Determining which Held Item to use in Pokemon games is a major factor in winning competitive battles and doing well in PvE, much more of a factor than most give it credit for. There are a lot of options, with the amount growing every game, so it can be a bit overwhelming. In general, though, there are some Held Items that find a lot more use by the player base than others.
Whether it's a Tera Raid, a tough Gym Leader, or just trying to climb up to the competitive ladder, the Held Item for each Pokemon in a Pokemon game is a big part of the experience. Regardless of their purpose, trainers should be on the lookout for the best held items.
Updated January 28th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: The ever-growing list of Held Items added to the Pokemon games over the years has only served to improve both the competitive scene for the franchise as well as the casual scene. While a lot of Held Items only serve very specific purposes for even more specific builds, plenty of them are equally useful in the main storyline of each game or even more so. So, let's comb through all the new items added to the IP with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, look at all the Held Items throughout the entirety of the franchise, and pick the absolute best of the best options.
23 Ability Shield
Moving on to one of the newest Held Items to be introduced into Pokemon, the Ability Shield. Ability Shield is a bit difficult to understand at a glance, but to boil it down as much as possible, the wielder of this item can't have their Ability changed in any way. Additionally, if a move is used against it that would normally ignore the Ability of the wielder, the move won't do anything.
Again, it's a bit of a confusing concept, but just know that it makes for some truly devious builds with Pokemon like Grafaiai or it can just make it safer to use sweeper Pokemon without worrying about getting stopped or shut down.
22 Focus Sash
Focus Sash is likely one of the easier Held Items to understand on here as it does one simple thing, keep the Pokemon alive for at least one hit. If a move would normally KO a Pokemon from full health, Focus Sash prevents that from happening and the holder with survive with 1 HP instead.
As one could imagine, this is a fantastic basic counter to pure team sweepers in competitive, as it gives the opponent at least one chance to stop a Pokemon that is decimating their team with one-hit KOs one after another. Of course, it should be mentioned that this is another consumable Held Item, but once again that doesn't really matter in online PvP matches.
21 Bright Powder
This next Held Item is another deceptive one, because, at first glance, it doesn't seem like much. Bright Powder simply makes it so that moves that are used against the wielder of this item have a slight additional chance to miss. To be more specific, the item takes 10 percent of the accuracy of the move used against the Pokemon holding Bright Powder and subtracts that number from its accuracy for the attack.
All this amounts to is that even 100 percent accuracy moves have a chance to miss with this equipped, and players will notice that they're just not hitting as often as they should be when fighting a Pokemon holding this item.
20 Weakness Policy
The next Held Item, Weakness Policy, is a real high-risk, high-reward sort of item to use. Basically, when held, the Pokemon with Weakness Policy will get a +2 stage buff to both their Attack and Special Attack when they're hit by a super-effective attack (and survive).
Then, after Weakness Policy is triggered, it is 'consumed' and the Pokemon that was holding it will now be without a Held Item for the rest of the battle. Again, in PvE, this means the player will have to acquire another Weakness Policy, but in competitive, it just reappears on the Pokemon after the battle. In any case, it's an item that usually works best on bulkier Pokemon that usually survive at least one hit or Pokemon with innate survival Abilities such as Sturdy, an Ability that works exactly in exactly the same way as the Focus Sash Held Item does.
19 Amulet Coin
For many, the main journey through any Pokemon game is pretty easygoing. Developers are kind enough to give players access to a wide array of TMs, items, and potions, without requiring them to shell out their hard-earned Pokedollars. But as new Pokemon games have come out, there has been more to spend in-game currency on such as clothes, cooking ingredients, and more.
Thankfully, grinding money isn't particularly difficult, especially if players can get their hands on an Amulet Coin. This fancy Held Item will double the amount of currency a player receives after winning any battle. Sure, it has zero utility whatsoever from a competitive standpoint, but it's incredibly helpful everywhere else.
18 Cleanse Tag
Another PvE-centric item, but one that players who have spent way too much on Repels find immense value in. The Cleanse Tag is an item that was introduced in the second generation of Pokemon, and it has one simple function, it reduces the encounter rate of bumping into Wild Pokemon.
Again, this is useless in competitive matches or PvP, but a lifesaver for anyone backtracking through areas or running around in caves. Just keep in mind, it needs to be held by the Pokemon at the front of the party in order to work.
17 Destiny Knot
This next item is pretty basic in terms of its combat function. Destiny Knot is an item that causes both the Pokemon holding it and the Pokemon who used an infatuation-inflicting move on them to become infatuated with each other. And, before the sixth generation of games, this was all the item did. After that, however, Destiny Knot became a crucial tool for Trainers looking to get their 'perfect' spread of IVs.
