The little brown digimon known as Kyougumon woke up from his cave, it was a small cave located in a hill in the forest south of New Alexandria. He started at the sunrise.

"What am I?" he said. "Where am I? I don't know what's going on." He started to concentrate, visions came to him, visions of strange looking people traveling. He then felt uncomfortable, he didn't understand what it was but something was not right to him, he didn't like the feeling. Then visions of numbers came to his mind, thousands of numbers to which he could not make any sense out of. The numbers took shape and became beasts. A strange new land was in front of him, all type of creatures roamed in it, most of them were little, but some of them went through instant transformations and suddenly became bigger and/or more powerful. Those that did not were not adapting well to their changing land, many of them died, some of them tried to find a way out but only found more suffering in their quest. The feeling that made him uncomfortable became stronger, it was almost unbearable. "Who am I? Am I one of them?" he couldn't understand his own existence.

A geodude was going around searching for rocks to eat. He noticed the little creature and his curiosity got the best of him, he got close to look at him.

Kyougumon looked at the geodude, for some reason he knew he wasn't like the ones he saw in his visions. He needed to learn more about it. He shot a green beam from his eyes and hit Geodude, his body started to turn into wireframe, he then started to disappear line by line. Kyougumon suddenly got the following information: "Geodude: Found in hills and mountains. Mistaking them for boulders, people often step or trip on them." He knew that information did not come from his analysis, he had it somewhere stored in him, but he didn't know how he knew such a thing. From his analysis he could feel the geodude's need for food, he felt his fear for water, he's wishes for somebody to become his trainer. Yet he was not able to understand these feelings, but he did like them. Somehow that made the other feeling subside, but not disappear. "I must learn more." He then flew away in search of other things to study.

In the town of Highthorn there was a small yet fancy house usually used for special town guests. Inside it was princess Garnet, she was looking out the window.

"Up already?" came a voice from behind her.

Garnet turned around and saw Zidane "Oh? Um... yeah."

"You look tired, that kind of ruins the whole point of what we did."

"I'm sorry, I didn't sleep well because I was worried about my people."

"Oh come on, it's not like Alexandria is going to fall down just because you're missing for a couple of days. If anything comes up I'm sure Dr. Tot can handle it."

"I guess you're right. But I feel guilty about lying to my people. Why did you tell me to do such a thing?"

"I told you that you need a vacation, but if you tell everyone you are going on vacation people want to know where you're going and how to contact you if you're needed, and because they know you're not busy they try to contact you for every silly little thing that happens."

"But..."

"No buts, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but I guess I have no choice."

"Do what?"

"I'm going to have to teach you how to relax."

"Teach me how to relax? Everybody knows that."

"Everybody thinks they know, you don't know."

"How can you say that?"

"You didn't sleep thinking about your people, if you know how to relax how come you're tired?"

"Um..."

"See? You don't know how to relax. Relaxing is not wasting your time and goofing off, it's letting go of your daily worries and enjoy the moment any way you like."

"OK, I think I understand."

"We have to take your mind off Alexandria." Zidane said "I know! I'll take you swimming!"

"I'm not a great swimmer."

"I'm not taking you there to show off, swimming is a great way to relax."

Suddenly the sound of metal clanking was heard behind the wall, then there was a knock on the door.

"Gee... I wonder who it is." Zidane said sarcastically "Why did you have to bring HIM along?"

"He insisted, I couldn't refuse. Come in Steiner."

Steiner opened the door "Princess, I need to know what your schedule is going to be, at what time are we meeting this person?". He then noticed Zidane was in the room. "YOU! What are you doing in the Queen's room!? Just because of her affection to you doesn't mean you can simply walk in here!"

"Hey Rusty calm down, I'm not doing anything wrong."

"It doesn't matter, you have to show more respect!"

"It's all right Steiner." Garnet said.

"I'm sorry highness, now please inform me of your schedule. Beatrix and I want to be ready for anything."

