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Review HZ108: Diana Comes Back!!!!

When that car and Diana and her Arcanine roll into the scene you know something good is about to go down and she sure delivers just that with another solid episode featuring her.

Liko and the others get to find out what happened to five of the Six Heroes (they're with Spinel) and that of course, little Pagogo's Stellar Form is the very thing that could destroy the Laquium and it looks like there might be a little help from Amethio too with her calling Hamber up.

Battle between Liko and Diana was decent too and although Liko lost, her Charcadet did learn a new move and got pretty pumped up so it's great to see they got something out of it.

Briar's small "Why are you calling me? I'm busy, please leave me alone." cameo was funny.
 
Diana is a really cool character, i can't help but wish they showed us more about her adventures and how she caught the new pokemon, honestly I would not mind a small arc about just that. I like her interactions with Hamber too.
We got shown that Agate keeps spying on Hamber, it sure does complicate things...
It is really cool that Charcadet gets time to show off, and the whole battle was quite funny with the rotom wash spouting water everywhere.
Briar being frantic before her deadlines was a really fun touch!
 
An alright episode for the conclusion of this month span. Where Diana help her lovely granddaughter, Liko to become stronger. Despite, learning new moves from Charcadet. She still lost. Also, it seems Hamber is tell the location of the five of six heroes that cap in their prison. In order for the RVT gang to rescue them. Wish, that occur in next month and get the taste of paying back from Spinel for what he did.

Overall rating: B-
 
I know that people will say that the result isn’t important and that she got growth out of it but geez would it kill the writers to actually let Liko win? Not only is it not like winning battle and growth are mutually exclusive but at this point the only battles she’s gotten to win since the time skip have been one where she used a legendary against a gym leader and one where the battle was 4 against 2. On top of that, Meowscarda still hasn’t been allowed a win and she’s her partner.
 
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I called it, didn't I Kuro? Revavroom makes its debut, and it's nothing more than a fleeting cameo.

Also, nice to see Kilowattrel and Hattrem not even appearing/being completely ignored......as usual. :cautious:
Kurolegacy said:
I know that people will say that the result isn’t important and that she got growth out of it but geez would it kill the writers to actually let Liko win? Not only is it not like winning battle and growth are mutually exclusive but at this point the only battles she’s gotten to win since the time skip have been one where she used a legendary against a gym leader and one where the battle was 4 against 2. On top of that, Meowscarda still hasn’t been allowed a win and she’s her partner.
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FR. Not counting the battle against Katy (which I personally don't count/acknowledge as a win for her since she effectively cheesed it using a goddamn Legendary!) and the battle against Rubella and Indy (like you already mentioned, it was 4 against 2!) where she had lots of help and certainly didn't win on her own, she's been on a losing streak. Like you said, Meowscarada jasn't even won once since evolving, which is just utterly pathetic for a fully-evolved starter/Pokemon of her strength.

Is it just me, or was she better as a Floragato than she is now? I mean, she beat her grandma's Arcanine as a Floragato, and now she can't even beat it as a fully-evolved Meowscarada. (Why didn't Liko bust out Terastillazation?? She did the last time she fought her grandmother!)

It looks like Liko's Meowscarada might just end up being the Horizons version of Ash's Torterra! :ROFLMAO:

At least Charcadet got to beat Wash Rotom. That's something.......I guess.
 
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Karakuri18 said:
You forget that Katy herself wanted to fight the Terapagos, so what kind of fraud are you talking about?
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Don’t expect nuance takes or objectivity from people who don’t like Horizons. A victory is a victory whether people like it or not. Terapagos belongs to her thus the victory counts. It was Liko who was commanding Pagogo in battle. As simple as 2+2 = 4. Legendary pokemon are valid partners in battle too. If she had battled with Meowscarada they would find something to complain about anyway.
 
It was an alright episode. The battle had some highlights, both sides had a good cooperation between Pokemons and nice strategies. Meowscarada was knocked out fast, but I'll pass on it, this was really a moment for Charcadet after all. His arc seems to be about being a bit less selfless, or at least not throwing himself into danger to protect others, and I like that. Though, even if he got his first win against Rotom, he still feels like a weak Pokemon among a "higher level" party (counting all Pokemons from Liko/Roy/Dot/Ult), its moves are still pretty weak (we've seen Fire Spin look grander than this, in Poketoons notably) and it will probably stay that way until his evolution.

