#hz103

She's a Sprigatito line fanatic and she was gushing a lot over Liko's Sprigatito early in the series. It's been a while since Liko has interacted with her and Zirc in any meaningful capacity so now Liko's cat and Onia are interacting again. It would be a real treat if Meowscarada shows her more jealous side around Onia too.

First we have Zirc attending a Nidothing event, Liko and Zirc connecting over their shared immense love for Nidothing and being Nidothing superfans, and now Onia gets to gush over Liko's cat (now a fully evolved Meowscarada). It's a real treat to see Zirc and Onia's hyperfixations actually shine, especially in tandem with Liko.

But more importantly:

And then only once Liko enters the picture do they finally find him.

Way back in the beginning of the series too. Friede and the Rising Volt Tacklers snooped around Indigo Academy to find Liko but couldn't find her anywhere. And then only when Liko was with Amethio did Friede finally find her. He could only find her once she was isolated and in a situation with just her and Amethio. Amethio found her first.

Nanjamo and Gurumin are going to do a collab event. Liko is overjoyed about it, and Zir, who was planning to attend as well, lost his entry ticket. When Liko and her friends run into Zir, they decide to help him look for his ticket.  

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I liked the small Grusha appearance. Grusha being tsun about being a fan and dancing around calling himself one and just saying that "he is doing things that one would expect a fan to do" while holding the ticket with the number "6", which shows that he lined up early and that he is a passionate fan.. I think it's cute. The gap moe of it all? It's interesting that he appeared in an episode that would pave the way to Amethio appearing again, because Liko's battle against Grusha in HZ063 also led to Amethio showing up in the following episode.

Dot's character particularly stood out to me in this episode, especially her kindness towards others.. Dot was the one who was initially okay with giving away her own ticket for the event (under the pretense that it didn't interest her anyway) and she reached out to Zir. Dot remembered that Zir and Conia helped her and her friends in Rakua, and it's what made her want to help him in turn. I thought it was a great show of her growth, and it pleasantly surprised me. Dot wasn't someone who warmed up to others easily and she is fiercely loyal to her friends. The Explorers have gotten in the RVT's way multiple times before and we saw how strongly she reacted towards Spinel because of what he did to Liko.. So the fact that Dot was willing to help someone from the "enemy side" was really interesting to me, because I thought that she would be wary of anyone on the side of the Explorers.

It highlights that Dot has become a much more patient and forgiving person after Rakua, and I think it's really wonderful to see? It's lovely seeing how much she has changed. She valued the good things Zir and Conia had done for her and her friends at Rakua (and she even brought up the cotton candy he recommended to her back in chapter 1!), and she was willing to extend a hand to help them when they were in need and didn't have to be told to do it. She didn't do it half-heartedly either, because she asked Nanjamo for information to help Zir efficiently. I think it's interesting seeing Dot being willing to help more people now.. She went from someone who mostly helped her friends, to someone who helped her fans (in HZ036, when she asked Liko and Roy to help Yuno), strangers (Dot helping the restaurant owners with their menu in Terastal Debut), and people who opposed her friends and got in their way in the past (Zir and Conia). There is a gradual progression in this aspect.

On a personal level, it made me reconsider potential interactions between Dot and Amethio.. I thought that Dot would be someone who wouldn't budge on her position when it comes to the Explorers (I am specifically not using the terms "holding a grudge" because I don't think they are adequate and Dot has good reason to be wary of the Explorers anyway, since they went after her friends multiple times and put Liko in danger). Since Dot was willing to offer her help and sympathy to Zir and Conia because they both helped in Rakua, I think she would probably remember and value the fact that Amethio helped in Rakua as well.

I think there are people that Dot probably won't be able to tolerate in the future (I am mostly thinking of people like Spinel, she had a particular and specific resentment towards him), but she has grown warmer and more open towards others in general.

Overall, I think Dot was really good in this ep.. It's cute how she brought up the fact that Liko didn't have to stand in line because she was willing to give her a ticket, but Liko wanted to get her ticket in the proper way. Liko doesn't want special treatment from Gurumin just because she is friends with Dot and she wants to be like any other fan. Dot thanking Zir and Liko as Gurumin at the end was cute and she probably did it because she wanted to make up things for Zir and end things on a good note after he found out who she was.. Dot didn't have to do it, but she still did because she cares for the feelings of others. 

As an aside, I liked that Dot only shook hands during her event because she wasn't necessarily into the idea of hugs as fanservice.. so I am glad she didn't do them. When she did something extra at the end to cheer Zir up, it was on her own terms and because she wanted to do it, and no one had to tell her to do so.

Zir and Conia were really good, and I appreciated the fact that they were fleshed out as characters, along with their Pokemon who showed a lot of personality. Zir being happy that his ticket number was the same as Saidon's Pokedex number was sweet. Saidon being the one who got back the ticket at the end was good, I think it gave a lot of agency to Zir and his Pokemon and made them active in their own search. Conia's Golduck not being able to swim in sea water was a fun bit. It made the Pokemon feel more like real beings with their own preferences and tolerance towards certain things? It also shows that Conia knows her partner well and won't make Golduck do anything that he can't tolerate.

Both Zir and Conia are worried about Amethio and they were starting to feel hopeless about the fact they couldn't find him. It was weighing on their mind, so we can infer that their interests are a way for them to take their mind off things and look at something else? Their hobbies are taken seriously too, and they aren't being diminished for them. Seeing the way they acted in this episode made me think that it’s no wonder Amethio eventually warmed up to them. 

Liko was fun in this episode. I thought it was nice of her that she wanted to make Uruto feel included and asked him to tag along to the event, even though he ended up not going with everyone. She is the type of person who wants to make others feel included. Uruto doesn't seem to take Gurumin seriously, but Liko defended her (Dot was about to step in because she felt offended, but Liko spoke first).. I wonder if Uruto knows about online celebrities because he doesn't seem like the type to be into that kind of stuff? He seemed confused about Orange Academy when Liko and the others mentioned a "school" a few episodes ago, so it feels like there are things he doesn't know. 

I like that Liko is completely open about being a Gurumin fan, even in front of Dot.. She isn't embarrassed anymore, in fact Dot seems to be the one who is surprised at times about her behavior as a fan. Which is the opposite of the first chapter, Liko was embarrassed around Dot when she brought up the fact that she was Gurumin, while Dot was more relaxed about it. In this ep, Dot was surprised that Liko lined up like everyone else to get her ticket and she seemed caught off guard when Liko told Gurumin that she loved her. I think it's fun that Liko doesn't mind these things anymore (she was even all "I'm not looking!" when Dot took off her costume, I think part of Liko probably really enjoys acting like that and owns up to the fact that she is a complete fan).. I like the nuance that there are things that Liko will do/say to Gurumin but not necessarily to Dot? Liko shakes hands with Gurumin, but she has little physical contact with Dot. It's not prioritized as their form of closeness. Liko and Dot don't necessarily "need" physical contact to fill some arbitrary requirement of closeness.

I thought Liko's reaction to learning about Amethio going missing was interesting, especially in contrast to the way her scene was framed when she witnessed Friede falling from the ship in HZ089. In one case, her expression was shown and in the other, it wasn't. Liko's expression was shown when she saw Friede falling, while her reaction to learning about Amethio's current situation wasn't depicted. Liko's emotions were conveyed through her voice (her VA's acting in this scene was so effective), and it made me wonder what expression Liko was wearing when she heard about what happened to Amethio.. I wonder what went through her mind at that moment. Perhaps she remembered the way things ended in Rakua and how she and Amethio both acknowledged each other and nodded to each other before leaving. I wonder if she thought of Friede, too?