Raihan

Raihan
Species	Human
Affiliation	Pokémon League (Galar)
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Teal
Base	Hammerlocke
Voiced by	Mike Dent (2021)
Debut	Pokémon Sword/Shield

Raihan is the eighth gym leader of the major division of the Galar region's Pokémon League who appears as an opponent in Pokémon Sword and Shield. Specializing in Dragon-type Pokémon, he is also known to utilize different weather conditions in battle and to have a preference for double battles.

Background

Raihan was a trainer who endeavored to seek victory in every type of environment, and so his battle strategy weather effects' to his Pokémon's advantage. He became the gym leader of Hammerlocke and was acknowledged as the strongest gym leader as the region, as he was appointed as the eighth and final trainer who had to be faced in the gym challenge. Raihan was known for the strong rivalry that he had with the champion, Leon. Although it was speculated that Raihan could become the champion in another region, he was set on continuing to battle Leon. In addition to being the gym leader of Hammerlocke, he also had the responsibility of watching over the city's vault. He held his gym's gym challenge there, which consisted of double battles against three trainers who he personally trained, each of whom specialized in a different weather condition.

He was also known for his habit of constantly taking selfies with his Rotom Phone. He initially started doing so in order to remember the pain of his defeats, but this habit quickly spread into pictures reflecting his fashion choices, training routine and other casual uses, including pictures of sandstorms. His uploaded selfies were popular, but they also attracted harsh comments from some fans whenever he lost to Leon. Raihan had a losing streak against Leon, but he also apparently came the closest to defeating him out of anyone (until a Victor/Gloria came along).

Within Sword/Shield, Raihan first appeared during the game's opening sequence, where he was about to take on Leon in a battle. He later was present at the opening ceremony of the gym challenge held at Motostoke Stadium, along with the other gym leaders. Afterwards, he returned to Hammerlocke. Raihan first met Victor/Gloria by the Hammerlocke vault. He let them into the vault and also gave them his League Card. The trainer later returned to face him after getting all seven of the other badges. Their battle was held in the form of a double battle. Raihan was ultimately defeated, but he conceded that he still looked good and contemplated taking a quick selfie. He felt refreshed and admitted that he was overconfident in calling himself Leon's rival. He gave Victor/Gloria the Dragon Badge, as well as TM99: Breaking Swipe and a Dragon Outfit. Afterwards, Raihan was beaten by Hop and Marnie.

Raihan then went to Wyndon Stadium to take part in the tournament that made up the Finals of the Championship Cup, along with most of the other gym leaders. There, he defeated Milo and Piers before being beaten by Victor/Gloria a second time. Afterwards, he returned to Hammerlocke during the Eternatus crisis and oversaw the city's evacuation. He then encountered Victor/Gloria and Hop when they came seeking Rose and Leon, and he urged them onwards to Hammerlocke Stadium. Later on, another issue arose when forcibly-Dynamaxed Pokémon began appearing in stadiums. Raihan evacuated his stadium and later received aid from Victor/Gloria, Hop and Piers. They split up to defeat the Dynamax Pokémon, and Raihan looked after the Pokémon afterwards. He also gave his rare League Card to Victor/Gloria.

The player could also hold further tournaments at Wyndon Stadium, in which Raihan could appear as a competitor (either by invitation or at random) and could possibly be battled again. He could also participate in the Galarian Star Tournament, where he would partner up with Leon (his set partner during the first tournament), Piers, Gordie or Melony, and the player could unlock him as an optional partner for that tournament by winning it four times. Raihan could also make random appearances visiting various areas of the Isle of Armor with his Pokémon.

Pokémon Roster

• Gigalith (gym only)
• Sandaconda (gym only)
• Flygon
• Duraludon (Gigantamax)
• Torkoal (rematches)
• Goodra (rematches)
• Turtonator (rematches)

For matches in the Galarian Star Tournament, he uses Flygon, Goodra and Duraludon.

