HZ007

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Pokémon Horizons: The Series

HZ008 : The Door That Never Opens →

Special Training with Cap!

HZ007   EP1239 特訓！キャプテンピカチュウ Special Training! Captain Pikachu

First broadcast Japan May 19, 2023 United States March 7, 2024

English themes Opening Becoming Me (international) We Go (English Ver.) (Asia) 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〜[ランドウVer.]

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 松澤くれは Kureha Matsuzawa Storyboard 齋藤徳明 Noriaki Saitō Assistant director 又野弘道 Hiromichi Matano Animation directors 新城真 Makoto Shinjō 升谷有希 Yuki Masutani Additional credits

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

Special Training with Cap! (Japanese: 特訓！キャプテンピカチュウ Special Training! Captain Pikachu) is the seventh episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,239th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on May 19, 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

Liko, Sprigatito, Roy, and Fuecoco become official members of the Rising Volt Tacklers, but Liko laments that she put everyone in danger because of her pendant. She wants to become stronger so that she can stand tall against her foes. Eager to learn, Liko and Roy ask Friede to train them—but they don’t know the first thing about Pokémon battles! Liko and Sprigatito, together with Roy and Fuecoco, face Friede and Captain Pikachu. Slowly but surely, Liko seems to pick up on what Friede and Cap are teaching them, and her newfound skills are put to the test when Friede asks Liko and Roy to battle each other! Will these two manage to uncover what it takes to become true Pokémon Trainers?

Plot

As the Brave Olivine continues its journey towards Paldea and the Rising Volt Tacklers go about their daily business, Roy and Fuecoco suddenly make a loud entrance to the observation deck, startling Liko. He challenges her to a battle since both of them are now Pokémon Trainers, which Liko happily accepts. However, the battle between Sprigatito and Fuecoco ends up consisting of them just using Leafage and Ember to counter each other's attacks over and over, until they both become too tired to continue. They are summoned to the meeting room by Friede, who has installed the Rising Volt Tacklers app to each of their Rotom Phones and also installed a Pokédex to Roy's phone, much to his excitement. This app verifies their team membership and works as a message group between its members, though Roy is too excited by his new Pokédex to pay much attention to Friede's explanation. He hopes to one day be able to register the Black Rayquaza in his Pokédex, though he still has no idea where to even start looking for it. Friede suggests they ask help from Dot, Murdock's niece and the final member of their team. She's around Liko and Roy's age and was even the one who developed the app they're using but is also reclusive and rarely seen. Since she's responsible for gathering information for the team, she could be able to help them.

Making their way towards Dot's room, Liko and Roy hear the Nidothing theme music coming from inside the room, figuring she must be watching one of their videos. Roy knocks on the door and asks for advice in finding Rayquaza, but instead of a response, Quaxly jumps out of a hatch on the door. Roy takes the chance to try out his Pokédex by scanning Quaxly, before noticing a note attached to the Duckling Pokémon's chest. Opening it, he finds a drawing of himself and Fuecoco after losing in a battle. While they see this gesture as somewhat rude, Liko understands it, given that they're still new on the ship. Moreover, the note also gives her an idea, so she and Roy go to ask Friede's help in training them; Roy knows he needs to be stronger if he hopes to one day catch Rayquaza, while Liko wants to be able to protect those she cares about if the Explorers show up again to steal her pendant. Friede agrees to this, and the team gathers on the wing deck. At first, it seems like Friede will be using his Charizard for the training match, but with the bright flash of a bolt from the blue, Captain Pikachu enters the field, having chosen to act as Liko and Roy's opponent.

Friede declares that Liko and Roy win if they manage to land a single hit on Cap. Roy thinks this sounds easy, but despite Sprigatito and Fuecoco launching as many attacks as they can, Cap only needs to slightly lean from side to side to avoid every last one of them. Liko suggests a combo attack, with Sprigatito blinding Cap with Leafage while Fuecoco charges in with Tackle. However, Pikachu avoids this attack just as easily as the previous ones, using Double Team to create multiple fake copies of himself. Soon, though, Liko figures out the pattern behind Cap's Double Team, seeing that he's moving backward in a zigzag pattern. With this knowledge, Sprigatito and Fuecoco take out the copies one by one, until only the real one is left. Sprigatito tries to use Scratch, but Cap dodges again by jumping into the air. Liko and Roy prepare to strike again when he comes down, but to their surprise, as soon as Cap comes back down, their Pokémon fall asleep from exhaustion, meaning that the battle has ended.

