HZ008

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Pokémon Horizons: The Series

HZ009 : Welcome to Paldea! →

The Door That Never Opens

HZ008   EP1240 あかずの扉のひみつ The Secret of the Unopened Door

First broadcast Japan May 26, 2023 United States March 7, 2024

English themes Opening Becoming Me Ending

Japanese themes Opening ドキメキダイアリー Ending RVR〜ライジングボルテッカーズラップ〜[ドットVer.]

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 永川成基 Naruki Nagakawa Storyboard 尼野浩正 Hiromasa Amano Assistant director 岩田義彦 Yoshihiko Iwata Animation directors 大西雅也 Masaya Ōnishi 倉員千晶 Chiaki Kurakazu 酒井裕未 Hiromi Sakai Additional credits

Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

The Door That Never Opens (Japanese: あかずの扉のひみつ The Secret of the Unopened Door) is the eighth episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,240th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 26, 2023, the United Kingdom on January 15, 2024, in Australia on February 27, 2024, and in the United States on March 7, 2024. It was initially intended to air in the United States on February 23, 2024, but was rescheduled.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

After finishing a meal cooked by Murdock, Liko notes that Dot never eats with the group. Murdock says he just needs to make something tasty enough, but he seems to be hiding something when Mollie mentions they’re running low on certain ingredients. Friede proposes a shopping trip, and Liko stays behind to watch the ship. She delivers lunch to Dot and tries to chat about Nidothing, who’s about to start a livestream, but Dot hurriedly brushes her off. Later, Liko and Roy meet up outside Dot’s room, and although Dot is annoyed, she starts to open up a bit. Meanwhile, Murdock has a new recipe to try…

Plot

In the middle of the night, Roy and Fuecoco wake up and stumble upon Friede and Murdock in the kitchen. Murdock is about open a secret cupboard when Friede senses someone coming. Seeing Roy outside the door, Friede sends him back to bed and tells Murdock that the coast is clear. Murdock checks a plate of donuts, but sadly, they are uneaten, so Murdock and Friede have them instead. Friede tells Murdock not to throw in the towel, with Quaxly listening in on their conversation.

The next morning, the Rising Volt Tacklers have breakfast. They notice Dot's empty chair, and Friede points out that she's never been interested in eating with the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers, her diet usually consisting of nutrient-rich gummies. Nevertheless, Murdock plans to make something tasty enough for Dot to like. Mollie notices that there have been food shortages lately, particularly sugar, Moomoo Milk, butter, and dried fruit, leading the girls to believe that someone's been making sweets behind everyone's backs. They immediately suspect Murdock, and when Friede tells them that blaming won't solve anything, they start to grow suspicious of him too. Friede and Murdock nervously agree to go to a town to refill their supplies, even at the cost of delaying their journey.

While waiting for the Brave Olivine to reach the town, Liko attends an online class. She exchanges a few words with Ann before the lesson begins, with both of them being excited at the upcoming Nidothing livestream, the first one in its kind in a while. Roy, meanwhile, attends his own online class at the wing deck. Once the class is over, Friede approaches him as he tries to look up in the sky to see if he can spot Rayquaza. Friede tells him to look higher, and then laughs when Roy falls over trying to do so, telling him that Rayquaza lives high up in the stratosphere, higher than even the highest of clouds. He tells Roy that they aim to reach unexplored places like that, only to see that Roy has gone to see the approaching land. They dock at the town, and Friede proposes rock-papers-scissors, to decide whoever has to watch the ship. Roy's competitive spirit directed at Liko makes her a bit nervous. However, everyone throws paper except Roy, who throws rock, making him the one to stay behind with the ship. As the rest go to get food from the town, Roy asks Liko to cover for him. Liko happily accepts Roy's offer, thinking now she'll have time to watch Nidothing's livestream. Roy follows the Rising Volt Tacklers into town, amazed by the new people and Pokémon he's seeing for the first time. Mollie tells everyone to buy only the essentials, since their budget is too tight for impulse purchases, while Roy plans to ask people around if they've seen Rayquaza.

