Fuck it, Ivy and Zack get pokémon teams too.
explanations under the cut
For Ivys team, primeape, incineroar and barbaracle are based on ivys talents in fighting/hand to hand combat. Primeape also reflects some of ivys anger problems and incineroar reflects her dressing up as the tigress. flapple was what i like to imagine a gift from joshua (flapples evolve from applins, which can be given to someone as an expression of love). Toucannon is based on ivys care and protection for her brother as toucannons are shown to be protective of their flocks, also ties into the anger thing. Mamoswine has the least basis tbh, these guys hit like trucks and also have connections to old as hell history. which zack and ivy know a lot about
I also think Hitmontop would fit her well but I took it out to keep type diversity. Also hitmontops are really difficult to get anyways, i can imagine her working for days to try to get her tyrogue to evolve into hitmontop but oops it became a hitmonlee (in order to get a hitmontop the attack stat and defense stat of the tyrogue must be EXACTLY the same). Tho it does fit ivy in the way that getting a hitmontop shows a sense of mastery, tying into Ivy having a blackbelt.
Onto zack's team. alolan persian is the most simple one, its based on zacks love of cats displayed in episode 5 and the russian blue hair that takes a liking to him. starmies have ties to space/aliens, which zack displays interests in multiple times, they also can emmit radio waves somehow (oh also him and ivy being STAR detectives). Porygon z, rotom, klinklang and iron bundle all tie into zacks interest in tech. porygonz and rotom are also associated with tech going too far and being mishandled, evolving porygon2 into porygonz causes it to take on erratic and strange behaviors, the tech that allows this evolution was made so that porygon2 could get even stronger and "better" even if porygon 2 is still a pretty good pokemon. rotoms meanwhile are capable of possessing electronics and wreaking havoc, theyre notoriously troublesome even if they can be used for better tech. iron bundle and klingklang are associated with old legends and zack and ivy are into history.
