D/P/Pt Places to Train

So you've got a Pokémon that you just hatched from an egg and want to get it up to a level where it can hold its own against the Elite Four or the level at which it evolves? Prefer to make your Pokémon do the hard work by itself instead of abusing the EXP Share or the Switch option? Okay, so not a lot of serious people do that, fine, but I do, so basically here is what I find to be the best set of areas to go through with your Pokémon. This is analyzed in terms of the maximum and minimum levels found in the location and the average experience gained per 100 encounters - the suggested locations should have just about the optimal EXP output for what your Pokémon can handle at any given moment.

The levels indicated apply to your Pokémon (rather than the wild ones) and show only my approximations of when it is appropriate to move on to the next stage. Of course it depends heavily on how strong your Pokémon is and what moves it knows, so if it seems things are being a bit too easy or too hard, by all means switch to the next or previous stage as appropriate until you've found a good balance.

Level 1

There isn't a lot of choice here exactly; you're pretty much stuck with good old Bidoof and Starly (and Kricketot in the morning and night in Platinum) on Route 201, as I wouldn't really trust a level one Pokémon to beat a level four one. If you're lucky and Doduo happen to be swarming there, they improve the experience considerably; having FireRed also helps, since it gives you Growlithe.

Level 2-3

Good time to move on to Route 202 if you have no GBA Pokémon games or no PokéRadar. If you do, on the other hand, Lake Verity is an interesting place. The PokéRadar gives you level four Wobbuffet, which will give crazy experience for this level as long as you can handle them (which then again you might not), and having a GBA Pokémon game in the dual slot, particularly Ruby or Sapphire (in Platinum, only Ruby and Sapphire), will give you significantly better replacements for those two 4% slots.

Level 4-5

From here on you start to have some options depending on your Pokémon. Here you've got two:

• If your Pokémon knows a Psychic attack, an Ice attack or maybe an Electric or Rock attack (with some Special backup that can beat Geodude if you're playing Diamond or Pearl), you'll want to go with Ravaged Path now. In fact, if you think you'll do well against Zubat and either Geodude (in D/P) or Psyduck (in Platinum, though it appears on occasion in D/P as well) in general, it's probably the better choice.
• Otherwise, Route 203 is your best bet, continuing along the same lines as the previous locations listed. If you're playing D/P, and especially if you're good at beating Psychics, you might want to be using the PokéRadar to get more Ralts and a 1% chance of Kirlia. Swarming (which gives you Cubone instead of Shinx and Starly) greatly improves the EXP on this route as well, but of course you have to be lucky for that.

Level 6-7

Route 207 is the best place to be at this point, particularly in Platinum (in all versions, you should be training there at day, and you're a very, very lucky person if it happens to be swarming Phanpy). However, it's a lot of Machop and Geodude (well, and some Kricketot in the morning, Kricketot and Zubat in the night, and Ponyta especially in the morning and day in Platinum), which may or may not suit your Pokémon. If you can take the Geodude but not the Machop, you'll want the first floor of either Oreburgh Gate or Oreburgh Mine, depending on how much your Pokémon can take. (In Platinum, admittedly, both of those are both lower-leveled and give less experience, so you'll be better off in Oreburgh Mine B1F.) If you absolutely can't deal with Rock-types right now, you should go to the Floaroma Town side of Route 204 if you're playing D/P; in Platinum, that area is considerably higher-leveled, so you should really just try to deal with the Geodude on Route 207 - there aren't as many of them in Platinum, anyway.

Level 8-9

This is where D/P players go to Valley Windworks or Route 205 Floaroma side. They're both very similar, but Valley Windworks has lower-leveled Pokémon and more Pachirisu. Both will also get you more EXP if you've got FireRed in your GBA slot thanks to the Elekid. If both of them are really not your thing and you'd rather be battling more Geodude, Oreburgh Mine B1F will give you that, but it gives considerably less experience than either of the other two.

In Platinum, this is where you could finally look to the Floaroma Town side of Route 204 - but ironically, it gives less experience on average than Platinum's greatly-improved Route 207. Oreburgh Gate B1F, if you're up for some Zubat, Geodude and Psyduck, gives slightly more experience than Route 207 (considerably more at night, when you'll actually be better off on Route 204 Floaroma side than on Route 207, too). Otherwise, just stick with Route 207.

Level 10-11

If you're playing D/P and it's nighttime, Eterna Forest will rock your world, especially so in Pearl. It doesn't hurt that a lot of that is very easy EXP, coming from Silcoon and Cascoon, which only use Harden. Obviously, it's also heaven for any Pokémon that's good at Bug and Grass Pokémon *coughFlyingcoughFirecough*. If it's morning or daytime, on the other hand, you'll on average get slightly more out of the Eterna City side of Route 205. You might also perhaps prefer it Pokémon-wise.

In Platinum, the EXP for Eterna Forest is very similar at whichever time of day you're playing, and always slightly higher than the alternatives (Valley Windworks and Route 205 Floaroma side). Unusually, you should emphatically not have a Pokémon game that modifies anything in your GBA slot; it actually lowers the average experience for Eterna Forest, since it replaces the quite profitable Buneary and Gastly with stuff like Seedot and Caterpie. The levels for Eterna Forest are slightly higher than in D/P, though, so if it's too much for your Pokémon, you might want to consider Valley Windworks/Route 205 Floaroma side anyway.

