Zarude #893: the jungle vine monkey that raised a child

A jungle monkey that commands vines. Zarude is the only Mythical Pokémon to come out of Generation VIII: a large black-and-gray primate, feared by every Pokémon in its territory, and yet famous for a story about an adoptive father.

Contents

• Who Is Zarude?
• Vines for Fighting, Traveling and Healing
• Type and Ability: Full of Weak Spots, but Built Like a Brute
• Jungle Healing, a Signature Move That Heals
• Standard Form and Dada Form: The Story Behind the Movie
• Zarude Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who Is Zarude?

Listed as No. 893 in the National Pokédex, Zarude is the "Rogue Monkey Pokémon" of Generation VIII. It was revealed on February 27, 2020, for Pokémon Day, and it takes the very last slot in the Isle of Armor Pokédex.

It's a large biped at1.80 meters and 70 kilos, with the look of a baboon or a mandrill. Its fur is mostly black, with gray shading across its chest that forms a kind of rib cage, visible only from the front.

Its huge hands end in sharp claws, its red eyes with green pupils are ringed in black, and four green rings are stacked on each of its forearms — these are its vines, coiled up at rest. A silhouette tailor-made for Pokémon figures.

Vines for Fighting, Traveling and Healing

Zarude grows strong, flexible vines from its neck, its wrists and the soles of its feet. It uses them first and foremost to strike, but also to swing from branch to branch and to grab Berries that are out of reach.

Their most precious use lies elsewhere: used as bandages, they have healing properties that are highly effective. And when they eventually fall off, nothing goes to waste — Pokémon Shield explains that "they fertilize the soil and help the forest's plants grow."

Its temperament, on the other hand, is far less gentle. Zarude lives in groups deep in the jungle and is brutal toward any intruder in its territory; Pokémon Sword notes that the forest's other inhabitants fear it because of its aggressive nature.

Type and Ability: Full of Weak Spots, but Built Like a Brute

Zarude's typing is Dark and Grass, a combination it shares with Shiftry, Cacturne and Meowscarada. It has a downside: it piles up weak spots, and Bug hits it four times as hard.

Six other types deal double damage — Fire, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Flying and Fairy — bringing the total to seven types to fear. On the other side, it's completely immune to Psychic and takes half damage from Water, Electric, Grass, Ground, Ghost and Dark, for a total of six resistances.

Its only ability is Leaf Guard, with no hidden ability: as long as the sun is shining, Zarude is protected from status conditions. Its 600 base stat points in total make it a sturdy bruiser, with 120 Attack and 105 each in HP, Defense and Speed.

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Jungle Healing, a Signature Move That Heals

Its signature move deals no damage at all: it heals. Jungle Healing is a Grass-type status move, learned at level 90, and Zarude is the only Pokémon that can learn it.

It gives the user back a quarter of its max HP and cures its status conditions; in a Double Battle, its allies benefit from the effect too. The in-game text sums up the idea nicely: Zarude calls on the power of the jungle to get everyone back on their feet.

Let's be clear about the rest: Zarude doesn't evolve and isn't the evolution of any other Pokémon. Nor does it have a Mega Evolution — the only one in its generation is Mega Falinks — or a Gigantamax form, or a regional form.

Standard Form and Dada Form: The Story Behind the Movie

It does, however, have two forms : the standard form and the Dada form. The difference is purely cosmetic and doesn't affect its stats, its type or its ability.

This form comes straight from Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle, the twenty-third film in the series, released in Japan on December 25, 2020, and on Netflix on October 8, 2021. In it, a Zarude takes in a human baby stranded on a riverbank and leaves its troop to raise him.

The Pokémon Sword Pokédex tells the same story: "This Pokémon left its kind to raise a young human. It carries a cloth whose scent calms the baby when it cries." Shield adds that this affection gives it a special kind of strength — and for a much cuddlier Zarude, look to our Pokémon plushies.

Being Mythical, neither form can be found in the wild: they can only be obtained through distributions. In France, a Micromania code gave out Zarude at level 60 from November 13 to December 13, 2020; the Dada form followed at level 70 starting October 7, 2021, accompanied by a Celebi that was Shiny, timed for the movie's release.

Zarude Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• Does Zarude evolve?
  No. Zarude has no evolution and isn't the evolution of any other Pokémon: its evolutionary line contains only itself, with no pre-evolution. No method makes it evolve — not level, stone or trade. It can't even breed, since it is genderless and in the Undiscovered Egg Group. Its second form, the Dada form, isn't an evolution: it's a cosmetic variant.
• What are Zarude's two forms and how do you get them?
  The standard form and the Dada form. The Dada form takes on the look of the Zarude from the twenty-third movie, in which it wears a cloth whose scent soothes the child it took in. The difference is purely cosmetic and changes neither its stats, its type nor its ability. Both forms can only be obtained through event distributions: in France, Zarude was given out at level 60 via a Micromania code from November 13 to December 13, 2020, and the Dada form at level 70 starting October 7, 2021, by email to subscribers of the official newsletter, along with a Shiny Celebi.
• What is Zarude's signature move?
  Jungle Healing, and it's the only Pokémon that can learn it. It isn't an attack: it's a Grass-type status move with 10 Power Points that restores a quarter of the user's maximum Hit Points and cures its status conditions. In a Double Battle, the effect also applies to its allies. Zarude learns it at level 90, in both Pokémon Sword and Shield and Scarlet and Violet. Not to be confused with Vine Whip and Power Whip, two Grass-type moves it also learns but that aren't exclusive to it at all.
• What is Zarude's ability?
  Leaf Guard, and it's its only ability: it has no second standard ability and no hidden ability. Leaf Guard protects the Pokémon from status conditions when the sun is shining. It isn't a signature ability: around twenty species have it, including Tangela, Chikorita, Meganium, Leafeon and Tsareena.
• What are Zarude's weaknesses?
  Seven types in all deal it extra damage, which is a lot. Bug is the most dangerous, with damage multiplied by four, since it's super effective against both Dark and Grass. Next come six types that deal double damage: Fire, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Flying and Fairy. On the other hand, Zarude is completely immune to Psychic and takes half damage from six types: Water, Electric, Grass, Ground, Ghost and Dark.
• Does Zarude have a Mega Evolution or a Gigantamax form?
  No, neither one, and no regional form either. The only Mega Evolution of Generation VIII is Mega Falinks, obtained with Falinksite. Zarude doesn't get one, and it isn't among the species with the Gigantamax Factor either. Its only known variations are its standard form and its Dada form, both reserved for distributions.

In short

A feared brute in its jungle, an adoptive father on the big screen: Zarude comes down to these two faces. And it remains the only Mythical Pokémon of its generation, without a single evolution to its name.