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: READY GO！ユナイトバトル！！READY GO! Unite Battle!!) is the 141st episode of Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and the 1,373rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on June 19, 2026.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Plot
The young Rising Volt Tacklers and Friede have traveled to Aeos Island, the children having accepted an invitation from Friede to participate in a Unite Battle–a unique type of battle where five pairs of Trainers and Pokémon work as teams to score points–after Friede's colleague, Professor Phorus, had told him that one of the teams of an upcoming special match ran into some trouble and had to unexpectedly drop out just three days before the event, with Friede having signed up the Rising Volt Tacklers to take their place. The entire Remoat Stadium is buzzing with excitement as the young newcomers prepare to face the experienced and highly popular Shining Oceans.
At the end of a countdown, the Unite Battle starts, with both Pokémon teams rushing into the stadium and splitting up. Their first objective is to gather Aeos energy by defeating wild Pokémon around the stadium, which the Rising Volt Tacklers do by defeating a group of Aipom and Corphish. Next, Liko has Meowscarada target a pair of Combee and a Vespiquen. Meowscarada easily defeats the two Tiny Bee Pokémon with Acrobatics and collects their Aeos energy, but her attempt at attacking Vespiquen is disrupted when the Sirfetch'd used by the leader of the Shining Oceans uses Brutal Swing, forcing Meowscarada to dodge and let Vespiquen take the hit instead. A Clefable also joins the confrontation, resulting in the first clash between teams during the battle. Since the one who gets the Aeos energy is decided by who lands the last hit on the wild Pokémon, Liko presses the attack and has Meowscarada use Flower Trick on Vespiquen, but Sirfetch'd steps in and uses its shield to block the attack. Friede tells Captain Pikachu to support Meowscarada, but the opposing team's Zoroark gets in Cap's way and starts exchanging swings of Shadow Claw and Thunder Punch with him. Meanwhile, Meowscarada lands a strong hit on Sirfetch'd with Acrobatics, but Clefable is quick to heal Sirfetch'd using Moonlight, allowing the Wild Duck Pokémon to attack with Fury Cutter. Meowscarada is forced to retreat to avoid being hit, allowing Clefable and Sirfetch'd to collect the Aeos energy from the Bug types. Seeing their objective has been achieved, Zoroark starts retreating alongside its teammates, though Friede, noticing that the opposing team's goal zone is completely undefended, has Cap go for it instead of pursuing his opponent. Zoroark tries to block Cap, but the slippery Electric type manages to slip past Zoroark and score a goal, giving the Rising Volt Tacklers an early lead.
Eager to keep the advantage going, Ult tries to have Sableye go for the goal as well, but is caught by surprise by Vaporeon's Flip Turn, which defeats Sableye, causes it to lose the Aeos energy it had collected, and sends it back to the base. The Shining Oceans, meanwhile, are aiming for the Rising Volt Tacklers' goal zone, which is being defended by Quaquaval and Skeledirge. Deciding to give the audience what they want, the Shining Oceans have Zoroark and Toxtricity use Nightfall Daze and Venom Distortion, respectively, which send both of the Rising Volt Tacklers' Pokémon back to the base as well. The children are amazed by the powerful moves, which Friede explains to be Unite Moves, powerful attacks enabled by accumulating enough Aeos energy. With the Rising Volt Tacklers' goal zone left undefended, the Shining Oceans score a number of goals in a quick succession, bringing them to a massive lead. The Rising Volt Tacklers resolve to work as a team to gather energy as well and achieve their own power-ups.
The match resumes, with the rest of the Rising Volt Tacklers' Pokémon keeping the Shining Oceans team busy while Meowscarada goes around defeating wild Pokémon. The leader of the Shining Oceans quickly recognizes Captain Pikachu as the opposing team's leader and orders his team to focus on him. While Cap is getting surrounded by the opposing team, Meowscarada gathers enough Aeos energy to achieve her own power-up after defeating a pair of Ludicolo and rushes to Cap's aid. At Liko's command, Meowscarada unleashes her Unite Move, Floral Flourish, which forces the Shining Oceans to fall back and allows the Rising Volt Tacklers to defeat a bunch of Pokémon to gather their energy. The team is feeling luck finally being on their side, but become slightly alarmed upon hearing that only five minutes remain before the battle ends. Ult wants to use Unite Moves to catch up while they can, but to everyone's surprise, Friede tells his teammates to hold off on using their Unite Moves for now, knowing that they require some time to recharge and that a big chance is coming up. The Shining Oceans are quick to notice that the Rising Volt Tacklers aren't using their Unite Moves and immediately figure out what they're after, their response being to increase their lead by scoring as many goals as possible.
