HZ009

Welcome to Paldea! (Japanese: パルデア到着！ Arrival in Paldea!) is the ninth episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,241st episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on June 2, 2023, in the United Kingdom on January 15, 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.
==Blurb==
The Brave Olivine arrives in Paldea, and Roy is eager to track down the black Rayquaza. But Liko is apprehensive upon realizing that her time with the Rising Volt Tacklers is coming to an end. Friede and Roy accompany her home, where her dad, Alex, is working on a painting. After Alex’s Fidough warmly greets Liko and Fuecoco, Sprigatito puts distance between itself and Liko. As Liko searches for it, she overhears a conversation between Friede and Alex that gives her a new perspective. Wanting to continue her journey, she decides to work up the courage to tell her dad.
==Plot==
The Brave Olivine arrives at Liko's home region, Paldea. As they prepare for landing, Dot notices that her Nidothing suit smells bad. Liko thinks being back in Paldea is nostalgic even though she hasn't been gone for that long. She also realizes this will be her first time in her home region with . Mollie and Orla make plans to go shopping for food while Friede offers to take Liko home. They admit how much they are going to miss Liko before coming to terms with the fact that their job would lead to this.
Liko and Friede walk outside, with the former believing her journey is over. Liko briefly sees Dot through the window as Roy tags along as well, wanting to see Paldea for the first time. The group visits Mesagoza, where Roy encounters a rider. They also check out various stores. Friede tries to call Liko's mother, but she doesn't answer, so the group decides to head over to Liko's house to see her father, Alex. Meanwhile, Dot hangs her Nidothing costume out in the sun for a while before Ludlow tells her that hearing someone knock but not answering is no different from being out of the house, just like caring but not saying anything is no different from not caring. Liko, Roy, and Friede arrive at Liko's house, where greets Liko and the others. Alex is there to greet them too. Once inside, Alex learns that Liko is a Rising Volt Tackler from Roy, before Friede, wanting to change the subject, quickly points out Alex's portraits of an and a . Alex says that he is a painter and draws picture books too. Liko asks where her mother is, and Alex says she's busy and won't be coming home today. Liko decides to head up to her room, with an unamused Sprigatito heading outside.
While heading to her room, Liko notices that Sprigatito is not with her. She looks out her window before seeing Sprigatito's shadow on the roof. Alex has a discussion with Friede about Liko, who happens to come by their window to hear it. Alex tells Friede how much he worries about Liko, and was thinking about letting her commute to school from Paldea. Liko accidentally hits her nose on the open window, causing Friede and Alex to notice. Liko enters through the window, having heard what they said but still looking for Sprigatito. Liko follows Sprigatito's scent and finds her on top of one of the shelves. Liko wants to head back to the ship for tonight, trying to get Sprigatito to come with her, but the refuses, so she offers to let Sprigatito stay at her house for the night.
At sunset, Liko, Roy, and Friede head back to the Brave Olivine, with Liko feeling a bit worn out from that day. When they return, "I'm home" instinctively slips out of Liko's mouth. Meanwhile, Alex is having trouble with his painting before getting an idea when he sees Fidough and Sprigatito huddled up next to one of Liko's pillows.
Morning arrives, and Liko could hardly sleep over how conflicted she's been feeling. Liko exits her room to find a drawing of her hugging Sprigatito on a happy Brave Olivine. Liko goes to Mollie and Orla, having smelled the coffee they got from one of the stores yesterday. Liko remarks that it smells like the coffee her father always drinks. Liko admits that she never knew how worried Alex was about her going off on her own. Orla wants to let Liko decide what she wants to do. Roy tells Liko that Sprigatito was feeling jealous of Fidough for how much attention it was getting from Liko, something she was too clouded in her own thoughts to realize. Liko heads to Dot's door to thank her for the drawing before asking a favor from Orla and Mollie. As Liko heads outside, she briefly notices what looks to be the Nidothing costume hanging at the top of the ship before quickly refocusing on what's important.
