Knights of the Digital World

Pumpkin Beast and Mineral Beast started chatting away, and before they knew it, they were having a great time, standing up and dancing a strange dance.

The Crescent Garurumon watched the two of them goofing around speechlessly, but for some reason, it didn't dislike them at all. In fact, it found them quite interesting and felt a strange connection with them.

So, after the two of them finished their self-congratulatory escapades and calmly knelt down again, he said:

"Alright, I accept your surrender. Come over here so you don't get caught in the crossfire."

"That's great! Thank you!"

Pumpkinmon and Goremon cheered and ran to sit behind CrescentGarurumon's right leg, chatting happily and occasionally bursting into laughter.

Gatomon looked at the two clowns, then at its own position being held upside down, paused for a moment, and asked:

"Can you put me down? This is so weird! I promise I won't run away."

Upon hearing this, CrescentGarurumon also felt somewhat uneasy. Gatomon was still their future partner, and treating them this way did seem a bit inappropriate. He didn't say anything more, dissipated the energy in his hands, and Gatomon and Wizardmon finally regained their freedom, moving their bodies on the ground.

While CrescentGarurumon was distracted, the other children had already directed their partners to wipe out the Digimon army under Myotismon's command.

The factory, riddled with holes from the chaotic battles fought between Ultimate, Perfect, and Champion-level Digimon, was now a shadow of its former self. The afternoon sun streamed into the factory, dispelling the gloom and bringing warmth to the children.

Everything has come to a temporary end.

Chapter Seventeen Gatomon

"Shibuya-style Digimon?! Is there such a category as Digimon?"

The children stood around the Pumpkin Beast and the Ore Beast, scratching their heads, their faces full of confusion.

"Yes, yes, we are!"

"That's right, that's right, we're the trendsetters! Long live Shibuya!"

Pumpkin Beast and Mineral Beast were not intimidated at all, loudly proclaiming their ideas with pride.

"This is a headache... What should we do with these two? They don't seem like bad guys... What do you guys think? Or should we ask the Dark Ship to send them back to the Digital World?"

Taiyi scratched his head and asked the other children.

"Huh? (||??Д??) Wait a minute, we haven't been to Shibuya yet! We don't want to go back like this!"

"That's right! How could the Shibuya-type digital monsters not have been to Shibuya? Please let us go to Shibuya and have a look! This is our lifelong request!"

Pumpkin Beast and Mineral Beast were initially horrified, then immediately performed a full-blown prostration, begging the children not to send them away.

"..."

The children looked at each other speechlessly; this was truly the first time they had ever encountered a Digimon like this.

However, they don't seem to mind.

"Or... how about we send them to Shibuya to check on them? They look so pitiful..."

A-Wu said in a low voice. The children also shared their opinions:

Ahe: "My brother is always right."

Sora: "It does seem harmless. It shouldn't hurt anyone."

Meimei: "After looking at them for a while, they're actually kind of cute~ I vote for them!"

Aju: "But what if they get lost? Shibuya is so big, what if we can't find them? We can't just leave them in the human world forever, can we?"

Koushiro: "I can implant a location tracking program in them. That way, they won't have to worry about getting lost."

Taiichi: "Alright. Since everyone's said so, Pumpkinmon, Goremon, we can give you two days to go to Shibuya and have some fun, but remember not to reveal your identities and don't hurt any ordinary humans!"

"Great!"

Pumpkinmon and Goremon cheered with joy. After calming down a bit, they received the Izzy implantation program while patting their chests to assure each other that there would be no problems.

Then, under the children's watchful eyes, they happily skipped away.

"Next... is Gatomon's turn. I wonder where Agumon and the others are in the story?"

Taiyi exhaled and led the children to the other side.

After defeating Myotismon and his army, the children are going to see their last remaining friends. Before that, they need to find out about Tailmon's situation. At the very least, they need to make her understand her identity.

However, besides Pumpkinmon and Goremon, the children also needed to be taken care of first. So, it was decided to let Agumon and the others talk to Gatomon first.

Judging by the time, we should be almost done talking.

…………

"I am... the Digimon partner of the eighth child? I bear the mission of saving the Digital World? Waaah... my head... it hurts so much..."

After hearing Agumon and the others reveal her true identity, Gatomon was momentarily bewildered. While serving under Myotismon, she had been forced to commit many wrongdoings. Those actions had absolutely nothing to do with her identity as a savior.

However, after listening, a large number of memory fragments surfaced in Gatomon's mind, causing her head to throb with pain, making her writhe on the ground in agony.

"Gatomon! How are you, Gatomon?!"

Wizardmon, who had been listening quietly to the side, suddenly changed his expression and anxiously approached Gatomon, shouting as he did so.

"I'm fine..."

Gatomon had recovered from the pain. She sat on the ground, waved to Wizardmon, looked at the seven Digimon in front of her, and whispered:

“I remembered a lot of things. My identity, my duties, and my partner… but… I was tortured by Myotismon for a long time, and some memories are blurry. Like who my partner was… I can’t remember anymore. However, Myotismon gave us a copy of the badge before, which can be used to find my partner.”

