Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all spoilers have been removed and all entries folderized. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.
open/close all folders
New mons
Fridge Brilliance
- The starters' evolutionary lines:
- Their final stage may not seem like it at first, but each of them have some influence in the Iberian Peninsula.
- Skeledirge is obviously partially based on the calavera, which is seen in Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, a country that was originally a colony of Spain.
- While Spain wasn't directly involved in Brazil, Portugal, the other known country in the Iberian Peninsula did, hence why Quaquaval has a Carnival theme.
- Meowscarada seems like the odd one out until you remember that a part of France is also part of the Iberian Peninsula and the birth of modern magic tricks is said to originate from a French man named Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, better known for Alakazam's Japanese namesake. There is also the mask it wears that looks like a Mardi Gras mask, and at one point, Spain did occupy what is now New Orleans as well as France.
- Why is Meowscarada a physical attacker if it's the Magician Pokémon? It’s a stage magician! It has no magical abilities, it's all sleight of hand; even its ‘dex entry mentions that the seemingly magically floating flower is actually just using mirror-like reflective leaves to make the stem seem invisible. It also explains its Hidden Ability being Protean, an ability that changes the Pokémon's type to match its move. Stage Magic is all about sleight of hand, smoke, and mirrors, and making the audience believe in the act. Now replace "audience" with "opponent" and you get what it's actually doing. Alternatively, it's an actual magic user pretending to be a stage magician.
- Meowscarada and Quaquaval officially completes the Dark and the Fighting types being used as a starter's secondary type for each primary type, with Grass/Dark and Water/Fighting being missing before Gen IX.
- While many assume the Fuecoco line's bird connections draw influence from the well known myth that Egyptian plovers will clean the teeth of Nile crocodiles (this has never been officially or reliably documented, despite what various doctored photos and videos may claim), it's possible that a much more real bird connection may be at play. Namely, various birds have been recorded to intentionally nest above American alligator territories. The alligator's presence deters various predators that may otherwise easily reach the nests, and the alligators benefit from any chicks that die or fall from the nests. It is believed that many birds and crocodilians in other parts of the world likely have similar relationships. Hence Crocolor gains a nest on its head and a bird egg, while Skeledirge has a living fire bird that still uses the croc's flames as a nest to sleep in.
- Their first evolution give you some hints as to what their final evolutions' themes are:
- Floragato wields a yo-yo, a toy that is used by some performers to do yo-yo acrobatics. This highlights the line's crowd-pleasing nature, culminating with Meowscarada the stage magician who performs for an audience.
- Crocalor's sombrero makes it look like a Mariachi musician, thus foreshadowing not only Skeledirge being a musician (specifically, singer), but also the latter's association to another Mexican tradition: Dia de los Muertos.
- Quaxwell is a ballerina, not only showing that it will evolve into a dancer, but also, because ballet is actually a physically taxing activity, that Quaquaval is a physically-fit Dance Battler who's also a Fighting type.
- Their final evolutions are all based on stage performers, and have appropriate secondary typings to match:
- Meowscarada is based on a magician, who perform tricks to impress an audience. Dark types are associated with trickery and deception, making it a good fit for its secondary type.
- Skeledirge is based on a punk-rock singer, and skulls are often seen on anything with a punk rock aesthetic. Skulls also match the Ghost-type, as the type is usually associated with the undead.
- Quaquaval is based on a dancer. Dancers have to stay fit, and it being a Dance Battler brings to mind the Latin Capoeira martial art, a fighting style that incorporates a lot of dancing. All of this suits its secondary Fighting-type.
- Defense-wise, the secondary types of the final-staged starters are rather detrimental — not only do they fail to cover up weaknesses of their primary types (and vice-versa), Meowscarada's Dark-typing makes it x4 weak to Bug. However, this makes them ideal for Terastalization, the gimmick of the generation they debut in. By Terastalizing, they lose the liability of either of their types without also compromising their STABs in the process.
- Their final stage may not seem like it at first, but each of them have some influence in the Iberian Peninsula.
