Liko

Liko リコ Liko
Liko
Gender	Female
Eye color	Light turquoise
Hair color	Black (with blue underlights)
Hometown	Cabo Poco^[1]
Region	Paldea^[2]
Relatives	Alex (father) Lucca (mother) Unnamed grandmother
Trainer class	Pokémon Trainer
Member of	Rising Volt Tacklers
Rank	Member
Anime debut	HZ001
English voice actor	Alejandra Reynoso
Japanese voice actor	Minori Suzuki

Liko (Japanese: リコ Liko) is a protagonist of Pokémon Horizons: The Series.^[3] She owns a mysterious pendant, which was given to her by her grandmother, though its true purpose is currently unknown. Liko attends Indigo Academy and is a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers.

In the anime

History

Pre-series

A few years prior, Liko received a mysterious pendant from her grandmother. After saying this gift will be important to her in the future, Liko's grandmother said that Liko should rely on her Pokémon to be able to venture out and face her fears on her journey.

Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Liko debuted in HZ001. She enrolled in the Indigo Academy, where she formed a friendship with her roommate Ann and received her starter Pokémon, a Sprigatito. During the next days, Liko worked hard to strengthen her bond with Sprigatito by learning more about it and make it listen to her instructions in battle, but to little avail.

Liko awakening the pendant's power for the first time

One day, a young man named Amethio introduced himself to her, supposedly as her grandmother's representative, and asked her for the pendant. Quickly distrusting his intentions, Liko attempted to run away from him and his teammates but eventually got cornered by the group. However, before any violent confrontation could begin, Friede swooped in on his Charizard and started battling Amethio's Ceruledge. A stray Psycho Cut nearly hit Liko as she tried to escape the fight, but her pendant activated in time and protected her from the attack. In the next episode, Liko noticed the presence of a mysterious Pokémon during the activation of the pendant's power.

After being rescued by Friede, Liko and Sprigatito were taken aboard his airship, the Brave Asagi, where they were introduced to the Rising Volt Tacklers. Not long after, the ship was attacked by the Explorers, who coerced Liko to go with them. When Liko was about to give herself up, however, after some encouragement from Sprigatito, Liko stood up to Amethio, having Sprigatito unleash a Leafage strong enough to break the forcefield around the Wing Deck, but got blown overboard in the process, which allowed the Explorers to capture it before fleeing.

Liko joining the Rising Volt Tacklers

In HZ003, Liko discovered that her mother hired the Rising Volt Tacklers to protect her. The group soon reached the city where the Explorers were last seen. After running an errand for Mollie at the city's Pokémon Center, she followed the sound of Murdock's Rockruff barking, only to find Murdock and Friede facing Onia. She and Friede chased Onia back to the Explorers' hideout, where Friede engaged Amethio in a battle, allowing her and Rockruff to find and reunite with Sprigatito. After briefly facing and escaping from Onia and her Skarmory, she returned to the Brave Asagi. Feeling she could trust them, Liko decided to join the Rising Volt Tacklers in their travels to find out more about the mysteries surrounding her pendant and the Explorers, officially becoming a member of the group.

In HZ004, it was revealed that Liko has signed up for online classes and will be attending school virtually. Liko was then given the job to watch the observation deck. After doing some chores, Liko found out that Fuecoco fell off the Brave Asagi and went out to look for it, having her Sprigatito sniff it out. During the search, they came upon an open tree stump with eaten Berries and were mistakenly accused of eating the wild Pokémon's food. While being chased, her pendant started to glow and Liko was rescued by Roy, a boy who lived on the island. After escaping, they both introduced each other, but the Pokémon quickly found and captured them by using their String Shot. Fortunately, they were rescued by Friede. Liko and Roy gathered Berries for the wild Pokémon as an apology gift, and she soon waved goodbye to her new friend.

Lucius's Rayquaza staring at Liko

In HZ005, Liko was startled awake when Roy was shocked by Captain Pikachu. They searched for Fuecoco all over the Brave Asagi, but couldn't find it. During the day, Liko met Roy's grandfather and, afterwards, told Roy about the Explorers and how they're after her pendant. After saying some encouraring words to Roy, she proceeded to battle and defeat Onia all by herself. However, she was shortly after assaulted by Amethio's Corviknight, nearly getting hit before her pendant activated again, creating another barrier to protect her. Liko and Roy called Sprigatito and Fuecoco to fight Amethio's Ceruledge, but it proved to be too powerful for them. Then, Liko's pendant and Roy's ancient Poké Ball reacted in unison, and from the Poké Ball emerges a Black Rayquaza. After the Explorers retreated, Rayquaza briefly stared at Liko before it left. She decided to keep looking into her pendant's mystery alongside Roy and the Rising Volt Tacklers as they headed off towards Paldea.

