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

You know what? I don't even care anymore about Koko jumping in. Ash and Pikachu winning regardless made it a meaningless complaint. I mean, would Kukui's sixth Pokémon really be able to do what the guardian deity couldn't?
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.

View attachment 126670
Whoopsie, forgive me for not knowing the type chart by heart. I'm still kinda unfamiliar with the fairy type, I knew it was weak to poison, but I didn't know poison actually resisted it. TIL!

You know what? I don't even care anymore about Koko jumping in. Ash and Pikachu winning regardless made it a meaningless complaint. I mean, would Kukui's sixth Pokémon really be able to do what the guardian deity couldn't?
Ha! This was exactly my line of thought as well!
 
Well, they FINALLY captured the epicness of Z-Moves. Took them long enough. Best battle of the Sun and Moon series, no question. Although Kukui was a decent battler, I felt like he fell short in some places. Like , aside from when he's using Incineroar, he barely felt like a challenge. Even with Tapu Koko, for as flashy and epic-feeling as the battle was, didn't really raise his threat level than before. Like at first Tapu Koko curbstomps Naganadel, matching its speed, but then it feels slow as a snail when fighting Pikachu, not landing a single hit before the Z-move clash. IDK; I'm still overall happy Ash came out with a win, and the battle was still good, but it still feels like it held back.
 
I forgot to mention that the announcer is the GOAT of the Alolan league. He really deserves all the praise for hyping the audience in each battle. It was really fun to listen to his commentary and reaction like he did his research.

Here's hoping he does the same in the dub
 
Gosh it hasn't even been 24 hours, and I've rewatched the portion of the episode where it was Z-move vs. Z-move a good 20+ times (for real) the music is what gets me along with the animation!

Look, I'm 28 and I've been through some stuff in regards to working towards goals (whether it be surviving graduate school, getting by in a call center job for 3 years and finally becoming a full-time YouTuber for the past 2 years; only 7,000 more subs before I hit 100,000) and I've gotta say it brings me to tears during that "Kamehameha" moment with Ash and Pikachu. I don't have a "buddy" that helped me walk through my journey, but it's all good because I'm still making it one day at a time.

Then to see Tapu Koko slowly float down before "fainting" (at first, I thought it was pulling a Rowlett and trolling us all), Ash declared the victor, he passes out, Ash grabs his hat and gently rest on his best pal's arm. It was the quietness of that spectacular victory that makes me feel some kind of way. This was truly a great way of 'ending' Ash and Pikachu's journey in Alola (if not the entire show, BUT we know that isn't true based on the next series).

Then Hala's line about this being like a 'final exam' oh boy that was the icing on the cake! Along with Ash's classmates cheering him on and then in tears after the win!

Yeah, I do have SOME gripes about the episode (and the league overall) but all minor in the grand scheme of things. This was AMAZING from start to finish, but I wish some things were a little different.

Tapu's Z-move, I wish it would've appeared during the arc where they had to deal with Necrozma (look my spelling is probably off). I did kinda scratch my head about how it was mentioned that a hero would be given the Z-crystal in the time of a crisis to use its power...that line would've work had this not been a exhibition match haha

Was it just me or was Koko a wee bit I don't know "weak" compared to its previous battles with Pikachu? I mean this is "league Pikachu" who is in top form like in nearly every other series when it gets to that point of the saga.

Why are Oak and Delia leaving so soon?! I mean why not stick around for the next couple episodes or at least leave at the start of the next one to say hey we are gonna throw you a party in Kanto! Won't Ash get to 'graduate' from the Pokemon school? Geez, could've seen him cross the stage or whatever. I REALLY wish Misty and Brock were around to see this! Was this league televised? Again, a wasted chance to have past friends and rivals look at Ash now!

Overall, this battle was amazing. I'm not certain if it is my FAVORITE, but it had some great highlights. Top 5 for sure!
 
First time posting here, but what finally got me to register an account was because I couldnt find out what were the songs that were played during the episode.
Does anyone know what are the songs played when 1) Pikachu started using quick attack on Koko and when 2) Kukui was charging up for the z move and the ground started cracking open?
 
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Naganadel. Got. Jobbed.
A pokemon with no training jobbing? Inconceivable!


