Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Paradox Pokémon, leaked monsters, potential types, and more

A new take on Pokemon variants seems to be headed to the latets entry in the series (Images via Nintendo)
A new take on Pokémon variants seems to be headed to the latest entry in the series (Images via Nintendo)

The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games are coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year and fans are quite excited for their arrival. The hype is primarily due to the many exciting changes being brought to the latest generation of monster-taming goodness. An open world, Terastallization, full campaign co-op, and more ensure that this is the biggest adventure from developer Game Freak yet.

Recently, there have been reports of yet another addition called Paradox Pokémon. To put it simply, these select Pokémon allegedly come from the future (in Violet) or the past (in Scarlet), and therefore have a different look and element types. Recent leaks suggest that over half a dozen Pokémon will boast such a Paradox form.


Which Pokémon are confirmed to be time travellers?

Since none of these details have been officially confirmed yet, the following information must be taken with a grain of salt and could turn out to be fake later on. So far, the following monsters have been suggested to receive Paradox versions:

  • Volcarona
  • Donphan
  • Salamence (Scarlet only)
  • Tyranitar (Violet only)
  • Misdreavus (Scarlet only)
  • Hariyama (Violet only)
  • Magneton (Scarlet only)
  • Zweilous (or its evolution Hydregion, Violet only)
  • Jigglypuff (Scarlet only)
  • Delibird (Violet only)
  • Amoonguss (Scarlet only)
  • Gallade (Violet only)
  • Suicune (Scarlet only, potential DLC)
  • Virizion (Violet only, potential DLC)

Based on this list, it looks like only two Paradox Pokémon will be common between the two versions and they are the Rock/Ground type elephant Donphan and the Fire/Bug type moth Volcarona. All other monsters will be exclusive to one or the other version, meaning that owners of Violet wishing for a Salamence will have to trade with friends who have the Scarlet version. It also seems like players will be able to catch Paradox Pokémon to their heart's content in the end game content.


What type changes do these variants possess?

It has been suggested that while all Paradox forms are dual-type creatures (meaning that they have two elemental types), not all of them will be different to their original forms in that regard. On a similar note, here are the leaked possibilities:

  • Delibird: Ice/Water
  • Gallade: Fairy/Fighting
  • Misdreavus: Ghost/Fairy
  • Jigglypuff: Normal/Fairy
  • Zweilous: Dark/Flying
  • Volcarona: Bug/Fighting (Past), Fire/Poison (Future)
  • Donphan: Ground/Fighting (Past), Ground/Electric (Future)

The types of the others remain partly known (retaining one of their original types) or entirely unknown. Further details imply that these forms count as separate monsters and do not evolve. As such, there will be no Paradox form for Wigglypuff, the evolution of Jigglypuff.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are scheduled to launch on November 18, 2022 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.

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