How do I manage leveling up my party?

Question

My party consists of:

• Level 7 Metapod
• Level 7 Jigglypuff
• Level 7 Spearow
• Level 7 Zubat
• Level 8 Kakuna
• Level 18 Wartotle

I have a lot of level seven Pokémon. How can I better manage leveling up my Pokémon?

Answer 1

Generally speaking:

• Swap Pokemon - Put a weaker Pokemon first in your party list. When you enter a battle, immediately swap to a higher level Pokemon.
• Battle Trainers - While battling in the wild will be the greatest source of XP, it can also be slower. Other trainers generally have higher level Pokemon and therefore will give more XP per defeated Pokemon.
  • Have your battle mode set to 'Shift' and swap back to a weaker Pokemon every time a trainer sends another one out.
• Know your team - Learn their strengths and weaknesses. Choose Pokemon that complement each other and can cover for each other.

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In your specific case, judging by the type and level of Pokemon in your party, that likely puts you somewhere between Pewter City, Mt Moon, and Cerulean City. This is still quite early game and thus the options for catching Pokemon are a little limited.

Having said that, there are still other Pokemon you may have missed, or perhaps caught and stored in the PC. I mention this because I've noticed a glaring problem with your current party: it's extremely weak to Rock - Metapod, Spearow, Kakuna and Zubat all share this weakness thanks to Bug or Flying typing.

If possible, consider swapping some of them out. I'd suggest one or more of: Nidoran, Mankey, Geodude, Pikachu, Ekans/Sandshrew (version-specific), Oddish/Bellsprout (also version-specific).

If this is not an option, then focus on levelling one or two Pokemon in your party at a time. As they level up, they can start to take some of the load from Wartortle. I would start with:

• Metapod -> Butterfree - If you can get Metapod to Level 10, it will evolve to Butterfree and learn Confusion. While it won't get the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) from Confusion, it will be super-effective against enemy Zubats and Oddish, which are prevalent in Mt Moon and the areas surrounding Cerulean City.
• Zubat - Zubat is a bit weak early game but can be a good investment - level now and it starts to learn some more powerful Flying and Poison type moves. Note that it will be weak to Misty's Starmie thanks to the latter's Psychic-type moves
• Spearow - Spearow is ok early game vs Grass and Bug, unfortunately it doesn't learn any good flying moves for a little while so you'll be stuck with Peck and Fury Attack for a little while.

That should get you through Mt Moon and the path to the Sea Cottage. Misty will be a challenge as you don't have any Grass/Electric coverage, but a high-enough Butterfree/Spearow/Wartortle should work ok. Be sure to use Butterfree's status moves as well.

Answer 2

As long as you don't have an Exp. Share, put the Pokemon you want to level at the first spot in your party, switch in your Wartortle, and finish of the opposing Pokemon with the strong Wartortle. In that way, the first Pokemon will get some experience and will level up slowly.