ame Ame Liddell's "semi-canon" team

[Oscarus]

With V19 being basically done (well, there are some beta-testing to do, I guess... I'm not a game developer, only a fanfiction writer, do not blame me if I make a mistake), one of the devs - Marcello - a few months ago has presented the results of Reborn V19 AI Tournament which, honestly, turned me on. With how it was presented, I presume the final big update might be on the same level as Rejuvenation's Insane Mode. However, I don't think I'll play the game, as I need to focus on studying.

And also because Hardcore Reborn really knocked the wind out of me. Screw you, Solaris, your never-dying Mega Tyranitar, and your lv 97, 3276 EV total, Assault Vest Mega Garchomp.

But I think I'm going out of the topic - as always. To the point now: while looking at the results of League Representatives (Gym Leaders, Elite Four, etc.), and going back to the previous playthroughs I've experienced, walkthroughs I've watched, and gameplays I've seen, I came upon sudden realization... that the MOST important League Representative was completely forgotten.

She might've kill me, but... I'm ready

That's right. The Grand Champion of Reborn League - Ame Liddell.
But before, one question. Is "Ame" the full name, or the diminutive? And if it is diminutive, then the diminutive from what name? Amelia?
But... What do I know? English is not my navite laungage.

And well over 200 words written about nothing... Great.

Okay! Enough blabbing about nothing. Let's get to the point.

From the very beginning, I've always being intrigued by her persona. One of the most mysterious "important characters", and she was there from Day 1, League Chairman who repaired Reborn City and popularized the Reborn League around the world, and Pokemon League Champion whose power, yet not revealed, must've been trendemous.

After all... tell me the name of one Champion who wasn't (IN LORE) strong or cunning enough to be one. All of them were Champions for a reason, agreed?

Unfortunately, we have only seen Ame battling only once... against the possibly worst of the enemies, Meteor Leader Lin. Not only that, we've only experienced ONLY the last seconds of the match (and... outcome). But we can assume the villain dominated the Champion, which happens... extremely rarely.
While that cements Lin as the most fearsome antagonist in Reborn (or even the entire trilogy), I - and probably others too - feel some hunger; hunger for lore knowledge:
- How strong was Ame actually?
- What Pokemon did she use?
- What battle style did she present?
- and others.

While I could, theorically, ask Amethyst those questions, I thought I'd be funnier if I find those questions myself, and... um... create the full version of white-haired enigma; of her team, specifically.

I want to clarify upfront, the created image is not canon (unless Amethyst decides otherwise) and it's more of a fan theory, with elements of canon analysis. Also it is a team for "Ame" the in-game character, not for "Amethyst", the game developer. So, pay that in mind.

Oh, before I begin... Some of the information will be taken from my fanfiction "Pokemon Reborn: The Adventure"; storyline and most of the characters based on the plotline of Pokemon Reborn game, with some personally-added elements, like having my OC as protagonist or some events being changed. The fanfic is 100% non-profit; made for the fun and entertainment of others.

I hope you won't cancel me though, at the time of writing this I've written 38 chapters, and protagonist is about to face Radomus for Millennium Badge so~... Ehe~

Oh, before I forget... I'll ignore the movesets of the Pokemon - just species, and eventually movepools. Because the movesets can be changed, even frequently, like it is the case with Leon's Charizard. Or Ame can have Pokemon knowing, like, 10 moves at once, even those that species can't learn, because who's gonna care about limits when you're Champion, right?
But, I'll say it again, just species plus movepool.

First, an ace - every Pokemon Trainer has one (or two, like Olympia in the anime, but that's rare). And, in this case, the answer will differ between in-game team and anime-like team. I know I shouldn't mix it up, but like... you'll see my reasoning in a while. Basically, only few select Pokemon can succeed in games (if we want them to be "fair"), but in manga and anime, every Pokemon can, even the weakest. Heck, in the manga, Pryce's Deliberd defeated Ho-Oh. A Delibird won a 1vs1 battle against a deity which had a type advantage against them...?
Potassium

Okay, so let's start with the in-game ace. That... wasn't a hard pick.
Lopunny

That was easy - Amethyst hasn't been hiding her fondness of Lopunny (I think she even did a playthrough with only Bunearies and Lopunnies, didn't she?), and Lopunnite can be found in Ame's office, in her "secret room".
While Lopunny on its own isn't phenomenal Pokemon in battling, Mega Lopunny is a monster: 136 Base Attack, 135 Base Speed, Normal-Fighting STAB combo with Scrappy, powerful STAB moves in Return and High Jump Kick and solid coverage moves of Elemental Punches and Iron Tail?! Christ, if that isn't a Pokemon worthy of being Champion's ace, then I don't know what is.

