Zoroark (Zorua)

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Overview

Every North American culture, from the Mississippians to the Dakota to the Aztecs, had a variation on the same myth. Sometimes a child would abruptly stop talking in the night. As they grew up they would slowly start talking again, albeit with less skill and frequency than they had before. Some would display magical abilities. Galar also had a variant of the changeling tale. The difference is, the stories from North America had a very real basis.

All species of zoroark have the same outcome (illusions), but approach it in very different ways (telepathy, hydrokinesis, pyrokinesis, ectoplasm manipulation). This would ordinarily suggest an extreme case of convergent evolution, but all four living species are closely related.

What makes the species of particular interest to scientists is their intelligence. Zoroark are not the most intelligent pokémon. Nor are they the only ones capable of communicating in human speech (primarina, chatot and even some slowking can). Zoroark are interesting because of their ease of blending into human society and their desire to do so. Human children are often one of the first illusions a zorua learns to cast, even in the wild, and adult zoroark have been observed creating and maintaining a human identity for years. Changeling stories have been documented in the modern era in zoroark’s remaining habitats. They break into residences, steal children and leave behind a zorua of their own. More than one zoroark has told researchers and police officers that this is to give their child a better shot at learning human behaviors.

It is unclear what exactly happens to the kidnapped human children. While it has long and widely been believed that the zoroark simply ate the babies, this may be untrue. Human children showing up on doorsteps or living alone (but healthily) in the wild are unusually common in zoroark habitats. The prevailing theory is that zoroark keep abducted children in their nest to teach human forms and behaviors to their other pups, or that they drop humans off elsewhere in an attempt to reduce the hostility towards their species.

For understandable reasons, zoroark were both hunted and worshipped in pre-Columbian North America. Sometimes the same culture did both. European settlers were unnerved by the zoroark, especially after some infiltrated their expeditions and came back to Europe with them. Witch hunts in the early United States were ostensibly aimed at getting rid of supposed zoroarks. One minister spearheading a witch hunt that killed twenty young women was revealed to be a zoroark upon his death.

Eventually European settlers nearly succeeded at driving zoroark extinct. Currently there are only two wild populations of zoroark in North America: one on the Olympic Peninsula and surrounding portions of British Columbia and Washington and the other near the California-Anahuac border.

Two of the four globally common species, the Olympic and montane zoroark, are classified as having “significant populations” in Alola by the Department of Agriculture. However, montane zorua are neither reliably available to travelers or extremely important to Alolan society so they are relegated to the relatives section of this entry. The rest will focus upon the Olympic zorua.

Physiology

Both zorua and zoroark are classified as pure dark types by the Department of Agriculture. This ruling is highly contested. Now is perhaps the best time to bring up the history of the dark typing. In the earliest attempts to group pokémon by typing, dark signified that the pokémon had a connection to Yveltal’s magic. The ruling has been controversial in the modern era and in the rest of the world for understandable reasons. However, the dark type has not been abolished both due to tradition and genuine shared traits between most dark-types. They have the ablity to manipulate shadows, above average intelligence, a resistance to telepathy, and either some degree of malice towards humanity or shocking brutality. Zoroark fit all four categories.

Among researchers that acknowledge the dark-typing, it is almost universally recognized that zoroark are primarily dark types. The dominant dispute revolves around whether or not they should also have a water, flying, psychic, fairy or normal typing. Zoroark are hydrokinetic to a very limited degree. They use this to manipulate the air, which could suggest a water or flying type. This trick has a cursory resemblance to low level telekinesis and they are highly intelligent, which could support a psychic typing. Fairy-types are ordinarily tricksters and were often viewed as ‘holy’ pokémon. Zoroark have an extensive mythology tied to them and can be very friendly, even familial, to humans. They are undeniably tricksters. Normal implies versatility and a mastery of several elements. The authors of this guidebook take no particular position on the typing of the Olympic zoroark or zorua.

Zorua fur is primarily either grey or black, depending upon the individual. They have a typical quadrupedal vulpine build. The fur on their paws is red and they possess several red markings on their forehead. The skin of their eyelids is also red. Zorua have an unruly tuft of fur on top of their head that is red at the tips.

