Blaine

Blaine in the games: the Hotheaded Quiz Master

Blaine runs the Cinnabar Gym in Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, FireRed, LeafGreen and the Let's Go games. To reach him, challengers answer a series of Pokémon quiz questions, and he is said to take off his sunglasses only when he is thinking up new ones. He awards the Volcano Badge and, in the Generation I games and their remakes, TM38 (Fire Blast). His Red and Blue team is Growlithe, Ponyta, Rapidash and Arcanine.

In Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, Cinnabar's volcano has erupted and wiped out the town, so Blaine runs his Gym from a cave in the Seafoam Islands while he plans to rebuild.

Blaine in the anime: Magmar at the volcano

Ash finds Blaine's Gym hidden inside Cinnabar's volcano, with a battlefield suspended over molten lava. When Blaine's Magmar hits Pikachu with Fire Blast and nearly knocks it into the lava, Ash forfeits. In Volcanic Panic, Team Rocket's attempt to steal Magmar sets off an eruption, and Blaine, Ash and his friends work together to hold it back.

Blaine then offers a one-on-one rematch on the volcano's summit. Ash's disobedient Charizard, wanting a fight with Magmar, steps in and wins with an aerial Submission and a Seismic Toss, the first time its signature finisher appears, and Ash earns the Volcano Badge.

Blaine on cards: Gym Heroes to Hidden Fates

Blaine's English cards open with Gym Heroes (August 14, 2000), where Blaine's Moltres is the holo, alongside Owner's Pokémon such as his Charmander, Growlithe, Magmar, Ponyta, Vulpix, Kangaskhan and Tauros and the Trainer card Blaine's Quiz #1. Gym Challenge (October 16, 2000) added his own holo Blaine Trainer card, holo Blaine's Arcanine and Blaine's Charizard, a Rare Blaine's Ninetales, the rest of his Charmander and Growlithe lines, and Blaine's Quiz #2 and #3.

His modern cards are Supporters. Blaine's Last Stand arrived in Dragon Majesty (2018), with a regular Ken Sugimori version and an Ultra Rare by Mitsuhiro Arita, and the Sugimori version was reprinted in Hidden Fates (2019). Blaine's Quiz Show in Unified Minds (2019) carried his quiz gimmick onto a modern card.

Cards to know

• Blaine's Charizard (Gym Challenge #2)

  A holo Owner's Pokémon Charizard from the second Gym set.

• Blaine's Arcanine (Gym Challenge #1)

  A holo of his signature Pokémon in the games.

• Blaine (Gym Challenge #17)

  His own holo Trainer card.

• Blaine's Moltres (Gym Heroes #1)

  His holo Owner's Pokémon in Gym Heroes.

• Blaine's Last Stand (Dragon Majesty #69)

  The Ultra Rare of his 2018 Supporter, illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita.