Chapter 8 – Exploring Experience 1-9
Warning! Some of the following sections, I've been told by many reviewers, are information-heavy. This is especially true for the second half of the chapter. I've included a big chunk of footnotes halfway through, marking where the eyes-glaze-over sections begin in earnest.
Early readers of this story will know that I originally uploaded this in three parts, but that meant three chapters in a row of not much happening, so I've decided to keep it all in Chapter 8 instead. If a section inside this chapter has an ALL CAPS title, that marks the beginning of one of the original three uploads.
This chapter follows the style I had originally conceived for this story, where the conflict is Ex doesn't understand something, the rising action is him working through it, the climax is him figuring it out, and the resolution is him putting the knowledge to use. What Ex does in this chapter will be a realistic take on the scientific process, in my opinion: gather lots of data, examine the evidence, compose a thesis – but therein lies the problem. I've come to realize this doesn't make for good storytelling. There's only so much I can do with grammar and sentence structure when the underlying plot has no action or interpersonal conflict. It's too late to change this chapter, but I'm already reworking future chapters with this understanding in mind.
With all that out of the way, on to...
EXPLORING EXPERIENCE PART 1 – AMASSING EVIDENCE
'Do the math?' Ex echoed.
Precisely! his brain said in a geeky voice.
Ex rolled his eyes. And you call ME the nerd.
Yes, I do, said his brain in self-satisfaction. Now, go to Prime's 'Battle Statistics'. We'll start there.
Trainer battles or Wild ones? Ex asked when the Pokédex prompted him with the choice. He wouldn't have needed to make the distinction for any other Meowth, but Prime had fought Amber's Bulbasaur.
Wild, his brain answered. If the Pokédex kept track of it all, there SHOULD be enough info for me to work the Experience system out.
Ex clicked the second option of the 'Records' section.
Does it record Experience gains for Wild battles? his brain asked.
It does.
What about enemy species and level?
That's there too.
And Prime's level for each battle?
Ex squinted at the screen. Sort-of, he said after tabbing through a few different pages. The battles are in order, and it says when he leveled up. You can work backwards if you want to know his level in any given battle.
Good enough, his brain mentally nodded. In order to solve the Experience system, I need to see which Wild pokémon he fought, what level they were, what level HE was, and how much Experience he gained. I don't want totals; I want numbers for every single battle. On a single page, if possible.
Slave driver, Ex snarked, though he started working without further complaint. His brain didn't joke about this sort of thing; if it needed the data in a certain format, then Ex would compile the data into that format.
The task was tedious, but not difficult.
Why Prime in particular? Ex asked, mostly to pass the time as he tabbed through Wild battle after Wild battle. Wouldn't any other Meowth have been just as good? Or Charmander?
No, his brain denied sternly. The other Meowth have spent a good chunk of their battles in pairs, so shared Experience will mess with their values, it explained. Prime has been fighting alone this entire time, and unlike Charmander he had many battles between each level-up; that's important too.
Why?
You'll see. Finally, if Prime had a mix of Flawless and non-Flawless victories, I can solve the Flawless Multiplier, not just the overall Experience algorithm. Now stop distracting yourself. Lock-on to this task, and you'll Tackle it in no time! Be Swift and maybe we can plot out some Foul Play afterwards.
Ex resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. If he could do nothing but be a backseat driver all day, it wouldn't be long before he started looking for ways to amuse himself.
So rather than sassing his intelligence, he started amassing all the evidence.
According to the Pokédex, Prime has fought in a total of sixteen Wild battles, but the information was spread-out and scattered by the rest of his team. Ex had to isolate each of Prime's battles individually, then transfer them onto a single spreadsheet one-by-one, a task which involved (a) finding and opening the document feature in the Manual Entries section, (b) using the copy-paste and font-adjusting functions, and (c) discovering how to tab through sections more quickly with the 'Go to previous page' button.
It was like working with a computer and keyboard, only the keyboard was much smaller, there was a tiny touchscreen in place of a mouse or cursor, and instead of a single press of 'alt tab' he had to press 'go back' multiple times whenever he wanted to revisit old pages.
But he made it work, slowly building the list one battle at a time.
1. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Prime gained 15 Exp. Points!
2. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Prime gained 15 Exp. Points!
3. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 29 Exp. Points!
4. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Prime gained 15 Exp. Points!
5. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 29 Exp. Points!
6. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Flawless Victory! Prime gained 37 Exp. Points! Prime grew to LV. 5!
7. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 25 Exp. Points!
8. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 25 Exp. Points!
9. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 25 Exp. Points!
10. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Flawless Victory! Prime gained 30 Exp. Points!
11. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Prime gained 12 Exp. Points!
12. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 25 Exp. Points!
13. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Flawless Victory! Prime gained 30 Exp. Points!
14. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 25 Exp. Points! Prime grew to LV. 6!
15. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 22 Exp. Points!
16. Prime Fainted! Prime gained 29 Exp. Points!
Done! Ex said after around ten minutes of tedium. He was rather proud of the end result.
Go ahead and delete that last line, battle 16, before you save it.
Why? Ex asked as he deleted the line.
That's from the Horde Battle this morning. I have no idea how the Experience from that battle was split with Charmander, so I can't use it as a data point.
Wouldn't it just be half and half?
No. Charmander earned 138 Exp. and Prime only earned 29. Not an even split, so not something I can add to the calculations.
Once the data set was officially complete, Ex located the save function and titled the document 'Experience Gain Spreadsheet 1'.
Now, his brain said importantly, don't distract me while I'm Downloading all this into my memory.
Shouldn't that be automatic, since it's pokémon-related? Ex asked. Not to mention instantaneous? I thought you had a photographic memory.
Not when there are this many iterations of the same data point being repeated over and over, his brain answered. Even if it IS pokémon related, I'm going to have to Trace the data manually, so stick your eyes to that screen and don't move them until I do.
If you say so, Ex shrugged, doing exactly that for a time.
And even after I'm done memorizing, his brain added, it would be less work on my end if I didn't have to imagine the data set mentally when I'm being Analytic afterwards. The Conversion from raw data to usable facts will take a while, so try to Lock-On your eyes to the screen as long as you can, even if I say I'm done Downloading it.
Can do, Ex offered optimistically. This attitude did not last long, however, as it soon became brain-numbingly boring to stare blankly at a screen for the sake of someone else. His attention wanted to wander, especially when his Meowth returned with Items or Charmander returned with another Rattata.
And so Ex began thinking about the information himself, to keep his focus on the spreadsheet.
One real and one possibly simulated personality processed the data simultaneously, each with a different goal in mind.
Optimal Oran
I don't think Prime understands when exactly to eat his Oran Berries, Ex thought while his brain was occupied.
How would you know that? his brain asked distantly. We haven't seen any of his battles and this list doesn't say when he eats his Berries.
Prime only has three Flawless Victories, Ex answered. Even though I've given him a bunch of Oran Berries – more than anyone else, now that I think about it.
His brain didn't say anything in response.
Using Held Items doesn't take up a turn, Ex thought, so in order to get the Flawless Victory bonus, he's supposed to eat and recover his Health to full just before he Faints the enemy.
In a real world, pokémon do not have to use their Held Items at predetermined times, as Ex witnessed yesterday with Charmander. They seem to have instincts to use Held Items similar to when they would use them in the games – like using Oran Berries after reaching half Health or lower – but they can be instructed to ignore those instincts. They can be trained to disregard their 'natural' programming.
I don't think Prime is doing it right, Ex continued. He might be eating his Oran the moment he gets hurt, or waiting until he gets in the yellow. I haven't instructed him personally, so he's probably still following his instincts.
That's not the only explanation, even if it's probably the right one, his brain automatically replied. He's targeting Guts Rattata, who maybe like to Tackle more than the 10 damage that an Oran Berry can recover. And Prime might have been using Growl instead of sticking to Scratch, since we haven't taught him that part either, thus allowing enemies to rack up that damage in the first place.
The Polymath of Pokémon
Now quit distracting me, his brain reiterated. And keep your eyes on the values.
Fine.
Ex followed the order, only diverging his attention when Charmander brought him another addition to lunch or when one of his Meowth brought him a Pickup. Other than that, it was more screen-staring.
But it wasn't a completely droll experience.
Occasionally, his brain would put an Experience value through what it called the 'math machine' – a shorthand for all the different pokémon game algorithms and Experience charts it knew – accompanied by little beeps and boops.
This was his brain's idea of a joke, Ex knew, because the 'math machine' quickly became very loud and VERY annoying and his brain kept on doing it no matter how much he told it to stop. Even threatening to look away from the screen didn't work; if his eyes glanced elsewhere for any reason other than food (in the form of Fainted Rattata) or Pickup, his brain started shouting 'E-R-R-O-R, E-R-R-O-R, E-R-R-O-R' in his mental ears and wouldn't stop until he looked at the screen again.
Ex hoped his brain wasn't getting stir crazy.
I think I've got it, his brain declared.
And just in time. Near the end there, Ex had begun to feel his eyes straining from the effort of staring at such a small screen for so long.
