Pokemon Horizons' first arc ends on October 13: Recapping Liko and Roy's Departure Arc

Pokemon Horizons' first story arc, known as Liko and Roy's Departure Arc, will end with the series' 24th episode on October 13, 2023. When the 25th episode kicks off on October 20, the second arc, Pokemon: The Sparkling of Terapagos, will begin in earnest. Since this is the case, it isn't a bad time to take a look at how the series' first arc unfolded.

At the outset of Pokemon Horizons, fans met Liko and her Sprigatito, Roy and his Fuecoco, as well as the colorful cast of the Rising Volt Tacklers. A mystery began to develop around Liko's pendant gifted by her grandmother, which was being pursued by a sinister group known as the Explorers.

There's quite a bit that went on in Pokemon Horizons' first 24 episodes, so it's worth taking a look at them in a broad sense.

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Recapping Pokemon Horizons' first story arc, Liko and Roy's Departure

Liko began her Pokemon Horizons adventure as a student in the Kanto region (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Pokemon Horizons' story begins with Liko, a student arriving in the Kanto region as a member of the Indigo Academy. Arriving from her home in Paldea, Liko meets a student named Ann, and the two are bestowed their starter Pokemon. Ann receives an Oshawott, while Liko receives a Sprigatito, which is initially quite unfriendly to her.

Training her new partner proves to be quite difficult, and it isn't long before Liko's school break arrives. She's lured by a fake letter from Amethio, a member of the Explorers, to return her grandmother's pendant to her. As Liko makes her way to do so, she is ambushed by the Explorers Amethio, Onia, and Zirc, who attack her in an attempt to steal the pendant.

Liko encounters Terapagos for the first time in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

A man named Friede, along with his Charizard, intercepts the attack and begins to battle with the Explorers. Liko and Sprigatito flee and take a bad fall but are saved by the energy from Liko's pendant. She meets a mysterious Pokemon (now known as Terapagos in Pokemon Horizons) before the creature transforms back into the pendant.

Liko and Sprigatito continue to fall but are saved by Friede and Charizard, who whisk the two away to safety aboard the airship known as the Brave Asagi. The ship serves as the flying base of a group known as the Rising Volt Tacklers, formed by Friede and Captain Pikachu. Liko meets the following members of the group:

• Mollie—the team's healing specialist, who left behind her family and a medical career to forge her own path.
• Murdock—a skilled chef aboard the airship.
• Orla—a founding member of the group and the Brave Asagi's chief engineer.
• Ludlow—a founding member and relaxed older man who loves to fish.
• Dot—a reclusive technological specialist whose alter ego is Liko's favorite streamer, AKA Nidothing.
• Various Pokemon that are kept in the Brave Asagi under the Rising Volt Tacklers' protection.

The Explorers give chase after the Pokemon Horizons heroes, leading to a confrontation that solidifies Liko and Sprigatito's bond in battle. Unfortunately, a gust of wind causes the Explorers to capture Sprigatito and fly away. The Rising Volt Tacklers pursue the group to a nearby port city and team up to successfully retrieve Sprigatito.

On a small island on the outskirts of Kanto, a young boy named Roy discovers the Brave Asagi's flag. En route to the Paldea region, the Rising Volt Tacklers stop over on Roy's island, as Roy's grandfather was a mentor to Friede before Pokemon Horizons took place. During their time on the island, Roy befriends a Fuecoco as well as Liko and the Rising Volt Tacklers.

Roy meets Fuecoco in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The Explorers arrive on the island, leading to another conflict. However, before the battle can fully develop, an ancient Poke Ball that Roy's grandfather possessed opens, revealing a black Rayquaza that scares off the Explorers before departing and astonishing the Pokemon Horizons crew.

Seeing the Rayquaza makes Roy determined to follow and catch it, making Fuecoco his partner and joining the Pokemon Horizons crew. The Rising Volt Tacklers set course for Paldea to follow the black Rayquaza as well as deliver Liko back to her parents, who live in the region.

