With unique creatures like the badgermoles in Avatar, it's easy to picture Pokémon in the same world teaching Earthbenders a thing to two.
The world of Avatar is well known for its four "bending" arts. These are mystical talents that combine martial arts and the masterful ability to manipulate the elements of water, earth, fire, and air. While refined over centuries by their human users into their now familiar form, three have roots in the elemental abilities of various animals.
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While water draws upon the moon and the tides, earth, fire, and air draw upon the powers of the badgermoles, dragons, and sky bison respectively. With such unique creatures, it's easy to picture Pokémon roaming the same world, leading to speculation about which ones might have taught humans the various bending arts.
Partly based on truffle hogs, this small pig-like Pokémon spends its days hunting down aromatic grasses and berries to eat. It does this using its strong sense of smell to find the favored food. While relatively small, Lechonk is packed with muscle and therefore deceptively strong.
As one of the newer Pokémon, it may be too early to know the full extent of Lechonk's abilities, but between its truffle hog inspiration and great physical strength, it could certainly make a decent teacher for an amateur Earthbender.
Between its razor-sharp mane and its indomitable and ferocious fighting spirit, few things stand up to a Lycanroc bonded with its trainer. Lycanroc's signature move, Accelerock, only solidifies its fighting prowess, which combines extraordinary speed with the durability of stone.
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While all three forms have different strengths, in dire circumstances, they all have access to the powerful z-move, "Splintered Stormshards." This allows them to channel their fighting spirit to levitate and launch dozens of massive pointed boulders at their foe – a technique that'd make any Earthbender proud.
Able to carry and crush boulders with its ears, Diggersby is often used as a replacement for less mobile excavation equipment in the Pokémon world. While strong (even as a Bunnelby), they get along well with humans due to their rare mix of raw strength and friendliness.
In the world of Avatar, they could fulfill a similar a role, while their ability to shake the earth itself certainly compares to many Earthbending techniques. Both Bunnelby and Diggersby also learn several potent fighting-type moves, including the various "punch" attacks.
Modeled after a giant armored mole, Excadrill bears a strong resemblance to the Badgermoles that taught Earthbending to humanity. Able to burrow at tremendous speed and with an array of powerful moves, they certainly match up well against the Badgermoles.
Badgemoles are also notable for helping the first two Earthbenders, Oma and Shu, dig the legendary Cave of Two Lovers near the city of Omashu. Likewise, Exadrill is known for carving out mazelike caves worth being remembered in songs like the "Secret Tunnel."
The desert-dwelling Si Wong people of the Earth Kingdom adapted to their sandy home long ago by creating the unusual art of Sandbending. Likewise, Sandlash has adapted to the arid regions it's native to, mastering the sands themselves for both offense and defense in battle.
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In an Avatar world full of Pokémon, the Sandbenders may have created their swift and agile sand-sailers in an attempt to copy the speed increasing Sand Rush ability of Sandslash, while its other attacks could have easily inspired the more combative uses of this Earthbending variant.
Quagsire would make an excellent Mudbender, which is a rare form of Earthbending. In fact, the only known master of Mudbending is Toph Beifong. While borrowing concepts from Waterbending, Mudbending makes use of the particles floating within mud rather than the liquid containing them.
Mudbending could be viewed as an earth equivalent to water's "Foggy Swamp Style" and Plantbending. For example, it makes use of non-standard motions for their element and an unorthodox material. While Quagsire does possess some aquatic abilities, its mastery of mud makes it a good fit for this niche.
As shown early in Avatar The Last Airbender, Earthbenders are able to manipulate coal. While this skill was of little use within the show itself, in a crossover world where Coalossal existed, it would be easy to see Coalbending used more.
Said to have heated entire villages during a devastating cold wave, Gigantamax Coalossal possesses enough power to rival the strongest Earthbenders, and possibly even an avatar. This tremendous strength could have led to people trying to learn how to harness its power for themselves.
With a body full of lava, what better Pokémon to teach the art of Lavabending than a Camerupt or Numel? As one of the rarest forms, it's easy to mistake Lavabending for a twist on Firebending, but while it does produce extreme heat, no energetic plasmas are present.
Only a tiny handful of Earthbenders have mastered this art, but they've generally used it to devastating effect. This is due to the versatility granted by the molten material and the damage from the heat, which combine to make a fearsome tool and weapon in the wrong hands.
First limited to only a single bender, Toph, she eventually taught the esoteric art of Metalbending to many others over her lifetime. While the method only truly caught on in Korra's time, it'd prove exceedingly useful to both Republic City and the city of Zaofu.
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With its impressive magnetic powers, Probopass can manipulate its "mini-noses" like they're a part of its body. Consequently, it'd make an excellent teacher for any new students of Metalbending, especially in a world where benders learned it from fauna first.
Having learned to manipulate earth from their time spent in the mirelands of the Hisui region, Ursluna also draws upon the power of the moon to perform supernatural feats. While normally the domain of Waterbenders and Firebenders, Ursluna could be a celestial anchor for intrigued Earthbenders.
To become an Ursaluna, an eligible Ursarang must search for the perfect peat and then meditate upon it under the light of the full moon. Such a journey truly fits an originator of a bending style, as well as a mighty guardian Pokémon.
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