POTW Pokémon of the Week #66: Zorua & Zoroark

Cresselia92 · Oct 29, 2017

Welcome to the World of Pokémon, fellow fans! It's now time for a new entry, where we will discover and find out fascinating and interesting information about a chosen Pokémon species.

Most of you may be almost ready to wear all kinds of fancy costumes to impersonate all kinds of horrific creatures during Halloween time, but there are a couple of creatures who are capable of creating extremely realistic disguises, fooling anyone who meets them. And these Pokémon are…

Zorua and Zoroark, the Dark-typed foxes from the 5th Generation.

They both have the unique Ability Illusion, which lets them take the appearance of the last Pokémon in a Trainer's team, as well as create all sorts of imaginary scenes to hide from hostile presences. This has been used to great effect in their debut games, where a male Zorua disguised himself as a young boy until you brought a special event Celebi, and a female Zoroark disguised herself as a Legendary Beast when you brought one of the special chromatic Beasts. This was the only way to get these two Pokémon in the Black and White games, before the sequels allowed you to get N's Zorua and successive games allowed you to find Zoroark in the wild.

The two foxes rely mostly on their illusions to trick their opponents, before eventually striking them with their high speed and offensive power. However, they must make sure to use their disguises correctly and to not be identified too quickly, as their frail defenses don’t allow them to take many hits. Their former signature move Night Daze can also help with this task, as it may lower the accuracy of the opponent and make it harder for the latter to strike the fox, but beware! Using it will make it easier for the opponent to find out who they are facing, unless you are using a Lunala as your illusion.

These two Pokémon are widely known for being the first Generation 5 Pokémon to be revealed and for being the only non-Legendary Pokémon (aside of Lucario) to be the protagonists in a Pokémon movie: “Zoroark: Master of Illusions”, where the titular Pokémon was blackmailed to create illusions by the villainous Grings Kodai in exchange of the safety of a Zorua, completely unaware of the fact that the little fox had managed to escape and joined Ash and his friends.

Another known member of the line is Luke’s Zorua, a female fox who loves movies and who uses her disguises to turn into different characters for the films produced by her own Trainer. A wild Zoroark appeared in “The Island of Illusions”, where it used its illusions of giant Pokémon to scare away intruders from the island and to work in an abandoned Pokémon Center in order to heal and take care of hurt wild Pokémon.

The Zorua line is also quite popular in many Pokémon mangas, with Adventures featuring a Zorua who assisted N during his quest, and another Zorua being the Burst Heart of Hariru, one of the Seven Warriors in the RéBURST series.

Now that you know more about these masters of trickery, it's time for a few questions! Are you ready?

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
How is this Pokémon in-game?
How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
What Pokémon do you like to use in the last spot in your team to disguise Zoroark? Why?
Do you think that the developers were attempting to replicate Lucario's success with these two Pokémon?

Previous Pokémon of the Week:

Soki · Oct 29, 2017

These mons are very high on my list of faves, I absolutely love their designs and their gimmick. I can remember I was incredibly pissed when I found out you wouldn't be able to catch them in the wild in their original games :/

I never actually used this Pokémon in-game, since so far you could only get it as an event or post-game. You could get N's in BW2 I guess but I just wasn't very fond of using his mons. It's gonna be available in the wild in USUM so might use one on my team then. However, I'm still a bit unsure about this, I do like its gimmick but it also means that you rarely see its true form. And it's the true form I'm so fond of so yeah ^^;

I did use it in competitive play for a while. Made it turn into a Beheeyem so the opponent would likely use Dark- or Ghost-type moves on it and that did work like a charm mostly. However its weak defenses made it not the most useful mon to fight with, so I didn't use it very long.

If I could change anything about this mon, it would definitely be its defenses. I would love this mon to be more useful in competitive play. Furthermore, I would change Zoroark's shiny color. I'm just not a big fan of the purple and might've preferred it if it kept the pretty blue that Zorua has.

ocelotlrama jaguar · Oct 30, 2017

Very cool Pokemon. It's a shame Zoroark wasn't as popular as Lucario, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. These are the first werewolves in the Pokemon world, in my opinion. I love Midnight Lycanroc, but these two came first.

