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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 1 · English episode 1314 · Japanese episode 1323 · Bulbapedia code HZ090 |
| English title | Eyes to the Skies Once Again (Part One) |
| Japanese title | 大空へ向かって、再び 前編 Ōzora e Mukatte, Futatabi — Zenpen — “Once More, To the Skies, Part 1” |
| First aired (Japan) | 11 April 2025 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 6 January 2026 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Dai Satō |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | None – the title is shown near the end of the episode · None – combined credits after HZ091 in the one-hour premiere |
| English opening | None – the Evolving Again instrumental plays over the end credits |
| Next episode | Eyes to the Skies Once Again (Part Two) (HZ091) |
Plot episodePremiere: one year laterUlt debuts
Eyes to the Skies Once Again (Part One) is the 1st episode of Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1314th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1323, Bulbapedia code HZ090). It first aired in Japan on 11 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).
The first episode of Netflix’s Part 1 (HZ090–HZ101), released in the US on Tuesday 6 January 2026; BBC iPlayer had premiered it in the UK on 27 October 2025. The Pokémon Company International had announced the US premiere on 9 October 2025; the season later began on the Pokémon Asia ENG YouTube channel (6 March 2026) and on Cartoon Network and YTV in Canada (7 March 2026).
Synopsis
One year after the events at Laqua, Roy and a brash new rival named Ult discover that Laquium is still harming wild Pokémon, while Liko quietly struggles at Indigo Academy with a Pagogo that has not left its Poké Ball since they came home. In a forest, wild Pokémon keep their distance from a Slaking that gives off a pink mist. Dot, who has contacted Roy for the first time in ages to ask him to look into an abnormality, guides him and Captain Pikachu by phone until Cap spots footprints. Roy explains that he has been travelling in the hope of meeting the Black Rayquaza again. The Slaking they find behaves nothing like its Pokédex entry, and Roy suspects Laquium. Before he can report to Dot, Ult and his Sableye burst in and distract him, and the Slaking slips away. Ult declares that the Black Rayquaza will be his, and Roy, unable to shake him off, reluctantly lets him tag along until Kilowattrel spots the Slaking from the air.
Sableye’s presence makes the wild Pokémon hostile, and a battle begins. Cap uses Double Team, Crocalor’s Flame Charge is hurled skyward until Kilowattrel catches it, and Electro Ball, Flamethrower and Power Gem all land. When Roy sees the battle endangering bystanders, he sends Kilowattrel and Crocalor to protect them and calls out Lucario instead. Roy and Ult Mega Evolve their partners into Mega Lucario and Mega Sableye, but the Slaking answers with a devastating Hyper Beam whose power and colour convince Roy that Laquium is involved. Mega Sableye shrugs off a second Hyper Beam thanks to its Ghost type, the two Mega Pokémon land more hits, and Cap finishes the Slaking with Volt Tackle. Dot agrees with Roy’s conclusion and points out that Pagogo was supposed to have destroyed the Laquium a year earlier, but Franka walks in with pancakes and she ends the call. Roy decides he must tell someone their adventure is not over and slips away during the night, leaving Ult furious at being abandoned.
At Indigo Academy, Liko has settled into school life over the past year, rooming with Ann, whose Dewott and Sandshrew have evolved into Samurott and Sandslash and whose talent has caught the eye of Blueberry Academy’s director. Ann notices that Liko keeps unconsciously stroking Pagogo’s Poké Ball; Pagogo has not come out once since Laqua, and Liko brushes off her friend’s concern. The next day Ann shows her a Nidothing video asking viewers for information about anything unusual, but Liko changes the subject. During training Ann confirms the Blueberry rumour, and Liko, happy for her, privately feels that she herself has made no progress since returning. In the cafeteria, students discuss an interview in which Spinel blames recent incidents on the Rising Volt Tacklers; nobody at school knows that Liko was one of them, and she drags Ann away before Ann can protest. On the rooftop a voice calls her name, and Liko turns to see Roy and Cap heading towards her. The title appears on screen near the end instead of being read aloud, and Roy narrates the preview.
Major Events
- Season premiere: one year later. The first episode of the Mega Voltage arc, aired as a one-hour special with HZ091
- A year after Laqua the Rising Volt Tacklers have disbanded
- Ult debuts with his Sableye
- Roy’s Lucario Mega Evolves, its first Mega Evolution in broadcast order, alongside Ult’s Mega Sableye to beat a Laquium-crazed Slaking
- Ann’s Dewott and Sandshrew have evolved into Samurott and Sandslash, and Blueberry Academy’s director has noticed her
- No opening, and the title is shown near the end instead of being read
- A Cacturne other than Harley’s appears for the first time since AG187, Prinplup for the first time since DP123 and Servine since BW090
- From this episode the eyecatches show a Trainer’s full party
Captures and evolutions
Dewott → Samurott#0503 · Ann · off screen during the timeskip
Sandshrew → Sandslash#0028 · Ann · off screen during the timeskip
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Dai Satō.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Rising Volt Tacklers storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- No opening theme in either version; the Evolving Again instrumental plays over the English end credits
- Haven Paschall is credited for the instrumental, an error repeated in HZ091
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.