Scarlet and Violet's Legendary ride Pokémon are transport-themed, and Koraidon almost looks like it has wheels - but it doesn't actually.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will feature the visually motorcycle-inspired Koraidon and Miraidon as their respective mascot Legendaries, only one of which actually has wheels despite appearances. Nintendo released a new trailer for the pair of games on August 3 that shows the reptiles in action as ridable companions for players. On viewing, many have been mildly surprised to notice that while both have tire-like structures on their throats and lower bodies, those structures only spin on Miraidon as it carries its human partner across the Paldean landscape. Koraidon, instead, leaps and bounds on all fours like a more conventional animal, those areas on its body remaining motionless.
It is a fitting difference in design between the generation's pair of game-representative Pokémon. All signs point to a past vs. future dichotomy as one of the main themes of Scarlet and Violet. These signs include Koraidon and Miraidon's names, beginning with the Japanese words for "ancient" and "future" in turn. As a futuristic creature, Miraidon is free to have technological features such as functioning wheels, while it's logical that Koraidon would get around the old-fashioned way. But if they're not really wheels, what are the structures on Koraidon?
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As it turns out, they do exist to aid Koraidon in getting around, but in aquatic rather than terrestrial travel. A news post on the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet official website released on the same day as the new trailer showcases various forms the two beasts can take to aid the player in travel, whether they opt to choose Pokémon Scarlet or Violet's Legendary. According to its description for Swimming Build Koraidon, it "floats by making its throat into a flotation device" when in water. It's befitting of Koraidon's apparent nature as a more traditional animal than Miraidon, as many real-world reptiles and amphibians can inflate their throats for purposes ranging from intimidating potential threats to - like Koraidon - maneuvering through water. But it also reflects the monster's motorcycle inspiration in a subtler way than Miraidon's wheels, as while its throat can't detach and roll, it is still like a tire in that it's filled with air.
The article also explains another way Koraidon's biology defies its initial appearance. When not acting as a flying mount like Legends: Arceus's Braviary, the Pokémon appears to have a pair of long, simple antennae situated over its eyes. Watching the new trailer alone would give off the impression that they warp or transform into wing-like appendages when the creature switches to its Gliding Build. But the news post implies these wings are always there, describing the apparent antennae as nothing so simple but as "twisted tendrils" which unfurl into a gliding-appropriate shape when the Pokémon needs them.
Koraidon is definitely unique and idiosyncratic in its design as a combination between a semi-aquatic gliding lizard and a flying, water-going motorbike on which the tires don't spin. Future promotional information for Scarlet or the game's final release may include new weird canon lore on the Pokémon containing clues into other inspirations driving the choices behind its appearance and capabilities. But in the meantime, the differences and similarities between Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's lizards as two Pokémon with both shared and contrasting aesthetics still capable of keeping up with each other are interesting to see on their own.
Source: Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Official Site
Nigel Valentine is a gaming features writer with Screen Rant whose past experience covers assorted freelance writing roles as well as quality assurance testing of virtual reality games, and he's glad to marry two of his main fields and passions in his work for SR. Video games have been a fixture in his life ever since his childhood days of watching his gamer mother play titles ranging from Mario 64 to Resident Evil - and while his tastes are broad, Nintendo and horror titles remain personal favorites of his to this day. Niche, obscure, and oft-forgotten titles also hold a special place in his mind - ask him any day about Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Chibi-Robo, Magic Pengel, or Space Channel 5 and not only will he talk, chances are that he'll instantly want to be your best friend. Nigel Valentine is based out of the California Bay Area, he is a cat dad, and his interests outside of gaming include music, art and art history, and general horror media.