Rough Skin (Japanese:さめはだRough Skin) is anAbility introduced inGeneration III. Prior toGeneration V, it was thesignature Ability ofCarvanha andSharpedo. InGeneration IX, it is the signature Ability ofGible'sevolutionary line.

Effect

In battle

Generation III

When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a move that makescontact, the attacking Pokémon takes damage equal to 1/16 of its own maximumHP.

If a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by amultistrike move that makes contact (such asFury Swipes), each hit will activate this Ability.

If the contact move hitting the Pokémon with this Ability does 0 damage (for example, if the Pokémon with this Ability usesEndure at 1HP) this Ability will not trigger.

Generation IV onward

When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a move that makescontact, the attacking Pokémon now takes damage equal to 1/8 of its own maximumHP.

If Rough Skin causes both the Pokémon with this Ability and the attacking Pokémon to faint, then the attacking Pokémon will faint first.

Generation V onward

When a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a move that makescontact, the Ability will trigger even if that move deals 0 damage.

Outside of battle

Rough Skin has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Rough Skin

#	Pokémon		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
0318		Carvanha	Water	Dark	Rough Skin	None	Speed Boost
0319		Sharpedo	Water	Dark	Rough Skin	None	Speed Boost
0443		Gible	Dragon	Ground	Sand Veil	None	Rough Skin
0444		Gabite	Dragon	Ground	Sand Veil	None	Rough Skin
0445		Garchomp	Dragon	Ground	Sand Veil	None	Rough Skin
0621		Druddigon	Dragon		Dragon	Rough Skin	Sheer Force	Mold Breaker
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 other games

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

InRed Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team,Explorers of Time, Darkness andSky, and theMystery Dungeon (WiiWare) games, when a Pokémon with this Ability is attacked by an adjacent Pokémon, the attacking Pokémon might take damage equal to half of the damage done.

SinceGates to Infinity, Rough Skin causes the attacking Pokémon to take damage equal to 1/10 of their maximum HP.

If a Pokémon with this Ability is hit by a multistrike move that makes contact (such as Fury Swipes), each hit will activate this Ability.

Pokémon UNITE

InPokémon UNITE, Rough Skin isGarchomp's Ability. When the user is hit by a melee attack, a portion of the damage received is dealt back to the attacker. This Ability can only activate no faster than every 2 seconds, and takes defense reduction into account.

Description

In animation

Pokémon animated series

Sharpedo
The Pokémon scrapes its skin against the opponent. The skin is rough enough to cause abrasion.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Used In		Notes
	Sharpedo scrapes its skin against the opponent, causing it to get hurt. Sharpedo can choose whether to make its skin rough or not.
A wild Sharpedo	Sharpedo Attack!		Debut

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Carvanha and Sharpedo
When the Pokémon makes contact with the opponent, it saps their energy.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In		Notes
	When Sharpedo makes contact with the opponent, it saps their energy.
Matt's Sharpedo	Mowing Down Ludicolo		Debut
	When Carvanha makes contact with the opponent, it saps their energy.
Amber's Carvanha	Mowing Down Ludicolo		Debut

• Archie'sSharpedo was revealed to have Rough Skin as his Ability in thePokéSPedia data-book.

Trivia

• Sharpedo's Japanese name is "サメハダー"Samehader, which is pulled directly from the same derivation as Rough Skin's Japanese name, "さめはだ"Samehada, meaning 'shark skin'.

In other languages

This article is part ofProject Moves and Abilities, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.

• Abilities
• Abilities introduced in Generation III
• Abilities that activate on contact
• Abilities that activate upon taking damage
• Damage-inflicting Abilities