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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · The road back to Paldea arc (HZ035–HZ041) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 1, episode 37 · English episode 1261 · Japanese episode 1270 · Bulbapedia code HZ037 |
| English title | Fuecoco…Becomes a Crook?! |
| Japanese title | ホゲータ、ワルになる！？ Hogēta, Waru ni Naru!? — “Hogator, You’re Becoming a Delinquent?!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 26 January 2024 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 22 November 2024 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Kimiko Ueno |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Haro (Halo) – yama × BotchiBoromaru · RVR ~Raijingu Borutekkāzu Rappu~ PART2, Nidothing Ver. – Roy (Yuka Terasaki) & Liko (Minori Suzuki) |
| English opening | Becoming Me – Haven Paschall (version 2, with clips from Halo) |
| Previous episode | Mission: Find Oinkologne’s Partner! (HZ036) |
| Next episode | The SOS is from Tandemaus? (HZ038) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeFuecoco learns Disarming Voice
Fuecoco…Becomes a Crook?! is the 37th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1261st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1270, Bulbapedia code HZ037). It first aired in Japan on 26 January 2024 and in the United States on 22 November 2024. It falls within the season’s The road back to Paldea stretch (EP35–EP41).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 22 November 2024 with the rest of Part 4 (HZ035–HZ045); BBC iPlayer had released it in the UK on 22 July 2024, and Australia’s 9Go! aired HZ035–HZ045 from 18 September to 2 October 2024; Canada’s Cartoon Network showed it on 2 November 2024; the Pokémon Asia ENG YouTube channel released it on 15 November 2024.
Synopsis
On a desert excavation job, Roy and Fuecoco fall into the nest of a supposedly savage Desert Croc family of Krookodile, Krokorok and newly hatched Sandile, win them over with rhythm and sunglasses, and learn Disarming Voice while stopping a clash between the family and the workers. An archaeologist friend hires the Rising Volt Tacklers to remove a large rock blocking a dig, and though Mollie doubts it is worthwhile, Friede shows that it pays well. At the site, Terapagos enjoys the harsh sun while Roy and Fuecoco practise a new move against a Black Rayquaza cutout; Murdock gives Roy sunglasses, and Liko passes her pair to a delighted Fuecoco. An alarm warns that attackers have returned, and the archaeologist explains that Krokorok and Krookodile keep attacking the workers. Friede reluctantly lets the children help search the ruins, and a Sandile bites Fuecoco’s tail and burrows away before a sinkhole swallows Roy and his partner.
Roy lands in the Desert Croc family’s nest, where a Krookodile and Krokorok calm a crying clutch of newly hatched Sandile by tapping out a beat with their tails. Roy and Fuecoco join in, settling the babies, and although three more Krokorok confront the intruders, Krookodile notices the calming effect. When Friede, Liko and Captain Pikachu are pulled down another sinkhole, they find Roy and Fuecoco in sunglasses keeping time while the whole family sings and dances, and the family shows off its Round by shattering a boulder. Roy insists they were wrongly labelled savage, and when the ceiling begins to crumble as the excavation resumes, everyone realises the family was only defending its home. Krookodile leads the Krokorok up to fight the workers, and the group races after them.
Above ground, a worker’s Luxray spots the Pokémon beneath the sand, and despite Roy’s objections the workers attack with Minccino’s Dazzling Gleam and Diggersby’s Hammer Arm. Enraged, the Krookodile pair retaliate with Crunch and Take Down and start wrecking the machines, and when Fuecoco’s Tackle is swatted aside by a tail, it puts on its sunglasses and starts a rhythm. The Sandile rally behind it, and with Roy’s encouragement Fuecoco learns Disarming Voice, which halts the Krookodile and Krokorok. Friede explains that the excavation noise disturbed the nest, and Roy, noticing the Sandile playing happily with the workers’ Pokémon, gets an idea: the family’s Round shatters the blocking rock. Since the Brave Olivine was never needed, the crew’s payment is cut, but as the ship leaves, Fuecoco and the family say goodbye with Disarming Voice and Round, and Liko reflects that Roy and Fuecoco gained something worth more than money.
Major Events
- The Desert Croc family. A desert excavation
- Fuecoco learns Disarming Voice
- Krookodile and Krokorok calmed
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Kimiko Ueno.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar and Paldea story.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.