Tremble With Fear! Mochi Mayhem On The Ship - Pokémon Horizons Episode 123 Review - Dancing Mochi Night

The first Pokémon Horizons episode of this new year is just a lighthearted one. It’s basically an homage to Mochi Mayhem from the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC. It was hilarious to see the Rising Volt Tacklers go through a sort of horror scenario when the adults all get possessed and then the kids fall victim to the poisoned mochi one by one until they’re all doing the mochi dance.

To be honest, to have the dance finally be voice acted is a nice touch. I always wondered what the possessed people would’ve sounded like if the game portions were voice acted, so props to the anime for doing this! The best part of the whole segment was Quaxwell having the time of his life dancing alongside the humans.

I did like that there was a bit of a nod to the Teal Mask in this episode with how Pecharunt possessed Lucario, Kilowattrel, and Captain Pikachu. Though, Cap is an unusual pick as he’s not a monkey. Pecharunt’s lore revolves around the Japanese folklore of Momotaro, where the titular Momotaro goes to an island of Oni alongside his dog, monkey and pheasant companions. Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti all show up in the flashback segment as images. Pecharunt is voiced by Taku Yashiro who also voices Friede, which I found funny. Another Pokémon veteran returns in this episode, by the way! The narrator for the flashback segment is Fumihiko Tachiki who voiced Lt. Surge, Professor Birch, and Brock’s Ludicolo in the previous series.

Speaking of the flashback portions, I found this part of the episode really cute! It’s like a modern Pokémon take on the Momotaro story with Diana and Hamber being the "old couple" finding Pecharunt in the Mythical Pecha Berry and then it "hatched". Pecharunt also possessed an Aipom, Midnight form Lycanroc, and a Bombirdier as a nod to its three companions. Diana and Hamber basically did the entire Mochi Mayhem story in the flashback, where they had to fight the possessed Kitakami villagers and confront Pecharunt. Unlike it’s game variant, it’s more of an misunderstood and lonely soul in a way, as it wanted to befriend Diana and would do anything for her. The fact that Hamber has his silly moments was also cute! I didn’t expect his second Pokémon to be Mow Rotom, by the way. Finding out that he has a second Pokémon in a flashback segment is pretty crazy too.

The most important aspect of this episode is Liko receiving the Auspicious Armor for her Charcadet from Diana. I’ve seen people criticizing this, in that some are upset that Liko is being "babysat" and handed the evolution item without earning it. To be honest, I find the criticism weird because there are other characters who are given evolution items for free and they’re not criticized anywhere near as much for it. Like Ash getting the Razor Fang for Gliscor from Gary, and Misty’s Poliwhirl taking Ash’s King’s Rock without his consent and evolving into Politoed. I would say that Roy getting the Meteorite for Rayquaza would also be considered him "getting it for free" as it was given to him by Friede as an added bonus for defeating him in battle. I feel like some Horizons viewers are quite harsh towards Liko when other characters get similar treatment but aren’t as harsh…

Overall, this was just a lighthearted episode that’s basically a nod to the game. Just think of it as silly shenanigans. There have been people going around saying that Horizons is in its final year, but I’m honestly not going to believe in them until there’s an official announcement. Let me know your thoughts on the episode as a whole!

 

Thank you

 

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Thank you

This is a Liko support zone.