How To Level Up Fast in Pokemon GO

Well, blimey! Everywhere I look the gyms are run by level 20+ trainers and here I am running level 9 feeling about as useless as Magikarp’s splash ability. Have these people been playing Pokemon GO non-stop or is there something that I’m completely missing? Well, the answer is probably both. Pokemon GO has become a rapid sensation and has been a huge focus of time for many–and battery life. While this may be the case for that level 22 trainer who’s dominating all the local gyms, there is also the chance they know about this wonderful little trick to fly through levels in a quick half hour. Keep reading to learn how to level up fast in Pokemon GO. Affiliate links are included in this post.

Level Up FAST in Pokemon GO

If you thought the whole ‘half hour’ comment was a bit specific you have some keen intuition. When you become a level 9 trainer you get your very first free Lucky Egg. This handy little item doubles the experience (XP) you gain from ANYTHING for an entire 30 minutes. So, when you catch that Pidgey that keeps popping up across the street you get 220 XP for catching it with a nice shot–not just the measly 110 XP. You might be thinking, great an extra 110 XP… that’s not gonna shoot me through levels.

You’re completely right, but that Pidgey you caught will. Every time you evolve a Pokemon you get 500 XP, and with the help of our little friend the Lucky Egg, that’s a whopping 1000 XP. Double that if you evolve something and reveal a new Pokemon in your Pokedex.

Time to explain the Pidgey comment with a little math. Pidgeys require just 12 candies to evolve. As do Weedles and Caterpies making them the lowest candy cost Pokemon to evolve. They also just happen to be some of the most common (happy coincidence). This means, while gaining 3 candies per Pidgey caught you can evolve 1 pidgey for every 4 you catch. On top of that, you can get another candy by transferring these Pidgeys post evolution. With 123 pidgey candy and 11 Pidgeys you can evolve all 11 of the farm fodder to the tune of 11,000 XP.

I know you want to evolve that Eevee now because you can’t wait to see which eeveelution you will get, but if you don’t already have any of the taunting trio then it is really in your best interest to wait until you can optimize this lucky egg trick. I have personally gained more than 30,000 XP or 3 levels in a quick half hour with time to spare to revel in this monumental success. I know you want to ignore those Weedles that keep popping up (and somehow break free even though they are CP 10) but for the explosive level progression, it’s worth the 2 Poke Balls.

Why the rush to level up?

Increasing your level also increases the Combat Power (CP) potential of the Pokemon you’re catching, hatching, etc. You’ll notice, if you try to power up a Pokemon when you’re at a lower level, it reaches a max and you’ll get a warning saying you’re not at a high enough level to power up any more. For obvious reasons you want all your pokemon to have the highest CP possible. This is especially important for battling at gyms.

For the low cost evolutions, CP is irrelevant once you have one good Pigeot, Beedrill, and Butterfree. But for the more ‘expensive’ evolutions, be sure to evolve the highest CP specimen you can–that power also evolves.

My Recipe

Evan can somehow keep track of all this in his head but I obsessively tally how much XP I can gain by taking notes. Because the Lucky Egg only lasts 30 minutes, I like to go in with a perfectly laid out plan. Plus, I then know which Pokemon and corresponding candies I still need to catch/collect in order to reach maximum experience.
While there are infinite combinations to achieve this, here is how I gained 36,600 XP in 30 minutes.

• 1 Bellsprout + 25 Bellsprout Candies = 1,000 XP
• 3 Caterpies + 36 Caterpie Candies = 3,000 XP
• 1 Drowzee + 50 Drowzee Candies = 2,000 XP (my first Hypno, for double XP)
• 1 Eevee + 25 Eevee Candies = 2,000 XP (I nicknamed him “Pyro” in hopes to evolve a Flareon for douple XP and it worked!)
• 1 Gastly + 50 Gastly Candies = 2,000 XP (my first Haunter, for double XP)
• 1 Nidoran + 25 Nidoran Candies = 1,000 XP
• 2 Oddish + 50 Oddish Candies = 2,000 XP
• 1 Paras + 50 Paras Candies = 2,000 XP (my first Parasect, for double XP)
• 10 Pidgeys + 120 Pidgey Candies = 10,000 XP
• 4 Rattatas + 100 Rattata Candies = 4,000 XP
• 1 Venonat + 50 Venonat Candies = 1,000 XP
• 6 Weedles + 72 Weedle Candies = 6,000 XP

Performing all these evolutions took 26 of the 30 minutes. With the remaining 4 minutes I caught a few Pokemon across the street for an additional 600 XP! So, before using your precious Lucky Egg, have a plan, make sure you’ve got enough battery power, and I like to do this at night when the servers are less stressed. You’ll get additional free Lucky Eggs as you level up or you can buy them in the Pokemon Shop. But I don’t want to spend any real money, so I’m now obsessively taking over gyms for Poke Coins. 😀 (I’ll be sharing tips for that in another post soon.)

I am now sitting pretty at Level 20. But it takes 50,000 XP to get to the next level! If you need me, I’ll be in the land of Pidgeys, Weedles, and Caterpies.

As always, drop any questions or feedback in the comments! And check out our gift guide for all ages that love Pokemon GO.

What level are you in Pokemon GO? Hopefully, this taught you how to level up fast!