Driftveil Gym

Driftveil Gym ホドモエジム Hodomoe Gym
Location	Driftveil City
Gym Leader	Clay
Badge	Quake Badge
Dominant Type	Ground
Region	Unova
Battlefield

Driftveil Gym (Japanese: ホドモエジム Hodomoe Gym) is the official Gym of Driftveil City. It is based on Ground-type Pokémon. The Gym Leader is Clay. Trainers who defeat him receive the Quake Badge.

In the core series games

	Driftveil City Pokémon Gym Leader: Clay "The Underground Boss"

Pokémon Black and White

When the player first arrives in Driftveil City, Clay will be mad at them because when the Driftveil Drawbridge was lowered in order to let them into the city, a group of Team Plasma members Clay and his underlings had caught escaped. Thus, Clay only lets the player challenge the Gym once they've found and beaten Team Plasma at the Cold Storage.

The Driftveil Gym features a number of elevators that are in the mine shaft layout which must be navigated up and down and girders which need to be crossed to reach the central elevator, which will take the player down to Clay at the bottom of the mine shaft. There are five Trainers on the way down, though the player only has to battle three to reach the Gym Leader.

One of the Trainers in the Gym mentions that the depth of the Driftveil Gym helps to remind Clay that he once started at the bottom with nothing.

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

The Gym no longer features the elevator puzzle, but is instead replaced by a conveyor belt puzzle that takes the player to landing platforms. Each time the player lands on a new platform, it lights up. Occasionally there will be viewing platforms, which allows the player to see several platforms from above. Whilst most of the conveyor belts take the player directly to the next platform in any one direction, there are some that jump a platform by traversing underneath it, leading to the one beyond it instead. This time, there are seven trainers available to battle in the Gym. However, only two of them need to be battled in order to reach Clay. As the player lights up more of the platforms, the ground becomes more visible, stalagmites of crystal can be seen jutting out of the ground, as well as air vents that connect all the way through the Gym, one of which can be seen next to Clay's golden platform. Various drilling machines, wheelbarrows and shovels also litter the floor throughout the Driftveil Gym.

Appearance

Version	Entrance	Main room	Bottom
Black
White
Black 2
White 2

Trainers

Pokémon Black and White

Trainer	Pokémon
Worker Felix カンキチ Kankichi Reward: $1120	Palpitoad♂ Lv.28 No item
	Drilbur♂ Lv.28 No item
Worker Sterling ギンジ Ginji Reward: $1120	Sandile♂ Lv.28 No item
	Drilbur♂ Lv.28 No item
Worker Don タモツ Tamotsu Reward: $1160	Krokorok♂ Lv.29 No item
Clerk ♂ Isaac マサシ Masashi Reward: $1080	Sandile♂ Lv.27 No item
	Palpitoad♂ Lv.27 No item
	Sandile♂ Lv.27 No item
Clerk ♀ Katie エツコ Etsuko Reward: $1160	Drilbur♀ Lv.29 No item

Leader Clay Driftveil Gym Black and White Reward: $3720

Types: Ground Dark Ability: Moxie Held item: None Krokorok♂ Lv.29 Swagger Normal Status   --       Crunch Dark Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Torment Dark Status   --       Types: Water Ground Ability: Swift Swim Held item: None Palpitoad♂ Lv.29 Aqua Ring Water Status   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Muddy Water Water Special   --       BubbleBeam Water Special   --       Types: Ground Steel Ability: Sand Rush Held item: None Excadrill♂ Lv.31 Hone Claws Dark Status   --       Slash Normal Physical   --       Rock Slide Rock Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2