Finally, Ex thought, relaxing his eyes and blinking them rapidly. Took long enough.
Hey, don't trivialize my masterful work! his brain shouted in mock anger. You should be GLAD it only took...
A brief flash of numbers came into his awareness – 20:20.715
...20 minutes, 20 seconds, and 715 milliseconds to Trace, Download, Analyze, and Convert all that data.
What are you, a clock? Ex asked sarcastically.
Hmm... I don't think so, thought his brain, taking the rhetorical question seriously. More like a computer.
Ex's train of thought stopped on its mental tracks at this simple statement.
Wait, really? he asked, a bit incredulous. You're not joking?
Math HAS been getting MUCH easier over time, his brain said in a confirming voice. I think I'm almost done adjusting to... whatever we've got going on here, compared to... whatever we had going on before. This session with the Experience values helped me get back some habits I didn't know I had.
Didn't you say the other day that you AREN'T a calculator?
My exact words, thought the entity with a photographic memory, were 'I'm an encyclopedia, not a calculator'. But I think it's actually the other way around: I'm a calculator, not an encyclopedia. Or maybe I USED to be that way, because now I'm BOTH. I wouldn't have been able to run my Move/damage/Health-percentage algorithm otherwise.
THAT...
Actually made a lot of sense, once Ex thought about it.
So his 'brain' was, basically, a machine?
Like a robot version of himself?
No wonder it felt so different.
Are you an artificial intelligence? Ex asked, a bit afraid at the idea. Like the Regi trio? Or those bots from Destiny Deoxys?
I have no idea, his brain huffed helplessly. But I can't really be 'artificial' if I'm living inside YOU, a human being, can I?
A reasonable rebuttal, Ex thought privately, but not one that addressed the main problem.
Plus, aren't AI supposed to be emotionless? it asked. I'm pretty sure I have a personality, unlike the Regi Trio. Well, the trio from the movies, at least.
Ex considered this.
You're not wrong, but... he trailed off, searching for the right way to put it.
But what?
When he finally found functional phrasing, he asked, But you still think like a computer, instead of a human?
Only when it comes to pokémon and numbers, thought his brain. So, essentially, yes.
'Essentially'?
I think it'd be more accurate to say that I think like a savant, his brain said. Or maybe a polymath.
Ex had heard of the term 'savant' before, but...
What's a polymath?
'An individual whose knowledge spans a significant number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.' And before you ask, savants are like more specialized versions of polymaths, only sometimes they're stupid outside their areas of expertise.
That was a rather harsh way of putting it.
For savants, think... a genius artist that hasn't even grown out of diapers at age 20, or an amazing musician that has a hard time interacting with people at all, and thus can't ever perform in front of an audience. Savants can do incredible things, but they often have little to no social skills. Or other problems.
Again, Ex's memory was helped by his brain's description. He had known what 'savants' were, but it was such a rare term that he needed a refresher. The term 'polymath', on the other hand, felt completely new to him.
Are polymaths and savants the same thing?
No. Savants have supremely specific skill-sets, and they are often the result of biological accidents. Especially ones that happen to the brain.
(Like getting hit hard in the head with a baseball, then being able to remember calendar and weather information of every day thereafter. Or being able to think like a calculator after suffering from multiple seizures as a child.)
Polymaths are the product of deliberate effort and diligence; they have wider ranges of expertise than savants; AND they don't sacrifice as much functionality in other aspects of their life. The two categories CAN overlap sometimes, but polymaths are more geared towards general problem-solving, not displays of very specific skills. Think... a prolific writer that gets published before they even graduate school. Or someone that goes to college years in advance of their peers. Or a violinist who can perform amazingly at age 12 thanks to insane amounts of dedication and practice. Savantism is accidental. Polymath...ism is deliberate.
So... Ex took it all in, trying to summarize. Polymaths lean more towards general intelligence, and savants towards specific skills?
Yes, his brain confirmed. Although... maybe I'M the savant, and YOU'RE the polymath. You ARE in charge of our social interactions. I'd probably botch them. Plus, I'm the one with all the facts, but you're the one that's applying my knowledge to the problems we encounter. Like a polymath of pokémon.*
Ex didn't quite know how to respond to that.
Got it? his brain asked.
Ex was struggling to keep up.
I... THINK so...
Good! his brain exclaimed. Now, the 1st bit of what I'm about to say about Experience is for our mental ears only, but get ready to record another 'manual entry' for the 2nd segment.
His brain seemed to have no trouble switching gears, going from investigating its own internal mysteries to examining the mysteries of the wider world around it – in particular, the Experience system.
Ex, on the other hand, suffered from intellectual whiplash.
Give me a second, he thought.
Ex had complained earlier about Pikachu (and others) suffering from 'protagonist-itis', in which main characters have too many good/interesting/unusual things happen to them to be believable. In retrospect, the points he raised still seemed valid, but he now realized they could be directed at him too. Nobody else had calculators in their heads, as far as he knew, and that was a massive advantage in a world that ran on numbers.
On the other hand... well, he didn't want to be unappreciative by whining about the personality quirks of his own personal, private, pokémon calculator, but...
His mental ears were still ringing from all the 'math machine' errors, and his eyes were still throbbing from staring at the screen for so long, and he hadn't forgotten the argument from earlier. It wasn't all Sunny Days and rainbows.
Still, even taking the negatives into account, the net positives did seem a little ridiculous.
Just a little.
Again, he wasn't complaining, but these sorts of things tended to even out in the end. Slaking's high base Stats were balanced with Truant; Regigigas was balanced with Slow Start; Archeops was balanced with Defeatist; and his brain might be 'balanced' in some hidden way that would come back to bite him in the future. At the moment his only option was to privately pray to Arceus by pleading 'Please don't let there be some massive downside I don't know about.'
That was all he could do.
After that, Ex decided that he was done thinking about the inner-workings of his brain for the day. Or maybe the month. He hoped that he wouldn't have to revisit the topic for a good long while, at least.
He had a whole world of pokémon to exploit; he didn't have time for incessant, inscrutable, internal, existential monologues.
* This story was originally uploaded as 'Pokémon Polymath' before I deleted it and started over. It was also, originally, far more boring like I said. My apologies again for the next sections, though I'm mainly referring to 3-7.
EXPLORING EXPERIENCE PART 2 – THROTTLING THRESHOLDS
Could you say that again? Ex asked his brain after another mental pause, needing a bit of help to find his mental footing in the conversation.
His brain, word-for-word and inflection-for-inflection, repeated, 'The 1st bit of what I'm about to say about Experience is for our mental ears only, but get ready to record another 'Manual Entry' for the 2nd segment.'
When Ex finally and fully processed the statement, he was confused. Why not just record both of the things you want to say?
His brain made a frustrated sighing sound. 1st half uses too much prior knowledge of the games. I have no way of explaining it in a way that would provide Professor Oak with the necessary context to understand.
Um...
For instance, his brain swiftly spoke on, you know how Charmander leveled up twice in her first battle?
Ex tabbed back to that bit of information on his Pokédex. Yeah?
Thankfully, this time his brain didn't start shouting 'E-R-R-O-R' when Ex looked at the Experience value. Earlier, his brain had attempted to put the battle with Gary through its 'math machine', but it said 'o-u-t-p-u-t n-o-t p-o-s-s-i-b-l-e' instead of making the little 'ding!' it had made after all the other battles.
Ignoring HOW she got it in the first place, his brain began, 500 Exp. points would have leveled her up to 10 in the main games. Professor Oak wouldn't understand what I'm referencing when I say 'the main games', which is why this is for our ears only.
Ah.
The problem is that in THIS world, 500 Experience only got her to level 7. And there's more – Check out her current total Experience.
Ex went to page 2 of Charmander's Summary: the POKéMON SKILLS section. Halfway down, he saw the number 1620 next to Total Experience Points.
With that amount, she should be level 14, albeit barely, but she's only level 8.
Ex's eyes widened slightly. You're saying she should be SIX levels higher than she is?
His brain nodded. And Charmander isn't the only one who's under-leveled. Prime got 388 Experience from all the Wild battles on that spreadsheet, if we include the Horde battle where he Fainted, which should have leveled him up to 7 or 8 depending on how far into level 4 he was when he started, but he's currently still level 6.
Ex paused to consider that.
So... Pokémon level up more slowly here?
In a threshold sense, yes, his brain confirmed. Thanks to Flawless Victories, it should be possible for them to earn more actual Experience points each battle than in the main games, but it's also a fact that they'll NEED more Experience to level up than they would in the main games.
Ex couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing overall.
And the overall Exp needed to reach level 100...? he asked, trailed off because he feared the answer.
Much higher than usual, his brain confirmed his suspicions. Probably x7 or x8 as much.
Seven or eight times?! he exclaimed, almost in a mental shout.
Or more, his brain said with a nod.
MORE?!
He actually did mentally shout this time.
How MUCH more?
Average pokémon will need 7,000,000 Experience points instead of 1,000,000 to get to level 100, his brain said robotically. For Charmander and other Starters, around 8,000,000 Experience instead of the usual 1,059,860 million. For slow levelers like Mewtwo and other Legendaries, around 27,000,000 instead of 1,250,000.
