to this game. Think about it; how many games are there out there (including MMOs) that actually force a player to grind or struggle to make progress? No, I'm not talking about end-game content either (trust me, if anything, end-game is the one place where it's absolutely fine to put in repetitive content); I'm talking about just off the boat, with absolutely nothing at all. It's really quite rare that you see a generally well-maintained game that would be so unforgiving to it's new players.
That's really the problem overall, in my opinion. It would probably be worth considering what could be done is to take out the unnecessary inconveniences for the first few areas at least; so that players can at least get some idea on what they're doing before the game eats them alive. No, I'm not saying we should do something ridiculous like make it a gravy train; but take into consideration that even in Pokemon Blue (yes, the Game Boy game), the level of a Bellsprout was something like 13-16 when freshly caught from the wild. Yet, last I checked on this game, it's only up to something like level 9(?).