Paradox Pokémon: The Complete Guide to All 22 Species

Twenty-two creatures that don't belong to the present day: that's the shortest definition of the Paradox Pokémon. Eleven primal silhouettes with yellow irises for Pokémon Scarlet, eleven glittering machines for Pokémon Violet, all discovered at the bottom of the same crater and all carrying an Ability that only activates under specific conditions. That leaves the question the games never really settle: where do they come from?

Contents

• Twenty-two species, eleven per version
• The past for Scarlet, the future for Violet
• Even stats, odd stats
• Protosynthesis and Quark Drive: the signature Ability
• Resemblance is not ancestry
• The eleven Paradox Pokémon of the past
• The eleven Paradox Pokémon of the future
• Area Zero, the Scarlet Book and the Occulture magazine
• Koraidon and Miraidon, the two Legendary Paradox Pokémon
• The twenty-two Paradox Pokémon
• Frequently Asked Questions

Twenty-two species, eleven per version

The Paradox Pokémon form a family of twenty-two species discovered in Paldea in the ninth generation. The split is perfectly symmetrical: eleven Paradox Pokémon from the past, exclusive to Pokémon Scarlet, and eleven Paradox Pokémon from the future, exclusive to Pokémon Violet.

All of them share the same status apart from the rest. They are genderless, unable to breed, and have neither an evolution nor a pre-evolution: there's no way to hatch a Great Tusk or to evolve an Iron Moth. You get them exactly as they are, or not at all.

One design detail gives them away even in the way they grow: their moves unlock at levels that are multiples of 7. A quiet wink from the developers, true for all twenty-two species without a single exception.

Their very name is a scholarly pun. It refers as much to temporal paradoxes, those violations of causality tied to time travel, as to the Animalia Paradoxa, the old taxonomic category that used to hold legendary animals and unusual beasts.

The past for Scarlet, the future for Violet

The Paradox Pokémon of the past carry compound names with a tribal ring to them — Great Tusk, Scream Tail, Roaring Moon — while the ones from the future all start with the word "Iron". The rule is so consistent that the Pokédex gives Koraidon the nickname Winged King, and Miraidon that of Iron Serpent.

The contrast carries over into their bodies. The Paradox Pokémon of the past are larger than their modern counterparts and sport appendages reminiscent of traditional Eastern ornaments; the ones from the future are smaller — Miraidon aside — resemble machines with thrusters and detachable limbs, and part of their body is glittery.

💍 The appendages of the Ancient Paradox Pokémon evoke traditional Eastern ornaments, while the Future ones only have one glittering part of their body. The ornament you can put on and take off, meanwhile, slips onto your finger: our Pokémon rings.

Even their eyes and their cries stand in opposition: yellow irises and a hiss for the ancient ones, lidless robotic eyes that shut off during sleep and an electronic sound for the modern ones. And when they're Shiny, the former shift to the colors of their present-day lookalike, while the latter turn entirely metallic gray.

Even stats, odd stats

There is one signature invisible to the naked eye. Among the non-Legendary Paradox Pokémon, the ones from the past have odd base stats and the ones from the future even ones. Great Tusk reaches 131 Attack, Iron Hands hits 140: parity alone settles it.

The base stat total, for its part, falls into three tiers. Twelve Paradox Pokémon top out at 570 points of base stat total, eight more at 590, and the two box Legendaries peak at 670. None goes below that: these are all late-game Pokémon.

Only three present-day Pokémon still hold higher stats than their Paradox counterpart: Salamence, Hydreigon and Tyranitar — three Powerhouse Pokémon with a 600 base stat total, which is obviously no accident.

Protosynthesis and Quark Drive: the signature Ability

Each group has its own signature Ability. The Paradox Pokémon of the past carry Protosynthesis, which triggers under harsh sunlight; the ones from the future carry Quark Drive, which calls for Electric Terrain. The effect itself is exactly the same in both cases.

This effect raises the Pokémon's highest stat by 30%, or by 50% if that stat is Speed. Watch out for the calculation trap: HP is excluded from the ranking, and in the event of a tie, priority goes to Attack, then Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and finally Speed.

