DP081

Chim - Charred! (Japanese: 灼熱のヒコザル！ The Scorching !) is the 81st episode of the, and the 547th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 29, 2008 and in the United States on October 25, 2008.

Blurb
While Ash's Pokémon train for the upcoming Pastoria Gym battle, Gligar is blown away by a sudden gust of wind. Gligar lands on Team Rocket's balloon—accidentally ripping a hole in it with its claws—then tries to land but nearly crashes into Paul and his Elekid in the process. Ash and his friends catch up to Gligar, and Ash doesn't take long to restart his rivalry with Paul, who is unimpressed by Ash's talk of friendship and trust. Team Rocket, creeping away from their crashed balloon, hides in the bushes to see what happens next.

Ash wants to battle Paul and show him how much stronger he's gotten, but Paul isn't interested until Chimchar steps forward to challenge its former Trainer. Paul consents to battle and sends out his Gliscor; Ash's Gligar is itching to battle, so Ash decides this will be Gligar's debut. It's a very short debut, too: Gliscor uses Guillotine to knock out Gligar in one hit! Paul's Ursaring is up next, and Chimchar volunteers to take it on. Although Chimchar is in good shape, Ursaring isn't even fazed, savagely attacking Chimchar until its Secret Power causes Chimchar to flinch in terror.

Just when it seems Ursaring has Chimchar completely beaten and buried, Chimchar's Blaze ability kicks into effect, powering it up so it can defeat Ursaring in one hit—but Chimchar is now out of control! In its blind rage, it blasts Team Rocket and nearly toasts Ash and Paul. Desperate, Ash grabs Chimchar and hangs on, shouting for it to stop, even though it bites him in its fury. Ash's words eventually get through to Chimchar and as soon as it calms down, Ash soothes it with praise and reassurance. As for Paul, he's willing to battle Ash again—once Chimchar learns to control its power, that is.

Plot
faces off against in a training match, while  and his Pokémon watch on. Ash commands, , and , while Dawn commands , , and. After the training session, gets excited and hugs Ash, but ends up knocking him down. Brock offers a training match of his against Ash's Gligar, to calm its excitement. Before they can start, a strong wind blows Gligar onto 's air balloon, sending them flying. Meanwhile, Paul and his shock a   in an attempt to  it. This fails, however, as Ash's Gligar falls from the sky, right in front of Paul and the Drapion escapes. Paul scolds Gligar for interrupting the training and at that moment, Ash's Staravia leads Ash and his friends to Gligar and Paul.

Paul brings up Ash's performance in the Wallace Cup, and Ash defends himself by saying he entered under Wallace's recommendation, and that he saw it as a chance to help his Buizel become stronger. Paul retorts that's exactly why Ash criticized him for entering the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition, which just makes Ash angry who responds that Paul only entered 's Tag Battle tournament so that he could force his Pokémon to become stronger while Ash entered to win. He criticizes Paul, saying that while they both share the dream of winning the Sinnoh League and challenging the, Cynthia, their training methods couldn't be more different and Ash raises his Pokémon with love and trust. Brock reflects on Cynthia's helpful advice back at Amity Square, but Paul says that is not his way of being a Pokémon Trainer. Ash is determined to show Paul he's a good Trainer and asks for a battle, but Paul begins to walk away from Ash and his friends. Chimchar suddenly runs after Paul and yells at him. This seems to amuse Paul, who reconsiders Ash's offer for a battle.

It is decided the match will be three-on-three. Dawn uses the Coin Toss option on her Pokétch. Ash wins the toss and asks his Pokémon which one wants to battle, to which Gligar can't volunteer quick enough. Ash agrees and allows Gligar to participate in its first proper battle. Paul responds by choosing his, and Gligar is very nervous about facing its evolved form and former friend.

The battle begins and Ash tells Gligar to use, however Gliscor pounds back with. Gligar begins to cry on the ground, when Ash tells it to try. Gligar gets up and starts to throw sand in Gliscor's face, but the Fang Scorp Pokémon is unaffected by the attack. Paul then commands Gliscor to use, and Ash tells Gligar to counter with but it's no good as Gliscor scores a direct hit and slams Gligar into the ground, knocking it out. Ash takes Gligar out and kindly tells it that's it ok and to and cheer for him with the rest of the team. Paul tells Ash that it's a good time for Gligar to learn that being defeated in battle is all the Trainer's fault, which Ash's Pokémon don't take kindly to.

