Lucario

Lucario in the games: Riolu's evolution, with two Mega forms

Lucario is a Fighting and Steel type that evolves from Riolu when Riolu levels up during the day with high friendship. It stands 1.2 meters tall and weighs 54.0 kilograms. Its standard abilities are Steadfast (its Speed rises each time it flinches) and Inner Focus (it cannot flinch), with Justified as its hidden ability. Pokémon X and Y gave it Mega Lucario, and the Mega Dimension DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A added a second form, Mega Lucario Z; both keep the Fighting and Steel typing.

Lucario is defined by aura, an energy it senses and manipulates through the four black appendages on its head, which lift when it reads aura. It uses that sense to read the movements and feelings of others, and it can understand human speech.

Lucario in the movies: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

Lucario is the title character of the eighth Pokémon movie, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, which premiered in Japan in July 2005 and reached the United States in 2006. It was one of four Generation IV Pokémon the film introduced before the Diamond and Pearl games arrived. Its Lucario is the partner of Sir Aaron, a legendary Aura Guardian of Cameran Palace, and was sealed inside Aaron's staff centuries earlier, believing its master had abandoned it. Freed in the present day, it guides Ash to the Tree of Beginning after Mew carries off Pikachu and Meowth, and the story turns on whether it can trust people again.

Lucario on cards: from Diamond & Pearl promos to Mega Lucario ex

Lucario reached English cards in 2007, when the Diamond & Pearl base set printed it as a holo rare illustrated by Ken Sugimori and a Black Star promo followed. A Lucario LV.X arrived in Mysterious Treasures later that year. Our catalog lists 63 Lucario printings across 42 sets, with the heaviest concentration in the Sun & Moon era (15), followed by Diamond & Pearl, XY and Sword & Shield (9 each). 5ban Graphics is credited on 16 of them, four times the count of any other illustrator.

The card game has given Lucario several Secret Rare treatments: an M Lucario EX in Furious Fists (2014), a Lucario GX in Forbidden Light (2018) and a Tag Team Lucario & Melmetal GX in Unbroken Bonds (2019), plus two shiny rares in the Hidden Fates Shiny Vault the same year. The 2025 Mega Evolution set printed Mega Lucario ex as both a special illustration rare, illustrated by Atsushi Furusawa, and a Mega Hyper Rare, and Ascended Heroes followed in 2026 with a Double Rare Mega Lucario ex, its most recent card.

Why collectors care about Lucario

Lucario's own movie gave it a following well beyond the games, and the card game has kept pace: Secret Rare EX, GX and Tag Team GX printings across the XY and Sun & Moon eras, two Shiny Vault cards, and now a special illustration rare and a Mega Hyper Rare for its Mega form carry that chase history into the Mega Evolution era.

Cards to know

• Lucario (DP Black Star Promos #DP12)

  One of Lucario's earliest English cards, a Diamond & Pearl era Black Star promo illustrated by Ryo Ueda.

• M Lucario EX (Furious Fists #113)

  A Secret Rare M Lucario EX from 2014, illustrated by 5ban Graphics.

• Lucario & Melmetal GX (Unbroken Bonds #224)

  A 2019 Secret Rare Tag Team GX, illustrated by 5ban Graphics.

• Lucario-GX (Hidden Fates Shiny Vault #SV64)

  A shiny rare Lucario-GX from the Shiny Vault subset of Hidden Fates (2019).

• Mega Lucario ex (Mega Evolution #179)

  A 2025 special illustration rare illustrated by Atsushi Furusawa.

• Mega Lucario ex (Ascended Heroes #113)

  Lucario's most recent card, a 2026 Double Rare illustrated by 5ban Graphics.