And while I do think Mega Lopunny is a powerful Pokemon... i don't think it suits Ame's aesthetics. She is a firm, serious Grand Champion and leader of Reborn Region, not someone... you know........ *shivers*

So, I have an alternative ace, which is her ace in my fanfiction. In an anime-like world where we don't have to worry about levels, EVs, IVs, base stats or other bullshit, our imagination can go to the moon. However, that ace is a Pokemon that our Champ is actually possessing in game...
Absol

When I looked at her, and was reading her character page on Reborn Wiki to know more about her (also I heavily spoiled myself the story... yikes) I had been genuinely thinking her ace was Mega Absol, before sudden realization.
Aesthetically, it suits her really well, but also in personality:
- Absols live far away from civilization and others, while Ame rarely leaves Grand Hall (usually because she had so much on her head... I guess it's not the case any longer)
- those Pokemon dislikes battling, and Ame herself also fights only when it is necessary
- Disaster Pokemon emit an intimidating aura, and tell me; what's more intimidating than pissed Grand Champion?
Also apparently Absols can live up to 100 years and longer,

Spoiler

unfortunately the same cannot be said about Ame

In my fanfiction, Ame's Absol is seeing battling only one - in a sparing match against protagonist: Oscar Pendragon, and his ace - (Shiny) Sacronian Tyranitar (Rock-Steel).

The battle isn't currently released, but it will. And won't disappoint.

And it showed how powerful Reborn Grand Champion is: despite being nothing more than a friendly duel, both Absol and Tyranitar showcased thier true power. Especially the former: even after taking consecutively Focus Punch, Dragon Hammer and Stone Edge, Disaster Pokemon stood strong and survive the onslaught of Armor Pokemon, who could boast about being undefeated in 1vs1 battles and nearly impossible to defeat, taking down Cynthia's entire team on his own or defeating Leon's Gigantamax Charizard once even without Mega Evolving or Dynamaxing himself.
Who could have thought that the one who rarely confronts could easily break into Ultra Class, and even Master Class if she wanted...

I hope Amethyst won't be mad that I made her character not only more prominent, but also a true powerhouse.

Of course, the other Pokemon that didn't end up as the ace, still is in her team, but not as the ace. So in-game team has Mega Lopunny as ace and Absol, while anime-like team has Mega Absol as ace and Lopunny.

But those are ONLY two Pokemon out of six possible. I know that, for most Champions, one Pokemon is more than enough. But if someone like Cynthia has 12 canonical Pokemon, our Ame can have at least 6.

I know she has a buttload of Pokemon in her office, but those are basically the same species, and having a team of the same species of Pokemon would be unprofessional for a Champion

and Smogon would get a fucking stroke

Continuing, Ame's 3rd Pokemon is the one she is known having in games, just like Absol... And it is the species she has, at least, 30 of them, and even bed for each one.
 

Alolan Ninetales

I'm, honestly, not surprised by this choice. A-Ninetales is a great support as it is the only canon Pokemon to have the Snow Warning + Aurora Veil combo. Also has a powerful offensively STAB combo of Ice-Fairy and strong STAB moves in Moonblast and Blizzard or Freeze Dry. The strong coverage moves Ninetales can learn are Extrasensory/Psyshock, Dark Pulse and Hex. Nasty Plot is good of going for a sweeper Ninetales as its Special Attack is only 81 (and Attack is as low as 67, plus A-Ninetales doesn't have good psyhical coverage). Plus it's just such a beautiful Pokemon.

