Review HZ038: SOS from Wakkanezumi?

[BigDocFan]

The latest episode of Pokémon Horizons has aired

Discuss it here

 

[Articfoxgamez]

Defenintly not the... most interesting Filler Episode ever, but it was nice seeing Hattena doing stuff and learning a move (Defenintly a support mon more so than a battler)
Also I KNEW it was possible it would be Maushold, not Tandemaus... which technically means Tandemaus's Anime existance so far is just an image on the Pokedex.

Mediocre Episode entertainment wise, but still nice with the Hatenna stuff (Wattrel next?).

 

[Eitarou]

This episode probably embodies the RVTs status as a found family the best so far.

Everyone working to move the tree, Mollie’s genuine relief for Liko’s safety.

I guess it’s fitting considering the Pokémon they chose to focus on this week. Welcome to the family, screamy rats.

 

[SamurottMan]

I thought this episode was quite fun. My main impression was that Liko can carry an episode by her own and her Pokemon.

Hatenna is great when she is shown using her powers and gets more to do. She couldn't be a more fitting Pokemon for Liko given her goals as a trainer.

As a fan of Maushold, I was hoping Liko would catch them, but it's still ok that they get to live in the great olivine now.

My only nitpick is why did they decide to give those hissing sounds to the Maus?

 

[Singaporean]

What a sweet and heartwarming episode. Especially, Liko trapped inside the Caverns without of any way out after her
Hatenna able to learn healing move on Maushold to dig it out from the caves after it collapse the exit.

Overall rating: B -

 

[Sakuraa]

I really enjoyed this episode, almost solely due to it debuting one of my favorite SV Pokémon, Maushold! I'm surprised the Pokedex didn't initially recognize the Pokémon and thought it was Tandemaus, despite the fact that we've seen the Pokedex recognize Pokémon in disguise. Either way, this episode was great. I love love love that little mouse family. Their expressions are just as adorable as they are in the games. And I didn't notice it at first, but upon rewatching it, it seems like the mice might be staying on the ship? I really really hope so. I adore these little beans and I would love to see them as Brave Olivine Pokémon. They're too precious. As for the rest of the episode, it was nice seeing Hatenna actually get some focus, including showing off a new move. My only downside with the episode was the lack of Roy, but I'm only willing to forgive that since he got a focus episode last week and I was too smitten with Maushold to really pay attention to anything else anyway.

Overall, 9/10 episode for Maushold!

 

[Kurolegacy]

You know I kinda gotta wonder if the wild Pokémon joining the ship is the writers’ solution to the issue of Goh’s captures from Journeys. This way, the ship gains a series of new Pokemon’l over the course of the series and none of the cast gets bogged down with a big number of pointless captures. Plus with them being around, it doesn’t take away the possibility of capture down the line.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Well, pretty boring episode overall in my opinion (but hey, what else is new, it's HZ after all,) but it was at least good to see Hatenna getting to do something and finally, officially use a move! Because it definitely used a move this time, I'm sure of it.

I mean, this

looks like a move to me, and if I had to guess I'd say that's Heal Pulse, based on the glow and the fact it healed the Maushold with it.

But besides that? Pretty big yawner for me. Not much action or really much of anything going on besides the Maushold rescue. And yay, now the Maushold's living on the Brave Olivine with the rest of the RVTs. That's.........great, I guess? Except my only problem with that, and with all the Pokemon living on the ship, is they just feel kinda.......there? Like, they don't really do much of anything, and I forget they exist half the time. And now Maushold's just gonna be another one.

You know I kinda gotta wonder if the wild Pokémon joining the ship is the writers’ solution to the issue of Goh’s captures from Journeys. This way, the ship gains a series of new Pokemon’l over the course of the series and none of the cast gets bogged down with a big number of pointless captures. Plus with them being around, it doesn’t take away the possibility of capture down the line.