When the children arrived, they saw Gatomon remove its gloves to prove its words, revealing hands covered in whip marks. The shocking wounds changed the children's attitude towards Gatomon, and they felt even more pity for their unfortunate companion.

"You don't need to worry about your partner. We already know who the eighth child is. We're going to see her now, shall we go together?"

Sora bent down and spoke gently to Gatomon.

Gatomon's ears twitched. Without batting an eye, he put on his gloves and, barely containing his excitement, said:

"Let's go together then... Wait!"

Suddenly, Gatomon seemed to remember something. It twitched its nose twice, ran to the side, rummaged around in a black coffin that had been shattered by the aftershocks of the battle, took out a badge pendant, and then hurriedly ran back.

"This is the Emblem of Light, my partner's emblem. It was hidden by Myotismon for a long time, but thankfully it wasn't lost."

"Well done, Gatomon," Tai praised, then said to the others, "Is there nothing else? Let's set off now!"

"Waaaaah—"

As Taiichi spoke, the ship's horn sounded, and the Dark Ship slowly approached the children. Emu leaned against the window and said:

"Get on board, the Darkship will take you to your destination."

"Emu, how did we perform before?"

The children asked Yongmeng with playful laughter.

Emu had told them beforehand that he and Ruki wouldn't be involved this time. This battle against the Vampire Beast could be seen as a small test, and he would use this battle to see the children's progress. So as soon as he appeared, the children couldn't wait to ask him questions.

"Excellent! You all did a fantastic job! Our special training paid off!"

Having witnessed many interesting scenes up close, Emu was in a good mood and didn't hold back her praise. The children listened with a mixture of joy and embarrassment, giggling as they boarded the Dark Ship.

Only Gatomon and Wizardmon were still unclear about why the children were so happy. However, they were newcomers who had joined the team later in life and had previously been on the opposing side, so they dared not say or ask anything, and simply did as they were told.

However, after boarding the Dark Ship and knowing that she would soon see her long-awaited partner, Gatomon couldn't calm down. A surge of emotions welled up within her, causing her to wag her tail incessantly, a mixture of excitement and a touch of fear for the future.

What kind of person will my partner be? I can't wait!

Chapter 18 Yagami Hikaru

"Keep your voice down... there's someone in front of us!"

"Don't push, don't push!"

"Ugh, my clothes are all wrinkled!"

"I told you to keep your voice down!"

"Agumon, move a little further in!"

"My tail! My tail! Don't step on my tail!"

"There's no one here! Come quick!"

The children formed a circle, shielding the Digimon from view. They moved cautiously, even somewhat furtively.

Fortunately, the children were lucky, and the large group arrived at Tai's house without any major incident.

Taiyi looked at the familiar gate, let out a long breath, and felt a surge of excitement. He strode forward, pounded on the gate, and called out:

"Hikaru, open the door! It's me, Taiichi! I'm back!"

A moment later, the front door of the Tai family's house creaked open, and a short-haired little girl wearing a pink scarf and a whistle stood in the doorway, holding the doorknob and smiling.

"Brother, you're back. And Agumon is here too... Ah, are these your friends? Please come in."

Hikari opened the door, making way for them to enter. The children didn't stand on ceremony, saying "Excuse me" as they went in with their Digimon partners, filling Tai's fairly spacious living room to the brim.

Tai and Hikari, as the hosts, were the last to enter. As soon as they entered the living room, Hikari curiously looked at Gatomon, who was staring at her, and asked:

"What's your name? I feel a strange sense of closeness to you."

Gatomon clutched her chest, a strange blush creeping across her face. She, too, felt an inexplicable urge to be close to Hikari the moment she saw her. She had secretly looked at the replica of the badge Vampire had given her, and its constant flashing confirmed Hikari's identity.

However, Gatomon was still hesitant, unsure how to start a conversation with Hikari. Unexpectedly, Hikari took the initiative to speak to her, which immediately excited Gatomon, who stammered:

"Hello, Hikari! I'm Gatomon! I'm your partner! Ah, here's a pendant for you. This is your Crest of Light; it has amazing power..."

"Thank you."

Xiao Guang took the badge pendant, looked it over, and then hung it around his neck. Then he asked:

"The partner you mentioned before... is it like the relationship between you and Agumon? Brother, is that why your friends came to our house?"

"Yes, Xiao Guang. Listen carefully to what I'm about to say."

Taiichi patted Hikari's head and told her everything that had happened, also introducing her to the identities of everyone present.

Hikaru maintained a smile throughout, except when Taichi shyly introduced Sora as his girlfriend, at which point his lips twitched down and his gaze became somewhat resistant, but he quickly returned to normal without being noticed by others.

"So, I'm also a chosen child? Gatomon is my partner? I'm also going to save the Digital World?"

Hikaru listened quietly to Taiichi's narration, extracted the key points from his words, and asked a question.

Taiichi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Normally, yes. However, our current strength is already quite considerable. If you don't want to, Hikaru, that's fine too..."

"No need, brother, I'm willing."