Ability

The contents of this article have been suggested to be split into List of Abilities and List of Abilities by media appearance.
Please discuss it on the talk page for this article.

An Ability (Japanese: 特性 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; some of them are hindering.

Gardevoir activating Trace and copying the opposing Steelix's Ability, Sturdy

A Pokémon's Ability was often originally referred to as a "special ability",^[1] "special Ability",^[2] or "Sp. Ability"^[3] in Generation III, or sometimes simply "ability" until Generation V,^[4] after which it is consistently capitalized as "Ability".

Abilities are functionally absent in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

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 Eevee—with two non-Hidden Abilities—has Run Away for its first non-Hidden slot, Adaptability for its second, and Anticipation for its Hidden Ability slot. Vaporeon—with only one non-Hidden Ability—can be considered to have Water Absorb for both non-Hidden slots. When a Pokémon evolves, its Ability slot remains the same. This means that a Poochyena with Run Away will evolve into a Mightyena with Intimidate, while a Poochyena with Quick Feet will evolve into a Mightyena with Quick Feet.

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 V, 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 outside of battle.

Hidden Abilities

Main article: Hidden Ability

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 Caterpie with its Hidden Ability of Run Away will have Shed Skin upon evolving once and Tinted Lens upon evolving into Butterfree. 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 breeding with a Pokémon that has its Hidden Ability, its offspring have a chance of having their Hidden Ability as well.

Inheriting Abilities

Main article: Pokémon breeding → Inheriting Abilities

In Generations III and IV, Abilities could not be inherited by breeding. 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 Pokémon Black and White, 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 Black 2 and White 2, 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 Ditto.

Since Generation VI, it is possible for male and gender-unknown Pokémon (such as Magnemite) 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		Effect	Gen.
Ability Capsule	Item		Permanently changes a Pokémon's Ability slot	VI
Ability Patch	Item		Permanently changes a Pokémon's non-Hidden Ability to its Hidden Ability	VIII

Protecting Abilities in battle

These items protect the holder's Ability from some effects in battle.

Name	Category		Effect	Gen.
Ability Shield	Item		Protects the holder's Ability from being changed and from effects that bypass it	IX

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 an effect triggered by switching, like Natural Cure, it will function properly.

Name	Category		Effect	Gen.
Transform	Normal	Status	Copies the target Pokémon, including its Ability	I
Role Play	Psychic	Status	Replaces the user's Ability with the target's Ability	III
Skill Swap	Psychic	Status	Exchanges the Abilities of the user and the target	III
Trace	Ability		Copies an opposing Pokémon's Ability upon entering battle	III
Worry Seed	Grass	Status	Changes the target's Ability to Insomnia	IV
Entrainment	Normal	Status	Changes the target's Ability to match the user's	V
Mummy	Ability		Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Mummy	V
Simple Beam	Normal	Status	Changes the target's Ability to Simple	V
Power of Alchemy	Ability		Copies the Ability of a defeated ally	VII
Receiver	Ability		Copies the Ability of a defeated ally	VII
Wandering Spirit	Ability		Contact with the Pokémon exchanges the Abilities of both Pokémon	VIII
Doodle	Normal	Status	Changes the Ability of the user and its ally to match the target's	IX
Lingering Aroma	Ability		Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Lingering Aroma	IX

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		Effect	Gen.
Gastro Acid	Poison	Status	Suppresses the target's Ability	IV
Core Enforcer	Dragon	Special	Does damage and suppresses the target's Ability if it has already had its turn	VII
Neutralizing Gas	Ability		Suppresses the effects of all Pokémon's Abilities	VIII

Countering other Abilities

Hindering Abilities

These moves and Abilities have an effect that ignores most Abilities that hamper the success, damage, or effects of moves.

Name	Category		Effect	Gen.
Mold Breaker	Ability		Moves ignore most Abilities	IV
Teravolt	Ability		Moves ignore most Abilities	V
Turboblaze	Ability		Moves ignore most Abilities	V
Light That Burns the Sky	Psychic	Special	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VII
Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom	Ghost	Special	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VII
Moongeist Beam	Ghost	Special	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VII
Photon Geyser	Psychic	Special	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VII
Searing Sunraze Smash	Steel	Physical	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VII
Sunsteel Strike	Steel	Physical	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VII
G-Max Drum Solo	Grass	Varies	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VIII
G-Max Fireball	Fire	Varies	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VIII
G-Max Hydrosnipe	Water	Varies	Does damage and ignores most Abilities	VIII

Other

Name	Category		Effect	Gen.
Aura Break	Ability		The effects of "Aura" Abilities are reversed to lower the power of affected moves.	VI

Synergistic Abilities

The Abilities below interact beneficially with each other.

Name	Category		Effect	Gen.
Minus/Plus	Ability		Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat by 50% if an ally with the Plus or Minus Ability is also in battle.	III

Countering other Ability and move effects

These Abilities counter effects of other Abilities and moves.

Name	Category	Effect	Gen.
Clear Body	Ability	The Pokémon's stats cannot be lowered by other Pokémon's moves or Abilities.	III
White Smoke	Ability	The Pokémon's stats cannot be lowered by other Pokémon's moves or Abilities.	III
Full Metal Body	Ability	Prevents other Pokémon's moves or Abilities from lowering the Pokémon's stats.	VII
Propeller Tail	Ability	Ignores the effects of opposing Pokémon's Abilities and moves that draw in moves.	VIII
Stalwart	Ability	The Pokémon ignores the effects of Abilities and moves that draw in moves.	VIII

List of Abilities

Ability descriptions in this table are from their most recent video game appearances. For specifics on past games, see each individual Ability page.

