Lance
- This article is about the Elite Four member. For the member of Team Rocket with the same name in Japanese, see Proton.
Lance ワタル Wataru | |
Art from HeartGold and SoulSilver | |
Gender | Male |
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Eye color | Brown |
Hair color | Red |
Hometown | Blackthorn City (games, anime) /Viridian Forest (Adventures) |
Region | Johto |
Relatives | Clair, Dragon Clan Elder |
Trainer class | Elite Four, later Champion |
Generation | I, II, III, IV |
Games | Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, FireRed, LeafGreen, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Stadium, Pokémon Stadium 2 |
Elite Four of | Indigo Plateau |
Champion of | Indigo Plateau |
Specializes in | Template:Type2s |
Anime debut | Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution |
English voice actor | Wayne Grayson |
Japanese voice actor | Susumu Chiba |
Lance (Japanese: ワタル Wataru) is a master Template:Type2 Trainer, a member of the Kanto Elite Four in Generation I and Generation III and the Pokémon Champion in Generation II and Generation IV.
In the games
In Generation I and the Generation III remakes, Lance is the fourth and final member of the Elite Four. He must be defeated before facing Blue, the Pokémon League Champion. By the Generation II games, he has proceeded to become Pokémon League Champion, possibly due to Blue resigning as Champion and becoming the Gym Leader of Viridian Gym.
He raises Template:Type2 Pokémon, which are both hard to catch and raise, but he prefers the superiority of Dragon-type Pokémon, believing them to be virtually indestructible.
Known as a cool and heroic Trainer, Lance has a large fan-following. Lance also seems to have a liking for capes, as he is often seen buying identical capes at the Celadon Department Store.
Lance's grandfather is the elder of a famous clan of Dragon masters. Clair is his cousin, and his hometown is Blackthorn City.
Lance appeared at Mahogany Town to help the player fight Team Rocket in Johto. Lance rewards the player with the Whirlpool HM for helping him put an end to Team Rocket's sinister plans.
Fame Checker
This is a list of the Fame Checker's information on Lance in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
- Pokémon League - Lance
- What does this person do?
- "I lead the ELITE FOUR. You can call me LANCE the dragon TRAINER."
- Pokémon League - Lance
- Favorite kind of Pokémon?
- "You know that dragons are mythical POKÉMON. They're hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior. They're virtually indestructible. There's no being clever with them."
- Saffron City - Woman
- What is this person like?
- "He stands for justice! He's cool, and yet passionate!
- He's the greatest, LANCE!"
- Celadon Dept. Store - Girl
- "We have a customer, LANCE, who occasionally comes. He always buys capes.
- I wonder... Does he have many identical capes at home?"
- Indigo Plateau - Pokémon Journal
- Family and friends?
- "LANCE's grandfather is thought to be the elder of a famous clan of dragon masters."
- Indigo Plateau - Kid
- Family and friends?
- "From what I've heard, LANCE has a cousin who's a GYM LEADER somewhere far away."
- Message from <sc>Lance
- From: Lance
- To: [Player]
- "I'm considering going back to my hometown. I want to retrain my DRAGON-type POKÉMON and strengthen them.
- I'd like to invite you to my hometown someday."
Pokémon
This listing is for Lance's Pokémon in the video games in which he has appeared.
Pokémon Red, Green and Blue
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Pokémon Yellow
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Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal
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Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
First battle
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Second battle
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Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Tag battle with player in the Team Rocket HQ
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First Battle
Second Battle
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Tag battle with Clair
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Pokémon Stadium
Round 1
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Round 2
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Pokémon Stadium 2
In Pokémon Stadium 2, Lance is the Champion, who is fought at the end of the Elite Four. As the player must use the same Pokémon that he or she used against the Elite Four, Lance is extremely difficult to defeat with Rental Pokémon, but not impossible (due to the element of chance). Once Lance is defeated, the player can battle any gym leaders in the Kanto region at any time.
