Encounter II: Zombie Hunting

is the third episode of Kamen Rider Geats.
==Synopsis==
Keiwa continues to worry about Takahito, who had disappeared in an attack by the Jyamato. Neon continues to do her live-streaming activities against the wishes of her mother, who is strictly opposed to her influencer occupation. 
When Ace becomes a new star in Neon's livestream show, they are suddenly attacked by Jyamato, and Tsumuri calls for a special edition of the Desire Grand Prix, called the Zombie Grand Prix. Can our heroes survive?!
==Plot==
Keiwa starts a video diary recollecting his time in the Desire Grand Prix, only for Tsumuri to suddenly appear in his room and stipulate that revealing any information about the DGP to third parties is strictly prohibited in the rule book. Keiwa is startled and then reassures her that it is just a personal video diary and no one else will ever know about it. She believes him and says it is allowed if it isn't published or seen by the public. Keiwa asks where Takahito's body went after death, she says that only the Jyamato know where he is, wishes him a good evening and then exits out of his bedroom via the window, causing a couple of dogs to bark.
At the Kurama manor the next day, Neon's mother Irumi discusses sternly about how strongly she disapproves of her daughter's social media influencer activities. Despite Neon trying to defend her hobby by showing how many fans she has (over 10 million to be exact) and how she makes millions of people happy, her mother angrily puts her fork down and says that those millions of people are strangers stalking her and Neon is already destined to have the happiest life possible as a future heir of the Kurama fortune. Irumi insists her daughter should listen to her and give up making videos, storming off. Neon can only halfheartedly respond to that remark as she becomes increasingly sad. Later that evening, Ace is on a rooftop flipping his gold coin, vowing that he will find someone...
Keiwa returns to the office building where Takahito worked at to ask a coworker about his whereabouts, the coworker says Takahito has not reported to work for a while and his family is filing a report with the police.
Neon begins live streaming her fiftieth escape attempt from home and dances, only for Ace to show up and have her live video go viral from the two popular celebrities interacting with each other. One of the students in a high school, Kanato, is less than thrilled with everyone's obsession with Neon and peers into his bag to see his Desire Driver. Neon and Ace talk in a cafe about her streaming activities until her bodyguards Ben and John find her and insist she return home. Ace comments that live streaming her location isn't a good idea if she doesn't want to be found. However, both Ben and John are distracted by Ace being there and getting his autograph and the two Riders get a call from the DGP to assemble. They eventually manage to give the bodyguards the slip by teleporting to the Desire Temple through equipping their drivers.
Tsumuri announces that the next game is a Zombie Survival game: the players must prevent three waves of Zombie Jyamato from reaching outside the Jyamar Area to infect the city in a zombie outbreak. The elimination rules are score based and a list of means to gain points appears so the players fully understand the ways to score points. The one with the lowest score at the end of the game will be eliminated from the DGP. Keiwa asks about the outbreak, with Tsumuri warning the Riders they need to be careful and avoid being infected, or else they will become zombies themselves. 
Michinaga gloats about Ace's Shield and Water Buckles being pathetic, so Ace confidently makes a bet: if he outscores Michinaga on the leaderboard, he will claim his Zombie Buckle as a prize. Michinaga agrees to the wager as if he wins, Ace will have all his Buckles taken from him. 
The group is sent to different areas to deal with the massive wave of Zombie Jyamato and transform. Morio is paired with Michinaga, Neon is paired with Kanato, and Keiwa and Ace are alone fighting their battles. Keiwa focuses on rescuing civilians, which nets him points and the Boost Buckle as a prize for clearing the secret mission criteria. 
Kanato is perched on a rooftop using Magnum to snipe the Zombies while Neon struggles to defeat even one of them with her hammer. She begs Kanato to help her, but he could care less about her situation as they are rivals competing for the same prize. Ace comes to save her, telling her to aim for the head. Kanato is annoyed by the proceedings and unaware that a Zombie is sneaking up behind him...