Zoroark are primarily bipedal with long and slender limbs and relatively weak muscles. Their claws are much longer and sharper than that of zorua and are colored blood red. Their fur is rather short across their entire body, except on their upper chest. Zoroark are most easily identifiable by their mane. The mane of a fully grown zoroark is almost always bigger in volume than the rest of their body combined. It is bright red in color with black tufts and streaks throughout it. They generally keep an object, usually a pearl from a shellder or spoink, around the middle of their mane to keep their hair in some semblance of order. Their fur is coated in oils that they can control with their hydrokinesis so it doesn’t encumber them as much as its bulk would suggest.

Zoroark typically grow up to sixty-six inches and 120 pounds in size, with males being somewhat larger than females on average. Zoroark live up to 60 years in captivity. Their wild lifespan is not well studied.

Behavior

Olympic zoroark primarily cast their illusions through small-scale hydrokinesis. They use tiny water droplets to manipulate the air. This allows them to create and suppress sounds, bend light, and even move small objects and create tactile illusions. They can alter their secretions to create scent illusions. A particularly skilled zoroark can create an entire body out of faux-forcefields made of air and water, speak and look like a human, and even smell like one. While the bulk of the mane might seem like an obvious challenge for presenting as a human, zoroark can remove their bead and telekinetically weave the hairs around their body in a pinch.

The only real way to disrupt a zoroark’s illusions is to hit their body with enough force to break the surface tension of the projection and force them to spend time and energy to put it back together. A hard, unexpected punch is usually sufficient to do this. There are other methods to bypass illusions as well. Longtime or skilled zoroark trainers can frequently identify zoroark from tells that they have difficulty explaining. Ultraviolet, infrared scanners, and thermal scanners can usually bypass the illusion. As a note of caution, at least one zoroark has been able to beat all three of the above methods at different times (never simultaneously).

Zorua tend to be far less skilled at illusions and have a variety of simple tells from an inability to mimic voices or suppress their own to pixelated glitching to forgetting to cover up their tail. They are almost never skilled enough to replicate the scent of another creature.

Zoroark use illusions for a variety of purposes. In addition to infiltrating human society, they also use them to conceal their den and pups, imitate a harmless prey species to lure in a small predator, imitate a very large predator to scare away a mid-sized one, or for mating displays (see Breeding). Zorua generally use their illusions to either replicate very well-known species or confuse their opponent enough to cover a retreat.

It is difficult to research wild zoroark as they do not like being followed and typically shroud themselves in illusions. It is believed that the Olympic zoroark lives in groups of one to five adults and their young. Members frequently join and leave the pack and they do not have a particularly tight-knit social structure. Juvenile-only packs with an occasional unrelated adult providing protection or supervision are also somewhat common, particularly in areas outside of the Olympic peninsula where there are simply very few adults that live exclusively in the wild. This is the dominant model of zorua packs on Melemele and Akala, although there are semi-permanent adults in the Poni Island pack(s).

Zoroark and zorua are primarily ambush predators, although they will also go to the shores to hunt for shellfish meat and pearls. Slowpoke are a frequent target of theirs as the foxes don’t mind getting wet, resist psychic attacks, can pick off the indigestible parts, and find that the tails taste quite good.

The species is nocturnal in the wild, although zoroark imitating humans will usually adjust to diurnal life.

Husbandry

Zoroark present a unique challenge among all of the pokémon in Alola. Some species have comparable intelligence to humans, such as primarina, and others often insist that they are superior via actions or telepathy (ninetales, metagross, slowking, oranguru). Zoroark are unique in their desire to be human. They will frequently take on an appearance similar to their trainer’s at first and slowly make adjustments. They resent pokéballs and any sign of subjugation and will snap at their trainers, literally and metaphorically, if they get the impression that they are not viewed as equals. Their default human form will only be left for combat purposes or for illness or injury (see Illness). The species main goal when dealing with humans is not to obtain food or protection but to learn more about human appearances and behaviors. If they believe their trainer to be sufficiently kind, they will often elect to stay with them when they decide their education is complete. Otherwise, they will usually take their trainer’s valuables and slink off into a crowd, never to be seen again.

