Every Rising Volt Tackler in Pokémon Horizons Ranked

Pokemon Horizons Captain Pikachu

Pokémon Horizons has just wrapped up its second story arc in Japan, and we’ve been watching along and enjoying the heck out of it. After a messy first arc, the series course corrected into something amazing, and part of the reason for that is that more time was given to focus on the Rising Volt Tacklers.

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The Rising Volt Tacklers are the supporting cast of the show, a ragtag crew of adventurers up for any task that flesh out its storylines and add some much-needed flavor to the mix. But which of the Rising Volt Tacklers is the best? And more importantly, which is the worst? That’s what we’re here to find out today, with this definitive ranking of every member of the Rising Volt Tacklers.

Before we get stuck in, let’s just make a couple of things clear. We’re only including non-protagonist members of the RVT — Liko and Roy don’t count, because while they are technically members, they aren’t typically involved with the operation of the Brave Olivine. We’re also excluding Dot, since she’s more or less a third protagonist now, and it feels unfair to include her but leave out the others. We’ve decided to exclude most Pokémon, too, not because we want to, but because if we included every Pokémon traveling on the Brave Olivine, we’d be here all day.

With the ground rules out of the way, here’s every Rising Volt Tackler in Pokémon Horizons, ranked from worst to best.

Murdock

It was genuinely difficult to pick somebody to come in last, because every single one of these characters is fantastic. But we’ve gone with Murdock, not because he’s in any way bad, but mostly because he hasn’t had enough time to shine. He’s the ship’s chef, and Dot’s uncle, both of which are interesting character points, but it’s just not enough compared to everyone else. He also tends to be a bit over-the-top with his characterization, which can be exhausting at times.

Ludlow

Ludlow is a mysterious old man who spends most of his time fishing, but when push comes to shove, he lunges into action, often displaying a masterful command over powerful Pokémon that most of the team could never match. He’s also got a secret life as the Mighty G, a buff superhero that’s basically just All Might from My Hero Academia, which is both hilarious and honestly kind of cool. Unfortunately, he spends a lot of his time doing very little, so he won’t be making his way up the rankings until he starts doing more stuff.

Friede

Professor Friede, as he’s officially known, is the unofficial leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers. He’s a cool character and his backstory – that of a Pokémon professor who grew tired of boring fieldwork and decided to go on adventures instead – is a nice twist on a classic archetype for Pokémon. Friede would probably be higher if not for his choice of Pokémon, a Pikachu and a Charizard, which are just about the most fan service-y Pokémon a person could have. Get something a little more interesting, my guy.

Nidothing

Look, I said Dot wouldn’t make an appearance on this list, but we have to take Nidothing as a separate character, because they’re really an entirely different personality. Nidothing is bursting with energy and has a knack for making informational videos for trainers around the world. We often see Liko and Roy watching these videos early on in the series, and the streamer persona is a lot of fun to watch, especially when interacting with fellow streamer Iono.

Orla

Gosh, I love Orla, and the higher we get up the list, the more difficult these rankings get. Orla is the engineer of the Brave Olivine, and that’s a position she takes very seriously. As a rough-and-tumble engineer, she’s willing to get her hands dirty and get down to business as needed, but she’s also been around the block a few times, and her advice to Liko, Roy, and Dot is often invaluable.

Captain Pikachu

Cap is the true leader of the Rising Volt Tacklers, and what a leader to have. Cap’s claim to fame is that he spent years training his Volt Tackle move to create tornadoes and learn to fly, and his smug, confident personality is a fantastic departure from Ash’s Pikachu. There are basically no moments where Captain Pikachu is on screen that aren’t incredible, and he’s an absolute delight to watch.

Mollie

I cannot stress enough how incredible a character Mollie is. She was originally a Pokémon Center nurse, much like the rest of her family, but it broke her caring heart to sit around and wait for Pokémon to get hurt before she could do something to help them. She also recognized that there are a lot of wild Pokémon out there that would never make their way to a Pokémon Center, and somebody should be looking after those too, so she rejected her family’s heritage and ventured out with the Volt Tacklers to heal all of the world’s Pokémon. Her cool, calm demeanor is very compelling, her design is incredible, and her skills are unmatched. Without Mollie, there is no RVT.

Related: Pokémon Horizons’ Third Story Arc Announced With Spoiler-Filled Poster