Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire - Abilities
This is a complete description of all the abilities in the Ruby and Sapphire games and their effects.
Descriptions in normal text indicate effects that occur only in battle. Descriptions in italics indicate effects that occur out of battle. Unless noted otherwise, effects occurring out of battle will occur only if the ability's bearer is the first in the player's party. A non-bearer is an active Pokemon other than the bearer of the pertinent ability, regardless of whether that non-bearer also possesses the same ability.
If an ability prevents an opponent from switching or fleeing, it is ineffective in forced switching or fleeing when an opponent faints, and the player may still use a Fluffy Tail or Poke Doll to flee.
Confusion damage is not considered a direct attack.
- STENCH
Halves the rate of wild battles.
- DRIZZLE
When bearer becomes active, effect of Rain Dance begins (even if already in effect) and continues indefinitely.
- SPEED BOOST
At the end of each round, increases bearer's Speed by 1 stage unless bearer became active after commands were chosen for this round.
- BATTLE ARMOR
Attacks against bearer are never critical hits.
- STURDY
One-hit KO attacks against bearer will fail for non-bearers.
- DAMP
While bearer is active, Selfdestruct and Explosion will fail for all active Pokemon (doesn't cause fainting).
- LIMBER
Bearer cannot be paralyzed.
- SAND VEIL
During Sandstorm, bearer doesn't lose HP due to the Sandstorm effect and accuracy of attacks against bearer is multiplied by 4/5. Emerald: Halves the rate of wild battles during a sandstorm.
- STATIC
If bearer loses HP due to a direct attack by a non-bearer, that non-bearer may be paralyzed (30% chance, not considered an additional effect, Safeguard and Substitute don't affect this). Emerald: Rate of encountering an Electric-type wild Pokemon increases by 50%.
- VOLT ABSORB
Whenever a damaging Electric-type attack by a non-bearer targets bearer, bearer gains 1/4 of total HP and the attack is ineffective against bearer. Uses the determined types of Hidden Power and Weather Ball. (Applied after accuracy check and effects that change targets, but before damage calculation. Applies even if attack would otherwise be ineffective against bearer.)
- WATER ABSORB
Whenever a damaging Water-type attack by a non-bearer targets bearer, bearer gains 1/4 of total HP and the attack is ineffective against bearer. Uses the determined types of Hidden Power and Weather Ball. (Applied after accuracy check and effects that change targets, but before damage calculation. Applies even if attack would otherwise be ineffective against bearer.)
- OBLIVIOUS
Bearer cannot be infatuated.
- CLOUD NINE
While bearer is active in battle, no effects due to the weather are applied.
- COMPOUNDEYES
Bearer's Accuracy is multiplied by 1.3. Emerald: Rate of encountering wild Pokemon holding an item increases.
- INSOMNIA
Bearer cannot fall asleep.
- COLOR CHANGE
Whenever bearer loses HP due to a damaging attack by a non-bearer, if bearer doesn't share a type with that attack's type, bearer's types change to that attack's type. Uses determined types of Hidden Power and Weather Ball.
- IMMUNITY
Bearer cannot be poisoned.
- FLASH FIRE
Fire-type attacks are ineffective against bearer (even Will-O-Wisp) as long as bearer isn't frozen. When a fire-type attack that targets bearer is used by a non-bearer and bearer isn't frozen, power of fire-type moves by bearer is multiplied by 1.5 (while bearer has this ability) until bearer is replaced. Uses determined types of Hidden Power and Weather Ball. In the case of Will-O-Wisp, this ability is not activated if bearer has a status problem, is a Fire type, or has a substitute.
- SHIELD DUST
No additional effects of attacks by non-bearers can occur against bearer. (Additional effects that don't affect the bearer are not prevented.)
- OWN TEMPO
Bearer cannot be confused.
- SUCTION CUPS
Whirlwind and Roar fail against bearer. Emerald: The fishing success rate increases.
- INTIMIDATE
When bearer becomes active, decreases each opposing Pokemon's Attack by one stage. Emerald: Halves the rate of battles with wild Pokemon at least 5 levels less than bearer's level.
- SHADOW TAG
Opposing Pokemon cannot flee or switch.
- ROUGH SKIN
If bearer loses HP due to a direct attack by a non-bearer, that non-bearer loses 1/16 of its total HP (not considered recoil damage).
- WONDER GUARD
Bearer is immune to damaging attacks whose types have less than double effectiveness against bearer's types.
- LEVITATE
Bearer is immune to damaging Ground-type attacks.
