Summary
Farming Hidden Abilities can be a tedious task, but ifPokemon Scarlet & Violetplayers intend on battling competitively, then they’ll need to put in the work depending on the Pokemon they want to use. An easy way to farm Hidden Abilities was to battle and catch the Pokemon in 3-star (and higher) Tera Raids. Unfortunately for the Hisuian Pokemon native toLegends: Arceus, players may have to get an Ability Patch, which is a very rare drop from 6-star Tera Raids.
InLegends: Arceus, the Abilities mechanic was removed from the gameplay. Meaning, for example, that Pokemon with the Levitate Ability, could be hit by Ground-type moves. If players transfer a Pokemon fromLegends: ArceustoScarlet/VioletviaPokemon HOME, they’ll notice their Pokemon will now have an Ability once they’ve crossed over into Paldea. Most Hisuian Pokemon have decent regular Abilities, but there are some that have a better Hidden Ability.
5Hisuian Samurott & Kleavor
Hidden Ability: Sharpness
Hisuian Samurott and Kleavor are Water/Dark and Bug/Rock-type respectively, and they both have similar regular Abilities in Torrent (Hisuian Samurott) and Swarm (Kleavor).Torrentincreases the power of Water-type moves when Hisuian Samurott has low HP;Swarmincreases the power of Bug-type moves when Kleavor has low HP.
A Kleavor inScarlet/Violetmay also haveSheer Force, which increases the powers of moves with additional effects, while at the same time negating these very effects. For example,Kleavor can learn Air Slash, a Flying-type move that has a chance of making the target Pokemon flinch. If it’s used by a Kleavor with Sheer Force, Air Slash will deal more damage, but it will lose the ability to “flinch” the opponent.
Both Hisuian Samurott and Kleavor share the same Hidden Ability as well:Sharpness. This will increase the power of “slicing” moves by 50%. Hisuian Samurott and Kleavor’s signature moves, Ceaseless Edge and Stone Axe respectively, are affected by Sharpness. In fact, must “slicing” moves can be learned by both Pokemon via TM. Coupled withHisuian Samurott and Kleavor’s incredible base Attack, Sharpness is one Hidden Ability worth its trouble.
4Enamorus
Hidden Ability: Contrary
Prior toLegends: Arceus, there were only three Pokemon that made up the Forces of Nature: Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus. After catching these three Pokemon inLegends: Arceus, players are introduced to Enamorus. They would then need to go to Crimson Mirelands to catch her for the Pokedex. Unlike the male-only species of Thundurus, Landorus, and Tornadus, Enamorus is female-only. She’s a Fairy/Flying-type and like her male counterparts, she has both an Incarnate Forme and a Therian Forme. In her Therian Forme, Enamorus has theOvercoatAbility, but in her Incarnate Forme, she will haveCute CharmorContrary, which is her Hidden Ability.
Cute Charmhas a 30% chance ofinflicting infatuation on a male opponentthat makes contact with Enamorus in battle. Since this only works on Pokemon of the opposite gender, it’s a useless Ability when battling female Pokemon, or Pokemon with no gender, such as Magnemite. Her Hidden ability,Contrary, will reverse the effects of stat-changing moves. This can work in Enamorus' favor if she’s hit by a move that would normally lower her stats, such as Memento, which sharply lowers the target’s Attack and Special Attack in battle. Likewise, moves that raise her stats will instead lower them, so this is something trainers will want to remember. Therefore, if trainers intend to use Enamorus' Incarnate Forme more than her Therian Forme, then they should consider her Hidden Ability.
3Hisuian Braviary
Hidden Ability: Tinted Lens
Hisuian Braviary’s Psychic/Flying-typing gives it some type advantages that regular Braviary does not have. The downside to Hisuian Braviary is that while its Special Attack is one of its best stats, it doesn’t learn many special moves upon leveling up. Fortunately,Legends: ArceusPokemon transferred toScarlet/Violetwill now have access to TMs. Hisuian Braviary’s shares its Abilities with Braviary:Keen EyeandSheer Force. Again, Sheer Force increases the power ofmoves with additional effects, but they will lose that effect when used by a Pokemon with Sheer Force. Keen Eye prevents Hisuian Braviary’s accuracy from being lowered, and it also bypasses any changes to the opponent’s evasiveness.
Hisuian Braviary’s Hidden Ability isTinted Lens, which powers up its “not very effective” moves. For example, using a Flying-type move on a Rock-type will deal 1x damage instead of 1/2x damage. If used on a Rock/Steel-type, it will inflict 1/2x damage instead of 1/4x damage. Having this Ability can give Hisuian Braviary an edge when it’s facing Pokemon that can shrug off its Psychic or Flying-type moves.
2Hisuian Arcanine
Hidden Ability: Rock Head
The Hisuian Growlithe and Hisuian Arcanine are good physical attackers and have moderate Special Attack and Speed. The downside istheir two 4x weaknessesto Water and Ground-type moves thanks to their Fire/Rock-typing. If it’s up against either of those types that happens to have higher Speed, chances are that Hisuian Arcanine is going to get 1HKO’d. Hisuian Arcanine’s main Abilities areIntimidate(lowers the opponent’s Attack when Arcanine enters battle, with some exceptions) andFlash Fire(raises the power of Arcanine’s fire moves if Arcanine is hit by a Fire-type move). They’re not bad Abilities, but Hisuian Arcanine’s Hidden Ability is arguably better.
Rock Headwill negate the damage from recoil, meaning Hisuian Arcanine is free to use moves like Take Down and Flare Blitz without having to worry about recoil damage. Another great move to teach a Rock Head-Acanine is Wild Charge, an Electric-type move that will usually give it coverage against Water-type Pokemon. Because it can run recoil moves without suffering the recoil itself, having Hisuian Arcanine’s Hidden Ability can turn it into a real powerhouse.
1Hisuian Decidueye
Hidden Ability: Scrappy
Along with Oshawott and Cyndaquil, Rowelt wasone of the starter PokemoninPokemon Legends: Arceus. As such, its final evolution gained its own Hisuian Form, too. Hisuian Decidueye is a Grass/Fighting-type Pokemon, and like its Alolan counterpart, its primary Ability isOvergrow. This will increase Hisuian Decidueye’s Grass-type moves when at low HP.
Fortunately, Hisuian Decidueye has a better Hidden Ability.Scrappyallows Ghost-type Pokemon to be hit by Normal or Fighting-type moves. Attacks such as Triple Arrows, Hisuian Decidueye’s signature move, which have various effects, will now be able to damage Ghost-type Pokemon so long as Hisuian Decidueye has the Scrappy Ability. Since this eliminates both of the Ghost-type’s immunities and because Hisuian Decidueye loses the Ghost-typing its Alolan counterpart has, Scrappy can be very useful for the Arrow Quill Pokemon.
