Wes –
Espeon and Umbreon are obvious picks as his canon starters. Plusle is included for the reasons in my previous post. I included Hariyama because, as the first canonically-encountered Shadow Pokemon, it fits that he would catch and use it - it's a distinctive Gen III species and works well with his other team members. Plusle is there for the reason I outlined in my previous post four years previous (!)
While I feel like each team should be as unique as possible, Skarmory was an interesting choice because it establishes a bond between Wes and his former mentor, Gonzap, and is representive of Orre as a whole since it's seen in the opening cutscene; Togetic is there because it's again a slightly canonical pick in that it's a significant encounter in the story, though Togepi is also one of the e-card bonus Pokemon so it's tied to Wes in two ways. It's also amusing to me to have such a tough and gritty-looking hero such cutesy Pokemon as Plusle and Togetic.
There is a nice symmetry with Wes having Ho-oh and Michael having Lugia so I'm not opposed to that, but Ho-oh always felt more of a bonus than a canonical encounter to me (and you do literally have to snag every other Pokemon to get it, so it's not as if it can actually even be used in the story proper). Fairly happy with these six.
Michael –
I went with Vaporeon as a starter for a few reasons. Firstly is that, though a lot of people seem to like Umbreon as Michael's chosen Eeveelution, I don’t think either Espeon or Umbreon truly works for him and – given XD’s general shift towards Kanto species - he suits one of the original three better. Vaporeon and Jolteon are both his starters in the beta version: Jolteon feels like a nice fit aesthetically but Vaporeon feels more interesting given Orre's desert setting. It also avoids overlap with Electabuzz, who I included on his team because the game gives two separate chances to get it (Hordel’s Elekid, and the shadow Electabuzz on Citadark Isle). Given this, it felt almost canonical and worth inclusion.
The others are largely a matter of taste. Ursaring was included as a forced capture and purification early on in the game. I felt like Michael would have at least one Pokespot Pokemon so went with Jumpluff - as the best capture utility mon in the game, and the most common Oasis Pokespot spawn. Medicham is there to imply he traded with Duking. Dragonite is a good potential option as a presumably canonical capture so I could have gone with that; however, I kind of like Swalot a lot for Michael... not sure why. There's not a shred of canonicity to that one, I just like the visual incongruity of a protagonist using a Poison-type. Rarely happens.
Justy -
I never really cared much about Justy, but his team - and his strategy - are pretty much consistent across both games, so this wasn't too difficult. Actually not that terrible a squad, though evasion hax is tedious.
Gonzap –
Gonzap's team is markedly different between Colosseum and XD, though retains Skarmory as a signature Pokemon. His reliance on Hyper Beam fits all his picks here as big strong (though not terribly sophisticated) heavy hitters; always nice to see Crawdaunt made good use of.
Miror B –
Having multiple of the same species on your team is something I'd consider bad form, but Miror B has always been a rulebreaker. His team varies a lot, but he consistently has four Ludicolo so that's the number I've gone with. However, in XD he will sometimes use a Sudowoodo (indicating that he likes it after having had a Shadow version in Colosseum) and Electrode, of course, matches his hair (while also being generally useful alongside Ludicolo’s Rain Dance).
Dakim –
Not too difficult, Dakim combines Earthquake/Levitate with Sunny Day/Solarbeam so all these fit his style.
Venus –
Venus is an interesting one because her team picks overlap quite a bit with Lovrina’s. I've always headcanoned that the similarity can be explained by her having mentored Lovrina at some point in the past. Her usage of Steelix is fun and on paper quite atypical - Banette and Wigglytuff are two of her more unconventional but characteristic choices, while Raichu and Vileplume are bread-and-butter disruptors. Milotic is her keystone Pokemon here, as it replaces Suicune once snagged.
