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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 41 · English episode 1265 · Japanese episode 1274 · Bulbapedia code HZ041 |
| English title | A Wild Mom Appears! |
| Japanese title | キョーレツかーちゃん現る！ Kyōretsu Kāchan Arawaru! — “Enter the Intense Mom!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 1 March 2024 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 22 November 2024 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Deko Akao |
| 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 | Farewell, Sprigatito? (HZ040) |
| Next episode | Transform! Hero of the Seas, Palafin (HZ042) |
Plot episodeDot beats her motherQuaxly learns Low Kick
A Wild Mom Appears! is the 41st episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1265th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1274, Bulbapedia code HZ041). It first aired in Japan on 1 March 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 9 September 2024, and Australia’s 9Go! aired HZ035–HZ045 from 18 September to 2 October 2024; the Indonesian dub of HZ041–HZ045 (24 August – 7 September 2024) had come before the English.
Synopsis
Dot’s mother, Franka, arrives aboard the Brave Olivine to take her daughter home because Dot’s “trial period” with the Rising Volt Tacklers is over, and Dot explains how she joined the crew before winning a battle against her mother that earns her the right to stay. Dot is chasing her Tinkatink around the ship when it pounds on the kitchen door and makes off with Murdock’s frying pan, drawing Friede, Charizard, Liko and Roy into a chase that ends on the wing deck in a pile-up with Terapagos. A Lycanroc catches Tinkatink, and its Trainer is revealed as Franka, Murdock’s sister and Dot’s mother, who has been sending increasingly angry messages because Dot and Murdock stopped answering. Friede gave her a ride, and while she rambles about Charizard’s skin, her Lycanroc keeps tugging her back on topic: Dot’s trial period is over, and she has come to take her home. When she turns around, Dot has already vanished to her room.
Murdock apologises for his sister’s energy, and Friede remarks that Franka worries even more than Murdock. When Liko and Roy mention Nidothing, Franka looks up the streams, is impressed, and is moved to tears by how close Dot’s friends have become. At Dot’s door, Liko and Roy pretend to leave, Quaxly points at the door, and Dot opens it, realising she has fallen for reverse psychology. She explains that while hunting for stream ideas she found a thesis by Friede on Grass-type Pokémon, and that Friede later turned up in her living room, asked her to fix his Rotom Phone and suggested she build a Rising Volt Tacklers app. She refused at first, but Iono’s answer to a viewer’s question about hitting a wall, that sitting and waiting gets you nowhere, convinced her to persuade her mother to allow a trial period aboard the ship.
Franka enters, admitting she came to take Dot home because Dot never tells her anything; Dot mutters that her mother is annoying, and Franka accepts it but insists she is still her mother. When she sees Quaxly and realises Dot is now a Trainer, she challenges her to a battle, saying that battles can express feelings as well as words. As Quaxly trades Water Gun and Pound with Lycanroc’s Rock Throw and Counter, Dot admits she still spends much of her time in her room, but explains that she has made friends, enjoys the outside world, and became a Trainer because of Quaxly and Tinkatink. When Lycanroc’s counter nearly knocks Quaxly overboard, Dot catches him and changes tactics, targeting Lycanroc’s legs; Quaxly dodges the next Counter, lands a kick and defeats Lycanroc with a newly learned Low Kick. Dot asks to stay with the Rising Volt Tacklers, and Franka, in tears, says that is exactly what she wanted to hear.
Major Events
- Franka. Dot’s mother arrives
- How Dot joined the crew
- Quaxly learns Low Kick
- Dot beats Franka and stays aboard
Trivia
- The English title plays on the message the games show when a wild Pokémon appears (“A wild … appeared!”).
- The screenplay is by Deko Akao.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar and Paldea storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Pokémon Company International’s English episode blurb still called Dot’s mother “Blanca”, her Japanese name
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.