There’s a lot more to Pokemon training than meets the eye. When it comes to the question of the best Pokemon to use on a team, you have many factors to think about. It’s not just the one with the highest stats, the least weaknesses, or the best moves.
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PostsIn truth, it’s a combination of all of these traits and more. Another important thing to consider is the Ability a Pokemon has. This factor alone can make an otherwise great Pokemon almost useless. Slaking’s Truant, for instance, stops it from attacking on consecutive turns. Here, you can check out some of the best Pokemon abilities throughout the franchise.
Updated March 8, 2025, by Andrew Scariati: The best Pokemon abilities shift with every new Pokemon VGC metagame, though some of the top-tier options have remained constant for several generations. Pokemon Scarlet & Violet made some top-tier additions to the best Pokemon abilities, including both base game and DLC inclusions.
23 Flame Body
In Battle Effect
Out Of Battle Effect
Contact with this Pokemon will burn the opponent
Halves the number of steps required to hatch an egg
Flame Body is an important Ability to have on at least one Pokemon if you plan on breeding. This move will half the steps needed to hatch eggs and, as the name implies, comes from Fire type Pokemon.
Within battle, this Ability can be quite helpful as well. This competitive value of Flame Body isn't that great, but overall, it's fairly well-rounded and helpful for breeding the perfect Pokemon.
Pokemon With Flame Body:
Pokemon
Hidden Ability?
Ponyta
✓
Rapidash
✓
Magmar
Moltres
✓
Slugma
Magcargo
Magby
Magmortar
Heatran
✓
Litwick
Lampent
Chandelure
Larvesta
Volcarona
Fletchinder
Talonflame
Carkol
Coalossal
Sizzlipede
✓
Centiskorch
✓
Charcadet
✓
read more22 Ice Scales
In Battle Effect
Halves damage from special moves that hit the Pokemon
Ice Scales is available only to Snom and Frosmoth as their Hidden Ability. Because of this, the Ability isn't possible to obtain if you don't have one of these two Pokemon in your party.
This ability reduces the damage of all special attacks Snom/Frosmoth take by half. Frosmoth’s Special Defense is quite solid, so this makes it pretty darn tanky indeed. Its exclusivity is all that holds it back from rising any higher; imagine Blissey with this Ability. That’s terrifying to even think about.
21 Unaware
In Battle Effect
When this Pokemon is targeted by a damaging move, the attacking Pokemon's stats are ignored when calculating damage and accuracy
A lot of the Abilities on this list have so much potential because they allow Pokemon to either deal huge damage outright or buff themselves so that they can. Before we get into that sort of thing, though, here’s an Ability that represents an enormous roadblock for Pokemon looking to set up.
In case you were unaware, an Unaware Pokemon isn’t affected by its opponent’s stat boosts.
If they’ve got boosted offenses, they’ll deal only their usual damage. If the opponent has increased their Defense/Special Defense, they’ll take the usual damage from a Pokemon with Unaware. It’s super handy to have, but it’s also a rare Ability and is quite niche. After all, if there are no boosts currently in play, this Pokemon essentially has no Ability.
Pokemon With Unaware:
Pokemon
Hidden Ability?
Clefable
✓
Wooper (Paldean and Regular Forms)
✓
Quagsire
✓
Bidoof
Bibarel
Woobat
Swoobat
Pyukumuku
✓
Cosmog
Fuecoco
✓
Crocalor
✓
Skeledirge
✓
Dondozo
Clodsire
✓
read more20 Stance Change
In Battle Effect
Changes the Pokemon from Shield Forme to Blade Forme, or vice versa
- In Shield Forme, the Pokemon has drastically higher Defense and Special Defense.
- In Blade Forme, the Pokemon has drastically higher Attack and Special Attack.
The Honedge line made its debut in Generation Six, and Aegislash quickly established itself as one of the greatest non-Legendary Pokemon ever. The key to its success? Its exclusive Ability, Stance Change. This Ability sees Aegislash switch from its Shield Forme (its default on being sent out) to its Blade Forme when using an offensive move.
In the process, its base defenses switch with its very low base offenses.
When it uses King’s Shield, it switches back to Shield Forme. With its low Speed, then, Aegislash will usually tank a hit with its high defenses before switching its stats and going on the attack with great force. It can’t take a hit at all in Blade Forme and can be quite predictable as a result, but Stance Change makes Aegislash a force to be reckoned with.
19 Sturdy
In Battle Effect
The Pokemon is unaffected by one-hit knockout moves that cause a target to faint instantly regardless of HP, Defense, or Special Defense
Sturdy is one of the best Pokemon abilities and has seen a lot of use. Essentially, Sturdy Pokemon have a built-in Focus Sash: if their HP is full when they’re attacked by a move that will take them out in one shot, they’ll withstand it with a single point of health left.
