Pokemon Horizons Episode 35 recap: Odd Jobs with Friede and Captain Pikachu

After a New Year's break, Pokemon Horizons returned with Episode 35 on January 12, 2024, in Japan. As the Rising Volt Tacklers continue their search for the Six Heroes and Rakua, a dip in funds sends the group out to pick up a few jobs in the nearby wilderness. Friede, Captain Pikachu, Liko, and Roy ultimately end up in quite a mishap when they take up a job to find a lost Pokemon.

The good news is that our Pokemon Horizons heroes overcome their adversaries, and Liko learns quite a bit about the bonds between people and Pocket Monsters by studying the relationship between Friede and Cap. This episode may not be ultimately significant to the larger plot of the ongoing arc, but it's an enjoyable jaunt through a Western-themed adventure all the same.

---

Breaking down Pokemon Horizons Episode 35 "A Duo in the Wilderness - Friede and Cap"

Pokemon Horizons Episode 35 begins with the Rising Volt Tacklers low on money (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The latest entry of Pokemon Horizons begins with the Rising Volt Tacklers assembling, with Friede stating that the group is low on money due to their constant adventuring. Mollie and Murdock suggest ways they can collect funds. Mollie also asks Dot for help making a publicity video for the group's services, but Dot complains that doing so would be a pain.

Liko offers to help, but Friede tells our protagonist that she should stay focused on her studies at Indigo Academy in Kanto, which she's been attending remotely since Pokemon Horizons' earliest episodes. After speaking with her former roommate Ann, Liko attends class and is tasked with writing a report on the trust dynamic of a trainer/Pokemon pair she knows.

Liko hasn't forgotten her studies in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Leaving class and heading back to the conference room, Liko overhears that Friede has already found a job for the group and enters. Friede states that a mutual friend needs help finding a lost Pokemon, saying that he and Cap should be able to handle things easily. Roy and Liko volunteer to help, and Liko hopes to use the job as an opportunity to study Friede and Cap's bond.

In a dusty part of the wilderness, Friede, Cap, Liko, and Roy enter a saloon. There, they meet Shine, a roughnecked trainer who tasks the group with finding his lost Bramblin. He states that he's heard the news about a group of villainous Pokemon hunters in the area who have been snatching up random wild Pokemon, and he believes that his Bramblin may have been swiped as well. Friede and Cap accept the job.

Friede accepts the job to find the lost Bramblin in Pokemon Horizons Episode 35 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

In a dusty clearing away from the saloon, the Pokemon Horizons heroes find the Bramblin resting within a tuft of grass. Unfortunately, as they attempt to reach it, the Pokemon gets blown away by the wind. The group gives chase but can't seem to catch the Ghost/Grass-type creature, and Roy even collides with a group of wild Rhyhorn, after which the heroes are seen running from the creatures' stampede.

The group has the option to head to the desert or a nearby oasis, and Friede decides they should head to the former since Bramblin hate getting wet. However, Cap disagrees and begins to bicker with Friede about which location to check out. Liko realizes that Cap and Friede don't always get along, but then the group spots the Bramblin hanging from a branch above them.

Bramblin keeps getting carried away by the wind in Pokemon Horizons Episode 35 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Before the group can react, the Pokemon is once again carried off by the wind, and the Pokemon Horizons crew gives chase. They find a group of tumbleweeds being carried by the wind and search them for Bramblin, and Liko manages to catch sight of it before Terapagos falls out of her pack and distracts her. Bramblin is then shown to be caught in a net by the Pokemon hunters.

A female Pokemon hunter in a pink and plum outfit chides her fellow hunters for not catching cuter Pokemon. The group apologizes in front of a truck filled with multiple wild Pokemon, and another truck pulls up, with a hunter stating that they caught Bramblin. The female hunter is unimpressed, stating that the creature isn't cute at all.

The Pokemon hunters catch and imprison Bramblin in Pokemon Horizons Episode 35 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Meanwhile, our Pokemon Horizons heroes stop by a nearby town to ask about Bramblin's whereabouts. Two passersby call Captain Pikachu cute, which sends him into a sneezing fit. Friede points out that Cap is allergic to being called cute, and the group heads back out on their search. They find Pokemon hunters loading a Skorupi into a truck at an oasis, and Friede apprehends them and calls Shine.

The group hears that the hunters had caught a Bramblin earlier, so they decide to head out and find the leader. Our Pokemon Horizons heroes catch up with the rest of the hunters, who send out creatures like Omastar, Mudsdale, and Toxtricity to fend off the Rising Volt Tacklers. Cap is sent out to battle and makes short work of Omastar and Toxtricity, but Mudsdale gives it trouble since it's a Ground-type.

Unfortunately, during the fight, the female hunter calls Cap cute, leading the Electric Mouse Pokemon's allergies to kick in again. Sprigatito and Fuecoco dive in to help, but Mudsdale keeps them at bay, and the female hunter sends out an Avalugg. She tells the Pokemon Horizons heroes that her Avalugg will hurt the caged creatures if they don't back off.

Cap ends up in sneezing fits over being called cute in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Friede decides to take on the hunters head-on, but Cap disagrees and runs off. Fuecoco and Sprigatito take on Toxtricity and Omastar, with Friede pouting about Cap leaving. Mudsdale continues causing issues in battle, but then Cap leaps from a nearby clifftop and defeats Avalugg with a Thunder Punch. Meanwhile, Bramblin evolves into Brambleghast and breaks the captured Pokemon out of their cage.

Friede reveals that the Bramblin was ready to evolve from being blown around by the wind so much and also states that he and Cap staged a fake argument to take the hunters by surprise. The battle continues, and Cap Thunder Punches Toxtricity and Omastar into the air before launching them into Mudsdale, defeating all three. Liko is astonished by Friede's and Captain Pikachu's teamwork.

Friede and Cap make quite a team in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

We then see Liko giving her presentation from the deck of the Brave Olivine, telling the story of how the Pokemon hunters were apprehended and Brambleghast was returned to Shine. She states that Friede and Cap's bond makes her feel as though she's grown stronger as Friede shows the Rising Volt Tacklers the money they received for the job.

Our Pokemon Horizons protagonist states that she hopes to be a trainer like Friede one day, and she won't stop observing his dynamic with Cap in the future.