In HZ007, Liko and Roy sparred in a battle, but it was called off when their Pokémon tired themselves into a draw. However, through a suggestion from Friede, Liko and Roy visited Dot, a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers and Murdock's niece. Unfortunately, they weren't able to talk to her, but Liko and Roy decided to ask Friede for some special training, which he accepted. Liko and Roy had to land a hit on Captain Pikachu to win. However, they weren't able to as Liko and Roy's partners tired themselves out again. Later, after a break, Liko and Roy decided to battle each other again to see how much the special training paid off. In the end, despite her Sprigatito being at a type disadvantage, Liko was able to win the battle. This battle was the first step for the new Rising Volt Tacklers to get closer to Dot, who let them know that the Black Rayquaza was in Paldea. Realizing that Dot is just shy around others, like she is, Liko decided to learn more about her in hopes of becoming friends with her.

Liko and her father

In the next episode, Liko offered to cover for Roy watching the Brave Asagi, seeing how she'd have time for Nidothing's livestream. She used the extra time she had to do chores around the ship, feeding the Pokémon, hanging the laundry out to dry, taking out the trash by feeding it to the Alolan Muk on board, and scrubbing the deck. Afterwards, she tried to get a peek in the secret cupboard, only for Alcremie to cover her in cream. Later, she brought Dot her lunch. When Liko offered to watch Nidothing's livestream with Dot, the latter turned her down out of fear of her finding out she's Nidothing. By the time the livestream came around, Nidothing, who was actually Dot in the costume, read a comment left by Liko, making her freak out about someone she looked up to actually listening to her thoughts. However, she was quick to follow Nidothing's advice about making friends being like Pokémon battles.

In HZ009, the Rising Volt Tacklers landed in Paldea. Before heading home in Cabo Poco, Liko guided Roy and Friede as they visited Mesagoza. After Friede failed to get a hold of her mother, Liko suggested visiting her father, which quickly made her feel uneasy after realizing that her Pokémon journey would soon be over. At home, she overheard her father talking to Friede about how he was worrying about she being by herself. After a sleepless night back at the Brave Asagi, she told her father that she still wanted to be a member of the Rising Volt Tacklers and travel the world with them. Her father accepted her wishes and told them about the sightings of a mysterious Pokémon over Artazon. In the next episode, Liko and Roy reaches the city, where they met the Champion-ranked Trainer Nemona and the local Grass-type Gym Leader Brassius. During their time together, Liko learned that Brassius saw the black Rayquaza in Arboliva Forest, deciding to make that their next destination.

Liko and Roy

In HZ011, Liko and Roy encountered a giant Arboliva in the forest. At first, it attacked them, thinking that they had hurt an injured Paldean Wooper, but calmed down after Mollie had finished healing it. In the following episode, Liko led their effort to replant the part of the forest that had burned down in a wildfire. After the Rising Volt Tacklers' efforts had proven successful, Liko's pendant suddenly started to glow and briefly transformed into the mysterious Pokémon again, following which the Arboliva returned to its Ancient Poké Ball and allowed Liko and Roy to take it under their care. At the end of the episode, Liko decided she wanted to see her grandmother in the hopes of learning more about the pendant.

In HZ013, Liko and the others decided to have a picnic while the ship was under an unexpected inspection. Liko enjoyed making sandwiches with the others, reminiscing on how far she's come and feeling thankful that she met Roy and the Rising Volt Tacklers. However, feeling that Dot and Ludlow were missing out, Liko enlisted Murdock's help in making an indoor picnic for them. Later, Liko was shocked to see that she was sent a picture by Dot of Nidothing and Ludlow having a good time. Liko deduces that it was all Dot's plan to make her happy.

In HZ014, Liko went to do some shopping in Levincia with Murdock. She later returned there by herself after seeing an advertisement for the Spicy Herba Mystica that Murdock had wanted. However, unbeknownst to Liko, the advertisement had been created by Spinel as a way of luring her into a dark alley, where he used his Beheeyem to put Liko into a trance and effortlessly steal her pendant. It was during the following episode that Liko was revealed to have been suffering from a temporary memory wipe thanks to Beheeyem, getting fragments of it back on her own piece by piece while the Rising Volt Tacklers were out looking for her. Iono and Dot, as Nidothing, staged a collaboration, getting everyone to try and catch Liko. By the time Liko's memory fully recovered, she had reunited with Roy, Friede, and Dot, having seen the latter in person for the first time, as they all agreed the get her pendant back from Spinel.