There are some major shortcomings to this, of course. Any kind of priority will immediately take the Pokemon down afterward, especially as most Pokemon with this Ability are slow, defensive Rock or Steel-types. The true potential of Sturdy lies in what that Pokemon does with its ‘free turn.’ There are ample setup opportunities here. Sturdy, Weakness Policy, and Rock Polish, in particular, can be a fearsome combination.
Pokemon with Sturdy:
Pokemon
Hidden Ability?
Geodude
Graveler
Golem
Magnemite
Magneton
Onix
Sudowoodo
Pineco
Forretress
Steelix
Shuckle
Skarmony
Donphan
Nosepass
Aron
Lairon
Aggron
Relicanth
✓
Regirock
✓
Shieldon
Bastiodon
Bonsly
Magnezone
Probopass
Roggenrola
Boldore
Gigalith
Sawk
Dwebble
Crustle
Tirtouga
Carracosta
Tyrunt
✓
Carbink
✓
Bergmite
✓
Avalugg (Hisuian and Regular Forms)
✓
Togedamaru
✓
Cosmoem
Nacli
Naclstack
Gargancl
read more18 Wonder Guard
In Battle Effect
The Pokemon is immune to all damaging moves that are not super effective.
Wonder Guard is a unique ability that is exclusive to Shedinja. At face value, you might wonder just how the heck this Pokemon could be at all usable.
It has a total of 1 HP, which can’t be increased by any means.
The one thing Shedinja does have going for it is the aforementioned Ability, which renders it immune to any direct attacks it isn’t weak to. Super effective moves, status, weather damage, and hazards all spell doom for it, but if you know that you are going to face a Pokemon that isn't super effective, then Shield Guard is great.
17 Neutralizing Gas
In Battle Effect
Abilities of any other Pokemon in the battle can't be used
- There are a handful of Abilities that can't be suppressed by Neutralizing Gas
Sometimes, an Ability doesn’t need to have a flashy effect in and of itself. After all, a critter like Mega Mawile (which was super reliant on Huge Power) is in some major trouble when that Ability is taken away.
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PostsNeutralizing Gas is the exclusive Ability of the Koffing family and prevents or nullifies the effects of all other Pokemon in the battle. While this hasn’t been as dominating as it sounds, it’s an excellent counter to other strategies when played well.
16 Good As Gold/Purifying Salt
CloseIn Battle Effect
Good As Gold: This Pokemon cannot be affected by status conditions or moves that inflict them. Purifying Salt: This Pokemon cannot be affected by status conditions and halves the Special Attack or Attack of any Pokemon attacking with Ghost-type attacks. Cannot use Rest.
Gholdengo is the only Pokemon with the Good As Gold ability that allows it to ignore all status conditions. The Ability description claims that this is thanks to its solid gold body that can't be affected, but we think it's probably just that Gholdengo is too cool to care.
Similarly, Garganacl's Purifying Salt equals Gholdengo's status condition nullification but also adds to the ability by reducing the attacker's Attack and Special Attack when calculating damage. Unfortunately, you can't recover using Rest with this Ability, but it's a fair trade-off.
15 Multiscale
In Battle Effect
When this Pokemon is at its maximum HP, incoming damage is halved.
- It does not affect the handful of moves that deal direct damage.
Multiscale is another Ability that doesn’t have any major direct power itself but allows the Pokemon the opportunity to boost itself and shoot for a sweep. It’s not just about being aggressive, either: Multiscale is just as useful from a defensive point of view.
This Ability halves the damage taken from direct attacks while the user’s HP is full. It’s available to only two Pokemon; Dragonite and Lugia. The former loves using it to help it accrue Dragon Dances, while it helps the latter with its main game plan: sitting there tanking absolutely everything and being a monumental pain.
Pokemon With Multiscale:
Pokemon
Hidden Ability?
Dragonite
✓
Lugia
✓
14 Gorilla Tactics
In Battle Effect
This Pokemon's Attack stat is increased by 50 percent, but it can only use one move.
Gorilla Tactics is a newer Ability introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield, exclusive to Galarian Darmanitan. What does it do? It immediately makes this ludicrous-looking creature overpowered.
The effect of the Ability is the same as that of a Choice Band: it gives the Pokemon an Attack boost but allows it to use only the first move it picked on being sent out. The truly frightening thing is that you can actually give it a Choice Band on top of that. Considering that this thing already has a base Attack of 140, that’s some astronomical power right there.
