Ellerean.
Merric without prologue or insta-calibur - which were Merric's best features. (Well, Ellerean can Excalibur if he eats the ch8 Arms Scroll. Bleh.)
Merric gains speed much easier, and Ellerean's 1 speed base lead can be negated by Merric's prologue experience.
Ellerean's got better HP/Def, but I have no idea if that makes any significant difference later on - also, 2 luck with only 30% growth makes me uneasy.
Probably the best thing I can say about Ellerean is that he gives Wendell the opportunity to deliver an awesome verbal smackdown.
3.5/10
(Also, the Jeorge link is still broken, and the Shiida link does definitely not lead to Shiida)