#	Name	Description	Gen.
1	Stench	When the Pokémon deals damage with its moves, there is a 10% chance that targets will flinch.	III
2	Drizzle	Summons rain for 5 turns when the Pokémon enters a battle.	III
3	Speed Boost	Boosts the Pokémon's Speed stat by 1 stage at the end of every turn.	III
4	Battle Armor	Attacks landed on the Pokémon will never be critical hits.	III
5	Sturdy	If the Pokémon has full HP and takes damage from a move that would knock it out in one hit, it will endure the hit with 1 HP. The Pokémon is also immune to one-hit KO moves.	III
6	Damp	All Pokémon become unable to use explosive moves. Explosive Abilities also fail to trigger.	III
7	Limber	The Pokémon cannot be paralyzed.	III
8	Sand Veil	Boosts the Pokémon's evasiveness by 25% in a sandstorm.	III
9	Static	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker has a 30% chance of being paralyzed.	III
10	Volt Absorb	Electric-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they restore 1/4 of its max HP.	III
11	Water Absorb	Water-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they restore 1/4 of its max HP.	III
12	Oblivious	The Pokémon cannot gain the Infatuated or Taunted statuses and is unaffected by Intimidate.	III
13	Cloud Nine	Eliminates the effects of weather.	III
14	Compound Eyes	Boosts the accuracy of the Pokémon's moves by 30%.	III
15	Insomnia	The Pokémon cannot become drowsy or be put to sleep.	III
16	Color Change	The Pokémon's type becomes the type of the move used on it.	III
17	Immunity	The Pokémon cannot be poisoned or badly poisoned.	III
18	Flash Fire	Fire-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they give the Pokémon the Flash Fire status.	III
19	Shield Dust	The Pokémon is immune to additional effects from attacks.	III
20	Own Tempo	The Pokémon cannot become confused and is unaffected by Intimidate.	III
21	Suction Cups	The Pokémon is unaffected by the moves and held items of other Pokémon that would force it to switch out of battle.	III
22	Intimidate	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it lowers the Attack stats of opponents by 1 stage.	III
23	Shadow Tag	Opponents cannot be switched out of battle.	III
24	Rough Skin	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker takes damage equal to 1/8 of its max HP.	III
25	Wonder Guard	Its mysterious power only lets supereffective moves hit the Pokémon.	III
26	Levitate	The Pokémon floats off the ground, making it immune to Ground-type moves, as well as the Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web statuses.	III
27	Effect Spore	Contact with the Pokémon may inflict poison, sleep, or paralysis on the attacker.	III
28	Synchronize	If the Pokémon is burned, paralyzed, poisoned, or badly poisoned by another Pokémon's move or Ability, that Pokémon will also be inflicted with the same status condition.	III
29	Clear Body	The Pokémon's stats cannot be lowered by other Pokémon's moves or Abilities.	III
30	Natural Cure	The Pokémon's status conditions are cured when it switches out of battle.	III
31	Lightning Rod	The Pokémon draws in all Electric-type moves. These moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they boost its Sp. Atk stat by 1 stage.	III
32	Serene Grace	Raises the likelihood of additional effects occurring when the Pokémon uses its moves.	III
33	Swift Swim	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat in rain.	III
34	Chlorophyll	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat in harsh sunlight.	III
35	Illuminate	The Pokémon ignores changes to targets' evasiveness and its accuracy cannot be lowered.	III
36	Trace	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it changes its Ability to match that of an opponent.	III
37	Huge Power	Doubles the power of the Pokémon's physical moves.	III
38	Poison Point	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker has a 30% chance of being poisoned.	III
39	Inner Focus	The Pokémon never flinches when attacked and is unaffected by Intimidate.	III
40	Magma Armor	The Pokémon cannot be frozen.	III
41	Water Veil	The Pokémon's water veil prevents it from being burned.	III
42	Magnet Pull	Prevents Steel-type Pokémon from fleeing by pulling them in with magnetism.	III
43	Soundproof	The Pokémon is immune to sound-based moves.	III
44	Rain Dish	The Pokémon has 1/16 of its max HP restored at the end of every turn in rain.	III
45	Sand Stream	Summons a sandstorm for 5 turns when the Pokémon enters a battle.	III
46	Pressure	Causes opponents to expend 1 more PP when using moves against the Pokémon.	III
47	Thick Fat	Halves the damage the Pokémon takes from Fire- and Ice-type moves.	III
48	Early Bird	The Pokémon awakens from sleep twice as fast as other Pokémon.	III
49	Flame Body	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker has a 30% chance of being burned.	III
50	Run Away	Enables a sure getaway from wild Pokémon.	III
51	Keen Eye	The Pokémon ignores changes to targets' evasiveness and its accuracy cannot be lowered.	III
52	Hyper Cutter	The Pokémon's Attack stat cannot be lowered by other Pokémon's moves or Abilities.	III
53	Pickup	If the Pokémon is not already holding an item, at the end of the turn it will pick up an item that was consumed by another Pokémon.	III
54	Truant	Each time the Pokémon uses a move, it spends the next turn loafing around.	III
55	Hustle	When the Pokémon uses physical moves, its Attack stat is boosted by 50%, but its accuracy is lowered by 20%.	III
56	Cute Charm	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker has a 30% chance of gaining the Infatuated status if the attacker and the Pokémon are of opposite genders.	III
57	Plus	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat by 50% if an ally with the Plus or Minus Ability is also in battle.	III
58	Minus	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat by 50% if an ally with the Plus or Minus Ability is also in battle.	III
59	Forecast	The Pokémon transforms with the weather to change its type to Water, Fire, or Ice.	III
60	Sticky Hold	The Pokémon's held item cannot be stolen or removed by other Pokémon.	III
61	Shed Skin	The Pokémon has a 30% chance of curing its own status conditions at the end of every turn.	III
62	Guts	When the Pokémon has a status condition, its Attack stat is boosted by 50%. Being burned does not halve the damage dealt by the Pokémon's physical moves.	III
63	Marvel Scale	When the Pokémon has a status condition, its Defense stat is boosted by 50%.	III
64	Liquid Ooze	The strong stench of the Pokémon's oozed liquid damages attackers that use HP-draining moves.	III
65	Overgrow	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's Grass-type moves by 50% when its HP drops to 1/3 or less of its max.	III
66	Blaze	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's Fire-type moves by 50% when its HP drops to 1/3 or less of its max.	III
67	Torrent	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's Water-type moves by 50% when its HP drops to 1/3 or less of its max.	III
68	Swarm	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's Bug-type moves by 50% when its HP drops to 1/3 or less of its max.	III
69	Rock Head	The Pokémon will not lose HP due to recoil damage from its moves.	III
70	Drought	Summons harsh sunlight for 5 turns when the Pokémon enters a battle.	III
71	Arena Trap	Prevents opposing Pokémon from fleeing from battle.	III
72	Vital Spirit	The Pokémon cannot become drowsy or be put to sleep.	III
73	White Smoke	The Pokémon's stats cannot be lowered by other Pokémon's moves or Abilities.	III
74	Pure Power	Doubles the power of the Pokémon's physical moves.	III
75	Shell Armor	Attacks landed on the Pokémon will never be critical hits.	III
76	Air Lock	Eliminates the effects of weather.	III
77	Tangled Feet	Doubles the Pokémon's evasiveness if it is confused.	IV
78	Motor Drive	Electric-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they boost its Speed stat by 1 stage.	IV
79	Rivalry	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's moves by 25% against targets of the same gender, and lowers it by 25% against targets of the opposite gender. The power remains the same as usual if either Pokémon's gender is unknown.	IV
80	Steadfast	When the Pokémon flinches, its Speed stat is boosted by 1 stage.	IV
81	Snow Cloak	Boosts the Pokémon's evasiveness by 25% in snow.	IV
82	Gluttony	If the Pokémon is holding a Berry to be eaten when its HP drops to 1/4 or less of its max, it will instead eat the Berry when its HP drops to 1/2 or less of its max.	IV
83	Anger Point	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat to its sixth stage when the Pokémon takes a critical hit.	IV
84	Unburden	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat when its held item is consumed or lost.	IV
85	Heatproof	Halves the damage the Pokémon takes from Fire-type moves and from being burned.	IV
86	Simple	Doubles the Pokémon's stat changes.	IV
87	Dry Skin	Water-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they restore 1/4 of its max HP. However, the Pokémon takes 25% more damage from Fire-type moves. The Pokémon has 1/8 of its max HP restored at the end of every turn in rain, but it loses 1/8 of its max HP at the end of every turn in harsh sunlight.	IV
88	Download	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.	IV
89	Iron Fist	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's punching moves by 20%.	IV
90	Poison Heal	If poisoned or badly poisoned, the Pokémon has 1/8 of its max HP restored at the end of every turn instead of losing HP.	IV
91	Adaptability	Boosts the power of moves of the same type as the Pokémon by 100% instead of 50%.	IV
92	Skill Link	The Pokémon's multistrike moves always hit the maximum number of times.	IV
93	Hydration	Cures the Pokémon's status conditions at the end of every turn in rain.	IV
94	Solar Power	In harsh sunlight, the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat is boosted by 50%, but it loses 1/8 of its max HP at the end of every turn.	IV
95	Quick Feet	When the Pokémon has a status condition, its Speed stat is boosted by 50%. Being paralyzed does not lower the Pokémon's Speed stat.	IV
96	Normalize	All the Pokémon's moves become Normal type. The power of those moves is boosted a little.	IV
97	Sniper	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's critical hits by 125% instead of 50%.	IV
98	Magic Guard	The Pokémon takes damage only from attacks.	IV
99	No Guard	The accuracy of moves used both by and against the Pokémon becomes 100%.	IV
100	Stall	The Pokémon's moves go last among moves of the same priority.	IV
101	Technician	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's moves by 50% if their power is 60 or less.	IV
102	Leaf Guard	The Pokémon is immune to status conditions in harsh sunlight.	IV
103	Klutz	Items do not work when held by the Pokémon.	IV
104	Mold Breaker	The Pokémon's moves are unaffected by the Ability of the target (with certain exceptions).	IV
105	Super Luck	The Pokémon has a 1-stage Critical-Hit Ratio Boost.	IV
106	Aftermath	Attackers that knock out the Pokémon with a contact move take damage equal to 1/4 of their max HP.	IV
107	Anticipation	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it senses whether the opponents know any one-hit KO moves or moves that are super effective against it.	IV
