How To Get TM46 Thief in Pokémon ORAS

You can obtain TM46 Thief by talking to a Team Aqua/Magma Grunt inside the Oceanic Museum in Slateport City. The Grunt will be in the bottom-right corner of the museum’s first floor.

You’ll be able to access the Museum once you arrive at Slateport City, right after you speak with an NPC in Stern’s Shipyard to clear the crowd that’s blocking the Museum entrance.

Thief is a damage-dealing Dark-type move that steals the target’s held item if it has one. While it only steals the item temporarily during trainer battles, it steals the item permanently during wild battles.

TM46 Thief Location (Step-by-Step)

You’ll get TM46 in Slateport City. So if you haven’t been to the city yet, make sure you’ve first:

Obtained the second Gym Badge from Brawly, Dewford Town’s Gym Leader
Unlocked the option for Mr. Briney to take you to Route 109 (near Slateport City)

Talking to Mr. Briney for a ride on his ship

Then you can sail to Route 109 and access Slateport from there.

On the east side of Slateport City is the Oceanic Museum. When you first arrive in Slateport, a long line of Team Aqua/Magma Grunts will be blocking the entrance to the museum.

You can get the TM for Thief once you’re able to enter the museum.

Grunts blocking the entrance to the museum

To enter the museum and obtain TM46 Thief, start by heading over to Slateport City’s Pokémon Center:

Step 1: Follow the path on the right that’s heading south.

In front of Slateport City’s Pokémon Center

Step 2: Go inside Stern’s Shipyard, the building on the right.

Outside Stern’s Shipyard

Step 3: Talk to the man behind the desk to make the Grunts outside the Oceanic Museum disappear.

Inside Stern’s Shipyard

Step 4: Go back to the Oceanic Museum, located east of the Pokémon Center.

The path back to the Oceanic Museum

Step 5: Now that there aren’t any Grunts blocking the entrance, go inside the museum.

Outside the Oceanic Museum

Step 6: Pay a small fee (50 Pokédollars) to enter the museum.

Inside the Oceanic Museum

Step 7: Once you’re in the museum, immediately turn right and talk to the Team Aqua/Magma Grunt in the right-hand corner to get the TM for Thief.

The location of TM46 Thief

Thief Details + Uses

In-game details for TM46 Thief

Thief Move Details
Type	Dark
Category	Physical
Power	60
Accuracy	100%
PP	25 (max. 40)

Thief is a Physical Dark-type move that steals the target’s held item. But your Pokémon won’t be able to steal items if they’re already holding something. Also, if your opponent does not have a held item, the move will only deal damage.

This move can be helpful in competitive battles since many Pokémon tend to rely on their held item to be effective.

However, Thief is severely outclassed by Knock Off: a stronger move that removes the target’s held item instead. And unlike Thief, you aren’t forced to be itemless to use the move.

Using Thief in battle

Tip: Be wary of Pokémon with the ability Sticky Hold, as that prevents the user’s held items from being stolen or removed. If your opponent has this ability, you won’t be able to use moves like Thief on them to take their item. The following Pokémon have Sticky Hold as their ability:

Grimer
Muk
Gulpin
Swalot
Shellos
Gastrodon
Trubbish
Accelgor

Using Thief to Steal Items from Wild Pokémon

Using Thief to obtain a Heart Scale from Luvdisc

Using Thief on a wild Pokémon with a held item will allow you to permanently steal that item. After the battle, you can put the stolen item into your bag and keep it.

You can use Thief to obtain some very useful held items for free without needing to catch dozens of Pokémon.

Wild Pokémon can hold a wide variety of held items in ORAS. From items that can be found easily to items that can’t be found anywhere else. Additionally, some Pokémon only hold certain items while using the DexNav function.

Below is a list of some rare items you might want to farm with TM46 Thief, like Heart Scales and Lucky Eggs. Items that are exclusively found in the wild are also listed:

SCROLL

Held Item	Pokémon Holding It	Chance of being Held
Black Sludge	Grimer, Muk, Croagunk, Trubbish, Garbodor	5%
Dragon Fang	Bagon, Shelgon, Druddigon	5%
Heart Scale	Luvdisc	50%
Lagging Tail	SlowPoké, Lickitung	5%
Light Clay	Baltoy, Claydol	5%
Lucky Egg	Happiny, Chansey, Pelipper	5%
Poison Barb	Tentacool, Tentacruel, Qwilfish, Roselia, Budew, Skorupi, Drapion, Venipede	5%
Shed Shell	Venomoth, Beautifly, Seviper, Scraggy	5%
Spell Tag	Duskull	5%
Sticky Barb	Cacnea, Ferroseed	5%
Twisted Spoon	Abra	5%

Tip: Leading your team with a Pokémon that has Compound Eyes will boost the chance of wild Pokémon holding an item, up from 5% up to 20% (50% to 100% for Heart Scales). Also, using a Pokémon with Frisk lets you see if the opponent has a held item upon entering battle. You can use these two abilities to quickly find wild Pokémon with held items to use Thief on.

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StormSwampert

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Though he spends most of his time playing a wide variety of games, Pokémon has always been his favorite. When he’s not playing games or writing guides, you can find him watching anime and collecting trading cards.

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How To Get TM46 Thief in Pokémon ORAS

TM46 Thief Location (Step-by-Step)

Thief Details + Uses

Using Thief to Steal Items from Wild Pokémon

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