Pokemon: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Drayden

These are a few interesting facts you may not know about Pokemon Black Gym Leader Drayden.

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The final Gym Leader is often that Generation’s most memorable. Usually the most difficult challenge you will face before the Elite Four and the Champion, the eighth Gym Leader in any region has big shoes to fill, and Drayden, the final Gym Leader in Pokemon Black Version, fills said shoes almost perfectly.

Not only does he command a team of powerful Dragons, but he also balances his duties as Gym Leader with the responsibilities of being the mayor. But what other secrets does the ‘Spartan Mayor’ hold? And what’s up with that beard? Here are some things you probably didn’t know about Drayden.

10 He Shares A Name with Two Other Characters

Pokemon characters can have alternative names in several different languages. This is the case for characters across the series’ various media, and especially the case for Gym Leaders, whose names can vary greatly throughout many countries and, in some cases, even overlap.

Drayden actually has two different names in French and German that match up with two other characters. His name is Watson in French, similar to the Electric Gym Leader from Hoenn, and in German it’s Lysander, very similar to the iconic leader of Team Flare. The name Watson simply comes from the Watsonia flower, unlike the Electric Leaders name, but the connection is still there.

9 He Shares A Familiar Voice

Mike Pollock is perhaps one of the most beloved and iconic voice actors today. While his talents have shone in many TV shows over the years, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and even some Pokemon films, his most iconic performance is as the main VA for the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik – or Dr. Eggman.

But fans of the Black and White anime series may not have known that he also provided the voice for the strongest Unova’s strongest Gym Leader. He made his debut in the 33rd episode of the Black and White anime, Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!, in a flashback where Iris challenged him to a battle.

8 He’s Incredibly Strong

Pokemon has no shortage of strong characters, both human and ‘mon. While most characters known for their physical prowess make use of the Fighting-type or simply specialize in physical attacks, Drayden is one of the few who is canonically known for being a beast.

According to The National Gymquirer, a special news feature in Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, Drayden’s typical workout routine is ridiculous, as he does 10,000 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. It’s not specified whether this is daily, but even if it wasn’t, that’s a routine even a Fighting Gym Leader might struggle with.

7 He Has A Connection With Iris Runs Deeper

It’s no surprise that Drayden and Iris are very close, both as characters and as bosses. They both serve as the final Gym Leaders of Pokemon Black and White, being counterparts in their respective versions with the exact same team. Additionally, both the anime and games go into great detail about how much Iris admires Drayden, even calling him grandpa. But their connection runs even deeper if you take a look at Drayden’s name in Japanese.

Drayden’s Japanese name is シャガ (Shaga), derived from the Japanese kanji 射干 which translates to “fringed iris”. The fringed iris, or the Iris japonica, is a flower native to Chian and Japan and, of course, a sub-species of the Iris flower. It sports various colors, mainly pale blue, white and yellow, all colors that are at least partially seen in Drayden’s design.

6 Some Of His Pokemon Are Illegal

The Pokemon used by Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and even Champions can have many different characteristics from those used by the player. This makes enough sense, players have more customizability with their Pokemon than an NPC would. But in some cases, it seems certain NPCs are given a bit of an unfair advantage with regards to Pokemon that they really shouldn’t be able to use.

Drayden is an example of such, as in the original Black and White he sports an underleveled Fraxure and Haxorous at level 41 and 43, respectively. Fraxure does not evolve into Haxourous until level 48. This is also the case in Black 2 and White 2, where his Haxorous is level 44, but only in Easy Mode.

5 He And Drake Have A Lot In Common

At first glance, it is rather easy to see some similarities between Drayden and Drake, especially in terms of their designs. But when you take a deep look at the two men, you’ll find they actually have a lot in common besides just both being old men. The obvious similarity is that they’re both Dragon-type specialists, and serve as a final challenge of sorts for Trainers in their region, being the final Gym Leader and Elite Four member, respectively.

An additional trait that may not be as obvious is the fact they are both ‘pure’ Dragon tamers. Almost every Dragon-user in the games uses non-Dragon type on their team as well, such as Lance’s Gyarados or even Iris’s Lapras. A lot of these Pokemon can be considered ‘Dragon-like’, in that they resemble dragons but are not exactly the same thing. Drayden and Drake seem to agree that technicalities don’t make for a true Dragon team, and have thus only ever used exclusively Dragon-type Pokemon in all of their teams.

4 He Broke An Established Trend

Final Gym Leaders have a bit more of a reputation to uphold compared to other characters in any region. As the strongest challenge you will face before the Pokemon League, the final Gym Leader often stands out from the previous ones both in strength and team composition, and this remained mostly true – until Drayden (and Iris) came along.

Prior to Generation 5, every single final Gym Leader used at least four Pokemon instead of three in their initial battle. Drayden, however, has only ever used three Pokemon in his initial battles, a trend that continued with future Leaders all the way up until Sword and Shield.

3 He’s Never Lost – In The Anime

Being the final Gym Leader comes with many expectations, the most extreme of which is strength. Every single final Gym Leader needs to prove that they’re worthy of their title, and in the anime especially, the final Gym Leaders faced by Ash have given him a fine challenge – except for Drayden.

For whatever reason, Drayden has not only never fought Ash at any point in the anime, he has also never been shown losing a battle in general. His first shown battle was against Iris in his debut episode, where his Haxorous made easy work of her Excadrill, and since then he has never been seen bested by anyone else.

2 He’s The Oldest Final Leader

It’s no surprise that Drayden is… pretty old. His official age has never been specified, but it is known that he is at least 50 years old. It’s even explained in the original games that he trained Iris to help her become the Leader of the Opelucid City Gym when he retired.

But a particularly interesting aspect of his age is that he may be the only Gym Leader of his kind. Most final Gym Leaders, like Blue and Volkner, are relatively young compared to Drayden. While Wulfric is another example of an old Leader, both he and Drayden are specified to be at least 50 years old, so whether or Drayden is technically younger or older than him is unknown.

1 He’s In Quite A Few Games

The Gym Leaders across many main series games have also appeared in more than one main series title on multiple occasions. The Kanto Leaders are an especially good example of this, having had at least 12 appearances across the various games if you count each game as a different one. While Drayden has not appeared nearly that often, he does hold a distinct title for only appearing a set number of times in one generation.

Drayden is so far the only Gym Leader who has appeared as a Gym Leader in three different games, those being Pokemon Black, Pokemon Black 2, and Pokemon White 2. Every other Gym Leader has either only appeared twice in their respective generations or more times across several Generations.

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