Chapter 788 - 787: The Terror of the Dragon Slayer
Just like Cain and Cynthia, Diantha also used Pokémon without a fixed type. However, Lorelei specialized in Ice-type Pokémon, which gave her a considerable advantage in this battle.
Interestingly, nearly half of Diantha’s Pokémon were vulnerable to Ice-type moves, which only deepened her initial disadvantage. Although some matchups resulted in mutual weaknesses, the circumstances were not in Diantha’s favor.
The first Pokémon Diantha sent into battle was a Hawlucha, a Fighting and Flying-type, a confident and egotistical Pokémon. Lorelei, for her part, chose Lapras as her lead Pokémon.
Although Hawlucha had the Flying type, it couldn’t truly fly—only glide—limiting its ability to capitalize on that advantage.
Furthermore, Hawlucha excelled at close combat, which made it even harder to fight against a Lapras that, with its Ice and Water typing, was a formidable opponent.
Lapras managed to overpower and defeat Hawlucha.
Diantha responded by sending out Aurorus, a Rock and Ice-type Pokémon, which succeeded in defeating Lapras. However, the effort took a toll, and Aurorus was weakened when facing Lorelei’s second Pokémon: Dewgong.
Aware of the advantage Water-type moves could provide, Lorelei used Dewgong to take down Aurorus without much trouble.
At this point, it seemed Lorelei had only a slight lead, as Diantha had lost two Pokémon. However, those who knew Diantha understood her situation was complicated.
Of the Pokémon she had left—Tyrantrum, Gourgeist, Goodra, and Gardevoir—three were weak to Ice-type. While Tyrantrum, being Rock and Dragon-type, could offer some resistance, Gourgeist and Goodra were clearly at a disadvantage.