Review HZ131: Come On! Gather Up! Our Fellow Companions

An alright episode and I'll knew, that Roy will lose as Roy and his partner can't sync together to Mega Evolve to become Mega Lucario due to not heart to heart yet.

Wished, next Friday. It will be something else.

Overall rating: B -
 
Ignoring the boring Lucario stuff (although Mega Hawlucha debuts and the jackal takes another L so yipee for that) I loved the character interactions in this. It was so nice seeing Yanga and the Wynaut guy and Perrin once again and that quick scene with Liko opening the door only to see Master Mayonnaise, this weird as f**k dude she's never seen and just slowly closing the door on him was so funny.

We have Penny, Anne and Nemona joining the crew so they're pretty much getting ready for the Laqua stuff now so next stop: Diana's castle.
 
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This was certainly an episode.
The spy movie stuff with Friede was definitely the highlight of the episode for me. Soudayo and Perrin were fun too. And the "Sounano" gag...I admit I missed it :wynaut::wynaut::wynaut:

Edit
Sorry for being negative but I do think the lucarionite z thing was so...forced. Like they literally have to have Mayonnaise appear essentially out of nowhere to shove the stone in Roy's face to tie it into the series. Mayo is fun as a character but the whole marketing ZA thing here...I don't think it landed well this time.
The hawlucha was cute though, I liked the personality it has through its gestures
:wynaut:
 
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Welp no surprise. Roy being terrible as usual. Just to set up another episode of slop for his useless marketing tool mon. Honestly what has happened to horizons? Liko and dot are basically sidepieces or afterthought. Its just roy roy and more roy for no reason. Sad to see what this series has turned into
 
Only funnier scene of the episode of Liko seeing Master Mayonnaise and then close the door back in panic mode:
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In the end, it was kind of strange how Arven was completely ignored in the anime, even though he appeared in one scene and Naranja Academy played an important role in Horizons.

I got the feeling that the Academy's role ended here.
 
People complained when Liko was offered the item to evolve Charcadet. People complained when it seemed Roy would get the Lucarionite Z offered for free by Mayonnaise. And now they complain again when they were wrong. Turns out he's unable to use it and will need another training episode. For god's sake! This is way better than just getting the mega stone with no effort, and it's not like it wasn't foreshadowed either. They've been planting the seeds for a while, there was a few moments in the recent Roy fights (against Nemona/Pawmot and against Rayquaza) where you could feel some kind of anger or distrust from Lucario. We've been claimoring for ANY KIND of character arc for Lucario for a long time, and it's finally here! Finally it's not a Pokemon just there to look cool and they're writing him a personality!

You know what I'm thinking? Just thinking what it would be if Roy was unable to use the Lucarionite Z... but if Ult could. It might have been the effect of Encore, but in this episode it did look like Lucario was more into brute force and less into waiting for an opportunity to strike. That's basically what Ult does. They share some kind of impatience in battle. Just imagine the huge fakeout it would be! Ult also needs a win over Roy since Roy got Rayquaza, and Lucario having "shared owners" would create a never-before seen situation for a Pokemon.
I might be dreaming too hard but I would love to be surprised next week.

Asides from that, it was fun to meet again with Sohdayo, Perrin, and Yanga. Mayonnaise fanboying over Friede's Mega Starmie was funny. They also confirmed a small detail about Instructor Starmie: it's not permanently mega-evolved, but it looks like it prefers to stay in that form, and thus, every time it leaves its ball near Friede, it mega-evolves on its own. It's still unexplained how it can keep this form for so long, but I don't expect to get an answer.
Hawlucha is always a super fun Pokemon to watch fight, Mayonnaise's was super deep in the wrestler persona and even using a lampost to have the high ground. Loved it!

I've been staring at the newly modified Brave Asagi for a while and I can't pinpoint immediately the visual difference with the previous one. Didn't it already have the thrusters to fly fast? It's cool nonetheless, we even got a title drop for Rising Again!
I quite liked this episode overall.
 
Everything is falling into place for the RVTs' final foray into Raqua and the time spent proving themselves to the allies they have along the way is paying off, as many return to assist in the mission to purify Raquium from the world because of their faith in the RVTs' good character that no amount of Exceed propaganda can destroy.

For an episode where a good half of it was simply bringing the necessary characters into one place, I found that whole section quite enjoyable due to the number of gags they managed to fit into it. It was funny to see the kids run to greet Friede, only for it to be different people each time, culminating in Mayonnaise showing up and Liko shutting the door in his face. Sohdayo and Perrin returning was unexpected, but their help will likely be vital in restoring the RVTs' reputation and exposing Exceed for being the true villains. Anne, Nemona, & Penny will make for strong allies in the final battle. But poor Arven, unless there is some sort of Area Zero epilogue where Sada & Turo might be relevant, he really got the short end of the stick.

