In any case, let's start by setting a small goal:
Half the Royal Knights will someday be my alternate forms!
This "small" goal might seem absurdly arrogant, but it wasn't entirely impossible to achieve.
After all, the saying "All things begin with Koromon" wasn't merely for show. Digimon evolution paths formed a web, not the simple linear routes like some other franchises. Indeed, starting from a Koromon, it was entirely possible to evolve into forms occupying at least half the Royal Knights' seats.
Zero could clearly recall every single one of those evolutionary routes. At least he knew exactly where to direct his efforts.
Of course, simply knowing these routes didn't mean much on its own. After all, just the eight original Chosen Children alone could form half a Royal Knights team.
Never mind Tokomon's route—she could even evolve directly into Lucemon. Seriously, if you could evolve into Lucemon, who in their right mind would choose the Angemon route? With Lucemon's strength, the entire Adventure plotline could be steamrolled, with only Apocalymon being a slight headache.
Naturally, such a scenario was impossible. Even with your toes you could figure out the terrifying price a Tokomon would have to pay to evolve into Lucemon.
At any rate, Zero had absolutely no idea what on earth the first Tokomon that evolved into Lucemon had experienced. (Since the route exists, it means some Digimon once completed it. Zero isn't surprised by Lucemon originally being evolved froma Tokomon;he's amazed at the first-ever Tokomon who actually opened up this route. Seriously, what traumatic event made that Tokomon decide to go this route in the first place?)
So, naturally, the most realistic first path before Zero was the classic Greymon evolution line.
This wasn't merely compromising for efficiency's sake; even purely in terms of raw power, the Greymon route was incredibly reliable—especially the iconic Mega-level WarGreymon.
It possessed two legendary artifacts: the Brave Shield and the Dramon Killers. Though the Brave Shield rarely saw much action in the anime, it was still undeniably powerful.
As for the terror of the Dramon Killers… well, no need to elaborate. Like he always said, type advantage was a divine blessing!
In a world full of bizarre dragon-like Digimon, having "anti-dragon" Dramon Killers was practically an official cheat code.
If WarGreymon hadn't had both Dramon Killers and Kari's divine power buffs, how could he ever have challenged Machinedramon alone?
Moreover, WarGreymon was essential fusion material for creating Omegamon—the "Final Holy Knight," famous for his chronic overtime in the Royal Knights. If Zero wanted to leave his mark in the Royal Knights, this was a route he absolutely had to pursue.
Now that his evolution path was crystal-clear, the next steps were even simpler…
…Clinging to powerful thighs!
That's right—hugging thighs!
Right now, Zero was just a newly evolved Koromon, who had barely reached Agumon stage. His heart might be as big as the sky, but his life was thinner than paper. Just within this Digital Forest alone, two reinforced platoons' worth of Digimon could effortlessly murder him. If he didn't attach himself to someone powerful and simply trained on his own, he could end up mysteriously dying to some random AoE attack someday.
Sure, Digimon theoretically didn't experience true death. At worst, you'd just respawn at Primary Village after a brief countdown—alive again and ready to try once more.
But resurrecting from a DigiEgg usually meant losing all your previous memories, aside from rare cheats. Zero wasn't even certain if he'd retain his precious human memories if he died now and resurrected again.
His memories were already fragmented enough; barely anything remained of his human identity—he'd even forgotten his own name. If he died again, how much of his remaining memories would survive? Zero didn't dare think too deeply about it.
Thus, for survival's sake, he had to hug thighs. A certain famous strategist Liu had already perfected this art, setting an outstanding example for Zero.
"…Now, as for whose thigh to cling onto… This is File Island. Naturally, the strongest power here should be Devimon."
But this option was clearly a pass. After all, defying natural laws rarely ended well. Devimon was the boss of Adventure's starting area, undeniably powerful. He fought six Champion-level Digimon at once without breaking a sweat, only finally defeated by Angemon who literally sacrificed himself exploiting an attribute advantage.
That record alone stood proudly above most other foes in the entire Adventure series. Digimon partnered with the Chosen Children were always significantly stronger than average. Yet Devimon faced six at once, and still required a direct type-counter to trade one-for-one. He clearly exceeded the average strength of most Ultimate-level Digimon.
Strong as Devimon was, he wasn't a good thigh to cling to. Putting aside the uncertain future, Zero was far too weak right now. If he eagerly ran off to serve the starter-area boss, what if Gennai marked him on some blacklist?
You could defy the protagonist, sure, but rarely with good outcomes. This was basically a natural law. If you refused to believe it, by all means give it a try—but in most cases, challenging natural laws wasn't recommended.
