5th Gen Iris

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, the Champion this time around is Iris, while in the original Black and White it was Alder. She took the title of such after defeating Alder and leading him to retire and take his spot. She only appears twice in the game and then in the post-game you see a Memory Link cutscene with her. And in battle, she uses a Dragon-type theme similar to Lance, using Pokémon such as Hydreigon and Haxorus.

What's your take on Iris? Did you like having her as Champion? Did you enjoy battling her? Why or why not? Do you think there was more they could have done with her? Also, if you've battled her on Challenge Mode, what did you think compared to on Normal Mode?

Discuss.

I did not like it at all. I like a champion that actually does something within the story, one who interacts with you. Iris really didn't. her battle theme was one of the worst and personally I would have liked to have seen a non dragon type champion as the battle felt like a poor mans lance battle. Black and White 2 easily had the worst champion ever.
[Blue] - nice selection, killer music, was a bully to you during the entire journey, somewhat challenging
[Lance] - killer theme we all know and love, helped defeat team rocket first single type champ, hard in some cases.
[Stevan] - another good theme, Helped you out here and there, nice party selection, challenging but more so in the emerald battle.
[Wallace] - eh... good but not great. almost as bad as iris for me.
[Cynthia] - strong party, good music, helps you out against team galactic, garchomp is hard.
[alder] - good team, plays a role in the story
[Iris] - makes little to no appearance in the story, poor mans lance battle, bad theme.

I liked her design as the champion but otherwise preferred Alder as I felt he was more fitting. Iris was.. hardly around and not very memorable throughout B/W and even B/W2 so there wasn't much reasoning or buildup for her becoming champion in the sequel. She was painstakingly easy for me to take out as well.

I don't mind having Iris as the new Champ over Alder in B2/W2; her technicolor battlefield was what drew me in. Her team also has some different-typed Pokemon other than Dragons, just like Lance.

I liked Iris's design, "specialized typing" (in quotes because only half of her team members in both the initial and post-game battles are Dragon-types, much like how half of Alder's Pokemon are Bug-types), battlefield, and Champion music; and the way she became Champion is perfectly reasonable. However, I have to agree with others that she doesn't feel much like a Champion because of what little of a role she had in BW2's storyline. Most of the other Champions interacted with the player and/or were actively involved in the plot, so their positions fit them well.

I wasn't really into Iris as the Champion. She hardly appears in the storyline and therefore has pretty much no character development or impact on the plot. Champions should have plot involvement, if you ask me. She's also a bit too perky for me.

Hm, I wasn't going to do this considering i've discussed Iris on both my blog and another thread, but sure, this will take more explaining than what's probably necessary. When it comes to my take on the matter, I really have a lot to say.

For starters, this was something someone said in a "worst/least favorite champion" topic on the Marriland forums a while back in late 2013 I think. Now, not that i'm trying to say Iris is so much better than Cynthia or Steven or what not (because then i'd get hate comments for days), but honestly, any Champion can be easy or hard based on your coverage, considering how many options you'll have when you're at the end of your adventure. While one person might waltz through Iris, the next might get slammed by that Dragon Dance Haxorus. Same with Diantha, there are people who breeze through her while others get their butts handed to them by Mega Gardevoir. Heck, even Steven and Cynthia could be a joke with the right Pokémon, but i'm getting too ahead of myself.

For that matter, even older players (like myself) might not mind something being easy. I do know that the creators mentioned that they wanted to make the games easier because they know our lives are getting busier, and I know some people would prefer not having to grind much.

But enough talking about that - now to get on topic and discuss why I actually like Iris as Champion myself. And i'm not just gonna rave about her battle music and that awesome rainbow beam space battlefield (although those certainly throw quite a bit of spice onto the battle for me).

To begin, I think she's creative, and not a character a typical player would probably expect as Champion. I say that because she's likely around the age of the Unova protagonists themselves, and to have a female character of that age rocking a team of dragon and monster Pokémon in a dynamic space battlefield? Yes, please.

And it certainly helps that she uses many of my favorite Pokémon, including my favorite of all time (Lapras), as well as Aggron, Hydreigon and Haxorus. That may be one reason why I always look forward to battling her and what has made B2/W2 my favorites, and why I have made it a habit of replaying them on Challenge Mode (well, doing challenges on them), because she uses so many Pokémon that I really like.

That's not to say I think she's perfect, though. It would've been great if they had gave her some action in Opelucid City after Team Plasma freezes it, or in the Plasma Frigate/Giant Chasm near the climax of the main story. At the same time, I have wondered what would make for her to have a better team out of BW2's Pokédex if they had dropped the Dragon-type theme from her. (For starters, being more than one level above the Elite Four before her would've been nice…)

In short, if they had gave her more screen-time in the story, or a more balanced team, and kept that music and battlefield, she would definitely be my favorite Champion of all of them. I have a feeling people may have liked her more if Challenge Mode was available from the beginning of the game.

So yeah, that's my take on the matter.

I really enjoyed Iris as Champion, and much preferred her to Alder. I think it helped that she got an overhaul on her design which imo was an improvement, especially her hair :)


In addition, I love her team. Lance is my favourite Champion so to get to face a Dragon Champ again was a real treat for me. It also made me take her a lot more seriously for some reason, maybe cause of the respect female Dragon users (such as Clair from Johto) wield :)

I liked Iris, not only as a Champion but as a character in general. I liked how more expressive her clothing as the Champion was, especially the whole princess look with her dress and the tiara in her hair.

Her team was also pretty strong, and gives off a Lance vibe as well given not everything on her team is a Dragon-type, but she mixes in some non-Dragon-types that have a draconic-like appearance. The fact she carries a Focus Sash on her Haxorus makes you have to be a bit strategic if you want to take it down easily because it could end up ripping you if you didn't expect it. She may have some common weaknesses present but at least she's diverse enough so that you can't necessarily mow her down with one type alone.

Well she is the second easiest Champion IMO. I loved her design but she rarely appears in the games. it's like she's just there not even helping in drastic situations. This seemed to also happen in X/Y. You rarely see the champion and the champion ends up being no harder than an Elite 4 member.