#Capsaiji

[inbarfink]

[melaniagir8]

Inktober 2023, giorno 12 – Fieno/Spicey

[kurayamineko]

[amelikos]

Some character notes and episode notes for HZ052, writing them down for future reference.

The ep starts with the trio working on their reports and observing Pokemon. Liko spots some Ikirinko (and mentions that they aren't exactly like her grandma's! Diana mention!) but couldn't film them properly. Roy was trying to lure in a wild Capsaiji with berries but the Pokemon eventually ran away (it's not easy to get wild Pokemon to relax around them, which is an interesting approach and thing to bring up for their reports, because they really have to be careful and observe their surroundings). Hogator was the one who brought berries to Roy and he was skilled at it (even using Nitro Charge to climb trees), and Kaiden felt competitive and jealous about it and still couldn't fly to reach berries up on the trees.

At night, the trio set up camp and talk about their progress for their reports. Liko shows her video to Dot and knows it looks terrible. Dot thinks it's a shame since white Ikirinko are rare. Dot asks Roy if he found anything and he shows Liko and Dot his recording of Kaiden trying to fly. Roy says that although Kaiden got better at flying, he still has a difficult time and loses control in strong winds and gives up right away (interesting characterization for Kaiden, being the type to quickly give up and get frustrated and jealous, etc). Roy wishes he could make him feel more confident, but isn't sure how to go about it. (Also, the Pokemon were eating during that scene and it was cute. I love these scenes that show how they act in daily life and how they all have different ways of eating, and Kanuchan using her hammer to split a berry in two and share with Terapagos was adorable! Terapagos helped Kanuchan get berries back in HZ043 and now Kanuchan is sharing with Terapagos, and I like how the Pokemon get to bond and look out for each other, etc)

Liko and the others eventually all go to sleep (we get to see them in their tents and the Pokemon have their own sleeping bags which is good, and again, showing them in such everyday scenes is just nice). Kaiden secretly slipped out of the tent to train and fly, but still has trouble in strong winds. Roy eventually notices Kaiden is gone and looks for him. He finds him and proceeds to try and cheer Kaiden up by singing since the latter feels down. It doesn't work and Kaiden still feels down. Roy suddenly hears a strange noise and gets scared. A Pokemon shows up and runs up to him (and it turns out to be a Hakadog). The Pokemon belongs to Ryme (a Gym Leader but Roy doesn't know that yet). She says she heard Roy singing and thought it was passionate. She feels jittery vibes from Kaiden, and says that running away from fear will never get him anywhere. She starts singing (and her lyrics mention that there is nothing wrong with some fear and that it makes one stronger, which is relevant to Kaiden) and Roy thinks she is really cool. Then, the Capsaiji that Roy saw earlier during the day comes out from a bush and Roy thinks it's strange seeing one at night given that this Pokemon loves sunlight (Roy did his homework and studies seriously). Ryme says that Capsaiji is probably running away from the one not of this world. Roy remembers his report and tries to film Capsaiji, and mentions that he is taking a course at Orange Academy. Ryme's interest is piqued and she encourages Hogator before leaving without a word (Kaiden isn't pleased that Hogator gets this kind of attention).

The following day, Roy tells Liko and Dot about the fearsome Pokemon not of this world. They wonder if it really exists and who Roy heard this from. Roy tries to show them the video of Capsaiji, but it was all pitch black because he couldn't take it properly. Dot thinks she should teach Liko and Roy how to use their camera properly. (Liked this moment a lot. It's funny, and interesting to show that just because Liko and Roy are young and may be more used to phones and popular stuff for their age, it doesn't mean they necessarily know how to use technology properly, especially compared to Dot who is a streamer and familiar with this stuff.)

Afterwards, they all go back to observing Pokemon. Liko finds the Ikirinko again and tries to film them, but Nyarote and Terapagos showed up and made them run away (Liko tried to hush them but they thought she wanted to have fun). Dot gets carried away and doesn't exactly focus on her report as she tries to record a dazzling video (liked that she still uses the word "dazzling" a lot because of Nanjamo, and that she has fun with her Pokemon too and gets distracted instead of focusing on homework, she can goof around too).

Meanwhile, Roy is trying to find the Capsaiji from the previous day. Hogator helps a random Pokemon get berries, and also gives one to Kaiden (which is nice, especially since Hogator usually keeps food to himself, so it shows that he is more willing to share now). Kaiden gets pissed and picks a fight with Hogator before leaving. Roy looks for him and spots Capsaiji stuck in a cliff. He tries to help him, but Capsaiji initially doesn't trust him (and even uses Bullet Seed on him but Roy eats the seeds and finds them tasty since he loves spicy food). Roy sings to try and get Capsaiji to trust him (and used Ryme's song and words, he listened to it once and remembered it). Capsaiji eventually does, but Roy cannot climb the cliff while carrying him. Kaiden decides to take this opportunity to fly in order to help. He still had a bit of trouble with strong winds but managed to save Capsaiji. Meanwhile, Liko and Dot arrived at the scene (Mibrim felt something was wrong and led them there) and worry about Roy who is trying to climb back up. Roy tries to reassure them by saying he is good at climbing trees, but he loses his grip and falls. Kaiden immediately dives down to save him and evolves in the process, becoming big enough to carry Roy and flies around with him. They eventually bid goodbye to Capsaiji. Liko and Dot get excited over Kaiden's evolution. Roy is pleased as well, and asks Dot if she caught the evolution on camera (Dot didn't because she was too focused on the scene to pull out her phone, which is a small moment but also feels meaningful because she was absorbed in the moment and didn't reflexively record it). Liko didn't either.

At the end, the trio resumes their journey. Taikaiden seems to get along better with Hogator now and carries him to fly around with him (Hogator really seems to love flying, probably because of Lizardon too, so I wonder if he'll find a way to fly as well upon evolving). Meanwhile, a Pokemon lurks in the mists of the forest (the one not of this world that Ryme mentioned).

Overall, good and fun ep! Good for the characters, good for the Pokemon (Kaiden evolving to save Roy and overcoming his fear was great), and nice interactions between everyone. Also establishes future threads (Ryme will totally be Roy's second opponent for the Terastal course). This was Kimiko Ueno's third Horizons ep (last one she wrote was HZ042, the Mighty G ep). Her first ep (HZ037) was a Roy focused one too, just like this one, so maybe she'll write more Roy-centric eps in the future.

[amelikos]

Roy is taking his studies seriously so far: in HZ051, he looked up more information about Kunugidama and got to understand the reason why it exploded so easily. The Pokedex description didn't mention anything about this Pokemon being prone to exploding (he wasn't the one who scanned Kunugidama though, Liko did), so it shows he looked beyond what the description had to offer and personally wanted to know more.

Same for Capsaiji in HZ052. The Pokedex description only mentioned that this Pokemon absorbs sunlight and later on, Roy immediately made the connection that it's strange seeing a Capsaiji around at night for this reason and deduced that it could be a rare phenomenon.