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Grinding experience is just part of the game, read this guide to find out which spots are best to farm experience and how to stack multipliers!
This guide has not been peer reviewed yet!
The information presented may be incomplete, inaccurate, or represent a single perspective. Please verify critical details independently or join the discord for community support if needed.
Let's talk about grinding. Every Pokémon has a hidden base experience value that determines how much EXP you get when you beat it. Higher value = faster leveling.[1]
I put this guide together to save you time figuring out where to train. I'll show you the best wild Pokémon to fight, where to find them, and how to stack multipliers so you're not wasting hours on weak encounters. Whether you're mid-game or prepping for the Elite Four, this should help.
Here's the deal - the EXP you get depends on:
Pretty straightforward: higher base experience and higher levels mean more EXP.[1] A level 60 Chansey gives way more than a level 5 Pidgey, even though both are wild encounters.
You can stack these to really speed things up:[2]
Here's the good part - they all stack. A Pokémon with a different OT holding a Lucky Egg in a trainer battle gets 3.375x experience (1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5). That's more than triple.
For wild farming, you can hit 2.25x experience with Lucky Egg + different OT.
Note: "Traded Pokémon" just means any Pokémon whose Original Trainer doesn't match yours - including NPC trades or Wonder Trade.
These are the highest base experience values for wild Pokémon you can actually farm.[1] I'm leaving out legendaries since you can't farm them repeatedly.
Important: Base EXP values differ depending on whether you have Scaled EXP enabled in the Initial Options menu. The values below show both modes!
With Scaled EXP ON: Blissey and Chansey have special exception values that make them far better than anything else. One Blissey is worth over two Gyarados![7]
With Scaled EXP OFF: Chansey and Blissey both drop to 255 base EXP (the game's static value). They're still good, but the gap with other Pokémon is much smaller so the return isn't as great.
These aren't Chansey, but they're what you've got during most of the game.
With Scaled EXP ON, base EXP is calculated from BST: basic stage mons get 20%, stage 1 or non-evolvers get 35%, and stage 2 or legendaries get 50%.[7]
Early routes are rough for grinding. A level 3 Pidgey with 55 base EXP isn't leveling you fast. Stick to caves where Gastly and Geodude show up, or wait until things evolve.
The best spots change as you progress.[3] Here's where to go at each stage.
Sprout Tower (Violet City)
Sprout Tower is your first real grinding spot. Gastly gives nearly 70% more EXP than the Pidgey and Sentret on Routes 29-30. Come back at night if you need levels before Falkner.
Routes 29-31
These are your only options early on. The EXP is low, but they're everywhere. Electric and Rock-types do well against all the Normal and Flying stuff.
Union Cave (Between Violet City and Azalea Town)
Water and Grass-types have an easy time here. Good spot before Bugsy.
Route 34 (Between Goldenrod City and Azalea Town)
Close to the Day Care, so you can train while hatching eggs. Fighting-types dominate this route.
These routes have evolved Pokémon that give decent EXP. Almost everything is Normal-type, so Fighting, Rock, and Steel-types clean up.
If you find Tauros or Miltank on Route 39, that's great EXP for this point in the game.
All Water-type encounters. Grass and Electric-types have it easy. Good training before Chuck and Jasmine.
Tentacruel gives double Tentacool's EXP, so use Repels if you're hunting the evolved form.
Route 45 (Between Blackthorn City and New Bark Town)
Route 45 has some great catches (Skarmory, Donphan) on top of decent EXP. Water and Ice-types do well here. Good prep for Clair.
This is one of the better training routes in Johto for both EXP and rare encounters.
Final training stretch before the Elite Four. Mostly Rock and Ground-types, so Water and Grass-types dominate. Lots of trainers for that 1.5x bonus.
Elite Four Rematches
Once you beat them once, rematches are a reliable way to level. You keep your money even if you lose.
Route 26 (Between Johto and Kanto)
Strong trainers and evolved wild Pokémon. Good for final Elite Four prep or training new team members.
Mt. Silver (Kanto Endgame)
Highest-level wild Pokémon in the game plus rare species. There's a Pokémon Center at the base. But honestly, Lucky Island outclasses it for pure EXP farming.
