Duke



Duke (Japanese: デューク Duyuku) is a from the  region. Duke is the original Trainer of Ryder's Tepig. Duke in  Pokémon, and proclaims himself as a Fire Warrior (Japanese: 火災戦士 Kasai Senshi).

Background
Duke was Tepig's original Trainer, but Duke was constantly displeased with Tepig's lack of strength, and the last straw was Tepig being defeated by a, despite possessing the type advantage over the Pokémon. Duke then tied Tepig to a post and pretended to feel sad over being "forced" to him, but laughed at Tepig's cries after walking out of sight.

Unova
Sometime later, Duke was battling at the in, where Duke's Emboar and  were facing off against 's  and. Mienshao uses on Heatmor and Watchog lifts and  Emboar onto the ground. Duke declares that he will show everyone the true power of the "Fire Warriors" and orders Emboar to use on both opponents and for Heatmor to do the same with. Flame Burst creates a fiery explosion and knocks out both of the opponent's Pokémon.

After the battle, Ryder walks a hallway when he sees Duke talking to Kylan. Duke demands to see Kylan's Pokémon so that he can take one as winnings from the battle. Ryder runs over to tell him that this is wrong and says that he should not be doing this, but Duke brushes him off. appears and thanks the two Trainers for the great battle, defusing the situation. Duke leaves and Ryder asks Kylan why he would have a Pokémon battle with such high stakes, but he says that he didn't even want to battle in the first place and that Duke wanted to get his hands on powerful Pokémon.

Later in the cafeteria, Duke was eating his food when Tepig ran over to him, happy to see his former Trainer, but Duke seemed rather annoyed to see him. Ryder sees Tepig running off and apologizes to Duke for his disturbance. Ryder asks Tepig to come back, but he doesn't leave Duke's side. Ryder then remembers that Tepig was abandoned by his original Trainer, and recalls having found him tied up and malnourished in. Ryder asks Duke if he was the one who abandoned Tepig, and he replies saying Tepig was lucky Ryder gave him a break. Ryder scolds him and say that it was wrong to throw a Pokémon away. Ryder demands that he apologize to Tepig, but Duke refuses and throws him to Ryder. Duke's defense is that he left Tepig for his own good because forcing a weak Pokémon into battle would be worse than abandonment. Ryder mentions the rope that tied Tepig to a post. Duke argues that he had to tie Tepig up to keep him from following. Don George interrupts and suggests a battle to settle the argument. Duke agrees only if it is a. Ryder tells Duke that he would have to apologize to Tepig if he loses.

The next morning, Duke and Ryder prepare to battle, with Duke using Emboar and Heatmor, and Ryder using Tepig and Snivy. Though Snivy is ready, Tepig still appears downtrodden. Ryder commands Snivy to use on Emboar, but it dodges. Ryder tells Tepig to use on Heatmor, but Tepig can neither bring himself to battle nor dodge a Hammer Arm from Emboar. Ryder tells Tepig that he understands how he feels. Duke chuckles and says that he pretends to be sad and on the verge of tears whenever he abandons a Pokémon to make it think that he actually cares, all so that it follow him. Upon hearing this, Tepig becomes immobilized by sadness and mentally breaks down. Snivy tries to help Tepig, but it is no use. Realizing this, Ryder asks Snivy to cover for Tepig. Snivy uses on Emboar, leaving him helpless to avoid Vine Whip. Duke snaps Emboar out of it by having Heatmor use on its teammate. Emboar recovers from the infatuation and uses Flamethrower while Heatmor uses. Snivy dodges, but the two attacks hit Tepig. Then, Snivy is struck by Heatmor's Fury Swipes and Emboar's. Snivy eventually manages to get back up and tries to get Tepig to battle along with Ryder. Finally, Tepig decides to battle. Tepig uses, hitting both Heatmor and Emboar, but Duke is not impressed.

Both Emboar and Heatmor get back up and use and, respectively. Emboar launches forward, enveloped in blue flame, and is boosted by the Fire Spin spiraling around him. Tepig is about to be hit by the powered-up attack, but Snivy pushes him out of the way and takes the blow, knocking her out. Ryder thanks her and says that she deserves a good rest, but she wants to stay and watch her teammate battle. Seeing everyone encouraging him, including Snivy, Tepig teems with the determination and begins to glow. Because of his friends's love and support, Tepig evolves into. Despite this, Duke says that Pignite still has no chance of winning. Ryder commands Pignite to use his new move,. Pignite strikes the ground, sending a pillar of fire that engulfs both Emboar and Heatmor. Ryder tells Pignite to finish with Flame Charge, knocking Duke's Pokémon out and winning the battle for Ryder. Everyone congratulates Pignite as he and Ryder hug, with Snivy in Ryder's arms. After recalling his Pokémon, Duke walks over to Pignite and apologizes for what he did. He asks Pignite to ditch Ryder and come back to his team, which makes Pignite smile with excitement. Pignite stares at his former Trainer for a moment before using Flamethrower on him, charring him and causing Duke to run away, promising to gain revenge on both Ryder and Pignite.

