As Long As I'm With Quaxly, I Can Do It - Pokémon Horizons Episode 16 Review - The battle to retrieve the pendant unfolds

I can see why this anime is called Pokémon Horizons; it goes on horizons far beyond its own capabilities. Episode 16 is now the best episode of the series by far. The animation, the execution and the buildup to what’s to come were all handled beautifully!

The animation was the best I’ve seen the Pokemon do. Ufotable actually helped with the in-between animation for this episode; no wonder the animation looks so crisp, especially when it comes to Pokemon movements! I think my favorite part is when Dot gets a closeup of her face as her hair flows in the wind and shows off her eyes, and then Quaxly is shown with a serious look and its hair flowing in the wind as well. I think that is just flawless animation right there.

The way things were executed were handled well. I’m amazed everything fit into the episode without it being too rushed or too underwhelming. Though, I was a bit surprised that Quaxly had been a wild Pokemon all this time; I wasn’t expecting Dot to capture it in the beginning, but I liked how the writers wanted to get it out of the way first before going into the good stuff.

I also really liked how well the Rising Volt Tacklers worked as a team. Friede used his Charizard to go to and from different locations and he even got a battle of his own. Murdock, Orla and Mollie were doing their best to gather information about where the kids could’ve gone. Ludlow was being Ludlow. The real meat of the friendship came from the kids. All three worked well together. Dot being a clever battler but not a strong one was actually something I was expecting. She’s inexperienced, but still used her intelligence to find a way to let Liko and Roy know where she is by making Quaxly use Water Gun. Liko was struggling to get on the boat, but Roy was helping her along the way and even protected her from Beheeyem. Liko then protected Dot by being brave and challenging Magneton and Beheeyem to a battle. The Rising Volt Tacklers and their Pokémon together comprise a huge cast, but the way the writers are able to incorporate them all in an episode is seriously amazing because I know for a fact that for some animes with a large cast, screen time is often a struggle.

Liko, Roy, and Dot didn’t actually defeat Spinel in battle, but the fact that they beat his Beheeyem and Magneton together was a good improvement from them. Spinel didn’t lose to novice kids, but had to retreat because he was caught off-guard by Arboliva and knew that the it would be no match for him. This is a total step up from Episode 5 where Liko beat Onia’s Golduck offscreen (they really should have kept her name as Conia for the English dub, it just rolls off the tongue so much better).

The buildup for what’s to come both intrigues and excites me. I've said it before, but I actually like Spinel as a villain. He’s cunning and intelligent. The way that he’s able to piece things together and even goes out of his way to hide information from his colleagues for his own purpose makes him even more intriguing; he figured out that the pendant’s key is Liko, and he hid that information as he let his colleagues berate him.

Speaking of which, the new Explorers admins all have amazing designs. I’m surprised designs like these are being used in a Pokemon anime, because these guys look as if they could be villains in a urban fantasy Shounen anime of sorts. The way they showed up makes me want to know more about them. Their names are Onyx, Agate and Sango (which means Coral in Japanese). I like how they keep the mineral theme names, it reminds me of Sailor Moon where the Dark Kingdom's Shitennou (四天王; meaning "Four Heavenly Kings", the same title Pokémon uses for the Elite Four), as well as the Black Moon Clan from Sailor Moon’s second arc were named after minerals and gemstones. Also, I’m surprised that they got Ikue Ohtani, the voice actress of Captain Pikachu, Ash’s Pikachu, and Sawyer from the XY anime, to voice Sango. This being her second major human character, and a cute female one at that, makes me intrigued for what’s to come for this character and how Ohtani will voice a villain. I can’t wait for future episodes! Out of the three new admins, I think that Agate has the most beautiful design. It’s rare to see such a design in Pokemon, from her skin tone to the trapezoid motif. It makes me want to know more about her.

The way Dot decides to tell Liko her secret of being Nidothing as a way of thanking her for everything was surprising. I thought this running gag would go until the end of the anime, but I’m glad that’s not the case. I’m wanting to see how this will affect Liko and Dot’s relationship now. Will Liko be a fangirl? Will Liko be super protective of her? I can’t wait see where this reveal will head.

This review ended being rather long. I can’t help it. There was so much to talk about; amazing episodes deserve to have long reviews. This episode had extremely positive reactions amongst the community and I can finally see why. What are your thoughts on how this episode turned out? Are you excited for what’s to come for the Rising Volt Tacklers?