Iris (Pokémon)

Iris (Japanese: アイリス Iris) is a girl from the Unova region who is a former traveling companion of Ash.

Iris was born and raised in the Village of Dragons and would spend her time as a little girl playing with the wild Pokémon that lived in the forest just outside the village. She had learned to be quite skilled in tree climbing, as well as tending and caring to different Pokémon. One day she met a wild Drilbur that had injured a Patrat and stolen its food. Angered, she sought justice for the Drilbur's deed and challenged it. After countless defeats, she finally managed to out maneuver the Mole Pokémon and get it caught in some vines dangling just over a cliff. After coming to its rescue, the two became good friends and began training together. After many victories against different types of Trainers, Drilbur evolved into an Excadrill. The two then got the opportunity to meet Drayden, a Dragon Master, who praised Iris for her skill in battle. When he asked who was teaching her how to battle she responded that she was teaching herself with the help of the Pokémon she had befriended in the village. Brimming with confidence, she then challenged Drayden to a battle. However, Drayden's Haxorus was more powerful than Iris had anticipated and Excadrill was easily defeated. After suffering defeat and becoming distrustful of its Trainer, Excadrill then closed himself off to Iris, rarely opening up, and never showing emotion.

Years passed, and Iris was called upon by the village elder. She was to start a journey with a newly hatched Axew and raise it to become a full-fledged Haxorus. She accepted this trial, and set off on her journey, hoping to someday become a Dragon Master herself. Some time after these events, she witnessed a storm caused by Zekrom during the events of In The Shadow of Zekrom!. She missed actually encountering the Deep Black Pokémon, and continued on her journey, eventually meeting Ash Ketchum the very next day when he accidentally tried to catch her. The two had a rocky start, often finding reasons to argue and occasionally calling each other names. However they kept each other company and Iris even stayed to watch his first gym battle in ''Triple Leaders! Team Threats!''. After the battle one of the Gym Leaders, Cilan, had decided to travel alongside Ash, and noted that the three of them make a good team. So Iris decided to officially become their traveling companion.

In The Bloom Is on Axew!, Iris decided she would begin using her new friends to help train her Axew, so she asked Cilan to battle her to help get her started. It was then that she revealed her Axew knew Dragon Rage but hadn't yet mastered how to use it. She later opened up to Cilan and Ash and told them about her hometown, and how she got Axew in the first place. After she finished her story, the group realized Axew had gone missing, and found him stuck in the horns of a Scolipede. They failed to calm the raging Pokémon, so Iris called upon her Excadrill for help. Unfortunately, Excadrill was still closing himself off from Iris, but Excadrill still took care of the Scolipede after Iris had saved Axew herself, when the Scolipede kicked him into a boulder. With everything calmed down, Cilan approached Iris and reassured her to do things at her own pace and not worry too much, and that someday Axew and Excadrill will become even more powerful and loyal to her.

In A Home for Dwebble!, she revealed that she knows how to make herbal remedies to heal sick Pokémon when Cilan's Pansage got hit with a rock and caught a fever. This skill became quite handy throughout her journey whenever the group was low on medication and too far from a Pokémon Center. In A Night in the Nacrene Museum! she claimed that she has an acute "sixth sense" when she felt the presence of a spirit haunting the museum. It later turned out to be a Yamask who merely wanted its mask returned to it. However, she was still sure in her abilities in Sewaddle and Burgh in Pinwheel Forest! when the group got lost in Pinwheel Forest.

Iris got separated from the group in Emolga the Irresistible! after Axew tried to befriend a wild Emolga who had narrowly avoided being smothered by Bianca, who had been accompanying the group after Ash won his third badge. The three of them end up being attacked by a swarm of Swoobat and eventually rescued by Ash and Pikachu. The Emolga had grown fond of Iris and accepted her as her Trainer, earning Iris another Pokémon. In Emolga and the New Volt Switch!, Bianca offered to battle the newly caught Emolga, however things didn't go as planned when they found out that Emolga was fairly lazy and used Volt Switch to avoid battles. This did not discourage Iris too much as she accepted the challenge of raising Emolga to hopefully become a skilled battler.

In The Dragon Master's Path!, the group met a young girl named Emmy who was having trouble with her Druddigon. Iris noticed the cause of the Pokémon's rage was a wire wrapped around its ankle, and managed to calm it down by removing it. Impressed with her knowledge of Dragon-type Pokémon, Emmy formally introduced herself and admitted to being a novice. Iris then offered to train her in the ways of Dragon-type Pokémon, and revealed her dream of becoming a Dragon Master some day. In Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!, Iris was challenged by Georgia, a Dragon Buster. Her Axew was easily defeated by Georgia's Beartic. Georgia criticized her for not owning more Dragon-types and Iris decided to call on her Excadrill who still wouldn't obey her. Again, the battle resulted in a loss for Iris. She later explained that the resulting loss to Drayden when she was younger is what caused Excadrill to disobey her. But after a night of bonding with Excadrill, he regained his confidence and learned Focus Blast. Iris re-challenges Georgia with Excadrill and the battle resulted in a draw.

Iris competed in the Club Battle along with multiple other trainers, including her rival, Georgia. Her first battle was against Jimmy Ray and his Watchog in Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia!!, which Iris easily won with her Emolga. She then battled against Stephan and his Sawk in The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!, which she also managed to win with Emolga. She then went up against Luke and his Golett in the next episode, using Axew. In the battle Axew learned Outrage, which he used to defeat Golett. In the final round, Iris went up against Ash and his Pikachu, while Iris used her Excadrill. After a long fight, Excadrill managed to defeat Pikachu, allowing Iris to win the tournament, along with a full set of Wings.

Trivia

 * Iris is named after the Iris Flower which is native to Africa and North America.
 * Iris slightly resembles Zekrom, while Drayden resembles Reshiram.
 * Similarly, you battle Drayden in Pokémon Black and Iris in Pokémon White, whereas you also capture Reshiram in Black and Zekrom in White.
 * Iris and Clair are both eighth Gym Leaders in their region and they both use Dragon-type Pokémon. They are also both female.
 * Iris, however, can only be battled for the Legend Badge in White, while Clair is battled for the Rising Badge in all Johto Games (Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver).
 * Her hair looks like an Emolga (also, she owns one in the anime).
 * As the champion, Iris seems to be dressed like a princess. In addition, her hairstyle resembles a Hydreigon.
 * She is the second youngest Champion, as she is 12 years old. Only Blue Oak of Kanto is younger.
 * In the anime, Iris is Ash's first female companion that didn't have a bike.
 * Because of this, Iris stopped the running gag of getting the female companion's bike electrocuted by Pikachu.
 * In the anime, Iris is the second of Ash's female companion who is a complete tomboy, first was Misty, and that excels in physical capabilities.
 * Furthermore, she is the first female companion not to have any feelings for Ash.
 * In the anime, Iris is the fourth female character to have glowing red eyes when she gets angry. The other three being Jessie, May, and Dawn. She is also the third female traveling companion of Ash to have glowing red eyes.
 * In the manga, Iris came from Blackthorn City, which is the hometown of Clair, the eighth Gym Leader of Johto who use Dragon-Type Pokemon, the same type Iris uses in Pokémon White.
 * In the anime, Iris is the first female character not to appear in the next anime series after her departure.
 * In the anime, Iris resembles Misty in the Original Series, as they both argued with Ash, and their game counterparts are gym leaders.