108	Forewarn	When it enters a battle, the Pokémon can tell one of the moves an opposing Pokémon has.	IV
109	Unaware	The Pokémon ignores the target's stat changes when attacking, and ignores the attacker's stat changes when being attacked. It cannot ignore changes to the Speed stat, however.	IV
110	Tinted Lens	The Pokémon can use "not very effective" moves to deal regular damage.	IV
111	Filter	Reduces the damage the Pokémon takes from supereffective moves by 25%.	IV
112	Slow Start	For five turns, the Pokémon's Attack and Speed stats are halved.	IV
113	Scrappy	The Pokémon can hit Ghost types with Normal- and Fighting-type moves. It is also unaffected by Intimidate.	IV
114	Storm Drain	The Pokémon draws in all Water-type moves. Instead of taking damage from them, its Sp. Atk stat is boosted.	IV
115	Ice Body	The Pokémon has 1/16 of its max HP restored at the end of every turn in snow.	IV
116	Solid Rock	Reduces the damage the Pokémon takes from supereffective moves by 25%.	IV
117	Snow Warning	Summons snow for 5 turns when the Pokémon enters a battle.	IV
118	Honey Gather	The Pokémon may gather Honey after a battle.	IV
119	Frisk	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it identifies opponents' held items.	IV
120	Reckless	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's moves by 20% if they have recoil or crash damage.	IV
121	Multitype	Changes the Pokémon's type to match the plate it holds.	IV
122	Flower Gift	Boosts the Attack and Sp. Def stats of the Pokémon and its allies in harsh sunlight.	IV
123	Bad Dreams	Damages opposing Pokémon that are asleep.	IV
124	Pickpocket	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, it will steal the held item of the attacker if it is not already holding an item.	V
125	Sheer Force	The Pokémon's moves lose their additional effects, but the power of those moves will be boosted by 30%.	V
126	Contrary	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.	V
127	Unnerve	Makes opponents unable to eat Berries.	V
128	Defiant	When the Pokémon has any of its stats lowered by an opponent, its Attack stat is boosted by 2 stages.	V
129	Defeatist	Halves the Pokémon's Attack and Sp. Atk stats when its HP drops to half or less.	V
130	Cursed Body	When the Pokémon takes damage from a move, the attacker has a 30% chance of gaining the Move Disabled status for 4 turns.	V
131	Healer	The Pokémon has a 50% chance of curing the status conditions of its allies at the end of every turn.	V
132	Friend Guard	Reduces the damage allies take by 25%.	V
133	Weak Armor	When the Pokémon takes damage from a physical move, its Defense stat is lowered by 1 stage, but its Speed stat is boosted by 2 stages.	V
134	Heavy Metal	Doubles the Pokémon's weight.	V
135	Light Metal	Halves the Pokémon's weight.	V
136	Multiscale	Halves the damage the Pokémon takes while its HP is full.	V
137	Toxic Boost	Powers up physical moves when the Pokémon is poisoned.	V
138	Flare Boost	Powers up special moves when the Pokémon is burned.	V
139	Harvest	If the Pokémon has used a Berry, it has a 50% chance of creating another one at the end of every turn. In harsh sunlight, the Pokémon will definitely create a Berry.	V
140	Telepathy	The Pokémon dodges attacks from its allies.	V
141	Moody	At the end of every turn, one of the Pokémon's stats will be boosted by 2 stages, but another will be lowered by 1 stage	V
142	Overcoat	The Pokémon takes no damage from sandstorms and is immune to moves and Abilities involving powder.	V
143	Poison Touch	When the Pokémon hits a target with a contact move, the target has a 30% chance of being poisoned.	V
144	Regenerator	The Pokémon has 1/3 of its max HP restored when it switches out of battle.	V
145	Big Pecks	The Pokémon's Defense stat cannot be lowered by other Pokémon's moves or Abilities.	V
146	Sand Rush	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat in a sandstorm.	V
147	Wonder Skin	Makes status moves more likely to miss the Pokémon.	V
148	Analytic	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's moves by 30% when the Pokémon is the last to move that turn.	V
149	Illusion	The Pokémon enters battle disguised as the last Pokémon in its party. It reverts to its usual appearance when it takes damage from a move.	V
150	Imposter	The Pokémon transforms into the Pokémon in front of it. It also copies all of that Pokémon's stats apart from its HP.	V
151	Infiltrator	When using its moves, the Pokémon ignores the effects of targets' Light Screen, Reflect, Aurora Veil, Safeguard, and substitutes.	V
152	Mummy	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker has its Ability changed to Mummy.	V
153	Moxie	When the Pokémon knocks out a target with an attack, its Attack stat is boosted by 1 stage.	V
154	Justified	When the Pokémon takes damage from a Dark-type move, its Attack stat is boosted by 1 stage.	V
155	Rattled	The Pokémon gets scared when hit by a Dark-, Ghost-, or Bug-type attack or if intimidated, which boosts its Speed stat.	V
156	Magic Bounce	Instead of being affected by other Pokémon's status moves, the Pokémon bounces them back at the user.	V
157	Sap Sipper	Grass-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they boost its Attack stat by 1 stage.	V
158	Prankster	Increases the priority of the Pokémon's status moves by 1 stage.	V
159	Sand Force	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's Rock-, Ground-, and Steel-type moves by 30% in a sandstorm.	V
160	Iron Barbs	The Pokémon's iron barbs damage the attacker if it makes direct contact.	V
161	Zen Mode	Changes the Pokémon's shape when its HP drops to half or less.	V
162	Victory Star	Boosts the accuracy of the Pokémon and its allies.	V
163	Turboblaze	The Pokémon's moves are unimpeded by the Ability of the target.	V
164	Teravolt	The Pokémon's moves are unimpeded by the Ability of the target.	V
165	Aroma Veil	The Pokémon and its allies cannot gain the Infatuated, Taunted, Unable to Repeat, Move Disabled, Healing Prevented, or Encore statuses.	VI
166	Flower Veil	Grass-type allies are immune to status conditions and cannot have their stats lowered.	VI
167	Cheek Pouch	The Pokémon has 1/3 of its max HP restored when it eats a Berry, in addition to the Berry's usual effect.	VI
168	Protean	Changes the Pokémon's type to the type of the move it's about to use. This works only once per time the Pokémon enters battle.	VI
169	Fur Coat	Halves the damage the Pokémon takes from physical moves.	VI
170	Magician	If the Pokémon is not already holding an item, it will steal the held item from targets it deals damage to with its moves.	VI
171	Bulletproof	The Pokémon is immune to ball and bomb moves.	VI
172	Competitive	When the Pokémon has any of its stats lowered by an opponent, its Sp. Atk stat is boosted by 2 stages.	VI
173	Strong Jaw	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's biting moves by 50%.	VI
174	Refrigerate	The Pokémon's Normal-type moves become Ice-type moves and their power is boosted by 20%.	VI
175	Sweet Veil	The Pokémon and its allies cannot become drowsy or be put to sleep.	VI
176	Stance Change	The Pokémon changes into its Blade Forme when it attacks and changes into its Shield Forme when it uses the move King's Shield.	VI
177	Gale Wings	Increases the priority of the Pokémon's Flying-type moves by 1 stage while its HP is full.	VI
178	Mega Launcher	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's pulse moves by 50%.	VI
179	Grass Pelt	Boosts the Pokémon's Defense stat on Grassy Terrain.	VI
180	Symbiosis	When an ally consumes an item, the Pokémon gives its own held item to that ally.	VI
181	Tough Claws	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's contact moves by 30%.	VI
182	Pixilate	The Pokémon's Normal-type moves become Fairy-type moves and their power is boosted by 20%.	VI
183	Gooey	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, the attacker's Speed stat is lowered by 1 stage.	VI
184	Aerilate	The Pokémon's Normal-type moves become Flying-type moves and their power is boosted by 20%.	VI
185	Parental Bond	The parent and child attack one after the other. The power of the child's attacks is 1/4 of those of the parent.	VI
186	Dark Aura	Powers up the Dark-type moves of all Pokémon on the field.	VI
187	Fairy Aura	Boosts the power of the Fairy-type moves of all Pokémon on the field by 33%.	VI
188	Aura Break	The effects of "Aura" Abilities are reversed to lower the power of affected moves.	VI
189	Primordial Sea	The Pokémon changes the weather to nullify Fire-type attacks.	VI
190	Desolate Land	The Pokémon changes the weather to nullify Water-type attacks.	VI
191	Delta Stream	The Pokémon changes the weather so that no moves are supereffective against the Flying type.	VI
192	Stamina	When the Pokémon takes damage from a move, its Defense stat is boosted by 1 stage.	VII
193	Wimp Out	The Pokémon cowardly switches out when its HP drops to half or less.	VII
194	Emergency Exit	The Pokémon, sensing danger, switches out when its HP drops to half or less.	VII
195	Water Compaction	Boosts the Defense stat sharply when the Pokémon is hit by a Water-type move.	VII
196	Merciless	The Pokémon's attacks become critical hits if the target is poisoned or badly poisoned.	VII
197	Shields Down	When its HP drops to half or less, the Pokémon's shell breaks and it becomes aggressive.	VII
198	Stakeout	Doubles the damage dealt to a target that has just switched into battle.	VII
199	Water Bubble	Halves the damage the Pokémon takes from Fire-type moves and doubles the power of its Water-type moves. The Pokémon cannot be burned.	VII
200	Steelworker	Powers up Steel-type moves.	VII
201	Berserk	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat by 1 stage when an attack causes its HP to drop to 1/2 or less of its max.	VII
202	Slush Rush	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat in snow.	VII
203	Long Reach	None of the moves used by the Pokémon are considered contact moves.	VII
204	Liquid Voice	The Pokémon's sound-based moves become Water-type moves.	VII
205	Triage	Gives priority to the Pokémon's healing moves.	VII
206	Galvanize	Normal-type moves become Electric-type moves. The power of those moves is boosted a little.	VII
207	Surge Surfer	Doubles the Pokémon's Speed stat on Electric Terrain.	VII
208	Schooling	When it has a lot of HP, the Pokémon forms a powerful school. It stops schooling when its HP is low.	VII
209	Disguise	When the Pokémon is in its Disguised Form and would take damage from a move, it loses 1/8 of its max HP instead of taking the damage, then changes into its Busted Form.	VII
210	Battle Bond	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, its bond with its Trainer is strengthened, and its Attack, Sp. Atk, and Speed stats are boosted.	VII
211	Power Construct	Cells gather to aid the Pokémon when its HP drops to half or less, causing it to change into its Complete Forme.	VII
212	Corrosion	The Pokémon can poison or badly poison targets even if they're Steel or Poison types.	VII
213	Comatose	The Pokémon is always drowsing and will never wake up. It can attack while in its sleeping state.	VII
214	Queenly Majesty	Opponents are unable to use priority moves against the Pokémon or its allies.	VII
