The Ancient Poké Ball – Pokémon Horizons Season 1 Episode 6


Season	Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · Roy and the Ancient Poké Ball arc (HZ004–HZ008)
Episode	Horizons Season 1, episode 6 · English episode 1230 · Japanese episode 1239 · Bulbapedia code HZ006
English title	The Ancient Poké Ball
Japanese title	いにしえのモンスターボール Inishie no Monsutā Bōru — “The Ancient Monster Ball”
First aired (Japan)	12 May 2023 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	7 March 2024 · Netflix
Screenplay	Kureha Matsuzawa
Opening / ending (Japan)	Dokimeki Daiārī (Heart-Pounding Diary) – asmi feat. Chinozo · RVR ~Raijingu Borutekkāzu Rappu~ (Rising Volt Tacklers Rap), Mollie Ver. – Liko (Minori Suzuki) & Roy (Yuka Terasaki)
English opening	Becoming Me – Haven Paschall (version 1, with clips from Heart-Pounding Diary)
Previous episode	Found You, Fuecoco! (HZ005)
Next episode	Special Training with Cap! (HZ007)

Plot episodeBlack Rayquaza releasedRoy catches Fuecoco

The Ancient Poké Ball is the 6th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1230th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1239, Bulbapedia code HZ006). It first aired in Japan on 12 May 2023 and in the United States on 7 March 2024. It falls within the season’s Roy and the Ancient Poké Ball stretch (EP4–EP8).

Released on Netflix in the US on Thursday 7 March 2024 with the rest of Part 1 (HZ001–HZ012); BBC iPlayer had premiered it in the UK on 1 December 2023, with CBBC broadcasts from 4 December.

Synopsis

When Amethio’s Ceruledge corners Liko and Roy, Roy’s Ancient Poké Ball bursts open and releases a Shiny Black Rayquaza, and in the aftermath Roy catches Fuecoco and leaves his island to join the Rising Volt Tacklers. Liko’s pendant raises a barrier that stops Corviknight’s talons, and at the same moment Roy’s Ancient Poké Ball begins to glow. With Zirc and Onia holding Friede and Charizard back, Amethio challenges Liko and Roy, and although Sprigatito and Fuecoco land a hit through teamwork, Ceruledge soon overwhelms them. As it moves in to finish them, Liko cries for help; the pendant and the ball glow together, the ball clicks open, and a beam of light clears the clouds and takes the shape of a Black Rayquaza. Its Draco Meteor devastates the beach, and the Explorers retreat. Roy begs the Legendary Pokémon to return to its ball, but after a long look at Liko, Rayquaza flies away.

Ludlow finds the Explorers’ tracking device on the Brave Olivine and has Dot’s Quaxly destroy it, while Liko, Roy and Friede question Roy’s grandfather. He found the ball on the beach as a boy and never knew it held a Pokémon, let alone a Legendary linked to the Ancient Adventurer Lucius, whose legend he had dismissed as a fairy tale, and he cannot explain why the pendant and the ball glowed together. Friede is thrilled by the mystery and resolves to investigate. Aboard the ship, Charizard gives Fuecoco an empty Poké Ball, and on the beach Roy confesses that Fuecoco makes his heart race and that he does not want to say goodbye. Fuecoco spits out the ball, and with Friede’s blessing Roy makes the throw he has practised so long, catching Fuecoco as his first partner Pokémon.

Liko invites Roy to come along, and although his grandfather has always discouraged his dreams of travel, she reminds him that he is now a Trainer with a partner. Roy asks for permission, vowing to follow the Ancient Adventurer by catching Rayquaza and to make Fuecoco as strong as Charizard; his grandfather, seeing that Roy now carries his partner’s dream as well as his own, hands him a bag he has already packed. Roy promises to come back riding Rayquaza. At the Explorers’ headquarters, Spinel mocks Amethio’s failure and his tale of a Rayquaza, and the leader, Gibeon, removes Amethio from the pendant mission and gives it to Spinel; Amethio storms out, vowing to pursue Rayquaza, which he believes resonates with the pendant. Roy returns the ship’s flag to Friede, realising that the treasure the storm brought him was Fuecoco, and the whole village waves the Brave Olivine off into the sunset.

Major Events

The Black Rayquaza. Roy’s Ancient Poké Ball releases a Shiny Black Rayquaza, whose Draco Meteor drives the Explorers off
Roy catches Fuecoco, his first Pokémon, and joins the Rising Volt Tacklers
Gibeon removes Amethio from the pendant mission and gives it to Spinel
Spinel, Coral, Sidian and Chalce debut as holograms
Rayquaza’s first anime Pokédex entry