A tale of Gyarados and a bunch of rats that don't care about exp, basically
Time to clear (Kanto): approx 7 hours
Time to clear (Johto): approx 5 hours + half an hour farming money in Kanto to prepare
Time to clear (Hoenn): approx 8 hours
Kanto:
Final team:
Pewter:
Cerulean:
Vermillion:
Celadon:
Fuchsia:
Saffron:
Cinnabar:
Viridian:
Indigo1:
Johto:
Violet:
Azalea:
Goldenrod:
Ecruteak:
Cianwood:
Olivine:
Mahogany:
Blackthorn:
Indigo2:
Hoenn:
Rustboro:
Dewford:
Mauville:
Lavaridge:
Petalburg:
Fortree:
Mossdeep:
Sootopolis:
Ever Grande:
Bugs:
There is a bug where switching after a KO sometimes sends in a Pokemon that has previously fainted rather than the correct Pokemon.
There was one instance where levelling up in a trainer battle did not yield an evolution prompt after the battle.
Multiple movement tiles now calculate at the same time and result in the player moving diagonally; the vectors seem to be summed.
Overall Thoughts:
There is nowhere near enough EXP to not play like a total rat, but Pokemon is an easy game where you can abuse a number of multipliers and interesting game mechanics to win for free. Early to mid game felt fine, but lategame EXP is about a fifth of what it should be and became very noticeable after Saffron. The traditional grinding spot in Victory Road yields approximately 1000-2000 EXP per battle, which is frankly a joke. This level of difficulty is fun for me because it allows me to justify abusing the AI with Sturdy + Rocks + Thunder Wave + Flash + Intimidate + Eerie Impulse into +6 into win, but is not realistic for casual play whatsoever. People cannot be expected to relog four times against Giovanni's Mewtwo for a full paralysis turn to Curse with a level 20 Gastly and trivialize the fight.
The EXP share is great QOL and let me level Electrode from approximately 20 to the 40-45 I needed while clearing Victory Road without extra pain. The EXP bar also seems to be a little quicker, which is nice. I do appreciate the ability to evolve in general as looking forward to these power-spikes is part of the charm of the genre. Overall, just fix mid-late game EXP and it would be a lot better.
Some routes in Johto have level 15 wild spawns and level 40+ trainers, further exacerbating the situation and effectively creating a limited EXP pool in the region. The clear would not have been possible (without a painful grind) without bringing the single copy of the Swords Dance TM available in Kanto and picking Totodile to abuse Surf + Ice Beam + Dig earlygame and Swords Dance + Agility + Ice Fang + Earthquake lategame to bypass the deficiency in raw stats and levels. Also, Feraligatr sucks in comparison to Gyarados, and switching out and setting up approximately four times for a Smokescreen miss from a certain Skuntank was not very fun.
There is significantly more EXP available in Hoenn, though it is not enough, and does not redeem the region in any way whatsoever. I was evidently happy to consign the memories of the atrocious Jackson-Magma-Aqua storyline to an abyss where I'd never have to contemplate it again, but... the entire region's story should be looked at for a rework. The sheer amount of backtracking and unnecessarily repetitive combat against grunts that pose no real threat while simultaneously draining resources (on this rework, you are perennially underlevelled if you care about your sanity) is an unreasonable chore. Mt. Pyre in particular no longer fits with the apparent design philosophy of the current team - after all, the trainers there can still be skipped using the relog exploit, indicating they weren't touched in recent reworks - as a device where previous Scripters evidently hoped to bore players to uninstall. Similarly, the monotony of the three raids on the Weather Institute, Magma Hideout, Aqua Hideout, and Seafloor Cavern fulfill no real gameplay purpose, and many areas simply have too many trainers for no reason. The difficulty curve in general is also completely out of sorts - Deoxys is capable of wiping a team; Brawly, Wattson, Norman, and Winona are significantly threatening... while the final two gyms fall over to a Masquerain 20 levels behind curve and the Elite Four is an utter joke. Regarding the subject at hand, it's likely possible to raise 3 Pokemon with all the trainer battles available in the region, but it would be quite a painful experience. The EXP Share was sufficient for keeping Electrode and Masquerain serving their respective purposes to allow for Quiver Dance + Baton Pass to make up for Swampert's lack of raw stats.