Since the inception of the series, one of the goals in almost every mainline Pokemon game is to defeat all the gym leaders in a region. Every area in the Pokemon series had eight of these trainers to defeat and earn a badge from, showing the progression that players were making.
Pokemon's gym leaders served as bosses for gamers to take on, with each of them having an expertise in a certain typing. There have been dozens of these trainers over the years, each with their own unique gym that players had to make their way through before facing them. One of these leaders was Blaine from Pokemon Red and Blue, the Fire-Type master who also served as a scientist.
A Redditor going by the name ibralui drew their redesigned version of Blaine and his Pokemon Arcanine. In the drawing, it can be seen that the gym leader's tie is still burned at the end with his lab coat also having burns at the bottom now. He is wearing shorts and has what seem to be prosthetic legs. Arcanine has been drawn to be much bigger, with smoke coming out of its mouth. A lot of detail was put into the artwork, giving Blaine a look that feels familiar while also taking a new look at the character.
The redesign of Blaine that ibralui drew has garnered a lot of positive attention. Many find the piece to be amazing and love the amount of detail that was put into it. One commenter states that they like the sketchy style that the art has, with another saying that they would like the artist to do a redesign of Blue and his Blastoise. The artwork is amazing and is something that could easily fit into a future Pokemon title that has Blaine as one of its characters.
This is not the first redesign of a gym leader and their Pokemon that ibralui has done. The artist also did a new design for the trainer Sabrina and her Alakazam from Pokemon Red and Blue. In the piece, Sabrina's outfit was changed significantly. She now wears pants instead of a skirt with leggings and has a much more elaborate top. The gym leader still has psychic energy surrounding her hands and keeps the long hair, but now her eyes have become completely white. Alakazam's moustache is now longer and thinner, and the Pokemon sports a more intimidating look in its face. The redesigns that ibralui has released keep aspects of the gym leaders that Pokemon players will recognize while also providing their own spin on the trainers.