Time for a big review! You know, something that I feel lazy doing usually.
Naganadel managing to get a win was great! I'm so glad that it did not job despite its evolution being badly written! I'm not a Lucario hater anymore (because trust me if this was five years ago, I'd be suuuuuper happy about Lucario losing like this =p) so I won't say anything on how cathartic is that a vanilla Lucario lost to a non-Pikachu Pokemon after all this time. Yeah the Sludge Bomb thing was a bit silly but at least Ash didn't take focus off the battle unlike he did with Charizard using Seismic Toss on Brandon's Dusclops so I can let that slide! That and it didn't cost Ash anything too! Heck a small part of me thought it might have been intentional to catch Kukui off guard to land a Thunderbolt on Lucario but that's silly! Plus Ash recalled Naganadel too which surprised me as well since I was sure that it'd lose to Incineroar. Good thinking!
Now onto Torracat vs Incineroar...YES! That, I say, THAT is a great match! So fiery! So smoking! So
- 50 descriptions of how the battle was using adjectives related to fire later -
So...incinerating! Yes that's the word! You got two rivals with Torracat always being behind up until this point! The final clash with the two Inferno Overdrives, Blaze-activated cats, and their clashing moves was just so awesomely animated! And guess what? Torracat managed to win AND evolved after! I'm so glad that they did not spoil this in Oha Suta and anywhere else! Maybe we won't get to see it battle for the rest of the series but Incineroar now has surpassed his rival and the payoff was a well-earned evolution!
As for Tapu Koko, well you can't just slap away that Pokeball but you're a god so no one can disrespect you. Still, I feel bad for Kukui's 6th Pokemon.
*Insert Chrom saying "I suppose I'll get my chance another day" gif*
10/13! Wait that's today's date in my timezone. I meant 10/10! YES 10/10!