Zidane was surprised "You mean Beatrix came too!?"

Garnet sighed.

"Let me guess, she insisted too."

"Do you think the Queen's security is something to take lightly?"

"Steiner..." Garnet said with her head down.

"Highness?"

"There's nobody to meet here, there is no political business to take care of."

"What? Then why are we here?"

"Um... I came on vacation."

"Vacation? But my highness..."

Zidane smiled.

"Why did you lie to me my highness? I feel so disgraced..." Steiner looked at Zidane "YOU!!! you corrupted the queen and made her do this!"

"Hey! Don't make such a big deal about it. She hasn't relaxed since... heck I don't know if she has ever relaxed. Why don't you and Beatrix take the opportunity to relax too? I can even arrange for some special treatment for you guys, if you give me a chance she'll fall for you in no time."

Steiner turned tomato red, after a while He started hopping in anger like only He knows how, He made a lot of noise with his armor. "How dare you imply that we knights take our job so lightly!? We cannot relax when the queen is in such danger!"

"Will you stop jumping like that? The noise is awful. In any case what danger are you talking about? That maybe a butterfly will come in, step on her head and crush her?"

"I'll let you know this island has mostly pokemon in it, so it would be a butterfree instead! and those things can be dangerous."

"Oh sure, like we're always hearing about all the people dying from butterfree attacks." Zidane looked at Garnet. "Hey I know, it's not everyday we see pokemon. Why don't we go pokemon watching, it should be interesting."

Steiner was getting angrier. "You're not taking the princess anywhere! I'll also have you know that the ultimate challenge is talking place in this island. So who knows how many dangers are around here."

"I know the ultimate challenge is taking place here. Freya, Vivi and Quina are participating. I took her here in hopes that maybe we could see them and say hi."

"It would be so nice to see them again." Garnet said.

"Well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to wish master Vivi some luck. But that's still no excuse to bring the princess here!"

"Hey Rusty! Don't you want Garnet to enjoy herself for a moment? She needs it!"

Steiner thought for a moment... He looked at Garnet "Highness?"

"I think I do need to relax a bit."

"Very well... I shall let her enjoy herself. But we'll keep an eye on her at all times."

Zidane said "Fine!!" He then mumbled "There goes my private time with her..."

"What you say!?"

"Nothing..."

Minako was in a small tower above the swamp.

"Good morning and welcome to the ultimate challenge! The blue team made it to the swamp since yesterday and have just woken up. Beruche and Mimi didn't seem to pleased about their situation, but at least they found the courage to come here. So far I haven't seen any giant snakes, but I doubt they'll be lucky enough not to see one. Let's watch how they are doing."

Ranma-chan was leading the team, the place was too humid to stay dry.

"I hate this!" Mimi said "I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! I hate this!"

Ranma-chan stopped and said "Will you quit it?"

"But it feels awful, I hate to be so dirty!"

"I'm sorry Mimi." Vivi said "but I agree with Ranma. It's getting a bit annoying."

"Poneee!!"

"Even Ponyta is annoyed..." Ranma-chan said.

"Can I at least get one more?"

Ranma-chan and Vivi said at the same time "All right..."

"I really really really really really really really really really really hate this."

Palmon said "Wow Mimi, you really know how take advantage of everything, but I think this place is really great."

"You mean you like it here?"

"Yes, I'm very comfortable."

Vivi said "I suppose the atmosphere is optimal for her nature."

"Whatever..." Mimi said. "You better enjoy it while you can because I'll never take you to a place like this ever again!"

"Can we go on now?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Wait!" Vivi said "What about the others? I thought they were right behind us but they should have caught up by now."

"Yeah you're right." Mimi said "What is taking them so long?"

Ranma-chan, Vivi, Mimi, Palmon and Ponyta went back in search for the others.

Beruche, Kari and Gatomon were not far behind, but Kari was sitting on a small patch of dry ground while Gatomon and Beruche where in front of her.