Paul sends out his next. Ash's Chimchar volunteers to fight next. Pikachu isn't sure Chimchar is confident enough to battle Paul, but Chimchar turns around and tells Pikachu he can do it. Pikachu wishes him good luck. The battle begins with Chimchar's. Ursaring uses. Chimchar uses Dig. Ursaring uses on the ground, unearthing Chimchar and knocking him into the air. Chimchar dives down with a Flame Wheel, but Ursaring catches him. Ursaring uses at close range. Due to the mysterious power of Ursaring's Secret Power attack, Chimchar was and can't attack. Despite encouragement from Ash and friends, Ursaring uses Hammer Arm on Chimchar, burying him in a pile of rubble. Chimchar emerges in a flaming fury, having accessed, although it's not like any Blaze anyone's seen before. Remembering how Chimchar activated Blaze during his battle with the Zangoose, Paul knows that Chimchar is finally awake, as this is the power he was trying to unlock all along. Brock suggests that Chimchar is trying his best to defeat Paul, and has accessed Blaze due to the encouragement from Ash and the other Pokémon. Ursaring is ordered to use another Focus Blast, however Chimchar's Flame Wheel smashes through it and collides with Ursaring knocking it out.

Even though it won the battle, Chimchar's fury appears to be rising. Ash tells Chimchar it's time to stop, however Chimchar instead powers up another Flame Wheel and charges at Ash who is able to get out of the way. Chimchar then goes for Paul who is able to narrowly avoid being hit. Now Chimchar is bouncing all around, setting fire to the forest, as well as sending Team Rocket blasting off. Dawn's Piplup uses to put out the fires, while Ash's Buizel backs it up with. Chimchar is now completely uncontrollable and attempts to get away, however he is blocked by Ash who begs Chimchar to stop. Chimchar's escape then blocked by Pikachu then Piplup, Buizel, Turtwig and Staravia causing Chimchar's fury to grow. Ash, knowing he needs to stop Chimchar here and now, grabs the Chimp Pokémon and holds him close and screams at him to stop, but Chimchar shows no sign of calming and bites him in the shoulder causing Ash intense pain. Dawn and the other Pokémon move to help Ash, but Brock and Pikachu stop them knowing Ash is able to handle this alone. The intense heat caused by Chimchar begins to hurt Ash, but he refuses to let go and keeps begging Chimchar to stop. Eventually, under Ash's encouraging words, Chimchar finally calms down and regains control.

Chimchar is once again terrified, this time of Ash's yelling; seeing it as a possible sign of anger. However, Ash's yelling was due more to desperation for Chimchar to get a hold of itself, but Ash compliments Chimchar on its power, and says that he believes in Chimchar's power. Paul however asks what Ash will do the next time Chimchar ends up accessing Blaze, and if he will ever be able to control it. Ash believes Chimchar has the ability to handle the power it possesses. The rest of Ash and Paul's battle is called off, and Paul tells Ash he's a fool to believe that Chimchar can handle Blaze. However, he goes on to say that after Ash and Chimchar have learned to control Blaze, the two trainers will battle again. Brock mentions that Trainers need to trust their feelings, and that Chimchar's ability to control itself will have a massive effect on Ash's future in the Sinnoh League.

Ash embraces Chimchar and Paul walking away, both knowing that the two will battle again someday.

Major events

 * challenges Paul to a three-on-three battle, but it gets called off.
 * Ash's Chimchar activates, which causes it to go on a violent rampage until it is stopped by Ash.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Paul
 * Cynthia (flashback)
 * James
 * Paul
 * Cynthia (flashback)

Pokémon

 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (Paul's)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Trivia

 * Jessie's Yanmega has been added to the opening credits.
 * and are shown battling with three Pokémon on each side, a concept that would be introduced to the  in the following generation.
 * At the end of the episode music from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew can be heard playing in the background. This could reference the fact that the memorial at the end of the next episode was to that movie.
 * The next episode preview is narrated by Brock.
 * Instead of Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia, the end of the episode featured a memorial to Destiny Deoxys called Pikachu the Movie Memorial. This is part of a countdown to Giratina and the Sky Warrior.
 * This episode, along with the previous episode, is rather infamous for a hoax put up on Pokéani in regards to episode titles and summaries. This episode's hoax summary involved Mamoswine, and was speculated by the fans to be the episode where Dawn captures Swinub.
 * When Ash is training with Dawn, the background music is that of the battle against, Ash's game counterpart, from Generation II.
 * All of the Pokémon Ash has on hand remain outside of their Poké Balls throughout this episode.
 * Team Rocket doesn't recite their in this episode.
 * When Ash battles Paul, Ash is on the left corner instead of the usual right one.

Errors

 * When Ash and Brock are about to begin their practice battle with Gligar, Piplup's body is colored dark blue instead of light blue.

In other languages
Panflam in Flammen! EP550 DP081 DP編第81話 精灵宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第80集