Ex's jaw dropped.
Amber gave him a sidelong glance, but she thankfully didn't comment.
Maybe he shouldn't have given a visible reaction, but he couldn't help it. The sheer magnitude of the amounts was staggering to anybody who had done the level 100 grind manually instead of using Rare Candies. One million points took long enough, but twenty-seven million? That would take an insane amount of dedication.
For a time, the fresh Pokémon Trainer, who intended to eventually get many pokémon to max level, was rendered mentally speechless.
I thought, Ex carefully articulated after that time was up, that the underlying mechanics around here followed the games. Even at the expense of realism, sometimes.
Turn-based battling was not something he would have expected in a 'real' world of pokémon, but here it was.
Is this the first exception, then?
His brain gave the impression of shaking its head. No.
Then where are you getting these numbers?
His brain's nonverbal gesture switched from a shaking head to a tilted one. You remember Pokémon World Online?
When Ex didn't immediately answer, it also switched to lecture mode, its voice a crisp monotone.
Pokémon World Online is a fan-made, Massively Multiplayer Online game. Unlike the main series games prior to Sword and Shield, Pokémon MMOs let you see and encounter other real people in the overworld around you. And unlike in Sword and Shield, the people you encounter in MMOs aren't just NPC versions of other players – they are the ACTUAL players. The number of player characters on the screen is not capped, nor are player encounters restricted to a single zone, nor are the interactions as limited as in Gen VIII of the main series.
Pokémon Sword and Shield had implemented a few player interactivity mechanics, but nothing on the scale or depth of pokémon MMO games.
In PWO, players could – precisely and in real time – see, speak with, and battle any player on the server. Of the many pokémon MMOs that have been made over the years, Pokémon World Online has often been considered the 'original' or 'classic' one. It has survived the many copyright bans that Nintendo has issued to these sorts of games, and it's a pretty 'vanilla' Pokémon experience.
'Lecture mode' seemed to shut off for the last bit of that last sentence, then his brain fell silent entirely.
I... THINK I remember playing it, Ex thought, his memory helped by his brain's precise description. He hadn't done much in the game itself, but he remembered looking up certain parts of the mechanics online. What about it?
Certain parts that included Exp. leveling charts, which were why he had stopped playing.
Ex's eyes were still looking at Charmander's Summary page, and his brain had briefly taken control to focus them on two values:
EXP POINTS: 1620
NEXT LEVEL: 115
So far, the Experience requirements for leveling seem to be more in-line with PWO, his brain declared definitively. Actually, the values here are scarily accurate to that game's values. Charmander needs 1735 total Exp to reach level 9 in that game, and lo and behold, our Charmander currently has 1620 Exp, currently NEEDS exactly 115 more Experience to level up, and is, currently, level 8. Her level-ups correlate with PWO's Experience charts exactly, and I haven't checked Prime's exact values, but I suspect we'd see the exact same thing if we-
Ex tabbed over to Prime's summary.
EXP POINTS: 551
NEXT LEVEL: 264
-checked.
Well? Ex asked.
Meowth's PWO threshold for level 7 was 815, his brain thought. That's that. Which means this world is still following game mechanics, just not from the MAIN series games.
The Level 100 Grind
Ex took a moment to absorb that.
And in a way, his brain added, it IS realism precisely BECAUSE it isn't at all aligned with any Game Freak or Nintendo-endorsed products.
How could THAT be realism? Ex asked in complete confusion.
His brain took a moment to compose its thoughts before answering.
What's the average amount of time it takes to beat a pokémon game?
Umm... why are you asking ME? Shouldn't you already know?
Yes, but I was HOPING to get you thinking about it on your own first. You know, teaching by asking questions? Like...
It realized it didn't have a word for that method of teaching.* Similar to how Ex had forgotten his own name, this seemed to be something the amnesia had taken away.
Nevermind. His brain sighed. When it continued, it had a lecturing tone again. Typically, the main series games can be played and beaten in 20 to 30 hours, not including the endgame. Could you imagine what it would be like to complete a REAL Pokémon journey in 30 hours?
Ex paused, picturing it.
We would be done pretty quickly...
His brain scoffed.
We'd be Elite 4 ready before we even made it to Pewter, it said scornfully, assuming we put in 8 hours of work a day, like a full-time job. By part-time standards of 4 hrs/day, we'd be ready by Cerulean. Even by HOBBY standards we'd be done early. And since we're obviously putting in MORE time than any of that, we'd be ready before Viridian, the very first town, after only completing Route 1.
Ex paused again, though mostly at the mental image of having a team of level fifties before he even made it to the first gym. Or the first town. Thankfully, he didn't have to rely only on his imagination; his brain promoted to his attention three videos he had seen with similar premises:
In one, a Pickup Party is used to farm Rare Candies in Ruby in order get a Nincada to level 100 before Roxanne – the first Gym Leader.
In another, a full team is leveled from 1 to 59 in Sun/Moon by only fighting Wild pokémon on Route 1. No Rare Candies, just grinding.
In the final video, a full team is leveled from 1 to 100 in Viridian Forest of Let's Go Eevee by exploiting the Experience multipliers exclusive to that game.**
His brain helpfully reminded him that the in-game times for these grinds were 15 hours and 52 minutes, 94 hours and 19 minutes, and 33 hours and 25 minutes, respectively.
Those might seem like long amounts of time to spend on a single Route, but Ex would be spending seventy-two hours on Route One alone, about forty-eight of which would be waking and/or walking hours. He could already tell that replicating the feats in those videos would be impossible here. Until this moment, Ex had never quite envisioned what it would mean for, say, Ash and friends, if one were to apply video game time frames to the anime. Or a 'real world'.
So the main series games are too short to be realistic?
WAY too short. His brain simulated a forefinger and thumb going from wide apart at the word 'way' to a hair's width apart at the word 'short'.
Just how short are we talking about here?
Speedrunners have completed most of the main series games in 3-4 hours without glitches. Most of the Gen III games, i.e. the ones in 'fastest generation', can be beaten in 2 hours. If we include glitches, the very first game can be beaten in less than a minute of in-game time.
Ex had watched a few world record pokémon speedruns, too. He would often start one just before going to bed; the voice of the speedrunner and the seemingly endless series of battles would work like a lullaby and lull him to sleep. As a result, he (or rather, his brain) might not remember the details of every speedrun he'd seen, but the titles and the timestamps should all be in his head. Or in his brain's head... no that didn't sound right. In his brain's... brain?
Whatever. No existential monologues.
Don't speedrunners essentially just steamroll through the Gyms with single pokémon – usually one of the Starters? Ex asked. Which Amber SPECIFICALLY said we can't do here?
His argument gave his brain some pause, but not much.
Even under normal circumstances, a competent player can complete a main series game and level an entire team to 50 in about 15 hours of gameplay or less, so my point still stands. His brain resumed its lecture. The games can be beaten so quickly because the Experience needed for level-ups isn't very high, among other things. But in Pokémon World Online – and therefore in THIS world – it takes much longer to level your party. It IS an MMORPG, after all, where a big chunk of the gameplay typically comes from the journey to max level. I suppose you could say we're living in a real-world equivalent of an MMORPG, only we're not online, and the role-playing part is optional, and it's not exactly a game. We're essentially playing in an MMRLC: a Massively Multiplayer Real-Life Competition.
There was a brief pause as Ex thought about this strange observation.
So... Ex thought into the conversational emptiness that followed. What does that mean for us, exactly?
It means, his brain spoke in a tone of stating the obvious, that it will take much longer to level up our pokémon, even if we exploit all the multipliers, because the Experience ceiling is much higher. We're going to have to game the system if we want to train them quickly and efficiently.
What about Rare Candies? Ex argued. Shouldn't that speed things up?
It'll take over 1.5 months to get enough Rare Candies to level a single pokémon from 1 to 100, his brain said flatly. That's not a viable speed-leveling strategy. We're saving Rare Candies for later, when grinding level-ups through battles becomes slower than grinding level-ups with Pickups, which I'm guessing will happen sometime around level 50. And it'll take almost a month to get enough Rare Candies for a single pokémon to reach level 100 even then. So, again, no.
It was worth a shot, Ex sighed helplessly. Or a thought, I guess.
To be fair, his brain allowed, you could typically get 100 Rare Candies in less than a day of gameplay if you used a Pickup Party, like Absol did in that first video. Or you could get 100 Rare Candies in a few hours if you glitched out a certain Breeder in Gen V, like he did in a different one.*** Or you could get 100 Rare Candies instantly with the Action Replay or Game Shark cheat engines.
But there aren't cheat codes here, Ex thought.
Not that he would ever use one if there was. He was an exploiter, not a cheater. There was a difference.
No Capturing unobtainable pokémon, no adjusting a pokémon's Stats or Shiny Value at will, no x99 of all Items, no Bad Eggs, his brain listed robotically.
And there aren't any glitches, Ex added, referring to the remark about the Gen V Breeder.
