Omg update.
I recently had an idea of doing a dex for my home country, New Zealand. So here are the starters:
part 1 part 2
Grass line is based off various plants (flax being the main one), which is what the "hair" is supposed to be. The final stage's body and limbs are actually the kauri tree, which is a native NZ tree (I know you can't tell without colour), and there's a Maori warriorish theme that develops throughout the evolution chain. Grass -> Grass -> Grass/Fighting.
Water line is Hector's dolphin, then pilot whale, then right whale; all stylised with Maori-style tattoos to prevent them from being too generic. The thing on the final form's head is supposed to be an iceberg. Water -> Water -> Water/Ice.
Fire line starts off as a gecko and ends as a tuatara, with the middle stage being a mixture of the two (I hope). Honestly this was the best idea I got for a Fire type, since NZ isn't really a place of heat much if at all. Fire -> Fire -> Fire/Dragon.
I plan on doing a few more and perhaps even a full dex if motivation doesn't give up on me. If any NZ users want to pitch in ideas as to some animals I could base stuff off then go nuts and I'll try to use your ideas.