Fastest Ways to Earn XP in Pokemon GO

If you’re trying to level up in Pokemon GO, you’re going to need XP and lots of it. However, higher levels also mean you need even more in-game XP to reap those level-up rewards. So, how do you earn XP quickly in Pokemon GO?

How XP Works in Pokemon GO

In most Pokemon games, you’re trying to earn experience points for your Pokemon to level up. In Pokemon GO, however, it’s you who needs experience to increase your trainer level.

Rather than leveling up with XP, you power up Pokemon in Pokemon GO using a combination of Pokemon candy and Stardust. As a trainer, you’ll want those experience points so you can unlock in-game features such as the ability to participate in Raids, battle Team GO Rocket, earn Candy XL for Mega Evolutions, and even nominate new PokeStops.

To view your current trainer level and see how much XP you need to level up, click on the icon of your avatar’s face in the bottom left corner. This will bring up your trainer info, including your current level and XP.

Fastest Ways to Earn XP in Pokemon GO

If you want to nominate your favorite local spot as a Poke Stop (level 38) or reach the highest possible level in the game (level 50), you’ll need to earn a substantial amount of XP. Here are my favorite ways to quickly earn XP in Pokemon GO:

Use Lucky Eggs

Lucky eggs will double the XP you earn for half an hour, so they’re a huge help in earning XP more quickly. You can occasionally get Lucky Eggs as rewards for research and during special events, or you can snag one from the in-game shop for 80 PokeCoins or in a bundle of eight for 500 PokeCoins.

Participate in Events

There are several special events every month in Pokemon GO, and many offer a boost to XP earned during the event. So, hopping in to play for even a little while when an event is going on can really maximize the XP you earn through activities like catching Pokemon, completing research, and battling.

Related: Pokemon GO Complete Eevee Evolution Guide: How to Get All Eeveelutions

Catch Pokemon Every Day

Catching Pokemon earns you easy XP, especially if you maintain a streak for seven days, which gets you a big bonus of 6000 XP at the end of the week. You also get a boosted amount of XP for your first catch every day and for any Excellent throws, so you can easily get some solid points from throwing those Poke Balls.

Hatch Eggs

Hatching eggs is an easy way to earn XP while doing other things, and the greater the hatch distance, the more XP you’ll earn. If you use a Lucky Egg, multiple incubators, and some careful timing, this can be a real XP gold mine.

Even better, if you’re comfortable enabling Adventure Sync, you can hatch eggs while you go about your daily life as long as you have your phone on you.

Evolve Your Pokemon

One particular favorite way to level up fast among Pokemon GO players is to pop open a Lucky Egg and then evolve a ton of Pokemon. You earn XP each time you evolve a Pokemon, so if you stock up on candies and go on an evolving spree with a Lucky Egg active, this can really add up. I know I’m guilty of not bothering to evolve Pokemon if I already have them in my PokeDex, but we shouldn’t sleep on this great way to farm XP, even if we don’t need another Oinkologne.

Complete Special Research

Speaking of research, it pays to pay attention to your current Special Research tasks to see if you can check any of them off. These tasks are often things you’d be doing in the game anyway, like catching a certain Pokemon or battling Team GO Rocket. While not every research task offers XP, usually, at least one or two of the tasks for each tier offer a sizeable amount of XP, from 1000 to 1500 for completing research.

And those are the fastest ways to earn XP in Pokemon GO.

Pokémon GO is available on iOS and Android.