There’s only one way to get Hidden Abilities in Pokémon Sword and Shield

Hidden Abilities make a Pokémon more powerful, but they are also rare. Additionally, not all Pokémon can have Hidden Abilities at present.

Now that Pokémon Sword and Shield have been out for a few weeks, many of the game's secrets have been revealed. However, there are sure to be more discovered soon. One of the secret things Game Freak didn't tell us about was how to get Pokémon with Hidden Abilities and which new Hidden Abilities have been added in Gen 8. Hidden Abilities are special powers that a Pokémon has. However, it's very rare to find a Pokémon with Hidden Abilities. Here's how to find a Pokémon with Hidden Abilities in Sword and Shield.

• What are Hidden Abilities?
• List of all Hidden Abilities
• How do I get a Pokémon with Hidden Abilities?
• How do I check to see if one of my Pokémon has a Hidden Ability?
• Breeding Pokémon with Hidden Abilities

What are Hidden Abilities?

Hidden Abilities were first introduced in Gen 5 with Pokémon Black and White. They are a lot like regular Abilities, that help you during battles. Only, it's far less likely for you to find a Pokémon with a Hidden Ability. For instance, a Charizard has the potential to know the Hidden Ability Solar Power, which increases the Special Attack of a Pokémon by 1.5 when the weather condition is currently Harsh sunlight.

Most Pokémon species have the potential to have a Hidden Ability. However, you can only acquire a specific Pokémon with a Hidden Ability under special circumstances.

List of all Hidden Abilities

If you want to see which Pokémon are capable of learning which Hidden Ability, check out Bulbapedia. The new Pokémon from Sword and Shield haven't been added yet, nor have the newest Hidden Abilities, but they will be eventually. Speaking of which, we currently know of 141 Hidden Abilities, but more have probably been added with Sword and Shield. We'll add them to this list once we learn about them.

• Adaptability
• Aftermath
• Analytic
• Anger Point
• Anticipation
• Aroma Veil
• Battle Armor
• Big Pecks
• Blaze
• Bulletproof
• Chlorophyll
• Clear Body
• Cloud Nine
• Competitive
• Compound Eyes
• Contrary
• Cursed Body
• Cute Charm
• Damp
• Defiant
• Drizzle
• Dry Skin
• Early Bird
• Effect Spore
• Flame Body
• Flare Boost
• Flash Fire
• Friend Guard
• Frisk
• Gale Wings
• Galvanize
• Gluttony
• Gooey
• Grass Pelt
• Guts
• Harvest
• Healer
• Heavy Metal
• Honey Gather
• Huge Power
• Hustle
• Hydration
• Ice Body
• Immunity
• Imposter
• Infiltrator
• Inner Focus
• Insomnia
• Intimidate
• Iron Fist
• Justified
• Keen Eye
• Klutz
• Leaf Guard
• Light Metal
• Lightning Rod
• Limber
• Liquid Voice
• Long Reach
• Magic Bounce
• Magic Guard
• Magician
• Marvel Scale
• Minus
• Mold Breaker
• Moody
• Motor Drive
• Moxie
• Multiscale
• Natural Cure
• No Guard
• Oblivious
• Overcoat
• Own Tempo
• Pickpocket
• Pickup
• Pixilate
• Plus
• Poison Heal
• Poison Touch
• Power of Alchemy
• Prankster
• Pressure
• Protean
• Quick Feet
• Rain Dish
• Rattled
• Reckless
• Regenerator
• Rivalry
• Rock Head
• Rough Skin
• Run Away
• Sand Force
• Sand Rush
• Sand Veil
• Sap Sipper
• Scrappy
• Serene Grace
• Shadow Tag
• Sheer Force
• Shell Armor
• Simple
• Skill Link
• Slush Rush
• Sniper
• Snow Cloak
• Snow Warning
• Solar Power
• Soundproof
• Speed Boost
• Static
• Steadfast
• Stench
• Storm Drain
• Sturdy
• Super Luck
• Swarm
• Sweet Veil
• Swift Swim
• Symbiosis
• Tangled Feet
• Technician
• Telepathy
• Thick Fat
• Tinted Lens
• Torrent
• Toxic Boost
• Truant
• Unaware
• Unburden
• Unnerve
• Vital Spirit
• Volt Absorb
• Water Absorb
• Water Veil
• Weak Armor
• White Smoke
• Wonder Guard
• Wonder Skin
• Zen Mode

How do I get a Pokémon with Hidden Abilities?

So far in Sword and Shield, the only way to get a Pokémon with Hidden Abilities is to battle and catch one in a Max Raid Battle. Not all Max Raid Battle Pokémon will have Hidden Abilities, but you can eventually come upon one. You'll know if a Pokémon has a Hidden Ability because a notice pops up on the left of the screen just as the battle starts letting you know that the Hidden Ability is in effect. However, Abilities can do the same thing. You'll need to check that Bulbapedia list to see if it's a regular Ability or a Hidden Ability.

Follow these steps to get a Scorbunny, Grookey, and Sobble with a Hidden Ability. You'll need a Pokémon HOME account as well as Pokémon Sword or Shield.

If that changes, we'll be sure to update this section.

How do I check to see if the Pokémon I have has a Hidden Ability?

Possibly, someone could trade a Pokémon to you that has a Hidden Ability. To check, go to the menu and select Pokémon. Hover over a Pokémon in your party, and you'll be able to see the Ability on the right. For instance, in the picture above, my Butterfree knows the Hidden Ability, Tinted Lens.

Unfortunately, Sword and Shield don't tell you if your Pokémon simply knows an Ability or a Hidden Ability. The only way to know if a Pokémon has a Hidden Ability is to check its stats and then check Bulbapedia to see if that listed Ability is that specific Pokémon's Hidden Ability.

Breeding Pokémon with Hidden Abilities

Once you've caught a Pokémon with a Hidden Ability, you can take it to the Pokémon Nursery and breed it. There's a 50% chance of passing on a Pokémon's Hidden Ability to its offspring. However, if you breed a Pokémon that has a Hidden Ability with a Ditto, you'll always pass the Hidden Ability down. It definitely makes it even more appealing to catch and breed a Ditto.

Special powers

There you have it. Now you know how to get a Pokémon with Hidden Abilities and how to breed for additional Pokémon with Hidden Abilities. Good luck with the Max Raid Battles! I hope you're able to catch and breed everything you're looking for!