However, kinda just like Goh's Pokémon, they just feel........there, like in the background, not doing anything memorable, and pretty much being forgettable. I guess it's better than giving them to someone like you said, but.......I'd rather they just not be there at all, or at least have someone catch them soon. I mean, look at that random Pawmi for example. It's a Gen 9 Pokémon, new and everything, aaand........it's completely and utterly forgettable. It just fades into the background, and it's been doing so for the entire series so far. Just saying.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

A nice little episode that while kinda dull at first and felt like it was spinning the wheels for time was made up thanks to Liko who was really sweet in this just taking care of the Maushold.

How can I say no to this little mouse family just trying to relax on a crowded ship?

 

[Eitarou]

Well, pretty boring episode overall in my opinion (but hey, what else is new, it's HZ after all,) but it was at least good to see Hatenna getting to do something and finally, officially use a move! Because it definitely used a move this time, I'm sure of it.

Dude, it used Confusion back in ep 28.

However, kinda just like Goh's Pokémon, they just feel........there, like in the background, not doing anything memorable, and pretty much being forgettable. I guess it's better than giving them to someone like you said, but.......I'd rather they just not be there at all, or at least have someone catch them soon. I mean, look at that random Pawmi for example. It's a Gen 9 Pokémon, new and everything, aaand........it's completely and utterly forgettable. It just fades into the background, and it's been doing so for the entire series so far. Just saying.

Yes, but unlike Goh’s Pokémon, the ship Pokémon are wild, so they don’t have the issue of “character has dozens upon dozens of Pokémon that just sit around doing nothing”. It’s harder to feel frustrated when a Pokémon doesn’t do much when it doesn’t belong to anyone.

Also, most of the ship ‘mons have an established role they perform, and we see them doing said roles frequently. They do have a reason for existing.

Plus, unlike Goh, it took us 30 episodes before we started getting any additions to the crew, so we don’t have to worry about overcrowding the place.

Honestly, it does truly feel like they took the criticisms of Goh to heart and tried to slim down and refine the Cerise Park concept.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

So, I'm gonna bet we are very rarely going to see Heal Pulse from Hattena, it's a niche use case.
They are sticking to the one mon a battle rule (save for the episode where the other guy also used multiple pokemon) so it cant be used to cheese with mid battle heals. So the only use case is encountering hurt pokemon outside of battle, which I cant imagine will happen often.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Dude, it used Confusion back in ep 28.

No, no it didn't. See, I thought that it did too, after first seeing the episode information on Bulbapedia but apparently that wasn't Confusion or even a move at all. It was just Hatenna using its innate psychic powers. It's stupid, really, why couldn't they have just let it be Confusion and be done with it instead of, "Oh, Hatenna used its telekinetic powers to lift the shovel! Oooooooooooooh!" Bullshit. But, seeing as how Confusion was removed from Hatenna's bio page on Bulbapedia, I guess that's how it is.

Also, most of the ship ‘mons have an established role they perform, and we see them doing said roles frequently. They do have a reason for existing.

Yeah, but keep in mind you're talking to someone who doesn't like the concept of the ship period, never mind the "crew." The whole thing is just weird to me.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

No, no it didn't. See, I thought that id did too, after first seeing the episode information on Bulbapedia but apparently that wasn't Confusion or even a move at all. It was just Hatenna using its innate psychic powers. It's stupid, really, why couldn't they have just let it be Confusion and be done with it instead of, "Oh, Hatenna used its telekinetic powers to lift the shovel! Oooooooooooooh!" Bullshit. But, seeing as how Confusion was removed from Hatenna's bio page on Bulbapedia, I guess that's how it is.

To be fair the episode didn't say Hattena used its innate powers. I assume it was removed from Bulbapedia because they also didn't say it was a move either. It just happened and the episode didn't tell us what exactly it was, its an assumption either way.

Edit: If you check the edit tab on the page, you can see the reasoning there. Like I thought it was just because it wasnt explicitly confirmed to be a move.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

Just realized this is the first episode since (Permanantly out of crystal state) introduction Terapagos didn't show up in, even as a brief cameo like some recent episodes. (Not counting the Recap)

 

[SamurottMan]

There's a looming "non-damage dealing moves suck" mentality going around this episode (not just here), which I don't understand. Like, what move did you expect Hatenna to learn when all she wanted at that moment was to help the sick Maushold?? Time and time the anime has brought up that Liko isn't a trainer who uses battling and brute force to fix the problem of the day, yet there's still expectations of her to be an Ash, basically.

