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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope (Horizons Season 3) · Reassembling the crew arc (HZ096–HZ100) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 3, episode 7 · English episode 1320 · Japanese episode 1329 · Bulbapedia code HZ096 |
| English title | Crash! Team Dragon Rampage! |
| Japanese title | 激突！ドラゴン爆走団 Gekitotsu! Doragon Bakusōdan — “Clash! The Dragon Rampage Gang” |
| First aired (Japan) | 16 May 2025 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 6 January 2026 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Kimiko Ueno |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | GET BACK – Yuzu · Ready Go – ME:I |
| English opening | Evolving Again – Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | The Strong Sphere (HZ095) |
| Next episode | The Prankster (HZ097) |
Plot episodeTeam Dragon RampageThe Black Rayquaza sleeps
Crash! Team Dragon Rampage! is the 7th episode of Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1320th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1329, Bulbapedia code HZ096). It first aired in Japan on 16 May 2025 and in the United States on 6 January 2026. It falls within the season’s Reassembling the crew stretch (EP96–EP100).
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
Following Pagogo’s lead to a mountain near Blackthorn City, Liko, Roy and Ult clash with the masked Dragon Tamers of Team Dragon Rampage, rescue a nest of Dratini eggs from a poacher, and find the Black Rayquaza asleep in a shrine where it has been recovering for a year. Pagogo keeps pointing towards the mountain, and Dot recalls a year-old report of the Black Rayquaza there. Camping by a stream, Ult suspects the others want to ditch him again, storms off and walks in a circle back to camp, then helps Liko make pancakes shaped like the team; he tells her he wants the Black Rayquaza so he can become the strongest Trainer. That night he and Sableye devour the entire stack, leaving a furious Roy without breakfast the next morning. A traveller warns them about Team Dragon Rampage, a gang said to mug travellers and steal their Poké Balls, whose hideout lies on their route. On a mountain path three masked riders on Cyclizar block the way and react with alarm when Rayquaza is mentioned.
Roy says he knows the Black Rayquaza and is no member of the rival Team Wriggle, but the gang attacks. Lucario and Sableye battle the Cyclizar, and when a Dragon Pulse collides with Power Gem the resulting whirlwind tears off the riders’ masks, revealing three women — Neki, Dorara and Dora. Ult’s shocked reaction infuriates their leader, who orders a combined Dragon Rush that sends Sableye crashing down before the gang rides off. Pagogo urges the group onward. Higher up they see a man with an Arbok steal an egg from a nest; it hatches into a Dratini, which he locks in a cage. Ult attacks with Sableye’s Shadow Sneak, but the poacher, Snake of Team Wriggle, has a Seviper waiting, and its poison nearly hits the remaining eggs until Meowscarada shields them. Liko convinces Ult that teamwork will make him stronger; he and Roy Mega Evolve Sableye and Lucario, Meowscarada pins the snakes, and a combined attack sends Snake fleeing.
Team Dragon Rampage, who watched from a distance, thanks the group for saving the eggs and invites them to their hideout. Deep in a cavern that serves as a shrine where Dragon types regain their strength, the Black Rayquaza lies resting, and Pagogo’s call wakes it for the first time in a long while. The gang explains that their only goal has been to protect Rayquaza while it recovers and to keep others away, even if that means spreading bad rumours about themselves. Roy and Liko wish it a swift recovery; Ult judges it too weak for his goal for now and wants it to regain its strength so he can catch it. Leaving the gang to guard the dragon until it can fly again, the trio report to Dot, who suggests returning to Paldea to reunite with Murdock, who she has learned is working with Katy at Patisserie Soapberry. They agree to meet in Cortondo. As Dot packs up her room, her phone rings — it is Iono. Liko’s Meowscarada appears to wink and shrug at the audience near the end.
Major Events
- The Black Rayquaza found. Team Dragon Rampage (Neki, Dorara and Dora) debut
- Snake of Team Wriggle steals Dratini eggs
- The Black Rayquaza has been recovering in the Dragon’s Den for a year
- Ult’s Dusk Ball holds a Pokémon that has not accepted him
- Dot gets a call from Iono
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Kimiko Ueno.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Rising Volt Tacklers storyline.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.