SM088

Full Moon and Many Arms! (Japanese: ルナアーラ対UB:BLACK！満月の戦い！！ Lunala VS ! A Full Moon Battle!!) is the 88th episode of the, and the 1,027th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on August 30, 2018, in New Zealand on December 15, 2018, in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2019, in Canada on January 5, 2019, and in the United States on January 26, 2019.

Blurb
The Ultra Guardians spring into action to protect Lunala from the mysterious creature who has chased it through the Ultra Wormhole! UB Black (as Lusamine later calls it) drains the power from Lunala’s Ultra Aura, then fastens itself onto the Legendary Pokémon to absorb it! Our heroes manage to fight it off with the help of Solgaleo, but the creature turns a similar attack on Solgaleo, absorbing it and escaping through an Ultra Wormhole.

As Lunala recovers its strength, the Ultra Guardians promise to do everything they can to rescue Solgaleo—and the kahunas prepare for a festival celebrating a solar eclipse!

Plot
fully emerges from the Ultra Wormhole and pursues, as the Ultra Guardians and the Aether Foundation staff watch on. After seeing Necrozma drain Lunala's Ultra Aura, Professor Burnet realizes that Necrozma is responsible for absorbing Alola's Ultra Aura. sees that Lunala and Necrozma are headed towards Melemele Island. At Lusamine's command, the Ultra Guardians mount their Ride Pokémon and fly after Lunala and Necrozma.

Meanwhile, at 's food truck, Jessie and James do nothing but sigh and groan despite and 's concerns. Meowth then spots Lunala and Necrozma flying around and tries to get his teammates to look, but they aren't motivated. Meanwhile, aboard the Team Rocket helicopter, Matori and Gozu are becoming lax from the Ultra Aura depletion. Meowth calls through to ask where Matori is, he is also surprised to see her wearing a uniform. Matori ignores his questions and demands to know what is happening. After Meowth tells Matori that Lunala and Necrozma appeared above Melemele, she has Gozu set course for Melemele Island. Jessie asks if they're going to catch it, and Matori clarifies that she and her Matori Matrix unit will before cutting the transmission. Jessie rants about Matori's high-and-mighty attitude and vanity before returning to her exhausted state. Meowth worries that if Matori succeeds, then she'll get a promotion and be able to boss them around even more, but his attempt to energize his teammates fails.

Hala and his grow concerned as Lunala and Necrozma appear above a Melemele beach. Lunala is able to get away thanks to who blocks Necrozma’s path. Despite being hit by a, Necrozma continues to pursue Lunala. The Ultra Guardians arrive on the scene as Necrozma launches a, but Lunala dodges and retaliates with. Necrozma isn't fazed and hits Lunala with another Psycho Cut. Lunala fights back with and, then uses  to ambush Necrozma. Lunala attempts another Phantom Force, but Necrozma lands another Psycho Cut. and have their  and  use  and  on Necrozma. The interventions only angers Necrozma who unleashes on the Ultra Guardians, causing  to fall off. Lunala swoops in and saves Lillie. Kiawe,, , and have , , , and  use , , , and  respectively on Necrozma, but it is still unfazed and attacks with more Prismatic Laser, forcing the Ultra Guardians to retreat. However, is fixated by Necrozma and  soon realizes that Necrozma's back features the same Prism Star symbol that Poipole drew before, meaning that Necrozma may be connected to the "Blinding One". Necrozma grabs onto Lunala and starts absorbing its Ultra Aura. Rotom also notes that Necrozma might be trying to possess Lunala itself. Gladion Noivern use another Boomburst and a attack, but Necrozma shakes them off which causes Gladion to fall off of Noivern. While Ash catches Gladion, Necrozma splits itself up and merges with Lunala, becoming.

Soon after, Matori Matrix’s helicopter ensnares Dawn Wings Necrozma in an electromagnetic net, but it breaks free. Another Ultra Wormhole opens up and Nebby emerges from it. Ash is happy to see Nebby again and hugs it. Nebby turns its attention to Dawn Wings Necrozma and attacks it, but Dawn Wings Necrozma counters with Prismatic Laser. Then, Nebby hits Dawn Wings Necrozma with, which causes Necrozma to separate from Lunala and fall into the sea. Ash cheers at Nebby's win, but the weakened Lunala falls onto the beach. Nebby rushes to Lunala's side, but it is attacked by the helicopter. Despite a female grunt's concerns, Gozu calls for another electromagnetic net deployed at maximum power. The electromagnetic net captures Nebby and Lunala, but Gladion and Ash have and  use  and  on the net, freeing the pair. Nebby attacks the helicopter, forcing it to retreat. But then, Necrozma recovers and targets Nebby. It grabs onto Nebby, splits up its body, and merges the parts onto the latter's body, becoming Dusk Mane Necrozma. Dusk Mane Necrozma opens up and Ultra Wormhole and goes through it. Ash tries to chase after Dusk Mane Necrozma, but the Ultra Wormhole closes before he can go through.

