Ever since Generation III, all Pokémon have had their own ability that can help or hinder it in battle, as well as have effects outside of battle. The ability is most often related to the Pokémon's lore, biology, or personality, such as Charjabug's Battery ability orDelphox's Magician.
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Some abilities, however clever their storytelling properties may be, are not beneficial in battle. With abilities that prevent the player from doing what they want to do, or abilities that downright hinder a Pokémon, there are enough bad abilities out there to make a list. Though many signature abilities (abilities only known or given to one Pokémon or one evolutionary line) could be considered negative, this list will be ranking the worst abilities more than one type of Pokémon can have.
10 Weak Armor
An excellent Steel-type Pokémon in its own right, Skarmory can have the ability Weak Armor, and the name indicates its usefulness outright. Physical attacks against a Pokémon with Weak amor will cause its Defense to be lowered, while its Speed stat is raised.
This is a risky tradeoff to begin with, especially on Pokémon such as Vanillish, Sinistea, and Corsola, but many Pokémon abilities will allow for stat increases without having to suffer any decreases, such as Water Compaction or Speed Boost. A Pokémon like Skarmory would benefit far more from Keen Eye or Sturdy, its other two possible abilities.
This ability's name is undeniably hilarious, but is it useful enough to take precedent over any other ability a Pokémon can learn? Heavy Metal doubles the weight of the Pokémon with the ability, and is the only way a Pokémon's weight could possibly exceed 999.9 kg. Itexists as a Hidden Ability for all Pokémon that can have it except Duraludon.
Moves such as Heat Crash and Heavy Slam will benefit from this ability, increasing the damage done to the opponent (especially if the opponent weighs very little). The Pokémon will also have a smaller chance of having Sky Drop used on it, as Pokémon weighin 200 kgs or more cannot be Sky Dropped.Heavy Metal can cause a problem against moves such as Low Kick or Grass Knot, as a heavier Pokémon will takemore damage. This ability is risk and reward, with either being possible depending on who the Pokémon faces.
8 Damp
The ability Damp has been around since the introduction of abilities in Generation III, and it prevents moves such as Explosion, Self-Destruct, and Mind Blown. Self-Destruct is a common move among Mineral Egg Group Pokémon, including Geodude, Voltorb, and Baltoy.
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Damp is useful when searching for shiny Pokémon who may use Self-Destruct during battle, and also prevents damage being done by the ability Aftermath, but beyond preventing three moves and one ability, Damp has limited benefits on the battlefield. Pokémon like Frillish have Damp as its hidden ability, but would do better with Water Absorb or Cursed Body.
7 Magma Armor
An ability possessed by three Pokémon in total, Magma Armor prevents the Pokémon from being frozen solid, as its body consists of hot magma. This is the first ability of Slugma, Magcargo, and Camerupt, and that's it. This ability makes logical sense, but its actually usefulness is rather disappointing upon further inspection.
Not many trainers would attempt to use an Ice-type move on these three Pokémon, especially since Slugma and Magcargo are resistant to Ice. Furthermore, many trainers will prefer Flame Body for Slugma for its benefits to hatching eggs, and Solid Rock as Camerupt's ability, which reduces the power of supereffective moves against it.
6 Klutz
Initially the signature ability ofof the Lopunny line, Klutz prevents the Pokémon from using any held items, cutting off an entire avenue of strategy within battle. This is clearly a negative, but Klutz isn't as high up on the list because of its one potential strategy, which is Klutz and Switcheroo. Using Switcheroo will trade items with the opponent, meaning that the player's Pokémon can pass off a harmful item such as a Toxic Orb to poison its foe.
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Unfortunately, the only Pokémon that has Klutz and can learn Switcheroo is Buneary and Lopunny, and it can only be accomplished through breeding. This strategy is one-note, making Klutz no song worth singing.
5 Plus & Minus
Most well-known as the signature abilities of Plusle and Minun respectively, Plus & Minus were both given to other Pokémon after Generation III, with a total of 12 Pokémon able to learn either ability. Plus & Minus will both increase the Special Attack of the Pokémon by 50%if an ally Pokémon hasPlus or Minus.
Abilities that only offer benefits in double battles are understandably less useful than others, especially when they require another Pokémon with the same ability to work. Most Pokémon with these two abilities are Electric or Steel-type, which could lead to a potential type-disadvantage on the battlefield.
4 Run Away
Many of the cutest and smallest Pokémon possess the ability Run Away, which is perhaps one of the onlyup-sides to this ability. Run Away ensures the Pokémon will be able to Run or Teleport away from a wild Pokémon battle, no matter the entrapping moves used or the level of the opponent Pokémon.
This is the full extent of the ability, which is useful when overwhelmed by an opponent or searching for a specific Pokémon, but as we all know, there's no running away from a trainer battle, which makes this ability useless outside of competitive play.
3 Honey Gather
Originally the signature move of Sinnoh's Combee, Honey Gather does exactly what it says on the tin. The Pokémonhas a chance to collect the item Honey after a battle if it does not already have a held item. The higher the Pokémon's level is, the higher the chance of it finding Honey after a battle ends.
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Within battle, Honey Gather does nothing, making it essentially the same as the Pickup ability except for Honey. This was a more useful ability in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum, where slathering Honey on Honey Trees was the only way to obtain certain Pokémon, such as Munchlax, in the game. However, Pokémon such as Ribombee benefit from abilities that actually do something in battle, such as Shield Dust.
2 Illuminate
Illuminate can be learned by a handful of different Pokémon, such as Chinchou and Lanturn, or Illumise and Volbeat. Any Pokémon capable of creating light with their body could conceivably have Illuminate, though whether or not they will benefit from it is another matter entirely.
Illuminate has absolutely no effect in battle. It does nothing. Instead, it increases the likelihood of encountering Pokémon in the wild due to the extra light being provided. In terms of competitive usefulness, an ability that does nothing is pretty terrible, but is eclipsed by an ability that actively hinders its Pokémon during battle.
1 Truant
Ants are perhaps the hardest-working species on the planet, somakes sense then to give Durant Truant, an ability about loafing around and taking a break, as aDream World ability.Only in their dreams would ants stop working, making it an interesting insight into the biology of the species. It could simply be a pun on the word "ant" though, but props to Game Freak either way.
Truant, once the signature ability of the Slaking family, only allows the Pokémon to attack every other turn, stating that it is loafing around and won't attack. Obviously this is a terrible ability to have, and was created as a reference to Slakoth and Slaking's Sloth biology, as well as a limitation on Slaking's power. Even though it all makes logical sense, it's still the most terrible ability a Pokémon could have.
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