Summary
Abilities are a mechanic inPokemonthat grants an effect to a Pokemon in and sometimes out of battle. Pokemon can have up to three Abilities, but whichever one they’re given is randomized and determined by its species. Some Pokemon only have one Ability, such as Rotom (Ability: Levitate). While most Pokemon will have either their first or second Ability, the third one is much rarer. This is called a Hidden Ability.
Hidden Abilities are often worth the trouble of getting, but that is not always the case. Sometimes it’s better to stick with one of their normal Abilities, as it will prove more beneficial in battle compared to their Hidden Ability. The following Pokemon in the Teal Mask, part 1 ofPokemon Scarlet/Violet’s expansion pack, have arguably worse Hidden Abilities.
10Poliwrath
Hidden Ability: Swift Swim
Swift Swimis an Ability that enhances the user’s Speed statwhen it’s raining in battle. By no means is it a bad Ability, as an extra Speed boost is always helpful in most battles. However, the drawback to Swift Swim is that it requires the setup of rain via Rain Dance, Drizzle (Ability), or natural climate.
Poliwrath’s two main/common Abilities areWater AbsorbandDamp:
Not only is Poliwrath’s base Speedlowerthan its pre-evolved form, Poliwhirl, but trainers using Poliwrath aren’t going to want to rely on its Speed as much of its other stats when using it in battle. Thus, the better choice is one of its regular Abilities. Neither one requires weather effects and can be triggered so long as the opposing Pokemon uses the appropriate move.
9Probopass
Hidden Ability: Sand Force
Sand Forceincreasesthe power of Steel, Rock, and Ground-type movesduring a sandstorm. Like Swift Swim, Sand Force only works if the proper weather is in effect, or if one of the Pokemon in-battle use Sandstorm.
Probopass learns several Rock-type moves when leveling, but it’s going to need TMs to learn better Steel-type moves to fully make use of Sand Foce. However, a little boost in power for Probopass may not be worth hunting for its Hidden Ability. Probopass has meager Attack and Special Attack. Instead, it’s best to use it as a Wallthanks to its high Defense and Special Defense. Probopass' other Abilities,Magnet PullandSturdy, are far more useful - especially competitively:
8Swanna
Hidden Ability: Hydration
Hydrationis Swanna’s Hidden Ability that heals it of any Status Effects (ex: Burn) at the end of each turn. On paper, that doesn’t sound like a bad deal. Unfortunately, Hydrationonly works when it’s raining- much like Swift Swim. Swanna may be a speedier Pokemon than Poliwrath and thus be able to set up Rain Dance, but trainers don’t want it to get knocked out in the same turn. Thus, the best way to make use of Hydration is tohave a Pokemon before it set up Rain, then use Swanna.
Alternatively, trainers can just make use of Swanna’s regular Abilities:Big PecksorKeen Eye:
7Magcargo
Hidden Ability: Weak Armor
Weak Armoris an Ability that triggers when a Pokemon is hit by an attack. This causes the Pokemon’sDefense to lower, but in turn, itsSpeed will be raised by two levels. While a great Ability for speedy Pokemon, it’s not so great for slow movers such as Magcargo.
Magcargo’s best stat is itsDefensewith its Speed being its worst stat. While a boost in Speed sounds ideal, it’s not worth it at the cost of Magcargo’s Defense. Unfortunately, the lava-snail hastwo major type weaknessesthat deal 4x damage instead of 2x: Water-type and Ground-type. It’s highly likely that it can be 1HKO’d by a special attack that targets its weaknesses.
Trainers may want to consider its other Abilities, Magma Armor or Flame Body:
6Yanma & Yanmega
Hidden Ability: Frisk
Friskallows trainers to see what the opposing Pokemon may be holding in battle. If it’s not holding anything, then Frisk won’t trigger, obviously. While a good Ability for competitive matches, Frisk isn’t as useful in the story mode ofScarlet/Violet, as most trainers do not equip their Pokemon with items.
Yanma and Yanmega already have excellent regular abilities:Speed Boostor *Compound Eyes(Yanma)/Tinted Lens(Yanmega):
- If a Yanma’s Ability is Compound Eyes, it will change into Tinted Lens when it evolves into Yanmega. If it has Speed Boost, then it will remain Speed Boost as a Yanmega.
