Pokemon Winds and Waves' new Fire Starter throws a serious wrench into a 30-year-old tradition

The biggest news to come out of the Pokemon Presents was, of course, the official confirmation Pokemon wind and waves. These Gen 10 games aren't releasing until 2027, but hopefully, fans will get more news in 2026 as well. At least, fans got their first look Pokemon wind and waves Starters: Dog-like Fire Starter Pombon, Gecko-like Water Starter Gequa and Owl-like Grass Starter Brot.

For some fans, these starters resemble the previous ones (brout and rollet, for example), but the biggest surprise is the 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 may be a stretch, but between these big changes and improved graphics, it seems Pokemon wind and waves Gen 10 is strongly reinforcing that it will be a different hit.

Pokemon Gen 1 – Gen 9 Chinese Zodiac Starter Tradition

First, it's worth establishing what the Chinese Zodiac x Fire Starter tradition actually is. It's a long-standing community theory that 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 often it's been reinforced, and how long it's lasted, it's hard not to think there's something intentional about it. There are 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dogand the pig.

Line up with Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard the dragon zodiac sign
Cyndaquil, Quilava, and Typhlosion line up the mouse zodiac sign It's a looser fit than the others, but the rat/mouse family in Japanese is broad, and Cyndaquil's line is based specifically on shrew/porcupine-like mammals.
Line up perfectly with Torchic, Combusken, and Blaziken the rooster zodiac sign
Line up perfectly with Chimchar, Monferno, and Infernape the monkey zodiac sign
Line up perfectly with Tepig, Pignite, and Emboar the pig zodiac sign
Fennekin, Braixen, and Delphox line up late the dog Zodiac, even than Typhlosion. Fennekin is a fox, not a “dog”, but foxes are dogs. The zodiac doesn't specify the domestic dog, so it's a stretch but not unbelievable.
Line up perfectly with Litten, Torracat, and Incineroar the tiger zodiac sign
Line up perfectly with Scorbunny, Raboot, and Cinderace the rabbit zodiac sign
Fuecoco, Crocalor, and Skeledirge line is where it gets tricky.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5 seconds) Medium (5.0 seconds) Hard (2.5 seconds) Permadeath (2.5 seconds)

Skeledirge is apparently a crocodile, which is not a member of the Zodiac. After Gen-8, the only ones not used are Chinese zodiac animals Ox, horse, snake and goat. Many consider Fuecoco to be the first clean break from Chinese zodiac tradition, but others argue that it still fits. The argument is that both the crocodile and the snake are reptiles, which is a further extension of the rat to the rat or the fox to the dog, but the snake is used because of it. It's also possible, with Gen 10 now coming to the Pokemon world, that Game Freak wants to spread the Chinese Zodiac with other animals and give it a break more often. In other words, Fuecoco left tradition in the air. Maybe the snake counts, maybe it doesn't, but the theory is in heavy tension along Foucault's lines.

Pokemon-Scarlet-Purple-Fucoco-Robot-Farm

And Pombon completely destroys the theory.

Pombon is first, but also second, a dog-like fire starter

Pombon borrows from Fuiko in the sense that both look a little more sinister, with an added flair to be sure, but Fuiko was a serious stretch for the Chinese zodiac tradition. Pombon yes and no. In theory, Pombon fits perfectly into the Chinese zodiac tradition; It is a dog after all. But if Pombon is a dog, maybe not a Delfox line. This means that the Delfox line, found in the basket with the Scaledirz line, no longer fits.

However, here is a second explanation. Nothing is suggested about the format PokemonThe fire starters had to be a completely new Chinese zodiac animal each time. It may have worked that way so far, but Pombon may be the first-second fire starter using the same Chinese zodiac animal, which confuses everything. However, this is the easiest way to understand.

Pombon supports the Chinese zodiac tradition by being a dog, but it adds a new layer to it, suggesting that some Chinese zodiac animals can be repeated. If we put Fuecoco aside, it means that any Chinese zodiac animal can be seen again before the bull, horse, snake or goat. This also means that they are possible for future generations Pokemon Games.

Fire starter x Chinese zodiac tradition has evolved

This creates an interesting ripple effect for future projections. If a repeat is on the table, fans can no longer assume that the remaining unused animals are guaranteed picks. The bull, the horse, the snake and the goat are still coming, but they are no longer inevitable because they have not appeared. Game Freak can revisit Monkey, Tiger, or even Dragon years down the line, and the format will technically remain intact under this new interpretation.

It also recreates how past stretches are viewed. If Delfox is no longer locked in as the de facto dog representative, its position in theory becomes even more shaky. Similarly, Snake's reptilian connection to Skeledirge feels less like a desperate reach to preserve a pattern and more like an example of how fluid the idea has always been. There may never have been a strict checklist to start this tradition, but rather a loose design philosophy that fans organized into something more concrete over time.

Ultimately, Pombon not only challenges Chinese zodiac theory; forces it to evolve. Whether that's the end of the tradition or a more flexible version of it remains to be seen, but Gen 10 has already ensured that the conversation will continue.