HZ077

(Japanese: ランドウ、故郷へ帰る Returns Home) is the 77th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,309th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on December 13, 2024.
==Plot==
The Rising Volt Tacklers have arrived in Olivine City in the Johto region to search for . As most of the crew (aside from Murdock, who's staying behind to cook some local ) heads out to search for clues, Liko can't help but notice how the Brave Olivine shares its name with the city they're in. Remembering that it inherited its name from Ludlow's fishing boat that it originally started out as, Ludlow himself confirms to her that Olivine City is his hometown. Liko and her friends start touring the city with Ludlow, but come find out that a lot has changed since his last visit, such as a shaved ice stall having made way for a Rotom Phone shop and a bookstore's location now being just an empty lot. Liko grows worried about how Ludlow feels about these changes, but to her relief, Ludlow actually comes to find these changes interesting, also revealing on the side that he considers every port he visits as his hometown. After some unsuccessful attempts at asking around for Entei sightings, the group sits down by the beach to rest. Liko takes the opportunity to ask what drove Ludlow into traveling beyond his hometown. The old man responds that he was curious to see what kind of Pokémon there were beyond the sea, making Liko feel that Ludlow could've been much like them when he was younger.
Spotting another old man on a nearby pier, the group goes to ask him about Entei, but before they can ask him anything, he suddenly rushes into a nearby house, followed by his . Following him, the group sees he's watching a movie on television, with Ludlow joining him as the movie's hero, a muscular surfer named Ginjirō, confronts a at a beach. The man watching the television reveals that the city used to have a movie studio back in the day, which produced many movies, the cream of the crop of which was the "VS Sharpedo" series, which started with the movie that's currently playing in front of them; . Following two direct sequels, the following movies in the series started to include themes like romance, baseball, and high school, with each of them still managing to include Sharpedo in the plot, much to Liko's bewilderment and Dot's exasperation. Following the last movie of the series, the movie , Ginjirō disappeared from the silver screen and hasn't been heard of since. Hoping that Ginjirō will someday return, the man, who introduces himself as Mamoru, has continued to follow the example of Ginjirō and his partner to protect these shores with his Wooper. Going through the list of Ginjirō's movies, Dot notes that Quagsire doesn't appear in any of them, but Mamoru reveals that despite this, it was still an irreplaceable part of them, using to create waves to surf on if no good ones were available naturally. Viewing his phone's photo collection, Roy suddenly realizes that Ginjirō is actually Mighty G, the superhero whom the group met a while back. Mamoru, however, denies this, stubbornly refusing to believe that the movie hero he loves could've grown old. He then offers to take the group to visit the place where the first "VS Sharpedo" movie was filmed at: the Whirl Islands.
Meanwhile, aboard the Brave Olivine, Murdock is having his hands full in chasing the trio, who have stolen his sushi tub as an act of mischief. When they eventually get away by diving overboard and into the sea, Murdock finally gives up and decides to just find a replacement. Seeing the three Tatsugiri floating away, Ludlow's Quagsire dives after them. At the Whirl Islands, while Mamoru is busy fanboying over things on the island that were featured in Ginjirō's first movie, notices the three Tatsugiri getting trapped in a , and alerts the others. Liko and her friends want to help, but none of their Pokémon are able to do so, with even 's attempted sky rescue failing due to the swirling whirlpool making it dizzy. Mamoru's Wooper dives in to help, but it too gets caught in the whirlpool. Ludlow's attempt to sneak away so he can change into his is hampered by Mamoru clinging to him and pleading for him to save Wooper. Fortunately for Ludlow, Mamoru is distracted by the approaching Quagsire, allowing him to hide, change into Mighty G, and call out his Sharpedo. Riding Sharpedo, the hero of the sea soon appears before the group. Seeing Mighty G command Quagsire to use Surf and ride on the resulting wave, Mamoru finally understands that he indeed is the same person as Ginjirō. Mighty G commands Sharpedo to use , which launches the Tatsugiri and Wooper away from the grasp of the swirling vortex, allowing him to rescue them. Realizing how close-minded he had been in refusing to accept change, Mamoru admits that Ginjirō is still cool even as Mighty G and poses for a photo with him, before the hero returns to the sea from whence he arrived.
At sunset, the group returns to the mainland, with Ludlow suffering from back pain following his time as a hero. They are soon joined by Friede, Mollie, and Orla, who admit that they failed to find out anything about Entei's whereabouts. Upon hearing Entei being mentioned, however, Mamoru is able to tell them that one of the customers of his boat rent shop mentioned having seen one at a nearby archipelago, making it the next target for the Rising Volt Tacklers. After sunset, the crew returns to the Brave Olivine to enjoy Murdock's chirashizushi, which he was forced to prepare in a washtub after losing his sushi tub. Spotting Roy holding said tub, Murdock moves in to reclaim it from the Tatsugiri trio, resulting in a very chaotic mealtime.
==Major events==
* The Rising Volt Tacklers arrive in Johto, with Liko, Roy, and Dot visiting the region for the first time.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* Liko
* Roy
* Friede
* Mollie
* Orla
* Ludlow/Mighty G
* Murdock
* Dot
* Mamoru
* (image)
===Pokémon===
* (; image)
* ()
* ()
* (Liko's; Pagogo; )
* (; image)
* ()
* ()
* (Roy's; Rotom Phone)
* (Friede's; Captain Pikachu)
* (Ludlow's)
* (Ludlow's)
* ()
* (; )
* ()
* ()
* (Dot's; Rotom Phone)
* (Mamoru's)
* (Mamoru's; Rotom Phone)
* ('s; image)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Rising Volt Tacklers'; )
* (Rising Volt Tacklers'; ×3; )
* (×5; image)
* (; image)
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* (Rotom Phone; multiple; one Trainer's)
* 
* (×2)
* (×3)
* 
==Trivia==
* Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: How does act by nature?
** Choices: Dim-witted, dainty, violent
** Answer: Dim-witted
* This marks the first time the Rising Volt Tacklers have visited a city or town that visited during .
* The first eyecatch features Ludlow and his , and the second features Mighty G and his .
* Liko, Dot, Roy, , , and narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* When Liko looks at the Brave Olivine, the pockets of her coat are missing.
HZ077 error 1.png|Liko's missing coat pockets
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
077
Category:Episodes written by Kimiko Ueno
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Hiromasa Amano
Category:Episodes directed by Fumihiro Ueno
Category:Episodes animated by Toshinari Abe
Category:Episodes animated by Takeshi Kobayashi
Category:Episodes by one-time animation directors
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes in which a Legendary Pokémon appears
de:Landau Furusato e Kaeru
es:EP1313
fr:LH077
it:OP077
ja:2023年版第77話
zh:宝可梦 地平线 第77集