Roy is given the Lucarionite Z and has a battle with Mayonnaise to try it out, but is unable to do so due to the disconnect between him and Lucario which has been teased in their last few battles. Mayonnaise's Hawlucha had a great personality which kept the battle fun to watch, seeing him pose and hype up the crowd.

Now, they set course for Diana to enlist her help as Roy will work to attain the proper aura synchronization with his Lucario necessary to use Mega Evolution again. Although, I personally prefer the normal Mega Lucario to Mega Lucario Z.
 
So Exceed has become the equivalent of a Japanese black company and Spinel is a power harassment boss? I can't wait to see his downfall (He's my favorite character, just to let you know).

I like the idea that Starmie is always in its Mega Evolved state just from flexing. In a way, it's kind of similar to Mayonnaise's Mega Hawlucha in terms of posturing.

The gag of Liko, Roy and Dot being excited to see Friede, but keep getting someone else instead was hilarious, especially the final bit where Liko closed the door on Mayonnaise.

I just really liked the wholesome vibe of the first half of the episode!

Also, Liko has made it to #8 on the April 2026 issue of Animage character list!

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Doubl - Echo said:
That's nice to hear. Horizons got so much hate online, I would have never expected one of the characters to end up that high in a popularity contest. This is good news!
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Liko actually consistently ranks in those polls. She’s actually the most popular member of the Horizons cast. Just a shame they haven’t given her much time to shine in the post-time skip despite that.
 
This episode was okay. I was entertained until the battle tbh, idk I just found the battle a bit underwhelming.
The choreography is nothing too interesting.
Next week's looks a lot better though, so that's exciting!
I like Master Mayonaise stalking Friede just bc he has a Mega, that's funny.
Two pretty good Liko expressions this episode too!
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The Rising Volt Tacklers anticipate Friede's return, but Sodayo and Sazare show up instead. Sazare hasn't gotten the memo that Sodayo is a frequent liar. Next, Nemo, Anne, and Botan show up. Meanwhile, Friede is being stalked by Mayonnaise, meets up with a former coworker, confronts his stalker, and becomes friends. Apparetnly Mayonnaise was stalking Mega Starme rather than Friede. Then they show up where the Rising Volt Tackers and friends are waiting. It turns out that Mayonnaise has been looking for Roy to give him a Lucarionite Z. They battle (Roy's Lucario vs Mayonnaise's Hawlucha) and Mega Hawlucha wins due to Roy being unable to Mega Evolve his Lucario (and because Hawlucha uses Encore to force Lucario to use Close Combat). Roy intends on training to be able to use his new Mega Evolution. The upgrade to the Brave Asagi is complete, and they leave to meet Liko's Grandmother.

Unfortunately, it doesn't occur to Mayonnaise to hand out any further Keystones despite being a self-proclaimed Mega Evolution Evangelist who just met multiple trainers who would benefit from acess to Mega Evolution (he clearly doesn't mind handing them out to trainers who don't currently have a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve since Roy didn't have any until the end of the Mega Evolution special). Will he realize his mistake and fix it later? Will Liko and Dot get Keystones from someone less weird at some other time? Someone even weirder? Someone just as weird? Setting aside the level of weirdness of the person responsible, it would be a waste if Liko and Dot never got to use Mega Evolution.
 
Personally I'm fine with Roy having more of the spotlight post timeskip, bc pre timeskip focused more on Liko. It balances things out
 
Post time skip hasn't been balanced at all. Pre-time time skip had all three kids facing the elite four, gym leaders and getting equal access to the gimmicks. Now most battles are about Roy. Liko and Dot don't have mega evolution, nor got the chance to battle any elite four member at BB academy. Roy battles a bunch of important characters (Friede, Master Mayo, Drayton), while Liko gets to battle one student and one hero pokemon. I definitely prefer when treatment was more equal.
 
Doubl - Echo said:
That's nice to hear. Horizons got so much hate online, I would have never expected one of the characters to end up that high in a popularity contest. This is good news!
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From what I've seen, one of the reasons Horizons gets so much hate online is specifically because they seem to be focusing so much attention on Roy, who as far as I know, has never ranked in any of those character popularity polls, at the expense of Liko, who consistently ranks in those polls.
 
Mew2 said:
From what I've seen, one of the reasons Horizons gets so much hate online is specifically because they seem to be focusing so much attention on Roy, who as far as I know, has never ranked in any of those character popularity polls, at the expense of Liko, who consistently ranks in those polls.
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I thought the hate was mostly from the people who wanted Ash back. But it's true, that was mainly at the start and that diminished over time.
 
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