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An Island Kahuna is Born! Ash's Grand Trial!! (1052)

Jangobadass

Surprise!
Ash: Hey, Pikachu! Remember our Gym battle with Brock?
Pikchu: Say no more, I'm on it.

Eh, many of us figured it would go something like this the moment we heard that Pikachu would be the one battling. (Do the producers just straight up NOT want any good battles this saga? It's bad enough there are barely any battles in general...).

Poor Lillie. Everyone else got something out of this arc (even Gladion and Hapu), and she got squat :(. Couldn't they have have had her finally got a Z-Ring?o_O
 

lolipiece

Pictured: what browsing Serebii does to a person
Staff member
Moderator
Man this just solidifies how I feel about this series as a whole. It was an alright battle. It could have been better though, I mean, just one Pokemon each? Rowlett learned 2 moves and didn’t even participate in any trials since then. Litten evolved into Torrecat, learned Flame Charge, Revenge, & Fire Blast, and still wasn’t used in any trial whatsoever. Lycanroc got its 1 VS 3 against Nanu, its fine where its at.

Torracat was used in a trial. The Lush Jungle one.

Wasn’t Pikachu being the Star of the Last Grand Trial confirmed from the I Choose You manga from like 2 years ago?

That wasn't a Grand Trial. And why would some (mostly) unrelated manga spoil something that wouldn't happen until years from then?

She should be more experienced than Kiawe (future kahuna-in-training),

I mean, she's been battling for a long time.

smarter than Lillie and Sophocles

What? Why? What does being a Kahuna have to do with one's intelligence?

, stronger than Ash etc.

Seem pretty skilled in both their matches.

She should inspire other trainers, not being a pushover who loss her first official battle with ground type Stamina owner to unevolved electric type!

You are aware that she's supposed to lose, right? She can't be invincible. How else are people supposed to complete the island trials?

Poor Lillie. Everyone else got something out of this arc (even Gladion and Hapu), and she got squat :(. Couldn't they have have had her finally got a Z-Ring?o_O

Why are you acting like she's not getting a future arc down the line? After already having one awhile ago? The other characters can't say they got an arc focused on them let alone two.
 

AuraChannelerChris

Easygoing Luxray.
I like how this episode essentially wasted precious time with Hapu being given her title as Island Kahuna, then we had a...beach portion for some reason, and then the battle started after the freaking commercial. It's actually incredible TR's duel episode had more buildup than this.

Oh, and since Rowlet is such a damn disappointment as a super effective contender against all of Hapu's team, of course Pikachu does it. This would have been the best place for Torracat to evolve into Incineroar and use Darkest Lariat to ignore Mudsdale's increasing defense.

Good for you, Ash, for picking the Steelium Z-Crystal. Now Pikachu can exploit all moves he has. Not that it's a random coincidence about getting a new Steel-type move or, well, a new Pokemon THIS late into the region. *laughs*

Poor Lillie. Everyone else got something out of this arc .

She got confirmation her father is alive.
 

Almighty Zard

He has returned.
Remind me again why Rowlet wasn’t used?
That battle was just yikes.... and it wasn’t even due to Ash “cheating”. It was in every sense anticlimactic.

using Rowlet did make the most sense from a gaming perspective, however the writers would've likely given Hapu the "type breaker" power they gave to Ash here, but at least he used a catalyst to do it, and not straight up.

Trust me in an anime where ground attacks can hit flying types, and normal and ghost type attacks hitting or not hitting each other usually happens, calling this one incident into question is rather silly, since again Ash used a catalyst to do it, and didn't do it straight up.

look, I can understand some points of the battle being considered bad, but what Ash did by using the water, isn't one of them, using the terrain is every bit as important in anime battles as fighting the opponent is.

Brock's Onix, and Pryce's Piloswine got damaged from electricity by getting wet as well (Sprinklers going off, falling into a pool), as water clearly effected their bodies enough for it to work, so why is this such an offense?

Also, using water/ground hybrids as an excuse is poor, because their bodies grow up to adapt to both elements, Mudsdale is not a water/ground hybrid so if it gets wet it's fair game to be shocked.

The only nitpick I do have about the battle is Tectonic Rage, just like with All-Out Pummeling, they didn't show the move's final impact moment, not to mention it was charging after Pikachu in the opposite way of where it was supposed to be going.

other than that it was an alright episode, not the best, but not the chaotic mess people think it is.

