Thread:KidProdigy/@comment-4127555-20130211150802


 * You're not getting my point and you're trying to twist my argument into something its not. The bottom line is that Sugimori groups animals together as the inspirations for these Pokémon, even if they aren't remotely related. Does Cyndaquil look like a rat or a mouse to you?? No, and its even been identified as being based on an echidna or a shrew, which are two animals who aren't even related to rats or mice. This is a quote from Bulbapedia: "Its appearance is based on the echidna, but it also has traits of shrews, such as its long snout."
 * Cyndaquil is called a "fire mouse", but it actually isn't even really based on a mouse, but Sugimori felt that any sort of small,  rodent-looking  creature would have been sufficient to represent the Rat of the Chinese Zodiac. Therefore, Sugimori also believed that choosing any member of the  canine family (which includes foxes, obviously) would be sufficient to represent the Dog of the Chinese Zodiac.  Shrews, by the way, aren't even rodents as mice or rats are, which makes Fennekin's inspiration (a fox) closer to the Dog of the zodiac than Cyndaquil's inspiration (a shrew) is to the Rat of the zodiac. So, when you say that Fennekin's fox-like appearance is insufficient to represent the Dog, but then pull out Cyndaquil (who looks like something that isn't even related to a Rat) as an example, you contradict yourself.
 *  In short, I'm not saying that foxes are the same as dogs. I'm saying that Sugimori is drawing from the canine family in general to represent the Dog.  