Clair

The Blessed User of Dragon Pokémon
Clair
Species	Human
Hair color	Blue
Eye color	Blue
Base	Blackthorn City
Relatives	Dragon Clan Master (grandfather) Lance (cousin)
Voiced by	Sarah Williams (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Gold/Silver Versions

Clair is a Pokémon trainer who was featured as the eighth and final gym leader of the Johto region to be faced as an opponent in the second generation games of the Pokémon series: Pokémon: Gold Version, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver versions. She is a Dragon-type trainer who hails from the same family of dragon users as Lance.

Background

Clair was the gym leader of Blackthorn City. She claimed to be the greatest dragon master, but in reality she did not pass her grandfather's dragon user challenge. She also seemed to bear some fear for her cousin Lance, as he was the only person to have defeated her.

In the second generation games, she was challenged and defeated by Ethan/Lyra, but she refused to admit defeat. Instead, she sent the trainer to take the dragon user's challenge in order to prove their worth. In Gold and Silver, this challenge simply consisted of retrieving the Dragon Fang, after which Clair recognized their true power and gave them the Risingbadge as well as TM24: Dragonbreath (or TM 59: Dragon Pulse in HeartGold/SoulSilver). In Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, the challenge was instead an oral exam that the Master of the dragon clan administered within the Dragon Shrine. Clair was later surprised to find that Ethan/Lyra had passed passed. After the Master confirmed this and threatened to tell Lance about her behavior, Clair finally caved and gave the trainer the Risingbadge. She later met the trainer outside and gave them the aforementioned TM as a token of her apology along with directions on how to reach the Elite Four's headquarters. She asked the trainer not to lose to the Elite Four, or she would feel even worse about losing to him. The Master said that Clair had gained an invaluable lesson from the whole ordeal.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she would appear in the Dragon's Den every morning from 6 to 10 AM, where Ethan/Lyra could exchange Pokégear numbers with her, and after that, on every evening from 4 to 7 PM, they could take a picture together there. Calling her on Friday nights (between the hours of 8PM and 4AM) will cause her to appear in the Fighting Dojo for a rematch. Lance and Clair also confronted Ethan/Lyra and Silver at the Dragon Shrine when Silver began training there. Lance proposed a double match of himself and Ethan/Lyra against Silver and Clair, but Silver declined this team-up due to Clair's "embarrassing" wardrobe, and the match instead became Ethan/Lyra and Silver against Lance and Clair. After the dragon masters were defeated, Clair thanked the two trainers, despite the Silver's rudeness, for the battle and left.

Clair returned in Black and White 2 as a competitor in the Pokémon World Tournament held at Unova. She took part in the Johto Leaders, World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments.

Pokémon Roster

Clair has the following Pokémon in Gold, Silver and Crystal:

• Dragonair (3)
• Kingdra

In HeartGold and SoulSilver she has a Gyarados in place of one of the Dragonair. Additionally in HeartGold and SoulSilver, she uses the following Pokémon in rematches:

• Gyarados
• Dragonair
• Aerodactyl
• Kingdra
• Charizard
• Dragonite

For the double battle with Lance, Clair uses Dragonair, Kingdra and Dragonite.

In Black 2 and White 2, during tournament battles her roster can include Kingda, Dragonite, Altaria, Salamence, Druddigon and Garchomp.

In Other Pokémon Games

Clair appeared in Pokémon Stadium 2 as the eighth gym leader of the Gym Leader's Castle. In this game, she had a Kingdra, Ampharos, Dragonair, Rhydon, Arcanine and Lapras on her team in R1, and in R2 her team consists of Charizard, Nidoking, Rhydon, Gyarados, Ampharos and Kindgra. She also appeared as the eighth opponent in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge, with Dragonair as her Pokémon.

In Pokémon Masters EX, she and her Kingdra appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited through the game's Main Story. She was featured and recruited in Chapter 13 of the Main Story's PML Arc. She had formed a team with Lorelei to compete in the Pokémon Masters League, and she tried to recruit the young dragon trainer Iris. She turned them down due to her having already joined another team, much to Clair's chagrin. Lorelei believed that Clair had taken a liking to Iris. Scottie/Bettie's team then defeated the two of them in the tournament, at which point Clair decided to join their team. Clair was also featured as an opponent in the Story Event "Two Champions". Lance had recently arrived in Pasio and bested Clair in a battle. Eager on proving herself as the greatest dragon master, Clair teamed up with Iris and crashed the planned battle between Lance and Cynthia. Clair and Iris teamed up with Rosa and were battled by Scottie/Bettie, Lance and Cynthia. They were defeated, but Clair praised her Kingdra's performance, and Lance and Cynthia assured her about her potential. Clair also made a small appearance during the Johto chapter of the Villain Arc, in which she and Lance showed up together to help in the battle against Team Rocket.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Clair appeared in several subsequent episodes of the Pokémon anime, which depicted Ash and friends helping her in the purification of the Dragon Fang, her battle with Ash, and their journey into the Dragon Holy Land to retrieve the Dragon Fang after it was stolen by Team Rocket. In this version, instead of being Lance's cousin, she was only a former pupil of his. She made another appearance years later in a special episode about Iris's adventures in Johto following the Black/White series. Iris met Clair, and the two battled at Blackthorn Gym, which ended in Clair's victory.
• Clair appeared in several installments of the Pokémon Adventures manga. During the Gold/Silver arc, she was the first of the gym leaders to be challenged by Suicune and was enraged when she lost. During the gym leader's competition, she was set to battle against Blaine until the battle was cancelled due to Team Rocket's attack. While fleeing Team Rocket, she challenged Blaine to a battle anyway, as she wanted to learn Lance's whereabouts, and he was the last person to battle him before he disappeared. Blaine was able to defeat her and admitted that he did not know where Lance is, but was sure that he was still alive. She appeared again in the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc, where Silver found her at the Whirl Islands while she was trying to look for Lance again following a call with him that got cut off.

Trivia

• Her Japanese name is Ibuki, taken from the Japanese name for the Chinese juniper. The word can also mean "breath", which is why she makes a joke in the game about the move named Dragon Breath. Her English name of Clair may simply be a play on 'lair', as in the lair of a dragon.
• In HeartGold/SoulSilver, it was a recurring gag that people find Clair's costume to be embarrassing. Prior to the double battle, this is the exact reason Silver gives for not teaming up with her. At another point in the game, Erika suggests something like Clair's costume as something Jasmine could wear to a contest in Sinnoh, but Jasmine refused due to believing that the costume would be embarrassing; Erika twisted her words to say that Jasmine considered Clair to be embarrassing, while Jasmine protested this was not what she meant. During a phone call, Clair actually overhears gossip that she is the latest name in fashion and is flattered, although it seems she may be misunderstanding it. This was also referenced in Pokémon Masters EX, when Clair and Koga both denied the idea that their fashion could be considered weird during Chapter 23 of the PML Arc, and she ultimately felt vindicated when Valerie complimented both of their outfits.
• In one Pokégear call, she expresses disappointment about being contacted for a radio interview rather than a televised one, as she prefers for her fans to see her "glorious face".