"What's going on?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Kari doesn't feel well" Beruche said "and she has a fever."

"I'm all right." Kari said "I don't want to slow the team down." But her condition was clear, she was sick.

"Oh dear..." Mimi said "I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what?" Beruche asked.

"Kari tends to get sick often." Gatomon said.

"One of those kids with low defenses huh..." Beruche said. She took her face close to Kari. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry." Kari said with her face down.

"It's times like this I wished I knew white magic." Vivi said.

That gave Beruche an idea. "Hey Vivi, would white magic make Kari feel better?"

"With white magic she would be cured completely."

"In that case we should take care back to Eiko."

"No way!" Ranma-chan said "we would lose a whole day of progress."

Beruche got angry. "Ranma! how can you be so insensitive!? don't you care about Kari?"

Ranma-chan felt a bit sheepish."I guess you're right this time, let's go back..."

"At least we'll be getting off this swamp." Mimi said.

Ranma-chan and Beruche helped Kari get on top of Ponyta.

"Poneeeee!!!"

"Ponyta says He is real glad to be of help." Gatomon said.

"Thank you Ponyta." Mimi said.

They Blue Team was on their way back when suddenly from out of the bushes a white face with a long tongue peeked out.

"Ahhh.." Beruche said "It's Quina!"

"Mimi!" Ranma-chan said "Why didn't you tell us the red team was coming back!?"

"But my digivice didn't show anything."

"Um... guys?" Vivi said "I don't think that is Quina. S/He is not dressed the same. Must be another Qu."

"Another Qu?" Palmon asked.

"They do live in places like this."

The Qu came out. "Who are you?"

Ranma-chan spoke. "My name is Ranma and we're just travelers passing by."

"You should not be here, this place be dangerous."

"What are you talking about?" Beruche asked.

"Big snakes around here! We have to hunt in big groups in other to catch them."

"Snakes!?" Mimi said "AHHH!!!"

"Do not shout, that only attract them."

Beruche and Ranma-chan placed their hands on top of Mimi's mouth.

"Um... could you please tell us your name?" Vivi said.

"I be Qwolin. I chief of Qu village."

"The chief?" Ranma-chan asked "What are you doing out here?"

"I not understand, I still in village." Qwolin opened the bush He came out of and the Blue Team saw a whole lot of Qu's behind him, a small village made mostly of wooden houses could now be seen.

"Oooh.." Gatomon said.

"Listen.." Beruche said "Our friend is sick. Could you help us?"

"Maybe, maybe not, you want to see village doctor?"

"Please." Beruche said.

Team Rocket was just entering the swamp.

"Are you sure they went this way Meowth?" James asked.

"I'm 110% sure!" Meowth said.

"I say that Ponyta is not worth it!" Jessie said "I say we go back to trying to get Pikachu."

Meowth jumped to Jessie's face and scratched her. "What kind of attitude is that for a Rocket? People will think we're losers!"

"Meowth." James said "People already think we're losers."

Meowth scratched James' face too. "Then it's just about time we change that!". Meowth grabbed a microphone and continued talking. "Because we have the potential to be the best Rockets!"

Jessie and James got excited. "That's right!"

Meowth: "and even if we fail time after time we don't give up because..."

Jessie: "because we have nothing better to do?"

James: "because we don't know any better?"

Meowth: "NO!! Because we know determination is the key to success."

James: "I've always keep loosing my keys."

Meowth: "Giving up now would only disgrace the rockets, we must persevere."

James: "Won't we smell bad?"

Jessie hit James on the back head "He means that we can't give up."

Meowth: "That's right, because you can make a difference, never give up, be the very best that you can be, there is no spoon and don't have a cow."

Jessie and James were touched by Meowth's speech and applauded. James placed his foot on top of a log and pointed at the sky. "We're going all the way up to the top baby!"

Suddenly the log moved and James fell in the mud.

Jessie looked a James and said "Up is the other way."

"Something moved."

Suddenly a giant snake raised his head and hissed loudly."

