The Pokemon Company recently revealed a brand-new Pokemon game, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, coming to Nintendo Switch in early 2022. As part of that reveal, we got to see the game's three starter Pokemon, all of which hail from different regions--Cyndaquil from Gen 2's Johto, Rowlet from Gen 7's Alola, and Oshawott from Gen 5's Unova.

At first glance, these three Pokemon look like completely random picks, and no core Pokemon game thus far has ever combined starter Pokemon from previous generations in this way. However, Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set far in the Sinnoh region's past, and the style of the reveal trailer lends the game a very feudal Japan feel--think shogunates and samurai. The Sinnoh region is based on Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, which came under feudal rule during this era of history.

So how do Cyndaquil, Rowlet, and Oshawott fit into that theme? Oshawott is the most obvious: Its final evolution is Samurott, a portmanteau of samurai and otter, and the armor on Samurott's legs is reminiscent of samurai armor. That's as natural a fit for the setting as you can get.