The newest villain in Pokémon Horizon is using an ingenious tactic to neutralize the heroes’ airships, and all he needs is a small army of a fairly ordinary Pokémon: Magneton. The use of multiple Magnetons at once is creating a strong electromagnetic field, blocking the operation of the onboard electronics and making it impossible for those on board to escape.
Pokémon Horizons hasn’t had a villain for a while, as Amethio was dropped from the case after twice failing to steal Riko’s pendant. Instead, another character, Spinel, was assigned to the mission, but Spinel hasn’t been seen since he was introduced a few episodes ago. It turned out that Spinel had been working behind the scenes the whole time to ambush the crew when they least expected it, and that he had attacked the ship at a particularly vulnerable time, while it was immobilized due to the system reboot. Unlike some past Pokémon villains, Spinel has a well-thought-out plan for it, and at least for now, seems to be working.
Pokémon Horizons makes Magneton a fearsome foe
In the episode, Spinel is said to be approaching the spaceship while a large group of Magnetons surround it from above, emitting an electromagnetic signal. That’s a pretty standard ability for Magneton, but the goal here is to generate an Electromagnetic Pulse, or EMP, that can destroy or disable electronic devices within its range. While one Magneton probably wouldn’t be enough to damage something as large as an airship, a team positioned in the right places throughout the ship could easily shut down all electronic control systems, making it impossible for the crew to flee.
Professor Friede, on board the spacecraft, realized what was going on when he noticed that the computer was making no progress on restarting. It’s a great means of attack, since it’s completely impossible for humans to detect EMPs without special equipment that airships certainly wouldn’t have. It’s also a good demonstration of how villains can benefit from bending or breaking the rules of fighting Pokémon, as at least 9 Magnetons are shown, far exceeding the maximum number of six Pokémon a trainer is “allowed” to have on hand. That might not be fair, but this is a villain with a goal after all – there’s no reason to expect him to play fair.
The situation became very serious very quickly, and as Dot notes, the ship might not be able to fly again without replacing a series of damaged parts. The EMP scheme might be one of the best villainous schemes ever seen in Pokémonand they will use all their strength and skill against Spinel and return to the road to the Galar region.