Level

For the level of Gyms in Pokémon GO, see Gym (GO).

The level (Japanese: レベル level) is a measurement of how strong a currently is. It is portrayed differently in the, , , and Pokémon Trading Card Game.

In the core series
In the Pokémon games, a Pokémon's level is determined by how much experience it has. A Pokémon's level will range from 1 to 100. When a Pokémon gains a level, its stats increase by a small amount. Depending on the exact level, it may also learn a new move or evolve. A Pokémon's level is usually used to determine damage when the Pokémon uses an attacking move. Opponent's levels may be viewed in-battle, and undefineds may see their own Pokémon's levels in-battle, in the PC or by using the menu.

Using a Rare Candy will increase a Pokémon's level by 1 (and increase its experience accordingly).

When a Pokémon levels up, it becomes more friendly. This way, may eventually evolve by training.

In Generation IV, during battle, if a Pokémon almost has enough experience to level up, its Poké Ball will shake in the player's team summary.

In Generation I, if a Pokémon gains enough experience to gain more than one level, it will grow straight to the new level, and is unable to learn any move learned at a skipped level. In Generation II, the active Pokémon grows level by level, whereas switched out Pokémon grow straight to the new level (but are able to learn any moves regardless). From Generation III onwards, all Pokémon grow level by level.

Level cap
In the Pokémon games, the level cap is level 100. When a Pokémon has reached level 100, it cannot gain any more experience or level up. Due to this, level 100 Pokémon cannot evolve in any way which requires leveling up.

In Generations and  only, when a Pokémon has reached level 100, even if it has not gained maximum s, it cannot continue gaining EVs through battle (except ). Vitamins can still be used to raise EVs. In Generations and  as well as from Generation  onwards, EVs can be gained even by level 100 Pokémon (although the Box trick is required in Generations I and II for the stats to update).

By exploiting the old man glitch in Generation I, a Pokémon can be acquired at a level higher than 100. Also in Generation I, any Pokémon can also be raised to a level above 100 via the Pokémon merge glitch; however, Pokémon in the Slow experience group need to be merged with a glitch Pokémon who requires even more experience at level 100. These Pokémon can continue to be leveled up with Rare Candies until level 255. Whenever a Pokémon over level 100 gains any experience, its level will revert to 100. If a Rare Candy is used on a level 255 Pokémon, it will revert to level 0 due to an overflow.

In Generations I and II, Pokémon were not legitimately available at a level below 2. This could be related to the fact that in Generations I and II, Pokémon in the Medium Slow experience group had a negative experience value at level 1, causing them to level up instantly to level 100 if they were to gain less than 54 experience points in battle (a high possibility on the games' early routes). Instead, Pokémon on the games' earliest routes were found level 2 or level 3, and starter Pokémon are given out at level 5. Likewise, Pokémon hatch from Pokémon Eggs at level 5.

From Generation III onwards, experience required to level up is taken from a lookup table, rather than by using a programmed equation as in Generations I and II; in Generation III, however, Pokémon still hatch from Eggs at level 5, and no wild Pokémon can be found at a level below 2. From Generation IV onwards, Pokémon hatch from Eggs at level 1 and some Pokémon are available in the wild at level 1 (however, starter Pokémon are still received at level 5).

Underleveled Pokémon
Through some unique circumstances, it is possible to have Pokémon at a lower level than they are usually available via evolution. Underleveled Pokémon appeared as early as, with level 4-6 and  available in Viridian Forest. Kakuna and Metapod cannot be obtained by evolution until level 7.

Prior to Generation V, Pokémon obtained in in-game trades are always the same level as the one being traded away, so many underleveled Pokémon can be obtained through in-game trades. For example, in and, it is possible to obtain an  as low as level 3, even though the species evolves from  only at level 30 or above. This Electrode can be obtained by catching a in Viridian Forest at level 3, evolving it with the Thunderstone, and trading it on Cinnabar Island.

Some non-player character s use underleveled Pokémon in battle. For example, Lance has three underleveled in Generations  and, with one being at level 50 and two at level 49 in  (Dragonite does not evolve naturally from  until level 55). Many other in-game Trainers, such as Mars and Jupiter, also possess underleveled Pokémon.

An application of the Pomeg glitch in makes it possible to evolve a Pokémon while it is still inside an Egg, allowing any such evolved forms to be obtained at level 5. In Generation IV, this particular exploit of the Pomeg glitch was fixed; the Pomeg glitch was removed entirely in Generation V.

Disobedience
Outsider Pokémon (Pokémon obtained via trade or distribution) occasionally disobey the player's commands if they are above a certain level. The Badges the player owns determine the maximum level outsider Pokémon can be before there is a possibility for them to disobey. Not owning the region's second Badge means that no traded Pokémon whose level is above 10 (level 20 since Generation V) will obey the player; if the player has the region's eighth Badge, Pokémon will always obey.

