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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · Galar & the Galarian Moltres arc (HZ019–HZ023) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 1, episode 19 · English episode 1243 · Japanese episode 1252 · Bulbapedia code HZ019 |
| English title | The Bittersweet Truth |
| Japanese title | マホイップのホント Mahoippu no Honto — “Mawhip’s Truth” |
| First aired (Japan) | 25 August 2023 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 10 May 2024 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Deko Akao |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Dokimeki Daiārī (Heart-Pounding Diary) – asmi feat. Chinozo · RVR ~Raijingu Borutekkāzu Rappu~ (Rising Volt Tacklers Rap), Murdock Ver. – Liko (Minori Suzuki) & Roy (Yuka Terasaki); on the first TV Tokyo airing, a guest version with Nashiko Momotsuki and Tokyo Hoteison (Oha Suta collaboration) |
| English opening | Becoming Me – Haven Paschall (version 1, with clips from Heart-Pounding Diary) |
| Previous episode | Flying Pikachu, Rising Higher and Higher! (HZ018) |
| Next episode | Kabu’s Battle Training! (HZ020) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeMotostoke bake-offKabu appears
The Bittersweet Truth is the 19th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1243rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1252, Bulbapedia code HZ019). It first aired in Japan on 25 August 2023 and in the United States on 10 May 2024. It falls within the season’s Galar & the Galarian Moltres stretch (EP19–EP23).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 10 May 2024 with the rest of Part 2 (HZ013–HZ023); BBC iPlayer had released it in the UK on 27 February 2024.
Synopsis
In Motostoke, Liko helps Murdock settle an old quarrel with his former bakery partner Mitchell, now the pastry chef of the Battle Café, through a Double Battle that turns into a bake-off, and the episode ends with the arrival of Gym Leader Kabu. To avoid the Explorers’ attention, Friede lands the Brave Olivine outside Motostoke, planning to take the train to Hammerlocke, but the trains are down for maintenance until the next day. Dot asks Liko and Roy to bring back some Slurpuff cotton candy from the Battle Café for a Nidothing video, and Murdock escorts them into the city. While Liko helps with the shopping, Roy asks around about the Black Rayquaza, and a local suggests asking the Gym Leader Kabu, a Hoenn native who might know his home region’s legends. At the café the cotton candy turns out to be a prize for beating the chef, allowed once a day.
The chef is Mitchell, who recognises Murdock and refuses to battle him, and when Murdock’s Alcremie offers him her cream, he turns her away, leaving her heartbroken. Murdock explains that he and Mitchell once ran a bakery together in friendly rivalry, Murdock making ruby cream cakes and Mitchell matcha cakes. When their mascot Milcery evolved into a Ruby Swirl Alcremie, whose cream suited Murdock’s pastries far better, they argued, and Murdock left with the Pokémon; he now understands that Mitchell had hoped for a Matcha Cream Alcremie, but he does not know how to make amends. Noticing that Mitchell is listening and that Alcremie still looks sad, Liko proposes a Double Battle with Murdock, and Mitchell accepts, warning that he will not go easy on them.
Sprigatito and Alcremie face Slurpuff and Appletun; Cotton Spore immobilises Sprigatito and Apple Acid strikes it, while Alcremie shields itself with Acid Armor, absorbs the cotton to free its partner and boosts Sprigatito with Decorate for a powerful Scratch. Then Slurpuff and Appletun start laying out baking ingredients for Mitchell, Murdock begins whisking Alcremie’s cream in reply, and the battle becomes a bake-off, finished with a sprinkle of Sprigatito’s Leafage. Liko points out that Alcremie only wanted the two of them to bake together again, and Murdock apologises at last. Mitchell returns with a slice of matcha cake for Alcremie to cover in cream, admitting that back then he simply lacked the skill to blend her cream with his pastries, and the two men share a tearful embrace. Then Mitchell notices Kabu sitting among the customers on the patio, to Roy’s delight.
Major Events
- The Battle Café. Motostoke
- Murdock and Mitchell’s bakery quarrel
- A Double Battle becomes a bake-off
- Murdock’s Milcery evolved into Alcremie in a flashback — the first evolution of Horizons
- Kabu appears
Captures and evolutions
Milcery → Alcremie#0869 · Murdock · the bakery’s Milcery, in a flashback; the first Horizons evolution
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Deko Akao.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar and Paldea story.
Changes in the English Dub
- On its first TV Tokyo airing, the ending is a guest version with Nashiko Momotsuki and Tokyo Hoteison (Oha Suta collaboration)
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.