Level 12-13

In D/P, if you are by any stretch of the imagination capable of beating Gastly (and perhaps Haunter/Gengar, which you can optionally turn on or off by inserting or removing a Pokémon GBA game from the GBA slot), you now want to train at Old Chateau. If that is absolutely impossible, you'll instead want to go to the Eterna City side of Route 211, preferably during the morning or day.

In Platinum, the levels at the Old Chateau are higher, making it a rather dangerous place for level 12-13 Pokémon. Try the Eterna City side of Route 205 instead, even though it gives dramatically less experience than you'd be getting at the Old Chateau in D/P.

Level 14-15

In D/P, Route 206, no question about it, particularly in the day. It has a bunch of Ponyta and Kricketune, which give crazy amounts of experience. If absolutely not, you can try the Route 207 portion of Mt. Coronet at day or night, with some Machop, Geodude, Zubat, Meditite, Chingling and occasional Cleffa.

In Platinum, you might now be able to train at the Old Chateau. Have a Pokémon game in the GBA slot for a small chance of Gengar, though there are no Haunter in the mansion anymore. No other place can even compare, but the Route 211 section of Mt. Coronet is the best alternative if you can't handle Gastly, particularly in the day, as long as you can beat Bronzor, Geodude, Meditite, Machop, Chingling, Nosepass and Zubat. If that doesn't work for you either, Route 211 Eterna City side has fewer Bronzor and no Geodude or Nosepass, but still has the Meditite, Machop and Chingling; with Emerald in the GBA slot, you can even almost get rid of Bronzor altogether and raise the average EXP at the same time, in fact making it preferable to Mt. Coronet (Route 211). If none of that works for you, you'll have to stick with the Eterna City side of Route 205.

Level 16-17

In D/P, the Trophy Garden at night is the place to be. There is really no contest at all for this level. If not, you can always stay on Route 206.

In Platinum, on the other hand, the low-level section of Turnback Cave (before you pass the first pillar) reigns supreme, particularly so with Ruby or Sapphire in the GBA slot and at night. If the Pokémon there don't suit your Pokémon, however, Route 206 is still a more than acceptable alternative, particularly in the day.

Level 18-20

Woot, my favorite route: Route 210 Solaceon Town side. Train at night in D/P, but morning (preferably) or day (if you're a late riser) in Platinum; don't have Ruby or Emerald in the GBA slot. If you don't like the Pokémon found there, you can also resort to Route 212 (Pastoria City side) at night in D/P or Route 209 (morning or day) in Platinum, but they give less experience.

Level 21-22

In D/P, either Route 215, with Ponyta, Geodude, Abra, Kadabra and Kricketune, or Valor Lakefront, with Girafarig, Geodude, Staravia, Graveler, Bibarel and Kricketune. Both give the most experience in the night; Valor Lakefront gives a little more, but not by that much. In Pearl, using the PokéRadar at Route 215 will give you some Houndoom that give it more experience; doing the same in Diamond is not worth the bother.

In Platinum, on the other hand, you really ought to just stay on Route 210 Solaceon side; it gives the most experience you're going to get at this level, though by now the Trophy Garden is a better alternative than Route 209.

Level 23-25

For D/P, Route 214, period. Especially in Pearl, the experience you get for it is insane. It has Ponyta, Geodude, Graveler, Girafarig, Kricketune and Stunky/Sudowoodo depending on your version. There is no route around the same level that comes anywhere close to it; in fact, the closest are the Valor Lakefront and Route 215 I mentioned above.

In Platinum, believe it or not, you should still stay on Route 210 Solaceon side. Yes, that's how amazing that place is.

Level 26-27

In D/P, now you're looking for Route 211, Celestic Town side. Unlike the preceding routes, here you're better off training in the morning or day. It has Meditite, Ponyta, Graveler, Machoke and Chingling, with Zubat and Noctowl in the night. If that's very bad for you, you can just keep using Route 214, really.

In Platinum, however, the mid-level section of Turnback Cave is a truly amazing place, especially at night and with a GBA game (preferably Ruby or Sapphire) in the GBA slot. You'll have to pass the first pillar, but these are the Pokémon you will find once you have passed it as long as you don't also go past the third pillar. Valor Lakefront is not far off in the night, however, and actually better in the morning.

Level 28-30

The experience levels jump up a lot when you get to Route 221. Here we've got Floatzel, Roselia, Shellos, Gastrodon, Wingull, Stunky/Glameow and Skuntank/Purugly; the worst part about it is that in order to heal there you need to either fly to a different location or deposit your Pokémon onto the computer in the Pal Park building and take it out again. It's better in Pearl, but equally good at any time of day. In Diamond, Route 218 with its Floatzel, Mr. Mime, Shellos, Gastrodon and Wingull is actually slightly better, but considerably worse in Pearl since it got a better Route 221 and Glameow instead of Mr. Mime in Route 218. Nonetheless, both of them are very nice places to train in both versions.

