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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope (Horizons Season 3) · A year later: Laquium returns arc (HZ090–HZ095) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 3, episode 3 · English episode 1316 · Japanese episode 1325 · Bulbapedia code HZ092 |
| English title | Following Traces of Laquium |
| Japanese title | ラクリウム・サインを追って Rakuriumu Sain o Otte — “Follow the Laqurium Signs” |
| First aired (Japan) | 18 April 2025 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 6 January 2026 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Dai Satō |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | GET BACK – Yuzu · Ready Go – ME:I |
| English opening | Evolving Again – Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | Eyes to the Skies Once Again (Part Two) (HZ091) |
| Next episode | Clash of the Nidothing Fans (HZ093) |
Plot episodePagogo wakesLaquium Signs
Following Traces of Laquium is the 3rd episode of Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1316th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1325, Bulbapedia code HZ092). It first aired in Japan on 18 April 2025 and in the United States on 6 January 2026. It falls within the season’s A year later: Laquium returns stretch (EP90–EP95).
Released on Netflix in the US on Tuesday 6 January 2026 with the rest of Part 1; BBC iPlayer had premiered it in the UK on 27 October 2025.
Synopsis
Investigating holes left by two Laquium-crazed Steelix, Liko and Roy are rescued by Ult’s Mega Sableye and then by Pagogo, which finally wakes after a year and purifies the Steelix. Liko and Roy, with Dot on the phone, head for the latest sighting while Ult secretly trails them. As Crocalor and Kilowattrel search from the air, Liko remembers the Tera Training of a year ago and admits sadly that Pagogo has stayed inside its ball since Laqua, though Dot notes how comfortably Hattrem looks after that ball. Roy, Cap and Lucario find ground riddled with holes and more pink mist, which Dot says the team has been calling “Laquium Signs.” Underground, Ult and Sableye, who have fallen into one of the holes, run into a Steelix behaving like the Slaking, and it bursts out of the ground in front of Liko and Roy. Physical attacks barely scratch its Defense, and it keeps vanishing into its tunnels. Lucario uses Aura to show Meowscarada where the Steelix will surface so that it can be pinned down.
Hattrem and Cap block a counterattack, but Meowscarada loses its grip and the Steelix retreats underground. Roy flushes it out by having Kilowattrel’s Uproar and Crocalor’s Disarming Voice roar down the same hole, but as Crocalor readies Flamethrower a second Laquium-affected Steelix slams into Crocalor and Kilowattrel from the side and traps them in Sand Tomb. When both Steelix turn on Meowscarada and Lucario, Sableye saves Meowscarada and Ult pops out of a hole. Seeing how dire things are, he and Roy Mega Evolve Sableye and Lucario. The two Mega Pokémon land hits but are cornered, then dodge at the last moment so that both Steelix strike Mega Sableye’s gem shield instead. Cap gathers Crocalor and Kilowattrel, and this time Crocalor’s Flamethrower connects. When the smoke clears, the two Steelix are attacking each other, unable to tell friend from foe, and Liko, remembering Laqua, desperately tries to stop them.
When both Steelix’s attacks nearly hit Liko, a barrier from Pagogo saves her: it has woken at last, emerges from its ball, takes its Terastal Form and purifies both Steelix, and Hattrem heals them with Heal Pulse. Roy and Dot are overjoyed, Roy introduces Ult, and Liko thanks him for saving Meowscarada — just before Sableye tries to eat Pagogo. Liko asks about Mega Evolution and Nidothing explains it in a video. Ult scolds Roy for abandoning him, insists he was not following him, and vows that the Black Rayquaza will be his, but mid-monologue Roy quietly leads Liko away, leaving Ult behind yet again. At Explorers headquarters, Hamber meets Zirc and Onia, who expect punishment for failing to protect Amethio. Instead he reveals that Spinel has reported Amethio as a traitor who died at Laqua — a report neither Hamber nor Amethio’s father Cervantis believes — shows them a Zygarde Cube holding a single Zygarde Cell, and secretly orders them to find White Zygarde and Amethio before Spinel learns what they are doing. GET BACK and Ready Go become the Japanese opening and ending from this episode.
Major Events
- Pagogo wakes. Two Laquium-crazed Steelix
- Pagogo leaves its Poké Ball for the first time in a year and purifies them
- The team calls the pink-mist traces Laquium Signs
- Spinel has reported Amethio dead as a traitor, and Hamber gives Zirc and Onia a Zygarde Cube to find him
- A new title card shows the Paldean first partners’ current stages
- GET BACK and Ready Go become the Japanese opening and ending, and Evolving Again the English opening
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Dai Satō.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Rising Volt Tacklers storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The English captions call Orthworm an “earthworm”
- GET BACK (Yuzu) and Ready Go (ME:I) become the Japanese opening and ending
- The English opening Evolving Again (Haven Paschall) debuts, with footage from GET BACK
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.