Character

Liko freaking out in a stressful situation

Liko is a kind, soft spoken, and polite girl who doesn't do well in stressful situations. She seems to be studious when it comes to learning about how to build a bond with Pokémon and is willing to pass curfew to do so. During the night, Liko often writes down what happens during her day in her diary, which includes her drawing in it. In addition to being studious, Liko has also been shown to be incredibly smart on occasion. This shows in her and Roy's training in HZ007, where she gradually picked up the pattern of Captain Pikachu's Double Team, or in HZ010, where she used her knowledge about Sprigatito enjoying sunlight to track down and gather up a huge amount of Sunflora, who also like sunlight. Despite being smart, Liko can be fairly gullible in an innocent sense when it comes to things like Dot and Nidothing being the same person. In addition, Liko can also be clumsy and has a tendency to lose her balance or fall down on occasion, as first seen in HZ001 where she succeeded in catching Sprigatito from the roof the second time but fell down when she spun around with it. Another example of her clumsiness is in HZ009 when she accidentally hit her nose on the open window of her house while listening in on Alex and Friede's conversation which caused them to notice her. Among other students, Liko is a big fan of Nidothing (unknowingly it was Dot who disguised herself) and watches her videos to help her be a Pokémon Trainer. Liko cares very much about Pokémon and is shown to prioritize their safety, as shown in HZ002, where she attempted to surrender herself to the Explorers so the Rising Volt Tacklers' Pokémon wouldn't get hurt.

Liko playing with Pokémon

Liko has been shown to be a bit shy around others, while at the same time wanting to speak out her mind and to converse with others about her interests, as seen when she was sitting on the bus in HZ001, as she sat near two female students that were watching Nidothing's video and wanted to initiate a conversation, but her shyness made her hesitate and stop midway. However, in HZ008 after finding out that Dot, who is unknowingly Nidothing, is just as shy as her and also shares her interests, Liko makes the effort to talk about Nidothing with someone she can truly relate to, even attempting to invite her to watch Nidothing's livestream. Nonetheless, Liko tends to be polite, albeit very bashful when meeting new people. This is shown in HZ010, where she was nervous to shake Nemona's hand when they first met, and equally nervous when talking to the Gym Leader Brassius for the first time with a nervous tone of voice.

File:Liko bashfulness.jpg

Liko becoming bashful when meeting new people

Despite her shyness, Liko can easily make friends, being able to quickly befriend Ann and Roy after meeting them, and was also even able to get the extremely reserved Dot to slightly open up as well. Though Liko can be timid and uncertain of her abilities, she has shown a brave side when supported by others, as seen in her debut episode, when she, thanks to Sprigatito's encouragement, was willing to jump off the roof of her school in order to escape the Explorers, and even being able to stand up to Amethio when encouraged by Sprigatito again in the following episode. In HZ015, after breaking free from the Psychic powers of Spinel's Beheeyem and reclaiming her memories, Liko was even willing to jump from the top of one of Levincia's skyscrapers to another to reunite with Roy and Dot. In addition, Liko has been shown to be cautious of trusting others, as she quickly deduced that the Explorers were up to no good and was unsure about the Rising Volt Tacklers since Friede took her to his airship without giving her any information. However, after the Rising Volt Tacklers helped her rescue Sprigatito from the Explorers, Liko decided to fully trust them and became a member of their team. When she hears or sees something that excites her, she claps her hands together, as shown in HZ006 after discovering that she actually met a Legendary Pokémon. Liko also often gets happy and excited when meeting new Pokemon in general, in stark contrast of her usual bashfulness with new people.

Pokémon

On hand

Sprigatito

Traveling with

Rotom Phone

Taking care of

		Arboliva
		Arboliva debuted as a guardian of a forest that Liko, Roy, and Mollie visited. It attacked them due to thinking they had hurt a Wooper, but once Mollie had healed it, Arboliva calmed down. After the Rising Volt Tacklers had helped to restore the damage to the forest done by a wildfire, Arboliva returned to its Ancient Poké Ball and allowed Liko and Roy to take it under their care. It was later revealed to be one of the ancient adventurer Lucius's partner Pokémon. None of Arboliva's moves are known and its Ability is Seed Sower.
Debut	HZ011

Temporary

		Rockruff
		In HZ003, Liko used Murdock's Rockruff to help find her Sprigatito. Rockruff's only known move is Rock Tomb.
Debut	HZ002

		Sunflora (×33)
		As part of trying to create inspiration for Brassius, Liko, Roy, and Nemona collected several Sunflora scattered around Artazon. None of Sunflora's moves are known.
Debut	HZ010

Voice actors

Language		Voice actor
Japanese		鈴木みのり Minori Suzuki
English		Alejandra Reynoso

Gallery

Artwork

			File:Liko anime 5.png
Official artwork from Pokémon Horizons: The Series			Concept art of Liko's school uniform.^[4]

Other


Concept art of Liko drawn by Ken Sugimori from Pokémon Horizons: The Series^[5]^[6]	Concept art of Liko from Pokémon Horizons: The Series^[7]	Reveal artwork of Liko, Roy, and the Paldean starter Pokémon

Air date reveal artwork of Liko, Roy, and the Paldean starter Pokémon^[2]	Concept art of Liko's pendant^[8]	Concept art of Liko from Pokémon Horizons: The Series

In the manga

Liko in Pocket Monsters