Warning: SPOILERS for episode #8 of Pokémon HorizonsThe Pokémon Horizons anime has already teased a final crewmember aboard the airship who could turn out to be a major character, and episode #8, at last, gave fans a good introduction to this mysterious teammate.
Episode #7 of Horizons revealed that aside from Friede’s original crew, Liko, and Roy, there was one other person aboard the airship: Murdock’s niece, known as Dot. Dot was said to be a bit difficult to get along with and something of a hermit, rarely leaving her room on the airship–the same one Quaxly has been seen going in and out of. The episode also hinted heavily that Dot might actually be the streamer Nidothing (Gurumin in Japanese), who is fairly knowledgeable about Pokémon and whom both Liko and Roy are big fans of. While the new heroes haven’t learned that fact yet, they did get to speak with Dot in episode 8, beginning to build a connection with her.
Pokémon Horizons‘ Dot is a New Kind of Hero For the Series
While Liko is good-natured, she’s often struggling with anxiety and self-confidence. Roy, too, is happy and kind, and has confidence for days, but his abilities don’t always live up to what he dreams of accomplishing, if only because he’s so new to it all. Dot, however, is introduced as being rather rude. She never leaves her room, even to eat, and has consistently refused meals made for her in favor of emergency rations. Yet, she has a completely different personality as Nidothing, something she signifies by saying “Mental Switch, on!” when she goes into performer mode. Liko has heard the Nidothing theme song coming from her room, but suspects that she’s simply also a fan, and believes they’ll get along because of that. They do have a briefly successful conversation, though, as Dot explains (through the door) that she’d be interested in ancient mysteries or mystical artifacts–both of which apply to Liko and Roy.
Even going back to Ash’s time in the anime, there hasn’t really been such an anti-social main character on Pokémon before. There have been characters who are very nervous before, like Lillie, but that’s closer to Liko than Dot. Most characters, even loners and rivals, still tended to have an ability to socialize properly, they just choose not to. Dot seems to be different in this regard, as interacting with people is genuinely difficult for her, to the point where she’s created this alter ego streaming character Nidothing who’s far more outgoing and confident. Helping Dot to come out of her shell and become friends with Liko and Roy is definitely going to be a major theme of the series moving forward, something that’s likely to be more impactful than Ash’s one-off friendships with such characters.
Pokémon Horizons has certainly found an interesting premise for a major character, and so far the execution has been done well enough. It will be interesting to see how Dot evolves as the Pokémon Horizons series continues, and if she might eventually join them on adventures in the wider world.
