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This is kind of how I feel about abilities. They are simply traits that a Pokemon always had. Like you said, Weezing always was able to float, it's just that the floating has been given a purpose when the Pokemon is in battle.When it comes to Abilities, I never really thought of them as just outright not existing in Gens 1/2 + LGPE + Arceus. I think they probably do exist, they just aren't being expressed mechanically, because so many Abilities seem designed to mechanize something that is just a natural aspect of a Pokémon's design or behavior - think Levitate, for example. Weezing is obviously capable of levitating even in RBY, because that's part of its design. That is to say, I don't really interpret Levitate as a unique sort of power that is meaningfully distinct from physical levitation (although granted, there is room to argue against that, with cases like Magneton). Other abilities like Flame Body, Sturdy, Air Lock, Schooling... they're usually just taking a quality that is inherent to that Pokémon anyway and giving it a role in battles/the overworld. It's not that Magmar in GSC or LGPE literally don't have a high-temperature body anymore.