- The Treasures of Ruin:
- Chien-Pao is a Dark/Ice-type. It fits in with the themes of the other Treasures of Ruin (all are part Dark-type), but looking into what they're based on, there might be another reason behind it having that typing specifically. The quartet is based on the Four Perils from Chinese Mythology, with Chien-Pao specifically being based on the Qiongqi. The Qiongqi is often equated with the kamaitachi in Japan — and what Pokémon are based on the kamaitachi? The Dark/Ice-type Sneasel and Weavile!
- A Stealth Pun that likely goes over most non-Chinese players' heads: Ting-Lu takes the form of a deer (in Chinese 鹿, lu) , which carries on its head a vessel (鼎, ding). One of the more famous wuxia novels in modern Chinese culture is titled The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎记 Lu Ding Ji). The title of the book metaphorically references a ruler's hunger for power and the plight of the common people after a ruler loses his grip, connecting to the Treasures' role in the fall of the Paldean Empire.
- The convergent evolutions:
- At first glance, Toedscool and Toedscruel have little justification for looking similar to Tentacool and Tentacruel. As it turns out, Toedscool and Toedscruel are based on the wood-ear fungi
. In other words, they're literally tree jellyfish. - Similarly, Wiglett, Wugtrio, Toedscool, and Toedscruel have very similar names to Diglett, Dugtrio, Tentacool, and Tentacruel, even though they're completely unrelated. This makes more sense if you realize that the latter four were likely discovered and named earlier, so when the first four Pokémon were discovered, they were named after the Pokémon they resembled.
- At first glance, Toedscool and Toedscruel have little justification for looking similar to Tentacool and Tentacruel. As it turns out, Toedscool and Toedscruel are based on the wood-ear fungi
- Many fans have made connections between the Nacli line and Minecraft (and, to a lesser degree in Nacli's case, Mario), but there's a third connection: one to the Cubist art movement. One of the pioneers of said movement was the Spaniard Pablo Picasso, and Spain is the inspiration for Paldea.
- The Raidons (and Cyclizar):
- You feed them Herba Mystica to gain more movement abilities. These abilities grant you access to places you couldn't earlier and lock off certain areas until you progress the story. Hmm… Herba Mystica… HM.
- Koraidon the past Pokémon being red, Miraidon the future Pokémon being violet, and Cyclizar their present counterpart being green indirectly showcases Doppler effect, especially its astrophysical variant. Without time travel, we all move away from the past and towards the future; put it in another way, the past is moving away from us, and the future is moving towards us. Any electromagnetic wave (such as light) emitted by an object moving away from us will have its wavelength increased, a phenomenon called redshifting (because among all visible light, red has the longest wavelength); conversely, an EM wave emitted by objects approaching us will have its wavelength decreased, a.k.a., blueshifted (violet is the visible color with the shortest wavelength). Meanwhile, green's wavelength is somewhere in between. Thus, Koraidon is essentially a redshifted Cyclizar, and Miraidon a blueshifted one.
- The two Pokémon that can learn Revival Blessing are Rabsca, a scarab beetle Pokémon, and Pawmot, the local Pikaclone. In Rabsca's case, it's because the ancient Egyptians associated scarabs with rebirth and creation, while in Pawmot's case it discharges electricity from its paws, evoking the imagery of a defibrillator.
- Rellor is said to have formed its mud ball out of mud and psychic energy, and to treasure its mud ball more than its own life. This apparently makes Rellor Too Dumb to Live... until one looks at its movepool and realizes that it can't learn any Psychic-type moves (except for Rest). Rellor may evolve into a Psychic-type, but it has no Psychic Powers of its own. Combine this with the Pokédex entry of its evolution Rabsca about the psychic ball either being its own true body or the cradle of its child, implying that Rellor relies on the assistance of its Rabsca parent(s) to make its mud ball and the mud ball may as well be a piece of Rellor itself, and it becomes clear that Rellor treasures its mud ball so highly because it can't replace it if anything bad happens to it, and thus it's as good as dead without its ball anyways.
- Charcadet's Violet entry says its fire can reach temperatures of 1,000 Celsius/1,800 Fahrenheit, and that it likes berries that are high in fat. It probably needs a lot of calories to produce its fire.
- If Lokix is supposedly based on Kamen Rider, then why does it have Dark as a secondary typing (remember, Dark-type is called Evil-type in Japan) instead of Fighting? That's because it's alluding to the Kamen Riders' nature as Phlebotinum Rebel, so it may have a Dark (evil) typing, but it's using that power for good. It could also be a shout-out to evil riders as well.
