This article is about an episode of the Pokémon animated series that has not been dubbed into English. As such, its coverage may contain romanized Japanese names, rather than dub names.
(Japanese: キャッチャー・イン・ザ・スカイThe Catcher in the Sky) is the 121st episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,353rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on December 12, 2025.
Once they're done, Ludlow explains to the young Rising Volt Tacklers how spaceships work, using footage from a Guy Silver movie as a visual aid. At first, the movie shows how a rocket launch works, but then the plot of the movie kicks off with a bunch of Sharpedo attacking Guy Silver from the dark side of the Moon, so Ludlow fast-forwards to the end of the movie, which shows how a spaceship lands back on the planet's surface. He explains that spaceships have a Controlled Mode that uses parachutes to slow down the fall and ensure the ship lands safely.
After Ludlow's explanation, the Rising Volt Tacklers get another call from Friede. He reveals that he has a problem as he can't activate Controlled Mode, so he'll land somewhere unexpected. Roy and Liko insist that they still want to go see him land, but they have no idea of where he will land. Dot tries to pinpoint the location Friede will land on through tracking the previous calls from Friede with GPS, but she can't calculate the trajectory of the ship fast enough. This prompts Orla to call out her Metagross, who does the required calculations and shows the Rising Volt Tacklers where Friede's spaceship will land. They thus decide to leave for said location. Orla goes back to the engine room and Roy pilots the ship. They notice that at their current speed, they won't make it in time, so Roy asks Liko to press the emergency button, changing the Brave Olivine to Infinite Rising mode.
Once they arrive at the location of Friede's landing, they receive yet another call from him. This time, he reveals that he can't get the parachutes to work, so he'll freefall to the ground, and leaves it in the hands of the Rising Volt Tacklers to help him. This causes them to start panicking, especially Murdock, who doesn't know what he or anybody else could do to help Friede land safely. He offers to pilot the ship while Mollie, Orla, and Ludlow return to their spots and the kids and Captain Pikachu think of a plan.
Liko's Pokémon ready to help Friede
On the outside of the Brave Olivine, standing on the battlefield, Liko, Roy, Dot, and Ult discuss various ways in which they could help stop the spaceship before it crashes on the ground. First, Liko suggests stopping it with Meowscarada's vines, but she then realizes it won't work because the ship is way too fast. Ult then proposes having his Dragonite grab it, but the others don't think that will work either for the same reason. Roy's suggestion is that Dragonite and Kilowattrel try to slow it down by flapping up wind with their wings, an idea that is dismissed as well. Dot's Tinkaton has an idea too, using her hammer to hit the spaceship before it lands, but Dot points out that they're trying to slow the ship down, not make it crash somewhere else. As the kids discuss their plan, Roy's Skeledirge almost falls from the edge of the battlefield, but is stopped by the invisible barrier around it.
Finally, Liko has another idea, using her Hatterene's Confusion to try and stop the ship with telekinesis. As she makes this suggestion, the kids spot the spaceship rapidly falling in their direction, so Liko tries to carry her plan out, but it's not enough. She instructs Pagogo to use Protect and then have Hatterene use the barrier created by Protect to hold the spaceship by moving it with telekinesis. Roy, Dot, Ult, and Liko's other Pokémon help as well by using their moves on the barrier, managing to hold it and slow the fall down. The plan appears to work at first, but then, the ship suddenly changes course and is once again on course to crash. This causes Cap to panic and use Volt Tackle to try and catch Friede himself. He runs in circles a couple times and then jumps off the Brave Olivine in the direction of Friede's spaceship, but falls short of reaching it. Liko, Roy, and Dot urge him to keep going, and Pagogo fires off a Terastal energy sphere towards Cap that allows him to Terastallize into a Flyingtype. This in turn allows him to fly towards Friede and try and catch the spaceship with his hands. Roy, remembering how the invisible barrier of the Brave Olivine caught Skeledirge earlier, takes off on Kilowattrel and helps Cap by redirecting the spaceship right into the barrier. As expected, the barrier stops the ship, ensuring it lands safely on the battlefield of the Brave Olivine.
Now that the spaceship has landed, the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers go outside to welcome Friede back. The door of the spaceship opens creating smoke that makes seeing difficult. Orla, Friede's childhood friend, runs towards him to hug him, crying. Liko, Roy, and Dot go hug Friede as well, and he comments that they've gotten taller since the last time he saw them. This makes Orla realise that whatever she's hugging is not Friede, as the voice came from elsewhere. The smoke dissipates away, and Orla sees that she was actually hugging a MegaStarmie, which Friede explains is a new friend he made, and that its name is Instructor Starmie.
Cap runs towards Friede with Volt Tackle, smashing him against the invisible barrier. With tears in his eyes, Cap reunites with his Trainer after over a year.
Cap's Tera Type of Flying could be a reference to the Mystery GiftPikachu that was distributed in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet from its release on 18 November 2022 to 28 February 2023, which also had a Flying Tera Type.
