SM130: Battling Besties!

is the 38th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Legends.
==Synopsis==
The Alola Pokémon League is down to 16 competitors, and Ash and Faba are set to battle! Pikachu lets Meltan take the spotlight—and that it does, winning the match against Faba’s Hypno. Then, Ilima and Kangaskhan take on Guzma and Scizor, but after undergoing Mega Evolution, Kangaskhan falters and is defeated. In the third match, Hau’s Raichu uses speed to overtake Principal Oak’s Exeggutor. Finally, Lana and Mallow face off, but Mallow nearly gives up when she starts falling behind. Lana encourages her to persevere, and Mallow and Tsareena pull off their first Z-Move! Lana and Primarina end up winning the match, but Mallow’s still happy for her friend!
==Episode plot==
Hala welcomes the audience for the next round of the tournament, while Kukui watches from the sidelines. The first battle features Faba and Ash. Faba sends Hypno, and as Ash goes to choose Pikachu, Faba has Hypno use Psychic, which forces Ash's Meltan to be sent out instead. Ash and Pikachu are surprised, but seeing Meltan eager to battle, Ash decides to keep him. Pikachu is disappointed, but Ash explains he'll have to wait for the next round. Faba grins, for his plan is working. In fact, he watched Ash feeding the Pokémon the other night, and seeing Meltan nearly going into his bowl to reach the bolts, he chose it to be the target for his plan. Faba thinks he shouldn't be judged, for all of this is to face the Masked Royal in the final round. Sophocles admits his surprise that Pikachu was not chosen, and Rotom feels Ash has a strategy planned. Without further ado, Hala declares the battle to start. Meltan fires Flash Cannon, which Hypno evades. At a close range, Meltan uses Headbutt, but is countered by Reflect.
Meltan, while jumping away, looks at Hypno's pendulum. Hypno uses Hypnosis, so Ash asks of Meltan not to look at it. However, Meltan excitedly runs towards Hypno and eats the pendulum. Hypno tries to fling Meltan away, and realizes its pendulum is damaged, which infuriates Faba. Meltan, however, uses Flash Cannon to defeat Hypno. Ash wins the round, while Faba complains how is eating Hypno's pendulum even by the rules. Hala simply states that Meltan simply made good use of its abilities, which disappoints Faba. Ash praises Meltan, and as he goes out of the stadium, he encounters Ilima. The latter praises Ash for his victory, who thanks Ilima. Ilima promises to do his best, as he walks to the field to face Guzma. Ilima greets his fans, and the announcer explains Ilima participated in the Kalos Pokémon League, and is the favorite to win the Alola League. Guzma is described as the man, whose Pokémon didn't suffer a scratch in the preliminary round. Tupp and Zipp are annoyed at Ilima, while Rapp and female grunts adore him.
Ilima sends a Kangaskhan, while Guzma swears to destroy him, as he sends Scizor. Hala demands both sides to fight fairly, and starts the battle. Kangaskhan and Scizor attack by using Power-Up Punch and Bullet Punch; Scizor misses Kangaskhan, who damages Scizor with that move. Ash cheers for Ilima, whose Kangaskhan uses another Power-Up Punch. Scizor uses Agility to dodge the attack. Ilima admits Guzma is skilled, but asks how will he face this next thing: Ilima presses his Key Stone, and Mega Evolves Kangaskhan. Mega Kangaskhan uses Power-Up Punch, and deals a blow at Scizor. Guzma frowns, while Mega Kangaskhan uses Rock Slide. Scizor uses Agility, and bashes away some of the rocks while evading the rest, but gets hit by Low Kick. Mega Kangaskhan uses Power-Up Punch, but Scizor moves backwards to evade. The tall Kangaskhan's eyes widen, as Scizor uses X-Scissor and deals a blow at the tall Kangaskhan. Mega Kangaskhan repeats the attack, but Scizor dodges and repeats the attack at the tall Kangaskhan. Kiawe notes that Scizor positions itself so it does not get hit by Kangaskhan's child, and Kangaskhan doesn't want to harm her child, either, and is why Guzma is making a comeback.
Ilima struggles, while Guzma declares the battle to end: Scizor uses another X-Scissor, and deals a final blow to Kangaskhan. The mother falls down, defeated, and the child reverts to its original form, and returns to Kangaskhan's pouch. Guzma wins the battle, disappointing Ilima's fans. Ilima calls Kangaskhan back, and notes she fought well. Guzma is silent, and calls his Pokémon back. Olivia observes the battle, where the Alolan Raichu fights the Alolan Exeggutor. Raichu flies around Exeggutor, and uses Thunderbolt on it. Exeggutor endures the attack, as Samson Oak declares it'll take more than that to take it down. Exeggutor retaliates with Dragon Hammer, to which Raichu uses Quick Attack to dodge. Raichu uses Focus Blast, hitting Exeggutor in the face, and defeats it. Hau cheers for his victory, and Hala smiles for his grandson. Mallow and Lana walk to the battlefield, and Lana believes he won. Mallow feels distant, stating she's nervous about this. Lana states they can treat this battle as any other match they have before. The two swear to give their best in this battle, and walk separate ways.
