1007: Koraidon

At long last, it's time to talk about the two Legendaries on the box, first of which is Koraidon. AKA. the "Winged King", as indeed it is one of the "Paradox Pokemon", being the Ancient Paradox form of Cyclizar, of all things. Which is funny, given how little Cyclizar is of overall plot significance. Like sure, it's touted around as THE mount Pokemon of the region, like Corviknight was in Gen 8, but otherwise a Cyclizar belonged to Heath of the Area Zero expedition team. And that's kinda it.

This Pokemon is a doozy to go through the description motions, because boy is this thing A Lot. While overall humanoid reptilian in shape, it's covered in spikes, long scales, or what most to me look like feathers, especially along the back of its neck and the top of its head like an exaggerated bird's head crest, like a "crown" of some sort. Two longer, feeler-like appendages also sprout from its head, curling back, just like the flowing spurs on its shoulders. It has another fan of feathers along where its tail connects to the body, a tail with a black, tired tread-like pattern that matches the massive tired-shaped dewlap it shares with Cyclizar, but with spikes along it to give it a little more of an "offroad" sort of feel. And ALL THAT is not even getting into other miscellaneous details, like the webbed fingers, staple-remover-esque mouth, all the markings that look like 2000s "tribal" tattoos, and the fact that its color scheme includes primaries of red, white, and black, plus accents of a dark, navy blue, and bright purple.

By all accounts, this thing should be an absolute goddamn mess, but it actually has a fairly coherent flow to it. And I think it's says a lot that this "powered down" form it has actually looks kind of naked compared to its fancy and fully grown "apex build". Koraidon is your ridiculous multi-purpose bike in this game, and it technically has a different "form" for each mode of travel, whether its running, swimming, or gliding. It has the feature Cyclizar does, where its tail curls into the shape of a tire and dewlap inflates into also the shape of a tire, but like it these tires do not spin. It just sprints on all fours anyway. Which I think is funny both because HAD these tires spun, we would've gotten an equal amount of people complaining the same way people are pedantic about how Miles Prower's helicopter tails work. But I also choose to believe it's a rather deliberate reference to how in the Flintstones, they had cars that had no engine so you just traveled by pushing them by foot anyways.

Its "gliding build" is the only one that brings in a notable physical change in the thing, having those antennae transform into whole wings. Finally, got to the other half of its "Winged King" its namesake! It's an all-around pretty distinct and competent design, and manages to combine that distinctness with a little silliness baked into the concept WHILE STILL having the grandure that it feels like the "Legendary" moniker ensues. Paradox Pokemon notwithstanding, Gen 9 probably has easily the strongest lineup of Legendary Pokemon, because I remember quite a few Gens where reviewing the Legendaries was a drag. It keeps it to a minimum so that there isn't Legendary Overload, but each design feels well-defined in its own little way, feeling a lot less like the senseless mush that was things like the Lake Trio or the Genies.