I don't know why people think that it was so dumb/weird that Blaine's Ninetales took Ash's Squirtle out with a single Fire Spin. To me, it was a pretty effective way of showing just how out of his element Ash was, that he lost so easily despite having the type advantage - Ninetales was just significantly stronger, and that's all that it came down to. Besides, Ninetales is one of my favourite Pokemon, and I loved seeing the beauty in action, however briefly. It seemed a lot stranger, upon my first viewing, that Pikachu could take out Blaine's Rhydon, given that rock/ground types are supposed to be immune to electric attacks, no matter what the conditions, but by this stage I'm well used to that little inconsistency.