Alex notices that Sprigatito is not sleeping with Fidough, but she is outside waiting for Liko to come back. Liko goes to the shop Mollie and Orla went to, getting the coffee her father likes and Matcha Cake. As Liko walks to her house with the food, she crosses paths with a , who steals the food she got for Alex. Sensing its trainer in a situation, Sprigatito goes off to find Liko just as Friede arrives to see if she arrived yet. Liko is running after the Lechonk who stole her food. The Lechonk turns around to run towards Liko, who jumps around it each time. Eventually, Lechonk's fast movements make Liko lose her balance and fall down. Luckily, Sprigatito arrives to help, using on Liko's command at the right moment to drive the Lechonk off, and Liko and Sprigatito happily embrace each other afterward.
Friede tells Alex about how Liko's always surprising him with each new challenge she's faced ever since meeting the Rising Volt Tacklers. Alex knows he didn't really want to admit how fast his daughter was growing up. Liko walks through the door, dirtied up from having fallen down while trying to catch the Lechonk from before. She tells Alex that she has finally decided what she wants to do. Meeting Sprigatito, Friede, Roy, and all her new friends made her realize what her grandmother's words meant. Liko gains the confidence to ask her father's permission to keep traveling with the Rising Volt Tacklers. Alex sees how much of her grandmother's thirst for adventure Liko has developed, asking Sprigatito to keep her safe. Later, Liko, Alex, and Friede hang out at the coffee table with the coffee Liko got Alex. Liko notices picture books, and Alex asks her to give them to Roy before stating that Brassius, who is in Artazon, has seen a rare Pokémon, which could be the Black Rayquaza. With this info, Liko and Friede decide to go to Artazon, but not before Liko notices a painting that Alex has been working on last night. Friede and Liko depart, and the painting is revealed to be Sprigatito and Fidough sleeping together.
==Major events==
* Liko returns to Paldea, while Roy visits the region for the first time.
* Roy meets Alex, Liko's father, for the first time.
* Liko decides to head for Artazon with Roy to meet Brassius.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Alex
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
* 
* 
* ()
==Characters==
===Humans===
* Liko
* Roy
* Friede
* Mollie
* Orla
* Ludlow
* Murdock 
* Dot/Nidothing
* Alex
* Diana (dream)
* Ann (flashback)
* Students (flashback)
===Pokémon===
* ()
* (Liko's; Rotom Phone)
* ()
* (Roy's; Rotom Phone)
* ()
* (Friede's; Captain Pikachu)
* (Friede's; Rotom Phone)
* (; flashback)
* (Orla's; flashback)
* (Orla's; flashback)
* (Orla's; Rotom Phone; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; ; flashback)
* (Alex's; debut)
* (Diana's; dream)
* (Ann's; flashback)
* (Rising Volt Tacklers')
* (Trainer's; debut)
* (Trainer's)
* (×8)
* (×3)
* (×3)
* (×2)
* (Paldean Form; ; ×2; debut)
* (debut)
==Trivia==
* Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: "What does inhaling do to 's body?"
** Choices: Inflates, hardens, makes others laugh
** Answer: Inflates
* The first eyecatch features Liko in her school uniform and her , and the second features Liko in her regular outfit and her Sprigatito.
* Starting with this episode, Dot appears at the end of the theme song with the rest of the ship's crew alongside and not wearing her Nidothing costume.
* The paintings that Alex made portraying a and a is a reference to the original opening to Aim to Be a Pokémon Master.
===Errors===
* When Friede is trying to call Liko's mother, Liko starts monologuing. During this scene, Liko's left eyelash is shown but not her right.
* When Liko and Roy are trying out glasses, the fingers on Roy's left hand are not completely drawn, depicting him having four fingers.
* After Mollie told Friede to take her home, Liko entered the scene with her socks missing. 
* While Liko is watching Nidothing's video in her living room with Alex and Friede, the blue highlights on the inside of her hair are missing.
HZ009 error 1.png|Liko's missing right eyelash
HZ009 error 2.png|Roy's missing finger
HZ009 error 3.png|Liko's missing socks
HZ009 error 4.png|Liko's missing hair color
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
009
Category:Episodes written by Dai Satō
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes focusing on Liko
Category:Episodes which aired in the United Kingdom before the United States
de:Willkommen in Paldea!
es:EP1245
fr:LH009
it:OP009
ja:2023年版第9話
zh:宝可梦 地平线 第9集