Tapu Koko #785: the thunder rooster that watches over Melemele Island

A thunder rooster revered as a deity. Tapu Koko watches over Melemele, the first of Alola's islands, and heads the list of the region's four guardians. Curious and capricious, it retreats into its shell to store lightning there: protective, but never obliged to help whoever asks.

Contents

• Who Is Tapu Koko?
• Alola's four guardian deities
• Electric and Fairy Type, Electric Surge Ability
• Evolution: None, and a Signature Move Shared by Four
• A Protective Deity, but a Moody One
• Tapu Koko at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who Is Tapu Koko?

Listed as #785 in the National Pokédex, Tapu Koko (Tokorico in French) is the "Land Spirit Pokémon" of the seventh generation, the Alola generation. It stands 1.8 meters tall and weighs 20.5 kilograms, and it's a Legendary Pokémon, not a Mythical one.

Its head and torso are black with white markings, beneath a large crest of orange feathers marked with a yellow lightning bolt. Its orange lower body ends in four points that look like a bird's tail.

The most spectacular part is its arms: each one carries a shell forming half of a yellow bird mask . Tapu Koko can close the two halves around itself and hide inside completely — that's how it stores electricity, taking the shape of a stylized rooster.

Alola's four guardian deities

Tapu Koko isn't alone: it belongs to Alola's guardian deities, four Legendaries that each protect one of the region's main islands. Its own is Melemele Island; Tapu Lele (#786) watches over Akala Island, Tapu Bulu (#787) over Ula'ula Island and Tapu Fini (#788) over Poni Island.

They're closely related: the same Land Spirit Pokémon category, Fairy as their second type, a shell in the color of their island — yellow for Tapu Koko — and the privilege of appointing the Kahuna of their territory, Hala for Melemele Island.

Their stats are cast from the same mold: 70 HP and a 570 total for all four, with the other five stats reusing the same numbers in a different order. Each one puts its best stat somewhere else; for Tapu Koko, it's Speed, at 130.

Electric and Fairy Type, Electric Surge Ability

This type pairing is very comfortable. Only Poison and Ground hit twice as hard; Tapu Koko takes half damage from Fighting, Flying, Bug, Electric and Dark, and Dragon doesn't affect it at all.

A quirk of the combination: Steel, so dangerous to Fairy types, is held back by the Electric type and drops to normal damage. No type targets both halves at once: no quadruple weakness is possible.

Its main ability is Electric Surge : the moment it enters the field, it sets up Electric Terrain for five turns, eight if it's holding a Terrain Extender. Its Hidden Ability, far more low-key, is Telepathy.

The terrain changes everything: grounded Pokémon can no longer fall asleep, and their Electric-type moves get a 30% power boost — it was 50% before Sword and Shield. Flying types and Pokémon with Levitate are unaffected.

⚡ Want to make a fan of Alola's guardians happy? Dig into our Pokémon gift ideas.

Evolution: None, and a Signature Move Shared by Four

Tapu Koko does not evolve and is not the evolution of any Pokémon. Genderless and placed in the Undiscovered Egg Group, it cannot breed.

Its signature move, learned at level 43 in the Alola games, is called Nature’s Madness — but it isn't its alone: all four guardians know it, and they're the only ones. A Fairy-type move, it takes away half of the target's remaining HP.

The same goes for its Z-Move: holding a Tapunium Z and knowing Nature’s Madness, a guardian unleashes Guardian of Alola, which wipes out 75% of the remaining HP of its opponent — or a quarter of that damage, i.e. 18.75% of the remaining HP, if the target shields itself with Protect or Detect.

What about Mega Evolution? No : the list of Mega Pokémon, up to date as of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, doesn't include any of the four guardians. No regional form or Gigantamax either — all the more reason to enjoy its original silhouette on Pokémon figures.

A Protective Deity, but a Moody One

The Pokémon Sun Pokédex sets the scene: "This guardian deity of Melemele is brimming with curiosity. It summons thunderclouds and stores their lightning inside its body." Pokémon Moon adds that it "often flies into towering rages ", but promptly forgets why.