Inside the warehouse, Ace comes up with an idea to wipe out all the zombies by using his weapon to flood a room and then wash them all away, this clears the first wave and a soaked Neon sulks. 
At the lounge, the players learn Geats won the first wave with 41,000 points. Ace claims Michinaga's Zombie Buckle, but in the spirit of "being fair" he gifts him the Water Buckle. He wagers again that if Michinaga can beat his score, he will return his prized possession to him. Morio asks Keiwa how a weak player like him could gain so many points in the first wave, with Keiwa saying that instead of fighting he focused on rescuing people and scored high doing so. This gives Morio the idea of how to possibly beat the game. 
Neon is upset that she is dead last and asks Girori if the DGP has any purchasable upgrades to make winning easier. Griori says that while the game earns them digital currency, it is primarily for the purchase of unlockable clothing. Thus, no cheating is allowed through micro transactions to obtain Raise Buckles or other equipment. 
Kanato is annoyed by the "rich girl" and wonders why she is even playing the game. Neon says that there are some things that money cannot buy, revealing her wish is for true love, to find her Prince Charming and be swept away on his white horse. Kanato calls her insane for throwing her life away on something so trivial, but she believes that she must fight to win her wish. Annoyed, Kanato storms off, with Keiwa trying to encourage everyone to get along. Ace says that is impossible, they are all rivals in this game. 
In the hallway, Kanato inquires to Michinaga why he hates Ace so much, with the brooding man simply stating that all Kamen Riders are his enemies. Kanato proposes an alliance, offering to loan the Magnum Buckle to Michinaga in exchange. Michinaga doesn't trust him, asking what Kanato's intentions are. 
Neon tries on different outfits with her Desire Money, with Ace asking if her wish truly is for true love, but Neon says it is a secret. Keiwa remembers his sister talking about Neon's personal life, that she is the heir to the Kurama Conglomerate and that her parents are super strict and won't let her have friends, go on dates, or even go outside. Keiwa reassures her that if she works hard, her dreams can come true, but Neon rejects that notion. Ace says that is the reason that they fight, to create their ideal world. 
Girori gets a phone call that the second zombie wave is approaching and everyone heads out. Morio tries to shout out for anyone who needs rescued to gain points while Neon is rescued by Kanato, who oddly changes his disposition towards her and apologizes for being rude earlier, even claiming to be a fan. He offers to team up with her to score points and win the second wave. Ace watches this and is immediately suspicious, transforming into Geats Zombie after an agitated Michinaga wonders why he is just standing there. 
Kanato lures Neon to a warehouse and then shoots her into an area surrounded by zombies, losing points for attacking a player. Kanato wants to take delight in the "princess" suffering after his deception. Ace stops the bullet meant for her and then corrals to take the Zombies out. Kanato is furious he interfered and attacks Ace, gradually losing points from breaking the rules. Ace goes outside and then critically damages Kanato with a Rider Kick, forcing him out of his transformation.
The second wave is cleared and Michinaga calls Ace out for attacking a player, but Ace reveals that Kanato has been bitten by a Zombie and thus no points were deducted from his score as infected players don't count. Ace was suspicious as to why the Zombies didn't attack Kanato in the warehouse and this was because they saw him as one of their own. 
Kanato complains life is so unfair, giving his backstory: he was a skilled high school basketball player until a truck hit him. He lost the ability to play and his peers eventually forgot about him, taking on new hobbies like watching Neon on social media. He resented everyone and wants all of humanity to suffer because of his misfortune, wishing on his Desire Card to make humanity extinct in his world. 
Neon thinks Kanato could have wished for his body to be healed and continued doing what he loved, but the misanthropic teenager says he doesn't care anymore. Keiwa thought that they could only make good wishes, but Ace says that they can wish for almost anything, referencing the Sengoku period civil wars and how the desire of the military leaders led to the unification of Japan. The others are confused how history has anything to do with the DGP. Tsumuri congratulates everyone for surviving the second wave and saving countless lives, with them returning to the lounge for a well deserved rest. 
