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| Season | Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope (Horizons Season 3) · Friede returns arc (HZ120–HZ123) |
| Episode | Horizons Season 3, episode 34 · English episode 1347 · Japanese episode 1356 · Bulbapedia code HZ123 |
| English title | Mochi Mayhem! |
| Japanese title | 戦慄！船上のキビキビパニック Senritsu! Senjō no Kibikibi Panikku — “Tremble with Fear! Kibi-Kibi Panic on the Ship” |
| First aired (Japan) | 9 January 2026 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 26 June 2026 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Kimiko Ueno |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Aioraito (Iolite) – Eve · Nete mo Samete mo (Asleep or Awake) – Polkadot Stingray |
| English opening | Evolving Again – Haven Paschall |
| Previous episode | Roy vs. Friede: Wings of Fire! (HZ122) |
| Next episode | Operation Infiltration! (HZ124) |
Plot episodePecharunt’s mochiAuspicious Armor
Mochi Mayhem! is the 34th episode of Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1347th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1356, Bulbapedia code HZ123). It first aired in Japan on 9 January 2026 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
While Diana is on her way to visit, a mysterious Pokémon sneaks aboard the Brave Olivine and takes control of the entire crew with poisoned mochi, until Diana arrives and reveals it to be her own newly caught Pecharunt. Diana arrives early in the night and naps in her cramped car as an unseen Pokémon floats up beside her. The next day Murdock’s Lycanroc and Captain Pikachu sense a presence that vanishes as quickly as it appears. Orla finds a plate of mochi in the meeting room, assumes Diana left it, eats it, and starts acting strangely. The younger members find only a broken plate and a fallen chair, then Murdock’s abandoned Rotom Phone and food still in the oven, so they split up to investigate. Kilowattrel is ambushed while scouting, Liko and Dot flee a chanting, dancing Orla in the engine room, Roy and Ult flee Mollie in the infirmary, and Lucario too is secretly ambushed.
The intruder throws a mochi at Captain Pikachu, but Roy steps aside and Ult eats it instead, joining the controlled crew. Sableye points to a box hiding the intruder, but Cap is caught while chasing it. Liko, Roy and Dot regroup in the kitchen; when the elevator opens on a waiting Murdock, Dot steps in to stop him before the doors close, and outside Liko and Roy confront the mysterious Pokémon, which has bound Cap, Kilowattrel and Lucario in Toxic Chains and taken control of their friends, Dot included. In the meeting room Roy, too, is acting strangely, and Liko is cornered and force-fed mochi. With the whole crew under its control, the intruder starts a dance party, and the ship’s Pokémon join in. The party ends abruptly when Diana storms in and scolds the culprit: Pecharunt, which had been controlling the Tacklers in the hope of pleasing her with the Brave Olivine’s larger space.
Once everyone recovers, Diana explains that, travelling with Hamber, she found a Mythical Pecha Berry, and in Kitakami, when she wanted to give it to her exhausted Ludicolo, it went missing. Pecharunt, seeing her dilemma and mistaking her and Hamber for the elderly couple who once cared for it, controlled the people and Pokémon of Kitakami to bring them berries. Diana refused them, battled Pecharunt and its controlled Pokémon, and once it was weakened Hamber realised it wanted to go with her, so she caught it and peace was restored. Liko asks Pecharunt to get along with her grandmother, and Dot reminds Diana of a gift: from her car, Diana gives Liko a set of Auspicious Armor for Charcadet, found lying around in her ancient castle, which Charcadet accepts in awe. As night falls, Ludlow keeps dancing while his Quagsire looks on with worry. This is the first Horizons episode to feature a Mythical Pokémon, and its title references The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero’s epilogue.
Major Events
- Pecharunt. A mysterious Pokémon takes control of the crew with poisoned mochi
- It is Diana’s newly caught Pecharunt, the first Mythical Pokémon in Horizons
- Hamber’s Mow Rotom
- Diana gives Liko the Auspicious Armor
- Poltchageist and Pecharunt debut
- The last episode of Netflix’s Part 3
Pokémon making their anime debut
Poltchageist#1012 · HZ123
Pecharunt#1025 · HZ123
Trivia
- The English title plays on the epilogue of Scarlet and Violet’s The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, in which Pecharunt’s mochi cause chaos.
- The screenplay is by Kimiko Ueno.
- 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.