- And of course the generation whose mainline games introduced two legendary Pokémon based on bikes has a tribute to Kamen Rider in the form of another Pokémon, considering how integral bikes are to that franchise.
- Maschiff's Violet dex entry states that it has thick fat that helps protect it, but none of its Abilities are Thick Fat. Maybe its fat is thick enough to protect it from physical impacts, but not heat and cold, and maybe this (and/or the theory regarding Aqua Breed Tauros below) is why other fat-looking Pokémon (Stoutland, Greedent, Indeedee, Bouffalant, Beartic, etc.) can't have that ability.
- Why does Gimmighoul's disposition go from being malicious and greedy to a much friendlier one when it evolves into the gold-covered Gholdengo? Like its ability's name, it became good as gold — a term used to describe a well-behaved child. Additionally, it's likely that with its greed placated via fusing with all 1000 of its coins, it has no reason to be ill-tempered anymore, and it grows more social and friendly as a result.
- In addition, why are Gimmighoul and Gholdengo so late in the Pokédex? Given that Gimmighoul isn't exactly rare, why is it of all Pokémon wedged up at the end of the Pokédex between the Paradox Pokémon and the legendaries, even coming after the Frigibax line, the generation's pseudo-legendaries? If you assign National Dex numbers to Paldean Pokémon in the order they appear in the Regional Dex, including the Paradox Pokémon, the answer becomes clear — Gimmighoul lands on No. 999. How do you evolve it? Give it 999 coins… which pushes it over into 1000. Gholdengo's entire evolution gimmick is based around being the first quadruple-digit Pokémon.
- Kingambit's Secret Art is Kowtow Cleave, a physical attack where they trick the foe into lowering their guard via I Surrender, Suckers. It looks like an odd move to give an overlord, but this goes hand-in-hand with its Supreme Overlord ability, which gives 10% more attack and special attack for any fallen ally. Should a Kingambit be confronted after its army of Pawniard and Bisharp are beaten, Kowtow Cleave becomes a very powerful cheap shot against anyone who gets fooled by its Pose of Supplication.
- Kingambit being slower than Bisharp and even Pawniard is explained well when you think of chess — the king has barely more mobility than a pawn, and can't really use its full movement range until every piece adjacent to it is out of the way.
- Kingambit's Supreme Overlord ability fits the Chess theme. The King grows stronger as more pieces are captured since it has more room to move and it can now be an offensive piece with limited mobility. The same applies to when Kingambit loses allies; it's still slow, but now it's more powerful without its team.
- Kingambit partly takes its name after King's Gambit, an unusually aggressive opening move in Chess. This fits Kingambit's aggressiveness despite it being named after a game of strategy.
- Why exactly is Tinkaton considered to be Corviknight's predator? Tinkaton's stats are not anything special and it lacks any attacks that could cause any significant damage to a Corviknight, especially given the latter's excellent defensive abilities and resistance to Gigaton Hammer. At best, it would end up being a very slow drawn-out fight between the two since neither possesses any attacks that could cause any super-effective damage. But it actually makes much more sense when you consider its method of harming Corviknight: launching boulders at it using its hammer with pinpoint accuracy. It's an ambush predator, relying more on striking Corviknight while it's unable to properly defend itself or fight back from a distance, likely relying either on gravity to take it down while it struggles to deal with the sudden attack, or just bombarding Corviknight with so many rocks that it whittles down Corviknight before it can figure out who is attacking it. This is Truth in Television for real predators as well (minus the boulder part, of course), since typical ambush predators do not try to fight their prey on an equal footing, especially if it's one of the tougher animals, since it would only result in either unnecessary damage, wasted energy, or death. Instead, they tend to rely on striking their prey when they're at their most vulnerable or unsuspecting. This is also why Tinkaton struggles against Corviknight in trainer battles — the element of surprise is removed, and Corviknight can defend itself against Tinkaton properly.
- It's also important to consider that Tinkaton attacks any Corviknight, and that might include Corviknight with passengers and trainers on its back as well. If Corviknight was having to keep the passenger safe, it likely would end up having to take quite a few hits to do so, or much worse...
