#hz064

The episode starts right after the events from the previous one. Liko failed her test and the trio decides to head back to school. Liko looks sad and Roy and Dot share a look and seem resolute in cheering her up. Meanwhile, Spinel's Orbem is spying on the trio and Spinel is revealed to monitor them. He is talking to Agate through his phone who gives him advice and also tells him that Amethio has been following him, so Spinel decides to use this opportunity to proceed with his plan.

Afterwards, the trio debates on whether they should check out Paldea's highest peak or not. Roy wants to see it and make nice memories, while Dot thinks resting is as important. Liko feels bad over making them go out of their way to cheer her up, though she eventually decides they should go there thanks to Nyarote giving her a slight push. As they climb up the mountain, Liko gets separated from Roy and Dot, as Agate's Charem moved a rock to make her take another route.

Meanwhile, Amethio is following Spinel on Armorga and Roy and Dot realize they lost Liko on their way up and go look for her. Liko realizes she got lost too and panics a bit. She hears the sound of footsteps and runs towards them, but it turns out to be Amethio. They are both surprised at seeing each other. Liko thinks he followed her to get Terapagos, who peeks out of Liko's bag to hiss at Amethio. Amethio notes that Terapagos seems to hate him. Amethio challenges Liko to a battle, who decides to protect Terapagos and accepts it. Liko performs well in the battle and doesn't waver. Amethio resorts to using Terastal, but Spinel's Blacky shows up to interrupt their battle as Soublades was about to deal the final blow.

Spinel asks Amethio what he is doing here since he hasn't heard of a new operation. Amethio guesses that Spinel made him meet Liko so they could wear each other down through battle. Spinel moves on to his plan and tests the Rakurium on Blacky. Blacky goes on a rampage and defeats Soublades. Spinel taunts Terapagos into reacting and do something, since he had a strong negative reaction to the Rakurium. Terapagos transforms into his Terastal Form and absorbs (I think?) the pink haze and make the Rakurium vanish. Spinel thanks Blacky and Liko and runs away. Amethio and Liko both decide to follow him into a cave. Amethio tries to dissuade Liko from following him but she wants to learn more about Terapagos. They go deeper into the cave and eventually get trapped there, which was Spinel's plan.

Spinel teleports out of the cave and meets up with Agate. He explains what happened, since she seemed surprised that he didn't have the Rakurium anymore. Spinel deduces that Terapagos and the Rakurium don't resonate with each other but oppose each other, which is valuable information. Spinel asks how it's going on the other end, and Agate says she let Sango and Onyx handle it. Spinel goes on to talk about how Amethio is getting in the way because he is special to Gibeon and that he wants to make him disappear. Agate also mentions that blood ties can be a source of hardship.

Meanwhile, Roy and Dot call Friede to tell him that they can't find Liko. He assures them that he'll head there and tries to call the Nappe Gym before leaving. Dot is still worried and tells Roy they should keep looking for Liko while waiting for Friede. Back in the cave, Amethio tries to destroy the rocks but Soublades doesn't have enough power. Liko is worried about their current predicament. Terapagos wakes up (he was tired after transforming) and immediately gets angry again upon seeing Amethio, even though the latter says he won't try to catch him in this situation. Back to Roy and Dot, Onyx and Sango get in their way and are ready to battle them.

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Overall, very good and strong episode! Peak Horizons, etc etc. Written by Kureha Matsuzawa (and the next one with Liko and Amethio is also written by him, so he is taking care of this two-parter).

Everything about Spinel was good. From his speech pattern, to his voice, to his interactions with Amethio and Agate, etc. I liked that we got to see him interact with Liko again too (and the "Liko-san" was good... in general, the speech patterns in this ep were made for me w). They are both some of my faves, so I wanted to see how she'd react facing him for real after the events from HZ014 and HZ016. Something I found interesting is that the framing of the scene when Spinel interrupts Liko and Amethio's battle almost makes him look like a "hero"? Like, he stops the antagonist from defeating the protagonist and in a way, it's helping her. The way that specific scene was framed made me think about how unexpected it was.

Also love Spinel and Blacky's relationship because they match each other's freak (my view of the scene being that Blacky knew and agreed to test Rakurium, that Spinel wouldn't have asked anyone else because he trusts her the most, etc). Love their twisted attachment and their love. Love that the other trainers and Pokemon relationships in the show have different priorities (I'd say) while both of them have this mutual understanding that withstanding pain and enduring it is the show of their loyalty and love for each other. Their dynamics stood in contrast with Amethio and Soublades, or even Liko and Nyarote, but their bond is still strong, in their own way. They just live in their own little world. They are terribly cute to me and I really want to know more about them and their backstory. In general, everything about Spinel makes me insane, so I'll stop there for now.

I also appreciated the depiction of Liko's feelings throughout the episode. Her realizing that Roy and Dot were trying to cheer her up, feeling bad and thinking that she needed to thank them, etc. Still hesitating sometimes, but being resolute when she makes a decision and being proactive in trying to learn more about Terapagos. I loved that she battled specifically to protect Terapagos (she is a magical girl, after all!) and how cool she was during the battle. She was more confident, and showed her growth. It made me want to see Nyarote evolve into Masquernya because then her and Amethio's Soublades would be more equal in terms of types (Fire beats Grass, but Dark beats Ghost, so it evens out). Liked all her little moments with Nyarote too (which were similar to Amethio's moments with Soublades).

