What Is Ralts Doing When It Traces??

Question

I have a Ralts & I assumed that at some point, this thing it does would begin to make sense. Well now it is not only leveled up to about 18, but I also looked here on this site & found a list of all of the moves it can learn by level up & there isn't really anything to explain this:

This is what it does: whenever a foe comes out, the dialogue says "Ralts traced the wild _____'s and then it names one of the moves possessed by whichever Pokemon has been brought out.
So naturally it would seem that Ralts may be learning that move, or maybe temporarily picking it up for that battle, but no. The moveset of my Ralts is this:
Growl
Confusion
Teleport
Double Team!

So if somebody could explain this to me.... Thanks.

Answer 1

You don't copy a move, you copy the ability;
>Upon switching in, the wielder copies the opponent's ability. In doubles and triples battles, Trace randomly selects which opponent's ability to copy. Trace cannot copy Flower Gift, Forecast, Illusion, Imposter, Multitype, Trace, and Zen Mode. If the opponent has just been KOed, Trace will copy the ability of the next Pokemon revealed in the battle. Trace will immediately activate whenever the ability is acquired, such as through Skill Swap or Role Play.

You mixed it up it seems. You gain the effect of the Opponent's ability with trace, not one of their moves - your moveset remains completely the same

Comments

OH!!  Wow.  Thank you.   I did not know this.

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