Ability (TCG)
An Ability (Japanese: 特性 ability) is a non-attack effect that Pokémon cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game can have,[1] named after the analogous element in the core series games. Abilities are first introduced in the Black & White series, replacing Pokémon Powers and their successors Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies as a kind of effect on Pokémon cards. Unlike Pokémon Powers, Abilities are not disabled if their user has a Special Condition. No Pokémon card has more than one Ability, although a Pokémon consisting of multiple cards such as a Pokémon BREAK or Pokémon V-UNION can have multiple Abilities while in play.
Overview
An Ability on a Pokémon card is analogous to the element of the same name from the core series games; although many Abilities are original to the TCG. Abilities aren't attacks, and thus each player is allowed to use any number of Abilities during their turn.
An Ability's text typically mentions the conditions required to activate the Ability, and what the Ability effect does. In the example image, Shuckle's "Fermented Juice" Ability has the condition that it has to have a 
(Grass) Energy attached in order to activate it, and that the Ability's effect lets the player heal 30 damage. Each Ability can be activated in various ways:
- Certain Abilities have to be announced by the player in order to activate them. For example, Keldeo-EX from the Boundaries Crossed expansion has an Ability that allows the player to switch Keldeo-EX with the Active Pokémon, once per turn.
- Certain Abilities activate automatically in response to something happening to the Pokémon with the Ability. For instance. Arbok has an Ability that causes the opponent to discard two cards if it is Knocked Out by an opponent's attack.
- Certain Abilities are always active as long as the Pokémon with the Ability is in play, such as Pachirisu being unable to be Paralyzed. These Abilities can affect the Pokémon with the Ability itself or other Pokémon on either player's in-play zone, such as Toxtricity reducing the HP of the opponent's Pokémon VMAX or Dodrio reducing the Retreat Cost of its owner's Active Pokémon.
- Certain Abilities can be activated when the Pokémon with the Ability enters play. An example is Shaymin-EX's Ability; when it enters play from a player's hand, that player may draw cards until they have six cards in their hand.
- Certain Abilities can be activated even if the Pokémon is not in-play and is in another zone, such as the hand or discard pile, or when the Pokémon is drawn from the deck or taken from the Prize cards.
Abilities often have some restriction attached to their use. Many Abilities are only usable once during a player's turn, although this applies to each instance of the Ability. If there are multiple Pokémon in play with the same Ability, each of their Abilities can be used one time. Other Abilities can only be used if a Pokémon is in the Active Spot, or on the Bench. Such a restriction can also apply to certain passive Abilities. Some passive Abilities do not stack, meaning that if there are multiple instances of that Ability in play, only one instance of that Ability is applied. Some Abilities cause the turn to end when activated, which prevents the player from initiating an attack that turn and implicitly prevents more than one Ability with this restriction from being used per turn. A rare few Abilities, such as the one of Dedenne-GX, cannot be activated if another Ability of the same name has been activated that turn.
A common effect is for Pokémon to lose access to their Abilities, which is commonly templated as some variation of "have no Abilities". An example of this would be Alolan Muk's Ability. Pokémon under this kind of effect are treated as not having Abilities at all, even if there are Abilities printed on the card. (The Abilities that no longer exist do not have any effect.) Once the effect ends, the Abilities of the affected Pokémon are restored to them. Notably, cards that care about if a Pokémon has an Ability will not apply to Pokémon printed with Abilities but are under this effect.
Some cards have attacks that cause a Pokémon to gain an Ability. Some Pokémon Tools are printed with an Ability that the Pokémon the Tool is attached to can use.
With the release of Sun & Moon, the Ability symbol has been updated with a new one with red background and white text.
List of Abilities
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The following is a dynamic list. Its subject matter requires frequent updates to remain current and complete. This list should typically be updated every few months. The last time this page was edited was on February 26, 2026. |
Black & White Series
XY Series
Sun & Moon Series
Sword & Shield Series
Scarlet & Violet Series
Mega Evolution Series
Relevant categories
See also
References
- ↑ Pokémon Trading Card Game Rules, Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift, "An Ability is an effect on a Pokémon that is not an attack."
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This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. |