Oh, and since Rowlet is such a damn disappointment as a super effective contender against all of Hapu's team, of course Pikachu does it. This would have been the best place for Torracat to evolve into Incineroar and use Darkest Lariat to ignore Mudsdale's increasing defense.

if we're looking at this from a game perspective, Mudsdale wouldn't have been able to touch Rowlet with it's ground moves (and it can't learn Smack Down to knock out of the air), Tectonic Rage would've been sealed, and Double Kick would've been resisted.

All Rowlet would've had to logicially do is sit in the air high enough and pelt Mudsdale with Leafage and Seed Bomb then Ko it with Bloom doom.

but again that's from a "game" perspective, still you think that would've been interesting?
 

nuzamaki90

Well-Known Member
The worst part for me with this battle is how much missed potential there was. Pikachu got OHKO’d by Golurk but survived High Horsepower, Earthquake (?), AND Tectonic Rage from Mudsdale which means there is an obvious power gap between Hapu’s Pokémon. And the battle would’ve been even more challenging had it been Pikachu VS Golurk because only one of his moves work on it. Why not let Pikachu Get it’s revenge like Lycanroc did? The battle would’ve been far more interesting in my opinion.

This didn’t even FEEL like a Grand Trial. Especially the very last one. It felt more like an afterthought even though they’ve been hyping it up in literally every other episode of the arc. Why did we need the first half spent on the kids playing on the beach instead of, oh I don’t know, a longer battle? You’re telling me we really needed that scene of Brionne splashing as justification for why Ash thought of spraying water on Mudsdale? He’s done that same strategy before!

And can someone please for the love of God hire some actually decent animators for these battles? Every Grand Trial besides Hala’s has looked awful.

2/10, and that’s only because Ash got Steelium Z and I cannot wait for Pikachu to use Corkscrew Crash.
 

AuraChannelerChris

Easygoing Luxray.
but again that's from a "game" perspective, still you think that would've been interesting?
Yup.

If only because that would give Rowlet (or Torracat) a nice battle for himself. But nooooooooooooo. Let's mess around the beach and, after dinner, wet the horse. (In fact, why even have a battle in the middle of the water, Hapu? You're a freaking Ground-type specialist. Was the universe trying to give Ash a hand to defeat you?)
 

dman_dustin

Well-Known Member
How dare the writers not limit themselves to how the games work. At least this time it was natural water instead of a sprinkler.

Yeah how dare the writers not stick to established rules within the anime continuity, just so Ash can conveniently win against a Ground type with his tired electric type Pokemon because the writers couldn't be bothered to put effort into the episode.

Instead of I don't know actually having a realistic outcome, where Pikachu learned Splishy Splash (which would've been foreshadowed), or at the very least Pikachu uses Breakneck Blitz.

Sorry I will never buy "Mudsdale got wet, so it conveniently bypassed its ground typing immunity to electricity" which is only supported by the first generation, but I don't think anyone liked that outcome, since they were being too liberal with established mechanics. As opposed to NOW which they've been more faithful, well up until now.

There's also a difference to say using vine whip to close a Pokemon's mouth (anime mechanics), to just getting wet removing a Pokemon's immunity. One is actually intelligent writing, the other is purely plot hax by the writers because they couldn't be bothered to work within the established rules of the "universe."

Again, Water/ground Pokemon exist, they are STILL immune to electricity........Stunfisk needed to use camouflage to properly be in water, these all happened more recently than Ash's battle with Brock's Onix.

The rest of the comment was okay, but about this, Ash uses anime mechanics like almost every gen
In Gen 1 they did the soaking thing too, in Gen 3 the Thunder Armor(that was the weirdest one), in Gen 4 Ice Jet and Counter Shield, and in Gen 6 Ash Greninja(yes, he started as anime-only)

1. Generation 1 established a lot of stupid mechanics that we're later retconned. They were too liberal (and I don't mean politically people) in generation one, and it didn't work out. Because they could throw anime mechanics into the anime without violating game mechanics, as long as it made logical sense. Vine Whip being used to close a Pokemon's mouth/snout or using vine whip to pick a berry off a tree. As you can easily argue a Pokemon can control the vines and they just don't shoot out of their bodies like "stiff" sticks that cannot be altered.

