Swords of Justice
The Swords of Justice (Japanese: 聖剣士 Sacred Swordsmen)[1] is a collective term to refer to the group consisting of three Legendary Pokémon — Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion — and later including the Mythical Pokémon Keldeo. The group resides in the Unova region.
The Swords of Justice share a secondary type, Fighting; and the Ability Justified. A number of their moves refer to combat and swordplay, such as Swords Dance and Sacred Sword; the latter was the signature move of the Swords of Justice in Generation V.
Origin
The Swords of Justice are often referred to by fans as the Legendary musketeers, as they are loosely based on the titular group of main characters from the French novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.[2] Cobalion represents Athos, the oldest and de facto leader of the group; Terrakion represents Porthos, the strongest, heaviest and largest member of the group; Virizion represents Aramis, the vainest, most romantic member of the group;[2] and Keldeo may represent d'Artagnan, the latest and, by far, youngest addition to the group.
History
The Swords of Justice have challenged humans according to the legend in order to protect other Pokémon from losing their homes to human expansion. According to legend, the three Swords of Justice distrust humans because of a war that endangered the Pokémon living in Unova.
The war between two human factions resulted in a forest fire in the Moor of Icirrus. The lives of many wild Pokémon that lived there were endangered because of it. Ensnared by the smoke, they could not escape and their demise seemed certain until three figures appeared.
Terrakion shaped the earth and created a passage by which to escape, Virizion used its speed to shield the Pokémon from sparks and embers, while their leader, Cobalion, ushered the Pokémon to safety. Despite their efforts, the forest eventually burned to the ground. However, amongst the ashes, the three came across a lone Pokémon known as Keldeo, who was separated from its parents. The trio adopted Keldeo into their group and taught it the knowledge and moves necessary in order to survive. Over time, Keldeo began to surpass its teachers before leaving the forest, though it is unknown why it left.
The trio proceeded to fight back the armies, overwhelming them with their combined might. Legends of them continue to be told today, and it has been said that if human conflict ever again threatened the safety of Pokémon, they would return to quell the fighting and preserve a climate of peace.
In Pokémon Violet, a sketch artist from the Area Zero expedition was inspired by the Paradox Pokémon within the Great Crater of Paldea and drew an imaginary Pokémon resembling the Swords of Justice (sans Keldeo), as well as, incidentlally, Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, and Iron Crown. The Scarlet Book instead depicts a creature resembling the legendary beasts.
Virizion, Terrakion, and Cobalion are said to be related to the Paradox Pokémon, Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, and Iron Crown, respectively. Conflicting accounts claim they're the Swords' descendants from the distant future or versions of them from parallel timelines.
Similar movesets
| Lv. |  Cobalion Steel Fighting |
 Terrakion Rock Fighting |
 Virizion Grass Fighting |
 Keldeo Water Fighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | Secret Sword | ||
| Quick Attack | Aqua Jet | |||
| Leer | ||||
| Helping Hand | ||||
| Work Up | ||||
| 7 | Metal Claw | Smack Down | Magical Leaf | Bubble Beam |
| 14 | Quick Guard | |||
| 21 | Double Kick | |||
| 28 | Retaliate | |||
| 35 | Metal Burst | Rock Slide | Giga Drain | Aqua Tail |
| 42 | Take Down | |||
| 49 | Sacred Sword | |||
| 56 | Swords Dance | |||
| 63 | Iron Head | Stone Edge | Leaf Blade | Hydro Pump |
| 70 | Close Combat | |||
| Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage. | ||||
Base stat comparison
| Pokémon | Cobalion |
Terrakion |
Virizion |
 Keldeo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP |
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| Attack |
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| Defense |
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| Sp. Attack |
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| Sp. Defense |
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| Speed |
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| Total | 580 | 580 | 580 | 580 |
In the core series games
Pokémon Black and White
The player can encounter Cobalion in Mistralton Cave's Guidance Chamber, which requires the use of Surf. Encountering Cobalion will enable the player to encounter Terrakion in Victory Road's Trial Chamber and Virizion in Pinwheel Forest's Rumination Field. When gathered at the Moor of Icirrus, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion will teach Keldeo its signature move, Secret Sword.
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
The player can now encounter Cobalion at Route 13, Terrakion at Route 22 and Virizion at Route 11. When gathered, Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion will teach Keldeo its signature move, Secret Sword at Pledge Grove instead.
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
The player can encounter Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion at the Pathless Plain while soaring in the sky as long as there are three Pokémon with 510 EVs in the player's party. Cobalion appears on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday; Terrakion appears on Tuesday and Saturday; and Virizion appears on Monday and Thursday.
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
The player can encounter Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion in the Ultra Space Wilds' Rocky World dimension by traveling through green warp holes in Ultra Warp Ride.
Pokémon Sword and Shield
The player can encounter Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion in the Crown Tundra after collecting 50 footprints of each Pokémon. Sonia will then pinpoint the location of the Pokémon, making Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion appear in Frigid Sea, Lakeside Cave and Giant's Bed, respectively.
After capturing Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion, the player can also encounter Keldeo. After interacting with a pair of footprints near a pot on an island in Ballimere Lake and making a curry with Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion in the party, Keldeo will appear on the island.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
The members of Swords of Justice are obtainable after completing the main story of The Indigo Disk. They can be encountered in Paldea after obtaining special snacks from Snacksworth. Additionally, the games introduce supposed descendants of Virizion, Terrakion, and Cobalion: the Paradox Pokémon Iron Leaves, Iron Boulder, and Iron Crown respectively. The player need to obtain Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion Treats from Snacksworth to encounter them. The trio can be found in Violet. The player of the opposite version can get the trio by participating in Blueberry Quests through the Union Circle online.
