Ai Urara Gets Coaching From Lolo Orifice Ahead of Pokémon Champions Tournament

SPECIALITE — Ai Urara spent the opening hour of a five-hour Pokémon Champions stream on Wednesday night taking coaching from her Specialite colleague Lolo Orifice. Urara is preparing for a Pokémon Champions tournament with a team built from scouted Pokémon, and she said she had been struggling to find a way to use it.

The two played practice battles while Lolo talked through Urara’s choices. Urara worried that everything outside her Mega Evolution slot was too weak, but Lolo said the Mega Pokémon were strong and the team could win depending on how it was played. Lolo’s main suggestion was to open with Raichu, paralyze the opponent with Thunder Wave to slow it down, and then bring in Dragonite to set up with Dragon Dance when the opponent had nothing that could knock it out. For Mimikyu, which Urara called the team’s biggest problem, Lolo suggested handling it with Charizard. Lolo also pointed out that scouted Pokémon can show up with unexpected moves, or without moves a player would normally expect, and said it was worth judging damage by type matchups first.

“It was a way of thinking I didn’t know at all, so it’s a real lesson. A big lesson.” — Ai Urara, after the coaching session ended

When Lolo left, Urara said the session had given her answers for both Raichu and Dragonite. “It was a way of thinking I didn’t know at all, so it’s a real lesson,” she said. She told the Specialite members who joined next that she had gained a new point of view.

Nano Kozuya, Kasane Teion and Mumu Yumemi then joined, and the group played practice battles with the teams they planned to bring to the tournament. Urara put the new plan to use, opening with Raichu and Thunder Wave. The group later scouted fresh Pokémon to assemble practice teams, and one participant pulled a shiny Pokémon for the first time. Mumu is due to receive her own coaching from Lolo the following day.

Urara finished with several ranked matches on her own and won one after a long run of losses. She said she wants to retrain her scouted Pokémon once the tournament ends and try to push the team up the ranked ladder. She will stream Pokémon Champions again from 10 p.m. on Thursday. She said the tournament takes place on Saturdays, and that her channel is close to 20,000 subscribers, with a celebration stream planned after the tournament.