The Greatest Z in Alola! Tapu Koko VS Pikachu! (1087)

[Bortgreen]

What a battle. I'll comment the episode in chronological order while rewatching it:

Spoiler: Full Version

First of all the Poképroblem. Nothing major except we get some pretty WHAT pictures in the alternatives. Kukui dancing tango with Ash(ley?) and the girls in Samba with unexpectedly revealing clothes... And the weirdest of all: KIAWE WITH CLOTHES.

Flashbacks. A new, more epic version of the "z-move" bgm. It's already getting interesting...

Naganadel vs Tapu Koko very well animated. I liked how Tapu Koko just protects itself with Steel Wing instead of dodging

The Steel Wing vs X-Scissor clash had the same caliber of some of the best XYZ animations

And only now the opening LOL

Tapu Koko uses Dazzling Gleam... It just looks a lot like Nature's Madness+Play Rough.

Another unconventional tactic with Ash's style. Even Gladion thinks that's so him.

Tapu Koko "outzaps" Naganadel. It was surprising to see the swirly eyes And the high five with Kukui was great, just like Ash thanking Naganadel. He knows he won't have it forever with him.

Peakachu time! The animation of Ash sending him reminded me of 10000000 Thunderbolt, some nice(even if not intentional) foreshadowing.

Some silence during the beginning of the battle. The calm before the storm... The clash of thunderbolt vs Dazzling Gleam was INTENSE

WHAT WAS THIS SOUNDTRACK. They really did the effort of making music only for that battle(or reusing from some movie but still only for this battle) And iron Tail and ElectroWeb delivering...

...And the most hyped Quick Attack since Pikachu learning Volt Tackle!

A Z-Move tier explosion...

Some nice Ash and Kukui bonding...

Z-Move time! With some ritual of the Tapus to let the battlers to use one more Z-Move.

Tapu Koko gives the Tapunium-Z, the legendary Z-Move to Kukui. More backstory than 10kk Thunderbolt but that's acceptable. And Kukui gets HYPED, and so am I

Kukui uses Guardian of Alola with one of MY FAVORITE music of the anime. I literally dreamed with that moment! And absurd animation again!

And... Pikashunium Z is back! And... TYPE WILD! The best music possible for the moment!

INSANE "GUARDIAN DE ALOLAAAAA" ANIMATION FROM KUKUI

Different animation for 10mv Thunderbolt... Even better!

ASH GOES FULL KAMEHAMEHA

Ash and Pikachu are teleported to "memory realm". A few flashbacks, and...

EPIC 360 ANIMATION OF THE Z-MOVES CLASHING

Ash and Pikachu use the real FULL POWER. If the Z-Ring was going to break(it didn't), it would happen right after this battle after so much energy

Another explosion!!

And... After almost three years since SM002... Tapu Koko faints. The rivalry is finally settled. The last rivalry left.

Ash is the winner! Of course he is quite tired, after the most insane Z-Move clash ever and the longest full battle ever, lasting 4 episodes.

People are actually more emotionally touched after Ash beating Kukui than winning the League. It makes sense, after all. This was the real final and, therefore... His REAL LEAGUE WIN. If Gladion wasn't enough, he beating Kukui, the strongest trainer of Alola(until before the battle), makes his League win waaaay more acceptable.

Tl:dr
Naganadel vs Tapu Koko was very well animated, and so was Pikachu vs Tapu Koko. And the Z-Moves clash was, LITERALLY, the best way they could have done it. It makes the Orange Shuriken look anticlimatic even if Ash would actually win. Better even than Thunder Punch vs Flare Blitz or Luster Purge vs Volt Tackle. Amazing. The soundtrack was on point and they used some special music in this one, that makes it even better. It's fine if Ash vs Paul, Sawyer or Alain is better, but this battle will still ENTER HISTORY.

 

[AznKei]

Wow, they really push Ash winning streak really far in this series. Not only he did win the League but also defeats Kukui and Tapu Koko. This must be the best adventure Ash ever had.

The episode had some cool animations. The Z move clashed near the end sure give me the "Gohan vs Cell DBZ" vibe. Great episode, although the fight choreography isn't the best I've seen in the show.

