HZ055

Showdown! The Paldea Elite Four (Japanese: 対決！パルデア四天王 Confrontation! of Paldea) is the 55th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,287th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on June 21, 2024, in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2025, and in the United States on February 7, 2025.
==Blurb==
School is back in session at Naranja Academy for Liko, Roy, and Dot. And Director Clavell has a surprise in store: aptitude battles that set a student and a Gym Leader duo against a special rival…a member of the Elite Four! Dot and Iono are up first against Poppy and must make their Pokémon work in sync to smash down Poppy’s steely defense. Next, Roy and Brassius face off against Hassel, whose Dragon-type Pokémon are not only tough but also might give Roy a better understanding of the elusive black Rayquaza. Finally, the stage is set for Liko and Katy to take on Rika—have our heroes mastered the skills needed to triumph?
==Plot==
Having completed their Tera Training tests, Liko, Roy, Dot, Coral, Sidian, and other s have returned to Naranja Academy. Before their next assignment, however, Director Clavell announces that he has arranged a series of friendly s against special guests for them to participate in. Geeta enters the hall and reveals that the special guests in question are members of the Paldea Elite Four, making the students excited. As the students move to the schoolyard, Dot is feeling that losing is a certainty against such powerful opponents, but Nemona reveals to the trio of friends that these friendly matches will be Multi Battles, where each of them will pair up with the Gym Leader they fought for their test. Case and point, appears on one of the battlefields and waves at Dot, making a flustered Dot realize that she'll be the first one to battle. With Dendra working as the referee, Iono and Dot take their place at the field and are soon joined by their opponent, Poppy, who calls out her and to face Dot's Quaxly and Iono's . Dendra clarifies that the battle ends when either the student's Pokémon or one of the Elite Four member's Pokémon is defeated, and Clavell adds that the Gym Leader will be disallowed to stallize their Pokémon so that the student can have more spotlight, much to Iono's dismay.
Dendra starts the battle, with Iono making the first move with , though it ends up shocking Quaxly as well and doing next to nothing against Poppy's Pokémon. Poppy tells Copperajah to use , which surrounds the battlefield and buffets Dot and Iono's Pokémon while doing nothing to Poppy's types. Tinkaton leaps forward with , but Bellibolt uses to soften the blow. Geeta feels that the battle is becoming a showdown between a Gym Leader and an Elite Four member, with the student being too overwhelmed to do anything, but Clavell and Dot's friends feel sure things can still change. With the protective barrier still active, Iono tells Dot to take the offensive, so she has Quaxly use , followed by . Poppy's Pokémon shrug off the hits with ease, however, and Tinkaton then proceeds to smash the Reflect barrier apart with , much to Iono's shock. Poppy aims for a finishing blow and launches a combination attack in the form of Copperajah's and Tinkaton's , sending a barrage of rocks raining onto her opponents. Bellibolt protects Quaxly with its body, but is starting to feel tired. With the fading, Iono tells Bellibolt to use to heal itself. Seeing Quaxly expressing his determination with dance moves, Dot gets an idea and has him do the same on Bellibolt's belly, triggering its Ability. When Tinkaton leaps in with Gigaton Hammer, Bellibolt uses its belly to launch Quaxly high into the air to avoid the attack. Iono tells Dot to use the chance to her advantage, and she does so, Terastallizing Quaxly and having him use a powered-up Liquidation. The attack clashes with Tinkaton's hammer, until both sides are pushed back. Iono then points out how her Bellibolt used the distraction to get onto Copperajah's back, allowing it to land a close-range . Copperajah collapses, thus resulting in Dot and Iono being declared winners. Poppy congratulates the two, but quickly notices that Dot isn't feeling happy despite being on the winning side. Dot admits that she feels that they only won because Iono did all the heavy lifting, but Poppy says she's thinking too hard and hopes to battle her again someday, before taking her leave with Iono, leaving Dot feeling a little better about herself.
On the other battlefield, Coral commands her to use . The ensuing explosion consumes every Pokémon on the field and defeats not only Larry's and , but also her partner Kofu's . However, much to Coral's frustration, Dendra declares Larry the winner, explaining that the use of Self-Destruct counts as a loss in the event that all the participating Pokémon are defeated. Kofu takes the loss with a hearty laugh, but Coral throws a tantrum and runs off, much to Sidian and Chalce's exasperation.
