Abilities are powers that Pokemon use passively in battle. A Pokemon can have only 1 ability at a time, but they usually have a few options as to what ability they can have. They even possess hidden abilities that are rarer and often, but not always, more beneficial to the Pokemon. Some abilities can only be used by a certain Pokemon or evolution line often called exclusive abilities. Other abilities are non-exclusive and common to many Pokemon, like Intimidate.
With every new generation of Pokemon comes a wave of new abilities. Some amazing, some utter crap. In this article, we’ll rank the best abilities in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, including the latest DLC, so buckle up! With the basics covered, let’s begin our ranking!
10. Guard Dog
First up on our list is the ability Guard Dog. This ability is used by Mabosstiff and Okidogi. It boosts the Pokémon's Attack stat if intimidated; moves or items that would force the Pokémon to switch out also don’t work.
With Intimidate being one of the most common abilities Pokemon can have, it’s convenient that Guard Dog reverses its effects, making the wielder much more potent of an attacker.
9. Opportunist
Opportunist is Espathra’s ability and man is it useful! Anytime the opponent raises its stat(s), Espathra also raises the same stat(s). This can be so much fun to catch your opponent off-guard and get a leg up in battle. The only thing to watch out for is if your opponent has a good eye and catches your Espathra and predicts that you will use its ability to try and mooch stat raises. They may forgo stat boosts entirely and try a different strategy, so be mindful.
8. Poison Puppeteer
Poison Puppeteer is Pecharunt’s exclusive ability. It’s an awesome ability that inflicts confusion on the foe whenever it gets poisoned by one of Pecharunt's moves. Status effects on your enemy are invaluable to making KOs possible, and add on confusion? Well, not only will you win more, but you’ll also piss off your opponent with how many times their Pokemon will hit itself!
7. Zero to Hero
Zero to Hero is an ability used by Palafin to transform into its Hero Form. This effect only happens when Palafin switches out and back into battle, referencing how superheroes in comic books, namely Superman, would find a place to hide and change into their super suits. An epic transformation calls for an epic boost in stats! With all its stats being souped up from its base Palafin form, you’ll be knocking out Pokemon left and right just like the superheroes!
6. Good As Gold
Next up, we have a handy ability that seems almost unfair and borderline absurd: Good As Gold. This ability is used by everyone’s favorite string cheese guy, Gholdengo. With this ability, Gholdengo is immune to status moves from opposing Pokemon. Not only does it protect against moves like Will-O-Wisp, Sleep Powder, Spore, or Thunder Wave, but it also protects against moves like Taunt and Encore! This ability is pretty bonkers with how much it can protect against. And since these moves are staples in more competitive play, Gholdengo and its ability will see major use throughout.
5. Purifying Salt
Purifying Salt, the signature ability of Garganacl, is similar to Good As Gold but has slight differences. The main difference is that it protects against status conditions, not status moves. The other difference is that it has the added boon of halving the damage from Ghost-type attacks. Being a Rock type, Garganacl appreciates the extra sturdiness Purifying Salt provides given that the Rock typing has many weaknesses.
4. Ruinous Abilities
For this one, I decided to lump all the Ruinous Pokemon’s abilities together since they all do the same thing, just slightly different. Each ability of the Ruinous Quartet lowers a certain stat of all Pokemon except itself, even your other Pokemon. This creates a massive power swing in the Ruinous Quartet’s favor, either swinging more defensively or offensively depending on which Pokemon is on your team. Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu lower the Defense and Special Defense respectively, while Wo-Chien and Ting-Lu lower the Attack and Special Attack respectively.
3. Protosynthesis/Quark Drive
These two abilities are essentially the same thing; Protosynthesis works for Ancient Paradox Pokemon while Quark Drive works for Future Paradox Pokemon. They both power up the most powerful stat for the associated Paradox Pokemon in harsh sunlight (Ancient) or electric terrain (Future). This is pretty insane given the Paradox Pokemon are all powerhouses, especially when paired with Koraidon and Miraidon.
2. Hadron Engine/Orichalcum Pulse
Speaking of Koraidon and Miraidon, their abilities are up next. Miraidon comes with Hadron Engine, which creates Electric Terrain once it enters battle and also boosts its Special Attack while in the Electric Terrain. Koraidon has Orichalcum Pulse, which manifests Harsh Sunlight after entering battle and boosts its Attack while in the Harsh Sunlight. These abilities have synergy with the aforementioned Protosynthesis and Quark Drive abilities, so it's a no-brainer to pair up the Legendaries with some Paradox Pokemon.
1. Tera Shell/Teraform Zero
As if abilities couldn’t get more powerful, we have Terapagos’ abilities in first place, for good reason. To start, Terapagos transforms after entering battle and gains the Tera Shell ability. This ability makes all damage-dealing moves that hit Terapagos when its HP is full not very effective. A useful ability for tanking a massive hit that would otherwise deal huge damage!
But wait, there’s more! When you Terastallize Terapagos, it gains the Teraform Zero ability, which nullifies all weather and terrain effects! Super handy for those pesky Miraidon and Koraidon setups! But be warned: after Terapagos transforms and initially activates Teraform Zero, weather and terrain can still be set, as the ability only activates once and does not last indefinitely. Switching out Terapagos and bringing it back in again will also not reactivate Teraform Zero, much to my dismay.
Now that we have gone through the best abilities in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, what do you think? Are there any abilities we left out? What are your favorite abilities in the games? And with that, try playing around with the abilities listed here and see your batling prowess drastically increase!
