The Pokémon Company announced the next mainline set of games during the annual Pokémon Day event on Friday, which also revealed its starters. Pokémon: Wind and Waves introduces the grass chick Browt, the fire dog Pombon, and the water gecko Gecqua.
Some fans quickly noticed that Pombon’s name and powers are very similar to a character from two existing games: Pombomb, a fire dog from publisher Raw Fury’s Cassette Beasts (2023) and Moonstone Island (2023).
In the Cassette Beasts Subreddit following Friday’s Pokémon Presents stream, a user posted Pombon’s title card in a thread named “New Pokemon [sic] Is Pombomb.” Users quickly poured in to express similar sentiments and to celebrate not being alone in their thoughts. They also discussed whether Nintendo knowingly copied Raw Fury’s beloved fire dog or if it’s all a coincidence.
Similar posts comparing the two fire dogs have cropped up across social media sites, including Instagram and Bluesky. Several artists have even drawn the two playing together, celebrating their similarities.
Although there are clear differences between Pombomb and Pombon, it’s notable that their similarities have already generated so much discussion among fans. Many players take no issue with Pokémon having a fire Pomeranian. Dogs are cute! More dogs, please!
Some, however, have pointed out that Nintendo, an infamously litigious company that is very protective of its IP, sued the indie game Palworld for being too similar to Pokémon in its mechanics. These fans say that for Nintendo and GameFreak (the Pokémon developers) to then reveal a starter so similar to an existing character from an indie publisher’s IP is, at best, per one Redditor, “lazy.”
Raw Fury’s Cassette Beasts and Moonstone Island also feature turn-based combat in which players can capture and tame wild spirits, putting them in the same genre as Palworld and Pokémon. As one Redditor points out, Nintendo and GameFreak are overdue in realizing that monster-taming games are a genre unto themselves, and Pokémon does not get to stand alone in that space.
It seems unlikely that there will be any court litigation here, leaving debate up to fans regarding Pombon and Pombomb. Everyone seems to be able to agree on one thing, though: The Pokémon Wind and Waves starters deserve better, less terrifying evolutions than their predecessors.
Pokémon Wind and Waves is slated for simultaneous release for Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027.
Moonstone Island and Cassette Beasts are available now for Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Xbox.