Team Rocket yelled in fear "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" and ran away.

Kari and Gatomon were in a small house, Kari was being examined by the doctor. The rest of the Blue Team was waiting for her outside. A while later the doctor finally came out. "Your friend very sick."

"Oh no!" Mimi said.

"What is it doctor?" Beruche said

"She have weird disease, she have Qlu."

"Qlu?" Vivi asked "I've never heard of it."

"Very bad, only one cure."

"What is it?" Ranma-chan asked "and where can we get it?"

"You not want to go get it."

"Why not?" Mimi asked.

"Only one thing cure Qlu, Wuripanquilix Arituklus, it medicine plant."

Palmon was terrified. "How could we ever find it? I cannot even say it."

"Please tell us where it is." Beruche said.

"If you insist, to find Wuripanquilix Arituklus you must first travel north through snake nest. Then you enter dark cave where light cannot shine, you be careful not to wake goblins of destruction, they mean. You will then find the maze of moving walls where you could be lost forever, once you leave maze you must cross bridge of fate, if you think something bad while on bridge it will drop you to endless pit. After bridge you will meet with stone warriors, very hard to beat. After that you will be close to Wuripanquilix Arituklus, But must face the troll of despair, He will make 3 riddles, miss one and he'll eat your soul. After you solve 3 riddles He let you pass to get Wuripanquilix Arituklus, But Wuripanquilix Arituklus being guarded by red dragon, He has skin like steel and has fire as hot as fire found in hell."

Ranma-chan was pale. "We have to do all that?"

"Maybe... or maybe you buy Wuripanquilix Arituklus from me for $49.99"

Everyone had sweatdrops.

"Um.. Does anybody have any money?" Mimi asked.

After a brief moment of silence Beruche asked "Do you accept credit card?"

"Visa and Mastercard, But no American Express."

"You have a credit card with you?" Ranma-chan asked.

Beruche took out her credit card "You think I leave home without one?"

"Now there's an intelligent woman." Mimi said.

A few minutes had passed since Kari had taken the medicine, Beruche had entered the house to see how Kari was. Ranma-chan, Mimi and Palmon were still outside, Vivi went to talk to Qwolin. Ponyta was being fed by some Qu's.

"This is not good." Ranma-chan said.

"What is it?" Mimi said.

"Even if Kari is recuperating she's going to need time."

"So?" Palmon asked.

"How long will it be? a day? two days? a week? We can't stay here that long."

Mimi sighed "Maybe it will only be a day, that wouldn't be so bad."

"Maybe not..."

"But we have to help Kari heal!" Palmon said.

"I know, I'm just cursing our bad luck." Ranma-chan said.

Vivi and Qwolin were arriving. "Hey girls! Guess what I found out!"

Ranma-chan stared at Vivi.

"What is it?" Mimi asked.

"Qwolin is a representative of the challenge. He'll give us a badge after we complete a small quest."

"Hey that's great!" Ranma-chan said.

"That right, I be representative." Qwolin said.

"So what do we have to do?"

"This be easy. Just outside village there be large rock blocking underground cave, we can't move it. You figure how to enter cave and come back to tell me what inside."

"That's it?"

"That be it."

"This one is in the bag!" Mimi said.

"What bag?" Palmon asked. "I thought it was a cave."

A few minutes later The Blue Team with the exception of Kari and Gatomon went to look at the rock.

Qwolin went to talk to the doctor who was just walking outside. "They buy Wuripanquilix Arituklus from you?"

"Ya they did. Thanks for tip, since I started telling story nobody mind paying 50 bucks for stupid weed."

"Told ya."

"What a big rock!" Palmon said. "It's as big as me when I digivolve."

"Not that big, well almost..." Ranma-chan said.

"How do you plan to get rid of it?" Beruche asked.

"Let' destroy it."

"Um... can't we just try to push it away?" Vivi asked.

Ranma-chan inspected the sides of the rock. "No, I'm sure it's stuck. We would never be able to move it."