- Alternatively, Tinkaton may also act as pack hunters when hunting Corviknight. Tinkatuff’s Violet entry notes that they battle one another to test their hammers, much like how the Machop line will train with one another. And numerous Tinkas will often be found together in the same place, meaning they must be a rather social species. Meanwhile, while Corvisquire and Rookidee can be found together, Corviknight in both Galar and Paldea seem to be rather solitary — even in Area Zero, there aren’t too many in one place. Which makes sense — apex predators of such size would need all the energy they can get, especially if they need the energy to lift their heavy metal bodies off the ground. So, they would stay away from each other to avoid competition, and likely wouldn’t assist another Corviknight being threatened. While Tinkatuff and Tinkaton are tough, and can take on numerous Pawniard and even Bisharp thanks to them naturally learning Rock Smash, an imposing Corviknight can give even the mightiest Pokémon pause. So instead, Tinkaton may choose to overwhelm the ravens with a flurry of rocks as a group, then choose to attack the downed bird as a Zerg Rush. As strong as Corviknight is, any Pokémon will fall to a group of enemies, much like how a wolf pack can take down a buffalo or an elk, but one wolf alone would probably get itself killed.
- Why is Tinkaton's Attack stat so low despite wielding a giant hammer? The weight of the hammer itself combined with Tinkaton's small size doesn't allow them to swing as hard as it could if it had a smaller hammer. It's relying on the weight of the hammer to do most of its job rather than any force exerted by the Pokémon itself.
- This neatly ties into why its most powerful attack, Gigaton Hammer, is not learned by its pre-evos. The name Gigaton Hammer refers not to a technique that Tinkaton knows, but instead literally the hammer itself, and neither Tinkatink nor Tinkatuff carries a hammer big enough to deserve the "gigaton" moniker.
- The idea of Palafin needing to hide its Hero form transformation might be an adorably silly quirk from the perspective of a trainer, who can simply see or hear its species name in either form or notice the marking on its chest and know what it's capable of, but one, its secret identity not actually being very secret is apropos for its Superman inspiration, and two, it's easy to imagine the Pokémon maintaining a "secret identity" having practicality in a wild setting. It'd be hard to pick out a Zero-form Palafin amongst a pod of Finizen from a distance, and not letting predators or other aggressors know which members of a pod might have the ability to transform into ultra-powerful superheroes would make it harder for them to strategize an attack on any of its members.
- Why does Finizen only become capable of evolving at level 38? Given on what the Pokemon is based off of, it's an incredible tribute knowing that on the year 1938, the very first Superman comic was released.
- A pure Water-type is also the perfect type for a Superman-inspired Pokémon, when you consider its weaknesses: Grass and Electric. The green of Grass is Green Kryptonite, and Electric is his weakness to Magic, or more specifically Captain Marvel's magic. Water also resists Steel, and it's not like shooting Superman with bullets has ever been effective. As for being resistant to Fire, Superman is empowered by the sun and Fire is a stand-in for the sun, so trying to hurt Superman with solar-based weapons isn't going to work.
- Flamigo's surprising badassery may be a reference to how real life flamingos are capable of surviving in unexpected places... including lakes of boiling alkaline that would kill most other animals.
- Kilowattrel is part Electric-type despite being a seabird. The bird species it's based off of is a frigatebird, which is known primarily for stealing other birds' food while in flight. The Electric typing helps it easily take down other birds for it to steal from. The Wattrel line also draws inspiration from storm petrels.
- All three stages of Frigibax, the region's pseudo-legendary, refer to Godzilla:
- Frigibax itself has lumpy proportions, a round body, and a goofy, frog-like face, resembling Minilla from Son of Godzilla.
- Arctibax has a horizontal stance and a pointed chin, reminiscent of Zilla from Godzilla (1998).
- Baxcalibur, the most blatant Not Zilla of the setting, has another cheeky homage: its signature move, Glaive Rush, is a mix between Godzilla's tail-slide dropkick from Godzilla vs. Megalon and his flying scene from Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
- Despite Dondozo having a horizontal tail fin, in its swimming animation, it swishes it around from side to side, which would make more sense for an animal with a vertical tail fin. This doesn't make much sense from a biomechanical perspective... which is exactly the point, as Dondozo is a very stupid Pokémon. Without Tatsugiri's guidance, it can't even swim properly, which explains why it's not a very good hunter by itself. This also explains why it has such a low speed stat.
