Pokemon Horizons viewers bewildered by Maushold’s nightmarish cry

Pokemon Horizons: The Series has baffled fans by giving Maushold, one of the cutest creatures introduced in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, a horrible shrieking noise for its cry.

Most Pokemon in the anime just repeat their name, with only a handful able to talk like humans, including Meowth and Mewtwo. A few have odd cries, like Staryu and Starmie, which perform karate noises as part of an Ultraman homage.

The Maushold line debuted in the Gen 9 games, appearing as families of either three or four Pokemon all counted as a single entity. In the games, they have a strange beeping noise as their cry, almost sounding like Morse code.

The Pokemon Horizons anime had the chance to give the Maushold family an adorable cry. However, the decision was made to give them a nightmarish cry. A video of their sounds was posted by PokemonGems on Twitter/X, much to the dismay of fans.

“I remember when Pokemon just said their name, what is this,” one user commented, while another said, “I too sound like a raspy air leak when I’m talking to my family so this seems pretty fitting to me!”

Some people actually enjoy the surprising voice as one fan mentioned, “It’s a nice change after years of loud, high-pitched cries and “chu”s.”

It bears mentioning that this is how Maushold sounds in the original Japanese version of the Pokemon Horizons anime. In the English dub, they make high-pitched yelling noises, which are annoying, but not quite as threatening.

So, why does Maushold sound so horrifying in Japan? Mice do make hissing noises, as they’re not super vocal, especially compared to cats and dogs. In that sense, they’re true to their inspiration, but that doesn’t always make for good television.

The Maushold line has got a bad reputation from fans, mostly due to how hard it can be to get the three family version in Pokemon Go. Hopefully, the original iteration of the Pokemon will win people over, so long as they don’t mind all the hissing.