Ability

An Ability (Japanese: Ability) is a game mechanic introduced in Generation III that provides a passive effect in battle or in the overworld. Individual Pokémon may have only one Ability at a time. Prior to Generation VI, an Ability could not be changed after a Pokémon was obtained except by Evolution—where the new Ability is determined by the former Ability—and form change. Not every Ability is entirely beneficial; .
A Pokémon's Ability was often originally referred to as a "special ability"In the descriptions of , , and , placeholder text for a Pokémon with no Ability, and NPC dialogue., "special Ability"In the manual of ., or "Sp. Ability"In the easy chat system. in Generation III, or sometimes simply "ability" until Generation V,On the summary screen, in the description of TM48 () and when Skill Swap is used in battle, in and Generation IV in the descriptions of , , , and , and in NPC dialogue in . after which it is consistently capitalized as "Ability".
Abilities are functionally absent in and .
==Mechanics==
Some species of Pokémon have multiple possible Abilities. The most Abilities any species or form has is three: two normal Abilities and one Hidden Ability. In most wild Pokémon encounters, the Pokémon's Ability will be one of its non-Hidden Abilities (each having an even chance of appearing if the species has two). Hidden Abilities were introduced in Generation V; they are relatively rare and usually require some type of special encounter.
In technical terms, a species' Abilities may be thought of as having separate slots, with an individual Pokémon's non-Hidden slot determined by its personality value. For example, an — with two non-Hidden Abilities — has for its first non-Hidden slot, for its second, and for its Hidden Ability slot. — with only one non-Hidden Ability — can be considered to have for both non-Hidden slots. When a Pokémon evolves, its Ability slot remains the same. This means that a with will evolve into a with , while a Poochyena with will evolve into a Mightyena with .
Aside from Evolution, there are four ways for Pokémon to change Abilities in a permanent manner. First, if the Pokémon has different forms with different Abilities. Second, transferring a Pokémon from one generation of games to a later one in which the Ability in a given slot is different. Third, using the Ability Capsule, introduced in Generation VI, will change a Pokémon's non-Hidden Ability slot, but it will not work if the Pokémon's species has only one non-Hidden Ability. Fourth, using the Ability Patch, introduced in Generation VIII, will change a Pokémon's Ability slot from its non-Hidden Ability to its Hidden Ability if it has one, or starting in Generation IX, from its Hidden Ability slot to its first non-Hidden Ability slot. Aside from these methods, during battle, Pokémon may also change their Ability through Mega Evolution or Primal Reversion, and certain moves and Abilities can also change a Pokémon's Ability.
When Abilities were introduced in Generation III, some Pokémon only had one possible Ability. A number of these species were given a second Ability in a later generation. If a Pokémon whose species gained an Ability after Generation III is transferred to Generations IV or , it will initially retain its original Ability; upon evolving, however, its Ability slot will be recalculated and its Ability may change. When a Pokémon is transferred to Generation VI or Generation VII, however, it will be locked into the appropriate slot for its current Ability.
Aside from in-battle effects, some Abilities also have effects .
===Hidden Abilities===
A Hidden Ability is essentially a rare Ability that Pokémon normally do not have access to, introduced in Generation V. Most Pokémon encountered in the games will not have a Hidden Ability; but usually, there are special encounter methods where Pokémon can have a Hidden Ability. Certain event Pokémon and special in-game Pokémon may also have their Hidden Ability.
The Hidden Ability is implemented as a third slot, and a Pokémon with its Hidden Ability will retain its Hidden Ability slot upon Evolution in the same way that its normal Abilities may change. For example, a with its Hidden Ability of will have upon evolving once and upon evolving into . Prior to Generation VIII, it was not possible to change a Pokémon's Ability slot from a normal Ability to a Hidden Ability. Generation VIII introduced the consumable Ability Patch, which allows switching between a Pokémon's normal and Hidden Abilities.
When with a Pokémon that has its Hidden Ability, its offspring have a chance of having their Hidden Ability as well.
===Inheriting Abilities===
In Generations and , Abilities could not be inherited by . An Egg would simply randomly be born with one of its possible Abilities.
Since Generation V, it has been possible for female Pokémon to pass down their Ability. In , if a female Pokémon has its Hidden Ability and is bred with a male Pokémon, it has a 60% chance of passing it down. In , a female Pokémon bred with a male Pokémon has an 80% chance of passing down its Ability slot (regardless of whether it is a Hidden Ability or not). From Generation VI onward, a female Pokémon has an 80% (60% for Hidden Ability) chance to pass down its Ability slot, regardless of whether it is bred with a male Pokémon or .
Since Generation VI, it is possible for male and gender-unknown Pokémon (such as ) to pass down their Ability if bred with a Ditto, in which case it has a 60% chance to pass down its Hidden Ability. They cannot pass down a Hidden Ability when bred with any Pokémon other than Ditto. Ditto's Ability is always irrelevant to inheritance.
If an Egg does not inherit its Ability from a parent, it can only be born with one of its non-Hidden Abilities.
==Ability-related effects==
Various items, moves, and Abilities can affect a Pokémon's Ability, usually in battle.
===Permanent changes===
Name 	Category	Category	Effect 	Gen.
Ability Capsule	Item 	Item 	Permanently changes a Pokémon's Ability slot 	
Ability Patch 	Item 	Item 	Permanently changes a Pokémon's non-Hidden Ability to its Hidden Ability	
===Protecting Abilities in battle===
These items protect the holder's Ability from some effects in battle.
Name 	Category	Category	Effect 	Gen.
Ability Shield	Item 	Item 	Protects the holder's Ability from being changed and from effects that bypass it	
===Changing Abilities in battle===
The following moves and Abilities can change a Pokémon's Ability in battle, giving it a different Ability. If a Pokémon's Ability is changed, its original Ability is restored when it switches out; if the original Ability has , like , it will function properly.
Name	Category 	Category	Effect 	Gen.
 	Copies the target Pokémon, including its Ability 	 	 	
 	Replaces the user's Ability with the target's Ability 	 	 	
 	Exchanges the Abilities of the user and the target 	 	 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Copies an opposing Pokémon's Ability upon entering battle 	
 	Changes the target's Ability to 	 	 	
 	Changes the target's Ability to match the user's 	 	 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Mummy 	
 	Changes the target's Ability to 	 	 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Copies the Ability of a defeated ally 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Copies the Ability of a defeated ally 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Contact with the Pokémon exchanges the Abilities of both Pokémon 	
 	Changes the Ability of the user and its ally to match the target's	 	 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Lingering Aroma	
===Suppressing Abilities===
These moves and Abilities can suppress the effects of an Ability or Abilities. This effect wears off when it leaves battle.
Name	Category 	Category	Effect 	Gen.
 	Suppresses the target's Ability 	 	 	
 	Does damage and suppresses the target's Ability if it has already had its turn	 	 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Suppresses the effects of all Pokémon's Abilities	
===Countering other Abilities===
====Hindering Abilities====
These moves and Abilities have an effect that ignores .
Name	Category 	Category	Effect 	Gen.
 	Ability 	Ability 	Moves ignore most Abilities	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Moves ignore most Abilities	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Moves ignore most Abilities	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
 	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	 	 	
====Other====
Name	Category	Category	Effect 	Gen.
 	Ability 	Ability 	The effects of "Aura" Abilities are reversed to lower the power of affected moves.	
===Synergistic Abilities===
The Abilities below interact beneficially with each other.
Name	Category	Category	Effect 	Gen.
/ 	Ability 	Ability 	Boosts the Sp. Atk stat of the Pokémon if an ally also has one of these Abilities	
===Countering other Ability and move effects===
These Abilities counter effects of other Abilities and moves.
Name	Category	Category	Effect 	Gen.
