TB059: Volcanic Panic

is the 59th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League.
==Synopsis==
Ash continues his quest to attain his Volcano Badge once he finally locates the gym that is suspended above a pool of molten lava! Only a strong fire Pokémon could help him in this battle, so Ash must rely on his misbehaving Charizard to help him win this smoldering match.
==Episode plot==
As Magmar's Fire Blast attack hurtles towards Pikachu, it ducks and barely manages to cling on to safety. As Pikachu prepares to fight, Ash intervenes and forfeits the battle. Blaine commends Ash's wise thinking, putting his disguise back on. When Blaine leaves the arena, Ash resolves himself to defeat Blaine at whatever the cost. As Ash cleans Pikachu of its injuries at the hot springs, Jessie and James attempt to withstand the extreme heat of the hot springs in preparation for the underground arena.
They proclaim that their objective is to capture Blaine's Magmar in order to defeat Pikachu. Meowth comes up with a plan to successfully pull it off, with the use of freeze blasters. As the three head into the underground arena equipped with their blasters, Magmar emerges in a spout of lava. Meowth orders Jessie and James to fire their freeze blasters, which manages to trap it in an ice block. However, Magmar's eyes glow red, and it thaws out quickly, much to Team Rocket's surprise. In a frenzy, they fire freeze missiles at the cave itself, causing tremors to be felt by Ash on the outside.
Blaine emerges from the lavatory, and the four of them head into the arena. As soon as he does so, he is frozen by one of the blasts. Brock and Misty realize that Team Rocket is behind all of the chaos, as Blaine warns that their constant attacks could set off a chain reaction within the volcano. Blaine realizes that the ice is cracking apart the rocks, and that the volcano will likely erupt. Huge fissures begin to appear in the ground, as the arena falls into the lava. Team Rocket are sent flying due to a fissure opening, as lava begins to spill forth from the center of the volcano.
Blaine states that the eruption is imminent, ordering his Magmar to seal the fissures with boulders. Ash sends his Charizard to assist Magmar, but it slacks off as per usual. When Charizard notices the strain that Magmar is undergoing, it decides to assist it in the blocking of the lava flow. Brock follows suit, summoning his Onix and Geodude to assist them. In turn, Misty releases her Staryu while Ash also releases Squirtle as well to keep the Pokémon cool. On Pikachu's command, Misty and Ash having intervened to stop Psyduck and Jigglypuff respectively, the group rallies together and in a show of teamwork, begin throwing various rocks into the lava, each stopping the lava from increasing until finally the Gym is no longer in danger of being destroyed. Togepi tries to help but the rock it was carrying was too heavy causing it to lose its balance and nearly fall into the lava before Misty saves it. As Pikachu and the other Pokemon stand there, relieved, Charizard and Magmar place the last of the rocks down and it's shown that their attempts to battle have been ignited. As a show of thanks for helping to prevent the eruption, Blaine offers a rematch to Ash, who takes up the offer, having originally thought Blaine was simply going to give him a badge instead.
thumb|Charizard vs. Blaine's Magmar in Ash's Gym Battle!
As Ash's Charizard and Blaine's Magmar face off atop the volcano, Brock speculates that Charizard is finally motivated to fight due to seeing Magmar's true strength. Charizard and Magmar's Flamethrower attacks clash together, culminating in a huge explosion, Ash realizing with dismay it's a tie. Magmar follows through, using Fire Blast, which Charizard counters with brute strength, the sheer power of the attack pushing Charizard to the edge of the cliff it's on before it lets out a roar and sends the Fire Blast into the sky. On Blaine's command, Magmar uses Skull Bash, which is super effective against Charizard. Charizard then regains its composure before flying high into the sky. It then crashes down on Magmar, as the two are revealed to be grappling with one another. Charizard loses its balance, as Magmar attempts to push it into the lava below.
Before Ash can intervene, Magmar pushes Charizard into the volcano with it. Ash accuses Blaine of cheating, but this claim is quickly dismissed. After several moments of tense anticipation, Charizard emerges from the lava and defeats Magmar with both aerial Submission followed by Seismic Toss. After Charizard and Ash are victorious, Blaine congratulates Ash upon his momentous achievement. Before Ash can tell Charizard to return to its Poké Ball, it blasts him with fire. Blaine then imparts one last riddle to Ash "What is it that is always red but has no words?" with the answer being a Volcano Badge. He bestows the Volcano Badge upon Ash, before they part ways.
With seven badges in hand Ash needs just one more and he will be eligible for the Pokémon League. Brock points out that the last Gym is right where Ash had to take his Pikachu to the first Pokémon Center he took it to when his journey began: Viridian City. Ash had no idea there was a Gym there and Misty replies that everybody knew about it, and that Viridian is where trainers go to get the last badge: The Earth Badge. Ash wondered why Misty never told him about the Gym before and Misty replied that they were arguing back then. Brock was just about to remind her of what until Ash interrupted him saying they need to be off. Misty remembered that Ash still has to pay her back for her bike and all three of them run off.
==Debuts==
===Item===
*Volcano Badge
===Move===
*Submission
==Quotes==
:"Come out, Magmar!" - Blaine
:"YES! Charizard, retu- AHHHHHHHH! Puh." - Ash trying to recall Charizard.
:"Do you know where we are?" - Meowth
:"Between a rock..." - James
:"...and a very HOT place!" - Jessie
:"I tip my wig to you." - Blaine removing his wig and congratulating Ash on his victory.
==Trivia==
*This is the second time Ash had to forfeit a Gym Battle. The first time Ash had to do so was in Abra and the Psychic Showdown.
*Meowth mentioned Mount Vesuvius, a rare mention of non-Pokémon locations.
*The "Who's that Pokémon?" in this episode is Paras.
*Brock mentions that there are "plenty more" Pokémon gyms, despite there only being 8 seen in the original games and Indigo League season of the anime. The existence of other gyms is confirmed when Gary shows off his badges, which includes only three of those obtained by Ash. Otoshi from Bad to the Bone and another unnamed trainer had almost completely different badges too. Where these other gyms might be located or information on their leaders and Pokémon is unknown, although based on the number of different badges seen, there appears to be around 20 gyms in the Kanto Region alone.
*When Blaine notices Ash forfeited the match due to Pikachu hanging on the edge and exhausted in battle, his disguised black sunglasses is replaced with a brown thin-framed sunglasses before he conceals his baldness with his long blond wig.
*It is unknown why Blaine decided to put his wig back on in the episode as his identity is already revealed.
===Mistakes===
*A continuity error is present in this episode when a flashback is shown in which Ash consoles his Pikachu, telling it "You'll feel 100 percent soon". However, this line was not spoken by Ash during the course of the previous episode.
*Instead of Starmie, Misty actually calls out Staryu.
*The narrator makes two mistakes in this episode, first it says that Ninetales beat Squirtle with Ember when actually it was Fire Spin. Second is a science term error, it says that the field they fight on is over a pool of lava but actually it's magma since magma needs to erupt on the surface to become lava.
*When Ash cleans Pikachu in the spring, his denim pants became denim shorts until reverted to his pants which is now folded before the knee.
*When Blaine was impressed to see Ash's Charizard helping his Magmar and later became horribly surprised when Charizard has survived from getting thrown into the volcano by his Magmar during the Gym rematch, his brown thin-framed sunglasses became an eyeglasses.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a badge
Category:Episodes featuring Gym Battles
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes featuring Ash losing a Gym Battle