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Pokemon Horizons has finally launched its pilot episode and we’re seeing a lot of great feedback from the show, although we don’t see the usual characters like Ash, Pikachu and Team Rocket. We want to give Pokemon Horizons our first impressions and a review of the new Pokemon anime. Read on to find out more!
New faces, same Pokemon-ish, same awesome Pokemon anime
After 25 years of seeing the same, old ensemble cast of Ash Ketchum (Satoshi, as he’s known in his native Japan), Pikachu, Jesse, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet, we’re finally getting new faces set to headline the same old ones Pokemon anime series. While it still feels very surreal that we’ve finally parted ways with the original gang, we get a new plot formula, which is what the show’s composition is all about. This time we see half of the series’ new protagonist, Liko, along with her partner Pokémon, Strigatito. In the first two episodes of the show, we are introduced to her and all of the other characters in the new Pokemon anime show after months of speculation following the announcement of Ash and Pikachu’s departure from the Pokemon anime. Let’s do a quick review of the Pokemon Horizons anime.
Liko is a shy, shy student coming all the way from the Paldea region and moving to the school in the Kanto region where she wants to learn more and discover more of herself and her abilities. On her way to school, she sees two other schoolmates watching Nidothing, a stream they all watch and follow to “learn about the basics of pocket monsters, or Pokemon for short,” as she noted in her vlog . Liko then moves to room 303, where she meets her messy, cheeky roommate, Anne, and is welcomed into the dorm. Finally, the day comes when they meet their own partner Pokémon, and she gets a Sprigatito that’s from the region of Paldea, where she’s from. In this situation, Sprigatito is released from his pokeball but rushes away as the two don’t seem to get along at first. Liko tries her best to befriend her partner Pokémon and tries to hunt it down in certain locations where Sprigatito likes to be. She then discovers a lake nearby, which turns into a training ground for Liko and Sprigatito as they try to perfect the art of Pokemon fighting on the show. At the end of the first episode, Liko is confronted by a mysterious man who asks about her grandmother’s necklace that was passed down to her and says that if she gets in trouble, she will always protect her.
In the next episode of the new Pokemon anime show, Liko tries her best to avoid the mystery man as she has already realized that he is up to no good. She then decides to follow Sprigatito, going out the window, climbing onto the roof and finding a place to run to safety. Unfortunately, she is spotted by the man’s company and chased across campus. This is when she finds herself surrounded and gets into a match against a Rhydon from which she and Sprigatito successfully escape as Sprigatito was able to throw Sleep Powder when stepping on Rhydon. Liko and Sprigatito are cornered but saved by a man with a Charizard, which, to be honest, gave us a bit of nostalgia for having seen this Pokemon from the original series, and challenges the pursuers to a match , to go the girl alone. The battle between Charizard and the mystery man’s Ceruledge begins, Liko and Sprigatito try to escape and make a big jump towards the other part of another school building. As they make the jump, Ceruledge’s Psycho-Cutter is about to hit Liko and Sprigatito, and a mysterious shield comes out of the trailer. Interestingly, a Pokémon appears out of nowhere that appears to be linked to the new Pokémon Terapagos. The shield is most likely coming from that Pokémon hidden in the pendant, deflecting the attack that would hit them both. Liko and Sprigatito are caught by Charizard and his trainer and fly towards the flying fortress. Then we know that the man who saved Liko and Sprigatito is Friede, the leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers. He is greeted by Murdock and Mollie along with some Pokémon who have taken refuge in the Rising Volt Tacklers’ airship. They then find out that the mysterious group is still stalking them and is from the mysterious organization called the Explorers. Amethio, Zir, and Conia then take Liko and Sprigatito into their care after successfully boarding the airship. Friede then jumps into the action alongside Charizard and Captain Pikachu as they take another turn in the purchase that was previously left uncompleted on campus. Ultimately, Captain Pikachu and Ceruledge were unable to complete their match as Liko and Srigatito entered the fight. Using Leafage, Sprigatito successfully manages to unleash a powerful attack, breaking the shield around the stadium and repelling the attack against the explorers. Unfortunately, since Liko and Sprigatito broke through the shield and found themselves in the middle of a powerful storm, they are swept away by the strong and harsh wind. Friede leaps into action and saves Liko, but unfortunately fails to save Srigatito, who was later caught by Amethios Corviknight. This causes the group to retreat along with Sprigatito being held hostage, which is the setup for the next episode.
To put it simply, our Pokemon Horizons First Impressions and Pokemon Anime Review are really good. The Pokemon Horizons gave us a great show and a great first impression that we can all look forward to over the next few weeks. As exciting as the new show is, there’s still a lot of room for improvement as the show is basically starting from scratch.
Where is Roy in Pokemon Horizons?
In the first two episodes of the show, we didn’t see a trace of Roy, the show’s other protagonist. Although that could be the case, in the trailer for the next episode we see Roy while he has the mysterious Pokeball that will be revealed later in the show.
Verdict – Check it out, it’s really great
Since we were all so used to seeing Ash Ketchum and Pikachu move to the next or new region in the old Pokémon anime, we already knew what was about to happen. In the usual pilot episode of the new show, we’ll see Ash and Pikachu run out, get attacked by Team Rocket’s Jesse, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet, successfully fend them off, and launch themselves into the sky at the speed of light. He will then meet a new company who will join him in his explorations, and the adventure continues anew. We’ve obviously seen this evolve into something better in Pokemon Journeys: The Series, but given that this was the last Pokemon anime to feature the two protagonists, it was inevitable. Now that we have a new formula that’s going to kick off as the show starts over, it’s actually very interesting to see where the new Pokemon Horizons would go.
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Good luck, trainers!