Shield Dust (Ability)

This page is in need of spading. See its section on the spading page for more information, and how you can help. Can Shield Dust on the defender prevent side-effects that aren't part of the move, like how Sheer Force on an attacker does? E.g. Life Orb, Rocky Helmet, Shell Bell.

Shield Dust	りんぷん
	Moth Scales
Flavor text Generation III Prevents added effects. Generation IV Blocks the added effects of attacks taken. Generation V Blocks the added effects of attacks taken. Generation VI Blocks the additional effects of attacks taken. Generation VII Currently unknown Generation VIII Currently unknown

Shield Dust (Japanese: りんぷん Moth Scales) is an Ability introduced in Generation III. Seven Pokémon can have this Ability, all of which are Bug types.

Effect

In battle

When the Pokémon is damaged by an attack, any side-effects are negated (similar to the attacker having Sheer Force, but without increasing damage). For example, Body Slam would only deal damage and not have its usual 30% chance of causing Paralysis. It does not stop moves that don't cause damage, like Thunder Wave.

Outside of battle

Shield Dust has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Shield Dust

#	Pokémon	Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
	Caterpie	Bug		Bug	Shield Dust	None	Run Away
	Weedle	Bug	Poison	Shield Dust	None	Run Away
	Venomoth	Bug	Poison	Shield Dust	Tinted Lens	Wonder Skin
	Wurmple	Bug		Bug	Shield Dust	None	Run Away
	Dustox	Bug	Poison	Shield Dust	None	Compound Eyes
	Scatterbug	Bug		Bug	Shield Dust	Compound Eyes	Friend Guard
	Vivillon	Bug	Flying	Shield Dust	Compound Eyes	Friend Guard
Please note that this is only 100% accurate to Generation VIII games. For Generation III games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation IV or later and Hidden Abilities. For Generation IV games, ignore Hidden Abilities. For Generation V games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation VI or later. For Generation VI games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation VII or later. For Generation VII games, ignore Abilities introduced in Generation VIII or later.

Trivia

• Shield Dust essentially prevents the Pokémon from being frozen in battle by any Pokémon (except those with Mold Breaker or one of its variants), as the Freeze status ailment is always caused as a secondary effect of an opponent's move, and the status cannot be passed to another Pokémon via Baton Pass or Synchronize.

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 鱗粉 Línfěn French Écran Poudre German Puderabwehr Italian Polvoscudo Korean 인분 Inbun Portuguese Escudo de Poeira Spanish Polvo Escudo

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.