Ann: The Friend Who Stayed at School and Caught Up to Liko
1917 words | Reading time: 9 minutes
Ann is no decorative classmate. An Indigo Academy student and Liko's roommate, she goes through Pokémon Horizons without ever becoming an adventurer: she stays in school while her friend travels the world. That gap is what makes her useful to the story, because it gives a yardstick for the distance Liko puts between herself and her old life. And because the series eventually closes it.
Contents
- A Messy Room and an Oshawott
- A Friendship Kept Alive Through a Screen
- Tera Training at Naranja Academy
- The Star Student Who Stands Guard
- Blueberry Academy: What Hattrem Teaches Her
- Joining the Rising Volt Tacklers
- Ann at a Glance
- Frequently Asked Questions
A Messy Room and an Oshawott
Ann comes from Kanto and had never left her home region. The series waits until very late to shed light on her family: an older sister, a younger brother, two free spirits between whom she carved out a role as the peacemaker. She would do anything to make them happy, while refusing to be seen as the middle child who always gives in.
Her first meeting with Liko starts out as a misunderstanding. Liko opens the door to her dorm room, finds a total mess and an occupant already settled in, and shuts it again right away, thinking she has the wrong room. Ann catches up with her and welcomes her with an enthusiasm that leaves no room for doubt; the two students compare their backgrounds and are friends before the day is out.
The next day, after the entrance ceremony, each student leaves with a Pokédex and a first partner. Ann gets an Oshawott and they hit it off right away — the same boundless energy, the same inability to sit still. The duo earns its first win against Liko and her Sprigatito, and Ann takes the opportunity to advise her friend to coordinate better with her Pokémon instead of hesitating.
🌊 Ann's partner is the first of its evolutionary line: see the section for Pokémon starters.
A Friendship Kept Alive Through a Screen
Before the first break, Liko tells her about the pendant she inherited from her grandmother. Ann's reaction fits in one sentence: you should wear it, not hide it. That reflex sums up the character, who pushes her friend outward at every opportunity. Then Ann goes home to her family for the holidays, and the two classmates part ways.
When Liko sets off on her adventure and switches to remote classes, the relationship doesn't break: it moves to video calls. Ann greets the news with excitement rather than disappointment, on the sole condition that the calls keep coming. These conversations become the thread of her screen presence throughout the first part of the series.
What they talk about documents her own progress. She announces that she has caught a Sandshrew, meets Liko's Hatenna, gets excited about the upcoming book by Nidothing and joins her friend for a class on the ideal bond between a Trainer and their Pokémon. Ann builds a team while Liko builds a journey.
Tera Training at Naranja Academy
They reunite where no one expected them to. Ann has enrolled in Naranja Academy's Tera Training and runs into Liko on the school's training field, where she also meets Roy and Dot. Her Oshawott has since evolved into Dewott, just as her friend's starter has reached its own milestone: the two evolutions face each other like a readout of the distance each of them has traveled.
The friendly battle that follows is the most revealing thing about her. Dewott takes the upper hand with its agility and its scalchops, before falling into Floragato's trap and going down. Ann admits her frustration without disguising it, then immediately moves on to how much fun she had — the two friends promise each other a rematch down the road.
The rest of the course makes her an active witness. She travels to Mesagoza with Roy, Dot and Liko, watches the aptitude battles pitting the students against Paldea's Elite Four, takes her practical test against a Gym Leader and is among those who get to keep their Tera Orb. At the closing tournament, she takes on Niko and Roserade, then announces she's heading back to Indigo Academy: what she wants is battles.
The Star Student Who Stands Guard
A year after the events at Laqua, Ann is back at the Indigo Academy dorm, with Liko. The series now presents her as the school's top student when it comes to battling, to the point of being scouted by Cyrano, who offers her a place at Blueberry Academy. Her days as the classmate in the background are over.
Her closeness to Liko takes a decidedly protective turn. She voices her worries about her friend, who says she's been having blackouts, and when students badmouth the Rising Volt Tacklers in front of her, it's Liko who has to stop her from making a scene. Ann's loyalty is unconditional, even when it gets in the way.