Round 1
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Round 2
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Quotes
Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen
- Before battle
- "Ah! I heard about you, <player>! I lead the Elite Four! You can call me Lance the Dragon Trainer! You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon! They’re hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior! They’re virtually indestructible! Well, are you ready to lose? Your League challenge ends with me, <player>!"
- When defeated
- "That’s it! I hate to admit it, but you are a Pokémon master!"
- After being defeated
- "I still can’t believe my dragons lost to you, <player>! You’re now the Pokémon League champion! …Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge ahead. You have to face another Trainer! His name is… <rival>! He beat the Elite Four before you. He is the real Pokémon League champion!"
Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal
- Before battle
- "I’ve been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There’s no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"
- When defeated
- "…It’s over. But it’s an odd feeling. I’m not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"
Pokémon Stadium 2
"It looks like even the Elite Four couldn't stop you. I'm your last opponent in the Johto Castle!"
"I am still the Champion. I won't hold anything back."
"I've been waiting for you. Allow me to test your skill."
"Hyper Beam!"
"It's all over!"
"Dragonite for the win!"
"That's it. Come back!"
"Ow, bad news!"
"I concede defeat. You might have what it takes to prevail over KANTO's GYM LEADERs."
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
- Before battle
- "I’ve been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There’s no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"
- After sending out last Pokémon
- "All right! I thought this would never happen!"
- During battle
- "I never give up, no matter what. You must be the same?"
- When defeated
- "…It’s over. But it’s an odd feeling. I’m not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"
Sprites
File:LanceRB.png | File:YellowLance.png | File:LanceGSCsprite.png | File:FL Lance.png | File:LanceHGSS.gif | |||
Lance's sprite from Generation I |
Lance's sprite from Yellow |
Lance's sprite from Generation II |
Lance's sprite from Generation III |
Lance's sprite from Generation IV |
Lance's back sprite from Generation IV |
Lance's VS sprite from Generation IV |
Lance's artwork from both Pokémon Stadiums |
In the anime
Lance is a Pokémon Trainer famous in the Pokémon League. He is a member of an organization called the Pokémon G-Men.
Lance's first appeared in Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution. When Team Rocket started up an evil scheme at the Lake of Rage, Lance showed up to investigate. He met Ash, Misty and Brock there, saving the children from some formidable Rocket Grunts. Ash wanted to help Lance in his mission, but Lance said it was too dangerous.
Team Rocket was trying to investigate the properties of a Red Gyarados so that they could learn how to force Pokémon to evolve. Lance was able to destroy Team Rocket's machine and blow up their laboratory. Ash was able to calm the Red Gyarados at first, but it continued to go berserk. Finally, Lance caught it to keep it from destroying Mahogany Town.
Lance later appeared again in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends, where he helped stop the rampage of Kyogre and Groudon.
Pokémon
This is a list of Lance's known Pokémon:
Debut | Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution |
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Voice actors | |
Japanese | Katsuyuki Konishi |
English | Katsuyuki Konishi |
- Main article: Lance's Dragonite
Dragonite is Lance's main Pokémon. In addition to battling, he also uses it to fly around. In Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution and Rage of Innocence, Dragonite helped Lance stop Team Rocket. It was also used to help him battle against TRTyson ([[{{{2}}} (move)|{{{2}}}]])'s two Fearow at the same time, as well as to help Lance capture the Red Gyarados that was on a rampage at Mahogany Town.
It also appeared in The Scuffle of Legends where it helped Lance and the others to stop the legendary battle between Kyogre and Groudon.
Debut | Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution |
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Voice actors | |
Japanese | Unshō Ishizuka |
English | Unshō Ishizuka |
- Main article: Red Gyarados
After being forced to evolve by an experiment of Team Rocket, this Gyarados went rampage around until Lance managed to capture it. It was later used to stop the battle between Kyogre and Groudon.
Debut | The Legend of Thunder! |
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Not much is known about Lance's other Gyarados. Its only appearance was in Marina's fantasy in The Legend of Thunder!.
