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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · Interludes & the Lapras Pirates arc (HZ027–HZ034) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 1, episode 33 · English episode 1257 · Japanese episode 1266 · Bulbapedia code HZ033 |
| English title | Roar of the Black Rayquaza |
| Japanese title | 咆吼の黒いレックウザ Hōkō no Kuroi Rekkūza — “The Roaring Black Rayquaza” |
| First aired (Japan) | 15 December 2023 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 9 August 2024 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Dai Satō |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Haro (Halo) – yama × BotchiBoromaru · RVR ~Raijingu Borutekkāzu Rappu~ PART2, Mollie Ver. – Roy (Yuka Terasaki) & Liko (Minori Suzuki) |
| English opening | Becoming Me – Haven Paschall (version 2, with clips from Halo) |
| Previous episode | Lapras’s Feelings for its Friends (HZ032) |
| Next episode | Respective Departures (HZ034) |
Plot episodeTerapagos’s Terastal FormRayquaza beats Amethio
Roar of the Black Rayquaza is the 33rd episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1257th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1266, Bulbapedia code HZ033). It first aired in Japan on 15 December 2023 and in the United States on 9 August 2024. It falls within the season’s Interludes & the Lapras Pirates stretch (EP27–EP34).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 9 August 2024 with the rest of Part 3 (HZ024–HZ034); BBC iPlayer had released it in the UK on 22 July 2024.
Synopsis
Amethio’s attempt to catch the Black Rayquaza ends in crushing defeat, and when its Draco Meteor threatens Liko, Terapagos takes its Terastal Form for the first time to counter it, after which Diana decides to leave and gives Liko and Roy a training battle. The Explorers’ submarine detects the Black Rayquaza, and Amethio flies out on Corviknight to confront it. Liko and her companions are stunned to see it overhead, and the Six Heroes’ Ancient Poké Balls glow as Rayquaza notices them. Holding up an Ultra Ball, Amethio vows to catch it; Corviknight dodges Dragon Pulse, Ceruledge rides Corviknight in close, and Rayquaza’s roar deflects their Psycho Cut and Air Slash in waves that crash against the rocks. Roy wants to help Rayquaza fight Amethio, and Murdock has to drag him back to the ship, while Diana stops Liko from trying to reason with the furious Legendary.
Ceruledge leaps from Corviknight and strikes Rayquaza’s head with Bitter Blade, but Rayquaza swats it down and finishes it with a barrage of Dragon Pulses. Roy breaks free and challenges Rayquaza, which looks at Terapagos and unleashes Draco Meteor. Charizard and Arcanine try to block it with Flamethrower, but a meteor knocks Liko down, and when she pushes Roy out of the path of another, she is left in danger herself. Terapagos cries for Rayquaza to stop, then transforms into its Terastal Form and counters Draco Meteor with Tera Starstorm, leaving everyone speechless before it reverts and collapses. Rayquaza flies off, to the dismay of Roy and Amethio. Mollie says Terapagos is simply exhausted from protecting Liko, while Roy broods that Rayquaza would not even look at him.
Friede and Diana note that the Terastal Form matches the Pokémon in Lucius’s journal, that Rayquaza seemed to be testing Terapagos, and that meeting three of the Six Heroes may have awakened its still-incomplete power, leaving only Kleavor and Entei to find. Diana reveals that her old friend Hamber is now with the Explorers and decides to investigate them alone, entrusting Liko to Friede and promising to stay in touch through Squawkabilly. To lift the children’s spirits, she challenges Liko and Roy together to land one hit on her Arcanine, which overpowers them with Extreme Speed, Flamethrower and Sunny Day. Refusing to give up, Roy sings with Fuecoco, the partners slide beneath Arcanine’s Extreme Speed, and while Arcanine overpowers Leafage and Flamethrower, Sprigatito sneaks behind it to land a Scratch. Diana tells them there is always a way to fight back, Terapagos wakes and devours a plate of Berries, and at headquarters Amethio asks Hamber to train him.
Major Events
- Terapagos’s Terastal Form. The Black Rayquaza beats Amethio
- Terapagos takes its Terastal Form and counters Draco Meteor with Tera Starstorm, the day after The Indigo Disk
- Diana decides to leave
- Liko and Roy land a hit on Diana’s Arcanine
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Dai Satō.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar and Paldea storyline.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.