Drayden

:Not to be confused with Drayton.
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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 and gives the to Trainers who manage to defeat him. In , Iris held the title of Opelucid City Gym Leader instead.
==In the core series games==
Drayden appears in where he is the mayor of Opelucid City. In , he is the Gym Leader of Opelucid City's Gym, the last Gym to be challenged by the in the region. Trainers who defeat Drayden will receive the Legend Badge, along with .
In , after defeating the , he will teach to the player's 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 , 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 Pokémon . Shortly afterwards, an explosion will be heard from outside, caused by the Plasma Frigate's ice cannon. Drayden sends out his to crush the ice with , but finds that it is unbreakable when Zinzolin shows up looking for the DNA Splicers. After rounding up all the s 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 to the player's Pokémon if they have high friendship. He also participates in the Pokémon World Tournament.
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 , and its former . 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===
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=====Gym battle=====
======Easy Mode/Normal Mode======
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======Challenge Mode======
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=====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, .
======Unova Leaders Tournament======
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======Type Expert/World Leaders/Mix Master Tournament======
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===National Gymquirer===
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: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!"
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: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 of 's sync pair stories as the person who ed her with the that is now her .
==Gallery==
===Sprites===
 	 	 	
Sprite from	Sprite from	Overworld sprite from	VS sprite from
==Quotes==
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
====Pokémon the Series: Black & White====
Drayden debuted in Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster! in 's flashback, where he was introduced as a Master. He witnessed and in 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 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 's exhaustion during a battle. It was also revealed that Drayden had talked with the Elder, recommending Iris to go on a , 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 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 .
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Drayden's known in :
====Voice actors====
===Pokémon Generations===
Drayden has appeared in two Pokémon Generations . 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 s 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 , while Zinzolin managed to get the DNA Splicers to further Team Plasma's nefarious plans.
====Pokémon====
This listing is of Drayden's known in Pokémon Generations:
====Voice actors====
===GOTCHA!===
Drayden briefly appeared in GOTCHA!.
==In the manga==
===Pokémon Adventures===
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Drayden first appeared in The Mystery of the Missing Fossil as part of '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 's power, Drayden decided the best option was to obtain '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 '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 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 s 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 and Zekrom flew off to parts unknown. 
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Two years later, in Mr. Perfect, Drayden congratulated 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 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====
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 in Thrash of the Titans!.
====Pokémon====
	
==Trivia==
* Drayden's Japanese Leader title is .
* In , the only differences between Drayden and Iris's teams are the genders of their Pokémon and their and 's Abilities: Drayden has an all-male team and his Druddigon has and his Haxorus has , while Iris has an all-female team and her Druddigon has and her has .
* Drayden is currently the only Unova Gym Leader who is not present in Pokémon Masters EX as an NPC or a playable character.
* As he is the seventh Gym Leader to be challenged in , Drayden is the only specialist Gym Leader who, in at least one case, is not the last faced by the player.
**This does not apply in , 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 (), matching with Iris
English, Brazilian Portuguese	Drayden 	From and den (as in Dragon's Den)
German 	Lysander 	From lys (French for lily) or (royal symbol that resembles a stylized iris) and the Spartan general
Spanish 	Lirio 	From lirio (lily; iris)
French 	Watson 	From (a genus belonging to the )
Italian 	Aristide 	From (a genus belonging to the iris family) and possibly the Athenian statesman
Korean 	사간 Sagan 	From 사간 (射干) sagan ()
Chinese () 	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
==Related articles==
* Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
Category:Black and White characters
Category:Black 2 and White 2 characters
Category:Dragon-type Trainers
Category:Gym Leaders
Category:Manga characters
Category:Animation characters
Category:Pokémon Generations characters
Category:Pokémon Adventures characters
Category:Mayors
de:Lysander
es:Lirio
fr:Watson
it:Aristide
ja:シャガ
zh:夏卡