Spoiler

Fun Fact: as previously mentioned A-Ninetales is the only Pokemon Ame was seen battling with, aganist Lin's Hydreigon, and lost.

Then it and others were taken by Lin as "trophies"

Which is surprising, as Fox Pokemon had the massive type advantage over Brutal Pokemon. That shows how insane PULSE2 is; and it's even more bonkers in my fanfic because... I let the imagination flow and made PULSE2 work like some serious, uber-strong doping, which, um... if the protag wasn't a former Grand Champion himself, he'd be screwed like hell during Battle of Agate.

Now, we have half of Ame's team completed and... it's gonna get a little wonky from now on.
Look, we basically have all the Pokemon Ame had (or was rumored to have) in the game: Alolan Ninetales (which she used against Lin), Absol (which later is an event Pokemon, catchable at level 75... I'll get to that later) and Lopunny (rumored but almost 100% certain)

So... What Pokemon could she actually have? Well... From the game, we literally cannot choose more - there aren't even any hints on what Pokemon she could use, and random choosing would be... just no, it'd be garbage.
However... If you think that I'm hopeless in the current situation, I have to inform you that you've made-

 

In the "Pokemon Reborn - The Adventures", not only the protagonist has an expanded personality, relationships, lore and backstory. Most of the characters have - including our Champ.
Also, when you look at the character pages in Reborn Wiki, almost every major character has an "type speciality", not only Gym Leaders or Elite Four members (but the only time monotype teams are brought into usage are during official Gym Battles). The only ones who don't have any are: Aster, Eclipse, Sirius, Solaris, Gardevoir, Corin-Rogue, Alistasia, John and Ame. But, to most of them, there is - in fact - type speciality, theme or something like that:
- Aster and Eclipse are Meteor Grunts, so of course they have a type-varied theme (Aster however seems to favor Rock- and Ground-type Pokemon; in his last battle 5 of the 6 Pokemon are either Rock or Ground)
- Sirius in the previous versions of the game used a "constellation-based team", but apparently it was so pathetic that most of them were ditched (excluding his former ace Seviper), in favor of new one, which seems to be a glorified version of Grunts' teams, with his ace being dangerous in-and-outside of battle Chandelure.
- Solaris' team is a pure Sandstorm team - a bane of Gen V metagame; with the core of his team being one of the most threatsome trios of entire competitive history: Tyranitar, Excadrill and Garchomp (and apparently Amethyst hates Sandstorm teams; which is a shame cuz I love them)
- Gardevoir, despite being marked as a major character, has never fought as a Trainer (at least not in the game), but if she did, I think she would favor Psychic types
- Corin-Rogue is... why is even labeled as a major character? He's just a petty thief, being a part of the longest quest in the game (for now). Nothing special, honestly. In fact, he has one of the most varied teams in Reborn, with the only overlap being Cacturne and Liepard. Boring~
- Alistasia has never fought... anywhere (as of V18), as the battling in the Agate Circus is the job of Agate Ace Triumvirate. But, I don't why, I think she would be using Fire-types. Because... Ringmasters and fire... somehow works?
- John, as Sigmund's defacto right hand, is using mostly Electric-type theme. Sorry it wasn't such a interesting explanation, it's just that simple.

But Ame... Ame has nothing!
None of her three Pokemon overlap with typing, not even when Mega Evolving, not even thier alternative forms! So, it is impossible to assign her a type speciality.

Or is it?

In fact, in my fanfiction, Ame's past is more well-known. It's not like "revealing all of the hidden cards", but some interesting info, which are actually only exclusive to that fanfic.

But before, I need to bring up some context. In that fanfiction, in the Reborn League there is a special "group" of Trainers known as "Ace Gym Leaders". Those are classified as four strongest Gym Leaders of the Reborn League, those also have the highest win-rate against Gym Challengers of all Leaders, and are said to be on the level of the Elite Four in terms of power. (well... there is one Leader who has the very similar winrate, and is much more experienced than them, but shhhh~).
In that version of Reborn League, those four are the last Gym Leaders to be faced in game: Titania Andersen, Amaria Fiore, Hardy Andersen and Saphira Belrose.
10 years before, however (before the shutdown of Grand Gates and the collapse of Reborn City), that four looked completely different, as no-one of the current set was Gym Leader back then. The four before the destruction was: Adrienn Flores (Fairy), Caroline Belrose (Fire), Radomus Vanhanen (Psychic) and... Ame Liddell (Dark).

