Lance

Lance in Pokémon: FireRed and LeafGreen Versions.
Lance
Species	Human
Affiliation	Elite Four
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Black
Relatives	Dragon Clan Master (Grandfather) Clair (cousin)
Debut	Pokémon: Red Version/Pokemon: Green Version

This article is about the Pokémon character, for the Fire Emblem character, see Lance (Fire Emblem).

Lance is a famous trainer of Dragon-type Pokémon who hails from a clain of dragon users., and is the son of it's elderly master. He is known for his involvement of the Elite Four. He is very passionate, and aside from using his Pokémon in competitions, he also uses them to defeat wrong-doers and dispense justice.

Background

Originally, Lance was the leader of Kanto and Johto's Elite Four. In Pokémon: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen Versions, Lance was the last member of the Elite Four battled by Red. Afterwards, Lance considering returning to hometown to train his Pokémon.

It is presumed that he followed that course, as Lance was no longer a member of the Elite Four in Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal Versions. Lance instead challenged the Elite Four and successfully defeated them to become the Pokémon League Champion. He later met up with Gold while investigating suspicious occurrences at the Lake of Rage. Lance convinced Gold to help him in foiling Team Rocket's latest plot. Together, Gold and Lance discovered the Team Rocket base hidden beneath Mahogany Town and shut it down (and Lance also defeated Gold's rival, Silver, for him). Lance thanked Gold by giving him HM 06: Whirlpool.

Gold later made his way to the Elite Four headquarters. After defeating the Elite Four, Gold defeated Lance to become the new Pokémon League Champion. Lance then commended Gold for his skills and registered him and his Pokémon in the Pokémon League Hall of Fame.

Pokémon Roster

Lance specializes in Dragon-type Pokémon. Since there are very few Dragon-type Pokémon, he also uses many Pokémon that resemble dragons or are related to them in some way. The following is his original line-up in the first generation games:

• Gyarados
• Dragonair (two)
• Aerodactyl
• Dragonite

In FireRed and LeafGreen, Lance altered his roster in rematches with Red by replacing the two Dragonair with a Kingdra and another Dragonite. In Gold/Silver/Crystal versions, his roster was identical except that both Dragonair were now Dragonite (bringing him up to three Dragonite), and a Charizard was added to his team.

Other Games

Lance appeared as an opponent in the Gym Leader Castle of Pokémon Stadium, along with the other members of the Elite Four. In the first round he used Gyarados, Dragonair, Aerodactyl, Lapras, Charizard and Kangaskhan. In the second round his team consisted of Arcanine, Snorlax, Lapras, Electabuzz, Charizard and Kangaskhan.

He was also in the Pokémon Stadium 2 Gym Leader Castle and was the final enemy in the Johto area, as this appearance was inspired by Gold, Silver and Crystal. In this game Lance fought with Charizard, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Dragonite, Steelix and Tyranitar in Round 1. He instead used Arcanine, Kangaskhan, Aerodactyl, Dragonite, Feraligatr and Tyranitar in the second round.

Lance also appeared in Pokémon Puzzle Challenge as the final boss, similar to his role in Gold/Silver/Crystal. He used a Dragonite in battle.

Other Appearances

• Lance has made two appearances in the Pokémon anime, although none involved him as a member of the Elite Four. He is shown as a secret agent who infiltrates organizations like Team Rocket to foil their plots. He first appears in several episodes of the Johto series based on the Mahogany Town battles with Team Rocket in Gold and Silver, and Lance also catches the Red Gyarados from the Lake of Rage. Lance made another appearance in the Hoenn episodes, where he helps to quell the situation when Groudon and Kyogre are awakened.
• Lance was featured in the Pokémon Adventures manga as the main villain of the Yellow arc, with the rest of the Elite Four as his partners. He is revealed to have been born in Viridian Forest with the forest's powers (due to his father going against tradition and marrying a Viridian woman instead of someone from the clan) which include telepathic contact with Pokémon and the ability to heal Pokémon. He is motivated by his zealous desire for Pokémon to inhabit the earth that started when he saw a Dratini dying from pollution as a child and sets his plans into motion to summon Lugia with an island-sized amplifier of the eight gym badges' powers, with which he planned to destroy nearly all of mankind. He is ultimately challenged by Yellow and Blaine, and is briefly defeated by Giovanni until he retreats once Lugia is summoned. After Lugia disappears, Lance does as well. He briefly resurfaces in the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc, where he is shown to have mentored Silver in his battles against Team Rocket, and despite Silver's distrust of him Lance teaches Silver important lessons about caring for his Pokémon.

Trivia

• Lance apparently has a large wardrobe of capes, and buys them from the department store in Celadon City.
• In FireRed and LeafGreen, it is mentioned that Lance's grandfather is the elder of the dragon clan. A common misconception is that this describes Drake - the Dragon-type Pokémon trainer who is the leader of Hoenn's Elite Four in Pokémon: Ruby and Sapphire Versions. However, Pokémon: Crystal Version shows that his grandfather is the unnamed master of the elders living within the Dragon's Den.