Who is excited for ZARUDE!!!!

[CaribBoy]

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.

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.

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.