Pokémon officially returns in 2025 in gorgeous new adventure

Pokémon is making its official return at the start of the year - unless you live in Japan, where an untranslated version of the upcoming release has already been available since April this year.

Pokémon Horizons – The Search for Laqua, the follow-up to Pokémon Horizons: The Series and the twenty-seventh season of the Pokémon animated series, is finally getting a US release on February 7 2025.

The latest season will premiere exclusively on Netflix, and you can even watch the trailer that dropped for it right now.

However, fans of the classic Pokémon anime might find there’s a certain something missing from the new series.

Starting with the first season of Pokémon Horizons and continuing into its upcoming sequel, the new series doesn’t focus on protagonist Ash Ketchum. In fact, he hasn’t popped up a single time in the anime since the end of 2023.

Instead, Pokémon Horizons – The Search for Laqua focuses on three new protagonists: Liko, Roy and Dot.

The new series also serves as a loose adaptation of the events of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games.

The three new protagonists will spend the majority of the upcoming season attending classes at Naranja Academy, battling through Paldea’s gyms, and even meeting up with Elite Four members such as Rika and Hassel.

However, none of this means that we won’t bump into ex-protag Ash Ketchum somewhere along the line - as one of the series producers has previously stated that very little time has passed since we saw him last in Pokémon Ultimate Journeys.

Oh and, in case you think you’re losing it, this might actually be the second time you’ve heard this news.

That’s because over in the UK, we’re actually getting Pokémon Horizons – The Search for Laqua in January rather than February. You’ll be able to watch the new season over on BBC iPlayer a month before it drops on Netflix, provided you’re a British citizen of course.