Still, she gauges the gap in skill without kidding herself. When Roy visits the school, she suggests a battle and challenges him herself: her Samurott, the culmination of the Oshawott she received on day one, is no match for Roy's Lucario. She then walks them to the bus stop when Liko decides to hit the road again, and ends up accepting Cyrano's offer.
Blueberry Academy: What Hattrem Teaches Her
At Blueberry Academy, the roles are reversed for good: Ann is no longer the guest, she's the host. There she faces Lacey, whose Plusle and Minun give Samurott and Sandslash a hard time with Grass Knot, then welcomes Liko and her crew at the Central Plaza alongside Nemona. Once again she stands up for her friend in front of Carmine, only to discover that Carmine already knows the truth.
She even becomes the group's coach. In the Savanna Biome as in the Canyon Biome, she offers Samurott as a sparring partner for the Charcadet Liko has just caught, and pulls her friend into a Blueberry Quest that involves finding a set number of Ditto blocks across the school's biomes.
Yet the episode that really matters for her isn't decided in battle. Watching Liko's Hattrem step aside so the other Pokémon can receive their Trainer's affection, Ann feels uneasy without understanding why, then recognizes herself: what she's looking at is her own place as the middle child. She eventually admits it, Liko realizes her mistake, and Hattrem evolves into Hatterene right after — a shift Ann credits to happiness and dubs an "exuberant evolution."
Joining the Rising Volt Tacklers
She wraps up her time at Blueberry Academy with a gesture no one expected from her. Worried to see Liko keeping her troubles to herself, Ann asks the League Club Room to arrange a shower of diamond dust for her friend. When the Rising Volt Tacklers leave, she promises to be a tougher opponent the next time they meet.
The accusations piling up against the group are the last straw. Ann decides to join them to prove to Liko that her support is non-negotiable, and the price of admission is a battle against Liko herself, refereed by Geeta, with explicit instructions not to go easy on her. Samurott faces her friend's Armarouge, now fully evolved.
Both Trainers Terastallize, and the exchange ends with both Pokémon fainting — a last-ditch Clear Smog against a Drill Run. Liko rules that Ann is strong enough to walk alongside them. In Laqua, she pushes forward with Liko, Captain Pikachu and Diana, then sends out Samurott and Sandslash to keep the wild Pokémon, driven aggressive by the Explorers' smoke, from hurting themselves until the Laquium is purified once and for all.
Ann at a Glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Series | Pokémon Horizons, from the very first episode |
| Origin | Kanto, a region she had never left before |
| Schooling | Indigo Academy, then Naranja Academy's Tera Training, then Blueberry Academy |
| First Pokémon | Oshawott, which became Dewott and then Samurott |
| Second Pokémon | Sandshrew, which became Sandslash |
| Family | Middle child, between an older sister and a younger brother |
| Final role | Ally of the Rising Volt Tacklers all the way to Laqua |
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Who is Ann in Pokémon Horizons?
An Indigo Academy student, Liko's roommate and best friend since their first day at the dorm. Unlike Liko, Ann stays in school and follows her friend's adventure through video calls for a good part of the series. -
What Pokémon does Ann have?
Two. An Oshawott she received as her first partner at Indigo Academy, which becomes Dewott and then Samurott, and a Sandshrew caught later on, which evolves into Sandslash. -
Why does Ann change schools several times?
She first enrolls in Naranja Academy's Tera Training, then returns to Indigo Academy because she wants battles, and later accepts Cyrano's invitation to study at Blueberry Academy after being scouted there. -
Does Ann join the Rising Volt Tacklers?
Yes, late in the story. Fed up with the accusations against them, she asks to join and first has to battle Liko, with Geeta as referee. The battle ends with both Pokémon fainting, and Liko judges her strong enough. -
What happens when Liko's Hattrem evolves?
Ann sees herself in this Pokémon that steps aside for the others, and eventually tells Liko so. Hattrem evolves into Hatterene soon after; Ann credits the evolution to the Pokémon's happiness and calls it an exuberant evolution.
In short
Ann fills a role that Pokémon Horizons gives no one else: the friend who stayed at school. The series first uses it to measure what the adventure costs Liko, then flips the setup — the student who stayed put becomes the star student, the coach, and finally the ally who earns her place through battle. Her arc comes down to a single idea: no longer being the one who steps aside.