In Other Pokémon Games

In Pokémon Masters EX, Raihan and his Duralodon appeared together as a playable Sync Pair that could be recruited at random through the game's Sync Pair Scout feature during limited time periods, starting at the end of April 2021. There was also an Anniversary 2022 variant of Raihan in more formal attire and paired with Flygon, which was also available during limited time periods starting in March 2022. His Flyon was capable of Dynamaxing during battle, unlike his Duraludon in this appearance. It was also possible to unlock Gigalith as an alternate Pokémon for Raihan by reaching Friendship Level 100 with him in the Trainer's Lodge, which he was added to in October 2022.

Raihan was featured in a time trial event called "The Eternal Rivals", in which he trained in order to beat Leon at having the highest record for Pasio's time trials, with advice from Gloria and Piers. He ended up training his Duralodon against Brock's Tyranitar and Jasmine's Steelix, and he let Jasmine polish Duralodon in exchange for the latter battle. He ultimately succeeded in beating Leon's record, only for Leon to quickly beat his record. Raihan became set on continuing to beat Leon's records. In the "Howling Shield of Eternity" Story Event, Raihan helped Leon and the others deal with an outbreak of Dynamaxing across Pasio, and he also teamed up with Leon against Eternatus at one point. In the Story Event "Pasio Friendiversary", Raihan appeared in his anniversary attire and helped Skyla and May to host an event commemorating Lear and Hoopa's 'friendiversary'. For Raihan's part, he teamed up with Leon and Lear in a battle against Piers, Rachel and Sawyer. Lear was shown to be annoyed by Raihan hogging the spotlight, while also being mystified by how well Raihan and Leon worked together despite their rivalry. Most of Raihan's attempted selfies during the battle were ruined by a sandstorm he had summoned, so he proposed a group picture after the battle. He also made an appearance in the "Severely Strained Relations" Solo Event, where he was shown battling alongside Gordie and recruited Victor for a battle against Melony, Nessa and Gloria while fearing Melony's tough disposition. During the Neo Champions event "Fight for the Future", Raihan formed a team with Piers and Gordie, but they still lost against Leon's team. He was also featured in the Solo Event "Special Day with the Guys", where he and Gordie successfully set a plan into motion to lure the elusive Red out by holding a series of Pokémon battles, in order to take pictures with him to please their fans. He also provided support for Leon in the Galar Chapter of the Main Story's Villain Arc when it came to countering Rose's campaign to take control of Pasio.

In Pokémon Unite, Raihan appeared with his Duraludon as an opponent who could be faced during the Legacy Trainer Showdown event that initially went live in September 2022.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Raihan was introduced in an episode where battled Leon as part of the World Coronation series, having entered the competition in hopes of beating Leon. He was shown using his Gigantamax Duraludon and losing to Leon's Gigantamax Charizard. He was later featured during the story arc based on the plot of Sword/Shield, where he helped Sonia to fend off employees of Macro Cosmos. In a later episode, Ash battled him and managed to defeat him. Raihan was ranked eighth in the World Coronation Series, making him the lowest-ranking member of the Master Class, known as the Masters Eight. By defeating him, Ash was able to enter the Master Class, while Raihan was demoted to 9th rank in the Ultra Class.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Raihan appeared during the Sword/Shield arc with a role similar to his role in the games.
• In the Pokémon: Twilight Wings short anime series, Raihan initially made a cameo appearance on a cover of a magazine. He later made a full appearance in the final episode, which featured a battle between him and Leon. The bonus episode also showed him receiving his invitation to the Galarian Star Tournament and later arriving to take part in it.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Kibana. His English and Japanese names both seem to reference a plant known as the common laburmum. His English name could refer to "golden chain" or "golden rain", both of which are names used to refer to that planet.
• Raihan's League Number is "241", which can be read in Japanese as a word meaning "powerful".
• Although he is designated as specializing in Dragon-types, he has several Pokémon who are not Dragon-type (Gigalith, Sandaconda and Torkoal).
• His Pokémon are kept in Ultra Balls.