Welcome to Paldea! – Pokémon Horizons: The Series Episode 9


Season	Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · Paldea: home, Artazon & Arboliva arc (HZ009–HZ012)
Episode	Horizons Season 1, episode 9 · English episode 1233 · Japanese episode 1242 · Bulbapedia code HZ009
English title	Welcome to Paldea!
Japanese title	パルデア到着！ Parudea Tōchaku! — “Arrival in Paldea!”
First aired (Japan)	2 June 2023 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	7 March 2024 · Netflix
Screenplay	Dai Satō
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 Door That Never Opens (HZ008)
Next episode	Nemona and Brassius and… (HZ010)

Plot episodeArrival in PaldeaLiko’s father, Alex

Welcome to Paldea! is the 9th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1233rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1242, Bulbapedia code HZ009). It first aired in Japan on 2 June 2023 and in the United States on 7 March 2024. It falls within the season’s Paldea: home, Artazon & Arboliva stretch (EP9–EP12).

Released on Netflix in the US on Thursday 7 March 2024 with the rest of Part 1 (HZ001–HZ012); BBC iPlayer had released it in the UK on 15 January 2024.

Synopsis

The Brave Olivine reaches Paldea, where Liko visits her father, Alex, and must decide whether to stay home or keep travelling with the Rising Volt Tacklers. Liko feels nostalgic arriving home for the first time with Sprigatito, and the crew, believing her journey is ending, admits they will miss her. Friede escorts her home with Roy tagging along, thrilled by Mesagoza and its Cyclizar riders. Liko’s mother does not answer her phone, so they go to the house, where a Fidough greets them and Alex welcomes them in. When Roy blurts out that Liko is a Rising Volt Tackler, Friede steers the talk to Alex’s paintings of Arcanine and Rapidash; Alex explains that he paints and makes picture books. Liko learns that her mother is too busy to come home, and Sprigatito, unimpressed, wanders off. Searching for it on the roof, Liko overhears her father telling Friede that he worries about her and has thought about letting her commute to school from Paldea.

Sprigatito, hiding on a high shelf, refuses to go back to the ship, so Liko lets it stay at the house and returns to the Brave Olivine, where “I’m home” slips out of her mouth. Seeing Sprigatito and Fidough curled up on one of Liko’s pillows gives Alex an idea for his stalled painting. After a sleepless night, Liko finds a drawing of herself hugging Sprigatito aboard the ship, left by Dot. Over the coffee Mollie and Orla bought, which smells like her father’s, Liko admits she never realised how worried he was, and Orla tells her the choice is hers. Roy points out that Sprigatito was jealous of all the attention Liko was giving Fidough, something she had been too distracted to notice. Liko thanks Dot for the drawing and asks Orla and Mollie for a favour.

At home, Alex finds that Sprigatito has spent the night waiting outside for Liko. Liko buys her father’s favourite coffee and a Matcha Cake, but a Lechonk steals them on the way home; Sprigatito senses her trouble and rushes to her side, and its well-timed Quick Attack drives the Lechonk off before the two embrace. Friede tells Alex that Liko keeps surprising him with new challenges, and Alex admits he has not wanted to accept how quickly she is growing up. Arriving dirty from her fall, Liko says that meeting Sprigatito, Friede, Roy and her new friends has helped her understand her grandmother’s words, and asks permission to keep travelling. Alex, seeing his mother’s love of adventure in her, asks Sprigatito to keep her safe. Over coffee he mentions that the Gym Leader Brassius in Artazon has seen a rare Pokémon that might be the Black Rayquaza, and Liko and Roy decide to go there.

Major Events

Home in Paldea. Liko visits her father, Alex, and chooses to keep travelling with the Tacklers
Sprigatito’s Quick Attack drives off a Lechonk
Alex points them to Brassius, who may have seen the Black Rayquaza
Alex’s paintings reference the 1997 opening