EP270

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! VS !!) 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.

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
and continue their six-on-six match on a rock field. Gary's starter launches a  to counter '. However, despite a last-minute evasion tactic behind a rock, Hydro Pump manages to blast through the rock and Heracross hiding behind it, knocking the Pokémon out. Ash then sends out to battle. Blastoise uses, but Muk isn't fazed by the attack. Muk uses a, but Blastoise uses to deflect the shot. Continuing to spin, it tries to hit Muk, but Muk easily catches and smothers its opponent. Blastoise escapes the pin with a Hydro Pump, and Ash pulls Muk for, hoping that a Grass type will provide a good advantage over Blastoise. Bayleef evades the first Hydro Pump with jump, but her airborne  is deflected by Rapid Spin. Making matters worse, Bayleef's attempt to use is met with a  attack from Blastoise. She gets tossed by her leaf, and is knocked out.

Since Ash has now lost three Pokémon, the referee calls for a 5-minute intermission. During the break, wants in on the match against Blastoise, and is visibly upset when Ash explains that he can only use his six entrants that were arranged before the match. In the stands, and  reminisce about the match bringing back memories from the boys' childhood growing up together.

When the break ends, Ash sends out, while Gary resumes with ; Brock believing that he will save Blastoise for last. Arcanine uses to charge straight at Snorlax, who responds with. Arcanine evades the attack, and traps Snorlax with, but Snorlax then blasts a at Arcanine. It is a direct hit, and although Arcanine tries to get up, the attack proves to be too much. Therefore, Arcanine is knocked out.

Nidoqueen is sent back out. Ash warns Snorlax to be careful since Nidoqueen also knows Hyper Beam. Using its tail to jump (a tactic copied from Bayleef), Nidoqueen manages to land down on Snorlax and damage it with. Nidoqueen then blasts a Hyper Beam, but Snorlax ducks the attack and counters back with an, taking Nidoqueen out of the match. Gary's is sent out against Snorlax, and after a series of s, Scizor defeats Snorlax with a  to the face of a missed Hyper Beam. With Scizor playing a speed game, Brock notes that Ash had put his entries with power battling in mind, and his two remaining Pokémon will have trouble against Scizor. Sending Muk back out, Muk easily absorbs a Quick Attack, allowing to attack with Sludge Bomb which Scizor evades. Scizor uses Metal Claw again, which, though Muk absorbs it, it allows Scizor to lift and throw Muk into the air. One later, and Muk is knocked out.

Now down to one Pokémon against three (Scizor, Blastoise, and an unrevealed Pokémon), Ash sends out. Gary notes he figured that Ash would use his Charizard last. Scizor lunges toward Charizard with. Charizard attacks with, but Scizor jumps to avoid the attack, however Ash refuses to let it get away this time. Charizard then meets Scizor airborne much to Scizor and Gary's shock before Scizor is knocked out by a super-effective Flamethrower to the face. Gary, undaunted, sends out. Brock and Misty note that Charizard will have a hard time against Golem (due to the double weakness to Rock types). Golem leads off with, which manages to stun Charizard. Charizard attempts to Golem, but it is too heavy (Professor Oak pointing out that Golem is second only to Snorlax in terms of mass). Golem lands back on its feet and attacks with, but Ash orders Charizard to use which hits Golem and knocks it out of the match.

Now Ash has pulled even with Gary - the match is down to Blastoise and Charizard.

Charizard's opening Flamethrower is deflected by Rapid Spin, but isn't as lucky itself as it takes a Hydro Pump to the face. Taking to the skies, its airborne attack is repelled by a Skull Bash. As Macy, Jackson, and look on from the stands for Ash's next move, Ash decides to have Charizard make another aerial approach, evading Hydro Pumps along the way. However, Charizard cannot seem to find a desperately needed opening. Brock notes that Fire attacks aren't very effective against Water-types, but sometimes they work and that Charizard will need a close-range attack to have a good shot of knocking out Blastoise against the type advantage.

Ash desperately looks for someway to take advantage, and he suddenly notices that - although Charizard's attacks have missed Blastoise - the fire that has hit the rocks have been left red hot and somewhat melted. Ash 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 have locked up in close-range combat - too close for Blastoise to aim its Hydro Pumps. Though Blastoise manages to duck out of a Dragon Rage, 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 smoke clears, Blastoise is able to get up, as both Pokémon have a staring match. Blastoise soon however succumbs to the damage it took and faints. Ash, realizing that he just beat Gary, stands in awe, then jumps for joy and thanks Charizard for a spectacular battle.

Meanwhile, has ended yet another day with a big profit. However, Jessie is preventing from making off with its hard-earned gains. However, Meowth also notes that with the profits they have nearly wiped out all their outstanding Team Rocket debts. Jessie is 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 - when he admittedly tied in the fishing contest, he had felt like a failure (hence taking it as a "loss"). But Ash won fair and square today. The two shake hands, and Gary promises to cheer for Ash is 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 Pokémon he hasn't seen in a while. How will Ash fare against his new opponent?

Major events

 * Ash's Muk is revealed to know.
 * is revealed to have obtained a and a.
 * Ash defeats Gary, marking his first victory over his rival and advancing him to the Silver Conference quarterfinals.
 * Ash and Gary end their rivalry and become friends again, just as they were when they were little.
 * plans to pay off their debts towards.
 * Ash begins his quarterfinals Full Battle against.
 * Harrison is revealed to own a.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Jackson
 * Macy
 * Charles Goodshow
 * Gary's cheerleaders
 * Jackson
 * Macy
 * Charles Goodshow
 * Gary's cheerleaders
 * Macy
 * Charles Goodshow
 * Gary's cheerleaders

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

 * An instrumental version of OK! is used in the background during the final, 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, and  are prominently seen.
 * This episode is featured on Volume 5: Blastoise from Viz Media's series.
 * This is the only time that the move was used in the anime, which is due to  with a banned AG episode featuring the move, which is highly similar to Magnitude.
 * Parts of this episode were reanimated and used for flashback material for The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!.
 * 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 with which it shoots its Hydro Pump attack. Coincidentally, Generation III would later introduce the attack.
 * Gary has Scizor dodge Muk's, even though a move would have no effect on Scizor, a  Pokémon.
 * 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 which did play a significant role in this episode.

Errors

 * 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 is 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.
 * says that is the second heaviest Pokémon, and only Snorlax is heavier. This was true in Generation I; however,, introduced in Generation II, is also heavier than Golem.
 * When Golem used Magnitude, it should not have affected Charizard as is a  Pokémon and Magnitude is a  move. However, this may have been due to the fact that Charizard was standing on the ground at the time.
 * During the climactic battle between Ash's Charizard and Gary's Blastoise, Blastoise's lower jaw is incorrectly colored blue instead of cream.
 * This also happens in the intro from the previous episode.
 * In the dub the announcer announces Harrison as being from, when he was introduced as being from Littleroot Town in Pop Goes The Sneasel.
 * When Gary's Blastoise uses Rapid Spin to counter Sludge Bomb by Ash's Muk, the commentator says "Blastoise uses Rapid Spin to send Sludge Bomb back where it came from", although Blastoise sends it to some other direction rather than at Muk.

In other languages
In der Hitze des Gefechts EP272 EP270 EP270 無印編第270話 精灵宝可梦 第271集