Ulu and Lickitung run towards the stadium, as he has to watch his sister battle in the tournament. Lana sends Primarina, while Mallow sends Tsareena. Ash and his friends cheer for both of them on, along with their Pokémon. Olivia has the battle start: Tsareena fires Magical Leaf, while Primarina's Sparkling Aria counters that attack and damages Tsareena. Sophocles notes Primarina should have a disadvantage on the land, and is impressed by how Lana raised it. Lillie sees Tsareena has trouble about closing in on Primarina, but Rotom adds if she does that, she will definitively win. Mallow has anticipated Lana will be tough to beat, while Primarina uses another Sparkling Aria. Tsareena's Trop Kick counters that attack. She goes above Primarina to use Stomp, who fires Icy Wind to stop Tsareena. Sophocles is surprised that Tsareena knows an Ice-type move, and Kiawe suspects Lana taught Primarina to counter Grass-type Pokémon.
Tsareena is blown away, and kneels down. Mallow sees Lana is amazing, and asks when did she even teach Primarina that move. Lana sees something's off: Mallow takes the Poké Ball, and goes to call Tsareena back, to surrender the fight. However, Tsareena resists the Poké Ball, and stands up to continue the battle. Lana asks Mallow to fight until the end, and feels Mallow doesn't want to push her Tsareena any harder. Mallow is silent, while Lana reminds this isn't what Tsareena is wanting, and reminds Mallow has to be observant of others, to know how their emotions. Lana states Mallow was like that before, but not now. Mallow sees the determination in Tsareena, and remembers the time when she was a Bounsweet and Steenee. Mallow closes her eyes, and exclaims she also wants to win with Tsareena. Tsareena fires Magical Leaf against Primarina's Sparkling Aria. Tsareena closes in on Primarina to use Stomp, but the latter evades the attack. Mallow notes Tsareena won't hold on for much longer, and looks at her Z-Ring.
thumb|Mallow's Tsareena vs. Lana's Primarina.
Tsareena evades another attack, and goes to Mallow. The two hug each other, which triggers Mallow's Z-Ring, and activates the Grassium-Z. Mallow feels the power she never felt before, and releases it with her Tsareena, causing the field to be blooming with flowers, as Tsareena uses Bloom Doom. Lana smiles that Mallow is trying, but promises not to lag behind: she also uses the Z-Ring, passing the power to Primarina to use Oceanic Operetta. The two Z-Moves collide, and cancel each other out. Primarina uses Aqua Jet. Tsareena goes to use Trop Kick, but is too exhausted, and gets defeated by Primarina's attack. Olivia cries, and declares Lana to be the winner. Mallow tends to Tsareena, and hears Ulu calling her, praising her that she gave her best. Lana and Primarina come to Mallow, stating the two were amazing. Mallow admits Lana was great, too. The two thank each other, and shake hands. Mallow admits while releasing full force was quite fun, losing gives her so much frustration.
Ash and others compliment Lana and Mallow, and so does Professor Kukui.
Olivia goes to Hala to have lunch with him. However, she trips over, and by accident, her noodles fall on Hala's head. While Hala is calm and silent, Olivia bows down, begging him to accept her apologies.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Ilima's Kangaskhan
===Move===
*Dragon Hammer
===Item===
*Kangaskhanite
==Trivia==
SM130 Dare da before.png
SM130 Dare da after.png
*"Who's That Pokémon?:" Scizor (JA and EN)
**In Japan, the segment was not shown on the original airing nor on Hulu. It was shown on Amazon Prime Video however.
*The host of this episode was Hala and his question was "Which Pokémon does Guzma use in today's episode?" The answer is Scizor (red), the other choices that were given in that episode were Masquerain (blue), Pinsir (green), and Golisopod (yellow).
*As of this episode, Ash and his classmates all have successfully used a Z-Move.
*Similar to "DP185: Working on a Right Move!", Ash's opponent spies on him and tries to gain advantages over him in their league battle.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes featuring a Pokémon League
Category:Episodes focusing on Mallow
Category:Episodes focusing on Lana
Category:Episodes featuring Mythical Pokémon
Category:Episodes featuring Mega Pokémon
Category:Episodes featuring Island Kahunas
Category:Episodes featuring Elite Four members