Training Begins! Terrarium Dome - Pokémon Horizons Episode 116 Review - Hanging Out With The Toothpaste-Haired Bozo

A lot happened in this episode of Pokémon Horizons, so I’ll try to break it down and give my thoughts on each of them. First, I was surprised they already met with Briar. I thought it would take a while before they’d meet up with her. Still, it does feel like it’s not the only time they’re going to have meetings with her. Also, poor Carmine. They forgot who she was. Then again, it has been a year for them, and she only showed up briefly. I know that some people are upset over the fact that she didn’t mention Kieran, but I see it as she wants to be her own person and not have her personality revolve around her brother. She does make up for it by looking out for Liko, who tells her to be careful and stay strong if someone tries to heckle her for being a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers.

Afterwards, they do their own set of training as Lacey gives them locations of which biome in the Terarium Dome is suited for their Pokemon and training. I liked how Liko’s was working on combating against Fire-types, as Charcadet has Flash Fire, and her Meowscarada has a not-so-great track record with Fire types. She can use this to her advantage! Wait, is this foreshadowing that she’ll battle Crispin as he’s a Fire-type specialist? I also liked how Liko was also getting extra help from Ann as they’re best friends. Also, did you notice that Hattrem wanted to fight alongside Meowscarada and Charcadet, but Liko instead only told her to heal their wounds? It does make it seem as if there will be a conflict between the two later on.

On a side note, I thought Gimmighoul’s coins were only in Paldea. How can they be in Unova? I thought it wasn’t going to play tricks on Dot or on others anymore either. Regardless, it’s great to finally see Penny again! I wonder if she’ll give Dot some extra training like how Ann did with Liko. I feel like Dot got the short end of the stick when it came to training, as hers was off-screened while the episode favored the running gag again.

I feel like either Ult’s Rotom Phone got retconned, or he has some reason for not activating it that we don't know about because he clearly had one back in episode 92, Following Traces of Laquium, when he was looking around for Roy. For whatever reason, the story seems to make it seem like he doesn’t have one anymore. He didn’t have one in the mini-arc, and even when the others are using their phones to locate the Pokemon in the biomes, Ult’s phone isn’t shown at any point, and he doesn't even pull it out when he sees the Galvantula, when everyone else would have used their phone to scan the Pokemon. Anyways, Ult is really bull-headed here as he doesn’t listen to Lacey’s advice and just does his own thing. I get that it’s a major flaw that he is overconfident in his abilities and that he only takes orders from himself. Hopefully, his battle with Lacey will humble him a lot.

The highlight of the episode was Drayton, as he was clearly being lazy with how he tricked Roy into doing his Blueberry Quests, only to get caught later by Lacey. Still, Drayton does have a particular interest in Roy, as he is acquainted with Hassel who is friends with his grandfather Drayden—yes, he gets a mention in Horizons! He’s also a strong battler as he clearly overwhelms Roy in their battle. His tactic of using Archaludon and Kingdra to use the weather to their advantage was rather clever. I was impressed with how Kingdra used Hurricane to blow the Draco Meteor and pelt their opponent with them. I feel like Drayton could be Roy’s prime rival throughout this arc. Hopefully, Roy will learn how to use his Pokemon for Double Battles. Since he has four Pokemon, it’d cool to see pairs that haven’t battled together like Kilowattrel and Captain Pikachu, or Lucario and Kilowattrel. Also, it makes sense that Roy would lose to Drayton—he was the hardest…for me that is (I lost to him four times in the game).

I think that because a lot has happened in this episode, it’s also a major flaw because not everyone is seen battling on-screen and the episode clearly favors Roy and Ult getting a bit more screen time. Hopefully, Liko and Dot will get screen time later on. I’d love to see them battle someone prominent. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!