The Ability takes into account the stat changes already applied, but ignores the held item. A Pokémon whose Defense has been raised before activation can therefore see Protosynthesis boost its Defense rather than its Attack: the stat that gets picked is locked in the moment the Ability triggers.

That leaves the portable option: Booster Energy. This item triggers the Ability with no weather or terrain, and the effect then lasts until the Pokémon leaves the field. Under the sun, the item is not consumed — it simply waits for the sunlight to end.

💡 When there's neither harsh sunlight nor Electric Terrain, Booster Energy triggers the Ability in their place: a capsule that stands in for the weather. At home, light that doesn't depend on the weather is found among the Pokémon lamps and night lights.

Resemblance is not ancestry

Every Paradox Pokémon irresistibly calls to mind a familiar Pokémon, and the games keep the ambiguity alive without ever resolving it. The Pokédex entries of the Paradox Pokémon from the version you're playing refer to the Scarlet Book or the Violet Book; those of the Paradox Pokémon from the other version draw on a sensationalist magazine, Occulture, never named explicitly.

The division of roles is clear-cut. The Paradox Pokémon of the past are presented there as distant ancestors of present-day Pokémon; the ones from the future, as human or alien creations with no real lineage linking them to the species whose appearance they mimic.

In other words, the kinship belongs to the story and to what the characters guess, never to an official family tree. Only one link is mechanically verifiable: each Paradox / present-day pair shares exactly one type in common. Iron Valiant illustrates this perfectly, bringing together the Fairy type of Gardevoir and the Fighting type of Gallade.

The games actually offer two competing explanations. The first involves a time machine that sent Poké Balls to different eras; the second, touched on at the Crystal Pool in Kitakami, points to the idea that the Paradox Pokémon may come from different timelines.

Anyone who played the seventh generation will also feel a strong sense of déjà vu: the Paradox Pokémon take over, almost point for point, the role of the Ultra Beasts. Genderless, sterile, given an Ability that boosts their best stat under a condition, often set at a 570 base stat total and tied to a regional Legendary — so much so that, in both cases, some locals wonder whether they should really be called Pokémon.

The eleven Paradox Pokémon of the past

Six species lead the way at a 570 base stat total: Great Tusk, Scream Tail, Brute Bonnet, Flutter Mane, Slither Wing and Sandy Shocks. They call to mind, respectively, Donphan, Jigglypuff and Amoonguss, then Misdreavus, Volcarona and Magneton.

Next come the Paradox Pokémon at 590. Roaring Moon, a Dragon/Dark type, is the only Paradox Pokémon in the entire family built on a Mega Evolution: in this case Mega Salamence.

The last three replay the Legendary beasts of Johto: Walking Wake (Water/Dragon) for Suicune, Gouging Fire (Fire/Dragon) for Entei and Raging Bolt (Electric/Dragon) for Raikou. The last two arrived with the expansion The Indigo Disk.

The eleven Paradox Pokémon of the future

Perfect symmetry on the Violet side, with six species at 570: Iron Treads, Iron Bundle, Iron Hands, Iron Jugulis, Iron Moth and Iron Thorns, modeled on Donphan, Delibird and Hariyama, then Hydreigon, Volcarona and Tyranitar. Donphan, Volcarona and Cyclizar are, incidentally, the only Pokémon with a Paradox counterpart in both versions.

Iron Valiant, a Fairy/Fighting type, stands apart: it's the only Paradox Pokémon derived from two Pokémon at once. With Roaring Moon it shares several privileges, including a Pokédex page separate from those of the other non-Legendary Paradox Pokémon and a hidden cave in Area Zero as its only home.

The final trio replays the Swords of Justice: Iron Leaves (Grass/Psychic) for Virizion, Iron Boulder (Rock/Psychic) for Terrakion and Iron Crown (Steel/Psychic) for Cobalion. A fun detail: every type is represented among the Paradox Pokémon except the Normal type, and Dragon dominates with six species.

Area Zero, the Scarlet Book and the Occulture magazine

It all starts two hundred years before the story, during an expedition into Area Zero, at the bottom of the Great Crater of Paldea. An explorer named Heath records his observations there in the Scarlet Book or the Violet Book depending on the version, and a research base is set up to study the link between these creatures and Terastallization.

