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Review SM144: Alola's Strongest Z! Kapu-Kokeko VS Pikachu!!

Wow. I cannot express how amazing this battle was. Ash vs Kukui is now officially my favorite battle of all time. Looking back, I never would’ve thought Sun & Moon could create such an incredible and beautiful battle, but they did it. The animation, the music, even some light comedy. A simply perfect end to the Manalo Arc. I’m going to miss this saga so much.
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Naw, it wouldn't be another Best Wishes scenario; it would be worse. Imagine if Ash was totally reset after becoming the Alola League Champion and defeating a god. That would be absolutely mortifying.

Gou: Excuse me, I just started my journey with my Scorbunny that I just got, could I battle you?
Ash: Sure, tell you what, how about I go easy on you
Gou: No thanks, battle at fully strength

Later, Scorbunny defeats Pikachu in one hit without taking damage

Gou: I said don't go easy on me
Ash: We didn't go easy on you
 
I'm pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this episode. It really was a nice ending what I found to be an overly drawn out battle. I already enjoyed the fact that they had Ash battle Kukui at the end of the league as a nod to you battling him the end of Sun and Moon, but adding in the following Tapu Koko fight as well was a really nice touch. Needless to say, even though I think the battle could have been 1 episode shorter, I do believe both battles were properly done justice in this scenario.

I'm glad Naganadel was able to do some good damage to Tapu Koko before going down. I don't know why, but Tapu Koko almost seemed weaker than before in this episode. Idk, maybe it's because he was at the mercy of Kukui this time around whereas before he was on his own, but it seemed like Pikachu was able to hold his own and Tapu Koko never got the upper hand. It didn't bother me or anything, it's just how I felt. The Z-Move clash of Gaurdian of Alola vs. 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt was truly epic and I found myself rooting for Ash using kamehameha with Pikachu. Though, the element of Electrium-Z transforming into Pikashunium-Z and Pikachu wearing Ash's hat to use the attack with no in-universe explanation of why this happens still slightly bugs me. But I'll let it slide.

I liked how Tapu Lele stuck around to heal Pikachu and Tapu Koko after the battle ended. And it was funny seeing Ash and Kukui stand together in the rubble of the stadium at the end. Overall, a really good battle. I guess I'll give it a 10/10 since there really wasn't much I disliked.
 
Can't say I was keen on the episode when I first heard about it, especially as it left Kukui's final Pokemon unrevealed but the episode was great to watch, especially seeing Guardian of Alola used

Slightly disappointed that there was no explanation for the Electrium Z changing, surely a character suggesting Tapu Koko's influence would have been simple
 
wow! Impressive episode. Ash has finally won the exhibition match after 20 years of attempt of being any of Region's champion.
I give this episode a 10/10! Excellent episode.

I would say that Ash's Pikachu used 10,000,000 Bolt Thunderbolt Z-Move to defeat Kukui's Tapu Koko.
 
To be fair, the thing about Naganadel's battle experience doesn't bother me that much, even though I still would've preferred it to be on screen.

Normally I can be a little nitpicky about explanations, but in this case, logic almost guarantees that there would have to be more than just the Poipole line living on their home planet somewhere. So there are almost certainly still a lot of enemies Naganadel could've fought on their own, we just don't know what they were.

Plus, only Naganadel can learn Thunderbolt, not Poipole, and that doesn't exactly seem like something they could figure out right away.... So the implication is that they were already evolved for at least long enough to figure out how to produce an electric move despite not having electric traits, which would further imply even more time spent practicing and training on their own.

I'm just glad there won't be a giant salt wave about Ash being a loser this time around.
 
Looking at the Poke Problem, I had no idea what the pictures depicted but now I know, I find it rather funny, the Cardigan of Alola, the Rumba of Alola and the Samba of Alola, I know they're just jokes but I can just imagine the answer being one of those three
 
I don't get why Team Rocket is entirely dismissed of Ash's victory in this league. They were so carried away watching his league battles in Sinnoh that they even forgot what they were there for. They even got sentimental after his victory over Paul. This time, though, we received absolutely no reaction upon Ash winning the league, and even no presence upon winning over Kukui and Tapu-Koko itself.

Apart from that, though, it was a great episode. I didn't even realise how 20 minutes ran out. It felt like the episode just began.
 
They shouldn't even standing still after the Lucario. It's absurd in my eyes that Kapu Kokeko didn't KO'd them immediately,
Like I'm honestly shocked at people saying that Agoyon got unfaired or it's battle this week was too short. After the amount of damage it took last week and the fact that it was now going up against a legendary with a type advantage over it, I honestly expected it to be down in one hit to hype up Koko's power before the final match. Instead we got a high-speed flashy battle where in was able to tank super effective moves and deal some damage of its own before going down - much better than I expected.

Anyway, the one full battle Alola managed to give us: It was wonderful.. Last week was still the best segment of the match to me, but this episode was very strong as well. Amazing animation. I still can't believe how much I enjoyed from the semi-finals up until this match. Also loved how passionate Satoshi's classmates were about cheering him on and Hau & Glazio watching him with pride. Definitely was of the stronger leagues overall despite the very boring first couple of episodes. Happy how this saga turned out although I couldn't be bothered to watch half of it ^^;. Proud of Satoshi!
 
