Liko and Floragato, Put All Your Heart Into It (47) (2024)

Kazuniya said:

W doesn't have to imply battle win streak, it can imply any kind of success or development. Like her Sprigatito just recently evolved, which is a major W and good news for her. She just beat Anne last week too, which is also great.

There's nothing wrong if Liko loses this battle, she already has a lot of good stuff going on for her.

Your memory is poor then. Despite being portrayed as weaker than Explorers, Liko and Roy's encounter with Coral and Sidian ended with both Sprigatito and Fuecoco being able to counter two powerful moves by using their own. Coral and Sidian lowkey acknowledged Liko and Roy's strength before being called in, leaving the battle unresolved.

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if a battle's unresolved then it doesn't count.

FTR i'm not debating Liko losing today because Bug beats Grass and I did kind of have a feeling she could lose, I was just saying i didn't see her on the kind of winning streak you were saying she was on.

but i'd also rather not add to the potential wildfire that could start up because of the comments i've been seeing so could we leave it at that?

Trey pokes said:

Loss is necessary, glad to see that Liko still has to try to get better, even when it looks like her and Florgato were getting there during their fight with Katy.

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As long as she wants to get better and isnt just content where she is, that is all I need to hear.

AuraChannelerChris said:

Boy, I hate how they portrayed Roxie in the anime. Just another victim to BW's very questionable writing past Castelia City.

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Still salty they skipped Opelucid. Wasted potential character moment for Iris right there.

EmperorNova said:

Still salty they skipped Opelucid. Wasted potential character moment for Iris right there.

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Why the need to reveal that she went to some random school despite how...she is, I'll never know.

Almighty Zard said:

but i'd also rather not add to the potential wildfire that could start up because of the comments i've been seeing so could we leave it at that?

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We could, totally. But I just want you to notice that you're the one who started this.

I merely pointed out that Liko has had enough Ws recently, which you interpreted as me saying she has a "battle streak". I never said she had a victory battle streak. I merely meant she's had a lot of spotlight and success recently, and that Roy deserves to have more too. I'm not sure why you felt the need to misinterpret my post and then pretend like I was saying something that I wasn't, even after I explained to you what I meant by W, but I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't try starting pointless debates by debating an argument I never said.

To summarize, I never said Liko had a victorious battle streak. I simply pointed out that with Sprigatito evolving, and Liko beating Anne, Liko has had a lot of spotlight and positive development recently, and that Roy deserves some too.

If you have a problem with me saying Roy deserves more spotlight/positive development, then uh, I dunno what to tell you.

Unlike you, I actually like both Roy and Liko, and I like seeing both of them thrive. I simply feel (disclaimer: personal opinion) like Horizons has leaned more heavily in Liko's favor in terms of development and spotlight, so I always welcome Roy getting more Ws. For future reference, W can be used to denote any kind of positive development, even getting a promotion at work is a W or someone saying nice about you is also a W. Saying a character had some Ws doesn't mean I'm saying this character had a victorious battle streak.

Like yeah, Roy has had some positive developments with Fuecoco learning new moves, but I'd like to see even more than that (like an evolution or a battle win), which is why I said I was fine with Roy beating Brassius in their battle, he definitely deserves a victory like that.

So yeah, that being said, let's leave it at that.

I like the episode more now. I like the lessons Liko is learning and that she's learning more and more about battling and being in the moment.

She really gave it her all and Katy is scary AF lol.

Okay, I properly watched and digested the episode.

Cool stuff
- Katy is a very cool and well thought-out character. I adore the idea of a character who appears sweet on the surface, but can actually be quite intimidating and scary. The whole bitter/sweet description fits nicely with her occupation as well as her bug type specialty. It was pretty dope to learn that Katy should have ended the battle once Terastalized but didn't wanna go easy on Liko. And yeah, Teddiursa as a Pokemon is pretty much a perfect partner Pokemon for a person like Katy. Also, Katy putting Coral in her place was awesome to watch.

- I thought the overall message of this episode was pretty positive. Live in the moment and enjoy the moment, sometimes you don't have think too hard, you just have to go for it.

- Murdock getting a part-time job to make more money for repairs actually makes perfect sense, and is a neat way to tie his profession into Katy's and give him some screentime, even if it's nothing special. I wonder if Molly is working part-time somewhere too...

- I liked the Pokemon moments in this episode, in particular the brief Wattrel/Fuecoco moment was hilarious. We need more funny Pokemon interactions.

Meh stuff
- I thought it was pretty lame that there was a perfect setup for Liko and Coral to battle, and the writing staff decided "hmm, how about they have a boring cook-off instead". Like, are you for real? I feel like Coral didn't contribute much to the episode besides pushing Liko a little bit, so I feel like they could have had Liko battle Coral or something, but I guess a cook-off is cheaper/easier to draw.

