Highlights
- Pokemon Abilities can have a drastic effect on battles, turning weak Pokemon into powerhouses or dooming strong ones.
- Multiscale halves incoming damage if the Pokemon is at full health, making Dragonite and Lugia even more formidable.
- Abilities like Gorilla Tactics and Serene Grace can boost a Pokemon's damage output or increase the chance of additional effects, making them valuable in battle.
Introduced in Generation 3, Pokemon Abilities add a unique aspect to every Pokemon, having a drastic effect on how they battle. A complementary Ability can turn a weak, stat-challenged Pokemon into a force to be reckoned with while a bad one can doom even a powerhouse to eternal rest in the box.
With brand new Abilities being added in every new generation, their number has ballooned considerably over the years. Game Freak does a decent job of balancing, but with so many different types, matchups, and interactions to juggle, some exceptions slip through. These are the best Abilities in all of Pokemon, both in competitive and regular play.
Updated on August 25, 2023, by Peter Hunt Szpytek: This list was updated to include a video version (featured below.)
10 Multiscale
Available to only two Pokemon in the entire Franchise, Dragonite and Lugia, Multiscale is up there in terms of one of the most useful Abilities. Multiscale halves all incoming damage if the Pokemon with this Ability is at full health.
Even 4x super effective moves against Pokemon with Multiscale cannot reliably OHKO without setup. Dragonite, in particular, needs this Ability to survive a 4x Ice Beam to the face. Lugia, on the other hand, becomes an even bigger tank than it already is.
9 Gorilla Tactics
Introduced in Generation 8, Gorilla Tactics is the signature Ability of Galarian Darmanitan. This Ability does exactly what a Choice Band does but without taking up the held item slot.
When a Pokemon with Gorilla Tactics uses a move in battle, the base power of that move is boosted by 50%, but they cannot use any other moves until switched out. That, in itself, is not that powerful. However, it stacks with Choice Band. If you give Galarian Darmanitan a Choice Band, it will do 225% more with any damaging move, an absurd amount of damage if it hits.
8 Serene Grace
Serene Grace boosts the chance of moves with additional effects having these effects activated. Many powerful moves in Pokemon come with an additional effect, like a chance to inflict Burn, Poison, or Flinch.
Notable examples of Pokemon that use this Ability to great effect are Jirachi and Togekiss, with Air Slash Togekiss especially being a nightmare to face. With Serene Grace, Air Slash's chance to flinch increases from 30% to 60%. And if your Togekiss is faster than the opponent, this can get really annoying really fast.
7 Sheer Force
Sheer Force sacrifices the additional effects of a move and converts it into a 30% damage boost. Moves like Thunderbolt have a chance to cause Paralysis and come with a base power of 95. If a Pokemon with Sheer Force uses this move, Thunderbolt will never cause Paralysis but always have a base power of 124.
On its own, Sheer Force is a really good Ability, but what makes it incredible is that it negates the self-damaging aspect of Life Orb while keeping the 30% additional damage. A Nidoking boosted by both Life Orb and Sheer Force is one of the scariest Pokemon to face.
6 Adaptability
One of the core mechanics of Pokemon is STAB or Same Type Attack Bonus. STAB makes it so that if a Pokemon's type and the type of the move are the same, it gets a 1.5x boost to the effective power of that move. Adaptability changes this modifier from 1.5x to 2x.
So, if a Lucario (Steel/Fighting) uses the move Close Combat (Fighting), it should get a 1.5x power boost. But with Adaptability, this is multiplied by 2x instead. It's easy to see how this is a comprehensive upgrade for the Pokemon's damage output that remains a consistent part of their toolkit in any situation.
5 Unaware
Unaware ignores stat changes on the field. That's all it does. This Ability rarely sees any use in regular gameplay since enemy AI in Pokemon games is woefully inept. Instead, Unaware finds its place in competitive play where stat-increasing moves like Swords Dance and Shell Smash are the core of many teams.
Imagine your opponent has spent the last 6 turns switching in and out with Baton Pass, sacrificing 3 Pokemon to give their Volcarona +3 Sp, Atk, +3 Sp. Def, +3 Spd, and you switch in Skeledirge with Unaware. Suddenly, all this setup turns into wasted effort. And all it took was Unaware.
4 Beast Boost
The signature move of Ultra Beasts, Beast Boost, is a better version of Moxie. Every time a Pokemon with Beast Boost faints an opponent, they get a +1 to their highest stat (barring HP). This makes it the ultimate snowball Ability, as it can allow any Pokemon to sweep if the opponent makes an early mistake.
It's a useful Ability in every situation, and it is what has allowed Pokemon like Nihilego, Blacephalon, and Pheromosa to remain mainstays of the competitive scene for as long as they have.
3 Huge Power/Pure Power
Huge Power and Pure Power are, essentially, two names for the same Ability. Any Pokemon with one of these Abilities has their Attack stat doubled. It is a flat 2x multiplier after applying modifiers like crits or super effectiveness. Huge power is so incredibly strong that it can only be given to Pokemon with terrible stats, or every other Pokemon would be left behind in the dust.
A good example is Azumarill, who has a laughable Attack stat of 50. With Huge Power, that Attack gets boosted to 100. With Belly Drum (a move that halves your HP but boosts Attack by +6), an Aqua Jet from Azumarill hits for 480 base power. Nuts, right? And keep in mind Aqua Jet is a priority move with 40 BP (Base Power).
2 Intimidate
A Pokemon with Intimidate will lower its opponents' Attack by one stage. This serves multiple purposes; it can muzzle strong Physical attackers, help Pokemon with low Defense, and counteract setup moves like Dragon Dance.
But what really elevates Intimidate is how many Pokemon have access to it. As of Generation 9, over 35 Pokemon get Intimidate. Switching between two Pokemon with this Ability means that you can reliably reduce the Attack of any opposing Pokemon. Salamence, Gyarados, and Luxray are all great Pokemon whose powers are further amplified by Intimidate.
1 Wonder Guard
The rarest Ability in all of Pokemon, Wonder Guard has always been a fan favorite. This Ability makes it so that if a damaging move is not super effective against the Pokemon with Wonder Guard, it does 0 damage, giving the Pokemon immunity to all non-super effective moves. This means that the fewer weaknesses a Pokemon has, the better Wonder Guard becomes. Unfortunately, Shedinja—a Pokemon with five weaknesses—is the only Pokemon that gets it.
To balance out the inherent absurdity of this Ability, Shedinja has terrible stats, worse typing, and only 1 HP. If a move can hit Shedinja, it's dead. All of this further cements Wonder Guard as the absolute best Ability in all of Pokemon. The only thing that holds it back is the Pokemon that gets it.