#explorer hamber

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

Even more Pokémon Horizons Episode 33 spoilers under the cut!

PLEASE LOOK AT THE SUBTITLE CAPTIONS DURING THESE SPECIFIC CLIPS IT JUST KILLS ME SDUHFSDNFKSJDFHSDN

[jadeazora]

The Explorers in the new OP, I love them all. Also, Zirc and Onia with pretty affectionate body language towards their Pokémon, I really hope they get more development soon too!

[l00rem]

Imo, this is the most telling/concerning line of the explorers

As we’ve seen, the environment of Explorers is incredibly toxic. 3/4 of the other admins have each insulted or taken shots at Amethio somehow. And it looks like this is nothing new, it’s horrible how Conia’s reaction to him being in a room alone with them is ‘oh god i hope he’s okay’. Amethio is a minor, he’s in a room full of people who seem to all be much older than him and ,in complete contrast to Liko’s situation, they all belittle him and insult him for every little mistake. It’s really upsetting how the only two people who have any sort of concern for him are his underlings- but Conia and Zir are absolutely powerless to really do anything about this. As much as they care about him, I don’t think Amethio would even be able to allow himself to be proper vulnerable around them. He’s already having to constantly prove himself, so how could he do something as unprofessional as spilling his worries to his underlings? It seems the only one he’s comfortable being open with is Ceruledge, but once again there is very little it can do to help him.

Then there’s Hamber. I’ve seen a few people give him the benefit of the doubt, especially because of episode 34 where it looks like he’s taken a shine to Amethio. But don’t let his fake concern fool you.

All i see here is basic professionalism, like he’s reading what he has to say off a script. He doesn’t actually mean what he’s saying: we’ve seen how high the Explorers expectations are, I mean just look at how much Amethio is overexerting himself in the second op, surprise surprise Hamber is sitting back and merely watching despite his earlier comment of not straining yourself. Not to mention, the moment things start going well for Amethio, Hamber immediately undermines his agency by going with Sango and Onyx to sort things out personally. Like no wonder Amethio seems to be triggered by not being taken seriously when this is how his (employers? guardians? idk) treat him!

He’s also got soooo many red flags! The biggest being when Sango half-heartedly refuses orders, to which he responds:

Literally physically intimidating her! And her reaction raises even more red flags, despite her happy demeanour the way she instantly complies is very telling that this isn’t the first time Hamber’s resorted to such threats… and this is the same environment a 16ish old is being raised in!

Maybe it’s just the amount of pressure he was putting on himself, but look how stressed and low-key terrified Amethio looks when fighting Hamber!!

And even if we want to make the case that maybe Amethio is this special exception for Hamber and that he’s got a soft spot for him… he is ultimately still complicit in grooming Amethio into this shady organisation. Episode 34 even reveals that Hamber was the one who trained Amethio, which also fuels the idea that he might have been some random child they find and realised how easily they could manipulate him into becoming the perfect loyal admin. Well i personally subscribe to the Amethio is an orphan theory rather than Gibeons son, especially considering that comment about Gibeon ‘awakening’, Idk if Gibeon is even properly alive.

Btw if you’re interested in further exploration in what I’ve discussed in this post allow me to shamelessly plug my fic that finished recently. It delves into the shadiness of Explorers and how really fucked up Amethio’s situation is! https://archiveofourown.org/works/52757629

It’s kinda weird how we’ve gone from ‘haha look at team Rocket blast off again aren’t they so wacky?’ to literal child grooming. I’m all for the serious themes tho.

Tldr: Hamber deserves to be pushed down a flight of stairs, Amethio needs so much therapy.

[amethiosspouse]

meme with the explorers:

[azuremoonns]

thinking about how Hamber said “master Gibeon is awake” and now I’m realising HE MEANS HES AWAKE BECAUSE HE SLEEPS HALF OF THE TIME DUE TO HIS PHYSICAL CONDITION IM ILL

[scraftyisthebest]

Thinking about the Explorers and the relationships between different members in the group, and the characters of the individuals ones we've met so far.

There's clearly a dichotomy between them and the Rising Volt Tacklers about how the Rising Volt Tacklers are a close knit and supportive group of people who take good care of each other and that is their strength, while the Explorers...really don't.

The above image is a very basic showcase of what the closest connections seem to be, but to elaborate a bit.

I think there are a select few characters among this group who are probably the most redeemable and present the clearest foils to the kids of the RVT, namely Liko. Those being Amethio, Coral/Sango, and Sidian/Onyx.

