Samtendo09
Ability: Light Power
Again, wholeheartedly disagreed with Grapploct regarding not having Water-type because of SwSh already introducing a lot of mono Fighting Pokémon, thus making Clobberpus and Grapploct standing out less than it would if it is Fighting / Water among the SwSh-introduced Fighting mons. Sure, there’s Rapid Strike Urshifu, but then that makes two lines of new Figthing / Water compared to three mono Fighting Pokémon lines.I have an original and perhaps unpopular opinion. Lapras should be a Dragon - Ice type Pokémon, instead of Water - Ice.
If I were ignorant of Lapras' actual type, and asked to guess what type I think it is based only on its design, Psychic, Rock, and especially Dragon would be just as likely to come to my mind as Water or Ice.
In beta versions of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, Lapras was named Ness after the Loch Ness monster. Dragon type Pokémon are usually rarer (the Ness monster's existence is unconfirmed) and more powerful (Lapras' Base Stat Total is on par with the likes of Porygon-Z, Rhyperior, and Duraludon) than other Pokémon. In Generation I artwork, Lapras is shown bearing teeth that it loses in later games. Lapras may have been meant to be a more menacing creature, which would better suit a Dragon Pokémon. Lapras being Dragon type would have helped RBY's in-game balance, though not drastically. In RBY, only three Dragon type Pokémon existed, those being Dratini and its evolution family. Other Water - Ice type Pokémon already existed in the game, such as Cloyster and Dewgong.
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As early as Gen II, Lapras was capable of learning Dragon type moves, such as Dragon Breath. Since then, it has gained options in Dragon Pulse and Dragon Dance, among others. Lapras also has a type diverse move pool, one which includes Hyper Beam, Charm, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Drill Run, and Megahorn.
A Lapras is used by the Unova Pokémon League Champion Iris, who specializes in Dragon type Pokémon. Even the non-Dragon Pokémon she uses, Lapras, Aggron, and Archeops if you squint, have slightly draconic designs. Red's Pokémon team would have no type overlap if Lapras was a Dragon - Ice type. This is nitpicky, but I personally prefer when Champions have type diverse teams, and moreso in Red's case because he is the original, ultimate Pokémon trainer.
Some players would say that Lapras should be a Water Pokémon instead, as Lapras nearly always appears in water in other Pokémon media and has Pokedex entries that detail how Lapras lives in water. Several other Pokémon make habitats in and have lore concerning water environments, and they are not Water type. Examples include Dragonite (Dragon - Flying), Lugia (Psychic - Flying), Dragalge (Poison - Dragon), Dhelmise (Ghost - Grass) and Grapploct (Fighting).
I definitely won’t mind if Lapras were Ice / Dragon, though there’s always a middle ground by making a more monstrous Ice / Dragon Lapras.