Duke later appears as a participant in the, and meets up with Ryder once again, and angrily stomps over to him and vows to destroy him as payback for humiliating him during their previous encounter. The tournament opens with all of the 16 participants standing in line together as and  make announcements. They kick the battling off with a ten minute exhibition match between  member  and. Cynthia sends out and Caitlin sends out her. The two battle, and when Garchomp's and Gothitelle's  collide, it sets off a fireworks-like display in the arena. Before either Pokémon can gain the upper hand, however, the timer runs out and the exhibition battle is declared to be a draw.

During his first round match-up, Duke's Emboar easily defeats 's, and later defeats 's in the second round, before battling against Ryder again in the semi-finals, pitting Duke's  against Ryder's Krokorok.

Ryder commands Krokorok to use, as Duke commands Chandelure to dodge. Ryder then commands Krokorok to use and Duke again commands Chandelure to dodge. After flying away from the stones, Duke tells Chandelure to use Flamethrower, which lands a direct hit on Krokorok. Duke then commands Chandelure to use, and Krokorok uses , making Chandelure's attack miss. However, before Krokorok can land his attack, Chandelure flies up and dodges, moving right into Flamethrower, but Krokorok dodges as well.

Duke has Chandelure use another Flamethrower and Krokorok dodges again, only to make Chandelure fly up and again use Flamethrower to actually hit Krokorok this time. Chandelure uses Flamethrower once more and Krokorok dodges with Dig. Krokorok resurfaces behind Chandelure and Ryder has him use Crunch, and Duke commands Chandelure to dodge again. However, Krokorok's attack lands, causing Chandelure considerable damage. Chandelure shakes Krokorok off and follows up with, but Krokorok dodges and lands a super effective Stone Edge attack on Chandelure. Knowing this is his chance to strike, Ryder commands Krokorok to use Crunch again, but Chandelure dodges and counterattacks with Flamethrower. Krokorok again tries to use Crunch, but Chandelure intercepts with Flamethrower, followed by a powerful Heat Wave, and subsequently sends him flying back with another Flamethrower.

Ryder encourages Krokorok to get up, and despite the severe damage he has taken, he does so and begins to evolve. Everyone watches Krokorok's evolution in awe, except for Duke and Chandelure who seem intimidated, especially when the evolution is complete and Krokorok becomes. Ryder prompts his newly-evolved Krookodile to keep battling, and he charges toward Dragonite with his newly learned attack. Chandelure gets slammed across the battlefield after taking the powerful attack from Krookodile. After pulling himself together, Duke orders Chandelure to unleash a powerful Overheat attack, but Krookodile simply dodges without much effort and unleashes Stone Edge, which lands directly with Chandelure, causing critical damage. Krookodile then quickly follows up with another Dragon Claw, which successfully knocks out Chandelure, eliminating Duke from the tournament, and advancing Ryder to the finals. Duke shouts out in anger and curses Ryder for defeating him yet again, and promises to make him pay before storming off.

Duke later successfully registers to participate in the, and manages to advance through the first few rounds before battling against Ryder in the qualifying rounds. After seeing this match-up, Duke marches over to Ryder and angrily proclaims he'd destroy him once and for all and make him pay for all the times he'd humiliated him. Ryder, tired of Duke's obcession with him, pretends to have forgotten who Duke was, leaving Duke even more angry than before, who then storms off, and Ryder laughs at his reaction.

Ryder and Duke's battle is about to begin, with Kacey and Tyrone watching in the stands, cheering Ryder on, which greatly annoys Duke, who angrily shouts that Ryder doesn't any cheers. Ryder chooses Emolga while Duke chooses. Heatmor leads off with, while Emolga evades by flying up. As Emolga uses, Heatmor dodges at the last minute. After exchanging and, Heatmor connects with  and follows up with. Emolga, however, grabs the tail just as it connects and replies with a Discharge, knocking Heatmor out.

Next up, Duke calls out his. Emolga attempts, though Darmanitan dodges and uses. Emolga is hurled right into a wall, and she is out for the count. Ryder recalls Emolga and sends out Snivy, and upon recognizing Duke, Snivy sneers at him and becomes even more motivated to battle. After exchanging attacks, Snivy manages to land a attack. Ryder orders another Leaf Storm, but Duke has Darmanitan enter into an evasive Double Team. Snivy finds herself surrounded, but before she can act, Darmanitan defeats her with a vicious.

