Nov3

Encounter at the Crystal Pool - Pokémon Horizons Episode 71 Review - The Ghost Of The Crystal Pool

Despite this week's episode being segmented into three different parts, Pokémon Horizons actually does a good job transitioning between all of it in one episode without making things feel too clunky or rushed. It’s a well-paced episode, that gives everything it needs to without putting anything off into off-screen land, or leaving it for another episode.

The first part of the episode had the kids and Friede finally reaching the Crystal Pool to search for Briar. Friede decides to search for her while the kids take in the sight of the Crystal Pool. Then, a Milotic shows up and terastallizes. I do like that ever since the third arc, the kids are more proactive in battling, and don't need Friede to help them out anymore. These three go in a sort of Tera Raid Battle with the terastallized Milotic, and actually hold out pretty well until the battle ends with Milotic and Crocalor singing, which was super cute. The Milotic in the pool is actually an occurrence that happens in-game. The Milotic isn’t terastallized in the game, but it is programmed with a Ghost-Type tera, synonymous to the legend about the Crystal Pool being a place where one can see those who passed away. I liked how the anime actually makes this happen as a way to make up for not putting it in the game. My favorite part was how the kids decided to bait Milotic out by doing a sort of water yo-yo pulling tactic, where Quaxwell is the bait, Floragato is the reeler, and Crocalor attacks when it goes through. These kids really know how to strategize even in tight spots now!

After the battle, Briar shows up. This is where the episode transitions into Area Zero and Terapagos lore, with Briar talking about how she had previously met a Terapagos, as well as telling the group about Heath. With how Briar talked about meeting a Terapagos before, it makes me wonder if Pokémon Horizons’ storyline takes place sometime after Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's DLC. It now makes sense why Arven didn’t play a huge role, and why Kieran didn’t show up with Carmine. I did like the parallels between Briar and Liko, in that they’re both searching for the past for answers. According to the episode, it seems like Heath has found Terapagos first, and then Lucius stumbled across it years later, hence why he was aware of the name Terapagos. I honestly can’t wait to see how this all tie together. Briar said that she’ll contact the group in regards to Area Zero later on, so it feels that this will be the first and only instance of Briar being significant to the story for a while. It sucks because she was built up to be super important ,only to appear in a single episode. I guess they’re doing the same thing with the Gym Leaders from the previous arc, in that they show up once but then also show up later on in the season. At least, I hope Briar shows up again later on in the arc.

The final part of the episode had the Rising Volt Tacklers pondering about their next objective. They decide to look for the rest of the Six Heroes, but have no idea where they could be. Fortunately, Dot, who was wondering around Mossui Town to get video footage for content, stumbles upon a Hisuian Growlithe and its trainer, Perrin. Perrin was definitely a scene stealer for me, she was very charming here. She’s playful, but also keeps a mysterious air to her. She challenges Dot to a battle like how she does in the game, using a Leafeon reminiscent of her game counterpart and ancestor Adaman. Dot pulls off a win thanks to Quaxwell having learned Air Cutter in place of Pound, giving them the type advantage. Though, she does need to explain why she said she’s from Hisui when the region is now Sinnoh. Perrin does give Dot a photo of her evidence about the Kleavor sighting, which leads Dot to bring Perrin to the airship. The way she brings this total stranger to the group, and how the group was totally confused on what is going on and who this person is was hilarious to watch.

Now that Perrin has joined the group temporarily, I do wonder how their search for Kleavor will be like. I know they’ll succeed, but what will transpire in the middle of their goal? I can’t wait to find out next week. Also, Tinkatuff shows up in the beginning of the episode and then isn’t seen again. What the heck? What are your thoughts on this episode?
ecargmura Written by ecargmura