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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: The Series (Horizons Season 1) · The road back to Paldea arc (HZ035–HZ041) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 1, episode 36 · English episode 1260 · Japanese episode 1269 · Bulbapedia code HZ036 |
| English title | Mission: Find Oinkologne’s Partner! |
| Japanese title | パフュートン仲良し大作戦！ Pafyūton Nakayoshi Daisakusen! — “Operation Perfuton Friendship!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 19 January 2024 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 22 November 2024 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Naohiro Fukushima |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Haro (Halo) – yama × BotchiBoromaru · RVR ~Raijingu Borutekkāzu Rappu~ PART2, Ludlow Ver. – Roy (Yuka Terasaki) & Liko (Minori Suzuki) |
| English opening | Becoming Me – Haven Paschall (version 2, with clips from Halo) |
| Previous episode | The Wild Pair, Friede and Cap! (HZ035) |
| Next episode | Fuecoco…Becomes a Crook?! (HZ037) |
Filler / stand-alone episodePigton TownOinkologne matchmaking
Mission: Find Oinkologne’s Partner! is the 36th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1260th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1269, Bulbapedia code HZ036). It first aired in Japan on 19 January 2024 and in the United States on 22 November 2024. It falls within the season’s The road back to Paldea stretch (EP35–EP41).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 22 November 2024 with the rest of Part 4 (HZ035–HZ045); BBC iPlayer had released it in the UK on 22 July 2024, and Australia’s 9Go! aired HZ035–HZ045 from 18 September to 2 October 2024; Canada’s Cartoon Network showed it on 26 October 2024; the Pokémon Asia ENG YouTube channel released it on 8 November 2024.
Synopsis
Answering a question on Nidothing’s livestream, Liko, Roy and Dot travel to Pigton Town to help a girl named Yuno, whose shy Oinkologne Twirly has a crush on her bickering childhood friend Renta’s Oinkologne, Prince, and the two pairs end up winning the town’s Multi Battle tournament together. During a stream, a viewer from Pigton Town, a town full of Trainers with pig Pokémon, says that her new partner Oinkologne refuses to enter the upcoming tournament, and Nidothing immediately calls Liko, whose startled reaction surprises Friede next door. Yuno greets Quaxly, recognises Liko as “Sprigatito Love” from the Iono stream, and asks whether she is friends with Nidothing, which Liko answers awkwardly. Following Liko’s advice to tell her partner how she feels, Yuno tells Twirly she wants to enter only if it will not make her sad, and Quaxly’s encouragement lifts Twirly’s spirits.
Twirly is in love with Prince, but he belongs to Renta, whom Yuno claims to dislike. Pushed by Twirly, Yuno asks Renta to team up; he leaves the decision to Prince, who turns away and releases a sweet scent from his tail that attracts every female pig Pokémon around, and even Sprigatito. Twirly runs off in tears. Dot suggests a glow-up, so the group washes and brushes Twirly’s fur and coaches her posture, while Liko notices that Yuno keeps talking about Renta. Renta says the real issue is between him and Yuno, which she denies, and when Prince ignores Twirly’s charming pose, Quaxly challenges him with a dance that wins over the crowd. Prince kicks dirt at Quaxly, Twirly tackles him, and the Trainers start arguing.
Twirly steps between them and releases her own sweet scent, captivating everyone except Dot, whose phone blocks the smell, and Liko realises she is showing that Yuno and Renta are not being honest about their feelings. Twirly now turns away from Prince, Renta agrees to team up with Yuno, and the pair challenge Liko and Roy to a practice Multi Battle. Twirly dodges Leafage with Quaxly’s dance moves and hits Fuecoco with Body Slam, Prince uses Work Up and Dig, and Leafage and Stomping Tantrum knock both Oinkologne back before their combined Double-Edge defeats Sprigatito and Fuecoco. The same move later knocks out a Mamoswine to win the Pigton Town Multi Battle Tournament. Interviewed by Nidothing, Yuno credits Nidothing and “Sprigatito Love” and is flustered when asked about her “ideal partner,” and Dot blushes at a comment saying Nidothing played Cupid.
Major Events
- Pigton Town. Yuno and Renta’s Oinkologne
- The genders of all three first partners confirmed for the first time since BW007
- Yuno and Renta win the Multi Battle Tournament
- Parallels EP100
Pokémon making their anime debut
Oinkologne#0916 · HZ036
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Naohiro Fukushima.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar and Paldea story.
Part of our Pokémon Horizons: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.