Although Paradox Pokemon have not been officially announced in any of the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet trailers, they have been consistently brought up by leakers as a big part of the games. There are supposed to be eight Paradox Pokemon from the past and eight from the future, with them possibly being version-exclusive monsters for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, respectively. These Paradox Pokemon are allegedly all dual-types, with most of them swapping types to something else. As such, based on the leaks, it’s worth discussing how each of these creatures could change its type combination and what the possible themes behind the changes might be.
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Predicting Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Past Paradox Pokemon Type Combos
Starting with Paradox Pokemon from the past, leakers confirmed that Misdreavus is not only getting a new form, but it’s going to be a popular type combination in the form of Ghost/Fairy. Paradox Amoongus was one of the very first revealed of the bunch, and it’s allegedly not retaining its original form’s Poison type, which instead could likely be swapped for Fighting or Normal based on its design. This critter was accompanied by an early leak of Paradox Jigglypuff, which allegedly sports vampire-like teeth. As such, it could easily be a Fairy/Dark hybrid that takes the themes from the only other existing creature with this type combo – Grimmsnarl.
A Paradox Pokemon for Scarlet and Violet that’s likely going to be quite popular is Salamence. Because Bagon evolves into Salamence out of pure willpower and endless training with the goal of learning to fly, a Salamence from the past could swap its Flying type for Fire, Ground, or Rock. Speaking of Rock Pokemon, one that’s probably acquiring this type is Paradox Magneton, which is unconfirmed to be in the Paldean Pokedex, but heavily hinted at. In this case, Magneton could lose its Steel type in favor of Rock, becoming made of magnetic rocks that would allow it to levitate like the original form does.
A Paradox version of Volcarona seemingly exists in both Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and in the case of the former, this Bug-type Pokemon could potentially trade its Fire type for Ground, as a known leaker suggests it looks much more like Larvesta than the original Volcarona. Another Pokemon that has a Paradox version in both games is Donphan, which would normally be a pure Ground-type. In its past form, it could very well use any two types from a selection of four, including Ground, Ice, Rock, and Fighting. This is because they are types more easily associated with the past due to their themes, compared to others that are more likely to make an appearance in future forms.
Lastly, leakers suggested that there is going to be a Paradox version of Suicune, but it was either entirely removed from the game or saved for a rumored DLC. An ancient form of Suicune would be great for a Pokemon Legends game, as it could explore what happened in Johto before the fire that burned down one of the region’s towers. Still, Paradox Suicune could probably be a Water/Ice, Water/Psychic, or Water/Grass hybrid based on its original design.
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Imagining Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Future Paradox Pokemon
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Pokedex allegedly also includes a future version of Volcarona and Donphan. The former is supposedly not going to be a Bug-type anymore, and instead it could trade it for Steel or Electric, which are in theory more in line with the concept of pocket monsters time-traveling from the future. Similarly, Paradox Donphan could gain Steel or possibly Fighting as its secondary type, with Ground being confirmed as one it retains.
Much like Donphan is a tough one to imagine as a full-fledged dual-type due to it being a mono-type, Hariyama is allegedly getting a Paradox future version that’s hard to pinpoint based on the original monster’s design and abilities. Because Hariyama is a pure Fighting-type, it could potentially gain any type in the game and some of that type’s common characteristics. Examples are Electric or Fire, with Hariyama gaining elemental boxing gloves. It’s possible that boxing gloves will be one of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Tera symbols, which would make sense to implement in the base design of one of the new forms.
An interesting addition comes in the form of Delibird, which is normally an Ice/Flying hybrid that already looks a bit like Santa, but leakers suggest that this inspiration could play an even bigger role in its Paradox form. If this is indeed the case, Delibird could become an Ice/Fairy hybrid, retain Flying as its secondary type, or swap something out for Normal. While Salamence is getting a form in Pokemon Scarlet, Tyranitar is instead getting one in Pokemon Violet, and leakers suggest that it looks like the Pokestar Studios metal Tyranitar, and thus gain Steel as its secondary type in place of either Rock or Dark.
Another Pokemon that is likely to trade its Dark type for something else is Hydreigon, with the most likely new types for it being Psychic, Fire, or Poison based on its original design. Gallade and Gardevoir are allegedly getting a sort of fusion in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, which is confirmed to retain Gallade’s Fighting type. With this in mind, the most likely secondary type for this critter would be Fairy, with this rumored fusion leaving behind the original forms’ Psychic type in favor of one of the many unused Pokemon type combos in the series.
Lastly, like Suicune, another potentially scrapped Paradox Pokemon comes in the form of future Virizion. If this Pokemon is indeed in the games, a likely type combination for it could be Grass/Poison, with it embodying the decay of nature and pollution compared to the original member of the Pokemon Swords of Justice.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet release on November 18 for Nintendo Switch.
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