They're not too shabby in-game. Good Speed, good Attack. excellent Special Attack, but lousy defenses. Its movepool is decent, and its Illusion ability is absolutey awesome in so many ways. It has tricked me numerous times during competitive play, but once you figure out it's a copy of something your opponent has, it's easy to take down and I get a sneak peak of what the player has next. I've never really used these Pokemon in competitive play, myself, only because there are better Dark-types, but one day I'd like to give Zoroark a try in the competitive scene and see how it does.

I saw Zorua and Zoroark in their first movie, and yes, I loved them. They hyped me up for Black and White even more.

I think Zorua would be a nice pet to keep, but Zoroark would be dangerous in a coniving kind of way. I'd imagine it would copy the identity of any person it wanted and it could either live like a normal person or reak havoc.

I wouldn't change too much. Maybe give them a bigger movepool?

I'd probably choose something super powerful to psyche out my opponent, such as Metagross or Dragonite. It works on me, I think it'll work on a lot of other people who are not paying too much attention. =P If they are onto how Zoroark, well, I'd have a Hail Mary backup to help counter the more savvy battler.

Of course! Lucario was a great Pokemon that a lot of people fell in love with and they wanted to grab more of that popularity with the Zorua-line. Again, a shame it didn't work, but part of Lucario's charm is his typing, the backstory of that one Lucario in the movie, its ability to speak telepathically, its ability to sense auras... Zoroark had none of that and unfortunately felt like an inferior Lucario with only the ability to create illusions. While cool, it's not Lucario cool.

Gengarzilla · Oct 31, 2017

I'm pretty sure I could pick out a Zoroark if it's using Night Daze while passing itself off as a Lunala. Dark coverage is pretty pointless for a Ghost type.

-Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
I'm pretty indifferent; my sister is the one who prefers it. This does mean that I know plenty about it by association since I do plenty of teambuilding for my siblings.

-How is this Pokémon in-game?
It's alright, I suppose. I did use N's Zorua for a little while but it never really stayed on as a main team member. I usually have a six man team ready or planned out by the time I reach Driftveil.

-If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Give it Psychic via TM. My problem with the Sludge Bomb event Zoroark is that it has no way to hit Fighting types super-effectively now that it can't have the egg move Extrasensory, Fighting is the weakness I'd prefer a Zoroark to be covered for; Fairy comes second.

-What Pokémon do you like to use in the last spot in your team to disguise Zoroark? Why?
Infernape. A Fire/Fighting type shares no weaknesses with Zoroark, double resists Bug, lures in Psychic, is affected by entry hazards in exactly the same way, and Infernape in particular is the only one of its type combination who could manage a specially attacking set. It helps that the two both learn Nasty Plot, Flamethrower, and Focus Blast.

The second option would be Gengar, a Pokémon who matches well against all three of Zoroark's weaknesses: Fighting, Bug, and Fairy on the defensive side while drawing in Psychic and Ghost. They only share Focus Blast among their most frequent moves though (Gengar using Dark Pulse practically gives you away for the redundancy alone, and only the aforementioned event Zoroark gets Sludge Bomb), and their vastly different Toxic Spikes interactions (depending on generation, Gengar either ignores or removes them) would be a massive red flag.

My number one rule: If your chosen disguisee shares any type weaknesses with Zoroark, you're using its ability wrong. The whole point behind Illusion is to mislead your opponents.

-Do you think that the developers were attempting to replicate Lucario's success with these two Pokémon?
Oh, of course. If Smash 4 came out in the days of Gen V, I guarantee Zoroark would have joined the roster.

Steel_Justice · Nov 6, 2017

I do like the design of these two a lot. They really play up their typing and inspiration well by being tricksters.

They are a bit shaky in-game though with their limited availability and moves. It's great they have serviceable attack but the inability to get moves like Dark Pulse and Flamethrower early hurt it's performance in game. BW2 does let you get a free one and has Snarl available around the same time but BP is a pain to farm and I'd rather use them to evolve a Gligar quickly. Their ability to infinitely bamboozle the AI is very funny though.

I like the Zoroark movie. I think it's underrated and the last Pokemon movie I've enjoyed in recent years.