Voice actors
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In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Lance is primarily a villain in Pokémon Adventures. As the leader of the Elite Four, he wishes to exterminate the human race, save for a few people who he deems to be kind enough to Pokémon. Apparently also from Viridian City, Lance was blessed with the powers of the Viridian Forest as Yellow was. He has the power to telepathically communicate with Pokémon, as well as heal their wounds. Lance also has the ability to control or brainwash any Dragon-type Pokémon, as well as most Pokémon similar to Dragons (such as Aerodactyl or Tyranitar).
He first appears at Vermilion before the start of the Vermilion City Surfing Competition. The Dragonair that was to be offered as a prize to the winner was actually his. He then attacked Vermilion City and destroyed it, saying he was looking for something. When Yellow came after him he tried to capture Pika to please Agatha and Lorelei but once Pikachu learned Surf he too failed. Before the battle could continue, he mysteriously disappeared.
He next appeared on Cerise Island battling Blaine and Yellow. When Blaine released Mewtwo Blaine and Yellow were able to gain the upper hand against Lance's Aerodactyl and his two Dragonair. However, due to Blaine's link with Mewtwo they could only battle together for about three minutes and with time running out Blaine decided to target Lance's Poké Balls so he couldn't call out any other Pokémon and would have to battle with his weakened Pokémon that were already out. He succeeded in destroying the balls only for Blaine to be knocked unconscious due to Mewtwo's time out being run too long. Lance then chuckled to himself, revealing that he had called his Pokémon out of their balls before the battle even began.
During Lance's battle with Yellow both of them were equally matched, Lance luring the battle out onto the top of Cerise Island, a volcano. Lance then once again gained the upper hand by having his Gyarados and Dragonair make green, red, and blue bubbles so they could not be detected in sunlight. Just when it seemed when Yellow was about to lose, Giovanni arrived and helped subdue Lance, using his Rhyhorn to create a sandstorm to make the bubbles visible. But this capturing only proved to be part of his plan, as he needed Giovanni's badge since it was the last badge he needed for the Badge Energy Amplifier to summon Lugia, so he lured Giovanni to the middle of the island so the Earth Badge would be automatically ripped from him and the Amplifier would automatically activate, summoning Lugia. Lance wanted Lugia to help accomplish his goals, but Yellow's Pokémon were able to drive Lugia away once they evolved and Yellow was able to channel their power into Pika's Megavolt. This interested Lance, as he wanted to find out who Lugia's real owner was. It wasn't often that he lost control of dragon-like Pokémon.
Lance disappeared for a while, investigating Lugia and working behind the scenes. He gave Silver advice on how to defeat Team Rocket in Johto, as well as a Tyranitar (which Silver promptly returned after awakening from his comatose state following the incident at the Lake of Rage). Working through Silver, Lance tried to help defeat the Masked Man. After this was fulfilled, Lance is briefly seen flying on his Aerodactyl watching the horizon during part of Oak's speech on the radio.
The recently started HeartGold & SoulSilver arc heavily centers around Lance, or his disappearance, rather, which both Gold and Silver are assigned to investigate on.
Pokémon
This listing is for Lance's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga:
On hand
- Main article: Lance's Dragonite
Debut | Tyranitar War |
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Lance loaned his Tyranitar to Silver when it was a Pupitar. Tyranitar made its first official appearance when it was battling Gold and easily defeating Gold's entire team until it got subdued by Togebo's Double-Edge. After battling Lugia at the Whirl Islands, Tyranitar was returned to Lance as Silver was not able to fully control it.
Tyranitar's only known move is Sandstorm and has a Quirky nature.
Gyarados was used to shield Lance from the lava on Mt. Cerise using its bubbles. It evolved from a Magikarp.
Gyarados's only known move is BubbleBeam.
Debut | The Last Battle II |
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Horsea was seen in a Flashback of Lance's and Clair's childhood. It may actually be Claire's because Claire owns a Kingdra, and the two Pokémon switched around while they were battling.