Roy's turn is next, and his partner, Brassius, leaps down from a set of loudspeakers to join him on the battlefield. Their opponent is Hassel, whom Brassius reveals to be a expert, which Roy sees as a valuable source of experience for his future confrontation with Rayquaza. Hassel sends out and , while Brassius calls out to join Roy's Fuecoco. The battle begins with Roy ordering a . Avoiding an from Baxcalibur while Dolliv blocks Flapple's with , Fuecoco's attack is able to make contact with Baxcalibur. To Roy's surprise, however, the attack seems to strengthen Baxcalibur, and he tells Fuecoco to back off, barely avoiding a hit from Baxcalibur's . Brassius explains that Baxcalibur has the Ability, which boosts its power if it's hit by a move, leaving Roy exasperated that Brassius didn't warn him sooner. Deciding to switch things up, Roy has Fuecoco use , which deals super effective damage on the two Dragon types. Hassel tells Flapple to use , which reminds Fuecoco of an actual apple so much that he ignores Roy's orders to dodge until it's too late and the move hits him straight on the head. Brassius encourages Roy to fight with passion, so he orders Fuecoco to use , which Dolliv powers up with . Hassel responds to this collaboration of moves by having Flapple use , creating a fiery tornado that Baxcalibur dives inside of. Thanks to Thermal Exchange, the tornado suddenly freezes over and shatters, leaving Baxcalibur even more powered up as it uses Glaive Rush again. Fuecoco tries to flee from it, but is unexpectedly saved by Dolliv's making him fall down and out of the attack's path. The next combination of attacks comes in the form of Dolliv's Seed Bomb and Fuecoco's Flamethrower, which is blocked by Baxcalibur and Flapple's double . While Dolliv prepares a giant , Roy Terastallizes Fuecoco and combines his boosted Flamethrower with the Energy Ball, creating a spectacular display that Hassel can't help but be impressed by. Hassel orders Baxcalibur to use , enveloping the combo move in ice, before ordering another Glaive Rush, launching a surprise attack through the ice that defeats both Fuecoco and Dolliv, making Hassel the winner. Despite losing, Roy still felt that he had fun, though he's subsequently left awkwardly staring at Hassel as he starts to cry profusely at how much both Roy and Brassius have grown. Talking with Nemona, Roy admits that he's still no match for Rayquaza and swears to keep growing stronger.
While Liko prepares for her battle, Sidian and Tulip's team is defeated when loses to Rika's and . Rika berates Sidian's attitude of accepting loss just to ensure his own backup's survival, but Sidian says he prefers it to a disgraceful victory, which Tulip finds understandable. The two of them make way for Liko and Katy, who look forward to battling together as much as Rika looks forward to keeping her winning streak going, the Elite Four member smiling confidently.
==Major events==
* Liko, Roy, and Dot return to Naranja Academy.
* Coral and Sidian are revealed to have passed their respective Tera Training tests.
* Each of the students participates in the Elite Four Tag Battle:
** Dot and have a Multi Battle against Poppy and win.
** Coral and Kofu have a Multi Battle against Larry and lose.
** Roy and Brassius have a Multi Battle against Hassel and lose.
** Sidian and Tulip have a Multi Battle against Rika and lose.
** Liko and Katy prepare to start their Multi Battle against Rika.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Kofu
* Tulip
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* Liko
* Roy
* Dot
* Ann
* 
* Clavell
* Jacq
* Geeta
* Rika
* Hassel
* Poppy
* Katy
* Brassius
* 
* Kofu
* Larry
* Tulip
* Dendra
* Coral
* Sidian
* Chalce
* Niko
* Rob
* Dash
* s
===Pokémon===
* ()
* (; stallized)
* (; stallized)
* (Dot's; Rotom Phone)
* (Katy's; debut)
* (Brassius's)
* ('s)
* (Kofu's; debut)
* (Tulip's; debut)
* (Poppy's; Tinkie; debut)
* (Poppy's; Rajah)
* (Hassel's; debut)
* (Hassel's)
* (Larry's)
* (Larry's; )
* (Rika's)
* (Rika's; debut)
* (Coral's)
* (Sidian's)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
==Trivia==
* Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: "What does absorb through its fin?"
** Choices: Cold air, electricity, heat
** Answer: Heat
* An of this episode was drawn by Sanosuke Sakuma.Tweet by @anipoke_PR on June 14, 2024
* The first eyecatch features Poppy and her , and the second features Hassel and his Baxcalibur.
* This episode marks the first time that a male main character other than has battled an Elite Four member on-screen. 
* This is the first episode in which is shown breaking down barriers such as .
* Liko, Roy, , Dot, , and narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
===Dub edits===
==References==
==In other languages==
055
Category:Episodes written by Naruki Nagakawa
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Hiromasa Amano
Category:Episodes directed by Yoshihiko Iwata
Category:Episodes animated by Megumi Matsumoto
Category:Episodes animated by Chiaki Kurakazu
Category:Episodes animated by Natsumi Hattori
Category:Episodes animated by Masaya Ōnishi
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
Category:Episodes animated by Yoshitaka Yanagihara
Category:Episodes animated by Kenji Katō
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes featuring Elite Four members
Category:Episodes in which a Champion appears
Category:Episodes which aired in the United Kingdom before the United States
de:Showdown gegen die Top Vier von Paldea!
es:EP1291
fr:LH055
it:OP055
ja:2023年版第55話
zh:宝可梦 地平线 第55集