EP271

←	EP270 : Can't Beat the Heat!

Playing with Fire!

EP271

バシャーモふたたび！ハヅキとのたたかい！！
Bursyamo Returns! Battle Against Hazuki!!

First broadcast

Japan	October 24, 2002
United States	October 4, 2003

English themes

Opening	Believe in Me
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	Ready Go!
Ending	ポケッターリ・モンスターリ

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard	鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Assistant director	鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Animation director	志村泉 Izumi Shimura

Screenshots on Filb.de

Playing with Fire! (Japanese: バシャーモふたたび！ハヅキとのたたかい！！ Bursyamo Returns! Battle Against Hazuki!!) is the 271st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 24, 2002 and in the United States on October 4, 2003.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Ash is battling Harrison from Hoenn at the Johto League Silver Conference. Pikachu is very excited to be battling, but Harrison's Kecleon knocks Pikachu out in Round 1. It's a close match the whole way through, but one by one Harrison knocks out Totodile, Snorlax, and Noctowl. Ash cleverly guides Bayleef through a rough battle with Harrison's Houndoom. Houndoom is a fire type Pokémon so it has the advantage, but Ash had Bayleef use its Vine Whip attack to close Houndoom's mouth. In the end, Bayleef is able to knock out Houndoom! But Bayleef is no match for Harrison's last Pokémon. Harrison's sixth Pokémon is one that Ash has never seen before—Blaziken. It's a fire type Pokémon and it's at a really high level. Ash has saved Charizard for last. With two strong fire types in the arena, it's hard to predict the outcome! (To be continued!)

Plot

Ash has chosen Pikachu to battle Harrison's Kecleon. Kecleon disappears by using its Color Change Ability to evade Quick Attack. Pikachu locks on by listening, and he chases Kecleon but Kecleon uses its Lick attack to confuse Pikachu, then tosses him with its tongue. Harrison then orders a Psybeam attack, and it hits Pikachu but Pikachu stands up and hides in the grass. But Kecleon uses its tongue to cut the grass, but it is grabbed by Pikachu and Ash orders a Thunderbolt, knocking Kecleon out. Harrison recalls Kecleon.

Harrison then sends out Sneasel, the same one he captured before the tournament opened. Pikachu uses another Thunderbolt, but Sneasel dodges and uses a Metal Claw, knocking out Pikachu.

Ash takes a second to collect Pikachu from the field, then sends out Totodile. Totodile uses Water Gun, but Sneasel attempts to use Metal Claw, but Sneasel is bitten on the arm by Totodile. Totodile finishes Sneasel with its tail, leaving Sneasel unable to continue the battle.

Harrison chooses Hypno to fight next. Totodile uses Scary Face, but Hypno is totally unfazed by the attack. Hypno then uses Hypnosis, taking full control of Totodile. Next Hypno uses a Psychic attack to send Totodile flying, knocking it out.

Ash sends out Snorlax, but Snorlax appears to be sleeping peacefully. Although this would prevent Snorlax from being affected by Hypnosis, Hypno takes advantage of the situation by using Dream Eater on Snorlax. This soon however unintentionally wakes Snorlax up, as it is angry at having its dreams stolen & Ash's mother further illustrates the point by making a remark about Snorlax's angry expression. Hypno is then blasted by a Hyper Beam and is knocked out.

There's a five minute intermission due to three of Harrison's Pokémon being unable to battle.

As the second half begins, Ash sends out Noctowl and Harrison chooses Steelix. Noctowl hits Steelix with Confusion, but Steelix counters with Sandstorm, which blinds Noctowl. Noctowl is hit with a Dig attack from Steelix, and Noctowl attempts to use Hypnosis. However, Steelix then uses Iron Tail which knocks Noctowl out of the match.

Ash sends Snorlax back out. Snorlax prepares to use its Hyper Beam, but Steelix binds Snorlax up. Steelix then uses Crunch before Snorlax uses Ice Punch to be free from Steelix's Bind. Snorlax proceeds to knock Steelix out with a Hyper Beam.

Harrison's next Pokémon is Houndoom. Snorlax uses Hyper Beam once more. However, Houndoom uses Counter to deflect the attack and Snorlax ends up getting blasted by its own Hyper Beam, and is taken out of the fight. Brock is amazed that Harrison's Houndoom can use Counter.

