Kyurem #646: the ice dragon that absorbs Reshiram and Zekrom

A dragon with pieces missing. Kyurem completes Unova's trio of Legendary Dragons alongside Reshiram and Zekrom, and it's the only one whose origin has never been explained. This three-meter colossus isn't content with its own power, either: with the right item, it absorbs one of its two companions.

Contents

• Who is Kyurem, Unova's unfinished dragon?
• Dragon and Ice type, Ability and stats
• Fusion: Black Kyurem and White Kyurem
• An origin no one has ever settled
• Where to find Kyurem in Unova
• Kyurem fact sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Kyurem, Unova's unfinished dragon?

Listed as No. 646 in the National Pokédex, Kyurem is the Boundary Pokémon of the fifth generation, the one set in the Unova region. Standing three meters tall and weighing 325 kilos, it forms the trio of Legendary Dragons with Reshiram, No. 643, and Zekrom, No. 644.

Its gray and blue body suggests a dragon without quite having the silhouette of one: pupil-less yellow eyes, a yellow crystal on its skull, teeth locked in ice, and two strange wings that serve as much for flying as for storing cold air. An unsettling detail: its entire right side looks damaged.

The Pokémon Black Version Pokédex sums up its tragedy in a single sentence: its body generates energy at extremely low temperatures, but the icy breath it exhales has frozen its own body. Pokémon Shield adds that it may have frozen itself to stabilize its cellular structure.

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Dragon and Ice type, Ability and stats

The Dragon and Ice combination is thrilling on offense and disastrous on defense. Kyurem takes double damage from five different types — Fighting, Rock, Steel, Dragon and Fairy — and resists only three: Water, Grass and Electric. The good news: none of its weaknesses is a 4x weakness.

As for its Ability, the answer comes down to one word: Pressure, and nothing else. It forces the opponent to spend two PP instead of one for each move aimed at it. Kyurem has no hidden ability, in any of its three forms.

Its base stats show a nice symmetry: 125 HP, 130 in both Attack and Special Attack, 90 in both Defense stats and 95 Speed, for a total of 660. Its signature move, Glaciate, blows a freezing wind over all opponents and lowers their Speed.

Fusion: Black Kyurem and White Kyurem

Since Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2, Kyurem can merge with its companions using the DNA Splicers, a rare item long kept hidden by Drayden before it was stolen by the Shadow Triad. With Zekrom, it becomes Black Kyurem — with Reshiram, White Kyurem.

Incidentally, the French games don't call it a fusion but a fusiorption, a blend of "fusion" and "absorption": Kyurem doesn't mix with the other dragon, it absorbs its power. The DNA Splicers' description states that the two were originally one.

Both forms keep the Dragon and Ice typing but climb to a base stat total of 700. Black Kyurem gets the Teravolt Ability, reaches 3.3 meters and pushes its Attack to 170; White Kyurem gets Turboblaze, stands 3.6 meters tall and boasts 170 in Special Attack, the highest of any Ice-type Pokémon.

Each one gains its own signature move, learned automatically: Freeze Shock for Black Kyurem, a physical move, and Ice Burn for White Kyurem, a special move. Both require a turn to charge up and remain Ice-type, despite their electric or fiery look.

Now for the point that summaries often get wrong: the absorbed Pokémon isn't lost. Using the DNA Splicers again on the fused form, with a free slot in your party, gives you back Kyurem and your original Reshiram or Zekrom with all its stats intact. You can't, however, have both fusions at the same time.

✨ Want to give someone a piece of Unova's legend? Our Pokémon gift ideas have plenty to delight fans of legendary dragons.

An origin no one has ever settled

Two legends compete to explain Kyurem's past, and neither has ever been confirmed. In Lacunosa Town, an old woman tells how a meteorite crashed behind the town, gouging out the crater of the Giant Chasm, and that it carried a monster that devoured people and Pokémon.

The second version comes from Drayden, in Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2: Kyurem is said to have been born from what remained of the original dragon that split into Reshiram and Zekrom, an entity left incomplete.

The Pokédex says much the same thing: Kyurem awaits the hero who can revive its incomplete body of ice by sharing their ideals and truth with it, the very values of Zekrom and Reshiram. Its true origin remains unknown.

Where to find Kyurem in Unova

In Pokémon Black Version and White Version, you first have to defeat Ghetsis and finish the main story. Kyurem then waits deep inside the Giant Chasm, beyond the crater forest, where you can battle it at level 75.

In Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2, the story gets involved: Ghetsis forces N's dragon to fuse with Kyurem and sends it against the player, with no chance to catch it. Kyurem then reappears in its natural form in the same spot, this time at level 70.

One last reminder: Kyurem does not evolve, and fusion, being reversible, is nothing like evolution. No Mega Evolution, no regional form, no Gigantamax form — and it's a Legendary Pokémon, not a Mythical one. Its three silhouettes have, however, earned it a fine career as a Pokémon figure as well as in plush.

Kyurem fact sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you get Black Kyurem and White Kyurem?
  By using the DNA Splicers, a rare item introduced in Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2. With Zekrom, Kyurem becomes Black Kyurem; with Reshiram, it becomes White Kyurem. In the French games, the process is called "fusiorption," a blend of "fusion" and "absorption."
• What happens to Reshiram or Zekrom once Kyurem absorbs it?
  It isn't lost. It leaves your party for as long as the fusion lasts, but all you have to do is use the DNA Splicers again on Black Kyurem or White Kyurem, with a free slot in your party, to separate the two Pokémon and get back your original Reshiram or Zekrom with all its stats intact. You can't, however, own both fusions at the same time.
• What is Kyurem's Ability?
  Pressure, which forces the opponent to spend two PP instead of one for each move used against it. Kyurem has no Hidden Ability. Once fused, it takes on the Ability of the absorbed dragon: Teravolt for Black Kyurem, Turboblaze for White Kyurem.
• What are Kyurem's weaknesses?
  As a Dragon- and Ice-type, it takes double damage from five types: Fighting, Rock, Steel, Dragon and Fairy. It resists only Water, Grass and Electric and has no immunities, but none of its weaknesses is a 4x weakness. Black Kyurem and White Kyurem have exactly the same weaknesses and resistances, since they keep the same typing.
• Where do you find Kyurem in Black and White, and then in Black 2 and White 2?
  In the Giant Chasm both times. In Pokémon Black Version and White Version, it waits deep inside the cave, beyond the crater forest, once Ghetsis has been defeated, and you battle it at level 75. In Pokémon Black Version 2 and White Version 2, it reappears in the same spot at level 70, after the episode in which Ghetsis sends it against the player in its fused form.
• Does Kyurem have a Mega Evolution or a Gigantamax form?
  No. Kyurem has no Mega Evolution, no regional form and no Gigantamax form. Its only alternate forms are Black Kyurem and White Kyurem, obtained through fusion. It doesn't evolve either, and it isn't the evolution of any Pokémon: a reversible fusion isn't an evolution.

In short

Forever unfinished, Kyurem remains the most unsettling of Unova's Legendary Dragons: a colossus of ice that, unable to grow on its own, borrows the power of others.