Mimikyu #778: the little ghost dressed up as Pikachu

A rag, two little black eyes and a secret no one has ever peeked at and gotten away with. Mimikyu (known as Mimiqui in French) is Alola's Disguise Pokémon: twenty centimeters of fabric fashioned in Pikachu's likeness, a lightning-bolt tail made from a stick, and a true appearance that remains a mystery.

Contents

• Who Is Mimikyu?
• Type and ability
• Disguise: Two Forms and No Evolution
• Totem Mimikyu, Master of the Abandoned Supermarket
• A Mirror, a Torn Rag and a Lasting Grudge
• Mimikyu Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who Is Mimikyu?

Listed as No. 778 in the National Pokédex, Mimikyu is the Generation VII "Disguise Pokémon." At just 0.2 meters and 0.7 kilograms, it's one of the smallest Ghost-type Pokémon.

Its body is almost entirely hidden under a rag fashioned to look like Pikachu : beige, with black-tipped ears and a face scrawled on in crayon, complete with orange cheeks and a zigzag smile. Its real eyes glow through two holes cut in the fabric.

The Pokédex, for its part, reassures no one. Pokémon Sun states that its true appearance is unknown and that researchers who looked underneath were literally scared to death; Ultra Moon tells of a Trainer who, after a gust of wind lifted the rag, died that very night in terrible agony.

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Type and ability

Mimikyu is a Ghost and Fairy type, a rare defensive combination. Only two types deal double damage to it, Ghost and Steel, and it has just one resistance — but a great one: Bug deals it only a quarter of the damage.

Its real strength lies elsewhere: it has three full immunities. Normal and Fighting can't touch it thanks to its Ghost typing, Dragon slides right off it thanks to its Fairy typing, and the remaining twelve types deal normal damage to it.

On the ability front, it's a quick read: Mimikyu has just one, Disguise, and has no hidden ability. It's its signature ability, which no other Pokémon shares and which no move can copy or take away from it.

Disguise: Two Forms and No Evolution

Disguise lets Mimikyu take a hit without suffering the slightest damage: the disguise takes the blow instead. The effect worksonly once per battle and doesn't recharge if it's switched out, but fainting followed by a Revive resets it.

And that effect has changed along the way. In Generation VII, the disguise absorbed the hit with no drawback whatsoever ; since Pokémon Sword and Shield, Mimikyu also loses one-eighth of its max HP when its costume tears.

The protection has its holes: it does nothing against Hail, Spikes or the secondary effects of an attack, and against a multi-hit move only the first hit is nullified. Mold Breaker, Teravolt and Turboblaze, on the other hand, deal damage normally without breaking the disguise.

It's this ability, and this ability alone, that switches Mimikyu from its Disguised Form to its Busted Form, recognizable by the costume's broken neck and the head flopping backward: neither its types nor its stats change. Don't expect anything more, since it has no evolution.

🎁 Looking to treat a fan of Alola's little ghost? Mimikyu and its friends are waiting for you in our Pokémon gift ideas.

Totem Mimikyu, Master of the Abandoned Supermarket

Alola replaces Gyms with the Island Challenge, and each Trial ends with a battle against a Totem Pokémon : a one-of-a-kind specimen, bigger than others of its species, that you can neither catch nor run away from.

Mimikyu is the Totem of the sixth Trial, at the Thrifty Megamart (Abandoned Site) on Ula'ula Island, Captain Acerola's trial site. It waits at level 33 in Pokémon Sun and Moon and level 35 in the Ultra versions, holds a Lum Berry and calls in Haunter and Gengar as backup in the original games, Banette and Jellicent in the later ones.

Totem status mostly changes its size: 0.4 meters and 2.8 kilograms, double the height and exactly four times the weight, without touching its base stats or its ability. An aura does, however, raise all of its stats by one stage, and defeating it earns you the Ghostium Z.

Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon even offer a level 40 one in exchange for 80 Totem Stickers : it's the only Totem available in both versions.

A Mirror, a Torn Rag and a Lasting Grudge

Why the costume? Pokémon Moon answers bluntly: its appearance is so frightening that it has to disguise itself before it dares approach people and other Pokémon. Ultra Sun adds that it's gentle and hates being alone.

When its rag tears, Mimikyu spends an entire night patching it up in front of a mirror, crying because it finds the task too hard, before going off to take revenge on whoever is responsible. Poképédia links this trait to Lovecraftian monsters, which kill or drive mad anyone who discovers their true form.

The tribute to the yellow mouse runs deep: its cry is a darker version of Pikachu's old cry. It even has its own Z-Move, Let’s Snuggle Forever, which Mimikium Z unleashes from its Play Rough for 190 power.

Its French name, Mimiqui, reportedly plays on "mimique" (mimicry) and "qui" (who), and its design is by Megumi Mizutani. A blend of sweetness and shivers that earns it a prime spot among the Pokémon plushies and the collectible figures.

Mimikyu Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• What exactly does the Disguise ability do?
  It lets Mimikyu take an attack without taking any damage: its disguise absorbs the hit, after which it switches to its Busted Form. The effect only works once per battle and doesn't come back if you switch it out, but it resets if Mimikyu faints and is brought back with a Revive. Note that the protection is only partial: it doesn't cover Hail, Sandstorm, Spikes or the secondary effects of moves, and against a multi-hit move only the first hit is nullified.
• Has Disguise's effect changed across generations?
  Yes. In Generation VII, in Pokémon Sun and Moon and then Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the disguise nullified the damage with no drawback at all. Since Pokémon Sword and Shield, Mimikyu also loses one-eighth of its max HP the moment its disguise breaks. The once-per-battle rule, however, has never changed.
• What's the difference between Disguised Form and Busted Form?
  They're Mimikyu's two forms, and it switches from one to the other only through its Disguise ability, when the disguise takes a hit. In Busted Form, the costume's neck is broken and the head flops backward: the Pokémon Shield Pokédex explains that it deflected an attack, but that its disguise now gives away its true appearance. Its types and base stats stay exactly the same in both forms. It returns to its Disguised Form outside of battle.
• Does Mimikyu have an evolution?
  No. Mimikyu doesn't evolve and isn't the evolution of any Pokémon: its evolutionary line contains only itself. Its Disguised and Busted Forms aren't evolutions, just a simple change of form in battle.
• What are Mimikyu's weaknesses?
  As a Ghost and Fairy type, it's weak to only two types, Ghost and Steel, which deal double damage to it. It has just one resistance, but it's a huge one: Bug deals it only a quarter of the damage. Above all, it's completely immune to three types: Normal, Fighting and Dragon. The remaining twelve types deal normal damage to it.
• Does Mimikyu have a Totem Pokémon form or a Mega Evolution?
  It does have a Totem Pokémon form (the French games call this Alola-specific mechanic "Pokémon Dominant"): it's the Totem of the sixth Trial of the Island Challenge, at the Thrifty Megamart (Abandoned Site) on Ula'ula Island, Captain Acerola's trial site. There it measures 0.4 meters and 2.8 kilograms instead of 0.2 meters and 0.7 kilograms, but its base stats and ability don't change. On the other hand, it has no Mega Evolution, no regional form and no Gigantamax form: the five Generation VII Mega Evolutions belong to Crabominable, Golisopod, Drampa, Magearna and Zeraora — Drampa's appeared in the base game of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the other four in its Mega Dimension expansion.

In short

Adorable under its rag, terrifying the moment you try to lift it, Mimikyu is one of Alola's best ideas. A Pokémon whose entire mystery lies in a disguise it refuses to take off.