it would be insane if there was a fourth starter. like, everything we've known about pokemon for the past 20 years would change.
first gen starters:
*image removed**image removed**image removed**image removed*
also *image removed*counts as a starter due to the rival in yellow getting one as his starter and *image removed*was the starter in XD gale of darkness while Colosseum got two of its evolutions as starters: *image removed*&*image removed*
Why do people think the trainer can fuse with Pokémon?
reburst manga
people have turned into pokemon in canon
and fusion already exists
and finally...
anyway i think it might have something to do with the 4 around a center type myths
the sets are
1) the 4 symbols azure dragon, vermilion bird, white tiger & black turtle/black warrior and the yellow dragon of the center
2)the benevolent animals who resided in the yellow emperors garden: qilin, dragon, turtle & phoinex(also known as the 4 holy beats)
3) theres the sun(east), moon(west) bird(north) & snake(south) with a bear as the center from the Rong Cheng Shi
whenever these are used as the base in media is mot uncommon for their elements and such to get tossed around(digimon sovereign & the 5 dragons in yona of the dawn for example)
now lets look at the 4 that hide a secret
Rowlet grass/flying type and a bird
Litten fire type and a tiger striped cat.
Popplio water type & sea lion
Iwanko rock type and a puppy
the first two are kinda obvious in what animal they represent tiger & the bird.
popplio is most likely a qilin. why? sea lion. no, not the cousin of seals that its clearly based on but the other type of sea lion which bears quite the resemblance to a qilin
sea-lion
qilin
then finally there's Iwanko. odds are it evolves into either a
ceberus was the 3 headed dog that guarded the gates to hell whose mane was made up of serpents so it could be the snake
it could be werewolf based representing the moon.
or a dacian draco which is essentially a wolf with a dragon or serpents body
obviously i'm just spit balling this out there an this may very well be more of something represent the mascots then those 4 anyway, but it may very well be that those are needed to unlock a legendary.
whenever their evolution get confirmed i may just toss the theory out then & there depending on what they evolve into