HSPC01

**I'm A Hero Girl!? Cure Sky To The Rescue!!** (わたしがヒーローガール！？キュアスカイ参上！！ *Watashi ga Hīrō Gāru!? Kyua Sukai Sanjō!!*?) is the first episode of Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure.

## Info

* Air Date:February 5,2023
* Next:Episode 2
* Previous:None
* Opening:Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure Hero Girls
* Ending:Hirogarism

## Major Events

* This episode marks the debut of *Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure*.
* Sora Harewataru transforms into Cure Sky for the first time.
* This episode also marks the debut of Elle, Kabaton and Nijigaoka Mashiro.

## Synopsis

In a world called Sky Land made up of floating islands, a girl named Sora is standing atop a gigantic talking bird who is flying towards the castle. The bird tells her to hang on to him and asks her if she's not scared. Sora says that if she were really scared, she would never be able to become a hero.

Everyone in Sky Land is celebrating the birthday of the baby Princess Elle. The king and queen are standing on the balcony of the royal palace watching the fireworks while the queen holds the princess. Then, the party is interrupted when a pig man named Kabaton bursts out of a pig-shaped balloon and sets off a smoke bomb. Sora sees the explosion and tells the bird to speed up and fly her straight to the castle. The bird is hesitant, but he agrees on the condition that he'll get out as soon as he can.

Once the smoke clears, the queen finds that she's holding a piglet instead of her baby, and that Kabaton has kidnapped the actual baby. Kabaton encases Princess Elle in a bubble-shaped force field and runs out of the castle with her. The castle guards, who are riding on top of ostriches, try to stop Kabaton, but Kabaton uses his magic to create bursts of smoke that startle the ostriches and make them run away. As Kabaton runs through the city, Sora drops down onto the ceiling of one of the buildings and spots him. She runs across the tops of the buildings, sees that he's carrying Elle, and gives chase.

At the gates to the city, the Sky Land army tries to stop Kabaton. However, he's able to send the entire army flying with a single body blow. He's about to run far away, but Sora has caught up with him and is now standing in his path. Kabaton thinks he'll make quick work of her, but when he tries to attack her, she jumps over him and pushes him from behind, making him let go of Elle and allowing her to catch the baby princess. This causes the bubble around Elle to disappear. Then, Kabaton bends over and farts in Sora's face. The stench is so horiffic that Sora covers her face and coughs, giving Kabaton the opportunity to take Elle back. He summons a portal and jumps in with her. Sora hesitates, but she jumps in after him right before the portal closes.

Sora finds herself in a dark void filled with rocks floating around. Kabaton and Elle are still there. Kabaton says that Sora must be after Elle's power, too. He then collides with one of the rocks, which knocks him unconscious, allowing Sora to catch Elle. Sora comforts Elle and assures her that she'll return her to her parents. As Elle rests her head against Sora's chest, she sees the glowing silhouette of a pen inside of her. Sora then sees the exit to this dark realm, and, assuming this is the way back to Sky Land, she goes through it. However, she finds herself high up in the sky, from where she and Elle fall.

Meanwhile, in Japan, an ordinary girl named Mashiro Nijigaoka is running errands for her grandma. She needs to get rose oil, a cinnamon stick, and a dried frog. Suddenly, a notebook with mysterious writing on the cover falls out of the sky right in front of her, and she picks it up. Shortly after, Mashiro sees and hears Sora falling out of the sky, too. Sora shouts at Mashiro to get out of the way, but all Mashiro can do is stand there and scream. Then, Elle uses a mysterious power to slow herself and Sora down, allowing them to have a gentle landing. Sora yells that Mashiro must be very shocked to have seen somebody fall from the sky, and that she's actually very shocked too. She tries to explain Elle's kidnapping, but it only makes Mashiro more shocked. Then, Sora realizes that she's no longer on Earth. She panics because she doesn't understand what cars and billboards are and assumes she must be in a magical land. In their shock, Sora and Mashiro both assume they must be dreaming. The two introduce each other, and Mashiro says that Sora is now in Sorashido City. Sora notices the notebook that Mashiro is holding and says that it's hers. Mashiro returns it to her, and she's grateful.