In Platinum, you should definitely go with Route 218, which is even better than in Diamond - considerably so. Definitely train at night, where you're rid of the Chatot. Route 221 is not as good, but also quite nice.

Level 30-32

In Diamond and Pearl, Iron Island B1F (left and right are exactly the same, so it doesn't matter which), B2F left, B2F right and B3F are dominated by Graveler with some Golbat, Onix (the Onix on B1F are also replaced with Graveler when you use the PokéRadar, and since Graveler gives more EXP than Onix this is recommended on that floor), Steelix, and very occasional Geodude to keep them company. You can start off at B1F, which has lower levels, and then move on to B2F left and/or B2F right/B3F later. However, it is inconveniently inaccessible and the Graveler love to Selfdestruct, which might just faint your Pokémon and force you to leave to heal. If Iron Island doesn't suit you well, you might as well just keep training on Route 221 or 218, since there's not that much of a difference in the EXP anyway. In Platinum, in fact, only B3F is actually an improvement in EXP over Route 218 (though a significant one), and that floor is so inaccessible it's really not worth the bother in my opinion.

Level 33-34

In D/P, Route 217 and Acuity Lakefront are literally identical except that Acuity Lakefront doesn't get swarming Swinub, and they give some very nice EXP. Do the math. Unfortunately they both have auto-Hail.

In Platinum, Acuity Lakefront gives a couple of slots higher levels than Route 217, but on the other hand they give far less experience since now they're both full of Swinub and Snorunt, so you are actually better off staying on Route 218 (or Iron Island B3F, if you went there).

Level 35-37

In Diamond and Pearl, you might want to try Mt. Coronet 2F and 3F if the Pokémon suit you, which is a bit higher-leveled and pretty deep inside a cave, but still gives a lot of experience.

In Platinum, Turnback Cave yet again gives crazy experience for the relevant levels, this time the high-level section - of course, that requires you to navigate past two pillars before you even get there. As before, it is best to train there at night, but this time it is better not to have Ruby or Sapphire in the GBA slot. If the Pokémon are not the best for what you're training, you can also use Mt. Coronet 2F. If your Pokémon is fairly strong, you might also consider Mt. Coronet (blizzard/snowfall), which even though it is inaccessible gives even more experience than Turnback Cave, but is slightly higher-leveled.

Level 38-40

Again, Mt. Coronet (blizzard/snowfall) gives an awful lot of experience, although obviously it's a major hassle to reach. Train there at night in Diamond and Pearl, but morning or day in Platinum. If you don't want to go there, just stay where you were before, though if you are playing Platinum and also found high-level Turnback Cave too inaccessible, Route 222 is now a pretty good alternative.

Level 41-43

For D/P, Route 222 is great at night, especially in Diamond. In Pearl, Mt. Coronet's Snowfall section actually gives slightly more experience even at night, but Route 222 definitely beats it in accessibility.

For Platinum, Route 222's levels have been lowered and it actually gives less experience than both Mt. Coronet's Snowfall section and the high-level Turnback Cave. Instead, you can go to Victory Road 2F at night, which gives some very nice experience.

Level 44-48

In D/P, the best section of the normal Victory Road to train is B1F. Training deep inside a cave is never a very attractive prospect, but at this level you can't be very picky anymore. Alternatively, Turnback Cave between pillars one and two has similar levels, if you like its Pokémon better.

In Platinum, you should really just stay on Victory Road 2F; it's better than even considerably higher-leveled alternatives. In the higher end of this range, though, you can try Snowpoint Temple B2F and B3F.

Level 49-52

In D/P, Victory Road's Inside B1F has Pokémon of level 50-52 that give quite a nice EXP total, but then again they're cave Pokémon. You can always try the first floor of Snowpoint Temple, Route 225 or Route 229. Or, if you think you can take slightly higher levels and a sandstorm, Route 228.

In Platinum, you should definitely be in Snowpoint Temple B4F and B5F or Route 228 (train in the morning or day). Route 227 and Stark Mountain (they're exactly the same aside from Route 227's swarming Spinda) have slightly higher levels and ever so slightly more EXP, though the difference is barely noteworthy; they are best at night, however, so they're a good place to go when night falls on Route 228.

Level 53-63

In D/P, Route 227 gives more EXP than Route 228 on average in the night, but slightly less in the morning and day. It is, however, awfully inaccessible. You could also technically go for Turnback Cave's mid-levels, but then you need to get to the first pillar first. You could also use some lower floors of Snowpoint Temple.

In Platinum, there are no areas with a higher average EXP than the previously noted Route 227 and Stark Mountain. Go fight some trainers.

Level 63-100

In D/P, the highest experience you'll get from ordinary wild Pokémon in the game is from the high-level Turnback Cave. In Platinum, since Turnback Cave has much lower levels, this option no longer exists as noted above. Of course, by this point you should be making your Pokémon fight the Elite Four or (in Platinum) some Gym leaders in the Battleground if you're going to be raising it further at all.

Page last modified November 29 2024 at 00:29 UTC

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