Thief (move)
| Thief どろぼう Thief | ||||||||||||
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Range
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Availability
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Thief (Japanese: どろぼう Thief) is a damage-dealing Dark-type move introduced in Generation II. It has been TM46 since Generation II.
Effect
Generation II
Thief inflicts damage and steals the target's held item if it is holding any. If the target is not holding an item or the user is already holding an item, Thief only inflicts damage and will not be able to steal an item. Held mail cannot be stolen.
The player's Pokémon's held item would not be stolen if Thief is used by a wild Pokémon.
Thief can steal a non-player character's Pokémon's items permanently. In link battles and the Trainer House items stolen will be returned at the end of the battle.
Generation III
Same as Generation II. In addition, the item cannot be stolen if the target has the Sticky Hold Ability. Like in link battles, items stolen in Secret Bases will be returned at the end of the battle.
In Pokémon Colosseum and XD, Thief does not steal items.
Generation IV
Same as Generation III. Additionally, all stolen held items will be returned to the player if the opponent manages to steal an item by using Thief or Covet.
Items cannot be stolen from Pokémon with the Ability Multitype, and the Griseous Orb cannot be stolen. If the target's consumable held item is triggered by Thief, such as a Colbur Berry or Focus Sash, it will not be stolen.
Generation V
Thief no longer steals a Trainer's Pokémon's items permanently; however, a wild Pokémon's item is still permanently stolen by the player. Thief will now succeed with a Griseous Orb as long as neither the user nor the target is Giratina.
Generation VI
Thief's power changed from 40 to 60 and its PP changed from 10 to 25. Mega Stones cannot be taken via Thief.
Description
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Learnset
By leveling up
| # | Pokémon | Type | Level | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| II | III | IV | V | VI | ||||||||||
| 261 | 
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Poochyena | Dark | 45 | ' | |||||||||
| 262 | 
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Mightyena | Dark | 52 | 57 | 57 | 57 | |||||||
| 271 | 
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Lombre | Water | Grass | 37 | ' | ||||||||
| 352 | 
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Kecleon | Normal | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||||||
| Bold indicates a Pokémon gains STAB from this move. Italics indicates a Pokémon whose evolution or alternate form receives STAB from this move. A dash (−) indicates a Pokémon cannot learn the move by the designated method. An empty cell indicates a Pokémon that is unavailable in that game/generation. | ||||||||||||||
By TM
In the manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
 Sneasel  Persian | |||
| The user steals an item the opponent is holding. | |||
| Pokémon | Method | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| User | First Chapter Used In | Notes | |
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Sneasel steals an item the opponent is holding. | ||
| Silver's Sneasel | Heckled by Hitmontop | Debut | |
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Persian steals an item the opponent is holding. | ||
| Sird's Persian | Escape from a Black Hole | None | |
In other generations
Trivia
- In Pokémon Black and White, Minccino is able to learn Thief via TM while its evolution, Cinccino, is not. This is an error and is corrected in Black 2 and White 2.
In other languages
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| Generation II TMs | |
|---|---|
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08 • 09 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 | |
| Generation II HMs | |
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 | |
| Generation III TMs | |
|---|---|
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08 • 09 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 | |
| Generation III HMs | |
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08RSE | |
| Generation IV TMs | |
|---|---|
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08 • 09 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 55 • 56 • 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 62 • 63 • 64 • 65 • 66 • 67 • 68 • 69 70 • 71 • 72 • 73 • 74 • 75 • 76 • 77 • 78 • 79 • 80 • 81 • 82 • 83 • 84 • 85 • 86 • 87 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 91 • 92 | |
| Generation IV HMs | |
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 (DPPt • HGSS) • 06 • 07 • 08 | |
| Generation V TMs | |
|---|---|
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08 • 09 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 55 • 56 • 57 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 62 • 63 • 64 • 65 • 66 • 67 • 68 • 69 • 70 • 71 • 72 • 73 • 74 • 75 • 76 77 • 78 • 79 • 80 • 81 • 82 • 83 • 84 • 85 • 86 • 87 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 91 • 92 • 93 • 94 • 95 | |
| Generation V HMs | |
| 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 | |
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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. |
