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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · The pendant that starts it all arc (HZ001–HZ003) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 1, episode 3 · English episode 1227 · Japanese episode 1236 · Bulbapedia code HZ003 |
| English title | For Sure! ‘Cause Sprigatito’s with Me! |
| Japanese title | ニャオハとなら、きっと Nyaoha to nara, kitto — “As Long as I’m With Nyahoja, I’m Sure” |
| First aired (Japan) | 21 April 2023 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 March 2024 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Naruki Nagakawa |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Dokimeki Daiārī (Heart-Pounding Diary) – asmi feat. Chinozo · RVR ~Raijingu Borutekkāzu Rappu~ (Rising Volt Tacklers Rap), Friede Ver. – Liko (Minori Suzuki) & Roy (Yuka Terasaki) |
| English opening | Becoming Me – Haven Paschall (version 1, with clips from Heart-Pounding Diary) |
| Previous episode | The Pendant That Starts It All (Part Two) (HZ002) |
| Next episode | The Treasure After the Storm! (HZ004) |
Plot episodeLiko joins the Rising Volt TacklersSprigatito rescued
For Sure! ‘Cause Sprigatito’s with Me! is the 3rd episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1227th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1236, Bulbapedia code HZ003). It first aired in Japan on 21 April 2023 and in the United States on 7 March 2024. It falls within the season’s The pendant that starts it all stretch (EP1–EP3).
Released on Netflix in the US on Thursday 7 March 2024 with the rest of Part 1 (HZ001–HZ012); BBC iPlayer had premiered it in the UK on 1 December 2023, with CBBC broadcasts from 4 December.
Synopsis
With the help of Friede, Captain Pikachu and Murdock’s Rockruff, Liko rescues Sprigatito from the Explorers’ warehouse hideout and decides to join the Rising Volt Tacklers on their journey to Paldea. Waking aboard the Brave Olivine after a dream about her grandmother, Diana, Liko learns from Orla, Murdock and Mollie that Friede is out searching for the Explorers. He returns having tracked them to a port city before losing the trail, and refuses to let Liko join the search without a Pokémon of her own. He also lets slip that Liko’s mother hired the crew as her bodyguards, earning another scolding for keeping secrets. In port, Murdock’s Rockruff picks up Sprigatito’s scent, Orla repairs the wing deck, Ludlow goes fishing, and Mollie sends Liko to a Pokémon Center for a box of preordered Potions. There, a young Trainer blaming herself for her Vulpix’s injuries makes Liko worry about her own partner, while Onia, who has fallen for Sprigatito, pampers it with food and toys in the hideout.
Amethio makes it clear that he wants only Liko and the pendant, not Sprigatito, and Zirc secretly attaches a tracking device to the underside of the Brave Olivine. The box of supplies is so heavy that Mollie’s Chansey has to catch it for Liko. Rockruff then tracks Sprigatito’s scent to Onia, who is out shopping in disguise; she flees, and Amethio tells her to lead their pursuers into the warehouse district. While Murdock stays to help the people Onia knocked over, Liko insists on rescuing Sprigatito herself, and Friede comes up with a plan. Inside the warehouse Amethio demands the pendant again, and Friede proposes they settle their unfinished battle. As Captain Pikachu and Ceruledge clash, Liko slips deeper into the building, and Rockruff leads her to the room where Sprigatito is being held.
The battle moves to the rooftop just as Liko breaks down the door and is reunited with her partner. Outside, a heartbroken Onia, rejected by Sprigatito, sends out Skarmory and mocks the Grass type; Leafage barely scratches it, but the swirl of leaves gives Liko and Sprigatito cover to escape. On the roof, Amethio has Friede and Pikachu at the edge, but when he sees the leaves rising behind them he realises the battle was only a diversion, and Friede and Pikachu leap off onto Charizard. At sunset Liko decides she can trust the Tacklers, who put her and Sprigatito ahead of the pendant, and asks to travel with them to uncover its secret; Friede agrees, adding that solving the world’s mysteries is the team’s purpose. They set course for Liko’s home in Paldea to collect their fee, and Liko tells Ann she will study remotely. On a small island off Kanto, a boy named Roy finds the flag blown off the Brave Olivine in the storm.
Major Events
- Liko joins the Rising Volt Tacklers. Rockruff tracks Sprigatito to the Explorers’ warehouse and Friede’s battle with Amethio covers Liko’s rescue
- Liko learns that her mother hired the crew as her bodyguards and decides to travel with them to Paldea
- Nurse Joy appears, the first character from a previous series
- Roy debuts and finds the ship’s flag
- The first regular opening and ending
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Naruki Nagakawa.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar and Paldea storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Heart-Pounding Diary becomes the Japanese opening and RVR ~Rising Volt Tacklers Rap~ the ending, in its Friede Ver.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.