Speed Boost is useful when battling Pokemon that may be quicker than Yanma/Yanmega. However, once Yanma/Yanmega’s Speed can’t be raised anymore, it’s essentially a useless Ability. Compound Eyes and Tinted Lens influence the Yanma-line’s attacks, making it a bit more useful as these Abilities don’t have “caps.”
5Munchlax & Snorlax
Hidden Ability: Gluttony
Munchlax and Snorlax’s Hidden Ability,Gluttony, means it will consume the Berry it’s holding much sooner in battle. Instead of eating it at 1/3 HP, it will eat it at 50% HP. This can have pros and cons, as eating a Berry sooner in battle means its HP can be fully restore compared. On the downside, Gluttony is dependent onwhether Munchlax/Snorlax is holding a Berryand of course, once the Berry is consumed, the Ability doesn’t have much use.
The other two Abilities, *Immunity (Snorlax)andThick Fat, are more useful:
- Munchlax’s other regular Ability isPick Up, which allows it to pick up a random item as long as it’s currently not holding anything. The type of item it picks up is determined by its level.
Either Thick Fat or Immunity work for Snorlax as they’re both useful Abilities. Immunity means it’ll shrug off even Toxic poisoning, and Thick Fat ensures it’ll take high-powered Fire and Ice-type attacks such as Blast Burn and Blizzard.
4Conkeldurr
Hidden Ability: Iron Fist
Iron Fistis the Hidden Ability of Conkeldurr, and it raises the power of its punching moves (i.e: Drain Punch, Ice Punch, etc) by 1.2x. Unfortunately, Conkeldurr only learns Focus Punch and Dynamic Punch by leveling up. It’ll need TMs to gain more useful punching moves such as Drain Punch.
3Dusknoir
Dusknoir’s Hidden Ability isFrisk, and like Yanma/Yanmega, this allows it to see what the target Pokemon is holding. Unlike most Pokemon, Dusknoir only has one main/common Ability and one Hidden Ability. Surprisingly, trainers may want to consider taking its regular Ability over the Hidden one.
Dusknoir’s primary Ability isPressure. Thisincreases the PP usage of a move targeting Dusknoir. It’s an Ability that several Legendary Pokemon have, and it’s ideal to have on a Pokemon like Dusknoir,which is easier to obtain… sometimes. Pressure doesn’t rely on the opposing Pokemon to be carrying an item and will trigger any time Dusknoir is attacked.
2Kommo-o
Hidden Ability: Overcoat
Overcoatprotects is user from Sandstorm, powder moves (i.e: Stun Spore), and Spore. While a decent Ability, it’s not as useful as a Hidden Ability for a Pokemon like Kommo-o. In fact, some fans believe that Mutliscale would have been a better choice for Kommo-o due to its appearance and being known as theScalyPokemon.
Instead, trainers may get better use out of a Kommo-o with itsBulletprooforSoundproofAbility:
Either one of Kommo-o’s main Abilities work, as they’ll nullify damage rather than nullifying the effects of Sandstorm or powder moves. While they’re both reliant on the opposing Pokemon’s movesets, they’re bound to get more use in-battlecompared to Kommo-o’s Hidden Ability. Aura Sphere is a strong special attack that never misses, so Kommo-o with Bulletproof will be able to shake it right off. On the other hand, Soundproof means Kommo-o also can’t be put to sleep by the move Sing, or be damaged by moves that would benefit the opposing Pokemon’s stats, such as Torch Song.
1Milotic
Hidden Ability: Cute Charm
Milotic’s original Abilities are already well-suited for battle, so it’s a bit of a letdown that its Hidden Ability isn’t a step-up, but rather a step back.Cute Charmhas a 30% of inflicting the “infatuation” effect on a Pokemonthat makes contact with Milotic. However, it only works if the Pokemon is theopposite gender of Milotic, or else the Ability won’t trigger.
The main abilities for Milotic areMarvel ScaleandCompetitive:
Milotic is a Pokemon with great Special Defense and Special Attack. Having a boost in Defense as a result of a status effect can make it difficult to defeat. On the other hand, a Milotic with Competitive means it can potentially 1HKO its opponents if the Ability is triggered enough. Of course, Marvel Scale only works on Defense, not Special Defense; Competitive only affects Special Attack, not Attack. Thus, for the latter, Competitive works betterif Milotic’s attacking moves are special attacksrather than physical.
