The Fastest Way to Level Up in Pokémon Go

If you’re like a lot of Pokémon Go players, you’ve probably noticed that your local gyms are already occupied by super high-level Pokémon with combat point ratings of 1000 or more and wondered how they got there. Well, with a little effort you too can join the ranks of the elite Pokemon trainers.

Now, let’s get this straight -- on top of having a lot of free time, many of the people who are climbing levels super fast have sunk a bit of cash into the game. That’s because they are using Lucky Eggs, which double the XP you earn from playing the game for 30 minutes. While you can obtain a couple Lucky Eggs by reaching levels 9 and 14, they can also be bought from Pokémon Go’s in-game shop for 80 coins a piece, or in packs of 8 for 500 coins or 25 for 1250 coins. Coins are priced at about a cent per coin, although the cost goes down if you buy in bulk.

MORE: Pokémon Go Guide: 15 Tips to Be the Very Best

By chaining Lucky Eggs back to back, players can forever earn double XP. However, with a bit of preparation and planning, you can use the small number of Lucky Eggs you get for free to help even out the playing field. Here’s how.

How to Easily Rack Up Pokémon Go XP

Instead of using candies to evolve your Pokémon as soon as you get enough, save them. That’s because every time you evolve a Pokemon, you get 500 XP, or 1000 XP if you’ve never owned that Pokémon before. So, if you save up a big stack of candies, you can evolve multiple Pokémon back to back for a big XP gain. Then, if you activate a Lucky Egg before doing all those evolutions, you’ll have a real mountain of XP that can having you jumping multiple levels in less than 30 minutes. This results in a much better utilization of your Lucky Eggs than simply turning one one and using your time to hunt for rare Pokemon.

If you want to take this even further, you can time it so that your eggs hatch while your Lucky Egg is going, which will double the XP you get from 200 to 400. And if you run out of Pokemon to evolve in 30 minutes, run outside and capture some Pokemon instead.

By employing this method, you should have an easier time keeping up in levels versus other trainers. Since your level is a huge factor in determining how many combat points (CP) your Pokémon will have, this trick is essential for people who want to take over nearby gyms.

Sam is a Senior Writer at Engadget and previously worked at Gizmodo as a Senior Reporter. Before that, he worked at Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag as a Staff Writer and Senior Product Review Analyst, overseeing benchmarks and testing for countless product reviews. He was also an archery instructor and a penguin trainer too (really).