215	Innards Out	When the Pokémon takes damage from a move that knocks it out, it deals the same amount of damage to the attacker.	VII
216	Dancer	Whenever a dance move is used in battle, the Pokémon will copy the user to immediately perform that dance move itself.	VII
217	Battery	Powers up ally Pokémon's special moves.	VII
218	Fluffy	Halves the damage taken from moves that make direct contact, but doubles that of Fire-type moves.	VII
219	Dazzling	The Pokémon dazzles its opponents, making them unable to use priority moves against the Pokémon or its allies.	VII
220	Soul-Heart	Boosts the Pokémon's Sp. Atk stat every time another Pokémon faints.	VII
221	Tangling Hair	Contact with the Pokémon lowers the attacker's Speed stat.	VII
222	Receiver	The Pokémon changes its Ability to match that of a defeated ally.	VII
223	Power of Alchemy	The Pokémon copies the Ability of a defeated ally.	VII
224	Beast Boost	Boosts the Pokémon's most proficient stat every time it knocks out a target.	VII
225	RKS System	Changes the Pokémon's type to match the memory disc it holds.	VII
226	Electric Surge	Turns the ground into Electric Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle.	VII
227	Psychic Surge	Turns the ground into Psychic Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle.	VII
228	Misty Surge	Turns the ground into Misty Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle.	VII
229	Grassy Surge	Turns the ground into Grassy Terrain when the Pokémon enters a battle.	VII
230	Full Metal Body	Prevents other Pokémon's moves or Abilities from lowering the Pokémon's stats.	VII
231	Shadow Shield	Reduces the amount of damage the Pokémon takes while its HP is full.	VII
232	Prism Armor	Reduces the power of supereffective attacks that hit the Pokémon.	VII
233	Neuroforce	Powers up the Pokémon's supereffective attacks even further.	VII
234	Intrepid Sword	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat the first time the Pokémon enters a battle.	VIII
235	Dauntless Shield	Boosts the Pokémon's Defense stat the first time the Pokémon enters a battle.	VIII
236	Libero	Changes the Pokémon's type to the type of the move it's about to use. This works only once each time the Pokémon enters battle.	VIII
237	Ball Fetch	If the Pokémon is not holding an item, it will fetch the Poké Ball from the first failed throw of the battle.	VIII
238	Cotton Down	When the Pokémon is hit by an attack, it scatters cotton fluff around and lowers the Speed stats of all Pokémon except itself.	VIII
239	Propeller Tail	Ignores the effects of opposing Pokémon's Abilities and moves that draw in moves.	VIII
240	Mirror Armor	Instead of being affected by stat-lowering effects, the Pokémon bounces them back at whichever Pokémon caused them.	VIII
241	Gulp Missile	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.	VIII
242	Stalwart	The Pokémon ignores the effects of Abilities and moves that draw in moves.	VIII
243	Steam Engine	Boosts the Speed stat drastically when the Pokémon is hit by a Fire- or Water-type move.	VIII
244	Punk Rock	Boosts the power of sound-based moves. The Pokémon also takes half the damage from these kinds of moves.	VIII
245	Sand Spit	Summons a sandstorm for 5 turns when the Pokémon takes damage from moves.	VIII
246	Ice Scales	The Pokémon is protected by ice scales, which halve the damage taken from special moves.	VIII
247	Ripen	Doubles the effects of Berries eaten by the Pokémon.	VIII
248	Ice Face	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.	VIII
249	Power Spot	Just being next to the Pokémon powers up moves.	VIII
250	Mimicry	The Pokémon's type changes depending on the terrain.	VIII
251	Screen Cleaner	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it removes the Light Screen, Reflect, and Aurora Veil statuses.	VIII
252	Steely Spirit	Powers up the Steel-type moves of the Pokémon and its allies.	VIII
253	Perish Body	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.	VIII
254	Wandering Spirit	When the Pokémon is hit by a contact move, it swaps Abilities with the attacker.	VIII
255	Gorilla Tactics	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat, but only allows the use of the first selected move.	VIII
256	Neutralizing Gas	While the Pokémon is in the battle, the effects of all other Pokémon's Abilities will be nullified or will not be triggered.	VIII
257	Pastel Veil	Prevents the Pokémon and its allies from being poisoned.	VIII
258	Hunger Switch	The Pokémon changes its form, alternating between its Full Belly Mode and Hangry Mode at the end of every turn.	VIII
259	Quick Draw	The Pokémon's moves have a 30% chance of going first among moves of the same priority.	VIII
260	Unseen Fist	When the Pokémon uses contact moves, it can hit even targets that are protecting themselves, dealing 1/4 of the damage that the move would otherwise deal. Everything aside from the target's protective effects is still triggered.	VIII
261	Curious Medicine	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it removes all stat changes from its allies.	VIII
262	Transistor	Powers up Electric-type moves.	VIII
263	Dragon's Maw	Powers up Dragon-type moves.	VIII
264	Chilling Neigh	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, it utters a chilling neigh, which boosts its Attack stat.	VIII
265	Grim Neigh	When the Pokémon knocks out a target, it utters a terrifying neigh, which boosts its Sp. Atk stat.	VIII
266	As One	This Ability combines the effects of both Calyrex's Unnerve Ability and Glastrier's Chilling Neigh Ability.	VIII
267	As One	This Ability combines the effects of both Calyrex's Unnerve Ability and Spectrier's Grim Neigh Ability.	VIII
268	Lingering Aroma	Contact with the Pokémon changes the attacker's Ability to Lingering Aroma.	IX
269	Seed Sower	Turns the ground into Grassy Terrain when the Pokémon is hit by an attack.	IX
270	Thermal Exchange	Boosts the Attack stat when the Pokémon is hit by a Fire-type move. The Pokémon also cannot be burned.	IX
271	Anger Shell	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.	IX
272	Purifying Salt	Halves the damage the Pokémon takes from Ghost-type moves. The Pokémon is immune to status conditions.	IX
273	Well-Baked Body	The Pokémon takes no damage when hit by Fire-type moves. Instead, its Defense stat is sharply boosted.	IX
274	Wind Rider	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.	IX
275	Guard Dog	Boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat if intimidated. Moves and items that would force the Pokémon to switch out also fail to work.	IX
276	Rocky Payload	Powers up Rock-type moves.	IX
277	Wind Power	The Pokémon becomes charged when it is hit by a wind move, boosting the power of the next Electric-type move the Pokémon uses.	IX
278	Zero to Hero	The Pokémon changes into its Hero Form when it switches out of battle.	IX
279	Commander	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.	IX
280	Electromorphosis	When the Pokémon takes damage from a move, it gains the Electric Boost status.	IX
281	Protosynthesis	Boosts the Pokémon's most proficient stat in harsh sunlight or if the Pokémon is holding Booster Energy.	IX
282	Quark Drive	Boosts the Pokémon's most proficient stat on Electric Terrain or if the Pokémon is holding Booster Energy.	IX
283	Good as Gold	A body of pure, solid gold gives the Pokémon full immunity to other Pokémon's status moves.	IX
284	Vessel of Ruin	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous vessel lowers the Sp. Atk stats of all Pokémon except itself.	IX
285	Sword of Ruin	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous sword lowers the Defense stats of all Pokémon except itself.	IX
286	Tablets of Ruin	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous wooden tablets lowers the Attack stats of all Pokémon except itself.	IX
287	Beads of Ruin	The power of the Pokémon's ruinous beads lowers the Sp. Def stats of all Pokémon except itself.	IX
288	Orichalcum Pulse	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.	IX
289	Hadron Engine	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.	IX
290	Opportunist	When an opponent's stats are boosted, the Pokémon boosts its own stats in the exact same way.	IX
291	Cud Chew	If the Pokémon eats a Berry, it will eat that same Berry once more at the end of the next turn.	IX
292	Sharpness	Boosts the power of the Pokémon's slicing moves by 50%.	IX
293	Supreme Overlord	When the Pokémon enters a battle, the power of its moves is boosted by 10% for each Pokémon in its party that has been defeated in the battle already. The maximum boost is 50%.	IX
294	Costar	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it copies an ally's stat changes.	IX
295	Toxic Debris	When the Pokémon takes damage from a physical move, it gives the opponent's side the Toxic Spikes status.	IX
296	Armor Tail	Opponents are unable to use priority moves against the Pokémon or its allies.	IX
297	Earth Eater	Ground-type moves do not work on the Pokémon. Instead, they restore 1/4 of its max HP.	IX
298	Mycelium Might	The Pokémon will always act more slowly when using status moves, but these moves will be unimpeded by the Ability of the target.	IX
299	Hospitality	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it restores 1/4 of its ally's max HP.	IX
300	Mind's Eye	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.	IX
301	Embody Aspect	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Teal Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Speed stat to be boosted.	IX
302	Embody Aspect	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Hearthflame Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Attack stat to be boosted.	IX
303	Embody Aspect	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Wellspring Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Sp. Def stat to be boosted.	IX
304	Embody Aspect	The Pokémon's heart fills with memories, causing the Cornerstone Mask to shine and the Pokémon's Defense stat to be boosted.	IX
305	Toxic Chain	The power of the Pokémon's toxic chain may badly poison any target the Pokémon hits with a move.	IX
306	Supersweet Syrup	When the Pokémon enters a battle, opponents' evasiveness is lowered by 1 stage. This Ability is triggered only once per battle.	IX
307	Tera Shift	When the Pokémon enters a battle, it absorbs the energy around itself and transforms into its Terastal Form.	IX
308	Tera Shell	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.	IX
309	Teraform Zero	When Terapagos changes into its Stellar Form, it uses its hidden powers to eliminate all effects of weather and terrain, reducing them to zero.	IX
310	Poison Puppeteer	Pokémon poisoned by Pecharunt's moves will also become confused.	IX
311	Piercing Drill	When the Pokémon uses contact moves, it can hit even targets that are protecting themselves, dealing 1/4 of the damage that the move would otherwise deal. Everything aside from the target's protective effects is still triggered.	IX
312	Dragonize	The Pokémon's Normal-type moves become Dragon-type moves and their power is boosted by 20%.	IX
315	Mega Sol	Even when the sunlight has not turned harsh, the Pokémon can use its moves as if the weather were harsh sunlight.	IX
318	Spicy Spray	When the Pokémon takes damage from a move, it burns the attacker.	IX

