Pokémon Horizons: The Series – Season 1 Episode 11 Recap & Review

Arboliva’s Forest

Episode 11 of Pokémon Horizons: The Series begins with Liko standing by Dot’s room. Before Dot tells her she’s Nidothing, Liko asks Dot if she’s a hardcore Nidothing fan like her. Liko starts rambling about Nidothing and Dot can’t believe she hasn’t discovered the truth about her being Nidothing yet. 

Meanwhile, Mollie receives a brief phone call from her mother. Orla enters the room and Mollie opens up about her and her mother’s relationship. Then, Mollie notices a news post about the forest Liko and Roy plan to attend. She plans to accompany them to the forest. We cut to the three and Nemona arriving at the forest. 

Liko and Roy are shocked by the forest’s current predicament. Mollie and Nemona inform the two about what happened to it. Nemona informs Roy and the others about a spot they can investigate. Nemona departs and asks Roy to battle her when they meet again. While the three investigate the area, Mollie tells the two that if it rains, the forest will restore itself, enticing its Pokémon residents to return. 

Liko hopes it rains soon. Roy informs the two that he found the spot Nemona told him about earlier. The three explore the area briefly. Roy and Fuecoco head further into the forest. They tell Liko and Mollie they should gather around a specific tree if any of them feel like their lives are in danger. While Mollie and Liko chat about Liko’s anxiety, we cut to Friede and Murdock in the airship’s meeting area. 

The two are worried about Liko and Roy. Orla enters the room and tells them not to worry about the two since they’re with Mollie. We return to following Liko, Mollie, and Sprigatito. Liko and Mollie observe Spirgatito as it’s playing with local forest Pokémon. Liko informs Mollie that she never got around to exploring the outdoors. 

Additionally, she informs Mollie that her father is a picture book artist while her mother is a teacher. As for herself, Liko’s unsure what she should strive for yet. Mollie opens up about her family and tells Liko that her path was laid out for her. She tells Liko that her parents were Pokémon doctors and Mollie felt she needed to continue the tradition and became one herself. 

Mollie tells Liko she quit her occupation long ago and refuses to elaborate on it further. This entices Liko to recall the time Mollie told her to pick up the Rising Volt Tackler’s order from Nurse Joy. Sprigatito catches Liko’s attention and shows her bush full of Oran Berries. Mollie thinks it’d be a great idea for Liko to go around harvesting Oran Berries.

While picking Oran Berries with Sprigatito, Liko realizes the two got lost in the forest. She tries calling Mollie but her Rotom phone tells her she has no service. Liko remembers Roy’s remarks about the big tree and decides to look for it with Sprigatito. Meanwhile, Roy and Fuecoco stumble upon a large tree and try climbing it. 

While climbing it, Roy notices an ancient Poké Ball at the top. Suddenly, the ground starts rumbling in the forest. Liko feels it too and notices something is happening to the big tree Roy told her and Mollie about. Meanwhile, Mollie grows concerned and leaves her post to find Liko and Roy. Elsewhere, Liko and Sprigatito stumble upon a few tracks that lead them to a weakened Paldean Wooper. 

Suddenly, a few wild Pokémon arrive and capture Paldean Wooper. Liko chases after them and arrives near the large tree. Liko wonders if the three wild Pokémon were trying to protect Paldean Wooper. Mollie arrives with her Chansey and promises the wild Pokémon that she’s going to help Paldean Wooper out. 

While Mollie works on healing Paldean Wooper, she tells Liko why she quit being a Pokémon doctor. Mollie says she quit her occupation because she wanted to be able to travel the world and treat any wild Pokémon who is in need. While that’s happening, the giant tree shakes Roy and Fuecoco off its body.

Roy tells Liko that he found an ancient Poké Ball resting on the tree. Liko and Roy realize this isn’t an ordinary tree. It happens to be a giant Arboliva and it’s not happy that the two have entered its territory. After the two dodge some of Arboliva’s attacks, they rush toward Mollie and inform her about what’s going on. 

Mollie tells the two to get somewhere safe. Meanwhile, she plans to continue working on Paldean Wooper’s wounds, baffling Liko. Liko and Sprigatito try to hold Arboliva off, but Arboliva overwhelms them. Roy contemplates Brassius’s advice to him and orders Fuecoco to use Stomping Tantrum on Arboliva. This provides Sprigatito with a solid opening, allowing it to slightly weaken Arboliva. 

However, Arboliva’s not backing down. Before Arboliva can hurt our heroes, Paldean Wooper and Mollie convince Arboliva that Liko, Roy, and the others mean no harm. Arboliva fists bump Mollie, signaling to the others that it trusts them now. Arboliva picks Liko and Roy up and shows them a ruined forest nearby. 

The episode closes with Liko wondering if this is the reason why Arboliva’s heart is filled with sadness. 

The Episode Review

While this episode was littered with convenience, many fans will adore learning more about Mollie’s background in this episode. It’ll instill hope that the other members of the Rising Volt Tacklers will have their stories told in future chapters. While it’s great to learn about Mollie’s family’s medical history, we’re hopeful the anime will shed more light on Mollie and her mother’s quarrel. It’d be a great way to keep folks interested in her character and her family’s developments.

Mollie aside, this episode gives us more details on Liko’s past life in Paldea. With this intel, it’s great to see that she’s turned a new leaf thanks to Sprigatito being at her side. Hopefully, we’ll get to see Liko’s mother pop up in the series soon. 

Another aspect of this episode that’ll catch viewers’ attention is Arboliva’s ancient Poké Ball. Whether or not that Poké Ball is for Arboliva or not begs to be seen. Nonetheless, that Poké Ball will entice audiences to ponder its origins.

Overall, this was a fun episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series. It gave Liko and Mollie more development and set us up for a forest-saving endeavor. Fingers crossed, the season finale will allude to something greater though.