Now down to his last Pokémon, Ryder brings out Pignite. Upon seeing Duke, Pignite, too, sneers at him and lets out a mighty roar, which doesn't impress Duke, who simply brushes it off. Darmanitan begins with a Fire Punch, which Pignite counters with Flamethrower. Darmanitan evades with Double Team. Pignite mows down the afterimages with. The fire pillars soon connect and swats Darmanitan aside. Nevertheless, Duke believes that Pignite can't defeat him and commands another Double Team, which formes a circle around the field, cornering Pignite. Ryder tells Pignite to remain calm and use within the circle of copies, and the impact of the attack causes all afterimages to fade, leaving only the real Darmanitan, who Pignite quickly defeats with a subsequent. Duke recalls Darmanitan and chooses his final Pokémon, Emboar, and Pignite glares at it, who also returns the glare.

Pignite and Emboar are now battling for the match, and the prior bad blood is still fresh in their minds. Trading off Flamethrower attacks, Emboar appears to be more powerful as it manages to throw Pignite. Narrowly dodging several attempts, Pignite connects with. Evading another Hammer Arm, however, allows Emboar to hit Pignite while airborne with a Flamethrower. However, Pignite manages to evade Emboar's Hammer Arm, and uses atop of Emboar. Both slowly get back up, and slowly wear each other down by hitting each other in the face with attacks. On the sidelines, Kacey wonders why neither are taking time to evade the attacks, in which Tyrone explains that the battle may be of pride as well, and thus both are willing to take as much as they are willing to give. Getting up one last time, both Pokémon trade off Flamethrowers. The pair emerge standing despite the large explosion. They both smirk at each other before Emboar drops down to one knee, and Pignite takes this opportunity to unleash another Heat Crash, and Pignite crashes down upon Emboar, knocking it out, and giving Ryder the victory over Duke once again.

As Ryder and Pignite celebrate, Duke screams in frustration, and curses Emboar for losing to its pre-evolved form. Duke snaps and storms over to Ryder, claiming that Ryder wasn't going to make it to the finals as long as he's still around and attempts to summon every one of his current available Pokémon atop of Ryder, but Pignite interferes and attacks Duke with a point-blank punch in the face, which sends him flying. Duke gets up and attempts to attack his opponents, but gets restrained by his own Emboar. When Duke orders him to get his hand off him, Emboar gives Duke a cold glare, and Duke freezes in fear. comes in the battlefield and takes Duke away, but not before Emboar grabs his from Duke's belt and crushes it, therefore releasing itself from Duke's ownership in the process. Emboar walks over to Ryder and Pignite and shakes Pignite's hand. Emboar then walks off along with Officer Jenny, who carries Duke away, while the crowd boos Duke's poor sportsmanship.

Later that day, Ryder sees Officer Jenny and Emboar, and asks them about Duke's whereabouts, and Officer Jenny informs Ryder that Duke was sent back to his hometown of, as apparently, Duke never even received permission from his parents to embark on a journey, and had actually ran away from home, and Duke would now remain under strict supervision from his parents after hearing about his antics throughout his journey. When asking about Emboar, Officer Jenny says that Emboar decided to become her partner Pokémon, and Ryder congratulates Emboar on finding a new, better, Trainer, and Emboar nods in respect, before walking off with Officer Jenny.

Character
Duke is a very antagonistic, aggressive, power-hungry, unsocial, and somewhat unhinged individual. Duke only seeks out strong Pokémon, and refuses to either with them, or even show any signs of respect, seeing them only as tools to accomplish his goals and dreams. Aside from his uncaring nature, Duke also acts incredibly greedy and intimidating, seen as when Duke was attempting to intimidate into giving him one of his Pokémon as "winnings" after their battle, and only stopped upon seeing  approach them.

Duke is also rather sadistic and cold-hearted, Tepig by tying him up in a post and laughing at Tepig's cries after getting himself out of sight. He's also quite emotionally manipulative and ruthless, tricking Tepig into believing he'd cared for him, and used this to his advantage by revealing the truth during their battle, causing Tepig to suffer a mental breakdown, therefore leaving himself open to be attacked, and Duke showed no mercy by ordering multiples attacks towards Tepig at once.

However, when finding himself at the brink of defeat, or being antagonized by others, Duke proves himself as easily-angered and somewhat unstable, with his emotions getting the better of him. His uncontrollable anger also caused him to become obcessed with Ryder, being irate at the mere sight of the more experienced Trainer, and after suffering back-to-back losses to him, Duke finally snapped and attempted to physically attack him, and was only stopped by his own Emboar and, and while being carried away, Duke continuously lashed out at everyone in sight, further showing his unhinged personality.

Unova Badges
This listing is of the Duke has obtained in the :



Pokémon League Rankings
Duke has competed in the following :


 * - Top 16

Pokémon Competitions
Duke has competed in the following :


 * - Top 4