Besides, how could Devimon possibly care about a mere Rookie-stage Agumon? He'd probably just toss a Black Gear at him casually.
Therefore, Devimon was absolutely out. In fact, he was the biggest obstacle to Zero's ambitions on File Island.
Given that, only one choice remained!
Andromon, guardian of the Unmanned Machinery Factory!
As an Ultimate-level Digimon, he was undoubtedly a big-shot in this era, and his fighting strength was unquestionably solid. Even by the end of Adventure, during the Dark Masters arc, Andromon still managed to make an impression, proving just how powerful he was.
Moreover, he was clearly a friendly NPC on the protagonist's side. His personality was unmistakably lawful-good; he wouldn't casually blast someone just for minor disagreements.
From every angle, he was the best thigh available in File Island's starter zone…
Having set his goal, Zero didn't waste even a second. Brimming with fiery enthusiasm, he immediately set off toward his envisioned beautiful tomorrow.
…After passionately trudging through the Digital Forest for about half an hour, Zero suddenly realized a serious problem.
…Which direction was the Unmanned Machinery Factory again?
Yes, he didn't even know exactly where the factory was—only that it was on File Island somewhere.
"Damn it… my very first step toward a bright future, and I already twisted my ankle!!"
Well, nothing left but the dumbest method: carpet-searching.
File Island wasn't huge. Even elementary-school kids had walked across the entire thing easily. Theoretically, even circling the entire island wouldn't take too long.
But having his initial passion cooled by a bucket of ice water, Zero's enthusiasm obviously dimmed. Soon after, he felt hunger gnawing at his stomach.
"…"
Thankfully, finding food in the wild wasn't difficult. Everything in the Digital World was made of data, Digimon included. Meaning, if you weren't picky, you could literally survive eating grass. Tasty or nasty, once swallowed, it was all absorbable data.
Filling his stomach wouldn't be difficult, but Zero didn't particularly want to munch grass. He wiggled his Koromon body's rabbit-like ears, raising them high like antennae to pick up sounds around him.
With hearing far superior to a human's, he quickly noticed the sound of running water nearby.
Catching a few fish to satisfy his hunger sounded far more appealing than eating grass.
Thinking this, Zero hopped swiftly toward the source of the water sounds. After about ten minutes of moving through dense trees, a beautiful clear-blue lake suddenly appeared before him.
So easily finding a water source… seems a Digimon's senses aren't bad at all…
…But before Zero finished admiring this, he heard loud splashing, and saw a whirlpool abruptly appear in the lake. A small figure was being dragged toward the center.
"?!"
Zero stared, dumbfounded. Within moments, the struggling figure broke free from the whirlpool, turned around sharply, and shot out a burst of deep-blue flames.
Now Zero clearly saw its appearance—a small Digimon covered in blue-and-white striped fur, with a bright yellow horn atop its head.
He recognized it immediately.
…A wild Gabumon!
Gabumon had broken free and counterattacked, but his flame was quickly extinguished by surging water. Then, Zero saw a long, serpentine silhouette spiraling upward from beneath the lake's surface, parting the waters as it emerged.
It was a slender, sea-serpent-like Digimon, easily several times larger than Gabumon. Even from afar, Zero felt his DigiCore pounding fiercely in alarm—warning him of a far superior opponent.
Zero instantly identified this Digimon: a Data-type Champion-level aquatic Digimon… Seadramon.
Data-type, Champion-level, and aquatic—basically, it was a complete counter to both Zero and Gabumon right now.
Can't beat it, sorry to bother, bye now!
Without another thought, Zero immediately turned to flee.
Behind him, Seadramon opened its jaws wide, unleashing a high-pressure water jet at Gabumon. Gabumon desperately countered with fire.
Yet the power difference was obvious. Gabumon's signature Blue Blaster didn't hold even a second against Seadramon's attack, immediately overwhelmed. Gabumon screamed miserably, flying through the air and slamming hard onto shore.
Hearing Gabumon's scream, Zero didn't hesitate at all. Fighting unwinnable battles was stupid, plain and simple.
Sorry, wild Gabumon, you're just unlucky—
At that instant, a thought exploded through Zero's mind like lightning:
…Wait—wild Gabumon?!
For an Agumon, what did a wild Gabumon represent?
Zero's eyes instantly turned green with envy. He stopped fleeing, DigiSoul erupting outward, covering his spherical body.
"…Screw it, stupidity it is!"
KOROMON—DIGIVOLVE...