I also disagree on Hatenna not knowing Confusion. The only reason it's up for debate is because the anime didn't highlight the move. Liko didn't even know the reason the shovel moved and it was never brought up, but it was definitely seemed like a move.

And what's the definition of 'filler' when Maushold joins the recurring ship pokemon cast?

 

[Articfoxgamez]

I feel like theirs two kinds of filler (In a show like this, its simpler for stuff that is an adaptation something else, like manga or a book or what not)
Can be entirely skipped and you miss nothing filler (hasnt been any of this yet)
Stuff happens but its unrelated to the main overarching plot filler (You will miss stuff if you skip it but will probably still enjoy the show and the main story)

A main character team capture being skipped would be missing part of that Pokemons arc, meanwhile so far theres nothing suggesting the ship pokemon will be anything more than static characters, so it counts as filler type 2.

 

[skynerel]

Thoughs

I had no idea that Chansey’s egg was edible. I was surprised when Charizard ate the whole thing and automatically started feeling better. That was interesting, at least.

I think the reason the pokedex didn’t recognize the Mausehold it’s because they were not all together. The difference with tandemaus is that they don’t have one the little ones, so pointing the pokedex at a lone mouse caused this.

I’m surprised they resisted the temptation to have Friede rescue Liko. I’m glad that at the end Liko found a way out of the cave with the help of the pokemon she was helping and Hatenna learning heal pulse was a good thing, I just hope they don’t forget about it.

 

[Eclipsical]

That was a nice Liko-focus episode! I was happy to see her take the initiative and determination to keep going because there might be more Pokemon in trouble. It is good character development for her and her goal to understand Pokemon. I was hoping that she would capture the Tandemaus, but once they revealed it was actually a Maushold, I knew they wouldn't give her a fully-evolved Pokemon. But I was still pleasantly surprised by it coming aboard the ship, so we'll get to see more of them at some point. Hatenna finally got some development of her own, becoming friends with Chansey and learning Heal Pulse. I liked the Molly screentime we got, she takes her job as a doctor seriously and I hope we get some more episodes focusing on one individual RVT member so they can really shine.

 

[Kurolegacy]

There's a looming "non-damage dealing moves suck" mentality going around this episode (not just here), which I don't understand. Like, what move did you expect Hatenna to learn when all she wanted at that moment was to help the sick Maushold?? Time and time the anime has brought up that Liko isn't a trainer who uses battling and brute force to fix the problem of the day, yet there's still expectations of her to be an Ash, basically.

I think the problem is that there’s basically no real nuance to their approach with Liko when it comes to the writers’ approach to her as a trainer. Say what you will about Ash but he much better represented the aspect of understanding the feelings of Pokémon as, just as they tried to emphasize for Liko in an attempt to be deep, there’s not just a single way of understanding another. Despite what the revisionist mentality seems to be with Ash, he didn’t only solve everything with battle especially when it came to helping Pokemon. He connected to the feelings of others through battle, through helping them overcome their shortcomings, through helping them when they’re weak, reuniting them with their loved ones, etc. There was a nuance befitting a protagonist. With Liko though, they try so hard to make her the polar opposite of Ash that it ends up feeling like she’s more designed for support but put in the spot of protagonist.

For another character that seems to follow this path but done much better is Yellow from Pokemon Adventures. In the beginning, she held a pacifist nature, not wanting to hurt either side and so would work towards solutions that avoided battle to the point that she kept her Pokémon from evolving. However through her development, she came to learn that sometimes that fighting is necessary and came to become a skilled trainer even if not to the same degree as the likes of Red. There was a nuance to her character that I don’t feel the writers are doing with Liko that I feel is hindering her as a trainer.

 

[ena9219]

Mollie and Liko rescue a Maushold that joins the crew and Hattena learns Heal Pulse. Not a big change to the status quo but it was fairly entertaining.