From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
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.
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 Pokémon 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 the 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:
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Ditto
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| Ditto was Drake's first Pokémon used against Ash. With its Transform, it was able to completely mimic Pikachu and match all of its attacks. However, in the end Pikachu was able to outpace Ditto due to Ditto's physical condition remaining the same despite its transformation. It was defeated after Pikachu managed to stand up and knock Ditto to the ground with its tail after a prolonged race using Agility. It reappeared in a flashback in Enter The Dragonite.
Ditto's only move is Transform.
Ditto has also used Thunder*, ThunderShock*, Agility* and Quick Attack* via Transform.
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| Debut
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Hello, Pummelo!
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| Voice actors
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| Japanese
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Kotono Mitsuishi
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| English
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Rachael Lillis
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Gengar
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| Drake's third Pokémon against Ash was Gengar. Ash initially sent out Tauros, but after a failed attempt at Fissure which allowed Gengar to counter with Confuse Ray, Ash then switched for Lapras. Lapras avoided a Hypnosis attack by diving underwater where upon surfacing both Lapras and Gengar launched their respective Ice Beam and Night Shade attacks simultaneously which resulted in a massive explosion knocking out both Pokémon.
Gengar's known moves are Confuse Ray, Hypnosis and Night Shade.
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| Debut
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Hello, Pummelo!
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| Voice actors
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| Japanese
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Kōichi Sakaguchi
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| English
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Ted Lewis
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In the manga
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Drake in the Electric Tale of Pikachu
Drake appears as Ash's final opponent in the The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. After defeating the other Orange League Gym Leaders, Ash goes to battle Drake at Pummelo Island. The battle starts with Ash using his Pikachu and Drake with his Ditto. After a long, tough battle, Pikachu manages to defeat his clone with a well executed Swift attack.
Most of the battle is not shown and it shows Drake with only his Dragonite left while Ash still has three Pokémon. Drake sends out his Dragonite which proceeds to easily defeat Ash's Squirtle. Next, Dragonite faces Ash's Charizard and despite the fact that it is smaller than its opponent, Dragonite eventually defeats it. Lastly, Dragonite faces Ash's Pikachu and despite the clear advantage it possessed, Pikachu climbs into its mouth and shocks it from the inside, defeating it. Afterwards, Drake commends Ash for his victory.
Pokémon
This listing is of Drake's known Pokémon in the manga:
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Ditto
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| Ditto was the first Pokémon Drake used against Ash. With its powerful ability to take the form of its opponent, it was a dangerous foe for Pikachu. However, a well used strategy allowed Pikachu to defeat its doppelganger.
Ditto's only move is Transform.
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| Debut
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The Orange Crew Supreme Gym Leader
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Voice actors
Trivia
- Drake's Electabuzz used all of the Electric-type moves introduced in Generation I except for Thunder Wave, meaning that it used all the damaging Electric moves known at the time.
- Drake's Gengar unofficially used the Levitate Ability to avoid Tauros and its Fissure attack despite the concept of Abilities not being present at the time. It would then have the Ability in Generation III.
Names
| Language
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Name
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Origin
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| Japanese
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ユウジ Yūji
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Possibly from りゅう ryuu dragon.
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| English, German, Spanish
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Drake
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Possibly from Draco, meaning dragon.
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| French
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Didier
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| Korean
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강산 Gangsan
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| Chinese (Mandarin)
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勇次 Yǒngcì
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From 勇次 Yūji. Also, 勇 means brave.
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