Ein –
Ein boasts quite a diverse array of Pokemon across his various battles, all of them in keeping with his general Rain Dance theme. While he uses a couple of very powerful Pokemon like Starmie and Gyarados, I've gone for the more offbeat picks over those as his style of play favours stall over power. Huntail is a fun and underused option, while Rhydon is used in two out of his three story battles as a Lightingrod supporter. Lanturn, as a fusion of Electric and Water, makes for an individualistic signature Pokemon.
Nascour – 
Nascour's team is pretty unique, it's just a shame he's so dull. It's nice to have at least one of Orre's trainers be somewhat of a type specialist: Nascour seems to like Psychic-types above all else. Metagross is replaced by Alakazam once snagged, but I think Metagross suits him more and is a more diverse pick given the presence of Xatu and Gardevoir on his team already.
Evice – 
Evice’s team is basically just his team from Colosseum once Slaking is snagged. Very solid stuff.
Agnol –
Agnol's whole thing is just using Pokemon with (mostly) unique type combinations, so this wasn't hard. However, given Skarmory's presence on Gonzap's team, I swapped it out for Cradily, which isn't seen much elsewhere.
Lovrina –
Lovrina's team is a mix of her in-game picks and her Orre Colosseum team. It's weaker on the whole than Venus, which feels appropriate if she is, in fact, Venus' underling. Altaria is one of her Shadow mons, but fits well as it's a cleric-type Pokemon which can stall and layer status impediments quite well like the rest.
Snattle –
Snattle's team wasn't terribly difficult. He favours Pokemon shaped like celestial bodies (Lunatone, Solrock) and consistently uses Quagsire and Castform in his story fights. If I wasn't saving Starmie for another team, I'd give it to him here, but I think its omission is justified considering that most of his Pokemon are on the slower and bulkier side - in Orre Colosseum, his strategy relies on the use of Explosion, which both Glalie and Muk do quite well. Weird then that he'd use Quagsire at all... but if it doesn't have Damp, that's fine. Castform is a versatile option and a good support should Glalie want to set up Hail, or Solrock want to set up Sunny Day I guess.
Gorigan –
Bit of a tricky one, this. Gorigan's strategy in Orre Colosseum revolves around simply having every Pokemon on his team have Intimidate. So his team picks didn't really extend beyond that. Arbok and Stantler aren't used by him in the games, but I've allocated Tauros and Salamence elsewhere and didn't want to be boring. Besides, Arbok and Stantler are decent enough and maintain a smattering of type diversity.
Chobin –
Did this one just for fun. Chobin uses several Pokemon which embody the idea of weakness - Sunkern, Hoppip, Magikarp. His Orre Colosseum team is a Baton Pass one - again utilising the idea of making something weak strong - so I liked mixing the two up. Marowak and Kangaskhan seem like Pokemon that suit him, while Mr Mime and Ninjask are quite zany and unconventional like he is. Sunflora is his beloved Sunkern evolved, while Tropius is used by Chobin in a later in-game battle.
Ardos –
Ardos's signature Pokemon - used memorably in a cutscene and on his boss fight on Citadark Isle - is an Alakazam. Curiously, despite fitting his preferred battle style of using extremely fast Pokemon with powerful moves, it's absent during his Orre Colosseum match which I think is an absolute crime. So it's restored here. Gengar, Sceptile, Starmie, and Aerodactyl are all natural fits - Charizard is not blisteringly fast, but certainly powerful enough for this squad.
Eldes – 
And finally Eldes. Ordinarily I wouldn't go for legendaries for an NPC, but Orre tends to push that point a little more and as the strongest trainer in the games, it feels acceptable. Flygon is used at Citadark Isle and fits with his strategy of using Earthquake with Levitate. Lapras is cool - as an intelligent and compassionate Pokemon, it embodies his character in a way I think works. Tauros and Snorlax, of course, are part of his Orre Colosseum squad.
Not going to do a team for Greevil because I don't think he'd have a fixed set of six - as the wealthy head of Cipher, he presumably owns hundreds of Pokemon and just selects the strongest. But I like what I've done for everyone else. This was fun.
