Netflix Adds Pokémon Horizons: Season 3—Rising Hope Anime

Netflix has added the first 12 episodes for the third season of the Pokémon: Horizons anime titled Pokémon Horizons: Season 3—Rising Hope on January 6, 2026. Anime news 2026 highlights the continued expansion of the Pokémon anime franchise on streaming platforms, with Netflix providing access to the latest season for audiences in the U.S. and Latin America. Anime streaming news 2026 showcases how major streaming platforms are securing exclusive or early access to popular anime franchises, ensuring global availability of new content. The Pokémon Company International streamed an English trailer for the third season, building anticipation for the new arc. The trailer is available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/iWimByO3pqY. Anime news 2026 highlights the promotional strategy for anime releases, with trailers serving as key marketing tools to generate interest and inform audiences about upcoming content. The English trailer demonstrates the international focus of the Pokémon franchise, with content localized for global audiences. The anime entered a new arc on October 31, 2025. In the new arc, the characters go to Blueberry Academy, originally introduced in "The Indigo Disk" DLC from the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games. Anime news 2026 highlights the integration of game content into the anime series, with the Blueberry Academy location from the DLC serving as a setting for the new arc. This cross-media integration demonstrates how the Pokémon franchise connects its various media formats, creating a cohesive universe across games, anime, and other content. The anime premiered in Japan in April 2023 with a one-hour first-episode special. The show airs on Fridays at 6:55 p.m. JST. The anime started its second arc, "Terapagos no Kagayaki" (The Brilliance of Terapagos), with its 29th episode in October 2023 in Japan. The "Terastal Debut" arc for the anime debuted in April 2024. The fourth arc started in Japan last October, and it featured characters from Kitakami, a location in "The Teal Mask" expansion for the Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games. Anime news 2026 highlights the series' long-running nature, with multiple arcs and continuous production maintaining audience engagement over several years. The anime follows completely new dual protagonists, who are named Liko and Roy. The anime features Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly from the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet video games, and also the Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza in its Shiny form. The anime also introduces the new characters Friede and Captain Pikachu, who are a Pokémon professor and Pokémon partner duo who battle alongside Liko and Roy. Anime news 2026 showcases how the Horizons series represents a fresh start for the Pokémon anime, moving away from the long-running Ash Ketchum storyline to introduce new protagonists and storylines. Season 3 begins after a one-year in-universe time skip following the events at Laqua. Liko and Roy have "leveled up" their partner Pokémon; Liko's Sprigatito has evolved into Floragato, and Roy's Fuecoco is now a Crocalor. A brash new trainer named Ult joins the cast as Roy's self-declared rival. Roy has befriended a yellow Lucario capable of Mega Evolution, a central mechanic for this season's combat. Anime news 2026 highlights the character development and progression in the series, with Pokémon evolutions and new characters adding depth to the ongoing narrative. The team is focused on rebuilding the Rising Volt Tacklers while investigating a "mysterious pink mist" that is harming Pokémon across multiple regions. Anime news 2026 showcases the series' ongoing plot threads, with the mysterious pink mist serving as a central mystery driving the season's narrative forward. The focus on rebuilding the team suggests themes of recovery and growth following previous story events. Saori Den (Mirage Queen Prefers Circus) is directing the anime, and Daiki Tomiyasu (Pokémon Sun & Moon, Pocket Monster Mezase Pokémon Master) is serving as creative director. Dai Satō (Eureka Seven, Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop) is overseeing the series scripts. Tetsuo Yajima is the action director, Rei Yamazaki is the character designer, and Kyōko Itō is the sub-character designer. Masafumi Mima is the sound director and Conisch is composing the music. Anime industry news 2026 highlights the experienced production team, with staff members bringing expertise from previous Pokémon series and other notable anime productions to the Horizons series. The Pokémon Company had originally announced that the anime would debut on Netflix in the U.S. in February 2024, but the series debuted instead in March 2024. Netflix premiered Pokémon Horizons: The Series—The Search for Laqua, the anime's second season, in February 2025. Anime streaming news 2026 highlights Netflix's continued partnership with The Pokémon Company, with the platform providing access to new seasons as they become available. The batch release format, with the first 12 episodes available initially, allows for staggered content delivery throughout the year. The Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games launched on Nintendo Switch worldwide in November 2022. "The Indigo Disk," the second part of the DLC, launched in December 2023. "The Teal Mask," the first DLC, launched in September 2023. Pokémon Legends Z-A launched for Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 16, 2025. Anime news 2026 highlights the interconnected nature of the Pokémon franchise, with game releases and DLC content influencing anime storylines and settings, creating a multimedia experience for fans. While Netflix follows a batch release format with expected Parts 2–4 throughout 2026, the Japanese broadcast is currently in the "Rising Again" arc as of early 2026, which sees the characters visiting Blueberry Academy. Anime streaming news 2026 showcases the different release strategies for international and domestic markets, with Netflix providing batch releases while Japanese television maintains weekly episodic broadcasts. This approach allows international audiences to access content in larger chunks while preserving the weekly broadcast model in Japan. The addition of Pokémon Horizons: Season 3—Rising Hope to Netflix demonstrates the platform's commitment to providing family-friendly anime content. Anime streaming news 2026 highlights how Pokémon remains one of the most recognizable and accessible anime franchises globally, with its availability on major streaming platforms ensuring broad audience reach. The series' continued success on Netflix reflects the enduring popularity of the Pokémon franchise across multiple generations of fans. As of early 2026, Pokémon Horizons continues to evolve with new characters, settings, and storylines, maintaining the franchise's tradition of introducing fresh content while preserving the core elements that have made Pokémon a global phenomenon. Anime news updates highlight how the series balances innovation with familiarity, creating new adventures while staying true to the Pokémon universe's established themes and mechanics.