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: 偽ライジングボルテッカーズ登場！？The Fake Rising Volteccers Appear!?) is the 138th episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,370th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on May 29, 2026.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Plot
Going through news on the internet, Dot spots several headlines about the Rising Volt Tacklers helping people, despite them not being involved in any of those cases. She relays the information of the supposed Rising Volt Tackler and Brave Olivine sightings to the rest of the team, and they decide to investigate. After interviewing some townspeople, they head out to investigate the place where sightings of the Fake Rising Volt Tacklers and the second Brave Olivine had happened. Ult, in his usual hot-headedness, runs ahead and soon appears before the group again, briefly accusing them of being the fakes until the group spots the fake Brave Olivine nearby. Sneaking closer, they realize that the fake Brave Olivine is just a structure on top of a camper van that's way smaller than the real thing. Out of the van steps a woman dressed as Liko, who's immediately approached by a man dressed as Dot, a boy dressed as Roy, and a Pikachu dressed as Captain Pikachu. Immediately upon spotting the Rising Volt Tacklers, they become very excited and announce themselves as their fans, asking for handshakes and autographs. When Ult questions if anyone cares about his presence, the mother brings out their baby, who's dressed as Ult's Sableye. The father of the family says that ever since the news about the Rising Volt Tacklers saving the day, his son has been a big fan of theirs. Dot tries to say that it was actually Mighty G who saved the day, but the son insists that the Rising Volt Tacklers were the real heroes, leaving the group with no choice but to sheepishly admit the truth. Following their son becoming a passionate fan of the team, the rest of the family quickly followed suit, making their son a fake Mega Ring and converting an unused van into a non-flying replica of the Brave Olivine so that they can go on adventures like the real team. Since the Rising Volt Tacklers are now here, the whole family requests for a battle with them, which they gladly accept.
With Captain Pikachu acting as the referee, both sides choose their respective Pokémon, with the Rising Volt Tacklers going with Meowscarada, Skeledirge, Quaquaval, and Sableye, while the family uses two Raichu, a Pikachu, and a Pichu, making the battle a four-on-four match, with the winner being decided based on which side defeats all of their opponents first. The son's Pikachu, Beanie, makes the first move with Wild Charge. Meowscarada attempts to counter with Magical Leaf, but is interrupted by a Fake Out from mother's Raichu, Chū-cha, allowing Beanie's attack to hit. While the son congratulates Beanie, Ult tries to take advantage of the opening by having Sableye use Shadow Sneak, but the father's Raichu, Raio, uses Thunderbolt to create a bright light that disperses the shadow before it can hit. Beanie continues with another Wild Charge, this time aiming for Quaquaval. While Quaquaval dodges the attack, Chū-cha is able to catch the attack with her tail and fling Beanie towards Skeledirge. When Skeledirge dodges as well, Raio repeats the same maneuver. Beanie starts passing back and forth between the two Raichu, leaving the group's Pokémon to barely dodge his attacks. Unable to hit Pikachu, Ult decides to target the father's Raichu instead. The son tells Beanie to use Thunder, but Quaquaval blocks the attack with Aqua Cutter, impressing the family. When Quaquaval tries to follow up with Wave Crash, the baby's Pichu approaches him and uses its cuteness and Encore to completely throw off Quaquaval's moves, leaving Quaquaval open for a paralyzingNuzzle from Pichu.
