Review HZ004: A Washed-Ashore Treasure

[BigDocFan]

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/HZ004

The fourth episode of Pokemon Horizons has aired, discuss here

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Decent enough episode and a good introduction to Roy.

I was a little sceptical of him at first but if this this ep is anything to go by then I'm more and more curious to see how this plot of his is gonna go. And more so for the Explorers as well.

 

[BigDocFan]

Full VA list courtesy of Adamant

Minori Suzuki: Liko
Megumi Hayashibara: Nyahoja
Yuka Terasaki: Roy
Taku Yashiro: Friede
Ayane Sakura: Orio
Kenta Miyake: Murdock
Kei Shindo: Molly
Ikkyu Juku: Landau
Shun Horie: Amethyo
Kohsuke Tanabe: Zir
Arisa Shida: Conia
Hironori Kondo: Hamberg
Jin Urayama: Roy's Grandfather
Takumu Miyazono: Roy's Homeroom Teacher
Yoshino Aoyama: Gurumin
Daisuke Namikawa: Kuwassu
Daiki Yamashita: Hogator
Ikue Ohtani: Captain Pikachu

It was interesting to see the Pendant glow after the Poke Ball did, there must be a connection

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Staff for the episode from Dephender:

Screenplay 佐藤大 (Dai Sato)
Storyboard 浅田裕二 (Yūji Asada)
Episode Director 浅田裕二 (Yūji Asada)
Animation Director 岩根雅明 (Masaaki Iwane)
Animation Director 志村泉 (Izumi Shimura)

 

[BigDocFan]

Strange that the staff lists come out after the episode airs

 

[Singaporean]

A very decent episode for the introduction of Roy. Also, love to see his throwing rock distraction of saving Liko. However, ultimately it lead up to our OP professor Friede to save the day by feeding them to clam them down after Fuecoco have ate them earlier from their secret hiding. On the other hand love to see other character dislike stuff such as repairing after their airship badly damage from Explorers during last battle. However, the tracking device that their member have placed. Which might follow them whenever they go.

Overall rating: B+

 

[Weddingbells]

So what do you guys think of roy

 

[BlueLugger]

Fuecoco's got a lot of adorable moments for it going in it's ditzy personality, but among the most endearing is that it can sing! (A references to it's evolved forms to which follow a festive occupation in singing - such as the Paldean starters following the concept of carnival, festival, and/or circus troupes in their designs) I mean, I can't help HOW CUTE THIS COCODRILLO IS! I'm real GLAD that I started this Poke off in my Violet game!

 

[Emelie]

Roy reminds me a lot of Iris. That was kind of unexpected since I expected him to be a copy of Go. The only problem I have with Roy and especially Friede right now is that they don't seem to have any flaws? I feel like Friede is becoming more and more of a Gary Stu by each episode.

It's interesting that one of the kids in Roy's online class mentioned Ash and Pikachu which confirms that they are in the same universe. It's a shame Liko wasn't in that scene since we could have gotten a confirmation if she wears her hairclip because she is a fan of Ash. They also talked about goals which could have made Liko think about her own goal.

Another thing I noticed was that the scene with Roy and Liko seems to reference the first scene with Ash and Gary. I wonder if that could be a hint Roy knows what is in the Pokéball but decided to keep quiet about it until he can trust Liko?

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Horizons continues to actually really keep my attention. The tone of this episode was definitely different compared to the last couple. It felt more laid back, and certainly quite wholesome.

Roy was legitimately enjoyable. I agree that he kinda has Iris vibes to an extent. Seems he's a smart kid also. Seems he just really wants to get out on his own adventure, and I like that he's also doing remote classes like Liko will be.

Fuecoco was the star for sure. Its so cute. I enjoyed seeing the bond between Fuecoco and Roy begin to form. I thought the moment when Fuecoco was singing was so precious. It makes me wonder if we will see it someday evolve into the Singer Pokemon itself.

Friede definitely had a pretty cool moment at the end for sure, but I do hope he doesn’t become a Gary Stu though. These moments have been cool, but I hope to see some flaws.

Overall very solid episode and I like that we're building up a bit more rather than rushing to Roy joining so quickly.