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, level functions similarly to the core series. Like in the core series, each Pokémon's level, ranging from 1 to 100, depends on how much it has. When a Pokémon gains a level, its stats increase slightly and it may try to learn a new move. The moves that can be learned by each Pokémon, and the exact levels they will try to learn them, are the same as contemporaneous core series games. In order for some Pokémon to evolve, a minimum level is also required. However, evolution does not occur automatically, requiring access to specific places instead.

In the Mystery Dungeon games preceding Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon require significantly more experience to level up than in the core series games, while in Super Mystery Dungeon, experience is gained the same way as in the core series games.

A number of dungeons across the series temporarily set the team's levels to 1 or 5 when entered. Their levels are restored to normal once the dungeon is exited.

A or  can be used to increase a Pokémon's level. A can be used to decrease a Pokémon's level. A Pokémon holding a or  will gain experience points whenever it takes damage (the amount of experience gained this way varies between games).

In Pokémon Shuffle
Each Pokémon in Pokémon Shuffle has a level, which increases when it gains enough experience. As a Pokémon's level increases, its increases as well, with how much it increases per level determined by the Pokémon's. All Pokémon begin at level 1, with a maximum level of 10. However, Raise Max Level are able to increase this cap for specific Pokémon, potentially up to level 20.

In the anime
The concept of levels of Pokémon is not as detailed, nor as frequently mentioned, in the. Unlike the games, the term appears to be applied more loosely, with higher levels correlating with increased strength of the Pokémon and its moves. This can be seen in several instances throughout the anime:
 * The first time levels were referred to was briefly by during the second episode when he said Ash's Pikachu was "powerful beyond its evolutionary level."
 * mentions levels in Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden where she says "That must be at a high level!" referring to a 's Rhyhorn's formidable strength as it uses  on Ash's Bulbasaur, severely injuring it.
 * mentions taking the opponent's level into account before beginning a battle in the Japanese version of Showdown at the Po-ké Corral.
 * In Enter The Dragonite, when Ash chose Bulbasaur to battle 's, Tracey reminded Ash that level had to be taken into account as well as type despite Grass Pokémon being resistant to Electric-type moves. After Bulbasaur was defeated, Drake comments that Ash's Charizard is at a higher level than he thought, as it was able to withstand a series of super-effective Electric attacks from Electabuzz.
 * In Roll On, Pokémon!, 's Pokédex mentions that the length of a 's tusks indicates its level, allowing Brock to deduce that the short-tusked Donphan they encountered was a young and low-level one.
 * Brock mentions in Doin' What Comes Natu-rally! that moves become more powerful as a Pokémon's level is raised; and Ash adds that the best way to raise levels is by battling.
 * In Queen of the Serpentine!, Brock comments how 's is at a high level after it defeated Ash's Donphan with a single hit.
 * In Fighting Ire with Fire!, mentions Barry's Empoleon has leveled up a ton since last seeing it, referring to how its battle against a  went.
 * In Dealing with a Fierce Double Ditto Drama!, when teaching Narissa, Brock says "Now let's level you up. And the only way to do that is to get experience from battling."

There are few instances in the anime where the concept of levels more closely resembles that of the games. In The School of Hard Knocks, at Pokémon Tech was able to quote the levels at which  and the rest of its family evolve and learn certain moves. Furthermore, another student stated that Pikachu should be at least level 25. Another time was during a quiz in Will the Real Oak Please Stand Up?, when Nurse Joy asks and James (disguised as Professor Oak) what move  learns at level 46. When James fails to know the answer, he says that he has Amnesia. For his luck, however, was the correct answer.

Levels are also mentioned in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon special episodes Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate! and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness, but are not explained.

In the manga
The concept of levels appears to be present within some manga (but not all of them).

In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
The concept of levels appears rarely in the The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga; however, in Pikachu's Excellent Adventure, Samurai specifically mentions level 99 and  which can be found in the Hidden Village.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
At the end of every, or starting from , at the end of certain s, the current levels of at least one of the main characters' Pokémon are given in a Pokédex or Adventure Map section.

The level mechanic appears in the plot twice. In the, Orm's black Pokédex was able to deduce the power of 's Pokémon in terms of level; Yellow then used her own mysterious power to sharply raise her team members' levels. In the, found out that the  he used during his Battle Factory challenge, and later smuggled out, was able to survive an opposing 's ; Sceptile was Level 51, even though Emerald's challenge was in the Level 50, Single Battle mode, meaning that the rest of the rental Pokémon were Level 50.

In the Pokémon Gotta Catch 'Em All manga
The concept of levels seems to exist in Pokémon Gotta Catch 'Em All, as in Catch Bellsprout!, Shu comments that the he is battling against is at a higher level than his.

Trivia

 * Before Generation IV, it was impossible to get a Pokémon at level 1 without the aid of a glitch or cheating device. The lowest level Pokémon would be at level 2 in the wild, and Eggs would hatch at level 5. In Generation IV, however, Eggs are hatched at level 1, and  can be caught at level 1 in, and , , or  can be obtained at level 1 in.
 * In Generation I, it is possible to encounter and catch Pokémon at levels over 100 through the old man glitch, and encounter them in glitch Trainers' parties through the Mew glitch.

In other languages
Level Nivel Niveau Livello レベル 等级