Zuzu (Japanese: ZUZU) was one of the Pokémon that Ruby has received in the Pokémon Adventures manga, a happy-go-lucky Pokémon. He tends to use it in the Toughness Category for contests.
History
When Ruby was rescued by Sapphire from a pack of wild Mightyena, she took him to her Secret Base, he thought she was a Pokémon of some sort, and was shocked to the spine when she started talking. The two ended up getting into a fight after he ordered Nana to bite this supposed "Pokémon," and still holding his own Pokémon from fighting back, he phoned Professor Birch on the Pokégear that was in his bag, and was told to choose the "blue Pokémon," which he then chose over the "green one." However, against Sapphire's well-trained Torchic, it was no match even with its type advantage. After Ruby was told the "cave girl" was in fact Birch's daughter, who had been helping him with his field research, they resolved this dispute before a wild Seviper suddenly attacked them. When Sapphire seemingly subdued it, the two decided to make a bet after getting into an argument over contests and gym battles, and that the one who wins all the contests or gyms in the Hoenn region wins the bet. With Sapphire unconscious from the injuries she received from the Mightyena, Ruby swiftly defeated the Seviper after treating her, and later nicknamed the Mudkip "Zuzu." Zuzu tended to have a running nose.
Being that Ruby still was predisposed to contests rather than battles as his father would intend, Ruby then continued his journey to conquer the contests, and met several wild Pokémon that attacked him and Zuzu, such as wild Dustox and Nuzleaf. In doing so, the boy then decided that it would be bets for the "Tough" category of Pokémon Contests. When the two arrived in Slateport City, Zuzu finally evolved into a Marshtomp and gained the awe of the Pokémon Fan Club Chairman (who also adored Coco and Nana), who tried to help Ruby enlist in the contests there, but with no Hoenn Contest Pass, he wasn't accepted. Instead, the two ended up being dragged into a mire when three Magma Admins kidnapped the two along with Captain Stern. Tied up and put to sleep by the gas Tabitha's Torkoal speed, it wasn't until a while later that Ruby awakened, and Zuzu popped out of its ball to help free its owner. Upon realizing that the one interrogating Stern for information now was in cahoots with Tabitha and Courtney, who had attacked him and Sapphire before, Ruby used his Pokéblock-making skills to lure Mack's Slugma into the Submarine they were planning to steal, and after being subjected to his traumatizing illusions, instead seized the opportunity to escape on the emergency escape pod installed in the submarine with a series of Earthquake attacks.
Awakening quite a while later, Ruby and Zuzu drifted all the way to Route 119 where Ruby was again attacked by a Seviper, this time with a Zangoose, and thanks to their fangs impaling all his party Pokémon's balls, it had to be a wild Feebas that had grown attached to Ruby who finished them off. After reluctantly adding it to his team, Ruby would be stricken with another danger, possibly the worst of all: his infuriated father, who had been tracking him down ever since the beginning of his journey. Nana and Coco were no match for his Slaking, being that Norman taught the two Pokémon their moves, but Zuzu was another story, and with its well-hidden Mud Shot, managed to distract the leader for a while before his Vigoroth began to counter it. Through an unfortunate chain of events, just when the fight seemed to go to a halt with Castform's help, both Ruby and Norman's lives would be in peril as they hanged from a pipe, and nearly had a deadly fall that they avoided thanks to the Running Shoes he received for his birthday weeks ago.
After Norman finally came to terms with Ruby's desire to pursue his path of contests, Ruby was taken by Gabby and Ty to Verdanturf Town (who gave them Castform, now nicknamed "Popo"), where he participated in his first Hoenn contest, and even with his newly captured Feebas, was able to win. There, he met Wally's cousin Wanda, and after mistaking her for her cousin at first, helped save her boyfriend from being buried alive in a rock slide with Zuzu's Rock Smash. There, he also battled the Magma Admin he met before, Courtney, and after putting the rest of his party in Poké Balls, cleverly used the Pokéblock Case he'd obtained earlier to escape. Afterwards, Courtney, after nearly being burned alive in her own Ninetales' Fire Spin, became even more obsessed with catching Ruby.
The two then arrived in Fallabor Town, where Ruby won his Super Rank contests at last, and ended up being taken as Wallace's student with much difficulty, and then were taken to Fortree City by Ruby's new mentor. There, he met with Sapphire again, but a bitter enmity would arise when Ruby refused her offer to help save Hoenn against the evils of Magma and Aqua, and instead told her that he'll be moving out of the countryside Hoenn offers as soon as he finishes all the contests, and he doesn't care about a region he'll soon leave anyway. Enraged, Sapphire ripped off the clothes Ruby gave her, and yelled at him for leaving his power there all for naught. Zuzu then evolved into a Swampert soon afterward, but Ruby was too gloomy to make much of a commemoration of it, but soon changed his mind after he rebuked Mimi and drove her away. Deciding to help Sapphire out and save Hoenn at last, Ruby volunteered to enter the Seafloor Cavern with Sapphire and her Relicanth, and soon fought Archie of Team Aqua and Maxie of Team Magma, where the two, using their starter Pokémon, were able to take the win by taking advantage of the leaders' virtually nonexistent teamwork, but were then dragged by the Red and Blue Orbs they absorbed, into Sootopolis City. There, the two helped Winona and Wallace free the Red and Blue Orbs, and after the ensuing explosion blew them away, trained under Juan and Tate and Liza in the Mirage Island.
With this training, Ruby and Sapphire teamed up again against Maxie and Archie after they insidiously defeated Wallace, and succeeded in driving them away before their Plusle and Minun delivered the final blow.
In the Emerald arc, Zuzu appeared in Ruby's party again, but despite being enlisted as one of the three Pokémon he registered with for the Battle Dome tournament, wasn't used to battle Emerald. However, he was the only one of his entire party to be used to move up along the Battle Tower when Guile Hideout seized control of it, and after the villain succeeded in invoking a wish from the Jirachi he captured, Zuzu was taught the ultimate Water attack, Hydro Cannon, and teamed up with the 8 other starters to destroy Guile's fake, giant Kyogre monster.
Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.
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Trivia
- Although Zuzu doesn't evolve into its final stage until volume 19, the cover art depicts him as a Swampert along with Sapphire's Toro (which by then was already a Blaziken) the volume prior. This might be due to the fact that before being released in volume form, few to several rounds, even within the same chapter, may be left uncollected, and so the fans were expected to be aware of its evolution already, which happened mere chapters after the end of this volume. Alternatively, it may just be a result of the fact that Zuzu and Toro were always seen in the same evolution stage when placed in a volume cover together, just as Exbo, Megaree, and Feraligatr were in the covers for the Gold, Silver, & Crystal arc.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Mudkip, Marshtomp, and Swampert.