2. I want to believe the people who are OKAY with this battle, are perfectly accepting of Thunder Armor, since at least Thunder Armor made more sense, if you looked at it as a warped version of "Swellow's Guts" with Pikachu benefiting because of the whole Grotle/Mamoswine energy absorbing thing introduced in DP (which really seemed to only benefit Dawn....which is kind of annoying). Bypassing a Pokemon's immunity feels like dividing by 0. At least "soak" the Pokemon move, seems realistic enough to actually change the typing of a Pokemon, because that's what it was designed to do, don't think "NATURAL" water has the same effect otherwise ground types wouldn't be so deathly afraid of water.

3. Ice Aqua Jet made sense, given how Aqua Jet was portrayed, the only issue in believing it would work if a Pokemon would be able to survive aqua jet being frozen over

4. Nothing in the game really contradicts Ash-Greninja, given that Ash-Greninja was actually designed by Game Freak, it further is perfectly fine with me plus I'm fine with the anime taking liberties like this, especially since they actually went to Gamefreak and asked how they could make Ash's Greninja special. Basically they went out of their way to get approval from gamefreak, as opposed to doing whatever the hell they wanted.

I'm NOT AGAINST anime mechanics, BUT they have to make sense. A ground type losing its immunity to electricity just because it got wet seems like a complete contradiction of the natural order of things within Pokemon, because otherwise, ground types should be vulnerable to electric types just by jumping in the air, since the only reason they'd be immune is by dispelling the electricity in the ground. But when has a ground type taken damage from electric attack by flying.

Pretty sure I remember Gligar and Gliscor "flying" and they were still immune. So how does getting wet make any logical sense to bypassing the "immunity" since getting wet is not the same thing as a Pokemon move like Soak.
 
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AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
Yup.

If only because that would give Rowlet (or Torracat) a nice battle for himself. But nooooooooooooo. Let's mess around the beach and, after dinner, wet the horse. (In fact, why even have a battle in the middle of the water, Hapu? You're a freaking Ground-type specialist. Was the universe trying to give Ash a hand to defeat you?)
I'm just disappointed that it has to be Pikachu to do this Grand Trial, a Pokemon we got see everytime. Ash's Alolan Pokemons deserve more spotlights.
 

FlygontheRavager

#1 Pokémon Anime Fan!
Yeah how dare the writers not stick to established rules within the anime continuity, just so Ash can conveniently win against a Ground type with his tired electric type Pokemon because the writers couldn't be bothered to put effort into the episode.

Instead of I don't know actually having a realistic outcome, where Pikachu learned Splishy Splash (which would've been foreshadowed), or at the very least Pikachu uses Breakneck Blitz.

Sorry I will never buy "Mudsdale got wet, so it conveniently bypassed its ground typing immunity to electricity" which is only supported by the first generation, but I don't think anyone liked that outcome, since they were being too liberal with established mechanics. As opposed to NOW which they've been more faithful, well up until now.

There's also a difference to say using vine whip to close a Pokemon's mouth (anime mechanics), to just getting wet removing a Pokemon's immunity. One is actually intelligent writing, the other is purely plot hax by the writers because they couldn't be bothered to work within the established rules of the "universe."

Again, Water/ground Pokemon exist, they are STILL immune to electricity........Stunfisk needed to use camouflage to properly be in water, these all happened more recently than Ash's battle with Brock's Onix.

1) What does the Water-Ground types being immune to electricity prove? First of all, Water-types aren’t wet all the time; if they were soaked in water, electricity may still affect them. And even if they are immune no matter what, that doesn’t say anything about other Ground-types.

2) Even within the games, Stunfisk are always found in water, and they don’t always know Camoflague (to my memory): why would it need Camouflage to live in the water? I don’t believe it was ever said that was the case, either.

My point is, the anime IS sticking to its own rules, because the battle against Brock’s Onix is the only real source of information we have for this sort of thing. Even if we don’t like the rule, the consistency is there, and I for one admire it.
 

noakai

Well-Known Member
It was obvious what was gonna happen the second the anime revealed they were gonna battle on a platform in the middle of the ocean and Ash was still gonna use Pikachu and Sparking Gigavolt - there was only one option and it was "get the ground type wet so Pikachu can shock it".

I did like that Pikachu got to pick what crystal they got though. I hope that does mean it's getting Meltan.
 

Apslup

Feelin' Fine.
(Wow i haven't posted on here in a while...)

Anyway, I think that this was a pretty lacklustre ending to the Poni Arc (which I think was consistantly good throughout). I liked the Island Kahuna intiation ritual since it expands the lore of the franchise and allows us to see more of Tapu-Lele (easily the best Tapu).