Alternatives

Generation II

Prior to the introduction of Abilities, the Generation II games already featured a mechanic similar to Pickup and Honey Gather uniquely available to a single Pokémon species: after each battle, a Berry held by a Shuckle has a 1/16 chance of transforming into Berry Juice. No other Pokémon has this trait, and it has not returned in subsequent games.

Generation VIII

While Abilities are absent in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the effects of Flower Gift and Slow Start are nonetheless applied to Cherrim and Regigigas respectively. Plates are also available as Key Items to change Arceus's form without Multitype.

Generation IX

While Abilities are absent in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the effects of Stance Change, Disguise, and Hunger Switch are nonetheless applied to Aegislash, Mimikyu, and Morpeko, respectively. Mega Starmie, Mega Mawile, Meditite, Medicham, and Mega Medicham have higher Attack base stats than they do in other games to compensate for the absence of Huge Power and Pure Power. Any Zygarde in 10% Forme or 50% Forme whose HP has fallen below half will change into Complete Forme at the end of its turn, in a similar vein to Power Construct. If Dondozo is sent out in battle while Tatsugiri is in the party, Tatsugiri will be swallowed by Dondozo, raising all of Dondozo's stats and preventing it from switching out, in a similar vein to Commander.

In other games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

Main article: Mystery Dungeon game mechanics → Abilities

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. Intimidate 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

Main article: List of Abilities in 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 Cute Charm and Rivalry 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 Range).

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 Pokémon UNITE, 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 Tyranitar having Guts as a Larvitar and Shed Skin as a Pupitar before gaining Sand Stream 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 Abilities usually correlate to their main series counterparts, such as how Garchomp's Rough Skin deals damage to opponents who hit it with physical melee attacks. However, this is not always the case, as Mewtwo's Pressure 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 Gardevoir and Mew have Synchronize, 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. Charizard, Cinderace, and Delphox all have Blaze 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 Pikachu's Static activating when it takes damage, cannot trigger again until a cooldown period has passed.

In some cases, like with Zoroark's Illusion and Hoopa's Magician, 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 Pokémon the Series, but are usually only used in battles; however, sometimes they have an effect on the plot, such as Infernape's Blaze. Abilities sometimes work differently in the animated series than they would in the games, such as Mold Breaker, which cancels out more Abilities in the animated series than it would in the games.

Pokémon the Series: Gold and Silver

The only Ability that was seen in the original series was Color Change, being used by Madison and Alexa's Kecleon in The Kecleon Caper. It was later used by Harrison's Kecleon in Playing With Fire!.

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

The first Ability to be seen other than Color Change was Rough Skin, first seen in Sharpedo Attack!. It was used by a wild Sharpedo.

In Now That's Flower Power! a Kecleon used Color Change.

In A Poké-BLOCK Party!, Alanna's Whismur used its Soundproof Ability to stay awake and listen to Jigglypuff's song.

Colonel Hansen's Shedinja used Wonder Guard to protect itself against Spike Cannon 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 Grovyle, using Static and Overgrow respectively.

Bart's Castform used Forecast in Unfair Weather Friends, turning into its Sunny and Rainy Form.

In The Garden of Eatin', Marcel's Vigoroth possessed Vital Spirit, which prevented it from falling asleep while fighting a Snorlax that kept using Yawn.

Both Drizzle and Drought were seen in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends respectively by Kyogre and Groudon.

In It's Still Rocket Roll to Me!, Liza's Lunatone used Levitate.

In Eight Ain't Enough, Juan's Luvdisc used Swift Swim to increase its speed.

In Showdown At Linoone, Kimmy's Linoone, Tokin, used Pickup to steal and take items to its private stash, including May's Poké Balls.

In At the End of the Fray, Tyson's Hariyama used Thick Fat to halve the damage it took from Ash's Torkoal's Flamethrower.

In Rough, Tough Jigglypuff, Lisa Mitchum's Jigglypuff used Cute Charm whilst her father's Loudred used Soundproof to stop Jigglypuff's Sing from working.

Angela's Kecleon used Color Change in From Cradle to Save, while Brock's Bonsly used Rock Head.

In Pinch Healing!, a wild Wooper used Water Absorb.

In Once More With Reeling!, May's Blaziken used its Blaze Ability while Ash's Sceptile used Overgrow during their Contest Battle in the Terracotta Contest.

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

Abilities proved important in the battles Paul and Ash had with Roark. During Paul's battle in Shapes of Things to Come!, his Elekid uses Static to paralyze Roark's Onix and Cranidos although the latter shakes it off with Mold Breaker. Paul also deliberately allows his Chimchar to take extra damage so that it can activate Blaze. After Ash's first match with Roark ends in defeat, Brock briefly lends him Sudowoodo 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 Rampardos and it is similarly ineffective.

In A Secret Sphere of Influence!, Officer Jenny's Stunky used Stench against Team Rocket.

Gardenia's Cherubi caught Ash by surprise during their first battle in The Grass Menagerie! when it was able to move very quickly with Chlorophyll.

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 Rhydon used by one of their opponents possessed Lightning Rod, rendering Pikachu's Electric-type attacks useless.

In Glory Blaze! Ash, Dawn, and Brock found Paul and his other Pokémon 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 Zangoose and when pushed to the limit it activated Blaze and defeated all of the Zangoose with Flame Wheel. 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.

Swift Swim was an important part of Ash's Buizel going toe to toe with Maylene's Lucario in A Triple Fighting Chance!

Blaze 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 Delcatty activated his Cute Charm Ability while battling Dawn's Ambipom in the final round of the Celestic Contest.

Brock's Croagunk first used his Anticipation Ability in Losing Its Lustrous!. He often used it to find Team Rocket and chase them off on his own.

Two Darkrai have used Bad Dreams. One used it in The Rise of Darkrai and another in Sleepless in Pre-Battle!.

In A Shield with a Twist!, Fantina's Gengar possessed Levitate.

In Dealing with Defensive Types!, Byron's Bronzor used its Heatproof Ability to minimize damage from Ash's Chimchar's Flamethrower.

In Another One Gabites the Dust!, Jessie's Yanmega activated her Speed Boost Ability while performing in the Chocovine Contest.

In Pursuing a Lofty Goal!, Paul's Honchkrow used its Ability Super Luck.

In Sliding Into Seventh!, Jeremiah's Skuntank was known to have Stench as it Ability, but the Ability was activated off-screen.

In Evolving Strategies!, Paul's Magmortar used its Flame Body Ability to burn Ash's Pikachu. Paul's Ursaring also used its Guts Ability when Ash's Pikachu's Static activated.

An Arceus used Multitype in Arceus and the Jewel of Life.

In Challenging a Towering Figure!, Palmer's Rhyperior used Solid Rock to lessen the damage from Ash's Grotle's Energy Ball.

A wild Trapinch used its Arena Trap Ability in A Rivalry to Gible On!.

A wild Heatran used Flash Fire in Pokémon Ranger: Heatran Rescue!.

Volkner's Electivire used its Motor Drive 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 Torrent Ability while battling Paul's Electivire in the third round of the Lily of the Valley Conference.

Paul's Aggron used its Rock Head Ability in Familiarity Breeds Strategy! to avoid damage from its Double-Edge attack. In the next episode, Paul's Froslass and Ninjask used Snow Cloak and Speed Boost, respectively.

