Media Essays: Rewriting Pokémon Horizons Season 3 Part 1

Have you ever seen a season of a TV show that showed plenty of promise, only to be disappointed by the execution and you ask yourself how it ended up as bad as it did? This is the case with me for the subject of today's essay.

Pokémon Horizons Season 3, known in Japan as the Terastal Debut arc, was one of the most frustrating viewing experiences I've ever had with a TV series. This was an arc that had no business being as bad as it was, and yet it ended up as such and that's why we're here today. I'm going to re-write this arc and make it better than what we actually got. I thought rather than doing a full-on review of this season as I have done with the previous seasons, a re-write essay would be more interesting.

This essay will be divided into two parts. Part 1 will cover Season 3 and the re-write of the first few episodes, and Part 2 will cover the rest of the re-write from the middle of the season to the end.

So, let's dive in...

The Good Stuff

Before we begin, I'm going to give a summary of my thoughts on this arc, both the good and the bad, and then I'll get to the re-write portion. So, did this arc have anything good about it? Of course it did, I'm not going to pretend that it's all bad and had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. So, what was good about this arc?

Professor Friede is side-lined and is out of the picture for pretty much the whole thing. That's a plus. The previous two seasons really suffered from having Friede take up too much of the spotlight and constantly holding Liko and Roy back to the point he was beginning to overshadow them, and he's supposed to be a supporting character. So naturally, I was VERY happy that this arc finally got rid of him and let Liko and Roy have some growing space without him holding them back for the millionth time.

This leads into another plus: the fact Liko and Roy actually feel like the stars of their own show for once and the story is focused SQUARELY on them. As a bonus, Dot is here too and also getting her time to shine. Who'd have thought getting rid of Friede and actually focusing on the characters who are meant to be the NEW MAIN CHARACTERS would actually make the story better, am I right?

I also like how this arc plays out a bit like the Ash era in where it's the kids travelling from town-to-town and battling Gyms. The execution left much to be desired, but it was still nice to see Horizons call back to the anime's original era and sort of have our new heroes walking in Ash's footsteps for a bit.

And given this arc is all about the kids taking the Terastal Training course and learning to become stronger, naturally the story is very character-focused and our heroes gain a lot of development this season. We learn about Roy's backstory and why he likes singing, Dot learns to be more outgoing and not to hide behind the Nidothing costume and Liko learns to take battles more seriously while becoming a more capable and braver fighter. It's especially noticeable with how all three of them have developed their own fighting styles as of this arc. Liko relies on agility, acrobatics and fighting from a distance, Roy relies on speed and strength through singing and Dot relies on strategy and planning her moves accordingly, whilst also allowing room for improvisation. It's so cool to see these kids becoming more than what they were before. I mean we actually get to see them win a fight against two Explorer admins for once! Back in Season 2, Liko and Roy struggled to even dent Coral and Sidian and now here they are actually winning battles against them. They've come so far and it's great to see.

Oh and unlike Season 2, the plot doesn't grind to a halt for several episodes. Like in Season 1, there's VERY little filler episodes this time around. In fact, only TWO episodes can be outright skipped this season, leaving the rest as important watches that you can't miss out on. It's clear that they had a better idea on how the story should play out this season and it makes for an easier watch as a result.

And finally, the conversation between Liko and Amethio while they're trapped in a cave together is one of the best scenes in the show thus far. It was fascinating to see these two enemies finally talk things out and see that they're not so different after all. Why it took until Episode 65 for this conversation to finally happen, I'll never understand, but hey, better later than never. I am curious how Liko and Amethio's relationship will go in later seasons. I'm calling it now that Amethio will turn good...

So if there's all this good stuff, then why am I calling this season "bad" and saying it needs a re-write? Well that's where the bad stuff comes in...

The Bad Stuff

Unfortunately, this arc was an example of a great idea that was poorly executed.

First of all, the rules of the Terastal Training course are ridiculous. You can pass the test even if you lose the battle, which really takes away the stakes of these battles and it feels like the writers made that up as an excuse to keep having the kids get their asses kicked over and over, because they're too laser focused on showing them as inexperienced rookies for some reason. Seriously, it's getting old at this point. We're THREE SEASONS into this show, they should be able to hold their own by now! And what's worse is that there's two difficulty levels in the course, but there's barely any difference between them. It's just the Basics require 1 Pokémon, and the Implementation Test requires 2 Pokémon. Why not be more creative with this concept and add more rules to make it harder, like say MAKING IT SO WINNING THE BATTLE IS ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY IN ORDER TO PASS?!?!?! Just saying...

