That summer, the global climate turned bizarre.
During a summer camp hosted by Odaiba Elementary School, a sudden flurry of heavy snow, thick as goose feathers, blanketed the entire campsite. Not only that, but an aurora appeared in the sky.
By the hand of fate, seven elementary students gathered together to witness this irrational phenomenon and summoned the Seven Dragon Balls...
Ah, no.
Actually, seven Digivices traveling from another world fell at their feet, leading them into that mysterious Digital World.
And so, the story begins.
...
"Tai, Tai..."
"Who's calling me?" Tai, with his Goggles perched on his forehead, opened his eyes. He sat up and scanned his surroundings, only to recoil in shock at the sight of a strange, small yellow dinosaur-like creature beside him.
"Wh-What on earth are you?"
"I'm Agumon, and I'm your partner, Tai!"
"You can talk? And you know my name?" Seeing that Agumon didn't look like a vicious creature, Tai relaxed slightly and asked, "Why do you say you're my partner?"
"Because you are my partner!" Agumon answered innocently.
Since Agumon couldn't provide a clearer explanation, Tai stopped asking. He suddenly remembered the other kids who had come here with him and began to search for them.
"None of these trees look familiar..."
Driven by their Bond, the seven children soon gathered together, each accompanied by a peculiar creature.
"Let's see. There's me and Agumon; Matt and the furry Gabumon; Izzy and the beetle-like Tentomon; Sora and the bird-like Biyomon; Mimi and the plant-like Palmon; Joe-senpai and the seal-pup-like Gomamon; and finally, T.K. and the chubby Patamon."
Tai counted them off one by one and concluded, "I got that right, didn't I?"
"That's right!" Agumon and the others chimed in unison.
"What kind of creatures are you? Where is this? And how do we get home?" Izzy, the resident intellectual, immediately fired off three soul-searching questions.
"We are Digimon! This is the Digital World where we Digimon live. It's completely different from your world, Tai!" Agumon replied.
"What? Another world? Does that mean we can't go back?"
"Are you kidding me? I want to go home!" Mimi, the little princess, began to wail.
"You can go back, Mimi," Palmon comforted her, shaking Mimi's arm.
"Then how?"
"If you defeat the dark forces of this world and restore the Digital World to its original state, you can go home. Probably."
"What do you mean 'probably'? You aren't even sure?" Tai said, annoyed.
"Well, that's just what we've heard."
"Alright, even if what you say is true... we're just a bunch of elementary schoolers. How are we supposed to help you defeat this dark force?" Matt raised a doubtful point.
"I know the answer to that! You rely on the Digivices in your hands," Biyomon raised a wing to answer.
"You mean this?" Sora picked up the device clipped to her belt.
"Yes!"
"A Digivice?" Izzy examined it but found nothing particularly special about it.
Off in the corner, Gomamon stared at the sky, puzzled. "Strange. Why hasn't it come yet?"
"What hasn't come?" Joe, standing nearby, overheard him.
"Uh, well..." Gomamon stammered, unable to find a suitable excuse.
Gabumon came to his rescue: "It's Kuwagamon. You guys made quite a ruckus when you landed; it's likely been alerted."
"Right, right! That's exactly what I meant," Gomamon secretly gave Gabumon a thumbs-up. Gabumon returned a look that said, "Be careful."
"Is Kuwagamon a Digimon like you guys?"
"It's the most aggressive and brutal Digimon in this forest. But don't worry, if we work together, we can easily drive it away."
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard the frantic fluttering of wings.
"It's here! Kuwagamon is coming!" Instead of being afraid, Agumon and the others were eager for the fight.
Tai didn't even need to pull out his small telescope; they could all see two massive red stag beetles flying toward them from the distance.
"Eh? Why are there two of them?" Agumon was stunned, his previous confidence vanishing instantly.
The Digimon glanced at each other, the image of a certain Digimon flashing through their minds: 'This has to be its doing!'
"Patamon, are you okay?" T.K. asked.
"Okay my foot! Run, hurry!"
"Eh?!"
The group of humans and Digimon fled in a panic. The two Kuwagamon pursued them from behind, their massive mandibles clipping through every tree trunk in their path like giant scissors.
If these children hadn't maxed out their Agility stats, they would have been sliced in half long ago.
After running out of the forest, they found themselves standing at the edge of a cliff.
"Oh no! There's nowhere left to run!" It was too late to turn back; the two Kuwagamon, each the size of a house, were already nipping at their heels.
"There's no other way. Brothers, let's go! Let's take them down!"
"Right!"
With a wave of his small hand, Agumon led Gabumon and the others to face the enemy.
"Pepper Breath!"
"Blue Blaster!"
The Digimon unleashed their signature moves, striking the two Kuwagamon and temporarily halting their advance.
"Agumon!" Tai watched the battle anxiously, wishing he could rush in and help them.
"They said we could rely on the Digivices… how exactly do we do that?" Matt gripped his Digivice, his expression frantic.
In terms of sheer size, Agumon and the others were clearly no match for Kuwagamon.
Sure enough, those attacks failed to seriously injure the Kuwagamon. Instead, they only enraged them. Flapping their wings, the beetles charged, sending Agumon and the others tumbling head over heels.
"Dammit, two Kuwagamon are just too much to handle," Agumon winced in pain, inwardly cursing a certain Digimon who loved causing trouble.
Seeing the two Kuwagamon returning for another strike, Agumon gritted his teeth and turned to Tai. "There's no choice. We'll stay and hold these two back. Tai, you guys run for it!"
"How can we just leave you behind?" Steeling his resolve, Tai picked up a jagged stone and hurled it at a Kuwagamon, shouting, "Hey stupid! Come and get me!"
The Kuwagamon hit by the stone immediately abandoned Agumon and turned to chase Tai.
"Agumon, now! Concentrate your power and take one out!" Tai ran in the opposite direction, luring the other one away.
"Tai, be careful!" Sora and the others cried out in worry, though they didn't dare rush out like Tai had.
Tai had overestimated his own movement speed. Before he had gone far, he was overtaken, falling into a desperate situation.
"Tai!" In this moment of crisis, Agumon cast aside all distractions. Regardless of anything else, Tai truly was the partner he had been waiting for all this time!
His sincere emotions caused the Digivice to emit a brilliant light. Agumon successfully Digivolved into Greymon.
As a fellow Champion level, Greymon felt no fear toward Kuwagamon. Fighting one against two, he easily repelled them. However, because his movements were too forceful, the cliff couldn't withstand the pressure. They all fell over the edge.
Having completed his mission, Greymon de-Digivolved back into Agumon.