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Review HZ009: Arrival in Paldea!

Huh, they actually showed Liko's dad as a kid in a flashback, likely to make it impossible to claim that he is actually an older Ash though I'm sure some harebrained trolls will still come up with their classic insane troll logic to prove that ALEX = ASH ... hey, wait a second, their names start with the same letter!

Edit: Nevermind, some guy accidentally posted the link to a character of the day from the Hoenn era on the Bulbapedia page for the episode.
 
An alright episode for Liko return back her home to see her father. Think, he already knew that his little girl might been target by Explorer. It is a pity that she didn't catch Lechonk as being the first battle that her won like Roy did in previous episode. Ashamed, that Liko didn't caught on Nidothing is Dot. Which her mind told her is all illusion. At the end of episode, Liko determination to follow Rising Volt Tacklers, where they go. Which is a good thing.

Overall rating: C-
 
Nice episode. It was cool to finally see Paldea. I hope the kids stay there for a while, especially since it seems Rayquaza is still in the region. I enjoyed seeing Sprigatito show off some of its species characteristics when it got jealous of Fidough. Though just like with episode 1, I don't get why Liko doesn't just call Sprigatito back to its Pokeball when its acting up. I really thought she was going to do that here when she pulled the ball out, but sadly no. Oh well. Either way, it was nice seeing them come together to battle Lechonk.

I think this episode could have benefited from less Friede. It would have been so nice to see Liko and Roy exploring and hanging out without him for a change. I do hope we'll get to see adventures with just the two of them soon. I also liked seeing Dot actually come out of her shell a bit more, walking around the ship as she set the Nidothing costume out to dry. I'm guessing Liko and Roy will eventually figure out that it's her considering Liko saw the costume on the ship today. I'll give this one a 6/10.
 
Sakuraa said:
Though just like with episode 1, I don't get why Liko doesn't just call Sprigatito back to its Pokeball when its acting up. I really thought she was going to do that here when she pulled the ball out, but sadly no.
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She tried, though, even if there was no red beam, she tried recalling Sprigatito, but it ran away.
 
SamurottMan said:
She tried, though, even if there was no red beam, she tried recalling Sprigatito, but it ran away.
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Yeah, I imagine the "you can't force a Pokemon to return to its ball if it doesn't want to" rule is still in effect.
 
These dialogue-heavy, story set-up episodes are so hard to talk about, I swear.

Right, so the backbone for today's episode was Liko's complicated feelings about returning home. She's caught the adventure bug but the realisation her time with the Volt Tacklers was coming to an end (as their "job" was to safely deliver back home) puts her into a bit of a funk. What she wants is to keep travelling and unravel the mystery of her pendant; what she thinks is her dad will say no. She can't bring herself to outright tell him what she wants to do, and this worries her so much she can't even sleep. Fortunately, encouragement from the crew (including Dot!) helps her convey her feelings and her dad lets her go. Happy days.

For his part, Alex is a simple concerned parent who worried about how Liko would handle studying overseas, but was surprised by how much she'd grown in such a short space of time and encouraged by the bond she'd formed with Sprigatito. The jealousy subplot supported this: Liko could have simply put Sprigatito back into its ball but didn't, and Sprigatito waited for Liko to come back and leapt to her aid when she needed it. Sorry to all the Lechonk fans, but the pig just wanted some cake and coffee beans.

It's one those things where the most interesting thing is what we didn't see. Liko's mother was working overseas and couldn't get back in time, a fact which Liko just seems to accept and harbours no resentment for. The nature of their relationship has me curious because her concern for her daughter is seen in her hiring of the Volt Tacklers, but she seems to be absent a lot. Liko's grandmother may have had greater impact on Liko during that absence, as it's her words Liko uses to affirm her desire to travel. I'm waiting to see if Liko's mother plays an antagonistic role in the story, or if she's gonna be Lusamine 2.0.

Meanwhile, Friede was content with the outcome. He didn't fight for Liko's case, per se, but he clearly wanted her to keep travelling while at the same time being respectful of her parent's wishes. That he didn't intervene gave Liko greater agency, and ultimately is was a good thing Liko was able resolve the issue mostly by herself. Though I do wonder what her mother would think of Friede completing the job, only to potentially put Liko in harm's way on this Rayquaza hunt.

FWIW, there was no mention of gyms or anything like that. Alex heard from Brassius (likely an artist buddy) that he'd seen a rare Pokemon and recommended Friede and Liko go visit him next.

Other things: Mesagoza came and went with little fanfare (though I believe the school was Naranja Academy, rather than Uva), which was a touch disappointing for Paldea's major city, and there was a weird moment where Liko saw the Nidothing outfit hanging on the ship, convinced herself it wasn't real and promptly forgot about it. Roy was there and got some picture books. Cool for him, and something I'm assuming will be significant later because why even bother showing it otherwise.

Overall, a lowkey episode with just enough emotional tension/weight to prevent it from being too dull, but maybe could have benefitted from more fanfare surrounding Liko's return home.
 
Singaporean said:
Which her mind told her is all illusion.
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Jaye said:
a weird moment where Liko saw the Nidothing outfit hanging on the ship, convinced herself it wasn't real
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Where do people get this from? She only said it wasn't a good moment to think about the costume, no?
 
