Iris's Axew

Iris's Axew (Japanese: アイリスのキバゴ  Iris's Kibago) was one of the two acquired by  prior to the start of the.

Unova
Axew was the first Pokémon that Iris was known to have obtained. She obtained Axew from the of her hometown when he was just a few days old. She was given the task of journeying with Axew in order to help raise him into a great.

Like Pikachu and Dawn's Piplup, Axew appears to prefer being outside of his Poké Ball (if Axew even has a Poké Ball). Unlike them, however, he likes to travel inside Iris's long hair, while Pikachu and Piplup usually go on their Trainer's shoulder.

Axew first appeared briefly in In the Shadow of Zekrom! alongside Iris, where it watched the dark clouds caused by from the top of a tree. Axew was the first Pokémon that scanned with his new Pokédex in Enter Iris and Axew!, though he was actually aiming it at Iris's hair and wondering why Axew looked nothing like what the Pokédex showed. Later, Axew and Pikachu got caught by, but they were later freed with the help of.

In Triple Leaders, Team Threats!, told Iris and Axew that they have perfect compatibility. He also added that Axew is a rather rare Pokémon. In Dreams by the Yard Full! it was revealed through the Dream Mist that Axew wants to evolve to his, unlike most of the other walking Pokémon in the anime.

In The Bloom Is on Axew!, it was shown that Axew has not had much experience in battling, crying when he was hit by weakened and  attacks from Cilan's Pansage; however, he was shown to be able to produce an extremely powerful  that could cause massive destruction, but was uncontrollable and had a tendency to explode in all directions rather than beam at a specific target as it is meant to. Both Ash and Cilan playfully referred to it as a "Dragon Sneeze", much to Iris's annoyance. A pun exists where, as Axew says his name while using "Dragon Sneeze", it sounds rather like "achoo". Later in the episode, Axew was trapped in the horns of a wild, and Iris and the others had to rescue him using their Pokémon.

In Scraggy-Hatched to be Wild!, Axew seemed excited about Ash's Pokémon Egg being ready to hatch; so much so that he accidentally sent it rolling down a hill. After it hatched into, Axew became afraid of him after seeing how aggressive he was with the other Pokémon. Even so, he kept his eye on Scraggy and was the first to notice that he ran off in the middle of the night. Axew assisted Iris in finding a plant that would help Scraggy recover after he was by a wild. The next day when Scraggy felt better, Axew battled him. Both Pokémon ended up knocking each other out thanks to another failed Dragon Rage. The two had another battle in Dancing With the Ducklett Trio!, however he was stopped after Axew attempted, again, to use Dragon Rage.

In The Dragon Master's Path!, he sent Team Rocket's ship down with an exploding Dragon Rage. He then rode away on Druddigon's head and called out to Iris, letting her know where he was. When fighting Team Rocket alongside Pikachu and Emmy's, Axew finally mastered Dragon Rage, sending out a stream of energy instead of exploding right on the spot, defeating Team Rocket.

In Cottonee in Love!, Axew had another battle with Ash's Scraggy, but this time he won thanks to his mastered Dragon Rage.

In Iris and Excadrill Against the Dragon Buster!, Axew battled Georgia's briefly, but was defeated after a collision of  and Dragon Rage.

In Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight!", Axew played the role of the 's strongest Pokémon. She used Axew against Ash's Pikachu in order to bring out his inner strength. However, Pikachu defeated Axew with a powerful / combination.

Iris used Axew in the semifinal round of the Club Battle in Club Battle Finale: A Hero's Outcome! against Luke and his. Not knowing about Golett's immunity to attacks, Iris ordered Axew to use Scratch which was ineffective. Axew then got hit hard by Golett's. Managing to get up Axew used Dragon Rage, but this attack was dodged by. While still using Double Team, Golett used, confusing Axew and managed to hit him hard. Axew then tried Dragon Rage again, but this was countered by Golett's. Golett then used Gyro Ball again. Unable to do anything Axew started running away. Eventually Axew got exhausted and as he was about to be hit by Gyro Ball, Axew learned, knocking Golett back and finally defeating it. In Battle For The Underground!, Axew was used to propel the train cart Ash and friends were riding on to get away from Team Rocket; along with Tepig using, which soon became , and using.

He battled with Scraggy once more in Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita!; however, seeing as Scraggy had learned, they proved evenly matched. After the battle, he and Scraggy went off to play, until they ran into a that took a liking to Scraggy. Gothita's Trainer challenged Ash to a battle on the condition that if she won, he'd have to trade Scraggy away to her. Ash won the battle, but Axew still had a nightmare the following night about losing his best friend. He then awoke to find that Scraggy and Gothita had left. He pursued them and attempted to get Scraggy away from Gothita by hitting it with Dragon Rage. However, it ended up disturbing a wild who attacked them, until  showed up to protect them and Katharine, Gothita's Trainer, used her  to calm the Trash Heap Pokémon. The next day, Axew was happy to see Gothita storm away after Snivy defeated it in battle. In Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 1, Axew became friends with a owned by Lewis, who expressed great interest in him. Axew admired Gothorita as it prayed at 's shrine for it to rain on Milos Island, and later when Gothorita saved him and Iris from falling onto some sharp rocks. Later, Axew was able to hit with  and would have been hit by his  if Cilan's Stunfisk had not blocked the attack with. Understanding the dire situation, Axew encouraged Gothorita when it was asked by Lewis to plead with and Thundurus. In Stopping the Rage of Legends! Part 2, Axew helped rescue the Forces of Nature from ; he used Dragon Rage on Dr. Zager's helicopter, joined by Ash's Pikachu, Ash's Roggenrola, Iris's Emolga and Cilan's Pansage to cause the forcefield prisons trapping the trio to break.

