Sora ran across the soccer field, kicking the ball as she sped up. She noticed she had an open shot, so she took it. Yet another practice goal! Her teammates cheered and the ones closest to Sora ran to give her high fives. Based on the way practice was going, there was no doubt in Sora's mind that they were going to win their game tomorrow. Sora continued being congratulated until a whistle blow silenced the group. It was their team captain, Yuka.

"Okay team! Good practice today! Now, I'm fully aware that we're going against our rivals tomorrow. But, we've practiced hard and we are doing very well this season. I think we have a good chance of winning. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves, I don't want any of you showing up tired or anything. Together now... Shizen Town Academy...." Yuka began, huddling the team together. They all joined hands and shouted together "GO! FIGHT!"

When the cheering stopped, everyone looked at Yuka, smiling. She smiled back, signaling that the team members could go home for the day. Sora grabbed all her stuff and ran to the locker room, beating everyone there.

"Geez Sora! Are you in a hurry or something?!" Izumi said, catching her breath. Miyuki was close behind Izumi when the two caught up with Sora.

"I'm just excited! We're doing great and we have a good chance of winning tomorrow!" Sora said. "Plus, Emiri is coming to the game and she's never been to one! I'm excited to see her~!"

"Ohhhhh that's exciting!" Miyuki said, her eyes sparkling.

"Right? I just have to be at the top of my game tomorrow, I've told Emiri that I'm one of the star players and everything. And I really want to live up to that, you know?" Sora looked at her two friends, she seemed a little less excited than before.

"That makes sense, but I'm sure you'll do fine Sora. It's not like you to be a little nervous." Izumi said, putting her arm around Sora.

"I guess you're right. And hey! I'm not nervous at all! When was the last time you've seen me nervous before a game?" Sora claimed, standing confidently.

"Well... I don't exactly remember but it has been a long time!" Miyuki said, putting her finger to her chin as if she was thinking.

"Exactly! Everything's going to be fine tomorrow! I feel it!" Sora said, leaving the school with her friends following. Even if she seemed excited and confident, there was still just a tiny bit of insecurity in Sora's mind. She had to do her best, she had to help her team win.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Tornado practiced some combat moves alone, furious that he only had one chance to prove himself. How did he fail so badly? He couldn't wrap his head around it. The more he tried to understand, the more rage he was filled with. He couldn't help himself anymore. Tornado was so furious that he punched the wall in anger.

"I have to stop them today! I have to! I'll destroy an entire town if it means the Precure are gone!!" He yelled out, not caring if anyone heard him or not. He continued shouting to motivate himself when a couple familiar voices spoke out.

"Awww it's a shame that you're so close to dying... I really thought you could follow a simple order. Taking the keys from those stupid Precure shouldn't be that hard!" Naru teased, revealing herself from the shadows.

"And it'll be even more of a shame when me and my sister will surpass you and do what you couldn't. Time is running out, you'd better plan your next attack. Because it could be your last." Tsunami said. He and Naru circled around Tornado, making him feel uncomfortable. But Tornado was not about to show his fear, especially to some children.

"You kids better stop threatening me! You know I could beat you in a fight any day!! I got this under control okay? You don't need to mess with me anymore. I'll come back with that key and everyone will praise me as a hero!"

Naru and Tsunami slowly backed away, their fun was ruined for the day.

"Okay, sure... whatever" Naru sighed. She and Tsunami then disappeared, most likely leaving the room. Tornado got back to his training, hoping to make himself just a little more powerful.

It was probably nighttime by the time Tornado decided to stop. He had no way of knowing how much he improved or if he even improved at all. He walked past a room where something caught his attention. It was some kind of crystal, it seemed pretty powerful. He decided to grab one in hopes of creating a KuzuBug that could overpower even the most powerful attack the Cures had. He didn't know how effective it would be but it was worth a shot. He'd do whatever he could to let Pollution take over the earth.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

The next morning, Sora met up with her teammates at the school. They all got in the bus and left to go to their game at an arena in the city where their rival team goes to school. Everyone seemed excited for the most part, they all had a feeling that things would go as planned. But there was a little bit of uncertainty as well, it just wasn't as noticeable.

Sora finished pulling her hair back and then looked at herself in a mirror. She took a deep breath.

"It's okay Sora, you're going to do the best you can today! Emiri is going to be there cheering you on, and you will help your team win!" She whispered to herself.

"Sora! Do your best!" A voice cheered, causing Sora to jump and scream.

