Nah that was just someone unfamiliar with eastern mythology. In Chinese (and later Japanese) mythology, there are serpentine dragons who come from humble carp/koi who possess the determination to swim up a waterfall.

Here’s a Japanese artwork that predates Pokémon

They switched and dropped a few evos around during development, if i remember right blastoise was going to be from a diffent evolution line from squirtle-wartortle starters

And i think kangaskhan had a pre evolution