Review HZ125: Get The Six Heroes Back!

[Eitarou]

The latest episode of Pokemon Horizons has aired. Discuss.



HZ125

 

[Singaporean]

I'll take back my words. That they fail to rescue the five of the six heroes. Which a theory of Black Rayquaza captured by Spinel debunked. Glad they finally rescue of them all. Afterwards, they all return back to their respective location, where they belong following Lucius passing. Now Spinel can propaganda the world by telling everyone to buy more of those pink crystal Sphere to power up without fail.

Overall rating: A+

 

[RetroPokeFan]

The episode felt pretty messy in the pacing department having to go back and forwards between multiple battles which makes me wish this was a three-parter though there were still some pretty good moments.

Good ol' Spinel always knows how to spin things his way. He's completely fine losing the Heroes to the RVT and never lost his cool making this the perfect opportunity to expose them all once again. They're gonna have to work mighty harder to restore their even further tattered reputation while he prepares to fully sell the Strong Spheres.

 

[NumberOneSpinelApologist]

I can never get over how pretentious Spinel sounds
We have his full emotional spectrum here, in just one episode:

Spoiler: spinelposting

His fake sadness/offense and acting was chef's kiss.
Edit for more Spinel acting:

Spoiler: Comedy gold

How dare you steal the Pokémon that I stole fair and square
(｡•́︿•̀｡)

AFAIK this was Kilowattrels first Tera. It was funny as heck though that the first thing it did after terastallizing is faceplanting full force into the floor

Sidian: uhhh maybe we should not use the Strong Spheres on the heroes again, they've had enough already....
Agate: IDGAF


So yeah, both Sango and Onyx have their doubts and have voiced them more clearly now. We can definitely expect a heel-face turn from them, sooner or later.

 

[0cerge]

So yeah, both Sango and Onyx have their doubts now. We can definitely expect a heel-face turn from them, sooner or later.

Well, they had their doubts before, but they seem to have generally accepted that the end justifies the means.

 

[NumberOneSpinelApologist]

Well, they had their doubts before, but they seem to have generally accepted that the end justifies the means.

yes, they did, but this time Onyx just said it more directly. Before it was more like "uhhh are you sure? Well, ok" This time, the general vibe was more "we probably shouldn't...but ok". At least this is how i saw it. I think it wouldn't take much to sway them at this point. Just a couple more shows of ruthlessness from Spinel, or couple more orders to be completely merciless. They are violent, but not cruel, i think.

 

[Le Lapin de Nelvana]

it ends with episode 89's thing about blaming the RVTs but this time, in the Public and making people buy Exceed's "Drug" Spheres

End of Book 3, Chapter 125, and Part 36 of Horizons, come back next week for Book 4, Chapter 126 and Part 1 of Horizons

but speaking of which, Let me see what's happening in goiky

 

[ZDaemon09]

yes, they did, but this time Onyx just said it more directly. Before it was more like "uhhh are you sure? Well, ok" This time, the general vibe was more "we probably shouldn't...but ok". At least this is how i saw it. I think it wouldn't take much to sway them at this point. Just a couple more shows of ruthlessness from Spinel, or couple more orders to be completely merciless. They are violent, but not cruel, i think.

Waiting for the english sub for more about that. But yeah a line's going to eventually be crossed to where those two are definitely booking it. Probably in a Hamper focused epsiode since Pecharunt's kind of a thing again and his little tick is finding someone to fill in for his Lousy Three.

 

[NumberOneSpinelApologist]

Anyway, I firmly believe that Spinel should reconsider his career as a villain. He should become an actor instead. Or maybe a stand up
comedian. I couldn't stop laughing today. He is just so silly.





I just can't stop thinking about this scene, pure comedy gold

Uruto being like "wtf are you yapping about" made it even better

And they even changed the lighting to make it less ominous and more blue. Because they were filming it.

You know, almost all the politicians have blue backgrounds in their election posters because blue has the reputation as such a calming color. Spinel's PR department was surely involved.

But probably Spinel's PR department is mostly just him, Agate, Indy and Rubella lol.

 

[SammyW27]

Spinel, you magnificent bastard...

Though THIS sure quickens the search for types for the Laquim Purification Ritual!

 

[ZDaemon09]

Spinel, you magnificent bastard...

Though THIS sure quickens the search for types for the Laquim Purification Ritual!

Let's be real, amping up the smear campaign was that immediate back up plan if the kids ever rescued those five. Saw that coming in the last scuffle the kids had.

Update. Ult had to open his big mouth and lose his temper when Spinel was spewing his usual bs. He really had to do that.