"AHH! E-EMIRI?! How'd you get in here? Only the team is supposed to be in this area!!" Sora panicked, still shaking.

"Oh, I didn't know that. I'll make this fast! I found a little something in my backyard that I thought you might need today!" Emiri explained. She pulled something out of her pocket and handed it to Sora. Sora looked and realized that she had a four leaf clover!

"Wow! Thank you Emiri! This means a lot! I'll be sure to do my best!" Sora gave Emiri a hug before Emiri left to find a seat in the crowd. Sora felt a lot better now.

She then joined the team again as they huddled together, motivating each other and cheering.

"Shizen Town Academy... GO! FIGHT!"

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

The game was starting. Crowds were cheering as the teams lined up across from each other on the field. The referee gave a few signals and soon the game started. The other school had control of the ball so it was up to Sora to work on the defense.

Sora ran past the person kicking the ball, hoping to try and take control but she soon was blocked by another opponent. Thankfully one of her teammates came and helped out, managing to get the ball from the other team.

"Don't worry Kato! At least we can try and get the first goal of the game!" Her teammate said, kicking the ball while Sora ran beside her. She then kicked the ball over to Sora, who kicked it into the goal. They now had one point! So far so good! I think Emiri's clover is working! Sora thought to herself, feeling relieved that she wasn't as nervous as she was the day before.

The game continued at a steady pace, the ball went back and forth between the teams, switching rather quickly. Sora then managed to get the ball from the other team. She ran down the field, trying to get close to the goal. But she soon realized that the girl she just got the ball from was running behind her.

"I'll get that back! I'm going to make sure we win!" The girl mumbled to herself. She then ran ahead of Sora, blocking her from getting near the goal.

"Hey!" Sora yelled, she was confused. No one ever tried to block her like this before. What was this girl's problem?

Sora was trapped, she had no idea what to do. Nobody was there to try and help her out. She saw Yuka but she knew there was no way she'd get the ball over to her. She had no choice but to kick it towards the goal, only for it to miss and end up in control with the other team.

Sora started feeling frustrated. How did that happen? She never missed a goal. Not even in practice. For someone who had played soccer since age 5, never missing a goal was something that made Sora feel proud of her skills. Now, she couldn't say that she's never missed a goal. It upset her a lot.

After missing the goal, the rest of the first half became difficult. The other team was now winning by three points, and Sora wasn't doing nearly as well. When the first half was over, Sora sat down on the bench, frustrated and exhausted. She grabbed her water bottle and dumped some of it on her face before drinking more of it.

"Hey, Kato?" Sora looked up, it was Yuka. She seemed worried. Sora scooted over so Yuka could sit with her.

"Kato, is everything alright? You seem upset by something. I've never seen you like this."

"Yeah, I'm a little upset. I can't remember the last time I ever missed a goal, so I just feel like I'm off my game a little bit. It didn't help that I was cornered before missing that shot either." Sora explained, looking down at the ground.

"I see. I'm sorry about that. I know it's frustrating. Believe me, I've had mistakes like this in games before as well. We'll make up for it in the second half okay? I believe in you, Kato." Yuka said, smiling. She put her hands on Sora's shoulders, making Sora feel just a little more hopeful.

"Senpai... thank you! And yeah, I'll be sure to help us win in the second half!" Sora jumped up from her seat, feeling more self assured.

"Of course! I'm your captain, I have to make sure all my teammates are okay, you know? Now come on, let's get the team together before the second half starts." Yuka got up and began walking towards the team, Sora followed her.

The team got together and started cheering each other on. But before they could even start the next part of the game, a large gust of wind blew through the stadium.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

An alarm filled the stadium sending the crowd into a panic. Announcements went off telling people to find shelter as soon as possible. As people ran, the winds became stronger and more powerful, starting to blow people off their feet. Sora and Emiri watched people evacuate, knowing what was coming. They were going to have to stay behind. And fight. They watched the wind circle around, turning into a tornado.

"The Precure are here huh? So, it looks like this will be an unforgettable fight! What do you think of my powered up KuzuBug? It's creating a huge tornado! Be careful, you may get blown away!" Tornado laughed like a maniac while the KuzuBug started destroying the stadium.

This was not how Sora expected her game to go. The wind knocked her and Emiri over as they struggled to crawl towards each other and transform.

"This wind! It's so strong! Emiri, throw my Commune! I'll try and catch it!" Sora said.

"Here!" Emiri pulled Sora's Nature Commune out of her uniform blazer's pocket and tossed it to Sora. Sora was barely able to grab it, but she managed to catch it.

