From So Far Away (Japanese:はるか、遠くまでTo a Place Far, Far Away) is the 45th episode ofPokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,277th episode of thePokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on March 29, 2024, in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2024, in Australia on October 2, 2024, in sub-Saharan Africa on October 11, 2024, and in the United States on November 22, 2024.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
The Explorers have launched a brazen attack against the black Rayquaza, and the Brave Olivine is damaged in the process! As the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers work to repair the ship, Liko, Roy, and Friede confront Rayquaza, who agrees to a battle with them. Their Pokémon give it their all, but Rayquaza has the upper hand. Suddenly, Amethio and Ceruledge arrive and join the battle, and an intense fight ensues against the Legendary Pokémon. Although Rayquaza refuses to yield, the intensity of the battle inspires both Sprigatito and Fuecoco to take their powers to the next level…
Plot
While theBrave Olivine is falling from the sky following theBlack Rayquaza crashing into it,Spinel appears at theLevincia Lighthouse aboard a helicopter. Since Rayquaza is still in fighting shape even after everything theExplorers admins have thrown at it, he tells everyone to retreat. The admins agree and leave the site. At the same time, the Brave Olivine makes a successful emergency landing in the sea nearby, with its crew callingFriede,Liko,Roy, andLudlow to assure them that everyone aboard the ship is fine and, as Ludlow heads back to the airship to help, encourage them to focus on the Black Rayquaza. Liko and Roy call out to Rayquaza, telling it how it has inspired them to come this far and issue a challenge for it. After a moment, Rayquaza responds with a roar, accepting their challenge. Friede invitesDot to take part in the confrontation as well and divides them into teams, with him and Roy taking flight withCharizard and driving Rayquaza closer to the lighthouse. As Rayquaza moves towards them,Captain Pikachu uses his RisingVolt Tackle, creating a vortex that launchesSprigatito andQuaxly into the air, but Rayquaza easily swats them back down with its tail before they can attack.
Friede and Amethio teaming up
Dot gets an idea, having Cap launch Sprigatito and Quaxly into the air again. Once in the air, Quaxly usesLow Kick to give Sprigatito a further boost as she usesMagical Leaf andFuecoco and Charizard join in with their respectiveFlamethrowers. Rayquaza counters these attacks withDragon Pulse, creating an explosion. Using the smoke as a cover, Charizard flies in closer, allowing Fuecoco to land asupereffectiveDisarming Voice. However, the group's momentary celebration over the success of their maneuver quickly subsides as the smoke clears and Rayquaza roars, indicating that it is intending to fight seriously now. This becomes evident when Rayquaza launches aDraco Meteor shower, forcing Charizard to start making evasive maneuvers. Fuecoco falls off Charizard during these maneuvers, but Quaxly manages to save Fuecoco by slowing down his fall withWater Gun. Another Draco Meteor barrage quickly follows, knocking Quaxly out and leavingTerapagos in the path of a falling meteor. Liko rushes to defend Terapagos, but before the meteor can hit, it is suddenly sliced in half by aShadow Claw fromCeruledge, withAmethio entering the scene in its wake. Annoyed that Spinel kept him out of the loop for this operation, Amethio declares that the Black Rayquaza will be his and pulls out out hisTera Orb,Terastallizing his Ceruledge into a pureGhosttype and having it attack Rayquaza with multiple boostedPhantom Force attacks. Friede understands that they have to team up in order to stand a chance against such an overwhelming opponent, so he too pulls out his Tera Orb, Terastallizes his Charizard, and has it useTera Blast on Rayquaza. Despite Amethio being irritated about Friede potentially getting in his way, he still lets him battle by his side as Charizard and Ceruledge attack Rayquaza together with many powerful attacks, leaving Liko, Roy, and their Pokémon amazed at the power of Terastallization. Just as Charizard and Ceruledge aim for a finishing blow, Rayquaza lets out a roar and dives into them with a devastatingDragon Ascent, forcing Friede and Amethio torecall their defeated partners.