Ultra Sun is more unsettling: "Although it is regarded as a protective deity, it can be cruel to people and Pokémon who have offended it." Ultra Moon crowns it master of lightning.

In Pokémon Sun and Moon, it opens the game by saving the player and Cosmog from a fall off a bridge, then hands over a Sparkling Stone before flying away. You can only catch it after the League, at level 60, in the Ruins of Conflict.

Its mask is inspired by the rooster and its silhouette by a totem pole; the character is said to evoke Kūka'ilimoku, the Hawaiian god of war and conflict, often depicted as feather-covered idols. Its French name, Tokorico, is said to blend " cocorico " (the French cock-a-doodle-doo), "totem" and "tiki."

Finally, in the anime, it's the one that gives Ash Ketchum sound Z-Ring — swiped from Kahuna Hala — before teaching him to use his first Z-Move. A mischievous little face that's perfect for Pokémon plushies.

Tapu Koko at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Does Tapu Koko evolve?
  No. Tapu Koko does not evolve and is not the evolution of any other Pokémon: it has neither a pre-evolution nor a final form. Like most Legendaries, it is genderless and belongs to the Undiscovered Egg Group, which prevents it from breeding. Its only known variation is its Shiny form, in which the normally yellow parts of its body turn black and the orange parts become slightly paler.
• Who are Alola's four guardian deities?
  Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini. Each one protects one of the region's four main islands: Tapu Koko watches over Melemele Island, Tapu Lele over Akala Island, Tapu Bulu over Ula'ula Island and Tapu Fini over Poni Island. All four are Legendary Land Spirit Pokémon, all four have Fairy as their second type, all four have a 570 base stat total including 70 HP, and they are the ones who appoint the Kahunas in charge of governing their islands.
• What does Tapu Koko's Electric Surge Ability do?
  It sets up Electric Terrain across the whole battlefield the moment Tapu Koko enters battle, for five turns, or eight if it's holding a Terrain Extender. While the terrain lasts, grounded Pokémon can't fall asleep, and the power of their Electric-type moves goes up by 30%, compared with 50% before Sword and Shield. Flying-type Pokémon and those with the Levitate Ability aren't affected, since they don't touch the ground. Electric Surge was Tapu Koko's signature Ability in the seventh generation; since then, Pincurchin has had it as a Hidden Ability, and Mega Raichu X has it too.
• What are Tapu Koko's weaknesses?
  As an Electric and Fairy type, it fears only two types, Poison and Ground, which deal double damage. No quadruple weakness is possible, since no type is super effective against both Electric and Fairy at the same time. It halves damage from Fighting, Flying, Bug, Electric and Dark, and it is completely immune to the Dragon type. Note that Steel, super effective against Fairy types, is held back by the Electric type and drops to normal damage.
• Is Nature’s Madness exclusive to Tapu Koko?
  No: it's the signature move of Alola's four guardian deities, and no other Pokémon can learn it. Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini all learn it at level 43 in the Alola games, and at level 55 in Sword and Shield. A special Fairy-type move, it has 90 accuracy, 10 PP and variable power: it takes away half of the target's remaining HP, rounded down but never less than 1. Its Z version, Guardian of Alola, is unlocked with a Tapunium Z and wipes out 75% of the target's remaining HP, or a quarter of that damage, i.e. 18.75% of the remaining HP, if the target uses Protect or Detect.
• Does Tapu Koko have a Mega Evolution?
  No. No Mega Evolution, no regional form, no Gigantamax form, and no Mega Stone bears its name. The list of Mega Pokémon, updated with Pokémon Legends: Z-A and its expansion, doesn't mention any of Alola's four guardian deities. For the seventh generation, the only Mega Evolutions on record are those of Crabominable, Golisopod, Drampa, Magearna and Zeraora.

In short

Protective, mischievous, hot-tempered and already gone again: Tapu Koko single-handedly sums up Alola's temperament. And when it sets up its Electric Terrain, the whole island crackles.