- It's stated that Lechonk (and, likely, by extension, Oinkologne) look fat but are actually muscular, but their Hidden Ability is Thick Fat. Maybe it's a Hidden Ability because that level of fatness isn't as common for the Lechonk line.
- Why does Poltchageist stay in cool, dark places during the day? Two of the things that make matcha go off are direct light exposure and heat, both of which cause it to oxidise and the powder to lose potency. It wouldn't do for a Pokémon that relies on its matcha powder to drain energy to be so careless in keeping said powder in tip-top condition and quality — especially not for a Pokémon originally born from the rage, loneliness, and bitter regrets of a perfectionistic tea master.
- Ogerpon, the Loyal Three and Pecharunt:
- At one point, you have to defend Ogerpon against Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti. While it seems to be a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation, given Ogerpon managed to kill them all in the past, it makes more sense in context. Ogerpon is a Grass type in all her forms, while the Loyal Three are all Poison types and have a slightly higher base stat total, so of course she'd struggle to take them all on at once in a straight fight. In addition, Ogerpon is weakened without her masks — and given three of the four masks were missing at the time, and the last one is not in her hands at that crucial moment, Ogerpon would be even more disadvantaged. Even if she had her masks, it wouldn't help much: only the Cornerstone mask gives her resistance to Poison, at the cost of making her weak to Fighting — which happens to be Okidogi's other typing. Plus, the Loyal Three are sufficiently sapient; they may have learned from their previous defeat and thus not only gang up on Ogerpon, but also employ a different strategy from the last one they used which got them killed.
- The Loyal Three only have one shared stat (88), and were normal Pokémon before coming into contact with Pecharunt's poison chains, gladly changing their ways after the events of the Teal Mask — fitting, given they were not evil until being warped by the Toxic Chains they bear. In contrast, five out of six of Pecharunt's base stats are 88, with the only exception (its Defense stat of 160) also being a multiple of 8, and it's shown to be a malevolent, evil Pokémon to its core, a first for the series. Fitting for the one who corrupted and enslaved the Loyal Three to its service.
- Pecharunt, which is part Poison type, resembles a pit in a peach. Peach pits have glycosides that can decompose into sugar molecules and hydrogen cyanide gas. Pecharunt simply exaggerates the toxicity of actual peach pits.
- Between its sky-high Defense, decent bulk, ability to throw confusion damage on top of steady Poison damage, and access to Recover, Pecharunt is especially suited to wearing out powerful physical bruisers — like Ogerpon.
- Pecharunt's Poison/Ghost type gives it an advantage over Ogerpon and all of the Loyal Three — Ghost and Poison are both resistant to Poison, making Pecharunt nigh-impervious to Poison-type moves, and it also has immunity to Fighting, can hit Psychic super-effectively (though it is also weak to Psychic), and resists Fairy. So not only is Pecharunt capable of easily taking on Ogerpon, it can also easily defeat its own subordinates if they ever tried anything funny on it.
- Terapagos's Stellar form's Ability removes weather and terrain when it enters the form or is switched in. This just so happens to screw over the Paradox Pokémon, including Koraidon and Miraidon, who depend on harsh sunlight or Electric Terrain to fight at their peak potential. This is rather fitting, considering that Terapagos is responsible for calling the Paradox Pokémon to Paldea in the first place.
Fridge Horror
- Why do the Treasures of Ruin's abilities affect their allies? Well, they're malevolent Walking Wastelands who bring indiscriminate destruction. They have no reason to spare anyone.
- Chi-Yu resembles a fish despite being a fiery creature. There is a good reason for it: according to its Scarlet Pokédex entry, Chi-Yu burns so hot that it melts the floor wherever it is. That is, Chi-Yu has a piscine appearance because that's the body shape best adapted for traveling in fluids.
- Glimmora's Violet Dex Entry states "Glimmora's petals are made of crystallized poison energy. It has recently become evident that these petals resemble Tera Jewels." This heavily implies that it's made of Tera Crystals, and if that's the case, what is its relationship with whatever is behind the Terastal phenomenon? A Carbink and Diancie situation? Or is it the Diancie with Glimmet as the Carbink? Can the entity influence it or its trainers? Paranoia Fuel at its finest.
