
A Pyroar gaining Experience Points via Exp. Candies in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.
Experience points, abbreviated Exp. Points in the games, is a mechanic introduced in Generation I.
Description[]
Experience points allow a Pokémon to level up, learn new moves, and sometimes even evolve. The number of experience points that the player's Pokémon currently has and the number it needs to level up can be seen on the Pokémon's summary. From Generation II onward, an experience bar was added to the battle interface, allowing the player to measure how many experience points a Pokémon needs before it can level up.
Obtaining[]
The main way that a Pokémon can obtain experience points is by causing an opposing Pokémon to faint. The amount of experience received depends on the species defeated and the level of the opponent. All of the Pokémon who did not faint and had participated in the battle split the number of experience points received, even if one of the Pokémon present did not attack the opponent. Higher-level Pokémon yield more experience points when defeated, while higher-level Pokémon require more experience points to level up, up until reaching level 100. A Pokémon who does not have the player as their OT receives fifty percent more experience points in battle.
If one of the player's Pokémon is left at a Pokémon Day Care, it earns one experience point for each step that the player takes. Until Generation II, when the player retrieves their Pokémon from the Pokémon Day Care, their Pokémon requires zero experience points to level up, regardless of whether the player has taken more or fewer steps since the Pokémon had leveled up in the Pokémon Day Care. From Generation III onward, the Pokémon keeps any additional experience points it has gained since it leveled up.
In earlier generations, Pokémon do not receive experience points during a wild Pokémon encounter in which the player manages to catch the wild Pokémon, because a caught Pokémon does not faint. Since Generation VI, this has been changed, allowing Pokémon to receive experience points when the wild Pokémon is caught, just as if it had fainted.
Since Generation VI, if a Pokémon has canceled evolving, it receives more experience points than it would have if it had evolved.
In the Generation VII games, Pokémon can be left at Isle Evelup in the Poké Pelago to receive more experience points or effort values as from finding juices.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, all Pokémon in the party receive experience points and equal effort values when defeating an opponent, besides a Pokémon in the party that has fainted.
Items[]
Since a Rare Candy levels up a single Pokémon by one level when used, the Pokémon's experience points increase accordingly to the exact number that Pokémon would have needed to level up.
If an Exp. Share is held by another Pokémon, it receives some experience points without battling. From Pokémon X and Pokémon Y to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, Exp. Share is a key item that can be enabled from the Bag menu.
If a Pokémon is holding a Lucky Egg, this increases its number of experience points earned by 50 percent.
If an Exp. Charm is present in the player's Bag, the player's Pokémon can earn more experience points.
Since Generation VIII, the player can feed an Exp. Candy to a Pokémon to give it a fixed number of experience points. Larger Exp. Candies give more experience points than smaller types. The Exp. Candy XS gives 100 experience points; the Exp. Candy S gives 800; the Exp. Candy M gives 3,000; the Exp. Candy L gives 10,000; and the Exp. Candy XL gives 30,000.
Types[]
There are six types of experience points, all having a different formula: Erratic (600,000), Fast (800,000), Medium Fast (1,000,000), Medium Slow (1,059,860), Slow (1,250,000) and Fluctuating (1,640,000).
Appearances[]
Core series[]
In Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version only, taking a Pokémon for a walk on a Pokéwalker earns it one experience point for each step registered. However, the Pokémon can only accumulate experience points up to a level, so once it reaches the next level, the Pokémon cannot gain any more experience points until it goes for another walk.
In Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, there are two unique methods for a Pokémon to obtain experience points: Poké Jobs, or at a Pokémon Camp by feeding it Curry. The experience points from a Curry meal fed to the entire party depends on its taste rating and the rarity of the ingredients used.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series[]
In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, Pokémon can be classified by experience growth as in the core series. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, the majority of Pokémon have the same experience growth rate as Bulbasaur, with each level's requirement multiplied by a constant factor. Unlike in the core series, there is a wide diversity of constant factors that are used, but like in the core series, Pokémon that are related by evolution (such as Bulbasaur and Venusaur) have identical growth rates (the constant factor is exactly one). This also applies to Pokémon that are branched evolutions, such as the Eeveelutions, as well as Vileplume and Bellossom. Mesprit and Azelf also have identical growth rates, but oddly enough, Uxie has a distinct growth rate.
For example, at any given level, the Charmander line requires 1.0360948 times the number of experience points the Bulbasaur line requires at the same level, rounded to the nearest integer; for example, Charmander needs 1773 and 39,919 experience points to reach Levels 10 and 20, respectively, compared to Bulbasaur's 1711 and 38,528, respectively.[1]
All Pokémon related by evolution have the same leveling rate, with the following exceptions:
- Pidgeot and Pidgeotto have distinct leveling rates.
- Magikarp and Gyarados have distinct leveling rates.
- Although Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Glaceon have identical leveling rates, their base form, Eevee, has its own leveling rate. Specifically, all seven evolved forms require 1.029559 times the EXP that Eevee needs.
- Mantyke and Mantine have distinct leveling rates.
- Corphish and Crawdaunt have distinct leveling rates.
- Combee and Vespiquen have distinct leveling rates.
- Murkrow and Honchkrow have distinct leveling rates.
- Although Togepi and Togetic have identical leveling rates, Togekiss has a distinct leveling rate.
- Nosepass and Probopass have distinct leveling rates.
If a Pokémon evolves at Luminous Spring, its EXP will be adjusted to the EXP requirement for the new species, even if it differs from the old species. For example, a Magikarp that is evolved at Level 20 using the Luminous Spring will have exactly 34,806 experience points (Gyarados's EXP requirement) after evolution instead of 25,194 (Magikarp's requirement).