However, the battle was really disappointing (the low-point of this arc imo). The "If it's wet, then it'll conduct electicrity!" (depsite being a ground type) reminded me of when Onix got wet in Ash's Gym Battle against Brock in the early Kanto anime. Also choosing Pikachu and not using Rowlet made no sense to me.

Overall, I'd give this episode a 4/10
 

Pokemon Fan

Knuckle Trainer
Yeah how dare the writers not stick to established rules within the anime continuity, just so Ash can conveniently win against a Ground type with his tired electric type Pokemon because the writers couldn't be bothered to put effort into the episode.

Instead of I don't know actually having a realistic outcome, where Pikachu learned Splishy Splash (which would've been foreshadowed), or at the very least Pikachu uses Breakneck Blitz.

Sorry I will never buy "Mudsdale got wet, so it conveniently bypassed its ground typing immunity to electricity" which is only supported by the first generation, but I don't think anyone liked that outcome, since they were being too liberal with established mechanics. As opposed to NOW which they've been more faithful, well up until now.
Remember it wasn't just a gen 1 thing, it happened with Pryce's Piloswine too.

What the bloody heck was Tectonic Rage trying to do? Why did Mudsdale turn into pure energy and chase Pikachu through an asteroid field?
The anime does seem to have trouble depicting the Z-moves that are not depicted very clearly in the games. I always thought Tectonic Rage involved the user forcing the opponent underground and increasing the pressure until there was an explosion.
 

JC317

Well-Known Member
Remember it wasn't just a gen 1 thing, it happened with Pryce's Piloswine too.

Then it's an OS (and maybe AG) thing.
According to Bulbapedia, electric moves have not worked on ground types since the beginning of DP.
So instead of a timespan of 20 years, we're looking at a timespan of just under 13 years.
13 years in which writers have followed game mechanics where electric moves don't work on ground types, and they break this rule because they want Pikachu to star in Ash's last Grand Trial
 

shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
That finishing blow took me by surprise although I suppose what's more surprising is that they actually attempted to explain it's like "soak". Still doesn't really make it any more believable, I'm surprise you guys are having this discussion about "consistency" when it's actually been quite the opposite. I mean this is the same anime where Ash never told Pikachu to use thunderbolt against a swimming Rhydon but did told Pikachu to use thunderbolt against a Rhydon, Geodude, Swampert and an Onix without sprinkling water on the surface all the way up to Gen 4. The way I see it is that there's really no point in defending or criticizing that Pikachu beats Mudsdale scene because it's a reminder that this is still just good ol fun for kids in the end.

Also that Kahili preview. That golf course... mocking us... that it's inaccessible in the games and yet you can see it on the map...
 

xEryChan

Demon Child
This episode was extremely disappointing and very underwhelming. The first half being the kahuna ritual and then the classmates palying on the beach. It was boring. The second half wasn’t any better. First of all, I don’t know what Ash was thinking by sending in Pikachu against Mudsdale. The battle itself was just ridiculous, it was like Ash vs. Brock in the Pewter Gym 2.0 but in Alola. Ash won in the cheapest way possible.

“Lets ignore the fact that Electric type attacks are ineffective against Ground types. Water conducts electricity so lets just have a wave soak Mudsdale making electric type moves effective and then Ash finishs it off with his Z-move. Brilliant, right?”

I am so done. 2/10. You have got to be kidding me! What a waste of an episode.
 

KurashiDragon

Well-known Dragonite Enthusiast
I understand there's precedent for the water somehow making Ground types vulnerable to electric attacks but that doesn't make it any less asinine to see. Ash also made it way more difficult on himself than it needed to be by going with Pikachu instead of rowlet. Hapu didn't have any real answer for Rowlet if it had stayed in the air far enough way to avoid any of mudsdale's moves and would've just kept bombarding it with grass type moves until it fell over. Some parts of me understands that S/M ash has a habit of challenging himself in unreasonable ways but this definitely takes the cake.

The battle itself was very eh and there was a minor scene of everyone just having fun on the beach that I enjoy. The beach scene acutally sets up the "soak" scene by having ash get splashed with water shortly before getting shocked so at least it wasn't totally out of nowhere though you could argue with how many times this has happened before, why hasn't ash ever come up with this strategy on purpose before this point.

4 / 10
 
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