- EFFECT SPORE
If bearer loses HP due to a direct attack by a non-bearer, that non-bearer may be poisoned, paralyzed, or put to sleep (10% chance (combined), not considered an additional effect, Safeguard and Substitute don't affect this).
- SYNCHRONIZE
If an attack by a non-bearer or an ability from a non-bearer causes bearer to be poisoned, burned, or paralyzed, that non-bearer also receives the same status problem. (Safeguard and Substitute don't affect this. If bearer became badly poisoned, the non-bearer becomes normally poisoned.) Emerald: Rate of encountering wild Pokemon with the same nature as bearer is 50%.
- CLEAR BODY
Attacks and abilities by non-bearers, other than Haze, can't reduce bearer's stat stages.
- NATURAL CURE
During battle (even if this isn't bearer's original ability), status problems that bearer has are removed when bearer is replaced (but not when a battle ends or when bearer becomes active).
- LIGHTNINGROD
Electric-type attacks (even non-damaging ones) by opposing Pokemon are directed to bearer instead of to any other non-user of that attack, unless that other non-user has this ability. Considers Hidden Power as Normal. (Applied after Follow Me, but before Magic Coat. If more than one active Pokemon on the bearer's side has this ability, the attack is directed to the one earlier in this round's priority.) Emerald: Player will receive phone calls more often.
- SERENE GRACE
Chance of additional effects from attacks by bearer is doubled.
- SWIFT SWIM
During Rain Dance, bearer's Speed is doubled.
- CHLOROPHYLL
During Sunny Day, bearer's Speed is doubled.
- ILLUMINATE
Doubles the rate of wild battles.
- TRACE
When bearer becomes active, it adopts the ability of a random opposing Pokemon. (See "notes" below.)
- HUGE POWER
Bearer's Attack is doubled.
- POISON POINT
If bearer loses HP due to a direct attack by a non-bearer, that non-bearer may be poisoned (30% chance, not considered an additional effect, Safeguard and Substitute don't affect this).
- INNER FOCUS
Effects can't cause bearer to flinch.
- MAGMA ARMOR
Bearer cannot be frozen. Emerald: If bearer is anywhere in the player's party, every 256 steps decreases the "egg counter" of each egg by 2 instead of 1. (This effect is not cumulative with multiple instances of Flame Body and/or Magma Armor.)
- WATER VEIL
Bearer cannot be burned.
- MAGNET PULL
An opposing Pokemon cannot flee or switch if its current type includes Steel. Emerald: Rate of encountering a Steel-type wild Pokemon increases by 50%.
- SOUNDPROOF
Bearer does not receive the effects of Growl, Hyper Voice, Supersonic, Roar, Grasswhistle, Heal Bell, Metal Sound, Perish Song, Sing, Screech, Uproar, or Snore. (Uproar doesn't affect bearer's sleep status; bearer doesn't receive a Perish count, but its Perish count will still decline; Heal Bell doesn't affect bearer even if bearer is not an active Pokemon)
- RAIN DISH
At the end of the round, if Rain Dance is in effect, bearer gains 1/16 of total HP.
- SAND STREAM
When bearer becomes active, effect of Sandstorm begins (even if already in effect) and continues indefinitely.
- PRESSURE
If an attack by a non-bearer (as well as Spikes) targets bearer when it is used, if that attack's PP would be reduced by 1 or more, that attack's PP is reduced by an additional 1 unless its user changes because of Snatch or Magic Coat, in which case the PP of the move the old user chose for use this round is reduced by an additional 1 (even if the move doesn't target a Pokemon). (This effect applies even if the attack misses or fails. Attack will not fail solely because its PP cannot be reduced this way.) Emerald: Halves the rate of higher-level wild battles.
- THICK FAT
Special Attack for fire-type and ice-type attacks against bearer is halved.
- EARLY BIRD
The sleep count declines by 2 instead of 1 in bearer's sleep checks.
- FLAME BODY
If bearer loses HP due to a direct attack by a non-bearer, that non-bearer may be burned (30% chance, not considered an additional effect, Safeguard and Substitute don't affect this). Emerald: If bearer is anywhere in the player's party, every 256 steps decreases the "egg counter" of each egg by 2 instead of 1. (This effect is not cumulative with multiple instances of Flame Body and/or Magma Armor.)
- RUN AWAY
Bearer's attempts to flee from a wild battle (even Teleport) will always succeed, even if an effect prevents it from fleeing.
