Drake (Orange League)

Drake ユウジ Yūji
Drake
Gender	Male
Hometown	Pummelo Island
Region	Orange Islands
Relatives	Unknown
Class	Head Leader
Type	Various
First episode	Hello, Pummelo!
English voice actor	Scottie Ray
Japanese voice actor	Kōji Yusa

Drake (Japanese: ユウジ Yūji) is the leader of the Orange League. Trainers who defeat him in a full battle at Pummelo Stadium receive the Winner's Trophy and enter the Orange League Hall of Fame.

Ash Ketchum battled him in Hello, Pummelo! and Enter The Dragonite. His Japanese voice actor is 遊佐浩二 Kōji Yusa and his English voice actor is Scottie Ray.

Although the dub implies that Drake is merely a fifth Gym Leader in the Orange League, the Japanese version specifically uses the title Head Leader to denote his importance. Additionally, Drake is not necessarily a League Champion, either, given that it is not clarified whether or not he ever actually had to defeat a previous Head Leader in order to take the title (though it is suggested). In the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, he is referred to as the Orange Crew Supreme Gym Leader. Ash battles him in Surf's Up, Pikachu.

In both anime and manga, Ash was the first person to defeat Drake in Orange League history. Many trainers never even got past Drake's first Pokémon, Ditto, apparently losing their cool seeing a copycat defeat their own Pokémon. Before Ash's challenge, Drake seemed bored and wondered if anyone would ever defeat him. He keeps his prized Dragonite's Poké Ball around his neck. Though no one (before Ash battles him, that is) has ever knocked out four of his Pokémon in a row, it is implied that some trainers did get past his five other Pokémon only to be defeated by Dragonite, as the announcer says that he has saved Dragonite for last many times before.

Regardless of his English name and his affinity for Dragon-type Pokémon, Drake apparently has no relation to either Drake of the Hoenn League nor Lance of the Indigo League, though a resemblance to the latter is evident.

Pokémon

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

Dragonite
	Main article: Drake's Dragonite Dragonite was Drake's powerhouse. It manages to blast off Team Rocket, using Hyper Beam. Knowing lots of attacks, Dragonite was used in the battle against Ash. He manages to defeat Charizard, Squirtle and Tauros. After Team Rocket's 2nd attempt of capturing Dragonite, it battled Pikachu but is defeated.

Ditto
	Ditto was Drake's first Pokémon used against Ash. With its Transform, it was able to completely mimic Pikachu and match its electric attacks. However, in the end, Pikachu was able to outpace Ditto as Ditto's physical condition remained the same despite its transformation, Pikachu managing to stand up and knock Ditto to the ground with its tail after a prolonged race using Agility.

Onix
	Onix was Ash's second opponent. Using Squirtle, it uses Water Gun, but Onix dodges using Dig. Ash then decides to send Squirtle into the water. Onix knocks Squirtle into the air before binding it, only for Squirtle to escape Bind by using Hydro Pump. After using Skull Bash, Ash's Squirtle won.

Gengar
	Drake's third Pokémon against Ash. Ash initially sends out Tauros, but his attempt to use Fissure is countered by Gengar's Confuse Ray, and he switches for Lapras, with both Lapras and Gengar fainting when their Ice Beam and Night Shade attacks collide. Gengar could also use Hypnosis.

Venusaur
	Drake's fourth Pokémon, it battles Ash's Tauros. Tauros's Fissure doesn't work due to the sand field cushioning the attack. But in the end, Venusaur was defeated by a Take Down. Venusaur's known attacks were SolarBeam and Vine Whip.

Electabuzz
	This was Drake's final Pokémon used before Ash battled Dragonite. Although Bulbasaur is initially defeated, Charizard manages to defeat Electabuzz. Electabuzz used ThunderShock, ThunderPunch, Thunderbolt and Thunder (all of the Electric-type attacks at that time except for Thunder Wave).

Trivia

• Drake was bored because he was not being challenged by any tough trainers. His actions and feelings mirror Volkner, the Gym Leader of Sunyshore City.

External links

• Yūji's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)

Gym Leaders of the Orange Archipelago
Cissy of Mikan Island	Danny of Navel Island	Rudy of Trovita Island	Luana of Kumquat Island	Head Leader Drake of Pummelo Island

This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.