Where the Adventure Leads – Pokémon Horizons Season 2, Episode 44

Plot episodeSeason finaleOne year later

Where the Adventure Leads is the 44th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua, the second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1313th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1322, Bulbapedia code HZ089). It first aired in Japan on 21 March 2025 and in the United States on 26 September 2025. It falls within the season’s Laqua stretch (EP83–EP89).

The season finale, released on Netflix in the US on Friday 26 September 2025 with the rest of Part 4, the same day as the Mega Evolution card set. 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 · Major Events · Trivia · Dub Changes · All episodes

Synopsis

Pagogo and the Six Heroes purify Laqua, Lucius and Gibeon fade away, Spinel turns the freed heroes berserk with Laquium Spheres, and Friede is lost during the escape; a year later Liko is back at Indigo Academy, Spinel leads the Explorers, and Roy sets out with a Shiny Lucario and Captain Pikachu. In its Stellar Form, Pagogo purifies the Laquium with the Six Heroes’ help, and Gibeon mourns the goal he can no longer reach. Amethio vows to pursue his grandfather’s original aims without Laquium, and when Gibeon says he has lost the right to think about the future since Zygarde left him, Lucius replies that Zygarde chose him because it understood those aims before he lost his way, and urges him to entrust the future to the next generation, starting with Amethio. Gibeon agrees, and both men begin to glow as Lucius says it is time to go. Content that he has done what he needed to, Lucius entrusts Pagogo to Liko, Gibeon tells Amethio to keep walking his own path with Ceruledge, and the reconciled friends depart to join Rystal.

With Lucius gone, the Six Heroes are released from their Ancient Poké Balls. Declaring that he will surpass Gibeon, Spinel throws Laquium Spheres at them, and the mist drives all but Black Rayquaza berserk; as they attack one another, Spinel proclaims that the Explorers will take Laqua. Pagogo is too exhausted to fight, and when Liko pleads with the heroes, Arboliva and Moltres attack the children until Black Rayquaza saves them and urges them to leave, holding off its former allies. Amethio escapes on Corviknight with Zirc and Onia. Friede wonders why the Explorers still want Laqua now that the Laquium is purified, and then the ground splits open; Liko falls, and Lucius’s belt and notebook slip from her backpack into the chasm. Friede comforts her that Lucius’s adventure will live on as long as they remember it. Hattrem heals Charizard, still weak from the Laquium, with Heal Pulse, and Friede, Liko and Dot fly out on Charizard while Roy rides Kilowattrel.

As Mount Pericarp shakes, the Brave Olivine appears, straining at its altitude limit, and Orla presses the emergency button, transforming it into the Brave Olivine: Infinite Rising. A powerful gust nearly blows Friede, Charizard and Captain Pikachu off the deck; as the children and Orla struggle to pull them in, Friede hands Cap to Liko, asks him to look after everyone, and with a wistful smile lets go, falling into the clouds with Charizard while the others watch in horror. One year later, Liko is back in her Indigo Academy dormitory, looking at a record of their last adventure, before Ann collects her for class and she leaves with Meowscarada and Hattrem, a Poké Ball left on her desk. In Levincia, Spinel, now director of Exceed, tells an interviewer about Laqua’s restoration, blames the Rising Volt Tacklers for its collapse and promises that the Explorers will keep everything safe, including an unexplained phenomenon affecting Pokémon worldwide. Elsewhere Roy, wearing a Mega Ring, prepares to set off with his team, including a Shiny Lucario and Captain Pikachu.

Major Events

• One year later. Laqua is purified, and Lucius and Gibeon fade away
• The Six Heroes are released, and Spinel’s Laquium Spheres turn all but Black Rayquaza berserk
• Liko loses Lucius’s belt and notebook
• Orla turns the airship into the Brave Olivine: Infinite Rising
• Friede hands Captain Pikachu to Liko and is lost with Charizard
• A year later Liko is back at Indigo Academy, Spinel runs Exceed and the Explorers and frames the Rising Volt Tacklers, and Roy has a Shiny Lucario and a Mega Ring
• No ending theme and no Seminar
• The first clear time skip in the anime

Captures and evolutions

• Lucario#0448 · Roy · a Shiny Lucario, revealed after the one-year time skip

Trivia

• The screenplay is by Kureha Matsuzawa.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Paldea, Kitakami and Johto storyline.

Changes in the English Dub

• The on-screen “One year later” caption is replaced by a line added for Liko, “It’s been a year since then.”
• Dub error: a Leafeon is heard saying “Flareon”
• No ending theme in either version
• The Rotom Pad photo in the Japanese opening is the only one not to show the previous episode
• The Korean release adds We Are The One and removes the on-screen credits

Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Search for Laqua guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.