Magma Armor

Gen III
Effect

This Pokémon cannot be frozen. If a Pokémon is frozen and acquires this ability, it will immediately thaw out; this includes when regaining a lost ability upon leaving battle. Overworld: If any Pokémon in the party has this ability, each egg in the party has its hatch counter decreased by 2 (rather than 1) each step cycle, making eggs hatch roughly twice as quickly. This effect does not stack if multiple Pokémon have this ability or Flame Body.

GenerationGen III
Pokemon3
Hidden Ability Holders0
Game Descriptions
Gen IIIPrevents freezing.
Gen IVPrevents the Pokémon from becoming frozen.
Gen VPrevents the Pokémon from becoming frozen.
Gen VIPrevents the Pokémon from becoming frozen.
Gen VIIThe Pokémon is covered with hot magma, which prevents the Pokémon from becoming frozen.
Gen VIIIThe Pokémon is covered with hot magma, which prevents the Pokémon from becoming frozen.
Gen IXThe Pokémon’s hot magma coating prevents it from being frozen.

Magma Armor in Battle

Introduced in Generation III, Magma Armor provides complete immunity to the frozen status condition. The Pokemon cannot be frozen by any means -- whether through moves with a freeze chance like Ice Beam and Blizzard, or through the rare Tri Attack secondary effect. If the Pokemon is somehow frozen and then acquires Magma Armor through Skill Swap, the freeze is immediately thawed.

Outside of battle, Magma Armor has a highly practical utility effect: if any Pokemon in the party has this ability, all Eggs in the party have their hatch cycles reduced by half, significantly accelerating the breeding process. This makes Magma Armor Pokemon staples in any serious breeding operation. Prior to Generation IV, the overworld egg-hatching effect did not exist.

Found on only 3 Pokemon -- Slugma, Magcargo, and Camerupt -- all Fire-types whose molten bodies logically prevent freezing. While the in-battle freeze immunity is situationally useful, the egg-hatching utility is by far the most commonly exploited aspect of this ability.

Pokemon With Magma Armor (3)

#NameTypeOther AbilitiesHidden?HPAtkDefSpASpDSpeTotal
#218SlugmaSlugmaRegular404040704020250
#219MagcargoMagcargoRegular6050120908030430
#323CameruptCameruptRegular70100701057540460

Effect Changes

VersionChange Description
EmeraldHas no overworld effect.

FAQ