Iris, also known by her title as The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons, is the eighth and last Gym Leader Opelucid City's Gym in the Unova region in the Pokémon White Version only. Iris lives in Opelucid City, and specializes in using Dragon-type Pokémon. She will award the player the Legend Badge if the player defeats her. In the two-year gap between Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version and Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2, she has become the Unova League's Pokémon Champion.
Quick Answers
What type of Pokémon does Iris specialize in?
What city does Iris live in within the Unova region?
What title does Iris earn between Pokémon Black and White and their sequels?
What badge does Iris award to players who defeat her?
What is Iris's unique title that relates to her understanding of Pokémon?
Appearance[]
Iris is a young, thin girl. She is dark-skinned with a medium brown complexion, red-brown eyes, and very long and dark purple hair tied back with yellow bangles in thick ponytails that resemble the petals of an iris blossom.
Prototype[]
Prototype Render of Iris for Pokemon Black and White.
Iris wears a light-pink-colored long-sleeved dress with purple cuffs. Slightly like in Pokemon Black and White, she has white leggings with pink colored ends at the legs, and pink in white-strapped shoes with no socks. Her hair is possibly tied up in a small bun with small winglike spike design.
Black and White[]
Concept artwork of Iris for Black and White.
Ditto.
Iris wears a cream-colored long-sleeved top with a pink collar and cuffs, a pink puffy miniskirt with a slit on the left side ,and a big ribbon over it. She also has white leggings with yellow colored ends at the legs, and pink and white yellow-strapped shoes with no socks.
Black 2 and White 2[]
Concept artwork of Iris for Black 2 and White 2.
Iris, as Champion, wears royal garments, similar to that of a princess. Her hair is now tied up in a small bun with large spike designs, and she has two rounded ringlets in each sides of her head. Her hair is tied in a bun also tied up in a long ponytail by a yellow bow. She wears a white and pink V-neck long-sleeved princess gown with flowing ribbons and frilly ends and a huge bright pink bow on her waist with a large pink ring to hold it. The gown also is open at the front, exposing Iris' legs and feet. Her sleeves are very large and long with pink cuffs. She wears a small golden crown on her head with two emeralds encrusted within the triangle-shaped sides. On her feet she wears white sandals with a round green gem encrusted in the center of each sandal.
Personality[]
Iris is a tomboyish, hyper young girl who loves adventure. She has an affinity for Dragon-type Pokémon and loves to train and play with them. She is a kind, helpful person who will bravely stand up against evil forces and help the player.
Etymology[]
The name Iris comes from "iris", a type of flower. This follows the Japanese name of Drayden, her counterpart in Pokémon Black Version, who is also named after a type of iris.
Biography[]
Games[]
Black and White[]
In Pokémon Black and White, Iris first meets the player character in Castelia City, where she helps Bianca train her Pokémon. After defeating the Elite Four and Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia, in Undella Town, Iris will visit the villa in the Summer season.
Black 2 and White 2[]
In Black and White 2, Iris meets the player character in Castelia City, helping the player find Team Plasma Grunts hiding in the sewers. She appears again at Opelucid City recommending the player character to go to Route 9 to train before battle Drayden. She is later encountered after defeating the Elite Four.
If Memory Link is performed, a flashback occurs when talking to Drayden. The flashback reveals how Iris defeated Drayden after a tough battle. Drayden then reminiscenced about when he met Iris the first time and how she was a special Trainer on the Village of Dragons when he was looking for a successor. Iris mentioned how different the Village of Dragons is in comparison to Unova and their relationship with Pokémon. Drayden then talked about how tough it was to be Trainer on his time without Poké Balls. The two go on to talk her experience battle Alder - the region's previous Pokémon Champion, and what she will do now as the new Champion. Iris claims she will be one that can encourage people with their Pokémon. Drayden gives her a new, princess-like outfit.
