EP270

←	EP269 : The Ties That Bind

Can't Beat the Heat!

EP270

ライバルたいけつ！カメックスＶＳリザードン！！
Rival Confrontation! Kamex VS Lizardon!!

First broadcast

Japan	October 17, 2002
United States	September 27, 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

No additional credits are available at this time.
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard	木村竜二 Ryūji Kimura
Assistant director	大町繁 Shigeru Ōmachi
Animation director	たけだゆうさく Yūsaku Takeda

Screenshots on Filb.de

Can't Beat the Heat! (Japanese: ライバルたいけつ！カメックスＶＳリザードン！！ Rival Confrontation! Kamex VS Lizardon!!) is the 270th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 17, 2002, and in the United States on September 27, 2003.

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

Blurb

Our hero is in the middle of the first match of the championship tournament at the Johto League Silver Conference. His opponent is his long time rival—Gary Oak. Each trainer is down one Pokémon, with five to go. Gary's Blastoise is very strong and knocks out Ash's Heracross. Ash isn't surprised—that Blastoise was the Squirtle that Gary got when he first started out as a trainer! Gary recalls Blastoise and the battle continues. Finally, each trainer is down to their last Pokémon. Gary has saved Blastoise till the end—and Ash calls out Charizard! Blastoise has the advantage because it's a Water Type, but Ash is very clever. He uses Charizard's Flame Thrower attack to scorch the battle field, trapping Blastoise. Blastoise uses Hydro Pump to cool off the field, but it backfires. The field becomes all steamy and no one can see. Charizard finishes off the battle with a Seismic Toss. Ash is thrilled to have finally defeated his rival—but does he have what it takes to continue? His next opponent will be Harrison from Hoenn.

Plot

Ash and Gary continue their six-on-six match on the rock field. Gary's Blastoise uses Hydro Pump to counter Heracross's Fury Attack. However, despite a last-minute evasion tactic behind a rock, Hydro Pump manages to blast through the boulder and knock Heracross out, forcing Ash to send out Muk. Blastoise uses Skull Bash, but Muk isn't fazed by the attack. Muk uses Sludge Bomb, but Blastoise counters with Rapid Spin to deflect the shot. Continuing to spin, it tries to hit Muk, but Muk easily catches and smothers its opponent. Blastoise escapes by using Hydro Pump, and Ash recalls Muk in favor of Bayleef, hoping that a Grass type will provide a good advantage over Blastoise. Bayleef evades the first Hydro Pump with a Vine Whip-powered jump, but her airborne Razor Leaf is deflected by Rapid Spin. Bayleef tries to use Body Slam, but Blastoise uses Bite on her. She gets tossed by her leaf and is knocked out.

Since Ash has lost three Pokémon, the referee calls for a five-minute intermission. During the break, Pikachu wants to battle Blastoise, but Ash explains he can only use the six entrants that he arranged before the match. In the stands, Delia and Professor Oak reminisce about the match bringing back memories from the boys' childhood growing up together.

When the break ends, Ash sends out Snorlax, while Gary sends out Arcanine; Brock believes that he will save Blastoise for last. Arcanine uses Take Down to charge straight at Snorlax, who responds with Body Slam. Arcanine evades the attack and traps Snorlax with Fire Spin. However, Snorlax frees itself and lands a direct hit with Hyper Beam. Arcanine struggles to get up, but it faints, and Gary sends Nidoqueen back out. Ash warns Snorlax to be careful since Nidoqueen also knows Hyper Beam. Using her tail to jump, a tactic copied from Bayleef, Nidoqueen manages to land on Snorlax and strike it with Double Kick. Nidoqueen blasts a Hyper Beam, but Snorlax ducks and retaliates with Ice Punch, defeating Nidoqueen and tying the match.

