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Description
So it is heavily implied and theorized that the Fire Starters in Pokémon are based on the Chinese Zodiac animals.
Charmander = Dragon
Cyndaquil = Mouse
Torchic = Rooster
Chimchar = Monkey
Tepig = Pig
Fennekin = Dog
Litten = Tiger
Scorbunny = Hare

Which means the remaining Fire starters are Snake, Horse, Bull and Goat/Sheep.
I present to you my own personal idea for a snake starter. The names are a WIP, I have another set of names.
The base form is Xiuling, or Fladder (I'll update later), which is a pure Fire type.
The middle evolution is Sparxiu, which is a Fire/Electric type, which would probably be the first actual Pokémon of that type combo (Rotom Heat doesn't count, alt formes don't count as real separate Pokémon, but regional forms do).
And the final evolution is Ophixiu, also Fire/Electric.
The entire line's name "Xiu" is based on the Xiuhcoatl, an Aztec mythological fire snake that also possesses grass or electric powers. It looks pretty cool, so I decided to go with that design.
"Xiu" is to be pronounced as "shiu" or "shee-oo", just to be clear.
The -ling part of Xiuling comes from "hatchling" as it is a young snake.
The "sparx" in Sparxiu is, of course, from "sparks" which is something that is created from electricity but ALSO fire, hence the type combo.
And finally, the "ophi" part of Ophixiu is from "ophidia", the modern Latin or Greek word for snake, ophis or ophid.
So this line has Electric powers along with Fire. It is 4x weak to Ground, 2x weak to Water and Rock.
It resists Flying, Steel, Electric, Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug and Fairy.
It is strong against Grass, Bug, Steel, Ice, Flying and Water, the last one being similar to how Torterra is both weak to Fire but also is strong against it because of its Ground type.
I imagine Ophixiu would have high base Attack, Special Attack and Speed, decent Defense and good Special Defense.
I'm thinking, like, 80 HP, 105 Attack, 80 Defense, 105 Special Attack, 85 Special Defense and 100 Speed, making its BST 555. Might be a bit high, I dunno. Might be fine.
It seems most Xiuhcoatl are actually bluish, so I decided to make its Shiny variant that cyan and golden coloration that I found while googling the creature. The normal variant has the typical red color scheme, but still cool enough to be worth it I guess?
When thinking of a snake starter line, I also thought it'd be cool with a Naga for a final evolution, like the ones from World of Warcraft.
Alternatively, Ophixiu could look like this but also be given arms, thus becoming a Naga.
I also thought of the names "Magmamba" and "Flanaga", so it could be a Fire/Poison type, but I think this one is more unique.
I might also pitch my own ideas for an Ox, Horse and Sheep/Goat Fire Starter.
This drawing isn't as clean as most of my Pokémon drawing, mostly because it's concept art, might polish it a bit more at a later point.
Regardless, if the next generation's Fire Starter is either a Snake, a Calf, a Horse, a Sheep or a Goat, then we know for sure that they're doing the Zodiac line.
Because we already have a Fire horse, and it seems difficult to make a sheep/goat and bull into a starter.
Well, if all goes according to tradition, we might start to see it next year, as then it will have been 3 years since the release of Sword/Shield.
Damn. Already almost 3 years. It feels like they just came out.
But, well, first things first. Legends Arceus gotta have first priority, and THEN they can work on Gen 9.
I certainly am looking forward to see what they're gonna do with it.

Description
So it is heavily implied and theorized that the Fire Starters in Pokémon are based on the Chinese Zodiac animals.
Charmander = Dragon
Cyndaquil = Mouse
Torchic = Rooster
Chimchar = Monkey
Tepig = Pig
Fennekin = Dog
Litten = Tiger
Scorbunny = Hare

Which means the remaining Fire starters are Snake, Horse, Bull and Goat/Sheep.
I present to you my own personal idea for a snake starter. The names are a WIP, I have another set of names.
The base form is Xiuling, or Fladder (I'll update later), which is a pure Fire type.
The middle evolution is Sparxiu, which is a Fire/Electric type, which would probably be the first actual Pokémon of that type combo (Rotom Heat doesn't count, alt formes don't count as real separate Pokémon, but regional forms do).
And the final evolution is Ophixiu, also Fire/Electric.
The entire line's name "Xiu" is based on the Xiuhcoatl, an Aztec mythological fire snake that also possesses grass or electric powers. It looks pretty cool, so I decided to go with that design.
"Xiu" is to be pronounced as "shiu" or "shee-oo", just to be clear.
The -ling part of Xiuling comes from "hatchling" as it is a young snake.
The "sparx" in Sparxiu is, of course, from "sparks" which is something that is created from electricity but ALSO fire, hence the type combo.
And finally, the "ophi" part of Ophixiu is from "ophidia", the modern Latin or Greek word for snake, ophis or ophid.
So this line has Electric powers along with Fire. It is 4x weak to Ground, 2x weak to Water and Rock.
It resists Flying, Steel, Electric, Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug and Fairy.
It is strong against Grass, Bug, Steel, Ice, Flying and Water, the last one being similar to how Torterra is both weak to Fire but also is strong against it because of its Ground type.
I imagine Ophixiu would have high base Attack, Special Attack and Speed, decent Defense and good Special Defense.
I'm thinking, like, 80 HP, 105 Attack, 80 Defense, 105 Special Attack, 85 Special Defense and 100 Speed, making its BST 555. Might be a bit high, I dunno. Might be fine.
It seems most Xiuhcoatl are actually bluish, so I decided to make its Shiny variant that cyan and golden coloration that I found while googling the creature. The normal variant has the typical red color scheme, but still cool enough to be worth it I guess?
When thinking of a snake starter line, I also thought it'd be cool with a Naga for a final evolution, like the ones from World of Warcraft.
Alternatively, Ophixiu could look like this but also be given arms, thus becoming a Naga.
I also thought of the names "Magmamba" and "Flanaga", so it could be a Fire/Poison type, but I think this one is more unique.
I might also pitch my own ideas for an Ox, Horse and Sheep/Goat Fire Starter.
This drawing isn't as clean as most of my Pokémon drawing, mostly because it's concept art, might polish it a bit more at a later point.
Regardless, if the next generation's Fire Starter is either a Snake, a Calf, a Horse, a Sheep or a Goat, then we know for sure that they're doing the Zodiac line.
Because we already have a Fire horse, and it seems difficult to make a sheep/goat and bull into a starter.
Well, if all goes according to tradition, we might start to see it next year, as then it will have been 3 years since the release of Sword/Shield.
Damn. Already almost 3 years. It feels like they just came out.
But, well, first things first. Legends Arceus gotta have first priority, and THEN they can work on Gen 9.
I certainly am looking forward to see what they're gonna do with it.