 	Ability 	Ability 	Prevents other Pokémon's moves or Abilities from lowering the Pokémon's stats 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	The Pokémon is protected by its white smoke, which prevents other Pokémon from lowering its stats.	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Prevents other Pokémon's moves or Abilities from lowering the Pokémon's stats 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Ignores the effects of opposing Pokémon's Abilities and moves that draw in moves 	
 	Ability 	Ability 	Ignores the effects of opposing Pokémon's Abilities and moves that draw in moves 	
==List of Abilities==
{| border=1 width="100%" class="sortable" style="background:#FFF; border:1px solid #ddf; border-collapse:collapse"	 	 	
# 	Name	Description 	Gen.
1 	 	By releasing a stench when attacking, the Pokémon may cause the target to flinch. 	
2 	 	The Pokémon makes it rain when it enters a battle. 	
3 	 	The Pokémon's Speed stat is boosted every turn. 	
4 	 	Hard armor protects the Pokémon from critical hits. 	
5 	 	One-hit KO moves will also fail to knock it out. 	
6 	 	The Pokémon dampens its surroundings, preventing all Pokémon from using explosive moves such as Self-Destruct. 	
7 	 	The Pokémon's limber body prevents it from being paralyzed. 	
8 	 	Boosts the Pokémon's evasiveness in a sandstorm. 	
9 	 	The Pokémon is charged with static electricity and may paralyze attackers that make direct contact with it. 	
10 	 	If hit by an Electric-type move, the Pokémon has its HP restored instead of taking damage. 	
11 	 	If hit by a Water-type move, the Pokémon has its HP restored instead of taking damage. 	
12 	 	The Pokémon is oblivious, keeping it from being infatuated, , . 	
13 	 	Eliminates the effects of weather. 	
14 	 	The Pokémon's compound eyes boost its accuracy. 	
15 	 	The Pokémon's insomnia prevents it from falling asleep. 	
16 	 	The Pokémon's type becomes the type of the move used on it. 	
17 	 	The Pokémon's immune system prevents it from being poisoned. 	
18 	 	If hit by a Fire-type move, the Pokémon absorbs the flames and uses them to power up its own Fire-type moves. 	
19 	 	Protective dust shields the Pokémon from the additional effects of moves. 	
20 	 	The Pokémon sticks to its own tempo, preventing it from becoming confused . 	
21 	 	The Pokémon uses suction cups to stay in one spot. This protects it from moves and items that would force it to switch out. 	
22 	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it intimidates opposing Pokémon and makes them cower, lowering their Attack stats. 	
23 	 	The Pokémon steps on the opposing Pokémon's shadows to prevent them from fleeing or switching out. 	
24 	 	The Pokémon's rough skin damages attackers that make direct contact with it. 	
25 	 	Its mysterious power only lets supereffective moves hit the Pokémon. 	
26 	 	By floating in the air, the Pokémon receives full immunity to all Ground-type moves. 	
27 	 	Contact with the Pokémon may inflict poison, sleep, or paralysis on the attacker. 	
28 	 	If the Pokémon is burned, paralyzed, or poisoned by another Pokémon, that Pokémon will be inflicted with the same status condition. 	
29 	 	Prevents other Pokémon's moves or Abilities from lowering the Pokémon's stats. 	
30 	 	The Pokémon's status conditions are cured when it switches out. 	
31 	 	The Pokémon draws in all Electric-type moves. 	
32 	 	Raises the likelihood of additional effects occurring when the Pokémon uses its moves. 	
33 	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Speed stat in rain. 	
34 	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Speed stat in harsh sunlight. 	
35 	 	By illuminating its surroundings, the Pokémon prevents its accuracy from being lowered. 	
36 	 	When it enters a battle, the Pokémon copies an opposing Pokémon's Ability. 	
37 	 	Doubles the Pokémon's Attack stat. 	
38 	 	Contact with the Pokémon may poison the attacker. 	
39 	 	The Pokémon's intense focus prevents it from flinching . 	
40 	 	The Pokémon's hot magma coating prevents it from being frozen. 	
41 	 	The Pokémon's water veil prevents it from being burned. 	
42 	 	Prevents Steel-type Pokémon from fleeing by pulling them in with magnetism. 	
43 	 	Soundproofing gives the Pokémon full immunity to all sound-based moves. 	
44 	 	The Pokémon gradually regains HP in rain. 	
45 	 	The Pokémon summons a sandstorm when it enters a battle. 	
46 	 	Puts other Pokémon under pressure, causing them to expend more PP to use their moves. 	
47 	 	The Pokémon is protected by a layer of thick fat, which halves the damage taken from Fire- and Ice-type moves. 	
48 	 	The Pokémon awakens from sleep twice as fast as other Pokémon. 	
49 	 	Contact with the Pokémon may burn the attacker. 	
50 	 	Enables a sure getaway from wild Pokémon. 	
51 	 	The Pokémon's keen eyes prevent its accuracy from being lowered. 	
52 	 	The Pokémon's prized, mighty pincers prevent other Pokémon from lowering its Attack stat. 	
53 	 	The Pokémon may pick up an item another Pokémon used during a battle. It may pick up items outside of battle, too. 	
54 	 	Each time the Pokémon uses a move, it spends the next turn loafing around. 	
55 	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat but lowers its accuracy. 	
56 	 	The Pokémon may infatuate attackers that make direct contact with it. 	
57 	 	Boosts the Sp. Atk stat of the Pokémon if an ally with the Minus Ability is also in battle. 	
58 	 	Boosts the Sp. Atk stat of the Pokémon if an ally with the Plus Ability is also in battle. 	
59 	 	The Pokémon transforms with the weather to change its type to Water, Fire, or Ice. 	
60 	 	The Pokémon's held items cling to its sticky body and cannot be removed by other Pokémon. 	
61 	 	The Pokémon may cure its own status conditions by shedding its skin. 	
62 	 	It's so gutsy that having a status condition boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat. 	
63 	 	The Pokémon's marvelous scales boost its Defense stat if it has a status condition. 	
64 	 	The strong stench of the Pokémon's oozed liquid damages attackers that use HP-draining moves. 	
65 	 	Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low. 	
66 	 	Powers up Fire-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low. 	
67 	 	Powers up Water-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low. 	
68 	 	Powers up Bug-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low. 	
69 	 	Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage. 	
70 	 	Turns the sunlight harsh when the Pokémon enters a battle. 	
71 	 	Prevents opposing Pokémon from fleeing from battle. 	
72 	 	The Pokémon is full of vitality, and that prevents it from falling asleep. 	
73 	 	The Pokémon is protected by its white smoke, which prevents other Pokémon from lowering its stats. 	
74 	 	Using its pure power, the Pokémon doubles its Attack stat. 	
75 	 	A hard shell protects the Pokémon from critical hits. 	
76 	 	Eliminates the effects of weather. 	
77 	 	Boosts the Pokémon's evasiveness if it is confused. 	
78 	 	The Pokémon takes no damage when hit by Electric-type moves. Instead, its Speed stat is boosted. 	
79 	 	The Pokémon's competitive spirit makes it deal more damage to Pokémon of the same gender, but less damage to Pokémon of the opposite gender. 	
80 	 	The Pokémon's determination boosts its Speed stat every time it flinches. 	
81 	 	Boosts the Pokémon's evasiveness in snow. 	
82 	 	If the Pokémon is holding a Berry to be eaten when its HP is low, it will instead eat the Berry when its HP drops to half or less. 	
83 	 	The Pokémon is angered when it takes a critical hit, and that maxes its Attack stat. 	
84 	 	Boosts the Speed stat if the Pokémon's held item is used or lost. 	
85 	 	The Pokémon's heatproof body halves the damage taken from Fire-type moves. 	
86 	 	Doubles the effects of the Pokémon's stat changes. 	
87 	 	Restores the Pokémon's HP in rain or when it is hit by Water-type moves. Reduces HP in harsh sunlight, and increases the damage received from Fire-type moves. 	
88 	 	The Pokémon compares an opposing Pokémon's Defense and Sp. Def stats before raising its own Attack or Sp. Atk stat — whichever will be more effective. 	