"Precure Nature Flash!"

The duo transformed, briefly putting a stop to the winds. They landed on the ground, introducing themselves like every time before.

"Striking in the Great Forces of Nature! Cure Lightning!"

"Bringing Nature's Sweet Scent! Cure Ginger!"

"Guardians of nature, protecting the earth! Sweet Nature Precure!"

The moment they finished introducing themselves, the wind instantly blew them off their feet and back onto the ground. Lightning and Ginger both tried using their attacks against the windy KuzuBug, but to no success.

"Our attacks aren't working! What should we do?!" Lightning asked, panicking and hoping that Ginger could come up with some kind of strategy.

"I don't know, but we have to try and do something to stop the wind! It just sucks that none of our powers are working against it!"

Tornado laughed again, happy that he had been successful thus far. He kind of did enjoy watching the Precure struggle to fight back. It made him feel significantly more powerful, almost like he was invincible.

"Try all you want, Precure... but you won't be able to win! I have the power now! Which means I will get your key!" Tornado continued taunting the Precure, bragging about how powerful he was. His words made Lightning angry. Lightning started to feel electricity flowing through her.

"You... how dare you talk about being powerful like that... that isn't even your individual power! There's clearly something powering up the KuzuBug you've made!! And I will do what I can to find it and destroy it!!" An electrical blast shot towards the KuzuBug. Lightning stood up, surrounded in an electrical surge. She was powered up now. She ran towards the KuzuBug creating a trail of lightning.

She jumped onto one of its arms and started dodging attacks Tornado threw at her. Ginger watched in amazement from the ground. She slowly stood up as well, letting her power flow. She eventually leaped into the air, joining Lightning to find the source of the KuzuBug's powers.

While they shot attacks at Tornado, something caught Ginger's attention. It was a crystal thing that was in the KuzuBug's back. That must be why it's so powerful! I wonder if that means it's also a weak spot!! She thought.

"Lightning! There! That crystal... it's what's making it so powerful! I think if we destroy it, it might weaken the KuzuBug!" Ginger explained quietly. Lightning looked at her and grinned.

"Okay! Well it's worth a try!" Lightning said. She jumped onto the KuzuBug's back, and performed one of her attacks.

"Precure Lightning Strike!"

She kicked its back, destroying the crystal, breaking it into shards. The moment the crystal shattered, the winds stopped.

Tornado didn't realize what happened right away, but he soon caught on and became irritated.

"What?! How did you know about the crystal?! That's not possible!" He started getting really upset, there was no way he would win now.

Lightning and Ginger jumped off of the KuzuBug's back and landed onto the ground. They then joined hands, ready to finish off this fight.

"Together! Our powers as one! Precure Nature Blast!"

Their combined powers hit the KuzuBug and Tornado in a beam of light. The KuzuBug was defeated but Tornado decided to try and fight back one final time. He shot a blast of wind and leaves at them.

"I'm not giving up just yet! You still don't have my key!" He shouted.

"And we're not giving up either!!" Lightning shouted back.

"Yes! We're going to stop you so Sora can finish her game!" Ginger yelled.

They squeezed each other's hands, making their powers even stronger. The final blast of power caused the key hanging around Tornado's neck to fly off and land on the ground. Tornado didn't even notice.

Tornado flew backwards, landing on the ground. He looked absolutely distraught.

"No... no no no no no!!! I CAN'T LOSE!" Tornado pounded the ground in anger. He was on the edge of losing it. He tried getting up and mumbled a lot of things that neither girl could understand. He soon disappeared into thin air.

"What was that all about?" Lightning asked. She looked down at the ground, and noticed the key. It was almost like the one Skyla had, but had a leaf shape at the end. "Hey look! We got the key!" She picked it up and showed it to Ginger.

"Wow! This is great! But what do we do with it?" Ginger thought for a minute. Before she could continue wondering, Skyla appeared with a little chest with locks in it.

"Here ~Sky! I know what to do with the key ~Sky!" Skyla said cheerfully.

"Ohhh! Do you put it in this chest or something?" Lightning asked, looking at the chest. She noticed that there was already a key inside it, that must've been the one Skyla kept from getting stolen.

"Yes ~Sky! Put the key into the lock ~Sky!"

Lightning inserted the newly retrieved key into one of the locks. A small glow came from the chest.

"Ah! It did something!" Lightning jumped back a little bit.

"That just means that Nature Kingdom is one step closer to being saved ~Sky!" Skyla announced.

"Really? That's so good to know!" Ginger smiled before picking up Skyla and giving her a hug.

