PriHeaPC09

'''Light The Darkness! Mio and Hikari's Bond! '(闇を照らせ！ みおとひかりの絆！ Yami o Terase! Mi oto Hikari no Kizuna!'') is the tenth episode of Prism Hearts Precure. It is a tribute to [https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/Fresh_Pretty_Cure! Fresh Pretty Cure!] and marks the return of Higashi Setsuna.

Summary
Losing yet another battle with the Precure but managing to snag the Cure Passion Prism Card in the process, Mio falls out of her transformation and collapses in the park. She’s discovered by a visiting Setsuna Higashi who takes pity on the girl and brings her to a nearby church where Hikari happens to be praying alone. Despite knowing who she is, Hikari welcomes Mio and even starts to get her to open up about her late mother. Suddenly the three are attacked by Bottom and Dark Onibi, trapping them inside a massive hedge maze filled with traps. Can the girls work together and escape?

Major Events

 * The Fresh Miracle Petal and all of the Prism Cards are obtained
 * The Cure Sunny Prism Card is obtained
 * Mio was able to open up a little bit about her past
 * The Asteroids are introduced

Plot
Showcasing where Jou and Ayumi were while Aya and Sakura was using the Cure Rader, the former had run into Cure Hunter after she was able to find the Fresh Prism Cards. A battle ensued as Cure Hunter Shadow Changed into Eas while Cure Noble transformed into Cure Selene. During the battle, the two combatants noticed a Prism Card embedded in a nearby tree and rushed to get it. Cure Noble was able to obtain it and quickly Prism Changed into Cure Sunny, one of the members of the Smile Precure.

Utilizing Sunny Fire, Cure Noble was able to regain Prism Cards of the Fresh Precure. Before she could get the Cure Passion Prism Card, Ayumi called out to her about a Dark Matter attack and forcing her to leave the card behind. Flashing forward to the present, Mio wakes up in a church that Setsuna Higashi, the former Cure Passion, had brought her after finding the girl unconscious in the park.

After fully waking up, Mio quickly checked her pockets for her Hunter's Blade and Shadow Cards before Setsuna pointed towards where the girl was resting. Afterwards, they noticed Hikari coming towards them. As it turns out, Setsuna had entered her family's church just as she came back with Yumeta. She explained that she was getting the place ready for tomorrow's morning service when she saw Setsuna enter with the unconscious Mio.

As Mio reached for her Hunter's Blade, Hikari quickly noted that she wasn't there to take her down and simply wanted to talk. Lowering her guard for a moment, Mio soon saw a white rose which reminded her of her mother Hinata. She initially didn't wanted to talk about the subject, but after some assurance from both Hikari and Setsuna, she was able to talk a little bit about her mother always giving her a white rose on her birthday.

When asked about where she was by Setsuna, Mio told them that she died during Darkest Day with her last memory of her being a Precure taking her away while leaving her mother to die alone. This made her anger flair up for a moment as she thanked Hikari for letting her stay for a while.

As the two left the church however, they were quickly ambushed by Bottom and Dark Onibi, who had a Minikan that resembled Eas more than Cure Passion. Before Hikari could transform, the trio were teleported into a massive hedge maze where if they didn't get out within an hour, they would be trapped forever and he would lay claim to all of the cards in their possession.

With no options left, Mio decided to form a temporary alliance with Hikari and Setsuna as they braved the maze, running into various traps set by Dark Onibi as well as encounter squadrons of Astreroids, the foot soldiers of Black Hole's army. As they walked through the maze, Hikari tried to reason with Mio as to step away from her current path, but she didn't listen.

As they reached the end with some time to spare, the trio were met with Kan Passion along with Bottom. Dark Onibi soon laughed at the fact that they believed in such an obvious lie as Bottom and Kan Passion went on the offensive. However using the power of Cure Passion, Cure Hunter was able to knock them away and give Cure Trinity time to use Cure Blossom's super jump to get herself and Setsuna to the goal and allow the maze to dissipate.

Cure Trinity thanked Cure Hunter for helping, but the latter claimed that she was only paying them back for helping her escape; stating that her stance against her and her team didn't change. Setsun however was able to see a bond reminiscent of herself and Love back when she was Eas growing between the two. Sure enough, backup arrived as Cure Light, Cure Splash, and Cure Noble arrived onto the scene alongside Ayumi.

At first they were shocked to see Cure Hunter there with Cure Passion's powers, but Cure Trinity told them not to fight for now and instead focus on Kan Passion. All of a sudden, the core Fresh Prism Cards began to glow and create the Fresh Miracle Petal. After Cure Trinity led the Prism Change into the Fresh Precure, with Cure Noble transforming into Cure Melody, the five used the Clover Slam in order to purify Kan Passion and drive back the generals.

Once the battle was over, Cure Hunter gave back the Cure Passion Prism Card, telling that that they were even and that the next time they'd meet, they would be enemies once again. Before she ran off however, Setsuna called out to Cure Hunter that she hoped that the girl would be able to find her own light someday, maybe it would be closer that she thought.

The girl however shrugged it off as Ayumi asked Hikari what had happened as the church girl began to recount the story. Meanwhile, Kotaro was patrolling the city when he noticed Cure Hunter in his line of sight. He quickly turned on the siren on his cruiser and gave chase.

Elements/Homages to Fresh Pretty Cure!

 * Mio and Hikari's interactions in this episode draw parallels to Love and Setsuna's relationship in Fresh
 * The Miracle Petal of the Fresh Precure, the Clover Slam, is based on the Lucky Clover Grand Finale
 * TBA

Pretty Cures

 * Kyuseishu Aya / Cure Light
 * Mizumi Sakura / Cure Splash


 * Kogo Jou / Cure Noble
 * Sukui Hikari / Cure Trinity

Mascots

 * EnEn
 * Gureru
 * Kuroro
 * Yumeta

Villains

 * Fusion
 * Dark Matter
 * Dark Onibi
 * Bottom
 * Minikans
 * Asteroids

Secondary Characters

 * Higashi Setsuna
 * Sakebu Mio / Cure Hunter


 * Sakagami Ayumi

Prism Changes

 * Prism Changes in Light The Darkness! Mio and Hikari's Bond!
 * Cure Light - Cure Peach
 * Cure Splash - Cure Berry
 * Cure Noble - Cure Selene, Cure Sunny, Cure Melody
 * Cure Trinity - Cure Pine
 * Cure Hunter - Eas, Cure Passion
 * This marks the first time that Cure Hunter performed both a Shadow Change and a Prism Change

Trivia
TBA