Second, Liko was treated like garbage this arc. For absolutely no reason whatsoever, the writers really put her through the wringer, and it was just completely unnecessary. There was no reason whatsoever for her to lose any of these battles, especially the one with Grusha in where he fails Liko on her test for literally no reason, but it doesn't matter because Liko uses Terastal to stop Sidian during an attack on the school and she gets approved anyway. It just comes off as mean-spirited as a result. It's like they think "Liko's the main character, so she needs to suffer the most", when that's not how writing works. Liko did not need to lose any of these battles for the story to work. Even the battle with Grusha, losing to him and failing the test was unnecessary and the plot could've progressed without it. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the arc ends with Liko losing to Roy and a disappointed Rika comments she's "not fit to be in the League". Like...why?! What the hell was the point of that? This arc was all about Liko learning to take battles more seriously and her losing streak was clearly meant to play a part in her development, and it amounts to Liko still getting her ass kicked despite her "supposedly" getting stronger? What sense does that make?! Roy shouldn't have won that battle, this isn't his story and he wasn't getting all the big, emotional character moments, LIKO was, so why wasn't this Liko's win? It just felt like the writers giving Liko's fans the middle finger for thinking they'd let her have at least one last win before this arc is over. Why the hell did they treat Liko so badly in this arc and have it amount to nothing in the end? And don't tell me it's for "character development", Liko could've still got that character development without being treated like a punching bag, and this re-write will prove as such.

On the opposite side of the coin, while Liko was treated like crap this arc, Roy was treated too well here. Much like how Dot came out of Season 2 looking too good, Roy comes out of Season 3 looking too good. HE gets to win most of the fights in this arc, HE gets to have the big final win to close the arc off and HE gets to have rematches with his Gym Leaders and get a chance to redeem himself. Why? What makes HIM so special? He's a useless spare part that the show would be better off without who was so bad at battling that even an inexperienced Liko could kick his ass, and this arc expects me to believe he's now suddenly better than her and can beat not only her, but TWO Gym Leaders? It feels like this season was written by a rabid Roy fan who had to make Liko and Dot look bad just so Roy could look better, it's really bad how they've handled the supposed dual protagonists here. It also doesn't help how Roy LITERALLY only wins his battles here because of Plot Armour. NONE of his victories feel convincing in the slightest. Brassius handicapped himself, Dot was crippled by her anxiety, Ryme suddenly goes from being untouchable to being unable to land a hit, Coral drops several levels in IQ and just spams Blizzard instead of using her more tactical skills that she used to overwhelm Roy in the past and Roy's Kilowattrel is literally as powerful as the plot needs it to be. All his wins here feel dictated by the plot, and that's not good writing whatsoever. I already disliked Roy because of how useless he is, now I flat our RESENT the guy because he's just making Liko look even worse because he's getting all the wins while she isn't. Now I REALLY wish he didn't exist, his presence really does give this show more problems than if he never existed at all.

Oh and speaking of battles, Pokémon Horizons manages to do something incredible with this season: it made Gym Battles BORING. Seriously, I've never felt so bored watching Gym Battles in my life. They're so repetitive and formulaic in how they play out that it gets tiring real fast. They're nearly all the same here: the kids fight a Gym Leader, they get their asses kicked, they make a comeback and Terastallize, then the Gym Leader Terastallizes and nukes them. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's especially gotten repetitive to the point where you can tell who's going to lose depending on who Terastallizes first. For some reason, Roy gets special treatment here and gets to win his Gym Battles, but Liko and Dot are thrown to the Lycanrocs and get nothing. They really needed to work on their battle choreography, because these battles were so annoying and dull to watch as a result of making the kids lose for no reason.

The new evolutions feel like a waste too. Wattrel and Hatenna evolve into Kilowattrel and Hattrem respectively, and...they still get their asses kicked and don't accomplish anything. What a damn waste. Hattrem got it even worse since her loss to Kilowattrel indirectly leads to Liko losing to Roy! Oh and if anyone else especially feels wasted here, it was definitely Ann. It literally feels like she's only here because the fandom loves her and also the writers needed Liko to have someone she could win a fight against, otherwise Ann had no business being here.

