Just then another groan reached their ears, and the sound seemed to come from behind them. They turned and walked through the forest a few steps, when Dorothy discovered something shining in a ray of sunshine that fell between the trees. She ran to the place and then stopped short, with a little cry of surprise.
One of the big trees had been partly chopped through, and standing beside it, with an uplifted axe in his hands, was a man made entirely of tin. His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all.
I’m Luke Summerhayes, and I love Iron Leaves.
In the course of covering Pokémon Violet’s paradox Pokémon, I have been assuming that they come from a dystopian, Terminator-esque future. We only see robotic Pokémon come back, after all, and many of them are attached to violent stories. Mindless killers are not the only robots in fiction, though; Asmiov listed the three laws of robotics in 1942.
First Law: A robot must not harm a human or allow a human to come to harm through inaction
Second Law: A robot must obey human orders, unless they conflict with the First Law
Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence, unless it conflicts with the First or Second Law
And as early as 1900, one of the first mechanical characters in fiction was the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.
Iron Leaves, a future Paradox form of Virizion, appeared prior to the other two Paradox Swords of Justice, first being obtainable in a raid event in Pokémon Violet.
Scarlet
Many of its physical characteristics match those of a Virizion from the future that was covered in a paranormal magazine.

Prior to this, we had seen a page of the violet book which seemed to show an amalgamation monster made from all three Swords of Justice. As with the Paradox Beasts in Pokémon Scarlet’s book, this turned out not to be a real creature – perhaps a hint that the original sightings of these monsters were false, and the paradox monsters emerging from the professor’s machine are created from the imagination, not any actual past or future.
The Pokédex doesn’t say anything about attacking humans in this case, or about Iron Leaves being some kind of weapon. Instead, just like the Tin Man, it’s a woodcutter.
Violet
According to the few eyewitness accounts that exist, it used its shining blades to julienne large trees and boulders.

The Julienne cut is a culinary technique for slicing long, thin strips of vegetables and so on. Among all three Paradox Swords of Justice, this is as close as we get to a reference to the French Musketeers who inspired the original.
Iron Leaves can certainly slice and dice. Unlike the original Virizion, which is evenly distributed between physical and special attack, Iron Leaves goes all in on physical attack, being wildly strong in that stat. Elsewhere, the grass and psychic typing isn’t the best defensively, but just like the modern form, it has excellent coverage as an attacker.
Here at the end of the Paradox Pokémon I want to believe they are not an invasion of killer robots from the future, but just a new kind of cool being to befriend. I love Pokémon because I want to live that dream of being pals with Godzilla. I’d also like to be besties with a terminator.
Original music for Luke Loves Pokémon is by Jonathan Cromie. Artwork is by Katie Groves. Funding is provided by listeners at Patreon. If you enjoy this podcast and want to check out other shows by me and my friends, head to podcastiopodcastius.org.
I love hearing from listeners! Get in touch about upcoming Pokémon on twitter or facebook at LukeLovesPKMN. Drop a comment if you’re watching the video, or a review on apple podcasts or spotify. Incredibly, after Iron Leaves, we’re all done with the ninth generation. We’ll have a Christmas special next week and then be back in the new year to wrap up the fifth generation legendaries and, finally, finish off the eighth generation.
I love Iron Leaves. And remember, I love you too.