If I could change anything about Zoroark I'd give it more means to use it's ability against human opponents. Its mono typing and frailty make it difficult to use its ability making it more like a cheap gimmick and something useful. Giving it access to entry hazards like spikes and stealth rock along with a ghost or fire secondary type would make it a very good lead pokemon as it can set up hazards while pretending to be other common leads who can now forgo using hazards and perform other viable roles. A additional ghost type would allow it to set up while fooling the opponent into thinking rapid spin would remove the hazards making them waste their turn. A fire type would make Ferrothorn or other physical attackers great partners since Zoroark can trick people into wasting turns using flamethrower or will o wisp while it sets up more hazards and u-turns out when things get hairy.

It's pretty obvious Zoroark was trying to ride the Lucario train. It isn't the worst idea but it could have been executed better. It needs a Mega Evolution ASAP.

Zexy · Nov 13, 2017

I've missed this too?! Meh

Do you like or dislike this Pokémon? Why?
Like. If anything, just for Illusion; awesome Ability.
How is this Pokémon in-game?
N's Zorua was great in B2W2. Obtained past the halfway point but at a fine level, then it gets XP like crazy because of being a traded Pokemon (especially if you put a Lucky Egg on top of it later), very good type coverage for most of the game and especially for the Elite Four where it can deal with 3/4 (everyone but Marshal) by itself if overleveled enough; giving it U-Turn for a Heart Scale out of the Move Tutor makes it even better; U-Turn/Night Daze alone with Illusion tricks is awesome.
How is this Pokémon in competitive play? Are there any interesting strategies you like to use for them?
All the cool strategies involve Illusion... Team Preview unfortunately messes this up more than I'd like to.
Do you like this Pokémon's representation in the anime? Are there any moments or qualities in particular you enjoy/dislike?
Luke's Zorua in BW was cool I guess with all the Illusion stuff. The filler island Zoroark wasn't that cool.
How do you think this Pokémon would interact with our world?
Some people would be afraid of it, others would like the playful Zorua and its tricks I guess.
If given the power to, would you change anything about this Pokémon and if so, what would you change?
Better stats, I think everything else is already covered

What Pokémon do you like to use in the last spot in your team to disguise Zoroark? Why?
I mix it up depending on the opponent; ideally, when facing a type specialist, you disguise it as something that has an immunity VS that type or at least resistance.
Do you think that the developers were attempting to replicate Lucario's success with these two Pokémon?
Maybe, and it actually worked to an extent... but not all the way I guess.

Stratelier · Nov 15, 2017

I still remember trading for a Zorua on the GTS back in Gen V. It was ... difficult, but I did get one eventually. Then I continued trading for a female (so I could breed a baby for my team) and ... should have traded the mother back to the GTS but didn't (released her instead).

When I fought N at the endgame, he sent out his Zoroark directly -- didn't even bother with the Illusion.

(In the postgame, I was able to get copies of the event Celebi and beasts to unlock the in-game Zorua and Zoroark events.)

I like their designs overall, though I'd give a slight edge to Zorua. Zoroark's werefox design is okay, I can't gripe about it the way I do Braixen or Incineroar, but I do get this vibe of it being cool just for the sake of being cool.

Illusion is a fun ability, and I'm glad it even fools the NPC trainers. However, it's disappointing that wild Zoroark in XY don't use it. THEY NEED TO. Think about it ... the moment you strike a wild Pokemon and it suddenly transforms into a wild Zoroark, you'll be second-guessing every wild Pokemon encounter like checking all those empty trash cans.

E.g. in Kalos, maybe Zoroark should have been exclusive to Horde battles (always appearing disguised as another Trevenant).

Camille · Nov 18, 2017

I don't like Zorua's design at all, but Zoroark makes up for it. It is fun to use thanks to Illusion, and it also has a solid movepool with coverage moves like Flamethrower and Extrasensory. Although the line was supposed to be a parallel to the Riolu line in Unova, I was annoyed you couldn't get it in-game without the use of event Pokemon in B/W, unlike the Riolu egg in the Sinnoh games. At least they fixed it in the sequels.

POTW Pokémon of the Week #66: Zorua & Zoroark

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Cresselia92

Just Your Average Writer

Soki

Beep Boop

ocelotlrama jaguar

Fluffy with 80% more spots!

Gengarzilla

"What do you mean, my Gengarite is contraband?!"

Steel_Justice

Forged in Combat

Zexy

Quaxly Boy

Stratelier

Well-Known Member

Camille

Call of Fate

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