Pickpocket (Ability)

Pickpocket	わるいてぐせ
	Bad Habit
Flavor text Generation V Steals an item when hit by another Pokémon. Generation VI Steals an item from an attacker that made direct contact. Generation VII Steals an item from an attacker that made direct contact. Generation VIII Steals an item from an attacker that made direct contact. Generation IX The Pokémon steals the held item from attackers that make direct contact with it.

Pickpocket (Japanese: わるいてぐせ Bad Habit) is an Ability introduced in Generation V.

Effect

In battle

	This Ability effect may be in need of research. Reason: Does Pickpocket work in a Max Raid Battle of if it is used by a wild Pokémon? What happens with Ogerpon's masks? You can discuss this on the talk page.

When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a move that makes contact, the Pokémon with this Ability will steal the held item of the attacking Pokémon. It will not activate if the Pokémon with this Ability already has a held item. It will not activate if the Pokémon with this Ability is knocked out by that move.

If a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a multistrike move that makes contact (such as Fury Swipes), the item will not be stolen until after the final strike. If multiple Pokémon with this Ability are hit by the same move that made contact, Pickpocket will activate for the fastest one that does not already have an item.

Pickpocket activates after Magician and the Sticky Barb, and after Thief and Covet steal a held item. It also activates after the user consumes a single-use item due to the attack that hit it, such as a Focus Sash. Consequently, the Pokémon that has Pickpocket will always end up with the item. Pickpocket also activates after Knock Off, Bug Bite, and Pluck, meaning that the stolen item will not be lost, and if it does lose its item due to these moves it can immediately steal another.

The Life Orb and Shell Bell will activate before being stolen. The King's Rock and Razor Fang can still make the Pokémon with Pickpocket flinch even if stolen.

Wild Pokémon cannot steal the player's Pokémon's held items. Pickpocket cannot steal from a Pokémon with Sticky Hold. It cannot steal Mail or a Z-Crystal. It cannot steal a Griseous Orb if either Pokémon is Giratina, a Plate if either Pokémon is Arceus, a memory if either Pokémon is Silvally, a Drive if either Pokémon is Genesect, a Mega Stone if either Pokémon can Mega Evolve using it, a Blue Orb if either Pokémon is Kyogre, a Red Orb if either Pokémon is Groudon, the Rusted Sword if either Pokémon is Zacian, the Rusted Shield if either Pokémon is Zamazenta, or Booster Energy if either Pokémon has the Ability Protosynthesis or Quark Drive.

Outside of battle

Pickpocket has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Pickpocket

#	Pokémon		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
0215		Sneasel	Dark	Ice	Inner Focus	Keen Eye	Pickpocket
0215		Sneasel Hisuian Form	Fighting	Poison	Inner Focus	Keen Eye	PickpocketGen IX+
0273		Seedot	Grass		Grass	Chlorophyll	Early Bird	Pickpocket
0274		Nuzleaf	Grass	Dark	Chlorophyll	Early Bird	Pickpocket
0275		Shiftry	Grass	Dark	Chlorophyll	Wind RiderGen IX+	Pickpocket
0461		Weavile	Dark	Ice	Pressure	None	Pickpocket
0688		Binacle	Rock	Water	Sniper	Tough Claws	Pickpocket
0689		Barbaracle	Rock	Water	Sniper	Tough Claws	Pickpocket
0859		Impidimp	Dark	Fairy	Prankster	Frisk	Pickpocket
0860		Morgrem	Dark	Fairy	Prankster	Frisk	Pickpocket
0861		Grimmsnarl	Dark	Fairy	Prankster	Frisk	Pickpocket
0944		Shroodle	Poison	Normal	Unburden	Pickpocket	Prankster
0957		Tinkatink	Fairy	Steel	Mold Breaker	Own Tempo	Pickpocket
0958		Tinkatuff	Fairy	Steel	Mold Breaker	Own Tempo	Pickpocket
0959		Tinkaton	Fairy	Steel	Mold Breaker	Own Tempo	Pickpocket
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 Pokémon Legends: Arceus's internal code, Hisuian Sneasel's Hidden Ability is Poison Touch instead of Pickpocket.

Trivia

• Pickpocket is the first Generation V Ability in index number order.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 順手牽羊 Seuhnsáuhīnyèuhng Mandarin 順手牽羊 / 顺手牵羊 Shùnshǒuqiānyáng French Pickpocket German Langfinger Italian Arraffalesto Korean 나쁜손버릇 Nappeun Sonbeoreut Spanish Hurto

Variations of the Ability Pickpocket
Pickpocket • Magician

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.