Spoilers for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet ahead.Despite its early announcement in the lead-up to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's launch, the lackluster performance of Cyclizar seems unfortunate given its importance to the games' story. Initially, players believed that Cyclizar was being introduced to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to complement its new open-world design as a means for players to get around. However, the later reveal that its mascot Legendary Pokemon were instead integral to the games' traversal mechanics threw Cyclizar's purpose into dispute, with the Dragon/Normal-type Pokemon seemingly redundant outside of in-universe utility for NPCs.
As revealed in the final storyline of the game focused on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paradox monsters, Cyclizar ultimately serves as a linchpin to both Koraidon and Miraidon. So while Cyclizar might have failed to impress a majority of players in terms of gameplay, Cyclizar's existence within the games creates the backbone of a core storyline and Paldea's open-world traversal mechanics. Even if fans had high hopes for Cyclizar, such as possible connections to Kalos, Cyclizar was always going to feature heavily in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Cyclizar and Paradox Pokemon
While Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paradox Pokemon focused primarily on previous generations, reinterpreting a broad spectrum of monsters as ancient or future forms of their present-day counterparts, Cyclizar is the only Gen 9 Pokemon to be part of this gimmick. After completing the games' three storylines and venturing into Area Zero at the center of Paldea, players can uncover the truth behind Koraidon and Miraidon by learning these Legendaries are actually ancient and future forms of Cyclizar. Though comparable to early Pokemon Sun and Moon theories, the revelation better fits in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's time-travel context.
Despite it seeming like an odd transition on a grander timeline of evolution, it is nevertheless important that Cyclizar exists as a middle ground between the two. Though fans might have liked to see a return of evolving Legendary Pokemon with a middle evolutionary stage after Cyclizar, the idea behind the Mount Pokemon fits best within the Paradox Pokemon framework. The game even does its best to foreshadow the Pokemon's connection, although these hints were far and few between in odd bits of dialogue.
Cyclizar Was Needed to Get Around Scarlet and Violet's Paldea
As players are given Koraidon or Miraidon at the start of the game, able to ride them as they embark on their adventure, it is never necessary for players to ride a Cyclizar. It is never possible to ride Cyclizar even though several NPCs can be seen riding it, utilizing specialized Cyclizar riding gear, and this could be seen as a missed opportunity. However, Cyclizar featuring in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet as a mount for other characters is important to convey the relationship between it, the mascot Legendaries, and travel around the Paldea region.
The necessity of Cyclizar ultimately translates not just to the games' story, but also to its traversal mechanics. Without Cyclizar, making Koraidon and Miraidon the trainer's mount would have seemed pointless or even possibly a downgrade when compared to the likes of Gen 7's Ultra Warp Rides. With Cyclizar serving as a midway point between the two Legends, connecting into the games' Paradox Pokemon, and as a parallel to how players get around the new open-world region, this underwhelming Pokemon holds Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's together.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now for Nintendo Switch.
