Time flew by; in the blink of an eye, three years had passed since that unforgettable summer for the kids. They had all grown up. Tai had moved on from fifth grade to junior high. Matt had formed a band that was starting to get pretty popular. Sora had joined the tennis club and become one of the main players. Izzy's skills with computers had gone even deeper. Because of her father's job, Mimi's whole family had emigrated to New York in the United States. Joe had been studying hard to get into a prestigious high school and almost never came out to play. Kari had picked up an interest in photography and went out with her camera every day, capturing beautiful moments. T.K. and his mother had moved back to Odaiba.
Meanwhile, the Digital World had undergone a tremendous change. Endless dark clouds blanketed the sky and blocked out the light, plunging the land into a dim gloom. All kinds of Digimon were running for their lives, and behind them strode a figure cracking a whip, with gold–rimmed glasses and dressed all in black, laughing coldly under their breath.
The moment she appeared, the Digimon panicked even more, fleeing while shouting as they ran, "Run! It's the Digimon Emperor!"
With the flick of the Digimon Emperor's whip, countless black rings shot out from a black tower rising up behind her, swirling through the air toward the fleeing Digimon.
Once those black rings, covered in dark Digi-code, locked onto a Digimon, their personality instantly twisted, and they began obeying the Digimon Emperor's every command.
Dark Rings danced through the jungle. Lines of Digi-code flickered across the lenses of the Emperor's glasses as data flowed back to her. Seeing the information being returned, the Digimon Emperor smiled in satisfaction.
Gatomon was sprinting through the forest when one of those Dark Rings came flying straight at her, aiming for her neck. But the Holy Ring on her tail suddenly shone brightly, blasting the incoming Dark Ring to pieces.
Just as Gatomon was checking her Holy Ring to see if it was damaged, a pair of glowing red eyes lit up behind her. It was a Unimon under the Emperor's control.
Unimon: a mythical Holy Beast Digimon born from fusing the data of Pegasus and a unicorn into a Beast-type Digimon. It possesses both the unicorn's horn and Pegasus's wings. With the huge wings on its back, it gallops through the Digital World at incredible speed, its sharp horn on its forehead skewering its foes. Wild Unimon are as temperamental as wild stallions, but once tamed, they can be as loyal as a close companion. Its special move is Holy Shot, a ki blast it fires from its mouth.
Just as Gatomon turned around, Unimon unleashed its special attack, Holy Shot. A powerful shockwave slammed into Gatomon and sent her flying into a tree. Unimon reared up, ready to stomp her into the ground—
"Nova Blast!"
A huge fireball struck Unimon and blew it away. Gatomon followed the arc of the attack with her eyes and saw Greymon, who had just used his special attack, charging to her aid.
"Greymon!"
"Let's get out of here, Gatomon!"
"Right!" Greymon reverted back into Agumon, and together with Gatomon, he bolted from the scene as fast as they could.
Back in the Human World, T.K. was eating breakfast. Today was his first day at his new transfer school, but his mom was too busy rushing to meet a manuscript deadline to walk him there.
He slung on his backpack and headed out. In the elevator, he ran into two kids from an upper floor.
"Good morning," T.K. greeted them cheerfully.
"Good morning," the girl with glasses replied politely.
"I just moved into this building. I'm in fifth grade—Takeru Takaishi, but everyone calls me T.K. Nice to meet you," he introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, T.K. I'm Miyako Inoue from sixth grade. You can call me Yolei. Pleased to meet you." Then she introduced the kid beside her. "And this is Iori."
"My name is Iori Hida. Third grade. Pleased to meet you," he said formally.
After they all finished introducing themselves, the three of them headed to school together.
As soon as he stepped through the school gate, T.K. saw a group of kids playing soccer with great enthusiasm. One of them wore a pair of goggles, and his movements and attitude instantly reminded T.K. of Tai.
Just then, the ball came flying toward T.K. He caught it, and the goggle-wearing boy scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Sorry about that."
T.K. tossed the ball back into his arms and pointed at him. "Those goggles on your head are pretty cool."
The boy froze, stunned—probably no one had ever complimented him like that before. The other kids, seeing him standing there holding the ball, quickly called out, "Hey, Davis! What are you doing over there? Hurry up and get back here!"
Hearing his friends, the boy—Davis—quickly turned, kicked the ball back into the game, and hurried to rejoin the match.
T.K. stood there watching Davis's back. "So his name's Davis…"
When Davis entered the classroom and noticed Kari, his mood brightened immediately. "Yes! I'm in the same class as Kari again this year."
Kari turned and smiled at him. "Then please take care of me again this year."
Davis puffed himself up and bragged, "You know, just now when I was playing soccer, some stranger told me my goggles were really cool!"
"Huh?"
Class started. The teacher walked up to the podium. "Now I'd like to introduce a new transfer student who joined us this term," she said, gesturing toward the door. "Takeru Takaishi."