Mashiro asks what the notebook says, and Sora's about to explain when Kabaton crash-lands into the street. He wipes his face off and then turns a land excavator into a giant monster called a Lanborg. A terrified Mashiro pinches her cheeks and realizes that she isn't dreaming. Sora tells Mashiro to take care of Elle while she holds off the Lanborg. Mashiro grabs her hand and begs her not to go, and she notices that Sora is shaking with fear. Nonetheless, Sora is determined to do the right thing to the very end no matter how strong the enemy is, because that's the mark of a hero. So, Sora wrenches herself out of Mashiro's grasp and runs towards the monster.

While Mashiro and Elle run off, Sora dodges the Lanborg's attacks for a little bit. She's able to get behind the monster's back, where it temporarily can't reach her. However, Kabaton uses his magic to cause a burst of smoke to appear in front of Sora's face, distracting her for just long enough to allow the Lanborg to knock her down.

Kabaton and the Lanborg are quickly able to move onto Mashiro and Elle. He demands that Mashiro hand Elle over, but Sora limps back on over towards the action. She isn't able to stay upright for long, as she trips over and her notebook falls out of her pocket. Kabaton picks up her notebook and sees that it's titled, "My Hero Notebook". He opens it to see that it's filled with drawings and quotes about being a hero, such as "Heroes aren't afraid of being high in the sky," and, "A hero never abandons a crying child." He mocks Sora's notebook and rips it apart, throwing the scraps in Sora's face.

However, Sora still refuses to back down. She smiles at Elle, assures her once again that she will get her back to her parents, and with much effort, she stands back up. Elle gasps in amazement. Even Kabaton is so intimidated by the sheer force of Sora's will that he hides behind his Lanborg. Then, the silhouette of the pen inside of her heart comes out of her body and becomes real. Elle shouts, "Pretty Cure!" and a laser comes out of her and towards Sora, where it becomes a Sky Tone. When Sora grasps it, it turns from grey to blue. The pen turns into a rod-shaped device called a Sky Mirage. Sora places the Sky Tone into the Sky Mirage and, for the first time, transforms into Cure Sky.

Cure Sky is shocked to have transformed. The Lanborg tries to attack her, and she instinctively jumps high into the air, up above even the tallest buildings, and lands on the roof of one of the buildings. She's surprised and amazed by her power, so she quickly forgets her shock and throws herself all into fighting off the Lanborg. The Lanborg tries to punch her, but she blocks the punch. It tries to throw another punch, but this time she shoves the Lanborg off the building, where it lands right next to Kabaton and knocks him away. Finally, she finishes the Lanborg off with Sky Punch. With no more way to defend himself against such a powerful fighter, Kabaton teleports away.

Cure Sky turns back into Sora, and the Sky Mirage turns back into pen form. Sora asks if Mashiro is hurt, and Mashiro asks the same of Sora. Then, Mashiro asks if Sora is a hero. Sora contemplates this for a little bit and replies that she doesn't know.

## Characters

* Sora Harewataru/Cure Sky
* Elle
* Kabaton
* Lanborg
* Mashiro Nijigaoka

## Trivia

* The first few minutes of the episode was previewed on February 4nd, 2023 during the *At Home Debut Show* that streamed on YouTube.
* **Hero Girl** (ヒーローガール?) is a reference and a play on the series' title, *Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure*.
* The events of the episode all take place on Elle's birthday, meaning the date this takes place is March 12 in universe.
* It is shown that Sky Land is not as technologically advanced as the actual human world.
* When the Lanborg is summoned, someone mentions a site by the name of **CureTube** (キュアチューブ?), which is a play on the words **Cure** and **YouTube**.
* It's revealed that Sky Land has a special alphabet. On Sora's notebook, the script can be translated as "My Hero Notebook".
* The illustrations in Sora's diary are drawn by Kazumori Haruyama, who also designs the Lanborgs.
	+ One can notice a monster resembling a Zakenna in one of the illustrations.
* In the ending, the mirror displays nothing.
* Kabaton breaks the fourth wall by calling Mashiro a side character who tries to act tough.