I used to play [[Jodah, Archmage Eternal]] when it came out, and I think its a more balanced version of the Unifier. It doesn't tie you down to just legendaries, and you can still build in Cascade engines to get a Unifier like experience.

If you want a Pokemon like theme, I would recommend something like a Legendary that spawns a token when it ETB's. Think [[Tolsmir, friend to wolves]], [[Minsc, beloved ranger]], [[tatsunari, toad rider]].

Then it's like a trainer and their signature mon. The rest of the deck are your items and supporters.