Paradox Pokémon List: All 22 Ancient and Future Pokémon

There are 22 Paradox Pokémon, all from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Eleven are Ancient, wild prehistoric-looking versions of familiar Pokémon, and eleven are Future, robotic versions with names that start with "Iron". You meet them in Area Zero, the crater at the centre of Paldea.

"Paradox Pokémon" is the official name. The games show it as the Pokédex category for every one of them, and The Pokémon Company uses it in its own news.

Ancient Paradox Pokémon (11)

Ancient Paradox Pokémon appear in Pokémon Scarlet. All except Koraidon have the ability Protosynthesis.

Future Paradox Pokémon (11)

Future Paradox Pokémon appear in Pokémon Violet. All except Miraidon have the ability Quark Drive.

The "Looks like" column follows Bulbapedia's list of which modern Pokémon each Paradox form resembles. The games hint at these links, but they never say outright that, say, Great Tusk is an ancient Donphan.

Pairs that match up

Some modern Pokémon have both an Ancient and a Future version:

• Donphan has Great Tusk (Ancient) and Iron Treads (Future).
• Volcarona has Slither Wing and Iron Moth.
• Cyclizar has Koraidon and Miraidon, the box Legendaries of the two games.

The six later additions come in a set of their own. Walking Wake, Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt are Ancient takes on the three legendary beasts of Johto. Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder and Iron Crown are Future takes on the Swords of Justice from Unova. They were added to the games in updates after launch, Walking Wake and Iron Leaves first.

Where to find them

Most Paradox Pokémon live in Area Zero, the deep crater in the middle of Paldea, which you reach near the end of the story. Each version only has its own set: Ancient ones in Scarlet, Future ones in Violet. To complete both lists, you need to trade with someone who has the other version.

Their names give a clue to what they are. Ancient names are two-word descriptions, often of a body part, like Great Tusk, Scream Tail or Slither Wing. Future names are always "Iron" plus a word, like Iron Hands or Iron Moth.

What Protosynthesis and Quark Drive do

Both abilities do the same job in different conditions. When they switch on, they raise the Pokémon's highest stat (Speed gets a bigger boost than the others).

Koraidon's own ability, Orichalcum Pulse, summons the sunlight, and Miraidon's Hadron Engine sets up Electric Terrain. Each game's box Legendary turns on its own version's Paradox abilities.

Facts that surprise people

• Only two Paradox Pokémon are Legendary: Koraidon and Miraidon. Walking Wake looks very like Suicune, but it is not Legendary.
• No Paradox Pokémon evolves, and none can be bred.
• Ancient Paradox Pokémon are not Fossil Pokémon. They come from the past through a time machine in the story, not from a fossil.
• Terapagos, the Legendary of The Indigo Disk, is linked to how Paradox Pokémon reach Area Zero, but it is not a Paradox Pokémon itself.
• Twelve of the 22 have a base stat total of exactly 570, eight have 590, and the two box Legendaries have 670.

Pronouncing the Iron names

Every Future Paradox Pokémon starts with "Iron", said EYE-ern, the normal English word. The second word is usually an ordinary English word too, like Bundle, Hands or Valiant. Iron Jugulis is the hard one. We read it EYE-ern JUG-yuh-lis, from "jugular", but we haven't found an official English source for it yet. Hear it on pokee.si, and our guide to pronouncing Pokémon names has the rest.

To see all 22 together, use the Paradox filter in the Pokédex.