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Abilities are passive effects that each Pokémon possesses for use in battle. A Pokémon may only have one Ability at a time; this Ability cannot be changed. A Pokémon's Ability is decided when the Pokémon spawns, and is chosen from a pool of up to three possible Abilities that the Pokémon can have, depending on the Pokémon's species. This Ability cannot be changed without the use of external programs that edit NBT tags.
Of the pool of possible Abilities a Pokémon can have, there are one or two normal abilities and possibly one hidden Ability. If the Pokémon has two possible normal abilities, there is an equal chance that either of them will be that Pokémon's Ability. Hidden Abilities are significantly rarer than normal Abilities; by default, each Pokémon has a 1150 chance of having its hidden Ability. The combination of types of Abilities that a Pokémon may have include:
- One normal Ability
- One normal Ability, one hidden Ability
- Two normal Abilities, one hidden Ability
Abilities (including hidden Abilities) can be passed down through breeding. The mother has an 80% chance to pass down her Ability, while the father has a 60% chance to pass down his Ability if he breeds with a Ditto.
List of Abilities
- Adaptability
- Aftermath
- Air Lock
- Analytic
- Anger Point
- Anticipation
- Arena Trap
- Battle Armor
- Big Pecks
- Blaze
- Chlorophyll
- Clear Body
- Cloud Nine
- Competitive
- Compound Eyes
- Contrary
- Cute Charm
- Damp
- Defeatist
- Defiant
- Download
- Drizzle
- Drought
- Dry Skin
- Early Bird
- Effect Spore
- Filter
- Flame Body
- Flare Boost
- Flash Fire
- Forewarn
- Friend Guard
- Frisk
- Guts
- Harvest
- Healer
- Heavy Metal
- Honey Gather
- Huge Power
- Hustle
- Hydration
- Hyper Cutter
- Ice Body
- Illuminate
- Illusion
- Immunity
- Imposter
- Infiltrator
- Insomnia
- Intimidate
- Iron Fist
- Justified
- Keen Eye
- Klutz
- Leaf Guard
- Levitate
- Light Metal
- Lightning Rod
- Limber
- Liquid Ooze
- Magic Bounce
- Magic Guard
- Magma Armor
- Magnet Pull
- Marvel Scale
- Minus
- Mold Breaker
- Moody
- Motor Drive
- Moxie
- Multiscale
- Natural Cure
- No Guard
- Oblivious
- Overcoat
- Overgrow
- Own Tempo
- Pickpocket
- Pickup
- Plus
- Poison Heal
- Poison Point
- Poison Touch
- Prankster
- Pressure
- Quick Feet
- Rain Dish
- Rattled
- Reckless
- Regenerator
- Rivalry
- Rock Head
- Rough Skin
- Run Away
- Sand Force
- Sand Rush
- Sand Stream
- Sand Veil
- Sap Sipper
- Scrappy
- Serene Grace
- Shadow Tag
- Shed Skin
- Sheer Force
- Shell Armor
- Shield Dust
- Simple
- Skill Link
- Sniper
- Snow Cloak
- Solar Power
- Solid Rock
- Soundproof
- Speed Boost
- Stall
- Static
- Steadfast
- Stench
- Sticky Hold
- Sturdy
- Suction Cups
- Super Luck
- Swarm
- Swift Swim
- Synchronize
- Tangled Feet
- Technician
- Telepathy
- Thick Fat
- Tinted Lens
- Torrent
- Toxic Boost
- Trace
- Unaware
- Unburden
- Unnerve
- Vital Spirit
- Volt Absorb
- Water Absorb
- Water Veil
- Weak Armor
- Wonder Skin
Config settings
- "Spawn hidden Ability rate": The chance of wild or spawned-in Pokémon having their hidden Abilities. This setting does not affect breeding.
NBT tag storage
While Abilities themselves are stored in data as NBT tags, there is also a separate tag known as the "Ability slot", which is also created upon the spawning of the Pokémon. This value is where the Pokémon's Ability derives from and controls what the Pokémon's Ability will change to upon evolution (if applicable). It is also used when determining the chances of getting each possible Ability when breeding.
Through the use of external NBT editors, it is possible to change a Pokémon's Ability. However, if the Pokémon's Ability slot is not also modified correctly, side effects will occur. For example, if a Pokémon spawns in with a normal Ability and is edited to have its hidden Ability without changing the Ability slot, it will be impossible for the Pokémon to pass down its Ability through breeding as the breeding algorithm relies on the Ability slot, which is still routed to a normal Ability in this case.