For a moment, everyone is stunned silent by Rayquaza's power. The silence is broken when Fuecoco starts stomping the ground in frustration and flames start appearing around him, with Friede realizing that Fuecoco is trying to useFlame Charge. With encouragement for Terapagos, Liko also regains her confidence and orders Sprigatito to use Magical Leaf. As Sprigatito lunges forward, though, she suddenly starts glowing in a brilliant blue and ends upevolving intoFloragato. Smiling confidently at her partner, Liko repeats the order for Magical Leaf, while Roy tells Fuecoco to use his newly learned Flame Charge. Bothfirst partner Pokémon launch their attacks, actually managing to hit Rayquaza and push it back before falling back to the ground. Despite them collapsing from exhaustion afterwards, everyone is still proud of what they did. Quickly recovering from the hit, Rayquaza looks at Liko in the eye before roaring one more time and flying away.Zirc andOnia arrive to rejoin Amethio, who declares that they'll be leaving, calling out hisCorviknight. Liko thanks him for his help, but Amethio tells her that next time, he'll be coming for Terapagos, and that the Black Rayquaza is his quarry, before flying away with his subordinates.
The damaged Brave Olivine
At sunset, Liko, Roy, and Friede rejoin the rest of theRising Volt Tacklers, happy to see that all the Pokémon are doing well. Liko and Roy, though, are also quick to apologize, as they lost the battle, and their beloved ship got damaged in the process. Friede is quick to talk back, reminding them how they've gone through so much and met so many people already without ever going back on their goals. They have now managed to get this close to Rayquaza, who once seemed to be so far away, with Sprigatito evolving and Fuecoco learning many newmoves along the way to this point, and their adventure will not end as long as they don't give up. Their confidence restored, Liko declares that she will find the rest of theSix Heroes and deliver Terapagos toLaqua, Roy expresses his desire to grow strong enough to gain Rayquaza's approval, and even Dot wishes to stand by Liko and Roy's side in order to learn more about the mysteries of theworld that they are trying to solve. In order to grow stronger, the three children tell Friede that they wish to learn more about Terastallization. Friede has an idea on how to help them, so he declares that while the rest of the crew focuses on repairing the airship, Liko, Roy, and Dot will start undergoing Terastal training, though he leaves the details vague for now. While Friede,Murdock, andOrla head out to prepare apicnic for the crew, Liko looks at the Brave Olivine and thanks it for having brought them this far.
In an Explorers base, the admins are requesting further instructions fromGibeon. Following their defeat against the Black Rayquaza, Gibeon declares that for now, they'll simply let the Rising Volt Tacklers gather the remaining Six Heroes. Spinel correctly deduces that Gibeon is intending to let the Rising Volt Tacklers do their work for them, so that they can capture Terapagos once it is back to its full power. As for now, Gibeon orders his admins to keep an eye on Terapagos and Liko. The meeting concludes, with the holograms of the admins fading away. In his personal chamber, Gibeon, accompanied by aShiny10% FormeZygarde, declares that he will return to Laqua and obtain the "Laquium" for himself, tellingLucius that this adventure is not over yet.
For the initial airing of this episode, Professor Friede's Pokémon Seminar was replaced by a trailer for the upcomingPocket Monsters: Terastal Debut chapter, which was lateruploaded to the official JapaneseYouTube channel.
This episode marks the first appearance of aZygarde in the main series sinceTill We Compete Again!, 338 episodes earlier.
This episode is the last to be animation-produced byOLM Team Kato, who has been involved with the animation production duties sincePiplup, Up and Away!. Starting from thenext episode onward, the animation production is handled by OLM Team Kumemura.
Starting from this episode, episode previews are presented in the style of previous series, with narration from Liko,Roy,Dot, and their first partner Pokémon.
This is the fifth episode ofPokémon Horizons: The Series to have itsIndonesiandub released before the English dub, being released on September 7, 2024.[1]