 

[CupidKirby]

The ending really got me. Seeing them announce Alolan Champion Ash's victory over the in-game champion while he and Pikachu rested on the ground gave me chills. Excellent battle! The second half of this league really saved it. Even if you think Ash didn't deserve the title, they did a good job of retroactively fixing that with this battle. He's now indisputably the best trainer in Alola.

 

[ballinamon]

HOLY F*CKING SH*T!! I don't have the right words to describe the hype that I felt in this episode.

I never get tired of Pikachu in his peak (that is kinda resetting in the beginning of every season and recovered for the time of the start of the regional league). Even so, in all of SM Pikachu has had a pretty good record. This Gen has been respectful of him.

So Ash is not only the Champion of the Alola League but implicity the Absolute Champion of Alola.

...Even so, seems the next chapter he is out of his mind so maybe will lost his battle with Kiawe for lack of concentration?

 

[CupidKirby]

I must say that I was pretty scared of what would happen in this episode. Things were looking good for Ash since Kukui's ace Pokemon was already taken out while Ash still had Pikachu and Naganadel remaining. Tapu Koko coming in so then the last battle wouldn't be so anticlimatic, then giving Kukui the ability to use Guardian of Alola felt like classic Pokemon cheese to prevent Ash from winning. The writers do it all the time. I was getting ready to accept Ash's loss since "it's just an exhibition match so doesn't matter" (it does). Thankfully, he still won and it was amazing.

 

[ballinamon]

Did they at least explain how Ash is able to do that Z-Move or not?

No. If I can tell you my teory it activates when the opponent is outright stronger than Pikachu. Mimikyu can be discussed but "local god uses an Ultimate Move mean to save the region against middle stage rat Pokemon" definitely counts.

 

[mehmeh1]

No. If I can tell you my teory it activates when the opponent is outright stronger than Pikachu. Mimikyu can be discussed but "local god uses an Ultimate Move mean to save the region against middle stage rat Pokemon" definitely counts.

Then why didn't it activate in either of the two fights against Guzzlord (IMO they should've used the Guzzlord 2-parter also as a way for Koko to train Ash to master 10MV)?

 

[Ignition]

It’s probably just “the Z power was amplified by their friendship” or the other way around because friendship is the ultimate power

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Tapu Koko IS a Legendary, and Pikachu has beaten Legendaries before. He defeated Regie and Latinos essentially on his own, just like this battle with Naganadel not really doing much to Koko.

570 BST isn't even pseudo-legendary

No wonder the Tapu didn't bother using Guardian de Alola, because if it can't even handle a Pikachu’s Thunderbolt, an Ultra Beast would've annihilated it

Ash's speech about the power of Alola was hysterical because none of it was true


Sheesh, this episode's only saving grace was its animation, and that's not enough for the end of a saga

 

[mehmeh1]

570 BST isn't even pseudo-legendary

No wonder the Tapu didn't bother using Guardian de Alola, because if it can't even handle a Pikachu’s Thunderbolt, an Ultra Beast would've annihilated it

Ash's speech about the power of Alola was hysterical because none of it was true


Sheesh, this episode's only saving grace was its animation, and that's not enough for the end of a saga

Ignoring the fact that BSTs mean nothing, most minor legendary trios have 580 BST(also less than pseudos), and tbh, while I disagree with your statement that none of Ash's speech was true, the scenes chosen for the flashback seemed.........random.
Anyways, now that I've taken a closer look at the post-battle scenes, it seems like Ash kept the Pikashunium

 

[Pokemon Fan]

No wonder the Tapu didn't bother using Guardian de Alola, because if it can't even handle a Pikachu’s Thunderbolt, an Ultra Beast would've annihilated it

That wasn't merely a Thunderbolt. 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt is one of the most powerful moves in Pokemon period, with a high crit rate to boot. Add in that Ash's Pikachu obviously has better stats than a in-game Pikachu, and you have quite a powerful move.

