A Letter of Challenge from the Explorers - Pokémon Horizons Episode 43 Review - A Battle Over Sweets

When the Explorers start showing up, you know it’s getting to the end of an arc. With the third chapter of Pokémon Horizons announced, and with two of the Explorers showing up in this episode, it’s inevitable that a big battle is going to happen. I’m excited for the next two weeks. I also enjoyed this week's episode a lot too! It was surprisingly fun.

While Coral and Sidian (Sango and Onyx in Japan) were seen at the climax of the first arc, they weren’t really explored (no pun intended) as much compared to Amethio, his lackies Zirc and Onia, or even Hamber and Spinel. With this episode, their characters have finally been fully revealed. Coral is childish, petty and has a lot of energy, while Sidian is diligent, honorable, and serious. They sort of mesh well together in a sense, despite them not getting along. Coral’s personality reminds me a lot of the cartoonish villains that Team Rocket once were, but a bit more competent when it comes to villainy. In this episode, we saw her waiting in line for limited edition sweets, and when she lost the last one to a Cutiefly making a delivery, she takes it out on Liko and Roy who got their own sweets from helping out the manager. The way Coral freaked out over Liko opening the box, after which she challenged them to a battle, was just hilarious. The battle wasn’t about Terapagos or Black Rayquaza at all; it was simply a grudge over food. I think Coral challenging them to such a trivial battle shows that not all members of the Explorers are super serious, and some can have cute personalities, just like how Onia showed her adoration for Sprigatito back in the early episodes of the show.

I actually liked the Multi Battle between Liko, Roy, Coral and Sidian. The kids were battling rather competently for once, and Friede didn’t step in to save the day this time either. The kids were legit trying to strategize, rather than spamming the same moves over and over again. The difference between their early days and now feels like night and day, I’m really impressed! While the battle had to be put on hold, it was still good progress from our duo. Sprigatito managed to activate Overgrow, and Fuecoco didn’t spam Ember and actually used Flamethrower! Based on when we've seen each of Fuecoco's moves, this means that it can't have Tackle anymore.

I do wonder what the portion with Tinkatink was about. It felt a bit random, but it was still cute nonetheless. It was nice seeing the other Rising Volt Tacklers too! Mollie and Orla were running errands, but also were enjoying their time in the seaside town they were in. Murdock was feeding the Pokemon, and as usual, Ludlow was fishing and saying wise words. Friede meanwhile was slacking off on errands in the beginning, but decided to scout the unusual white tower that the male Swimmer mentioned in the previous episode; I love the continuity!

I can’t wait to see more of the Explorers next episode. I’m personally a big fan of Spinel, as he is my favorite character in the anime, and I am excited to know that he’s going to show up next episode. Do you think the kids did well in their battle and do you want to see them battle like this again in the future?