Variant

Variants are a mechanic in Pokémon Vortex that gives Pokémon slightly different appearances, as well as stat bonuses or special effects. A Pokémon's variant is set when it's generated by the game (when it appears in the wild, when it's received as a promo code, etc.) and cannot be changed.

There are 6 obtainable variants for each Pokémon. Each variant counts as a separate Pokémon in the Main Pokédex; completing the Pokédex requires having all six variants of every obtainable Pokémon.

List of variants

Obtainable

Variant	Appearance	Bonus	Wild rarity
Normal		None	The most common variant
Shiny		+25% HP	One of the two rarest variants
Dark		+25% damage dealt	Rarer than Normal
Mystic		25% chance to prevent opponent from acting	Rarer than Normal
Metallic		+25% Defense	Rarer than Normal
Shadow		Immune to status effects	One of the two rarest variants

Unobtainable

Variant	Appearance	Bonus	Notes
Pink		None	Used by Orange Islands Sidequest opponents

Retired

Variant	Appearance	Bonus	Notes
Ancient		+25% Defense	Replaced by Metallic Pokémon

Notes

• Before Version 5, all five non-Normal variants had the same rarity.
• The Ancient variant was replaced with Metallic in Version 3.
• The Side Pokédex is an unreleased feature that is planned to be "a collection of Pokémon that do not come in the usual 6 variants."