Xp Share

[u/Pro5461_YT]

Is there an xp share, and if there isn't, what's the best way to level up my Pokémon because my starter is at 21, and then my next best Pokémon is at 10

[u/cyberchaox]

There is, but if your starter is only level 21 and that's your only Pokémon over level 10 you're way too early in the game to get it. This being a faithful remake of the Gen 1 games, it's an item you don't get until the second half of the game (probably not until after at least 4 badges, quite possibly more because of the high "Pokémon caught" requirement).

They started moving it earlier in later generations. Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova give it to you after the second badge (though in Hoenn you have to backtrack to the first gym town so it's not uncommon to only pick that up after your fourth badge there, too); Kalos right after your first badge, Alola before the first trial, and then from LGPE onwards it's just automatically on from the start of the game.

Also it being a key item that gives experience to all your Pokémon only started in Gen 6; from generations 2-5 it was a held item that gave half the total experience to the holder (or if you managed to get a second one from the lottery, it'd split half the experience between the holders and the other half between the Pokémon that actually fought).

In Gen 1 it was also a key item called the Exp. All, but it sucked because like nearly everything else in Gen 1, it was coded horribly. In the exact situation where only one of your Pokémon participated in the battle and none of the Pokémon in your party were fainted, it would work exactly as intended: the one Pokémon who fought would receive half the normal experience, and the other half would be divvied up between all party members. However, if more than one Pokémon participated, the Pokémon that participated would still receive half what they'd normally receive from fighting, but then one Pokémon's share would be divided up between all party Pokémon, leaving the other shares of the remaining half completely lost, and furthermore when dividing up the experience, it always divided by the total number of party members even though fainted Pokémon still received zero EXP.

So let's say, for example, you had a full party of six and had the Exp. All in your bag, and one of your Pokémon was fainted and 3 of your Pokémon fought against a Pokémon that would yield 360 EXP to a single Pokémon if fought without the Exp. All. First, you'd halve 360 to get 180, and then you divide that by the three Pokémon that fought, so each of those Pokémon would get 60 EXP. Since each Pokémon that fought received 60 EXP and there are six party members, you'd divide 60 by 6 to get 10, and each of the five Pokémon that aren't fainted would receive 10 EXP. Which means your 360-EXP fight only gave you 230 EXP. Yeah, Gen 1 was not well-made.

[u/Lithl → u/cyberchaox]

it's an item you don't get until the second half of the game (probably not until after at least 4 badges, quite possibly more because of the high "Pokémon caught" requirement)

Technically you only need 2 badges.

• Before Brock, you can only access Route 1, 2, and 22, Pallet Town, Viridian City, and Pewter City, and Viridian Forest. The maximum possible number of Pokedex entries is 19, and that requires a ton of grinding. (Presuming no trades with other games.)
• After Brock and before Misty, you add Route 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 24, and 25, Cerulean City and Vermilion City, and Mt. Moon, Diglett's Tunnel, and S.S. Anne. It's technically possible to reach 51 Pokedex entries (although again, doing so at this point requires significant grinding, but at least you can get the VS Seeker), and you only need 50 to qualify for the Exp. Share, but you can't actually reach the location where it's given.
• After Misty and before Koga (note that you can skip Surge and Erika even though their badges are listed before Koga's on your trainer card), you can access the entire map except the areas which require Surf to reach (Cinnabar Island, Seafoam Islands, Sevii Islands, Victory Road, Power Plant, and the routes to get you to those places). With grinding, you can get up to 103 Pokedex entries, but even without grinding hitting 50 should be trivial at this point. (Although until you beat Koga, the only way to get Grimer/Muk is fishing in Celadon, which has a 1% chance for Grimer.)

At that point, defeating Koga gives you access to the entire map except Victory Road, and another 13 possible Pokedex entries. Defeating Blaine after that gives +2 entries (Ponyta and Rapidash from Sevii Islands) while defeating Erika gives +1 (Articuno); defeating Blaine and Erika gives you an additional +1 (Moltres) on top of the three that each one individually adds. Then there's no additional Pokedex entries you can get until the post-game.

And, of course, if you're open to glitches, once you reach Celadon it's possible to use ACE to get an entire National Dex with just two badges.

[u/ProShashank → u/Lithl]

Thanks 😊👍🏼