PriHeaPC24

'''I Can't Transform?! Iona’s Test and Aya’s Resolve '(変身できない？！ アイオナのテストとアヤの決意! Henshin Dekinai? ! Aiona no Tesuto to Aya no Ketsui!'') is the twenty-fourth episode of Prism Hearts Precure and the conclusion to a two-part storyline that started in PriHeaPC23. A tribute to [https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/Happiness_Charge_Pretty_Cure! Happiness Charge Pretty Cure], it marks the return of Hikawa Iona (Cure Fortune)

Summary
With Kotaro acting colder than usual after discovering, and chastising Aya for her identity as a Precure, it's put a damper on the girl to the point where she couldn't even transform. So when she's confronted by former Happiness Charge member Iona Hikawa she's given an ultimatum: Either beat and or survive her attacks and become a Precure, or leave that behind and return to a normal life...

Major Events

 * The Happiness Charge Miracle Petal was obtained
 * Aya briefly lost her power to transform before regaining it once more
 * Kotaro briefly lifts his punishment after some talks with Akari and Ayumi
 * Shirabe Ako and Hummy makes a cameo appearance near the end

Plot
As Aya sat alone curled up in her room, she soon began to remember the trip back home, wherein Kotaro crushed her ambition to be a Precure which resulted in a straitened argument between the two. Kotaro soon growled that she was grounded until further notice, but she tried to tell him otherwise that if she doesn't stay a Precure, then the world would be doomed. However he wouldn't budge as he made a snide remark about Homura, stating that philosophy was just a childish fantasy that would never work in the real world.

Left in tears, Aya screamed that she wished that she had died in that accident alongside Homura and screamed that at least he won't have such a childish sister to deal with anymore. Afterwards, she locked herself in her room and cried her heart out before staying cooped up in her room in order to collect her thoughts, not even coming down to eat as Akari had to bring up several of her meals to her room.

Kotaro was soon scolded by Akari, who stated that while she knew that his heart was in the right place, she was disgusted that he had talked that vilely about Homura. When Kotaro tried to defend himself, Akari soon told him that not all people keep secrets because they want to before stating that

Soon, Sakura came to the Kyuseishu household wanting to pick-up Aya for school, since she had been strangely absent for the entire week. Reluctantly, Kotaro let her in as she opened the door to find her still in the same position she was in ever since that day. After closing the door, EnEn soon came out of Sakura's bag but not even that was enough.

Finally, after what seemed like a hour, Aya finally came down and joined her friend in going to school. As they walked to Millenium Academy, Aya told her that she messed up that day, feeling guilty about letting her brother find out about her identity as Cure Light. However, Sakura soon reassured her that she did the right thing in protecting her brother. This however wasn't enough to cheer her up as she began to wonder.

When they reached school, Saya began to swarm her leader with questions ranging from where she had been to why she did not even bother to contact them. However Jou scolded the young witch, telling her that Aya had a lot on her mind and that she could see that she was not fully over the events of the previous episode. Soon school droned on as Aya was uncharacteristically silent for most of the day.

Meanwhile in Black Hole's domain, Dark Onibi was laughing at the girl's misfortune as Black Hole congratulated the scientist for eliminating one of the Precure. Dark Onibi was soon tasked with locating the dark Linkle Stone and retrieving it from Mio. Dark Onibi soon obliged as he sent out Kan Gnaw and Kan Infini to terrorize the civilians and distract the Precure while he searched for the stone.

As the Precure ran into action, Aya became reluctant to transform as she remembered the events of the previous day. She soon shook off those thoughts as the group transformed into their Precure identities. However while the rest were able to successfully transform, Aya strangely could not activate a Prism Change of any kind.

This forced her to sit on the sidelines while the others fought the two male Minikans. As Aya tried frantically to transform into Cure Light, As the Precure ran into action, Aya became reluctant to transform as she began to doubt her abilities if she truly was worthy about being a Precure. That was when Hikawa Iona arrived and stated that she was watching her throughout the day and soon asked if she wanted to be a Precure.

Aya immediately said yes, but Iona was not satisfied with that answer and asked if she, Ayumi, and Hikari could meet with her in the park. There, she took back her Prism Card as she issued the leader a challenge. If she can outlast her in an hour-long battle and or defeat her, then she would see her as a worthy successor to the Happiness Charge Miracle Petal. However, if she failed to complete either criteria, she must surrender her Prism Changer to Ayumi and never become a Precure again.

Ayumi objected to this stipulation and felt like it was too harsh, but Iona did not relent as she stated that if she truly wanted to be a Precure, then she would be able to complete those tasks without fail. This clued in the former Cure Echo as Hikari decided to serve as the referee for the battle.

