1005: Roaring Moon

Surprise! They weren't actually done with Paradox Pokemon. These two got held over to later in the Pokedex, for some reason. Ingame they aren't treated as especially special, the only thing setting them apart being a higher base stat total and the two being based on Mega Evolutions, of all things. It really feels like they were only held over so that they could make space for Gholdengo to be Pokemon #1000 exactly. Indeed, this is a Paradox form of Mega Salamence, implying at least Salamence's Mega Evolution comes from reverting or awakening a primal gene, or some-such fictional genetic babble.

As a design, Roaring Moon is the king of the Past Paradoxes, in that it feels like it's a bit much. I could take or leave features like the blast of black fur behind it, or the spikey sides of its head becoming even spikier. But I do enjoy how feathery it is, otherwise. The stand-out feature TO ME being how it has a helmet better giving the suggestion of its Shelgon prevo. Sure, I'm willing to call it cooler than Salamence, but that's mostly because Salamence felt a little underwhelming. There's a bit more here, even if I feel like it goes too far in the other direction.