 

[Dr. Gro 3001]

Well, the battles were definitely of varying quality. Liko and Meowscarada making good use of the vines to bind up Kleavor and Dot and Gholdengo knocking over Arboliva's lower body were pretty novel ways to handle those battles. Then, you have stuff like Zygarde and Lapras just having multiple beam struggles. I really wasn't expecting the gang to save the Heroes in this episode, yet here we are. It was nice seeing Spinel's smug face disappear once again, despite the smear campaign that he is engaging in now. That said, I am wondering if he and the Explorers will actually capture the Black Rayquaza as a potential new contingency plan.

 

[LegendsCelebi]

Yes, this is the Pokemon anime I signed up for. Spinel is a 12/10 villain, no notes. I'm very glad to see how the writers set up the whole episode - Spinel is a competent villain and no pesky "power of friendship" will ruin his plans. Even if the audience was primed for a few minutes for the bad, old, cliche "the bad guy loses against all logic because protags love each other and (not)their mons". Yeah, he probably didn't plan for a Pagogo powerpoint and heroes leaving through the wall. But part of a good strategy is a nonbinary scale of outcomes (minor victory is still a victory) and hedging against partial losses.

Battle pacing was OK IMO. Enough to build drama and showcase each characters' tactics without losing track completely (only just a bit)
Amethio: keep calm, react flexibly
Roy: Use practiced tricks, hope no one plants their face
Liko: Do everything it takes to win as long as Pokemon are fine with it
Dot: Trust your Pokemons' instinct, build a plan around it
Uruto: HAHA BIG DRAGON GO BOOM

We need a mini arc about Explorers only, there is too much untold tension between the puppetmaster, his blindly obedient minions, his peer in derangement and his former collegues who seem to have boundaries. I think Sango and Onyx are fine with petty crime and corporate crime but not necessarily with serial Pokemon abuse. I don't expect a full U-Turn from them (they're not bug types after all). Rather in the final battle Spinel will order them to use Strong Spheres on their mons, Sango and Onyx will refuse and either simply leave or get crushed by Umbreon (to make sure that none of the antagonists leave the series unpunished).

 

[ZDaemon09]

Yes, this is the Pokemon anime I signed up for. Spinel is a 12/10 villain, no notes. I'm very glad to see how the writers set up the whole episode - Spinel is a competent villain and no pesky "power of friendship" will ruin his plans. Even if the audience was primed for a few minutes for the bad, old, cliche "the bad guy loses against all logic because protags love each other and (not)their mons". Yeah, he probably didn't plan for a Pagogo powerpoint and heroes leaving through the wall. But part of a good strategy is a nonbinary scale of outcomes (minor victory is still a victory) and hedging against partial losses.

Battle pacing was OK IMO. Enough to build drama and showcase each characters' tactics without losing track completely (only just a bit)
Amethio: keep calm, react flexibly
Roy: Use practiced tricks, hope no one plants their face
Liko: Do everything it takes to win as long as Pokemon are fine with it
Dot: Trust your Pokemons' instinct, build a plan around it
Uruto: HAHA BIG DRAGON GO BOOM

We need a mini arc about Explorers only, there is too much untold tension between the puppetmaster, his blindly obedient minions, his peer in derangement and his former collegues who seem to have boundaries. I think Sango and Onyx are fine with petty crime and corporate crime but not necessarily with serial Pokemon abuse. I don't expect a full U-Turn from them (they're not bug types after all). Rather in the final battle Spinel will order them to use Strong Spheres on their mons, Sango and Onyx will refuse and either simply leave or get crushed by Umbreon (to make sure that none of the antagonists leave the series unpunished).

Didn't help that Uruto got peeved and said the absolute worse things to say in that scenario. Hook line and sinker. (I just got through watching a sub)

As for Coral and Onyx. The later was actually... not amused by any of what he saw there while ms boom boom's quickly getting bored. Just need a Hamper focused episode involving them and the Lousy Three (Since Diana has a Peach that's constantly trying to fill in that void.) and things will get set in motion.

 

[Bassam99ss]

Let's be real, amping up the smear campaign was that immediate back up plan if the kids ever rescued those five. Saw that coming in the last scuffle the kids had.

Update. Ult had to open his big mouth and lose his temper when Spinel was spewing his usual bs. He really had to do that.

Wait ult lost his temper and spinel used this opportunity to record himself in all of paldea so he can promote the strong sphere...

And take over the world.
Bro...

https://media.tenor.com/ft1sFKVlxwwAAAAM/purirun-meroron.gif

 

[0cerge]

Wait ult lost his temper and spinel used this opportunity to record himself in all of paldea so he can promote the strong sphere...

To be fair, even without Uruto, a broken wall would have been enough to show the protagonists as criminals who don't care about the damage they cause along the way.

