In Pokemon games, the gym challenge and the gym leaders you face along that journey have become some of the most iconic parts of the franchise. It's a very simple system: to be able to challenge the Elite Four and the Champion of the region, you need to find and beat the 8 Gym Leaders spread throughout the towns and cities of the region.

Of course at first the gym leaders are a bit weaker, but by the end they can become quite formidable. Yet only one person gets to hold the prestige of being the 8th and final gym leader of their region. The last defense preventing unworthy trainers from reaching the Elite Four. The strongest challenge a trainer can have to prepare themselves and see if they are worthy of challenging the Champion.

Like the other regions, Johto also has such a person. By this point 15 of the 17 types have been used by a Gym Leader (including in Kanto). One of the remaining types is the newly added Dark type, the devil you don't know. The other? Well of course, that is the very type that the previous Champion of Kanto made his own. The devil you do know. And it is this very type that will be your final challenge.

After defeating the re-emerged Team Rocket once and for all in the Radio Tower, the player can finally head East from Mahogany Town. After making your way through the Ice Path, you finally arrive at the last city the Johto Region has to offer: Blackthorn City. It is here that players can challenge the Blackthorn Gym and its leader, Clair.

Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal, Heart Gold, Soul Silver


Clair can be found at the back of her gym. She pulls no punches and talks about coming from a long lineage of elite Dragon type experts. And another bombshell: she is the cousin of the Johto Champion Lance. This is the first time a familial relationship is truly explored between two important characters like this. Clair further demonstrates her strength by telling the player that she herself is strong enough to beat all members of the Elite Four. Her only loss has been to the Champion.

In battle, it becomes apparent that Clair isn't exactly joking. Dragon as a type is very overpowered in these earlier generations. It only has two weaknesses: dragon itself, and the rare Ice type. Meanwhile it resists all the starter elements plus Electric. Her team is almost the same between the Gen 2 games and the remakes, although her leading Pokemon is different. In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Clair uses 4 Pokemon. 3 of them are Dragonair. This might be the most instances of a single Pokemon being used by a Gym Leader. All Dragonairs have different powerful elemental attacks: one with Surf, one with Thunderbolt, one with Ice Beam. You won't even know which one is out in battle until it might hit you for a strong super effective hit!

In Heart Gold and Soul Silver, Clair starts the battle off with a Gyarados, which is... not a Dragon type. Perhaps this is a family trait, as Lance also used a Gyarados on his Dragon team in Kanto. This particular Gyarados has a pretty weak moveset and should pose no real threat to the player. She still has the two other Dragonairs. One has Aqua Tail, while the other has Fire Blast. Their other moves are the same.

In all Johto Games, Clair's ace Pokemon is the same. It's the sole Dragon type added with the Johto Pokedex. It's a pokemon everyone should recognize, as it is an evolution of a Generation 1 Pokemon. Kingdra is the evolved form of Seadra, and becomes a Water/Dragon type upon evolving. Water/Dragon used to be one of the strongest type combinations, only being weak to other Dragon moves, of which there are very few. Kingdra has very well balanced and strong stats, on top of a great moveset.

In Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Kingdra has the moves Smokescreen, Hyper Beam (!), Surf, and Dragon Breath. Dragon Breath can spread Paralysis, while Surf and Hyper Beam can deal a ton of damage. In Heart Gold and Soul Silver, Kingra became even scarier. Surf and Dragon Breath received a power boost and were replaced with Hydro Pump and Dragon Pulse respectively. This Kingdra is one of the strongest opponents in the whole game. It even has the Sniper ability, meaning if you get unlucky and it scores a critical hit, it will deal 3 times the regular damage, almost always guaranteeing a KO.

After defeating Clair, the player actually does not get a gym badge. Clair is still not convinced the player is worthy to challenge the League, and makes you traverse the Dragon's Den to take on the Ultimate Dragon Challenge. Deep inside the Den, the player will find a small hut. Inside, the player has to take a quiz to test their character. Passing the quiz grants the player a gifted Dratini. Clair, still struggling to pass the character test, storms off in a rage. It's only upon leaving Dragon's Den that she manages to calm down and admit defeat, finally granting the player the Rising Badge.

In the original Johto games, this is where Clair's story ends. In the remakes, however, she is part of an additional event story. After the player defeats the League and becomes the Champion, Silver, the player's rival, vows to train hard to surpass them. He starts to train deep in Dragon's Den. When the player reaches Silver, they are greeted by the legendary pair of cousins: Clair and Lance. Sensing Silver's fighting spirit, Clair wants to team up with him to take on the player and Lance. Unfortunately for Clair, Silver doesn't take her seriously and ends up tag teaming with the player to take on the Dragonic pair.

Clair and Lance will both use really strong Pokemon. Clair has a Dragonair, her Kingdra, and a big Dragonite. Lance has even higher leveled Pokemon, with a Gyarados, Charizard, and his own beefed up Dragonite making up his team. This is not an easy battle, and you'll need to make smart decisions to win.

Afterwards, she can be found in Dragon's Den and gives the player her Pokegear number. Calling her on a specific day of the week makes her travel to the Saffron City Fighting Dojo, awaiting a rematch. She decides to copy some of Lance's team and adds a Charizard and Aerodactyl to her team.

Pokemon Black 2, White 2

Clair returns in time for the Pokemon World Tournament. She can be fought in the Johto Leaders and Type Expert challenges, using some new Dragon Pokemon such as Salamence and Garchomp

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Clair is a really unique character. She is quite hostile to the player, in stark contrast to the vast majority of the Gym Leaders on our journey. I like that they decided to make her Lance's cousin. It adds some weight to her words and the battle, but it also puts her in an interesting position. Her cousin is literally the Champion, the strongest trainer in the region. It is likely that she has had to live in Lance's shadow all her life. This is made apparent by the fact that Lance was able to easily pass the Ultimate Dragon Character test, while Clair struggles with it. You can see the frustration in the way she acts when the player, a totally unknown person, not only beats her in battle, but also easily passes the test like her cousin Lance. It feels like she constantly wants to prove her worth as a Dragon Master. I think it's interesting to think about what Clair's goal really is. Is it to finally topple her cousin Lance and become the ultimate Dragon Master that way? Or does she secretly long to be rid of the pressure of being Lance's cousin and the comparisons it draws, and instead making it as the best on her own name and merit.

I really hope their relationship is further developed in some Legends game. We see quite a lot from Clair's perspective, I think it would be really interesting to see how Lance views her and her ambitions.

Personally, I enjoy that Clair feels like a real character. Little sibling syndrome so to speak is something that I think a lot of people can relate to to some extent. Being frustrated after a loss is also a very human emotion, and seeing her learn to deal with that was interesting, especially for such an early Pokemon game.