| An Unexpected Picnic!
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First broadcast
| Japan
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July 14, 2023
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| United States
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May 10, 2024
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
| Animation
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Team Kato
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| Screenplay
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松澤くれは Kureha Matsuzawa
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| Storyboard
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齋藤徳明 Noriaki Saitō
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| Assistant director
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月野正志 Masashi Tsukino
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| Animation directors
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Revival Revival
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| Guan Peng Guan Peng
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| Liu Ding Fu Liu Ding Fu
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| Zhou Pei Ming Zhou Pei Ming
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| Xu Chuang Xu Chuang
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| Chen Jie Qiong Chen Jie Qiong
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| Liu Jun Liu Jun
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| 羽野広範 Hironori Hano
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| 高添響 Hibiki Takazoe
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| 忍田雄介 Yusuke Oshida
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| 海老沢咲希 Saki Ebisawa
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| 松本めぐみ Megumi Matsumoto
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| 中矢利子 Toshiko Nakaya
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| 柳原好貴 Yoshitaka Yanagihara
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| Additional credits
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An Unexpected Picnic! (Japanese: ピクニックは突然に A Sudden Picnic) is the 13th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,245th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on July 14, 2023, in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2024, in Australia on March 15, 2024, in sub-Saharan Africa on April 10, 2024, and in the United States on May 10, 2024.
Blurb
The Rising Volt Tacklers are unable to depart for Galar after the Brave Olivine’s computer system begins an automatic scan to check for errors. Friede suggests the crew makes the best of it—by having a picnic! They head outside to make sandwiches, but Liko feels bad that Dot and Ludlow have stayed behind. With Murdock’s help, she finds a way to include them in the fun. Meanwhile, a wild Wattrel steals Fuecoco’s sandwich, so Roy chases after it, but he notices something strange about the Pokémon and becomes concerned. When the Rising Volt Tacklers eventually return to the ship, Friede and Dot are both shocked—something is very wrong!
Plot
Liko and Roy taking a selfie of the picnic
Aboard the Brave Olivine, Liko and Roy learn that their departure to the Galar region has been delayed by a system check, as the ship's tail fin is not responding in time. The Rising Volt Tacklers reassure the children that system checks like this are common and are made to ensure the ship flies safely. While waiting for the system to reboot, which is due to take about half a day, the team is going to spend time holding a picnic outside, while Ludlow stays behind to look after the ship.
The team moves outside, setting up their picnic table on a seaside cliff near the city of Levincia. Murdock fills the table with loads of food, but when Roy tries to take some, Orla and Mollie reveal that the food isn't to be eaten as it is; instead, they'll be using the food to make sandwiches, allowing everyone to make the kind of sandwiches they want. Liko has a hard time deciding what ingredients she wants for her sandwich; Roy tries to make a massive sandwich, which ends up falling apart; and Friede fills his sandwich with nothing but meat. Looking at the people around her, Liko starts reminiscing how she and Roy wound up with them, feeling thankful for having met them. While Sprigatito and Fuecoco play with Roy's Ancient Poké Ball, Roy takes a selfie of himself with Liko and their Pokémon and sends it to Dot. While Liko respects Dot's desire for privacy, she feels Dot and Ludlow are missing out by not being with them. As such, while Roy rushes after a Wattrel that steals Fuecoco's sandwich, she asks Murdock's help in giving Dot and Ludlow a chance to enjoy picnicking too.
Roy eventually catches up to Wattrel on a cliff, where it, instead of flying away, puts the sandwich down and challenges Roy and Fuecoco. After Fuecoco's Stomping Tantrum proves ineffective against it, Wattrel unleashes a piercing Uproar. Roy has Fuecoco counter Wattrel's attack with its singing, but as the clash of voices just starts driving away the nearby wild Pokémon and remains in a stalemate, Roy calls off the confrontation. Realizing that Wattrel is hungry, he agrees to give it half the sandwich. Fuecoco also agrees to this, but once Wattrel has eaten its half, it promptly steals the other half too and eats it as well. While heading back, Roy notices a flock of Wattrel flying away, while the Wattrel he faced isn't going with them.
