In this thread I will attempt to compile all the completely logical reasons why the Zodiac Fire-Starter Theory is just a coincidence and not actually a real thing.

>All animals on the Zodiac (barring dragon) are common animals.
It should not be all that surprising that it just so happens that you can stretch each mon to somehow fit into the Zodiac. Most Pokemon are inspired by common animals, especially starters which are purposefully designed to be recognizable. You can stretch any group of anything to fit nicely into some pattern if you think hard enough about it and bend the rules a little bit. Especially since:

>Not all of them are even a great fit
I know we can argue all day whether or not Cyndaquil is a rat and foxes are dogs, but why, if they were intentionally following this pattern, would they make some of the choices obtuse?
"Hey we need to choose a zodiac to design our Fire-type around"
"ok, how about a dog"
"Designs fennekin, a fox"
"Looks good!"

Logically, it just doesn't make sense.

>It implies a basic misunderstanding of how Pokemon are designed.
Blaziken was originally designed as a flying Latios like creature. Cyndaquil was even not the first intended Fire-Starter in Johto. In the beta it actually was some Rat-looking creature. And yet they changed it to a Pokemon that is notably, not a rat. Why? Because forcing yourself to follow an arbitrary pattern for ONE of your starter lines is incredibly dumb and illoigcal.

I've even seen people say it's that the Zodiac is just inspiration, even if the final product doesn't fit. Well, then, whats the fucking point? You could say the same shit about Grass-types being inspired by dinner kitchenware and it would get you to the same conclusion.