- The fact that the loyal trio were originally normal Pokémon before coming into contact with poison births the question of where the poison comes from, since they aren't native to Kitakami.
- The Indigo Disk provides answers, and it isn't pretty. Pecharunt is not only the source of the Toxic Chains wrapped around the Loyal Three, but one of few unambiguously evil Pokémon in the series, taking great joy in controlling people and Pokémon alike and making them fight for it, with seemingly no limit to the number of people and Pokémon it can control at once. Worse, the Toxic Chains aren't its only method of control: it makes toxic mochi that it usually serves but can also launch directly into mouths, with anyone tasting it falling under its spell. One can only wonder how much damage Pecharunt could've done in a place like Paldea.
- The Indigo Disk provides answers
- The Mythical Pokémon Pecharunt is stated to be able to control Pokémon and people via its toxic mochi. The thing is, what state are the controlled in? Are they aware of their actions but driven mad by the toxin? Or are they fully aware but unable to stop it? That the poison draws out "desires and capabilities" suggest the former, and is hinted (via the purple aura around his fist in one scene) to have been a factor in Kieran's extreme behavior. Those fully brainwashed, however, are shown to have little or no memory of what they do while under the poison's influence.
- Also, a Pokémon that uses toxins to essentially control the affected. There's a precedent set two generations ago about a Pokémon with that kind of power in the form of Nihilego.
- A few things about Terapagos:
- Despite its diminutive stature, Terapagos possesses such immense power that can threaten the entire Paldea, whether via its raw strength, or its ability to pull things, Pokémon and people from another timeline, or the fact that Terastal power can be used as a battery for incredibly advanced technology, many of these feats done while Terapagos is in its dormant state. And there used to be more of them. If just one Terapagos can cause so much upheaval, imagine if several of them play around with their powers or are abused to the point of misanthropy and wreak untold havoc.
- The professor wrote that the Underdepths has undergone several geological cataclysms, leaving only one Terapagos accessible to those who dare venture all the way down there. Bad enough if these earthquakes, cave-ins, whatever, killed many Terapagos, but remember that Terapagos can revert into a gemstone to hibernate/shield itself. Who knows if there are actually many other dormant Terapagos currently buried but alive.
Paldean Forms and Evolutions
Fridge Brilliance
- Why are there fewer Paldean Forms in this game compared to the amount of regional variants in Alola and Galar? The previous two regions were islands separated from the mainland, which tends to encourage speciationnote . Paldea is implied to be part of a greater continent, and while there is a mountain range at its northern border, it's not so insurmountable a barrier that the Pokémon populations on either side would start showing significant physical differences for the most part.
- Aqua Breed Tauros is said to have a high amount of body fat, yet can't have the ability Thick Fat. Perhaps, as fatty as its body is, the fat is more evenly distributed throughout its body rather than concentrated in layers under its skin.
- Primeape has a Dex entry in Sun that basically states that it can get so angry it dies. Surely enough, two generations after the fact, it gains a new evolution in Annihilape, which is part Ghost-type, thanks to using a new move that is based on using Primeape's rage.
Paradox Pokémon
Fridge Brilliance
- Of the Paradox Pokémon introduced as far as the game's initial release, only the Ancient Paradox Pokémon count among their rank members that are the supposed ancestors of Pokémon that have yet to fully evolve. Additionally, all those particular members are ancestors of Pokémon that evolve via stone and had a new member of their evolutionary lines introduced in a later generation. Makes sense, though, the stones' usage can be seen as inducing evolution rather than it being a natural occurrence. Additionally, they come from a more primitive time and their biological progression wouldn't need as drastic of a change as one would see in their descendants. May also explain why the Paradox Pokémon as a whole don't evolve.
- Sandy Shocks, while looking like a caveman/dinosaur Magneton, can be seen to be disconnected in contrast and acting more like three Magnemite working together rather than a truly singular creature, which also contrasts Magnezone, which is the resulting magnetism fusing the three that became Magneton together.