89 	 	Powers up punching moves. 	
90 	 	If poisoned, the Pokémon has its HP restored instead of taking damage. 	
91 	 	Powers up moves of the same type as the Pokémon. 	
92 	 	Maximizes the number of times multistrike moves hit. 	
93 	 	Cures the Pokémon's status conditions in rain. 	
94 	 	In harsh sunlight, the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat is boosted, but its HP decreases every turn. 	
95 	 	Boosts the Speed stat if the Pokémon has a status condition. 	
96 	 	All the Pokémon's moves become Normal type. 	
97 	 	If the Pokémon's attack lands a critical hit, the attack is powered up even further. 	
98 	 	The Pokémon only takes damage from attacks. 	
99 	 	The Pokémon employs no-guard tactics to ensure incoming and outgoing attacks always land. 	
100	 	The Pokémon is always the last to use its moves. 	
101	 	Powers up weak moves so the Pokémon can deal more damage with them. 	
102	 	Prevents status conditions in harsh sunlight. 	
103	 	The Pokémon can't use any held items. 	
104	 	The Pokémon's moves are unimpeded by the Ability of the target. 	
105	 	The Pokémon is so lucky that the critical-hit ratios of its moves are boosted. 	
106	 	Damages the attacker if it knocks out the Pokémon with a move that makes direct contact. 	
107	 	The Pokémon can sense an opposing Pokémon's dangerous moves. 	
108	 	When it enters a battle, the Pokémon can tell one of the moves an opposing Pokémon has. 	
109	 	When attacking, the Pokémon ignores the target's stat changes. 	
110	 	The Pokémon can use "not very effective" moves to deal regular damage. 	
111	 	Reduces the power of supereffective attacks that hit the Pokémon. 	
112	 	For five turns, the Pokémon's Attack and Speed stats are halved. 	
113	 	The Pokémon can hit Ghost-type Pokémon with Normal- and Fighting-type moves. 	
114	 	The Pokémon draws in all Water-type moves. 	
115	 	The Pokémon gradually regains HP in snow. 	
116	 	Reduces the power of supereffective attacks that hit the Pokémon. 	
117	 	The Pokémon makes it snow when it enters a battle. 	
118	 	The Pokémon may gather Honey after a battle. 	
119	 	When it enters a battle, the Pokémon can check an opposing Pokémon's held item. 	
120	 	Powers up moves that have recoil damage. 	
121	 	Changes the Pokémon's type to match the plate it holds. 	
122	 	Boosts the Attack and Sp. Def stats of the Pokémon and its allies in harsh sunlight. 	
123	 	Damages opposing Pokémon that are asleep. 	
124	 	The Pokémon steals the held item from attackers that make direct contact with it. 	
125	 	Removes any additional effects from the Pokémon's moves, but increases the moves' power. 	
126	 	Reverses any stat changes affecting the Pokémon so that attempts to boost its stats instead lower them — and attempts to lower its stats will boost them. 	
127	 	Unnerves opposing Pokémon and makes them unable to eat Berries. 	
128	 	If the Pokémon has any stat lowered by an opposing Pokémon, its Attack stat will be boosted sharply. 	
129	 	Halves the Pokémon's Attack and Sp. Atk stats when its HP drops to half or less. 	
130	 	May disable a move that has dealt damage to the Pokémon. 	
131	 	Sometimes cures the status conditions of the Pokémon's allies. 	
132	 	Reduces damage dealt to allies. 	
133	 	The Pokémon's Defense stat is lowered when it takes damage from physical moves, but its Speed stat is sharply boosted. 	
134	 	Doubles the Pokémon's weight. 	
135	 	Halves the Pokémon's weight. 	
136	 	Reduces the amount of damage the Pokémon takes while its HP is full. 	
137	 	Powers up physical moves when the Pokémon is poisoned. 	
138	 	Powers up special moves when the Pokémon is burned. 	
139	 	May create another Berry after one is used. 	
140	 	The Pokémon anticipates and dodges the attacks of its allies. 	
141	 	Every turn, one of the Pokémon's stats will be boosted sharply, but another stat will be lowered. 	
142	 	The Pokémon takes no damage from sandstorms. It is also protected from the effects of powders and spores. 	
143	 	May poison a target when the Pokémon makes contact. 	
144	 	The Pokémon has a little of its HP restored when withdrawn from battle. 	
145	 	Prevents the Pokémon from having its Defense stat lowered. 	
146	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Speed stat in a sandstorm. 	
147	 	Makes status moves more likely to miss the Pokémon. 	
148	 	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's move if it is the last to act that turn. 	
149	 	The Pokémon fools opponents by entering battle disguised as the last Pokémon in its Trainer's party. 	
150	 	The Pokémon transforms itself into the Pokémon it's facing. 	
151	 	The Pokémon's moves are unaffected by the target's barriers, substitutes, and the like. 	
152	 	Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Mummy. 	
153	 	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, it shows moxie, which boosts its Attack stat. 	
154	 	When the Pokémon is hit by a Dark-type attack, its Attack stat is boosted by its sense of justice. 	
155	 	The Pokémon gets scared when hit by a Dark-, Ghost-, or Bug-type attack , which boosts its Speed stat. 	
156	 	The Pokémon reflects status moves instead of getting hit by them. 	
157	 	The Pokémon takes no damage when hit by Grass-type moves. Instead, its Attack stat is boosted. 	
158	 	Gives priority to the Pokémon's status moves. 	
159	 	Boosts the power of Rock-, Ground-, and Steel-type moves in a sandstorm. 	
160	 	The Pokémon's iron barbs damage the attacker if it makes direct contact. 	
161	 	Changes the Pokémon's shape when its HP drops to half or less. 	
162	 	Boosts the accuracy of the Pokémon and its allies. 	
163	 	The Pokémon's moves are unimpeded by the Ability of the target. 	
164	 	The Pokémon's moves are unimpeded by the Ability of the target. 	
165	 	Protects the Pokémon and its allies from effects that prevent the use of moves. 	
166	 	Ally Grass-type Pokémon are protected from status conditions and the lowering of their stats. 	
167	 	The Pokémon's HP is restored when it eats any Berry, in addition to the Berry's usual effect. 	
168	 	Changes the Pokémon's type to the type of the move it's about to use. 	
169	 	Halves the damage taken from physical moves. 	
170	 	The Pokémon steals the held item from any target it hits with a move. 	
171	 	Protects the Pokémon from ball and bomb moves. 	
172	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat sharply when its stats are lowered by an opposing Pokémon. 	
173	 	The Pokémon's strong jaw boosts the power of its biting moves. 	
174	 	Normal-type moves become Ice-type moves. The power of those moves is boosted a little. 	
175	 	Prevents the Pokémon and its allies from falling asleep. 	
176	 	The Pokémon changes its form to Blade Forme when it uses an attack move and changes to Shield Forme when it uses King's Shield. 	
177	 	Gives priority to the Pokémon's Flying-type moves . 	
178	 	Powers up pulse moves. 	
179	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Defense stat on Grassy Terrain. 	