Just when the young Rising Volt Tacklers start wondering how they're going to catch up to the opposing team's massive lead, the big chance that Friede had been waiting for makes its presence known in the form of the Legendary PokémonZapdos, which flies in the middle of the field. Knowing that Zapdos has far more Aeos energy than any other wild Pokémon in the stadium, Friede has the Rising Volt Tacklers charge at the Legendary Pokémon. With only two minutes left, the battle enters the Final Stretch, during which all goals will have their score value doubled, giving the Rising Volt Tacklers the chance to score big if they manage to claim Zapdos's Aeos energy for themselves. The Shining Oceans also enter the center of the field, so Friede finally decides it's time to unleash their Unite Moves, having Cap use Thunderstorm on the opposing team while the others pummel Zapdos with Rousing Symphony, Carnival Splash, and Floral Flourish. They soon notice that the Shining Oceans aren't going after Zapdos, seeming to prioritize maintaining their big lead by attempting to obscure their opponents. Ult suddenly notices something and tells Sableye to hide in the grass instead of going after Zapdos, confusing his teammates.
Just as the Rising Volt Tacklers start preparing on landing the last hit on Zapdos, the opposing team's Sirfetch'd suddenly appears behind the Legendary Pokémon and starts using Lunging Leek Nova Blast, intending to be the one to deal the last hit. Before the attack can land, however, Sableye emerges from the grass and uses Chaos Glower, its effect sending Sirfetch'd scurrying back for the base. The rest of the team is surprised that Ult actually noticed Sirfetch'd, but they quickly refocus their attention on Zapdos. They pummel Zapdos with a rapid barrage of attacks, claiming its Aeos energy for themselves before making a rush for the goal. The Shining Oceans try to stop them, but the Rising Volt Tacklers manage to keep the opposing Pokémon at bay long enough to reach the goal zone. Cap, Sableye, Quaquaval, and Meowscarada each score a goal on a quick succession, evening the score. Just when Skeledirge is about to score as well, he's struck by Toxtricity's Overdrive, causing him to lose grip on his ball. Zoroark grabs the ball, but its possession of the ball is short-lived as Cap knocks it away and grabs it himself, scoring one more goal just seconds before the battle comes to an end, stunning the audience and teams alike as the young newcomers claim a victory over the idol team. The Rising Volt Tacklers celebrate and the Shining Oceans take the loss with dignity, resolving to train hard to avoid losing next time. The victorious Rising Volt Tacklers enter the field, with their Pokémon clad in Holowear to celebrate their win, the team having thoroughly enjoyed their first-ever Unite Battle.
The title card for this episode features Dittotransforming into a mini-version of Quaquaval and taking his place at the right side of the screen, while Quaquaval stands at the right edge of the screen.
As part of the collaboration, this episode acted as confirmation that Toxtricity would be added to the game.
In the scene where Friede explains what Unite Battles are, the silhouetted Pokémon that are seen in the fantasy scene showing two teams and the Holowear they are wearing match the Pokémon that are seen in promotional material for the Pokémon UNITE Asia Champions League 2026.
For the initial airing of this episode, the Mega Study with Instructor Starmie segment and the next episode preview were skipped and replaced with announcements about the collaboration between Pokémon UNITE and Pokémon Horizons: The Series, which included a bonus scene featuring Zirco. This scene was cut from the VOD versions, but was uploaded separately to the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
The Taiwanese Mandarin, Hong Kong Cantonese, Thai, and Indonesian dubs of this episode were released on their respective Pokémon YouTube channels at 6:30 PM (UTC+8)/5:30 PM (UTC+7), at the same time the Japanese version was released on the Japanese YouTube channel after its television airing. In the regular episode order:
Clefable's Moonlight healed Sirfetch'd when Moonlight only heals the user, not the target. Healing the target instead of the user is Heal Pulse's effect, not Moonlight's effect. However, this aligns with how Clefable uses the move in Pokémon UNITE.
Captain Pikachu took damage from Amped FormToxtricity's Overdrive despite having Lightning Rod as his Ability, which should have made Captain Pikachu immune to the Electric-type move. However, this aligns with the fact that there are no damage-negating Abilities in Pokémon UNITE.
Dub edits
In the Taiwanese Mandarin, Hong Kong Cantonese, Thai, and Indonesian releases:
The Zirco bonus scene was included after the ending theme.
The on-screen text of Sirfetch'd's Unite Move's name was changed into the respective local scripts.
