Certain enemy abilities can be copied by Kirby. Press and hold to inhale the enemy, then press or ⇩ to swallow it and copy its ability. Press to pause the game and view a description of the Copy Ability.

There are some enemies that cannot be inhaled until you stun them, and some that carry no abilities for Kirby to copy.

Note: You cannot inhale enemies while Kirby has a Copy Ability absorbed.
If you take enough damage, your Copy Ability will be ejected as a star. You can inhale that star again to re-absorb the ability. But be careful – the stars disappear after a while!