List of Pokemon Orange Islands Gym Leaders

=Orange Islands Gym leaders=

Collectively known as the Orange Crew, each of these Gym Leaders is in charge of a Pokémon Gym. Unlike other Gym Leaders, these five characters were created for the anime (along with the entire Orange Islands region), and do not appear in other media except the official manga adaptation of the anime. The Orange Crew mostly favor tests of skill, endurance, or other tests of the applicant’s mettle, instead of straight head-to-head battles. Each of them poses to Ash a challenge to overcome or task to complete before he earns the badges he needs to go on to the Orange League championships.

Cissy

, is Trovita Island’s Gym Leader. He specializes in combat between Pokémon of the same type. His strategy also includes teaching his Pokémon skills they would not normally learn, such as modern dance. Trainers who defeat him earn the Spike Shell Badge.

Rudy is the third Gym Leader that Ash Ketchum meets while traveling through the Orange Archipelago. In the episode “Misty Meets Her Match”, he ignores Ash and puts all his efforts into wooing Misty, who had saved his younger sister Mahri and her Seel from a whirlpool. Although he appears cultured and charismatic, Rudy fails to convince Misty to stay with him on the island.

Like Mikan Island Gym Leader Cissy, Rudy requires that all trainers who face him pass a test of skill. He has Ash’s Pokémon shoot at targets while aboard a moving boat. After Ash passes Rudy’s attack test, they face off in a three-on-three battle atop one of the rock pillars that surround Trovita Island, in which each of Rudy’s Pokémon are of the same type as the ones Ash chooses. Ash prevails in two out of three rounds, capturing the Spike Shell Badge. Rudy then tells Ash that he’s a lucky guy (because Misty continued to travel with him), but Ash doesn’t seem to understand what Rudy means.

Luana

, is Kumquat Island’s Gym Leader, and she owns a luxury hotel on Kumquat Island that also doubles as her Gym. Pokémon trainers often stay at the Kumquat Hotel to help prepare for battle. The actual Gym appears to be the largest in the Orange Islands, not counting Pummelo Stadium. She specializes in Double Battles (a feature that would not be added to the games for another four years), in which each trainer uses two Pokémon simultaneously. Luana hands out the Jade Star Badge to trainers who defeat her. She is a very large, and very loud woman.

When Ash first meets Luana, she mistakes him for her son, Travis. Ash bears a striking resemblance to Travis, who also has a Pikachu. Luana misses her son and wishes to care for him again. Luana’s maternal instinct extends to her Pokémon, whom she cares for deeply, treating each one like her own child. Ash uses Pikachu and Charizard for their match. Despite their initial unwillingness to cooperate, the two pull together in the end and are able to defeat Luana’s Pokémon.

Drake

:"For the leader of the Hoenn Elite Four, see List of Elite Four members.", is the leader of the Orange Crew, and resides on Pummelo Island. He shares his name with the leader of the Elite Four in Hoenn, and is not to be confused with Kanto Champion Lance (both have similar appearances and both own a Dragonite.)His name is a pun of Draco, Latin for dragon.

Although the American dub implies that Drake is merely the fifth and final Gym Leader in the Orange League, the Japanese version specifically uses the title "Head Leader" to denote his importance, and the "" manga refers to him as the "Supreme Gym Leader".

In any case, his importance is obvious, as trainers must defeat the other Gym Leaders to face him in the massive Pummelo Stadium, and are awarded a championship title and various honors upon defeating him. However, Drake is not necessarily a League Champion, as it is not clear whether or not he ever actually had to defeat a previous Head Leader in order to take the title. (The manga implies that he did.)

In both media, Ash Ketchum was the first person to defeat Drake in Orange League history, Pikachu being the only Pokémon to ever take down Dragonite.

Drake's English voice actor is Scottie Ray.