Pokémon Abilities: the full list of all 1025 Pokémon

What is an ability?

An ability is a special trait unique to a Pokémon that produces a permanent or conditional effect during battle (and sometimes outside of it). Unlike the moves you select each turn, an ability works in the background: it applies on its own as soon as its condition is met. For example, Drought sets up harsh sunlight the moment the Pokémon enters battle, and Levitate grants permanent immunity to Ground-type attacks.

Abilities were added in generation 3 and have since been granted retroactively to every Pokémon from earlier generations. Today, almost every species has at least one ability. They cover an extremely wide range of effects: weather, type immunities, stat changes, healing, status conditions, and much more.

A single Pokémon only ever carries one active ability at a time, chosen from those available to its species. That choice is what defines its role on a team.

How many abilities per Pokémon?

Each species has one or two normal abilities, and sometimes one Hidden Ability (originally tied to the Dream World in Pokémon Black and White).

• One normal ability: if the species only has one, every individual carries it automatically.
• Two normal abilities: when encountered or hatched, the game randomly assigns one of the two. You can sometimes influence the result through breeding.
• The Hidden Ability: a third ability, usually rarer and often more powerful or more original than the normal ones. It cannot be obtained through ordinary catching.

Note: not every Pokémon has a Hidden Ability, and some forms or regional variants carry abilities different from their base form.

How to get the Hidden Ability

The Hidden Ability requires specific methods depending on the game. Across the generations, several reliable routes have emerged:

• Hordes (Pokémon X, Y, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire): a Pokémon in a horde of five has a chance of having its Hidden Ability.
• The Friend Safari (X and Y): Pokémon encountered in a friend's Safari may carry their Hidden Ability.
• Dynamax and Tera Raid Battles (Sword, Shield, Scarlet, Violet): raids are a major and accessible source of Hidden Abilities.
• Breeding: a female (or a compatible parent depending on the generation) carrying the Hidden Ability has a good chance of passing it to its offspring. This is the most common way to spread a Hidden Ability once you own a single copy.
• Certain events and distributions: Pokémon given out at official events sometimes arrive with their Hidden Ability already unlocked.

Once you have a parent with the Hidden Ability, breeding makes it easy to produce more copies, which is often the foundation of a well-prepared competitive team.

Weather abilities

Some abilities trigger a weather condition the moment the Pokémon enters battle, reshaping the entire match for as long as the weather lasts. These are the backbone of so-called "weather" teams.

• Drought: sets up harsh sunlight, boosting Fire moves and weakening Water moves.
• Drizzle: sets up rain, boosting Water moves and weakening Fire moves.
• Sand Stream: kicks up a sandstorm, which chips away each turn at Pokémon that are not Rock, Ground or Steel, and boosts the Special Defense of Rock types.
• Snow Warning: triggers snow (formerly hail), favoring Ice-type Pokémon.

These abilities create chain reactions: they activate other abilities (such as Chlorophyll or Slush Rush) and alter the effectiveness of many moves. That is why they sit at the heart of entire team archetypes.

Immunity and absorption abilities

One of the most valuable families: abilities that negate a type of attack, and sometimes turn that attack into an advantage (healing or a stat boost). They let a Pokémon take what would normally be a weakness for no damage, or switch in freely against an expected move.

• Levitate: full immunity to Ground-type attacks.
• Flash Fire: immunity to Fire; the absorbed Fire move powers up the Pokémon's own Fire moves.
• Volt Absorb: immunity to Electric, healing HP instead.
• Lightning Rod: draws in and neutralizes Electric attacks (useful in doubles).
• Water Absorb and Storm Drain: immunity to Water; Water Absorb heals, Storm Drain raises Special Attack.
• Magic Guard: the Pokémon only takes damage from direct attacks, ignoring poison, weather, entry hazards and the like.

When anticipated well, these immunities create formidable pivots: you bring in the right Pokémon against the opponent's attack to render it harmless, or even beneficial.

Switch-in abilities

Other abilities activate at the precise moment the Pokémon steps onto the field, granting an immediate advantage or revealing information.

• Intimidate: lowers the opponent's Attack by one stage on switch-in. It is one of the most prized abilities in competitive play, since it weakens physical attackers for free.
• Forewarn: reveals the opponent's most powerful move, giving a valuable read on the threat.

Intimidate in particular is a game-changer: bringing in a Pokémon that has it at the right time can blunt a heavy physical offense for a full turn at no cost.

Speed-altering abilities

Speed often decides who strikes first, and several abilities manipulate it, sometimes in synergy with the weather.

• Speed Boost: raises Speed every turn cumulatively, turning a slow attacker into an unoutrunnable threat as the battle goes on.
• Chlorophyll: doubles Speed in harsh sunlight.
• Swift Swim: doubles Speed in rain.
• Slush Rush: doubles Speed in snow (or hail, depending on the generation).

These synergies explain why weather teams pair a setter (for instance Drought) with sweepers that exploit it (for instance a Chlorophyll Pokémon), creating very fast offensive chains.

Abilities that ignore or copy

Some abilities interact with others, either by overriding them or by imitating them.

• Mold Breaker: ignores the opponent's defensive ability while attacking; so a Levitate Pokémon can still be hit by a Ground move, for example.
• Imposter: copies the opponent's form and abilities on switch-in.
• Trace: copies an opponent's ability on switch-in, taking that trait for the rest of the battle.
• Synchronize: passes certain status conditions (burn, paralysis, poison) back to whoever inflicted them.

These abilities add a layer of prediction: knowing that an opponent can copy yours, or ignore your immunity, changes how you play your switch-ins and attacks.

Defensive abilities

Several abilities exist mainly to protect the holder or its allies, raising bulk or reducing incoming damage.

• Multiscale: as long as the Pokémon is at full HP, it takes half damage from the next attack. That turns a good wall into an almost unbreakable one on the first hit.
• Friend Guard: reduces the damage taken by allies in double and triple battles, very useful in the official doubles format.

These abilities reward good HP management and careful positioning: keeping Multiscale intact can be the difference between surviving and falling to a powerful attack.

Offensive abilities

On the other side, some abilities directly amplify the power of attacks, often dramatically.

• Adaptability: increases the same-type bonus (STAB): instead of a 1.5x boost when the move's type matches the Pokémon's, the bonus becomes 2x.
• Technician: boosts low-power moves by 50%, breathing life into fast or cheap attacks that would otherwise be overlooked.
• Sniper: further increases the damage of critical hits, rewarding strategies built around the critical-hit rate.

Paired with the right selection of moves, these abilities define attackers capable of punching through defenses that would withstand an ordinary Pokémon.

Abilities in competitive play

In competitive play, the ability is often the first thing that decides whether a species is viable. Two Pokémon identical in stats but with different abilities can fill completely opposite roles: a wall, a weather sweeper, an immunity pivot or an anti-status disruptor.

The choice depends on the whole team: you look for synergies (a rain setter paired with a Swift Swim sweeper), defensive insurance (Intimidate against physical offenses) or counters (Magic Guard against indirect damage). It is this interdependence that makes team building so rich.

To test your knowledge of abilities, their effects and which Pokémon carry them, try the abilities quiz. And to place abilities in the wider context of species, check out our Pokémon guide.

The full list of abilities by Pokémon

Below you will find the full list of all 1025 Pokémon with their normal abilities and their Hidden Ability. The table is filterable: use it to check which Pokémon has which ability, spot species that share the same ability, or plan your runs.

When you are ready to put your knowledge to the test, take the abilities quiz and climb the leaderboard.