Captain Pikachu attempts to train Liko and Roy as trainers in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

On the way to Paldea, Liko and Roy face intense training with Captain Pikachu to brush up their skills as trainers. Liko also convinces Dot to be more social, albeit just by a small amount at first. Liko and Roy both bond with their partners, but Liko is still unsure as to what she wants to do when the Brave Asagi touches down in Paldea.

Eventually, the airship does just that. After visiting Mesagoza City, the gang visits Alex, Liko's father. Sprigatito, jealous of Liko's family's Fidough, stays at Liko's home while the group returns to the Brave Asagi. During the return to her home, Liko is harassed by a wild Lechonk, leading Sprigatito to spring into action to protect its trainer.

After the incident, Liko thinks over her journey so far in Pokemon Horizons and decides that she doesn't want to stay home in Paldea after her ordeals. Instead, she wants to travel the world with Sprigatito and the Rising Volt Tacklers. Alex agrees and notes that the Pokemon Horizons crew should head to Artazon to meet the Gym Leader Brassius, who allegedly spotted the black Rayquaza.

In Artazon, Liko and Roy meet the Paldean ace trainer Nemona as well as Brassius, who is in an artist's slump. The group decides to collect Sunflora in an attempt to reignite Brassius' creativity. Brassius brings the group back to his home, where he shows them a Sunflora/black Rayquaza statue based on his experience with the Legendary Pokemon.

Roy's excitement to follow the Rayquaza reignites Brassius' desire to battle, and he challenges Roy. Despite Roy and Fuecoco's efforts, Brassius and his Terastallized Sudowoodo emerge victorious, reigniting his vigor. The Rising Volt Tacklers return to the Brave Asagi with Brassius' information that the black Rayquaza was seen in the Arboliva Forest.

Nemona departs from Liko and Roy in Pokemon Horizons as they make their way to the forest with Mollie. The Arboliva Forest has been ravaged by fires, injuring many Pokemon, including a Paldean Wooper. The Pokemon Horizons gang decides to collect berries to help the wild Pocket Monsters, but inadvertently upset a giant Arboliva carrying an ancient Poke Ball like Roy's.

The giant Arboliva posing as a large tree in the forest in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As the giant Arboliva begins to square off against Liko and Roy and their Pokemon, Paldean Wooper returns and calms the creature down. The large Pokemon shows the group the devastation in the forest while the Brave Asagi encounters signal-jamming issues from an unknown source.

Liko's pendant transforms into Terapagos once more, and it appears to know the Arboliva, who induces a vision for Liko and Roy that features a hooded trainer in the mist. Arboliva then recalls itself into its Poke Ball, joining the Pokemon Horizons crew on their adventures. Elsewhere, Friede meets Liko's mother Lucca, and the two discuss the legend of the ancient trainer Lucius.

According to the stories, Lucius was an ancient explorer and trainer who captured many rare and powerful Pokemon. The Rising Volt Tacklers reconvene at the Brave Asagi, and Liko decides that she wants to travel to the Galar region to visit her grandmother and better understand her pendant. Meanwhile, Roy believes that there may be clues there surrounding the black Rayquaza.

Unfortunately, interference caused by Spinel of the Explorers renders the Brave Asagi grounded for the time being. In the meantime, the Rising Volt Tacklers spend time together on a picnic, and Roy befriends and catches a Wattrel. However, during a visit to Levincia City, Spinel manages to hypnotize Liko with his Beheeyem and steal her pendant.

Iono lends a hand in finding Liko with the Rising Volt Tacklers in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As the Rising Volt Tacklers attempt to find Liko and Sprigatito in Levincia, Dot enlists the help of her fellow streamer Iono, the city's Electric-type Gym Leader. With a city-wide broadcast, Iono helps Dot, Roy, and Friede find Liko, ultimately leading to a showdown with Spinel.