- The actual battle felt kinda underwhelming, ngl. Some of the Horizons battles feel too much like game battles. And I'm sincerely tired of Liko spamming Magical Leaf. Like, I complained about Leafa*ge being spammed, but I feel like they just replaced Leafa*ge with a different, yet identical-looking move that can be spammed into oblivion. I'm begging you: please give Floragato Acrobatics or Shadow Claw, this is painful to watch. They've actually done a much better job at giving Fuecoco a diverse moveset, so I wonder why they're not bothering with Floragato.

All in all, this was a good and entertaining episode.
However, there were also a few so-so moments that weren't bad but that I wasn't quite happy about, either. Let me start with them:

First, I still need to get used to the new intro. I know it's a matter of personal taste but I'm kind of missing the authentic Japanese vibe in the new intro. It still feels like a radio-friendly, mainstream pop song made for westeners. I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor Swift (or another one of those pop stars I don't care about) turned up and sang it. Please give us more Japanese culture and atmosphere again!

Second, I'm not quite happy with how Liko's and Roy's progress has been handled recently. Don't get me wrong, I love Horizons for its great and coherent plot that is much better than it used to be in the Ashanime. However, battle-wise (and if it weren't for Friede to show us some real skills and battling action) the show feels like a soft version of the Ashanime. Yes, I know certain users will now object that it's not a gym challenge and that they're just doing Terastal training. Yes, I'm well aware of that.
However, let's look at it from a more general perspective: What have Liko's achievements actually been lately? Evolving her Pokemon (something that happened in the Ashanime on a regular basis) and getting one win in a training battle against Anne....is it really that impressive?
Or to put it differently: Have expectations become so low that we must now consider it a "big" achievement if you're praised by the Explorers for landing one(!) hit or using Terastal correctly in today's episode?
While I understand that getting Terastal right was today's main objective, I think the other things I mentioned are rather basic stuff that the Ashanime would probably not have made any fuss about.
Yes, I know I still have that old mindset according to which it is a trainer's biggest goal to win as many battles as possible. But I don't think that's a bad thing at all.
So, while the Ashanime would have needed the Horizons plot, Horizons definitely needs more "Old Anime spirit" if you know what I mean. Really hope and wish Liko and Roy will get some real wins soon because that "You don't have to win"- thing doesn't feel like Pokemon but rather like a consolation prize in my eyes.

As for the rest of the episode, as I said it was quite entertaining.
Sango's craziness and her antics sure made me laugh. Who would have thought the Explorers are good for some comic relief? I wonder how annoyed Onyx must be by his crazy teammate.
Also, I think it was a nice twist to make Murdock appear that way. It'd be awesome if they kept that up and had the other crew members show up every now and then while Liko, Roy and Dot are attending Orange Academy.

All in all, I like the new arc so far. Just give Liko and the others some serious victories soon and I'll be fine.

I thought this was a solid start to the terestal training

Katy was a lot of fun... and i really liked liko and sangos dynamic this episode, and the contrast between them

Liko being the first one out of the three and being someone who thinks alot, i thought it was very in character for her to be nervous about it, vs say roy, who is more excited than nervous to battle. And i thought the lesson katy imparted was very important for likos growth, that she should be present in the moment, and be spontaneous, which actually shows up later in the episode when she uses magical leaf as a smoke screen.

That teddiursa was pretty strong ngl, and liko losing against katy, also sets up the fact that these leaders are pretty strong, which means that eventually when liko wins against either katy, or another leader, the win would mean all the more. Also, katy did say this was the basics test.

Also, a nice wattrel and fuecoco moment which hasnt happened in a loooong time lol

Now for a bit of a speculation

So i think this is how it will be 1 Basics test. 1 intermediete test. Thats 2 Leaders. Then 1 final test against the E4s to finish the training.

That makes 2 GLs per Person so 6. Idk about the other 2. Maybe hattena and wattrel against tulip and larry as second trainings? Idk

But by the end i fully expect Rika to Battle Liko
Roy to Battle Hassle
Dot to Battle Poppy/ Larry depending on how they go about it...

Queen Cynthia said:

First, I still need to get used to the new intro. I know it's a matter of personal taste but I'm kind of missing the authentic Japanese vibe in the new intro. It still feels like a radio-friendly, mainstream pop song made for westeners. I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor Swift (or another one of those pop stars I don't care about) turned up and sang it. Please give us more Japanese culture and atmosphere again!

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Well, it's sung by a Korean group that's been topping the charts in Korea (but not Japan), so... wouldn't be surprised if it's a bigger hit outside Japan than in it.