If a Pokemon is holding the Destiny Knot and is used as part of a breeding pair, its child will inherit five IVs, making it much "easier" to get a Pokemon that features 6 perfect IV values to make EV grinding much less painful.
16 Eject Button
A lot of the best Held Items on here follow a trend of either boosting a Pokemon's stats or unlocking some latent abilities. There are some other items, however, that serve a very specific function for a very specific type of Pokemon build.
A great example of this is the Eject Button, a seemingly inconspicuous Held Item that can set up some interesting situations if used correctly. Any Pokemon holding the Eject Button will be immediately switched out during battle if they're hit by an attack. On paper that might not sound like much, but there are a lot of ways to use this to create some incredibly advantageous situations. Just remember, the Eject Button is consumed when its effect takes place (outside of online battles, of course), so players will need to buy and replace it each time it goes off.
15 Iron Ball
Some available moves and items in Pokemon come with some sort of trade-off. For many, the debuff that these things provide is simply not worth the trouble but there are some Held Items that are, quite literally, only worse to have equipped. One of these items is Iron Ball, as it halves the holder's Speed and (if they're a Flying-type or have Levitate) it makes them susceptible to grounded moves like Earthquake.
So the question is, why is something that's so bad on a list of good Held Items? Well, it's because, if used properly, Iron Ball is an item that players will burden their opponents with. Using moves like Switcheroo or Trick, players can switch their Held Item with their opponents. In the right situation, this can completely ruin their Pokemon's strategy, give the Pokemon using Switcheroo a fantastic offensive item like Metronome, and will also weigh the enemy down with an Iron Ball. It's a very specific usage, but when done properly it can produce massive benefits.
14 Safety Goggles
This next item is one of the rare examples of a Held Item that has much more utility in PvP play than in PvE. Safety Goggles are an item that, when held, stop the Pokemon from taking any weather-based damage and make them immune to any moves that use powder or spores such as Stun Spore, Cotton Spore, Sleep Powder, and more.
Now, in PvE, players will only encounter enemy Trainers that use these types of moves every so often, but in PvP it's a different story. The move Spore, in particular, is used a lot in online battles and just one powerful Pokemon running these Safety Goggles can completely counter their entire build.
13 Terrain Extender
The Terrain system was a new addition to the game added in the seventh generation. The various types of terrain each alter the battlefield, along with boosting the power of specific attacking types. In high tiers of play, terrain plays a vital role in many team compositions, and Pokemon that gain the ability to summon terrain passively are important pieces of the team. However, summoned Terrain only sticks around for five turns normally, limiting its use.
Fortunately, the Terrain Extender (when players actually find it) helps to alleviate that problem. The Terrain Extender increases the number of turns that Terrain lasts from 5 turns to 8. Pokemon that are built to set up Terrain, like many of the different Tapu-type Pokemon or regional variants of Pokemon in the Alola Region, benefit tremendously from this item in being useful. Since Pokemon Sun and Moon, however, Terrain hasn't been as much of a mechanic as it was in those games, but it still has its specific usages and applications, especially in certain PvP team builds.
12 Light Clay
Reflect and Light Screen are moves that have been a part of the IP since the days of Pokemon Red and Blue. These moves reduce the damage dealt by the opponent's physical or special attacks for a certain number of turns, depending on which screen was used. The effect is a field effect, and all Pokemon on one side benefit from it.
So, how about making those screens last a bit longer? Light Clay, like the Terrain Extender, increases the duration of Reflect, Light Screen, and also Aurora Veil by three turns. Pokemon that set up screens (which are usually pivot-type Pokemon) need this item to really shine, as long as attacks like Brick Break, or more recently Hyper Drill, that plow right through those screens aren't used as an immediate counter.
11 Choice Items
The three Choice Items, believe it or not, are the bread and butter of competitive play. Each of these items has a particular niche for a handful of Pokemon, and they help bring much weaker Pokemon into the realm of viability. Their usefulness cannot be overstated in the realm of competitive and casual play, though it does make using the Pokemon holding them a bit 'one-note'.
Choice Items lock a Pokemon into only using one attack but greatly increase a particular stat depending on the item. The Choice Band increases Attack, the Choice Specs increases Sp. Attack, and the Choice Scarf increases Speed. They're essentially the items that all the glass-cannon Pokemon use to wipe the entire enemy team on their own. And, they even work in some specific builds, such as when Ditto uses Choice Scarf and transforms, it can pick one of its opponent's moves to use before being 'locked' to that move, and because of the Speed buff from the Scarf it'll usually go before the Pokemon it took the form of.