Zorua will sometimes tolerate portable dog beds. Zoroark will not and will demand a sleeping mat, cot, or something else equivalent to what their trainer has. Similarly, zorua will be willing to eat typical canine mixes or leftovers; zoroark will become spiteful if they don’t have regular access to human food. Their digestive systems are similar enough to a human’s that they can survive on a typical human diet with a little more protein. Zoroark can be reasoned with on finances to a degree but they will still demand a measure of equality in even the worst situations.

Unlike most canines, zoroark love water. They can bathe themselves with hydrokinesis or their tongue but they prefer to have access to baths or showers. All but the wealthiest of trainers will need to set limits on shampoo and water early on.

Zoroark require scratching posts from time to time. Only very young or spiteful zorua will scratch up furniture. Adults will simply slink off to a forest to slash some tree bark if they are not provided with a scratching post. Zorua will use a litter box; zoroark are quite capable of using toilets.

The most important lessons for handling a zoroark are those you should have in kindergarten: be respectful, share your toys, and be willing to help others. Trainers who follow those rules often develop deep, even familial, relationships with their zoroark. This can help keep them sane and grounded on the trails of Alola and in the parts of life’s journey that follow.

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Illness

Zoroark can contract rabies and should be vaccinated within two weeks of capture or six weeks of birth.

Most zoroark illnesses and injuries affect their illusions in some way. Not all instances of a zoroark dropping their illusion are due to suffering. Sometimes zoroark drop their illusions for battle, for intimidation or for no clear reason at all. Zorua usually sleep with their illusion down and will often spend time in their default appearance around trainers they trust.

However, if a zorua spends more than three days without casting an illusion or a zoroark goes for more than one, they may be sick or injured. Ask the pokémon to create a human illusion to talk, or at least to write if they are capable of it. If they can’t or won’t, take them to a veterinarian. If they will take a human form, ask them earnestly and repeatedly if anything is wrong. Even if they insist that everything is fine, it might still be for the best to take them to a veterinarian for a cursory check. Zoroark are very good at spotting lies so don’t try to conceal the real purpose of the visit from them.

Evolution

Zorua reach their full size around sixteen years of age. However, they can appear to grow much faster in captivity. Zorua with a devoted trainer become more skilled with human illusions and usually decide to match their trainer’s age. This in turn forces them to think in more mature thought patterns, which has been shown to promote actual rapid brain development followed by physical development. Premature evolution has not been shown to have an adverse effect on lifespan and should not be encouraged or discouraged. Zoroark’s manes continue to grow in length and volume until their death.

The formal demarcation line between zorua and zoroark is the selection of their first hair bead.

Battle

Zoroark are a niche pick in competitive battling for their mindgames. Even in leagues that announce each party’s full team beforehand it can be difficult to know which pokémon is a zoroark. While this isn’t terribly effective at the levels where one hit from almost any pokémon can knock out a zoroark’s illusion, if not the zoroark itself, it is a useful tool in leagues that allow for counter-switching. A common tactic is initiating a switch against an opponent’s fighting-weak pokémon while having your zoroark pose as a humanoid fighting type. This forces the opponent to gamble by either sending in a psychic type and risking a matchup against a zoroark or staying in and risking a beatdown from a fighting-type. A similar tactic applies to having your zoroark imitate a poison-type when fighting an opponent with at least one fairy, forcing them to decide whether or not to risk their fairy against what might be a real poison-type for the chance of annihilating a zoroark and gaining momentum.

Island challenge trials don’t force either side to declare their pokémon beforehand, just the number they are bringing to battle. This gives zoroark a few rounds of confusion and setup against an opponent before the kahuna figures out the trick. Elite Four battles require declaring in advance (and allow both sides to freely switch) which makes the best zoroark tactics the ones described above. However, it should be noted that most opponents in the island challenge use monotype teams. This reduces the utility of baiting out a pokemon because the opponent will either have no fairy or psychic types to bait out, or will have so many that other factors will carry the battle.

Beyond illusions, zoroark have sharp claws and surprisingly potent shadow manipulation. They can also abuse illusion “glitches” to disorient opponents for a split second. This allows them to either begin or disrupt a combo, get in for a melee hit or get out of range of a melee fighter. Their signature tactic is using shadows to trip up opponents as they move and force them to hit the ground with their own force. As zoroark are rather light on musculature and natural defenses, this is probably their best way of safely dealing damage. They can also be taught a number of elemental tricks and disruption tactics to maximize their efficacy.