After having some iced coffee in the lounge, Neon suddenly gets a fever and collapses, revealing that she was bitten by a zombie and is now infected. Kanato laughs at her suffering and Michinaga says he didn't expect her to last long anyway. Ace reassures her that the game isn't over yet when she begins to feel despair at her predicament...
==Cast==
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*Narration: 
===Guest Cast===
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*High-school girls: , 
*Employee: 
*Butler: 
===Suit Actors===
*Kamen Rider Geats: 
*Kamen Rider Tycoon: 
*Kamen Rider Na-Go: 
*Kamen Rider Buffa: 
*Kamen Rider Mary: 
*Kamen Rider Da·Paan: 
==Forms and Collectibles Used==
===Raise Buckles===
*Buckle Used: 
**Geats
***Shield, Water, Zombie
**Tycoon
***Arrow
**Na-Go
***Hammer
**Buffa
***Zombie, Water
**Mary
***Shield
**Da·Paan
***Magnum
*Form Used:
**Geats
***Armed Shield (Upper half), Armed Water (Upper half), Zombie Form (Upper half), Zombie Form (Lower half; via Revolve)
**Tycoon
***Armed Arrow (Upper half)
**Na-Go
***Armed Hammer (Upper half)
**Buffa
***Zombie Form (Upper half), Armed Water (Upper half)
**Mary
***Armed Shield (Upper half)
**Da·Paan
***Magnum Form (Upper half)
==Errors==
*When Geats activates his Armed Water finisher to flood the room, the Desire Driver exclaims "Water" the first time before correctly exclaiming "Water Strike" when he activates it again.
*In Kanato's flashback, Neon's livestream is shown to be the same stream from the first episode. However, the likes in the first episode are higher than the one in the third, given the timing of the stream.
==Notes==
*As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside episode 29, .
*Closing Screen DGP Rule: 
**Additionally, Tsumuri explains another rule in Keiwa's bedroom at the beginning of the episode: 
*Count at episode end
**Raise Buckles in Geats' possession: Zombie, Shield
**Raise Buckles in Tycoon's possession: Arrow, Boost
**Raise Buckles in Na-Go's possession: Hammer
**Raise Buckles in Buffa's possession: Water
**Raise Buckles in Mary's possession: Shield
**Raise Buckles in Da·Paan's possession: Magnum
*Eliminations: N/A
*Riders Remaining: 6/30 (Geats, Tycoon, Na-Go, Buffa, Mary, Da·Paan)
*This episode features the debuts of Geats Zombie Form (Upper half), Tycoon Armed Arrow, and Buffa Armed Water, as well as the only appearances of Geats Armed Shield and Zombie Form (Lower half).
*Signifying his loss and death in the previous episode, Takahito Taira/Kamen Rider Ginpen has been blurred out in the opening theme sequence. Additionally, a monochrome version of the scene of his death in Keiwa's arms is played in the background. This would become a standard practice for all future eliminated players featured in the opening sequence. 
*When Geats performs his Zombie Strike on Da·Paan, the latter's Rider and civilian names can be seen written on the tombstones. This would somewhat foreshadow Kanato's elimination in the following episode.
*Ace can be seen signing autographs for both John and Ben, which was promptly signed for real using Kan's real name as a gift for Tom Constantine (John's actor).https://twitter.com/TomConstantines/status/1571304600841637890 This autograph board was originally meant to be used to film the scene where John and Ben are running after Neon and Ace, but already contained other stuff such as Kan's autograph on it before filming had started. As such, new boards were used in place for the running scene.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwRsv2gCmus 
==External links==
*TV Asahi's official episode guide for 邂逅Ⅱ：ゾンビ狩り
*KR Official's official episode guide for 邂逅Ⅱ：ゾンビ狩り
*JAE's official episode guide for 邂逅Ⅱ：ゾンビ狩り
Category:New Form Episode