Wisemon

"All right, leave it to me!"

Before Tai and the others could say anything, Wisemon rushed past them alone and charged at Drimogemon!

"Core Dart!"

It was just a casual strike, not even enough to count as skill practice, yet Drimogemon's gear shattered, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Whoa... are Perfect-level Digimon really this powerful?"

Seeing how far Wisemon's combat strength surpassed Drimogemon's, Tai felt a flicker of belated fear.

If this was the true strength of a Perfect-level Digimon... then we must have been unbelievably lucky to survive Andromon and Monzaemon...

Tai could hardly be blamed for feeling that way. In the original story, when they were first on File Island, Tai and the others had no idea how terrifying Perfect-level Digimon were. Only after reaching the Server Continent and being repeatedly thrashed by Etemon did the group gain a clear understanding of their combat strength.

Later, they even encountered Myotismon, a Perfect-level Digimon whose strength approached the Ultimate level. By then, Tai and the others barely had time to run for their lives, let alone dwell on how close they had come to death against Andromon and Monzaemon.

"Damn it, how is he so strong? Andromon and Monzaemon were Perfect-level Digimon too!" Behind Tai, Matt was also stunned by Wisemon's terrifying strength. Unlike Tai's belated fear, however, what he felt most was envy that Zhou Zhu had such a powerful Digimon partner.

This guy didn't even have a Digivice, yet somehow he'd gotten this ridiculously lucky...

"Palmon, when will you become that strong?" Looking at the powerful, handsome Wisemon, Mimi turned to Palmon beside her with anticipation written all over her face.

"Once we get the Tags and Crests, I should be able to, right?" As Palmon spoke, she was already imagining herself becoming a Perfect-level Digimon.

Hopefully, I won't turn into something like Cactuar again...

"All right, that's taken care of. You can all look for the Tags now without worrying." Looking at the unconscious Drimogemon, Zhou Zhu chose not to finish him off. After all, this was the world of the first Digimon series, not the third or fourth, where killing enemies could release their data for the victor to take.

"O-okay, let's split up and search. Shout if anything happens, and don't go too far." The thought of finding the Tags soon made Tai grow excited.

Perfect-level Digimon... rather than envy Zhou Zhu, I should hurry up and find the Tags and Crests. Then my Agumon will be able to digivolve to the Perfect level too.

Now, though, Tai finally understood how Zhou Zhu had felt back when he and Candlemon watched Agumon and the others digivolve into Champion-level Digimon.

After everyone searched all over, it was Yuramon who finally found the box containing the Tags in a corner.

"Are these the Tags? They look exactly like the ones old Gennai showed us."

Izzy gazed curiously at the seven Tags in the little treasure chest. Were these what would let Tentomon and the others digivolve to the Perfect level?

But... as Digimon, shouldn't they be able to digivolve even without these things? Wizardmon never used anything like them before.

And why can our Digimon partners only remain at the Rookie level normally? Zhou Zhu's Wisemon can stay in his Perfect form all the time.

Power doesn't just disappear for no reason. After all these battles, even Zhou Zhu's Candlemon has digivolved into the Perfect-level Wisemon. Surely my Tentomon should at least be able to remain in his Champion form?

The only difference between us and Zhou Zhu is our Digivices.

Could it be!!!

Tentomon and the others' power is sealed inside the Digivices? Even the power they build up again gets transferred into the Digivices, which is why they can never maintain their Champion forms for long.

Come to think of it, Tentomon was originally the In-Training Mochimon. Once he digivolved into Tentomon, he stayed in that form. So there's nothing wrong with Tentomon and the others themselves. The problem is... the Digivices!!!

Having pieced it all together, Izzy looked at the Digivice in his hand and felt an inexplicable chill.

His friends were all celebrating their discovery of the Tags, but he could not bring himself to feel happy.

No one noticed Izzy's silent expression. Instead, they cheerfully distributed the Tags and returned to Whamon, continuing toward the Server Continent.

A few days later...

"It's already our fifth day at sea." Everyone else lay listlessly on Whamon's back, resting, but Tai was still enthusiastically scanning their surroundings with his Monocular.

"We should be there soon." Whamon's deep voice sounded again in response to Tai's remark.

"Huh? Over there... is that the Server Continent?" Barely paying attention to Whamon's answer, Tai had already spotted the faint outline of a distant coastline through his Monocular.

"Yes, that's it!" At the same time, Whamon spotted the distant coastline too.

"Great, we're here! Everyone, wake up! We've reached the Server Continent!" Hearing Whamon confirm it, Tai hurriedly woke his napping friends with delighted cries.

"What's going on? Why are you so loud?" Hearing Tai's excited voice, Matt complained with a deep frown.

"What? What about Thai cuisine?" Having just woken from a deep sleep, Joe misheard Tai's words about the Server Continent as "Thai cuisine" because they sounded similar...

"Not Thai cuisine. The Server Continent. We've reached the Server Continent!" Zhou Zhu, who was using Wisemon as a sunshade nearby, corrected Joe with a slight smile.

"That's right, we've reached the Server Continent!" Although they had not yet reached shore, Tai was already waving his arms and bouncing with excitement.

"Mimi, Mimi, wake up! We've reached the Server Continent! The continent! The continent!" Hearing everyone talking, Palmon hurried to share the good news with Mimi, who was still fast asleep.

"Taiyaki? Cake tastes better!" Still dreaming, Mimi once again misheard "continent" as something else.

"Hahahahaha!"

Seeing Mimi act like that, everyone burst into laughter, though their happiness at seeing land was an even bigger reason.

"All right, we're here! I never realized how good it feels to have solid ground under my feet. Come on down, everyone." Tai, the first to scramble ashore, turned back and motioned for his friends to jump down from Whamon's back.

Tap, tap, tap...

Everyone climbed down one by one, until only Mimi remained. She was a little afraid of heights.