180	 	The Pokémon passes its held item to an ally that has used up an item. 	
181	 	Powers up moves that make direct contact. 	
182	 	Normal-type moves become Fairy-type moves. The power of those moves is boosted a little. 	
183	 	Contact with the Pokémon lowers the attacker's Speed stat. 	
184	 	Normal-type moves become Flying-type moves. The power of those moves is boosted a little. 	
185	 	The parent and child attack one after the other. 	
186	 	Powers up the Dark-type moves of all Pokémon on the field. 	
187	 	Powers up the Fairy-type moves of all Pokémon on the field. 	
188	 	The effects of "Aura" Abilities are reversed to lower the power of affected moves. 	
189	 	The Pokémon changes the weather to nullify Fire-type attacks. 	
190	 	The Pokémon changes the weather to nullify Water-type attacks. 	
191	 	The Pokémon changes the weather so that no moves are supereffective against the Flying type. 	
192	 	Boosts the Defense stat when the Pokémon is hit by an attack. 	
193	 	The Pokémon cowardly switches out when its HP drops to half or less. 	
194	 	The Pokémon, sensing danger, switches out when its HP drops to half or less. 	
195	 	Boosts the Defense stat sharply when the Pokémon is hit by a Water-type move. 	
196	 	The Pokémon's attacks become critical hits if the target is poisoned. 	
197	 	When its HP drops to half or less, the Pokémon's shell breaks and it becomes aggressive. 	
198	 	Doubles the damage dealt to a target that has just switched into battle. 	
199	 	Lowers the power of Fire-type moves that hit the Pokémon and prevents it from being burned. 	
200	 	Powers up Steel-type moves. 	
201	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat when it takes a hit that causes its HP to drop to half or less. 	
202	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Speed stat in snow. 	
203	 	The Pokémon uses its moves without making contact with the target. 	
204	 	Sound-based moves become Water-type moves. 	
205	 	Gives priority to the Pokémon's healing moves. 	
206	 	Normal-type moves become Electric-type moves. The power of those moves is boosted a little. 	
207	 	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat on Electric Terrain. 	
208	 	When it has a lot of HP, the Pokémon forms a powerful school. It stops schooling when its HP is low. 	
209	 	Once per battle, the shroud that covers the Pokémon can protect it from an attack . 	
210	 	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, its bond with its Trainer is strengthened, and its Attack, Sp. Atk, and Speed stats are boosted. 	
211	 	Cells gather to aid the Pokémon when its HP drops to half or less, causing it to change into its Complete Forme. 	
212	 	The Pokémon can poison the target even if it's a Steel- or Poison-type. 	
213	 	The Pokémon is always drowsing and will never wake up. It can attack while in its sleeping state. 	
214	 	The Pokémon's majesty pressures opponents and makes them unable to use priority moves against the Pokémon or its allies. 	
215	 	When the Pokémon is knocked out, it damages its attacker by the amount equal to the HP it had left before it was hit. 	
216	 	Whenever a dance move is used in battle, the Pokémon will copy the user to immediately perform that dance move itself. 	
217	 	Powers up ally Pokémon's special moves. 	
218	 	Halves the damage taken from moves that make direct contact, but doubles that of Fire-type moves. 	
219	 	The Pokémon dazzles its opponents, making them unable to use priority moves against the Pokémon or its allies. 	
220	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat every time another Pokémon faints. 	
221	 	Contact with the Pokémon lowers the attacker's Speed stat. 	
222	 	The Pokémon copies the Ability of a defeated ally. 	
223	 	The Pokémon copies the Ability of a defeated ally. 	
224	 	Boosts the Pokémon's most proficient stat every time it knocks out a target. 	
225	 	Changes the Pokémon's type to match the memory disc it holds. 	
226	 	Turns the ground into Electric Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle. 	
227	 	Turns the ground into Psychic Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle. 	
228	 	Turns the ground into Misty Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle. 	
229	 	Turns the ground into Grassy Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle. 	
230	 	Prevents other Pokémon's moves or Abilities from lowering the Pokémon's stats. 	
231	 	Reduces the amount of damage the Pokémon takes while its HP is full. 	
232	 	Reduces the power of supereffective attacks that hit the Pokémon. 	
233	 	Powers up the Pokémon's supereffective attacks even further. 	
234	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat when the Pokémon enters a battle . 	
235	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Defense stat when the Pokémon enters a battle . 	
236	 	Changes the Pokémon's type to the type of the move it's about to use. 	
237	 	If the Pokémon is not holding an item, it will fetch the Poké Ball from the first failed throw of the battle. 	
238	 	When the Pokémon is hit by an attack, it scatters cotton fluff around and lowers the Speed stats of all Pokémon except itself. 	
239	 	Ignores the effects of opposing Pokémon's Abilities and moves that draw in moves. 	
240	 	Bounces back only the stat-lowering effects that the Pokémon receives. 	
241	 	When the Pokémon uses Surf or Dive, it will come back with prey. When it takes damage, it will spit out the prey to attack. 	
242	 	Ignores the effects of opposing Pokémon's Abilities and moves that draw in moves. 	
243	 	Boosts the Speed stat drastically when the Pokémon is hit by a Fire- or Water-type move. 	
244	 	Boosts the power of sound-based moves. The Pokémon also takes half the damage from these kinds of moves. 	
245	 	The Pokémon creates a sandstorm when it's hit by an attack. 	
246	 	The Pokémon is protected by ice scales, which halve the damage taken from special moves. 	
247	 	Ripens Berries and doubles their effect. 	
248	 	The Pokémon's ice head can take a physical attack as a substitute, but the attack also changes the Pokémon's appearance. The ice will be restored when it snows. 	
249	 	Just being next to the Pokémon powers up moves. 	
250	 	Changes the Pokémon's type depending on the terrain. 	
251	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, the effects of Light Screen, Reflect, and Aurora Veil are nullified for both opposing and ally Pokémon. 	
252	 	Powers up the Steel-type moves of the Pokémon and its allies. 	
253	 	When hit by a move that makes direct contact, the Pokémon and the attacker will faint after three turns unless they switch out of battle. 	
254	 	The Pokémon exchanges Abilities with a Pokémon that hits it with a move that makes direct contact. 	
255	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat, but only allows the use of the first selected move. 	
256	 	While the Pokémon is in the battle, the effects of all other Pokémon's Abilities will be nullified or will not be triggered. 	
257	 	Prevents the Pokémon and its allies from being poisoned. 	
258	 	The Pokémon changes its form, alternating between its Full Belly Mode and Hangry Mode after the end of every turn. 	
259	 	Enables the Pokémon to move first occasionally. 	
260	 	If the Pokémon uses moves that make direct contact, it can attack the target even if the target protects itself. 	
261	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it scatters medicine from its shell, which removes all stat changes from allies. 	
262	 	Powers up Electric-type moves. 	
263	 	Powers up Dragon-type moves. 	
264	 	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, it utters a chilling neigh, which boosts its Attack stat. 	
265	 	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, it utters a terrifying neigh, which boosts its Sp. Atk stat. 	
266	 	This Ability combines the effects of both Calyrex's Unnerve Ability and Glastrier's Chilling Neigh Ability. 	
267	 	This Ability combines the effects of both Calyrex's Unnerve Ability and Spectrier's Grim Neigh Ability. 	
268	 	Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Lingering Aroma. 	
269	 	Turns the ground into Grassy Terrain when the Pokémon is hit by an attack. 	
270	 	Boosts the Attack stat when the Pokémon is hit by a Fire-type move. The Pokémon also cannot be burned. 	
271	 	When an attack causes its HP to drop to half or less, the Pokémon gets angry. This lowers its Defense and Sp. Def stats but boosts its Attack, Sp. Atk, and Speed stats.	
272	 	The Pokémon's pure salt protects it from status conditions and halves the damage taken from Ghost-type moves. 	
273	 	The Pokémon takes no damage when hit by Fire-type moves. Instead, its Defense stat is sharply boosted. 	
274	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat if Tailwind takes effect or if the Pokémon is hit by a wind move. The Pokémon also takes no damage from wind moves. 	
275	 	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat if intimidated. Moves and items that would force the Pokémon to switch out also fail to work. 	
276	 	Powers up Rock-type moves. 	
277	 	The Pokémon becomes charged when it is hit by a wind move, boosting the power of the next Electric-type move the Pokémon uses. 	
278	 	The Pokémon transforms into its Hero Form when it switches out. 	
279	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it goes inside the mouth of an ally Dondozo if one is on the field. The Pokémon then issues commands from there. 	
280	 	The Pokémon becomes charged when it takes damage, boosting the power of the next Electric-type move the Pokémon uses. 	