 

[ZDaemon09]

To be fair, even without Uruto, a broken wall would have been enough to show the protagonists as criminals who don't care about the damage they cause along the way.

Or... the phrase "The Rising Volt Tacklers broke into the Exceed Base and rescued the 5 heroes" can get turned into the kind of stuff Spinel said.

 

[Doubl - Echo]

This was an amazing episode. Finale-tier, even if it was... not the finale. Of course not every battle could get an equal amount of time, but I think everyone got some time to shine. Even Kilowattrel!! It not only got its tera revealed, but also learned Supercell Slam and transformed into a phoenix! That wasn't on my bingo card. Swellow's Thunder Armor found a mighty successor. I think Ult's fight was the most mid, but the gag of the Pokedex failing to register Gouging Fire was pretty funny. Amethio showed some cool use of the cells by swapping Zygarde's form mid-fight to increase its speed. I also liked Dot's fight, even if I haven't much to say about it. Gholdengo and Tinkaton are really fun to watch fight and interact. No evolution for Quax, I still believe it will happen soon.
My favorite of these battles was Liko's though. A lot happened, Hatterene got a real fight AND a cool sacrifice with Healing Wish, and it was awesome to watch Kleavor get tangled in invisible vines. Although, I was confused to see Meowscarada use Quick Attack again? I thought the anime had decided to stick to 4 moves at a time a whiiiiile ago (at some point I can't remember during the last 20 years of Ash). So either they broke that rule, or

Spoiler

Liko used a heart scale

... Meow downgraded from Sucker Punch back to Quick Attack, which would be very strange.

The flashback scenes of the Six Heroes were nice, not too invasive. I'm glad that Coral is finally starting to realize how boring it is to fight with a Strong Sphere, when you don't (and can't) even command your Pokemon.
I also like that Spinel had something in his sleeve to turn this defeat into somewhat of a victory. Ult definitely messed up. Now the whole world knows who the Rising Volt Tacklers are AND their faces. Even the Brave Asagi was recorded. Even Team Amethio was recorded when they left! I really hope the writers will use the opportunity to make the RVT backlash happen for real this time. There's so much potential. You can't dock the ship and resupply anywhere now. People could attack the group on sight, and police could chase them down too, because as far as they know, they're Pokemon thiefs. I just want this concept to have a proper full payoff, it can be so interesting to have the Rising Volt Tacklers at their lowest point since reuniting. And this is also a good opportunity to bring back the allies who saw who Liko & friends really are - Litten girl, Stunfisk boy, etc.

I'm excited for what comes next. I don't care if we only have ten or fifteen episodes left. If we're in the endgame, I want to be hopeful Horizons will go with a bang!

 

[ZDaemon09]

The flashback scenes of the Six Heroes were nice, not too invasive. I'm glad that Coral is finally starting to realize how boring it is to fight with a Strong Sphere, when you don't (and can't) even command your Pokemon.
I also like that Spinel had something in his sleeve to turn this defeat into somewhat of a victory. Ult definitely messed up. Now the whole world knows who the Rising Volt Tacklers are AND their faces. Even the Brave Asagi was recorded. Even Team Amethio was recorded when they left! I really hope the writers will use the opportunity to make the RVT backlash happen for real this time. There's so much potential. You can't dock the ship and resupply anywhere now. People could attack the group on sight, and police could chase them down too, because as far as they know, they're Pokemon thiefs. I just want this concept to have a proper full payoff, it can be so interesting to have the Rising Volt Tacklers at their lowest point since reuniting. And this is also a good opportunity to bring back the allies who saw who Liko & friends really are - Litten girl, Stunfisk boy, etc.

I'd think Spinel was going to make a smear campaign anyways as an act of spite anyways, it's just Uruto made that easier. Outside of the Orange Academy, anything with Devon corp and my guess in a couple episodes... those who listen to Iono's streams, there's not a lot of places for the kids to have sanctuary at. Not unless someone's able to get out the word that those drug rocks are just... vile. (Easier said than done even with Iono's help because people in general, in both Pokemon and RL can be pretty stupid.)

As for Coral and Onyx, yeah they both had second thoughts about pulling an overdose like that when the Five Heroes were beaten up. While Coral's.... Coral, Onyx was definitely not well after seeing what those things actually do. There's nothing Pokemon Trainer about those things.

I'm excited for what comes next. I don't care if we only have ten or fifteen episodes left. If we're in the endgame, I want to be hopeful Horizons will go with a bang!

I'm also calling this, that poster and the next batch of episodes going to April or something is build up leading to the next arc, where the final showdown will be given the focus and attention it needs. People are jumping to conclusions.

 

[Poke Trey]

Now we just making everyone worldwide threats. Spinel would do anything to make him the good one and everyone else the problem if this week's episode is to go by.