Zinzolin

Zinzolin ヴィオ Vio
Artwork from Black 2 and White 2
Age	Unknown
Gender	Male
Eye color	Black
Hair color	White
Hometown	Unknown
Region	Unova
Trainer class	Team Plasma
Generation	V
Games	Black, White, Black 2, and White 2
Member of	Team Plasma
Rank	Sage
Specializes in	Ice-types
Animated series	Pokémon Generations
Debut	The Uprising
English voice actor	Unknown
Japanese voice actor	Tomoyuki Shimura
Manga series	Pokémon Adventures
Debut	Letting Go

Zinzolin (Japanese: ヴィオ Vio) is one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma.

In the core series games

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Zinzolin alongside two Plasma Grunts and a Shadow in the opening of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

In Pokémon Black and White, Zinzolin first appears in the Cold Storage with other Team Plasma Grunts, who were planning something. During that time, he had complained about the cold and when the player and Cheren appeared, he ordered the grunts to drive them away. When they failed, Clay and several Workers arrived and arrested him and the Grunts. Later, in Driftveil City, Ghetsis came and forced Clay to release them. At N's Castle, he and the other sages (except Ghetsis) appeared to block the player's way to N. However, he and the other sages were confronted by the Gym Leaders of the Unova League (except Cilan, Chili, and Cress), who held up the sages to allow the player to pass.

After defeating Ghetsis, Zinzolin can be found at the Cold Storage. He remarks on how odd the player is and tells the player about his thoughts, then gives the player TM01 (Hone Claws). When Looker arrives to arrest him, he goes willingly.

Zinzolin reappears as a major antagonist in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2. He has joined the new Team Plasma formed by Ghetsis and now acts as one of the group's public leaders, along with Colress. Though he appears several times, usually when the player has major confrontations with Team Plasma, Zinzolin is not fought until the player reaches Lacunosa Town. He confronts the player after Team Plasma uses the Plasma Frigate and Kyurem to freeze Opelucid City. He is also seen in the Giant Chasm leading Ghetsis's forces against Rood and several members of the original Team Plasma opposing them.

After the player enters the Hall of Fame and defeats Hugh in Undella Town, Zinzolin appears there, dressed in a new set of robes. He expresses remorse for his actions and gives the player books of Ghetsis's research that allow translation of the messages in the Abyssal Ruins. He will give the player a Big Pearl upon returning from the end of the Abyssal Ruins, and depart.

Pokémon

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

First battle

Team Plasma and Team Plasma Zinzolin Grunt Lacunosa Town Black 2 and White 2 Reward: $9480

Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.42 Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Light Screen Psychic Status   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Reflect Psychic Status   --       Types: Dark Ice Ability: Inner Focus Held item: None Sneasel♂ Lv.44 Snatch Dark Status   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Punishment Dark Physical   --       Screech Normal Status   --       Types: Poison Flying Ability: Inner Focus Held item: None Golbat♂ Lv.39 Air Cutter Flying Special   --       Acrobatics Flying Physical   --       Mean Look Normal Status   --       Poison Fang Poison Physical   --       Type: Poison Unknown Ability: Weak Armor Held item: None Garbodor♂ Lv.39 Sludge Bomb Poison Special   --       Clear Smog Poison Special   --       Body Slam Normal Physical   --       Toxic Poison Status   --

Second battle

Team Plasma Zinzolin Opelucid City Black 2 and White 2 Reward: $8640

Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.46 Slash Normal Physical   --       Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Confuse Ray Ghost Status   --       Reflect Psychic Status   --       Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.46 Slash Normal Physical   --       Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Confuse Ray Ghost Status   --       Light Screen Psychic Status   --       Types: Dark Ice Ability: Pressure Held item: None Weavile♂ Lv.48 Slash Normal Physical   --       Metal Claw Steel Physical   --       Night Slash Dark Physical   --       Ice Shard Ice Physical   --

Third battle

Team Plasma and Team Plasma Zinzolin Grunt Plasma Frigate Black 2 and White 2 Reward: $10800

Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.48 Reflect Psychic Status   --       Confuse Ray Ghost Status   --       Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.48 Light Screen Psychic Status   --       Confuse Ray Ghost Status   --       Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Types: Dark Ice Ability: Pressure Held item: None Weavile♂ Lv.50 Ice Shard Ice Physical   --       Night Slash Dark Physical   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Metal Claw Steel Physical   --       Type: Dark Unknown Ability: Limber Held item: None Liepard♂ Lv.45 Taunt Dark Status   --       Assurance Dark Physical   --       Night Slash Dark Physical   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Type: Normal Unknown Ability: Illuminate Held item: None Watchog♂ Lv.45 Slam Normal Physical   --       Hyper Fang Normal Physical   --       Baton Pass Normal Status   --       Mean Look Normal Status   --       Types: Bug Poison Ability: Poison Point Held item: None Scolipede♂ Lv.45 Steamroller Bug Physical   --       Agility Psychic Status   --       Baton Pass Normal Status   --       Toxic Poison Status   --

