February 27, 2022 / 6:38 pm Show
Ever since Generation III, every Pokemon in the mainline series has had passive abilities — and those in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are no exception. All 493 Pokemon available in the game have abilities, though not all of them are viable in competitive play.
We’re here to talk about how abilities work, and which ones are actually worth considering in player vs. player battles. Some Pokemon are even viable in competitive play because of their abilities. We’ll be noting some of those in this guide as well. Abilities are built-in traits that every Pokemon in the game has access to. Introduced in Generation III, abilities provide passive effects for Pokemon to enjoy — whether in battle or in the overworld. For example, the ability Intimidate allows a Pokemon to automatically lower their opponent’s Attack stat by one stage upon switching in. The ability Sturdy, on the other hand, acts like a built-in Focus Sash. Each Pokemon may only hold one ability at a time, though many — if not all — have access to more than just one. Some Pokemon even have what are called “Hidden Abilities”, which we’ll talk about in a later section. Not all abilities are beneficial, though. Abilities like Truant and Slow Start actually work to the detriment of the Pokemon holding them. Also, abilities that work only in the overworld, such as Honey Gather, don’t have any use in actual battles. And with nearly 300 abilities throughout the mainline series, things can get quite confusing quickly. How Exactly do Abilities Work?In general, a Pokemon has access to three abilities. Two are Normal Abilities, and the third one being their Hidden Ability as mentioned in the previous section. Normal AbilitiesNormal Abilities come naturally to Pokemon, and which one a Pokemon has upon encountering it in the wild is determined by its personality value. We won’t get into the nitty-gritty of how personality values determine abilities, but to make things simple, we’ll just say it’s random chance. For example, a Shinx caught in the wild may have either Rivalry or Intimidate, depending on what the random number generator spits out when the encounter happens. Therefore, it can take some time to catch a Pokemon of the same species with a competitively-viable ability, depending on luck. It’s important to note using the Shinx example above that both Rivalry and Intimidate take up their own, fixed ability slots. Rivalry takes up slot 1, so to speak, while Intimidate takes up slot 2. On the surface, this doesn’t really seem like it would affect anything. But when it comes to evolution and how abilities can change as a result of it, each ability slot determines what might change when a Pokemon evolves. For example, a Poochyena that possesses Run Away (slot 1) will evolve into a Mightyena with Intimidate. Conversely, a Poochyena that starts out with Quick Feet (slot 2) will evolve into a Mightyena with the same ability. This helps when it comes to choosing Pokemon of the same species, as some competitively viable abilities will be locked into a dedicated ability slot. Hidden Abilities, introduced in Generation V, serve as a Pokemon’s “third” ability slot. These tend to be very powerful or even game-breaking in some cases, but generally speaking players can only obtain them through special means like real-world events. In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, though, an item called the Ability Patch allows players to change their Pokemon’s Normal Abilities into their Hidden Abilities. Players can obtain the Ability Patch in the Battle Park for 200 Battle Points (BP). In addition, using the Poke Radar to scout for wild Pokemon allows players to more easily look for Pokemon with Hidden Abilities. Contrary to the evolution mechanics for Normal Abilities, a Pokemon that possesses its Hidden Ability from the outset will always possess its evolved forms’ Hidden Abilities as well. For example, a Dragonair with Marvel Scale will evolve into a Dragonite with Multiscale, the latter of which is its Hidden Ability. For more details on how to obtain certain Hidden Abilities, check out the entry on the topic on Bulbapedia. Which Abilities are the Best in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl?As mentioned before, not every ability in the game is going to make a difference in competitive play. But with nearly 300 of them out there, narrowing the list down to the most useful ones in PvP battles would be a pretty big task still. Nevertheless, here are some of the best and most commonly used abilities in competitive battles in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl:
|