Theory about Lin's Pokemon (major spoilers)

[Between Life and Death]

So when Lin battles you in Titania's gym, she uses an Alolan Ninetales--leading one to believe she took Ame's for herself. Later, she uses a Gardevoir to suck Samson into the void. This, of course, is leading to speculation that she somehow broke Gossip Gardevoir's will and is controlling her now. That would make Lin terrifyingly powerful, since Gardevoir was so intensely loyal to Radomus that she had sacrificed herself for him just ten minutes earlier.

 

But wait...haven't we seen Gossip Gardevoir being disloyal once before? Oh right, that was a Ditto.

 

So what if Lin's Gardevoir is also a Ditto? And the same with her Ninetales? What if she's just screwing with you to make herself seem more powerful than she really is?

[Q-Jei]

That's a possibility, but personally, I doubt she would use Elias' methods to trick the player. This has already been done before, and it would be against Lin's concept of pure unbridled power. However, I support this theory of broken will. This one makes more sense in the current situation, especially if you take one of the PULSE Machines into consideration: PUSLE2. According to Evelyn's dialogue, this PULSE in particular enables Team Meteor to have augmented Pokemon and allows them to have 252 EVs in every stat, which removes the 510 EVs total limit. And not just that, it can also be used to affect the will of the Pokemon themselves, so Team Meteor can turn them against their respective owners as they please. According to the PBS files, it's indicated that Solaris' Garchomp has been through this type of maximization before we face him in Agate City, so it would make sense if Lin's team was made of Pokemon with 252 EVs in every stat. As for the Pokemon that Lin will use in fight, I think they will partly be stolen Pokemon who can perform well in the New World field.

[Between Life and Death]

Oh wait, I never saw that dialogue from Evelyn. You're probably right.

 

That said, I don't think faking her power level in that way would be off-brand for Lin. Seeming much more powerful than one is to intimidate others is a form of power in itself. As Charlotte puts it, "you can make people lose control by convincing them they never had any."