What is a LV.X card?
A LV.X card, read as Level X, is an upgrade for a Pokémon you already have in play. Instead of evolving into something new, Gardevoir becomes Gardevoir LV.X: you put the card on top of your Active Gardevoir, and from then on it has its new attacks and powers plus everything from the card underneath.
They are easy to spot. Every LV.X has a gold LEVEL-UP banner under its name, a holo finish, and art that spills out over the edge of the picture frame. Almost all of them were drawn in 3D by two artists, Shizurow and Ryo Ueda, who did 67 of the 75 between them.
Diamond & Pearl to Great Encounters
How leveling up works
The rule is printed at the bottom of every LV.X. On Gardevoir it reads: "Put this card onto your Active Gardevoir. Gardevoir LV.X can use any attack, Poké-Power, or Poké-Body from its previous Level."
Two things follow from that. You can only level up your Active Pokémon, never one on the Bench. And the LV.X keeps the attacks and powers of the card underneath on top of its own, which is what made them so strong. And unlike the Pokémon-ex that came before them, a LV.X gave up only one Prize card when it was Knocked Out.
Majestic Dawn to Stormfront
Platinum and the SP LV.X cards
Platinum, in 2009, added Pokémon SP, and a lot of the later LV.X cards are SP. You can tell by the letters after the name: G for Team Galactic, GL for Gym Leaders, E4 for the Elite Four, C for the Champion and FB for the Frontier Brains. Each one also has a small portrait of its trainer. Charizard G LV.X has Cyrus in the corner, Luxray GL LV.X has Volkner, and Garchomp C LV.X has Cynthia.
Platinum and Rising Rivals
The LV.X cards that ruled the game
Luxray GL LV.X and Garchomp C LV.X were played together so often that the deck got its own name: LuxChomp. Luxray's Bright Look pulled one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot the moment it leveled up, and Garchomp's Healing Breath wiped the damage off all of your Pokémon SP.
Dialga G LV.X shut off the Poké-Bodies of every Pokémon that was not SP, on both sides of the table. Gengar LV.X went after LV.X cards directly: its Level-Down could take the LV.X off one of your opponent's Pokémon and shuffle it back into their deck.
Supreme Victors and Arceus
Arceus and the promo LV.X cards
The Arceus set closed the run in November 2009 with three different Arceus LV.X. Arceus ignored the four-copy rule altogether: the card says "You may have as many of this card in your deck as you like."
There are also 19 LV.X cards among the DP Black Star Promos. Many of them match a card from the main sets, just with a promo number instead of a set number, so check the number at the bottom if you are trying to finish a list.
DP Black Star Promos
What came after LV.X
HeartGold & SoulSilver dropped the mechanic in 2010, and Pokémon Prime and the two-card Pokémon LEGEND took its place. Since then, LV.X has only come back for anniversaries.
For the 25th anniversary in 2021 there was a brand new Zacian LV.X promo, printed with a note that it cannot be used at official tournaments, and Celebrations: Classic Collection reprinted Luxray GL LV.X and Garchomp C LV.X. In 2026, 30th Celebration: Classic Collection added a Palkia LV.X reprint.
LV.X cards after 2009
Collecting them
The original 75 is still a list you can actually finish. The Diamond & Pearl and Platinum set pages on Pooka show every LV.X next to the rest of its set, and you can mark each one as collected in the Pooka app as you go.
