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Just one detail out of the many great ones in episode 100 of pokemon horizons, but I feel like the last two episodes really solidified the parallels between liko and orio narrative roles in regards to friede.

Even before the arc began and the new designs for the trio have been revealed, aside for roy's direct similarity to friede, something I noticed was liko's new design's similarity to orio's. Their hairstyle is very similar, both having two strands of hair at the front and tying the rest up behind, and it was a particular enough choice for me to keep in the back of my mind and not chalk up to a coincidence, as almost nothing in this series is coincidental.

The opening two parter of terastal debut frame liko's grief around her bottling her feelings up, as she tended to do before her journey began, which I feel after the last episode surrounding orio, create direct parallels. Both of them were heavily shaken by the loss of friede, likely more than the other rvt members - friede was orio's childhood friend who roped her into building the brave asagi, and friede was the first person to swoop liko into her life-changing journey, and was a true, impactful mentor figure for her. In response to that loss, both liko and orio tried returning to the guise of normalcy - adopting a somewhat unhealthy "out of sight out of mind" mentality, because thinking about what they could have done and could do at present is too painful. Even more parallels can be drawn by their relationships with ann and karna respectively, as their outside figures from their grand adventure and their sole companion in their attempt to return to normalcy. Both ann and karna point out to orio and liko that their behaviour has changed, both try to understand what they go through, and both liko and orio resort to bottling those feelings up so as to not worry the other/prevent the painful feelings from resurfacing.

Resorting to a sort of routinely stagnancy, abandoning the days of journeying in order to try to, unsuccessfully and against their deeply seated desires, to reintegrate into an un-thrilling and socially normative life, was a nuanced and very realistic writing choice for both of these characters. Similarly, both of them are spurred back from inaction to action by roy's urging, while initially turning him down in a very similar manner. For both of them, the renewed encounter with roy spurs memories of friede - liko and her first encounter with friede at the indigo academy's roof as a direct mirroring, and orio seeing a grown up roy fade into an image of friede in her mind. And after the prolonged encounter, both of them tap back into their desire for adventure and taking action against the rakurium, continuing friede's will.

These similarities are further highlighted by the cinematography choices between episodes 90-91 and episodes 99-100. Both liko and orio are often framed at the side of the frame and out of focus, with only half of their face visible - highlighting their complex emotions in regards to the loss of friede, and both of their tendencies to bottle them up, trying to maintain a facade of being alright for the sake of those around them, not to burden them with their personal feelings:

They both first appear in the respective episodes with their faces at least partially obscured, and similarly reflect on the traumatic event of the past year in shots that mirror each other perfectly:

The out-of-focus framing is similarly used to highlight their internal emotional turmoil in both episodes, when they're confronted with their own stagnancy - liko watches roy and his newly acquired partner pokemon, lamenting about her own inaction and paralysis, just as orio opens up about her inability to move on - their faces are obscured for us as the viewers, just as they try to shove their feelings lest others will see.

It also leads me to believe that liko's knowledge of friede being alive is especially impactful for her as it is for orio, considering the similar framing - out of focus, barely in frame:

Which is also why I think it is no coincidence that in the previous episode, the one to truly convince orio is liko - she knows how she feels, because she's been in a similarly grieving headspace for the past year. She knows how it feels to sink into self imposed melancholy and becoming, as Karna said, "a bit of a stick in the mud". But with reinvigorated spirit, liko recognizes that friede wouldn't sit still, and so they must do the same.

Liko and orio are constantly highlighted in regards to one another in these two episodes - orio firstly points out liko's growth and change of look, further reinforcing my belief that the design similarities aren't a mere coincidence, and as orio decides to join the renewed rvts, liko specifically comes excitedly hugs her. It's a sweet gesture of warmth, but also highlights, to me, their narrative and thematic bond, and similar positions.

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Translated spoilers for HZ100 scene, read at your own discretion. It's a big spoiler for today's episode! Translation by Dephender on serebii forums!

Specifically, Friede's message:

"This is Friede. Lizardon is here with me as well. I apologize for not being able to get in touch before now, but the Explorers were keeping an eye on me. Things could get bad if they learned what I was up to, so I had to wait until I was out of their reach to send this message. Anyway, I'm doing what I'm doing in order to solve the mystery of the Rakulium, so I'll be counting on you to take care of things until I come back! Take care!"

What is going on-

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A special video released to commemorate the 100th episode!

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I love Pokémon Horizons.

I love it so much.

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AAAHHHHHH!!!

FRIEDE VOICE MESSAGE AAAAHHHHHHHHH

ORIO CRIED AAAAHHHHHH

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I have been extremely inactive on tumblr lately, different hyper focuses going on atm.

But just be aware, I still love Horizons, I still love Pokémon, I think Mega Voltage has been insanely good and living up to my own expectations.

Heck, Uruto exceeded them. I'm so fricking excited for the future.

The only nitpick I have is animation quality and ffs, I can ignore that when I still have lots of fun watching the show! That's what matters to me the most.

Hope everyone is doing alright.

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Hurt

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I cried.

God damn it.

Orio really is hurting. ;____;

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Anipoke_PR monthly calendar is back! Aaaaand HZ100 timeslot is highlighted, wonderful!

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Oh, I have to say something about HZ098:

Uruto is adorable.

That's all lol.

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Orio is absolutely hurting inside. No doubt about that.

Not answering Murdock's call, him saying something about Brave Asagi no longer existing? Not entirely sure but it sounded like she took it apart? But even before the preview I knew she would not have the heart to do that. Because even when hurting, she loved the Brave Asagi. Why would she do anything bad to it?

Very excited for the hz100 buildup of RVT getting back together ❤️

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Hey! I know you don't play PokéMas anymore, but I also know you love Alola, so I thought I would let you know that the most recent event was an Alolafest! Elio and Selene got Neo Champ alts and their corresponding event was the cutest. I imagine someone has uploaded it to YouTube by now, so I recommend watching if you get a chance! Have a great day!!

I'm aware yes.

The game plain up refuses to update proper for me anymore, so I'm holding a grudge lol.

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About horizons i still think it's more likely a different universe from ashs world until proven otherwise. To me it has more of the vibes of the games or something like twilight wings with a mixed few elements of the ashs universe. Real evidence would be a character like Paul, trip or Gary showing up. Things like nurse joy can simply be a reference.

It's definitely a mess of where it belongs.

There are some nods to Ash era, and I still want to believe current Rotomphone voice is INTENDED to be Goh lol. But I do agree that Horizons seems to be following the game timeline mostly in sync. But I also think it wants to avoid any nods to past right now. And honestly, I prefer to not get more than subtle nods.

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I have seen the newest Horizons ep (hz097) today, just... been feeling sick so not in a mood to write about it :D

Just know that I very much enjoyed the ep and am very excited for the next!

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Catch the latest Pokémon news in our next Pokémon Presents on July 22nd at 6 a.m. PST.

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Your adventure in Lumiose City begins on October 16, 2025!

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