The Explorers continue to be wasted too. Coral, Sidian and Chalce are infiltrating the school and we...barely see them do any of it and Coral and Sidian are reduced to lame comic reliefs in a similar vein to Team Rocket, and I absolutely am NOT on board with that. The Explorers are better than Team Rocket and I do not want them to end up like those losers. Amethio only shows up in three episodes this arc and while he gets a great episode with Liko in where the two learn they pretty much have the same goal and are more than what they seem, he's immediately thrust into this new status quo for him in where he's been expelled from the Explorers because of Spinel. Because of how scarcely he appears in this arc, it just feels too soon to be telling this kind of story with him. He needed more appearances before we got to this point.

And finally, the season finale is underwhelming as heck. They set themselves up for an absolutely perfect finale in where Liko and Grusha have a rematch and she wins, thus proving him wrong and she passes her test in the end after all, and it just...doesn't happen. Instead, we have a battle between Liko and Roy. Hooray, we finish off with a zero stakes battle in where it literally doesn't matter who wins. They should've made the battle with the Explorers at Naranja Academy the actual finale, or a rematch with Liko and Grusha as I said earlier. Having the arc end with a Liko and Roy battle just feels meaningless. Again, there's no stakes to this finale and it just feels so weak a conclusion as a result.

And that's why this arc was such a frustrating viewing experience. The course has stupid rules, the Gym Battles were boring and repetitive, Liko was treated like crap for no reason, Roy came out of the arc looking too good, the new evolutions were wasted, the Explorers were also wasted, and the season finale had no stakes to it. So, now for the reason why you're all here. How would I improve this arc and make it better? Let's get started on this re-write...

Episodes 46-54

Episode 46 will play out as normal. That episode's fine as it is, doesn't need any changes aside from one important thing: the rules of the Terastal Training course. In this rewrite, the Basics test is the same as before in how you can pass without winning the battle. As it's a BASICS test, the rules are laxer. But the Implementation test requires you to win in order to pass, and that's what makes it more difficult than the Basics test. I'd also establish that rematches are also allowed, but the catch is you can only have ONE rematch. In this case, you only get two chances in order to pass. If you lose the rematch, you fail the course entirely, thus establishing that there ARE actual stakes to this story.

And before anyone asks, no, my dislike of Roy doesn't mean I'm kicking him out of the story. I'm not THAT petty! I may think he's a useless spare part who should disappear because he causes more problems than he solves in this show, but I'm still keeping him in here. With this rewrite I can show how Roy can look good here without overshadowing Liko. Unlike the writers, I'm giving BOTH protagonists EQUAL treatment, which is what they SHOULD be having! Both Liko and Roy fans get their cake and eat it too here as both will be winning lots of battles here instead of one winning more than the other. I think that's better than just dropping Roy and giving all the attention to Liko, so I hope you appreciate me doing this. Now on with the story:

Episode 47 opens up with Liko, Roy and Dot on their way to Cortondo Town for Liko's Basics Test against Katy. However, Ann is part of the group too. In order to make Ann feel better utilized here, I'm making it so Ann's a travelling companion so that she's not just there like in the actual season. The next big change I'm making to this episode is NOT having Coral in it. All she did in that episode was eat up time that should've been spent on Liko and Katy's battle instead. Our heroes arrive at Cortondo, try the delicious cakes that Katy's patisserie has to offer, meet up with Murdock again and then they meet Katy when Liko says she's here for her Basics Test. Katy accepts and the two have their battle. Unlike in the original episode, Liko will WIN this battle.

The battle begins with Liko commanding Floragato to use Quick Attack. She scores a direct hit, but Katy tells Teddiursa to use Cute Charm just as Floragato is about to attack again. Then we get Katy's Cute Charm and Sweet Scent strategy like in the original episode, only this time Liko doesn't stand around looking pathetic. Instead, she'll break through it much quicker and land more hits on Teddiursa. She commands Floragato to use Scratch, only for Floragato to instead use Sucker Punch. Unlike in the original where she learns it during the finale, Floragato learns Sucker Punch here instead. Seeing that Teddiursa's been backed into a corner, Katy Terastallizes it into a Bug-type and has it hit Floragato with Fury Cutter. It looks as if Floragato is defeated...but she stands back up again and with a mighty yowl, her Overgrowth ability activates. Seizing her chance, Liko Terastallizes Floragato and blasts Teddiursa off its feet with a Tera AND Overgrowth boosted Magical Leaf. Even with Teddiursa now a Bug-type, the power is too much and Teddiursa is defeated. Liko wins her Basics Test battle and passes on the first try, delighting her. Floragato learned a new move AND won the battle to boot!