 

[Sakuraa]

Finally, the episode I've been waiting for. I already thought I'd like Roy, but OMG, I adore this kid. He is so cute, so sweet, so precious and I love him. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him just live his carefree life skipping stones in the water, roaming around the island, and even attending school online. It's weird though, I thought Roy wasn't made an Indigo Academy student was because he just wasn't in school, but it seems like he definitely is, just a different one. Either way, I thought the scene of Roy singing with Fuecoco was the cutest thing ever. Like it was seriously so precious.

I like Roy's little habit of flinging rocks, and I hope we get to see more of this. Liko and Roy's interactions were nice, and they already seem to get along despite Liko being shy. A huge surprise was definitely Liko and Roy's pendant and Pokeball glowing at the same time. Seems like there's going to be a connection there. It was a nice change of pace to have Roy actually not go back to the airship with Liko and Roy. I feel like if this was part of the past series, Roy would have found some way to follow Liko and join the crew. But this is a nice change of pace since it means we should hopefully get more time to see Roy on his own for a bit before he joins.

Overall, a great episode. My only complaint is the beginning portion with the Volt Tacklers (though seeing the best character, Quaxly, again was nice), as I felt the scenes of Murdock eating a carrot and stuff like Orla calling him just weren't necessary. Still, it's a 9/10 for me though.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

I mean, technically we have seen a flaw with Friede forgetting to tell important information. Doesnt always have to be some major negative trait.

 

[Weddingbells]

Roy reminds me a lot of Iris. That was kind of unexpected since I expected him to be a copy of Go. The only problem I have with Roy and especially Friede right now is that they don't seem to have any flaws? I feel like Friede is becoming more and more of a Gary Stu by each episode.

It's interesting that one of the kids in Roy's online class mentioned Ash and Pikachu which confirms that they are in the same universe. It's a shame Liko wasn't in that scene since we could have gotten a confirmation if she wears her hairclip because she is a fan of Ash. They also talked about goals which could have made Liko think about her own goal.

Another thing I noticed was that the scene with Roy and Liko seems to reference the first scene with Ash and Gary. I wonder if that could be a hint Roy knows what is in the Pokéball but decided to keep quiet about it until he can trust Liko?

When did they refer to Ash?

 

[Articfoxgamez]

When did they refer to Ash?

They said Pikachu but I dont think they ever said Satoshi so I think they misheard it. Just talking about the Pokemon in general.

 

[Jaye]

Just to clear this up, the kids didn't mention Ash at all. All they said was since Roy lived in Kanto, he could catch a Pikachu.

On that note, any early fears Roy would be too similar to Ash have been immediately vanquished. Roy's ambition (he notably refers to his goal as a "plan" rather than a "dream") to challenge legendary Pokemon and sunny disposition don't preclude him from having smarts. He's clearly a talented kid waiting to break free from the island he lives on, but there's also something holding him back from doing so. Plenty of Pokemon live on the same island, yet he hasn't caught one to start his own journey unlike some of his classmates. Going by the preview for the next episode, I imagine we'll learn what this is.

My favourite scene was undoubtedly Roy and Fuecoco singing together. It was such a simple thing that showed Roy was already reaching an understating with it, in contrast to Liko needing longer to understand Sprigatito. Whether this will be the theme going forward we'll have to see, but Roy is striking me as the type who just "gets" Pokemon versus Liko who needs to study them more (the first half of the episode was her learning about Fuecoco's habits from the crew members, for instance).

As for Friede, I've already decided he's going to be a meme this series. The show will do its darndest to make him seem like the coolest person ever and sometimes it'll work and other times it'll just be so ridiculous it's funny. Him skipping around string shots to tie up the Pokemon was just plain goofy and honestly, if they take this idea to its logical extreme I'm down for it. That aside, there was a sliver of something deeper going on with him, as he seems to have some hang up about being a professor, which gives me hope his character will have a little more depth than super-competent-leader-everyone-looks-up-to.

So far, it's noticeable how each episode has ended with foreshadowing for the next one. This wasn't Pokemon's style before, as most episodes were self-contained and ended by wrapping up the one-off story without a hook for what's coming next. It's too early to say for sure, but I wonder (and hope, tbh) this is a sign Horizons won't be as episodic as we're used to. It could just be that once we're out of this honeymoon period the show will settle into something we're more accustomed to, but for now, I'm enjoying the story being built-up week on week.

 

[Weddingbells]

Can someone

Just to clear this up, the kids didn't mention Ash at all. All they said was since Roy lived in Kanto, he could catch a Pikachu.

