Experience
A Pokémon's experience, or EXP. Points (Experience Points) is an indication of how much it has battled. Pokémon gain EXP. Points by participating in winning battles without fainting. When a Pokémon accumulates sufficient EXP. Points, it levels up. At certain levels, Pokémon can learn certain moves or evolve, depending on its species.
The cumulative total amount of experience required to reach a specific level is determined by set formulae. Each species of Pokémon follows a set evolution formula. In the Advanced Generation series of games, there are 6 formulae, and thus 6 different evolution-rate "types".
To contrast these types, refer to the graph where:
Type 1 is yellow.
Type 2 is black.
Type 3 is blue.
Type 4 is purple.
Type 5 is green.
Type 6 is brown.
Where e is the cumulative total amount of experience required to reach level n, the formulas are:
- e = n3; max value = 1000000 (called "medium" or "medium fast" or "cubic")
- The second type (sometimes called "erratic") uses the following piecewise function:
File:Texerratic.png
⌊x⌋ = Largest integer less than or equal to x
max value = 600000
- The third ("fluctuating") uses the following piecewise function:
File:Texfluc.png
⌊x⌋ = Largest integer less than or equal to x
max value = 1640000
- e = (6n3/5) - 15n2 + 100n - 140; max value = 1059860 (called "medium slow" or "parabolic")
- e = (4n3/5); max value = 800000 (called "fast")
- e = (5n3/4); max value = 1250000 (called "slow")
(Max value is the amount of experience required to reach level 100.)
Due most likely to the issue of speed when using these formulas, the GBA games will simply use a lookup table for each value of any type instead of computing them. Because of this, these formulas are not actually part of the game mechanics.
The amount of experience a Pokémon will yield when defeated is simpler. This uses only one formula:
- e = a(b * L / 7)
Where b represents the base experience yield of the species, and L is the level of the fainted Pokémon. a is equal to 1 in normal circumstances, and is increased by 0.5 for each of either situations: the Pokémon's OT value is not equal to the current trainer's, or the battle is currently a trainer battle. If the Pokémon is from a country other than the native one of the player, it will gain an additional multiplier of 0.2x, resulting in 0.7x experience for foreign Pokémon.