Episode 48 will pretty much play out as normal too, with only a few changes. First of all, Roy won't dominate his battle with Brassius. It'll be a more even match and Brassius won't handicap himself by Terastallizing his Sudowoodo into a Grass-type either. He keeps it as a Rock-type and Roy is essentially forced to use Terastal for an extra-power boost in order to win. Like Liko, he wins and passes on his first try.

Episodes 49 and 50 will remain untouched. They're fine as they are as well, nothing to rewrite here except getting rid of Coral and Sidian's cameo in Episode 50. The reason I have Dot as the only one to lose her battle here is simple: she was a later starter and Liko and Roy have a big head start compared to her as Pokémon trainers, ergo it makes more sense for them to win battles while Dot doesn't.

Episode 51, instead of being a filler episode about Floragato being jealous of Liko giving Hattrem and Terapagaos attention, will be about Ann's Basics test. The episode will take place in Cascarrafa and Ann's Basics test is against Gym Leader Kofu, the Water-type specialist. Liko and friends will return Kofu's wallet to him and we adapt the Gym Challenge from the Scarlet and Violet games in where we have to win a bidding war on an ingredient Kofu wants. He treats the kids to dinner at his restaurant to get them energized for the battle ahead. Ann and Kofu battle with Ann's Dewott against Kofu's Crabominable. Ann is surprised, having expected a Water-type but instead, she's up against a Fighting and Ice-type. Crabominable also proves to be a tough cookie to face as it knows powerful punching moves like Ice Hammer and Brick Break, and its ability is Iron Fist so those moves hit EVEN harder. Dewott manages to dodge most of the attacks with Detect, but Crabominable is able to land a few hits and Dewott takes quite a beating. Undeterred, Ann Terastallizes Dewott into a Tera Water-type and hits with a Tera-Boosted Razor Shell. In response, Kofu Terastallizes his Crabominable and it fights back with a Tera-Boosted Crabhammer. It's a tough battle, but Ann ultimately loses in the end. Kofu passes her anyway, feeling she held her ground, never gave up and Terastallized at an opportune time. However, Ann is...unsatisfied.

This leads into Episode 52 in where Ann's happy she passed, but disappointed she lost. She feels that it wasn't a real victory for her and that she wanted to win AND pass the test. She also explains to Liko, Roy and Dot that her dream is to take on the Pokémon League and she worries that if she's struggling against Gym Leaders on this course, then what chance has she got in winning legitimate Gym battles back in Kanto? Seeing she's feeling down on herself, Liko suggests that she train with her, Roy and Dot. What follows are several training matches between the kids that sees them all sharpen up their fighting skills. During the training, Ann gets a pleasant surprise when her Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash. However, they get interrupted when Coral and Sidian show up. They challenge the kids to a battle with Liko and Ann accepting the challenge. It's Floragato and Dewott against Garganacl and Glalie. The Explorers put up a tough battle, but in the end Liko and Ann are able to prevail with Ann's Dewott learning Brick Break during the fight while Floragato learns Acrobatics. Coral and Sidian retreat and Ann is overjoyed with her win, feeling that her next test will see her victorious. It also has her feeling more confident about taking on the league, which makes Liko happy that her friend is in good spirits again. Coral and Sidian report to Calace, saying that the kids are getting good, which Calace is fine with. The stronger they get, the more chance they have of doing their dirty work for them. She coldly reminds them that they best keep their heads in gear, lest the kids end up surpassing them in strength.

Wattrel's evolution episode is moved to Episode 53 because of this and it plays out as normal. Episode 54 is when Hatenna evolves instead of Episode 53 with the only change I'm making here being that the doppelgangers Luka, Rai and Bocco are completely gone. They were pointless characters and a very overwritten explanation for why the Annihilape troop attack our heroes. The Mankey line is known for being bad-tempered anyway, so why do we need an explanation for them attacking our heroes? They just attack because they're in a bad mood, simple as that.

So you may be wondering, what about Episode 54 with Friede, the Exceed company and the Eternal Blessing? Dropped entirely. I think it's better if we save those plot-points for Season 4 instead of shoving them into Season 3. It literally felt like we went on a random detour in the original episode, so in this re-write, that episode is moved to Season 4 instead and everything involving Spinel and the Eternal Blessing is gone here.

And that's the first part of the re-write! I hope you enjoyed it and the rest will come tomorrow as we cover the Elite Four battles, the Implementation Tests and the finale...

Continued in Part 2...