Fourth battle

Team Plasma Zinzolin Plasma Frigate Black 2 and White 2 Reward: $9180

Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.49 Reflect Psychic Status   --       Confuse Ray Ghost Status   --       Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Type: Ice Unknown Ability: Levitate Held item: None Cryogonal Lv.49 Light Screen Psychic Status   --       Confuse Ray Ghost Status   --       Ice Beam Ice Special   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Types: Dark Ice Ability: Pressure Held item: None Weavile♂ Lv.51 Night Slash Dark Physical   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Ice Shard Ice Physical   --       Metal Claw Steel Physical   --

Items given

Item		Location	Games
	TM01 (Hone Claws)	Cold Storage	B  W
	Big Pearl	Undella Town	B2  W2

Gallery

Sprites

Sprite from Black 2 and White 2	Overworld sprite from Black and White	First overworld sprite from Black 2 and White 2	Second overworld sprite from Black 2 and White 2

Quotes

Main article: Zinzolin/Quotes

In the anime

Pokémon Generations

の	This article is missing information on this character's English voice actor. You can help by adding this information.

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Zinzolin in The Uprising

Zinzolin in The Frozen World

Zinzolin first appeared in The Uprising, where he was shown at N's Castle as it was rising from the ground and surrounding the Unova Pokémon League.

Zinzolin made another appearance in The Frozen World, this time wearing the clothes his game counterpart wears in Black 2 and White 2. He and several Team Plasma Grunts battled Drayden during Team Plasma's attack on Opelucid City. After Colress used Kyurem to freeze the city, Zinzolin was able to steal the DNA Splicers from Drayden.

Pokémon

Cryogonal

Debut	The Frozen World

Cryogonal battled Drayden's Haxorus alongside Weavile and multiple Liepard belonging to some Team Plasma Grunts.

Cryogonal's known moves are Ice Beam and Protect.

Weavile

Debut	The Frozen World

Weavile battled Drayden's Haxorus alongside Cryogonal and multiple Liepard belonging to some Team Plasma Grunts.

Weavile's known moves are Ice Beam and Protect.

Voice actors

Language Voice actor Japanese 志村知幸 Tomoyuki Shimura European Spanish Santi Lorenz

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Zinzolin in Pokémon Adventures

Zinzolin disguised as Gray

History

Black & White arc

Zinzolin appears as a member of the Seven Sages. Three years prior to the start of the chapter, he questions Ghetsis's choice on giving Gorm authority on finding information on Reshiram and Zekrom as he had already begun finding information about the two Dragon Pokémon. Before he could speak any further, he was silenced by Ghetsis.

He first appears alongside the other sages in Letting Go walking with Ghetsis after the latter gave a speech on releasing Pokémon to the public. In Fight in a Cold Climate, Zinzolin directed the capture of Cheren's Snivy. Black and Cheren tracked down the Grunts that had stolen Snivy from Cheren. Together, they rescued Snivy and defeated the Grunts. Zinzolin then appears and praises Black and Cheren's teamwork just before he disappears with the help of a mirror made of ice. After N awakens Zekrom from the Dark Stone, Zinzolin and the other sages watch as N attempts to befriend Zekrom and have it join Team Plasma's cause.

At the Pokémon League, Zinzolin appears as a participant. Going by the fake name Gray (Japanese: グレイ), Zinzolin makes it to the top 8 and is set against Iris as his opponent in the quarterfinals. While battling, he is seen as maniacal about the cold, and uses one of his Cryogonal's techniques to trap Iris's Fraxure in ice chains. However, Iris is able to counter this move through her training with Brycen and eventually defeats Zinzolin.

Later, Zinzolin talks to Hood Man about how the cold heart of a Trainer can bring out the strength in a Pokémon. It is revealed that after the events at the Cold Storage, Cheren became curious decided to return to the area to see how Team Plasma truly was. There, he encountered Zinzolin, who managed to instill Team Plasma's ideals into Cheren's head and made him pursue power. White overhears their conversation, but is quickly spotted by Cryogonal and is strangled. Zinzolin then reveals his true identity to White, which causes Looker to leap into action and use the Super Hard Tight Tape to bind Zinzolin and his Cryogonal together. Freed from Cryogonal's ice chain, White takes the chance to tell Black that Team Plasma had infiltrated the League, but she is taken away by Hood Man, who uses his Beheeyem to Teleport her away.

Zinzolin in the Black 2 & White 2 arc

Once he defeated Cheren, won the tournament, and awakened Reshiram, Black furiously demands that Zinzolin tell him where Hood Man took White. Zinzolin instead pulls out a switch and activates it to summon N's Castle from the depths of the earth. The other sages emerge from the castle as they watch the chaos unfold. Ghetsis frees Zinzolin from his bindings, but is annoyed that Zinzolin had acted on his own. Black attempts to confront them, but Ghetsis easily defeats Black's team. With no way to save the Gym Leaders, stop the Grunts causing havoc below, and face N in battle, Black is assisted by several Trainers that he had met over the course of his journey. The Trainers battle against the sages and rescue the Gym Leaders from the bindings. The Gym Leaders then help battle the sages, but Zinzolin and the others eventually escape from the battle without being seen.

