Dragonite first appeared in Iris and the Rogue Dragonite! where it was chasing down a Hydreigon. The Hydreigon wounded its wing sending it crashing down into a lake. Dragonite became airborne again but was descending because of its injury. Eventually it hit a terminal of a power plant causing a blackout in Undella Town. Though it was just an accident, the workers at the power plant believed it to be intentional. Wanting to escape the workers, Dragonite entered the power plant and barricaded itself in a room using Ice Beam to seal itself in the room. It curled up on the floor to rest in order to recuperate.
Hearing about the story of Dragonite from Officer Jenny, Iris refused to believe that it caused the blackout purposefully. Later she, Ash, and Dawn infiltrated the power plant and found Dragonite. It struck out at them and Piplup and Oshawott were used to keep it at bay until Meloetta came in and soothed it with its voice. Afterwards it collapsed again because of its injuries. While Ash and Dawn went to inform Officer Jenny, Iris was able to read its heart and saw that the injury caused by Hydreigon caused its flying to be hindered, thus accidentally crashing into the terminal.
Despite this, Officer Jenny rallied a group of Trainers to take down Dragonite. Iris threw herself in front of Dragonite in order to protect it from them just long enough for Ash and his friends to return with surveillance footage to prove Dragonite's innocence. At the end of the day, just before Dragonite was about to leave, it looked back at Iris. Cilan suggested that perhaps Dragonite wished to be Iris's Pokémon and allowed itself to be captured by her.
In Jostling for the Junior Cup!, Iris used it in the first round of the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup against Georgia's Beartic. During the battle, Dragonite refused to listen to any of Iris' commands. Despite the severe type disadvantage it had to Beartic, Dragonite easily shrugged off its attacks and defeated it with a ThunderPunch, giving Iris the win.
In Battling Authority Once Again!, Dragonite was used against Dawn's Mamoswine in the second round. Despite another type disadvantage and continued disobedience, Dragonite defeated Mamoswine with its new move, Dragon Rush, giving Iris the win.
Dragonite is used in BW092 to battle Ash's Krokorok. Initially, it appeared that Dragonite had the upper hand and seemed to be obeying Iris's commands, but after Krokorok evolved into Krookodile, and learned a new move, Dragon Claw, the tables turned. Realizing this, Dragonite went berserk and stopped obeying Iris once again, causing major damage to the stadium and field. However, with more powerful attacks from the evolution, Krookodile was able to defeat Dragonite and secure the win for Ash. After the defeat, Dragonite was seen to be more depressed than usual.
In BW097, Dragonite was sent out to battle the Kami trio. As usual it just took off without even waiting for Iris to say anything and ended up getting hurt in the process. When Iris tried to comfort Dragonite, it was still hesitant towards its new Trainer. However, once Iris stepped in front of Dragonite to block Thundurus's attack, it started to see that Iris really did care for it. After Iris gained its trust, she commanded Dragonite to go help the other Pokémon fight the trio and was able to hold them off so that Ash could stop Giovanni.
In BW100, Iris sent Dragonite out to meet the Elder at the Village of Dragons. Straight away, Dragonite picked a fight with a wild Haxorus that was resting near by. In the midst of their close combat, the Elder came between them. After she had calmed Haxorus, she did the same to Dragonite by massaging its stomach. Later, when Shōbu's newly evolved Hydreigon lost control of itself, Dragonite teamed up with Emolga to chase the Brutal Pokémon across the lake and corner it on shore.
In BW101, Dragonite battled Drayden's Druddigon and lost.