Meanwhile, Cure Hunter was searching for the Happiness Charge Miracle Petal when she ran into Cure Noble and Cure Trinity, who were facing off against Kan Infini while using the powers of Cure Flora and Cure Scarlet. Realizing that the girls had the key to the Miracle Petal, Cure Hunter performed a Shadow Change into Dark Goal and began fighting the Precure just as Dark Onibi found them.

Elsewhere, Kotaro was holding off the rampaging Kan Gnaw before spotting Cure Splash, Cure Papillion, and Cure Mirage before they Prism Changed into the Heartcatch Precure. They soon faced off against the monster while Kotaro began to worry that Aya could be in danger once again, and was forced to search for her. He instead found Ayumi, who was monitoring the battle between Cure Light and Cure Fortune.

When Kotaro tried to step in and stop the fight, Ayumi quickly stopped him. Kotaro tried to push her away, but the former Cure Echo did not budge. Ayumi soon asked him why he was so adamant in not wanting her to be a Precure, to which Kotaro stated that she was gonna get herself killed again just like Homura.

Ayumi told him that, while she felt terrible about their loss, she could see that Aya had accepted those responsibilities and soon repeated the very words that she had told her many months ago. The two soon began to discuss why people keep secrets in the first place, with the girl suggesting that maybe he was holding her back not because his line of duty or his brotherly instincts, but rather he shared the same fear that Aya must have felt on the day he took her away; the fear of losing another loved one.

Sure enough, Aya was able to use her Aurora Wave to handily defeat Cure Fortune. Impressed, Iona said that she felt like she had earned her title as Precure and gave back the Cure Fortune Prism Card. Aya soon celebrated her victory with EnEn before fearfully spotting her brother.

However she soon gathered her courage and said that, while she could understand that he was scared at the idea, Aya truly felt like she knew the consequences of her occupation. That wouldn't stop her though from going out and helping those in need; this made her realize that while they walked on different paths, they still ended up at the same goal of protecting the innocent.

Aya soon noticed her friends struggling with Kan Gnaw and rushed into as Cure Light. The four soon performed a Prism Change first into the core members of the DokiDoki Pretty Cure and then into the Happiness Charge Pretty Cure, although Cure Mirage accidentally used the Prism Card of the other Cure Mirage rather than Cure Fortune. Regardless, the girls were able to use their new Miracle Petal, the Mirror Burst, in order to purify the monster.

Meanwhile, using the Mirror Burst to combine the Floral Tourbillon and the Pheonix Blaze, Cure Noble were able to defeat the monsters as both Cure Hunter and Dark Onibi were forced to retreat. Afterwards, Kotaro apologized for what he had done. However while Aya forgave her brother, he could not help but not forgive himself for what he had done.

As the group decided to take a ride in Kotaro's squad car, a little girl arrived alongside a small white cat.

Characters
Pretty Cures Mascots Villains Secondary Characters
 * Kyuseishu Aya / Cure Light
 * Mizumi Sakura / Cure Splash
 * Kogo Jou / Cure Noble
 * Sukui Hikari / Cure Trinity
 * Sanagi Maya / Cure Papillon
 * Gensou Saya / Cure Mirage
 * EnEn
 * Gureru
 * Kuroro
 * Yumeta
 * Kumonuso
 * Chikurun
 * Kage
 * Hummy
 * Sakebu Mio / Cure Hunter
 * Dark Onibi
 * Minikans
 * Kyuseishu Kotaro
 * Sakagami Ayumi
 * Kyuseishu Akari
 * Aisaki Emiru
 * Ota Kudai
 * Miss Shalour
 * Kujou Hikari
 * Hikawa Iona

Prism Changes

 * Prism Changes in I Can't Transform?! Iona’s Test and Aya’s Resolve
 * Cure Light - Cure Heart, Lovely
 * Cure Splash - Cure Blossom, Cure Diamond, Cure Princess
 * Cure Noble - Cure Flora
 * Cure Trinity - Cure Scarlet
 * Cure Papillon - Cure Sunshine, Cure Rossete, Cure Honey
 * Cure Mirage - Cure Moonlight, Cure Diamond, Cure Mirage (Happiness Charge), Cure Fortune
 * Cure Hunter - N/A
 * All of the Prism Changes in this episode utilize Precure seasons that relate to Happiness Charge Precure
 * Heartcatch Pretty Cure - Both series share the same director (Nagamine Tatsuya)
 * Go! Princess Pretty Cure - Is the immediate successor to Happiness Charge and shares the same motif as Cure Princess
 * DokiDoki Pretty Cure - Is the immediate predecessor to Happiness Charge and has the lead Cure share a motif with Cure Lovely

Trivia

 * This is the second episode that features a past Cure regaining their powers, with the first being PriHeaPC12