How to get Hidden Ability in Pokemon Sword and Shield

If you’re wondering how to get your hands on a Pokemon with a Hidden Ability in Pokemon Sword and Shield, well, it’s not easy. Hidden Abilities have been kicking around since Pokemon Black and White, and they’re nifty little things to have in battle. Our guide may very well help you with how to get someone on your team with a Hidden Ability.

How to get Hidden Ability in Pokemon Sword and Shield

As mentioned, a Hidden Ability is essentially just a rarer version of the Abilities that Pokemon have which affect how they react to things in battle. We’re talking Abilities like Sand Rush, Overcoat, Own Tempo, and more. LIke Abilities, you can’t learn new ones or impart them to your team. There’s only one surefire way to get a Pokemon with Hidden Abilities in Pokemon Sword and Shield, and that’s through netting one from a Max Raid battle. 

When you kick into a Max Raid, you’ll be notified by the game if the Pokemon that you’re fighting has an Ability. This notification doesn’t differentiate between Hidden and regular Abilities (in fact, neither Sword nor Shield will differentiate between the two at all in your Pokedex) so you might want to just make sure what you’re getting into. Not all Pokemon are available in the game with a Hidden Ability, so your best bet is to get cracking into grinding out these Max Raids in the hope of picking one up that’s got this rarer case of Ability manifestation.

Now that you know how to get a Hidden Ability in Pokemon Sword and Shield on someone in your team, you might be able to turn that effort into something worthwhile even after. You can give a Pokemon a Hidden Ability via breeding – this Pokemon will have a 50% chance of giving it to its offspring. However, if you go one step further and breed this Pokemon with a Ditto, it will always pass its Hidden Ability down so after you’ve gotten your first Hidden Ability teammember, you can guarantee this recurring in the future. 

Need a hand with anything else in Pokemon Sword and Shield? Check out the following guides that we’ve put together:

• Flame Orb Pokemon Sword and Shield Location 
• Beast Ball Pokemon Sword and Shield – How to Get This 
• How to Evolve Yamask in Pokemon Sword and Shield