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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua (Horizons Season 2) · Laqua arc (HZ083–HZ089) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 2, episode 42 · English episode 1311 · Japanese episode 1320 · Bulbapedia code HZ087 |
| English title | Guided by the Black Rayquaza! |
| Japanese title | 黒いレックウザの導き Kuroi Rekkūza no Michibiki — “Guidance of the Black Rayquaza” |
| First aired (Japan) | 7 March 2025 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 26 September 2025 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Kureha Matsuzawa |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Only One Story – ZEROBASEONE · Pikkān! (Sparkle!) – Rina Matsuda & Hikaru Morita (Sakurazaka46) |
| English opening | My Favorite Pokémon – Isaiah Tyrelle Boyd and Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | The Rising Volt Tacklers vs. The Explorers! (HZ086) |
| Next episode | The Earthshaking White Zygarde (HZ088) |
Plot episodeLucius emergesAmethio turns on Gibeon
Guided by the Black Rayquaza! is the 42nd episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua, the second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1311th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1320, Bulbapedia code HZ087). It first aired in Japan on 7 March 2025 and in the United States on 26 September 2025. It falls within the season’s Laqua stretch (EP83–EP89).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 26 September 2025 with the rest of Part 4. It had gone on sale in UK digital stores on 5 July 2025, reached Australia’s Stan on 12 July and BBC iPlayer on 17 July 2025.
Synopsis
At the heart of Laqua, the long-sealed Lucius emerges from a Laquium cluster to explain how Zygarde and Black Rayquaza set the adventure in motion, but Gibeon lets Spinel mine the Laquium Core, and Amethio turns against his grandfather to fight beside Liko, Roy and Dot. Gibeon and the White Zygarde reach the Laquium just before the pink pillar of smoke appears, and Gibeon, in his wheelchair, greets Lucius. Zygarde’s cry draws Cells from glowing patches in the ground, restoring its 50% Forme, and Gibeon, after falling as he tries to stand, revives himself with a small Laquium crystal and orders Zygarde to dig. Amethio arrives and confronts him with Spinel’s research, arguing that Laquium may be unethical after what happened to Spinel’s Umbreon and that there are other ways to help people and Pokémon, but Gibeon calls him naive. Elsewhere, Zirc and Onia interrupt the admins’ renewed attack, Hattrem and Tinkatuff clear a path with Brutal Swing, and Friede’s Charizard stops Coral as the children escape.
Spinel dismisses Amethio, and Friede warns that Laqua could collapse again if the Laquium’s power keeps growing. Pagogo calls on the Six Heroes, but at Gibeon’s order Zygarde slams into the cluster, which breaks open to reveal Lucius, alive. Lucius explains that he has slept in Laqua for a century and was woken by Zygarde, which had spread its Cells to watch over the world’s ecosystems, treating Laquium as a threat, and had shown him the Rising Volt Tacklers’ journey and the Explorers’ deeds, to Gibeon’s fury. Zygarde, he reveals, left a message for Black Rayquaza after it emerged from Roy’s Ancient Poké Ball, urging it to find worthy Trainers for Pagogo and the Six Heroes; Friede is amazed that their adventure began with the two Pokémon’s will, but Lucius says that it was their own will that brought them here, exceeding Rayquaza’s expectations. Lucius intends to destroy the Laquium, insisting that people and Pokémon should move forward together without it, and Gibeon refuses, citing its benefits.
Friede asks what will happen to Laqua, and Lucius explains that it has its own system and does not depend on Laquium; Spinel argues that the Explorers may therefore take it, and despite Lucius’s warning that outside forces could activate it and drive Pokémon berserk, Gibeon hesitantly gives permission. The admins arrive with machines powered by Spinel’s newly evolved Magnezone and dig towards the Laquium Core for unlimited production, and Lucius warns that once it is active no one can control it. Weakened from their earlier battle, Captain Pikachu and Charizard are infected, go berserk and knock each other out, and Coral’s Glalie blocks Ceruledge’s Psycho Cut at the machines. When Gibeon declares that only those strong enough to wield Laquium deserve to survive, Lucius asks Liko to share the Six Heroes’ power with Pagogo, which takes its Terastal Form, but Gibeon begs Zygarde to fight for him and it prepares for battle. Amethio and Ceruledge stand before Lucius; Amethio explains that he opposes his grandfather only to protect him and asks the children for help, they agree at once, and the four Trainers Terastallize their partners.
Major Events
- Lucius emerges. Gibeon’s White Zygarde regains its 50% Forme
- Lucius emerges alive from the Laquium and reveals how Zygarde and Black Rayquaza set the adventure in motion
- Spinel’s Magneton evolves into Magnezone, and the Explorers mine Laqua’s Core
- Captain Pikachu and Charizard knock each other out, the first double knockout in Horizons
- Amethio sides with Liko against Gibeon
Captures and evolutions
Magneton → Magnezone#0462 · Spinel · powering the machines that mine Laqua’s Core
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Kureha Matsuzawa.
- 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.