Zinzolin: The Cold-Hating Sage Who Stayed Loyal to Ghetsis

He complains about the cold, yet spends his life surrounded by ice. Two years later, he's the only one of the seven still on Ghetsis's side. Arrested, released, arrested again, then promoted to lieutenant: his path owes less to his convictions than to his loyalty to a single man.

Contents

• The Fourth Sage: Arrested, Released, Arrested Again
• Two Years Later: The Only One of the Seven to Return
• Hates the Cold, Yet Specializes in It
• Anime and Manga: Flight, Then a Double Game
• Zinzolin at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Fourth Sage: Arrested, Released, Arrested Again

Unova's Team Plasma gives itself an unusual hierarchy for a criminal organization: above the Grunts sit seven sages. Zinzolin is the fourth one the player meets, at the Cold Storage, surrounded by underlings and busy complaining about the temperature.

The scene is cut short, as Gym Leader Clay arrests him on the spot. The detention doesn't last: Ghetsis secures his release, which already says a lot about where he stands in the boss's eyes.

He shows up again at N's Castle, where the sages block the player's path until the Gym Leaders step in. Once the League is beaten, he waits at the Cold Storage, hands over TM01 Hone Claws, then gets arrested by Looker — and this time, nobody comes to get him out.

Two Years Later: The Only One of the Seven to Return

When Team Plasma re-forms in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Zinzolin moves up the ranks and becomes a lieutenant. The story justifies the promotion with a single line: he's the only sage who stayed on Ghetsis's side. So the title rewards loyalty, not any feat in battle.

He reappears on the Plasma Frigate, near the Pokémon World Tournament, where he calls in the Shadow Triad. The player then faces him in Lacunosa Town, in a Multi Battle, backed up by Hugh.

Next comes Opelucid City, once the city is frozen, then two more visits to the Frigate. After the League, one last meeting in Undella Town sees him offer the player the translation of the Abyssal Ruins' hieroglyphs: he leaves the story by doing a favor, not by fighting.

Hates the Cold, Yet Specializes in It

The game itself leans into the irony. Zinzolin says he can't stand the cold, yet you almost always find him in icy settings, from the Cold Storage to a city gripped by frost, and he fields Ice-type Pokémon.

His favorite species can be counted on one hand: Cryogonal and Weavile. Two Ice-type creatures, directly in tune with the places the story puts him.

The number four follows him from one game to the next: the fourth sage you meet in Pokémon Black and White, he is battled four times in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. Coincidence or wink, this regularity makes him a recurring opponent rather than a one-off encounter.

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Anime and Manga: Flight, Then a Double Game

On screen, Zinzolin first exists only in the past. An episode from the Black & White series shows him in a flashback, gathered with the other sages at N's Castle for a ceremony, in the presence of N and Ghetsis, until Reshiram bursts in and sets the castle on fire. Everyone flees, except Ghetsis.

The adaptation draws them younger and far less distinctive than their game counterparts: the sage is at first just a silhouette in a group. The Pokémon Generations shorts give him back his edge, with a clash against Drayden and his Haxorus in Opelucid City.

What follows comes straight from the games' storyline: once Colress and Kyurem's power have frozen the city, Zinzolin goes after the Gym Leader to take the DNA Splicers from him. It's his most concrete scene outside the games.

The manga gives him his best role. In the Black & White arc, he orders his Grunts to break off the battle rather than lose their Pokémon, disappears, then resurfaces at the League tournament under the alias Gray.

That's where the infiltration ends: Iris and her Fraxure beat him despite his type advantage, his double game is exposed, and he rejoins Ghetsis when Team Plasma's castle rises up. Beaten a second time when the Gym Leaders join the fray, he leaves the story with his fate left unclear.

Zinzolin at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Zinzolin in Team Plasma?
  One of the seven sages who lead the organization in Unova, and the fourth the player meets in Pokémon Black and White. He's first arrested by Clay, then released at Ghetsis's request.
• Why does Zinzolin become a lieutenant in Black 2 and White 2?
  Because he's the only one of the seven sages who stayed on Ghetsis's side. When Team Plasma rebuilds its ranks two years later, that loyalty earns him the rank of lieutenant.
• Which Pokémon does Zinzolin use?
  His favorite species are Cryogonal and Weavile, two Ice-type Pokémon. That fits the frozen settings the story places him in almost every time.
• Where do you battle Zinzolin in Black 2 and White 2?
  In Lacunosa Town in a Multi Battle, in Opelucid City once the city is frozen, then twice on the Plasma Frigate. He's battled four times in total.
• Does Zinzolin appear in the manga?
  Yes, in the Black & White arc. He comes back for the League tournament under the alias Gray, gets beaten by Iris and her Fraxure, then rejoins Ghetsis at Team Plasma's castle.

In short

Zinzolin holds a narrow but clear-cut place in Team Plasma: that of the subordinate who never switched sides. Where the other sages vanished or sided with N, he comes back two years later with a rank, a frigate and an active role in freezing Opelucid City. A loyalist rather than an ideologue — and that's precisely what makes him useful to the story.