Very casual Gen 1 player about to start gen 2. What do I need to know going into it?

I was at that perfect age as a kid where I caught the Pokemon bug and played obsessively, then lost interest right before the release of gen 2. I had red. I was very casual about it. Didn't really use guides, just grinded like hell to level up my pokemon so battles were easy.

It wasn't until very recently that I discovered that things like special existed, and that the nidoking was the goat (I used Pidgey).

Going into gen 2, any advice? What can I do to make it easier on myself? What Gen 2 game should I play?