Acquisition

There are zorua packs around Route 5 and Route 1. Captures from the former are currently prohibited. Captures from the latter are presently allowed with no quota as zorua are viewed as an invasive species and a public safety risk. Capture, adoption or purchase of a zorua requires a Class I license.

Zorua are also found in pack(s) in Poni Island National Park. There is often a single pack, but there are enough zoroark that they sometimes split off into smaller groups. Capture of zorua and zoroark is presently allowed inside the park with the requisite trainer rank.

Zoroark require a Class III license to purchase, adopt or capture.

Breeding

Zoroark are incredibly private about all stages of reproduction. What is known is that they have a very long courtship period of several years and that a pair will typically only have one litter of six to twelve pups. Zoroark pregnancies last seven months. Pregnant zoroark will often be hesitant to create illusions, presumably due to the energy illusion formation requires. Male zoroark will stay very close to their pregnant mates.

Both parents stay very close to their pups until they reach their full size. If one parent dies before the pups are fully grown the surviving parent will seek out another zoroark to assist in childrearing. If both die in the same incident the remaining zorua will band together into a pack. Sometimes another zoroark will take over parental duties, or at least begin to drop by every so often to check on their welfare and provide instruction. All zorua packs in Alola were formed by orphaned litters. The packs continue to take in stray zorua. At least one former pack member checks in on them from time to time.

Mated pairs usually split up when their children leave. Sometimes they will pursue a long-term homosexual partnership. Sometimes they will find an orphaned pack and assist in raising it or they will join a multi-zoroark group. Zoroark have also been observed finding a member of another species and entering into either a romantic or platonic partnership with them.

Zoroark will lay out their own boundaries and desires for privacy during reproduction and childrearing to their trainer. Sometimes they will wish to leave their trainer to find a mate and raise children. They should be allowed to do so. If forbidden from leaving, they will leave anyway but steal or destroy several of their trainer’s possessions on the way out. A zoroark that amicably parts from their trainer will often return when their pups are fully grown. Occasionally a zoroark will tolerate or even desire raising their pups in captivity. They will lay out their needs for this as well, although it typically amounts to a dark, safe, and permanent home.

Zorua cubs should not engage in anything more than a playfight until they reach two full years of age.

Relatives

There are seven species of zoroark. The first is the Olympic zoroark discussed above.

The second is the montane zoroark (D. meyer). While there has not been a stable colony of zoroark in the wild since at least the 1920s, they continue to thrive in captivity. Mormon theology teaches that Xerneas gave the montane zoroark to the church as a gift. The church proceeded to round up almost all of the zoroark in the Rocky Mountains and tame them. They currently run a breeding program for the montane zoroark that contains nearly all of the world’s montane zoroark. These zoroark are used to protect their churches, leadership and missionaries. Cynics also attribute the public and private miracles of the church to zoroark illusions.

Montane zoroark are powerful telepaths that create illusions by hacking the brain of their targets and altering their sensory processing. This makes their illusions the most powerful; it also means that they are sometimes unable to affect all nearby minds at once. The sheer versatility of their power and ability to completely block the senses of opponents makes them by far the most powerful zoroark species, as is seen whenever the church allows one of its members to use one in battle. The remaining montane zoroark are owned by the Smithsonian Institute. Every few years they will display montane zorua at the National Zoo; zoroark would never consent to this. It is believed that the Smithsonian’s zoroark serve various roles as staff around the institute’s properties. There are persistent rumors that other branches of the United States government may possess montane zoroarks, but this has never been proven. Montane zorua are very similar in appearance to the Olympic zorua, if a bit lighter in coloration and with bright purple eyes instead of pale blue.

