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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua (Horizons Season 2) · Naranja Academy & the first tests arc (HZ046–HZ050) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 2, episode 3 · English episode 1272 · Japanese episode 1281 · Bulbapedia code HZ048 |
| English title | Sparkle! The Glow of Flame and Art |
| Japanese title | 輝け！炎とアートのきらめき Kagayake! Honō to Āto no Kirameki — “Shine! The Brilliance of Fire and Art” |
| First aired (Japan) | 3 May 2024 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 February 2025 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Michihiro Tsuchiya |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Will – IVE · Let me battle – Giga & TeddyLoid feat. 9Lana |
| English opening | My Favorite Pokémon – Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd and Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | Put Your Heart Into It! (HZ047) |
| Next episode | Dot and Nidothing (HZ049) |
Plot episodeRoy’s first TerastallizationRoy beats Brassius
Sparkle! The Glow of Flame and Art is the 3rd episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua, the second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1272nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1281, Bulbapedia code HZ048). It first aired in Japan on 3 May 2024 and in the United States on 7 February 2025. It falls within the season’s Naranja Academy & the first tests stretch (EP46–EP50).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 7 February 2025 with the rest of Part 1. BBC iPlayer and CBBC had premiered it in the UK on 13 January 2025; Canadian television showed it on 22 February 2025.
Synopsis
In Artazon, Roy loses a rain-soaked battle to Nemona, learns at an art festival to use whatever is within reach, and then beats Brassius in his first Terastal battle to pass his Tera Training test. On the way, Fuecoco’s eager, repeated Stomping Tantrums collapse the ground during practice. Artazon is crowded for its annual Art Festival, directed by Brassius, and the trio watch the unveiling of his Black Rayquaza statue. Hassel, who once mentored Brassius out of a creative slump, leads them to the battle court, and the picture-book author Alex arrives as a guest. Brassius refuses Roy’s demand for an immediate battle until his sculpture is finished, so Nemona happily volunteers, battling without Terastallization to respect the training rules. Fuecoco’s Disarming Voice and Flamethrower land and Pawmot dodges Stomping Tantrum with Dig, but rain begins to fall; Roy, too focused to notice, orders a Flamethrower that fizzles, and Pawmot’s Double Shock knocks Fuecoco out. Roy blames the weather and demands another match.
Brassius tells Roy that he will keep losing if he battles this way and must find what he is missing before he can master Terastallization, and puts their official battle on hold. Hassel suggests making art for the festival, whose theme this year is art created with Pokémon. At the Artazon Gym, Liko plans a painting of Pokémon footprints, Dot borrows Roy’s Wattrel for a machine inspired by Tinkatink’s hammer-making, and Roy starts a clay sculpture of Fuecoco’s idol Charizard, which keeps falling apart. Brassius hints that anything within reach can be a clue; when Fuecoco accidentally scorches one wing and hardens the clay, Roy realises that Pokémon moves are tools too, and that the lesson applies to battle. The finished works are presented: Nemona’s carving of Pawmot, Liko’s painting made with an Arboliva, Dot’s miniature electric Ferris wheel built from Tinkatink’s hammers, and Roy’s Charizard, which Fuecoco completes by lighting its eyes, mouth, hands and tail. Satisfied, Brassius says he will wait for Roy at the battle court.
In the rematch, Brassius sends out Sudowoodo, which has the type advantage and can Terastallize into a Grass type. Its Substitute dodges Stomping Tantrum, Stone Edge hits Fuecoco and blocks Disarming Voice, and every Flamethrower Roy fires strikes a decoy, disappointing Brassius. Watching closely, Roy notices that the real Sudowoodo is sweating with effort while the doll is not, and Fuecoco starts landing hits; when Stomping Tantrum overpowers Stone Edge, the impressed Brassius Terastallizes Sudowoodo. Roy uses his Tera Orb for the first time, turning Fuecoco into a Fire Tera Type, and its boosted Flame Charge meets Sudowoodo’s boosted Trailblaze head-on before a Flamethrower finishes the fight. Brassius admits defeat and, once Roy explains how he spotted the real Sudowoodo, declares him worthy of Terastallization and stamps his phone. Dot, whose test comes next, quietly tells herself she can do it, and the exhausted Roy and Fuecoco tuck into a well-earned meal.
Major Events
- Roy’s first Terastallization. Artazon’s Art Festival, with Brassius’s Black Rayquaza statue
- Nemona’s Pawmot beats Roy’s Fuecoco in the rain without Terastallization
- Roy learns to use whatever is within reach
- Fuecoco Terastallizes into a Fire type and beats Brassius’s Grass-type Sudowoodo, and Roy passes
Pokémon making their anime debut
Grafaiai#0945 · HZ048
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Michihiro Tsuchiya.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Paldea, Kitakami and Johto storyline.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.