Trace (Ability)

Trace	トレース
	Trace
Flavor text Generation III Copies special ability. Generation IV The Pokémon copies the foe's ability. Generation V The Pokémon copies a foe's Ability. Generation VI The Pokémon copies an opposing Pokémon's Ability. Generation VII When it enters a battle, the Pokémon copies an opposing Pokémon's Ability. Generation VIII When it enters a battle, the Pokémon copies an opposing Pokémon's Ability. Generation IX Currently unknown

Trace (Japanese: トレース Trace) is an Ability introduced in Generation III.

Effect

In battle

Trace changes into the Ability of a random adjacent opponent.

Trace can copy Wonder Guard. Trace can be swapped by Skill Swap.

Generation III

When a Pokémon with Trace enters battle, it copies a random opponent's Ability (replacing itself). It can copy any Ability, but if it copies Trace, it will not activate again.

Trace can be copied by Role Play.

Generation IV

There are now Abilities that cannot be copied by Trace.

While a Pokémon with Trace is in battle, if at any time an opponent has an Ability that can be copied by Trace, Trace will activate and replace itself with that Ability. Trace can only activate once while a Pokémon is on the field; even if the Pokémon gains Trace again (e.g. via Skill Swap) after activating it the first time, Trace cannot activate until after it is switched out.

In a Double Battle with only one opponent remaining, if a Pokémon with Trace is sent into battle to replace a fainted Pokémon, Trace has a 50% chance to select the non-present opponent and not activate. Once a Pokémon takes its turn (uses a move, switches out, etc.), Trace will activate and copy the Ability of the opponent that is present.

Trace can be copied by Role Play.

Generation V

When a Pokémon with Trace enters battle, it copies a random adjacent opponent's Ability (replacing itself). If no opponents have Abilities that can be copied by Trace when the Pokémon with Trace enters battle, Trace cannot be activated until it enters battle again.

Trace cannot be copied by Role Play. Entrainment will fail if used by a Pokémon with Trace.

Generation VI onward

While a Pokémon with Trace is in battle, if at any time an adjacent opponent has an Ability that can be copied by Trace, Trace will activate and replace itself with that Ability. Even if a Pokémon had previously activated Trace, if it gains Trace again (e.g. via Skill Swap), Trace will activate at the first opportunity.

Trace cannot be copied by Role Play, Power of Alchemy, or Receiver. Entrainment will fail if used by a Pokémon with Trace.

Abilities that cannot be copied

Trace cannot copy any of the following Abilities in generations marked with a ✔.

Ability	Generations
	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII
Battle Bond					✔
Comatose					✔
Disguise					✔	✔
Flower Gift		✘	✔	✔	✔	✔
Forecast	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔
Gulp Missile						✔
Hunger Switch						✔
Ice Face						✔
Illusion			✔	✔	✔	✔
Imposter			✔	✔	✔	✔
Multitype		✔	✔	✔	✔
Neutralizing Gas						✔
Power Construct					✔
Power of Alchemy					✔
Receiver					✔	✔
RKS System					✔	✔
Schooling					✔	✔
Shields Down					✔
Stance Change				✔	✔	✔
Trace	✘	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Zen Mode			✔	✔	✔	✔

Outside of battle

Trace has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Trace

#	Pokémon		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
065M	Alakazam	Alakazam	Psychic		Psychic	Trace	None	None
0137		Porygon	Normal		Normal	Trace	Download	Analytic
0233		Porygon2	Normal		Normal	Trace	Download	Analytic
0280		Ralts	Psychic	Fairy	Synchronize	Trace	Telepathy
0281		Kirlia	Psychic	Fairy	Synchronize	Trace	Telepathy
0282		Gardevoir	Psychic	Fairy	Synchronize	Trace	Telepathy
Please note that Abilities marked with a superscript are only available in the stated generation or later. For Generation III and IV games, ignore Hidden Abilities.

In other games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a move or regular attack, Trace replaces itself with the Ability of the attacking Pokémon. Trace does not distinguish between foes and allies, and can be activated by beneficial moves such as Safeguard. Prior to Gates to Infinity, Pokémon can have more than one Ability—if a Pokémon has more than one Ability, Trace chooses one at random. The copied Ability lasts until the Pokémon enters a new floor.

Description

Games Description MDRB Changes ability to that of the foe attacking or using a move. MDTDS Changes the Pokémon's ability to match that of an attacking foe. BSL こうげきや わざを つかってきた ポケモンと おなじ とくせいになる MDGtI Unavailable SMD MDRTDX The Pokémon copies the Ability of a Pokémon that uses a move against it. The Pokémon can copy the Ability of an enemy or a teammate. The effects last until the Pokémon goes to a different floor.

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

• In volume 23, Blue's Porygon2 was revealed to have Trace as its Ability.
• In the X & Y arc, Diantha mentioned that her Gardevoir has Trace as its Ability.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 複製 Fūkjai * 追蹤 Jēuijūng * Mandarin 複製 / 复制 Fùzhì * 追蹤 Zhuīzōng * French Calque German Erfassen* Fährte* Italian Traccia Korean 트레이스 Trace Portuguese Brazil Traçar Portugal Traço Spanish Rastro Turkish Kopyalama Vietnamese Theo dấu

This article is part of Project Moves and Abilities, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.