Navi's Little Big Adventure - Pokémon Horizons Episode 144 Review - Little Navi, Not-So-Big-Adventure

Pokémon stories are usually stories about the bonds between trainer and Pokémon, so having an episode of Pokémon Horizons where two companions don’t get along, and are forced to without Pokémon being the main focus, is honestly rare. People might argue about rivalries and villainous teams, but those are a different kind of conflict. Anyways, this episode mostly focuses Navi and Ult trying to get along.

To be honest, I do like that Navi and Ult have this brother-sister dynamic going on. It’s a realistic depiction of a brother who is forced to babysit his sister; I would know because I also have an older brother, and seeing how Navi and Ult interacted felt a bit like seeing me and my brother back when we were little kids. I also like that Ult is very hands off and doesn’t spoil Navi or hold her hand when it comes to battling; he just gives her advice and makes her handle her own trouble. It’s very in-character for Ult. I also like that he’s showing how he's becoming wiser bit by bit, thanks to Lacey and her guidance, like when he told Navi about Raticate’s teeth. Both do gain a respect for each other by the end when Navi learns that Ult’s job on the airship is to feed the Pokémon, after assuming at first that he was lazy and doesn’t do anything.

I do wonder if Navi is direction ally challenged, because the first time she goes off by herself, she gets lost. While she can do errands on her own like getting coffee beans from a coffee truck, she was usually accompanied by someone else when doing patrols with Emma. Would this be a recurring thing in the future? Other than that, it was nice seeing Navi wanting to be of help to the crew. She may be young, but she definitely has a good head on her shoulders if her immediate thought was wanting to find something to do on the airship. Navi’s first battle between her and the wild Raticate could have been better, but it was still a decent debut battle. I do wonder if Ditto’s tendency to transform into a smaller version of a Pokémon will be an issue later on, because it didn’t really help Ditto in battle; the only way they won was because it turned into a rock. Hopefully, they’ll work on this supposed issue in the future.

Other than that, this was a cute episode in general. The nature of it being an errand episode reminds me of past episodes like the Chespin and Bunnelby episode from XY, and the Grookey and Eevee episode from Journeys, but focused more on the humans. I do wonder how the dynamic between these two will shift going forth. Will they still banter or will they stop? Let me know your thoughts!