>>57276043This requires a lengthy discussion to fully breakdown.
Let's start with Diglett and Dugtrio. Obviously, Dugtrio line is a mole, but a very very simplified representation of a mole: so it's a "cartoon animal". However, more specifically, it's based on the game Wack-A-Mole, so in a sense it is this "animal+object fusion" you're noticing. But that's about where its conceptual depth ends as far as can be seen. There's nothing more to it than being a Wack-A-Mole Pokemon---a very direct and unambiguous reference.
Now look at Horsea line. It isn't immediately obvious, but they aren't merely seahorses, they're also shaped like guns, with Kingdra clearly getting fashioned into a sort of sniper rifle (which is confirmed as the intention by them giving it the ability "Sniper" [and, as an unrelated tangent, was given also to Remoraid line {for obvious reasons} as well as Skorupi line which was intended as a joke based on wordplay because "snip/snipping" like they do with their claws could be rendered as them being "snipers"]), and it's evidently inspired by there being "water guns". So, it's another "animal + object fusion", but instead of being exactly the thing referenced like Dugtrio, instead they incorporated elements of the thing referenced in a naturalistic and comparatively downplayed manner.
For a final example, look at Murkrow, which initially prior to Honchkrow was based more on witches rather than gangsters, based on its crown. In addition to its crone nose beak, its tail more poignantly resembles a witch's broom, which of course they use to fly. This is the closest thing you get to something like Camerupt, but it's quite subtle.
The seeds of this design philosophy were already there in Kanto and to some extent Johto, but it was rarely utilized.
