Drayden
- Not to be confused withDrayton.
| Drayden シャガShaga | |
| "The Spartan Mayor" | |
 Art fromBlack and White | |
| Age | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Eye color | Yellow |
| Hair color | White |
| Hometown | Opelucid City |
| Region | Unova |
| Relatives | Drayton (grandson) |
| Trainer class | Gym LeaderBB2W2 Pokémon TrainerB2W2 |
| Generation | V |
| Games | Black, White,Black 2, White 2 |
| Member of | Unova League |
| Rank | Gym Leader |
| Leader of | Opelucid Gym |
| Badge | Legend Badge |
| Specializes in | Dragon types |
| Animated series | Pokémon the Series Pokémon Horizons: The Series (mentioned) Pokémon Generations |
| Debut | Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!(Pokémon the Series) The Uprising(Generations) |
| English voice actor | Mike Pollock(Pokémon the Series) |
| Japanese voice actor | Masaki Terasoma(Pokémon the Series) Masami Iwasaki(Generations) |
Drayden (Japanese:シャガShaga) is theGym Leader ofOpelucid City'sGym, known officially as theOpelucid Gym, and the mayor of Opelucid City. Hespecializes inDragon-typePokémon and gives theLegend Badge to Trainers who manage to defeat him. InPokémon White,Iris held the title of Opelucid City Gym Leader instead.
In the core series games
Drayden appears inPokémon Black and White where he is the mayor of Opelucid City. InBlack, he is theGym Leader of Opelucid City's Gym, the last Gym to be challenged by theplayer in theregion. Trainers who defeat Drayden will receive the Legend Badge, along withTM82 (Dragon Tail).
InWhite, after the player defeats thePokémon League, Drayden will teachDraco Meteor to theirDragon-type Pokémon if they have highfriendship. He can always be found in his home in Opelucid City, asIris takes his place as Gym Leader in this game.
He also reappears atN's Castle where he and many of the otherUnova Gym Leaders hold off theSeven Sages.
Drayden is said to train by wrestling with Pokémon.
Drayden returns once again as a Gym Leader inPokémon Black 2 and White 2, but as the player's seventh Gym challenge. The TM Drayden gives away remains the same.
After the Gym battle, Drayden takes the player to his home in Opelucid City and tells them about thelegendaryDragon-type PokémonKyurem. Shortly afterwards, an explosion will be heard from outside, caused by thePlasma Frigate's ice cannon. Drayden sends out hisHaxorus to crush the ice withDragon Tail, but finds that it is unbreakable whenZinzolin shows up looking for theDNA Splicers. After rounding up all theTeam Plasma Grunts and defeating Zinzolin in battle, theShadow Triad shows up and steals the DNA Splicers, after which the player battles one of them. Even though the player wins, the Shadow Triad escapes with the Splicers.Cheren then shows up and Drayden tells the player to head toHumilau City.
Afterwards, he will be in the first floor of his home in Opelucid City, where he will offer to teachDraco Meteor to the player'sDragon-type Pokémon if they have highfriendship. He also participates in thePokémon World Tournament.
InPokémon Scarlet and Violet, Drayden is revealed to have a grandson namedDrayton, who is a student atBlueberry Academy, a member of theBB League Elite Four, and its formerChampion. It is also mentioned that Drayden is acquainted withHassel ofPaldea'sElite Four, whom he has told how his grandson has had to repeat the same year in the academy three times due to him slacking in class.
Pokémon
Pokémon Black
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
Gym battle
Easy Mode/Normal Mode
Challenge Mode
Pokémon World Tournament
Drayden uses three of these Pokémon inSingle Battles, four inDouble andRotation Battles, and all six inTriple Battles. He will always lead with his signature Pokémon,Haxorus.
Unova Leaders Tournament
Type Expert/World Leaders/Mix Master Tournament
National Gymquirer
Pokémon Black and White
- Jingle:"Woo hoo! All right! It's 'The National Gymquirer'!"
