Okay I started this to see what level you usually have your starter before having your first trainer battle.
Mine's usually second evolution around level 20 or so giving me a dominant head start to 2 gym leaders.
So I ask you what level do you have your starter?

usually about 12-14. I'm not patient enough to train until level 16 and beyond on level 5 or 6 wild pokemon.

mine is usually about lv 8 but I also have a whole team ( or all of the different ones u can find in the area at the time) to back up my starter
i just dont have the pacence at the time to train everybody to lv 12

lv 20 <jaw drops> how long did that take you plus do you have a team (are others lved)

Hmmm . . . my HG starter ( ) is now a lv 58 or so and I've now kicked the butts of 15 trainers (and my rival a number of times). So, I frankly don't remember what level he was when I took on the first gym. I'd guess somewhere around 8 to 12. And, as others have mentioned, I'd already built up something of a team by then and that helped a lot.

I don't usually start spending a LOT of time levelling up till after my 2nd gym battle. By that time I've gotten more of the kind of team I feel will work good for most of my challenges. I prefer a pretty well balanced team. At this time I've got may main team up around 60+ (except my Typhlosion at lv 58) and am going to level them all up a little more before I take on Blue (who I expect to have a real kick-ass team).