📓 Stripped down to the essentials, the Scarlet Book — or the Violet Book, depending on which version you play — is just a field notebook filled in by Heath deep in the Great Crater of Paldea. To fill in your own, everything you need fits in a Pokémon pencil case.

Ten years before the start of the game, the Paradox Pokémon are captured in Poké Balls sent to different eras by a time machine: Professor Sada's in Scarlet, Professor Turo's in Violet. With their energy threatening the region's ecosystem, they are kept in containment at the bottom of the crater.

What follows turns tragic. The arrival of a second, aggressive specimen sets off a territorial fight that costs the professor their life and drives the first Koraidon or Miraidon out of the crater — the very one the player will eventually adopt. Other Paradox Pokémon escape in turn, to the point that one of them, a Donphan look-alike, settles in the Asado Desert and becomes the Quaking Earth Titan.

Koraidon and Miraidon, the two Legendary Paradox Pokémon

Koraidon (Fighting/Dragon) and Miraidon (Electric/Dragon) hold a place of their own: they are the only Legendary Paradox Pokémon, the only ones with a 670 base stat total and the only ones that double as a ride. Both are modeled on Cyclizar, the motorcycle Pokémon of Paldea.

Their Ability differs from that of their fellow Paradox Pokémon. Orichalcum Pulse summons harsh sunlight the moment Koraidon enters battle, the way Drought does; Hadron Engine sets up Electric Terrain when Miraidon arrives, just as Electric Surge does.

Each of them therefore sets up on its own the condition its companions need: sun for Protosynthesis, terrain for Quark Drive. And it was one of them that became the first Paradox Pokémon to travel through time — the very individual, wounded and starving, that you meet at the very beginning of the adventure.

The twenty-two Paradox Pokémon

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many Paradox Pokémon are there?
  Twenty-two in all, split evenly down the middle: eleven past Paradox Pokémon, exclusive to Pokémon Scarlet, and eleven future Paradox Pokémon, exclusive to Pokémon Violet. Koraidon and Miraidon are part of that count, and they are the only two Legendary Paradox Pokémon.
• How do the Protosynthesis and Quark Drive Abilities work?
  Both Abilities raise the Pokémon's highest stat by 30%, or by 50% when that stat is Speed. HP is left out of the ranking, and ties are settled in favor of Attack first, then Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and finally Speed. Protosynthesis kicks in under harsh sunlight, Quark Drive on Electric Terrain, and the Booster Energy item switches on either one with no weather or terrain requirement.
• Are Paradox Pokémon the ancestors of present-day Pokémon?
  Officially, no. The Pokédex presents the past Paradox Pokémon as possible distant ancestors and the future ones as human or extraterrestrial creations with no real lineage, but those descriptions all trace back to the Scarlet Book, the Violet Book and Occulture magazine: they are characters' theories, never an established family tree. The only verifiable link is a mechanical one: every pair made up of a Paradox Pokémon and its present-day counterpart shares exactly one type.
• Can you evolve or breed a Paradox Pokémon?
  No. All twenty-two Paradox Pokémon are genderless, unable to breed, and have neither an evolution nor a pre-evolution. The only way to get one is to catch it, mainly in Area Zero.
• What is the difference between past and future Paradox Pokémon?
  The past Paradox Pokémon carry compound, tribal-sounding names, stand taller than their present-day lookalikes, have yellow irises, let out a kind of whistling cry, and have the Protosynthesis Ability. The future ones all have a name beginning with Iron, are smaller except for Miraidon, look like automatons with robotic eyes, give off an electronic sound, and have the Quark Drive Ability. Among the non-Legendary Paradox Pokémon, past base stats are odd numbers and future ones are even.
• Where do you find Paradox Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet?
  In Area Zero, at the bottom of the Great Crater of Paldea, where they are kept in containment. The Way Home storyline has you face twelve of them, and they can then be encountered and caught on the spot. Roaring Moon and Iron Valiant hide in a cave in Area Zero, while a Paradox lookalike of Donphan has escaped as far as the Asado Desert, where it plays the part of the Quaking Earth Titan.

In short

Rediscovered ancestors or machines out of a future that does not exist yet, the Paradox Pokémon remain the great unsolved riddle of Paldea. The games are careful never to settle the matter, and that is probably what makes them so irresistible to collect.