It was also cool to see Amethio again (I missed him). I enjoyed his moments with Soublades a lot because they feel closer these days. We get to see them talk more, Amethio always asking about his condition, telling him to rest, checking up on him, etc. It's really sweet. I also liked that he made it clear that he had no intention to go after Terapagos while in the cave since there were more pressing matters. Speaking of Terapagos, it's kinda funny just how much he despises Amethio (my Terapagos don't like you and he likes everyone, etc). It gives more character to baby turtle, too. We got to see Terapagos get along with wild Pokemon during this arc, generally be quick to have fun, can make friends easily with anyone, yet this specific person makes him react in such a way. I wonder if Terapagos will ever grow to like Amethio.

Also curious about the hints towards Agate's backstory (getting to see more of her personality was so great, she is reserved usually), and what's going on with the Rakurium and Gibeon. Just about everything was great.

Liko is going through similar steps as Amethio right now (Amethio also went through losses that made him stronger after facing Friede, Rayquaza and Hamber). So maybe the events that will unfold with Amethio are going to motivate Liko even further, which would fit since Amethio is connected to her growth as a trainer. Explicitly shown through the writing this time too since they brought up the battle on Roy's island back in HZ006 and had Amethio highlight and directly comment on Liko's progress (which also means he was paying close attention and remembered the events from back then). And he is the one showing up after Liko's confrontation with Grusha, to challenge everything she's been through up until that moment. Maybe Amethio's involvement will be key in Liko eventually passing her course somehow and making her stronger. Which is interesting, because by directly opposing Liko, Amethio is contributing to her growth, which will eventually serve as fuel for her to stand against the Explorers.

Also wondering if we'll get another "thank you" this time, just like towards the end of HZ045.. Maybe Liko thanking Amethio at the end after they manage to get out from the cave, and his reply would be different from the previous time and he would be more honest in his words. Or Liko thanking Soublades. Since they are shown sitting next to a fire to keep warm, maybe Soublades is the one who lit it, so I could see Liko saying thanks. I think they could use this opportunity to interact with each other's Pokemon.

Sango didn't seem too pleased about helping him out either (I wonder why?), while Onyx thought it wasn't a bad idea to make his comrades owe him a favor. Which is kind of cute and highlights both his naive and honorable sides, because I doubt Spinel would really care about owing him a favor. It makes me wonder if Onyx considers Amethio a comrade on some level (on the sole basis of being part of the same organization) or if he would agree to handling him the way Spinel does. Onyx couldn't bring himself to sacrifice his tag partner's Pokemon back in HZ055 and that was only a friendly battle. He said he couldn't sacrifice his backup to ensure his own survival and that he didn't find any meaning in a disgraceful victory. I feel like from his point of view, what Spinel is doing currently could be considered disgraceful, maybe?

This whole thing makes me think about how Sango and Onyx are actually often okay with teamwork, actually. They can be troublemakers, but they always come along when they are asked to. They followed Hamber in the castle back in HZ024. During the Explorers meeting back in HZ027, Sango was the first one to suggest teaming up since she asked if they were all going to chase Rayquaza together. She probably thought it would be more efficient that way? Even in HZ044, Sango was the first one to ask about Amethio and wondered where he was and if he was late. She genuinely didn't seem to know he wasn't coming with them and actually expected him to show up until Agate told her that Spinel decided they would be the only ones to handle Rayquaza. That means she isn't trusted with information. In a way, I can see why they kept it from her since she did end up telling Liko and Roy about their plan in HZ043 so if she was told Amethio wasn't coming, she would have probably let him know somehow that he wasn't invited to the party.

Basically most that happened in HZ064 was according to Spinel's plan, thou I'm not sure if he anticipated Liko to follow Amethio... because I'm not sure trapping Terapagos in the cave was such a good move lol. Or trapping Amethio in a cave where he is supposed to disappear in with someone else. That means more chances of getting out. Well well well.

Agate's words about blood ties that could lead to hardship now and then made me curious too. I feel like this could be a hint to Agate's circumstances and that she is not just describing Amethio and Gibeon's situation, but also her own. She's only said elusive things so far (back in HZ056, she talked to Dot about how some things are better left unknown and didn't elaborate further).

I wonder if Agate has some ties to the original Explorers? It also felt quite personal to Spinel too since he talked about the future of the Explorers. I thought this was only a job to him, but maybe this is going a bit deeper than that if he wants to ensure their future? He seemingly wasn't only in it for himself either, since he mentioned Amethio getting in "their" way (plural form, so it seems like he includes Agate and potentially the others too). The Explorers were Lucius's friends, but we still don't exactly know what that implies. Were they human friends, and were there several of them that could be connected to Spinel and Agate?

Also now that we've seen what the Rakurium can do to Pokemon, Gibeon's current situation is worrying. Man is constantly stuck in a room filled with Rakurium alongside Zygarde. Last time Amethio visited him, they were separated by glass and Amethio couldn't step in that room. I wonder if constant exposure to Rakurium messed up Gibeon on some level or had negative effects on him? His Zygarde seemed to be adjusted to it, so maybe they're both past the point of reacting negatively to it and are used to it. Or maybe it doesn't have negative effects on humans.

He also called Agate by her name for the first time in this episode. Same as for Liko, he used honorifics with Agate and called her "Agate-san". Interestingly enough, Agate doesn't do the same with him and just calls him "Spinel" (she didn't refer to him by name in this episode though, but she did so in previous ones).

Spinel also referred to Amethio by his name for the first time in this episode! He called him "Amethio-kun".. coming from Spinel, I feel like the "-kun" comes off a bit mocking, but who knows. He didn't refer to him like that in front of him though, but only around Agate. I wonder if he ever called him like that to his face. On the other hand, Amethio calls Spinel just by his name.

And Spinel was talking about Gibeon with Agate and referred to him as "Gibeon-sama" even then. He wasn't around him so there was no need to pretend, so maybe he really does hold him in some high regard for some reason.