October 20th: SM144 - The Greatest Z in Alola! Kapu-Kokeko VS Pikachu!!

[nuzamaki90]

So if this is a different match then I don't see the writers letting ash beat kukui twice.

So which match does he win and whixh does he lose?

Although I suppose a tie and a loss/win could work as well

No, I highly doubt Tapu Koko would challenge Ash and Pikachu after they lost. That just doesn’t make sense. Ash is going to beat Kukui, just like in the games, and Koko will challenge them as some sort of long awaited showdown.

 

[Almighty Zard]

No, I highly doubt Tapu Koko would challenge Ash and Pikachu after they lost. That just doesn’t make sense. Ash is going to beat Kukui, just like in the games, and Koko will challenge them as some sort of long awaited showdown.

Either the full battle ends in a draw with them needing a tie breaker, Pikachu gets healed while Tapu Koko allows Kakui to fight with him.

Or after the two cats strike each other down, Kakui is about to call his final pokemon while Ash still has Pikachu, but Tapu Koko hits the field before he can do so.

those are the only two outcomes I can really see from this given the summaries.

 

[RileyXY1]

I don't think that Kukui will handicap himself on purpose just so that an Island Guardian would fight on his side.

 

[Red and Blue]

Either the full battle ends in a draw with them needing a tie breaker, Pikachu gets healed while Tapu Koko allows Kakui to fight with him.

Or after the two cats strike each other down, Kakui is about to call his final pokemon while Ash still has Pikachu, but Tapu Koko hits the field before he can do so.

those are the only two outcomes I can really see from this given the summaries.

It cant be the latter since the summary for 143 states that it's just down to the two cats

 

[Almighty Zard]

I don't think that Kukui will handicap himself on purpose just so that an Island Guardian would fight on his side.

if it's after the full battle, then it doesn't matter if he uses it, as long as Pikachu gets healed to fighting condition it's fair.

 

[ballinamon]

Well, if is after the battle this means Ash will lose.

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

Well, if is after the battle this means Ash will lose.

Uh.. No it doesn't?

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Well, if is after the battle this means Ash will lose.

I think Ash winning would be more appropriate, especially as it could impact his decision in SM145.

 

[Joltik-Kid]

I'm assuming Tapu Koko grant's Ash, and probably Kakui too, the ability to use a 2nd Z-move here seeing as I can't picture Torrecat not using the Firium-Z in the previous episode.

 

[Doppelgänger]

The easiest compromise without having to force Kukui into battling immediately after losing is to just have Tapu Koko replace Kukui's 6th Pokemon. I'm quite annoyed that people are "insisting" that the vague title and summary confirms something, when to me they sound noncommittal at best. Not to mention, SM145's summary implies the Pokemon League ends in this episode, because why would it specifically mention something that happened two episodes earlier?

If Ash defeats Incineroar, the official outcome of the battle doesn't matter anymore: Torracat accomplished what he set out to do. Incineroar is also Kukui's strongest Pokemon, so beating it means Ash has defeated the strongest in Alola and legitimised his Championship. From what we've seen so far, everyone but Rowlet may get a chance to do chip damage. What better way to underline the series' family theme by featuring a team effort for Torracat to accomplish his goal?

That said, as powerful as Incineroar is, he's certainly weaker than the four Tapus. Even Necrozma, who nearly murdered Lunala, didn't want to tangle with Tapu Koko. These quotes from The Semi-Final Frontier topic best embody the tension of having Koko replace say a Trevenant as the final matchup:

Imagine the wtf moment everybody had when LATIOS of all things came out of that pokeball...

It's like knocking down a brick wall only to find a steel wall behind it.

Defeating 5 of Kukui's Pokemon including Incineroar with Pikachu remaining is as good as winning. And it finishes all of Ash's plotlines while paying homage to earlier epic battles:

-Pikachu is the last Pokemon standing between Ash and victory (v. Drake, v. Tyson, v. Brandon, v. Cameron)
-Pikachu remains after the combined team defeated the opponent's ace (v. Tyson, v. Tobias)
-Pikachu is battling a legendary (v. Brandon, v. Tobias)
-Pikachu gets another shot at a "rival" (v. Electivire, v. Serperior)

It's like a curtain call for all the epic moments from the past 22 years of big battles.

