HG/SS 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 1-3

If you can be bothered to play Hoenn Sounds before every encounter, the Violet City entrance of Dark Cave is going to net you the most experience here, especially when Dunsparce are swarming. Otherwise, if you're playing SoulSilver or your Pokémon isn't very good at Geodude and Zubat, you're going to be better off on Route 30. It is always better than Dark Cave without Hoenn Sounds or Swarming Dunsparce in SoulSilver, thanks to getting some level 3 Ledyba instead of level 2 Pidgey; in HeartGold they are extremely close and it's really mostly a matter of which Pokémon set you prefer.

Level 4-5

If your Pokémon can handle it, Ilex Forest is best at night, while Route 32 is better in the morning or day. Otherwise, though it gives much less experience, you may want to try the Ruins of Alph.

Level 6-7

Route 33 is better in SoulSilver, but Union Cave 1F in HeartGold. The former also has slightly higher-leveled Pokémon, but if you're playing SoulSilver you can also use Union Cave if you're having difficulties on Route 33. If you need even lower-leveled, Viridian Forest works, especially at night.

Level 8-11

Union Cave B1F is amazing. If the Pokémon aren't ideal for what you're training, just stay where you are until you can beat them; it's worth it.

Level 11-12

As soon as you can migrate to Route 34, do so, because it gives quite a jump. If your Pokémon is weak to Psychic, you may want to consider Rock Tunnel 1F instead, especially if you can be bothered to turn on Hoenn Sounds (since that in fact makes it give considerably more experience than Route 34). If that isn't working out either, you can try Route 25, but that gives considerably less.

Level 12-13

If you have the patience for Hoenn sounds or Yanma are swarming there, go for Route 35. Otherwise, if you can handle it, Route 6 is better.

Level 14-15

Route 11. That's all. If the Pokémon are inconvenient (lots of Drowzee), go for Route 37 or possibly Route 38 if you're playing SoulSilver and can handle the higher-leveled Pokémon.

Level 16-20

Route 10 is great at night, but otherwise, it's Route 43. In the morning, if you can't use Route 43, you're better off sticking with Route 11 than going for Route 10.

Level 21-22

In HeartGold, Route 47 (inside cave) is the best thing around this level by far. The moment you can go here, do it. In SoulSilver, however, Ice Path 1F and B1F (or even B2F and B3F if you can take the higher levels and poor accessibility) is actually better, and it's still a fair second choice in HeartGold.

Level 23-29

Route 44 is absolutely where you should go if you can take it. Otherwise, stick with Ice Path in SoulSilver but migrate to Route 48 in HeartGold.

Level 30-31

Though not the most accessible location in the world, the Mt. Mortar upper cave gives the most experience here in the morning or day, but at night you should go for the somewhat more accessible Route 27 - it gives even more experience than Mt. Mortar in SoulSilver, and only slightly less in HeartGold. Otherwise, stay where you are in SoulSilver, but go to Route 26 in HeartGold.

Level 32-34

Seafoam Islands B1F is pretty great, if inaccessible. If you can take ever so slightly higher levels, B2F is even better. Otherwise, stay.

Level 35-38

To stick with the Seafoam Islands theme, B3F gives still more experience. Though Victory Road actually comes extremely close and is more accessible, so it might be preferable (especially if its Pokémon are more convenient).

Level 39-40

Guess. Yeah, it's yet another floor of Seafoam Islands. Of course that's so inaccessible you almost might not want to bother, except that it overshadows the competition to such a great degree that all the time it's going to take to get there will probably be worth it. Regardless, stay on Victory Road if this is completely unacceptable.

Level 41-42

Route 28 is your best bet now, by a considerable margin. If not, though Cerulean Cave 2F is certainly no paragon of accessibility, it is still probably somewhat preferable to Seafoam B4F in that regard, and it actually gives a little bit more experience at night.

Level 43-45

Mt Silver (outside) is mostly a slightly higher-leveled upgrade of Route 28, so try that.

Level 46+

Mt. Silver (2F) is the highest-experience training spot in the game, though of course not the most accessible place. Once you've outgrown that, the only thing to do is rebattling Gym leaders or the Elite Four.

Page last modified August 13 2016 at 02:34 UTC

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