On that note, any early fears Roy would be too similar to Ash have been immediately vanquished. Roy's ambition (he notably refers to his goal as a "plan" rather than a "dream") to challenge legendary Pokemon and sunny disposition don't preclude him from having smarts. He's clearly a talented kid waiting to break free from the island he lives on, but there's also something holding him back from doing so. Plenty of Pokemon live on the same island, yet he hasn't caught one to start his own journey unlike some of his classmates. Going by the preview for the next episode, I imagine we'll learn what this is.

My favourite scene was undoubtedly Roy and Fuecoco singing together. It was such a simple thing that showed Roy was already reaching an understating with it, in contrast to Liko needing longer to understand Sprigatito. Whether this will be the theme going forward we'll have to see, but Roy is striking me as the type who just "gets" Pokemon versus Liko who needs to study them more (the first half of the episode was her learning about Fuecoco's habits from the crew members, for instance).

As for Friede, I've already decided he's going to be a meme this series. The show will do its darndest to make him seem like the coolest person ever and sometimes it'll work and other times it'll just be so ridiculous it's funny. Him skipping around string shots to tie up the Pokemon was just plain goofy and honestly, if they take this idea to its logical extreme I'm down for it. That aside, there was a sliver of something deeper going on with him, as he seems to have some hang up about being a professor, which gives me hope his character will have a little more depth than super-competent-leader-everyone-looks-up-to.

So far, it's noticeable how each episode has ended with foreshadowing for the next one. This wasn't Pokemon's style before, as most episodes were self-contained and ended by wrapping up the one-off story without a hook for what's coming next. It's too early to say for sure, but I wonder (and hope, tbh) this is a sign Horizons won't be as episodic as we're used to. It could just be that once we're out of this honeymoon period the show will settle into something we're more accustomed to, but for now, I'm enjoying the story being built-up week on week.

Can someone show me how Roy is different from Ash. I heard some people said he was clever ? I can't find the episode link

(Unless anyone has it)

 

[ena9219]

Liko gets assigned to be a lookout and is focused on her cat instead. To be fair Sprigatitio is very distracting.

Roy seems to be a fairly bright kid with a remarkable talent for throwing rocks. It's clear that he will soon be a Pokémon trainer starting with Fuecoco. There's definitely something Terapagos related in his Pokéball, it will probably be a while before we find out what. He apparently isn't concerned that the flag he found has an owner but he'll most likely end up giving it back once he joins the crew.

Friede's professorship gets added to the list of things he hasn't bothered to mention but it seems to be on purpose rather than his usual bad habit. His dodging skills are rather impressive.

Unfortunately, Anne apparently won't be getting screen time every episode. Hopefully, it's just because this is a Roy focus episode.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

I’m still a massive Quaxley fan, but maybe Fuecoco has become my number 2 starter choice in Scarlet and Violet thanks to this episode. It was insanely cute in this episode.

Also interesting thing I noticed, but was Amethio and the mustached guy talking about someone in the Explorers that is interested in the pendant? Maybe like a boss or something? I guess it seems that there’s still a lot more to learn about the Explorers.

 

[JollyYoshi]

It’s gonna be sort of sad when Spiragatito and Fuecoco evolve. (If they at all) Fuecoco won’t be singing as cute as he is. (But he will probably still sing because he evolves into Skele”dirge”) Though, hopefully there’ll be something just as great to replace these scenes.

Spiragatito and Liko sort of feel like they’re more friends than Pokémon trainer and Pokémon. They feel more intertwined than Ash and Pikachu were. Liko is a fresh new trainer who doesn’t have much experience like Spiragatito is. In the first few episodes though, Ash and Pikachu sort of seemed to clash and aren’t always “same”.

It wasn’t the most surprising that Roy didn’t join the Volt Tacklers right away. I’m also glad that the leaf storm didn’t just take out the enemy in one shot because that’s get boring quick.

I’m also glad that the explorers weren’t just the trio as that would definitely make the story more interesting or lead to a climax and then to a bigger climax.

 

[Rockapheller]

It's interesting that one of the kids in Roy's online class mentioned Ash and Pikachu which confirms that they are in the same universe.

When did they refer to Ash?

Actually it is just that one of the classmates asks him why he doesn't catch a Pikachu. There is no mention of either Ash or Ash's Pikachu.