Speaking of, I'm more interested by Diana talking about gathering all types of Pokemons around Terapagos to power it up and erase the Rakurium. As mentioned in the episode, that would be all of the Six Heroes + 12 other Pokemons, each corresponding to a specific type. Here's what I'm thinking for now:

Normal: Arboliva
Ice: Lapras
Fire: Gouging Fire
Rock: Kleavor
Flying: Galarian Moltres
Dragon: Rayquaza

Grass: Liko's Meowscarada
Dark: Ult's Sableye
Fairy: Liko's Hattrem
Ghost: Amethio's Ceruledge
Electric: Cap
Steel: Dot's soon-to-be Tinkaton (could also be Gholdengo)
Water: Dot's Quaxwell
Bug: ??? (Kleavor could take it, but there's no Rock Type either, so there's a hole for either type)
Fighting: Roy's Lucario
Psychic: Liko's soo-to-be Armarouge
Poison: ???
Ground: Amethio's Zygarde (I think it's a safe bet that he will have it for the final battle)

-> I tried to fit all of the Six Heroes + as many "important" Pokemons as possible from the main party + Amethio. Of course we could also have every single Pokemon cooperate and simply ignore duplicates (at least Kilowattrel would do something). Even if we do, we're still missing Poison (could be Diana's Revavroom or Rayu's Grafaiai but they're both unlikely) and either Bug or Rock, depending of what type we assign Kleavor to. Again, assuming each Pokemon can only do one type.
If we remove the Six Heroes from the mix, we can reattribute Fire to Crocalor, Flying to Kilowattrel and Dragon to Dragonite, but that also leaves Ice and Normal now unattended.

Please tell me if I forgot a Pokemon or if you have other ideas!
 
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Doubl - Echo said:
It was an alright episode. The battle had some highlights, both sides had a good cooperation between Pokemons and nice strategies. Meowscarada was knocked out fast, but I'll pass on it, this was really a moment for Charcadet after all. His arc seems to be about being a bit less selfless, or at least not throwing himself into danger to protect others, and I like that. Though, even if he got his first win against Rotom, he still feels like a weak Pokemon among a "higher level" party (counting all Pokemons from Liko/Roy/Dot/Ult), its moves are still pretty weak (we've seen Fire Spin look grander than this, in Poketoons notably) and it will probably stay that way until his evolution.

Speaking of, I'm more interested by Diana talking about gathering all types of Pokemons around Terapagos to power it up and erase the Rakurium. As mentioned in the episode, that would be all of the Six Heroes + 12 other Pokemons, each corresponding to a specific type. Here's what I'm thinking for now:

Normal: Arboliva
Ice: Lapras
Fire: Gouging Fire
Rock: Kleavor
Flying: Galarian Moltres
Dragon: Rayquaza

Grass: Liko's Meowscarada
Dark: Ult's Sableye
Fairy: Liko's Hattrem
Ghost: Amethio's Ceruledge
Electric: Cap
Steel: Dot's soon-to-be Tinkaton (could also be Gholdengo)
Water: Dot's Quaxwell
Bug: ??? (Kleavor could take it, but there's no Rock Type either, so there's a hole for either type)
Fighting: Roy's Lucario
Psychic: Liko's soo-to-be Armarouge
Poison: ???
Ground: Amethio's Zygarde (I think it's a safe bet that he will have it for the final battle)

-> I tried to fit all of the Six Heroes + as many "important" Pokemons as possible from the main party + Amethio. Of course we could also have every single Pokemon cooperate and simply ignore duplicates (at least Kilowattrel would do something). Even if we do, we're still missing Poison (could be Diana's Revavroom or Rayu's Grafaiai but they're both unlikely) and either Bug or Rock, depending of what type we assign Kleavor to. Again, assuming each Pokemon can only do one type.
If we remove the Six Heroes from the mix, we can reattribute Fire to Crocalor, Flying to Kilowattrel and Dragon to Dragonite, but that also leaves Ice and Normal now unattended.

Please tell me if I forgot a Pokemon or if you have other ideas!
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Hattrem is still a psychic type last time I checked
 
skynerel said:
Don’t expect nuance takes or objectivity from people who don’t like Horizons.
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Excuse me?
skynerel said:
A victory is a victory whether people like it or not. Terapagos belongs to her thus the victory counts. It was Liko who was commanding Pagogo in battle. As simple as 2+2 = 4. Legendary pokemon are valid partners in battle too.
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That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that using a Legendary Pokemon against a normal Pokemon in battle in the anime turns a potentially exciting affair into a one-sided beatdown.
skynerel said:
If she had battled with Meowscarada they would find something to complain about anyway.
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Actually, I know I for one would have much preferred that.
 
Pagogo was visibly shown struggling multiple times during that battle. This narrative that it was entirely one-sided is entirely made up.

Also, Legendaries and similar tier Pokémon have been defeated by regular Pokémon multiple times in the past.

Is it just me, or was she better as a Floragato than she is now? I mean, she beat her grandma's Arcanine as a Floragato, and now she can't even beat it as a fully-evolved Meowscarada. (Why didn't Liko bust out Terastillazation?? She did the last time she fought her grandmother!)
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Meowscarada was defeated because it was focused on moving Charcadet out of the way, leaving it wide open to be hit by Flare Blitz. There’s a very clear reason why this happened. There’s context to these things.

Did it happen too fast? Debatably true. But this was clearly meant to be a Charcadet focus ep and the defeat led to Charcadet’s growth, so it still did serve a purpose.