Debut | Can't Catch Caterpie! |
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Lance's Aerodactyl is mostly used for air transportation. During the battle against Yellow, one of her Pokémon evolved when she battled the fossilized creature resembling a Dragon.
Its other known moves are Wing Attack, Hyper Beam, and Supersonic.
These Dragonair are part of Lance's Dragon army. One of them first appeared in a Surfing Contest as a prize. During the contest, Lance brainwashes the Dragonair and it starts launching Whirlpools at the surfers, bringing them down to the sea. Yellow finds out that Lance was responsible for this and battles his Dragonair and loses. Lance used two of his Dragonair to shield himself from the lava at Mt. Cerise by using bubbles. Yellow is once again in his clutches as they, along with Gyarados were responsible for the shaking of the mountain.
Their known moves are Agility, Wrap, Surf, Whirlpool, BubbleBeam, Slam, and Hyper Beam.
Released
Lance summoned Lugia to complete his plans of creating a utopia for Pokémon where humans that abuse Pokémon or destroy their habitats would be no more. However, this plan did not work as Lance was eventually beaten, and the Badge Amplifier energy Lugia had absorbed transferred to the soils of mainland Kanto, where it would spread life instead of bringing about death. As a result, it fled from Lance.
It was seen again in the Whirl Islands where it was on a rampage after being controlled by the Masked Man, who caught it just as Gold, Silver, and Crystal were about to. Using its Aeroblast with Ho-oh's Sacred Fire to demolish the league, the two remained nearly unstoppable until Suicune, Entei, and Raikou appeared alongside their new trainers to fight the villain and free them. Eventually, after much turmoil, Lugia once again fled along with Ho-oh.
Lugia's known moves are Whirlpool, Psychic, Fly, and Aeroblast.
In the TCG
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Lance or his Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Name | Type | Level | Rarity | Set | Set no. |
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Lance's Charizard | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 97/141 | ||
Lance's Gyarados | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 98/141 | ||
Lance's Aerodactyl | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 99/141 | ||
Lance's Dragonite | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 100/141 | ||
Lance's Ampharos | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 101/141 | ||
Lance's Kingdra | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 102/141 | ||
Lance's TM 01 | - | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 128/141 | |
Lance's TM 02 | - | - | Pokémon VS (no English release) | 129/141 |
Trivia
- In the games, Lance is depicted as being from Blackthorn City, but the Pokémon Adventures manga depicts Lance as being from Viridian Forest (albeit of Blackthorn descent).
- Lance has battles with two illegal Pokémon: the Aerodactyl that knows Rock Slide that he uses in Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and the Dragonite that knows Barrier that he uses in Red and Blue. Furthermore, all his Dragonite from Generation II, as well as in the double battle against Team Rocket and the first battle against him in the Pokémon League in Generation IV, are underleveled.
- It is interesting to note that starting in Pokémon Yellow, Lance has red hair, while a card depicting him in Monopoly: Pokémon Edition shows artwork of him with purple hair. This is probably due to the fact that the board game was made before Yellow was released and his sprite in Red and Blue is grayish-blue in color.
- Though his type theme is Dragon Pokémon, in Generation II, only three of his Pokémon are actually of the Dragon type; all of them Dragonite. Interestingly, all six of his Pokémon have Flying as their secondary type.
- Additionally, the non-Dragon-type Pokémon used by Lance in the main series (Gyarados, Aerodactyl and Charizard) are all part Flying-type, as well as partially or fully resembling dragons.
- Lance is the only member of the Johto Elite Four who, on the second time through, still does not have a team of only his type, with Charizard and Gyarados not being Dragon-types.
- Additionally, both of them are part-Flying-type Pokémon.
- In the anime, Lance disguised himself as a member of a villainous team twice, as a Team Rocket Grunt in Talkin' Bout an Evolution, and later as a Team Magma Grunt in Gaining Groudon.
