What did the ability Stench do before Emerald?

Sep. 2, 2013

According to the Bulbapedia page for Stench in Gen III - IV it has no in battle effect. That is all well and good, but it goes on to say that>From Pokemon Emerald onwards, if a Pokemon with Stench is leading the party, then Stench reduces the chances of encountering wild Pokemon by 50%.

So what did it do before Emerald? Did it do nothing at all, or did it have some effect that Bulbapedia doesn’t list? If it did nothing at all, then why did GameFreak bother to add this ability at all? (and yes, I know: GameFreak Logic :P)

Hereis the Bulbapedia page for Stench

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

The ability stench wasnotavailable in generation 1 & 2. It was a new addition to generation 3 and has been carried through to generation 4 where still it had no in-battle effect and then to gen 5 where it can cause the target to flinch.

Well in that case it nothing, but be a place holder for an ability?

Wow this is low even for Muk.