One of the biggest game-changers added in the third generation ofPokemonwas abilities. Each Pokemon has an ability that grants them a passive effect during battle or in the overworld. There are many varieties of ability - some are hidden, some change on evolution, some can even be detrimental. One thing that the games used to set certain species apart are signature abilities - ones that belong to a single evolutionary line.
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Signature abilities aren’t powerful by definition, but plenty ofthe best abilitiesin the series are signatures. This list doesn’t include abilities that used to be signatures, but later got added to multiple lines. Instead, the focus here is on Pokemon who still, to this day, have an ability that is unique to them and their evolutionary relatives.
Updated June 18, 2025 by Demaris Oxman:ThePokemongames have introduced a wide array of abilities over the past eight generations of mainline games. Some are fairly bland, but others can be game-changing. Of the latter, several of the best Pokemon abilities are restricted to a single evolutionary line. This gives their users the opportunity to implement unique battle strategies, changing up the gameplay. With that in mind, this list has been updated to include even more of the most useful and interesting signature abilities that Pokemon can have.
15Wonder Guard
Arguably, Wonder Guard should be at thetopof this list, not the first entry. This abilitynullifies any attack that isn’t super-effective. For example, ifa Water-typehad Wonder Guard, it could only take damage from Grass and Electric-type moves. What could be better than that?
The problem is that Wonder Guard is exclusive to Shedinja. Shedinja hasonehit point, meaning that any super-effective attack will drop it immediately. Bug/Ghost isn’t the greatest defensive typing, with five weaknesses. The ability doesn’t protect it from burn or poison damage, either.
14Steam Engine
The ability is exclusive to Coalossal and its previous stages Rolycoly and Carkoal. A Fire/Rock-type like Coalossal is going to have a pretty hard time with Water-type moves, which deal quadruple the damage. Luckily, the line has Steam Engine to cover for it somewhat.
When hit with a Water or Fire-type attack, Steam Enginebooststhe owner’s Speedsix stages, up to the maximum for stat boosts. Coalossal is a very slow Pokemon, so it appreciates some help. However, it doesn’t mitigate the massive damage done by the attack. It might be better to keep Coalossal out entirely instead of risk it to get this ability to activate.
13Cotton Down
Exclusive to Gossifleur and its evolution Eldegoss. Whenever a Pokemon with Cotton Down is hit by a damaging move, it explodes into cotton fluff, lowering the Speed of all Pokemon aside from itself.This will trigger every time it’s attacked, and multi-hit moves like Fury Swipes will set it off multiple times.
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Note the phrasing — this applies toallother Pokemon. In a Double or Triple Battle, Cotton Down will also activate against Gossifleur’s allies, reducing their speed. Sounds horrible, and most of the time, it is. However, this could be an interesting way to run a Trick Room team in Multi Battle.
12Corrosion
Steel-type Pokemon can be frustratingly tough. These defensive powerhouses have a whopping ten resistances, not to mention immunity to Poison — both the attack type and theassociated status condition. Salandit and Salazzle, however, level the playing field with their signature ability. Corrosionallows them to poison Steel-type Pokemon.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t allow Poison-type attacks to damage Steel-types, but the chip damage from poison — especially bad poison inflicted by Toxic — can prove a huge advantage. With this ability, coupled with their Fire-typing, this line is a great counter to an overpowered type.
11Long Reach
The hidden signature ability of Rowlet’s line, Long Reach essentiallyallows aPokemon to use contact moves, without activating effects caused by making contact with the foe.
Plenty of items and abilities cause damage or status conditions upon making contact; for example, the Flame Body ability may cause a burn on contact, while the Rocky Helmet item causes damage on contact. Long Reach avoids all of these effects, negating all chance of harm that may come from touching one’s opponent.
10Gale Wings
ThisHidden Abilityis only found on Talonflame and its previous stages.All Flying-type moves from the user take priority,meaning they automatically go first. Talonflame might not have had the best stats, but simply having Gale Wings made it very popular in competitive play.
It seems Nintendo decided they made Gale Wings too good, because comePokemon Sun and Moon, it got a considerable nerf. Its ability now only takes effect when Talonflame is at full health, but is still among the best Pokemon abilities.
9Water Bubble
The signature ability of Dewpider and its evolution Araquanid, Water Bubblehalves the damage taken from Fire-type moves and doubles the damage the Pokemon does with Water-type moves.As a secondary effect, it also prevents the Pokemon from being burned.
Even though this line’s Water typing negates Bug’s weakness to Fire, this ability essentially reduces Fire-type damage from normally effective to not-very-effective. What’s more, the boost to Water-type attacks tacks onto the existing STAB bonus, making this line a Hydro-Pumping powerhouse.
8Disguise
Mimikyu uses its handmade Pikachu disguise for its signature ability. The first attack to hit Mimikyu breaks its costume and turns it into the Busted Forme.That attack doesn’t do any damage as a result.It’s simple but effective.
Here’s a little-known fact: Using Rollout on a Mimikyu used totrigger a glitch. Rollout works by incrementing a turn number and a damage multiplier every round. If one of those hits busted Disguise, the turn number would go up one as usual, but the damage multiplier wouldn’t. So, after Rollout was finished, the user would have one more leftover turn where they had a huge damage boost for any move they wanted.
7Merciless
The signature ability of Mareanie and Toxapex, Mercilesscauses all attacks to deal critical hits to poisoned targets. Considering the wide array of Poison-type attacks these Pokemon can learn — including Toxic — it’s very easy to put this ability to good use.
By ensuring critical hits, Merciless essentially ensures that a Pokemon with this ability will always do double damage against poisoned targets. This, along with the chip damage from the poison itself, will have foes falling quickly in any battle.
6Mummy
This is the signature ability of Yamask and Cofagrigus.When a Pokemon with Mummy is hit witha move that makes contact, the attacker’s ability is erased and replaced with Mummy. Not all abilities can be changed this way, but the vast majority can. It’s very useful to shut down annoying abilities.
Be very careful when using Mummy, as it can backfire easily. There’s a decent chance the opponent that the player just Mummified will spread the condition back to one’s own team. Switching out will not change the ability back. It’s a dangerous game to play.
