Liko And Floragato, Put All Your Heart Into It - Pokémon Horizons Episode 47 Review - A Sweetheart's Bittersweet Challenge

Wait a second, is this week's episode of Pokémon Horizons the first time that Friede hasn’t shown up in an episode? Wow! I just realized this when his seminar came up right at the end. Anyways, this was actually a really great episode! Liko gets to battle Katy, and terastalizes Floragato for the first time too!

One thing to point out that might disappoint some people is that Liko's battle with Katy isn’t an actual Gym challenge. If you paid attention to the previous episode, the Terastal Course was never a “Gym Battle Challenge”, but a training course that the Gym Leaders are involved in; the Gym Leaders feel like instructors here. There’s really no reason for Liko, Roy and Dot to go on a journey challenging Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and then Nemona.

I really like how Katy is portrayed in the anime. In the games, she's ordered to hold back her real power as she is considered the “beginner” Gym Leader and that Bug-types are often weak, so I feel like she gets underestimated a lot in the fanbase and in the game. However, in this iteration, Katy is seen as someone who usually has a sweet demeanor, but who can be strong and menacing if pushed. She literally kicks "Sandwich" (Coral) out for creating an icy mess in her kitchen. She’s definitely someone you do NOT want to cross ever. Speaking of which, Katy’s voice actress is Kotono Mitsuishi. While her most famous role is Sailor Moon, she has had several Pokémon roles in the past, including voicing Domino in the Mewtwo Returns special, and Malva in Pokémon Masters EX.

As a Gym Leader, Katy's actually very strategic and tactical. The way her Teddiursa battles is just like her demeanor, adorable and sweet, but with the potential to be menacing. The way she kept commanding it to use moves like Charm and Sweet Scent to distract Floragato was pretty sweet! I do like how the anime usually expands on Gym Leaders’ battles and this was excellent! I especially loved how the Bug-Type Terastal looked on Teddiursa!

Liko is a bit more nervous in this match than in her battle against Ann in the previous episode. She was confident with Ann because she had challenged her before, and didn’t feel like she needed to hold back or be scared. For Liko, this battle against Katy is the first time she’s battling a Gym Leader. Also, of the three kids, she’s the one to go first, so being nervous is understandable. She was also a bit nervous during the cake making challenge with Coral as she has never baked a cake by herself before, having previously only helped Murdock in the kitchen. I did like that Liko’s nervous habit is still being retained, it would be out of character if she was suddenly confident when she’s normally cautious. I also liked that she brings out the Tera Orb towards the end of the battle, and how the intensity of the match increased because of it. Despite Liko losing the battle, I felt like her getting the stamp was deserved because Liko really did a great job with the timing and showing off her strong bond with Floragato. I'm sure some people are going to draw parallels between this and all of the Gym Badges that Ash received without actually defeating the Gym Leaders though.

There was also some comedic moments this episode, mostly with the only member of the Explorers who shows up in this episode, Coral. Just like how she was mad about the sweets back in Episode 43, she got mad again in this episode about not being able to eat sweets. Will this be a running gag with her, I wonder? I do like how Dot points out that Coral’s tantrum is making her a Karen, essentially. It'll be interesting to see how the dub decides to phrase that. Also, it’s nice that even Murdock recognizes her as an Explorers member, so no one is holding the idiot ball with the obvious disguise in this show. It really makes me happy to see them staying away from that old trope!

In place of Friede being completely absent for the first time, Murdock is present for the entire episode as he works part-time at Patisserie Soapberry in Cortondo to earn money so Orla can buy the necessary materials to repair the Brave Olivine. I think this is rather clever way to handle things. It's certainly a lot better than having them not do anything, or only do things off-screen without an update. Murdock was honestly adorable in this episode, especially the part where he was introducing Katy to the kids. Mollie also gets a mention in this episode. Being the most fashion-oriented of the group, she was the one who picked out Dot’s casual clothes.

I’m honestly excited for what’s to come! I really liked this episode in terms of what it presented from the Gym Leader, both with a fun little side challenge and then to the actual battle. I can’t wait to see Roy and Dot’s battles against their own assigned Gym Leaders! It’s too bad that Roy’s battle has to wait for two weeks though, as there’s a scheduled break next week. What are your thoughts on this episode?