In commemoration of Nintendo’s 135ᵗʰ anniversary, September 20 to 30 is NIWA Cross-Wiki Week. Click here for event details and the possibility to win a $20/€20 Nintendo eShop gift card. Please remember to follow the manual of style and code of conduct at all times. Check the Bulbagarden home page for up-to-date Pokémon news and discuss it on the forums or in the Bulbagarden Discord server.
Dragonair first appeared as a Dratini in the episode Beauty is Skin Deep where it was sleeping by a riverside. When Ash and his friends tried approaching it for a closer look, Gyarados appeared to protect Dratini. Dratini left with Clair and Gyarados behind. It caught the attention of Team Rocket and Jessie tried catching it on her own with the help of James's Weezing but Gyarados arrived in the nick of time to prevent that from happening. Clair than revealed that Dratini was shedding its skin.
During the group's lunchtime, Team Rocket returned disguised as an elderly couple. They pretended to take pictures but as soon as Clair allowed them to go near Dratini, their canes activated which trapped Dratini inside a net. Team Rocket weren't able to keep Dratini for long as it rocked the balloon which caused the balloon to crash and Dratini to escape. After Pikachu's Thunderbolt was countered by Wobbuffet, Clair jumped in to protect Dratini from a stray Thunderbolt. This caused Dratini to evolve into Dragonair. Dragonair finished the villains with Twister combined with Gyarados's Hyper Beam. It led the group to Riverhead Falls where Clair performed her ritual.
In Great Bowls of Fire!, the Dragon Holy Land was in flames and Clair sent out Dragonair to help put out the fire with Rain Dance. With the fire out, Dragonair fought a rampagingDragonite in an attempt to calm her along with Charizard and Pikachu. It was able to calm Dragonite by creating thunder clouds with the help of Pikachu's Thunder.
Clair used Dragonair as her final Pokémon in the Gym battle against Ash in Better Eight Than Never after two of her Pokémon were defeated. It fought against Ash's Pikachu and managed to defeat him easily with Hyper Beam with the help of its speed and power. Dragonair fought Charizard next as Ash's final Pokémon. It proved to be a tough challenge for Charizard as well as it kept on dodging Charizard's attacks by diving underwater. Dragonair also had a wide range of moves like Dragon Rage which also gave Charizard problems. Ash had an idea by having Charizard evaporate the pool water to prevent Dragonair from hiding in there to dodge attacks. Despite doing so, Dragonair resorted to attacking and defending. Charizard was finally able to defeat Dragonair with a flaming Seismic Toss earning Ash the Rising Badge.
Dragonair also appeared along with Clair in Why? Why Not! where it helped Ash find his missing Gym Badges which were stolen by Team Rocket. After finding Team Rocket, it saved Ash from a big fall and then went after their balloon.
Dragonair made a brief cameo during Lyra's introduction of Johto in An Egg Scramble!.
Dragonair, as a Dratini, was a friendly Pokémon during its debut appearance. Dratini was not yet experienced with Pokémon battles as Clair would often protect it. However, when Team Rocket attacked Clair and went after Dratini, it evolved into Dragonair to save both of them and caused Clair to want to use it in battles. Dragonair managed to hold its own in battles as it managed to do well handling its evolved form, Ash's Pikachu and Charizard.
When the Dragon Holy Land was on fire, Dragonair went out of its way to put the fire out and to protect Ash's Pokémon from a rampaging Dragonite. It even helped calm the Dragonite from her rage. Dragonair had good swimming and flying skills which became useful during the Gym battle with Ash.
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.
In the games
In the Generation II games, Clair has three Dragonair, but they are not her highest-leveled Pokémon, that status belonging to her Kingdra instead. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Clair only has two Dragonair, the third being replaced by a Gyarados. In her later battles, one of them has evolved into Dragonite.
It debuted in the round Debonaire Dragonair, where it was first seen defeating Clair's disciple's Kingdra in a battle. Later, Clair used Dragonair to battle against Suicune, but was defeated when it tricked them into attacking its ice reflection and launched a powerful BubbleBeam.
Clair also used her Dragonair to fight off the brainwashed Team Rocket Grunts aboard the Magnet Train. On the same train, she then used it to battle Blaine and to make him disclose the whereabouts of Lance. However, Dragonair was quickly defeated by Blaine's Entei, and after acknowledging this loss, she sends in the report that Blaine had defeated her.
Much later, Clair and her Dragonair reappear before Silver, thinking that he had something to do with Lance's disappearance.
She sent it out to battle Red. As Red had Clefairy battle Dragonair, Clefairy became intimidated by the Dragon Pokémon but was willing to take it on. As Clefairy went for the first move, Dragonair took it in as if it was nothing. Clefairy then got angry after Clair laughed at him as she found it funny. When Clefairy tried attacking again, Dragonair squeezed Clefairy tightly. Pikachu battled Dragonair to save his cousin but he easily became immobile after getting hit by Dragonair's DragonBreath.
With no other choice, Tyrogue had to battle Dragonair even though he and Clefairy got into a fight earlier but Red scolded him to battle Dragonair. After dodging many DragonBreaths, Tyrogue managed to free Clefairy by Mach Punching Dragonair. With Clefairy able to battle again, he worked with Tyrogue to take on Dragonair. Using Double Team, both Clefairy and Tyrogue defeat the Dragon Pokémon.