No Missingno., no glitched out Hall of Fame, no Item Overflow glitches, no training pokémon to level 100 before they even hatch from their Eggs,**** no-
No hacking either, Ex interrupted, this time with a bit of mischief, to see if his brain would-
No max EVs in all Stats, no Imposter Blisseys, no 'Perfection' Nature that gives a 10% boost to ALL Stats, no Shiny, Wonder Guard Bidoof that knows Judgement, Thirst for Vengeance, BIDOOF, and 'This',***** no-
Save Scumming, Shiny Hunting, and Ironmanning
No Saving the game, Ex realized.
Which means no Save Scumming, his brain realized in almost the same mental breath. Or Software Resetting. Or having multiple games running at once. Which means no Shiny Hunting.
Well, we might not be able to Shiny Hunt the same way we used to, Ex agreed, but we could always tell our Poaching Party to keep an eye out for Shiny pokémon, so it's not a COMPLETE loss.
Ex might not be able to have multiple 'games' running at the same time in this world, but he could have multiple Meowth running at the same time.
And since Meowth like Shiny things, it's even better, Ex realized. He had read that particular Pokédex entry more than enough times over the past few days. Maybe that'll make it possible to Shiny Hunt here. We should ask Professor Oak about the Shiny odds. Who knows? Maybe we can get close to our old Shiny encounter rate.
Accounting for human error and less-than-optimal button pressing, Ex had been able to get close to around one Shiny encounter every three hours, or about two Shiny encounters a day if he dedicated six hours to it – the same amount of time per day his brain suggested he dedicate to training his Meowth, i.e. to having them run around in Tall Grass and encounter a bunch of Wild (and potentially Shiny) pokémon.
That's optimistic, his brain said. EXTREMELY optimistic.
Unfortunately, his brain was probably right. Back when he was playing pokémon and not living it, he had more than ten game devices running at the same time, to increase his chances of finding a Wild Shiny. If you can encounter ten Wild pokémon across ten devices, you have ten times the likelihood of encountering a Shiny when you added them all up.
But at the moment, Ex only had five Meowth and one Charmander, as opposed to ten plus gaming devices, and he didn't even know how quickly they could hunt for Experience let alone Shinies.
Okay, maybe we CAN'T get the same encounter rate, Ex eventually conceded. But in a real world, all we need to do is SEE a pokémon to determine its Shininess, not go through the lengthy process of starting a battle, looking at a sprite, menuing, running away, and starting another battle. Shiny Hunting might be just as fast even IF we don't have as many Meowth as we did gaming devices. Also, since we can't 'Save the game', we don't have to worry about Soft-Resetting for Shiny Legendaries, which would have taken even longer.
Then, he stopped short.
We can't Save the game, Ex mentally repeated.
He had mentioned it off-hand earlier, but now...
We only have one 'playthrough', he said, as if truly thinking about that concept for the first time. It was an unfortunate quirk of his narrow genius that he tended to overlook the blatantly obvious. If we can't Save and Reset, we can't do anything twice. Which means no second chances.
And THAT means we shouldn't TAKE any chances, his brain said with a nod.
Ex sighed. He really should have realized this sooner.
No 'Save Scumming', as his brain had said earlier. It was a term that meant reloading to previous Save states whenever something bad happened. If a certain section of a video game was too hard, Save the game before tackling it, then try multiple strategies and different angles of attack. You'll eventually find a tactic that works, or you'll beat your head against the RNG enough times to get lucky, and then you can Save after finally getting the outcome you want.
But that wouldn't be possible here. Ex would be doing an 'Ironman',****** which was the opposite of Save Scumming as it referred to a playthrough of a video game without any Saves or Resets. If you lost, you lost, and that was it. He would also be doing 'Permadeath' – if he or his pokémon or anybody else died, there was no coming back. Still, at least he wasn't doing a Nuzlocke; releasing a pokémon after they Faint to simulate 'death' wasn't necessary in a world where 'death' was actually possible.
So much for the easy route, Ex thought dejectedly. If we want to win against the League, I guess we WILL have to game the Exp. system.
That's the spirit! his brain declared happily. And in order to do THAT, we need to KNOW the system.
Ex sighed again, then gave the mental impression of a nod. No arguments here.
Then it's time for the 2nd half of my lecture, his brain announced authoritatively. You ready with the recording?
Note: the chapter isn't over yet. From here out, footnotes will be integrated after their relevant sections, not after the chapter is over.
* Teaching by asking questions is called the Socratic Method. It's a general technique, so Ex's brain didn't forget it any more than it forgot how to calculate 2+2=4, but since the name of the technique itself is not pokémon-related and comes from our world's ancient history, the amnesia has claimed it.
** The three videos of the high-level grinds in early routes were 331, 411, and 487 by AbsolBlogspokémon.
*** Glitching out the Gen V Rare Candy-rewarding Breeder in order to reach level 100 was done by AbsolBlogsPokémon in video 380.
**** Using glitches, it's possible to level pokémon up in Gen III before they even hatch from their Eggs, though hatching them resets their level to 5. AbsolBlogs did this as well, in video 466.
Brief A/N: It might seem strange that I'm referencing Absol's videos so much, but he's just extremely relevant to level 100 grinds, which are extremely relevant to this chapter in particular. There's one more Absol reference this chapter, but otherwise the footnotes start branching out again.
***** Someone hacked a Perfect Bidoof encounter into their Sun and Moon game. It was Shiny (i.e. golden), had Wonder Guard, and knew the Moves 'Judgement' (Arceus' signature Move), 'Thirst for Vengeance', 'This' (PB's own signature Moves), but not 'BIDOOF', which was my own little addition. The video is on YouTube, titled "Pokemon Crossover 7: Battle! Peanut Butter (Pokemon Rusty x Pokemon)" by Mixeli. According to the comments section, the YouTuber's own pokémon did not, unfortunately, know 'Give Sandwich' – the only Move that might have worked against a Perfect Bidoof.
****** Ex's amnesia has taken away his memory of Iron Man the superhero, but not Ironman the community-invented 'challenge mode' of video games. Many games can be 'Ironman'ed in one way or another, including Fire Emblem (where I think the term 'permadeath' originated), Final Fantasy, and even World of Warcraft.
And now we get to the difficult parts. So grit your teeth, put your mind to the grindstone, and get ready to think. You have to give your brain its veggies in parts 3-8 in order to earn dessert in part 9.
EXPLORING EXPERIENCE PARTS 3-9 – LENGTHY LECTURES
Hold up, Ex thought before his brain could begin. He had just remembered an important factor who was walking right beside him. I should probably let Amber know what's going on.
The eyes of the green-haired girl were on her Bulbasaur, but her mouth gave no orders. She was seeing if her pokémon could fight without direct orders, like Ex had done with Charmander not long ago.
"Hey Amber," he voiced.
"Yeah?" she asked, her attention still on her pokémon.
"I'm about to record myself using my Pokédex. Professor Oak said I should do it whenever I talk pokémon theory."
"Okay," Amber allowed.
Ex's finger was now ready to descend on the record button.
"If that's what Professor Oak told you," Amber said before he could press the red circle, "then why didn't you record that Nature stuff earlier?"
Ex paused.
Why hadn't he recorded himself?
"That was just to satisfy my own curiosity," his lips said somewhat truthfully. His brain had eventually evoked the excuse, even while he still searched for the actual reason.
Must have just been forgetfulness, he thought privately. Though Amber did make a good point. He directed his thoughts inward, towards his brain. Maybe you should write out a Nature Chart to Professor Oak, like you did with the Hidden Power theory.
I'll do it later, thought his brain. Experience comes first.
Having received Amber's acceptance, Ex was again about to hit the record button, but again he hesitated just before touching it.
The sound of a Rattata Fainting to Tackle was another item that needed addressing.
"Also, could we stop battling?" he asked, glancing up at their Starters. "I don't want too many distractions."
"Sure," she shrugged. "Bulbasaur! You can take a break for now."
"Human, hugh human! (You too, Charmander!)"
Soon, Bulbasaur was resting on Amber's head and Charmander was walking by Ex's side.
A Meowth had returned with another Oran Berry in the meantime, causing Amber to ask if he was going to stop his Pickup Party as well.
Ex shook his head and said "Nope." Stooping to collect Items was so routine at this point that it didn't distract him in the slightest.
Ex's expression then grew serious, he drew himself up, and he blew the hair out of his face. He coughed a few times to clear his throat. He didn't have a mirror, but the Pokédex had a live video feed, which was almost as good. Ignoring the clothes and age, he looked very much like a 10-year-old version of a Pokémon Professor.
Amber giggled quietly, watching in amusement. "What are you going to talk about?"
Instead of answering directly, Ex let his brain take over. He felt his finger hit the record button on his Pokédex and tab over to the Experience Spreadsheet 1.
"The following will be an exploration of Pokémon Experience," his brain began. "Using data gathered by a Meowth nicknamed Prime, I will be inferring how Flawless Victories and how levels in general influence Experience gain. I will then attempt to form training strategies that take this knowledge into account and apply it practically."
3 – Massive Multipliers: Flawless Factoring
"First comes the Flawless Multiplier, which affects Experience gains by a factor of 2.5."
