Speaking of which, having a picture of Looker is nice! Finally, a familiar face in the anime! HOWEVER, this doesn’t mean Horizons takes place in the same universe as Ash—it could be an alternate reality for all we know! I’m just not jumping on the nostalgia train just yet.
Still, Emma's appearance in the episode feels very abrupt in that she just shows up, and Roy already knows her name. Emma is the Looker to Ult’s Emma in a way. She took notice of Ult who was alone and homeless, and took him in. She even taught him how to read and write like how Looker did for her in the game! I also like how overly hospitable she is, as she makes a lot of food like a stereotypical anime mom might when her child brings friends over. I think the funniest part about her is that she just casually Mega Evolves her Ampharos and uses its power to bring back the electricity in her place, but at the cost of messing up her neighbors’ lights.
A lot of Ult’s backstory is revealed in this episode in that he was homeless, and lived in the back alley. Since Emma had to teach him how to be literate, it does make me wonder how long Ult has been living like how he did. He did have a father in the past, so I am wondering if his family was poor or if they were struck with poverty early in his life. Ult doesn’t look that much older than Roy, so there is also a possibility he had lost his literacy and Emma had to reteach him. I’m really curious how he became a child of the slums when he was born in the city… I also liked how some continuity from the past arc got brought up here. For example, Ult’s goal of catching the Black Rayquaza was just something Ult decided to do after hearing Roy’s story. Since Ult did meet it, it’s a nice little way to remember how he behaved that time compared to how he was in the past. Also, his lack of empathy really does intrigue me. If he had a father, he must have known how to love and care, but if he lost his father really young, then a lack of empathy that was formed from surviving on his own is very understandable.
Emma is voiced by Misaki Kuno who is new to the Pokémon franchise. She usually voices mascot characters like Hawk from The Seven Deadly Sins, or little girls like Xiaolan from The Apothecary Diaries, so it’s rare to see her voice a rather older character. Also, the fact that the ninja Shoyu is voiced by Amethio’s voice actor Shun Horie made me chuckle.
Overall, it was nice seeing how Roy was able to keep moving forward after the events at Laqua. It would’ve been nice to see how Captain Pikachu tagged along with Roy, even if it was brief, but I guess I can’t expect too much… I can’t wait to see how the arc concludes next week! Let me know your thoughts on this episode!
