Hatenna and the Unworldly - Pokémon Horizons Episode 53 Review - How to Annihilape the Conflict

Man, last week's and this week’s episodes of Pokémon Horizons were back-to-back greatness! I really liked this one all the way through from how it started, to how the conflict was resolved. What’s cool is that the plot of this episode was due to something Ryme had said to Roy last episode, so they decided to check it out for a report! Best of all, it’s a Hatenna-focused episode!

I loved that the plot of this episode started off with a bit of continuity. Last episode, Ryme had told Roy about the mysterious "one not of this world" in the forest, so the kids decide to search for it as it was potential report material! I loved that all three of them were eager to look for it, it really shows that they get along very well. Their teamwork is impeccable in this episode too. They eventually meet three kids who look very similar to them, practically doppelgängers. I know that people have been speculating that they’re alternate reality versions of the main trio, but they’re not; they’re just lookalikes who happen to be taking the Terastal Course like our main trio are. However, what’s clever in this episode is how their similarities to our trio are the cause of conflict.

The mysterious figure in the forest happens to be an Annihilape. It lives with a group of Mankey and Primeape who are very upset that the vines they use to swing over to their food source have been cut. It’s actually due to the Liko lookalike, who tore a piece of vine to fix her bag strap. Since the three look so similar to the main group, and even have similar looking Pokémon, the wild Pokémon believe they were the culprits. There is a saying that those who meet their doppelgängers will have an unfortunate end. While nothing too tragic happens to the kids, they did have to resolve the conflict created by their lookalikes. Meanwhile, there are several Primeape that look identical to each other, and they kept fighting until they all evolved into Annihilape. The game Pokédex entry says that Annihilape came to be because Primeape was too angry to die. Yes, folks, we have confirmed death in the Pokémon anime — or, at least it could be taken that way.

I also liked how involved the group’s Pokémon are in this episode. While their starters do their fair share of battling, they also use their second Pokémon to help out the Mankey herd. Dot uses her Tinkatink to help create a bridge for the herd to cross and climb to get to their food. Roy uses Kilowattrel to cross the lake and complete the bridge. However, the star of this episode was Liko’s Hatenna, who had more involvement other than just helping out with the bridge. Hatenna was actively trying to resolve the Mankey’s herd’s conflict, and when the Primeape turned into Annihilape and started fighting with each other, their excessive anger caused Hatenna to evolve into Hattrem. She then violently stopped their fight by using Brutal Swing. As they are Ghost types, the attack seemed to be super effective, with all three being knocked out with a swing each. After they calmed down, Hattrem used Heal Pulse to patch them back up. Hattrem is setting herself to be a very violent healer, and I’d love for this to be a thing.

The saddest thing about this episode is that Hattrem can no longer fit inside Liko’s hoodie. That’s quite unfortunate for her, as she always loved being inside the hood as a Hatenna. She has to be a big girl now. Other than that, I think this was an excellent way to help progress with Hattrem’s character as she is an empath like Liko. I can’t wait to see what future episodes hold in store for Hattrem now that she is capable of fighting. Right now, Liko is the only one with two middle-staged evolutions, and Roy has one fully evolved Pokémon. Dot is lagging behind in terms of evolution, but it makes sense as she only became a serious trainer later than the other two. I feel like her Quaxly might evolve first, and then Tinkatink. I also have this feeling that Roy's Fuecoco might evolve soon too. What do you think about this episode and what are your predictions for evolution timing?