281	 	Boosts the Pokémon's most proficient stat in harsh sunlight or if the Pokémon is holding Booster Energy. 	
282	 	Boosts the Pokémon's most proficient stat on Electric Terrain or if the Pokémon is holding Booster Energy. 	
283	 	A body of pure, solid gold gives the Pokémon full immunity to other Pokémon's status moves. 	
284	 	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous vessel lowers the Sp. Atk stats of all Pokémon except itself. 	
285	 	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous sword lowers the Defense stats of all Pokémon except itself. 	
286	 	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous wooden tablets lowers the Attack stats of all Pokémon except itself. 	
287	 	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous beads lowers the Sp. Def stats of all Pokémon except itself. 	
288	 	Turns the sunlight harsh when the Pokémon enters a battle. The ancient pulse thrumming through the Pokémon also boosts its Attack stat in harsh sunlight. 	
289	 	Turns the ground into Electric Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle. The futuristic engine within the Pokémon also boosts its Sp. Atk stat on Electric Terrain. 	
290	 	If an opponent's stat is boosted, the Pokémon seizes the opportunity to boost the same stat for itself. 	
291	 	When the Pokémon eats a Berry, it will regurgitate that Berry at the end of the next turn and eat it one more time. 	
292	 	Powers up slicing moves. 	
293	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, its Attack and Sp. Atk stats are slightly boosted for each of the allies in its party that have already been defeated. 	
294	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it copies an ally's stat changes. 	
295	 	Scatters poison spikes at the feet of the opposing team when the Pokémon takes damage from physical moves. 	
296	 	The mysterious tail covering the Pokémon's head makes opponents unable to use priority moves against the Pokémon or its allies. 	
297	 	If hit by a Ground-type move, the Pokémon has its HP restored instead of taking damage. 	
298	 	The Pokémon will always act more slowly when using status moves, but these moves will be unimpeded by the Ability of the target. 	
299	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it showers its ally with hospitality, restoring a small amount of the ally's HP. 	
300	 	The Pokémon ignores changes to opponents' evasiveness, its accuracy can't be lowered, and it can hit Ghost types with Normal- and Fighting-type moves. 	
301	 	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Teal Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Speed stat to be boosted. 	
302	 	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Hearthflame Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Attack stat to be boosted. 	
303	 	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Wellspring Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Sp. Def stat to be boosted. 	
304	 	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Cornerstone Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Defense stat to be boosted. 	
305	 	The power of the Pokémon's toxic chain may badly poison any target the Pokémon hits with a move. 	
306	 	A sickly sweet scent spreads across the field the first time the Pokémon enters a battle, lowering the evasiveness of opposing Pokémon. 	
307	 	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it absorbs the energy around itself and transforms into its Terastal Form. 	
308	 	The Pokémon's shell contains the powers of each type. All damage-dealing moves that hit the Pokémon when its HP is full will not be very effective. 	
309	 	When Terapagos changes into its Stellar Form, it uses its hidden powers to eliminate all effects of weather and terrain, reducing them to zero. 	
310	 	Pokémon poisoned by Pecharunt's moves will also become confused. 	
==Alternatives==
===Generation II===
Prior to Abilities' introduction, Generation II games already featured a mechanic similar to and uniquely available to a single Pokémon species: after each battle, a held by a can automatically transform into Berry Juice. No other Pokémon has this trait, and it hasn't been translated into an actual Ability in subsequent games.
===Generation VIII===
While Abilities are officially absent in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the effects of and are nonetheless applied to and respectively. Plates are also available as Key Items to replicate 's .
==In other games==
===Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series===
Abilities available in the core series games are also available in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Some Abilities differ from their counterparts in the core series (e.g. reduces the opposing Pokémon's Attack by 20%). Prior to Gates to Infinity, Pokémon with two Abilities would have both rather than just one. There are no Hidden Abilities in Mystery Dungeon games.
===Pokémon Conquest===
While most Pokémon species in Pokémon Conquest have access to three Abilities (similar to the main series, Hidden Abilities included), many of these Abilities are different from the main series due to differences in the battle system. For example, Abilities like and do not exist in Pokémon Conquest (due to the game's lack of a gender mechanic), while other Abilities utilize mechanics unique to Pokémon Conquest battles (like "Sprint", which increases the user's movement ).
Like the main series, an individual Pokémon's Ability is dictated by its current species (i.e. evolutionary form) and may change during Evolution.
===Pokémon UNITE===
In , Abilities appear in a similar way to the main series. Every Pokémon with a Unite License uses one of their Abilities from the core series games as their Ability. A Pokémon's Ability can change when it evolves, such as having as a and as a before gaining as a Tyranitar.
Abilities usually have effects that activate passively, be that when a certain condition is true, when the Pokémon performs a certain action, or when an action is done to that Pokémon. The effects of Abilties usually correlate to their main series counterparts, such as how 's deals damage to opponents who hit it with physical melee attacks. However, this is not always the case, as 's only serves to enable its Mega Evolution instead of having an effect that lines up with its main series effect of reducing PP. Even if two Pokémon have the same Ability, the effects of the Ability differ between each Pokémon. For example, both and have , but Gardevoir's version inflicts any movement speed decreases and damage-over-time status conditions back on the attacker while Mew's version increases the movement speed of itself and its allies when Mew uses a move. Even so, often Abilities with the same name have similar effects since they are all adapted from the same Ability from the core series. , , and all have for instance, and it always serves to increase their power when their health is low. However, each Pokémon's Blaze does so in a different way.
Abilities often have multiple effects aside from adapting the main series Abilities. These effects can fill gauges or give the Pokémon resources that contribute to the effectiveness of its other attacks and moves. Many Abilities that trigger as a result of something happening, such as 's activating when it takes damage, cannot trigger again until a cooldown period has passed.
In some cases,like with 's and 's , an Ability's icon is visible along with the Pokémon's moves and is manually activated with a button press. These Abilities temporarily enter a cooldown state after being used, and cannot be used again until that cooldown concludes.
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
Abilities have been shown in , but are usually only used in s; however, sometimes they have an effect on the plot, such as 's . Abilities sometimes work differently in the animated series than they would in the games, such as , which cancels out more Abilities in the animated series than it would in the games.
========
The only Ability that was seen in the original series was , being used by Madison and Alexa's in The Kecleon Caper. It was later used by 's Kecleon in Playing With Fire!.
========
The first Ability to be seen other than was , first seen in Sharpedo Attack!. It was used by a .
In Now That's Flower Power! a Kecleon used .
In A Poké-BLOCK Party!, Alanna's used its Ability to stay awake and listen to 's .
Colonel Hansen's used to protect itself against by Misty's Corsola in The Princess and the Togepi.
Two Abilities were seen in Balance of Power, being used by Ash's Pikachu and , using and respectively.
Bart's used in Unfair Weather Friends, turning into its Sunny and Rainy Form.
In The Garden of Eatin', Marcel's possessed , which prevented it from falling asleep while fighting a that kept using .
Both and were seen in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends respectively by and .
In It's Still Rocket Roll to Me!, Liza's Lunatone used .
In Eight Ain't Enough, Juan's used to increase its speed.
In Showdown At Linoone, Kimmy's , Tokin, used to steal and take items to its private stash, including 's Poké Balls.
In At the End of the Fray, 's used to halve the damage it took from Ash's Torkoal's .
In Rough, Tough Jigglypuff, Lisa Mitchum's used whilst her father's used Soundproof to stop Jigglypuff's from working.
Angela's Kecleon used Color Change in From Cradle to Save, while Brock's Bonsly used .
In Pinch Healing!, a wild used .
In Once More With Reeling!, May's Blaziken used its Blaze Ability while Ash's Sceptile used during their Contest Battle in the .