- Page:"That's right! We collect the hottest gossip about Gym Leaders seen around town! Here is today's letter. From someone going by the name Madame Scale. Thank yooou! 'I'm from Opelucid City, and I just went home for the first time in a long time. I saw Drayden and Iris counting up a big handful of coins! Isn't that setting a bad example for kids, flaunting your wealth like that?' Hmmm... That's living the high life! But you know, the Opelucid Gym Badge is shiny like a coin... Maybe you saw wrong? 'The National Gymquirer'! We eagerly await your letters!"
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
- Jingle:"Woo hoo! All right! It's 'The National Gymquirer'!"
- Page:"That's right! We collect the hottest gossip about Gym Leaders seen around town! Here is today's letter. From someone going by the name Opelucitizen. Thank yooou! 'Drayden is a man among men who puts himself on the line to protect the people living in our city. He always gives his all, even in training. According to his training schedule I just happened upon, he does:'
- 1. 10,000 sit-ups
- 2. 10,000 push-ups
- 3. 10,000 squats
- Isn't that outrageous?' Huh... How old is that guy anyway? 'The National Gymquirer'! We eagerly await your letters!"
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Masters EX
Drayden is mentioned in one ofIris'ssync pair stories as the person whogifted her with theDeino that is now herHydreigon.
Gallery
Sprites
 |  |  |  |
| Sprite from Black | Sprite from Black 2 and White 2 | Overworld sprite from Generation V | VS sprite from Generation V |
Quotes
- Main article:Drayden/Quotes
In animation
Pokémon animated series
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
Drayden debuted inIris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! inIris's flashback, where he was introduced as aDragon Master. He witnessedIris andExcadrill inbattle while visiting theVillage of Dragons and congratulated her on her victory. Iris then quickly challenged Drayden to a battle, which he graciously accepted. However, the Dragon Master proved to be too powerful for the young Trainer and Iris and Excadrill lost. He appears to be acquainted with thevillage elder.
Drayden physically debuted inA Village Homecoming!, where he was introduced as theOpelucidGym Leader; and again inthe next episode, where he had a battle with Iris and won. Drayden was also revealed to be the President of the Opelucid Academy, a prestigious academy located in Opelucid City, where he handpicks the students to study at the academy. He appears to have an interest in Iris, and once scolded her at the academy for failing to recognizeFraxure's exhaustion during a battle. It was also revealed that Drayden had talked with the Elder, recommending Iris to go on ajourney, and about the possibility of Iris one day becoming the Gym Leader of theOpelucid Gym.
InBWS02,Clair revealed to Iris that she met Drayden during her trip toVillage of Dragons.
Drayden made a cameo appearance in the ending credits ofGenesect and the Legend Awakened.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
Drayden reappeared inThrash of the Titans!, meeting Ash andGoh when they arrived at the Opelucid Gym for Ash'sWorld Coronation Series battle against Iris. When they entered the Gym, Drayden surprised Ash by revealing that Iris had become theChampion ofUnova. He then joined Goh in watching the battle.
InThe Fiery Road to Mastership!, Drayden was shown watching Iris'sMasters Eight Tournament match againstCynthia.
Pokémon Horizons: The Series
Drayden was mentioned inHZ116, whereLacey andCyrano revealed toRoy thatDrayton was Drayden's grandson and that Drayden has a close friendship withHassel.
Pokémon
This listing is of Drayden's knownPokémon in thePokémon animated series:
| Debut | Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Kenta Miyake |
| English | Tom Wayland |
Drayden'sHaxorus appeared inIris's flashback, where it battled herExcadrill and won. Excadrill's loss to Haxorus was what caused him todisobey Iris for many years.
It reappeared inDrayden Versus Iris: Past, Present, and Future!, where it battled Excadrill again. Both Pokémon fought a tough battle, which ended in a tie after a clash ofDrill Run and Giga Impact.
Haxorus appeared inThrash of the Titans! during a flashback of Drayden's battle against Iris.
Haxorus's known moves areRock Smash andGiga Impact.
| Debut | Drayden Versus Iris: Past, Present, and Future! |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Kenta Miyake |
| English | Marc Thompson |
Drayden usedDruddigon as his second in hisbattle againstIris. It battledIris's Dragonite, and after a very tough match, it finally emerged victorious with its Dragon Tail attack.
