Rayquaza Rises On Axis As 'Pokémon Horizons: The Search For Laqua' Part 3 Premieres, 'XY' Returns To Netflix In June

We’re heading back to Kalos as the new eps continue their mission

It’s going to be a legendary June for the Pokémon anime on Netflix. Not only has it been confirmed that the third part Horizons’s second season, The Search For Laqua, will arrive on the service on June 27, but the fifth series in the saga of Ash Ketchum, the XY series, encompassing seasons 17 through 19, will be returning on June 1 after more than six years away.

This leg of the journey for Liko, Roy, Dot, the Rising Volt Tacklers, and the rival Explorers, has had decidedly quicker output than the four seasons before it, encompassing the first of Horizons and all of Journeys, seeing releases every two months rather than every quarter (three months) previously. Part 2 released in April and Part 1 in February. This week happened to be an off week in Japan, so there likely won’t be another break before this third Search for Laqua part releases. Set to cover episodes 68-78, Japan will likely have just premiered episode 101, which hasn’t been announced yet. A 23-episode gap makes the dub just 6 months behind, but those episodes will likely make up part 4 of season 2 and part 1 of season 3. Part 3 of The Search For Laqua marks the start of what was the “Rayquaza Rising” arc in Japan, and will finish with part 4. Japan began its “Mega Voltage” arc in April with episode 90, making The Search for Laqua basically equal with the first season.

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Liko, Roy, and Dot have finished their Tera Training and are ready to reunite with the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers. They search for the remaining Six Heroes and the mysterious place called Laqua, which will take them to Kitakami and beyond as they encounter new and powerful Pokémon, including Entei and Kleavor of the Six Heroes. The official part three synopsis reads “Liko, Roy and Dot are back on the Brave Olivine, and three of the Six Heroes welcome them with a challenge to battle! Later, the Rising Volt Tacklers touch down in Kitakami, where Roy and Crocalor have a big mix-up, Tinkatink defends its hammer, and new friends help lead the crew to Kleavor of the Six Heroes and answers about Laqua and Lucius. With just one of the Six Heroes left to find, Friede calls on an old friend who might have a scoop, and Ludlow plays hero for a day in his hometown. Finally, the Legendary Pokémon Entei appears — is the search for all Six Heroes finally complete?” Thanks to English-language releases earlier this month for Australia and the United Kingdom, we have the English titles for the episodes that will contain these adventures. They are “Into a New Sky! The Brave Olivine!”, “Roy is Crocalor, and Crocalor is Roy!”, “Tinkatink's Hammer Wasn't Made in a Day”, “Encounters at the Crystal Pool”, “The Search for Kleavor!”, “Kleavor the Solitary Warrior”, “The Three Explorers”, “The Wonders of the World”, “Wynaut?! Wy-Yes!”, “Ludlow’s Homecoming!” and “Entei's Fierce Battle Cry!”.

The English dub cast features Alejandra Reynoso as Liko, Anjali Kunapaneni as Roy, and Faye Mata as Dot and Pagogo, Liko’s Terapagos. Daman Mills voices Dot’s Quaxly and Explorers admin as Amethio, currently on probation, Kira Buckland as Liko’s Floragato, and Zeno Robinson as Roy’s Fuecoco. Friede is voiced by Crispin Freeman, and of course Captain Pikachu is voiced by Ikue Ohtani. Jenny Yokobori was Liko’s Hatenna, but that’s only brought up due to omission. Hattrem, as it evolved into in last batch has not been figured out. Dot’s Tinkatuff is voiced by Sarah Natochenny in her biggest Pokémon role since Ash Ketchum’s final appearance. The cast also features Erica Mendez as Mollie, Mara Junot as Orla, Larry Kenney as Ludlow, Major Attaway as Murdock, and other members of the Explorers including Lizzie Freeman as Coral, SungWon Cho as Sidian, Shara Kirby as Chalce, Matt Mercer as Spinel, and David Kaye (yes that David Kaye) as the boss Gibeon, who is Amethio’s grandfather.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned XY series, encompassing XY, XY: Kalos Quest, and XYZ, and featuring Ash’s final traditional gym badge journey through the Kalos region with Clemont, Serena, Bonnie and Squishy, is returning on June 1. That’s 74 months since the series originally departed on April 1, 2019, and subsequently bounced through other streamers like Hulu and Prime Video. The original departure seems to have been at the expiration of a two-year window that began after XYZ arrived on that date in 2017. At 145 episodes boosted by four Mega Evolution specials and one separate at the end, it is shorter than the Sun & Moon series by one episode and Journeys by 9. An expiry window hasn’t been disclosed, but it’s expected to be sticking around long enough to be there for the video games to return to Kalos with Pokémon Legends: Z-A releasing this fall on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 consoles.

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Source: Pokémon, What’s On Netflix, Animation Magazine