History Characters / PokemonParadoxPokemon

!1022: Iron Boulder / Tetsu no Iwao (テツノイワオ "tetsunoiwao")

** Roaring Moon and Iron Valiant. Both of them are even stronger and more elusive than the other Paradox Pokémon, having 590 BST instead of 570, and are only mentioned in a hidden issue of Occulture magazine. Both of them are also the only Paradox Pokémon to be based off of Mega Evolutions. They each serve as the FinalBoss of their respective game version, being the strongest Pokémon of AI Sada and Turo, respectively. Where Roaring Moon is a LightningBruiser with [[MagicallyIneptFighter a bad special attack stat]], Iron Valiant is a fast MagicKnight with [[GlassCannon bad defensive stats]]. Both of Iron Valiant's types are also super effective against Roaring Moon. Design-wise, Roaring Moon leans into DarkIsEvil, having a darker color scheme and more monstrous design than Salamence to play up its ferocity, while Iron Valiant falls under LightIsNotGood, maintaining the sleekness and color scheme of Gardevoir and Gallade while being much more ruthless.

* StoneWall: Scream Tail has excellent defensive stats and speed, but its offensive stats are utterly laughable.

* PoorPredictableRock: Despite its monstrous special attack stat, Sandy Shocks only learns a few damaging Steel, Normal, and Rock-type moves and one Fighting-type move outside of its Ground and Electric-type ones.

* PowerupLetdown: Played with from a species standpoint, not a gameplay standpoint. The Paradox Pokémon are supposedly ''descendants'' of current Pokémon, and sport sleeker, more compact designs that give credence to the idea that they've been upgraded from their old selves. While this is ''mostly'' true (Iron Bundle is ''several'' magnitudes stronger than Delibird, for example), the Paradox Pokémon variants for the pseudo-legendaries have lower base stat totals (570 as opposed to the requisite 600); Iron Jugulis is frailer and less powerful but faster than Hydreigon, and Iron Thorns only matches Tyranitar in power and defense and exceeds Tyranitar in speed; every other stat besides its HP is a marked downgrade. On the other hand, Iron Jugulis trades its Dragon type for a Flying type to give it a natural immunity to Ground-typed moves without needing Levitate and gets Quark Drive which can boost its proficient stat, unlike Hydreigon; Iron Thorns is in a similar boat as it trades Sand Stream and Unnerve for Quark Drive as well, allowing its own proficient stat to be boosted as well.

* FightingClown: Unlike its modern day counterpart [[JokeCharacter Delibird]], Iron Bundle boasts a high base speed stat of 136 (beating others like Flutter Mane, Koraidon, and Miraidon by just one point) and high Special Attack and Defense stats.

* WeakToMagic: Its Special Defense is only 60, compared to its higher physical defense of 114.

* {{BFS}}: Its nose horn is a gigantic jagged blade, making it more than deserving of its name.

* ConfusionFu: It has inherited its ancestors' expansive movesets, and its excellent attacking stats means that it can make use of all of the moves regardless of whether it's Physical or Special.

\

* BlowYouAway: It's part Flying-type, and can learn Hurricane, Air Slash and Tailwind.

* FireIceLightning: It notably has access to all elemental fang attacks, all elemental punch attacks, Flamethrower/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt, and Fire Blast/Blizzard/Thunder, though it can't really make use of the last two trios well due to it's low Special Attack, especially the Electric side as it would have granted it STAB.

** It's also more of a physical brute that can make use of any physical attacks (including the Elemental Fangs and Punches), compared to it's present-day ancestor who's far more balanced overall that can make use of Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Ice Beam (and their stronger-but-less accurate attacks) on top of the Fangs and Punches (while still being mostly physical based).
* MagicallyIneptFighter: It's Special Attack is it's lowest stat, adding to the {{Irony}} above, as it can't make use of Flamethrower, Thunderbolt nor Ice Beam, nor their stronger counterparts (the middle which grants STAB), forcing Iron Thorns to go completely physical.

* EvilCounterpart: It resembles a mixture of Gardevoir and Gallade, but lacks their empathy and heroic qualities, though as seen under JerkWithAHeartOFGold below, not all of its empathy was robbed.

* {{Irony}}: According to the paranormal magazine Occulture (located in the laboratory under the Poco Path Lighthouse), the MadScientist who made it intended to make it the ultimate Psychic-type, ''[[EpicFail the only typing it didn't get]]'' from being a combination of Gardevoir and Gallade. For extra irony, it is even weak to it, a problem not helped by its poor Special Defense, which adds a third ironic point as both its counterparts have a good Special Defense stat.

* CallBack: Its ''Scarlet'' Pokédex description of being (in a in-universe fictional article) a Unova Pokémon being [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetically modified by an evil organization]] is a reference to [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVCobalionToGenesect Genesect's]] creation by [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Team Plasma.]]

* SecretArt: Iron Boulder is the only Pokémon that learns Mighty Cleave, a move that [[ArmorPiercingAttack bypasses Protect and other similar defensive moves.]]

* ThePowerOfTheSun: The Paradox Pokémon from the past all have the ability Protosynthesis, which boosts their highest stat under sunlight. Also, all of them are capable of learning Sunny Day to activate that ability by themselves.

* LightningCanDoAnything: The Paradox Pokémon from the future all have the ability [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything Quark Drive]], boosting their best stat in Electric Terrain. All of them are also able to learn Electric Terrain to initiate that boost.
* MechanicalAbomination: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] and [[ImpliedTrope implied]]. They come from parallel timelines and their technology in some cases is so bizarre and otherwordly that some paradox forms like Iron Moth are considered alien scouts. Iron Jugulis, on the other hand, is described as the offspring of a Hydreigon and a robot. That being said, all of this are theories by a not-very-trustworthy magazine and they could just be very advanced robots.

* MixAndMatchCritters: It combines the traits of the canine/{{kirin}}-like Suicune with those of a theropod dinosaur. Notably, it appears to be covered in fur or feathers and lacks scales.

* MixAndMatchCritters: It combines traits of the felid-like Raikou with those of a brachiosaur. Notably, it appears to be covered in fur or feathers and appears to lack scales (in fact it is one of the few Dragon types unable to learn Scale Shot). Due to its mammalian traits on a long-necked frame, it ends up resembling a giraffe of all things. Notably, it walks like a giraffe as well (moving the legs on one side together, then switching to the other side) and sleeps standing up.

* EvilCounterpart: It resembles a mixture of Gardevoir and Gallade, but lacks their empathy and heroic qualities, though as seen under JerkWithAHeartOFGold below, not all of it's empathy was robbed.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1000002155.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Ancient Paradox Pokémon (top) and Future Paradox Pokémon (bottom)]]

* {{BFS}}: Its nose horn is a gigantic jagged blade, making its more than deserving of its name.

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gouging_fire.png]]

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iron_boulder.png]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: An unintentional example -- its typing is the same as Mega Charizard X while it boasts a very similar playstyle and movepool, along with it being a riff on a Fire-type Pokémon from the franchise's early days in its own way.