Stench (Ability)

Stench	あくしゅう
	Stench
Generation III
	Helps repel wild Pokémon.RSEFRLG; Repels wild Pokémon.ColoXD
Generation IV
	The stench helps keep wild Pokémon away.DPPtHGSS; The stench helps keep wild Pokémon away. It has no effect in Pokétopia.PBR
Generation V
	The stench may cause the target to flinch.
Generation VI
	The stench may cause the target to flinch.
Generation VII
	By releasing stench when attacking, this Pokémon may cause the target to flinch.
Generation VIII
	By releasing stench when attacking, this Pokémon may cause the target to flinch.
Generation IX
	By releasing a stench when attacking, the Pokémon may cause the target to flinch.

This article is about the Ability Stench. For the field move Stink, see Field Move (Ranger).

Stench (Japanese: あくしゅう Stench) is an Ability introduced in Generation III. Prior to Generation IV, it was the signature Ability of Grimer and Muk.

Effect

In battle

Generations III and IV

Stench has no effect in battle.

Generation V onward

Stench has a 10% chance of making the target flinch when hit by a damaging move used by the Pokémon with this Ability. Stench does not stack with King's Rock or Razor Fang, nor does it stack with moves that already have a chance to flinch. Each strike of a multistrike move has an independent chance of causing the target to flinch.

Outside of battle

If a Pokémon with Stench is in the first place in the party (even if fainted), the chance of encountering a wild Pokémon is decreased by 50%. It shares this effect with Quick Feet, White Smoke, and Infiltrator (since Generation VIII).

Generation III

In the Battle Pyramid, the encounter rate is decreased by 25%.

Generation VIII

In Pokémon Sword and Shield only, this Ability instead decreases the chance of hidden encounters by 87.5%.

Generation IX

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, this Ability has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Stench

#		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
0044	Gloom	Grass	Poison	Chlorophyll	None	Stench
0088	Grimer	Poison		Poison	Stench	Sticky Hold	Poison Touch
0089	Muk	Poison		Poison	Stench	Sticky Hold	Poison Touch
0109	Koffing	Poison		Poison	Levitate	Neutralizing Gas^{Gen VIII+}	Stench^{Gen VIII+}
0110	Weezing	Poison		Poison	Levitate	Neutralizing Gas^{Gen VIII+}	Stench^{Gen VIII+}
0434	Stunky	Poison	Dark	Stench	Aftermath	Keen Eye
0435	Skuntank	Poison	Dark	Stench	Aftermath	Keen Eye
0568	Trubbish	Poison		Poison	Stench	Sticky Hold	Aftermath
0569	Garbodor	Poison		Poison	Stench	Weak Armor	Aftermath
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

If a Pokémon with Stench is attacked by an adjacent Pokémon, the attacker may become terrified for a short time.

Description

Games	Description
MDRB	May terrify an attacking foe.
MDTD S	May terrify an attacking foe.
BSL	こうげきしてきたポケモンをおびえさせる
MDGtI	May inflict the Terrified status condition when the Pokémon is hit by a direct attack.* When the Pokémon is hit with a direct attack like Tackle or Scratch, the attacker is sometimes afflicted with the Terrified status condition!*
SMD	When the Pokémon is hit with a contact move like Tackle or Scratch, it sometimes makes the attacker terrified.
MDRTDX	When the Pokémon is attacked by an enemy next to it, it sometimes makes the attacker Terrified.

In animation

Pokémon animated series

Pokémon	Method
Stunky Trubbish Effect Garbodor
The Pokémon releases a horrible smell.
User	First Used In	Notes
	Stunky stands on its two front legs and a purple ball appears at the end of its behind. Stunky then flips around and fires the purple ball at the opponent, causing a purple, foul-smelling fog to appear and spread its stench for twenty-four hours.
Officer Jenny's Stunky	A Secret Sphere of Influence!	Debut
	Trubbish belches out a small olive-colored cloud from its mouth. When the cloud disappears, it spreads throughout the whole area and causes it to smell.
A wild Trubbish	Here Comes the Trubbish Squad!	None
	Garbodor belches out a small olive-colored cloud from its mouth. The cloud then expands over throughout the whole area and causes it to smell.
A wild Garbodor	Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!	None

In Sliding Into Seventh!, Jeremiah's Skuntank was revealed to have Stench as its Ability, but the Ability activated off-screen. It appears to cause a lavender foul-smelling explosion.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon	Method
Stunky The smell
The Pokémon releases a horrible smell from its body.
User	First Chapter Used In	Notes
	Stunky turns around and releases a small seed from its behind towards the opponent. When the seed hits the ground, it releases a horrible smell all around the battlefield. The smell lasts for twenty-four hours.
A wild Stunky	A Big Stink Over Stunky	Debut

Geoff's Trubbish was revealed to have Stench as its Ability.

Trivia

Stench is the first Ability in index number order.

In other languages


Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	惡臭 Okchau
Chinese	Mandarin	惡臭 / 恶臭 Èchòu
French		Puanteur
German		Duftnote
Italian		Tanfo
Korean		악취 Akchwi
Portuguese		Fedor
Spanish		Hedor
Vietnamese		Mùi Thối

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.