Also, just because she beat Arcanine once doesn’t mean it’ll happen the next time. Characters aren’t static. Just as Liko has the potential to grow stronger, so does Diana.
 
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Eitarou said:
Pagogo was visibly shown struggling multiple times during that battle. This narrative that it was entirely one-sided is entirely made up.

Also, Legendaries and similar tier Pokémon have been defeated by regular Pokémon multiple times in the past.
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I know that what people would define as struggling is subjective but if the writers were trying to show that as a struggle, they failed. It was hit a grand total of once in the entire battle and got right back up none the worse for wear and then proceeded to 2-shot Ursaring. Compare that to quite a few battles and it’s basically night and day. Don’t know if it’s a matter if writing or battle choreography but that was no struggle.
 
I watched the episode and it was good imo. Diana is a great character that meshes well with everyone she interacts with and she always serves a purpose. While it would’ve been nice to see Liko win here, it is like others have said already, that was not the purpose of the battle. There is a story being told and one has to watch and pay attention to understand that. The hyper fixation on W/L ratios is simply irrelevant here, although I don’t understand why people who don’t watch the show or who are not interested in Liko’s growth care about that in the first place.
 
Only funny moment when Briar sleepless to write about that Pagogos research with no time to rest:
Screenshot 2025-08-30 230559.png
 
skynerel said:
The hyper fixation on W/L ratios is simply irrelevant here, although I don’t understand why people who don’t watch the show or who are not interested in Liko’s growth care about that in the first place.
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I genuinely don’t understand why it is that people seem to act like everyone is entertained by the exact same thing and that it can’t become boring and repetitive watching your protagonist losing so much in what is a core pillar of the franchise. People enjoy stories in different ways so why does it matter to those who are fine with how things play out what other people’s issues may be? Always feels pretty condescending people basically telling others that they’re enjoying the series wrong. Clearly there’s enough of a resonance on both sides of things to garner reaction so it’s not as if things are in an area of total apathy.
 
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Javiray484 said:
Hattrem is still a psychic type last time I checked
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My bad! Then Tinkaton can fit the Fairy type and Gholdengo the Steel type. Or Hattrem needs to evolve. Well, in any case, a lot of Pokemons will need to evolve and gain secondary types if we want this to work.
 
Liko and Roy are waiting for something when Dot shows up with an armful of coins that she didn't even realize she was carrying. She's completely over the whole being controlled thing. It turns out that Liko and Roy were waiting for Liko's Grandmother, who finally shows up in a car run by a Revaroom (with her and her Arcanine wearing sunglasses). After greeting the Rising Volt Tacker's newest member (and the two of them are basically on the same wavelength) she explains that Pagogo likely didn't have enough power to erase all of the Rakurium. Pagogo probably needs the power of a Pokémon of each type to erase all of it at once. Liko calls Briar to confirm this theory, but she's too busy writing her book. Also, Liko's Grandmother tells the team that the Six Heroes have been captured (Ult feels bad about not knowing that he spotted two of the Six Heroes when he was captured, but no one else blames him).

She then decides to train Liko's Charcadet in a 2v2 battle (Arcanine and Wash Rotom vs Meowscarada and Charcadet). The battle ends with only Arcanine left standing, but Charcadet does learn Fire Spin. After the battle, the Rising Volt Tacklers celebrate seeing Liko's Grandmother again, even though she is leaving that evening. They discuss the current situation, and it turns out that Hamber can't help them find out where the Six Heroes are because he is being watched by Agate. Liko suggests asking Ametheo's father where they might be, and the episode ends on Liko being determined to rescue the Heroes.

It seems that the battle to rescue the Six Heroes, less Rayquaza, will be the climax of this arc (I wonder whether they will be caught by members of the Rising Volt Tacklers or wander off until needed since they no longer have Pokéballs to store them in. ). Since Mega Evolution didn't turn out to be the key to solving the main plot, I wonder what excuse the writers will come up with to have Liko (and probably Dot) seek out their own Mega Evolutions. I suppose it could be as simple as Liko ending up with a Pokémon that happens to have the potential to Mega Evolve and deciding that it might be helpful to have access to its full power. However, I'd prefer it if there was more of a story to it.

Between Liko, Ametheo, Roy, Dot, and Ult, they have the potential to have a lot more than the 12 additional Pokémon they need to represent every type, but they will presumably need the rest to battle the Explorers while the type representatives are providing their power to Pagogo (the Six heroes couldn't do both at once last time so it's probably one or the other for other Pokémon as well). Liko and Ametheo are supposed to be the key to defeating Exceed, but since Pagogo is part of Liko's team, they only have room for 11 of the needed Pokémon (less if they want to participate in the inevitable battle as well). Therefore, someone else (probably Roy if there is only one other contributor, but all of the kids will probably add one) will need to provide at least one Pokémon to the type representatives powering up Pagogo. I get the feeling Liko's Meowscarada and Roy's eventual Skeledirge will be part of the type representatives, and their respective Mega Evolutions (assuming Liko gets one) will be their aces for the battle.
 
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