Trainer	Pokémon
Worker Noel ノブオ Nobuo Reward: $1240	Baltoy Lv.31 No item
Worker Tavarius タケオ Takeo Reward: $1160	Drilbur♂ Lv.29 No item
	Baltoy Lv.29 No item
	Sandile♂ Lv.29 No item
Worker Niel ニール Niel Reward: $1200	Baltoy Lv.30 No item
	Sandile♂ Lv.30 No item
Worker Friedrich フンボルト Humboldt Reward: $1240	Sandile♂ Lv.31 No item
Worker Pasqual トオル Tooru Reward: $1200	Drilbur♂ Lv.30 No item
	Baltoy Lv.30 No item
Worker Tibor ツナシロウ Tsunashirō Reward: $1200	Sandile♂ Lv.30 No item
	Drilbur♂ Lv.30 No item
Worker Maynard ミチアキ Michiaki Reward: $1240	Drilbur♂ Lv.31 No item

Easy Mode/Normal Mode

Leader Clay Driftveil Gym Black 2 and White 2 Reward: $3600/$3960

Types: Ground Dark Ability: Intimidate Held item: None Krokorok♂ Lv.28/31 Crunch Dark Physical   --       Sand Tomb Ground Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Torment Dark Status   --       Type: Ground Unknown Ability: Sand Veil Held item: None Sandslash♂ Lv.28/31 Crush Claw Normal Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Fury Cutter Bug Physical   --       Rollout Rock Physical   --       Types: Ground Steel Ability: Sand Force Held item: Sitrus Berry Excadrill♂ Lv.30/33 Slash Normal Physical   --       Rock Slide Rock Physical   --       Metal Claw Steel Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --

Challenge Mode

Leader Clay Driftveil Gym Black 2 and White 2 Reward: $4320

Types: Ground Dark Ability: Intimidate Held item: Sitrus Berry Krokorok♂ Lv.34 Crunch Dark Physical   --       Sandstorm Rock Status   --       Torment Dark Status   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Type: Ground Unknown Ability: Sand Veil Held item: None Sandslash♂ Lv.34 Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Crush Claw Normal Physical   --       Hone Claws Dark Status   --       Rock Slide Rock Physical   --       Types: Rock Ground Ability: Sturdy Held item: None Onix♂ Lv.34 Explosion Normal Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Rock Polish Rock Status   --       Rock Slide Rock Physical   --       Types: Ground Steel Ability: Sand Force Held item: Sitrus Berry Excadrill♂ Lv.36 Slash Normal Physical   --       Bulldoze Ground Physical   --       Metal Claw Steel Physical   --       Rock Slide Rock Physical   --

Items

Item		Location	Games
	Fresh Water	From Clyde at the entrance	B  W  B2  W2
	TM78 (Bulldoze)	Reward for defeating Clay	B2  W2

In the anime

The Driftveil Gym debuted in The Mighty Accelguard to the Rescue!, where Ash went there in order to make his second request for a Gym battle with Clay, but his request was rejected once again. However, Clay agreed to accept his challenge if he brought him some Revival Herbs from Milos Island.

After gathering the requested Revival Herbs, Ash returned to the Gym in Battling the King of the Mines!, where Clay at last accepted his challenge. Like in the games, the battlefield is located at the bottom of the mine shaft, requiring an elevator for access. During the final round between Ash's Roggenrola and Clay's Excadrill, Roggenrola evolved into a Boldore, allowing Ash to win the match and earn himself the Quake Badge.

Pokémon used in the Gym

Krokorok

Debut	Battling the King of the Mines!
Voice actors
Japanese	Kiyotaka Furushima
English	Marc Thompson

Clay's Krokorok first appeared in Battling the King of the Mines!, where it was used to battle Ash's Oshawott. At first, Krokorok used dust to blind Oshawott, allowing it to land many successful hits. However, finally Oshawott was able to clean his eyes with his own Water Gun and then defeat Krokorok with Razor Shell.

Krokorok's known moves are Dig, Sandstorm, Bite, and Stone Edge.