- KEEN EYE
Attacks and abilities by non-bearers can't reduce bearer's Accuracy stat stage. (Effects that merely change stat stages, such as Haze, are not affected.) Emerald: Halves the rate of lower-level wild battles.
- HYPER CUTTER
Attacks and abilities by non-bearers can't reduce bearer's Attack stat stage. (Effects that merely change stat stages, such as Haze, are not affected.) Emerald: When bearer appears anywhere in party and uses Cut outside of battle, it removes grass within a 2-tile (instead of 1-tile) range.
- PICKUP
If bearer appears anywhere in party and has no items attached, bearer may pick up an item after a battle ends (10% chance).
- TRUANT
Every other round, bearer does nothing instead of using an attack. (See "notes" below for details.)
- HUSTLE
Bearer's Attack is multiplied by 1.5. Bearer's Accuracy is multiplied by 4/5 for physical attacks (even non-damaging ones) by bearer. Uses determined types of Hidden Power and Weather Ball. Emerald: Doubles the rate of higher-level wild battles.
- CUTE CHARM
If bearer loses HP due to a direct attack by a non-bearer, that non-bearer may be infatuated if its gender is different from bearer's and neither is genderless (30% chance, not considered an additional effect). Emerald: Rate of encountering wild Pokemon of the opposite gender as bearer increases to 2/3.
- PLUS
If a non-bearer has the Minus ability, Special Attack of bearer is multiplied by 1.5.
- MINUS
If a non-bearer has the Plus ability, Special Attack of bearer is multiplied by 1.5.
- FORECAST
When bearer becomes active, after each Pokemon's turn, at the end of every round, and whenever another Pokemon becomes active, if bearer's current species is Castform, bearer's type becomes Fire during Sunny Day, Water during Rain Dance, Ice during Hail, and Normal otherwise, unless bearer shares a type with that type.
- STICKY HOLD
Bearer's held item cannot be removed from it by non-bearers. (Bearer may use Trick normally.) Emerald: Wild Pokemon that were fished become easier to catch.
- SHED SKIN
At the end of each round, there is a 30% chance that bearer's status problems will be removed.
- GUTS
Bearer's Attack is multiplied by 1.5 if it has a status problem. Effectiveness of physical attacks by bearer is not reduced because of burns.
- MARVEL SCALE
Bearer's Defense is multiplied by 1.5 if it has a status problem.
- LIQUID OOZE
If an effect that drains HP from bearer (other than Dream Eater and including Leech Seed) would cause a non-bearer to gain HP, that non-bearer loses that much HP instead.
- OVERGROW
If bearer's current HP is less than or equal to 1/3 of its total HP, rounded down, power of Grass-type moves by bearer is multiplied by 1.5.
- BLAZE
If bearer's current HP is less than or equal to 1/3 of its total HP, rounded down, power of Fire-type moves by bearer is multiplied by 1.5.
- TORRENT
If bearer's current HP is less than or equal to 1/3 of its total HP, rounded down, power of Water-type moves by bearer is multiplied by 1.5.
- SWARM
If bearer's current HP is less than or equal to 1/3 of its total HP, rounded down, power of Bug-type moves by bearer is multiplied by 1.5. Emerald: Pokemon cries are heard more often.
- ROCK HEAD
Bearer does not receive recoil damage, except from Struggle.
- DROUGHT
When bearer becomes active, effect of Sunny Day begins (even if already in effect) and continues indefinitely.
- ARENA TRAP
An opposing Pokemon cannot flee or switch unless its current type includes Flying or it has the Levitate ability. Emerald: Doubles the rate of wild battles.
- VITAL SPIRIT
Bearer cannot fall asleep. Emerald: Halves the rate of higher-level wild battles.
- WHITE SMOKE
Attacks and abilities by non-bearers, other than Haze, can't reduce bearer's stat stages. Emerald: Halves the rate of wild battles.
- PURE POWER
Bearer's Attack is doubled.
- SHELL ARMOR
Attacks against bearer are never critical hits.
- CACOPHONY
Has no effect.
- AIR LOCK
While bearer is active in battle, no effects due to the weather are applied.
Notes
If an ability's effect contains the words "Bearer cannot...", the affected condition, if the Pokemon has it, is removed if the Pokemon has this ability. This effect triggers after each Pokemon's turn and whenever a Pokemon (including the bearer) becomes active (but not when a battle begins).
Apparently, Soundproof's effect also affects the Poké Flute in the FireRed and LeafGreen versions: even though the sleep status appears to be removed, the sleep effect remains.
