Dot and Nidothing - Pokémon Horizons Episode 49 Review - Iono About This, Dot...

In this week's episode of Pokémon Horizons, it's Dot's turn to undertake her Basics test for the Terastal course! I honestly like how, before they challenge the Gym Leader, the characters have to go through a little test to overcome their weaknesses. It's a good way to showcase the flaws in their personality, and how they can overcome their problems if they work together with their Pokémon. Liko’s flaw was her low confidence, and Roy’s was his impatience and recklessness. Now it's Dot’s turn to challenge her crippling shyness. Unlike the others though, she's going to need the entire episode to complete her pre-test challenge.

If Dot having stage fright seems like it's coming a bit out of left field, it shouldn’t be that surprising. It makes absolute sense that she’d have it due to her always dressing up in her "Nidothing" Nidorina kigurumi for her videos. If she wasn’t shy, Dot would be streaming as herself. In this episode, we got to see Dot at her lowest. Because of her stage fright, her shyness has increased, causing her to mess up in her rehearsal battle against Roy. Of the three kids, Dot has the most wins, so you know she’s not having a great day when she lost to Roy, who only got his first win last week. Deciding to battle Iono as Nidothing wasn’t like her at all, and Liko and Quaxly could both see it. While Dot is Nidothing, using her online persona for the battle does feel like she’s trying to run away from her shyness, rather than confronting it head on. Nidothing is how Dot separates her work from her personal life, and Liko and Quaxly both know that Dot isn’t someone who wants to bring work to her personal matters at all. Dot is the one taking the course, not Nidothing.

As you'd expect, Iono also plays an important role in this episode. Not only is she the Gym Leader Dot is going to challenge for the Terastal course, but she’s also the one who provided the other members of the Rising Volt Tacklers a place to stay at, since Levincia has a large dock where the Brave Olivine can be docked while it's being worked on by Orla. Throughout her appearances, Iono always called Dot as “Madame Nidothing sans the suit”, but towards the end of the episode, she finally calls Dot by her name. I feel like it was a move of respect towards her. I also feel like Iono was a bit manipulative, but not in a bad way? Like she suggested that Dot could take the test as Nidothing, but it felt like a test for Dot to get rid of her stage fright. There are two things I want to know about Iono though. Firstly, did she got a recording of the Black Rayquaza incident a few episodes back? Secondly.... just how is she able to eat a cake while holding a fork and plate with her sleeves. That is a very thick jacket, so you'd think it must be extremely difficult to grip her fingers with.


I guess my only gripe with this episode is the fact that Dot's Tinkatink seems to have caused the wild Varoom to get angry, but we don’t get to see just see how it transpired. Tinkatink was shown staring at the Varoom, and then a few minutes later Varoom is angry while Tinkatink is crying. Horizons’ bad habit of cutting away from important details strikes again.

Anyways, I can’t wait to see the match with Iono! I’m sure Dot will give a good battle, even if she's got the type disadvantage here. Winning or losing doesn’t matter in these Terastal course battles as long as the assigned Gym Leader finds the battle satisfactory. I have this odd feeling that Quaxly will evolve next week too! What are your thoughts about this episode?