Illusion was seen twice in Zoroark: Master of Illusions, being used by a Zoroark and Zorua.

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

A Hidden Ability was first seen in Saving Darmanitan From the Bell! by a Darmanitan using Zen Mode.

In A Rival Battle for Club Champ!, Trip's Tranquill activated Super Luck to easily defeat Ash's Oshawott and Tepig. Trip's Frillish later used Cursed Body.

In Here Comes the Trubbish Squad!, a wild Trubbish used its Ability Stench.

In A Night in the Nacrene City Museum!, Lenora's Watchog used its Illuminate Ability to reveal an invisible Yamask.

Ash's Sewaddle was revealed to have Swarm in A Connoisseur's Revenge! but he wasn't shown activating it. Cilan's Dwebble was shown using its Sturdy Ability in the same episode.

A wild Venipede used its Poison Point Ability to poison Ash in A Venipede Stampede!.

In Gotta Catch A Roggenrola!, Iris pointed out that Roggenrola 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 Garbodor used Stench.

In A Call for Brotherly Love!, Chili's Pansear used its Gluttony Ability.

In Battling the King of the Mines!, Ash's Boldore used its Sturdy Ability to stop a Horn Drill from working.

In The Clubsplosion Begins!, Edmund's Seismitoad used Swift Swim against Stephan's Sawk, but ended up losing.

In Goodbye, Junior Cup - Hello Adventure!, Alder's Bouffalant used Sap Sipper to negate Trip's Serperior's Solar Beam.

In The Road to Humilau!, Marlon's Jellicent 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 Zoroark used Illusion.

In The Journalist from Another Region!, a Trainer's Slaking was shown to have Truant as its Ability.

In Survival of the Striaton Gym!, Morana's Abomasnow used its Snow Warning Ability. Cilan's Pansage was confirmed to have Gluttony as his Ability in the same episode.

Pokémon the Series: XY

Clemont's Chespin used its Ability Overgrow in An Appetite for Battle! battling against a Delphox.

In Mega Evolution Special I, Siebold's Blastoise was shown to have Mega Launcher when Mega Evolved.

Both Dark Aura from Yveltal and Fairy Aura from Xerneas were seen in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction.

Ramos's Jumpluff and Weepinbell were both shown to have Chlorophyll as their Ability in The Green, Green Grass Types of Home!.

Ash's Goodra used its Ability Hydration in Ash's Gym battle against Clemont in The Moment of Lumiose Truth!.

Ash's Fletchinder used its Flame Body Ability in A Not-So-Flying Start! to help hatch an Egg that his Hawlucha found.

Both of Olympia's Meowstic were seen using their respective Abilities in All Eyes on the Future!, with the male Meowstic having his Hidden Ability Prankster and the female one having Keen Eye.

Two Abilities were seen in Mega Evolution Special IV, both in a battle against Alain's Charizard. A Mega Venusaur used Thick Fat to halve the damage it took from a Flamethrower. Malva's Houndoom later used Flash Fire to absorb another Flamethrower.

In Dream a Little Dream from Me!, a Darkrai activated its Ability Bad Dreams.

Sawyer's Clawitzer was shown to have Mega Launcher as its Ability during its battle against Ash in A Full-Strength Battle Surprise!.

Wulfric's Abomasnow was shown to have Snow Warning as its Ability during its Gym battle against Ash in All Hail the Ice Battlefield!. His Avalugg was later shown to have Ice Body in the same episode.

In the Lumiose Conference, many Pokémon were seen activating their Abilities during battles. In A League of His Own!, Trevor's Mega Charizard Y was shown to have Drought as its Ability. In the following episode, the effects of three different Abilities were shown during the battle between Tierno and Sawyer; Tierno's Ludicolo was shown activating Swift Swim while Sawyer's Mega Sceptile and Aegislash were revealed to have Lightning Rod and Stance Change as their Abilities, respectively. In Analysis Versus Passion!, Sawyer's Slaking was shown to have Truant as its Ability. In Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!, Alain's Tyranitar was shown activating Sand Stream.

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

Sophocles's Togedemaru used her Ability Lightning Rod in The Guardian's Challenge!, absorbing Ash's Pikachu's Thunderbolt to increase the power of her Zing Zap.

A Tapu Koko used its Ability Electric Surge frequently during battles in the series to power up Electric-type moves, first seen in The Guardian's Challenge!.

Jessie's Mimikyu has used Disguise frequently during battles in the series to absorb damage from the first blow taken, first seen in Loading the Dex!.

A wild Palossand activated its Ability Water Compaction in A Shivering Shovel Search! when it was hit by Lana's Popplio's Bubble Beam, allowing it to repair the damage done to its body by the attack.

DJ Leo's Alolan Dugtrio used its Ability Tangling Hair in Getting the Band Back Together! where it was able to grab and bind Jessie's Mimikyu and James's Mareanie.

An Ally Castform 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 RKS System in Mission: Total Recall!, changing into a Dark type with the Dark Memory. It has since then activated the Ability on multiple other occasions.

Lusamine's Clefable activated Magic Guard in 10,000,000 Reasons to Fight! to cross a field of poison without taking damage.

Nanu's Krookodile activated Intimidate in both of its battles against Lycanroc in Tough Guy Trials! and Guiding an Awakening!.

Hapu's Mudsdale activated Stamina in its battle against Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp in That's Some Spicy Island Research! It was reactivated in A Grand Debut!.

Guzma's Golisopod activated Emergency Exit 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 Zoroark activated Illusion in Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams! as it followed Gladion around.

Ilima's Mega Kangaskhan activated her Parental Bond Ability in her fight against Guzma's Scizor in Battling Besties!.

Acerola's Gengar, the Greedy Rapooh, activated its Cursed Body 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.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Six Darmanitan used their Hidden Ability, Zen Mode, in Raid Battle in The Ruins!. One of them was caught by Goh.

In Destination: Coronation!, Visquez's Electrode activated its Hidden Ability Aftermath after being knocked out by Ash's Pikachu.

In Sobbing Sobble!, a Morpeko that James would later catch activated its Hunger Switch Ability against Team Rocket.

In Secrets of the Jungle, a wild Cramorant used its Gulp Missile Ability when Ash's Pikachu shocked it while stuck in its mouth.

In Searching for Chivalry!, Wikstrom's Aegislash activated its Stance Change during a battle against Ash and Goh.

In A Rollicking Roll…, multiple Gulpin belonging to Team Rocket activated their Sticky Hold Ability.

In Beyond Chivalry… Aiming to be a Leek Master!, Rinto's Gallade activated his Hidden Ability Justified after being struck by Ash's Sirfetch'd's Night Slash.

In Nightfall? Nightmares!, a Darkrai activated its Ability Bad Dreams.

In Detective Drizzile!, Gizmo's Kecleon activated her Ability Color Change.

In The Arceus Chronicles (Part 2), Saturn's Heatran activated its Ability Flash Fire.

In Battling as Hard as Stone!, Ash's Dracovish was revealed to possess the Ability Strong Jaw, which boosts the power of its Fishious Rend and Ice Fang.

In Bewitch, Battle, and Bewilder!, Cynthia's Togekiss activated its Ability Serene Grace to increase its chances to make Ash's Pikachu flinch with Air Slash. In the same episode, Cynthia's Roserade was burned by Ash's Gengar's Will-O-Wisp. In the next episode, Roserade was revealed to have used its Natural Cure Ability to heal itself upon being switched out.

In Valor: A Strategic Part of Battling!, Ash's Lucario was revealed to possess the Ability Inner Focus, 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 Arrokuda to attack Goh's Pokémon.

In A Flood of Torrential Gains!, Leon's Cinderace activated its Hidden Ability Libero to change its type to match the move it used. During the same episode, Ash's Gengar activated Cursed Body against Leon's Mr. Rime.

Ash's Talonflame constantly used its Flame Body Ability in Bearing Down Easy! to keep everyone warm from Beartic's attacks.

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Like in Pokémon the Series, Abilities are usually only used in battles, 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 Ancient Poké Ball, Liko's Sprigatito activated her Overgrow Ability for the first time, though the Ability would not be properly identified until A Challenge from the Explorers.

In The Future I Choose, Lucius's giant Arboliva activated its Seed Sower Ability for the first time, to help a mass of planted Berries grow into new trees.

In Special Training Time!, Roy's Wattrel activated its Wind Power Ability for the first time, though the Ability would not be properly identified until HZ119, after it had already evolved.

In Kabu's Battle Training!, Kabu's Centiskorch used its Flash Fire Ability to negate incoming Embers from Roy's Fuecoco.

In Charge! Galar Mine!, Amethio's Ceruledge used its Hidden Ability Weak Armor to lower its Defense and increase its Speed during its battle against Friede's Charizard.

In Roar of the Black Rayquaza, Terapagos activated Tera Shift for the first time to protect Liko from the Black Rayquaza.

