#131: Lapras

Did you ever play Pokemon Snap and subsequently curse this beast for being camera shy? Here's the scoop on Lapras...

One thing that immediately jumps out is the HP stat of base 130, which is moderately well supported by base 80 physical and 95 special defences. 85 in both attack stats is a little low but allows decent damage output from either side, but a speed of 60 will see you massively outsped. Issues arise with the typing: water is generally good, but ice is a let down, and brings in rock and fighting weaknesses to the electric and grass, these two new ones being fairly common in online play. Your resistance to water is further boosted by the ability water absorb, which means that water moves will not hurt you, in fact it will heal you. The next ability is shell armour, which prevents being hit by critical hits, whilst the hidden ability of hydration can cure your status afflictions at the end of each turn when you're in the rain.

NESSIE!

Sing can put foes to sleep and growl lowers the foe's defence, but water gun is the only damaging move you start with as a base 40 water special. Very soon after you get mist which prevents the foe from lowering your stats, and confuse ray confuses your opponent. Ice shard is a base 40 ice physical move with priority, like an ice quick attack, and water pulse is yet another STAB move as a water physical move base 60 which can cause confusion. Body slam is a normal physical move with base 85 power with a chance to paralyse the foe and will always hit a minimized foe, hitting them as base 170 as well. Rain dance will boost your water-type moves whilst also activating hydration, and perish song will kill anything which hears it within a few turns, which could be great or a disaster. Ice beam is another great STAB special with base 90 as an ice move (who would have guessed). Brine hits base 65 as a water special move that doubles in power when the foe's health is below 50%, safeguard protects your team from status conditions, and hydro pump is a base 110 water special attack with poor accuracy and thus is not necessarily worth picking. Sheer cold is another one hit KO move, but that means it also very rarely hits.

You keep getting all the old TM moves, and hail could be taken for persistent damage and making blizzard a viable option over ice beam, so you'd get a fully accurate base 110 attack that would normally have 70 accuracy. Hyper beam is still of minimal worth, as is giga impact. Thunder/bolt are also options you could take, thunder going well with rain dance, like blizzard with hail. Somehow, this water/ice Plesiosaur-a-like gets psychic (it just doesn't look the type to me), yet this is always a good thing, really. Bulldoze comes up instead of earthquake, but frost breath is available as base 60 ice special (90 accuracy) which will always get a critical hit unless the foe's ability (such as shell armour) negates it. HM-wise, you can get surf, waterfall, dive, strength and rock smash, making this a utility vehicle extraordinaire, but for in battle, strength is ok if you run a physical set, waterfall is a decent move, too, with the same power as dive. Dive has the semi-invulnerable turn, whilst waterfall can cause a flinch. Neither packs quite as much power as surf, which runs on the special side of things and will hit everyone around it.

As far as breeding goes, ancient power could be a good investment as a special rock move (base 60) that can grant a boost to all stats, whilst dragon pulse offers a base 90 dragon special move. Fissure offers another chance to waste a move slot on a OHKO move, and freeze dry is a baffling new move with base 70 power: it always is super effective against water-types despite being an ice move, all the while carrying a slight chance to paralyse the foe. Numerous options present themselves at the tutor, such as water pulse (again), dragon pulse, hyper voice, icy wind, shock wave, signal beam and snore as the special choices, and then aqua tail, drill run, iron head/tail, outrage and zen headbutt as the physical side. You can also pick up block and heal bell.

Lapras will no doubt have a lot of special places in hearts, but it isn't the greatest Pokemon by a long shot. It lacks the natural bulk to really go out as a mixed attacker, and lacks the major bulk to be a true tank, whilst the middling attacks need investment to be a threat in any significant way. It's not a bad Pokemon, in fact it's brilliant for getting about, but know its limits.

(All artwork presented by Ken Sugimori, taken from the Bulbapedia image archives)