Amethio and Coral in particular don't seem to be inherently evil per se, but in different ways they seem to have underlying insecurities and problems that show themselves a lot, especially in contrast to Liko. Especially in the recent episode where Liko and Coral had a baking showdown. Liko won because she had experience, and notably she had her friends Roy, Dot, and Murdock cheering her on. Meanwhile Coral was alone and had no support, and yet it's clear she was genuinely trying and seemed to want to be recognized as someone who can do something. Sidian doesn't seem to be a particularly bad guy either.

Within the groups Amethio is pretty close with his two grunt subordinates Zirc and Onia while Coral and Sidian are close with each other specifically. Those are the closest they have to friends in their own groups.

Hamber and Chalce (Agate) are probably the closest to being adult figures for certain members of the group. Hamber takes very special care of Amethio, while Chalce is specifically close with Sidian and Coral where she's the one giving them orders and now is posing as a teacher and working with them specifically.

That said, for whatever reason that we don't fully understand, it seems Hamber and Chalce aren't particularly good at being the proper parental figures Amethio, Coral, and Sidian seem to need. Liko, Roy, and Dot are with the RVT and have so far been looked after by a very supportive group of adults in Friede alongside his buddies Orla, Mollie, Murdock, and Ludlow, all of who care about each other and have been great parental figures to the kids throughout their time with them. Diana, Liko's grandmother, also has a good relationship with Liko, which is also a contrast since Diana and Hamber were once friends. Meanwhile Hamber and Chalce are also pretty detached from each other as are the members they care for, the Hamber+Amethio+his goons and Chalce+Coral+Sidian sub-groups don't really like each other very much for whatever reason.

Which definitely raises some interesting questions about the dichotomy and contrast that seems to be presenting itself. Hamber and Chalce are admittedly interesting in different ways as they're the closest to being like the RVT adults in that they are serving a guardian role for certain other members but evidently aren't the adult figures Amethio and Coral truly need, or the support network they seem to need.

---

And yeah, Spinel is there on the right all by himself. I think it's quite obvious what his deal is. He does not care about anyone else in the group. He openly dislikes Amethio and admits to using Coral, Sidian, and Chalce for his own self-gain. He only cares about himself, and he's setting up to be the traitor and a big bad himself who's sucking up to Gibeon for the time being, but fully intends to backstab the group and try to overthrow Gibeon once they all stop being useful to him. He's the most straightforward purely evil villain character like Hunter J from DP.

A long ass ramble but some interesting notes I felt were fun to speculate about.

[smilingperformer]

New calendar and it confirms episodes each week through November! None are marked as special thou.

[bengal-tigers-on-petunias]

As we say goodbye to 2023 we also say our farewells to 25 years of Ash Ketchum (ass_ketchup)

Goodbye N, the W character of the seris

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TEAM ROCKET

THEY WERE MY GAY AWAKENING IM NOT READY😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

And hello liko and roy... but more importantly, amethio, a fictional character finally close to my age that im hyperfixating on rn besides hunter from the owl house

[aurelicar]

This old man sure are cool

Hamber catified

[galactidot]

The Explorers Analysis

With the new episode released, we got a ton of new info on the series’ original villains. I compiled everything you should know here. Tell me if I missed anything!

[arjengelly]

Lock them in a room together, shit gets done but that room be dead silent

[jadeazora]

Ngl, calling it now, whenever it comes time for Amethio to switch sides, Zirc and Onia are definitely gonna hold the line while the Rising Volt Tacklers get the kid to safety, and Amethio's goal will be rescuing them from being held prisoner by Gibeon/Hamber, rather than having them join up alongside him. These guys clearly got more loyalty to him than the organization they're a part of, and I love that about them. (I feel it's more than him being a good boss to them too, like maybe they're a bit more of a found family?)

Given how he's shown creepily overseeing Amethio's training in the new OP, I'm getting the vibe Hamber might be might be a more personal opponent to Amethio later, and being a threat to his subordinates would definitely be a good way to do that:

[hupla222]

Screw it, Ponify Your Horizons

Gah! I just love character designing so much so why not combine my two great loves and ponify our beloved Horizons cast. Enjoy some cute ponies folks (plus lore is available if anyone wants to ask).

First the main (mane lol) trio:

Then the Rising Volt Tacklers. It bothers me to no end that I couldn't give Friede his goggles. Plus Murdock should be way bigger and bulkier than that:

And finally the Explorers. Just like Murdock, Sidian should be bulkier, but not quite as bulked out, still just as tall though. He is still a unicorn after all, even with his shattered horn:

[vulturevanity]

Gibeon reveal leak /j

[azuremoonns]

so after a discussion on twitter I decided to make this thread

[minty-the-marill]

Why does Hamber keep one eye closed and the other one open?