When it comes to choosing the right Pokemon for one's team, there are many things to consider. In Gen 3, another extremely important aspect was thrown into the mix. The Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald games introduced Abilities, a mechanic that provides passive effects to Pokemon either in battle, in the overworld, or both.
Selecting the right Pokemon with the right Ability can make all the difference in building a strong and effective team. However, players need to take care, because not all Abilities are beneficial. In fact, some Abilities are actually a hindrance to Pokemon. With all that in mind, let's take a look at the strongest Pokemon/Ability combination that each Generation has to offer.
6 Gen 3: Swellow with Guts
Every generation has early game Flying-type Pokemon, and Gen 3's is Swellow. However, though it's a common Pokemon available right away, players should not make the mistake of thinking it's bad. Swellow is incredibly fast and has a reasonably good Attack stat, complemented by the wonderful Ability Guts. When a Pokemon with this Ability has a status condition (like Paralysis or Burn), it receives a massive 50% increase to its Attack stat.
Burn is the best status condition for a Guts user to have, as its only drawback is the residual damage that comes with the status. A Pokemon with Guts does not get the Attack reduction that being burned normally gives. The true beauty of this is that status conditions like Burn never heal over time, meaning if a player never cures the Swellow, then it will always have the Attack increase — as long as its HP is replenished to prevent it from fainting.
5 Gen 4: Yanmega with Speed Boost
Yanmega was introduced in Gen 4 as a much-needed evolution for Gen 2's Yanma, and it's a very solid Pokemon. It has extremely high Special Attack and Speed stats, with pretty good HP and Defense. The ability Speed Boost does exactly what it says: it boosts the Pokemon's Speed stat by 1 stage every turn, up to 6 times.
As one can imagine, it doesn't take too many turns for Yanmega to become close to unstoppable. The ludicrous Speed it receives from this Ability will basically guarantee it will always go first. This, in combination with Yanmega's great movepool, makes it a scary Pokemon in a battle.
4 Gen 5: Krookodile with Moxie
Krookodile is a very strong Pokemon, and it's surprisingly fast for a Ground-type. In addition to having a high Attack stat, Krookodile also has good HP. However, its Ability, Moxie, is where things get really interesting. Moxie increases the user's Attack stat increase by one stage every time they KO a Pokemon. This can be repeated up to 6 times.
This Ability makes Krookodile almost unstoppable. It also compliments its Ground/Dark typing very well, as Ground is already an extremely powerful offensive type. If a player can get a few easy KOs with Krookodile early in a battle, it won't take long until it becomes a nearly unbeatable force.
3 Gen 6: Greninja with Protean
As the final evolution of Gen 6's Water-type starter Froakie, Greninja does not disappoint. Greninja has solid attack stats on both fronts and incredible Speed; moreover, Water/Dark is a great defensive typing. The good qualities don't end there, as the Ability Protean makes Greninja even stronger.
Protean has an incredible effect. Right before Greninja uses a move, Protean will change Greninja's type to match the type of the move it is about to use. This ensures thatGreninja will always get a STAB (Same-Type Attack Bonus that gives a 50% increase in damage) for every attacking move. All of this combines to make Greninja a Pokemon that players definitely want to have in their party.
2 Gen 7: Incineroar with Intimidate
For another great example of a defensive Pokemon/Ability combination, look no further. Incineroar has a strong defensive typing in Fire/Dark. Its Speed may not be stellar, but its HP, Attack, and both defensive stats are excellent. The Ability Intimidate is extremely simple, extremely effective, and harmonizes perfectly with these stats.
Intimidate decreases Incineroar's opponent's Attack stat by 50% the moment it appears on the battlefield. Once this is combined with some of Incineroar's buffing or debuffing moves, such as Snarl, Parting Shot, or Bulk Up, the result is a Pokemon that becomes incredibly difficult to remove from battle.
1 Gen 8: Dracovish with Strong Jaw
Dracovish, one of the fossil Pokemon in Gen 8, has a lot going for it. It has solid stats, an amazing type combination with onlytwo weaknesses, good moves, and of course, a useful Ability in Strong Jaw. This Ability increases the damage of "biting moves" by 50%. Dracovish gets a few Moves that take advantage of this, like Ice Fang or Crunch, but the real kicker here is Fishious Rend.
Fishious Rend is already one of the best biting attacks with its 85 base power and 100% accuracy, but it also has an amazing secondary effect. If Dracovish goes first or if the opponent switches out during the turn, Fishious Rend's power doubles to 170. What's more, since it's a Water Move, STAB increases its power by another 50%. Strong Jaw takes this even further, increasing it by 50% again, making the Move's actual base power 382. This allows Dracovish to tear through just about anything it's put up against.