T.K. walked up to the front and introduced himself. "My name is Takeru Takaishi. Please take care of me."
"As for your seat…" The teacher scanned the classroom. "You can sit next to Yagami."
"Long time no see," T.K. said, greeting Kari as he sat down.
"You've gotten taller," Kari replied with a smile.
That smile made Davis see red. "What the heck? Why is that guy so close to Kari all of a sudden?"
Meanwhile in the Digital World, Agumon and Gatomon finally managed to shake off their Unimon pursuer.
"I've got to hurry and ask Tai for help," Agumon said urgently.
"And I need to let Kari know what's going on," Gatomon added, just as worried.
Suddenly, shrill screams rang out outside.
"That's Tentomon and the others!" Agumon recognized the voices and dashed out.
Outside, Tentomon, Biyomon, and Patamon were fleeing in a panic, with a Snimon bursting out of the jungle behind them.
Snimon: a ferocious and ruthless Insect Digimon, a Perfect-level experimental Digimon created in a Virus Hunter research lab. Built from mantis data, it tracks targets with machine-like precision. Its cold-hearted nature makes even Vaccine- and Data-type Digimon fear it. The scythes on its arms are so sharp they can slice through anything. Though it has no eyes, the crimson antennae on its head act like sensors that let it pinpoint the location of its prey. Under Phantomon's command, it once fought alongside Kuwagamon, overpowering Birdramon and Garurumon. Even after Birdramon Armor Digivolved, Snimon's formidable power still let it suppress it. Its special move is Shadow Sickle, an ultra–high-speed slash invisible to the naked eye.
"Shadow Sickle!"
Snimon swung both arm-blades, sending two slashes streaking toward Biyomon and Tentomon.
"Nova Blast!"
"Lightning Paw!"
Greymon and Gatomon arrived just in time, breaking the crisis and then leading the three of them into a nearby cave.
At that moment, Kari and T.K. were changing shoes at school when a beeping sound suddenly rang out. It came from Kari's Digivice hanging at her chest.
She picked it up; four red Digi-code characters were flashing on the screen. At the same time, T.K.'s Digivice also started beeping.
"Gatomon…" Kari stared anxiously at the Digivice in her hand.
"Patamon…" T.K. gripped his Digivice tightly.
Just then, Davis came running over. "Hey! You!"
Kari turned, a little annoyed, and said to Davis, "He's not 'that guy', his name's T.K." Worried about Gatomon, Kari had no patience to talk to Davis.
"T.K., tell me what's going on between you and Kari!" Davis blurted, flustered and upset.
His question left Kari completely exasperated, and T.K. burst out laughing. The tense mood from moments earlier was completely blown away by Davis.
Ignoring him, Kari and T.K. hurried toward the computer room, and Davis, desperate to "learn the truth," chased after them, repeating, "Come on, tell me!"
Just as they reached the door of the computer lab, they bumped into Izzy.
"Ah, Izumi-senpai!" Yolei said, greeting him warmly.
"Yolei, can I use the computer in the club room?" Izzy asked.
"Please, go ahead, senpai! It's so moving that you still come back even after graduating," she replied enthusiastically.
"Izzy," T.K. said.
"You got the signal from your Digivices too?" Kari added.
"T.K., Kari," Izzy acknowledged with a nod.
The five of them went to the computer lab together. Izzy immediately started typing furiously on the keyboard. "I received a signal from the Digivices. The closest computer at the time was here, so I rushed right over."
"Agumon, are you okay?" Tai appeared in the cave where Agumon and the others were hiding.
"Tai, you finally made it!" Agumon said, overjoyed.
"So this place is…" Seeing the familiar Crest of Courage symbol on the walls, Tai finally realized what cave this was. "The Digi-Armor of Courage. Looks like it really is time to use it."
He placed his hand on the Courage Digi-Armor. The Crest of Courage on it lit up and split into three beams of light that shot out of the cave and streaked away.
Back in the computer lab, Yolei was grinning from ear to ear, peppering T.K. with questions about the Digital World. T.K. had accidentally let the words "Digital World" slip, and now Yolei was pressing him relentlessly. Izzy continued to hammer away at the keyboard as if no one else existed. Kari just stared at T.K. without any sign she intended to explain anything. T.K. could only lower his head and pretend to count ants on the floor, resolutely ignoring Yolei's interrogation.
Davis, for his part, had a faraway look on his face. "I feel like I heard Tai-senpai mention something about Digimon before…" he muttered.
"So," Yolei's smile grew even brighter, "what are Digimon exactly?"
At that moment, Iori appeared in the doorway. "Yolei, you still need to help me fix my computer."
Izzy was watching the Digital World's gate on the monitor when three beams of light suddenly burst out of it and shot straight toward them, landing in the hands of Davis, Yolei, and Iori.
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