Strongest VS Strongest!

is the thirtieth episode of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. It features the debut of the blue-eyed Kamen Rider Poppy and the return of Kuroto Dan as Genm Action Gamer Level 0.
==Synopsis==
Ex-Aid, Brave, and Snipe have all been defeated at the hands of Kamen Rider Para-DX Level 99! Also, Parado begins to manipulate Emu's body as his own in order to retain the infection. Much to the other Rider's surprise, Poppy brings out another Proto Mighty Action X Gashat and a Gamer Driver! Poppy had found them thanks to her revived memories of a young Kuroto. What is the meaning behind this Gashat? Poppy manages to use the power of Level 0, in the hopes of bringing Emu back to normal...
==Plot==
At CR, Poppy is panicking; though she knows where the Bugsters' hideout is, Parado would still be able to control Emu's body to keep from being defeated. Meanwhile at the hideout, Parado is still unsatisfied with Emu's commitment to fight and vows to motivate him. Poppy reveals what she'd found at Kuroto's hideout, the Level 0 Proto Mighty Action X Origin Gashat and its "void ability" to inhibit the Bugster virus: this could suppress Parado's ability to control Emu; Taiga, however, insists it's too dangerous to use, likely predating the Proto Gashats. The doctors respond to an emergency call to find Motors, still without his motorcycle, beating up a Ride-Player. Asuna and Nico transform to Poppy Toki Meki Crisis Gamer Level X and Ride-Player Nico, Poppy's eyes now blue as she's no longer being controlled; they get Motors away from the Player, but he takes out his former bike's handlebars and speeds away on foot.
Emu walks up, claiming to have gotten away from Parado, but accidentally says "ore" instead of "boku" for "I", revealing himself as Parado, who jumps out and becomes Para-DX Perfect Knock Out Gamer Level 99, condemning Poppy's betrayal and knocking Nico aside. Hiiro and Taiga take Brave and Snipe Hunter Quest and Shooting Gamers Level 5 Dragon Blade and Gun to join the fight, but can't accomplish anything. Para-DX uses a 3-times power Gashacon Parabragun Gun Mode shot to defeat everyone but Poppy, switching to Axe Mode and defeating her with a 6-times power slash. He is about to slash Asuna before Emu shouts to stop, fighting through his infection symptoms to stand; this is what Parado was trying to do, fire Emu up to full conviction, something that couldn't happen when only he was in danger. Emu leaves the new patient to Hiiro and clearing Kamen Rider Chronicle to Taiga and Nico before leaving with Parado to a setting of the Bugster's choice, intent on defeating Parado himself.
As Nico compares Taiga's clinic to a cave compared to CR, Asuna takes Proto Mighty Action X Origin to discover how it could help Emu; as she's a Bugster, its side effects shouldn't be harmful to her. Meanwhile, Parado has led Emu to the Next Genome Institute lab where he'd been removed from Emu by Michihiko Zaizen six years prior, the beginning place a fit setting for the end. They transform into Ex-Aid Maximum and Para-DX Perfect Knock Out Gamers Level 99, Ex-Aid Stage Selecting to an abandoned excavation site. Asuna triggers the Proto Origin Gashat and generates a start screen and Game Area, but it does nothing in the Driver, so she jumps into the black-and-white start screen, arriving in a desaturated cityscape, the world of the game, when Bugster Viruses start chasing her. Hiiro is in the patient ward with the Player from earlier, Karita, who thought he could treat his own game illness, and Nico and Taiga follow leads on Vernier and Gatton.
As Ex-Aid and Para-DX fight, Hiiro finds Motors attacking another Ride-Player and prepares to take Level 50. Poppy hides behind a chocolate block as the Viruses stumble blindly past, running from a second group to a rooftop where she finds another Virus sitting and staring absently; it begins to glitch. Ex-Aid ejects from the Maximum Gamer to fight directly, a strong hit knocking them both below half health. They duel with Key Slasher and Parabragun, the strongest human and the strongest Bugster fighting one-on-one at the same Level…but are they? Hiiro returns from defeating Motors, but Karita admits that fighting was harder than he'd expected when he had the game illness, Hiiro realizing Emu isn't as fit as he thinks he is. Nico and Taiga have easily acquired the Jet Combat and Gekitotsu Robots Gashatrophies, Nico realizing that she, the Ride-Player, has to defeat Parado to get the Perfect Puzzle and Knock Out Fighter trophies to challenge the last boss, heading to join Ex-Aid's fight.
Ex-Aid and Para-DX keep fighting, knocking each other back. They go at each other with Blade Mode Maximum Mighty and Axe Mode Knock Out Critical Finishes, the resulting explosion knocking them both back with only Para-DX still standing, Emu's transformation reverting and returning them to the lab. Emu wonders how he could lose to an equal opponent, but Para-DX explains that he was the origin of "Genius Gamer M", and Emu can't beat the original master gamer. He is about to strike Emu when Hiiro, Taiga, and Nico arrive, but he knocks Hiiro and Taiga down before they can transform. Para-DX turns back to Emu, but he is shot from behind by the Gashacon Bugvisor II wielded by what appears to be Genm Action Gamer Level 2, but with silver instead of purple suit details. Poppy walks up to identify them as Genm Level 0, telling them to take Emu and leave, but they instead attack Para-DX, calling themselves the "Game Master"—it's Kuroto. He stumbles around in his attack with the Bugvisor Chainsaw Mode, getting knocked back. Parado untransforms and tries to take over Emu again, but can't; the Game Area generated by the Level 0 Gashat inhibits Bugster abilities. Parado simply leaves.
