Whats with the steep level jump around gym 8?
Im not sure if this is a common experience but my entire playthrough has absolutely dragged to a screeching halt right around gym 8 and beyond.
I was playing absolutely fine and progressing linearly for the entire game right up until I exited the ice cave. I dont remember my average level then but Id assume high 20s low 30s.
Well I go to tackle the dragon gym and I get stomped. I have to grind for a good few hours to level up my team until I get to the leader and get promptly stomped again. Another hour or two of grinding and I beat him!
Then the Kimono girls serve me another smack in the teeth and its off to the safari zone waterfall area to grind again for another hour until I can go back and beat them, only to get stomped again and repeat until I win.
Ive just caught Ho-oh (who is now my highest level lol) and Im moving towards the Elite 4 but it really feels like my game progressed normally for ~20 odd hours and then I suddenly needed to grind like mad for ~10 hours just to keep up with what the game was throwing at me.
Is this a normal experience? It was bizzare and kind of killed my motivation. Maybe my Larvitar is being a little exp hog but I still feel suddenly underleveled at the very end of the game. My average level was like 35 going up against ho-oh.