The formula for how much experience a Pokemon gives when it's defeated is long and complicated - we won't make you suffer through it here! Thankfully, there's one simple stat that can give us an impression of which Pokemon give the most experience when defeated, generally speaking.
Each Pokemon species has a "base experience yield" number attached to it. They have fluctuated a little over the series' life, but have remained consistent since generation five (which is the number we'll be detailing here). That base number is added to or subtracted from based on other factors, such as whether the Pokemon is wild, whether the winner has a Lucky Egg, the levels of the defeated Pokemon and the winning Pokemon, etc. Here, we'll detail the most rewarding Pokemon to fight, ranked by their base experience yield!
7 Audino
- Base Experience Yield: 390
Audino is a sweet Pokemon with incredible hearing (as alluded to by the names). Its ears give it powers that seem supernatural, like assessing a Pokemon's health and feelings, or determining when an egg will hatch, just by listening. In reality, it's basically just listening to the heartbeat.
This little Normal-Type Pokemon holds its own against some of the strongest Mega Pokemon even in its base form - at least when it comes to base experience yield!
6 Mega Rayquaza
- Base Experience Yield: 390
Plenty of us still remember when Rayquaza was shiny and new, but it's getting to be an old Legendary. It was introduced in the third generation, while Pokemon: Scarlet and Violet marked the ninth generation. It was the "trio master" (a fan term to refer to Pokemon that lead a Legendary trio, or block your way to reaching the trio) of its time.
Rayquaza has a base experience yield of 306, which is nothing to sneeze at, but in its Mega form that is increased all the way to 390! Unfortunately, since it's a Legendary Pokemon, you can't exactly farm it.
5 Mega Mewtwo X/Y
- Base Experience Yield: 390
Mewtwo has a strange hold over Pokemon fans that can't be logically explained. Honestly, Mewtwo is just really cool. In case you don't know, it was created artificially by scientists. They were working on DNA experiments based on Mew, a Pokemon said to have the DNA of all other Pokemon, and trying to create the ultimate warrior.
Both forms of Mega Mewtwo provide the same high base experience yield: 390! Mega Mewtwo X has a better Attack stat, while Mega Mewtwo Y has a better Special Attack stat. Again, this isn't really a Pokemon you can grind repeatedly, but it's rewarding if you do get a chance to beat it.
4 Chansey
- Base Experience Yield: 395
Chansey is the egg Pokemon, dubbed this because of the prominent egg in keeps in its pouch. You might assume that they're caring for this egg until it hatches, but Chansey actually lay multiple eggs each day. They're said to be nutritious, but it's not clear if Chansey eat the eggs; it is known that they will give their eggs to others to eat. Supposedly, the eggs are more delicious if the Chansey is raised lovingly by a trainer.
Chansey is another unassuming Pokemon who appears at the very top of the base experience yield list! It's been around all the way since the first Pokemon generation, and helping people level up their party ever since.
3 Mega Audino
- Base Experience Yield: 425
Audino already appeared on this list, so it probably isn't a surprise that its Mega form does as well. When powered up in this way, its base experience yield grows all the way to 425!
Mega Audino is a dual Normal-Fairy Type. According to details from the time that Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire released, this Mega form has extra abilities, including the ability to reduce another Pokemon's hostility or outright put the Pokemon to sleep.
2 Eternamax Eternatus
- Base Experience Yield: 563
The Eternamax Eternatus (trying saying that five times fast!) form has one of the highest base experience yields of any Pokemon: 563! Its regular form gives 345, which isn't half bad, but any number that goes over 500 has to be admired.
Eternatus was introduced as an antagonistic Legendary Pokemon in generation eight (Pokemon: Sword and Shield). No big surprise, it's the tallest Pokemon known to exist! This enormous creature absorbs energy and stores it in a pink core behind its ribs. Eternatus is the reason that Pokemon in Galar can Dynamax and Gigantamax, because the energy has been leaking over thousands of years. Back then, it was defeated and put to sleep by Zacian and Zamazenta.
1 Blissey
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- Base Experience Yield: 608
Did you expect that the award for highest base experience yield would go to Blissey? It's not a Mega Pokemon or any other special form, it's just happy being itself!
If you love pouring over numbers and finding correlations, you might have predicted this. That's because high base experience yields tend to correlate to Pokemon species that tend to have high HP. Time to start hunting Blissey! At least it's a Pokemon that you can find and fight repeatedly, as opposed to the Megas and Legendaries elsewhere on this list.