Beyond the Shining Rainbow (Japanese: 光り出した虹の先でAt the End of the Shining Rainbow) is the 82nd episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,314th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on January 31, 2025, in Australia on July 12, 2025, in the United Kingdom on July 17, 2025, in sub-Saharan Africa on August 30, 2025, and in the United States on September 26, 2025.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
As Gouging Fire reunites with Lucius’s other Pokémon and Terapagos, the final member of the Six Heroes suddenly appears! The black Rayquaza descends from the sky, finally agreeing to a rematch with Liko, Roy, Dot, and Friede. The Trainers and their Pokémon give it their all and strategically attack Rayquaza, but the Legendary Pokémon remains strong. Pagogo then steps forward to join the battle—will our heroes triumph and be able to catch Rayquaza?
Plot
Resuming from the previous episode, the Black Rayquaza descends upon the stunned group now that the five of the Six Heroes are gathered. However, since Liko, Roy, and Dot used their Tera Orbs in their battle against Lucius's Gouging Fire, they are unable to use it again. Nonetheless, the younger members are motivated to battle Rayquaza again, with Friede joining them in the battle and Briar looking after Pagogo.
Dot and her Pokémon battling the Black Rayquaza
Friede distracts Rayquaza by flying around on Charizard while the kids position themselves on the terrain accordingly. Charizard leads Rayquaza to a cliff where Roy and Crocalor were waiting with Flamethrower that it easily dodges. Higher up, Liko calls out Hattrem, who uses Confusion to manoeuvre some rocks such that Floragato would be able to reach Rayquaza with Acrobatics, but the Sky High Pokémon also avoids Floragato. Flying even further up, Rayquaza ends up getting attacked by Liquidation and Slam from Quaxwell and Tinkatuff, respectively. Friede encourages the kids to keep on attacking before getting Charizard to use a series of Air Slash, with Floragato following up with Acrobatics and Crocalor finishing off with Flamethrower. Rayquaza remains unfazed by their strategy as it flies towards the sky to use Draco Meteor. Everyone scrambles to evade the meteors while Friede fails to lure Rayquaza again. Dot calls everyone and suggests they use the same strategy they used on Gouging Fire, using the waterfall nearby to soak Rayquaza instead of luring it like they did with the Paradox Pokémon.
With Kilowattrel bringing them closer to Rayquaza, Crocalor and Charizard successfully push Rayquaza towards the waterfall just as Floragato and Quaxwell destroy the rocks to soak Rayquaza. Captain Pikachu rushes to Rayquaza and electrocutes it with Volt Tackle, causing it to retaliate with Dragon Tail. This results in not only Charizard being severely injured, but also in Cap being thrown off. Roy goes to save Cap with Kilowattrel while Rayquaza's Dragon Pulse knocks out Quaxwell and Tinkatuff. The Sky High Pokémon unleashes another Draco Meteor shower, with Hattrem using Brutal Swing to destroy some meteors before holding them in place with Confusion. Liko has Floragato use Magical Leaf as a smokescreen for Kilowattrel to approach Rayquaza with Spark, though this was a ruse for Crocalor to land on top of Rayquaza's head and use Disarming Voice to deal super effective damage before getting thrown off. Once again, Rayquaza uses Draco Meteor, only this time, it successfully aimed the meteors at Hattrem, Floragato, and Kilowattrel with Dragon Tail, knocking them out from the battle. Pagogo was almost hit by another aimed meteor before being saved by Cap, who uses Rising Volt Tackle and sends Rayquaza towards the sky. However, this gives the opportunity for Rayquaza to use Dragon Ascent to get Cap out of the battle. With most of the Pokémon unable to battle, the only one left standing is Crocalor. Roy and Crocalor try their best to continue battling as Liko also wants to continue battling Rayquaza. As if sensing Liko's thoughts, Pagogo joins the battle by transforming into its Terastal Form.
Pagogo begins its first battle by Liko's side by using Ancient Power and Crocalor supports it with Disarming Voice, with both attacks doing supereffective damage on Rayquaza. Rayquaza then counters with Dragon Pulse, at which Pagogo uses Protect to shield both itself and Crocalor, however a few Draco Meteors that Crocalor and Pagogo were unable to defend against completely still manages to hit both of them. With both sides getting exhausted, Rayquaza attempts to use Dragon Ascent to finish them off while Pagogo uses Tera Starstorm to counter. Both Pokémon were able to greatly damage each other, with Rayquaza being sent flying and stuck in a gorge and Pagogo using the last of its strength to allow Crocalor to Terastallize, amazing everyone before transforming back into its Normal Form. With Rayquaza temporarily weakened and immobilised, Roy has Crocalor finish the battle with a boosted Flame Charge before finally capturing Rayquaza in the Ancient Poké Ball.
Roy is overjoyed at having caught Rayquaza, who comes out of its Poké Ball to return the last of Pagogo's power and allowing it to be at full strength again. The group is brought into another vision where Lucius, Rystal, and Gibeon were able to reach Laqua, and Liko realizes Rayquaza wanted to be with its fellow Six Heroes and Pagogo to fulfill Lucius's promise. Roy tries to get Rayquaza into its Poké Ball but Friede reminds him it still belongs to Lucius, which leads to Roy declaring he would get Rayquaza's approval someday. At that moment, with Pagogo on its head, Rayquaza heads off somewhere. Knowing exactly where it is going, the group bids farewell to Briar, who thanks them for showing her many interesting things that would help her finish her book, and chase after Rayquaza, with Sidian and Coral also leaving to report their observations. Flying alongside Rayquaza in the Brave Olivine, the younger members of the Rising Volt Tacklers belatedly update their respective families on the adventure they've had on the way to Laqua.
For the initial airing of this episode, Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar was replaced by a trailer for upcoming episodes of the Rayquaza Rising chapter, which was later uploaded to the official Japanese YouTube channel.
While the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel releases every episode after its television airing for viewing on YouTube for a limited time in Japan, this episode was not geo-locked to Japan after its release.[1]
