Hi. Thank you very much for contacting us about your issue. Your have our apologies for the delay of response.
First off, kind thank you to @Doah , @Torarudean and @Lugario for listing many useful ways to level given the current situation.
The issues you pointed out are justifiable and understandable. To level up during your early beginnings can sometimes be hard and long. When you just start without any prior experience, it can understandably seem a bit overwhelming. You don't have other strong levelled Pokémon to help you and must go with your Starter and other Pokémon you catch along in your adventure. Thankfully, as other players mentioned, there are different strategies that were designed and thought out to help players during their adventures, ease their training and not leave them resourceless (all the Routes and Maps mentioned by the other players were good examples). With that information, I understand maybe sometimes it can be hard given the Typing of the Pokémon you want to level and the Typing of the Wild Pokémons in the Route, but despite a bit of XP loss you can always switch out.
Buying Coins to buy Membership or EXP Potions is optional, and an option only. There are many perfectly adequate ways to keep on leveling without the use of any donation. One method some players may forget is the Event Island (Christmas, Easter, Valentine, Summer or Halloween, currently Valentine at the time of this post), accessible from any Port City (Vermillion, Olivine, Lilycove or Canalave). In Kanto, it will be accessible as soon as you have Cut, just below the Vermillion City Gym. There are decently-levelled Pokémon in the first Maps of the Event Islands that can make for some good early training. Our community also offers many useful guides written by players and Staff alike in the Game Guide section of our Forum ( https://pokemonrevolution.net/forum/forum/13-game-guide/ ) who wanted to help other players, whether it's in the story progression, monetary aspect, Quest guides, PvP, etc. In your case, I will link you a very know and useful one about levelling: https://pokemonrevolution.net/forum/topic/173878-leveling-zones-guide-for-newbies/
Just to note, Ditto is available to catch before reaching Cinnabar Island. You can try and catch one in Route 8 (left of Lavender City) after defeating Lt. Surge. Once you get one, Old Biker Steven (the NPC for the Bike Voucher) will trade you your Ditto and 40,000 Pokédollars for a Bike Voucher.
I am glad to see that you were able to beat Surge. I don't know where you currently are in the Story, but you will reach Fuschia City before long and you might pass through Route 13. There, you will find the Trainer Tower located top-left when you reach the little wooden passageway. The Trainer Towers are very nice spots to level when you are prepared and despite having a little fee to enter, the XP you'll gain overall will surely make it worth it. You can find one in every region: https://wiki.pokemonrevolution.net/index.php?title=Trainer_Towers
You have the right to have your own opinions about how the Staff handles the game, but we ask players to remain respectful when vocalizing them publicly. We are always here to help, but we ask that it is asked and vocalized in a polite, respectful manner that does not denigrate nor the players, Developpers or the Staff team.
Remember that there is always a helpful community around you that I'm confident will always do it's best to help you as best as they can. You can always ask here in the Forum or the Chat in-game.
We hope the information provided will be helpful to you. My thanks again to the players who helped answer, much appreciated.
Please feel free to contact us again if you have any further queries and I wish you good luck in your adventures!
- Kubrick