Tai was still turning over countermeasures. If they couldn't solve this alone, they'd need allies. On File Island, the one who left the deepest impression was the so-called champion of justice—Leomon. But Leomon alone wouldn't be enough; at best he could check Ogremon. There were also Meramon, Frigimon, Centarumon, Unimon, and the like. Most of the kind Digimon on the island could be won over, and they did help the kids when they fought Piedmon later. Besides those Champions, though, File Island also had two Ultimates: Toy Town's mayor, Monzaemon, and the factory's guardian, Andromon. Monzaemon's combat power was on the low side—Togemon defeated him easily. That was partly because he'd been under the control of a Black Gear. Andromon's combat power, on the other hand, was terrifying. Tai still remembered: even while controlled, Andromon could hold off Greymon and Garurumon, and as an Ultimate he could even trade blows with the Mega Piedmon; he only lost in the end to that handkerchief trick from Clown Trick. If Andromon could be persuaded to join their side, then even without Angemon there was still a good chance of defeating Devimon. But Andromon had declared he would guard the factory and didn't leave with the kids—talking him into it would be hard.
If Agumon could evolve naturally to Ultimate, defeating Devimon would be easy. But natural evolution to Ultimate wouldn't happen in a short time. Boiled down, it meant: tons of battle experience. This world was game-like in its logic. Leomon evolving into SaberLeomon was proof enough—Tai boldly guessed: the Crests enabled Super Evolution but weren't strictly required; so long as there was the Digivice's light, a Champion could keep evolving beyond. Of course, that meant natural evolution—without enough accumulated experience, reaching Ultimate would still be difficult even with the Digivice.
But as for Agumon… Tai glanced at him. They'd fought so many battles, yet in the original story Agumon stayed Agumon; even after defeating two of the Dark Masters, he still couldn't remain as Greymon for long—why? If the partners were "capped" at Rookie, that wouldn't explain how Salamon naturally evolved into Gatomon. So that cap shouldn't exist.
Thinking of how Gatomon had been drilled by Myotismon until she evolved, continuous combat should sustain it. If Agumon could naturally reach Greymon, then with the Digivice's boost, pushing on to Ultimate wouldn't be impossible. MetalGreymon? MetalGreymon…
MetalGreymon was a mechanized modification. Machinedramon, legend said, was an Ultimate modified into a Mega… Wait. A flash like lightning split Tai's thoughts. The idea was outrageous—but the more he considered it, the more feasible it felt. The Digital World's "matter" is data, but not only data. Gabumon's pelt, for example—though part of his evolved form—had been used by Matt as a blanket. The many times the real world was damaged in the original also proved how blurry the line between data and matter was here. The Black Gears, the Digimon Emperor's Evil Rings, even Lillymon's flower wreath—these could all control Digimon. "Equipment," whether innate to an evolved form or artificially made, was still just equipment.
If the "modifiers" could build a monster as strong as Kimeramon, why couldn't he do something similar? Modifying Greymon wasn't out of the question. The raw materials in Andromon's factory would be enough; if he could win Andromon over, they could copy the super-alloy patterns on his body and armor Greymon as well. MetalGreymon was, after all, a Greymon who turned his own body into a weapon for battle. Getting stronger didn't have to mean evolution alone. Recruiting allies, evolving naturally to Ultimate, reconstructing Greymon—these were all ways to break the current deadlock.
Thinking about Devimon made him sigh. "What a fool," Tai judged him inwardly. "He relied too much on external crutches like Black Gears and neglected his own power. He fixated on his growing darkness and ignored how the kids kept getting stronger."
If he'd gone after the kids the moment they arrived on File Island, there wouldn't have been a story. Even if the kids had the luck to evolve all seven partners to Champion at once, a handful of Champions with zero familiarity with their strength still wouldn't trouble Devimon much. But he waited until the end for them to come to him.
"Agumon—are you asleep?"
"I'm not, Tai."
"There's something I want to run by you."
"What is it?"
"Come here a sec."
"What's up, Tai?" Agumon stood and padded over as he spoke.
Tai pulled a notebook computer and a scanner from his pack and started hooking them together.
Agumon watched, puzzled. "What are you doing, Tai?"
Tai dusted his hands. "Okay—stand right there and don't move."
"Mm."
Watching the data fluctuate on the screen, a smile bloomed on Tai's face. "Just as I thought." Beneath Agumon's profile was something very much like an experience bar. He plugged the Digivice into the laptop (Izzy had done the same in the original), then overlaid the Digivice's data onto Agumon's. As expected, the "experience bar" filled in one go. "So the Digivice really can catalyze a short-term evolution," Tai murmured, eyes fixed on the display.
Agumon stared at him, the question marks only growing.
But then Tai's thoughts widened to the Digital World's roots: "In the primordial age when this world was born, two wills that determined its course struggled against each other: the will of 'Evolution' (i.e., Yggdrasil) and the will of 'Non-evolution' (i.e., Apocalymon). 'Evolution' prevailed, and the world became what it is now; the defeated 'Non-evolution' was sealed beyond the Firewall by that era's DigiDestined and their partners. Because they were too few, the seal could not be complete, so their partner Digimon willingly evolved into the Four Holy Beasts—the Digimon Sovereigns—to protect the Digital World.
"Those two wills originally had no bodies. The will of 'Evolution' was the virtual consciousness that, in late Adventure (dynamic balance), borrowed Kari Kamiya's body to communicate with the children.
"The will of 'Non-evolution' stewed in its seal for ages until one day Nanomon breached the Firewall. It slipped into a world governed by 'Evolution,' lurked, and while quietly absorbing data to give itself form, it secretly took control of four Digimon—the Dark Masters. Nanomon also coded the Dark Spiral Mountain program according to the ancient apocalypse and handed it to them.
"The Dark Masters sealed the Four Holy Beasts who had once guarded this world and built Spiral Mountain. Under the 'Non-evolution' will's influence, they ruined Primary Village, and when Spiral Mountain collapsed, the 'Non-evolution' will, having absorbed enough data, finally took on a body…"
Even after Apocalymon fell, normal evolution still stalled—so the new kids in Adventure 02 had to rely on Ancient (Armor) Evolution. Only after receiving Azulongmon's power did normal evolution resume. And the Firewall still had to hold back the Dark Ocean's encroachment. After Apocalymon's defeat, the burden of shielding against the Dark Ocean had grown brutal; Kari had been abducted by it once. Tai clenched his fists. He would never let that happen. Since being reborn, he'd grown to love his little sister all the more; he would never allow the Dark Ocean to touch her. A thought flashed through him—and he immediately rejected it.
"Not unless there's absolutely no other choice."
Evolution was the Digital World's only reliable path to strength. Reconstruction existed, but it suited only larger Digimon; small ones couldn't withstand heavy modifications, and the power gain was minimal. So right now he had to find a way to make Agumon evolve naturally to the Champion Greymon; then that large frame could handle serious reconstruction—and the power jump would be more than "a little."
Andromon's steel factory was an opportunity. It should hold a trove of data on Machine-type Digimon, and Andromon was friendly to the DigiDestined. Getting the reference materials shouldn't be hard at all.