Heres what I do, I like to have my starter about 5-10 lvls higher than the rest of my team, that way, my starter isnt my only good pokemon, and the game is still a fun challenge, and I still beat the game fast. The Thing Is, I Hate Training, Its Pretty Boring, But My Sister Loves Training. So I Pay her, 5 cents, every time she gets one of my pokemon up a lvl(5 cents, do I rip her off!:).