Pokémon Horizons – The Search for Laqua, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: Terastal Debut and Pocket Monsters: Rayquaza Rising is the twenty-seventh season of the Pokémon anime series and the second season of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā). It was directed by Saori Den and produced by OLM. The season aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 12, 2024, to March 21, 2025, and was distributed by Netflix in the United States from February 7 to September 26, 2025.
The season comprises two story arcs. The first arc, "Terastal Debut", covering the first 22 episodes, follows protagonists Liko and Roy, alongside Dot, as they enroll at Naranja Academy in the Paldea region to learn about the Terastal phenomenon and battle Gym Leaders under Tera Training. The second arc, "Rayquaza Rising", covering the final 22 episodes, follows the Rising Volt Tacklers as they search for Lucius' remaining Six Heroes and eventually go on the path to Laqua.
Release
On November 20, 2024, The Pokémon Company reported that a second season of Pokémon Horizons, under the title of Pokémon Horizons: Season 2 – The Search for Laqua was scheduled for release on the streaming service Netflix. In the United States, The Search for Laqua was officially released on February 7, April 25, June 27 and September 26, 2025, respectively, while in Canada, the season began airing on Cartoon Network and Télétoon the following day on February 8 of that year. The Search for Laqua was released earlier in the United Kingdom with episodes released on January 13, February 17, May 12 and July 17, 2025, respectively, on BBC iPlayer.
Music
The Japanese opening themes are "Will" by Ive for 22 episodes and "Only One Story" by Zerobaseone for 22 episodes. The Japanese ending themes are "Let Me Battle" by 9Lana for 22 episodes, "Sparkle!" (ピッカーン！, Pikkān!) by Giga, TeddyLoid, and Sakurazaka46 featuring Rina Matsuda and Hikaru Morita for 22 episodes.
The English opening theme outside of Asia is "My Favorite Pokémon" by Isaiah Tyrell Boyd and Haven Paschall, its intsrumental version serves as the ending theme. In Asia, "Will -Korean ver.-" is used as the English opening theme song, while "Make You Shine (English Version)" is used as ending theme.
Critical reception
In a February 2025 review for IGN, Kirsten Carey gave the first half of The Search for Laqua a score of 5 out of 10, saying that the season "largely ditches the series' innovations in favor of a format that's as old as Ash, Misty, and Brock's tussles with Team Rocket". The first thirty-three episodes of the season received a "A", "A-" and "B-" score, respectively, at Anime News Network.