Druddigon was shown to be very strong, being able to withstand Dragonite's super effectiveIce Beam and intercept it in the middle of aDragon Rush.
Druddigon's known moves areDragon Claw,Flash Cannon,Double Team, andDragon Tail.
Axew watched the battle between Iris and Ash alongside Drayden. InThe Fiery Road to Mastership!, Axew was shown watching Iris'sMasters Eight Tournament match againstCynthia alongside its Trainer.
None of Axew's moves are known.
Voice actors
| Language | Voice actor | |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | てらそままさきMasaki Terasoma | |
| English | Mike Pollock | |
| Arabic | إبراهيم ماضيIbrahim Madi (JN065) | |
| Danish | Jan Tellefsen | |
| Dutch | Paul Disbergen | |
| Finnish | Jukka Voutilainen | |
| European French | Bruno Bulté (BW) Jean-François Rossion (JN065) | |
| German | Christoph Jablonka | |
| Hebrew | אליעזר וייסEliezer Weiss (JN065) | |
| Indonesian | Rudi Sukistiyono (JN065) | |
| Italian | Gianluca Iacono | |
| Polish | Zbigniew Konopka | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Walter Cruz | |
| Russian | Петр ИващенкоPetr Ivashenko | |
| Spanish | Latin America | José Luis Orozco |
| Spain | Luis Mas | |
| Vietnamese | Trí Luân (BW033) | |
Pokémon Generations
 | This article is missing information on this character's English voice actor. Please feel free to edit this article to add this information. |
Drayden has appeared in twoPokémon Generationsepisodes. He made his first appearance inThe Uprising, in which he was seen outsideN's Castle trying to stop theSeven Sages. Together with several otherUnovaGym Leaders, he battled the manyTeam Plasma Grunts to prevent them from achievingTeam Plasma's goals.
He then reappeared inThe Frozen World, in which he tried to protectOpelucid City from being attacked byZinzolin and his army of Grunts. However, he was unsuccessful, asColress was able to freeze the entire city using a cannon powered up by theLegendaryKyurem, while Zinzolin managed to get theDNA Splicers to further Team Plasma's nefarious plans.
Pokémon
This listing is of Drayden's knownPokémon inPokémon Generations:
| Debut | The Uprising |
|---|
Drayden'sHaxorus first appeared inThe Uprising, where it was seen battling against twoWhirlipede belonging to a group ofTeam Plasma Grunts.
It reappeared inThe Frozen World, where it battled againstTeam Plasma once again.
Haxorus's known moves areDragon Tail andDragon Pulse.
Voice actors
| Language | Voice actor | |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 岩崎征実Masami Iwasaki | |
| English | Unknown | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Ricardo Rossatto | |
| European Spanish | Jordi Ribes | |
GOTCHA!
Drayden briefly appeared inGOTCHA!.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Black & White arc
Drayden first appeared inThe Mystery of the Missing Fossil as part ofBlack's imagination when he expressed his desire to defeat each of the Unova Gym Leaders.
He debuted in person inFinding Truth.Brycen informed him of the other Gym Leaders failing to protect theDark Stone from theShadow Triad, leading to them getting kidnapped. Fearing thatTeam Plasma may obtainZekrom's power, Drayden decided the best option was to obtainReshiram's power via theLight Stone. As he said this, the Light Stone rolled towards Black, choosing him as the next Hero of Truth.
InDecisions, Decisions, Drayden and Brycen met on theTubeline Bridge while Black trained in order to wield the Light Stone. Brycen noted relying on Reshiram would make them no better than Team Plasma. Drayden replied that they had no other option strong enough to face aLegendary Pokémon like Zekrom. Later, Drayden properly introduced himself to Black, stating he expected great things from the boy. Afterward, Drayden left to do his own business and toldIris to stay with Black for the duration of his training in hopes that she would learn from it as well.
