Sturdy (Ability)
| Sturdy | がんじょう | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sturdy (Japanese: がんじょう Sturdy) is an Ability introduced in Generation III.
Effect
In battle
Generations III and IV
Sturdy makes the Pokémon that would else faint, remain with 1 HP.
Generation V and on
In addition to Sturdy's previous effect, Sturdy now works like a Focus Sash, causing the Pokémon to have 1 HP remaining if an attack's hit would have brought it from full health to 0 HP (including confusion damage). Sturdy will activate as long as a Pokémon has full HP, and can therefore be used multiple times if brought back to full health, or if the Pokémon has a maximum of 1 HP.
If a Pokémon with Sturdy is holding a Focus Sash, Sturdy will activate first. If a Pokémon with Sturdy uses a move that causes the user to faint, such as Explosion or Final Gambit, it will still faint. It does not protect the Pokémon with Sturdy from knocking itself out with recoil damage. Destiny Bond and Perish Song can still cause a Pokémon with Sturdy to faint.
When a multi-strike move hits a Pokémon with Sturdy, Sturdy's effect activates only for hits while the user has full HP, so hits after the first one can potentially KO the Sturdy Pokémon.
Outside of battle
Sturdy has no effect outside of battle.
Pokémon with Sturdy
- During his Gym battle in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Brock uses a Rhyhorn with the Ability Sturdy, even though Rhyhorn cannot normally have that Ability.
In the anime
 Dwebble  Roggenrola  Boldore | |||
| The Pokémon is prevented from being knocked out after being hit by a strong move. | |||
| Pokémon | Method | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| User | First Used In | Notes | |
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When Dwebble is hit with a powerful attack, it pulls its body into its shell. When it comes out, it doesn't have any damage on it at all. | ||
| Cilan's Dwebble | A Connoisseur's Revenge! | Debut | |
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When Roggenrola is hit with a powerful attack, it doesn't get hurt much from it. Also, when Roggenrola is hit with a one-hit knockout move, it stays in its place and does nothing. The move is then canceled on the spot. | ||
| Ash's Roggenrola | Gotta Catch A Roggenrola! | None | |
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When Boldore is hit with a one-hit knockout move, it stays in its place and does nothing. | ||
| Ash's Boldore | Battling the King of the Mines! | None | |
In the manga
In the Be the Best! Pokémon B+W manga
 Roggenrola
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| The Pokémon withstands an attack that would otherwise knock it out in one hit with 1 HP remaining. | |||
| Pokémon | Method | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| User | First Chapter Used In | Notes | |
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Roggenrola withstands an attack that would otherwise knock it out in one hit with 1 HP remaining. | ||
| Monta's Roggenrola | The Key to Triple Battles | Debut | |
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
- In volume 25, Yellow's Gravvy was revealed to have Sturdy as his Ability.
- In Just My Luck...Shuckle, Lucy's Shuckle was revealed to have Sturdy as its Ability by Emerald's Pokédex.
- In volume 40, Diamond's Don was revealed to have Sturdy as his Ability.
- In volume 42, Gold's Sudobo was revealed to have Sturdy as his Ability.
Trivia
- Since Generation V, if Sturdy is obtained on Shedinja by replacing Wonder Guard with an Ability that can be Skill Swapped with Sturdy, it would be able to activate for every attack, including every hit of a multi-strike move. However, indirect damage, such as sandstorm, will not activate Sturdy, and will KO Shedinja.
In other languages
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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. |