========
Abilities proved important in the battles Paul and had with Roark. During Paul's battle in Shapes of Things to Come!, his uses Static to Roark's and although the latter shakes it off with . Paul also deliberately allows his to take extra damage so that it can activate Blaze. After Ash's first match with Roark ends in defeat, briefly lends him in Wild in the Streets! because its Ability Rock Head makes it similar to Roark's Pokémon Onix, who also had the Ability. During Ash's rematch in O'er the Rampardos We Watched!, Pikachu also activates Static against Roark's newly evolved and it is similarly ineffective.
In A Secret Sphere of Influence!, Officer Jenny's used against .
Gardenia's caught Ash by surprise during their first battle in The Grass Menagerie! when it was able to move very quickly with .
In Tag! We're It...!, Ash and Paul found themselves at a disadvantage during their first Tag Battle in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition because the used by one of their opponents possessed , rendering Pikachu's attacks useless.
In Glory Blaze! Ash, , and found Paul and evidently abusing his Chimchar, repeatedly attacking it until it eventually collapsed from exhaustion. When confronted, Paul explained that Chimchar actually wanted the brutal training regimen; when they first met, Chimchar was being attacked by wild and when pushed to the limit it activated Blaze and defeated all of the Zangoose with . This incredible power was what drove Paul to capture Chimchar in the first place and the two have been trying to replicate the experience ever since with no success.
 was an important part of Ash's Buizel going toe to toe with Maylene's Lucario in A Triple Fighting Chance!
 returned in Chim - Charred! when Ash's Chimchar became enraged during a battle with Paul's Ursaring. It took considerable effort for Ash to return Chimchar to normal after it defeated Ursaring, causing Paul to leave the battle a draw. Paul told Ash that they would only battle again when and if Ash and Chimchar learned to control Blaze.
In Battling the Generation Gap!, Lila's activated his Ability while battling Dawn's Ambipom in the final round of the .
Brock's Croagunk first used his Ability in Losing Its Lustrous!. He often used it to find Team Rocket and chase them off on his own.
Two have used . One used it in The Rise of Darkrai and another in Sleepless in Pre-Battle!.
In A Shield with a Twist!, Fantina's possessed .
In Dealing with Defensive Types!, Byron's used its Ability to minimize damage from Ash's Chimchar's .
In Another One Gabites the Dust!, Jessie's Yanmega activated her Ability while performing in the .
In Pursuing a Lofty Goal!, Paul's Honchkrow used its Ability .
In Sliding Into Seventh!, Jeremiah's was known to have Stench as it Ability, but the Ability was activated off-screen.
In Evolving Strategies!, Paul's Magmortar used its Ability to burn Ash's Pikachu. Paul's Ursaring also used its Ability when Ash's Pikachu's activated.
An used in Arceus and the Jewel of Life.
In Challenging a Towering Figure!, Palmer's used to lessen the damage from Ash's Grotle's .
A wild used its Ability in A Rivalry to Gible On!.
A wild used in Pokémon Ranger: Heatran Rescue!.
Volkner's used its Ability in The Eighth Wonder of the Sinnoh World! against Ash in their Gym battle. The same Ability was later used by Paul's Electivire in Battling a Thaw in Relations!.
In Casting a Paul on Barry!, Barry's Empoleon activated its Ability while battling Paul's Electivire in the third round of the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Paul's used its Ability in Familiarity Breeds Strategy! to avoid damage from its attack. In the next episode, Paul's and used and Speed Boost, respectively.
 was seen twice in Zoroark: Master of Illusions, being used by a and .
========
A Hidden Ability was first seen in Saving Darmanitan From the Bell! by a using .
In A Rival Battle for Club Champ!, Trip's activated to easily defeat Ash's Oshawott and . Trip's later used .
In Here Comes the Trubbish Squad!, a wild used its Ability .
In A Night in the Nacrene City Museum!, Lenora's used its Ability to reveal an invisible .
Ash's Sewaddle was revealed to have in A Connoisseur's Revenge! but he wasn't shown activating it. Cilan's Dwebble was shown using its Ability in the same episode.
A wild used its Ability to poison Ash in A Venipede Stampede!.
In Gotta Catch A Roggenrola!, pointed out that had the Ability Sturdy, implying that Roggenrola would receive less damage than a Pokémon normally would.
Luke's Zorua often used Illusion to help Luke in making his movies. It was first seen in Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"!.
In The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!, Iris's Emolga used Static to help her win a battle against Stephan's Sawk.
In Enter Elesa, Electrifying Gym Leader!, Bianca's father's "Red Flash Darmanitan" used Zen Mode.
Three Darmanitan used Zen Mode in A Maractus Musical!.
In Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!, a wild used Stench.
In A Call for Brotherly Love!, Chili's Pansear used its Ability.
In Battling the King of the Mines!, Ash's Boldore used its Sturdy Ability to stop a from working.
In The Clubsplosion Begins!, Edmund's used Swift Swim against Stephan's Sawk, but ended up losing.
In Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!, Alder's used to negate Trip's Serperior's .
In The Road to Humilau!, Marlon's used Cursed Body.
Ash's Leavanny first activated Swarm in Strong Strategy Steals the Show! during a battle against Stephan's Sawk.
In The Island of Illusions!, a used Illusion.
In The Journalist from Another Region!, a Trainer's was shown to have as its Ability.
In Survival of the Striaton Gym!, Morana's used its Ability. Cilan's Pansage was confirmed to have Gluttony as his Ability in the same episode.
========
Clemont's Chespin used its Ability in An Appetite for Battle! battling against a .
In Mega Evolution Special I, Siebold's was shown to have when Mega Evolved.
Both from and from were seen in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction.
Ramos's and were both shown to have Chlorophyll as their Ability in The Green, Green Grass Types of Home!.
Ash's Goodra used its Ability in Ash's Gym battle against in The Moment of Lumiose Truth!.
Ash's Fletchinder used its Flame Body Ability in A Not-So-Flying Start! to help hatch an that his found.
Both of Olympia's were seen using their respective Abilities in All Eyes on the Future!, with the male Meowstic having his Hidden Ability and the female one having .
Two Abilities were seen in Mega Evolution Special IV, both in a battle against Alain's Charizard. A used Thick Fat to halve the damage it took from a . Malva's later used Flash Fire to absorb another Flamethrower.
In Dream a Little Dream from Me!, a activated its Ability .
Sawyer's was shown to have as its Ability during its battle against Ash in A Full-Strength Battle Surprise!.
Wulfric's Abomasnow was shown to have as its Ability during its Gym battle against Ash in All Hail the Ice Battlefield!. His was later shown to have in the same episode.
In the Lumiose Conference, many Pokémon were seen activating their Abilities during battles. In A League of His Own!, 's Mega Y was shown to have as its Ability. In the following episode, the effects of three different Abilities were shown during the battle between and Sawyer; Tierno's was shown activating while Sawyer's Mega and were revealed to have and as their Abilities, respectively. In Analysis Versus Passion!, Sawyer's was shown to have Truant as its Ability. In Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!, Alain's was shown activating .
========
Sophocles's Togedemaru used her Ability Lightning Rod in The Guardian's Challenge!, absorbing Ash's Pikachu's to increase the power of her .
Jessie's Mimikyu has used frequently during battles in the series to absorb damage from the first blow taken, first seen in Loading the Dex!.
A wild activated its Ability in A Shivering Shovel Search! when it was hit by Lana's Popplio's , allowing it to repair the damage done to its body by the attack.
DJ Leo's used its Ability in Getting the Band Back Together! where it was able to grab and bind Jessie's Mimikyu and James's Mareanie.
An Ally activated its Forecast Ability during its battle with Ash in the Lush Jungle in Currying Favor and Flavor!, changing into its Sunny Form.
Gladion's Silvally activated in Mission: Total Recall!, changing into a type with the Dark Memory. It has since then activated the Ability on multiple other occasions.
Lusamine's Clefable activated in 10,000,000 Reasons to Fight! to cross a field of poison without taking damage.
Nanu's activated in both of its battles against in Tough Guy Trials! and Guiding an Awakening!.