Wonder Guard's and Levitate's effects are checked at the same point that type effectiveness is checked. Attacks whose effectiveness is not affected by type (Struggle, Doom Desire, Future Sight, Beat Up) ignore the effects of these abilities.
For Truant, a variable, X, begins at 0 for each active Pokemon. At the end of each round, if the Pokemon has Truant and it was active since after commands were chosen during that round, X is set to 0 if it equals 1, or to 1 if it equals 0. At the Pokemon's turn, a "Truant check" is made after the sleep and freeze checks, and before the confusion check. If the Pokemon has Truant and X equals 1, the Pokemon "is loafing around" and skips its attack this round. (Any attack it could have used is prevented from being used.) A Pokemon's value for X is reset to 0 when it is replaced, and does not change whenever the Pokemon loses or gains Truant.
For Trace, in the strange case that neither Pokemon has an ability when the bearer of Trace becomes active, it checks after each Pokemon's turn and at the end of each round whether the Pokemon has Trace and at least one opposing Pokemon has an ability. If so, the bearer gains the ability of one of the opposing Pokemon and processing ends. It is possible to gain any ability, including Trace and Wonder Guard, using Trace.
The check for Pickup is done using the Pokemon's original species and original ability. The items obtained with Pickup depend on the version:
- Ruby/Sapphire Version; Pokemon Colosseum: The chance is 30% to find a Super Potion, 10% each to find a Full Heal, Ultra Ball, Rare Candy, Full Restore, Revive, or Nugget, 5% to find a Protein, 4% to find a PP Up, and 1% to find a King's Rock.
- FireRed/LeafGreen Version: The chance is 15% to find an Oran Berry, 10% each to find a Cheri, Chesto, Pecha, Rawst, Aspear, or Persim Berry, 5% each to find TM10, PP Up, Rare Candy, or Nugget, and 1% each to find a Spelon, Pamtre, Watmel, Durin, or Belue Berry.
- Emerald Version; Pokemon XD: Let X equal (L minus 1) divided by
10, rounded down, where L is the level of the Pokemon with
Pickup. There are two sets of items, common items and rare items.
- Common items: 0=Potion, 1=Antidote, 2=Super Potion, 3=Great Ball, 4=Repel, 5=Escape Rope, 6=X Attack, 7=Full Heal, 8=Ultra Ball, 9=Hyper Potion, 10=Rare Candy, 11=Protein, 12=Revive, 13=HP Up, 14=Full Restore, 15=Max Revive, 16=PP Up, 17=Max Elixir. The item chances for the item numbered X and the items following it are: 30%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 10%, 5%, and 3%.
- Rare items: 0=Hyper Potion, 1=Nugget, 2=King's Rock, 3=Full Restore, 4=Ether, 5=White Herb, 6=TM44, 7=Elixir, 8=TM01, 9=Leftovers, 10=TM26. The item chances for the item numbered X and the item following it are: 1% and 1%.
- 0-6: Fluffy Tail, Cheri Berry, Lum Berry, Brightpowder, Shell Bell, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 7-13: Dire Hit, Pecha Berry, Leppa Berry, Leftovers, Choice Band, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 14-20: X Attack, Rawst Berry, Lum Berry, Scope Lens, Focus Band, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 21-27: X Defend, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Quick Claw, King's Rock, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 28-34: X Speed, Chesto Berry, Lum Berry, Brightpowder, Shell Bell, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 35-41: X Accuracy, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Leftovers, Choice Band, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 42-48: X Special, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Scope Lens, Focus Band, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 49-55: Guard Spec., Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Quick Claw, King's Rock, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 56-62: Fluffy Tail, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Brightpowder, Shell Bell, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 63-69: Dire Hit, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Leftovers, Choice Band, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 70-76: X Attack, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Scope Lens, Focus Band, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 77-83: X Defend, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Quick Claw, King's Rock, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 84-90: X Speed, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Brightpowder, Shell Bell, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 91-97: X Accuracy, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Leftovers, Choice Band, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 98-104: X Special, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Scope Lens, Focus Band, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 105-111: Guard Spec., Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Quick Claw, King's Rock, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 112-118: Fluffy Tail, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Brightpowder, Shell Bell, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 119-125: Dire Hit, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Leftovers, Choice Band, Full Restore, Max Elixir
- 126-132: X Attack, Lum Berry, Lum Berry, Scope Lens, Focus Band, Max Revive, Sacred Ash
- 133 or more: X Defend, Lum Berry, Leppa Berry, Quick Claw, King's Rock, Full Restore, Max Elixir
