Neo Revelation’s Lanturn is an unassuming uncommon with gorgeous Kagemaru Himeno artwork and a Pokémon Power that lets its gameplay follow the art straight beneath the surface.
Card File
- TCG: Pokémon Trading Card Game
- Card: Lanturn
- Set: Neo Revelation, 32/64
- First released: November 23, 2000 in Japan as part of Awakening Legends. The highlighted English Neo Revelation printing followed on September 21, 2001.
- Notable rarity: Uncommon, with 1st Edition and Unlimited English printings.
Behind the Foil
Kagemaru Himeno gives Lanturn exactly the kind of scene this Pokémon deserves. It glides through a hazy blue and green sea while its yellow lure glows at the front of the composition, surrounded by soft spots of light. The whole thing feels calm, warm, and almost dreamy. For an uncommon sitting among some very loud Neo Revelation cards, it has no trouble grabbing attention.
“It blinds prey with an intense burst of light, then swallows the immobilized prey in a single gulp.”
Pokémon TCG, Lanturn 32/64, Neo Revelation
That Pokédex text gives the peaceful artwork a slightly vicious twist. Lanturn is the Light Pokémon, but apparently the light is not just there to look pretty. Even better, the mechanics play along. Submerge lets this Lightning card temporarily become Water, neatly expressing the Water side of Lanturn’s identity while it swims through an illustration that is about as aquatic as it gets.
The idea even resurfaced years later. Lanturn Prime from HS—Unleashed in 2010 also received a Poké Power named Submerge that changed Lanturn into a Water type for the turn. It is not the same card, but seeing such a specific mechanic return to Lanturn makes the Neo Revelation version an especially fun piece of the Pokémon’s TCG history.
Competitive History
Submerge is the interesting part. Once during your turn before attacking, Lanturn can change from Lightning to Water until the turn ends. That gives it a choice of attacking type and could let Blinding Light take advantage of Water Weakness when the matchup allowed it. The Energy cost does not change, though. Blinding Light still requires one Lightning Energy and two Colorless Energy, deals 30 damage, and Confuses the Defending Pokémon on a successful coin flip.
What Lanturn does not have is a well documented history as a major tournament card. Limitless currently has no decklists containing this printing in its main database. Early Pokémon tournament records are far from complete, so that absence should not be treated as proof that nobody played it. The safer description is much simpler: this was a clever niche design rather than a documented format staple. And honestly, that is fine. Not every cool card needs a trophy case.
FoilWire Take
For FoilWire, this one is mostly about the artwork. We pulled quite a few Unlimited copies when Neo Revelation released, so there is some genuine nostalgia attached to seeing that glowing Lanturn again. Nostalgia aside, Himeno absolutely nailed it. The soft underwater palette, bright lure, and simple composition make this feel far more memorable than the uncommon symbol would suggest. It is not one of Neo Revelation’s headline cards, and it does not need to be. Sometimes the card that sticks with you is simply the quiet uncommon with top tier artwork.