I loved how instead of it just exploding you saw Guardian of Alola starting to crack apart first, gave a real sense of struggle. In some ways it seemed like Ash used Tapu Koko's own power against it in order to do more damage. i.e. earlier it looked like Electro Web caused Tapu Koko to hit itself when it tried to defend against Pikachu's next attack, the web seeming to contain its own attack and send it back. Likewise, Guardian of Alola blowing up must have done a fair bit of damage to Tapu Koko too.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

So, four giants with masks for faces who protect Alola but are useless on their own and require all four of them together to actually accomplish anything with the help of a kid who has died

Alola is Termina confirmed

I'm also glad they copied the Goku vs Vegeta Saiyan Saga fight, with Guardian of Alola being Galick Gun and 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt being Kaio-Ken Kamehameha x4

Cheeky

 

[Dragalge]

Ffs stop making me write these long reviews, SM I only just did it once. =(

Ahem...this was just AWESOME! So shocking! So-you know what forget a bunch of ways I describe this episode using corny adjectives I don't wanna go through that again. Anyway, first off the BEST episode of SM by a longshot! It was just amazing from start to finish and it delivered like someone delivering buffalo wings for dinner! I'll start off with Naganadel vs Tapu Koko!

I didn't think they could top an aerial battle like Talonflame vs Unfezant but they did! And why (for me at least)? Because of that sweet strategy of using Dragon Pulse to blind Tapu Koko to land X-Scissor on it! The former might have lasted longer but I give this one the edge due to the strategic use and being overall prettier with cooler Pokemon! Naganadel may have went down but you can't truly defeat something whose name reminds me somewhat of the leader of the Divine Dragons in FE! It's great that Nanagadel has more respect by a lot of people after its showing as a Poipole and now I will truly miss it.

Now for Pikachu vs Tapu Koko: I loved every second of this battle too! This shows that Pikachu is always his top Pokemon especially since apparently Pikashunium-Z is permanent now. Could have used a bit more strategy but nonetheless this is truly Pikachu's...peak! You know like mountains. Guardian of Alola also looks so good and that rotating shot was just stunning classing with 10,000,000 Thunderbolts! And Pikachu won! He and Ash won! Really there was just so much heart put into this four-parter that I'm still undecided whether to put this above, below, or even the same as Sinnoh League Ash vs Paul! Take a good nap Ash...just not on the ground.

Easy top five Pokemon battles of all time! I'm so happy that SM managed to wrap up all the rivalries with Ash and the Pokemon who had one! Truly SM will not be forgotten ever. EVER!

10/10! And this airs the same day I pass Microeconomics after failing it twice! How odd! Shut up economics is stupid and hard Ash just is able to remind you to never give up no matter how dumb the course you're taking might be! Or well winning leagues. Yes that!

 

[hottom3rd]

I LOVED sun and moon, and I was a HUGE XY/XYZ fan..

Simply stunning and exciting this league has been. The exhibition match takes icing on the cake.. so much quality writing and OMG that ANIMATION...

Pikachu is the strongest at this point hands down.. deservedly so.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Pikachu is the strongest at this point hands down.. deservedly so.

Yet he's so weak he needed a literal deus ex machina to defeat the equivalent of a fully-evolved pokémon?

He's much weaker than he was during Sinnoh and Kalos

 

[pancakemonster]

I have to wonder if the Kamehameha reference is also meant to be a subtle reference to Kamehameha I, the first king of Hawaii.

It makes sense, considering Ash is Alola's first Champion, but I won't lose sleep if it happens to be a complete coincidence.

I really want to believe this was intentional, because it's just so cool to think about.

 

[patrickab7]

I absolutely did not expect Ash to win this one. It was a great full battle, complete with Torracat/Incineroar having an absolutely badass evolution before going out like freakin' Whitebeard by fainting on its feet. Kukui gets to use a legendary Pokemon at the last minute along with a new Z Crystal and it looks bad for Ash...

But despite pretty much all of the odds being against him, ASH FREAKIN' WINS ANYWAY. Amazing. If this was actually the end for Ash's saga in the anime, there would have been no more fitting way for him to go out than at the absolute top.

 

[anjunajake]

570 BST isn't even pseudo-legendary

BST’s are an in game mechanic. Means absolutely nothing in the anime.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

BST’s are an in game mechanic. Means absolutely nothing in the anime.

Tell that to everyone who thinks Meltan and Naganadel are amazing pokémon who carried the team despite neither of them ever receiving training

 

[Lord Starfish]

Tell that to everyone who thinks Meltan and Naganadel are amazing pokémon who carried the team despite neither of them ever receiving training

Meltan/Melmetal was consistently shown to be freakishly strong in every single battle it fought in. With the arguable exception of Melmetal VS Silvuddy but even there it landed several good hits before being KOed.

Calling Agoyon a team carrier when it only had one battle is definitely rather Farfetch'd, however.