Gary sends a Scizor out, and after a series of Quick Attacks, Scizor defeats Snorlax with Metal Claw. Noticing Scizor's speed, Brock notes that Ash had selected his entries based on power, and his two remaining Pokémon will subsequently have trouble against Scizor. Sending Muk back out, Muk easily absorbs Scizor's Quick Attack, allowing it to attack with Sludge Bomb, which Scizor evades. Scizor uses Metal Claw again, and while Muk absorbs the attack, it allows Scizor to lift and throw Muk into the air, then use Swift to defeat it.

Now down to one Pokémon against Gary's three, Ash sends out Charizard, something Gary reveals he anticipated. Scizor lunges towards Charizard with Steel Wing, but Charizard dodges and attacks with Flamethrower. Scizor jumps to avoid the attack, but Charizard flies up and knocks it out with a super-effective Flamethrower to the face. Gary, undaunted, sends out Golem next. Brock and Misty note that Charizard will have a hard time against Golem because of his double weakness to Rock-type attacks. Golem first uses Magnitude, which momentarily stuns Charizard. Charizard attempts to use Seismic Toss, but Golem proves to be too heavy for him. Golem lands back on its feet and uses Rollout. However, Ash orders Charizard to use Dragon Rage, which hits Golem and knocks it out.

With both Ash and Gary down to one Pokémon, Gary sends out Blastoise. Charizard uses Flamethrower, but it is deflected by Rapid Spin. Blastoise uses a Hydro Pump next and hits Charizard's face. Charizard flies into the air but his airborne attack is repelled by Skull Bash. As Charizard continues flying through the air and dodging Hydro Pumps, Brock notes that Fire attacks sometimes work against Water types, but Charizard will need to use a close-range attack for that to happen.

Ash desperately looks for some way to take advantage, and he suddenly notices that, although Charizard's attacks have missed Blastoise, the rocks have been left red hot and somewhat melted due to the fire hitting them. He commands Charizard to burn the field instead of attacking Blastoise. Although he knows that Ash's specialty is thinking outside the box, Gary is still nevertheless puzzled by Ash's tactic. Blastoise is immobilized by the red-hot field, something that not even a type advantage could cover. Resorting to cool the field using Hydro Pump, Blastoise only succeeds in covering the field in steam. When the steam clears, Blastoise and Charizard are locked in close-range combat - too close for Blastoise to aim its Hydro Pumps. Though Blastoise manages to duck from a Dragon Rage attack, it allows Charizard to attempt a Seismic Toss. Blastoise tries to escape by biting Charizard's arm but to no avail. The attack continues and once Charizard and Blastoise land on the ground, everyone begins to wonder who won. When the dust clears, Blastoise is able to get up, and both Pokémon have a stare-off. Blastoise soon succumbs to the damage that it took and faints. Ash, realizing that he just beat his long-time rival, Gary, stands in awe and then jumps for joy and thanks Charizard for a spectacular battle.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket has ended yet another day with a big profit. However, Jessie is preventing Delibird from making off with their hard-earned gains. However, Meowth also notes that with the profits, they have nearly wiped out all their outstanding Team Rocket debts. Jessie is the first to plan on franchising their souvenir stand, which James and Meowth support.

Later that night, Ash meets Gary privately by the lake. Gary gives Ash his half of the Poké Ball. Reflecting on the battle, Gary isn't ashamed that he had lost the battle. He declares that when he tied in the fishing contest, he had felt like a failure, hence taking it as a "loss", but he declares that Ash won fair and square today. The two shake hands, and Gary promises to cheer for Ash in his next match.

The next morning, Ash begins his second Full Battle on a grass field against his new friend Harrison, with Ash having the first move. Leading off with Pikachu, Harrison responds with a new Pokémon, Kecleon. The two opponents pause for a moment as another intense six-on-six match is about to start.