In All for the Love of Meloetta!, Iris used Axew in a battle against Cynthia's Garchomp. Axew's and  successfully hit Garchomp but seemed to do no damage. Garchomp then used her and  attacks to cause a lot of damage to Axew. At the last second when it seemed like Axew was down, he got back up and ended up knocking Garchomp down with his newly learned and shocking everybody. Garchomp quickly recovered and was about to finish Axew off with a but was called off by Cynthia at the last second.

In A Village Homecoming!, Axew was reunited with the elder at the Village of Dragons, embracing her with open arms. She complimented his health and praised Iris for how he had been cared for. Later, when Shannon's newly evolved lost control of himself, Axew helped  corner the Brutal Pokémon after Emolga and  chased him to shore. He kept Hydreigon distracted with Dragon Rage while Iris attempted to leap on him from behind to calm him down.

In What Lies Beyond Truth and Ideals!, Axew frantically used Scratch to free Iris and Cilan from the metal cuffs Team Plasma had trapped them in. He later helped fight off the Pokémon controlled by Team Plasma.

Decolore Islands
In Cilan and the Case of the Purrloin Witness!, Axew was used in the first round of the Marine Cup Tournament. He battled against Teaque's, but was knocked out by a super-effective.

In Team Rocket's Shocking Recruit!, Axew was playing with Emolga when he was attacked by a wild using  and sent rolling down a hill where he bumped his head on a large rock. Since Emolga had already gotten in to trouble for attacking and  that morning, Iris scolded Emolga for attacking Axew, causing Emolga to become upset and fly away, worrying Axew. After being healed, Axew and the gang set off on their way to find Emolga, only to find that she had allied herself with. Under the shroud of 's, Emolga pulled Axew away. Later, Emolga shared her plan to get back in Iris's good books with Axew, unaware that was listening in. Axew acted as bait to lure in Pikachu for Emolga and called out to and  to make them bring Ash and his friends to him. Pikachu was captured by Team Rocket, but Iris was able to understand from Axew that the earlier accident was not Emolga's fault. However, Team Rocket trapped Axew and Emolga in a glass cage along with an angry. The Exploud attacked them both, but Emolga did her best to protect Axew from its attacks. Exploud picked Axew up and dropped him in its mouth, much to Iris's horror, though Axew was able to escape by using Dragon Rage. Eventually, Dragonite and Charizard were able to break the cage open, allowing Axew and Emolga to escape.

In Best Wishes Until We Meet Again!, Axew and Pikachu were caught by Team Rocket, while Ash, Iris and Cilan were trapped inside the cargo space of the ship. Eventually he and Pikachu were freed and together with Pikachu, Charizard and Pansage, Axew blasted Team Rocket off. Axew later said farewell to Ash and Pikachu as he, Iris and Cilan departed for Johto.

Personality and characteristics
Axew appears to be a friendly Pokémon, making quick friends with Ash's Pikachu in Enter Iris and Axew! and with other Pokémon. He and Iris are shown to have a strong relationship such as in A Sandile Gusher of Change! where a had caught him in his jaws, Iris tried everything to get him out, and again in SS028 when Iris kept trying to shake her, who had been wild at the time, off of Axew when he kept biting on his head, which happened twice. Though lacking superior battle skills, Axew makes up for it with a kind personality as mentioned by Cilan. If Iris feels sad, he will go off to collect fruit in order to cheer her up. Axew is also somewhat of a pacifist and often hides or panics when the other Pokémon who accompany him start to fight each other as seen in Emolga and the New Volt Switch!, when he was seen running around in circles when, , , and started fighting over food. However, he has been shown to have some childish traits, such as in Saving Darmanitan From the Bell!, where he fought with when he thought Pikachu was the one who ate all the food.

Axew will often express concern for other Pokémon. In Emolga the Irresistible!, he was grateful when an stopped his apple from rolling down a hill and wanted to share some of it with her. When she left after being smothered by, he was desperate to find her again. However, this could be because Axew has a little crush on Emolga, as confirmed by in the same episode.

Axew also seems to see Scraggy as a little brother, since Scraggy-Hatched to be Wild! when Iris told him he was Scraggy's big brother. Since then, Axew always had kept a close eye on Scraggy to keep him out of trouble, and the two have become training partners, and best friends, most likely due to the fact that they're the youngest. In Scraggy and the Demanding Gothita! he was horrified that he might never see him again if Scraggy was given to Katharine, even having a nightmare about it.

Mystery Egg
A Japanese event randomly distributed an Egg that contained an in-game representation of Iris's Axew, Ash's Pidove, or Cilan's Pansage via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Like its anime counterpart, this Axew knows and  and is male. It also, interestingly, always has as its Ability. This event started on December 17, 2010, and ended on January 11, 2011. This Egg was also distributed at participating American locations from April 27 to May 31, 2011.

Pokémon Center Best Wishes Pokémon
From August 10 to September 6, 2013, Japanese Pokémon Centers distributed an in-game representation of Iris's Axew. The distribution was split into four one-week periods; each week, players could receive one of four -themed Pokémon at random. The other three Pokémon distributed alongside Iris's Axew were Ash's Pikachu, Cilan's Pansage, and Professor Oak's Rotom.

In the movie adaptations
Axew appears in, , and. He served the same role as in the movies.

In the TCG
Axew was featured in the TCG. The following is a list of cards featuring Iris's Axew.

Trivia

 * Axew is the first Pokémon to be owned by a main character other than.
 * Axew is Iris's only pure-type Pokémon.