Arena Trap (Ability)

Arena Trap	ありじごく
	Antlion
Flavor text Generation III Prevents fleeing. Generation IV Prevents the foe from fleeing. Generation V Prevents the foe from fleeing. Generation VI Prevents opposing Pokémon from fleeing. Generation VII Currently unknown Generation VIII Currently unknown Generation IX Currently unknown

Arena Trap (Japanese: ありじごく Antlion) is an Ability introduced in Generation III. Three Pokémon can have this Ability, all of which are Ground types.

Effect

In battle

Arena Trap prevents all foes from fleeing (including Teleport) or switching out as long as the user remains in battle.

Pokémon rendered immune to Ground-type attacks are immune to Arena Trap. This includes Flying-type Pokémon, Pokémon with Levitate, Pokémon holding an Air Balloon, and Pokémon affected by Magnet Rise or Telekinesis. Likewise, if a Pokémon normally immune to Ground-type attacks is made vulnerable, they will be affected; if the Pokémon is under the effect of Gravity, Smack Down, a move that negates or replaces Levitate (such as Gastro Acid or Simple Beam), type change effects that remove Flying-type (such as Soak, Conversion, Camouflage, or Color Change), or a held Iron Ball, it will be unable to escape.

Using Baton Pass, U-turn, Volt Switch, or Parting Shot will still cause the Pokémon to switch out. Holding a Shed Shell allows the Pokémon to switch out, but not flee or Teleport. Having the Ability Run Away or holding a Smoke Ball allows the Pokémon to flee or Teleport, but not switch.

If a wild Pokémon has Arena Trap and the player's Pokémon faints, if the player attempts to flee instead of sending out another Pokémon, they are unaffected by Arena Trap.

Arena Trap does not affect allies.

Generation VI

Ghost-type Pokémon are now immune to Arena Trap.

Outside of battle

From Pokémon Emerald onwards, if a Pokémon with Arena Trap is leading the party, then the wild Pokémon encounter rate is increased to 200%. It shares this trait with Illuminate.

Pokémon with Arena Trap

#	Pokémon		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
0050		Diglett	Ground		Ground	Sand Veil	Arena Trap	Sand Force
0051		Dugtrio	Ground		Ground	Sand Veil	Arena Trap	Sand Force
0328		Trapinch	Ground		Ground	Hyper Cutter	Arena Trap	Sheer Force
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 the anime

Trapinch
The user can trap the opponent by digging a large hole.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Used In		Notes
	Trapinch traps the opponent in a big hole.
A wild Trapinch	A Rivalry to Gible On!		Debut

In other languages

Language Title Mandarin Chinese 獅蟻 Shīyǐ French Piège German Auswegslos Italian Trappoarena Korean 개미지옥 Gaemi Jiok Portuguese Armadilha de Arena Spanish Trampa Arena

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.