Some character notes and episode notes for HZ043, writing them down for future reference.
Some callbacks to HZ008 (which was also written by Naruki Nagakawa) with the shopping at the beginning. Roy and Friede getting sidetracked by a line for sweets, neglecting their shopping in the process. Mollie was in a better mood than usual thanks to the cheap stuff she found so she didn't scold them, but she was kind of judging them. Also, Friede is trusting Roy to do his shopping by himself since he was willing to split to go faster. Usually, Friede watches over the kids and stay with them in an unknown city, but now they are growing and can buy groceries by themselves.
As they finish their shopping, Liko notices (thanks to Mibrim) an old man who seems to need help but she finds his expression intimidating so she isn't sure what to do... Roy immediately understands that the old man threw out his back because he is used to his grandpa or Landau scowling when it happens. Loved this casual show of Roy's perceptiveness since he pays a lot of attention to his surroundings usually. Liko and Roy end up helping the old man and Nyahoja gives him a back massage (casual show of Nyahoja's relaxing abilities too, which is nice). The old man is the manager for the store selling the Umidigda sweets so he gives Liko and Roy a box for free to thank them for their help.
In the meantime, Onyx and Sango come to town as well. Onyx is not impressed (but he still tagged along with Sango in the first place). Sango disguises herself to not attract attention and came to town specifically for the sweets. She stood in line like everyone else, but didn't get a box since they were limited... she made a scene but is thrown out of the store. She ends up seeing Liko and Roy with a box of the sweets and gets pissed that they got one despite not waiting in line like everyone else, so she swears revenge (and somehow managed to stick a letter on Hogator's back to tell them to meet at the Kabigon Rock).
Back in the ship, Kanuchan wants food but Dot is busy so she goes where the other Pokemon are to get some. She ends up dropping her plate of food as she tries to go back to Dot's room so Terapagos leads her to Nuoh who shares berries with her. Liked this little moment of Terapagos acting more like a "big sibling" now, especially since he used to be the baby who didn't know anything on the ship. I feel like lots of Pokemon are growing lately (like Mibrim who had responsability over Terapagos a few eps ago, etc). And I just generally like seeing the way different Pokemon interact with each other. Kanuchan went back to Dot's room to share food with Kuwassu and Dot praised her for it (the whole message of sharing and kindness in the ep in opposition to Sango etc).
Liko and Roy meet up with Sango after reading the letter of challenge. They banter back and forth because Sango is asking them for the sweets and feels entitled to them, while Roy thinks she is spouting nonsense. Liko offered to give one to her to appease her, but Sango got angry that she opened the box at all. She revealed herself as being from the Explorers (introduces herself to both of them and reveals her name) and Onyx joins her since he was wondering what was taking her so long. Liko wanted to contact Friede to let him know about their situation but Roy was more willing to jump into action (I keep liking the way they react differently about things: Liko thought it was best not to go to the meeting spot while Roy wanted to know what the letter was about, etc). Sango and Onyx challenge Roy and Liko respectively to a battle. Sango felt offended by Roy so she singled him out as an opponent, and Onyx asked Liko politely to be his opponent. When Sango was revealed as a character back in ep 16, I thought she could maybe be a good opponent to Roy, so it's fun that they took this path now (and Roy and Liko both have the type advantage with Sango and Onyx, so).
The battle was nice and highlighted different sides of Liko and Roy. Even though Roy was willing to accept the challenge and battle (while Liko was more cautious), I feel like he gets overwhelmed in these kinds of situations? While Liko performs well and "sees" more clearly under pressure and situations like that, which is interesting to me (in comparison at the beginning of the episode, she was stressing out when the old man scowled because of his back pain, while Roy easily reached out to him). Liko and Roy were on their own this time and managed to hold out despite who their opponents are. It felt like Roy was overwhelmed and paralyzed at some points because he didn't think of using Stomping Tantrum to do something about the ice, but then he remembered it. I like that he has moments of hesitations, too. Liko was shown thinking and tried to strategize too. She used what she learned during her training against Diana back in HZ033 too (that there is always a way to battle against a bigger or stronger foe, with Nyahoja using the fact she is smaller to her advantage to attack her opponent from its blind spot). While Onyx and Sango weren't going all out (from their own admission), Liko and Roy used their knowledge to do what they could and stood their ground and their opponents acknowledged that.
The battle was eventually called off since Onyx got a call about his mission. Onyx prioritizes the mission over the battle so he left and brought Sango with him even though she wanted to stay and finish the battle. They play off each other nicely, honestly. Sango revealed the Explorers' plan to summon Rayquaza before leaving. Onyx was revealed to have a second Pokemon too (a Ptera, which stroke me as curious since it's an ancient Pokemon while the Explorers seem more futuristic given the technology they use in general).
Liko collapsed on the ground after Onyx and Sango left, it felt like the stress left her and she was trying to keep it together the whole time. I love how things like that affect her and that they show the kids get scared but try to be courageous nonetheless. Liko immediately reassured her Pokemon too, even though she was scared, she still makes sure to let them know things are okay.
At the end, Friede meets up with Liko and Roy and they tell him what happened and what the Explorers said about summoning Rayquaza. He makes the connection between the island they mentioned and the strange tower they saw in the pictures of Irukaman in the previous episode. Friede decides to go investigate. Roy gives Cap and Lizardon some sweets before they leave (which was really nice of him). Liko feels uneasy about the Explorers' plan and wonders what they are up to.