 

[Sarefan]

Kukui has not shown anything that merits it anywhere near E4 spectrum, he maybe the strongest trainer in alola but alolan trainers are weaker than trainers from other regions. The only trainers who could challenge top trainers from other regions are kukui and guzma who are nowhere near E4 level. At best he is around frontier brains level.

What is the difference between a Frontier Brain and an E4 member? They really seem to be in the same spectrum imho. If I remember correctly, Palmer ( a frontier brain) was almost on the same level as Cynthia. Kukui is a pretty impressive trainer. Those Battle Royals are rough and really tactical. Imho, he really is E4 / Frontier brain level. And he has the team to boot.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

What is the difference between a Frontier Brain and an E4 member? They really seem to be in the same spectrum imho. If I remember correctly, Palmer ( a frontier brain) was almost on the same level as Cynthia. Kukui is a pretty impressive trainer. Those Battle Royals are rough and really tactical. Imho, he really is E4 / Frontier brain level. And he has the team to boot.

Palmer is nowhere near to cynthia's level, just one move in movie doesn't mean anything in this series his ace rhyperior struggled against ash's grotle which is pretty avaerage so how is he close to cynthia's level, frontier brains are considered to be stronger than normal gym leaders excpet maybe 8th gym leader like wulfric or volkner. No frontier brain is E4 level otherwise ash wouldn't have gotten smashed by bertha, agatha or flint in BF/DP. Kukui is not a E4 calibre no trainer in alola would be E4 of other regions since the trial kahunas themselves are pretty weak, ash basically swept the trials without losing much.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Palmer is nowhere near to cynthia's level, just one move in movie doesn't mean anything in this series his ace rhyperior struggled against ash's grotle which is pretty avaerage so how is he close to cynthia's level, frontier brains are considered to be stronger than normal gym leaders excpet maybe 8th gym leader like wulfric or volkner. No frontier brain is E4 level otherwise ash wouldn't have gotten smashed by bertha, agatha or flint in BF/DP. Kukui is not a E4 calibre no trainer in alola would be E4 of other regions since the trial kahunas themselves are pretty weak, ash basically swept the trials without losing much.

Rhyperior had a 4x disadvantage against Grotle.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

Rhyperior had a 4x disadvantage against Grotle.

Type disadvantage is not end of world in anime, ash's grotle was pathetic to begin with, paul's torterr despite having an advntage could not hurt part ground type like garchomp and it was 100 times better than grotle was so no way aplmer is anywhere closer to cynthia.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

Type disadvantage is not end of world in anime, ash's grotle was pathetic to begin with, paul's torterr despite having an advntage could not hurt part ground type like garchomp and it was 100 times better than grotle was so no way aplmer is anywhere closer to cynthia.

Weaknesses are not the be all end all, but it is foolosh to think they don't matter at all. Ash's Grotle was not pathetic. It was Worf, the thing others beat to prove their strength. People were surprised when Paul's Torterra landed a hit on Garchomp at ALL, as if that were a feat in itself. Garchomp is also part Dragon, which resists Grass.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

Weaknesses are not the be all end all, but it is foolosh to think they don't matter at all. Ash's Grotle was not pathetic. It was Worf, the thing others beat to prove their strength. People were surprised when Paul's Torterra landed a hit on Garchomp at ALL, as if that were a feat in itself. Garchomp is also part Dragon, which resists Grass.

No they dont matter if a pokemon is wy higher than other pokemon a big example is sceptile vs regirock who despite having advantage didn't really damage it, besids torterra landed a hit on garchomp which didn't even put a dent on it and was oneshotted later on. Ash's grotle was poor, the worst pokemon sh owned in sinnoh who lter on becoame a fodder who couldn't win even single match after evolving.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

No they dont matter if a pokemon is wy higher than other pokemon a big example is sceptile vs regirock who despite having advantage didn't really damage it, besids torterra landed a hit on garchomp which didn't even put a dent on it and was oneshotted later on. Ash's grotle was poor, the worst pokemon sh owned in sinnoh who lter on becoame a fodder who couldn't win even single match after evolving.

I see you've entirely ignored the fact that I said "Other Pokemon who defeated it were automatically treated as powerful, even though it consistently lost".

 

[ash&charizardfan]

I see you've entirely ignored the fact that I said "Other Pokemon who defeated it were automatically treated as powerful, even though it consistently lost".