Max1996 said:
Where do people get this from? She only said it wasn't a good moment to think about the costume, no?
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My guesses, we won't be see the real identity of Nidothing is Dot till the series reach conclusion just like Blaziken Mask of Meyer and Masked Royal of Professor Kukui.
 
I'm surprised the Explorers weren't more directly addressed during the whole discussion about whether or not Liko should continue journeying with the RVT. Sure, we'll most likely get a follow up on that once Liko's mom returns, since she's the one who hired the RVT to protect Liko in the first place. But I figured Liko's dad (who's already established to be worried sick about Liko during her absence) would've brought up his concern regarding how his daughter is currently being targeted by a mysterious organization who have attacked the crew several times already.
 
Max1996 said:
Where do people get this from? She only said it wasn't a good moment to think about the costume, no?
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If that's what the subs say then sure, I stand corrected. I watched it raw and might have mistranslated.

Regardless, I think the point that her seeing it and then disregarding it being a little weird still stands. Even a simple "I'll think about it later" would have worked better for me.
 
Liko has spent 7 episodes doubting herself. Pull yourself together, girl.

I'm guessing Baby Terapagos will make the stories from her father's picture books come true? That is why the shiny Rayquaza showed up since he made a book about it? Makes sense if you consider the game lore when the Paradox Pokémon came from books in the school library. This could also explain why there are Hisuian forms in the ending since he might have made books about them as well.

Also it seems like Scarlet is canon in the anime. I hope we get to see Professor Sada.
 
Dot was defeated by the smell of her own costume and decided to air it out (shouldn't a hikikomori have better resistance to bad smells). Liko defeated a Lechonk (a bit of a waste that she didn't catch it), spotted evidence of Gurumin's true identity but had better things to do than figure it out, and got permission to go on an adventure (Although the fact that they). Sprigatito got jealous of and then made friends with Fidough. Roy gets a bunch of picture books from Liko's dad, and the team is on their way to ask Colza about shiny Rayquayza.


Edit: In a great loss for fans of robots and a great win for fans of dinosaurs (is there anyone who doesn't like both?) we're apparently in Scarlet.
 
Liko's dad not being Ash is a horrendous blow to us Amourshippers. I wouldn't be surprised if TPC released a statement directly addressing the shippers saying something along the lines of "POKEMON IS FOR LITTLE KIDS!!!"
 
Emelie said:
Liko has spent 7 episodes doubting herself. Pull yourself together, girl.

I'm guessing Baby Terapagos will make the stories from her father's picture books come true? That is why the shiny Rayquaza showed up since he made a book about it? Makes sense if you consider the game lore when the Paradox Pokémon came from books in the school library. This could also explain why there are Hisuian forms in the ending since he might have made books about them as well.

Also it seems like Scarlet is canon in the anime. I hope we get to see Professor Sada.
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Unless the baby Terapagos can also warp time and space, that doesn't make sense given Rayquaza's Poke Ball was found by Roy's grandfather in Kanto, presumably before Alex was even born.
 
It’s an overall fine episode. I think Liko doubts herself more in here because she is dealing with a different type of conflict than the conflict she dealt with at the beginning of the series. So, Liko constantly doubting herself does make sense. Hopefully, that’ll be resolved by the end of the series and not every episode will be focusing on Liko doubting herself. That I doubt that (pin not intended) as I assume Pokémon wants to make inspirational characters (for the kids of course) that evolve and step up from their challenges.

I also have a question for all of you. Remember that part where Roy almost gets run over by a Cyclizar? Who was actually at fault in the situation? I think it’s the guy riding the Pokémon as he should’ve been more careful while riding in the city. I know this is a kind of silly question (about a less significant scene) but I legitimately wonder what people who understand the scene think.
 
I'm a little bit later than usual to reviewing this episode, but I thought it was really good!

A nice introduction to the Paldea region and an excellent episode for Liko and her development. This is the point she finally solidifies her resolve to find out the mystery of the pendant. I wonder if we will learn more about her grandmother, who appears to have been the previous owner of the pendant. Liko's father even said that Liko has the same "sense of adventure" that her grandmother did. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by Alex in this episode; the summary made him seem a lot more strict in wanting Liko to stay home, while in the actual episode, he was just a well-meaning father worried about his kid.

Dot also got a bit of development in this episode. Ludlow told her that "caring but not doing anything to show you care is the same as not caring", which is why she gave Liko that drawing. Liko did acknowledge that she saw the Gurumin outfit, but had more pressing matters to attend to. I imagine the secret won't hold on for that much longer, that was pretty much the only missing link for her to make the Dot = Gurumin connection since Dot's main partner is a Quaxly.

Roy continues to be adorable with his sheltered nature now being exposed to the wonders of the world and how he is so excited to see new Pokemon he has never seen before.

Overall, a very good episode! Can't wait to see Nemona next episode. I don't particularly care about Brassius. However, the fact that he claims he saw a "rare Pokemon", but didn't specifically call it a Rayquaza (a Pokemon everyone probably knows about), makes me think it will be something never-seen-before, such as Koraidon/Miraidon, or some sort of Paradox Pokemon.
 
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