The Pokémon series is home to tons of complexity and unexplained mechanics. From hidden values like Friendship to unexplained effects of certain moves, it can take a lot of time and research to learn just how everything works. This is especially true of abilities, passive effects introduced in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire that can affect several things both in and out of battle.
This is just as true in Pokémon Sword & Shield, as several abilities have been given new secondary effects while others remain unexplained in the games themselves. These ten abilities have some incredibly useful secret effects that trainers should know, as they can do a lot more than you’d expect in your journeys through Galar.
10 Steam Engine
One of the most well-known secondary effects of abilities is that of Flame Body and Magma Armor, which veteran Pokémon breeders usually obtain for their party. This is because these abilities make the Pokémon into a sort of incubator, warming eggs and making them hatch twice as fast.
What most trainers won’t know off the bat, though, is that Coalossal’s unique ability Steam Engine does the same thing, even though it’s not flavorfully as similar as the other abilities with this effect. The reason is likely to make Coalossal an incubator regardless of its ability, as it can gain any of those three abilities and therefore will always hatch your eggs faster.
9 Lightning Rod
A common secondary effect of Pokémon abilities is the change of encounter rates among wild Pokémon, and this effect was given to even more abilities in Pokémon Sword & Shield. One of these includes Lightning Rod, an ability that negates Electric-type attacks in battle and increases the Pokémon’s Special Attack stat.
Since it can draw in electricity, it only makes sense that it should be able to attract Electric Pokémon, which this ability now does as well if the Pokémon is in the lead spot of your party. This applies to most similar abilities, such as Storm Drain which will increase the likelihood of Water Pokémon under the same conditions.
8 Vital Spirit
Encountering Pokémon is one thing, but a few abilities have additional changes to encounter rates in general, not for specific Pokémon. Vital Spirit is one of these, normally just preventing Pokémon from falling asleep thanks to its eccentric and confident personality.
Outside of battle, it has a slightly odder effect of increasing the number of high-level Pokémon encountered in the wild. This is likely to demonstrate how the Pokémon lives for a challenge, and as a result, they can be a great tool for trainers who wish to take on bigger foes on Galar’s routes and the sprawling Wild Area.
7 Super Luck
There’s one other encounter-affecting ability that deserves a special mention, as it can be extremely handy for more competitive trainers and collectors. Super Luck itself is not a greatly exceptional ability, increasing its Critical Hit ratio by one stage to provide slightly better shots at unexpected extra damage.
Outside of battle, this ability will double the likelihood of encountering items on Wild Pokémon, such as the coveted Light Ball found on Pikachus and the rare Lucky Egg found on Blisseys. These items are often one-of-a-kind in most circumstances, so improving the odds of finding these items can be unbelievably handy.
6 Oblivious
Pokémon Sword & Shield saw several buffs to old abilities, but most of these were intended to counter another ability called Intimidate, which lowers the Attack stat of all opponents by one stage upon entering battle. This effect is extremely efficient and highly common among many different species, so many abilities were given a secondary power to outright negate Intimidate.
One of these includes Oblivious, which was originally used to prevent the rare status ailment of Infatuation. Now, this not only ignores other emotional effects like Taunt, but also causes Intimidate to go against the user. This same ability also comes with the abilities Inner Focus and Scrappy, and the ability Rattled even provides a speed boost if the user is hit by Intimidate.
5 Arena Trap
Diglett and Dugtrio’s mostly-signature ability, Arena Trap is pretty clear on the surface, but is much deeper than most trainers realize. The base effect is that Pokémon are unable to exit the battle, which means they can’t escape through certain moves or be switched out by trainers, which made this ability quite useful for catching roaming legendaries in past games.
This ability has another odd effect of disabling Ground-type resistances, making Flying-type Pokémon vulnerable and disabling the Levitate ability. If that wasn’t enough, this ability also doubles the likelihood of encountering wild Pokémon if it’s leading your party.
4 Anticipation
The ability Anticipation isn’t hiding a large number of functions, but its powers have always been very poorly explained in the games. The actual description says the Pokémon can sense dangerous moves, but what that constitutes is unclear given how strong certain Pokémon can be with many types of attacks.
The reality is that this ability will list out any Super Effective attacks that would work against the Pokémon, as well as any one-hit KO moves like Sheer Cold and Horn Drill. These won’t showcase the full extent of moves that can defeat a Pokémon in one hit, but does give a pleasant bit of information.
3 Levitate
Much like Anticipation, Levitate isn’t exactly hiding any new abilities, but its explanation in the games has always been quite an understatement of its power. Levitate has historically been one of the strongest abilities throughout the game, with Gengar even being nerfed once through losing its access to this ability altogether.
Levitate essentially protects the user from tons of ground-based effects. This includes most Ground-type attacks, and several entry hazards like Spikes and Poison Spikes. More than that, it also will negate the effects of Arena Trap, meaning Pokémon with Levitate are the only ones that can flee from a Dugtrio.
2 Guts
Another famously powerful ability is Guts, which grants a massive boost to the user’s Attack stat whenever it has a status ailment. Typically, the best ways to activate this are through the Toxic and Flame Orb items, but many trainers might hesitate to use a Flame Orb given how Pokémon with a Burn will deal half as much physical damage.
However, Guts takes this into account, and Pokémon with Guts will always negate the damage reduction effects of a Burn. For this reason, any Pokémon with the Guts ability should be given a Flame Orb, since the Toxic Orb will badly poison the holder to deal more damage over time.
1 Gulp Missile
Perhaps the strangest effect of an ability that isn’t explained in the description comes with the Galar’s own Cramorant, whose ability Gulp Missile allows it to keep a fish in its mouth when using Surf or Dive. After, its next attack will shoot the fish out, but the effects that come with it are given less description.
Regardless of what Pokémon that’s spat out by Cramorant, it will deal a quarter of the opposing Pokémon’s maximum health. If it has at least half its health, it’ll usually grab an Arrokuda, and when it hits an opponent it’ll decrease the target’s Defense stat. If Cramorant has less than half its maximum health, it’ll instead grab an unlucky Pikachu, and hitting an opponent with it will paralyze them.
NEXT: Pokémon: The 10 Worst Non-Signature Abilities, Ranked