Other appearances[]
Sprites[]
.png "VSIris (game).png (1 KB)")
Pokémon[]
Black and White[]
 Fraxure 
|
 Druddigon
|
 Haxorus
| |||
| Lv. 41 | ♀ | Lv. 41 | ♀ | Lv. 43 | ♀
|
| Ability: Rivalry | Ability: Sheer Force | Ability: Mold Breaker
| |||
| Item: None | Item: None | Item: None
| |||
| Dragon Dance | Chip Away | Dragon Dance | |||
| Dragon Rage | Revenge | Slash | |||
| Dragon Tail | Dragon Tail | Dragon Tail | |||
| Assurance | Night Slash | Assurance | |||
Black 2 and White 2[]
First Battle[]
 Hydreigon 
|
Druddigon
|
 Aggron  
|
 Archeops 
|
 Lapras  
|
Haxorus
| ||||||
| Lv. 57 | ♀ | Lv. 57 | ♀ | Lv. 57 | ♀ | Lv. 57 | ♂ | Lv. 57 | ♀ | Lv. 59 | ♀ |
| Ability: Levitate | Ability: Sheer Force | Ability: Rock Head | Ability: Defeatist | Ability: Water Absorb | Ability: Mold Breaker | ||||||
| Item: None | Item: Life Orb | Item: None | Item: None | Item: None | Item: Focus Sash | ||||||
| Flamethrower | Rock Slide | Earthquake | Acrobatics | Surf | Earthquake | ||||||
| Charge Beam | Flamethrower | Double-Edge | Rock Slide | Ice Beam | X-Scissor | ||||||
| Dragon Pulse | Dragon Tail | Rock Slide | Dragon Claw | Thunderbolt | Dual Chop | ||||||
| Surf | Focus Blast | Autotomize | Endeavor | Sing | Dragon Dance | ||||||
Rematch[]
Hydreigon
|
Druddigon
|
Aggron
|
Archeops
|
Lapras
|
Haxorus
| ||||||
| Lv. 76 | ♀ | Lv. 76 | ♀ | Lv. 76 | ♀ | Lv. 76 | ♂ | Lv. 76 | ♀ | Lv. 78 | ♀ |
| Ability: Levitate | Ability: Sheer Force | Ability: Rock Head | Ability: Defeatist | Ability: Water Absorb | Ability: Mold Breaker | ||||||
| Item: None | Item: Life Orb | Item: None | Item: None | Item: None | Item: Focus Sash | ||||||
| Flamethrower | Rock Slide | Earthquake | Acrobatics | Surf | Earthquake | ||||||
| Charge Beam | Flamethrower | Double-Edge | Rock Slide | Ice Beam | X-Scissor | ||||||
| Dragon Pulse | Dragon Tail | Rock Slide | Dragon Claw | Thunderbolt | Dual Chop | ||||||
| Surf | Focus Blast | Autotomize | Endeavor | Sing | Dragon Dance | ||||||
Trivia[]
- Her Japanese Leader title is 竜の心を 知る 娘 / Ryuu no kokoro wakaru musume "The girl who understands the hearts of dragons".
- Iris is the first dark-skinned Pokémon Champion as well as one of the youngest of the Pokémon franchise.
- Drayden is said to be Iris's mentor and plans to let her run the Gym when he retires (only in Black).
- She also claims him to be her "grandpa", although the two are not related.
- Iris and Drayden use the same teams but have differences in gender and the ability of their Druddigon. Drayden has an all-male team with a Rough Skin Druddigon, while Iris has an all-female team with a Sheer Force Druddigon.
- Iris' role as the Pokémon Champion in Black 2 and White 2 has overshadowed herself as Gym Leader in the Pokémon community and official media. For example, in Pokémon the Series, Iris as Champion is explicitly shown in the Master Journeys arc, but never as Gym Leader.
- In Pokémon Black and White, Iris and Drayden's Haxorus were under-leveled as Fraxure does not evolve until Level 48. This was changed in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, with her Haxorus' level increased by 16 as the Champion.
- In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, her Hydreigon is underleved (Level 57 in Normal mode and Level 61 in Challenge Mode), which normally evolves from Zweilous at Level 64.
- Iris offers to teach Draco Meteor to the player character after the Elite Four have been defeated the first time in Black.
- She and Drayden switch roles in White, as the move tutor is Drayden and the Gym Leader Iris.
- Iris is one of the Gym Leaders that her name doesn't represent her type and the only Unova Gym Leader to do so.
- In Pokémon Masters EX, Iris, compared to other Pokémon Champions does not appear to be as popular, possibly due to her young age or is new as Unova's strongest Trainer. Despite this, she maintains a considerable fanbase and is a formidable opponent.
- In the mainline games, Iris herself is considered one of the hardest Champions to defeat.
- Like Wallace from Generation III's Emerald, Iris was the final Gym Leader of the region, who was promoted to the Champion.
- Like Clair from Generation II, Iris is the eighth female Gym Leader in the region, specializing in Dragon-type Pokémon.
- Iris, however, can only be battled for the Legend Badge in White.
- Ironically, though Iris specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon, only half of her Pokémon are Dragon-type in Black 2 and White 2, and she even uses a Lapras, an Ice-type.
- However, all of her Pokémon are capable of learning Dragon-Type moves.
Tracks[]
Gallery[]
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| Gym Leaders | |
| Elite Four and Pokémon Champion | |
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| Unova |
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