I love how they have Mollie show weakness here, to concede that she's still a little uncertain and undecided despite as cool and calm as she seems, to lead up into Liko becoming more and more comfortable with showing weakness herself around the Volteccers and to reassure her that she doesn't *need* to have it all figured out yet.

The more the Volteccers freely show Liko that they aren't perfect, a band of misfits that is a little strange and flawed, but that they care about each other and love each other unconditionally all the same, the more Liko will understand that she *isn't* a burden to anyone and people will accept her despite her own flaws. And I think that is so beautiful and sweet and heartwarming.

This show really does feel like a celebration of everything Pokémon stands for, and it makes me want to cry my eyes out with joy.

Here's the companion art for my recent LikoDot fic, "Lovey-Dovey Moonlit Night"! They're such sweeties, I hope they grow closer and closer!

Pokemon Horizons Episode 5; and Protecting What's Important to You

There's this tiny thread of a throughline I might be reading too much into. Where I can just see this like.. idea. Of the things and people that are important to you and what you've got to do to protect it. A story about protecting the treasures you've found as much as finding new ones. How Friede will protect the kids. How the volteccers will protect the asagi. And how I worry about Liko, blaming herself as the explorers pursue them. Don't go bearing all the the burden alone, Liko! You're part of a team now. They're gonna protect you.

Bonus -

Pokemon Horizons characters summarised in a few points

(keep in mind that this isn’t a serious take on the characters and doesn’t genuinely reflect how I view them for the most part)

RVT:

Explorers:

Extras/couldn’t fit:

My first impression of them was correct lol

Here’s a BOGO bonus too! 🎉

Murdock & Orio/Orla my beloveds, you are so big and strong,,,

The anime is a coward for not giving Orio/Orla muscles in her official design and animation, she clearly has them as a mechanic

You have no idea how much I'm loving Pokemon Horizons! I'm looking forward for the new arch at the Naranja Academy!

Family scenes like this just warm my heart <3

Oh my god. Oh my fucking god. Liko in Episode 9 knows deep down that the Volteccers will leave her in Paldea, because that was her job, but she wants to stay with them because they are like family to her and she's changed so much since episode 1 and she WANTS to experience and grow more. But she buries that thought and doesn't confront the Volteccers about it because she thinks she'll just be inconveniencing them. Ever since the beginning of her journey she's had the lingering fear that she is nothing but a burden to the Volteccers, that all she is doing is putting them in harm's way, that they'd be glad to get rid of her because in her mind she's not "useful" to them. Liko thinks that she's a burden to everybody, that she doesn't DESERVE to be able to go on an adventure, putting everyone else's needs before her own. That's why she doesn't talk about her interests. She thinks she will inconvenience people with her "rambling". THAT'S WHY, partly, she struggles with connecting to people so much.

Oh my fucking god, please get this girl therapy, I'm going to bite my fucking arm off. 10/10 characterization, 10/10 relatability.

p.s, this is something very commonly seen in neurodivergent kids, ESPECIALLY girls (and I am speaking from my own experience here too). Which adds to my headcanon that Liko is autistic!

MESSSY speed warm up!

ALRIGHT!!

I’ve got a proposal! Liko/Dot fans we are GOING! To choose ONE ship name! No more being confused we’re gonna come together and Choose via the fool proof method of Tumblr Poll!

So, I’m going to hold the poll starting Tomorrow, after the episode comes out with subs, so you have from now to them to submit a potential Name! Propaganda is allowed and encouraged! I doubt we’ll get more than 12 names, so I’ll throw em all in a poll run it for a week, and then we can all use the agreeed upon name, alright??

Names I plan on having for the Poll:

LikoDot

GuruminShipping

BiggestFanShipping

If anyone has a name they think is better than those two, please submit! Also, I don’t know who came up with GuruminShipping, but if anyone knows or has propaganda for it, please submit!

Volunteer a name by putting it in the replies, reblogs, or my ask box! Whichever wins, I just want all the liko/dot fans to do something fun like this together! No hard feelings, alright?

Okay, everyone have fun!

Okay, so there’s a loooot to talk about from ep45 but a detail i think i’m picking up on is a set up for our next year of horizons and the arcs for amethio and spinel

This is the first time we’ve seen Amethio team up with Rvt (potentially why they skipped over it back in that moltress encounter) and while he brushes it off, the intent of the writers is clearly to show he’s capable of working with them. This is definitely the first domino in his redemption arc, and i’m wondering if by the end of this year (two arcs if it follows the same pattern) we’ll see him fully join them especially considering his new mission is to monitor them instead of fight. We’ve now got so many more opportunities for casual interactions between amethio and the RVTs! Sango, Onyx and Agate seem to be infiltrating the academy (which i find hilarious because sango can easily pass as a child but onyx on the other hand…) so perhaps he’ll be nearby to survey as well? maybe he’ll finally catch a new pokemon (espurr pls) or we’ll just start to learn more about him this coming arc.

What interests me even further is how I think Amethio and Spinel’s development are being set up to mirror eachother. Amethio will betray explorers for redemption, but Spinel will betray them for his own selfish motivations. It won’t surprise me if by the end of this year (as in a year of episodes) they both leave the group. And while that means explorers would be down two major antags, i think that’s the perfect opportunity to have hamber and gibeon become more active to fill the hole their absences would leave.

Anyway, this episode was a 10/10, I’m so excited to see where things go this year! (Also I still refuse to believe Amethio is Gibeon’s son because that man does not get bitches. They’re related, but i don’t think it’ll be as direct as that)

My friend Kat and I's favorite pastime is creating headcanons so stupid that they might as well happen at some point

Dog pile! They are happily asleep.