Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: How to Get Ability Capsule

As of generation 3, every Pokemon has its own Ability, which is a passive effect that triggers in and sometimes out of battle. Some species of Pokemon have two Abilities, but only one will be “selected” for that Pokemon. If your Pokemon’s primary Ability isn’t as good as its secondary Ability, then you might consider changing it with an Ability Capsule. Changing Abilities will also come in handy if you’re building a team for competitive gameplay or if you have Pokemon Scarlet & Violet‘s expansion pack. Although they sound rare, Ability Capsules become easier to get once you’ve started the postgame.

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All Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Codes (May 2024)

Players can redeem these Pokemon Scarlet and Violet codes to get their hands on all manner of great in-game rewards, including rare Pokemon and items.

Where to Find Ability Capsule in Scarlet & Violet

Every Method of Getting Ability Capsules in Scarlet & Violet

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Chansey Supply

You can buy an Ability Capsule from Chansey Supply after you’ve completed “The Way Home” main quest and started the postgame. One Ability Capsule costs 100000. The Chansey Supply stores can be found in the following cities:

Mesagoza
Levincia
Cascarrafa
Montenevera

Another way to get an Ability Capsule is to partake in 5-star or 6-star Tera Raids. You’ll have a higher chance of getting an Ability Capsule from a 6-star Raid than an Ability Patch. While they’re arguably a more challenging method of getting Ability Capsules, 5/6-star Raids won’t drain your wallet of hard-earned poke dollars.

If you have “The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero” expansion pass, you can get an Ability Capsule via the Blueberry Pokedex Rewards. Once you’ve caught 90 Pokemon in Terrarium, go into the Pokedex (-), and press the X-button.

The last method of getting a surefire Ability Capsule is to use the Item Printer. Creating the Item Printer will cost you 200 BP (Blueberry Points) and will be placed in the League Club Room at Blueberry Academy. The Item Printer can be upgraded four times with the help of some BP. To get items from the Item Printer, you’ll need to use Pokemon Materials.

When Should You Use the Ability Capsule?

What to Know About Changing Abilities

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Ability Capsule in Use

Since you can buy as many Ability Capsules as you want in the postgame, they’re much more expendable than their Ability Patch counterpart. As mentioned, some Pokemon have three Abilities, but only two are “regular” while the third is “hidden.” In other cases, your Pokemon may have one regular ability or one Hidden Ability. Pokemon cannot have more than one Ability at a time, meaning you’ll need to use an Ability Capsule if you want to change it.

Using an Ability Capsule is the same as using Nature Mints or Vitamins:

Select your bag after opening the menu (X-button)
Tab over to your Other Items pouch and choose the Ability Capsule.

If your Pokemon can have its Ability changed, there will be a green “Can Use” note under your Pokemon’s menu sprite. Likewise, a Pokemon with the gray “Cannot Use” label means it only has one Ability, or it has its Hidden Ability.

Before using an Ability Capsule, you should look up your Pokemon’s Abilities. For example, Growlithe can have Intimidate or Flash Fire as its Ability. Intimidate will lower the Attack stat of the opposing Pokemon by one stage when Growlithe enters battle; Flash Fire will raise Growlithe’s Attack when hit by a Fire-type move. Both of these Abilities can be useful, but one is more situational than the other. You’re likely to get more use out of Intimidate than Flash Fire since it’s unlikely your opponent will be attacking a Fire-type Pokemon with a Fire-type move. However, Intimidate’s effect can be nullified by the opposing Pokemon’s moves or Ability (such as Clear Body), which gives you something to consider when changing Growlithe’s Ability.

Every Mythical and Legendary Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: Every Mythical & Legendary Pokemon (& How to Get Them)

When compared to some of their predecessors, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are a little light on Mythical and Legendary Pokemon at launch.

Can You Get Hidden Abilities with Ability Capsules?

Ability Capsule vs. Ability Patch

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet - Ability Patch in Use (2)

You cannot use an Ability Capsule to change your Pokemon’s Ability to its Hidden Ability. To get a Pokemon’s Hidden Ability, you will need an Ability Patch. The Ability Patch is an incredibly rare item that is only obtainable via 6/7-star Tera Raids.

If you want to change your Pokemon’s Hidden Ability to one of its regular Abilities, you will need an Ability Patch. From there, you can change between the Pokemon’s regular Abilities (if it has more than one) with the Ability Capsule.

While Hidden Abilities sound useful on paper, it ultimately depends on the Ability itself. There are plenty of Pokemon with poor Hidden Abilities that are outclassed by their regular Abilities.

For example, Klutz is regarded as a poor Ability since it prevents the user from being able to hold items. It can be useful if your Pokemon knows a move that can swap its Ability with the opponent’s, but Klutz is something that most trainers will be glad to swap out.

Fidough’s Hidden Ability is Klutz while its regular Ability is Own Tempo, which prevents its Attack from being lowered via Intimidate, and protects it from being inflicted by the Confuse status. In a case like Fidough’s, you may want to use an Ability Patch to get Own Tempo instead, since you’re more likely to get better use out of it in battles against NPCs.