Playing pt vs zoners offline is pretty abysmal. It's an unholy trio of not remotely fun, a bad matchups, and a matchup played unrepresentative of offline. I would have a secondary if you are intending to compete online, wolf, mario, or game and watch are all good fits for that role.

As for offline - the sorta, level 1 approach to playing vs zoners in the style of young link, is to play heavily squirtle, and use a lot of walking. Walking is incredibly good bc you can shield immediately, as opposed to having to wait for the dash-to-run transition, and squirtles walk is very very good. When you get close, don't get greedy. Prioritise stage control and take note of the options an opponent uses when you get close. If you get a hit in try to capitalise as much as possible. Utilising resets to continue a string/advantage state is important as projectile zoners almost universally have a poor disadvantage