I see why the Tapu didn't bother using Guardian of Alola against Guzzlord - if a foot-tall rodent can shatter it with ease, it would've gotten annihilated

I liked the Majora's Mask and Saiyan Saga shoutouts though
 
The fact it was with Ash for several dozen episodes and never once trained with him?

If you'd watched the series, you'd know this
Uh huh... but do you have evidence that it did not train in it's own homeworld with the beings present there? You think it was only lazing around and drawing stuff?

Nice try with the deflection, it didn't work though.
 
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So can everyone agree that this is in the top 4 battles of the entire series along with Ash vs Alain, Ash vs Sawyer and Ash vs Paul? I mean, the battle got better every episode, culminating in a beautifully animated and written ending episode with Ash and Pikachu performing a Kamehameha. The only bad part of this episode was the whole Tapu dance scene being longer than necessary, but besides that I have no complaints. Hopefully the quality of this battle can carry into the new series.
 
Just like Suiren put it : Ultimate Champion Satoshi (at least in Alola) :cool:
This basically sums up the whole episode perfectly!

Admittedly, I was also one of those critics who thought that Ash's league victory would somehow be soured by the inevitable loss against Kukui. But, yes, I admit it, luckily I was proven wrong.
As if winning a league wasn't enough, Ash also had to defeat the "secret champion" Kukui and a legendary Pokemon and guardian deity. This sure is the ultimate proof Ash totally deserves to be called Alola's strongest trainer and Champion now. I hope he'll manage to tell Cynthia about his triumph soon! She'll be proud of him for sure.

My friends, I'm so hyped, excited and just so happy for Ash that he finally made it that far. After so many lackluster episodes at the beginning where nothing of importance really happend, we got such a perfect and super intense league.. I'm just speechless and overjoyed! A wonderful conclusion of this arc. I've got nothing more to say.
 
Just like Suiren put it : Ultimate Champion Satoshi (at least in Alola) :cool:
This basically sums up the whole episode perfectly!

Admittedly, I was also one of those critics who thought that Ash's league victory would somehow be soured by the inevitable loss against Kukui. But, yes, I admit it, luckily I was proven wrong.
As if winning a league wasn't enough, Ash also had to defeat the "secret champion" Kukui and a legendary Pokemon and guardian deity. This sure is the ultimate proof Ash totally deserves to be called Alola's strongest trainer and Champion now. I hope he'll manage to tell Cynthia about his triumph soon! She'll be proud of him for sure.

My friends, I'm so hyped, excited and just so happy for Ash that he finally made it that far. After so many lackluster episodes at the beginning where nothing of importance really happend, we got such a perfect and super intense league.. I'm just speechless and overjoyed! A wonderful conclusion of this arc. I've got nothing more to say.
Something I stated in an earlier post:
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.
 
The fact it was with Ash for several dozen episodes and never once trained with him?

If you'd watched the series, you'd know this
Well while you’re right that it never had proper training, it did show some strength with a “practice battle” against Lycanroc and later against Team Skull. Not to mention that while it was not always participating in battles, if was often watching and observing them which surely would help one grow and gain experience. And as Panky stated before, there is no evidence that it didn’t train in its home world. In fact, since it learned new moves, evolved and became stronger, it would seem that it did indeed train at home.
126723
 
Whoopsie, forgive me for not knowing the type chart by heart.

I don't expect anyone to have the entire type chart memorized, since it can sometimes get tricky and, in some cases, slightly confusing (particularly when it comes to dual types). But if someone's gonna defend something, I expect them to do at least a little research (especially if said research basically amounts to a less-than-2 minutes search on the internet).
 
The episode was in a nutshell 10 minutes of decent fast-paced battling followed by 10 minutes of the slowest Z-move clash ever, yet it was exciting and satisfying as sh*t. It was very cool and thematically fitting to see Ash using "the force of Alola" to defeat Tapu Koko, and I liked seeing everyone including the narrator congratulating Ash for his progress.

Kukui looked visibly upset after he lost was a nice detail, the preview hints that the reason will be touched upon in the next episode so I'm intriguied.

I would've liked to see a longer second half, with Pikachu attempting to hurt Titan Koko by hitting his legs or arms, but I'm satisfied with what we got.
 
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