Back at CR, everyone is confused at Kuroto's sudden resurrection. Poppy explains that the glitching Bugster Virus had briefly become Kuroto, so she put the spare Gamer Driver on it, and it became a Kuroto covered in patches of code and mechanically repeating, "I am immortal." She plugged in Proto Mighty Action X Origin and his personality returned, shouting in celebration of his own genius. He's now been resurrected as a Bugster as full of himself as ever, surpassing even a Game Over—Poppy sucks him into the Bugvisor II for rambling.
==Cast==
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===Guest Cast===
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===Suit Actors===
*Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Level 2, Level 99: 
*Kamen Rider Brave Level 2: 
*Kamen Rider Snipe Level 2: 
*Kamen Rider Genm Level 0: 
*Kamen Rider Para-DX Level 99: 
*Kamen Rider Poppy: 
*Ride-Player Nico: 
*Ride-Players: 
*Motors Bugster: 
==Rider Gashat==
*Gashat Used:
**Ex-Aid
***Maximum Mighty X
**Brave
***Taddle Quest, Drago Knight Hunter Z, Gashat Gear Dual β (Taddle Fantasy)
**Snipe
***Bang Bang Shooting, Drago Knight Hunter Z
**Genm
***Gamer Driver
****Proto Mighty Action X Origin
**Para-DX
***Gamer Driver
****Gashat Gear Dual
**Poppy
***Toki Meki Crisis, Proto Mighty Action X Origin (failed)
**Ride-Player Nico
***Kamen Rider Chronicle
*Level Used:
**Ex-Aid
***Maximum Gamer Level 99, Action Gamer Level 2
**Brave
***Hunter Quest Gamer Level 5 (Dragon Blade), Fantasy Gamer Level 50 (offscreen)
**Snipe
***Hunter Shooting Gamer Level 5 (Dragon Gun)
**Genm
***Action Gamer Level 0
**Para-DX
***Perfect Knock Out Gamer Level 99
**Poppy
***Toki Meki Crisis Gamer Level X
==Energy Items==
*Energy Items Used:
**Unused
***Instigate, Muscular, Confusion, Speeding-Up, Recover, Invisible, High-Jump, Iron-Body
==Errors==
*to be added
==Notes==
*As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside episode 13, .
*Viewership: 3.8%
*Closing Screen:
**Text Color: Pink
*Count at episode end
**Gashats in Ex-Aid's possession: Mighty Action X, Gekitotsu Robots, Shakariki Sports, Bakusou Bike, Giri Giri Chambara, Mighty Brothers XX, Maximum Mighty X
**Gashats in Brave's possession: Taddle Quest, DoReMiFa Beat, Drago Knight Hunter Z, Gashat Gear Dual β
**Gashats in Snipe's possession: Bang Bang Shooting, Jet Combat
**Gashats in Genm's possession: Proto Mighty Action X Origin
**Gashats in Para-DX's possession: Gashat Gear Dual, Dangerous Zombie
**Gashats in Poppy's possession: Toki Meki Crisis
**Gashats in Ride-Player Nico's possession: Kamen Rider Chronicle
**Gashats in the Ministry of Health's possession: Proto Mighty Action X, Proto Taddle Quest, Proto Bang Bang Shooting, Proto Bakusou Bike, Proto Gekitotsu Robots, Proto DoReMiFa Beat, Proto Giri Giri Chambara, Proto Jet Combat, Proto Shakariki Sports, Proto Drago Knight Hunter Z
**Gashats in unknown possession: Ju Ju Burger
**Kuroto Dan's Life Points remaining: 99
**Gashatrophies in Ride-Player Nico's possession: Bang Bang Shooting, Mighty Action X, Taddle Quest, Gekitotsu Robots, Jet Combat
*Video Game References in this episode:
**When Kuroto is reformed from a Bugster inside Proto Mighty Action X Origin, he has random words and images all over his suit. This pattern resembles a glitched game sprite, where a character sprite's data is corrupted or incomplete and thus in the game is either a scrambled mass of pixels or numerical game code. Examples of this in video games include MissingNo from the Pokémon franchise.
*This marks the return of both Brave Hunter Quest Gamer Level 5 Dragon Blade and Snipe Hunter Shooting Gamer Level 5 Dragon Gun since episode 15.
*With the reveal of Para-DX's Level 99 form from the previous episode, the opening sequence for this episode finally reveals the form in full view, instead of being just a silhouette.
*Even though Parado declared himself the winner, both him and Emu were dangerously low on health as shown on their Rider Gauges, having only 2 points of health left on both. Due to Emu being a human Gamer Driver user, it cancelled his transformation to stop him from getting a Game Over, a fact that Parado himself either didn't pay attention to, ignored, or just simply didn't care about.
*The battle between Emu and Parado taking place at the building that the Next Genome Institute used could be there to promote the DVD release of Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Riders being that same week (May 10th)
*Final appearance of Brave Hunter Quest Gamer Level 5 and Snipe Hunter Shooting Gamer Level 5.
**Also the last time any Rider assumes a Level 5 form.
==DVD/Blu-ray releases==
*Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Volume 8 features episodes 29-32: We're Me!?, Strongest VS Strongest!, The Forbidden Continue!? and Judgment Received!.
*Blu-ray Collection 3 comes with 12 episodes.
Ex-Aid Vol 8.jpg|Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Volume 8, DVD
81OSoTyJZ4L SL1184 .jpg|Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Collection 3, Blu-ray
==External Links==
*TV Asahi's official episode guide for 最強VS最強
*Toei TV's official episode guide for 最強VS最強
==References==
Category:New Form Episode
Category:Revived Rider Episode