In Transform! Hero of the Seas, Palafin, a wild Palafin activated its Zero to Hero 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 Trending Terastallization! Dance, Dance, Quaxly!, Iono's Bellibolt activated its Electromorphosis Ability while battling against Dot's Quaxly.

In Showdown! The Paldea Elite Four, Hassel's Baxcalibur activated its Thermal Exchange Ability while battling against Roy and Brassius.

In Liko vs. Rika! Towards the Battle's End, Katy's Lokix activated its Swarm Ability after being poisoned by a Poison Jab from Rika's Clodsire.

In The Terapagos I Don't Know, Raifort's Zoroark activated Illusion several times.

In Resonating Spirits in a Challenge to Ryme!, Ryme's Toxtricity activated its Punk Rock Ability while battle against Roy's Fuecoco.

In Shine on, Terastallization! Liko vs. Roy!, Roy's Kilowattrel activated its Wind Power Ability, though the Ability would not be properly identified until HZ119. In the same episode, Liko's Hattrem activated Healer to cure Floragato of her paralysis.

In The Three Explorers, Diana's Arcanine activated Justified in its battle against Liko's Floragato.

In Entei's Fierce Battle Cry!, a wild Entei activated Pressure.

In Over the Top!, Geeta's Glimmora activated Toxic Debris. In the same episode, Liko's Floragato activated her Overgrow Ability.

In The Pillar of Fire, Lucius's Gouging Fire activated Protosynthesis while battling Liko, Roy, Dot, and Friede.

In The Rising Volt Tacklers vs. The Explorers!, Spinel's Beheeyem was revealed to have Telepathy when he traded it for Captain Pikachu's Lightning Rod via Skill Swap.

In The Pokémon Center Lady, a wild Vileplume used Effect Spore to paralyze Roy's Lucario.

In The Knight in the Ruins, a Charcadet Liko later captured used its Flash Fire Ability. In the same episode, Penny's Sylveon activated Cute Charm.

In Friends as Two, Me and You, both Indi and Rubina's Darmanitan activated their Hidden Ability Zen Mode.

In HZ115, Lacey's Plusle and Minun used their own Electric-type moves to activate their Hidden Abilities Lightning Rod and Volt Absorb, respectively.

In HZ116, Drayton's Kingdra used Rain Dance to activate its Swift Swim Ability for the first time. In HZ119, his Archaludon activated its Stamina Ability.

In HZ133, Dot's Gholdengo activated Good as Gold to prevent Indi and Rubina's Cofagrigus and Runerigus's Curse from affecting it.

In the manga

Be the Best! Pokémon B+W

Monta's Roggenrola activated Sturdy in The Key to Triple Battles.

A Pokémon Ranger's Zebstrika and Monta's Excadrill activated Lightningrod and Sand Force in The Battle for More Friends!.

Dol's Bouffalant activated Sap Sipper in Challenge the Battle Subway!.

Monta's Watchog activated Illuminate in Let's Master Pokémon Capturing!.

Monta's Victini was unable to activate Victory Star in The Birth of the Best Pokémon Trainer! since the Serperior Cheren borrowed used Gastro Acid.

Movie adaptations

Darkrai activated Bad Dreams in The Rise of Darkrai.

Xerneas activated Fairy Aura in Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction.

Pokémon Adventures

Ruby & Sapphire arc

Parallel to their introduction in Generation III of the video games, Abilities were first introduced in the Ruby & Sapphire arc of Pokémon Adventures.

Wally's Kecleon activated its Color Change Ability in Tongue-Tied Kecleon.

Matt's Sharpedo and Amber's Carvanha both activated Rough Skin in Mowing Down Ludicolo. Ruby's Castform, Fofo, first activated Forecast in the same chapter.

During Sapphire'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 Nosepass has Magnet Pull, Steel-type 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 Crawdaunt. Peeko tried to defeat him with Quick Attack, but the Crawdaunt's Shell Armor prevented her from doing much damage at all. After Mr. Briney fell unconscious, Ruby had Kiki use Double-Edge and infatuate Crawdaunt with her Ability, Cute Charm.

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 Flamethrower against Makuhita, but it had little effect due to his Thick Fat 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 Plusle and Minun after Ruby realized that their complimentary Abilities, Plus and Minus, 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 Electrike in Plugging Past Electrike II. While Electrike did not have the moves to stop the generator itself, and the wild Donphan that Wattson and the Trick Master had originally intended to capture would be quickly eradicated by its powerful attacks, Electrike's Ability, Lightning Rod, would allow him to redirect the bolt away from Donphan, buying Donphan enough time to destroy the generator with Rollout.

Archie's Walrein activated Thick Fat during battle with Maxie's Camerupt in Walrein and Camerupt. Maxie's Camerupt activated Magma Armor during the same battle.

Groudon and Kyogre activated Drought and Drizzle, respectively, in The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon III.

Amber's Ninjask activated Speed Boost in Can I Ninjask You a Question?.

Brawly's Machoke activated Guts in The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon IX.

Sapphire's Lairon, Rono, and her Donphan, Phado, both activated Sturdy to survive against a Sheer Cold attack from Archie's Walrein in The Beginning of the End with Kyogre & Groudon X.

Norman's Spinda was revealed to have Own Tempo as his Ability in Rayquaza Redemption I, but Skill Swapped it with his Slaking's Truant Ability.

FireRed & LeafGreen arc

Ultima's Meganium and Typhlosion activated Overgrow and Blaze respectively in Old Ultima Puts Them to the Test.

Red's Gyarados, Gyara, activated Intimidate at the start of Red and Blue's battle in Red and Blue Make Purple Opponents.

Red's Aerodactyl, Aero, activated Rock Head while using Take Down in Double Dealing with Deoxys. In the same chapter, Blue's Rhydon activated Lightning Rod.

Red's Poliwrath, Poli, activated Damp in Put Your Beast Foot Forward. It was Skill Swapped by Organism No. 2 in Storming the Forretress for its Pressure ability.

Organism No. 2 activated Pressure in Don't Doubt Deoxys.

Blue's Alakazam copied Chuchu's Static Ability with Role Play in Secrets from Sneasel.

Emerald arc

Lucy's Seviper activated Shed Skin in Swanky Showdown with Swalot.

The Battle Factory's Golem used Rock Head, and the Battle Factory's Pinsir, Mawile, and Linoone were revealed to have Hyper Cutter, Intimidate, and Pickup respectively by Emerald's Pokédex in Pinsir Me, I Must Be Dreaming.

In Gotcha Where I Wantcha, Glalie, the rental Glalie that Noland used during his Battle Factory match against Emerald was revealed to have Inner Focus as its Ability by Emerald's Pokédex.

In Moving Past Milotic, Crystal's Starmie was revealed to have Natural Cure as its Ability.

In Just My Luck...Shuckle, Lucy's Shuckle and Milotic were revealed to have Sturdy and Marvel Scale respectively as their Abilities by Emerald's Pokédex. Crystal's Rapidash was also revealed to have Run Away as his Ability by Emerald's Pokédex. Crystal's Blissey used Natural Cure in the same chapter.

Emerald's borrowed Phanpy had Pickup in A Dust-Up With Dusclops.

In Sneaky Like Shedinja, Greta's Shedinja was mentioned to have Wonder Guard as its Ability.

Ruby's Rara used Synchronize in Cunning Kirlia.

Ruby's Feefee used its ability Marvel Scale in Susceptible to Sceptile.

Diamond & Pearl arc

Diamond's Munchlax, Lax, activated Pickup in Stagestruck Starly.

Roark's Onix used Rock Head in A Conk on Cranidos's Cranium.

A wild Stunky activated Stench in A Big Stink Over Stunky.

Saturn's Croagunk activated Anticipation in Crowded by Croagunk & Advanced on by Abra I.

A wild Hippowdon activated Sand Stream in Bombastic Bibarel & Heroic Hippopotas.

Cyrus's Magnezone activated Magnet Pull in Problematic Probopass and Mad Magnezone II.

Sird's Darkrai first used Bad Dreams in Startling Staraptor.

Diamond's Lickilicky, Kit, was revealed to have Own Tempo as his Ability in Well Met, Weepinbell but couldn't activate it since Sebastian's Weepinbell cancelled it out with Gastro Acid.

Cynthia's Spiritomb and Cyrus's Weavile both activated Pressure in Shunning Spiritomb.

Platinum arc

Platinum's Lopunny activated her Cute Charm Ability in Getting the Drop on Gallade II to help her defeat Darach's Gallade.

The Battle Factory's Loudred was revealed to have Soundproof in Uprooting Seedot.

A Tyranitar belonging to the Battle Factory activated Sand Stream in Outlasting Ledian. A Qwilfish belonging to the Battle Factory also activated Poison Point in the same chapter.

Diamond's Rotom was confirmed to have Levitate in Unplugging Rotom (Heat, Wash, Mow, Fan, Frost).

