Pokémon Horizons Proves How One Of Its New Heroes Is Deeper Than Ash With Devastating Loss

Warning: Spoilers for Pokémon Horizons, episode 61

Summary

Pokémon Horizonsfinally saw Liko, Roy, and Dot arriving at Montenevera in order for Roy to take on his Terastal Implementation test. Dot had not only managed to pass hers, but the battle also saw her Quaxly evolve into Quaxwell, showing Dot’s significant growth over the course of this training.

Roy went into his exam with Gym Leader Ryme hoping it would go much the same way, but his first Pokémon, Kilowattrel, went down rapidly. Fuecoco was able to hold his own against Ryme’s Houndstone, but when she sent out a Toxtricity, Fuecoco found himself almost completely helpless, unable to land any attacks in the face of Toxtricity’s booming sound. Toxtricity took out Fuecoco with ease, even after Terastallizing, and Ryme was rather disappointed with the outcome of the battle, chiding Roy for being a poor partner to Fuecoco.

Roy and Fuecoco prepare for battle.

It looks like Roy will be spending the bulk of next episode contemplating Ryme’s words, and trying to figure out how he can be a better trainer.

Roy’s Devastating Loss Gives His Character a Shot at Depth

Roy Must Take His Criticism and Grow

Roy is well aware that he has a long way to go yet before reaching his goal of providinga challenge to the Black Rayquaza, but he may not have known just how far away he was.Roy didn’t have much of a strategy going into his battle with Ryme, and that showed quite plainly in his loss, as he flailed around using every move in Fuecoco’s arsenal before finally being defeated. Going into battle without any kind of plan is certainly one way for a trainer to let their partner down, but Ryme seems to be talking about more than just that. It’s going to take some real self-reflection for Roy to understand what Ryme means, and that’s something rare for thePokémonanime.

Ash has certainly had some losses which required him to rethink his position, with perhaps the most memorable being his loss to Lt. Surge, at which pointhe actually considered evolving Pikachubefore Pikachu rejected the idea outright. Ash’s losses were rarely so personal, however, and the solution for Ash was often just to train more and come up with a better strategy. The fact that the next episode seems dedicated to Roy thinking over this criticism already suggests a more contemplative, character-based approach than the anime usually took with Ash.

Roy has been falling behind his friends, especially now that both Dot and Liko have evolved their partners, while Fuecoco remains in his base state. It’s time for Roy to answer for himself just why he hasn’t been able to measure up, and to figure out what he needs to do to stand a chance against Ryme. Fortunately, he has the extremely skilled Nemona to rely upon for advice, who can perhaps help Roy to identify his weak spots. If Roy is to pass his Terastal exam inPokémon Horizons, he’ll need to understand Fuecoco better than he does, and that’s the first step to becoming the kind of trainer who can stand up to Rayquaza.