Desert zoroark (D. pellisfurem) used to range from Texas to Tenochtitlan and from the Gulf to the Pacific. At present they are confined to a patchwork of habitats in Anahuac and a handful of National Parks and reservations in the American Southwest. The Aztecs, Navajo and Hopi revered the desert zoroark and the lands under their control house most of the remaining desert zoroark population. Unfortunately, the post-war instability in Anahuac has put the zoroark population there at risk. While poaching is a crime punishable by death and state sponsored hunts have been discontinued, zoroark populations in Ananhuac have plummeted since 1981. Until 1903 the United States offered substantial bounties for zoroark and sent military expeditions to wipe the species out. The unwillingness of some Native American leaders to hand over the zoroark on their lands was the pretext for a number of wars.

Desert zoroark create their illusions in a similar manner to Olympic zoroark, suggesting that they may be the most closely related of the subspecies. It would be impractical to use water in the air to create their illusions given their habitat. Instead, they create tiny heat waves to shape the air around them. While their tactile illusions are entirely unconvincing, they learn visual and auditory illusions much faster than their Olympic counterparts and don’t need to spend much time redeveloping an illusory body after their old one is destroyed. They are classified as dual dark- and fire-types and can create more powerful heat waves in battle than the ones they use for illusions.

The swamp zoroark (D. titanavus) is nearly extinct in the wild. They are the largest of the subspecies and tend to be dark green in color with light purple stripes across their body. Their manes are also the smallest proportionally and stop growing when they reach physical maturity. Unlike other zoroark species, they have webbed paws and spend most of their time in the water and, when they do go on land, they walk on all fours. Because of this and the factors below, it is believed that they are the ancestor of the other zoroark species.

Swamp zoroark do not create particularly detailed illusions. Instead, they emit gasses that cause hallucinations and feelings of panic in their target. Long-term exposure results in blindness and even death. These gasses are used for hunting and defense. At present, there are believed to be fewer than 80 swamp zoroark and zorua in the wild. Most live in and around Everglades National Park, with the remainder split between the bayous of Louisiana and Congaree National Park in South Carolina.

The remaining three zoroark species are believed to extinct in the wild. However, populations occasionally pop up around the world. This suggests that they have simply abandoned the forests and plains of North America and Siberia entirely to integrate into human society.

The first of these species is the plains zoroark (D. deagramani). They have thick dark brown fur in the winter and a lighter coat of grey fur in the summer. Their mane resembles a cape extending from the bottom of their head and they didn’t use beads. Plains zoroark are powerful telekinetics who create and craft forcefields into a body. They then warp the light and sound around their forcefields through an unknown method to complete the illusion. Plains zoroark have the most durable illusions of all zoroark and they can form them rather quickly. However, they are among the least intelligent of the species and take some time to learn the voices and social norms of other species.

Forest zorua (D. fluidum) were the most common species at the time of European first contact. They ranged from Quebec and Ontario to the southern tip of the Appalachians and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Forest zorua are proper shapeshifters rather than illusionists and morph their form until they physically become their illusion. Like ditto, it is entirely unknown how this works. However, forest zorua suffer from one core weakness: they must concentrate hard to maintain their illusory form. Lapses in concentration, including sleep, will often cause their illusion to begin to break down. While some particularly clever zoroark can maintain their illusions for up to 72 hours, even through full nights of sleep, a heavy enough blow will cause them to almost instantly revert. As such, there is some speculation that forest zoroark do not shapeshift so much as use an attack akin to substitute. Unfortunately, captive forest zoroark tend to commit suicide or refuse to eat, much less cooperate with experimenters. It may never be known how, exactly, the forest zoroark’s illusions work.

The final species was the only one to have a native range outside of North America and are the most likely to be outright extinct. The Siberian zoroark (D. laventoni), also known as the spectral zoroark, were native to coastal Siberia and Hisui. They thrived in cold climates and may have even hibernated during the summer. Siberian zoroark were selectively incorporeal ghost-types that manipulated their form for their illusions. They were known to be the most territorial and solitary of the species and could be extremely vicious when defending their territory.

It is believed that the species was already on the brink of extinction when Europeans first saw them. Siberian tribes had stories about shapeshifters and zoroark, but many of these were set in ancient times. The zoroark were no longer believed to be active threats. They was only one confirmed sighting in mainland Asia, a single photograph taken by a Soviet soldier in 1931. The Hisuian population was believed to be extinct by 1920. How such a distinct species evolved is likely to forever remain a mystery as the spirits did not leave behind physical remains to study.