Lucky Island (Kanto, post-Elite Four)
This is the best EXP farm in the entire game. Chansey shows up 10% of the time during morning and day. Blissey is rarer but gives insane EXP with Scaled EXP ON - nearly three times most fully-evolved Pokémon! With Sweet Honey, you can force these encounters to match your lead's level, eliminating the Scaled EXP penalty. Read more below to see about Sweet Honey and how that mechanic works!
Levels scale with your badges. Once you unlock this place, make it your primary training spot. One level 60 Chansey gives more EXP than five Mt. Silver encounters combined.
Safari Zone North (Fuchsia City)
If you're in Kanto but haven't unlocked Lucky Island, Safari Zone North has Chansey as a rare spawn. Costs 500 Pokédollars each time though, so Lucky Island is better once available.
Best Fishing Spots:
Fishing for Gyarados is slower than Chansey farming because of the 30% rate. But before Lucky Island, it's one of your better Kanto options.
Lucky Egg gives 1.5x experience. It's the single best held item for leveling.[5]
Guaranteed:
Wild Pokémon (5% hold rate):
The easiest Lucky Egg is the pickup on Lucky Island. If you want more, you'll need to catch wild Chansey family members and hope they're holding one. Only 5% chance, so this can take a while.
Once you have it, put it on the Pokémon you're training. Don't waste it on your level 60 that doesn't need EXP anymore.
How you grind depends a lot on which EXP setting you picked.[8]
Personally, I think this is the better option if you're serious about leveling fast. You get way more EXP fighting Pokémon at or above your level. Chansey jumps to 395 base EXP and Blissey hits 635, that's a BIG increase compared to anything else in the game.
The catch is you get punished for fighting weaker Pokémon. That's where Sweet Honey comes in though! With Sweet Honey, you can force encounters to match your level and suddenly that penalty disappears.
If you're running Scaled EXP, strategy is pretty straightforward: Sweet Honey + Lucky Island + Lucky Egg. Bonus if its a Pokémon with a OT that isn't you. Stack everything!! One Blissey encounter makes training elsewhere for just EXP feel like a joke.
This is the simpler option. EXP is consistent! Fight whatever, wherever, doesn't matter if they're 20 levels below you.
The tradeoff is Chansey and Blissey drop to 255 base EXP. Still good, still the best targets, but the gap between them and everything else shrinks a lot. Sweet Honey still works but it's less of a game-changer since there's no level penalty to dodge.
Honestly if you just want to grind without thinking about it too much, non-scaled is fine. Go wherever is convenient, bring a Lucky Egg, and you're good.
If you want the fastest possible leveling, go Scaled EXP ON and abuse Sweet Honey on Lucky Island. It's not even close once you have access!
For more casual play? Either works. Non-scaled is simpler to deal with. Scaled rewards you for taking on stronger opponents which can feel more satisfying anyway.
Here's how to level as fast as possible:[2]
1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 = 3.375x total experience
That only works for trainer battles. Wild encounters cap at 2.25x (Lucky Egg + different OT).
For wild farming:
A level 60 Chansey with Lucky Egg and different OT gives a ridiculous amount of EXP. You can take a Pokémon from level 1 to level 50 in less than an hour.
Trainer battles give 1.5x EXP, but most are one-time only.[6] A few can be rematched:
Brent's Chansey gives the trainer bonus on top of Chansey's already high base EXP. With Lucky Egg and a different OT Pokémon, this is one of the highest single-battle EXP gains in the game.
Check the rematchable trainers page for the full list.
Sweet Honey should get a bigger highlight - it's actually one of the best tools for grinding if you're using Scaled EXP.[9]
Use it in the overworld and two things happen: you trigger a wild encounter immediately, and the wild Pokémon spawns at your lead's level. That second part is the important bit! Normally wild levels are locked to the area or badge level cap. Sweet Honey just ignores that!
If you're running Scaled EXP ON, you get hit with a penalty for fighting Pokémon below your level. After a cetain point, that's basically every wild encounter. Sweet Honey mediates this!
Lead with a level 70 Pokémon, use Sweet Honey, and whatever shows up is level 70 too. BAM.
Here's the set up for power-leveling something:
Put your highest-level Pokémon in front (this sets the encounter level). Put whatever you're training in slot 2 with Lucky Egg! Use a Sweet Honey + start a battle, and then swap into your training Pokémon! You could also just let Exp. Share do its thing instead of swapping out but you'll get more Exp by switching with a Lucky Egg.
A level-matched Chansey or Blissey with all the multipliers stacked gives a LOT of EXP.
