Guides
Core Mechanics
Game Features
Collectibles & Special Pokémon
Progression & Walkthrough
Competitive Strategy
Advanced Strategy
Search PolishedDex
Search for Pokémon, moves, items, locations, and abilities
Search for Pokémon, moves, items, locations, and abilities
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!
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 or .
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.
Blissey gives 60% more EXP than anything else that isn't legendary. One Blissey is worth nearly three Gyarados. Chansey is second place and easier to find.
These aren't Chansey, but they're what you've got during most of the game.
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 - nearly three times most fully-evolved Pokémon.
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.
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.
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 EXP), Blissey (635 EXP) | Fast leveling anything |
Tips:
Best Sources by Stage:
Multipliers:
Fast Leveling:
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 ROM source code.
apps/polishedcrystal/public/api/rematch-trainers.jsonThis 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.