Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 recap: A Haunting on the Brave Olivine

Pokemon Horizons has reached its 30th episode milestone and did so with a simultaneously spooky and comedic entry to the budding animated series. Airing on November 24, 2023, in Japan, Episode 30 sees the Brave Olivine drawing the attention of a Ghost-type Pokemon, who begins to cause a few issues on the airship. Fortunately, our heroes uncover the mystery and have a celebration.

Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 is light on relevance to the overall plot, but it does present plenty of levity and enjoyment as the Rising Volt Tacklers attempt to determine the identity of the Pokemon causing them quite a few problems aboard their home base. With that in mind, it doesn't hurt to dive into the events as they unfolded.

---

Breaking down the events of Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 "The Slipping, Smashing Mystery Pokemon?!"

Captain Pikachu trains with Fuecoco and Sprigatito at the beginning of Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

At the beginning of this Pokemon Horizons episode, viewers follow the Rising Volt Tacklers en route to their next adventure. Liko and Roy are training with Friede and Captain Pikachu. Fuecoco and Sprigatito struggle during the battle, especially when the former ends up slipping on a strange purple liquid substance on the observation deck of the Brave Olivine.

Roy decides to investigate the source of the purple liquid, and Liko visits her grandmother Diana that night to discuss it. Liko notices a chipped teacup next to Diana, but the latter tells her granddaughter to leave the cup be as she's attempting to test something. Liko then hears a clinking sound, and she and Sprigatito head out to investigate.

A creature leaves behind purple liquid on the Brave Olivine in Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Meanwhile, Roy and Fuecoco are roaming the Brave Olivine in an attempt to find the Pokemon leaving behind the purple liquid. While they don't find the culprit, they do find more of the substance. Roy and Fuecoco depart, and the suspicious Pokemon is revealed to be a Polteageist. The Pokemon then begins scaring the airship's Pawmi and Rockruff, and Liko gives chase but can't corner the creature.

Elsewhere, Dot realizes that she's out of Shuckle juice, so she grabs a straw and sticks it into Shuckle's shell to drink the juice directly. Shuckle isn't a fan of this behavior, so it pours some of its juice into a cup for Dot to enjoy instead. The nearby Alolan Muk watching Dot turns out to have the Polteageist stuck to its back, and the Ghost-type isn't happy when Dot says Shuckle juice is the most delicious.

Polteageist gets stuck to Alolan Muk's back in Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

When the Muk leaves Dot's presence, Polteageist manages to remove itself from the creature's back and is immediately apprehended by Captain Pikachu. Polteageist, in a rage, challenges Shuckle to a battle, and Cap decides to let them settle their dispute. However, Shuckle is incredibly slow and requires the assistance of a Snorunt to approach.

The Pokemon Horizons protagonists are preparing to settle in for the night when the clinking sound returns again. Liko and Roy find Dot's Quaxly acting a bit unusual before a crashing sound leads them to find the various Pokemon aboard the Brave Olivine (Terapagos included) crowded around the Shuckle-Polteageist battle. After Shuckle lands a Rollout attack on Polteageist, it spills purple liquid.

Shuckle lands a hit on Polteageist in Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Although the Pokemon Horizons heroes realize they've found their culprit, Shuckle attacks again with Rollout. However, Polteageist dodges and Shuckle careens into a berry crate. Although Polteageist originally wants to keep the battle going, it realizes that it has earned the admiration of its fellow Pokemon and decides to pour some tea for them while playing music.

To complement this, Shuckle offers a few berries by firing them from its shell so the Brave Olivine Pokemon can have some snacks with their tea and music. Liko also realizes that Quaxly was being suspicious because it was taking advantage of Shuckle's berries and Polteageist's tea and wanted to hide its behavior. Liko and Roy leave the Pokemon to enjoy their snacks, and Polteageist shakes Cap's hand.

It's a tea party on the Brave Olivine in Pokemon Horizons Episode 30 (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As the Pokemon Horizons heroes enjoy breakfast on the wing deck the next day, they notice that the Pokemon who enjoyed the tea party are now asleep due to having stayed up all night. Friede suddenly spits out some bad-tasting tea from the teacup Liko noticed earlier in the episode, only for it to be revealed as a Sinistea.

Diana reveals to her granddaughter that she was testing to see if she could use the Polteageist's tea and a teacup to create a Sinistea, and it appears that her experiment was a success. Sinistea then floats over to Polteageist and takes a nap alongside it and the other Brave Olivine creatures to close out Pokemon Horizons' 30th episode.