- Flutter Mane seems to be the odd man... er, mon out. Or at least seemingly so. Its Fairy typing can be explained by looking at Mismagius, who bears a witch motif. Now, where are they commonly found? In Fairy Tales. As for its appellation of 'Flutter Mane', Mismagius looks like it's wearing a hat; in contrast, Flutter Mane allows its locks to flow in the wild.
- Scream Tail, while mainly based on Jigglypuff, has eyes like its pre-evolution, Igglybuff, in that it doesn't align with the original two members of the line. Its long lock (or tail as the name would imply) can be seen a parallel to Wigglytuff's tuft of hair, which curls backwards.
- Incidentally, Scream Tail appears to be a composite of its descendants' evolutionary line while looking like a lower-staged member of it, while Sandy Shocks and Flutter Mane are designed to contrast their descendants' lines. Appropriately, Jigglypuff had its evolution introduced in the same generation as it while Magneton and Misdreavus had theirs introduced later.
- It's reasonable to assume that for whatever reason, Sandy Shocks, Flutter Mane, and Scream Tail don't have access to the stones that trigger their evolved forms (in particular, Dusk and Moon Stones are exceedingly rare, the latter of which are said to come directly from the moon), or haven't yet become biologically compatible with the stones. However, why don't we see versions of the modern counterparts' pre-evolved forms, such as Bagon and Shelgon, Magnemite (which appear to still make up the components of Sandy Shocks), Foongus, Igglybuff, and Larvesta? Because these particular individual Pokémon have already evolved, and we haven't seen them breed, something which they aren't capable of in the games. Why might this be? Because either environmental unsuitability or lack of compatible Pokémon are preventing them from doing so. And because they don't reproduce, we don't see their pre-evolved forms.
- The future Paradox Pokémon are all versions of their past counterparts' fully-evolved forms (and in Iron Bundle, Iron Leaves, and Iron Crown's cases, only form). Why is that? Simple: They're all robots (or partial robots) that were artificially created to some degree, and so are incapable of evolution. The creators simply chose the Pokémon's final forms as the base design because they were the most powerful and most "complete".
- Flutter Mane, which is based on Misdreavus, has an oddly colored lock on the left side of its head. Now which Johto Pokémon also gained an evolution in Generation 4 (like Misdreavus), has an odd lock on one side, and was also recently revealed to have had an ancient form (albeit a regional variant)? Sneasel.
- Despite being mechanical-looking in nature, only two of the Future Paradox Pokémon are Steel-types (Iron Treads and Iron Crown). Technology likely developed to the point where most things weren't made of metal anymore and used other materials, like carbon nanofibers.
- Why are the Paradox Pokémon from the past stronger than their present counterparts? This is not a unique phenomenon to Scarlet either, as this also happens in real life. The past had 'stronger' sloths in the giant ground sloths, 'stronger' cats in the form of saber-toothed cats, 'stronger' sharks in the form of Megalodon, etc. This, however, ignores how evolution really works. Being bigger and stronger doesn't do you any good in all circumstances. Giant ground sloths were much more powerful than tree sloths, but they were also more affected by things like climate and human predation. Saber-toothed cats were bigger, but they also needed bigger prey, and when the prey died out, so did they. Megalodon specialized in eating warm-water whales, but eventually the waters cooled and whales declined in the tropics and more species focused on polar waters that Megalodon could not survive in, so it went extinct. There are advantages in behavioral traits over raw strength, and it is a gap that is visible in the Paradox Pokémon: sociality. Many of the Paradox forms are much more aggressive than their counterparts. It is likely that sociality and working together became a much more viable life strategy than solo aggression. It's also a rather fitting moral for a game that encourages teamwork, social interactions, and trading.
- All the future Paradox Pokémon except Miraidon are smaller than their present-day counterparts. This seems to be referencing how it's increasingly possible to pack more powerful technology into a smaller space: the earliest computers took up entire rooms and yet had less processing power than a modern smartphone.
- If Slither Wing is an ancestor of Volcarona, it is possible to see its lingering effects in Volcarona's gene pool. While Slither Wing is a physical attacker to Volcarona's special attacker, Larvesta has a higher physical attack than special attack. It also moves more akin to Slither Wing than its flying counterpart. Much like how human fetuses retain traits lost to fully grown humans, like tails, or have remnant parts like appendixes and tailbones, Larvesta has lingering features from Slither Wing that are more pronounced that more or less vanish after maturity into Volcarona.