Yes, that is right. In my insane, screwed-up Pokemon Universe, Ame used to be Dark Leader (and Ace Gym Leader) of Reborn League before stepping up and becoming the Reborn Grand Champion. As the previous Champion ran away like a wimpy, small-brained coward they were and they don't even have a name; that's how pathetic they were; so much that this completely unknown entity isn't even metionced ONCE!

 

And with that in mind, we can give her at least two Pokemon, aligned with the type speciality, as in Reborn game, every type specialist has at least three Pokemon of thier type speciality (or specialities, like in ZEL's case), if they have assigned one.

And... dear Arceus, if I knew earlier, I would give her a different speciality.
Almost all non-Legendary, non-Mythical, canon Dark types are either weak, have some kind of vengeful nature, are straight-up mean, doesn't suit her asthetically, or combination of some of them.
So... *massive sigh* ...let's just get over with quickly.

But first, I wanna talk about two Pokemon I considered to give Ame, but didn't.

The first is Umbreon - the only Dark-type I think would suit her perfectly.
The problem? That Pokemon is the ace of TWO MAJOR TRAINERS IN REBORN! Both Luna and Zero use it, and it's clearly thier strongest Pokemon, judging by levels because that's the best way to significate the ace in Pokemon.
And I strongly oppose having the ace of major Trainer to be used by a other Trainer: like Solaris and Terra having Garchomp as the ace (and why haven't you given Mega Swampert as her ace? It's a derpy, strong Pokemon with weird yet incredibly powerful Mega; suits her perfectly).
But I'm excluding some situations, like Aster, Eclipse and Hardy using Lycanroc as thier aces, because all of them use a different Lycanroc (Midnight, Midday and Dusk forms respectively). But Hardy having a Midday Lycanroc is a bit too much, honestly.
The other one is Adrienn having Gardevoir, but it isn't as severe, only because I do not think Gossip Gardevoir should be considered as Radomus' ace, as she isn't explicitly his; she used to live in Serra's estate before moving to Vanhanen Castle as Radomus is apparently her... ekhm... "significant other", but he thinks of Gardevoir as a "friend" or "ally" in the best case scenario. So, if you don't think Gardevoir is his ace (or a Pokemon as a whole), then his ace is Metagross, the other Pokemon with a visible level advantage over the rest of his team. But if you think that Gardevoir is Radomus' Pokemon, then she is his defacto ace. Up to you.

Continuing, the other Pokemon which I consider (and it WASN'T my idea, only my friends, who have no idea how the plot of Pokemon Reborn looks like) was Hydreigon... But after what happened in the story, I think it's safe to say that Ame doesn't have a head for Hydreigon.

Spoiler

I'm gonna burn in Hell for that

Excluding those two, the only remaining choices are... are, em... *stutters*...
Bisharp and Krookodile

I'm sorry, but those are the best choices - pretty strong, aren't as evil in lore as the others (Krookodile is often deceptit as the gangster-like Pokemon, but no one in Reborn is saint... excluding Shelly, but she's from Johto, so I don't think that should count), and suit Ame... somewhat. I also considered Weavile, but opted for Krookodile because of the Ground STAB and not overlapping with Ninetales. Plus both are psyhical attackers, because if one of them was special attackers, I'd choose the special one, as the other - except Ninetales - are psyhical attackers or supporters.

And for the last spot, I decided to be generous. Grand Champion's 6th Pokemon will be... a Legendary Pokemon. To be more exact, a Mythical Pokemon!
I have been always wondering why Trainers in Aevium have a great amount of Legendary Pokemon at thier disposition, while Reborn Trainers have, well, none. But when discovered that Normal mode is canon one, where there aren't much Legendaries... like, the number of Trainers that have one could be counted on the fingers on one hand.

