Pokémon inheriting abilities they shouldn't?

Question

I am trying to breed for a Togepi (preferably female) with Serene Grace as its ability. All that is hatching, though, is male Togepis with Hustle (the other ability - neither of them are hidden). In the day care right now is a male Togetic with Hustle and a Soothe Bell and a Ditto without any items.

Bulbapedia and Serebii mention something about inheriting ability slots from the mother, but this Togetic is male and Bulbapedia takes care to mention that a Ditto as a parent negates this possibility.

I have bred fifteen Togepis so far. Every single one of them has turned out male and with Hustle. The chance of not a single one of them having Serene Grace, assuming the chance for either ability is 50%, is about 0.003%. This doesn't really seem probable - is there something I am doing wrong?

Answer 1

That's just tough luck you had there =P

But yes, that can happen. I've been breeding Togetic with Hustle and they've given me some Serene Grace Togepi all right.

There's a 'workaround' with the Ability Capsule which lets you change the ability of your Pokemon to another ability it can have (except if that other ability is a Hidden Ability), that is, if you have enough Battle Points (BP) to pay for one at the Battle Maison.

Answer 2

Though I can't find any evidence of this online, it seems that a male Pokemon breeding with a Ditto has the same chance to pass on it's ability that a female has in generation 6. You can change your Pokemon's ability from it's primary ability to it's secondary ability using an Ability Capsule which is an expensive item from the Battle Maison. I would highly suggest trying to always breed a desirable Female Pokemon though regardless, as there is hard evidence that it can directly pass on it's ability and it's the only way to pass on a Pokeball.

Answer 3

According to Bulbapedia:

There is an 80% chance that the Ability slot of the female will be passed to the baby. For example, when breeding a female Venomoth with Shield Dust, the resultant Venonat has an 80% chance of having Compoundeyes rather than Tinted Lens. This chance does not apply if Ditto is used as either parent.

Answer 4

serebii couldnt have written it more confusingly lol.

Look its actually simple,

The egg gets the following ability: -60% to be that of the mother (who has either #1, #2, or the hidden one) -20% to be #1 -20% to be #2

ditto only comes into play when it acts as the mother, meaning the fathers ability counts for the 60%, as ditto copies it.

Answer 5

If a Pokemon's parent has an ability, father or mother, there is a huge chance that it will inheret that ability (Assuming the other parent is a Ditto). I don't care what serebii says because I have done way too much breeding and i have come out with similar numbers to yours. your best bet would be to change a male's ability and then breed it with your ditto until you get a female.