ATLA HEADCANONS FOR THE PKMN SM CAST!!
(repost or comment if im missing someone u adore or you disagree w/ me, i wanna see your thoughts!)
I’ll give explanations for some, for others I feel like they’re obvious.
Despite him being an electric type Pokémon trainer, I see him as an inventor so I feel like he’d be skilled at metal bending and making machines. It also correlates with Molayne and perhaps his cousin could even be his metal bending teacher.
HEAR ME OUT, again she is a grass type trainer, but earth is more correlated to rock, ground and steel, and there’s the benders in the forest that use water to manipulate vines and plants, so Mallow could learn how to do that.
Snowy is ice— but also Water is the element of change and Lillie showed absolute growth throughout the series, and I believe it would be amazing for her to learn how to water bend to show it.
Him being Earth makes sense. He seems very grounded and works hard for his goals. Him being an Earthbender shows he works with the roots of Alola. He’s quite skilled at it too! He even learned a sub-bending technique that he doesn’t show often…
Kahuna Hala - Earth/Non-bender
It goes both ways to be honest for me. Earth makes sense as Kukui’s mentor, but also considering the other Kahunas are Olivia and Hapu who are going to fall under Earth anyway— it gives an unfair ratio to the Kahuna mix-up. So I think Non-bender could also be an interesting choice because he’s a fighting type Kahuna, so he could’ve learned techniques like chi-blocking or something adjacent to the Kyoshi Warriors. He’s definitely a physical fighter though.
Alolan Oak - Non-bender/Fire
idk man— I just don’t see him with a bending style or maybe Fire because of his Kantonian Vulpix?
Same reason as Lillie. He started as aloof and alone, but in the end of the series he has friends, he spends time with his family to find Mohn, he befriends Silvally, and gains new rivals. Water definitely suits him.
Both Jessie and James are firebenders. I think their personalities fit with firebenders, and with their backstories too. Though I think James leans into lightning bending since LoK witnesses lightning bending used for machinery and James is good with tinkering. Jessie just has that fire so— firebender!
Kahuna Olivia - Earth (DUH)
One of my HCs (which I will flesh out later) is that Kukui, Olivia, Molayne, and Guzma are childhood friends— with Guzma drifting apart from the three. Olivia is a traditional Earthbender who doesn’t use sub-bending like her two friends.
She’s quite cheerful, and she let Ash go on his journeys too! I think she believes in the art of being a free bird and exploring the giving world of Pokémon
Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp - Non-benders
(yes there are more characters, but these are the main people in Season 01)
Lusamine - Non-bender/Water
She’s giving me Asami vibes— she isn’t a bender, but she’s super smart in business and is stylish and savvy with her words! The only reason I believe water is because there’s a fight with her and she can battle
Faba - Non-bender/maybeeee air?
I said maybe air because for some twisted reason he somehow figured out spirit-bending and used it to terrorize children.
Professor Burnet - Non-bending/Water
Logically: She has no battle prowess, so she would go in non-bending.
Characterwise: She loves diving, she does scuba diving for research, she loves the smell and the sound of the waves, she MEDITATES ON A SURFBOARD ON THE SEA. She’s from Pokémon New York they’re near the water too
She’s a water bender your honor.
Masked Royal (Kukui pt. 2) - Earth
(who’s the Masked Royal? Nobody knows and it’s certainly not Professor Kukui— hahaha)
He is a master in lava-bending. He uses it during Battle Royals (imagine the arena in LoK but like wrestling). He doesn’t use lavabending without the mask because the Royal donned a special move for his sport that if he uses outside of his mask consider his identity COOKED.
Also him being one of Ash’s lavabending teachers would he cool (I assume another one would he in Hoenn because they have a volcano over there).
He specializes in spirit-bending and understanding dark spirits, he’s a police officer too so perhaps he uses spirits to help with his job.
Well because of the spirits mainly
Metal Bending— I explained in Sophocles, Kukui, and Olivia’s desc why.
She’s obnoxiously carefree.
Matori Matrix (Team Rocket) - Non-bender/Earth
Gozu - Earth, he specializes in Metal bending— which is how Faba finds out about the Masked Royal’s identity in this AU because they were struggling against a metal bender (because Faba is weak and Kukui basically got every attack throne back and more), and because not many lava benders exist to defend against lava or redirect it, Kukui had to use it to get the victory in that battle.
Either because he’s Hala’s grandkid or because he’s a Decidueye trainer and grass = water somewhat
Backing this up with the theory that Dia is Kukui and Burnet’s child in an Alola where Ash never arrived. I think him being an Earthbender fits his stubborn determined personality.
Kahuna Hapu - Earth (duh)
flying tyoe trainer— also we are LACKING air benders in Alola
Because she can bend poison and aim for the face holes and then give a “good luck” when she’s done
That’s all the biggest ones I can think of! Honestly I hope my reasonings cut it, otherwise I’d love to hear your thoughts! I didn’t add parents much because I think it would be obvious kinda.