"OK Palmon!" Mimi said "You heard what Ranma said."

Palmon sighed. "OK Palmon digivolves to... Togemon!"

Everyone looked at Togemon.

"She was right, the rock is just as big as her." Mimi said.

Togemon hit the rock with a punch But nothing happened, Togemon's hand hurt.

"Try again Togemon!"

"Ouchi... well OK." Togemon hit it a second time But didn't even crack it. She started hoping in pain with her hand in the air.

"I don't think she'll be able to do it."

"We have to think of another way." Ranma-chan said.

"Let me try something." Beruche said. "I'm going to freeze that rock and then it will break easily."

"Go for it."

Beruche placed her hands on the rock and concentrated, she quickly let go. "Ouch!"

"What happened?"

"The rock became hot!"

Mimi touched the rock. "It doesn't feel hot."

Beruche tried again, the moment she tried to freeze the rock became hot. "OUCH!!"

Ranma-chan was getting impatient. "Will you stop that?"

"I'm not joking, it gets hot!"

"Um..." Vivi said. "Can I have a go at it?"

"OK Vivi, show us what your magic can do." Ranma-chan said.

"OK, Comet!"

A small comet headed towards the rock, But before hitting it it bounced off something and almost hit Beruche. Luckily it missed her, But not by much.

"Will you be careful!?" Beruche said.

"Um.. there seems to be a wall spell on the rock." Vivi said. "Something tells me this is not a normal rock."

"This was too good to be true." Ranma-chan said.

Beruche looked at the rock more closely, she noticed that a small symbol was carved at the base.

"Hey everyone, look at this. This might be a clue."

Everyone looked at the small symbol. Mimi recognized it. "HEY! I know what that is, it's the crest of Hope!"

"Crest of hope?" Beruche asked. "You mean it's one of the ones you guys have?"

Mimi nodded "Yes, and it belongs to Tk."

"Um.. he's not participating in the challenge, is He?" Ranma-chan asked.

"No, and I don't know where He is."

"Crap... now what?"

Everyone remained silent for a moment.

Beruche finally broke the silence. "Well someone of the challenge asked us to get this opened, and then we know that other digidestined are working for the challenge. Maybe Tk is somewhere around here, what if we look for him."

"But we can't leave Kari here." Mimi said.

"We'll just have to wait."

Ranma-chan sighed "I can't believe our bad luck."

Just then they heard some yelling, after a while the screaming became louder and soon became clear who it was. Team Rocket appeared from some bushes and were running quite fast, But stopped when they saw the Blue Team.

Jessie: "Preparefortrouble."

James: "Andmakeitdouble."

"Toprotecttheworldfromdevestation."

"Touniteallpeoplewithinournation."

"Todenouncetheevilsoftruthandlove."

"Toextendourreachtothestarsabove."

"Jessie"

"James"

"Teamrocketblastsoffatthespeedoflight."

"Surrendernoworpreparetofight."

Meowth: "Thatsright."

After finishing the motto Team Rocket resumed their running.

"Those three become weirder every time I see them." Beruche said.

"No kidding." Said Ranma-chan.

Suddenly the giant snake appeared in front of the Blue Team.

"AAHH!" Mimi yelled in fear.

Togemon attacked the snake with a punch, But it was hard hitting it.

The snake avoided Togemon and slid past her, it attacked the rest of the Blue Team.

Ranma-chan grabbed Beruche and Mimi and leaped out of the way.

"Vivi!" Mimi yelled as she saw the snake about to attack Vivi.

Vivi was ready for the worst when suddenly the snake stopped.

Togemon had grabbed the snake by it's tail.

Out of anger the snake moved back and wrapped itself around Togemon, which wasn't the smartest idea. The snake hissed in pain as Togemon's needles buried themselves in it, it somehow freed itself and slid away.

Togemon went back to being Palmon and everyone went to check on Vivi.