Black 2 & White 2 arc

Zinzolin and the other Seven Sages were sought after by International Police members Blake and Looker, who aimed to arrest them along with the other remaining Team Plasma members. Zinzolin was first mentioned by the new leader of Team Plasma, Colress, who wished to call Zinzolin to have him return to Team Plasma. When Zinzolin refused to answer the call, he was attacked by Colress and ran to the Cold Storage in order to hide. Colress managed to track Zinzolin down and used his Beheeyem to prevent Zinzolin from escaping. With his target cornered, Colress asked Zinzolin to tell him about Kyurem, the third Unova Legendary Dragon Pokémon.

Zinzolin reveals that despite Ghetsis refusing to allow him to study Unova's Dragon Pokémon, he still went ahead and did so. In his findings, Zinzolin discovered Kyurem and traveled to the Giant Chasm, where he managed to capture it. Colress is impressed by Zinzolin's success, but demands that he hand Kyurem over to him. Angered, Zinzolin refuses and threatens to kill Colress for humiliating him. Unfazed by these claims, Colress tells Zinzolin to try and go through with his threat.

Zinzolin commands Kyurem to attack Colress, who proceeds to dodge its attacks with Klinklang's speed. Colress mocks Zinzolin's lack of skill as a Trainer and pulls out the Colress Machine to use it on Kyurem. Before he can use the device, Colress's arm is bound by the ice crystal chains of Zinzolin's Cryogonal, which had kept itself hidden by turning into steam. Zinzolin has Cryogonal throw the Colress Machine to him so that he may destroy it, but Beheeyem stops Zinzolin before he can grab it. After some thinking, Colress deduces that Zinzolin's goal is to have Kyurem fuse with Reshiram or Zekrom through Absofusion. Colress then decides to retrieve the Colress Machine and has Thundurus and Landorus attack Zinzolin from behind. When Blake arrives at the Pokémon World Tournament construction site, he sees a defeated Zinzolin being thrown out of the Cold Storage.

During his battle against Colress, Blake attempts to arrest the unconscious Zinzolin. Before Zinzolin could be captured, he is lifted into the air by Colress's Beheeyem. Colress reveals that he intends of keeping Zinzolin around, as his knowledge of Kyurem's Absofusion would prove useful.

Pokémon

On hand

Cryogonal

Debut	The Tournament Continues

Cryogonal is Zinzolin's first known Pokémon. He used it in his battle against Iris, but it is defeated by her Fraxure. Cryogonal is later used to strangle White when it spots her eavesdropping in Zinzolin's conversation with Hood Man. Later, it was used alongside the other Seven Sages' Pokémon to fend off several Trainers that were trying to rescue the captured Gym Leaders. When the Gym Leaders were freed, Cryogonal was left to fight alone with the other sages' Pokémon after the Seven Sages escaped.

Cryogonal's only known move is Ice Beam.

Lost

Kyurem

Debut	Cold Storage Battle

Main article: Tao trio (Adventures)

Kyurem is Zinzolin's second known Pokémon. It was created at the same time as Zekrom and Reshiram when they were split from the original Dragon Pokémon that helped with the founding of Unova. It was found at the Giant Chasm, where Zinzolin captured it. After Zinzolin was defeated, Colress took control of Kyurem with the Colress Machine.

Zinzolin has at least two other Pokémon, as he participated in the quarterfinals of the Unova Pokémon League, which requires a Single Battle involving three Pokémon.

Trivia

• In Black and White, Zinzolin quotes a proverb from Mencius and a line from Tao Te Ching at N's Castle.
• Zinzolin can be seen as Rood's parallel in that Zinzolin is a sage who decided to join the sect that remains loyal to Ghetsis while Rood joins the other sect that is loyal to N.

Names

Language	Name	Origin
Japanese	ヴィオ Vio	From violet, French for violet
English	Zinzolin	From zinzolin, French for reddish purple
French	Lilien	From lilas, lilac
German	Violaceus	From violaceus, Latin for violet
Italian	Violante	From viola, violet
Spanish	Menek	From menekşe, Turkish for violet
Korean	비오 Vio	Transliteration of Japanese name
Chinese (Mandarin)	維奧 / 维奥 Wéi'ào	Transliteration of Japanese name
Chinese (Cantonese)	維奧 Wàih'ou
Vietnamese	Vio	Transliteration of his Japanese name

Gray

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 格雷 Gaaklèuih Mandarin 格雷 Géléi German Grau Italian Gray Brazilian Portuguese Gray European Spanish Gray Vietnamese Grey

Related articles

• Images on the Bulbagarden Archives

This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.