Grotle struggled against newly hatched cyndaquil is it now considered strongest and it lost all its matches pretty easily, oneshotted by electivire which then lost to pikachu despite activating motordrive then twoshotted by drapion who then lost to gliscor. Anyways what i am trying to tell is if grotle was able to dmage palmer's ace then palmer is no way near cynthia's level.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

In Grotle's defense, he was a much younger Pokemon than Sceptile was during the Battle Frontier, with a much worse moveset. Palmer would have destroyed him with any of his regular Pokemon. Grotle needed a DEM boost and that huge type handicap just to be competitive with Rhyperior.

That said, I do believe Torterra is a weak Pokemon, and easily Ash's worst fully-evolved starter. He has a horrible typing and no offensive Ground-type move. He often struggled with opponents despite a type advantage, which is not what you want to see out of a slow, tanky Pokemon. Torterra's frequent use of Synthesis made it look like it couldn't take hits, which is DEFINITELY not what you should be seeing out of a slow Pokemon who struggles to do damage. In most battles he was just overwhelmed by his opponents. I can't get behind arguments that he's strong and was just dealt a bad hand by being thrown in against strong Pokemon.

Torkoal is obviously Torterra's closest comp, but even though Torkoal has a poor battle record, he was consistently able to dent Steels whenever he was sent in against them. With Torterra, you didn't know what to expect even when he had a type advantage.

Torterra only has 3 battles after its evolution (Hippowdon, Electivire, and Drapion). Bertha is an E4 member, Electivire knew the super-effective Fire and Ice Punches, and Drapion had Poison and Bug attacks while also being helped by the Toxic Spikes).

 

[Dephender]

Pokémon fan is out and confirms this episode to be part of the Kukui battle:

SATOSHI HAS WON THE ALOLA POKÉMON LEAGUE!!
You did it, Satoshi! After making his way to the finals of the Alola Pokémon League, he fought Gladio. Winning that super intense battle resulted in the name "Satoshi from Masara Town" to be forever engraved in the history of Alola!

His first league win after so many years!!

The Pokémon he used were these 5!
Pikachu
Nyaheat
Mokuroh
Lugarugan (Dusk Form)
Melmetal

He stands on the top for the first time after seizing his fully poweredstrength in all the matches!!
Various friends Satoshi had encountered before entered were participating in the tournament as well. One of them was Gladio, an extraordinarily skilled Trainer he ultimately faced in the finals. Satoshi achieved his first ever league victory in this fully powered battle he put everything he had learned in Alola into!

Satoshi and Gladio fought a good battle.Their two Lugarugan were on fire as well!

A DIGEST OF ALL OF SATOSHI'S MATCHES IN THE ALOLA POKÉMON LEAGUE!
Round 1:
O Satoshi - X Sauboh
Meltan - Sleeper
Meltan loves eating metal, and ended up biting into Sleeper's coing and melting it completely! Meltan then took the opportunity while the opponent was in a state of shock to finish it off with Flash Cannon for the win.
Round 2:
O Satoshi - X Hau
Mokuroh - Junaiper
It looked like Mokuroh got defeated after taking Junaiper's Sky Attack. However, it turnedout to just be sleeping, so the match continued. Mokuroh then snatched a comeback victory with Brave Bird.
Semifinals:
O Satoshi - X Guzma
Nyaheat - Hassam
Pikachu - Gusokumusha
Nyaheat defeated Hassam, but then got beaten by Gusokumusha, leaving the score at 1-1. Pikachu then somehow managed to land the win using, among other things, the Z-Move Sparking Gigavolt.
Finals:
O Satoshi - X Gladio
Melmetal - Silvady
Pikachu - Zoroark
Lugarugan (Dusk Form) - Lugarugan (Midnight Form)
Pikachu won against Silvady, which had defeated Melmetal. Its fight against Zoroark then ended in a draw, and the match ended with a fight between two Luraugan. Satoshi won a dramatic victory by managing to Counter the Counter!

A SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF ALL SATOSHI'S PRIOR POKÉMON LEAGUES:
Satoshi has kept challenging Pokémon Leagues in various regions. Here is a presentation of the results and the Pokémon that fought alongside him in them.
Sekiei Tournament:
Top 16
Pokémon: Pikachu, Zenigame, Lizardon
Jouto League:
Top 8
Pokémon: Kentauros, Heracros, Betbeton, Bayleaf, Kabigon, Lizardon
Houen League:
Top 8
Pokémon: Onigohri, Cotoise, Heigani, Ohsubame, Juptile, Pikachu
Sinnoh League:
Top 4
Pokémon: Pikachu, Goukazaru, Mukuhawk, Buoysel, Dodaitose, Glion
Isshu League:
Top 8
Pokémon: Gantle, Mijumaru, Chaoboo, Pikachu, Kenhallow (female), Tsutarja
Kalos League:
Runner-up
Pokémon: Pikachu, Onvern, Luchabull, Fiarrow, Numelgon, Gekkouga

SINCE SATOSHI WON THE LEAGUE HE GOT TO BATTLE ROYAL MASK
or at least that was what was supposed to happen, but...?!

Since Satoshi won the League, he got to have a battle against Royal Mask as a special treat! Satoshi greatly admires Royal Mask, and now he finally gets to have an all-out battle with him... or so he thought?!

Satoshi was given the victory trophy by Royal Mask. His identity has always been shrouded in mystery, but now it's finally revealed!

ROYAL MASK'S TRUE IDENTITY WAS PROFESSOR KUKUI, JUST AS WE THOUGHT!
Alola's superstar was Professor Kukui in disguise! Satoshi and the others were shocked by this revelation!
Professor Burnet was a huge fan of Royal Mask, and he actually turned out to be her own husband! She might be the world's most surprised woman ever?!

THE STRONGEST SQUAD EVER?! PROFESSOR KUKUI'S POKÉMON:
A super heavyweight squad that, amazingly enough, consists entirely of fully evolved Pokémon! This is Professor Kukui we're talking about, so we wouldn't be surprised to learn that he's trained them all just as well as Gaogaen!

IF SATOSHI WINS AGAINST THIS OPPONENT, HE'LL BE THE TRUE CHAMP OF ALOLA!
Satoshi has finally earned the right to challenge the strongest Trainer in Alola, Professor Kukui!!

RUN WITH THE MOMENTUM FROM THE LEAGUE VICTORY!!
The Ultra Beast Agoyon joins the team alongside the 5 that won the league! Show us what you've learned in Alola!

WHO WILL WIN?! A 6-ON-6 FULL BATTLE!!
This full battle won't just be decided by type matchups, but also by overall strength! We've taken a look at each Pokémon's peculiarities!

SATOSHI'S POKÉMON:
AGOYON (this is the one to pay attention to!): The Ultra Beast Bevenom has evolved into a trustworthy Pokémon! It's helping out in order to pay Satoshi back from saving their world!
Bevenom was of course emotionally attached to Satoshi, but also to Pikachu.
PIKACHU: The Z-Moves it's learned in Alola are extraordinarily powerful! The soulmate duo of Satoshi and Pikachu can take on any opponent!
MELMETAL: The tiny Meltan evolved into this super powerful Pokémon! We expect this heavyweighter will soon give us an even match with Professor Kukui's Pokémon!
LUGARUGAN (DUSK FORM): Lugarugan has grown little by little as it's been with Satoshi. We'd like to see it keep up the good work from the finals!
MOKUROH: Normally just sleeps all the time, but delivers when it counts! It's extremely reliable when it actually gets serious!
NYAHEAT: The destined rival of Professor Kukui's Gaogaen! This decisive match is certainly when it will finally gets its win!

PROFESSOR KUKUI'S POKÉMON:
GAOGAEN (this is the one to pay attention to!): Professor Kukui's partner, which has just as strong a bond with him as Pikachu does with Satoshi. Both its power and speed are top class!
It's super famous all across Alola as Royal Mask's partner!
FUSHIGIBANA: Being the final evolved form of Fushigidane, it's a Grass/Poison type. It's just as much of a heavyweighter as Gaogaen.
WARRGLE: Profssor Kukui's partner that helped him fight the Rocket Gang and protect Professor Burnet!
EMPERTE: Takes pride in its incredible toughness, which allows it to swim all over the world researching ocean currents. Its Metal Claw is super powerful!
LUCARIO: The Wave it guides throughout its entire body before unleashing can even smash huge boulders! It specializes in the moves Close Combat and Dragon Pulse.
WHAT IS PROFESSOR KUKUI'S 6TH POkÉMON?!
A Full Battle is 6 on 6. Look forward to learning who the final Pokémon is from the episode itself!

The fierce fight between Satoshi and Professor Kukui airs October 6th, 13th and 20th! Don't miss it! (airdate and -time depends on your region)