"Vivi! Are you all right?" Beruche asked.

Vivi did not respond.

Mimi touched Vivi with a finger and He fell like a stiff doll. "I think He got a bit scared."

Minako was watching from the distance. "Talk about being scared stiffed. Vivi must have seen it pretty close. The Blue team now has to stay here and wait for Kari to recover. Why is the crest of Hope on that rock? What Does it have to do with the Qu clan? Will Team Rocket cause more trouble? Will the hosts of this show ever stop asking these questions? At least we're not going 'Previously on the Ultimate Challenge...'. Now it's Sora's turn to tell you what is going on with the Yellow Team. Sora are you there?"

Sora was back in jungle, she was actually standing on the volcano the Yellow Team had faced before. "Thank you Minako, and we certainly don't go 'tune in next time at the same ultimate time in the same ultimate channel'"

Biyomon was confused "What Does that mean?"

"It means we wouldn't be lame enough to copy the style of some old show."

"I don't get it."

"I'll explain later, right now I have to tell everybody what has happened since yesterday."

"What did happen?"

"Good question Biyomon, glad you asked it. Well the Yellow Team and the Red Team decided to give themselves a 24 truce. They both left their own way and agreed not to follow the other at least until the truce time is over. The Red Team went back south while the Yellow Team came north."

"What about the old short woman?"

"Another excellent question Biyomon, you're getting better at this."

"Bob Barker eat your heart out."

Sora had a small sweatdrop "Not that good... In any case Cologne for some weird reason went with the Red Team, and I don't know why. Brock will have to fill you in on that one."

"OK!! Sora knows everything, and why did the Yellow Team come back here?"

"You should now that one, cause everyone else already knows."

"I should?"

"Yeah, remember the kupo nuts?"

"Biyomon forget."

"Biyomon should watch the Yellow Team in action and see for herself. Let's watch together."

Biyomon hugged Sora "Biyomon likes Sora so much, she's so good."

Sora just signaled that they take her off camera.

The Yellow Team had made it back to the jungle and had met with Mukop. They gave him all the nuts He had asked for.

"KUPO!!! I can't believe you actually did it. I'm impressed."

"Well it was nothing." Ash Said

"Pika, pikachu, pika pika!"

Tentomon translated "He says that you only say that because Goku, Freya and Ryoga carried most of the nuts."

"At least someone recognizes the extra effort." Ryoga Said

"Hehe, in any case kupo, I have something for you kupo."

"You do?" Goku asked "What is it?"

Mukop flew into a hole on a nearby tree and quickly came back out with a small box. "This is for you kupo."

Goku opened the box and saw that there was a badge inside. "WOW!!! It's a badge!"

Everyone else yelled in disbelief. "A badge!?"

Izzy was intrigued. "In that case you must be a representative of the challenge, why didn't you say so?"

"Kupo, part of your quest was to do this without expecting reward."

"I see."

"But what about your house?" Tentomon asked.

"My house? That was just a big rock, you think we mogs live in rocks?"

"I thought that was kind of weird." Freya Said

"Hey Guys!" Goku Said"This means we only need two more badges!"

"Um.. no." Izzy Said"We still need three. But we are definitely making good progress."

Goku tried to use his fingers to count the badges they had But was getting nowhere.

"Let me recount the badges we have for you Goku." Izzy Said"First we have the badge that Ryoga found on the volcano. Second we have the badge I took from Colonel Legstrong. The third badge was awarded to us by Bulma for defeating Myotismon. The fourth badge was given to us by Cologne when the Red Team handed us our Ruby, and now Mukop is giving us our fifth badge."

"Ah... Goku Said"

Ash was very excited. "We're going to win this!!!"

"Don't get overconfident." Freya Said"We don't know how many badges the other teams have. Instead of celebrating we should start thinking about getting our next badge."

"I guess you're right." Ryoga Said"Hey Mukop. Is there some place where we can get another badge around here?"

"Um... there is a temple near here where a guardian is kupo, or was kupo. The guardian has already been defeated."

