A Terapagos I Don't Know - Pokémon Horizons Episode 57 Review - Lots Of World Building

After two consecutive battle-focused episodes, Pokémon Horizons dives into a world building episode this week. And trust me when I say that there’s a LOT of world building here, though mainly in terms of set up and foreshadowing for future events. It’s also the first time the kids are eating a meal with the Rising Volt Tacklers at a restaurant and not at the dining table in the airship. Why did I point this out? I just wanted to…

The world building in this episode mainly takes the form of speculation by various characters on what Laqua could be, which include a lot of details about what Paldea was like in the past. In particular, I did like that they talked about how Paldea used to be an empire back in the day, and that it had an Emperor. All up, it was a really huge dump of information, and I'm certain that all of this has to come into play in future arcs.

Regarding Laqua itself, they revealed that it was once an ancient land in a place far from Paldea, meaning that it used to be a different region. Like how
Sinnoh used to be called Hisui, I wonder if Laqua might have been what Kalos used to be called back in the day? Regardless, Laqua also has a connection to the Terastal phenomenon, hence why Terapagos wants to go there. According to Clavell and Geeta, there was an accident at Area Zero recently, hence why they closed it off. I wonder if this is related to Professor Sada, and if Koraidon and Arven will play a part in this later on, given that he’s the only one of the main three important characters from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet yet to make an appearance in the anime. Speaking of which, Clavell and Geeta also seem to be aware of Terapagos’s existence. I wonder if this hints at their involvement for future events. It seems that the stuff with Lucius happened a hundred years ago, but that seems a little too…short? Like, Hisui was Sinnoh roughly 200 years ago, so for Laqua and Paldea to have very ancient buildings that are only a hundred years old feels a little too weird?

Raifort also makes her debut here in this episode. She was absolutely wonderful with her passion for history, and having a Zoroark just like how she does in the games. However, she does seem to be a little less sinister in the anime. It makes sense though, since she’s not forcing the kids here to go out and pull out stakes, or to seek out the Treasures of Ruin, or wanting to use a young child for experimental purposes. I also liked how her Zoroark kept playing pranks. What’s hilarious though is that her voice actress is Takako Honda. If you weren’t aware, Honda voiced Pokémon Hunter J back in the Diamond and Pearl era. If you played The Indigo Disk DLC, you'll know that Raifort used to be a thief before becoming a teacher, so it’s rather amusing to have this unexpected parallel. Her purpose in the episode is to dump additional lore about possible past events, to help the kids appreciate the past, and to give them insight just in case stuff relating to the past is brought up.

There were theories that Liko and Roy were going to catch Charcadet and Gimmighoul, but they haven't done so in this episode at least. Sometimes, I feel like anime watchers jump to conclusions too quickly. They didn’t even bond with these two Pokémon in this episode. Maybe these could be potential capture candidates in the future, but given how each of the kids’ second Pokémon haven’t yet had a lot of screen time or battling experience, it does suggest that they’re not going to be catching their respective third Pokémon anytime soon.

At the end of the episode, Roy, Liko and Dot start the Implementation Test, the second part of the Terestal Course. In this stage, they have to use two Pokémon, and switching is allowed. They have to be smart on who to use and who to Terastalize. I hope that the kids can use Terastal on their second Pokemon because I’d like to see what their Tera type is. The matchups are Dot vs Larry, Roy vs Ryme, and Liko vs Grusha—why is Liko always the unlucky one in these matchups? Speaking of which, if two Pokémon are required for this stage, that means Coral must have a second Pokemon! Don’t tell me she has another exploding Pokemon…

The kids dancing in the ending credits was so cute! Other than that, I can’t wait for all of these past events to play a part in the present timeline. I honestly love learning about the history of the Pokémon world, the writer and storyteller in me loves this sort of lore building! I can’t wait to see the day all of the answers to Laqua, Lucius, Terapagos and Gibeon will finally be answered! What were your thoughts on this episode?