Japanese Title: Burn! Guren Gym!
Original Airdate: August 13th, 1998
US Airdate: September 18th, 1999
The one where... Blaine is apparently a Riddler wannabe.
Ash, Brock and Misty travel to Cinnabar Island where Ash hopes to win his Volcano Badge. They are approached by a strange character speaking only in riddles while giving them clues on how to locate the gym. Once inside the gym, Ash and Pikachu have a super hot battle with a spitfire Pokémon they've never seen before!
Tropes
- Actually, I Am Him: The riddle-loving guide that Ash and company keep running into throughout the episode would later reveal himself to be Blaine, the Cinnabar Gym Leader.
- Adaptational Jerkass: At least during his Gym battle, Blaine is a lot more smug and snide than his game counterpart. Plus, there's the fact that he's A-OK with his opponents' Pokémon being potentially endangered by the lava in his volcano gym.
- Adapted Out: None of Blaine's Pokémon from the original video games appear. His roster was modified to include Ninetales in Yellow, which came out a month after the episode aired. His Magmar wouldn’t appear on his team until Gold & Silver, but wouldn’t appear on a Cinnabar-set match until Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee, released nearly twenty years later.
- Aim for the Horn: "Pikachu, the horn!" One well-aimed Thunderbolt later, Rhyhorn goes down.
- Call-Back: Jigglypuff returns to put Gary and his entourage to sleep.
- Cliffhanger: Pikachu facing down Magmar's Fire Blast.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Downplayed, as Misty does complain about the heat in the volcano. Still, everyone there should've been extra crispy in less than a minute.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Pikachu is completely helpless against Magmar. Not only does it resist Pikachu's attacks, but it's fast enough to hit Pikachu with its Fire Punches, and nearly roasts the poor mouse with an extremely powerful Fire Blast. Ninetales also barbecues Squirtle with a single Fire Spin, even though Squirtle fired back with Water Gun and attempted to hide in its shell.
- Dramatic Irony: When Ash and the others ran off after seeing Jigglypuff, Gary wrote them off with "They don't know what they're missing". Wanna bet?
- Face Doodling: Jigglypuff is still annoyed that people fall asleep while it's singing.
- Foreshadowing: During his battle with Blaine, Ash loses a round due to Charizard refusing to fight to sleep instead. Surely, this will be the only time this happen, right?
- Growling Gut: Thanks to tourists hogging all the restaurants and inns, Ash's stomach is constantly growling since he can't get anything to eat.
- Gym Leader Incognito: Blaine spends most of the episode disguised as a hotel owner.
- Irony: As Brock pointed out, out of all the people in the Pokemon Center, the only ones who actually had Pokemon were the trio, and they couldn't get in.
- Lost in Translation: In the Japanese, when Blaine reveals his true identity, he removes his wig at the same time. Ash and co. shout his true name, which is a Visual Pun since "katsura" is also the Japanese word for "wig."
- No-Sell: Magmar generates enough heat to block Pikachu's electric attacks.
- Oh, Crap!: Ash and co. have this reaction when they see Jigglypuff as the entertainment at Gary's hotel, and wisely hightail it.
- Outdoor Bath Peeping: Done inadvertently when Togepi knocks down the partition between the men and women's section of the onsen. Misty is still outraged.
- Riddle Me Thisnote : Blaine challenges Ash and his friends to answer his riddles. Misty gets them all right.
- Scissors Cuts Rock: Blaine invokes this by having his Ninetales one-shot Ash's Squirtle with Fire Spin before bragging that type match-ups aren't everything. (In this case, it's justified as the volcanic environment makes Fire-type attacks hotter while weakening Water-types.) A little later, he has this thrown back in his face when Pikachu one-shots his Rhydon with a Thunderbolt aimed specifically at its horn.
- Smug Snake: Gary appears in this episode, and spends every second of his screentime being a condescending asshole to Ash. And like in his last appearance, he gets taken down a peg when Jigglypuff doodles on his face after he and his cheerleaders fall asleep during its song.
- Super Window Jump: Or rather "Super Lava Jump." When Blaine decides to bring out his Magmar, instead of being called out of its PokéBall, it makes a huge leap out of the pool of lava beneath the battlefield.Blaine: I choose...Magmar!
Ash: Magmar?
(Magmar emerges from the lava) - Women Are Wiser: This is where Misty shows her proficiency for answering riddles, an area where Ash and even Brock would find themselves lacking.
