How do you train your teams?

[Weavile05]

Different people have different approaches as to how they train their teams. I for one nowadays gain half of the experience per level up through Trainer Battles and the other half through wild Pokemon. This works really well, I had a level 30-something Servine before taking on the 4th Gym in Pokemon White. This works especially well in HGSS, where the wild pokemon levels tend to be so low it's impossible to grind. Also, something I recently started doing is having my starter (or other main Pokemon if I happen to not be using one) 2 levels higher than the rest of my team whenever I enter an important battle.

Now that i've shared my method, what's yours?

 

[psyanic]

I just grind on wild Pokemon for a few levels here and there, then go back towards trainer battles and gain a few levels. Then I just repeat the whole process.

Something I do with my starter (if used) is that it's kept 5 levels higher or so, specifically used for Gym Battles/Elite Four as a back-up.

 

[cazzler]

If I can rematch trainers, I'll do so, I always train one Pokemon 5 levels at a time, In Pokemon Black though, they give you the Lucky egg so It made grinding on wild Pokemon easier.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I grind my Pokemon against wild ones so that my starter is a few levels ahead of the rest of my Pokemon (who have equal levels). I also make it so that each Pokemon will need roughly the same amount of EXP to level up.

 

[Rocket Grunt Cali]

I tend to spend hours or DAYS grinding on wild Pokemon if I'm having trouble with a Gym Leader or something. It's definitely not the most efficient way and probably not the most effective, but even the lowest leveled Pokemon give you some experience, so rack enough of that up and I'll get a level out of it eventually. Like I said, though, that takes FOREVER.

 

[Demon.]

Im playing soulsilver, and training for a battle with Red. I gain 2 or so levels for each of my pokemon, rebattle some gym leaders here and there, and then go fight the pokemon league. Repeat.

 

[Poueff]

I do the opposite. I normally line them all up on the same levels except if the next gym/gym after that one is of a type one of my pokémon is Super Effective to.
Like a few days ago, I had all my pokémon but my Mightyena and my Gyarados in higher levels since the next gym would be Tate and Liza, and the both of them could just as well gain experience there, or even go a bit underleveled to the Gym Leader battle so it'd be more fun (not being worried about it since they have Psych and Rock types).

That happens almost always, except when one of my pokémon is 3/4 levels away from evolving. When that happens, I just train him/her/them until evolution and leave the other ones a bit behind, and then do normal training/storyline (small bits) with the rest until they get to the same level, since that way it's more challenging and fun, and I always know I can rely on that pokémon if the others get crushed.

And personally, I really don't care for the pokémon being a starter or not, if I have it on my team is because I like it/it's awesome, and it's normally on equal footing with everyone else. I also sometimes release my starters when I don't like any of them (I did so in Fire Red Omega with Magby after getting my Treecko, since I'm really not a fan of the starters there).

 

[markmarke]

i train my pokemon against rivals, gyms, pokemon leagues, red, trainer, etc. also i have more maxed out leveled pokemon than i do the others and some of my eggs hatch quick and i train the pokemon inside!!

 

[Squirrel]

For the in-game team I usually find it enough to go through the game normally and they'll be strong enough if you fight every trainer, but sometimes grinding on wilds can help :p Don't normally keep the starter unless it's Piplup because they'er all really samey - my teams usually contain things I find in the wild which are cool ^^ Plus natures, IVs, EVs and all that stuff doesn't matter as long as the pokemon is cool.

But for Competitive teams it's completely different. :P

 

[Duskwire]

I don't EVER run from wild Pokemon battles, and I battle every single trainer. That tends to keep my Pokemon up in levels. Another thing is I make sure the main Pokemon I plan in using in the next Gym battle is the same level as their highest before I battle the leader.

 

[Zweilous]

I don't like to train, although I just keep on finding myself battling wild Pokemon just to level up xP

I only train if I find that my team is super unbalanced [especially after tough gym battles and E4]; and if I think their levels are just sufficient for gym battles, I stop training them and just go for it =] When I battled E4, my pokemon were barely in their 50s and.. yeah. It was like kind of challenging and stuff especially since I didn't see the need to overlevel them, and I had to beat Ghetsis twice to beat the game, actually. =( [Cofagrigus was first and I had Zekrom. It didn't have any good moves towards it and so yeah, it didn't end well for first time challenging Ghetsis]

After E4 I was busy trying to train the underleveled in my team. That was for White.

 

[Legobricks]

I battle all trainers, and most wild monsters I come across unless they're at pitiful levels relative to local trainers' and my own and not a type that'll have me sitting there for ages (normal-type first up versus geodude = run). Really, fighting what wants to fight as I progress is all there is to it. I never understood how anyone would need to grind in Pokemon unless they had more than a six-team to keep up (some 'one of each type' battle principle or suchlike).

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Level grind against wild Pokemon, use rematches against trainers whenever possible, and I'm always sure to be 5-10 levels or more higher than the gym leader when I go to challenge the gym. It's a very time consuming process, but I'd much rather go into a major battle well prepared and at a sufficiently high level as opposed to rushing through things and coming in totally unprepared.

I save EV training until after all the postgame stuff is finished. Then I'll just use the EV reducing berries and go from there.

 

[Pachireecko]

I never have to grind because I battle every wild Pokemon I come across. Yes, that includes the Magikarp. >.<

 

[Kikaito plush]

I grind with wild pokmon until each member is the same level as each other.

 

[SentryDown]

I constantly grind against the Elite Four. An EXP share tends to help bring a low level up to speed (especially in B/W where exp is proportional to level)

 

[mikey]

I usually try to train everyone to a certain level. Once all my pokemon on my team all reach the same level, I train to another level, and let them all be on the same level again, and so on.

 

[Pokemon Trainer Touko]

The Raimon city stadium, wild pokemon, elite four + champion, Royal Unova and post-game trainers. I like training them to the same level because it feels odd when they're not the same level. xD;;

 

[Hikamaru]

The Raimon city stadium, wild pokemon, elite four + champion, Royal Unova and post-game trainers. I like training them to the same level because it feels odd when they're not the same level. xD;;

Maybe when I play Black, I'll use the stadium and wild Pokemon training as well.