D/P/Pt: Leveling to 100.

In these games, getting to level 100 can be pretty easy, although somewhat tedious.

As with any leveling strategy, the trade boost and the Lucky Egg boost are always recommended, since they both increase EXP gained by 50%, and stack multiplicatively. This means (EXP * 1.5) * 1.5. In other words, if you stack them, you get 225% normal experience. Also, the Exp. Share is very useful for early levels. Lastly, you'll need the Vs. Seeker, and a Pokemon that is already decently leveled (in the mid 60's). Once you have the required items, you can begin leveling. However, before you do, it's important that you know Pokemon level up very quickly at first, but then gradually slow down. On average, levels 1-80 take about as much EXP as levels 80-100.

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The key to leveling quickly is fighting trainers, as their Pokemon give more Experience than wild ones around the same level. Now, there's two good hotspots that I take advantage of.

The first is just outside Resort Area. As you leave Resort Area, you'll see two Ace Trainers, one male and one female. The male has a Dusclops and a Salamence. The female has a Mightyena and a Kirlia. You can repeatedly fight these trainers without moving in grass. All you have to do is follow the road south into town, and down to the southern edge, then go back to the two trainers. That will give you enough steps to use the Vs. Seeker.

The second area is outside Fight Area. If you leave through the northwest exit, you'll pass through a gate, then a small patch of grass, and reach a crossroads. At this crossroads, you'll see three trainers: a Psychic, a Bird Keeper, and a Pkmn Ranger. These guys have different Pokemon between D/P and Pt.

Psychic: In D/P, this guy has two Slowbros. In Pt, he has a Slowbro and a Slowking.
Bird Keeper: In D/P, this gal has a Farfetch'd and a Swellow. In Pt, she also has a Pidgeot in addition to the other two.
Pkmn Ranger: In D/P, she has a Linoone and a Skarmory. In Pt, she loses the Skarmory, and gains an Arbok and a Butterfree.

Now, like the other area, you can also repeatedly fight these guys without touching any grass. All you gotta do is cut the tree down on the right-side path of the crossroads. Now, just ride left and right a few times, and you'll gather enough steps to use the Vs. Seeker.

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What I like to do is use these trainers for a very low level Pokemon, using the Exp. Share, while one of my other Pokemon do all the fighting. Getting to level 30-40 is VERY fast, and can usually be done in an hour or two. 40-50 takes about another 30 minutes using this method.

From 50-65ish, I will take the Pokemon I'm trying to level, put it in the lead spot and swap that Exp. Share with the Lucky Egg. I will then fight against high-level wild Pokemon, as they generally will grant more Exp to a solo fighter, than a trainer battle would to an Exp. Shared gain.

Finally, once my new Pokemon is sufficiently strong enough to fight against the trainers, I will return to fight them. The only difference is that instead of using the Exp. Share and another Pokemon, I will be using the Lucky Egg, and the one I'm trying to level. Because I'm not splitting Exp this time around, I'll gain a lot of exp. I'll generally keep this up until I hit level 100.

I can usually level a Pokemon from 1 to 100 in a couple/three days in D/P/Pt using this method. It doesn't require any Rare Candies or cheating.

That's actually the spot I used to train. o.O

The one with the Ace Trainers.

Traded Pokémon with Lucky Egg = 2.25x Experience.

Traded Pokémon from another country with Lucky Egg = 2.55x Experience.

Experience share in my experience sucks for getting experience though unless the Pokémon is in battle itself with no one else participating.

The split experience is annoying as hell.

Of course you could in theory have it in battle and then switch to another Pokémon that would have no trouble taking care of other Pokémon for an added little bonus, but that's a waste too.

I've never really had any trouble leveling to 100 just battling the Ace Trainers/Tentacruel though, even on an untraded game.

You sure about that? I've never heard that foreign Pokemon level faster. I've heard that when they breed, they quadruple the chances of getting a shiny, but that's about it.

And for the very early levels, nothing beats the Exp Share. You can get to level 15 from level 1 in a single K.O., which isn't something that Pokemon could have done on it's own. At higher levels though, the Lucky Egg is the best held item. The basic rule is this:

Can the Pokemon you're leveling fight high level trainers or wild Pokemon on it's own? Use Lucky Egg. If not, use Exp. Share.

I'm sure about that.

Anyways, the only time I use EXP. Share is solo battling when I don't have Lucky Egg on the game.

If I have a really weak Pokémon, I throw the Egg on it, send it out against a trainer, switch, beat it, switch again, switch, and beat it, ect..

Often times though either wild Pokémon or trainers around your level are enough to get you started with low-level Pokémon.

Yeah, the Egg/Switch method gives more EXP per kill, but you're also using at least two turns per kill, too. You have to find a good balance between EXP and Time. That's why I use the Exp. Share at lower levels, because I can just set the game to "Set", and go through a full trainer, and get 20+ levels on a baby Pokemon without even using it once.

Yeah, the extra turns is somewhat annoying.

Come to think of it though, wouldn't the leader rematches come in handy around 50-60 or even a little higher?

They have for me.

The rival rematch is good too.

I mean, the turns you take to switch make battles last twice as long, effectively cutting your experience rate in half. Sure you might be seeing big numbers, but unless those big numbers are coming rapidly, it's just not efficient. That's one thing that the Exp. Share does so well. Sure I might not get as much as you, but that which I do get is much more often.

In either case, it evens out to roughly the same amount of experience. I just prefer to use the Exp. Share because I'm lazy.

In D/P, there's no such thing as Leader Rematches. Rival can only be battled once per day, and only on Weekends. In Pt, you can only fight Leaders once per day, and only up to 4 leaders per day. Don't worry about HG/SS, because I'm writing a whole guide similar to this one just for those games, and yes, in HG/SS, nothing beats Gym Leader Rematches.

I know they're not in Diamond and Pearl, I was talking about Platinum.

There really isn't any difference in the rate I gain experience between different methods though.

Mine feels quicker for me, anyways. But it's different for different for different people I suppose.

But who needs to do it themselves when they have my services available to them?

Yeah, you can rebattle them in Platinum, but only a couple of them per day, and only once per day. HG/SS did it the right way, though. I'm making a full list of where/when to find them, and when their battle window is. Be patient and it'll be up soon.

Some people just prefer to do it themselves. I know Melty and I do.

I prefer to do it for myself the fair way, but I provide the service for people who either don't want to or don't have the time ect..

Naruto, I've already made a topic similar to this one, but just for HG/SS. I've also listed the exact times and locations to find all the Gym Leaders, as well as their respective battle windows.

I'm going to delete your post.

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