Aboard the airship, Dot is trying to make a Nidothing video about picnics but fails to stay motivated, so she cuts off the shooting. Having never been on a picnic, she's having a hard time getting into the proper atmosphere. At that moment, she receives a message from Liko, saying they've prepared some sandwiches for her in the meeting room. Feeling hungry, Dot decides to head there, only to find just bread and ingredients, without a single prepared sandwich in sight. Ludlow also enters, having likewise been summoned for this indoor picnic by Liko. Dot is confused as to how just making sandwiches indoors could equate to a picnic, but Ludlow assures her that the setting is not what makes a picnic; it's about sharing experiences with others, and Liko wishes to share this happy experience with Dot. Dot smiles and blushes at not only Liko being kind to her again, but also that she considers Dot her friend.
Back at the picnic table, Liko and Murdock reunite with the rest of the team after setting up Dot's indoor picnic. Almost immediately, Liko receives a message from Dot and is shocked to see a photo of Nidothing enjoying sandwiches with Ludlow. The rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers, well aware of Dot's internet persona, understand that this is Dot's way of saying thank you. Liko, though, is feeling nervous at the idea of Nidothing being on the ship, but then she remembers the Nidothing costume she saw hanging from the airship the other day and deduces that Dot must've used the costume to make her happy. Friede is surprised that Liko doesn't understand that Dot and Nidothing are the same person, but Murdock feels it's better to just wait until Dot tells the truth to her. Watching Nidothing's newest video about picnics, the two of them feel that both Dot and Liko have grown thanks to having their new friends. Roy returns to the site, so Friede tells everyone that they'll be heading back now. Along the way, Roy describes his encounter with Wattrel to Liko but then suddenly stops. Unable to stop thinking about Wattrel, he decides to go check on it again. Watching Roy leave, Friede muses to himself that Liko and Dot aren't the only ones who have grown.
In the group's absence, Spinel of the Explorers has arrived near the Brave Olivine and surrounded it with a small army of Magneton. When Friede enters the bridge, he's surprised to notice that the progress bar for the system reboot hasn't advanced at all in their absence. He calls Dot about this, but almost immediately, all the electronics aboard the airship go dark, making Dot fear the ship may never fly again.
Major events
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Trivia
- Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: "What is affected by Magneton's magnetic force?"
- Choices: TVs, washing machines, refrigerators
- Answer: All the above
- The first eyecatch features Liko and her Sprigatito, and the second features Dot and Quaxly.
- During the picnic, Roy chooses the Heroic Sword Pick for his sandwich. Based on the game's description of the item, this could reference his dream of becoming like the ancient adventurer.
- This marks the first main series appearance of a Deerling since Celebrating the Hero's Comet!, 451 episodes earlier.
- The initial TV airing of this episode did not feature Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar. However, it was later available in streaming.
- Additionally, from this episode on, the question part of the Seminar is shown before the ending and the answer part is shown after the ending.
- When Dot is sitting on her bed, behind her are snacks based on Skittles, Trollis, and Starbursts.
- This marks the first time Uproar has been used in the anime since Rough, Tough Jigglypuff, 833 episodes earlier.
Errors
- When Roy takes a selfie of himself and Liko, Liko's right collar line is not properly drawn in and is colored white instead of turquoise. In the same shot, her bag strap is also colored white instead of yellow.
- When the Rising Volt Tacklers are returning to the Brave Olivine after their picnic, the bottom strap of Roy's backpack is missing.
- In the Indonesian airing, the title in the title card is misspelled as An Unexpeted Picnic! This error is only present in the Indonesian release, as the title on the international and Asian English releases is spelled correctly.
Title card error (Indonesian release only)
Dub edits
In other languages
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Italian
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Latin America
Spain
Swedish
Turkish
