Pokémon Sword and Shield Zarude: Everything we know about the Mythical Pokémon, including ability Leaf Guard, explained
The Rogue Monkey Pokémon explained.
Zarude is a Mythical Pokémon coming to Sword and Shield.
Announced on Pokémon Day in 2020, Zarude is the first new Mythical announced as part of the Galar Pokédex.
Though we don't know when or how Zarude will be added to Sword and Shield, we have some ideas based on previous Mythical releases, which can help us narrow down what to expect.
On this page:
What is Mythical Pokémon Zarude and its ability Leaf Guard?
Zarude, the 'rogue monkey Pokémon', is a Dark and Grass type, and has the following statistics:
- Zarude Type: Dark / Grass
- Zarude Ability: Leaf Guard
- Zarude Height: 1.8m
- Zarude Weight: 70kg
As noted above, it has the ability Leaf Guard. First introduced during Gen 4, this ability prevents Zarude from being affected by status conditions during sunny weather.
As its name suggests, it's an ability common to many Grass types.
What is Zarude like in its natural habitat? The Pokémon Company provides the following two descriptions:
"It can grow vines from the back of its neck, its wrists, and the soles of its feet at will. The vines are strong and flexible. They can be used to wrap around tree branches to move around or to grab Berries from distant branches. They're useful for many different situations. The vines also have a healing property. If the vines are wrapped around a wound, it will heal."
And:
"Zarude lives in a pack deep in the heart of dense forests. It treats anyone that isn't part of its pack with immediate hostility, attacking right away. This is why other Pokémon that live in the same forest are afraid of Zarude. When fighting it swings around using trees and their branches, attacking relentlessly with its sharp claws or any other means it has. Its quick wit helps it excel in battles."
With it finally in the wild, here's how to start the Crown Tundra DLC and our full Pokémon Crown Tundra walkthrough. Plus, here's how to catch Calyrex, Glastrier and Spectrier, the Regieleki and Regidrago puzzle solution and Regirock, Regice, Registeel locations, details on how to catch Legendary Birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres in the Crown Tundra, the Ultra Beasts and Necrozma adventure, Dynamax Adventures, including the legendries you can catch on these adventures, and the new Crown Tundra Pokédex and returning Pokémon explained. For Isle of Armor players, here's how to find the Slowpoke, where to find Max Mushroom locations, and how to get Kubfu, become best friends and evolve it, plus all Diglett locations too! For the base game, here's info on the ability to transfer Pokémon to Pokémon Home, the Wild Area, lists of all TM locations and TRs, all Galarian forms and finally our main Pokémon Sword and Shield walkthrough for the whole game.
How do you get Zarude in Pokémon Sword and Shield?
As of Zarude's first reveal, The Pokémon Company has yet to confirm how your hands on the Mythical Pokémon, only stating it "can't be found through normal gameplay".
That this likely means is it will only be available through a giveaway or a special event, which will be announced in due course.
As an example of what we might expect, Sun and Moon's Magearna was accessed by scanning a QR code. There were some stipulations for this; codes were region locked, and players had to get access to the QR scanner in-game before they could access it.
The Switch doesn't have a camera to scan QR codes, so the deployment would be different to this - so perhaps it'll be an online giveaway either through the game or possibly Pokémon Home.
What all this also likely means is you won't need to get your hands on the Expansion Pass either, so all Pokémon Sword and Shield players in theory should have access to Zarude when it arrives.