How to get Zorua and shiny Zorua in Pokémon Go

Zorua is an illusive Pokémon that disguises as others, even in Pokémon Go. If you’re looking for Zorua, you won’t just find it on the overworld map the way you do with other Pokémon.

Instead, you should be looking for your buddy Pokémon — or rather, two of them…

Below, we explain how to get Zorua in Pokémon Go and how to get a shiny Zorua.

How to get Zorua in Pokémon Go

To find Zorua in Pokémon Go, they will disguise as whatever Pokémon is set as your buddy on the in-game map.

For example, if you have a shiny Kyogre as your buddy, you’ll see a shiny Kyogre pop up on the overworld map. Once you tap it and catch the mimicking Pokémon, after it’s in the ball, you’ll get a message that says “Oh?” across the screen, and it’ll turn back into a Zorua.

You can see this transformation in action via AKikiIsNotAFru1 on Twitter.

We recommend you set a very unique buddy (like a shadow, shiny or Legendary Pokémon, Legendary — essentially, anything you would never see in the wild) so you can find Zorua quickly among other spawns.

If you’re looking for extra inspiration for your buddy choice while Zorua hunting, as pointed out by ZicoThePerson on The Silph Road subreddit during the Halloween 2024 event, if you set your buddy to an XXL (a.k.a. Super Size) Pumpkaboo, the resulting Zorua will also be XXL. This is particularly useful if you want to complete your “Jumbo Pokémon Collector” medal a little easier.

Finally, as well as appearing in the wild, Zorua can appear as a raid encounter, giving you the opportunity to catch it in its direct form. That said, raid appearances are only for certain events, and thus infrequent, so don’t rely on this — but it’s worth checking the latest event details to see if it makes an appearance.

Can Zorua be shiny in Pokémon Go?

As of the 2023 Halloween Part 2 event, Zorua can be shiny. Since its form reflects whatever your buddy Pokémon is, you won’t know that it’s shiny until after you catch it and it returns to its normal form. This is similar to how shiny Ditto works, and you can see the shiny version of Zorua below:

Can you get Hisuian Zorua in Pokémon Go?

Nope, not yet. Other Hisuian Pokémon have been added to Pokémon Go, but there’s no sign of Hisuian Zorua making its debut yet.

Here’s a preview of how the normal- and ghost-type form looks: