Zumvu (Pokemon Azure Horizons & Crimson Horizons)

Zumvu is a new Null-type Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Azure Horizons & Crimson Horizons. It is evolved from Vuu at Level 42 in a Forced Evolution, which will occur even if the player tries to stop the evolution or has Vuu hold an Everstone. The only way to circumvent this is to use a Soul Ribbon on Vuu, which evolves it into Joyoppa instead. Zumvu does not further evolve.
===Appearance===
Much like its previous evolutionary stage, the basis of Zumvu is an animated Substitute Doll with a golden knitting needle piercing its head. However, the tear on Vuu's abdomen completely rips open once it evolves into Zumvu, revealing a dark, endless void with a very faint, reddish-brown glow off in the distance. The point of entry into this void on Zumvu's body is bordered by tattered, ripped fabric, remains of the cloth that once covered Zumvu's abdomen. A smaller, less noticeable tear develops in Zumvu's back, out of which four black ghostly arms emerge. These limbs are semi-corporeal, in that their hands can strongly grip physical objects, but momentarily dissipate whenever struck by a sufficiently strong attack. The hands can also be used for faster ground transportation or to climb up walls or crawl on ceilings. The head of the Substitute Doll constituting Zumvu's body lurches backwards slightly, having been pushed back by the massive opening in its abdomen.
===Background===
Zumvu seems to always be insatiably hungry, which evidently causes it to shove in anything that will fit through the large tear on its body into the dark void on the over side. This has included Pokemon and, tragically, even small children in a few recorded cases. Although its previous evolutionary stage Vuu could be controlled by a competent trainer, this is no longer necessarily the case with Zumvu, who seems to obey its trainer or strike out to look for things to consume seemingly on a whim.
Unlike Vuu, Zumvu will become disobedient if it has not been allowed to consume anything into its void in more than a few days, which can lead to escape attempts on the Pokemon's part and the loss of property and life. In extraordinary circumstances, the Pokemon has even been known to stalk an intended victim, waiting until they have laid down to sleep before striking. Therefore, it's advised that trainers "feed" their Zumvu something every day (which can be anything, even garbage) in order to minimize this feral behavior. While Vuu are kept as pets by a small number of people, only the most dedicated trainers or collectors are willing to take responsibility for a Zumvu, commonly resulting in them being abandoned quickly upon their inevitable evolution. For this reason, and their destructive tendencies, the near-universal response of the authorities upon finding an unaccompanied Zumvu is to terminate it by removing the knitting needle piercing its head, which renders the Substitute Doll inert and causes the void inside of it to disappear through unknown means.
===Pokedex Entries===
Azure Horizons - Almost all Vuu are destined to become the larger, more aggressive, and insatiable ZUMVU. Upon doing so, the Pokemon will consume anything that fits into the opening in its chest, including other Pokemon and people, if allowed to do so.
Crimson Horizons - In one laboratory experiment, scientists have inserted a self-propelled satellite into the void inside a ZUMVU. The satellite has detected no sources of light except a reddish-brown haze off in the distance. In spite of over 20 years of travel, the satellite has not gotten measurably closer to the source of this haze.
===Etymology===
Zumvu is derived from the words zombie and voodoo.
===Inspiration===
Zumvu was inspired by voodoo dolls. Its gait and feeding behaviors in particular were also inspired by the classic depictions of zombies in popular media. Much like its preevolution Vuu, Zumvu was influenced by Norowara, a scrapped Pokemon design from Pokemon Gold & Silver which did appear in a public demo of those games at the Space World '97 expo. Zumvu's dark appendages take design cues from Cofagrigus and Mimikyu, who have similar ghostly limbs.
===Trivia===
* Zumvu and its preevolution Vuu were created to introduce a non-legendary, multistage evolutionary line for the new Null Type, which has no weaknesses, strengths, or immunities. It also was designed to incorporate the Substitute Doll item into actual Pokemon.
* Zumvu, along with its preevolution Vuu and Vuu's alternative evolution Joyoppa, are genderless and cannot breed in any way.
* Like its preevolution Vuu, Zumvu does not physically react in any way to petting, feeding, hitting, or scolding in the VirtuaCare Program, although both will still consume PokeBeans. Both Pokemon also cannot gain or lose Happiness Points in any way, defaulting to 0 when first captured.
* Like its preevolution Vuu, all Zumvu has the Empty Nature, which does not affect stats at all, and are the only such Pokemon that can have it.
* Like its preevolution Vuu, Zumvu's Contest Condition stats start at 0 for all five categories and cannot be increased in any way. Despite this, it will still consume Poffins.
Category:Species
Category:Pokémon Species
Category:Pokémon (series)
Category:Fake Pokémon