The biggest news coming out of the Pokemon Presents, without a doubt, was the official confirmation of Pokemon Winds and Waves. These Gen 10 games are not releasing until 2027, but hopefully, fans will get more news throughout 2026 as well. At the very least, fans got their first look at the Pokemon Winds and Waves Starters: the dog-like Fire Starter Pombon, the gecko-like Water Starter Gecqua, and the owl-like Grass Starter Browt.
For some fans, the similarities these starters have to previous ones (Browt and Rowlet, for example) is surprising, but the biggest surprise is Pombon itself. This cute fire pomeranian has seriously messed up the Chinese Zodiac tradition that has been around since the first generation of games. It might be a stretch, but between this massive change and the improved graphics, it seems that Pokemon Winds and Waves is loudly bolstering that Gen 10 is going to hit different.
Pokemon Gen 1 – Gen 9 Chinese Zodiac Starter Tradition
First, it’s worth establishing what the Chinese zodiac x Fire Starter tradition is exactly. It’s a long-standing community theory that suggests every Fire-type starter Pokemon corresponds to one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. Game Freak has never confirmed this theory, but given how strong it was in early generations, how many times it has been reinforced, and how long it has been around, it’s hard not to think there’s something intentional about it. The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
- Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard line up with the Dragon zodiac.
- Cyndaquil, Quilava, and Typhlosion line up with the Rat zodiac. It’s a looser fit than others, but the rat/mouse family in Japanese is broad, and Cyndaquil’s line is specifically based on a shrew/porcupine-like mammal.
- Torchic, Combusken, and Blaziken line up perfectly with the Rooster zodiac.
- Chimchar, Monferno, and Infernape line up perfectly with the Monkey zodiac.
- Tepig, Pignite, and Emboar line up perfectly with the Pig zodiac.
- Fennekin, Braixen, and Delphox loosely line up with the Dog zodiac, further even than Typhlosion. Fennekin is a fox, not a “dog,” but foxes are canines. The Zodiac does not specify a domestic dog, so this is a stretch but not an unbelievable one.
- Litten, Torracat, and Incineroar perfectly line up with the Tiger zodiac.
- Scorbunny, Raboot, and Cinderace perfectly line up with the Rabbit Zodiac.
- The Fuecoco, Crocalor, and Skeledirge line is where it gets tricky.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Skeledirge is obviously a crocodile, which is not a member of the Zodiac. Post Gen-8, the only unused Chinese zodiac animals are Ox, Horse, Snake, and Goat. Many consider Fuecoco to be the first clean break from the Chinese zodiac tradition, but others argue that it still fits. The logic is that crocodiles and snakes are both reptiles, which is a further stretch from shrew-to-rat or fox-to-dog, but that Snake has been used because of it. It is also possible, with Gen 10 now coming to the Pokemon world, that Game Freak wants to spread out the Chinese zodiac with other animals and give it a break every so often. In other words, Fuecoco left the tradition in the air. Perhaps the snake has been counted, perhaps it has not, but the theory strains heavily with the Fuecoco line.
And Pombon absolutely devastates the theory.
Pombon is the First, But Also Second, Dog-Like Fire Starter
Pombon borrows from Fuecoco in the sense that both are a little derpy-looking, for that extra dose of cuteness to be sure, but Fuecoco was a serious stretch for the Chinese Zodiac tradition. Pombon both is and isn’t. In theory, Pombon fits perfectly into the Chinese zodiac tradition; it’s a dog after all. But if Pombon is the dog, then perhaps the Delphox line isn’t. That means the Delphox line finds itself in a basket with the Skeledirge line, no longer fitting in.
However, there’s a second interpretation here. Nothing about the pattern has suggested that Pokemon‘s Fire Starters had to be a completely new Chinese zodiac animal every time. It may have worked out that way so far, but Pombon could be the first-second Fire Starter to use the same Chinese Zodiac animal, which confuses everything. That’s probably the easiest way to understand it, though.
Pombon upholds the Chinese zodiac tradition by being a dog, but it adds a new layer to it, suggesting that some Chinese zodiac animals could be repeated. If we set Fuecoco aside, that means that any Chinese zodiac animal could be revisited before Ox, Horse, Snake, or Goat. That also means they remain possible for future generations of Pokemon games.
The Fire Starter x Chinese Zodiac Tradition Has Evolved
This creates an interesting ripple effect for speculation moving forward. If repetition is on the table, then fans can no longer assume that the remaining unused animals are guaranteed picks. The Ox, Horse, Snake, and Goat may still be coming, but they are no longer inevitable simply because they have not appeared yet. Game Freak could revisit Monkey, Tiger, or even Dragon again years down the line, and the pattern would technically remain intact under this new interpretation.
It also reframes how past stretches are viewed. If Delphox is no longer locked in as the de facto Dog representative, then its place in the theory becomes even shakier. Likewise, Skeledirge’s reptilian connection to Snake feels less like a desperate reach to preserve a pattern and more like an example of how fluid the idea always was. The tradition may never have been a strict checklist to begin with, but rather a loose design philosophy that fans organized into something more concrete over time.
Ultimately, Pombon does not just challenge the Chinese Zodiac theory; it forces it to evolve. Whether that means the end of the tradition or simply a more flexible version of it remains to be seen, but Gen 10 has already ensured the conversation will continue.
- Released
-
2027
- Multiplayer
-
Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