- Lance is the only Trainer the player can battle with in a double battle (Team Rocket HQ), against in a double battle (Dragon's Den), and against in a single battle (as Champion) so far. Furthermore, the tag battle with him against Ariana and a Grunt can be seen parallel to the tag battle the player has with Steven Stone in Pokémon Emerald against Maxie and Tabitha.
- Despite taking place three years later, Lance's Pokémon are at a lower level in Generation II than they were in Generation I. The same thing occurs with Bruno.
- In the rematch battle in HeartGold and SoulSilver, all of his Pokémon have a quadruple weakness.
- Lance appears as an opponent in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge. He uses a Dragonite in battle.
- From Generations I to III, all of his Pokémon know Hyper Beam. This was no longer the case in Generation IV, possibly because Hyper Beam was changed to a special move.
- Lance, Koga, and Bruno are the only Elite Four members to appear in more than one generation.
- Excluding remakes, Lance is the only Champion that was introduced in a previous generation and only uses Pokémon introduced in a previous generation.
- Lance's Gyarados, Charizard and Dragonite can appear to level down, if the player decides to battle him and Clair in Dragon's Den before collecting all 16 badges and the Elite Four upgrading their teams in HeartGold and SoulSilver, as they are level 68 - 75 in the tag battle and are level 48 - 50 when re-challenged at the Indigo League.
Language | Name | Origin |
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Japanese | ワタル (Wataru) | 綿 wata, cotton. 渡る Wataru means crossing. |
English, Italian, Spanish | Lance | Possibly from a lance, used by knights, who fought dragons in legends and fairy tales. |
French | Peter | Could also be derived from petard, a medieval weapon. |
German | Siegfried | Reference to a Nordic hero that killed a dragon called Fafnir. |
Korean | 묵호 Mukho | |
Chinese (Taiwan) | 渡 Dù (anime) 小渡 Xiǎo Dù (manga) |
From 渡る Wataru. |
Chinese (PRC) | 渡 (Dù) | From 渡る Wataru. |
External links
- Wataru's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
Pokémon Champions | |
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Core series | Blue • Lance • Red • Steven • Wallace • Cynthia • Alder • Iris • Diantha • Trace • Leon • Mustard • Peony • Nemona • Geeta • Kieran • Drayton • Most player characters |
Masters EX | Blue • Lance • Red • Steven • Cynthia • Alder • Iris • Diantha • Leon • Scottie • Bettie • Ash • Nemona • Geeta • Calem • Serena • Hop • Marnie • Bede • Leaf • Nate • Rosa • Silver • Cheren • Bianca |
Other spin-offs |
Ronald (TCG GB) • Mark (TCG GB) • Mint (TCG GB) • Glenn (Pokkén) • Master Rosé (Duel) |
Animated series | Lance • Cynthia • Wallace • Alder • Diantha • Steven • Ash Ketchum • Leon • Iris • Nemona • Geeta |
Other animation | Blue (Origins) • Red (Origins) • Calem (Generations) • Celestine (PttP) • Edgar Troy (PttP) • Ava (PttP) |
Adventures | Professor Oak • Red • Sidney • Phoebe • Glacia • Drake • Steven • Wallace • Cynthia • Alder • Iris • Diantha • Leon • Mustard • Peony • Nemona |
Other manga | Shigeru (Zensho) • Satoshi (Zensho) • Rald (Battle Frontier) |
Lance's Pokémon | ||||||
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On hand: | ||||||
Adventures only: | ||||||
Jō's Big Adventure only: |
This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games. |
- Characters
- Male characters
- Pages with broken file links
- Champions
- Game characters
- Elite Four trainers
- Anime characters
- Manga characters
- Pokémon Adventures characters
- Red, Blue and Yellow characters
- Gold, Silver and Crystal characters
- FireRed and LeafGreen characters
- HeartGold and SoulSilver characters
- Stadium characters
- Stadium 2 characters
- Dragon-type Trainers