Spinel's Beheeyem and Magneton are defeated, but the Pokemon Horizons crew has a tough time against his Umbreon. Fortunately, as Spinel tries to make his escape, the pendant emits a beam of light and reveals his location. Arboliva emerges from its ancient Poke Ball, forcing Spinel to flee and helping Liko retrieve her pendant.

Arboliva was instrumental in retrieving Liko's pendant in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The Rising Volt Tacklers return to the repaired Brave Asagi, Dot finally reveals her identity as Nidothing, and the group sets off for the Galar region. Meanwhile, Spinel is admonished by the Explorers, including Hamber, the second-in-command under the team's leader, Gibeon.

On the trip to Galar, the Pokemon Horizons team learns the story behind Friede and Captain Pikachu. Friede was originally a Pokemon Professor studying an enigmatic Flying Pikachu, and the two bonded after a touch-and-go relationship, leading to the founding of the Rising Volt Tacklers.

Friede meets Captain Pikachu in a Pokemon Horizons flashback (Image via The Pokemon Company)

When the Pokemon Horizons heroes touch down in Galar, Liko and Roy assist Murdock in reconciling with his former culinary partner, inadvertently leading the two young trainers to meet the Fire-type Gym Leader Kabu in Motostoke City. The fiery leader agrees to divulge information on the black Rayquaza but tests Liko and Roy in a double battle with his understudy Wakaba.

Liko learns a lesson about her compassion as a trainer undercutting her honorable opponents, and the group learns that the black Rayquaza was last seen at the Galar Mine. En route to the mine, Liko befriends and captures a lonely Hatenna who had been stranded in a storm and which was overwhelmed by other people, something Liko empathized with at times.

Hatenna becomes Liko's first new addition to her team in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

At the Galar Mine, Liko, Roy, and Friede find a group of exhausted miners and scared wild Pokemon. It is revealed that a Galarian Moltres clutching an ancient Poke Ball has been using its rage to sap the stamina of the mine's inhabitants, and matters are made worse when Amethio, Zinc, and Onia of the Explorers interject.

Galarian Moltres prove to be too much for all involved, but Friede and Charizard opt to fend off the Explorers and Galarian Moltres while the Pokemon Horizons heroes escape after evacuating the miners and other Pokemon. The trio return to Motostoke's Pokemon Center, and Friede and Charizard eventually make their way to the center after escaping the mine themselves.

Friede's Charizard faces off against Amethio's Ceruledge in Pokemon Horizons (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The Pokemon Horizons gang returns to the Galar Mine to confront Galarian Moltres once more, but the creature's rage still proves to be overwhelming. However, a combined assault from Liko, Roy, Friede, and Cap manages to stun Galarian Moltres for a moment, and Liko's pendant transforms into Terapagos once more.

Terapagos speaks with Galarian Moltres, causing rainfall in the Galar Mine and leaving Liko to think that the Legendary Bird is crying. The group is drawn into another vision from Terapagos, showing Lucius speaking with the Galarian Moltres and uttering the word "Rakua" before the vision ends. Galarian Moltres then returns to its ancient Poke Ball and offers to join the group.

Galarian Moltres burns with rage in Pokemon Horizons as Roy and Fuecoco watch (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Even stranger, Terapagos doesn't transform back into Liko's pendant. Kabu arrives to assist the Rising Volt Tacklers out of the mine, commending the trainers on their incredible work. The group decides to return to the Brave Asagi with Terapagos while the Explorers watch from afar, Amethio stating that they should let the group go for now because Galarian Moltres wasn't the objective.

Pokemon Horizons Episode 24 will see the Rising Volt Tacklers journey to the old castle in Galar, where Liko's grandmother is presumed to be. Hopefully, the final episode of the story's first arc divulges some details about Terapagos, Lucius, and how the two are connected. However, the Explorers will surely follow, and a huge showdown may very well be in store.