Palpitoad ♂

Debut	Battling the King of the Mines!
Voice actors
Japanese	Akeno Watanabe
English	Carter Cathcart

Clay's Palpitoad first appeared in Battling the King of the Mines!, where he was used in a Gym battle against Ash. He easily defeated Ash's Oshawott, after which he battled with Snivy. Snivy started by using Attract on Palpitoad, which became infatuated, thus making him unable to attack and an easy target for Snivy, which hit him with all of her attacks and finally defeated him with a Leaf Storm.

Palpitoad's known moves are Hydro Pump, Sludge Bomb, and Rock Smash.

Excadrill

Debut	Battling the King of the Mines!
Voice actors
Japanese	Kensuke Satō
English	Tom Wayland

Main article: Clay's Excadrill

Clay's Excadrill was used in a Gym battle against Ash's Snivy. It was easily able to block all of Snivy's attacks and then knock her out. Next Ash used Roggenrola. Thanks to its Ability Sturdy, Roggenrola could avoid being knocked out by Excadrill's Horn Drill. Later Roggenrola evolved into a Boldore and defeated the Subterrene Pokémon with its newly learned Rock Blast and Rock Smash attacks, despite being at a major disadvantage.

In the manga

Driftveil Gym in Pokémon Adventures

Pokémon Adventures

Black & White arc

The Driftveil Gym appeared in Mine Mayhem and Underground Showdown, where Black challenged the Gym. Due to all the Gym Trainers being away at the time, Black was able to reach Clay at the bottom floor of the Gym without any difficulty. During the Gym battle, Clay told Black how he had heard of him from the other Gym Leaders, and how he had some time ago discovered the Dark Stone while digging at the Desert Resort. While battling Clay's Excadrill, Black's Pignite, Nite, accidentally sent a rock flying at the power box, shutting off the lights. This gave Clay's last Pokémon, Krokorok, an advantage over Black's final Pokémon, Costa, as it had the ability to sense the body heat of its target, even in the dark. Using himself as a decoy, Black gave Costa a chance to attack and defeat Krokorok, winning the match for him and earning him his fifth Badge.

Pokémon used in the Gym

Krokorok

Debut	Defeating Stoutland

Krokorok is Clay's second known Pokémon. It was first seen guarding the Dark Stone along with Clay's other Pokémon while being spied on by the Shadow Triad. Later, it was used to battle Black in a Gym battle and was defeated by his Tirtouga, Costa.

Krokorok's only known move is Sand Tomb and its Ability is Moxie.

Excadrill

Debut	Lights, Camera...Action!

Main article: Clay's Excadrill

Excadrill is Clay's first known Pokémon. It was first seen digging up a mysterious stone at the Desert Resort. Later, it was shown guarding the Dark Stone along with Clay's other Pokémon while being spied on by the Shadow Triad. Later, it was used to battle Black in a Gym battle and tied with his Pignite, Nite.

Palpitoad

Debut	Defeating Stoutland

Palpitoad is Clay's third known Pokémon. It was first seen guarding the Dark Stone along with Clay's other Pokémon while being spied on by the Shadow Triad. Later, it was used to battle Black in a Gym battle and tied with his Munna, Musha.

Palpitoad's only known move is Hyper Voice and its Ability is Swift Swim.

Trivia

• One of the Trainers inside the Gym says that Clay is a company president. In Pokémon Masters EX, this company is specified to be a mining company.
• In the English versions only, two Trainers (Isaac and Felix) share their names with main characters from the Golden Sun series, who are both associated with the element of earth.
• In Black 2 and White 2, this is the only Gym in which Trainers that were not fought can be battled after the Gym Leader has been defeated.

Gym Leaders of the Unova region
Striaton Gym Cilan Chili Cress	Nacrene Gym Lenora	Castelia Gym Burgh	Nimbasa Gym Elesa
Driftveil Gym Clay	Mistralton Gym Skyla	Icirrus Gym Brycen	Opelucid Gym Drayden Iris
Aspertia Gym Cheren	Virbank Gym Roxie	Humilau Gym Marlon

This article is part of Project Locations, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on every location in the Pokémon world.