Method 1 - Degenerator Traps
This is the quickest method short of cheating. And as boring as the Level Up/Down trick is, you want it done swiftly.
Preparation: Find a map with a Degenerator Trap. My favorite is the one in the corner of the dry river bed at Zeklaus Desert.
Known Degenerator Trap Locations:
Deep Dungeon - T E R M I N A T E
Dolbodor Swamp
Fovoham Plains
Zeklaus Desert
Now, get the character(s) you want to level down to have the following skills - Math Skill (and Petrify, either Foxbird or Frog and Confusion Song (see below), Esuna), Speed Save, and Defense Up. And try to have a character with Battle Skill (Speed Break). You only need Math Skill and Battle Skill, but the others help. You'll need so many MP that Math Skill is necessary. Giving the Battle Skill character Two Swords and makes things go faster. You don't need to take characters who aren't supposed to level down - they'll probably get in the way.
So, if you were following my suggestions, you would probably have the following: (primary skill depends on the class you're leveling down as)
4 characters with
Secondary Skill: Math Skill (and learned either Foxbird or Frog and Confusion Song, as well as Petrify and Esuna)
Reaction Skill: Speed Save
Support Skill: Defense Up
Movement Skill: your choice
1 character with
Secondary Skill: Battle Skill (and learned Speed Break)
Reaction Skill: Speed Save
Support Skill: Two Swords
Movement Skill: your choice
When the battle starts, Petrify all the enemies except for 1. Have the Battle Skill character Speed Break the last enemy down to 1 SP. Then, Petrify all your charactersexcept for one of the characters you want to level down. Definitely Petrify the one with Battle Skill (or else you can't un-petrify anybody). Go down to one character even if there is more than one who is supposed to go to level 1.
If you decided to use Foxbird, use it on the enemy until they are chickened (below 10 brave). Now your character should be the only one really taking action. Cast Foxbird on the enemy if they un-Chicken. You'll occasionally level up when doing this, but it's worth it.
If you went with Frog/Confuse, cast both on the enemy. They won't do anything to you unless you hit them first (confuse shouldn't wear off). Stay far away from the enemy and they probably won't try to do anything in their confusion. The problem is, you have to make sure the enemy is far away from the degenerator before you do it, so they don't keep attacking, be it you or thin air (because that's all a confused frog can do unless they somehow know Frog). Otherwise, this trick takes slighly less time because the enemy can't do anything, and you don't need to keep casting spells on them. But if they are near the degenerator, go with the Foxbird idea.
Keep stepping on the degenerator trap. When you hit level 1 (make sure you have 0 exp), cast Esuna on the next character you want to go to level 1. Then petrify the character who just hit level 1 with the higher level character. You don't want to do it with the level 1 character because they will probably level up (they should have 99 exp from Esuna-ing the level 99 character). Repeat until done. The last character should be the one with Battle Skill.
At the end, when all the characters are level 1, the Battle Skiller should be able to kill the enemy in one try. (that's why I suggested Two Swords)
Method 1.1 - Teleporting
This trick works exactly the same as the method above, except you equip Teleport as your movement skill. When you've put your character on the degenerator, try teleporting away too far so it fails. When you fail and go back onto the trap, you'll reactivate the it. The problem is, it seems that it takes slightly longer to pull this off than to try Method 1.0, because you'll sometimes succeed at the teleport, and have to waste your time going all the way back. Also, even though it technically takes less turns, it takes longer in real life because you have to move the cursor so far.
Method 2 - Mindflares
This trick involves using a Mindflare's hidden skill, Level Blast, instead of a Degenerator You have to give the leveling down character Monster Skill, too. Otherwise, it's the same as Method 1. Just don't Petrify the Mindflare, and stand it next to the character for speedy leveling down. It is the least efficient method, but you can do it during story battles, if you want. (not much use then, eh?)