Liko starts doing her chores around the Brave Olivine; feeding the Pokémon, hanging the laundry out to dry, feeding the trash to Muk, and scrubbing the deck. Afterwards, she tries to get a peek in the secret cupboard she heard about from Roy before he left. When she opens it, though, she just gets a faceful of cream from Alcremie. Upset by this experience, Liko wipes herself off just as Murdock calls in, causing her panic and frantically apologize. Murdock is confused for a moment before telling Liko that there are lunchboxes on the ship to eat in case she gets hungry. Liko thanks him before hanging up, thinking she's not cut out for secrets and sneaking around. Liko and Ludlow get their lunchboxes, and Liko notices a third one for Dot, which she decides to bring to her.

Arriving at Dot's door, Liko knocks on it, but gets no answer. She is about to walk away when she hears the Nidothing theme coming from Dot's room again. Thinking she must be another fan of Nidothing just like her, Liko speaks to Dot again. However, when Liko is about to invite Dot to Nidothing's livestream, she becomes startled and confused when she hears Dot shouting about something all of a sudden. As Dot catches herself, realizing that Liko could hear her behind the door, the latter is led to think Dot is trying to test her. As such, Liko opens up to a nervous and embarrassed Dot about how much she admires Nidothing, how knowledgeable she is about Pokémon, and how fun it is to watch her. Liko tries her best to relate to Dot, but Dot suddenly panics about the time. Hearing this, Liko realizes she's going to be late for the livestream. An overwhelmed Dot abruptly blames Liko, telling her to go away. Liko wonders why Dot never wanted to be with the other Rising Volt Tacklers, and Dot claims that she doesn't have the time since she's busy. Liko respects Dot's schedule, apologizing for bothering her and leaving her lunch by her door. As Liko walks off, Quaxly frowns at Dot as she tries to stay focused. She pulls back the hair covering her purple eyes and puts on the Nidothing suit.

In town, a vendor using a cloth to shine his Spoink's pearl, claiming it can make anything shine. Friede wants to avoid impulse buying like Mollie said, but Roy asks the man about Rayquaza. The salesman tries to tempt Roy into buying the cloth first, and when Friede tries to pull him away, the vendor mentions that a young man with two accomplices also asked about a black Rayquaza recently. Realizing they could be the Explorers, Friede caves in and buys the cloth in exchange for more information. Meanwhile, Liko gets ready for the livestream, which starts slightly late of the scheduled time. Nidothing starts reading comments left by her fans, eventually reading Liko's comment asking advice on making friends, much to the latter's shock. Overwhelmed by Nidothing actually reading her comment, Liko lets out a loud embarrassed scream that rings out throughout the ship, shocking Nidothing. Recomposing herself, Nidothing says that making friends is like a Pokémon battle, where one can change the environment and try out different things to succeed, inspiring Liko to make further attempts at befriending Dot.

Meanwhile, Roy and Fuecoco encounter a wild Spearow. Putting his previous training into use, Roy has Fuecoco dodge Spearow's Peck at the right time and defeat it with Ember. With the battle won, Friede and Roy head back to the ship. At sunset, Roy tries to thank Dot for the helpful advice about Rayquaza, Liko having told him that Dot spoke to her earlier. After Roy tells Liko about the wild Spearow he battled, he suggests that they have a battle. Liko initially thinks Roy wants to battle in front of Dot's door before he disagrees. However, after remembering Nidothing's advice about her comment, Liko decides to battle where they are after all, prompting Dot shout at her like she did earlier. Roy, excited to hear Dot's voice for the first time, tells Dot about the cloth and the wild Spearow, but she is not interested in it. Liko asks what Dot is interested in, and the latter says that she is into "an ancient Poké Ball housing a black Rayquaza"; in other words, mystical things no one has seen before. Noticing Roy's ancient Poké Ball as well as her own pendant, Liko remarks to Dot that they might be closer than she thinks as she and Roy share a laugh. When Liko tells Roy about Alcremie attacking her with cream, Roy gets excited and rushes towards the kitchen to get some too. Liko thanks Dot before walking off. Though she still considers the others on the ship annoying, Liko's kindness still left its mark on Dot as she reads a message from Murdock about a new recipe book he's acquired. At night, Murdock is ecstatic to find out that Dot has finally eaten the donuts he left in the cupboard.