Meanwhile, back at the Pokémon School, Professor Kukui and Samson Oak are sleeping, when suddenly, they are revitalized. Back at Team Rocket's food truck, Jessie and James also get their energy back and drive off to go find Lunala and Necrozma. On board the Matori Matrix helicopter, the crew is thinking about just giving up, when they suddenly feel normal and reactivate their aircraft's optical camouflage to wait for their next chance. The Aether Foundation staff arrive at the Ultra Guardians' location, and they bring Lunala back to the Ultra Guardians base to heal. Lusamine reveals little about Necrozma and simply refers to it as UB Black. The Ultra Guardians are relieved to see that the adults are feeling better as Kukui and Samson Oak join them at the base. Burnet and Wicke return from the medical room and reveal that Lunala's treatment is complete, but it will need time to recover its strength.

Ash remembers that the mural at the Altar of the Sunne had an image of Necrozma on it, and Lusamine states that there might be a connection between the "Blinding One" and Necrozma. Rotom asks Poipole why it drew the symbol, and Poipole attempts to explain, but no one can understand it. Then, Faba runs into the room with data on the helicopter from earlier, revealing that it belongs to the Matori Matrix, an elite unit of Team Rocket, angering Ash. Faba notes that they'll have to take the Matori Matrix into account in their counter strategy against Necrozma. Lusamine leaves the Ultra Guardians to watch Lunala as the adults go to plan the next stage of action.

The next day, at sunrise, the Island Kahunas visit their respective ruins: Hala at the Ruins of Conflict, Olivia at the Ruins of Life, and Nanu with Acerola visit the Ruins of Abundance; where they pray as their islands' respective Guardian deities watch. Back down in the Ultra Guardians base, the Ultra Guardians watch as Lunala sleeps. Just as Ash proclaims that he will help save Solgaleo, the groups Z-Rings and Z-Power Rings glow orange and the energy surrounds Lunala who soon wakes up from its recovery. The Ultra Guardians watch on as Lunala spreads its wings and shatters the medical room's glass.

Major events

 * The Ultra Guardians follow and  to Melemele Island to protect the former from the latter.
 * Necrozma fuses with Lunala.
 * Team Rocket's Matori Matrix attempts to capture Necrozma, but fails.
 * Nebby appears through an Ultra Wormhole and helps Lunala separate from Necrozma.
 * Nebby uses for the first time.
 * The Matori Matrix attempts to capture Nebby and Lunala, but are stopped by and.
 * Necrozma fuses with Nebby and escapes through an Ultra Wormhole, stopping its absorption of Alola's Ultra Aura, resulting in the recovery of the energy and motivation of the region's adults.
 * Lunala is brought to the Ultra Guardians base to recover.
 * The Aether Foundation, considering Necrozma an Ultra Beast, gives it the codename "UB Black".
 * Faba informs the Aether Foundation and the Ultra Guardians about the Team Rocket group that is trying to capture Nebby and Lunala.
 * Using the Z-Power of Ash,, , and Gladion's Z-Rings, Lunala is able to restore itself.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Matori
 * Samson Oak
 * Hala
 * Olivia
 * Nanu
 * Acerola
 * Lusamine
 * Wicke
 * Faba
 * Professor Burnet
 * Gozu
 * s
 * Citizens
 * Acerola
 * Lusamine
 * Wicke
 * Faba
 * Professor Burnet
 * Gozu
 * s
 * Citizens

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international),  (Japan)
 * ('s; Ride Pokémon)
 * (Alola Form)
 * ('s; Alola Form; Snowy)
 * (flashback)
 * (Samson Oak's)
 * (Samson Oak's)
 * (Matori's; Alola Form)
 * ('s; ; flashback)
 * (Hala's)
 * (Acerola's; Mimikins; )
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Nebby)
 * (Hala's)
 * (Acerola's; Mimikins; )
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Ride Pokémon)
 * (Nebby)
 * (Nebby)
 * (Nebby)
 * (Nebby)

Trivia

 * Poké Problem: Who leads the special Team Rocket force that appears in today's episode?
 * Host:
 * Choices:, Matori, Jessie and James,
 * Answer: Matori
 * Nanu, Hala, and Olivia narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * The English dub title is reference to the 1945 song .
 * In the English dub, this episode is the first to not remove all mentions of Matori's name.
 * The English dub of the episode was released on Amazon Video on January 19, 2019, and on the iTunes Store and Google Play on January 20, 2019, seven and six days before it aired in the United States, respectively.

In other languages
de:Lunala tai UB:BLACK! Mangetsu no Tatakai!! EP1031 SL088 SM088 SM編第88話 精灵宝可梦 太阳＆月亮 第88集