 Japanese title card · “Black Trap” | |
| Series | Sonic X (ソニックX), TMS Entertainment |
| Season | Season 3 (2005–2006) |
| Episode | Season 3, episode 15 · no. 67 of 78 |
| English title | “Testing Time” (4Kids); also listed as “Teasing Time” |
| Japanese title | ブラック・トラップ (Burakku Torappu, “Black Trap”) |
| Japan | Not shown on Japanese TV until 15 April 2020 (Kids Station) |
| First aired (US) | 11 February 2006 · 4Kids TV (Fox) |
| Directed by | Hajime Kamegaki |
| Written by | Yoshio Urasawa |
| Storyboard | Hajime Kamegaki |
| Previous episode | Clash in the Cloister (S03E14) |
| Next episode | A Revolutionary Tale (S03E16) |
Metarex SagaBlack Narcissus
Testing Time is episode 15 of Season 3 of Sonic X and the 67th of the anime’s 78 episodes. In Japan it is called “Black Trap” (ブラック・トラップ). It premiered in English: 4Kids aired it on 4Kids TV (Fox) on 11 February 2006, after a French TV debut on 7 April 2005, while Japanese TV only showed it on 15 April 2020. It was directed by Hajime Kamegaki and written by Yoshio Urasawa.
Synopsis
A Metarex squadron has been tailing the Blue Typhoon for half a day, so Sonic has Tails change course to see what it wants. When the ships open fire, Cream raises the shields and Amy shoots down three of them; the rest pull back. Sonic suspects a trap – and wants to spring it anyway.
The trail leads to an asteroid and an old factory giving off hundreds of Chaos Emerald signals: a Metarex plant making fakes. It belongs to Black Narcissus, one of the four Metarex commanders, who wants data from Sonic to build a robot that can beat him. His invitation hides a message only Cosmo can read, so she slips off alone to ask about her clan and is taken prisoner. Chris follows and is knocked out.
Fired into the base from the Sonic Driver, Sonic is shown his friends – Chris unconscious, Cosmo terrified – and his rage turns him dark. In this form he smashes Narcissus’ gold and silver robots until Eggman, of all people, talks him down. Shadow frees Chris and Cosmo, Rouge wrecks the fake-Emerald machine, and Eggman hints he might still join the Metarex for the right price.
Key Moments
- Black Narcissus experiments on Sonic.
- A factory that produces Chaos Emeralds.
- Sonic’s dark transformation.
Trivia
- 4Kids’ DVD lists it as “Teasing Time/Testing Time”, as did our 2017 table; TMS’s YouTube upload uses “Testing Time”.
- Directed and storyboarded by series director Hajime Kamegaki, who also handled the finale.
- On home video: the So Long, Sonic DVD set (2007); and Discotek’s Sonic X Collection 2 (2016) and complete-series Blu-rays.
Watch the Episode
The full 4Kids English episode, uploaded by TMS Entertainment’s official “Anime! on TMS” YouTube channel (checked 6 November 2026).
Part of our Sonic X Season 3 guide. See the Sonic X series page for the cast, theme songs and home video.
Sources: titles, credits and air dates from Wikipedia’s list of Sonic X episodes and Sonic Wiki Zone, cross-checked with each other and with Luke’s original Sonic Scene episode table; synopsis written for Sonic Scene from the episode, Wikipedia’s summary and Sonic Wiki Zone’s plot notes; title card and screenshots via Sonic Wiki Zone, copied to our media library.