The Auto Level Up Trick
Preparation: You'll need one character with Math Skill and at least one with Battle Skill. How many depends on how many characters you want to level up. If there is one character who isn't supposed to level up, equip both on the same character (make them a Knight, not a Calculator!) Equip even the ones expected to level up with Battle Skill (if they know Power and Speeed Break), and preferably Gained Exp Up. Make sure 1 (you only need one) character has Math Skill with Petrify, Frog, and Berserk.
You would be well-advised to have a level 99 character use Math Skill. Definitely have a level 99 character somewhere in your group, even if they aren't in the battler. Level 1 characters, with their lower stats, can't stand too well against faster level 99 enemies, until you've done the level up/down trick a few times already. You might want to have protection from Paralyze on everyone. And Equip a Chantage on any female. Equipping Gained-Exp Up is a major help too.
So, your setup before battle should have: (primary skills depend on the job you're using, of course)
1 character (preferably level 99) with
Secondary Skill: Math Skill (learned Petrify, Frog, and Berserk)
Reaction Skill: your choice
Support Skill: Gained-Exp Up
Movement Skill: your choice (move-get exp doesn't work while frog/berserked)
1-4 characters with
Secondary Skill: Battle Skill (learned Power Break and Speed Break)
All other skills same as Math Skill character
When the battle starts, have the Math Skiller use Frog on all the enemies. Or, Paralyze all (Math Skill, probably CT4 or 5 Paralyze) so they won't kill all your weaker level 1 friends. After frogging them, move in everyone to Speed Break all the enemies to 1 point. Then Power Break both all allies (who want to level up) and enemies to 1 point. Cast frog on all your allies, except the Math Skiller.
The enemies should all now be frogged, have a speed of 1, and a power of 1. All the allies should have a power of 1 and be frogged, meaning they can only do 1 point of damage (except the Math Skiller, who isn't a frog). Cast Berserk on all the frogs in the fight. The only one left should be the Math Skiller. Cast Petrify on the Math Skiller so he/she won't do anything. Now your characters should all have an easy time eliminating the enemies. You don't have to do anything, so go take a nap, go to the store, whatever, just don't watch the game. It's boring. And it takes hours.
You'll also want to equip Secret Hunt on your characters if you keep doing the auto-level up trip, leave, and come back in 5 hours to find some stupid frog got a crystal. It gets a wee bit annoying to have that happen. Just don't fight humans. Another option is to get an Auto-Fire controller and set it to O.
On a side note, you won't see any difference in anything except HP/MP during the battle as you grow. The other three alterable traits, speed, attack, and magic attack, don't get their changes until after battle, in the formation screen. Also, Move and Jump cannot be altered.
Quick Level-Ups
This is a compilation of a few effective ways to level up just in case you want to avoid the auto-level up trick. There are a few reasons, for instance some rare people (like me) who don't like setting something to auto-anything if they can earn it themselves. Or, you could just be too impatient to wait for the auto-level up trick to work.
A first method is for leveling up as a Mime. The ultimate goal is to get it to mimic 4 actions and take an action itself every turn. You could try this: Have your four other characters know a preformance skill (Dance and Sing, preferably Dance for better Exp.) Equip these skills and make them do the quickest moves, like Wiznaibus and Life Song. The Mime should repeat each of these actions each time they are done. Also, have it attack a character each turn for a fifth action. This will also make Life Song have an effect (you don't get anything for using Life Song when nobody gets healed).
Or, you could try other skills, so long as the Mime is pulling 5 actions a turn. You might want to give all your allies Chantage (obviously they'd have to be female), and surround the Mime with them. Make every character on each turn attack in a direction which would make the Mime hit an ally. Eventually you will start getting 1-hit kills. The Reraise from Chantage will make each character come back each turn just in time to hit the last character who revived. Just try to do this in a clock-wise or counter-clockwise direction, so you don't end up hitting the Mime. You'll also have to disable the enemy. Try casting frog on them.
And for non-mimes, try equipping Steal as a secondary skill if you know Steal Exp. Use Steal Exp on any character, ally or enemy, who has the most Exp. Also, giving your other characters Sing or Dance means they will get Exp. every turn. You'll get Exp. faster that way because they can constantly take action. Once again try disabling the enemy by frogging them.
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