BW103: Drayden Versus Iris: Past, Present, and Future!

Drayden Versus Iris: Past, Present, and Future! (Japanese: ソウリュウジム！アイリスVSシャガ！！, Hepburn: Opelucid Gym! Iris VS Drayden!!) is the 4th episode of Pokémon: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond.

Synopsis

After the eventful stay at The Village of Dragons, the time has come, for Iris to challenge Drayden who's known to be the president of the academy that Iris goes to, and Gym Leader of Opelucid City. It had been years since she first battled at her hometown, and lost to him but now she feels like she is fully prepared. Will Drayden beat her a second time or has Iris learned a few things since her defeat?

Episode Plot

The heroes head to Opelucid City. Iris is still surprised how Drayden reacted, but will battle him. Ash enthuses her, though she is troubled she is, again, in Opelucid City. Two children pass by and Iris tells them they are wearing uniforms of Opelucid Academy. She shows them the building. Cilan heard trainers come here to study from the entire Unova region. Iris confirms that, as well as that Drayden is the president of the Academy and invites people to attend the classes. Ash is amazed Drayden is also the Gym Leader. Iris is troubled too much and runs off and climbs the nearest tower.

Ash and Cilan look for her and find her at the top of the tower, taking deep breaths. Officer Jenny is not pleased Iris is here again and soon have her landed down. Jenny scolds Iris and yells she should never do that again, for she could've gotten hurt. A woman approaches Iris, who recognizes the woman as Martha. Iris introduces Ash and Cilan to Martha, who was in charge of the girls' dorm at the Academy. Martha still remembers Iris as the most troublesome student of the Academy. They come to Drayden, who heard what happened and suggests they eat lunch. Iris admits she is never comfortable when Drayden is around. Ash asks Iris what was she studying. Iris replies she does not want to think about that much, especially the battle when Drayden's Haxorus defeated her Excadrill, who did not obey Iris for a time.

That day, the elder suggested Iris should go to Opelucid Academy. Iris cherished that moment, but did not fit in. She did not fit in, for the rest of the students did not play (like the people at the village), but were studying most of their time. Iris couldn't make any friends there. Martha continues on students were allowed to use the Academy's Pokémon, not their own. Ash thinks despite studying, they should have fun and Cilan agrees. Iris couldn't even eat, so Martha made her a berry kabob to cheer her up. Iris visits her old room she used way back. Since she had no friends, Iris drew the Pokémon she befriended at the village. Seeing the tower, she went off to climb it. However, she couldn't see the Village of Dragons from that top and Jenny came to land her down. Everyone was stunned, but Iris couldn't help that, since the fresh air from the top reminded her of the hometown.

Iris knew she couldn't fit in, but a battle, when she used a Fraxure against a student's Altaria, changed her. Fraxure used Dual Chop, but missed. Iris told it to keep attacking, as Fraxure used Dragon Claw. However, Altaria used Mist and defeated Fraxure with Dragon Breath. Drayden approached her and pointed out she had Fraxure attack Altaria, even if Fraxure was exhausted. He scolded her, telling that Pokémon cannot do everything what she wants them to do. Iris thought of his words when she climbed the tower and felt her friends back home were with her. She came back home and the elder gave her Axew for the journey. Iris visits Fraxure and apologises for the way she handled it. Fraxure forgives her and decides to cheer for her during the Gym Battle.

Drayden comes and soon they are at the Gym. Drayden sends Haxorus and Iris sends Excadrill. Excadrill starts with Metal Claw, pushing Haxorus away. Excadrill digs, but Haxorus dodges. Haxorus uses Rock Smash, but is hit by Excadrill's Focus Blast. Excadrill uses Drill Run and Haxorus uses Giga Impact. Both clash head on and are defeated. Iris calls Excadrill back and compliments on the way it battled. Drayden calls Haxorus back and admits he evaluated Iris correctly, as he sends Druddigon, while Iris sends Dragonite. Drayden senses Dragonite had an interesting life. Iris thinks while Dragonite would be effective to launch attacks from the sky, she senses it wants to battle head on. Dragonite uses Thunder Punch, but Druddigon blocks the attack and retaliates with Dragon Claw. Cilan sees Iris wants to respect Dragonite's wish not to fly, to keep the fight even.

Druddigon uses Flash Cannon, which collides with Dragonite's Flamethrower. Dragonite uses Thunder Punch, but stops when Druddigon uses Double Team. Iris tells Dragonite, though its mind, only one is real. Dragonite senses which one is real and hits it with Thunder Punch. Dragonite uses Ice Beam and hits Druddigon, who shakes off the attack. Dragonite goes to finish it with Dragon Rush, but Druddigon stops the attack and grabs Dragonite by its neck. Using Dragon Tail, Druddigon defeats Dragonite. Iris rushes to Dragonite, letting it know it put up a great fight. Ash and Cilan see Drayden is a much more powerful Gym Leader than they thought. Drayden admits Iris did good with making new friends and going to this journey. He wishes Iris once she has grown stronger and trained harder, to come back.

Later, Martha, much to Iris' shock, admits Drayden suggested the elder Iris should go out on the journey. Drayden told the elder the Academy failed to bring up the potential from Iris ans suggested the journey would allow her to learn things at her own pace. The elder recognized the wisdom of the words and told Iris may even become the Opelucid Gym Leader one day and Drayden confirmed this. Ash and Cilan think it is a great idea, but Iris does not know about this. Martha suggests she should think over that idea, for she, Drayden and the elder think Iris can live up to such expectations. Iris realizes that, but admits she needs more time to think about that. After bidding farewell to Martha, Ash sees they also need to meet expectations by winning the Unova League and set off to Vertress City.

Debuts

Pokémon

Drayden's Druddigon

Move

Dual Chop

Trivia

"Who's that Pokémon?": Haxorus (US)

Gallery

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