10 Heavy-Duty Boots
Like terrain and screens, entry hazards have been a part of Pokemon for some time, starting with Spikes in the second generation. However, with the addition of Stealth Rocks and Toxic Spikes in the fourth generation, entry hazards became something every trainer has to at least be ready for. Certain Pokemon had their viability completely nuked due to their weakness to Stealth Rocks, and it altered the metagame in a huge way.
So, what if there was a way to overcome these dangerous pebbles? Well, thankfully, GameFreak finally answered the prayers of every Flying-type enthusiast with the Heavy-Duty Boots, added in the eighth generation. These fashionable boots completely negate the effects of all entry hazards, allowing for safer switches and pivots.
9 Rocky Helmet
Rocky Helmet is probably one of the more popular competitive Held Items on here, simply due to the fact that it's helpful in almost any situation. Basically, when a Pokemon wearing a Rocky Helmet is attacked with a move that would make physical contact with them, their attacker takes damage equal to one-sixth of its maximum HP. Take note of the fact that it's maximum HP, not current HP, so a Blissey who has 700 HP and triggers Rocky Helmet will take roughly 116 damage. And, if the attack happens to be one that hits multiple times, Rocky Helmet triggers with each hit.
This item is the frustrating lynchpin of tanky teams, as all the enemy has to do is keep themselves alive and their opponent will KO their own Pokemon just by attacking.
8 Lucky Egg
Lucky Eggs aren’t useful for PvP situations, but they have tremendous use in PvE, at least from a leveling standpoint. When a Pokemon is holding a Lucky Egg they receive 150 percent of the experience they normally would, which leads to some easy power-leveling.
This saves a tremendous amount of time spent grinding overall and can help prevent Pokemon games from feeling 'tedious' and 'grindy' too quickly. Unfortunately, they’re hard to come by; generally speaking, a Lucky Egg is found on a wild Chansey, Happiny, Pelipper, and Blissey in most games, though in more recent titles like Scarlet and Violet, it's a reward just for defeating 5 of the Gyms.
7 Expert Belt
Even the most casual gamer understands the inherent sort of rock, paper, and scissors gameplay the Type system in Pokemon is built on. Fire beats grass because the grass is flammable, water beats fire because it puts out fire, and rock beats flying because well... never mind.
In any case, Expert Belt enhances the damage these super-effective attacks will inflict by a whole 20 percent. This item really shines when used against Pokemon who are four times weak to a certain type, which tends to be a lot of the Grass-type plant Pokemon.
6 Zoom Lens
Many of the most powerful attacks in the game come with horrible accuracy. Whether it's Horn Drill or Fissure, moves that only have a 30 percent chance to hit but will absolutely always KO the opponent on-hit, or a more 'basic' move like Thunder which has higher damage than normal but only 70 percent accuracy.
Zoom Lens takes this default accuracy and increases it by 20 percent, but only against opponents that have already used their turn. This means that Zoom Lens should always be on a Pokemon with low speed or something similar, as the item is basically useless otherwise. Still, this percentage increase is a huge buff, especially for certain builds that revolve around one move landing before the rest of the combination can take place.
5 Elemental Gems
Remember how Eject Button is a Held Item that is consumed when used? Well, Elemental Gems, which are very different from Evolutionary Stones like Fire Stones. are the same. And, there's one of each Type. Each Gem boosts the power of an attack corresponding to their Type (AKA a Fire Gem would buff a Pokemon using Flamethrower) by 30 percent and is then consumed afterward. It may sound tedious to have to keep a stock of multiple Gems and so on for a certain build, but that only applies to PvE content.
In any battle that's PvP or even online, consumables are 'consumed' for the battle, but come right back after the battle is over. So this means that Elemental Gems are actually fantastic items for PvP, though once they're used, that Pokemon won't have any buff coming in from a Held Item for the rest of the battle.
4 Life Orb
The Life Orb (not to be confused with the Toxic Orb) has to be one of the Held Items that seem to be incredibly popular in competitive play. Well, it makes sense, since the item gives a 30 percent damage buff to any attack moves overall. Of course, there's the consequence of the wielder taking 10 percent of their maximum HP with every attack. But, if it's on a Pokemon that one-hit KOs every one of the opponents, a 60 percent loss of health doesn't really matter.
There are just too many builds for different Pokemon out there that take advantage of this item, and quite frankly it seems a bit overpowered in comparison to just about every other Held Item out there.