"May I...choose you?"
—Professor Kukui
Japanese Title: Thank You, Solgaleo! Our Hoshigumo!!
Original Airdate: December 21, 2017
US Airdate: April 28, 2018
The professors choose...each other!
With Lusamine safe, things start to go back to normal at the Pokémon School. But with their experiences, Professors Kukui and Burnet decide to embark on a whole new journey of their own. Far be it from the twerps not to help them along.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Bowdlerize: It removes all the shots with champagne, replacing it with...orange juice?
- But Now I Must Go: Nebby initially has disappeared. It shows up at the end of the episode before running off, as if finally saying goodbye to everyone.
- Gladion decides to leave the group to go on a journey and challenge the Island Kahunas.
- Call to Adventure: At the wedding, Lusamine asks the twerps to become the Ultra Guardians, a group which will find and send back any Ultra Beasts found roaming Alola.
- Camera Abuse: RotomDex's alarm at the announcement ejects Rowlet out the window, and he ends up literally Breaking the Fourth Wall.
- Cold Open: The last of Lillie's opening intros.
- Crush Filter: When Team Rocket spies on the wedding, Mareanie lingers a bit, imagining herself marrying James.
- Easily Forgiven: Well, easier than Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Faba has been demoted, and now reports directly to Wicke. In the game, for his complicity in the Rainbow Rocket arc, Faba was demoted all the way down to an intern.
- Eye Catch: The Japanese Dare da? is done by Professor Burnet and Professor Kukui. Kukui, who just came off the Locked Out of the Loop scene, still sounds dumbfounded.
- Group Hug: One ensues when Ash congratulates the professors. Pikachu hops in, then Litten, then Lycanroc, then Munchlax, who brings them all down. This results in a dive-bombing Rowlet missing them and crashing into the Luvdisc tank.
- Lame Pun Reaction: Not even a wedding is immune from Samson Oak's puns.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The students put on the most hilarious poker faces (including a replay of Ash's poker face he used with Kiawe in SM017) when trying to show Professor Kukui they're not up to anything after deciding to plan a surprise wedding for him and Professor Burnet.
- Meanwhile, Back at the…: During their romantic walk, there's a cut back to Kukui's cottage where Ash is washing dishes with the help of his Pokémon...and Professor Burnet's Munchlax.
- No Hugging, No Kissing: Immediately after the proposal, it cuts back to Professor Kukui's Luvdisc tank, where it teases them about to kiss, only for Rowlet to fall off their tank right in front of them.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Ash’s Rowlet has practically made a running gag out of its Heavy Sleeper tendencies. It has been known to sleep for many hours at a time, even during battles. So when it wakes Professor Kukui up the morning of his wedding, even he knows something’s up. The “waking up Kukui” part isn’t OOC, though. What is, however, is the fact that Rowlet is awake at all. Rowlet would normally never be this alert—and to drive it home further, remember, it's the morning of his wedding. That's right, Rowlet's not only wide awake, but it's awake in the early morning hours—at a time when it would normally be sleeping. (It looks so proud of itself, too.) The fact that even Rowlet is awake this early in the morning stuns Kukui to no end, and he immediately lampshades it:
- True Companions: When Lillie returns to the Pokémon School, Ash, Kiawe, Lana, Mallow and Sophocles remind her that they will always be behind her.
- 20% More Awesome: RotomDex tries to calculate the odds that the professors will be happy together. Professor Burnet tells it that's not the kind of thing that can be quantified.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Professor Burnet tells Professor Kukui that she chooses him. He counters by presenting her a Poké Ball containing an engagement ring.
- Wedding Episode: Fresh off a climactic Ultra Beasts-related plot, this lighthearted episode is all about Kukui's proposal to Burnet, and the subsequent wedding the characters throw for them.
