HZ042

This article is about an episode of the Pokémon anime that has not been dubbed into English. As such, its coverage may contain romanized Japanese names, rather than dub names.

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HZ042

HZ042

EP1274

変身！海のヒーローイルカマン!
Transform! The Hero of the Sea, Irukaman!

First broadcast

Japan	March 8, 2024
United States

English themes

Opening
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	ハロ
Ending	RVR〜ライジングボルテッカーズラップ〜[ランドウVer.PART2]

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	うえのきみこ Kimiko Ueno
Storyboard	森山愛弓 Ayumi Moriyama
Assistant director	森山愛弓 Ayumi Moriyama
Animation directors	服部奈津美 Natsumi Hattori
	松本めぐみ Megumi Matsumoto
	高星佑平 Yūhei Takaboshi
	山縣クリカ Kurika Yamagata
	新城真 Makoto Shinjō

Preview thread on BMGf Closed
Original review thread on BMGf

(Japanese: 変身！海のヒーローイルカマン Transform! The Hero of the Sea, Irukaman!) is the 42nd episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,274th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 8, 2024.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Plot

This plot summary is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this plot summary to add missing sections and complete it.

Major events

Ludlow is revealed to have a superhero alter ego called "Mighty G" and own a Sharpedo.

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Humans

Professor Willow

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Sprigatito (Liko's)
Fuecoco (Roy's)
Rotom (Roy's; Rotom Phone)
Pikachu (Friede's; Captain Pikachu)
Rotom (Mollie's; Rotom Phone)
Sharpedo (Ludlow's)
Rockruff (Murdock's)
Quaxly (Dot's)
Tinkatink (Dot's)
Rotom (Dot's; Rotom Phone)
Gimmighoul (Professor Willow's; Roaming Form; debut)
Patrat (Snap Boys'; ×3)
Rotom (Snap Boys'; Rotom Phone; ×3)
Carkol (Rising Volt Tacklers')
Slugma (Rising Volt Tacklers')
Trubbish (Swimmer's)
Buizel (Trainer's)
Pincurchin (Trainer's)
Psyduck (Trainers'; ×2; one in an image)
Marill (Trainers'; ×2; one in an image)
Slowpoke (Trainers'; ×2; one in an image)
Tadbulb (Trainer's; debut)
Terapagos (anime; Normal Form)
Wiglett
Shellder (×2)
Chewtle
Sandygast (×2)
Marill
Wingull (×2)
Shellos (East Sea Form; ×5)
Slowpoke
Nacli (debut)
Finizen (multiple)
Palafin (Zero and Hero Forms; debut)
Wattrel (image; ×2)
Kilowattrel (image; debut)
Luvdisc (multiple)
Pincurchin
Klawf (×5; debut)
Diglett
Pikachu (multiple)

Trivia

Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar: "What powers does Palafin gain when its transforms?"
- Choices: Flight, super strength, jet propulsion
- Answer: All of the above
The first eyecatch features Roy and Fuecoco, and the second one features Ludlow and his Quagsire.
Outside of flashbacks, Liko and Roy only wear their swimsuits throughout this episode.
As of this episode, Mollie is the only member of the Rising Volt Tacklers who only has one known Pokémon in their party.
For the initial airing of this episode, Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar was replaced by a bonus scene featuing Professor Willow. This scene was cut from the YouTube and VOD versions, but was uploaded to the official Pokémon YouTube channel.^[1]
This episode marks the first time that a human character from Pokémon GO appears in the anime.
When Hero Form Palafin first appears, Liko and the Snap Boys say "A yatch? A boat? No, it's... the Hero of the Ocean, Palafin!", which seems to be a reference to the iconic quote from 1940's The Adventures of Superman: "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"