When Pokemon first released, many were charmed by the plethora of cute, funny, and cool Pokemon designs. Even many of the human characters of the franchise were regarded as legendary figures in the gaming world. Kanto was a region with a nice variety in characters, especially so for a GameBoy game. Some of the most popular characters in the whole franchise originate from this region.

And then there is Blaine.

Now, after giving him a BURN HEAL for that, allow me to explain that I do not hate Blaine's character. In fact, lore wise I would say he is one of the more important gym leaders in the region. Yet when it came down to it, they opted to not make his involvement with the backstory of Kanto relevant while you play the game.

Blaine was a scientist who worked alongside Mr. Fuji on the Mew project. This led to the creation of Mewtwo, which ties Team Rocket into all of this as well. I wish they touched on this beyond the random book pages you find in Cinnabar Mansion.

In the games however, he comes across as this random character who you never meet prior or after challenging his fire type gym.

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Fire Red/Leaf Green/Let's GO

In the traditional Kanto adventures, the player first encounters Blaine when they reach Cinnabar Island. Players will note his gym to be locked, with the key being hidden deep inside Cinnabar Mansion. It is here that we get some slight hints at his involvement in the Pokemon research that went on in there, but nothing concrete. Once the player enters his gym, they are greeted with some... quiz show. Most of the answers are stupid, except the legendary TM28 TOMBSTONY. He acts hotheaded and his last words before battling the player are the iconic 'Better have BURN HEAL!'

His actual team consists of fire type Pokemon like Growlithe, Ponyta, Rapidash, Ninetales, and Arcanine.

After beating him you never hear from Blaine again unfortunately, I wish he would have been a part of the Mewtwo story.

Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal/Heart Gold/Soul Silver

As you travel to Kanto in the post-game of Gen 2, you once again fight Blaine for his fire-type badge. This time, however, Cinnabar Island got struck by an erupting volcano, and Blaine had to evacuate to the Seafoam Islands to host his gym. This time he uses some new Pokemon like Magcargo and Magmar. Yet again he isn't seen again, with the exception of Heart Gold/Soul Silver, where the player can rematch him later on.

Pokemon Black 2/White 2

Like every other prior gym leader, Blaine is an NPC in the Pokemon World Tournament. He can be a randomly selected opponent in several tournaments. He doesn't appear anywhere else in the game.

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And that concludes Blaine's game appearances. Like I said, his character unfortunately doesn't amount to much more than being the traditional hot-headed fire expert. I think it's a shame, as making him a more rounded character, maybe adding in some regret in his involvement with the experiments, would have added a lot to his character.

As it stands Blaine is just memorable for being the first Fire gym leader, a beloved type among fans, and for his gym fight in the anime against Ash.