Drayden

Not to be confused with Drayton.
Drayden
シャガ Shaga
"The Spartan Mayor"
Black White Drayden.png
Artwork from Pokémon Black 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, and White 2
Member of Unova League
Rank Gym Leader
Leader of Opelucid Gym
Badge Legend Badge
Specializes in Dragon-types
Anime series Pokémon the Series: Black & White
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 the Gym Leader of Opelucid City's Gym, known officially as the Opelucid Gym, and the mayor of Opelucid City. He specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon and gives the Legend Badge to Trainers who manage to defeat him. In Pokémon White, Iris held the title of Opelucid City Gym Leader instead.

In the core series games

Drayden appears in Pokémon Black and White where he is the mayor of Opelucid City. In Black, he is the Gym Leader of Opelucid City's Gym, the last Gym to be challenged by the player in the region. Trainers who defeat Drayden will receive the Legend Badge, along with TM82 (Dragon Tail).

In White, after defeating the Pokémon League, he will teach Draco Meteor to the player's Dragon-type Pokémon if they have high friendship. He can always be found in his home in Opelucid City since in this game, Iris takes his place as Gym Leader.

He also reappears at N's Castle where he and many of the other Unova Gym Leaders hold off the Seven Sages.

Drayden is said to train by wrestling with Pokémon.

Drayden returns once again as a Gym Leader in Pokémon 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 the legendary Dragon-type Pokémon Kyurem. Shortly afterwards, an explosion will be heard from outside, caused by the Plasma Frigate's ice cannon. Drayden sends out his Haxorus to crush the ice with Dragon Tail, but finds that it is unbreakable when Zinzolin shows up looking for the DNA Splicers. After rounding up all the Team Plasma Grunts and defeating Zinzolin in battle, the Shadow 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 to Humilau City.

Afterwards, he will be in the first floor of his home in Opelucid City, where he will offer to teach Draco Meteor to the player's Dragon-type Pokémon if they have high friendship.

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Drayden is revealed to have a grandson named Drayton, who is a student at Blueberry Academy, a member of the BB League Elite Four, and its former Champion. He is also acquainted with Hassel of Paldea's Elite 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 in Single Battles, four in Double and Rotation Battles, and all six in Triple 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!"

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 the anime

Main series

 
Drayden in the anime

Pokémon the Series: Black & White

Drayden debuted in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! in Iris's flashback, where he was introduced as a Dragon Master. He witnessed Iris and Excadrill in battle while visiting the Village 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 the village elder.

Drayden physically debuted in A Village Homecoming!, where he was introduced as the Opelucid Gym Leader; and again in the 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 recognize Fraxure's exhaustion during a battle. It was also revealed that Drayden had talked with the Elder, recommending Iris to go on a journey, and about the possibility of Iris one day becoming the Gym Leader of the Opelucid Gym.

Drayden made a cameo appearance in the ending credits of Genesect and the Legend Awakened.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Drayden reappeared in Thrash of the Titans!, meeting Ash and Goh when they arrived at the Opelucid Gym for Ash's World Coronation Series battle against Iris. When they entered the Gym, Drayden surprised Ash by revealing that Iris had become the Champion of Unova. He then joined Goh in watching the battle.

In The Fiery Road to Mastership!, Drayden was shown watching Iris's Masters Eight Tournament match against Cynthia.

Pokémon

This listing is of Drayden's known Pokémon in the anime:

 
Haxorus
Drayden's Haxorus appeared in Iris's flashback, where it battled her Excadrill and won. Excadrill's loss to Haxorus was what caused him to disobey Iris for many years.

It reappeared in Drayden 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 of Drill Run and Giga Impact.

Haxorus appeared in Thrash of the Titans! during a flashback of Drayden's battle against Iris.

Haxorus's known moves are Rock Smash and Giga Impact.

Debut Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!
Voice actors
Japanese Kenta Miyake
English Tom Wayland
 
Druddigon
Drayden used Druddigon as his second in his battle against Iris. It battled Iris'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 effective Ice Beam and intercept it in the middle of a Dragon Rush.

Druddigon's known moves are Dragon Claw, Flash Cannon, Double Team, and Dragon Tail.

Debut Drayden Versus Iris: Past, Present, and Future!
Voice actors
Japanese Kenta Miyake
English Marc Thompson
 
Axew
Axew watched the battle between Iris and Ash alongside Drayden. In The Fiery Road to Mastership!, Axew was shown watching Iris's Masters Eight Tournament match against Cynthia alongside its Trainer.

None of Axew's moves are known.

Debut Thrash of the Titans!

Voice actors

Language Voice actor
Japanese てらそままさき Masaki Terasoma
English Mike Pollock
Danish Jan Tellefsen
Finnish Jukka Voutilainen
European French Bruno Bulté (BW)
Jean-François Rossion (JN065)
German Christoph Jablonka
Indonesian Rudi Sukistiyono (JN065)
Italian Gianluca Iacono
Polish Zbigniew Konopka
Brazilian Portuguese Walter Cruz
Russian Петр Иващенко Petr 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.
You can help by adding this information.