InThe Cold Hard Truth, Drayden held a press conference inOpelucid City, where he revealed to the public that thePokémon Association agreed to change thePokémon League's opening date would be pushed up from three months to a week. Black was horrified to learn this news, as he believed it would be impossible to win his final Gym Badge in that amount of time.
InDream a Little Dream, Drayden hosted the Pokémon League's opening ceremonies. Later, Black challenged Drayden to a Gym battle, pointing out that he still had until the tournament officially began to earn his final Badge. Drayden accepted the challenge and faced Black in a small hallway. Eventually, he was defeated, earning Black theLegend Badge and a place in the League tournament.
InCold Hard Truth, Team Plasma launched their attack on the Pokémon League by summoningN's Castle from the depths of the earth. The castle surrounded the League building while severalTeam Plasma Grunts came out and cornered everyone. Drayden and Iris worked together to protect innocent bystanders from the Grunts. After Team Plasma was defeated, Drayden and the others watched asN and Zekrom flew off to parts unknown.
Black 2 & White 2 arc
Two years later, inMr. Perfect, Drayden congratulatedCheren on becoming a teacher at theAspertia City'sTrainers' School. He revealed that he made Iris the Opelucid Gym Leader in order to focus on finding Black, who had been sealed in the Light Stone. He also revealed the existence ofKyurem and warned Cheren that the newly-resurfaced Team Plasma may be after it.
InGiant Chasm, Drayden helped free people trapped by ice created by Team Plasma's flying ship, thePlasma Frigate. He declinedKimi's suggestion to go and face Team Plasma, declaring that as a mayor, his main focus is keeping the public safe from harm.
Pokémon
Druddigon is Drayden's only known Pokémon. It was first used to battleIris's Fraxure, where it easily defeated its opponent. When Drayden was speaking to the press in front of his Gym, Druddigon roared at the crowd to get them to quiet down. During Drayden's Gym battle against Black, Druddigon went up against Black'sBraviary,Brav. With its speed, Druddigon proved to be a powerful foe but was defeated when Brav opened a door to let in a blizzard, freezing Druddigon in place and leaving it wide open to an attack.
Druddigon's known moves areDragon Tail,Dragon Rage, andRock Climb, and its Ability isSheer Force.
Drayden also has at least three other Pokémon in his arsenal as seen in the flashback in the battle against Iris.
Pokémon Journeys
Drayden appeared inThrash of the Titans!.
Pokémon
 Axew |
Trivia
- Drayden's Japanese Leader title isスパルタン メイヤー.
- InBlack and White, the only differences between Drayden andIris's teams are the genders of their Pokémon and theirDruddigon andHaxorus's Abilities: Drayden has an all-male team and his Druddigon hasRough Skin and his Haxorus hasRivalry, while Iris has an all-female team and her Druddigon hasSheer Force and herHaxorus hasMold Breaker.
- Drayden is currently the onlyUnovaGym Leader who is not present inPokémon Masters EX as anNPC or a playable character.
- As he is the seventh Gym Leader to be challenged inBlack 2 and White 2, Drayden is the onlyDragon-type specialistGym Leader who, in at least one case, is not the last faced by the player.
- This does not apply inBlack, where he is the final Gym Leader to be challenged by the player.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | シャガShaga | From 射干shaga (fringed iris), matching withIris |
| English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese | Drayden | Fromdragon andden (as inDragon's Den) |
| German | Lysander | Fromlys (French for "lily") orfleur-de-lys (royal symbol that resembles a stylized iris) and the Spartan generalLysander |
| European Spanish | Lirio | Fromlirio (lily; iris) |
| French | Watson | FromWatsonia (a genus belonging to theiris family) |
| Italian | Aristide | FromAristea (a genus belonging to the iris family) and possibly the Athenian statesmanAristides |
| Korean | 사간Sagan | From 사간 (射干)sagan (blackberry lily) |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 夏卡Xiàkǎ /Hahkā | Transcription of his Japanese name |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 夏卡Xiàkǎ | |
| Vietnamese | Shaga | Transcription of his Japanese name |
Related articles
| Non-player characters in thecore series games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | This game character article is part ofProject CharacterDex, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in thePokémon games. |
