Zekrom #644: the black dragon that carries Ideals

Zekrom hides a power plant in its tail. This Dragon- and Electric-type Legendary, revealed in 2010 along with the Unova region, conceals its body in a thundercloud and spins its tail like a turbine to blast everything around it with lightning. It's also the black half of a legend of feuding brothers, the one that gave rise to Pokémon Black and White.

Contents

• Who is Zekrom?
• Type and Ability: a high-voltage heavy hitter
• Evolution: Zekrom stands alone in its line
• Ideals, N and Team Plasma
• Zekrom on screen and behind the scenes
• Zekrom Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Zekrom?

Number 644 in the National Pokédex, Zekrom is the great rival of Reshiram and the second pillar of Unova's legendary dragons. Its official category sums it up in two words: it's the Deep Black Pokémon, the one that supports those who pursue their ideals.

It's a classic trap, so let's defuse it right away: this jet-black dragon is the mascot of Pokémon White, not Pokémon Black. It's Reshiram, the white dragon, that graces the box of Pokémon Black. Zekrom, for its part, is associated with the symbolism of Yin.

Massive and stocky, it stands 2.90 meters tall and weighs 345 kilograms, which makes it the heaviest Pokémon of the entire fifth generation. Its charcoal-gray skin, its white irises ringed with red and the bluish, thundercloud-shaped crest on top of its head make for a silhouette you can't mistake.

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Its tail is a feat of engineering all by itself: a huge generator whose insides start spinning like an engine to unleash lightning all around it. The rest of the time, it hides its body in an electric cloud and soars through the skies of Unova.

Type and Ability: a high-voltage heavy hitter

Zekrom pairs the Dragon type with the Electric type, a combination for which it was long the only representative : the sixth generation and Mega Ampharos finally brought it some company.

The result leaves it more exposed than Reshiram. The Electric type doesn't cancel out any of Dragon's weaknesses, so it has four : Ground, Ice, Dragon and Fairy. In return, it takes only a quarter of the damage from Electric moves and resists Fire, Water, Grass, Flying and Steel.

Its stats reach the same total of 680 as its rival's, but distributed the opposite way: where Reshiram peaks in Special Attack, Zekrom climbs to 150 Attack and 120 Defense. It's a bruiser, not a fire-breather.

It has just one Ability, with no hidden Ability: Teravolt. Like Reshiram's Turboblaze, it lets its moves ignore opposing Abilities that could get in their way. Only Zekrom and Black Kyurem can have it.

Its two signature moves are built for its colossal Attack: Bolt Strike, a 130-power physical move that may cause paralysis, and Fusion Bolt, which deals double damage if Fusion Flare, Reshiram's twin move, has just landed.

Evolution: Zekrom stands alone in its line

Zekrom doesn't evolve and isn't evolved from any Pokémon: its line consists of itself alone. It doesn't have a Mega Evolution, Gigantamax form or regional form either.

It does, however, have an Overdrive mode, triggered when its emotions boil over: its tail then glows blue. It's purely a visual effect, with no impact whatsoever on its stats. When its body is destroyed, it takes refuge in the Dark Stone, described as the last remains of its body.

That leaves the matter of fusion. Since Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Kyurem can absorb Zekrom using the DNA Splicers : this "absofusion" produces Black Kyurem, just as Reshiram produces White Kyurem. The process can be reversed with the same item.

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Ideals, N and Team Plasma

Originally, as Unova's legend tells it, Reshiram and Zekrom were one and the same: a single dragon that served twin brothers. When the elder set out in search of Truth and the younger in search of Ideals, the creature split in two.

Zekrom chose the younger brother, the one who dreamed of an ideal world. The two dragons then fought without either one winning, and their duel ended up ravaging the region when the two brothers' sons took up the quarrel again.

In Pokémon Black and White, this story becomes the plot. N, the king of Team Plasma, wants to separate humans and Pokémon and awakens one of the two dragons at Dragonspiral Tower to overthrow the League.

In Pokémon White, Zekrom is the one that falls to the player: its Stone comes to life in the throne room of N's Castle, facing the king's Reshiram. In Pokémon Black, the roles are reversed — and the dragon must be caught to continue the adventure.

Zekrom on screen and behind the scenes

The animated series gave it a thunderous entrance: in the very first episode of the Unova season, a Zekrom strikes the Pikachu belonging to Ash Ketchum and robs it of its electric attacks. It shows up again in the very next episode, above Professor Juniper's lab.

The fourteenth movie carries the logic of paired versions all the way to theaters, with two cuts: "Black - Victini and Reshiram" and " White - Victini and Zekrom ", each giving the lead role to a different dragon. It's a duality you'll find even in collections of Pokémon figures.

Behind the scenes, Zekrom and Reshiram were unveiled on May 28, 2010, simultaneously on the Japanese and English websites: they were the first two Pokémon ever revealed to the whole world at the same moment.

Ken Sugimori explained that he chose the prefix "Ze-" because it sounds more powerful than Reshiram's "Re-", since Zekrom is physically the bulkier of the two. Its compact build also makes it a great fit for Pokémon plushies.

Zekrom Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is Zekrom the mascot of Pokémon Black or Pokémon White?
  Pokémon White, despite its black coat. It's the opposite of what most people assume: Zekrom, the black dragon, appears on the box of Pokémon White, and Reshiram, the white dragon, on the box of Pokémon Black. In fact, the player catches Zekrom in Pokémon White, while N uses Reshiram.
• Does Zekrom evolve?
  No. Zekrom doesn't evolve and isn't evolved from any Pokémon. It has no Mega Evolution, no Gigantamax form and no regional form. Its Overdrive mode, which turns its tail blue, is simply a change in appearance with no effect on its stats.
• What is Zekrom's Ability?
  Teravolt, and it's its only Ability: it has no hidden Ability. Thanks to it, Zekrom's moves ignore opposing Abilities that would affect them. It's the exact counterpart of Reshiram's Turboblaze, and only Zekrom and Black Kyurem can have it.
• What are Zekrom's weaknesses?
  As a Dragon- and Electric-type, Zekrom has four weaknesses: Ground, Ice, Dragon and Fairy. Unlike Reshiram, its second type doesn't cancel out any of the Dragon type's weaknesses. On the other hand, it takes only a quarter of the damage from Electric moves and resists Fire, Water, Grass, Flying and Steel.
• What's the difference between Black Kyurem and White Kyurem?
  Black Kyurem is the result of the absofusion of Kyurem and Zekrom, while White Kyurem is the result of the absofusion of Kyurem and Reshiram. In both cases, the process uses the DNA Splicers, introduced in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, and can be reversed. Black Kyurem learns Fusion Bolt and Freeze Shock; White Kyurem learns Fusion Flare and Ice Burn.
• Is Zekrom a Legendary Pokémon or a Mythical Pokémon?
  A Legendary Pokémon. Together with Reshiram and Kyurem, it forms Unova's trio of legendary dragons. The Pokémon White Pokédex entry calls it mythical, but in the everyday sense of the word: it doesn't belong to the Mythical Pokémon category, the one that includes Victini, Meloetta and Genesect.

In short

With its generator tail and its 150 Attack, Zekrom is the fist of the duo where Reshiram is its breath — and its story only makes full sense when told alongside Reshiram and Kyurem.