#Honestly no other pokemon fits that has the restrictions I've set for him

[kelbunny]

Honestly you know what? I'm taking the cop-out route.

PMD Trousseau will be a spritzee

[dittomander]

What Pokémon do you think the four amigos would start with

hey anon? I want you to know that this is literally one of my favorite asks i've ever gotten. I love it so much I'm answering it twice - once on the assumption that we're restricted to actual Starter Pokemon, and once selecting from any unevolved Pokemon:

Starter Pokemon Only

Gabe, Mateo, and Naomi: Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie, respectively. the Kalos starters' final forms are based around the concept of the fighter/mage/thief trio, which I'd say fits the vibes of the amigos minus Elena pretty well. the typing also fits - Naomi with a water starter is kind of a gimme, and the more grounded Gabe vs. the more impulsive Mateo with grass and fire respectively also works well (as does Mateo's starter having a type advantage over Gabe's, given that whole S3 arc with Gabe struggling to keep up with his magical teammates)

Elena: honestly, gonna go with Fennekin as well. like she was obviously gonna get a fire type starter, and I tossed around the idea of some of the fire/fighting types, but none of Torchic, Chimchar, or Tepig really feel very "Elena", and I tossed around the idea of Litten bc of her affinity with the jaquins, but I think Fennekin is the best bet here. She is still primarily a spellcaster herself, after all, and with Fennekin being based off a fox, it can also serve as a visual reference to Zuzo. Also, I do kinda like the idea of all 4 of them getting a starter from the same set, and if any of the amigos were to pick the same one, it'd be Elena and Mateo, let's be real here.

No Restrictions Apply

Naomi: oh, Eevee, easy. what better Pokemon to tie into an arc about indecision and trying to figure out what you want from life than the manifestation of choice paralysis? Just take her season 3 arc and add in "oh no what do I evolve my Eevee into" as a metaphor and boom. (Vee votes Vaporeon, btw.) Also, giving her a normal type that can end up as virtually any type works well with her being the party's token "normal" person, just a girl from the port, that often tends to have whatever random skill is needed to solve the problem-of-the-day.

Gabe: he. he literally has a horse named "fire". Ponyta. but that's such a gimme, so I'm gonna toss some others in the hat. I considered Honedge since, y'know, sword, but a ghost sword is also pretty much exactly what El Guapo is, and Gabe definitely didn't start with that. Growlithe is another possibility - in the Pokemon universe, Growlithe is used as a police dog, and Gabe's family is shown as having a dog in Team Isa. And honestly, I could see the argument for still Chespin, actually, since if anyone in this party could have the whole array of every possible unevolved Pokemon available to them to start with and still end up with one of the more "standard issue" starters, it'd be Gabe, and I do think that Pokemon fits him. Catch me in the club, building an entire team for him at this rate lol. But critically, not Treecko. Anything but Treecko.

Mateo: as the party's resident barrier boy, a more defense-based psychic type seemed like a good fit. my first thought was Wynaut, since what are Mirror Coat and Counter if not ximocu, but Pokemon moves? But I think I'm gonna lock in Mime Jr.. It might not learn the former two moves, but that line is still based around set-up and shielding, it ties in with how Mateo is more prone to mirroring and mimicry than the other amigos, and it makes his being a clown in Elena's dream that much funnier. (I could also argue Abra, since I think it'd be cute if Alacazar's grandson started with Alacazar's Alakazam's grandson.)

Elena: Riolu! In the absence of fire, giving her a fighting type feels right (especially since it picks up a steel typing later and her particular brand of fighting involves swords), but far more important are its dex entries. Riolu and Lucario are incredibly loyal, have a very strong sense of justice, and can both sense other people's emotions and project their own, which both just vibes with Elena's personality and also honestly seems like a Pokemon that'd be really good and grounding for her to have around. And then the aura thing - in the games, it's just the emotion sensing thing and the move Aura Sphere, but in the anime, aura use also manifests as the ability to interact with special aura-using objects and supernatural awareness of ones' surroundings, which I feel like Elena's "seeing ghosts" thing would fall under. Basically what I'm saying is that in a Pokemon crossover, Elena would aura-sensitive, so giving her an aura-sensitive Pokemon makes sense. Oh yeah also in the 8th movie a Lucario got trapped in temporal stasis in a crystal for a really long time so....

...although really, Elena can start with literally anything but the Hattrem line lmao