Drayden has appeared in two Pokémon Generations episodes. He made his first appearance in The Uprising, in which he was seen outside N's Castle trying to stop the Seven Sages. Together with several other Unova Gym Leaders, he battled the many Team Plasma Grunts to prevent them from achieving Team Plasma's goals.

He then reappeared in The Frozen World, in which he tried to protect Opelucid City from being attacked by Zinzolin and his army of Grunts. However, he was unsuccessful, as Colress was able to freeze the entire city using a cannon powered up by the Legendary Kyurem, while Zinzolin managed to get the DNA Splicers to further Team Plasma's nefarious plans.

Pokémon

This listing is of Drayden's known Pokémon in Pokémon Generations:

 
Haxorus
Drayden's Haxorus first appeared in The Uprising, where it was seen battling against two Whirlipede belonging to a group of Team Plasma Grunts.

It reappeared in The Frozen World, where it battled against Team Plasma once again.

Haxorus's known moves are Dragon Tail and Dragon Pulse.

Debut The Uprising

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 in GOTCHA!.

In the manga

 
Drayden in Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures

Black & White arc

Drayden first appeared in The Mystery of the Missing Fossil as part of Black's imagination when he expressed his desire to defeat each of the Unova Gym Leaders.

He debuted in person in Finding Truth. Brycen informed him of the other Gym Leaders failing to protect the Dark Stone from the Shadow Triad, leading to them getting kidnapped. Fearing that Team Plasma may obtain Zekrom's power, Drayden decided the best option was to obtain Reshiram's power via the Light Stone. As he said this, the Light Stone rolled towards Black, choosing him as the next Hero of Truth.

In Decisions, Decisions, Drayden and Brycen met on the Tubeline 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 a Legendary 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 told Iris to stay with Black for the duration of his training in hopes that she would learn from it as well.

In The Cold Hard Truth, Drayden held a press conference in Opelucid City, where he revealed to the public that the Pokémon Association agreed to change the Pokémon 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.

In Dream 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 the Legend Badge and a place in the League tournament.

In Cold Hard Truth, Team Plasma launched their attack on the Pokémon League by summoning N's Castle from the depths of the earth. The castle surrounded the League building while several Team 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 as N and Zekrom flew off to parts unknown.

Black 2 & White 2 arc

Two years later, in Mr. Perfect, Drayden congratulated Cheren on becoming a teacher at the Aspertia City's Trainers' 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 of Kyurem and warned Cheren that the newly-resurfaced Team Plasma may be after it.

In Giant Chasm, Drayden helped free people trapped by ice created by Team Plasma's flying ship, the Plasma Frigate. He declined Kimi'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
Druddigon is Drayden's only known Pokémon. It was first used to battle Iris'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's Braviary, 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 are Dragon Tail, Dragon Rage, and Rock Climb, and its Ability is Sheer Force.

Debut School of Hard Knocks

Drayden also has at least three other Pokémon in his arsenal as seen in the flashback in the battle against Iris.

Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Drayden appeared in Thrash of the Titans!.

Pokémon

 
Axew


Trivia

  • Drayden's Japanese Leader title is スパルタン メイヤー.
  • In Black and White, the only differences between Drayden and Iris's teams are the genders of their Pokémon and their Druddigon and Haxorus's Abilities: Drayden has an all-male team and his Druddigon has Rough Skin and his Haxorus has Rivalry, while Iris has an all-female team and her Druddigon has Sheer Force and her Haxorus has Mold Breaker.
  • Drayden is currently the only Unova Gym Leader who's not present in Pokémon Masters EX as an NPC or a playable character.
  • As he is the seventh Gym Leader to be challenged in Black 2 and White 2, Drayden is the only Dragon-type specialist Gym Leader who, in at least one case, is not the last faced by the player.
    • This does not apply in Black, 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 with Iris
English, Brazilian Portuguese Drayden From dragon and den (as in Dragon's Den)
German Lysander From lys (French for lily) or fleur-de-lys (royal symbol that resembles a stylized iris) and the Spartan general Lysander
Spanish Lirio From lirio (lily; iris)
French Watson From Watsonia (a genus belonging to the iris family)
Italian Aristide From Aristea (a genus belonging to the iris family) and possibly the Athenian statesman Aristides
Korean 사간 Sagan From 사간 (射干) sagan (blackberry lily)
Chinese (Mandarin) 夏卡 Xiàkǎ Transcription of his Japanese name
Chinese (Cantonese) 夏卡 Hahkā Mandarin-based transcription of his Japanese name
Vietnamese Shaga Transcription of his Japanese name

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  This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.