Episode 09 - Let's Ride It! A Big Wave

Let's Ride It! A Big Wave (乗っちゃお！ビッグウェーブ) is the ninth episode of the Aikatsu on Parade! anime series. It aired on November 30th, 2019.

Summary
Now aboard Neo Venus Ark, Raki and the others were held custody, being assumed that they were intruders. There, Sāya, who heard about the rumors of the "Idol Pirate" had also come on board. The rules in order to get off this boat is apparently a stage battle against a legendary idol...!?

Plot
Arriving on a large ship in the middle of the sea, the girls spot Ichigo nearby an she mentions following them through the door. Just then, three large sailors an an older man show up and he sends the men after the girls believing they are intruders. As Ichigo apologizes for startling them the sailors approach the girls and lock them in a dark room full of supplies, with the older man promising to let them out at the next stop.

The four girls helplessly wonder where they are at when a fifth voice surprises- with Raki shocked when she realizes its her older sister and unable to talk until Ichigo assists her to ask why Saya is there. She confesses that she came upon hearing about "Idol Pirates", and when she realized they were in trouble she sneaked into the room to help them. Raki, Aine, and Mio begin panicking at the prospect of dealing with pirates, but Saya eases their worries and uses a Master Key she obtained to hack into the locking system of the door to open it. Before going she hands the girls school uniforms in order to blend in with the others aboard the ship.

Meanwhile, four girls begin a performance, where they sing "Bon Bon Voyage!". Among the audience is Mikuru, who rushes to Elza's side to compliment how much she enjoyed the performance. Elza introduces Mikuru to Kirara, Rei, and Aria, and Mikuru goes on to compliment how cool her ship is. She recalls meeting Elza when she suddenly showed up in her flower shop one day, but before they ca say anything else, the older man comes inside to let her know about the intruders.

As this is going on, Aine, Mio, Ichigo, and Raki are led around the ship by Saya, who explains its purpose of traveling the world in search of other talented idols. But suddenly, Ichigo bumps into a big burley man and introduces herself in English to him, and the man seems to understand and he leaves without any suspicion. Ichigo explains how she learned to say English, and excited by this, Aine and Mio begin imitating her as Raki runs after her siser when she sees her leaving the hall. She follows Saya to a room full of books and observes her taking notes as she asks about her Aikatsu Pass and its abilities. Saya simply states what she already knew, that she was experimenting with it to see if it could lead to other Aikatsu, and it has thanks to her. Raki angrily chews her out for using her as a test and she follows her around the boat when she heads to a room full of plants and begins taking pictures. Raki reasons that while she is able to meet new idols and see wonderful clothing, its been a big inconvenience on others suddenly showing up the way she does; not only that, but she can't tell when she will go home.

Saya reasons she doesn't have to worry anymore, because by now she won't need her Aikatsu Pass to travel between Starlight School or Four Star Academy. She'll be able to meet as many idols as she wants with no problem. Raki thinks this over and seems to understand that before, these idol worlds were separated, but now they have come together. For a moment she's happy about this, but Saya refuses to say anything else and tells her sister to just enjoy herself.

The three sailors from earlier come by the dark room the girls were thrown inside when they realize they're gone. In a panic they run off to try to locate them.

Meanwhile, Raki runs around the deck trying to find Saya again, who walked off while she was distracted. Just then she walks right into Elza, and immediately becomes anxious as Elza seems to note something about her being unusual. This causes Raki to fear the worst, and just then the sailors have found Ichigo, Aine, and Mio and brought them to her. Elza's butler apologizes for not being able to find the fifth intruder but Elza is appeased, taking note that the four girls before her are idols. The girls are curious as to how she could tell when Rei and Mikuru approaches, with Rei introducing Elza and her ability to sense other idols. She goes on to introduce Mikuru, but the girls are surprised upon realizing she and Ichigo already knew one-another, having come from the same location. They are very happy to see each other, with Mikuru revealing that someone else is nearby. She leads Ichigo to the side an calls out to someone, and Ichigo is shocked discovering Mizuki.

They call out to her and explain who she is to them, and Elza gets an idea. She approaches the girls and decides that as long as they abide by her rules and compete on stage against WM, they can disembark freely. She chooses to have Raki compete against them as the newest idol among the group, saying that should she lose, she will do whatever she wishes with her.

Mizuki joins the girls and in another room, Mikuru explains that Elza attempted to scout her, but she turned down the offer. Mizuki admits she didn't expect a performance battle already, but Raki is very worried that she can't manage to perform against them, being capable of telling they are very strong idols. She tries to assure them its a lucky situation though, because its not something like this that happens every day. To ease her anxiety Ichigo admits that it seems like fun and asks to join her, recalling that Elza never said she had to perform alone. Raki feels much better knowing Ichigo will be by her side, and Mizuki and Mikuru are very happy to see this.

As this is going on, Kirara, Rei, and Aria spy on them and wonder if they could really pull off forming a unit at the last second. Rei seems confident though, and they continue watching as the girls do some last-minute training.

Eventually the performance battle begins, with both Yuri and Juli acting as MCs for it. First WM change and appear on stage to perform "Smiling Suncatcher". Their performance wows the girls of Venus Ark.

Afterwards, Juli and Yuri introduce the brand new formed unit of Ichigo and Raki, Lucky Strawberry. They appear on stage and perform "Admired Customization☆", with similar results.

While both Units evenly tie, WM manages to just slightly overtake Lucky Strawberry. Despite this the girls of Venus Ark enjoyed their good teamwork and liked the performance.

In the waiting room the four girls exchange hands and converse about how much fun they had. Just then Elza shows up, reminding Raki of what she said earlier. But to Raki's shock, "having her way with her" meant just making her leave the ship. She deems her unworthy of sailing with her, but the other three were perfect. The girls feel bad for her but Raki agrees she has a point, which is why she has to continue working hard. Elza confesses that she was inspired watching them perform however, and she is sure they will meet again sometime. With that she leaves the room, and the six girls take off on a smaller boat.

As Mikuru and Mizuki have a conversation while steering it, the girls make conversation with Raki wondering what happened to Saya. Raki isn't sure but she knows she will be okay.

Just then, Mio gets a call from Tamaki and realizes they were out of range. She has been calling, trying to get in touch with the girls to see where they are at. As Mio tries figuring it out, she is shocked upon recognizing the familiar surroundings, and she stands up to point out their school in the distance.

They head to the school and to their shock, they find several girls from the various idol schools interacting with each other. She recalls what Saya told her and brings out her Aikatsu Pass, which is now stuck permanently glowing. As the girls worry about what is going on, Saya is shown observing them from a distance wondering if Raki can succeed.

Characters

 * Raki Kiseki
 * Aine Yūki
 * Mio Minato
 * Elza Forte
 * Kirara Hanazono
 * Rei Kizaki
 * Aria Futaba
 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Mizuki Kanzaki
 * Mikuru Natsuki
 * Sāya Kiseki
 * Yuri Ashida
 * Juli Liszt
 * Grandpa
 * Tamaki Enjōji (voice)

Trivia

 * The unit Lucky Strawberry makes its debut in this episode.
 * As of this episode, Aikatsu!, Stars! and Friends! universes already connected and idols from each universe can meet each other.