The Pokémon Company has just unveiled the next generation of Pokémon games, Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves, and with it the three new starter Pokémon who we'll choose a partner from to accompany us on our journey. Among those starter Pokémon is a cute little Fire-type pomeranian-inspired dog named Pombon, and within seconds of its reveal, fans were begging it to stay on all four legs.
please let pombon remain on all fours, please arceus
— 𝓶𝓲𝓶𝓸𝓾 🧸🎀🌹 ꒰ bear vtuber ꒱ (@mimourie) February 27, 2026
If this is confusing to you, you probably have a healthy relationship with how many limbs creatures tend to stand on, but as I'm also in the "please don't stand up, Pombon" camp, allow me to explain. Pokémon starters tend to come in two varieties: two legs (and two arms/wings), and four legs. And often, those Pokémon will change how many limbs they are standing on at some point in their evolutionary lines. As an example, Mudkip starts on four legs, but when it evolves into Swampert, it stands on two, with its two front legs now serving as arms.
Pombon pls stay on all fours 🥺👉👈 https://t.co/BVoAGo9Z8b
— AL (@notalomaga) February 27, 2026
What fans are upset about is how in recent generations, most quadrupedal starter Pokémon end up standing up on two legs by the time they fully evolve. For example, Sprigatito, the grass cat from Scarlet and Violet, starts on four legs, ends on two. Sobble and Grooky from Sword and Shield do the same thing. As does Litten from Sun and Moon, Fennekin and Froakie from X and Y, and Tepig from Black and White. If that doesn't sound like too much, note that in almost every single generation, the starter Pokémon I didn't list above are already on two legs when introduced and stay there, so the end evolutionary result is often a trio of bipeds.
There has been one happy recent exception in Fuecoco from Scarlet and Violet, who started on two legs and actually put its arms down and became a quadruped in its final evolution to Skeledirge. And there are other older exceptions as well, like Popplio (two flippers and a tail, admittedly, but it stayed that way all through its evolutionary line), Snivy (started with two legs and two arms, ended with zero limbs, a snake), Oshawott (did the same thing as Fuecoco and became a quadruped), and early Grass-type starters who stayed on all four like Turtwig, Chikorita, and Bulbasaur.
