Illuminate (Ability)

Illuminate はっこう
Luminescence
Flavor text
Generation III
Encounter rate increases.
Generation IV
Raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon.
Generation V
Raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon.
Generation VI
Raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon.
Generation VII
Raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon by illuminating the surroundings.
Generation VIII
Raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon by illuminating the surroundings.
Generation IX

Prior to Version 1.3.2
Raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon by illuminating the surroundings.

Version 1.3.2 onwards
By illuminating its surroundings, the Pokémon prevents its accuracy from being lowered.

Illuminate (Japanese: はっこう Luminescence) is an Ability introduced in Generation III.

Effect

Generations III to VIII

In battle

Illuminate has no effect during battle.

Outside of battle

If a Pokémon with Illuminate is in the first place in the party (even if fainted), the wild Pokémon encounter rate increases by 100%. It shares this trait with Arena Trap and No Guard.

Generation VIII

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, this Ability only affects the rate at which random encounters happen.

Generation IX

In battle

Starting in Version 2.0.1 of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Illuminate prevents other Pokémon from lowering the accuracy stat stage of the Pokémon with this Ability, and also ignores the target's evasion stages.

Effects that decrease accuracy without using stat stages, such as Wonder Skin and Sand Veil, are unaffected by Illuminate.

This Ability can be ignored with Mold Breaker.

Prior to version 2.0.1 of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Illuminate had no effect in battle, even after its text update in version 1.3.2. However, this inconsistency could not be seen in-game as no Pokémon with Illuminate had been available in Scarlet and Violet at the time.

Outside of battle

Illuminate appears to have no effect on the encounter rate of wild Pokémon.

Pokémon with Illuminate

# Pokémon Types First Ability Second Ability Hidden Ability
0120   Staryu
Water Water Illuminate Natural Cure Analytic
0121   Starmie
Water Psychic Illuminate Natural Cure Analytic
0170   Chinchou
Water Electric Volt Absorb Illuminate Water Absorb
0171   Lanturn
Water Electric Volt Absorb Illuminate Water Absorb
0313   Volbeat
Bug Bug Illuminate Swarm Prankster
0505   Watchog
Normal Normal Illuminate Keen Eye Analytic
0755   Morelull
Grass Fairy Illuminate Effect Spore Rain Dish
0756   Shiinotic
Grass Fairy Illuminate Effect Spore Rain Dish
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 other games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

Prior to Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, a Pokémon with Illuminate "blinks" after a turn in which it was damaged. The "blink" summons a hostile Pokémon somewhere on the floor.

In Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, the Pokémon obtains the Decoy status after using an illuminating move. The Decoy status makes enemies preferentially attack the Pokémon instead of other allies.

Affected moves

The table below lists the moves affected by Illuminate, as well as the Pokémon that can have Illuminate and learn those moves.

Move Type Cat. Pow. Acc. Learned by
Confuse Ray  Ghost  Status 100        {{{6}}}
Dazzling Gleam  Fairy  Special 80 100       {{{6}}}
Flash  Normal  Status 100        {{{6}}}
Light Screen  Psychic  Status      {{{6}}}
Luster Purge  Psychic  Special 70 100   {{{6}}}
Moonlight  Fairy  Status   {{{6}}}
Morning Sun  Normal  Status   {{{6}}}
Solar Beam  Grass  Special 120 100   {{{6}}}
Shock Wave  Electric  Special 60      {{{6}}}
Spark  Electric  Physical 65 100    {{{6}}}
Tail Glow  Bug  Status   {{{6}}}
Volt Tackle  Electric  Physical 120 100   {{{6}}}

Description

Games Description
MDRB If damaged, a wild Pokémon appears on the dungeon floor.
MDTDS Causes a wild Pokémon to appear on a dungeon floor if the Pokémon is attacked.
BSL こうげきされると フロアの どこかに ポケモンが あらわれる
MDGtI When the Pokémon is attacked, an enemy Pokémon appears somewhere on the current floor.*
When this Pokémon is attacked, an enemy appears somewhere on the floor.*
SMD If the Pokémon uses an illuminating move such as Confuse Ray or Light Screen , it will be a decoy!
MDRTDX If the Pokémon uses an illuminating move, such as Confuse Ray or Light Screen, the Pokémon will become a Decoy.


In the anime

 
Watchog


The Pokémon raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon by illuminating the surroundings. This can also be used to see things that are invisible.
Pokémon Method
User First Used In Notes
  Watchog holds out its arms and the yellow parts of its eyes and all the yellow stripes on its body flash yellow extremely brightly. The light then dies down a little, causing any invisible things to appear.
Lenora's Watchog A Night in the Nacrene City Museum! Debut
  Staryu is able to lure in nearby Pokémon.
Toren's Staryu The Power of Us None


In the manga

Be the Best! Pokémon B+W

 
Watchog


The Pokémon glows bright, attracting wild Pokémon.
Pokémon Method
User First Chapter Used In Notes
  Watchog glows bright, attracting wild Pokémon.
Monta's Watchog Let's Master Pokémon Capturing! Debut


Pokémon Adventures

Trivia

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 發光 Faatgwōng
Mandarin 發光 / 发光 Fāguāng
  Finnish Valaisu
  French Lumiattirance
  German Erleuchtung
  Hebrew הארה He'ara
  Italian Risplendi
  Korean 발광 Balgwang
  Polish Rozświetlenie
Portuguese   Brazil Iluminação
  Portugal Iluminar
  Russian Освещение Osveshcheniye
  Spanish Iluminación


Variations of the Ability Keen Eye
Keen EyeIlluminateHyper CutterBig Pecks


  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.