Ash's next Pokémon is Bayleef. This surprises Harrison, however, as a Grass-type Pokémon like Bayleef is weak against Fire-type Pokémon like Houndoom. Bayleef starts with Razor Leaf, but a Flamethrower attack from Houndoom burns the leaves. Ash orders Headbutt, while Harrison orders Bite. The attacks miss, but then, Bayleef uses Vine Whip around Houndoom's mouth, which prevents Houndoom from using Flamethrower and Bite. Bayleef tosses Houndoom to the ground, and then finishes the battle off with Body Slam.

Harrison is down to his last Pokémon—Blaziken. Professor Oak was surprised to see Blaziken, while Brock, however, notes Bayleef has to battle another type-advantaged Pokémon. Bayleef starts with Razor Leaf, but Blaziken uses its legs to kick the leaves in a flash (doing this with nothing but natural kicking ability and no moves or techniques of any kind), instead of using its Fire-type attacks. This impressive and shocking display of strength and speed causes Ash to determine to have Bayleef stay away from Blaziken as much as possible, therefore he orders a Vine Whip, but it was caught by Blaziken. Ash is shocked at another incredible display of reflexes while Blaziken proceeds to reel Bayleef in. Ash orders a Body Slam, to use Blaziken's power against it, but Blaziken uses Fire Punch. Bayleef is knocked out.

Now Ash is also down to his last Pokémon and he chooses Charizard. Harrison knows this will be challenging as Ash's Charizard is a high level Pokémon. Both Pokémon launch their Flamethrowers and the attacks meet in mid-air, resulting in a huge ball of fire.

The episode ends as the two Fire-type Pokémon square off.

Major events

Ash and Harrison continue their battle, and are left with their last Pokémon.
Ash's Bayleef is revealed to know Headbutt.
Harrison is revealed to own a Hypno and a Steelix.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

Characters

Humans

Pocket Monster TV

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Ariados (U.S. and international), Snorlax (Japan)

Trivia

This episode can be found on the second Game Boy Advance Video Pokémon cartridge.
Ash's Snorlax is confirmed male in the English dub as Professor Oak says in the dub "Snorlax's Hyper Beam was sent back to him at double the power."
Team Rocket doesn't blast off or recite the motto in this episode.

Errors

When Ash sent out Totodile, he threw a normal Poké Ball, despite the fact that he captured it with a Lure Ball.
Harrison's Steelix hits Ash's Noctowl with Dig, which should not be possible since Noctowl is a Flying type, and as such should not be affected by a Ground-type move.
During the introduction, the narrator says that Harrison is using Pokémon Ash has never seen before but it shows Kecleon as an example, even though Kecleon is one of the few Hoenn Pokémon Ash has seen before. Pikachu, Misty, and Brock appeared not to recognize the Kecleon either.
When Pikachu is hit by Kecleon's Lick, he is shown with spiral eyes, which is normally used as an indication that a Pokémon has been knocked out, and yet is still able to battle. To make matters more confusing, when Pikachu is knocked out a couple of minutes later, he is shown with the standard spiral eyes.
On Pokemon.com, the title says "Play with Fire!" instead of "Playing with Fire!".
When telling Steelix to use Crunch, Harrison said "Scrunch".

Dub edits

Totodile's Scary Face is incorrectly referred to as Leer in the dub.
Steelix's Bind is incorrectly referred to as Wrap in the dub. In addition, Steelix cannot legally learn Wrap.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		再度遭遇火焰雞！！與葉越的戰鬥！！
Danish		Leg Med Ild
Dutch		Spelen met Vuur
Finnish		Leikkiä tulella
European French		Un match brûlant
German		Spiel mit dem Feuer
Hebrew		!משחקים באשmesakhkim be'esh!
Hindi		आग से खेलना! Aag se khelna! *
Italian		Il torneo della vittoria (terza parte)
Norwegian		Å leke med ilden!
Polish		Igranie z ogniem!
Portuguese	Brazil	Brincando com Fogo!
Portuguese	Portugal	Brincar com Fogo!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Jugando con fuego!
Spanish	Spain	Jugando con fuego
Swedish		Eld mot Eld!