Platinum's Cherrim activated Flower Gift in The Final Dimensional Duel X. In the same chapter, Diamond's Reg, the Lake guardians, Palkia, Dialga, Palmer's Cresselia, and Charon's Heatran all used Insomnia via Marley's Shaymin's Worry Seed.

HeartGold & SoulSilver arc

In All About Arceus IV, Arceus activated Multitype.

Black & White arc

N's Zorua first used Illusion in Lost in the Big City.

Burgh's Whirlipede activated Poison Point in Big City Battles.

Several wild Darmanitan used their Hidden Ability Zen Mode in To Make a Musical.

Elesa's Zebstrika used Motor Drive in Battle on a Roller Coaster.

Brycen's Vanillish had Ice Body in The Cold Hard Truth.

Brycen's Beartic activated Snow Cloak in A Cold Reception. Drayden's Druddigon was also mentioned to have Sheer Force as its Ability.

N's Darmanitan activated its Hidden Ability Zen Mode in The Lesson Ends Here.

Marlon's Jellicent used Cursed Body in The Tournament Continues.

Black's Carracosta, Costa, activated Solid Rock in One Way or Another, but Iris's Haxorus negated it with Mold Breaker.

Black 2 & White 2 arc

In Deduction Time, Hugh's Vibrava obtained Simple via a Team Plasma Grunt's Audino's Simple Beam.

X & Y arc

Celosia's Aegislash activated Stance Change in Lucky Lucario Was Here.

X's Kangaskhan, Kanga and Li'l Kanga, activated Parental Bond as a Mega Kangaskhan in Charging After Electrike.

In Connecting with Gardevoir, Diantha mentioned that her Gardevoir has Trace as its Ability. In the same chapter, Gardevoir used Pixilate as a Mega Gardevoir.

X's Gengar, Garma, activated his Shadow Tag Ability as a Mega Gengar in Changing Gengar.

In Pyroar Breathes, X's Manectric, Élec, used his Lightning Rod Ability to drain Lysandre's machine's energy.

X's Mega Pinsir, Rute, used Aerilate in Zygarde Appears.

Xerosic's Malamar used Contrary in Chesnaught Protects.

Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire arc

In Salamence Evolves, Zinnia's Salamence was mentioned to have Intimidate as its Ability. In the same chapter, Salamence used Aerilate as a Mega Salamence.

Groudon and Kyogre activated Desolate Land and Primordial Sea as Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre respectively in Groudon Returns.

Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon arc

Professor Kukui's Munchlax activated Thick Fat in The Announcement and the Prize.

Sun's Wishiwashi, Quarter, activated his Schooling Ability in Defeat and the Commander of the School of Fish.

Sun's Mimikyu, Penny, activated his Disguise Ability in A Photoshoot and the Abandoned Thrifty Megamart.

Gladion's Silvally activated its RKS System Ability in Destroy!! Results of the Training!.

Zygarde activated its Ability Power Construct in Finale!! The Battle Against the Other Dimension!.

Sword & Shield arc

In Zap!! A Rising Beam of Light, Casey's Scorbunny burned a Team Yell Grunt's Galarian Linoone. However, this ended up activating Linoone's Hidden Ability, Quick Feet. In the same chapter, a Team Yell Grunt's Thievul burned a Dynamaxed Gurdurr, activating his Ability, Guts. He was soon defeated and caught by Henry Sword.

In Gulp!! Gulp Pokémon, Casey's Kilo was mentioned to have his Hidden Ability, Propeller Tail. In the same chapter, Hop's Cramorant used its Ability, Gulp Missile.

In Chomp!! It's Dracovish, Marnie's Morpeko was shown to have the Ability Hunger Switch.

In Cracking!! Brilliant Tap-Dancing, Casey's Eiscue, Peta, activated his Ability Ice Face.

Scarlet & Violet arc

In Challenge! The Avant-Garde Gym Leader!!, Scarlet's Tarountula was unaffected by Brassius's Petilil's Sleep Powder due to its Ability, Insomnia. In the same chapter, Brassius's Sudowoodo was able to survive a Lava Plume from Scarlet's Armarouge thanks to its Sturdy Ability, but it still fainted regardless due to receiving a burn from the attack.

In PASV12, Iono mentioned her Mismagius had the Ability Levitate.

In PASV16, Mela's Torkoal and Schedar Starmobile Revavroom activated their Abilities, Drought and Speed Boost, respectively, during her battle against Violet.

In PASV17, Titan Orthworm used its Ability Earth Eater to recover health during its battle against Scarlet and Arven.

In PASV22, Scarlet's Palafin activated its Zero to Hero Ability to transform into its Hero Form while fighting Atticus.

The Titan Tatsugiri activated its Commander Ability to command its Dondozo friend in battle against Violet and Arven.

Pokémon Battle Frontier

Enta's Vulpix activated Flash Fire in Enta Arrives at the Battle Frontier!.

Enta's Feebas activated Swift Swim in Introducing the Frontier Brains!.

When Enta battled Lucy's Seviper with Zangoose in The Predestined Battle!, Zangoose activated Immunity to prevent itself from being poisoned.

Pocket Monsters BW: The Heroes of Fire and Thunder

Togari's Watchog activated Keen Eye in Justice Trainer Shin Appears!.

Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl

Electivire was shown to activate Motor Drive in Ash's imagination in PDP07 if Pikachu used Volt Tackle on it.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!

Saturn's Rhyperior activated Lightningrod to redirect Hareta's Luxio Electric-type moves to it.

Hareta's Riolu has Steadfast which activated after flinching from B-2's Drapion.

Hareta's Piplup has Torrent, which powered up its Water-type moves.

Hareta's Luxio activated Intimidate in A Novel Test!! on Candice's Regirock and Regice but Regirock's Clear Body prevented Intimidate from working. Regice and Registeel were revealed to have Clear Body in the same chapter but weren't shown activating it.

Hareta's Regigigas has Slow Start, which proved to be a disadvantage for Hareta.

Koya's Absol's Super Luck nearly defeated Hareta's Empoleon but a comeback with Empoleon's Surf would have given Hareta the win but the battle was interrupted by Mitsumi's Glaceon's Ice Beam.

Koya's Mamoswine activated Snow Cloak during a hailstorm.

Pocket Monsters Platinum: Aim to Be Battle King!!

In PBK1, Shin's Bronzong had Heatproof to minimize the damage taken from Yū Shirogane's Infernape's Fire-type moves but Infernape's Blaze powered them back up.

Yū's Scizor received Heatran's Flash Fire Ability after Bronzong Skill Swapped them in PBK4. Yū's Bronzong had Levitate in that same chapter.

Yū's Regigigas had Slow Start in PBK7.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

Norman's Slakoth activated Truant in I Won't Let You Lead.

Zorua and Zoroark activated Illusion in PMHGSS20.

Pocket Monsters XY: The Legend of the Pokémon Dragon King

Taichi's Ampharos has Static as its Ability.

In the TCG

Main article: Ability (TCG)

Abilities under the name of Abilities did not appear in the Trading Card Game until the Black & White 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 Base Set during Generation I. In fact, some Abilities from the games originally appeared as Pokémon Powers.

With the introduction of the Expedition Base Set, 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 Black and White, these distinctions were done away with.

Trivia

Zygarde is the only Pokémon that has two standard Abilities but does not have a Hidden Ability.
The unused Ability Cacophony was included in the coding for third-generation games as Ability #076 (Air Lock 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, or was one at the time of its debut.

In other languages


Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	特性 Dahksing
Chinese	Mandarin	特性 Tèxìng 特技 Tèjì *
Czech		Schopnost
Danish		Specielle evne Egenskab^[5] Færdighed*
Dutch		Capaciteit Talent*
Finnish		Kyky Erikoisominaisuus Erkoiskyky
French	Canada	Talent* Capacité spéciale* Habileté spéciale*
French	Europe	Talent* Capacité spéciale*
German		Fähigkeit
Hindi		काबिलियत Kabiliyat
Hungarian		Képesség
Indonesian		Kemampuan
Italian		Abilità
Korean		특성 Teukseong
Malaysian		Kebolehan
Norwegian		Evne* Ferdighet*
Polish		Umiejętność* Zdolność*
Portuguese	Brazil	Habilidade Técnica (PS273) Característica (PS189)
Portuguese	Portugal	Poder* Habilidade Especialidade
Russian		Талант Talant* Способность Sposobnost'*
Spanish		Habilidad
Swedish		Förmåga
Thai		คุณสมบัติพิเศษ Khunsombat phiset
Turkish		Yetenek
Vietnamese		Đặc tính Đặc trưng

References

↑ In the descriptions of Role Play, Skill Swap, and Trace, placeholder text for a Pokémon with no Ability, and NPC dialogue.
↑ In the manual of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.
↑ In the easy chat system.
↑ On the summary screen, in the description of TM48 (Skill Swap) and when Skill Swap is used in battle, in FireRed and LeafGreen and Generation IV in the descriptions of Role Play, Skill Swap, Trace, and Worry Seed, and in NPC dialogue in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
↑ pokemon.com/dk