You can pick up a free one at the Goldenrod Honey House, and they sell more for ₽1000 each. There's also one in Noisy Forest after you beat the Elite Four. Pokémon with Honey Gather can find them after battles too!
Don't be like me and overlook this item - stock up and don't let them sit in your bag. At ₽1000 they're really a negligible cost.
Here's my approach for leveling a new Pokémon fast:
If you're training multiple Pokémon, use Exp. Share to spread it around. But for single-Pokémon speed leveling, have that Pokémon in the lead with Lucky Egg.
Avoid low-level encounters like Pidgey or Rattata. The base EXP is so low that even with multipliers, you're wasting time. Stick to caves and special locations with better targets.
Quick reference by story progression:
| Your Level | Location | Best Pokémon | Preparing For |
|---|---|---|---|
5-10 | Sprout Tower (night) | Gastly (95 EXP) | Falkner (Violet Gym) |
12-18 | Union Cave | Golbat (171 EXP) | Bugsy (Azalea Gym) |
18-25 | Routes 38-39 | Noctowl (162 EXP), Tauros (211 EXP) | Morty (Ecruteak Gym) |
22-30 | Routes 40-41 (Surf) | Tentacruel (205 EXP) | Chuck & Jasmine |
25-35 | Route 45 | Donphan (175 EXP) | Clair (Blackthorn Gym) |
30-40 | Victory Road | Graveler (134 EXP), lots of trainers | Elite Four |
40-50 | Route 26, Mt. Silver | Ursaring (189 EXP) | Late game |
45+ | Lucky Island | Chansey (395*/255), Blissey (635*/255) | Fast leveling anything |
*Scaled EXP ON values. With Scaled EXP OFF, Chansey and Blissey both have 255 base EXP.
Tips:
Best Sources by Stage:
Multipliers:
Fast Leveling (Scaled EXP ON):
Fast Leveling (Scaled EXP OFF):
Again, once you reach Lucky Island, it's the only spot worth farming for pure EXP. One level 60 Blissey with Lucky Egg gives roughly the same as 15-20 encounters anywhere else.
Exp. Share in Polished Crystal works differently from modern games.[8] Each Pokémon holds an individual Exp. Share item (not a key item that affects the whole party).
How it works:
current × (E+P) / (2ep) where:
p = number of participantse = number of Exp. Share holdersE = p if current Pokémon holds Exp. Share, else 0P = e if current Pokémon participated, else 0Examples:
Fainted Pokémon don't get EXP even with Exp. Share.
Polished Crystal has a Scaled EXP option in the Initial Options menu.[8] When on, EXP adjusts based on level difference.
How it works:
This prevents over-leveling and rewards fighting stronger opponents. If you want traditional EXP (always the same regardless of your level), turn Scaled EXP off.
Yep! There's a No EXP Gain option in Initial Options.[8] When on:
You can still use Rare Candies to level up.
Yes, they stack.[2]
Example:
This is great for power-leveling low-level Pokémon. Give them both items, leave them in your party, and they'll gain 75% of normal EXP without fighting.
If that Pokémon also has a different OT (from an NPC trade), that's another 1.5× for 1.125× total without participating!
Yes! If a Pokémon enters battle at any point (even if switched out immediately), it counts as a participant and gets its share.
Fainted Pokémon don't get any EXP, even if they participated earlier.
All mechanics verified directly against Polished Crystal's source code.
engine/battle/core.asmengine/battle/core.asmdata/pokemon/base_exp_exceptions.asmdata/pokemon/base_statsengine/battle/core.asmengine/battle/core.asmengine/battle/core.asmengine/battle/core.asmdata/wild/johto_grass.asmdata/wild/kanto_grass.asmdata/wild/kanto_grass.asmdata/wild/fish.asmdata/wild/fish.asmdata/wild/fishmon_maps.asmmaps/LuckyIsland.asmdata/pokemon/base_stats/chansey.asmdata/pokemon/base_stats/blissey.asmdata/pokemon/base_stats/happiny.asmdata/trainersapps/polishedcrystal/public/api/rematch-trainers.jsondata/pokemon/base_exp_exceptions.asmengine/battle/core.asmengine/battle/core.asmengine/battle/core.asmconstants/ram_constants.asmengine/battle/core.asmengine/events/sweet_honey.asmengine/events/sweet_honey.asm