Whatever happened to abilities?

[mehmeh1]

Abilities were introduced in gen 3 as a way to make each pokemon species and individual a bit more unique by giving them some special effect just for them, and obviously, the anime followed suit and also used them, but I've noticed that, at least in ash's team they've been used less and less since like BW, for example, look at pikachu's static, it was used quite a few times in AG and DP, but only like once in BW (vs garbodor) and never again since. Then there's his XY team, where goodra's hydration was used prominently when he was around, but then there's talonflame's flame body, which was never used in battle, we don't know noivern or hawlucha's abilities, and ash-greninja's bond phenomenon wasn't treated as an ability (heck, we didn't even know it was an ability until the SM demo, I remember theories that he had protean back in 2016). Now in SM it's even worse, where NONE of ash's team's abilities have even been shown/used.

 

[Jeal]

Abilities are just plot device in the anime. They are activated when writers want them to be.

 

[BTS_fan]

Other than in a few battles, they've never been a consistent part of the show which sucks since I loved it when Ash fought Norman because Abilities played a big part of that gym match.

 

[AznKei]

I think it's more to do with other gimmicks that are introduced in their specific gens. I know that gen 6 had the Mega Evolutions and gen 7 had the Z-moves and the anime producers/writers probably wanted to focus on them to make the battles more fresh and apart compared to the past gens.

 

[Leonhart]

Abilities are a bit complicated for an anime like Pokemon from my perspective. They add a whole new layer to battles, which I figure might be too complex for some of the audience, and the writers would have to constantly add extra dialogue to explain what certain Abilities do if they showed up in every battle. That might be why Abilities are so scarce in the anime.

 

[VoltTacklingPika]

I second what @Leonhart said. Interrupting a battle to cut away to a character so they can explain what an Ability does may have become a hindrance to the scene's flow. It's natural for a game to pause and explain something to the player, but in an anime it can annoy the viewer.

Also, some Abilities are harder to implement when they aren't following the game's rules entirely. Take Pikahcu's Static, for example. It's a luck-based Ability, which works in a game environment, but poses problems in a narrative, where its activation can be regarded as too convenient. Paralysis in the show tends to be a much bigger problem than it is in the games, so I can see why they stopped using Static in battles. Then you have Ability such as Intimidate, which will always activate in the games, but doesn't make a lot of sense in context. How would an Ekans be able to intimidate, say, a Charizard? It's in the same category of stat-lowering moves, which also happen to rare in the anime. It's difficult to show how Tail Whip or Growl lowers an opponent's stats. Similarly, it's tough to show how Intimidate decreases attack, apart from showing a Pokemon to be scared. But then you run into the problem of it making sense on screen.

The policy they seem to have now is that an Ability will be shown if it's characteristic of the Pokemon. Golisopod's Emergency Exit is a good example of this. It's unique to that species of Pokemon, so it would be weird not to show it off.

 

[BTS_fan]

I think it's more to do with other gimmicks that are introduced in their specific gens. I know that gen 6 had the Mega Evolutions and gen 7 had the Z-moves and the anime producers/writers probably wanted to focus on them to make the battles more fresh and apart compared to the past gens.

What about BW? That saga had no major gimmicks yet Abilities barely got showcased in that saga outside of a few episodes.

 

[Kintaro]

BW's gimmick was a return to basics approach. The whole saga tried way too hard to be Kanto 2.0.

 

[ballinamon]

Actually I mostly forget that Pikachu have Static.

 

[DatsRight]

Sophocles' Togedemaru uses Lightning Rod a lot, which is likely just as well because she has only ONE established attack otherwise, so it largely exists so she has a gimmick she is useful for.

 

[Leonhart]

Actually I mostly forget that Pikachu have Static.

So do most people since Pikachu's Static only comes into play once in a blue moon during the rare moments when the writers decide to put more strategy into his battles. Personally, I've always abhorred that ability since it's reliant on making physical contact with an opponent and sheer luck, but Pikachu's stuck with it.

 

[Apslup]

They literally only use them when they feel like it (which isn't really often) or when it is absolutely necessary (the best example I can give is with Slaking, since if they didn't include it's ability then they would get a ton of backlash) . It's a shame, I always found that battles where a lot more interesting when abilities where being used, since it made trainers think more strategically of how to use it to the greatest effect (see Ash's Infernape as an example).

 

[Bortgreen]

How about the Tapus Surges?

 

[MockingJ]

Actually I mostly forget that Pikachu have Static.

Me too since it's rarely ever shown these days even though Pikachu is the Pokemon that Ash uses for battles the most. I wish that his Torracat would activate Blaze since I love the pinch abilities.

 

[Hanto]

Sadly, they are just shafted in favor of new gimmicks such as Mega Evolution, Z-Moves and Dynamax in the future.

 

[Leonhart]

Sadly, they are just shafted in favor of new gimmicks such as Mega Evolution, Z-Moves and Dynamax in the future.

I do think that the new battle gimmicks from Gen VI and VII made Abilities much less necessary. I don't like how Abilities got phased out for the most part, but now that Mega Evolution and Z-Moves won't be a thing in the Gen VIII games, hopefully the anime will focus more on Abilities again in the Galar saga.

 

[MidnightMelody]

They could just do what MHA does for new powers. Do a short synopsis but keeping the action going while doing so and never bring it up again.

 

[Hanto]

I do think that the new battle gimmicks from Gen VI and VII made Abilities much less necessary. I don't like how Abilities got phased out for the most part, but now that Mega Evolution and Z-Moves won't be a thing in the Gen VIII games, hopefully the anime will focus more on Abilities again in the Galar saga.

After Superpowerful Evolutions and Abilities they could invent something like Hyperability, but alas