But, I think most of you will agree that the Grand Champion herself deserves a Legendary because... let's admit it, the other notable, yet lower-ranked members will (or would) have Legendary of Mythical Pokemon:

Spoiler

- Saphira Belrose has Latias (because... she has it, right? It'd be such a WASTE if she didn't have one, because the Aevium Dragon Leader - Damien Rhaela - has a Latios as his ace. And both Leaders are very similar: Dragon (and final) Leaders of thier respective regions (following in-game logic), have younger sibling(s) (Laura and Charlotte for Saphira and Alexandra for Damien), that younger sibling is an Elite Four/Eight member, parents were/are famous and mighty Trainer (Caroline Belrose was a Fire Leader, and Celine Rhaela is a frickin' Grand Champion of Aevium), both have a strong sense of justice, act protective toward siblings as the big bro/sis they are (and that's why they have/should have that specific Legendary) and are not afraid to pull out more radical methods. So, if she doesn't have one... i'm gonna be very dissapointed)

- Elias Hazel would probably use his "Dittoceus" in battle, to squeeze the best out of MC (and I highly doubt he would be happy with Lin enslaving Arceus and using thier power for her own inscrutable purposes)

- Shaymin would be a perfect fit for Laura Belrose. Despite not being very boosted on Flower Garden Field (and we know this is gonna be the Field Laura would fight; with Bennett Voclain or without him), Shaymin in its Sky Form and its' 60% flinch chance with Serene Grace's Air Slash can be quite a pain (especially in the Singles); I speak from experience

- Heather Molinar... has so many options, I can't honestly pick a specific one. I think the best options would be Zapdos, Tornadus or Thundurus (which suit her temper)

- and the fourth Elite Four member... who am I kidding, it's almost obvious it's gonna be Fantasia Vanhanen - every time Painter wanted to say something about her "rank" or something, she was interrupting him. Not to mention Nostra and Starlight Arena that massively benefits her "doll", which signature move is changed into nuke that no Pokemon wanted to take onto themselves.

 

Spoiler

I wonder how many times have I guessed?

 

Returning to the mainland, I've been analyzing all logical options (of course I won't give Ame a Pokemon that has the status of 'god'), I finally decided and not only the Pokemon suits Ame in terms of character/lore, but also is a great asset to the rest of the team.
Keldeo

The Youngest Sword of Justice (yet Ame, at least in my fanfic, isn't the youngest of characters, being in her early 30s'; not as old as Solaris, Serra or Elias though), who is willing to help the weak from the evil, training under Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion, eventually surpassing them and leaving them, probably to fight evil head-on on thier own.
Just like Ame, who does everything she can (just "off-camera") to resurrect Reborn City and stop the chaos expansion.
The hidden hero of our journey!
The perfect pick not only lore-wise but gameplay-wise, giving her a reliable Special Sweeper with great offensive capabilities. It's special coverage is very meh, but we can bullshit through and add on some really unfair (for opponents) moves like Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam or Earth Power.

And so, we have a full team for Reborn Grand Champion Ame Liddell:
- (Mega) Lopunny (ace in the games)
- (Mega) Absol (ace in the anime)
- Alolan Ninetales
- Bisharp
- Krokoodile
- Keldeo

 

Is it a cool team?
Hell yeah it is!
Is it a perfect competitive team?
Uhhh...

Some of these Pokemon can learn moves like Aerial Ace, Zen Headbutt, Psycho Cut, Poison Jab, Iron Head and a few others, plus some illegal moves for some spicyness, so they aren't completely hopeless against Fighting and Fairy teams.

I know I'm not a competitive expert - far from it - but this team wasn't made to impress Smogon representatives or VGC Champions, but to represent one of the most *underrated* Pokemon Champions of all.

And if someone dares to negate that by quoting THAT ONE SENTENCE-...
Well... Perhaps one of the dialogues from my fanfic will speak for myself:

 

Oscar: -still feeling the pain in the kidneys-   That Blake... I swear, if I get to him-

Shelly: -holding Oscar's arm-   No...! ...y-you can't kill him, please!