Geeze, eager much? Ex thought privately. You couldn't have embellished that? You know, lead up to it, get a good build-up of curiosity going, and THEN reveal the answer? We're trying to impress Professor Oak here.
His brain ignored him.
"If a battle would normally earn 10 Experience points, winning it Flawlessly earns 25 points instead."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amber tilt her head, and he heard her give a quiet "huh".
"Here's the evidence:" his brain stated. "In his 10th and 11th battles against Wild pokémon, Prime fights two level 2 Rattata in a row."
Amber looked over his shoulder, her eyebrows furrowed.
10. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Flawless Victory! Prime gained 30 Exp. Points!
11. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Prime gained 12 Exp. Points!
"Prime won the 10th battle Flawlessly, gaining 30 Experience," his brain observed. "He won the 11th battle imperfectly, gaining 12 Experience. 30 divided by 12 is 2.5. Therefore, the Flawless multiplier is x2.5. And it rounds down, NOT up, because in battles 4 and 6..."
4. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Prime gained 15 Exp. Points!
6. Wild Rattata lv 2 Fainted! Flawless Victory! Prime gained 37 Exp. Points! Prime grew to LV. 5!
"...winning a 15 Exp battle Flawlessly earned him 37 points, NOT 38."
So that's it, huh? Ex thought.
That's math for you, his brain shrugged. Sometimes it's simple. In this case, it's both simple and significant; x2.5 is larger than any other battle multiplier I know outside of Let's Go, so we should be exploiting it whenever possible.
I can agree with that, Ex thought. "To reiterate," he said, briefly regaining control of his lips, "The Flawless Victory Multiplier is two point five and it rounds down on odd numbers."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Amber open her Pokédex, probably to check her own past battles.
Straightforward enough, Ex thought. But that still doesn't explain Charmander's five hundred points. If the Flawless multiplier is two point five, and she was originally supposed to get seventy Experience, that means she should have gotten... seventy plus seventy plus thirty-five... one hundred and seventy-five points.
Ex was no slouch with numbers, though he was nowhere near his brain's level. He could do simple arithmetic simply enough.
Even if she counted as a Traded pokémon, Ex continued, which she DOESN'T, since the Pokédex says we're her OT (Original Trainer), she STILL wouldn't have reached five hundred with the Traded multiplier.
I'll get to that, his brain thought. Don't tab out, but go ahead and pause the recording if you can.
This wasn't hard to do. Ex tapped the big, vertical double dash in the middle of the screen and the recording was paused.
Why not just end the recording? Ex thought.
I'm not done with the lecture yet, but first there's more info for your ears only. Next comes the underlying algorithm that calculates Experience gain.
4 – Inapplicable Algorithms: Flat Experience
Isn't that too grounded in the games to explain to Professor Oak properly? Ex asked. Like the level-up thresholds?
I can work around it, thought his brain, but that's why part of this needs to be private. There IS a consistent algorithm for calculating Exp gain across generations I, II, III, IV, and VI, just like with calculating Hidden Power Type.
Ex mentally nodded, remembering the algorithm in vague terms, though he had forgotten most of the exact details a while ago, after he learned about all the different Rare Candy exploits.
I have the algorithm memorized, naturally, his brain bragged, and I'd like SOMEONE to hear it, since I'm not going to be saying it out loud.
What is it? Ex asked.
A refresher was always good.
His brain imagined taking a deep breath.
(a*t*b*e*L*p*f*v) / (7*s) = Exp gain, where...
a = 1 if Wild Battle, 1.5 if Trainer Battle.
t = 1 if Original Trainer, 1.5 if Traded, 1.7 if (Gen IV or later) Internationally Traded.
b = Base Exp yield of Fainted (or Captured, Gen VI or later) species.
e = 1 if NOT Holding Lucky Egg, 1.5 IF Holding Lucky Egg.
L = Level of Fainted (or Captured, Gen VI or later) pokémon.
p = 1 if no Experience Powers are active; otherwise, p=0.5 for -3 power, p=0.66 for -2, p=0.75 for -1, p=1.2 for +1, p=1.5 for +2 or Rotom Power, p=2 for +3.
(Gen V: Pass Power, Gen VI: O-Power, Gen VII: Rotom Power)
f = 1.2 if Affection of two hearts or more (Gen VI or later).
v = 1.2 if the pokémon should have already Evolved according to level (Gen VI or later).
s = various numbers, depending on how many pokémon participated in the battle, whether the Exp. Share was used or not, what version of the Exp. Share was used, what generation you're in, AND whether you're calculating for the pokémon HOLDING the Exp. Share or the OTHER battle participant(s).*
* 's' is by far the most complicated variable. All different possible values of 's' are on Bulbapedia on the 'Experience' page.
Example? thought Ex, not quite able to visualize formulae in his head as easily as his brain could.
Rattata has a base Exp yield of 57 prior to Gen V, his brain said, choosing a relevant and simple example. So if you fought a level 7 Rattata before Gen V without any multipliers...
a=1, t=1, b=57, e=1, L=7, p=N/A, f=N/A, v=N/A, s=1
(1*1*57*1*7)/(7*1)
(57*7)/7
57
...you'd earn 57 Exp. points. If it was a Trainer battler instead of a Wild one, and 3 of your pokémon participated in the battle without Fainting...
a=1.5, s=3
(1.5*1*57*1*7)/(7*3)
(57*3/2)/3
57/2
28.5
They'd each only earn 29 Exp. points, or 28 if it rounds down. Of course, that wouldn't happen here, since Exp. doesn't seem to split evenly in this world.
Ah, Ex thought, remembering the Horde Battle. Right. And all the other multipliers?
There was a slight pause.
If you wanted an extremely exploity example, his brain thought, all you had to do was ask.
That wasn't what I-
If it was a triple (*3) Trainer battle (a=1.5) using an Internationally-Traded pokémon (t=1.7) against the highest base Exp pokémon in the game (b=608) while your own pokémon was Holding a Lucky Egg (e=1.5) and the enemies were all level 100 (L=100), with maximum Experience O-power turned on in Gen VI (p=2) and at least 2 hearts of Affection (f=1.2) at a level where your own pokémon should have already Evolved (v=1.2) with exactly one non-max-level participant on your end and no Exp. Share (s=1), then...
[(1.5*1.7*608*1.5*100*2*1.2*1.2)/(7*1)]*3
[(608*1101.6)/7]*3
287,045.485
...your pokémon would earn 287,045 Exp. if all 3 enemies Fainted on the same turn. And considering most pokémon take around 1,000,000 Exp. to get to level 100 in the main games, his brain added, you would only need 4 battles like that to reach max level. Or 2 battles, if the opponent had 6 pokémon total.*
Extremely exploity indeed, Ex thought. You're talking about Blissey Bases,* aren't you?
This referred to a particular exploit discovered in Gen VI (Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire).
Some clever players came up with the idea of using the Secret Base mechanic of Hoenn to build a base devoted exclusively to helping other players grind Experience. They would build a team of six max-level Blissey with no attacking Moves, all holding Toxic or Flame orbs, and set that as the team other players could battle if they entered the base. The Blissey would Poison or Burn themselves, be unable to attack, and Faint against all opponents regardless of skill or level, granting ridiculous amounts of Experience. It was a 'bro' move to the pokémon community to make such a base and make it available for all to share by posting the QR codes online.
It was also a case study in the ever-growing expertise of gamers and their ever-increasing inventiveness. Blissey Bases could have been made in Gen III Hoenn twelve years earlier, in theory,** but it wasn't until the explosion of online communication and wireless interactivity that started in Gen IV and grew every generation thereafter that this particular idea was finally realized in Gen VI.
Of course I'm talking about Blissey Bases, answered his brain. Still, you didn't have to use all the multipliers for Blissey Bases to be effective. It was effective because of Blissey's high base Exp and high level, which are at the core of the formula.
His brain paused, taking a mental breather.
Do you have a better idea of the algorithm now? it asked finally.
Ex did some mental organizing.
I... think so... he said slowly. Let me try to summarize...
He already knew the raw values of the important multipliers (Trainer battles give x1.5 Exp, Traded pokémon earn x1.5 Exp, Holding a Lucky Egg boosts earnings by x1.5), and his brain's examples had helped put words to the other variables (a = Archetype: Trainer/Wild, t = Traded, b = Base Exp, e = Egg, L = Level, p = Power, f = aFfection, v = eVolution, s = Share). Now, it was just a matter of simplifying it all.
In the end, he came up with this:
1. Multiply [Opponent Species Base Exp] by [Opponent Level], then divide the product by [Seven].
(b*L/7)
2. Multiply [the result] by [all the different multipliers that exist].
(a*t*e*p*f*v)
3. Divide by [the divider].
(/s)
4. Round sensibly for [Experience Earned].
(= Exp)
For good measure, he added a few extra details.
1. b*L/7 is the core of the formula, involving the only constant integer and the two variables that are constantly changing and usually out of the player's control (enemy species and level).
2. The multipliers are the variables that are IN the player's control: they aren't determined by RNG and can be deliberately manipulated. They are the tools used by advanced players for increasing Experience gains.
