- Primary Subject: Pokémon Experience Share Mechanic (Exp. Share)
- Key Update: The transition from an optional held item to a permanent, team-wide feature has drawn intense criticism for eliminating tactical party management and trivializing battle difficulty.
- Status: Confirmed (Mainline mechanic since Generation 6, mandatory since Generation 8)
- Last Verified: January 20, 2026
- Quick Answer: The mandatory Exp. Share automatically distributes experience points to benched party members, reducing game difficulty by eliminating the classic strategic need to swap Pokémon mid-battle.
Pokemon has come a long way since the first generation of games in terms of accessibility, as the series has done everything possible to ensure players have a much easier time today. Many things have been streamlined to make the experience more comfortable for both veteran and modern players, and admittedly, the changes have certainly done their job.
One of the best examples of such is how leveling up is handled. In the early days of classic Pokemon games, only participants of the battle gained experience points, which meant that to level up, you constantly had to switch party members during fights if you wanted them to get stronger.
With the more recent entries, every Pokemon in your team gets a percentage of experience even if they didn't take part in combat, making it so much easier for players to train who they need to without the hassle of bringing them in or out of fights. Many believe this to be a good change from the games of the past, but as someone who has played nearly all of them, I would say that it's actually a detriment to the overall experience.
What I mean is that Nintendo and Game Freak need to reconsider how experience works and return to the time when it wasn't automatically shared. Now, why would people want that? Given that going back would take away the convenience and make future games much harder. Well, that's exactly why I believe experience needs to revert to the way things were.
When playing games like Sword and Shield, Scarlet and Violet, or even Legends: Z-A, there's rarely ever a time when an opponent makes you feel like you had to work hard for your victory. This is because all the members of your party have the strength to take on whatever's thrown at you due to the shared experience, even those who haven't done anything and are just kept in reserve.
And because of how easy it is for you to plow through opponents, you can simply go through each one without having to worry too much about things like who should be in the lead in your party, who needs to sit back, etc. So, while the shared experience is more convenient, it removes a good chunk of the challenge that's supposed to come from games where you're expected to fight constantly.
In the early generation of entries in the series, since you had to switch members in and out constantly, it offered an additional layer of engagement and strategy. You had to consider which member of your team should get the experience that would make future fights easier, and that could greatly affect how you take on the many trainers in the world.
Because let's say that you're facing someone's Pokemon that your current leading party member can easily take down, but the experience gained would be much better if given to one of your other teammates. So, you decide to lower the enemy's health and switch out to whoever it is you want to level up. This comes with a risk, as it could result in the party member you switched to receiving massive damage or even being knocked out by the opposing Pokemon, and that means wasted time and effort.
That alone makes a huge difference in how players perceive fights, as instead of something they can simply wade through with brute force, they're an essential means of becoming more powerful that requires proper strategizing. This makes every trainer, even the seemingly simple ones, an obstacle, especially if you're planning on building a well-rounded team that all need to fight to cover for each other's weaknesses.
Another reason why I think Pokemon games should return to not sharing experience points is that it makes people look forward to every trainer they encounter. In modern games, unless they're gym leaders or members of the Elite Four, most people likely think of enemy NPCs as hindrances and would skip them if possible, given that it can be easy to level up without them.
But back in the day, every player looked forward to any trainer they saw. This is because they're guaranteed to provide more experience points than the average wild Pokemon, and that means they're essential resources for making your team stronger. So naturally, everyone would want to fight as many as possible, while still dealing with the threats that they pose. This is beneficial for both the game and the players, as it provides an incentive to explore the world while also appreciating the time and effort the devs put into creating the experience being offered.
While it's unlikely that we'll return to a time when experience wasn't shared, there's at least hope that a future game will give us the option to switch it off, similar to how Pokemon X and Y and Sun and Moon handled it. Making it non-mandatory can greatly enhance the overall journey, but we'll just have to see if it happens.
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