Pursuit! The Search For Kleavor!! - Pokémon Horizons Episode 72 Review - Perrin Up For Clues

A buildup episode to something like the elusive Kleavor must always have some sort of shenanigans ensuing. That’s what a Pokémon episode is. This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons has the group looking for Kleavor, only for stuff getting in their way. By stuff, I mean getting split up, which feels like a common thing for the group these days…

The search for Kleavor feels more like a Perrin insight episode because she was clearly the star. She’s cheeky and very charming. It makes me wish that she would be a recurring character, because she carried the entire episode on her own. It was nice learning so much about her from her using Friede’s distribution map and being grateful for its existence, to doubting the kids’ abilities at first but having faith in them, especially in Dot. The way she decided to let loose and tell Dot about her slump, and how she was trying to overcome it. Unlike the game where she fails to take a good picture of Bloodmoon Ursaluna, she actually takes a good picture of Kleavor and it’s used as a major clue for the search.

The group splits up unintentionally. Roy is stuck in a cave. Liko went on a different path from Dot and Perrin. Friede stayed back to hold off against the Houndoom and Houndour. Though, I’m glad that they all played some part and didn’t waste their screen time. Roy was in a cave and noticed some berries in the river and followed the path outside. Liko was the one who noticed all the gouges. Dot was the one who tried to find clues to see where Perrin’s hazy memory could lead to via the picture of Kleavor.

All these clues the group found made me wonder if the Pokémon in the mountains were trying to protect Kleavor. I get this feeling because of how hostile the Pokémon were to the humans. They wouldn’t suddenly attack people if Kleavor wanted to be with people, right? I also get some clues from the Roy portion with how he found berries in the river. The part where he went out sort of got me thinking that maybe Kleavor is kind to the mountain Pokémon? Because the distance between the tree and the river is far enough that there wouldn't be any way for the berries to fall into the river without some added help. Maybe Kleavor picks the berries and throws them in the river for the mountain Pokémon? Liko using Hattrem to search for Kleavor’s anger was another clue. She felt relaxed during her search, so Kleavor isn’t hostile towards other Pokémon, meaning it’s probably sort of like a guardian to them.

I do like that some aspects of the games was implemented here, like the Houndoom and Houndour fight scene. If you remember, Houndoom and Houndour appeared in the beginning of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to attack the player. I feel like this was a callback to that scene of sorts. There were also two things that surprised me in this episode. The first is how Crocalor, who is 30 kg (67.7 lbs), is able to be on Kilowattrel’s back and not have the bird suffer weight complications. The second is how Perrin’s Hisuian Growlithe used an attack; it never fought in the games.

It seems that Perrin will still sticking around for another episode. I just hope she appears more often later on. She’s just too charming and it’d be a waste to have the Legends: Arceus rep of the anime just up and go for two episodes. What are your thoughts on Perrin, and on the episode as a whole?