Oscar: Oh! Wait, no no! I do not want to kill him, Shelly.
...I just want to gently snap his neck.

 

Anyways, I wonder if Amethyst (or any of the devs, to be fair) is going to see this...
To be honest, I have a very low expectations (and self-esteem), but if one of them at least commented and shared thier opinion (even if this was a death threat or ridiculing my person), I would be overjoyed.

Spoiler

I'll get myself killed for those dark jokes for sure...

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Oscarus
Lots of non-hidden spoilers and such

[Dark Legend]

cool

[Amethyst]

 

dark types are nice, but imagine not having fairies be 90% of my team

[Evi Crystal]

Now this is pretty cool interpretation of Ame's team you made. I'm impressed

Reminds me, that I also have my own version of her team for my Rebornfic as well

 

Also, I just happen to be one of the readers of your Reborn fanfiction and I'm enjoying this so far. Welcome to the forums, Oscarus

 

 

[andracass]

protip to save people's eyes in the future

ctrl + shift + v will paste without formatting

so you can get rid of that white background

[Dark Legend]

48 minutes ago, andracass said:

protip to save people's eyes in the future

ctrl + shift + v will paste without formatting

so you can get rid of that white background

My eyes did kinda dye reading that...

[Oscarus]

13 hours ago, andracass said:

protip to save people's eyes in the future

ctrl + shift + v will paste without formatting

so you can get rid of that white background

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind

I copied that from WordPad (that project is 2 months old; I was afraid to send it though), and couldn't repair it

[Oscarus]

On 1/20/2022 at 8:46 PM, Amethyst said:

 

dark types are nice, but imagine not having fairies be 90% of my team

tries to maintain calm attitude (and not have an attack of fanboying)

 

I-... I've actually was considering making her Fairy-type specialist, since Reborn has 2 notable Dark Specialists (Luna, Zero) and only 1 Fairy one (Adrienn). Technically-, there are 2 Fairy known specialists, but the other one was an unfortunate policeman from Jasper Ward, so... 

Also, Ame looks a bit more of a Dark-specialist than Fairy-specialist. Maybe because of white hair, "seemingly black" eyes and darker colors of clothes. 

 

Also, I have considered other Pokemon for the team that you've claimed to adore (like Vaporeon), but since I sticked to the rule of "giving as much canon Pokemon as possible" and "minimum 3 Pokemon with aligned type speciality" (because, as I noticed, in Reborn every non-Gym Battle against opponent with type speciality has at least half of team with type aligned to the speciality), so there was one spot left, as no Dark-type Legendary or Mythical would suit her personality. And I wanted to honor her with Legend. 

 

What to add...? Honestly, I dunno. But yes - if I picked a Fairy specialization, I would have much easier job. 

Also... I would have picked Fairy specialization if Mega Absol was Fairy-Dark from the beginning. And why it isn't? It's a literal "Angel of Death" - sorta like Ame (despite her not being as blood-thirsty as Titania, Saphira or Oscar). So, why Angel of Death isn't Fairy-type, but some pink mime is? 

 

Oh, pray forgive the discourtesy of complaining about nonsense topics and that dark humor... Nevertheless, I think you've found it at the very least interesting 

[Oscarus]

23 hours ago, Evi Crystal said:

Now this is pretty cool interpretation of Ame's team you made. I'm impressed

Reminds me, that I also have my own version of her team for my Rebornfic as well

And now, I'd like to see how your version looks like? Relax, I won't overanalyze it or complain - I just love seeing others' works.

 

23 hours ago, Evi Crystal said:

Also, I just happen to be one of the readers of your Reborn fanfiction and I'm enjoying this so far.

Thank you. Currently, it's on hiatus as I try to correct the mistakes as... they're too many of them to list - I've written everything in the "INFO" "chapter". If everything is corrected, I might promote it here, as it's... Literally one of the two actual fanfictions about Reborn on Wattpad (or probably anywhere else). By that I mean those who have actual plot, have more chapters than 3 or 4, and aren't some shitposting. 

23 hours ago, Evi Crystal said:

Welcome to the forums, Oscarus

Thank you. This seems like a warm, interesting place. Full of talented people.