Anime

This week's episode answers so many questions about the mysteries what had transpired a century ago, yet it also raises more questions about Laqua and a lot of other things. Despite that, I think this was one of the best episodes of Pokémon Horizons as of now.

This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons feels like a major turning point for the story now that so many things have been revealed about Lucius and the Explorers. I don’t know where to start because I enjoyed everything that transpired here.

I honestly loved the art style with this POKÉTOON! It’s a creative blend of 90’s retro anime mixed with modern Pokémon. It’s like a callback to the original series artwork, but with a modern touch! If you had told me this had come out in the early 2000’s, I’d believe you.

What I like about POKÉTOONs is that they often explore some aspects in the game that isn’t super common, and make an original story out of it. For example, the story with Blossom and her male Nidoran was like an origin story of the Gengar vs Nidorino fight. Another example would be the Primeape episode earlier this year, where it’s shown that Primeape has to use Rage Fist 20 times in order to evolve, which it did. For this episode, it’s a story about Chansey and the Safari Zone. I love that this story is basically a showcase about how annoying capturing Chansey in the Safari Zone can be, but that it goes beyond a frustrating mechanic to tell a unique story.

Ahead of the upcoming fourth batch of episodes of the first season of Pokémon Horizons: The Series on November 22nd, The Pokémon Company International have announced that the second season of the latest Pokémon animated series will premiere February 7, 2025, in the U.S. exclusively on Netflix. Titled “Pokémon Horizons: Season 2—The Search for Laqua”, the second season will see fan-favourite dual protagonists Liko and Roy grow as trainers as they continue their journey to uncover the mysteries of the Pokémon world.

The eighth episode of the second season of the POKÉTOON series has been released on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel. The episode is titled 「幼なじみのカルボウ」 ("Childhood Friend Charcadet"), and feature a story about two Charcadet, who were friends since childhood but were separated. This episode was originally supposed to be released on November 6th, but was delayed.

You know what I’ve noticed? Pokémon Horizons likes to make recurring tropes be a staple in their episodes. In the beginning, it was Friede and Captain Pikachu swooping in to save the kids or shoving things into off-screen land. Now, it’s having the group be separated for some important occasion. In the previous arc, Liko was forcibly separated from Roy and Dot back around Episodes 64 and 65, and in this latest arc, this week's episode is the second time in a row it's happened. I get it’s to have the kids battle Kleavor on their own, but they could have done it in a less contrived way.

To celebrate the release of the Surging Sparks expansion for the Pokémon Trading Card Game featuring Pikachu ex, the Pokémon Asia ENG YouTube channel has released a playlist of selected episodes from the Pokémon animated series focusing on Ash's Pikachu and Captain Pikachu. The playlist features episodes from not only the currently airing Pokémon Horizons: The Series but also the previous Pokémon the Series. This playlist will be available for viewing from November 8th to November 22nd on the Pokémon Asia ENG channel, in most South Asian and Southeast Asian territories.

A buildup episode to something like the elusive Kleavor must always have some sort of shenanigans ensuing. That’s what a Pokémon episode is. This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons has the group looking for Kleavor, only for stuff getting in their way. By stuff, I mean getting split up, which feels like a common thing for the group these days…

Despite this week's episode being segmented into three different parts, Pokémon Horizons actually does a good job transitioning between all of it in one episode without making things feel too clunky or rushed. It’s a well-paced episode, that gives everything it needs to without putting anything off into off-screen land, or leaving it for another episode.

The seventh episode of the second season of the POKÉTOON series has been released on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel. The episode is titled 「Romanticスパイス カプサイジ伝説」 ("Romantic Spice - Capsakid Legend"), and features a girl going on adventures with her Capsakid, with the video being styled in the manner of a movie trailer for a Shōjo anime.

Congrats on the 70th episode mark, Pokémon Horizons! This was a cute episode starring Dot’s Tinkatink. It’s nice that she finally gets some focus, as she's rarely had much attention. I do like when we get episodes like this focused on specific characters. Human or Pokémon, the Pokémon Horizons team really go all out on them.

I love how POKÉTOON incorporates these kinds of stories, to show off what life with Pokémon would be like without the need for battling. Anyone can have a certain Pokémon as their buddy, and for this episode the boy’s partner is his Ducklett, who has been with him since birth.

The sixth episode of the second season of the POKÉTOON series has been released on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel. The episode is titled 「ラッキーなサファリでおにごっこ！？」 ("A Lucky Safari Game of Tag!?"), and features a girl spending her summer vacation in the Safari Zone, where she meets a Chansey.

This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons was a nice, fun episode that introduces Kitakami to the Rising Volt Tacklers and to the anime viewers. They changed things a bit for the anime when compared to the story from The Teal Mask DLC. In the game, the festival was about Masks and the Loyal Three, but in the anime, they changed it to a festival to celebrate their harvest, mainly apples. I think this is a nice little change.

The fifth episode of the second season of the POKÉTOON series has been released on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel. The episode is titled 「コアルヒーだいすき！」 ("I love Ducklett!"), and features a boy who has grown up alongside Ducklett, and remembers all the fun times they have spent together. As announced earlier, new episodes from this second season of POKÉTOON will be released on YouTube weekly every Wednesday until November 6th.

Finally, the Rising Volt Tacklers are reunited! It feels like it’s been so long since we last saw the adults! I missed them a lot, and I hope you all did too! It’s back to adventures for our group! This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons is mainly a respite before they actually go back to adventuring. Their goal is to head to Kitakami to meet with Briar, as Raifort mentioned she was a Terapagos researcher who is stationed there at the moment.

This episode is 9 minutes long, but the storytelling is so concise! I love that there are no battles, and that it just showcases an everyday life in the Pokémon world. I especially love how harmonious the setting is! The story itself is about a boy named Julian, who had a scuffle with his friend Lucas and feels bad about it. They're able to reconcile thanks to the help from a Gogoat that takes Julian on a sightseeing tour, which helped Julian to realize why Lucas had stopped that moment, and how wrong it was for him to get mad.

It’s interesting how some POKÉTOON episodes are either short videos or just shorts in general. Episode 11, released mid-last week, is one that's just a short. There's no concise plot or dialogue. It’s just a girl discovering that Paldean Wooper and Clodsire exist, who then has an existential crisis over it as she seems to be a regular Johtonian Wooper fan. However, she does get used to them at the end. I do worry about her skin though, since Paldean Wooper and Clodsire both have a protective film on their skin that’s poisonous!

The fourth episode of the second season of the POKÉTOON series has been released on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel. The episode is titled 「ゴーゴートに乗って」 ("Riding on Gogoat"), and features a boy and a Gogoat who become friends while racing through the city.