SM002

←	SM001 : Alola to New Adventure!

The Guardian's Challenge!

SM002

EP941

守り神カプ・コケコ登場！挑戦、オレたちのZワザ！！
The Guardian Deity Kapu-Kokeko Appears! Challenge, Our Z-Move!!

First broadcast

Japan	November 17, 2016
United States	December 5, 2016* February 11, 2017* March 17, 2017*

English themes

Opening	Under The Alolan Sun
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	アローラ!!
Ending	ポーズ

Credits

No additional credits are available at this time.
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	松井亜弥 Aya Matsui
Storyboard	冨安大貴 Daiki Tomiyasu
Storyboard	樋口香里 Kaori Higuchi
Assistant directors	高橋知也 Tomoya Takahashi
Assistant directors	牧野吉高 Yoshitaka Makino
Animation directors	安田周平 Shūhei Yasuda
	村田理 Osamu Murata
	松田真路 Shinji Matsuda

The Guardian's Challenge! (Japanese: 守り神カプ・コケコ登場！挑戦、オレたちのZワザ！！ The Guardian Deity Kapu-Kokeko Appears! Challenge, Our Z-Move!!) is the second episode of the Sun & Moon series, and the 941st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on November 17, 2016 as a one-hour special alongside SM001, and in the United Kingdom as a sneak peek preview of the full series on November 20, 2016 as a one-hour special alongside Alola to New Adventure!. It aired in the United States as a sneak peek preview of the full series on December 5, 2016 as part of a marathon with Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel and Alola to New Adventure!. It was later broadcast in sequence in the United States on March 17, 2017.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Now that Ash has decided to become a Pokémon School student in the Alola region, his classmates throw him a welcome party! Three of them challenge him to various competitions—a balloon-popping contest versus Sophocles and his Togedemaru, a land-and-water race between Pikachu and Lana’s Popplio, and a Tauros race against Kiawe.

Finally, Professor Kukui challenges him to a Pokémon battle, but Tapu Koko interrupts. It wants to battle Ash instead—and it wants him to try out his very first Z-Move, Gigavolt Havoc! As Pikachu unleashes an astonishingly powerful burst of electricity, Ash’s Z-Crystal shatters. He decides to undergo an island challenge trial to earn a new one!

Plot

This plot summary is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this plot summary to add missing sections and complete it.

The episode starts at Pokémon School with Lana telling her [Lana's[Popplio]] to make a

Major events

Ash learns about regional variants.
Sophocles's Togedemaru is revealed to know Zing Zap and have Lightning Rod as her Ability.
Ash encounters Tapu Koko again, with his classmates encountering it for the first time.
Ash and Pikachu have a battle against Tapu Koko, which gets called off when Tapu Koko flees.
Ash and Pikachu perform Gigavolt Havoc for the first time.
Ash's Electrium Z shatters.
Ash decides to take on the island challenge in order to get new Z-Crystals and qualify as a Z-Move user.
Ash receives a Pokédex from Professor Kukui.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Rockruff (US and international), Tapu Koko (Japan)

Pikachu (Ash's)
Popplio (Lana's)
Turtonator (Kiawe's; flashback)
Togedemaru (Sophocles's)
Bounsweet (Mallow's)
Rockruff (Professor Kukui's; taking care of; debut)
Komala (Samson Oak's; debut)
Eevee (Trainer's)
Drifloon (Trainer's)
Machoke (Trainer's)
Sableye (Trainer's)
Electabuzz (Trainer's)
Elekid (Trainer's)
Tapu Koko (anime)
Alomomola (×2)
Goldeen
Finneon (multiple)
Sharpedo
Poliwag
Exeggutor (Alola Form)
Braviary (×6)
Fearow (×4)
Corsola
Luvdisc (×2)
Tauros (Ride Pokémon; ×2)

Trivia

During the first airing on TV Tokyo as one-hour special, viewers could take part in a three-characters keyword quiz, in which ten viewers could win a Nintendo New 3DS XL Pokemon Solgaleo Lunala Black Edition and copies of Pokémon Sun and Moon. The second character was ワ and the third ザ.
During the first airing on TV Tokyo as one-hour special the Japanese comedian Abareru-kun appeared in typical Hawaiian clothes, he announced the Poké Problem data broadcast, a data broadcast that works with Pokémon Sun and Moon, and that next week another one-hour special would air.
This episode aired as a sneak peek on November 18, 2016, in France; November 19, 2016, in Italy; November 20, 2016, in Germany and Belgium; November 26, 2016, in Spain; November 27, 2016, in the Netherlands; December 5, 2016, in the United States; and December 31, 2016, in Canada alongside Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel and SM001. Its airdate in France was only one day after its airing in Japan.
When the Watch Disney XD site and Disney XD app were updated to include episodes from Pokémon: Indigo League on February 11, 2017, the final version of this and the following episode were made available, replacing the special preview previously available through the service.
Jessie, James, and Meowth narrate the preview for the next episode.

Errors

As the screen flashes between Ash and Pikachu just before Pikachu fires off Gigavolt Havoc, Pikachu can be heard talking but not actually opening his mouth.

Dub edits

The Japanese text depicting Gigavolt Havoc's name when Pikachu is about to use the move is edited out in the dub.
The text saying "To Be Continued" when Ash receives the Rotom Pokédex from Professor Kukui is edited out in the dub.
In the official debut of this episode's dub, a large portion of the original music is replaced with dub music. However, this was not the case in the preview airing, in which the episode used all of the original music.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		守護神卡璞鳴鳴登場！挑戰我們的Z招式!!
Dutch		De uitdaging van de beschermer!
European French		Le défi du Gardien !
German		Die Herausforderung des Schutzpatrons!
Italian		La sfida del protettore!
Spanish	Latin America	¡El reto del guardián!
Spanish	Spain	¡El recorrido del espíritu!