Hapu's Mudsdale activated in its battle against Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp in That's Some Spicy Island Research! It was reactivated in A Grand Debut!.
Guzma's activated in its battle against Ash's Pikachu in The Dealer of Destruction!. It was later activated again in Getting Down to The Ire!.
Mohn's activated Illusion in Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams! as it followed around.
Ilima's activated her Ability in her fight against Guzma's in Battling Besties!.
Acerola's Gengar, the Greedy Rapooh, activated its Ability in its fight against Kiawe's Marowak in The Battlefield of Truth and Love!. In the same episode, Snowy activated its Snow Cloak Ability in its fight against Gladion's Umbreon.
========
Six used their Hidden Ability, , in Raid Battle in The Ruins!. One of them was caught by Goh.
In Destination: Coronation!, Visquez's activated its Hidden Ability after being knocked out by Ash's Pikachu.
In Sobbing Sobble!, a that James would later catch activated its Ability against .
In Secrets of the Jungle, a wild used its Ability when Ash's Pikachu shocked it while stuck in its mouth.
In Searching for Chivalry!, Wikstrom's activated its during a battle against and Goh.
In A Rollicking Roll…, multiple belonging to Team Rocket activated their Ability.
In Beyond Chivalry… Aiming to be a Leek Master!, Rinto's activated his Hidden Ability after being struck by Ash's Sirfetch'd's .
In Nightfall? Nightmares!, a activated its Ability .
In Detective Drizzile!, Gizmo's activated her Ability .
In The Arceus Chronicles (Part 2), Saturn's activated its Ability .
In Battling as Hard as Stone!, Ash's Dracovish was revealed to possess the Ability , which boosts the power of its and .
In Bewitch, Battle, and Bewilder!, 's activated its Ability to increase its chances to make Ash's Pikachu flinch with . In the same episode, Cynthia's was ed by Ash's Gengar's . In the next episode, Roserade was revealed to have used its Ability to heal itself upon being switched out.
In Valor: A Strategic Part of Battling!, Ash's Lucario was revealed to possess the Ability , which protected it from flinching against Cynthia's Togekiss.
In Just a Scone's Throw From Here!, a Cramorant from the Rocket Prize Master used Gulp Missile with Team Rocket's to attack Goh's Pokémon.
In A Flood of Torrential Gains!, 's activated its Hidden Ability to change its type to match the it used. During the same episode, Ash's Gengar activated against Leon's .
Ash's Talonflame constantly used its Flame Body Ability in Bearing Down Easy! to keep everyone warm from 's attacks.
===Pokémon Horizons: The Series===
Like in , Abilities are usually only used in s, but can be relevant in other ways to the plot or used outside of battle for various purposes. Abilities can also still work differently than they would in the games, or have extra effects that are not observed in the games.
In The Future I Choose, Lucius's activated its Ability to help a mass of planted grow into new trees.
In Kabu's Battle Training!, Kabu's used its Flash Fire Ability to negate Roy's Fuecoco's .
In Charge! Galar Mine!, Amethio's Ceruledge used its Hidden Ability to lower its Defense and increase its Speed during its battle against Friede's Charizard.
In Roar of the Black Rayquaza, Terapagos activated for the first time to protect Liko from the Black Rayquaza.
In Transform! Hero of the Seas, Palafin, a wild activated its Ability to transform into its Hero Form and help out people in need. As thanks for protecting it from a group of photographers wanting to take a photo its transformation sequence, Palafin allowed Liko to witness said transformation.
In A Challenge from the Explorers, Liko's Sprigatito activated her Overgrow Ability during her battle against Sidian's .
In Trending Terastallization! Dance, Dance, Quaxly!, 's activated its Ability while battling against Dot's Quaxly.
In Showdown! The Paldea Elite Four, Hassel's activated its Ability while battling against Roy and Brassius.
In Liko vs. Rika! Towards the Battle's End, Katy's activated its Swarm Ability after being ed by a from Rika's .
In The Terapagos I Don't Know, Raifort's Zoroark activated Illusion several times.
In Resonating Spirits in a Challenge to Ryme!, Ryme's activated its Ability while battle against Roy's Fuecoco.
In Shine on, Terastallization! Liko vs. Roy!, Liko's Hattrem activated to cure of her paralysis.
In HZ074, Diana's activated in its battle against Liko's Floragato.
In HZ078, a wild activated .
In HZ079, Geeta's activated . In the same episode, Liko's Floragato activated her Overgrow Ability.
In HZ081, Lucius's Gouging Fire activated while battling Liko, Roy, Dot, and Friede.
==In the manga==
===Be the Best! Pokémon B+W===
Monta's activated in The Key to Triple Battles.
A 's and Monta's activated and in The Battle for More Friends!.
's activated in Challenge the Battle Subway!.
Monta's activated in Let's Master Pokémon Capturing!.
Monta's was unable to activate in The Birth of the Best Pokémon Trainer! since the Cheren borrowed used .
===Movie adaptations===
 activated in .
 activated in .
===Pokémon Adventures===
========
Parallel to their introduction in Generation III of the video games, Abilities were first introduced in the Ruby & Sapphire arc of Pokémon Adventures.
's activated its Ability in Tongue-Tied Kecleon.
Matt's and 's both activated in Mowing Down Ludicolo. 's , Fofo, first activated in the same chapter.
During 's battle with Roxanne in Blowing Past Nosepass I, Roxanne's Nosepass proved superior to Rono. Worried that Rono would be defeated, Sapphire attempted to switch Rono out for Chic but was unable to. Roxanne explained that because her has , Pokémon cannot switch out.
Ruby's first encounter with Abilities arrived in Stick This in Your Craw, Crawdaunt! II when he and Mr. Briney were attacked by a wild . Peeko tried to defeat him with , but the Crawdaunt's prevented her from doing much damage at all. After Mr. Briney fell unconscious, Ruby had Kiki use and infatuate Crawdaunt with her Ability, .
Sapphire later struggled against a potent counter Ability when she faced Brawly in Mashing Makuhita. After Rono was quickly defeated by Brawly's Makuhita, Chic used against , but it had little effect due to his Ability.
While on their way to Slateport City, Ruby and Sapphire were attacked by Courtney and Tabitha at the Abandoned Ship during Adding It Up with Plusle & Minun II. They escaped with the help of a wild and after Ruby realized that their complimentary Abilities, and , greatly amplified their power when they fought together.
After Wattson is captured by the New Mauville generator, Sapphire devised a Double Battle strategy using his in Plugging Past Electrike II. While Electrike did not have the moves to stop the generator itself, and the wild that Wattson and the Trick Master had originally intended to capture would be quickly eradicated by its powerful attacks, Electrike's Ability, , would allow him to redirect the bolt away from Donphan, buying Donphan enough time to destroy the generator with .
Archie's activated during battle with Maxie's in Walrein and Camerupt. Maxie's Camerupt activated during the same battle.
 and activated and , respectively, in The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon III.
's activated in Can I Ninjask You a Question?.
Brawly's activated in The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon IX.
Sapphire's , Rono, and her , Phado, both activated to survive against a attack from Archie's Walrein in The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon X.
Norman's was revealed to have as his Ability in Rayquaza Redemption I, but ped it with his 's Ability.
========
Ultima's and activated and respectively in Old Ultima Puts Them to the Test.
's , Gyara, activated at the start of and 's battle in Red and Blue Make Purple Opponents.
Red's , Aero, activated while using in Double Dealing with Deoxys. In the same chapter, Blue's Rhydon activated .
Red's , Poli, activated in Put Your Beast Foot Forward. It was ped by in Storming the Forretress for its ability. 
Organism No. 2 activated in Don't Doubt Deoxys.
Blue's copied Chuchu's Ability with in Secrets from Sneasel.
========
Lucy's Seviper activated in Swanky Showdown with Swalot.
The 's used , and the Battle Factory's , , and were revealed to have , , and respectively by Emerald's Pokédex in Pinsir Me, I Must Be Dreaming. 
