Level
Levels are used in many of the Pokémon RPGs as a measurement of how strong a Pokémon currently is. It is determined by how much experience that Pokémon has. A Pokémon's level will range from 1 to 100. When a Pokémon gains a level, its stats increase by a small amount. It may also learn a new move or evolve.
A Pokémon's level will also affect its happiness, raising it slightly when the Pokémon levels up. This means that a Pichu trained in battle will eventually evolve into a Pikachu, with its happiness going up slightly each level. Using Rare Candies will also raise happiness, though for a long time people thought it did not, due to a Pokémon's happiness also being raised by the large amount of walking that a player must do in long grass to encounter wild Pokémon or recharge such items as the Vs. Seeker.
Also, when a Pokémon has reached level 100 it cannot continue gaining Effort Points in Generations III and IV. In Generations I and II, however, the player can use the box trick.
By doing the Missingno. trick or using other cheats, a Pokémon can temporarily acquire a level higher than 100. However, whenever this Pokémon gains any amount of experience, its level will revert to 100.
In Generations I and II, Pokémon were unavailable at a level below 2, due to a glitch in the games' programming that was never solved, and resulted in a level 1 Pokémon jumping straight to level 100. Pokémon eggs, therefore, hatched at a standard level of 5. The Generation III overhaul addressed this error, however, eggs still hatched at level 5, likely to maintain continuity. Generation IV finally set all hatched eggs to level 1.
In the anime
Students at the Academy featured in The School of Hard Knocks have referred to levels, one of them quoting the levels at which Pidgey and the rest of its family evolve and learn certain moves. Despite this, levels are more often ignored in the anime. Various references have been to "power levels" but this seems to be more of a general term, rather than the levels used in the games. A classic example of this is Ash's Pikachu. After appearing in more than 500 episodes in a row, Pikachu would logically be level 100; however, Pikachu is still often beaten by other Pokémon. One effect of this is that Pokémon in the anime learn moves that would normally be hard to get. For example, in its debut episode, Dawn's Piplup used Bide, a move Piplup normally doesn't learn until level 18, when all starter Pokémon are obtained at level 5. Therefore, level up moves can generally be learned at any time in the anime.
However, in the two Mystery Dungeon specials, levels are mentioned, but not explained. This may mean that Pokémon themselves understand the concept of levels in the anime but humans do not.
Trivia
- Before Generation IV, as it was impossible to get a Pokémon at level 1 without the aid of a glitch or cheating device, it was possible to get a Pikachu at a lower level than a Pichu.
- Sometimes, in the main series games, a Pokémon can be encountered that is a lower level than it can be obtained by evolving its previous form. Famously, this has happened with wild Electabuzz in Generation II and Pidgeotto in Pokémon Yellow, and most notably, with many Pokémon in Generation IV when using the Poké Radar. Also in Pokémon Yellow, James has a Weezing that is at a lower level than the level it evolves from Koffing.
