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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope (Horizons Season 3) · Friede returns arc (HZ120–HZ123) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 3, episode 32 · English episode 1345 · Japanese episode 1354 · Bulbapedia code HZ121 |
| English title | The Catcher in the Sky |
| Japanese title | キャッチャー・イン・ザ・スカイ Kyatchā In Za Sukai — “The Catcher in the Sky” |
| First aired (Japan) | 12 December 2025 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 26 June 2026 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Kureha Matsuzawa |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Aioraito (Iolite) – Eve · Nete mo Samete mo (Asleep or Awake) – Polkadot Stingray |
| English opening | Evolving Again – Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | Dot and Penny’s Top-Secret Mission! (HZ120) |
| Next episode | Roy vs. Friede: Wings of Fire! (HZ122) |
Plot episodeFriede returns from spaceCaptain Pikachu’s Tera Flying
The Catcher in the Sky is the 32nd episode of Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1345th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1354, Bulbapedia code HZ121). It first aired in Japan on 12 December 2025 and in the United States on 26 June 2026. It falls within the season’s Friede returns stretch (EP120–EP123).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 26 June 2026 with the rest of Part 3; BBC iPlayer had premiered it in the UK on 25 May 2026.
Synopsis
Friede returns from space in a capsule that cannot slow its descent, and the Rising Volt Tacklers catch it with a barrier of combined moves while Captain Pikachu Terastallizes into the Flying type for the first time to steer it home. The crew prepares a welcome: Murdock cooks, Mollie and Chansey ready a checkup, Orla powers up the engine with Slugma and Carkol, and the children hang balloons and set out a Friede doll. Ludlow and Quagsire teach the younger members how spaceships land using a Guy Silver movie, whose plot veers into a Sharpedo attack on the dark side of the Moon, explaining that ships deploy parachutes in Controlled Mode. Friede calls: he cannot activate Controlled Mode and will land somewhere unexpected. Dot cannot calculate the trajectory fast enough from his calls, but Orla’s Metagross works out the landing site, and Roy takes the controls while Liko presses the emergency button that switches the Brave Olivine into Infinite Rising mode.
At the site, Friede calls again: the parachutes will not open, and he will fall straight down. Murdock takes the helm so Mollie, Orla and Ludlow can return to their stations while the children brainstorm. Meowscarada’s vines would be too slow, Dragonite cannot catch something that fast, Kilowattrel and Dragonite cannot slow it by flapping, and Tinkaton’s hammer would only send it crashing elsewhere. When Skeledirge nearly falls off the battlefield deck and is stopped by the Brave Olivine’s invisible barrier, an idea forms. Liko proposes stopping the capsule with Hatterene’s telekinesis; it is not enough alone, so Pagogo uses Protect and Hatterene holds the capsule with the Protect barrier, while Roy, Dot, Ult and Liko’s other Pokémon add their moves. The capsule slows but then veers back towards a crash.
Captain Pikachu panics, uses Volt Tackle and leaps towards the capsule but falls short, until Pagogo fires Terastal energy at him and he Terastallizes into the Flying type, flying up to catch it. Remembering how the barrier stopped Skeledirge, Roy flies up on Kilowattrel and redirects the capsule into the ship’s barrier, and it lands safely on the deck. When the door opens in a cloud of smoke, Orla, Friede’s childhood friend, runs to hug him in tears, and Liko, Roy and Dot embrace him too — but as the smoke clears Orla discovers she is hugging a Starmie, which Friede introduces as his new friend, Instructor Starmie. Then Cap slams into Friede with Volt Tackle, pinning him against the barrier as they reunite after more than a year, and the whole crew rushes in to welcome him home. Mollie’s Maushold is confirmed as caught, Ult has now met every Rising Volt Tackler, and Starmie (#0121) debuts in HZ121, aired on 12 December.
Major Events
- Friede returns. Friede returns from space in a capsule the crew catch with a barrier of combined moves
- The Brave Olivine’s Infinite Rising mode
- Captain Pikachu Terastallizes into the Flying type for the first time
- Friede’s Instructor Starmie debuts
- Mollie’s Maushold is confirmed as caught
- Storyboarded by chief director Daiki Tomiyasu
Captures and evolutions
Starmie#0121 · Friede · Instructor Starmie, caught at the Mossdeep Space Center during the timeskip
Maushold#0925 · Mollie · the Brave Olivine’s Maushold, confirmed as hers
Trivia
- The English title plays on the novel The Catcher in the Rye, for the crew catching Friede’s falling capsule.
- The screenplay is by Kureha Matsuzawa.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Rising Volt Tacklers storyline.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.