In Gotcha Where I Wantcha, Glalie, the that Noland used during his match against was revealed to have Inner Focus as its Ability by Emerald's Pokédex.
In Moving Past Milotic, 's was revealed to have as its Ability.
In Just My Luck...Shuckle, Lucy's and were revealed to have and respectively as their Abilitys by 's Pokédex. 's was also revealed to have as his Ability by 's Pokédex. 's used in the same chapter.
's borrowed had in A Dust-Up With Dusclops.
In Sneaky Like Shedinja, Greta's was mentioned to have Wonder Guard as its Ability.
Ruby's Rara used in Cunning Kirlia.
Ruby's Feefee used its ability in Susceptible to Sceptile.
========
's , , activated in Stagestruck Starly.
Roark's used in A Conk on Cranidos's Cranium.
A wild activated in A Big Stink Over Stunky.
Saturn's Croagunk activated in Crowded by Croagunk & Advanced on by Abra I.
A wild activated in Bombastic Bibarel & Heroic Hippopotas.
Cyrus's activated in Problematic Probopass and Mad Magnezone II.
Sird's first used in Startling Staraptor.
Diamond's , Kit, was revealed to have as his Ability in Well Met, Weepinbell but couldn't activate it since 's cancelled it out with .
Cynthia's and Cyrus's both activated in Shunning Spiritomb.
========
Platinum's Lopunny activated her Ability in Getting the Drop on Gallade II to help her defeat Darach's .
The 's was revealed to have in Uprooting Seedot.
A belonging to the activated in Outlasting Ledian. A belonging to the Battle Factory also activated in the same chapter.
Diamond's Rotom was confirmed to have in Unplugging Rotom (Heat, Wash, Mow, Fan, Frost).
's activated in The Final Dimensional Duel X. In the same chapter, 's Reg, the , , , Palmer's , and Charon's all used via Marley's 's .
========
In All About Arceus IV, activated .
========
N's Zorua first used in Lost in the Big City.
Burgh's activated in Big City Battles.
Several wild used their Hidden Ability in To Make a Musical.
Elesa's used in Battle on a Roller Coaster.
Brycen's had in The Cold Hard Truth.
Brycen's activated in A Cold Reception. Drayden's was also mentioned to have as its Ability.
's Darmanitan activated its Hidden Ability Zen Mode in The Lesson Ends Here.
Marlon's used in The Tournament Continues.
Black's , Costa, activated in One Way or Another, but Iris's Haxorus negated it with .
========
In Deduction Time, Hugh's obtained via a 's 's .
========
Celosia's activated in Lucky Lucario Was Here.
's , Kanga and Li'l Kanga, activated as a Mega Kangaskhan in Charging After Electrike.
In Connecting with Gardevoir, Diantha mentioned that her has Trace as its Ability. In the same chapter, Gardevoir used as a Mega Gardevoir.
X's , Garma, activated his Ability as a Mega Gengar in Changing Gengar.
In Pyroar Breathes, X's , Élec, used his Ability to drain Lysandre's machine's energy.
X's Mega , Rute, used in Zygarde Appears.
Xerosic's used in Chesnaught Protects.
========
In Salamence Evolves, Zinnia's Salamence was mentioned to have Intimidate as its Ability. In the same chapter, Salamence used as a Mega Salamence.
 and activated and as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre respectively in Groudon Returns.
========
Professor Kukui's activated in The Announcement and the Prize.
's , Quarter, activated his Ability in Defeat and the Commander of the School of Fish.
's , Penny, activated his Ability in A Photoshoot and the Abandoned Thrifty Megamart.
Gladion's Silvally activated its Ability in Destroy!! Results of the Training!.
========
In Zap!! A Rising Beam of Light, 's ed a 's . However, this ended up activating Linoone's Hidden Ability, . In the same chapter, a Team Yell Grunt's burned a Dynamaxed , activating his Ability, . He was soon defeated and caught by Henry Sword.
In Gulp Gulp!! Pokémon, Casey's was mentioned to have his Hidden Ability, . In the same chapter, Hop's used its Ability, .
In Chomp!! It's Dracovish, Marnie's was shown to have the Ability .
In Cracking!! Brilliant Tap-Dancing, Casey's , Peta, activated his Ability .
========
In PASV09, 's was unaffected by Brassius's 's due to its Ability, . In the same chapter, Brassius's was able to survive a from Scarlet's thanks to its Ability, but it still fainted regardless due to receiving a burn from the attack.
In PASV12, Iono mentioned her had the Ability .
Mela's and Revavroom activated their Abilities, and , respectively, during her battle against .
===Pokémon Battle Frontier===
Enta's Vulpix activated in Enta Arrives at the Battle Frontier!.
's activated in Introducing the Frontier Brains!.
When Enta battled Lucy's Seviper with in The Predestined Battle!, Zangoose activated to prevent itself from being poisoned.
===Pocket Monsters BW: The Heroes of Fire and Thunder===
Togari's activated in Justice Trainer Shin Appears!.
===Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl===
 was shown to activate in 's imagination in PDP07 if used on it.
===Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!===
Saturn's activated to redirect Hareta's moves to it.
Hareta's has which activated after ing from B-2's .
Hareta's Piplup has , which powered up its moves.
Hareta's activated in A Novel Test!! on Candice's and but Regirock's prevented Intimidate from working. Regice and were revealed to have Clear Body in the same chapter but weren't shown activating it.
Hareta's Regigigas has , which proved to be a disadvantage for Hareta.
Koya's 's nearly defeated Hareta's Empoleon but a comeback with Empoleon's would have given Hareta the win but the battle was interrupted by Mitsumi's 's .
Koya's activated during a hailstorm.
===Pocket Monsters Platinum: Aim to Be Battle King!!===
In PBK1, 's had to minimize the damage taken from Yū Shirogane's Infernape's moves but Infernape's powered them back up.
Yū's received 's Ability after ped them in PBK4. Yū's Bronzong had in that same chapter.
Yū's had in PBK7.
===Pokémon Pocket Monsters===
Norman's activated in I Won't Let You Lead.
 and activated in PMHGSS20.
===Pocket Monsters XY: The Legend of the Pokémon Dragon King===
Taichi's has as its Ability.
==In the TCG==
Abilities under the name of Abilities did not appear in the until the expansion kicking off Generation V. However, this was merely a renaming of the longstanding Pokémon Powers. Pokémon Powers were very similar to Abilities, but were introduced much earlier, appearing in the very first during Generation I. In fact, some Abilities from the games originally appeared as Pokémon Powers. 
With the introduction of the , Pokémon Powers were split into two groups: Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies. Poké-Powers are special effects that the player must trigger or announce using. A Poké-Body's effect is a passive Ability that is always in effect. When Pokémon Powers were renamed to Abilities in , these distinctions were done away with.
==Trivia==
* is the only Pokémon that has two standard Abilities but does not have a Hidden Ability.
* The unused Ability was included in the coding for third-generation games as Ability #076 ( was #077). From the fourth generation, Cacophony was removed and Air Lock was renumbered as #076, with the new Abilities positioned from #077 onward.
* Generation III introduced the most Abilities, with a total of 76. Generation VI introduced the fewest, with a total of 27.
* In Generation III, there is an unused Ability placeholder labeled as "-------" with the description "No special ability".
* Every Ability introduced in Generation VIII is a signature Ability.
** Out of them, is the only one to have been given to a Pokémon that debuted after the Ability itself, being 's Hidden Ability.
==In other languages==
==References==
==Related articles==
* Ability variations
* List of Pokémon by Ability
* List of Abilities in other languages
* Signature Ability
* Hidden Ability
* 
* 
* 
* 
Category:Game mechanics
Category:Pokémon world
Category:Terminology
Category:Lists
*
de:Fähigkeit
es:Habilidad
fr:Talent
it:Abilità
ja:とくせい
zh:特性