Beanie and the Raichu duo resume their Wild Charge passing plan, so Dot decides to create the others an opening by having Quaquaval aim for one of the Raichu. Beanie aims for Quaquaval with Iron Tail, but Quaquaval dodges, and Beanie himself is then struck by a Flower Trick from Meowscarada. Chū-cha tries to rush in to help, but is kept at bay by Skeledirge's Disarming Voice. When Quaquaval is about to be distracted by Pichu again, Ult takes care of the Tiny Mouse Pokémon by disorienting it with Confuse Ray, allowing Quaquaval to attack, enduring Raio's Thunderbolt and defeating Beanie with Wave Crash. With their children defeated, mother and father take over and start battling in earnest, surprising the Rising Volt Tacklers by revealing a pair of Mega Rings and Mega Evolving their Raichu into Mega Raichu X and Y, respectively. Quaquaval and Sableye try to attack, but are struck hard by Mega Raichu Y's two-pronged Thunder, allowing Mega Raichu X's Wild Charge to defeat both of them afterwards while also dodging Skeledirge's Stomping Tantrum, evening the score and leaving it to Liko and Roy to carry on for the Rising Volt Tacklers' side. They have Meowscarada and Skeledirge attack with Magical Leaf and Flamethrower, but Chū-cha uses Magnet Rise to take Raio into the air with her. While Magical Leaf keeps following them, Raio is able to slice it apart with Iron Tail and counterattack with Thunder. Thinking over Mega Raichu Y's way of attacking, Dot comes up with a plan for them.
Following Dot's plan, Roy has Skeledirge use Torch Song, forcing the two Raichu apart. While Raio is forced to dodge multiple Flower Tricks from Meowscarada, Chū-cha avoids the Torch Song and tries to hit Meowscarada with Iron Tail. Meowscarada dodges with Quick Attack and wraps her invisible flower stem around Raio's tail in the process, causing his subsequent Thunder to fail; Dot had figured out that Mega Raichu Y uses his tail to amplify his Electric attacks. With Chū-cha's path blocked by Skeledirge, Raio is left to defend for himself, using Thunderbolt on Meowscarada; the Magician Pokémon counters with Magical Leaf, defeating Raio. Chū-cha starts charging around again, so Meowscarada hides behind Skeledirge. Seeing her two targets merging together, mother has Chū-cha attack with Wild Charge. Roy has Skeledirge stand his ground as the attack hits. Roy's Pokémon successfully endures the attack and throws Raichu into the air, where she's struck by a combination of Flamethrower and Magical Leaf, defeating her and ending the battle in a victory for the Rising Volt Tacklers. Roy thanks Liko for having faith in Skeledirge's ability to stop the attack, with Dot emphasizing that this same Skeledirge was able to stop evenRayquaza's Dragon Ascent. The family is left in awe by the Rising Volt Tacklers' strength and thank them for their battle. In return, Dot can't help but admit how strong the two Raichu were; the son boasts that his parents used to be Ace Trainers, with the father admitting that they even challenged the Pokémon League in their youth.
While being in awe at the chance to have gotten to meet the Rising Volt Tacklers, the family starts wondering why they're even here in the first place. The group admits that they heard of them being spoken of in online news as the Rising Volt Tacklers. Having not known of being mistaken for their heroes, the family feels sorry and immediately apologizes. The son feels worried that they'll have to stop playing the Rising Volt Tacklers now, but Roy assures him that they don't have to, since they're cheering for them, after all. His friends agree, seeing that the family are not bad people and are in the news for doing good things. Roy encourages the family to keep on adventuring, so, at sunset, accompanied by new photos taken with their heroes, the family drives off and bids goodbye to the Rising Volt Tacklers. Liko feels happy that they've inspired someone else to go on adventures as well, and the group heads back to the airship while a Pokémon observes them from the nearby tall grass.
At the Brave Olivine, everyone boards the airship, with Roy and Captain Pikachu being the last ones to climb aboard. However, when Roy goes to the bridge and takes the wheel, he notices Cap in his usual spot at the captain's chair, despite him having just seen Cap going in another direction, leaving Roy confused as the Brave Olivine takes off once more. Above the bridge, at the ship's helm, the "second Cap", unseen by anyone, transforms into a Ditto.
Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y's Abilities were not portrayed in this episode, as they were unknown at the time when this episode first aired in Japan. On June 3, 2026, five days after this episode premiered, Pokémon Championsrevealed Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y's Abilities to be Electric Surge and No Guard, respectively.