Major events

Ash celebrating his victory

Ash's Muk is revealed to know Sludge Bomb.
Gary is revealed to have obtained a Scizor and a Golem.
Ash wins his Full Battle against Gary, marking his first victory over his rival in a traditional Pokémon battle and advancing him to the quarterfinals.
Ash and Gary end their rivalry and become friends again, just as they were when they were little.
Team Rocket plans to pay off their debts towards Delibird.
Ash begins his Full Battle against Harrison in the quarterfinals.
Harrison is revealed to own a Kecleon.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pocket Monster TV

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

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

Trivia

An instrumental version of OK! is used in the background during the final battle, even in the dub.
When Charizard uses Seismic Toss on Blastoise, the globe appears as usual, but, whereas normally specific shapes on the globe cannot be made out, Asia and Australia are prominently seen.
This episode is featured on Volume 5: Blastoise from Viz Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
This is the only time when Magnitude is used in the anime. Due to an incident with a banned Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire episode featuring the move Earthquake, Magnitude would never be used again in the anime due to its similarity to Earthquake.
Parts of this episode were reanimated and used for flashback material for The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!, while two shots from this episode were redrawn and used for flashback material for Advice to Goh!.
When Charizard and Blastoise fight in hand-to-hand combat, Gary says Charizard is too close for Blastoise to aim "with its hydro cannons", referring to the cannons on its back that it uses to use Hydro Pump. Coincidentally, Generation III would later introduce the move Hydro Cannon.
Gary has Scizor dodge Muk's Sludge Bomb, even though a Poison-type move would have no effect on Scizor, a Steel-type Pokémon.
This episode features the first time one of Ash's Pokémon has used a Poison-type move.
Team Rocket doesn't recite the motto or blast off in this episode.
Although Who's That Pokémon? was random by this point in the dub, the Pokémon featured was Bayleef, which did play a notable role in this episode.
This marks the only known instance in the anime of Ash not using Pikachu in a Full Battle.
This episode marks the last time to date when Ash's Muk has participated in an onscreen battle.
This episode marks the last physical appearance of Gary's cheerleaders in the anime.

Errors

In the recap of the previous episode and during the climactic battle between Ash's Charizard and Gary's Blastoise, Blastoise's lower jaw is incorrectly colored blue instead of cream.
After Gary sends out Arcanine, Snorlax's feet are the same color as its body.
After Gary sends out Nidoqueen, part of Snorlax's blue color goes into its chest area.
When Nidoqueen uses her tail to jump, her lower jaw is colored with the same blue as her skin. The same coloring error is made just before she launches her Hyper Beam.
Professor Oak says that Golem is the second heaviest Pokémon, and only Snorlax is heavier. This was true in Generation I; however, Steelix, introduced in Generation II, is also heavier than Golem.
When Golem used Magnitude, it should not have affected Charizard as Charizard is a Flying-type Pokémon and Magnitude is a Ground-type move. However, this may have been due to the fact that Charizard was standing on the ground at the time.
In the English dub:
- The announcer describes Blastoise's Rapid Spin having sent Muk's Sludge Bomb "back where it came from", even though the move was just deflected away.
- The announcer announces Harrison as being from Silver Town, when he was introduced as being from Littleroot Town in Pop Goes The Sneasel. This error is also present in the Brazilian Portuguese dub.

Blastoise's miscolored jaw
Snorlax's blue portion going into the chest area
Nidoqueen's blue jaw

Dub edits

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		勁敵對決！！水箭龜對抗噴火龍！！
Danish		Helt Vild i Varmen
Dutch		In het Heetst van de Strijd
Finnish		Taistelua kuumimmillaan
European French		Le match tant attendu
German		In der Hitze des Gefechts
Hebrew		לא יכול להכות בחום lo yakhol lehakot bakhom
Hindi		Gary को हराना है! Gary ko harana hai! *
Italian		Il torneo della vittoria (seconda parte)
Norwegian		Nå blir det hett!
Polish		Nie da się pokonać żaru
Portuguese	Brazil	Não Dá pra Vencer o Calor!
Portuguese	Portugal	Não se Vence o Calor!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Nada vence al calor!
Spanish	Spain	Calor invencible
Swedish		I slagfältets hetta