These dialogue-heavy, story set-up episodes are so hard to talk about, I swear.

Right, so the backbone for today's episode was Liko's complicated feelings about returning home. She's caught the adventure bug but the realisation her time with the Volt Tacklers was coming to an end (as their "job" was to safely deliver back home) puts her into a bit of a funk. What she wants is to keep travelling and unravel the mystery of her pendant; what she thinks is her dad will say no. She can't bring herself to outright tell him what she wants to do, and this worries her so much she can't even sleep. Fortunately, encouragement from the crew (including Dot!) helps her convey her feelings and her dad lets her go. Happy days.

For his part, Alex is a simple concerned parent who worried about how Liko would handle studying overseas, but was surprised by how much she'd grown in such a short space of time and encouraged by the bond she'd formed with Sprigatito. The jealousy subplot supported this: Liko could have simply put Sprigatito back into its ball but didn't, and Sprigatito waited for Liko to come back and leapt to her aid when she needed it. Sorry to all the Lechonk fans, but the pig just wanted some cake and coffee beans.

It's one those things where the most interesting thing is what we didn't see. Liko's mother was working overseas and couldn't get back in time, a fact which Liko just seems to accept and harbours no resentment for. The nature of their relationship has me curious because her concern for her daughter is seen in her hiring of the Volt Tacklers, but she seems to be absent a lot. Liko's grandmother may have had greater impact on Liko during that absence, as it's her words Liko uses to affirm her desire to travel. I'm waiting to see if Liko's mother plays an antagonistic role in the story, or if she's gonna be Lusamine 2.0.

Meanwhile, Friede was content with the outcome. He didn't fight for Liko's case, per se, but he clearly wanted her to keep travelling while at the same time being respectful of her parent's wishes. That he didn't intervene gave Liko greater agency, and ultimately is was a good thing Liko was able resolve the issue mostly by herself. Though I do wonder what her mother would think of Friede completing the job, only to potentially put Liko in harm's way on this Rayquaza hunt.

FWIW, there was no mention of gyms or anything like that. Alex heard from Brassius (likely an artist buddy) that he'd seen a rare Pokemon and recommended Friede and Liko go visit him next.

Other things: Mesagoza came and went with little fanfare (though I believe the school was Naranja Academy, rather than Uva), which was a touch disappointing for Paldea's major city, and there was a weird moment where Liko saw the Nidothing outfit hanging on the ship, convinced herself it wasn't real and promptly forgot about it. Roy was there and got some picture books. Cool for him, and something I'm assuming will be significant later because why even bother showing it otherwise.

Overall, a lowkey episode with just enough emotional tension/weight to prevent it from being too dull, but maybe could have benefitted from more fanfare surrounding Liko's return home.