System Invasion! Crisis At Naranja Academy!! - Pokémon Horizons Episode 66 Review - School Hacking Incident

We’re closing in on the finale of the Terastal Debut Arc of Pokémon Horizons, and we’re seeing some major growth for our young protagonists. The difference between this week's penultimate episode of Terastal Debut and the penultimate episode of The Sparkling of Terapagos is quite significant however. While both episodes involve the Explorers, the kids are now far more capable than they once were.

Like with the end of the Basics test, Clavell lets the students have fun by hosting another battle tournament. I do like that they’re so eager to let the students battle so often. The failed students are still allowed to Terastallize, but it’ll be the last time they do it as failed students have to return their orbs after the day is over. Other than Liko, the only other known student who failed is Bocco, the Dot look-alike.

I do like that there are lots of callbacks of Episodes 43 and 44 in this week's episode. Episode 43 had Liko and Roy doing a Multi Battle against Sidian and Coral, with Liko taking on Sidian while Roy handled Coral, but the battle was called off. In this episode, the same matchups from before happens, but with Liko and Roy being more experienced they're able to put on a much better showing. Liko's Floragato is no longer a Sprigatito, and Liko uses Terastal to beat Sidian. Even though she failed her exam and is only supposed to use Terastal during the battle tournament, since Sidian used it illegally, Liko did the same. With Roy and Coral, neither of them used Terastal, but it’s nice to finally see Roy's Fuecoco get a win from Coral's Glalie after battling against it twice. One little detail I liked from the Roy battle is that it was originally in the art room, but he didn’t want to destroy the artwork, so he used his Kilowattrel to move to another location. It’s really sweet that he’s so considerate of the students’ hard work when it comes to their schoolwork. Coral didn’t really care if it gets damaged or not, but still followed Roy to the new location. There also seems to be a budding rivalry between Dot and Chalce now that Dot is more involved. I hope that they’ll get another battle in a future arc; it does suck that Dot’s essentially the only one who “failed” her battle. I also liked that the kids know that “Sandwich”, “Onigiri” and “Agepan” are Explorer members, even if they never knew their names until now. Sidian gives Liko his name, while Coral and Chalce revealed theirs to Roy and Dot. Giving their names felt like a sign that they were acknowledging them as worthy opponents.

Remember what I wrote in my review of Episode 63 in that Grusha was being harsh towards Liko because he wanted her to prove him wrong? I was right! Liko did prove Grusha wrong, but in a different way, however. Grusha was there to witness her battle against Sidian, and saw that she used Terastal despite being forbidden from doing so because she has something to protect. He even mentions that Liko fights better when she’s battling for self-defense or to protect something, rather than competitively. It was nice that he went all the way to Clavell’s office to change his mind about failing Liko, since she protected the school from the Explorers and did not allow the incident to escalate into something disastrous. I think it’s a nice reward for Liko’s efforts. People might see it as a “pity badge” sort of thing like how Ash got some badges in Kanto, but sometimes, hard work deserves good rewards.

I was a tad disappointed that Penny wasn’t more involved in this week's episode. Sure, she did try to prevent Chalce from hacking the system, and her role in the story is to be the school and league’s tech person, but it does feel odd that she seemed like she’d play an important part only to get sidelined as the story is about Liko and company. Still, it was nice seeing more of Penny here.

I also liked that the kids’ second Pokémon were used in the episode. Liko let her Hattrem out of her ball to heal the security guard and his Psyduck while she went on ahead. Hattrem was also the key figure to let Grusha stay back and witness Liko fight against Sidian. Roy meanwhile used Kilowattrel to move locations, while Dot used her Tinkatink to destroy the computer, though she unfortunately got the wrong one. It’s nice to see their other Pokémon be more involved now that the kids have grown as capable Trainers.

I think we're long overdue for an eventual Liko vs Roy match, but it seems that this arc's finale next week will finally showcase it. I think it’s the perfect way to end off this arc. They’ve been training buddies, but now they’re opponents for the friendly battle tournament. Both were rookie trainers, but now have grown so much. Who do you think will win? I honestly think it’ll be a draw, but we'll just have to wait and see!