3. The divider is also in the player's control. Even beginner players know that splitting up Experience by switching out pokémon during battle or using the Exp Share is a good tactic for training weak pokémon.
4. Rounding sensibly is just basic math.
That sound right? the Pokémon Polymath asked in the end.
Sounds good, confirmed the Pokémon Savant. If you wanted to know the base Exp of any pokémon under that algorithm, just fight a Wild version of it at a level that's divisible by 7, don't have any multipliers active, and viola! Easy answer.
That might be something to look into later, Ex thought. Maybe Professor Oak would be interested in those base Exp. yields, if he doesn't already know them.
Not so fast, his brain cautioned. We aren't living in a world that follows that algorithm.
What? But you just said-
I said that in Gens I-IV and VI, his brain interrupted, your OWN pokémon's level doesn't impact Experience gain. But it DID impact gains in Gens V, VII, and VIII, his brain said seriously. And it DOES impact Experience gains here. You should keep the multipliers in mind going forward, since they usually stay the same regardless of generation, but go ahead and forget everything else.
His brain then pressed the pause button, which served as an unpause button when the recording was already stopped, and the recording resumed.
Ex's brain seemed satisfied with itself, having fulfilled its desire to explain its full knowledge to someone who would understand.
Ex, on the other hand, was downright indignant. He did all that work summarizing the algorithm, and now he was being told to forget it?
But his brain began talking again, giving Ex no opportunity to interject or complain.
* The first place I encountered the concept of Blissey Bases was "Super Secret Bases – Nintendo Facts" by TheJWittz.
** It's strange to reference the same video in a single chapter, but whatever. When Absol leveled his Egg to 100 in video 466 without hatching it, he used a Blissey Base. He needed a way to get lots of battle Experience without adding to the step counter that would hatch the Egg, and he chose this method. Since the Egg Glitch had to be done in Gen III Hoenn, he proved that Blissey Bases could have been done a decade earlier than they actually were, in theory, if people had realized it at the time.
5 – Adjusting Algorithms: Diminishing Returns
"Next, we come to the overall system of earning Experience," his brain said out loud. "Naturally, beating high-level pokémon will earn more Experience than beating their low-level counterparts, so long as everything else about the battle remains constant."
Duh, Ex thought, still annoyed.
"However," his brain continued, "your opponent's level isn't the only level that matters to Experience earnings. The higher the level of your own pokémon compared to that of their opponents, the lower their Experience gain, and vice versa. For example, winning a battle with a level 99 pokémon will gain FAR fewer raw Experience points than winning that very same battle with a level 1 pokémon."
And by that same logic, Ex thought Naughtily, winning a battle against a level 99 pokémon USING a level 1 pokémon grants an INSANE amount of Experience.
Exploits later, Ex's brain thought. Science now.
"For evidence," his brain spoke on, "look at battles 3, 7, and 15, and pay attention to the level-ups in between. None of these were Flawless Victories, so they all show standard Experience yields."
3. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 29 Exp. Points!
6. (Prime grew to LV. 5!)
7. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 25 Exp. Points!
14. (Prime grew to LV. 6!)
15. Wild Rattata lv 3 Fainted! Prime gained 22 Exp. Points!
"Defeating a level 3 Rattata with a level 4 Meowth yielded 29 Experience points; beating a level 3 Rattata with a level 5 Meowth only gave 25 points; at level 6, it was even less – Prime earned 22 Exp. points from a level 3 Rattata. As Prime grew stronger and stronger relative to his opponents, his Experience gains for each fight continued to shrink. And since there's no reason to suppose this trend will stop as he continues to gain more levels, I can only conclude whatever system is in place for calculating Experience gain-"
The Gen 5 algorithm, his brain thought privately,
"-adheres to the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns. When all other factors remain constant, the amount of Experience returned by a battle against an opponent of a set level and species will diminish with each marginal increment to your own pokémon's level."
6 – Applying Algorithms: Outliers and Nerfing
And THAT'S how you explain an algorithm without going into specifics, his brain thought triumphantly.
I guess, Ex sighed. But it still doesn't explain Charmander. Even if the underlying algorithm is different, I can't see her earning FIVE HUNDRED Experience against a level five Squirtle, even with the Flawless Multiplier. I don't remember the Gen Five games rewarding outrageous amounts of Experience from THEIR rival battles.
They didn't, his brain agreed, directing Ex's thumb to press the pause button again. In fact, the first rival battles in the first Gen V games rewarded LESS Experience than any rival battles that came before or since: 43 Experience.
Ex hadn't explicitly known that.
Thankfully, his brain continued, there's a reason the Exp yields of Gen V's Starters were so low, and it had nothing to do with the new algorithm:
In Black and White, right at the start of the games, you fight both rivals, Bianca and Cheren, back-to-back before moving on to Unova's Route 1. If those fights gave you the Experience they were SUPPOSED to give, your Starter would get somewhere around 180 Experience, rather than the 43+43=86 Exp that it DOES end up earning. But getting that much Experience that early would over-level your Starter for the first Routes, making the already easy pokémon games THAT much easier. In short, those rival fights are an outlier.
Really? Ex thought. That's-
Not all, his brain declared, cleanly cutting him off. The base Experience yields of Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivy are much lower than Bulbapedia/Game Freak CLAIMS they are, so it wasn't just a scripted occurrence for the first fights. In order for those battles to yield the Experience they did, the Starters would have had to have...
His brain once again made little robot noises as it put the problem through the math machine.
...a base Exp of 28. To put that into perspective, the lowest base Exp. is supposed to be 36 – a tie by Sunkern from Gen II and Blipbug from Gen VIII. The base Exp of any given species is typically determined by its base Stats; Sunkern is notorious for having the lowest base Stat total in the game, so it naturally had the lowest base Exp as well. Inside Kanto, the lowest is base Exp is 39, shared by Caterpie and Weedle, followed by Magikarp's 40. Think about that: by base Experience, the Gen 5 starters aren't even worth as much as a Magikarp, even though their Base Stats are much higher.
Ex chuckled. I can see why you called them outliers.
His brain nodded. Lowering the base Exp to 28 solved the over-leveling problem, but not the logical issues. The 2nd time you fight Bianca, her Starter gives less Experience than a Lillipup despite being a higher level than it, and the 2nd time you fight Cheren his Purrloin gives DOUBLE the Experience of his Starter despite them being the SAME level. When you put 28 base Exp through the Gen V algorithm, that's the result you'd expect from those battles, but it isn't a result that any reasonable player would expect going in. Starter pokémon should be worth more Experience than all the other un-Evolved pokémon of the earlier Routes, but Game Freak intervened in the cases of Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivy.
Ex absorbed this. That's why the Starters in Black and White gave so little Exp? Game Freak intervention on their base Exp?
Yes, his brain nodded again. Although to be fair to the developers, the problem WAS fixed in the sequels Black 2 and White 2, where you get the full 96 Experience for defeating your rival's level 5 Starter, which is the result of the Starters having the base Exp they were SUPPOSED to have: b = 62, not b = 28. In THOSE games, B2 and W2, you only have one rival, so there was no reason to nerf the values. In THOSE games, the rival battle rewarded more Exp than any other generation. And it's THOSE games we should be referencing if we want to puzzle out Charmander's Experience.
So... Ex trailed off, eyes distant.
So, his brain said in a definitive tone. We need to apply the Gen V algorithm INSTEAD of the algorithm from Gens I-IV/VI. If we do THAT, and if we include the Flawless Multiplier, we should get closer to 500 Exp. for Charmander's first battle.
Okay, Ex nodded. Are you able to calculate that?
Of course, bragged his brain. Squirtle's base Exp. after Gen V was 63. A Trainer battle in Gen V against a level 5 Squirtle using a level 5 pokémon without any other multipliers would, in theory, yield...
Blip, Bleep, Bloop, went the math machine.
...100 Experience exactly. With the Flawless multiplier, that brings it up to 250 Exp. points.
Two hundred and fifty points is a good start, Ex thought. But that's still not five hundred.
His brain gave the impression of a shrug. True, but it's only x2 away. Who knows? Maybe there's another multiplier we don't know about. Maybe a pokémon earns double Experience in its first battle, or maybe something else happened. I already put our other battles through my math machine; these Rattata seem to be providing normal amounts of Experience by the Gen V algorithm, so for now we should assume we're going to be working with that one. We'll out figure Charmander's first battle eventually.
I guess that makes sense, Ex agreed.
For the sake of the recording, Ex regained control of his mouth, pressed the pause/unpause button, and said, "Diminishing returns for Experience makes logical sense."
Gen V is the more 'realistic' algorithm, he thought, so it also makes logical sense that this world would use that one.
"Hard battles are more rewarding than easy ones. Beating opponents that are strong not just in general, but stronger than you is difficult, so it should earn extra Experience. And crushing opponents way weaker than you should barely earn anything."
Which was Game Freak's motivation for redesigning the algorithm in the first place, his brain thought. Fortunately for us, it was extremely exploitable. Mwah-ha-ha!
"That concludes my initial analysis of the underlying mechanics behind Experience gain," his brain said, once again taking over.