The Sun and Moon series has a lot of issues, whether its the over-inflated cast, bad pacing, and the handling of the Island Challenge, but this battle has been an absolute high point for the Pokemon series in general, and a great way to end things. Not only did Ash win his first league five episodes ago, but today he defeated Professor Kukui who is essentially a stand in for a Champion in the games. I wasn't expecting Ash to beat Tapu Koko at all, but he pulled it off in an incredible display. The animation in both battles with Tapu Koko was just mindblowing.

Seriously this was an amazing episode. 10/10
 
This battle was way better than most of the league. Rock solid. I may be upset about this being a ending to Ash's journey to become champion but as an ending to Sun and Moon it's beautiful 10/10 episode.

Kukui saying Ash got stronger during the league was a little bit understatement.
 
the fact that it was now going up against a legendary with a type advantage over it

Where exactly is this mysterious "type advantage" that Tapu Koko supposedly had over Naganadel that you speak of? 'Cause this type chart from Bulbapedia says something completely different.

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I don't get why Team Rocket is entirely dismissed of Ash's victory in this league. They were so carried away watching his league battles in Sinnoh that they even forgot what they were there for. They even got sentimental after his victory over Paul. This time, though, we received absolutely no reaction upon Ash winning the league, and even no presence upon winning over Kukui and Tapu-Koko itself.

Apart from that, though, it was a great episode. I didn't even realise how 20 minutes ran out. It felt like the episode just began.
Same thing can be said for Guzma and even Tupp, Zipp and Rapp. I don't know if anything from the league was broadcasted on TV or not but just imagine the look on their faces if they saw all of that.
 
Same thing can be said for Guzma and even Tupp, Zipp and Rapp. I don't know if anything from the league was broadcasted on TV or not but just imagine the look on their faces if they saw all of that.

Honestly, one of the only real sore points I have with the League after Ash vs Guzma is that neither he or the other Team Skull members stuck around. I would've killed to see them react to a battle like this (and for Guzma to have a more concrete resolution with Kukui).
 
Review

Pros:
  • The animation was beyond fantastic and I didn't see any recycled move footage, frame rate was butter smooth for an SM episode. The choice of music was really good this time, glad they didn't reuse the Regi-trio music though I felt that Battle! Trainer from XY felt a bit off. Compare that to last week's Secret Super Training for Naganadel, that was a fitting soundtrack.
  • Thank Arceus that the writers haven't made Ash into someone else (like they did with BW) and that he can still come up with smart and unorthodox improvisations on the fly. We often see a lot of it with Pikachu on the field, though I really wish we saw more of that partnership with Naganadel too (did happen in a sense in its battle against Lucario I guess).
  • Tapu Koko technically assisted Ash and Pikachu in winning thanks to the Electric Terrain. No wonder that Discharge took out Naganadel easily instead of its other two moves, and how Pikachu was able to press the offensive continuously with his own Electric attacks.
  • Absolutely loved the Z-moves themselves upon re-watching, along with the Kamehameha and the well timed Type: Wild (+ montage). Ash looked far more detailed during that one segment when he was 'pushing' Pikachu, with his hair and clothing flying around, than the entirety of his SM appearance combined. Glad to see the exhaustive effect of using two Z-moves in a row being touched upon.
  • Ash and Pikachu took down yet another legendary, and the haters can rest easy with their bullshit "he has to hand the title over" and "Kukui will smash him" tinfoil theories. They were becoming lame and boring, and there was absolutely no logic to them.
Cons:
  • I don't take issue with Naganadel going down (it was obvious given the episode's title), I take issue with how fast it was brought down. There were a lot of flashy moves being traded back and forth but nothing felt of substance and relevant to the plot. Recall I had a similar complaint about Lycanroc's recent defeat (though that one was worse imo)? For a Guardians vs. Ultra Beast clash, it was over too fast and felt a bit flat, not to mention there was no type coverage outside that little Dragon Pulse moment (which was more of a divertion).
  • I honestly felt that the scenes involving Tapu Koko summoning the other Tapus and Z-Ring recharge and Z-Crystal appearances were somewhat deliberately slow and could have used some speeding up or cropping. The screen time from that could have gone to Naganadel's battle. Glad to see that the Z-move limit was acknowledged by Kukui though, that's one more doubt cleared.
Extra:
  • I am still annoyed from last week's Tapu Koko interruption. At least Kukui could have been considerate enough to bring out his last Pokemon (for us to know who it is) and for him to ask its consent to let Tapu Koko take over.
  • The backstory that Hala gives regarding the Tapunium-Z kind of makes the Guardian of Alola a bit cheap. It's appearance should have been during some big event like the Necrozma arc, not an exhibition match. This is backed by the fact that it was an "appear only to lose" moment.
  • Delia is getting ready to leave immediately. You'd think she'd stay for some sort of celebration party of her son winning a League and a Champion level match, with the rest of the Alola crew? Oak asked Burnet to give Ash their regards, why not do it in person? Also why the hell does Mime keep filming Delia? That's weird.
Verdict: I'd say it was a fantastic episode, other than the issues I had here and there especially compared to last week's brilliant episode. I'll give it 9.5/10.

Ash defeating Kukui (essentially a low-Champion level trainer) opens up so many options for the future, he could essentially defeat some of the previous Elite 4 members if he were to rotate his reserves and use his aces more often. Not to mention being able to go toe-to-toe with ubers like Cynthia, if not then at least giving them a hard time and coming down to close finishes.
 
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