they are 2D renders of the 3D models. and infact they are rendered in 3D, just not in a way players can see.
if someone asks a stupid question, they get a stupid response. its pretty simple.
Like i said, dont like the exp system, blame nintendo because we use the exact same formula here. We put in exp boost potion to give users the chance (for a small fee) to boost their gain and level up a little faster.
i have seen many people compete at the top level and not spend a penny, we dont charge for people to play the game, we simply add extras to make things a little easier for people who want to support the project and ensure that we pay our server bills.
Dont like the grind? dont play a F2P MMO.
Edit:
Also, i must appologise. I didn't realise it was you who spent 17 months and 1000's of hours of your free time painstakingly recreating images from DS pokemon games, and creating tiles that dont exist anywhere else on the internet.