Ex raised a mental eyebrow. 'Initial' analysis? You mean there's going to be more?
His brain nodded. I may delve deeper at some point if I can gather enough evidence to 'naturally' work out the underlying Gen V algorithm without arousing suspicion from the surrounding scientific community on just how I figured it out. Or if we discover another new multiplier that needs a one-way trip through the math machine, I might make another Experience recording.
Charmander's first battle IS still a mystery, Ex allowed.
Exactly.
7 – Experience Efficiency: Min/Maxing
"But any theory is only as good as its application," his brain said, transitioning to the final part of its lecture. "As a Trainer, my goal is to train a strong team."
Or a cheesy one, Ex thought.
I'm speaking to a general audience here, thought his brain. So shush.
"In order to level up my team quickly, I need to maximize Experience gain and minimize diminishing returns. The shorthand for this is 'min slash max', pronounced 'min max'." And written, it looked like 'min/max', though his brain had already explained that out loud as best it could.
The term wasn't Pokémon, per se; it was more of an RPG thing in general, and it generally meant 'to optimize', especially when it came to a character's stats. Ex had to manually memorize it, way back in a time he couldn't even remember. Since his amnesia didn't seem to affect learned language skills, he hadn't forgotten it, but he did forget where it originally came from.*
"In order to min/max Exp gains during training," his brain lectured, "there are 3 strategies I expect to use in the future."
You mean that I am going to use, Ex thought with a groan, such as a lazy person might make in the face of hard work. It wasn't like his brain would be doing the physical leg work.
I'm talking through YOUR mouth right now, his brain thought back. So, again, SHUSH.
"The 1st approach is to battle and beat a bunch of weak opponents, finishing every fight Flawlessly."
Like Charmander was doing that very moment, in other words.
"This will ONLY be worth it under 2 conditions: at low levels, or if my pokémon can 1-shot or 2-shot their opponents while staying at full HP themselves, even as they battle and defeat enemy after enemy. It's quantity over quality, with the Flawless boost adding just enough quality to make the key difference. So long as I stay in a level range where I'm just barely beating my opponents with 1 hit, it should be an effective training tactic, even in the mid-tier level ranges."
In most of the games, grinding against Wild pokémon isn't efficient for getting Experience in the long term, his brain privately explained. But thanks to Flawless Victories, it might actually be worth it here, at least for a while.
"For future research, I'm going to be testing the effectiveness of this strategy while traveling on Route 1. My Charmander and Meowth will be battling Wild pokémon while following a set of instructions to maximize their Flawless Victories. I'll be directing them personally at first, but once I'm confident they can remember the instructions on their own, they will battle independent of my direct orders, allowing them to train simultaneously, and thus more quickly."
As soon as Prime gets back, Ex thought, I'm giving out the new instructions. He needs to learn when exactly to eat his Oran Berries.
His brain paused. You're actually doing this today? I thought you said you wanted to relax.
You haven't left me much of a choice with that line about 'while traveling on Route One', Ex pointed out. We need to get that data for Professor Oak, and we only have two days to get it. And besides, Ex shrugged, training pokémon IS how I relax. Or it USED to be how I relaxed; I think I remember that much, despite the amnesia. If I can't enjoy myself while training in the real world, even with walking and physical effort and verbal commands, I might as well just give up now.
In that case, his brain began mildly, maybe you can have the 'inky' Meowth hunt 1-v-1 instead of 2-v-1 now that they're fast enough to out-Speed the Run Away Rattata. Or they can just target Guts Rattata, like Prime.
I'll think about it, Ex allowed, but don't push it, he warned. Just get back to the other two training methods.
You got it, his brain said in tones of cautious optimism.
"The 2nd training method," his brain said out loud, "is to fight same-strength opponents. When I begin encountering other Trainers, I'll win as many battles as I can Flawlessly, but otherwise I'll just focus on finding and fighting as many equal opponents as possible."
In the games, his brain once again added privately, Trainer battles were always better for grinding Experience than Wild ones, except in Sun and Moon (Gen 7) where Trainer battles didn't reward x1.5 Experience. But the Trainer/Wild multiplier 'a' DOES seem to be active here, so we don't have to worry about that.
"This is quality and/or quantity, depending on the situation. I'll probably be able to start using this on future Routes."
No Trainers on Route 1 besides us, unfortunately.
Unless there are, Ex pointed out.
There was a slight pause.
There WAS a Youngster in the Kanto Route 1 of Let's Go, his brain realized.
Ex projected a polite shake of the head. Not just that. Realism, remember? Do I need to point that out EVERY time? There might be other Trainers here, especially other newbies like us.
Or even Ash, his brain realized. If he started the same day as Gary like he did in the Anime, i.e. the same day we did, we might encounter him here.
Ex paused. He hadn't thought of that.
Maybe we should keep an eye out for Ho-oh in the sky, Ex thought. For good luck.
His brain scoffed. We don't need luck.
"The final speed-leveling strategy," said his lips, "involves having my pokémon Faint the highest level opponents they can handle."
If we want to be REALLY exploity, Ex grinned, it IS possible to win battles against strong opponents using level 1 pokémon, even without cooperative enemies or Blissey Bases.
General audience! SHUSH!
"This is pure quality; it'll be a massive Experience boost every time it happens, but it won't happen often and it will take preparation and skill to execute properly."
And a trip to the Pokémart, his brain added privately. And money.
Then, in tones of finality, his brain spoke one last sentence into the microphone – or what it thought was the microphone, at any rate. "This concludes my strategic analysis on how to apply the knowledge of Flawless Victories and diminishing Experience returns as a Trainer."
Done, thought his brain, hitting the button that would end the recording, not the one that would pause it.
Finally, Ex thought. Now...
The first order of business was naming the lecture. After a bit of thought, Ex gave it the title 'Exploring Experience'.
Then, on second thought, he split the transcript of the recording into two documents. The recording itself could not be edited and would have to be sent as a single attachment, but the surprisingly well-transcribed lecture could be manipulated as easily as any other document. For the first half of the transcript, which only covered the Exp. systems, Ex kept the original name 'Exploring Experience'. He named the second half 'Experience Efficiency'.
Then, on third thought, he split the new 'Exploring Experience' document into yet another two documents: 'Exploring Experience: Flawless Victories' and 'Exploring Experience: Diminishing Returns'. Finally, he decided 'Experience Efficiency' wasn't descriptive enough, so he made one last adjustment.
In the end, he had three separate lectures.
Exploring Experience: Flawless Victories
Exploring Experience: Diminishing Returns
Experience Efficiency: Three Min/Max Strategies
Ex reviewed his work for a few minutes, making sure there weren't any mistakes. Eventually, his eyes settled on the second document.
Addressing his brain, he asked, When do you think you'll be able to get enough evidence to explain the full Gen V algorithm?
His brain shook its simulated head. Not for a while.
We need to keep SOME things in reserve, Ex decided, so take your time. So long as WE know the algorithm, that should be enough for now.
We might be working under an entirely alternate algorithm altogether, his brain cautioned. It's PROBABLY Gen V, but we'd need a LOT more battles under our belt before I can confirm it one way or the other with any amount of confidence.
Why?
Like you keep saying, 'realism'. It might get in the way of certain parts of the algorithm, like Shared Experience. So far, I'm only going off of battles with Rattata. We should diversify as soon as we can. And we should also continue fighting these low level Rattata at higher levels, just so I can confirm that the algorithm keeps matching up.
Ah. Okay.
Glad you see it my way, his brain said with a grin. Let's send this all to Professor Oak and get to grinding!
Don't forget lunch, Ex thought as he composed a quick email. And Amber.
Ugh, his brain complained as he hit the 'send' button. Friendship isn't optimal.
* The term min/maxing originally came from Dungeons and Dragons.
8 – Implementing Ideals
He decided, in the end, to train everyone, not just Prime. More battles meant more data for Professor Oak, and hopefully more money. Also, it was less effort to train everyone together when they were using the same tactics. He knew this would change once he could take advantage of their Natures, but that was a ways off. At this point their Stats were mostly the same.
"Human, human man! (Okay, listen up!) Hume human human human man hume human, (I'm going to be commanding each of you,) hugh human, (directly,) human human human (for your next few battles). Hume human man hugh human human. (Pay attention when it's not your turn.) Human hume human human man human, (When you start fighting on your own again,) human human hume hume man human man human (I want you to use the same tactics I show you)."
Ex then proceeded to use each Meowth in direct battles, cycling through to a new team member for each new encounter while making sure the rest of his party watched carefully. After every battle, Ex explained to his Meowth, as best he could and with Amber's help, why he ordered the Moves he did and how they should battle when he wasn't there to direct them. His instructions could be boiled down to:
1. 'Spam Scratch.'
2. 'Don't use Growl.'
3. 'Use Hidden Power if your opponent uses Growl on you.'
4. 'If you take damage, use your Oran Berry just before you Faint your opponent, not after the battle or right away.'
Thankfully, having his pokémon pay attention to every battle, even ones that weren't their own, cut down on the number of times he had to repeat the same points. It took three to four battles each – seventeen total – for his Meowth to understand the new strategies well enough for Ex to allow them to fight independent of his orders. After two more battles (each) of Ex silently watching (usually in approval) as they fought, he finally sent them out on their own again.