With the battle over, Murdock offers everyone lunch. Liko observes how everyone has a favorite flavor; for example, Sprigatito likes bitter food, while both Roy and Fuecoco like spicy food. After they've finished eating, Friede tells Liko and Roy to battle against each other and remember what they learned during the battle with Cap. Liko patiently waits for Fuecoco to make a move, but when none comes, she decides to make the first move instead, ordering a Scratch. Fuecoco dodges it and counters with Tackle, which Sprigatito, in turn, also dodges. Liko and Roy realize that this battling style is different from before: instead of blindly ordering moves without even looking at their opponent, they're now making moves in reaction to the moves their opponent is making, a lesson that they subconsciously picked up from their battle with Cap. Both Pokémon exchange several more moves before Roy aims for a finishing hit with Ember. Liko tells Sprigatito to run past him, but to her surprise, Sprigatito starts running blindingly fast, avoiding the Fire-type move and slamming into Fuecoco, knocking him out and making Liko the winner. Friede identifies the new move as Quick Attack, and both Liko and Roy thank him and Cap for helping them. Roy also shares a fist bump with Liko, promising to win the next time they battle.

Just then, Roy receives a message, which turns out to be from Dot, so he and Liko go to her door once more. When they knock, Quaxly once again comes out carrying a note. This time, the note features a drawing of Rayquaza and what Liko recognizes as Paldea, meaning that Rayquaza is currently there. Roy excitedly thanks Dot and runs off, with Liko thanking her as well and hoping she'll learn to know her better.

Major events

• Roy receives a Pokédex for his Rotom Phone from Friede.
• Nidothing is secretly revealed to be Dot, a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers.
• Roy's Fuecoco is revealed to know Tackle.
• Liko's Sprigatito is revealed to know Scratch and learns Quick Attack.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Dot (in person)

Characters

Humans

• Liko
• Roy
• Friede
• Mollie
• Orla
• Ludlow
• Murdock
• Dot/Nidothing
• Amethio (flashback)

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)
• Chansey (Mollie's)
• Rotom (Mollie's; Rotom Phone)
• Metagross (Orla's)
• Elekid (Orla's)
• Rotom (Ludlow's; Rotom Phone)
• Rockruff (Murdock's)
• Alcremie (Murdock's; Strawberry Ruby Swirl)
• Ceruledge (Amethio's; flashback)
• Quaxly (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Carkol (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Slugma (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Nosepass (Rising Volt Tacklers')
• Pelipper

Trivia

• Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: "Why is Quaxly making its body glossy?"
  • Choices: Prevent dirt, repel water, keeping itself stylish
  • Answer: All the above
• This is the first episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series to not feature the Explorers, excluding flashbacks.
• The first eyecatch features Friede and Captain Pikachu, and the second features Murdock and his Rockruff.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	特訓，船長Pikachu
	Mandarin	特訓！船長皮卡丘
Danish		Specialtræning med kaptajnen!
Dutch		Speciale training met Cap
Finnish		Kapun kanssa harjoittelua!
European French		L'entraînement spécial du Capitaine Pikachu !
German		Spezial-Training mit Flugkapitän Pikachu!
Hebrew		אימונים מיוחדים עם קפ
Hindi		एक स्पेशल ट्रेनिंग कैप के साथ! Ek Special Training Cap ke saath!
Indonesian		Latihan Spesial Kapten Pikachu
Italian		Un allenamento speciale con Cap!
Korean		캡틴 피카츄와 특훈을!
Norwegian		Spesialtrening med kapteinen!
Polish		Trening specjalny z Kapitanem!
Brazilian Portuguese		Treinamento especial com o Cap!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Entrenamiento especial con Capi!
	Spain	¡Entrenamiento especial con Capi!
Swedish		Specialträning med kapten
Turkish		Kaptanla Özel Eğitim!

← HZ006 : The Ancient Poké Ball

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

HZ008 : The Door That Never Opens →

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