"Oh yeah! We need to get back to the game!" Lightning yelled. She looked around to see that the stadium was no longer destroyed. The girls ran out of the stadium, returning to their civilian forms.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

After a little while, everyone returned to take their seats and the team met together. They could finally finish their game.

Sora felt much more pumped up than before, she even felt inspired to say some things to motivate her team.

"We're gonna make a comeback you guys! I feel it~!" Sora cheered. The group all continued cheering before it was time to start the game up again.

Sora felt much more at ease than she did in the first half. She quickly scored a goal within the first five minutes. Another one of her teammates also managed to score a goal, and then Yuka also made another one as the game continued. The teams were now tied. With two minutes remaining, Sora knew they only had a little bit of time to win.

She took a deep breath, as she watched the other team kick the ball. As soon as it got close to her, Sora took control of the ball and ran down the field, keeping control of the ball. When she stopped, she was a lot further from the goal than she expected, she only had one chance to make a shot. Sora closed her eyes and kicked the ball.

The ball flew through the air, over the heads of all the players on her side of the field, and then landed in the goal. The crowd went insane. Sora's teammates began cheering loudly. Sora couldn't believe what happened. She just won the game, and in mere seconds before the timer hit zero.

"I did it... I DID IT! YAY!" Sora jumped up and down, she was beyond excited about what happened. She then was lifted up by her teammates as they celebrated winning. Emiri even ran down from the crowd to give Sora a hug. It was really the best feeling ever. Between winning back one of the keys, and beating their rival team, Sora was on top of the world.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

A hysterical Tornado returned to Pollution, and to his displeasure, a crowd of people were there waiting for him.

"Congratulations Tornado, you failed." Tsunami said sarcastically, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Now, we knew you weren't going to win so we've already finished planning your final punishment!" Naru continued, smirking as she walked alongside Tornado.

"What?! No, give me one more chance please!" Tornado pleaded.

"I don't think we can, you lost your key." Quake said. Tornado finally noticed that the Precure took back one of the keys. He was shocked.

"NOOOOO! How could they do this?!" He yelled.

The crowd finally stopped in the throne room. Their king sat on his chair, and he looked at Tornado disapprovingly.

"Well Tornado, I'm rather disappointed in you. I shouldn't have left it to you to try and defeat the Precure. You will now pay the consequences for your failures."

"Please... your majesty... give me one more shot!! I'm begging you!" Tornado got to his knees and pleaded for his life to be spared.

"You idiot... you know we won't do that. Now sit in that chair." Hurricane said, pointing to a chair. Tornado refused to sit down so he was forced into the chair and chained up. He couldn't move. There was no escape now.

"You know what to do, shock him." The king said, signaling Hurricane to flip a switch. Electricity then flowed through Tornado's body, and not like the way it flowed throughout Cure Lightning. His body couldn't take it. He never spoke another word. While he was being shocked, Tsunami, Hurricane and Quake watched with satisfaction. Naru watched for a moment but then looked away. The thought of being shocked like that made her uneasy.

When it was complete, Hurricane turned to Naru and Tsunami.

"Hey, I have a mission for you two. Since you're the closest in age to our enemies, I want you to go to their town and spy on them. Pretend to be their friends. Especially you Naru, I think you have the best chance of getting close to them. If you two can get close, you can take back those keys they stole. They'll never suspect it." He explained.

"Yes sir! I will do what it takes to stop those stupid girls!" Tsunami said.

"Me too. I won't disappoint!" Naru said.

"Good, you should go as soon as possible. The sooner you get close to them, the faster we will win." Hurricane claimed.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

And without another word, Tsunami and Naru disappeared. They reappeared in Shizen Town, it was the evening so hardly anyone was around. They transformed into civilian disguises, mainly so they could blend in. The two looked at each other and smiled.

"You're so cute with your twintails, sister!" Tsunami teased.

"Yeah, whatever... we need names by the way. Hmmm I think I'll call myself Suzuko. You?"

"I'll go by Sho, that's a simple enough name right? And for our surname..." Sho looked over at a nearby house plaque that said "Morino" on it.

"How does Morino sound, Suzuko?" Sho suggested.

"Morino Suzuko and Morino Sho... I like it. It works." Suzuko said, smiling. "Well then Sho, we have some business to do!"

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Authors note: wow I'm not good at writing sports games XD but hopefully you enjoyed this anyway! The next few episodes are going to be really exciting and I'm really looking forward to writing them. Thanks for reading as always!