His brain took control of his lips just before they left, telling them to keep an eye out for any golden Pidgey or light green Rattata.
Amber had been confused at that part, and Ex had told her not to worry about it.
His brain wanted to know if Shiny Hunting and Experience farming could actually be done at the same time. If not, he would focus on Experience.
For the rest of that morning, Ex kept an eye on the Experience gains of his Meowth, watching a much higher number of Flawless Victories rack up in the 'Battle Statistics' section of his Pokédex.
His brain added every new battle to a mental list as they came in so it wouldn't have to do so after the fact.
Keeping a running total was much easier than adding a whole bunch of numbers together at once, and the same was true with data points.
9 – Rewarding Results
As Ex, Amber, and their teams ate an unusually large lunch, Ex's Pokédex chimed.
The new Trainer took out the device and began reading even as he slurped his stew.
Good Afternoon Ex,
Congratulations on your second original discovery!
Ex's slurping slowed as he comprehended that line. Second original discovery?
I am simply astounded by the work you have done in such a short amount of time. I have already confirmed your conclusion on my end, using multiple data sets. The Flawless Victory condition does indeed multiply Experience gain by 2.5, as you claimed. It does not always round down, but since that was the only evidence you had available at the time, I cannot quite fault you for that. Just remember not to make such leaps of logic in the future when you are using such a small data set.
Wow. Ex hadn't expected that number to not be known already. He did the lecture more-or-less for practice.
You said there are gaps in your knowledge about certain details, so it may be hard to believe that you are the first Pokémon Professional to investigate Flawless Victories so thoroughly, but few Pokémon Trainers show your enthusiasm for the scientific pursuit of pokémon and few Pokémon Professors have much interest in leveling pokémon through battles. In retrospect, it is not surprising that this information was never pursued.
Ex's slurping stopped entirely.
His brain, now in exploit mode, was already wondering if there were other low-hanging research fruits out there and was already imagining how much they could earn by discovering them. It desperately wanted to know how much this discovery had earned.
Although to be fair to Trainers, he read on, Flawless Victories are usually either too rare, in circumstances where pokémon are evenly matched – or too common when the opposite is true – to have an even spread that would allow the calculation to be performed. Not to mention they would have to be battling many opponents of the same species and level that otherwise yield consistent Experience, like you did, instead of the diverse range of opponents that Trainers will typically encounter when they wish to level their teams.
For Professors... I suppose there is no excuse. I have just spent the last two hours combing through the recent battle histories of Trainers all across Kanto, and I have found fifteen separate instances where all the necessary information was on a single page, waiting to be put to use – and that is only counting battles in this past business week in Kanto. This discovery could have been made decades ago, in theory, and I am ashamed to say that it was not.
Regardless, congratulations once again! I have already submitted this discovery to the International Coalition of Pokémon Professors, as well as appropriate compensation to your account. You have given me and my assistants a rather busy morning!
His brain made a non-verbal complaint, because the Professor hadn't specified how much compensation, but Ex ignored it. He could just check his account later.
Furthermore, he read, I do not believe I have ever encountered your proposed 'min/max' strategies in the past. At least, not described in such explicit and strange terminology. Generally speaking, most Trainers follow strategies two and three, though the way you phrased them leads me to believe you have something unusual in mind. Your recent abundance of Flawless Victories speaks for itself regarding the first.
It was at this point that Ex remembered Professor Oak had access to his Pokédex's information. He'd have to be careful about that in the future, in case he ever wanted to record something privately.
But he could deal with that when he knew more about the Pokédex.
His eyes returned to the screen.
On that note, could you submit the instructions you used to 'maximize the amount of Flawless Victories', as you put it? I'd be very interested to know what they were.
Ex could do that. Maybe after he was done eating. Or later tonight.
I would also like to note that 'diminishing Experience returns' have been known for some time, though we Pokéscientists prefer to say that Experience earnings 'scale' to the level of the victor, and thus the Experience system as a whole is a 'scaled' system. I am not an economist, but I do not believe 'diminishing marginal returns' is an exact descriptor in this case, otherwise we would use that phrase more often.
Finally, your guess about Pokéball/Pokémon interfacing was close, but the Darkrai is in the details. I enjoyed the fresh perspective and analogy, but I must admit that it was a bit TOO fresh. You may wish to properly familiarize yourself with the well-established theories and literature on the subject before making any bold claims. I am linking the titles of a few books that Silph Co. and I have published for you to read when you get the chance, to get a better idea of the precise inner-workings of pokémon Stats, levels, and biology. They can be purchased online or physically at Silph Co. Headquarters. They are not expensive and should now be well within your budget.
This line caught Ex's attention.
Typical Professor, he thought, peddling his publications.
Maybe, his brain allowed. Or maybe he's just being helpful. He WOULD be the one to turn to in this situation.
I guess. We can check it out in Saffron, Ex decided. If we're going to buy them, I'd rather have a physical copy, or a Pokédex with a bigger screen.
His eyes refocused on the email, which didn't have many lines left.
Overall, I only have one bit of advice so far: for future reference, please give observations and evidence BEFORE the conclusions you derive from them. And if you are forming and testing a hypothesis, please write it down and describe it thoroughly BEFORE gathering the evidence that might confirm or invalidate it.
That was a decent way of delivering constructive criticism to a ten-year-old. If the Professor was trying to encourage him, he was doing a good job of it.
Other than that, outstanding job! Keep up the excellent work and keep me informed.
Professor Oak was doing a really good job of it, actually. He was certainly nothing like the stoned Professor Tree, who was only in it for the easy grant money. Or Professor Kleiner, who admittedly 'discovered the cure for Garrymon cancer', but who had... other problems. Or Professor Gottem, who was much, much worse.*
Ex moved on to the post-scriptum.
P.S. I will no longer be informing you directly of your earning amounts for each discovery. You can find them in the 'notes' section under the 'deposits' made into your Trainer's account.
Ex's brain demanded that he tab out of the email to find this feature.
In the 'Trainer' tab, under 'Account', there was a mail symbol with a little red circle containing the number twelve in the top right corner – that is, the mail symbol was in the top right corner of the page, and the little, red, encircled twelve was in the top right corner of the mail symbol.
His brain directed his finger to click on the mail icon.
Account of Pokémon Trainer Ex: Deposits – Notes
1. ₽500 – Battle Strategy: Tips for Beginners Hoping to Win Their First Battle (Tested)
2. ₽1,500 – Battle Strategy: Starter Pokémon Advantages and Disadvantages (Verified)
2.1. ₽100 – Battle Strategy: Further Bulbasaur Advantages, i.e. Self-Healing (Verified)
3. ₽500 – Suggestion: Use of Item Storage During Orientation (Implemented)
4. ₽5,000 – New Technique: Pokémon Communication (Verified, Needs Name, Needs Peer Review)
5. ₽1,000 – New Theory: Deterministic Nature of Hidden Power (Unverified)
6. ₽250 – Old Theory: Pokéball/Pokémon Interfacing (Interesting, but Somewhat Inaccurate)
7. ₽40,000 – New Theory: Flawless Victory Multiplies Exp Gain by 2.5 (Verified)
7.1. ₽500 – Data Set: 'Experience Gain Spreadsheet 1' (Neatly Organized Information)
8. ₽500 – Old Theory: Exp Gain Suffers from 'Diminishing Returns' (Verified; Official term: Scaled Experience)
9. ₽1,500 – New Theories: Three 'Min/Max' Training Strategies for Quick Leveling (Unverified, Untested)
9.1. ₽1,500 – Training Strategy: First 'Min/Max' Strategy of Quantity Over Quality (Tested, but Unspecified)
When Ex tabbed out again, the number twelve and the red circle had disappeared from the mail icon.
He went back to the email, which had one last post scriptum, a post-post scriptum:
P.P.S. Another fellow researcher has already confirmed your communication technique, so things are looking promising on that front as well. I shall inform you when that theory is sufficiently peer reviewed to submit the rest of your payment. (The Flawless multiplier needed no waiting period due to its mathematical nature.) Expect updates within the next few days.
Sincerely,
Prof. Samuel Oak
As Ex closed the email, he realized he hadn't checked how much money was in his virtual wallet after all those deposits, so he tabbed back to his 'Account'.
Current Balance:
₽45,475
He gave a low whistle at the number.
Viridian City Pokémart, here I come.
* Professor Tree is the Pokémon Professor from Pokémon Rusty. Professor Kleiner is the Garrymon Professor from a Gary's Mod parody of Pokémon on YouTube (which is pretty good, especially the intro song, if you're familiar with Gary's Mod). And Professor Gottem... the less said about him and his research, the better. If you get the reference, good for you.
The resolution I've come to after all the feedback from this chapter is that I will no longer explain battle-related mechanics without an actual battle going on, or without some other interesting conflict. Hopefully this will prevent boring sequences in the future. The next chapters were already made before this resolution, so I spiced them up with a battle (which still doesn't fully solve the problem), but after that we should be good.