Intimidate (Ability)

Intimidate	いかく
	Intimidation
Flavor text Generation III Lowers the foe’s Attack. Generation IV Lowers the foe’s Attack stat. Generation V Lowers the foe's Attack stat. Generation VI Currently unknown Generation VII Currently unknown Generation VIII Currently unknown Generation IX Currently unknown

Intimidate (Japanese: いかく Intimidation) is an Ability introduced in Generation III. Twenty-eight Pokémon can have this Ability.

Effect

In battle

Intimidate lowers the opponent's Attack stat by one stage upon entering the battle. It is triggered both when a battle begins and when a Pokémon with Intimidate switches into battle. It affects all opponents in Double and Triple Battles.

In Generations III and IV, Intimidate's activation message reads: "[Pokémon]'s Intimidate cuts [opponent]'s attack!". In Generation V, the message changed to "[opponent]'s Attack fell!".

Intimidate has no effect on Pokémon who are immune to Attack stat reductions, such as Pokémon with Clear Body, Hyper Cutter, or White Smoke.

In Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon attacking a Pokémon with this Ability with a physical attack will have a 20% attack penalty.

Outside of battle

From Pokémon Emerald onwards, if a Pokémon with Intimidate is leading the party, Intimidate decreases the chance of encountering a lower-level wild Pokémon by 50%. See also Keen Eye.

Pokémon with Intimidate

#	Pokémon		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
0023		Ekans	Poison		Poison	Intimidate	Shed Skin	Unnerve
0024		Arbok	Poison		Poison	Intimidate	Shed Skin	Unnerve
0058		Growlithe	Fire		Fire	Intimidate	Flash Fire	Justified
0059		Arcanine	Fire		Fire	Intimidate	Flash Fire	Justified
0128		Tauros	Normal		Normal	Intimidate	Anger Point	Sheer Force
0130		Gyarados	Water	Flying	Intimidate	None	Moxie
0209		Snubbull	Normal		Normal	Intimidate	Run Away	Rattled
0210		Granbull	Normal		Normal	Intimidate	Quick Feet	Rattled
0211		Qwilfish	Water	Poison	Poison Point	Swift Swim	Intimidate
0234		Stantler	Normal		Normal	Intimidate	Frisk	Sap Sipper
0237		Hitmontop	Fighting		Fighting	Intimidate	Technician	Steadfast
0262		Mightyena	Dark		Dark	Intimidate	Quick Feet	Moxie
0284		Masquerain	Bug	Flying	Intimidate	None	Unnerve
0303		Mawile	Steel		Steel	Hyper Cutter	Intimidate	Sheer Force
0373		Salamence	Dragon	Flying	Intimidate	None	Moxie
0397		Staravia	Normal	Flying	Intimidate	None	Reckless
0398		Staraptor	Normal	Flying	Intimidate	None	Reckless
0403		Shinx	Electric		Electric	Rivalry	Intimidate	Guts
0404		Luxio	Electric		Electric	Rivalry	Intimidate	Guts
0405		Luxray	Electric		Electric	Rivalry	Intimidate	Guts
0507		Herdier	Normal		Normal	Intimidate	Sand Rush	Scrappy
0508		Stoutland	Normal		Normal	Intimidate	Sand Rush	Scrappy
0551		Sandile	Ground	Dark	Intimidate	Moxie	Anger Point
0552		Krokorok	Ground	Dark	Intimidate	Moxie	Anger Point
0553		Krookodile	Ground	Dark	Intimidate	Moxie	Anger Point
0559		Scraggy	Dark	Fighting	Shed Skin	Moxie	Intimidate
0560		Scrafty	Dark	Fighting	Shed Skin	Moxie	Intimidate
645T	Landorus	Landorus	Ground	Flying	Intimidate	None	None
Please note that abilities marked with a superscript are only available in the stated generation or later. For Generation III and IV games, ignore Hidden Abilities.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Gyarados
When the user is sent out in battle, it reduces the opponent's attack strength.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In		Notes
	When Gyarados is sent out, the opponent's attack strength is lowered automatically.
Red's Gyara	The Battle Path		Debut

In the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure! manga

Luxio
The opponent's attack is lower when the user is sent out.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In		Notes
	Luxio makes a face that decreases the opponent's attack.
Hareta's Luxio	A Novel Test!!		Debut

Trivia

• Although most Pokémon with this Ability have menacing physical features, some Pokémon (like Hitmontop and Staravia) do not have obvious physical attributes that would inspire fear or unease, the most notorious one being Shinx, who can even be classified as a "cute" Pokémon. Its evolutions, Luxio and Luxray, however, would have these attributes.
• All six Pokémon that can only have this Ability are part-Flying-type, not including Hidden Abilities.

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 威嚇 Wēi​hè​ French Intimidation German Bedroher Italian Prepotenza Korean 위협 Wihyeop Portuguese Intimidar Spanish Intimidación

This article is part of Project Moves and Abilities, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.