>>45581038Cyndaquil line are obviously mustelids, come on. There's nothing hedgehog about them. Quilava is a marten. Typhlosion is a badger. Cyndaquil is probably a stylized weasel. This is Pokemon, things are supposed to make sense. It's not like a rocket piranha can evolve into a torpedo shark, or a gun fish can become a cannon octopus.
Anyway, Cyndaquil fits 100% into the Zodiac thing, because "fire mouse" is a legendary animal that is depicted as a kind of mink with fireproof fur. It's an invention by the Chinese court to explain asbestos-lined fireproof clothes, which were new to China at the time. That's why they're badgers. By the way, this is also the "robe of fire rat" that Kaguya asks from one of her suitors.
What doesn't fit is Fennekin, but that doesn't really change anything. The Zodiac thing is still real, it's just not some kind of absolute universal law that they have to obey. There's no God of Creature Design that will smite them if they blaspheme by making a non-Zodiac fire starter. It's just something they keep doing because they think it's cute, they can break the trend whenever they want.
tl;dr people who deny Zodiac are dumb, people who think Fennekin fits dogs are dumb, Zodiac is just a small in-joke of sorts by Gamefreak that really shouldn't matter much.
