What animal is that?

[someguy.fromnevada]

Hey there, sorry for this post, but my brain is trying to figure out a few questions due to how I have my teams set. As a few of you may (or may not know), every single pokemon in my roster/team/family/alliance is a cat pokemon, such as:

Meowth (#52) / Persian (#53)
Mewtwo (#150) / Mew (#151)
Skitty (#300) / Delcatty (#301)
Shinx (#403) / Luxio (#404) / Luxray (#405)
Glameow (#431) / Purugly (#432)
Purrloin (#509) / Liepard (#510)
Litleo (#667) / Pyroar (#668)
Espurr (#677) / Meowstic (#678)
Litten (#???)

However, there are a bunch of Pokemon which I can't seem to confirm whether they should be part of my team or not. Now, I'm sure some of you may say "well, if you think they are, then they are" or "why not just add them to your team anyways", and well... I have a very OCD-like attitude towards my team management and if said Pokemon cannot be confirmed to be "feline", then I do not add it, despite how much I may adore said Pokemon.

A few Pokemon I am curious if anyone has any IRREFUTABLE evidence that they are indeed a FELINE and not a CANINE or other species, are listed below:

Espeon (#196)

I'm torn between if this is a cat or a very feline-esque fox (canine/hybrid?). After all, it does come from Eevee, which is clearly a fox of some sort.

Raikou (#243)

This Pokemon clearly looks like a Sabretooth Tiger, but the lore states that it is part of the "Legendary Dogs", so... what is it? Is it a fusion between Sabretooth + Wolf?

Absol (#359)

Having both feline and canine features, what is this Pokemon supposed to be?




Any information you can provide is highly appreciated, such as dialogue or text from the mangas, official pokemon book information, etc... anything that is near impossible to deny.

My apologies if this seems weird, but I have a very pre-set way of handling my teams and anything outside of said way doesn't join or even get added to the Pokedex.

(Note: I hack ever game I play to ensure that I start with a cat and do not capture anything else but cats. Yes, I know, that's weird.)

 

[Sheep]

Like you said, I see Espeon as a fox. Its slim features can be attributed to that of a cat, definitely, as can foxes in general, but despite their looks foxes are more closely connected to dogs as members of the candiae family. The Eeveelutions are all supposed to be based on foxes or more like dogs (Jolteon, its cry in the anime is very dog-like, it even whined like a dog when hit in battle) so I'm not sure about using Espeon if you want definitive felines only.

According to the Bulbapedia article Raikou is a tiger-like Pokémon and resembles one before anything else, from the stripes to its claws. I can't see it being anything other than a big cat. The proper term is 'legendary beast' anyway, not 'dog,' right? 'Legendary dogs' or 'legendary cats' was a fan term to begin with anyway if I recall depending on how specific people viewed them. You can also check Bulbapedia's legendary beasts page where this is written at the bottom:

Many refer to them as Legendary cats or Legendary dogs, depending on if they personally see feline or canine features in the individual Pokémon. However, they are more likely based on many different creatures and mythological deities, such as Raijū, the Chinese guardian lions, and the qilin. On top of that, they also seem to have been stylized to fit the classic idea of three jungle cats or jungle beasts—the tiger, lion, and cheetah (or leopard).

Absol also looks feline but that's solely my opinion and we know we can't judge only based on looks, so I'll refrain from saying much about it without any proof.