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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua (Horizons Season 2) · The Elite Four & the legend of Laqua arc (HZ055–HZ057) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 2, episode 11 · English episode 1280 · Japanese episode 1289 · Bulbapedia code HZ056 |
| English title | Liko vs. Rika! Towards the Battle’s End |
| Japanese title | リコVSチリ！バトルの先に Riko tai Chiri! Batoru no Saki ni — “Liko VS Chili! Beyond the Battle” |
| First aired (Japan) | 28 June 2024 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 February 2025 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Naruki Nagakawa |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Will – IVE · Let me battle – Giga & TeddyLoid feat. 9Lana |
| English opening | My Favorite Pokémon – Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd and Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | Showdown! The Paldea Elite Four (HZ055) |
| Next episode | The Terapagos I Don’t Know (HZ057) |
Plot episodeRika beats Liko and KatyThe Scarlet Book
Liko vs. Rika! Towards the Battle’s End is the 11th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua, the second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1280th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1289, Bulbapedia code HZ056). It first aired in Japan on 28 June 2024 and in the United States on 7 February 2025. It falls within the season’s The Elite Four & the legend of Laqua stretch (EP55–EP57).
The last episode of Netflix’s Part 1, released in the US on Friday 7 February 2025. BBC iPlayer and CBBC had premiered it in the UK on 13 January 2025.
Synopsis
Liko and Katy’s Multi Battle against Rika ends in defeat, but the loss teaches Liko to throw herself into battle wholeheartedly, while Dot learns from Penny that a new teacher called “Chive” is suspicious and finds a picture resembling Terapagos in the Scarlet Book. Before the battle starts, Rika notices Liko’s nerves, walks over and offers to let her pet Clodsire, then stops her at the last second with a warning about its poisonous skin; Liko is annoyed but finds herself calmer. Rika’s Dugtrio burrows with Dig while Clodsire’s Sludge Wave sweeps the field, and Dugtrio strikes Floragato when it resurfaces. On the next exchange Floragato wraps a vine around Dugtrio and is flung into the air, landing hard, and a Rock Slide trips her as she dodges on her injured leg; Katy’s Lokix blocks the rocks with Throat Chop. Katy tells Liko to look beyond Clodsire, and Rika, criticising her for thinking about too much at once, asks what she is fighting for, something more, she says, than simply winning. Meanwhile Dot spots Terapagos wandering away and chases it into the academy unnoticed.
Distracted by a shelf of Occulture magazines, Dot follows Terapagos’s voice upstairs, where Penny has found the bag and, to Dot’s surprise, already knows her name. Back on the field Liko is ready for the Dig-and-Sludge Wave pattern: Floragato slices the wave with Magical Leaf, leaps over Dugtrio and lands a super-effective flurry, catching the interest of Grusha in the audience. Rika’s combined Mud Shot and Rock Slide forces Floragato onto the defensive, and when Liko goes for a Quick Attack on Clodsire, Lokix pushes Floragato aside and is poisoned by a Poison Jab. That triggers Lokix’s Swarm Ability; Katy stops holding back, and Lokix hammers both opponents with Struggle Bug and Lunge before a Bounce paralyses Dugtrio, until poison damage knocks Lokix out. In the lobby, Penny, an engineer who maintains the Tera Training registration system for the Pokémon League, tells Dot that a teacher called “Chive,” Chalce in disguise, recently appeared in the database. When Terapagos wanders to the ground floor, Dot distracts Chalce by asking about Occulture; Chalce scoffs at its tales of ancient Pokémon and warns that some truths are better left undiscovered.
Dot looks through the Scarlet Book that Chalce was reading, and Terapagos becomes fixated on one image; she returns the book and swaps numbers with Penny. On the field, Clodsire blunts Floragato’s attacks with Mud Shot until Floragato wraps a vine around one of its spines and lunges with a newly learned Acrobatics. Tired and slowed, Floragato takes another Mud Shot, but Liko smiles; when Rika asks again why she battles, Liko answers that she wants to immerse herself in battle and become one with her Pokémon, taking battles seriously and enjoying them as Floragato always has. Pleased, Rika Terastallizes Clodsire as Liko Terastallizes Floragato, and Clodsire’s powered-up Earth Power overwhelms a boosted Magical Leaf to win. Liko thanks Floragato and bursts into tears; Katy hugs her, explaining that it hurts because she took the battle seriously. In the lobby, Grusha remarks to Liko that if that battle lifted her spirits she must be easily pleased, then leaves with Geeta. Dot shows her friends the Scarlet Book, which she has borrowed, opened at a drawing that resembles Terapagos, and Liko senses a new adventure beginning.
Major Events
- Liko vs. Rika. Rika beats Liko and Katy with a Terastallized Clodsire’s Earth Power
- Floragato learns Acrobatics
- Liko cries for the first time after a loss
- Dot meets Penny, hears about the suspicious teacher Chive and finds a Terapagos-like drawing in the Scarlet Book
- Grusha watches
- All eight Paldea Gym Leaders have now appeared
- The first female main character to battle an Elite Four member since DP035
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Naruki Nagakawa.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Paldea, Kitakami and Johto storyline.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.