Break In! Explorers' Headquarters - Pokémon Horizons Episode 124 Review - To rescue means to raid

This latest episode of Pokémon Horizons did that thing again where something important happens completely off-screen. Since when did the Rising Volt Tacklers contact Amethio, and since when did they decide to plan on rescuing the Six Heroes? Other than that pet peeve though, this was a cool episode.

It’s nice to see Amethio and his crew joining forces with the Rising Volt Tacklers this time around! After discussing things like their discovery on how to eliminate Laquium once and for all, and how to rescue the Six Heroes, they all decide to raid the Explorers HQ where they are being held. I don’t know about you, but I’m finally glad Exceed and the Explorers are looking to be competent for once. They've got a lot of security guards this time around, to the point that the team's first order of business is to get rid of them before diving in. They all split up doing this, with Roy and Ult taking on the guards from the rooftop, only to have Lucario, Captain Pikachu, and Sableye all get knocked out off-screen. Amethio’s group meanwhile was responsible for taking down the guards at the front. This ends up becoming just Zirc and Onia’s job, as Amethio goes to help Liko protect Dot, who is cracking the basement door and taking on Indy and Rubina who are using a pair of Salamence this time around.

I’m actually surprised Indy and Rubina were using the same Pokémon this time around, as they usually like to use variants. Still, it was nice to see Amethio and Liko fighting together as allies. The fact that Charcadet decided to battle wearing the Auspicious Armor lead to some creative strategies like absorbing recoil damage with the armor, and also hiding from attacks by retracting his limbs like a turtle. The highlight of the battle was definitely seeing Ceruledge and Charcadet battling side by side. I was honestly happy that Armarouge finally mades its Horizons debut. I’m sure everyone who wanted Liko to get an Armarouge is excited. I certainly am! I have noticed that some people who had complained about Liko getting the Auspicious Armor from Diana in the previous episode were excited about the evolution, which is amusing given how much they complained two weeks ago.

With the twist that the group are going to have individual 1-on-1 matches with the Six Heroes, each of which is going to be controlled by a member of the Explorer, the next episode is definitely going to be interesting. I wonder what Spinel is concocting in that head of his… With the rescue mission in full throttle, I do wonder where the story is going to be headed now. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

 

I assume that each of the Explorers are part of the fighting, just to reuse the Super Strong Spheres if one of the Six Heroes gets knocked down.

 

View attachment 236909This latest episode of Pokémon Horizons did that thing again where something important happens completely off-screen. Since when did the Rising Volt Tacklers contact Amethio, and since when did they decide to plan on rescuing the Six Heroes? Other than that pet peeve though, this was a cool episode.

View attachment 236910It’s nice to see Amethio and his crew joining forces with the Rising Volt Tacklers this time around! After discussing things like their discovery on how to eliminate Laquium once and for all, and how to rescue the Six Heroes, they all decide to raid the Explorers HQ where they are being held. I don’t know about you, but I’m finally glad Exceed and the Explorers are looking to be competent for once. They've got a lot of security guards this time around, to the point that the team's first order of business is to get rid of them before diving in. They all split up doing this, with Roy and Ult taking on the guards from the rooftop, only to have Lucario, Captain Pikachu, and Sableye all get knocked out off-screen. Amethio’s group meanwhile was responsible for taking down the guards at the front. This ends up becoming just Zirc and Onia’s job, as Amethio goes to help Liko protect Dot, who is cracking the basement door and taking on Indy and Rubina who are using a pair of Salamence this time around.

I’m actually surprised Indy and Rubina were using the same Pokémon this time around, as they usually like to use variants. Still, it was nice to see Amethio and Liko fighting together as allies. The fact that Charcadet decided to battle wearing the Auspicious Armor lead to some creative strategies like absorbing recoil damage with the armor, and also hiding from attacks by retracting his limbs like a turtle. The highlight of the battle was definitely seeing Ceruledge and Charcadet battling side by side. I was honestly happy that Armarouge finally mades its Horizons debut. I’m sure everyone who wanted Liko to get an Armarouge is excited. I certainly am! I have noticed that some people who had complained about Liko getting the Auspicious Armor from Diana in the previous episode were excited about the evolution, which is amusing given how much they complained two weeks ago.

With the twist that the group are going to have individual 1-on-1 matches with the Six Heroes, each of which is going to be controlled by a member of the Explorer, the next episode is definitely going to be interesting. I wonder what Spinel is concocting in that head of his… With the rescue mission in full throttle, I do wonder where the story is going to be headed now. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

I think it's very neat that Charcadet didn't evolve immediately upon contact to the auspicious armor and gave it the moment to actually earn the evolution. It's just right especially after people reacted terribly with Liko getting a handout from her grandma, when they literally have no time trying to find the armor in random ahh castles. It was a great evolution episode although I feel conflicted about not seeing the transition similarly to Hatterene.