#hz071

Briar also said that Heather's book was regarded as a mere occult story, and that no one believed it. I wonder if Lucius was one of those who believed it, or at least took it seriously enough that it may have inspired him to go on his own journey to check things for himself. Lucius believing in things no one else takes seriously, and that led him to meet Terapagos eventually.

And Horizons is not letting me down with their introduction of her at all.

I love her.

So much.

So, HZ071 is another nodge at Horizons taking place after SV. Briar confirms an existance of another Terapagos she herself saw before. I have not seen SV DLC content but I assume she means the one from the DLC, and that she got to meet that one and is writing notes based on DLC events.

I think they'll probably meet the third person in Lucius and Gibeon's group who was featured alongside them in the opening, since that's someone Terapagos knows and probably wants to see again. It also seems like she'd be someone who knows about what happened in the past and would be able to tell everyone the truth as someone who witnessed the events taking place and was seemingly close to both Lucius and Gibeon.

There are no summaries or staff lists available as of now for the upcoming episode titles.

The episode starts with the trio and Friede reaching the Crystal Pool, which is said to be a place where one can meet those who've passed on. While Friede searches the area with Cap to find Briar, a Milokallos appears from the pond, turns into a Ghost Terastal type and attacks the trio. The three of them eventually come up with a strategy to counter Milokallos and the battle ends with Achigator and Milokallos singing at each other happily.

Friede eventually comes back with Briar, who gets excited over meeting Terapagos. She says she's already met one before, and explains that she is currently compiling her research into a book. She leads everyone to her tent area and everyone helps her set up the tables, chairs, and fire. Roy asks her if she has a partner Pokemon, but Briar says she was so focused on her research that she never found a partner of her own, which is something Dot can relate to.

They eventually explain everything to Briar: Terapagos, Lucius, the Six Heroes Rakua... While Briar doesn't know anything about Rakua beyond recalling the name from an old history book, she thinks Lucius must have met Terapagos somewhere just like Heather did. Briar explains that Heather is her ancestor and the first researcher who recorded the name "Terapagos". Her dream is to solve the mysteries of Terapagos and prove Heather was right. She shows the original version of the Scarlet Book to Liko and the others, and proceeds to explain Heather's story. He was a novelist and a natural history researcher who was selected to participate in the Area Zero expedition. As they reached the crater's depths, the expedition team found a cave full of shining jewels. Heather met Terapagos and many other mysterious Pokemon in Area Zero. Heather guessed that the Terastal waves guided those Pokemon there, though his book ended up being dismissed as a mere occult story which no one believed. Briar reaffirms her desire to prove Heather right by solving Terapagos's mysteries. Liko relates to that as she is traveling to uncover the mysteries of Lucius and Rakua, which her grandmother told her about. Liko shows Diana's adventure log and Lucius's memoirs to Briar. Everyone exchanges further information and speculation as they learn that Terapagos's special form is called the Terastal Forme, which is probably triggered by an impetus of some kind (meeting Rayquaza, the Rakurium). Briar also learns of the Rakurium from Friede but doesn't know anything about it. Having so many things to learn about excites her further as a researcher.

At night, Briar leads everyone to the Crystal Pool as she speculates that Terapagos must have memories of being with Lucius. However, nothing happens. Meanwhile, Basagiri is watching from afar. The following morning, they bid farewell to Briar and promise they'd meet again. Back to the ship, Liko and the others explain what happened to everyone else. Despite not having new leads, Liko says she was happy to meet and learn about people who are like her grandmother and the Rising Volt Tacklers. While Friede explains that their next goal is to look for the remaining Six Heroes, Dot is recording footage of Pokemon in Suiryoku Town. She comes across a Hisui Guardie and ends up following it. She meets its trainer, Sazare. Dot asks her if she knows anything about Basagiri and ends up accepting Sazare's challenge to get more information. Welcamo learns a new move through the battle and Dot defeats Sazare. Dot brings Sazare back to the ship to tell everyone that she met Basagiri and the episode ends on Sazare introducing herself to the crew.

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Lots of information in this ep. It was written by Dai Sato, aka the lead writer for Horizons. His last screenplay was HZ046. I really could feel Dai Sato's writing through the ep because of Liko's narration and monologues. I loved her narration and the way it felt like she was recounting a story. Also, the banter and dialogues between the Rising Volt Tacklers as well as the casual lines and moments showing more of the characters felt on point for this writer too. I hope he writes more episodes this chapter.

Pokemon moments I liked: Terapagos hiding behind Nyarote for protection when Briar was chasing him around (very important). Nyarote protecting the baby sibling of the group is very cute to me, especially knowing that Nyarote has her jealous moments sometimes over the other Pokemon getting too much attention from Liko. I love Terapagos having two big sisters with Nyarote and Tebrim. Another Nyarote related moment I found cute was her playing yoyo with Murdock's Iwanko back in the Brave Asagi. Nyarote and Iwanko have been getting along ever since Liko boarded the ship in HZ002, so I like that this is a consistent thing.

Both battles were fine. I liked that the trio is learning to work together in battles, all three of them. I think it'll prove useful later in the arc if they face the Explorers again.

Casual Friede moment I liked: when he told the trio he would look for Briar and told them to rest in the meantime. Being casually thoughtful like it's the most obvious thing in the world. He is too much :/

Something I also found interesting is that Briar doesn't have a partner Pokemon. In the Pokemon world, where it's almost expected that everyone has a Pokemon or battles, I find it very refreshing to see a character like Briar, who was so focused on something else, that she never found the timing to get her own partner (it's also amusing to think that she went to the Crystal Pool, where a Pokemon like Milokallos could attack her, and didn't have any Pokemon to defend herself... she is fearless). While I like the symbolism of what a specific Pokemon means for a specific characters in Horizons (such as Spinel having a friendship evolution as his main partner.. also very important), I also like the meaning behind a lack of partner for a character. It reminds me that I found it compelling that Friede only ever had Lizardon for most of his life, and he met Cap as an adult which changed his life in new ways. It's a different kind of relationship than meeting a Pokemon as a kid. I think it's neat. I also liked that Dot could relate to Briar's talk and thought about how similar they were, since she was so focused on studying and researching Pokemon in her own way. Except Dot had Welcamo/Kuwassu to watch over her. Kuwassu chose Dot as his partner, and he waited until she was ready to consider him her partner too.. Also, Dot going outside by herself to record stuff was so good. She is exploring the outside world on her own terms.

Also, the thematic connections between Liko and Briar who are two characters walking in the footsteps of their ancestors in order to find out the truth/prove something. (Lucius isn't confirmed in plain words to be Liko's ancestor, but hopefully they finally leave it to rest this chapter and make the characters in-universe realize it.) The themes of characters learning from the past, people from the past leaving legacies behind, people in the present picking everything up (dreams, findings, emotions) and adding their own interpretations and answers and finding themselves through studying the past... it's so good.

I didn't complete the SV games yet, so having information and history revealed was cool. Still neat that Horizons uses these things for its own story. The implications I found most interesting: Lucius possibly reading Heather's Scarlet Book which is how he learned the name "Terapagos", and the possibility that Lucius might still be alive since he didn't appear at the Crystal Pool. The former is especially compelling to me because it might imply that Lucius was interested in things no one believed in and sought them out during his adventures with Gibeon and his friend. I'm also curious about the relationship between the Six Heroes and Terapagos, and the explanation behind Terapagos's transformation in different forms. I also liked that Roy pointed out that Terapagos transformed in Terastal Forme when Rayquaza was around (the fact he made this connection shows further that he learned to pay attention and come to his own conclusions).