Illusion (Ability)

Illusion イリュージョン
Illusion
Flavor text
Generation V
Comes out disguised as the Pokémon in back.
Generation VI
Comes out disguised as the Pokémon in the party's last spot.
Generation VII
Comes out disguised as the Pokémon in the party's last spot.
Generation VIII
Currently unknown
Generation IX
Currently unknown

Illusion (Japanese: イリュージョン Illusion) is an Ability introduced in Generation V. It is the signature Ability of Zorua and Zoroark.

Effect

In battle

Generation V

Illusion will change the appearance of the Pokémon to that of the last Pokémon in the player's party. Illusion will not disguise the Pokémon if the last Pokémon in the player's party is fainted or is of the same species. Illusion will replicate the type of Poké Ball, nickname (or species name if none), Shininess (if any), gender, and form of the Pokémon it is masquerading as; however, it does not replicate the level of the masqueraded Pokémon. The effect is only aesthetic: effects like the move Attract still use the Pokémon's actual gender.

The illusion wears off when the Pokémon with this Ability is directly damaged by a damaging move or when Illusion is negated or replaced, causing the Pokémon with this Ability to appear as its true self. Indirect damage or loss of HP (such as through Substitute, Life Orb, weather, status conditions, entry hazards, recoil, and so on) will not break Illusion. If the Pokémon with Illusion is hit by a multi-strike move, the illusion will be broken after the first hit.

A Pokémon with Illusion can now disguise itself as another Pokémon with Illusion, provided that they are different species.

Role Play fails if the target has the Ability Illusion. Skill Swap fails if either Pokémon has Illusion. Illusion cannot be copied by Trace. If a Pokémon obtains this Ability with Imposter or Transform, it will not disguise itself.

Generation VI

Illusion can now disguise itself as another Pokémon with Illusion of the same species.

Illusion now disguises the Pokémon as the last conscious Pokémon in the party.

Illusion cannot be copied by Power of Alchemy or Receiver.

Outside of battle

Illusion has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, the Ability functions similar to the main series games for foe Pokémon. A Pokémon with this Ability can transform into another Pokémon that can be found on the same floor of a Mystery Dungeon. For partner Pokémon, this Ability becomes nonexistent.

In Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, partner Pokémon with this Ability transform into Kecleon.

Pokémon with Illusion

# Pokémon Types First Ability Second Ability Hidden Ability
0570   Zorua
Dark Dark Illusion None None
0571   Zoroark
Dark Dark Illusion None None
Please note that abilities marked with a superscript are only available in the stated generation or later.
  • For Generation III and IV games, ignore Hidden Abilities.

In the anime

 
Zoroark
 
Zorua
 
Transformed
 
Luke's Zorua
The Pokémon can either change its shape into a human or Pokémon, or it creates illusions for everyone to see.
Pokémon Method
User First Used In Notes
  Zoroark's eyes glow light blue and its outlines start to glow pink. Then, a magenta wave of energy appears by its face and moves down to its feet. As the wave moves down, its body changes its shape into the opponent, or Zoroark's eyes glow red and it causes the opponent to see illusions of its choosing.
Zoroark (M13) Zoroark: Master of Illusions Debut
A wild Zoroark The Island of Illusions! None
  Zorua's eyes glow light blue and it jumps up high into the air, spinning its body while in the air. As it spins, its body starts to glow pink and it changes its shape into the opponent.
Zorua (M13) Zoroark: Master of Illusions As a human, its tail is visible, and when the tail is pushed, pulled, or grabbed, Zorua instantly returns to its normal form. Also, its eyes don't glow light blue before it spins.
Luke's Zorua Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"! None


In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga


In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga


Trivia

  • In Generation V, if Entrainment is used on a Pokémon with Illusion while it is disguised as another Pokémon, when its Ability activates the banner will state that the Ability belongs to the Pokémon that was used as the disguise. If the Pokémon's Ability is changed again, these messages will correctly state the Pokémon who the Ability belongs to when it activates.
  • Although this Ability is forbidden in Pokéstar Studios, Brycen uses a Zoroark with this Ability in one of the Brycen-Man movies.

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 幻覺 Waahngok
Mandarin 幻覺 / 幻觉 Huàn​​jué​
  Finnish Illuusio
  French Illusion
  German Trugbild
  Indonesian Ilusi
  Italian Illusione
  Korean 일루전 Illusion
  Polish Iluzja
  Portuguese Ilusão
  Spanish Ilusión


  This article is part of Project Moves and Abilities, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.