The next morning, Friede and Captain Pikachu are woken up by the rays of the morning sun as Pikachu notices something in the horizon. Taking out his telescope, Friede smiles when he realizes that they're about to arrive in Paldea.

Major events

• Liko tries to befriend Dot.
• The Rising Volt Tacklers arrive in Paldea.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

• Liko
• Roy
• Friede
• Mollie
• Orla
• Ludlow
• Murdock
• Dot/Nidothing
• Ann (on the phone)
• Students (on the phone)
• Liko's homeroom teacher(on the phone)
• Trainers

Pokémon

• Sprigatito (Liko's)
• Rotom (Liko's; Rotom Phone)
• Fuecoco (Roy's)
• Rotom (Roy's; Rotom Phone)
• Charizard (Friede's)
• Pikachu (Friede's; Captain Pikachu)
• Rotom (Friede's; Rotom Phone)
• Rotom (Mollie's; Rotom Phone)
• Metagross (Orla's)
• Rockruff (Murdock's; photo)
• Alcremie (Murdock's; Strawberry Ruby Swirl)
• Rotom (Dot's; Rotom Phone)
• Quaxly (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Pawmi (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Snorunt (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Noctowl (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Muk (Rising Volt Tacklers'; Alolan form)
• Nosepass (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Furret (Trainer's)
• Rotom (Trainer's)
• Roselia (Trainer's)
• Espeon (Trainer's)
• Darumaka (Trainer's; Galarian)
• Maractus (Trainer's)
• Sableye (Trainer's)
• Stufful (Trainer's)
• Skwovet (Trainer's)
• Luxio (Trainer's)
• Glameow (Trainer's)
• Sliggoo (Trainer's)
• Spoink (vendor's)
• Clamperl (vendor's)
• Remoraid
• Mantyke
• Wingull (×2)
• Spearow

Trivia

• Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: What do Spearow fight to protect?
  • Choices: Justice, territory, pride
  • Answer: Territory
• The first eyecatch features Liko and her Sprigatito, and the second features Nidothing and Quaxly.
• This marks the longest time it has taken for the newest region to appear in the anime.
• A commenter in Nidothing's livestream with the user name "Rhydon's Muscles" (Japanese: サイドンの筋肉 Muscles of a Sidon) states that they recently learned Rock Blast, but were still defeated by Ember in their last battle. This description matches Zirc, whose Rhydon knows Rock Blast and was defeated by Roy's Fuecoco's Ember three episodes earlier.
• Despite the Nidothing theme being changed in the dub along with the majority of the music in Pokémon Horizons: The Series, Liko can be heard humming parts of the original Nidothing theme while cleaning the Brave Olivine in both the Japanese version and the English dub.

Errors

• During the scene where Liko notices that Nidothing's stream is late, her leg line is not properly drawn.

• 

  Liko's missing leg line.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		無法開啟之門的秘密
Danish		Døren, der aldrig åbner!
Dutch		De deur die nooit opengaat
Finnish		Ovi joka ei koskaan aukea!
European French		La porte qui ne s'ouvre jamais !
Italian		La porta che non si apre mai!
Norwegian		Døren som aldri åpnes
Polish		Wiecznie zamknięte drzwi
Brazilian Portuguese		A porta que nunca abre
Latin American Spanish		La puerta que nunca abre
Swedish		Dörren som aldrig öppnas

← HZ007 : Special Training with Cap!

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

HZ009 : Welcome to Paldea! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.