Pokémon Horizons General Discussion/Speculation Thread

[DuskAstral]

I believe that this is actually the uniform of Celadon University,

Why do you think so?
There's no reason why Liko should study in Kanto and not in Paldea (I know the uniform is different from the SV games, but note that Liko is an exclusive anime character, not a playable character).

 

[Articfoxgamez]

it's also not impossible the uniform is different because the Anime has its own version of the school, to avoid favoring one game.

 

[nickdt]

The possiblity i haven't seen thrown around yet.


We have 2 protags... one is more focused on the World travelling aspect (Probably Roy) and the other ones is more geared towards Paldea storylines (Probably Riko).

 

[Kallyle]

Why do you think so?
There's no reason why Liko should study in Kanto and not in Paldea (I know the uniform is different from the SV games, but note that Liko is an exclusive anime character, not a playable character).

Putting aside the writer’s Kanto bias displayed in Journeys, Celedon City makes a lot of sense if Riki’s starter is indeed Sprigatito. As per the Violet entry:

The sweet scent its body gives off mesmerizes those around it. The scent grows stronger when this Pokémon is in the sun.

And what is Erika particularly known for (at least in the anime; it’s been awhile since I played the Kanto games)? Gardening and pleasant fragrances! Why wouldn’t the resident Gym Leader have an influence on a protagonist’s choice of starter?

Not only that, but the fact that the Celedon Gym is the home of the Rainbow Badge, which covers the whole color spectrum. Scarlet and Violet are at opposite ends of the color spectrum, so the spectrum theme is still represented even if Paldea isn’t where our protags came from.

This doesn’t mean I agree with the notion that new series will be Kanto-centric once again, just that Celedon City at least makes sense.

 

[DuskAstral]

Putting aside the writer’s Kanto bias displayed in Journeys, Celedon City makes a lot of sense if Riki’s starter is indeed Sprigatito

In my opinion, the fact that Sprigatito is the starter of Paldea makes it logical for me that the action should take place there to promote the region.

 

[PinkThunder]

Scorbunny was goh partner and the series its not focused in galar lol

 

[Hidden Mew]

Scorbunny was goh partner and the series its not focused in galar lol

While that is true, the fact that all of the Paldea starters are featured on the reveal poster makes it more plausible for the new series to be set in Paldea. At the very least, it most likely won't take them that long to feature the Paldea starters like it did with the Galar starters.

 

[sc190191]

Random musing, but I was thinking today how fun Iono's inclusion in the anime would be if it were still in the pre SM style where gym leaders were battled, but also frequently had additional involvement with the protags. We still don't know enough about this series to know what may or may not happen with Paldean gym leaders, but I really hope Iono gets some fun inclusion in some episodes, definitely my favorite gym leader in a long time

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Random musing, but I was thinking today how fun Iono's inclusion in the anime would be if it were still in the pre SM style where gym leaders were battled, but also frequently had additional involvement with the protags. We still don't know enough about this series to know what may or may not happen with Paldean gym leaders, but I really hope Iono gets some fun inclusion in some episodes, definitely my favorite gym leader in a long time

Larry too!
Larry screams Nanu 2.0. So depressed and doesn’t give a shit.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Random musing, but I was thinking today how fun Iono's inclusion in the anime would be if it were still in the pre SM style where gym leaders were battled, but also frequently had additional involvement with the protags. We still don't know enough about this series to know what may or may not happen with Paldean gym leaders, but I really hope Iono gets some fun inclusion in some episodes, definitely my favorite gym leader in a long time

Larry too!
Larry screams Nanu 2.0. So depressed and doesn’t give a shit.

SV's Gym Leaders deserve better treatment than Galar's got. They were a fun batch of characters. Kofu and Ryme also would be fun to see. Kofu's just got that wholesome fun energy and Ryme's just cool in general.

 

[Enzo]

SV's Gym Leaders deserve better treatment than Galar's got.

It still pains me so much such a cool cast of characters got thrown out of the window in JN. Galar did not deserved to get stomped to the ground as it did.

 

[Kurolegacy]

If there is one thing that I’m absolutely hoping with this series, it’s that Riko can finally break the trend we’ve had with female characters since XY where they absolutely had to be paired with cute plushies and weren’t allowed to be battlers.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

they absolutely had to be paired with cute plushies

Not gonna happen.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Not gonna happen.

They’re gonna have to at least try if she’s meant to be Ash’s replacement. Otherwise its gonna be a major step down going from a protagonist known for getting popular Pokémon to one who is only allowed to have plushies.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

They’re gonna have to at least try if she’s meant to be Ash’s replacement.

Ash is the original trainer that paired with a cute plushie.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Ash is the original trainer that paired with a cute plushie.

For the mascot partner yes, but the majority of his Pokémon weren’t especially the further into the series it got. After a point, the only times he’d have a plushie was if said plushie was more popular than it’s evolved forms.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

For the mascot partner yes, but the majority of his Pokémon weren’t especially the further into the series it got. After a point, the only times he’d have a plushie was if said plushie was more popular than it’s evolved forms.

May's starter was far from a plushie in its evolved forms, I'd say (they purposefully designed Blaziken to be unpopular compared to Torchic, actually, but things didn't quite go that way). Though I admit, that was a long while ago.

 

[FelipePR]

May's starter was far from a plushie in its evolved forms, I'd say (they purposefully designed Blaziken to be unpopular compared to Torchic, actually, but things didn't quite go that way). Though I admit, that was a long while ago.

I wouldn't say they purposefully designed Blaziken to be unpopular compared to Torchic. Both Pokémon have different concepts, but the creators must have intended for both to be successes.

And, I think, they achieved this. At least personally, and it seems to me that this feeling is shared by many, both Torchic and Blaziken are incredible Pokémon. And, for my part, this has nothing to do with the anime, but with their design that I love. To this day, Mega-Blaziken is my favorite fighting-type Pokémon.

What happens is that none of the startes and Hoenn have a "cute" or "plushie" final form, instead their final forms look "cool" or "bulky". On the other hand, in the first form of starters of that generation, the cutest one is Torchic, which is why it was given to May.

However, the creators, I think, put the development of the first female protagonist directly drawn from her in-game peers, ahead of the purely commercial aspect of her Pokémon, and evolved, therefore, her Torchic. And personally, I like that attitude. Since if May was a male character, no one would be arguing about that, because Blaziken is a very cool Pokémon (although combusken, which took a while to evolve, isn't lol).

In hindsight, in Sinnoh, none of the starters' final forms are either cute or plushie, which is probably one of the reasons that Dawn's Piplup never evolved and instead followed the same path that Pikachu.

In short, the fact that the initial form tends to be cuter is a general trend in the franchise and that had to have its logical and commercial reasons for continuing to do so.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I wouldn't say they purposefully designed Blaziken to be unpopular compared to Torchic. Both Pokémon have different concepts, but the creators must have intended for both to be successes.

I actually watched a "Did You Know Gaming" video last year that revealed that Torchic's evolutionary line was based on colorful chicks that are given away as prizes at Japanese carnivals, but are ditched once they grow up and become less cute. This same design concept was the basis for the Torchic line: a cute first stage, whose evolved forms get less cute and are therefore likely ditched. It obviously didn't go this way, but from what I recall, that was the original intention when designing those Pokémon.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

For the mascot partner yes, but the majority of his Pokémon weren’t especially the further into the series it got. After a point, the only times he’d have a plushie was if said plushie was more popular than it’s evolved forms.

Doesn't matter, he's still "paired up" with a cute plushie pokemon.