The Danielson family hasn't had many professional battlers, but both Draco's father and grandfather are well-known journalists in Kanto that have covered the region's pro battling circuits for many decades. His father is also currently the editor in chief of Viridian City Battle Scene, which focuses primarily on the huge number of local amateur and semi-pro leagues operating in the city, not to mention some of the more noteworthy events and students of the PCA.

Draco often tagged along to watch the shows that were being covered even though he didn't have much interest at the time, but he did gain an interest in photography when his grandfather gave him an old camera to bring with him. Taking pictures of the action proved to be a lot more fun then just sitting there watching, and as his skill and the quality of his cameras improved, the young Umbreon developed a real knack for being in the right place at the right time, catching attacks the exact moment they landed or capturing them from just the right angle to produce a very dramatic image. Eventually Draco's father was using his photos exclusively for articles, rather than hiring a professional photographer.

Attending the PCA came about after his parents heard that the school was expanding and improving on its non-combat courses, including a complete overhaul of its battle journalism program. The opportunity to combine that presitigous connection with their son's already impressive photography skill was one they felt shouldn't be wasted, and even if Draco still wasn't quite that interested with actually being on the arena floor himself, he certainly wasn't going to say no either. As it would turn out, all he needed was to meet the right 'mon to find out just how much fun he could really have being the one doing the battling...


Draco's fighting ability has improved quite a bit since he first enrolled, and his strong support style focuses largely on keeping opponents off balance and opening every opportunity for his partner Axel to inflict as much damage as possible. Even though he can hold his own in a one-on-one fight now, he'd much rather use his evasiveness, self-healing moves and arsenal of status effect attacks to harrass and wear down adversaries. Taking a couple big hits is fine and all, but if the other guy is poisoned, confused and about to have an angry Charizard come down on him like a ton of burning bricks... well, that's even better, right?

Throwing an even bigger complication into the mix is that he's come up with plenty of ways to disguise exactly which move he's about to use. It's often a forgotten fact that an Umbreon's sweat can be quite poisonous, so opponents don't always think much of it when they get hit by a glancing blow from his arm... that is, until they start feeling dizzy and have trouble standing up, realizing too late that he just used Toxic on them. Overselling being hit by a move to lure someone in for a Faint Attack, using his way with words to Charm them and then immediately flip it right back around into a Taunt, even disguising some of his attacks by making the 'charge-up' resemble something completely different as all things Draco has used to turn things around in his favor.

And that doesn't even get into the variety of double-team and combo attacks that he and Axel have perfected over the last four years, although the most dangerous by far is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it's not even an actual attack; the infamous Wish swap. If you see Draco drop to one knee near the sidelines, you'd better stop him fast before he can set the move up fully. Otherwise he'll quickly tag in Axel just before it takes effect, leaving you with a rejuvenated Charizard coming straight for you. And that rarely ends well for those on the recieving end of it.