Buying a 0.965" adapter to fit a 1.25 eyepiece, even a cheap one, will be more trouble than it's worth (imho).

They're common and very inexpensive: https://www.amazon.com/Bindpo-Astronomical-Telescope-Eyepiece-Adapter/dp/B08DJ7J3DC/

What's more trouble than it's worth is trying to find any kind of quality 0.965" eyepiece. The only eyepieces that will be affected by the smaller barrel size are 1.25" eyepieces with wide field stops like 32mm & 40mm Plossls, and 24mm 68 degree class eyepieces.

I would just get the adapter.

Only issue might be reach focus though. The adapter pushes the eyepiece outside of the focuser, so there might not be enough in-travel.