Pokemon Legends: Arceus reveals murderous Zorua and Zoroark
The wide and wild world of Pokemon isn't all dancing Clefables and Rare Candy-coated colour palettes, with the latest Pokemon Legends: Arceus reveal proving it more than most. Up there with the haunted Lavender Town, trainers regularly eating the likes of Magikarp, and Allister wearing a Cursola skull, the legend of the dead Pokemon Professor will torment us all.
While we're used to seeing Pokemon faint and get magically healed at a Pokecenter, the games and anime have largely dodged around the issue of death. Whether it was intentional or not, the latest Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailer skimmed over the introduction of new Pocket Monsters, and instead, made it look like a Professor had been murdered by Zorua and Zoroark.
Who are Zorua and Zoroark?
Following a teaser trailer, we didn't have to wait long until the mystery Pokemon were revealed. The official Pokemon Twitter has shared the restored footage and then confirmed they're Hisuian forms Zorua and Zoroark. The Pokemon Company has revealed new details on the pair. Zorua is a Spiteful Fox Pokémon that moved here when they were banished by humans for manifesting allusions.
The description adds, "Their lingering souls were reborn in this Ghost-type form through the power of their malice toward humans and Pokemon". Elsewhere, Zoroark is the Baneful Fox Pokemon that can deliver cursed illusions from its "voluminous coat".
Its own description reads: "The spiteful power emitted from Hisuian Zoroark’s long, writhing fur projects terrifying illusions - and can also inflict physical harm upon foes, damaging their bodies from both inside and out. And the illusions that Zoroark projects have expressions of such utter malice toward every last thing upon this world that those who see them are said to be driven mad by the terror."
What happened in the new Pokemon Arceus trailer?
Going full Blair Witch Project, the latest Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailer opened with some found footage. Here, an intrepid Professor was heading out into the wintry tundra to catch some Snorunts in their natural habitat. Their collective name is a sneeze - which is adorable - however, things soon took a turn.
The explorer then came across the Hisui Region Zorua and Zoroark. Exclaiming that it's definitely not a Vulpix, their research was soon interrupted when a shadowy presence burst forth from the woods and knocked the camera to the ground. Things ended as the fox-like Zorua stared blankly down the lense and we were left wondering what happened to the Prof.
There are several things wrong here. Firstly, with Arceus supposedly set in Feudal Hisui, where did a video camera come from? Secondly, there's no mention of what happened to the poor Professor. Did they survive their brush with the stealthy smog monster? If found footage movies have taught us anything, it's usually that the person behind the camera doesn't make it out of it alive.