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Rumble Blast
Cobalion is a major character in Pokémon Rumble Blast. He goes around, forcibly gathering all the Glowdrops, which is initially interpreted as villainous, until it's revealed he requires their power to stop the Rust that's corrupting Toy Pokémon.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series
- Main article: Virizion (Gates to Infinity)
Virizion is a key character in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity. She is a famed explorer who's loved by everyone in Post Town, but refuses to make friends with anyone, having lost her belief in friendship after her friend Keldeo seemingly abandoned her. She starts gradually regaining her belief in friends, joining the player's team and eventually reuniting with Keldeo.
Pokémon Masters EX
The following Trainers form sync pairs with members of the Swords of Justice in Pokémon Masters EX:
| Dex | Trainer | NDex | Pokémon | Type | Weakness | Role | EX role | Base potential | Availability | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #001 | 
|
Scottie & Bettie | #0638 | 
|
Cobalion  |
Fighting
|
Fire
|
|
★★★★★ | Battle Points | |
| #120 | 
|
Special Costume Diantha |
#0647 | 
|
Keldeo Resolute Form |
Fighting
|
Grass
|
|
★★★★★☆EX | Costume Sync Pair Scout | |
| #110 | 
|
Champion Bianca |
#0640 | 
|
Virizion  |
Fighting
|
Flying
|
|
|
★★★★★☆EX | Master Fair Sync Pair Scout |
| #211 | 
|
Morgan | #0640 |
|
Virizion |
Grass
|
Flying
|
|
★★★★★☆EX | Battle Points | |
In animation
Pokémon the Series
Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice
- Main article: Swords of Justice (M15)
The Swords of Justice all made their animated series debuts in Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice. Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion train their youngest member, Keldeo, but before the Colt Pokémon finishes its training, it decides to test its strength against Kyurem. The Boundary Pokémon proves to be too much for Keldeo, who flees from the battle, but is actively pursued by Kyurem, who wants to finish their match. Keldeo is then found by Ash and his friends, who help it to end the battle with Kyurem.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
In The Mew from Here!, Horace was revealed to have caught a Virizion during a Project Mew Trial Mission. He brought it along with him when the research team looked for Mew on Faraway Island.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
- Main article: Swords of Justice (Adventures)
- Main article: Kelden
Black & White arc
The Swords of Justice first appeared in this arc. The first one of them, Virizion, debuted in A Direct Attack and a Daunting Defense, attacking Black and White in Pinwheel Forest. All three of them later appeared in Mistralton Cave, where Trish from the Riches tried to capture them, but only succeeded in having her and Shoko's Pokémon taken away by them before Black convinced the Legendary Pokémon to return them. The Swords of Justice later made their way to Pledge Grove, where they taught their apprentice, Keldeo, to use Sacred Sword. All four of them then left for the P2 Laboratory, where they helped the Striaton Gym Leaders in defeating the Shadow Triad. As an act of revenge, however, the Shadow Triad unleashed Team Plasma's secret weapon on them. Its attack froze Keldeo's mentors into block of ice and sent them sinking into the ocean.
Black 2 & White 2 arc
Two years later, Keldeo was encountered by Blake and Whitley in Pledge Grove. Blake later returned there and managed to convince Keldeo into joining his quest to take down the resurgent Team Plasma, which it agreed to in order to avenge the fate of its mentors, being nicknamed Kelden. Later, when Blake, Whitley, and Kelden were also frozen and sank into the sea, they wound up in the Abyssal Ruins, where Kelden's frozen mentors were located. Once freed from the ice, they chose to join the battle against Team Plasma. While Kelden went with Blake to confront Colress, the rest of the Swords of Justice fought against the Shadow Triad and the forces of nature. After Kelden broke the Reveal Glass while attempting to stab Colress, the Swords of Justice were able to defeat the forces of nature and the Shadow Triad. Even after Team Plasma's ultimate defeat, Kelden chose to stay with Blake.
Pokémon RéBURST
The Swords of Justice, excluding Keldeo, are captured by the organization Great Gavel and turned into Burst Hearts. Their Burst Hearts are then given to the three generals: Amu, Ganku, and Rovy.
Trivia
- The Paradox equivalents of the Swords of Justice are all Psychic type, which can be considered the counterpart of the Fighting type.
- In Generation V, the Swords of Justice have their own battle transition, like the Tao trio and the forces of nature (the latter of which share their theme). The screen will pause, fade to black, and then a sword will slash through the screen as the glass breaks into pieces and the battle begins.
- The Swords of Justice are the first quadruped Fighting-type Pokémon to be introduced in the series.
- Each of the three Swords of Justice appear as the focus of a spin-off game that was published during Generation V.
- Cobalion is the focus of Chapter 3 of Pokémon Rumble Blast.
- Terrakion appears as a Perfect Link for Keiji in Pokémon Conquest.
- Virizion appears as a major supporting character in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity.
In other languages
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References
- ↑ M15
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nintendo Dream Vol. 204, April 2011 (Shellspider's blog (Japanese), Translation by Dr. Lava)
Related articles
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This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms. |