- The Paradox Pokémon are shown to be vicious and destructive, yet, when captured in a Poké Ball, are actually as trainable as any other Pokémon. It's possible that it's simply because they're from a time when there are no humans for them to encounter, either from prehistoric times or from a very distant future (the latter bearing some Fridge Horror aspects). Simply put, they haven't been accustomed to the presence of people and, like the Ultra Beasts of Sun and Moon, are simply running amok due to them being confused and afraid at being in a strange, unfamiliar new environment.
- Great Tusk noticeably has a thick, spiky dinosaur-like tail which may look odd on its otherwise mammoth-like design. However, this may be a reference to the biblical Behemoth, a massive beast described as having a "tail like a cedar", which many Creationists have interpreted as evidence that dinosaurs and humans coexisted, though it's more likely to have been an account of mammoths — both prehistoric creatures being what Great Tusk resembles.
- Why are the Paradox Pokémon considered an ecological threat? Considering there are so few of them, it would be difficult to imagine them bringing ecological devastation by their aggression, especially when they're surrounded by modern Pokémon better suited for their environment. There's one key danger, though: their offspring. If they're successful enough to start breeding, then the outcome will be more aggressive generations of Pokémon, which would change the environment drastically.
Fridge Horror
- While Scarlet's Paradox Pokémon can be explained away as being what modern Pokémon looked like in a bygone age, the Paradox Pokémon of Violet are a tad harder to explain. They are robot versions of certain Pokémon, and thus clearly exist outside of the natural cycle of evolutionnote . This leads to one of three conclusions. If the in-universe Conspiracy Theorists aren't right about their origins, then someone either built a Robot Me Clone Army or, even worse, robotized Pokémon into their own personal Mecha-Mooks.
- There's another weird possibility. One of the ancient Pokémon is an organic version of Magneton, a Pokémon that naturally looks robot-like in the present. For some reason, it seems like becoming more mecha-like is a natural evolution trend in the Pokémon world, it's already happening in the present, and will become increasingly prevalent in the future. The Voltorb line, for example, seems to be midway through a similar process; if you compare the Hisuian forms to the modern forms, you may notice that, because mimicking Poké Balls is their main gimmick, they have adapted to keep doing so in the face of technological changes such as Poké Balls becoming fully metallic.
- The worst case scenario is that the Pokémon who received robotic forms have gone extinct in the future, possibly due to human activities, and these forms were built to replace or emulate the original species.
- There is mention of the possibility of the Future Pokémon coming from a billion years in the future. By then, regardless of human activity, the Sun will have transitioned into a state that makes it hard for Earth's atmosphere to retain carbon dioxide, meaning plants will either go extinct or evolve into something very different from today's plants. Either way, life on Earth would either cease to exist or be unrecognizable. If the Pokémon world's Sun is like ours, then it would make perfect sense that no species alive today could function in any normal sense that far into the future.
- On the other hand, there is a book at Uva Academy that talks about an ancient civilization having built Iron Bundle. It is possible that these "Future" Pokémon are actually machines from the past, and that Professor Turo's time machine took Pokémon from the past without anyone realizing it.
- The Great Tusk is noted to have appeared in the past by relatively recent scholars and expeditions. However, the Time Machine that brings the Paradox Pokémon to the present is implied to be a recent invention. This has either the implication that one such member of the Great Tusk has lived since ancient times, or that we have a manmade version of Space-Time Distortions from Hisui happening, which means the ecological disaster that was mentioned in-game was more a matter of when and not if. To quote Jurassic Park, "your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
- Should be noted that the ecological disaster was already seen in Hisui, Johtonian Sneasel out-hunting the Hisuian Sneasel, Magnemite being introduced to the region in its past when it didn't otherwise exist. Raises a lot of questions about what's in store for Paldea in the future.
- A possible reason for Future Paradox Pokémon being so aggressive is that the bonds between Pokémon and their trainers caused such a power disparity between the trained Pokémon and the wild Pokémon that the wild Pokémon became stronger and more aggressive in order to survive on their own.
