To A New Sky! Brave Olivine!! - Pokémon Horizons Episode 68 Review - Rising Volt Tacklers Reassembled

Finally, the Rising Volt Tacklers are reunited! It feels like it’s been so long since we last saw the adults! I missed them a lot, and I hope you all did too! It’s back to adventures for our group! This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons is mainly a respite before they actually go back to adventuring. Their goal is to head to Kitakami to meet with Briar, as Raifort mentioned she was a Terapagos researcher who is stationed there at the moment.

After spending an entire arc seeing Liko, Roy and Dot adventuring in Paldea and taking on the Terastal Course, it feels nice to see the Brave Olivine again. While Liko’s Pokémon get bigger, they all still sleep on the same bed together, and that’s just adorable. I also like how Roy and Dot are getting closer as friends, as these two spent their morning trying to watch a Dragonite soaring through the clouds, a nod to how Dragonite are used to traverse back and forth from Paldea to the DLC regions. Interior-wise, the biggest changes in the Brave Olivine are the expanded engine room, and the kitchen makeover. They must have earned a lot of money doing side-gigs off-screen for this to happen! Oh, another big change is that three Tatsugiri have joined as airship Pokémon. There’s also a secret button that Friede has in the cockpit. I really get Roy here, a secret button and not being told to touch it only makes one even more curious!

The biggest surprise in the episode is having the three of the Six Heroes in the team's possession pop out of their balls to challenge the three kids to a battle as a test of strength. This really shows off how far Liko, Roy and Dot have come since the beginning. They’re able to withstand each of their attacks, though I think Arboliva, Galarian Moltres and Lapras were holding back a bit, as it is just test of their strength and not a legit battle. It was nice that the acknowledge the kid's newfound strength, and it makes me wonder how powerful the Heroes would be when they go all out. It was interesting that Liko and Dot were paired with the Heroes that matched Floragato and Quaxwell’s types, while Roy got stuck with Dark/Flying type Galarian Moltres, but it did work out as his Crocalor knows a Fairy-type move. The way they all Terastallized was super cool! Oh and I really liked the music! You can actually hear a remix of the Hoenn Gym Leader battle music in some scenes!

Amethio is also seen in this episode. He got fired, so he was going to leave the base, but Zirc and Onia wanted to tag along with him too. I find this really sweet. They’ve been together since the beginning of Horizons. While we may not know much of Zirc and Onia’s history, their loyalty towards Amethio is profound. It makes me wonder if they only joined the Explorers for him. Regardless, I’m glad that Amethio isn’t going off alone and that he has companions. I can’t wait to see what sort of antics they’ll get up to in this arc. I like that Zirc and Onia have their little quirks like Zirc watching a Nidothing stream, and Onia watching a Sprigatito video. I find them so cute, honestly.

Towards the end, you can see Kleavor popping up, with Perrin taking a photo and being quite baffled at what she saw. I really liked Perrin in the game, so I can’t wait to see what sort of role she’ll play in this arc! I wonder if Kleavor will take the place of the Bloodmoon Ursaluna side quest in-game.

A new arc means a new opening and ending song! Horizons uses another K-pop group to sing the new opening! Zerobaseone is quite a popular boy group in Korea right now due to them being from a survival show. I didn’t know they were popular enough in Japan to be asked to sing for an anime, and Pokémon of all franchises. I really like the song! It’s not as upbeat as the third opening, but it does have the Pokémon feel to it. Some shots in the opening got me curious too. There’s one with a younger Lucius, Gibeon, and a mysterious girl. I wonder who can that be? For the ending, it was super catchy. I think the singer from the previous ending song came back for this one! I love their little dancing. The little V-poses are so cute and I see a lot of of fan artists using it for their favorite Pokémon characters! It’s so cute how it’s an instant hit. My favorite part of the ending is the part where Roy is seen with his Pokémon, and they all wear sunglasses. I don’t know why, but I really liked that shot!

What do you anticipate the most for this arc? Let me know your thoughts about the episode, opening and ending, and any speculations you have![/bp]