"Why didn't you tell us about it the first time we saw you!?"

"You did not ask kupo!"

"No use complaining about it now." Freya Said

"Where should we go Izzy?" Tentomon asked.

"Um.. considering we have already explored must of the area I say we head west, I believe the locals Said something about a swamp."

"Yeah!" Ash Said with a bit of fright on his face. "and about a bunch of giant snakes too."

"Oh no! Not the snakes!" Tentomon Said

"I don't have a problem with it." Goku Said"The snake tasted good."

"Well we better get going then." Ryoga Said

Everyone waved good-bye to Mukop as they started to head west.

Meanwhile...

Tk was sharing his ice-cream with Patamon as He waited for his brother to stop talking with officer Jenny.

"So you say she's in the guest house? Where's that?" Matt asked.

"It's just down this street, it's on the edge of town." Officer Jenny pointed in the proper direction.

"Now it's my turn, have you seen this young man?" she showed a picture of a boy with brown hair and green eyes.

Gabumon Said"I want to see!"

Officer Jenny lowered the picture to Gabumon's eye level.

"Sorry, haven't seen anyone like him around." Matt Said"Who is He?"

"He's a local boy who disappeared this morning."

"That wasn't too long ago, how come he's considered missing?"

"This time has a lot of security devices, we notice when something is not right. Nobody ever saw him leave town."

"Um... ok...I'll tell you if I see him."

"Thank you, I'll be on my way then."

"Thanks for your help."

Officer Jenny left.

TK rejoined his brother. "Did you find out where she is?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Back to the show...

The Yellow Team stopped to rest near the lake where they had guided the lava. Goku had gone fishing naked, Ash had Charizard light a fire, Freya was polishing her lance (and trying to ignore Goku), Ryoga was sitting by himself at the shore, and Izzy sat on a log and opened his laptop with Tentomon at his side.

"What are you doing Izzy?" Tentomon asked.

"I'm going to see if I can read this disk." Izzy responded. He inserted the disk in his laptop and it started making funny noises.

"What's happening?"

"The lens is trying to constantly reread the disk without any success. I'm going to try something." Izzy started typing.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, CD-ROMs have error detection and correcting techniques, But like everything else these have their limits. When the disk is too damaged there's nothing to be done. I'm going to program my computer so that it ignores these errors and gives me what it sees directly."

"But will that be understandable?"

"If it has text files some text may be readable. If it has any other kind of data it will be completely useless."

"OK"

Izzy worked for a moment. After a while the computer created one large file with no extension.

"Well, this is what we got. Let's see." Izzy Said as He opened the file in a text editor. The file looked something like this: "n+Ë=·C¤¹-¤Ò_ê+wÍ-2Tþ@H^NI;f¿ò»åAC|9§Ê0¿ý&oßÃ_H..." and so went on for a thousands of lines.

"I suppose there's nothing to see in this thing." Izzy Said

"Well it was nice try." Tentomon Said

Just then Ash approached Izzy from behind. "Hey what are you doing? Hey what's that?"

Izzy and Tentomon were a bit startled. "Ah! Oh... sorry. This the information I was able to get out of the disk Tai gave me. Nothing of use."

Ash looked at the screen "Um... Does that say Sailor Moon?"

"Where?"

"Right there!" Ash pointed to a bit of the code that went like this.

"...Ôe_ýSçilorÝMoonY+Í-ú..."

"Um... it Does look like Sailor Moon." Izzy Said"Maybe there is some text after all."

Pikachu looked at the screen "Pika...pikachu."

"He says that it will be very hard to find all the words" Tentomon translated.

"Yeah.. I can't see anymore." Ash Said

"I know!" Izzy Said"I'll make a program to detect all the values that correspond to characters that represent letters and numbers, then it will compare the results to a dictionary to find words that could match the ones in the file, I'll have to think of the appropriate algorithm to make sure that we don't miss too many words or end up with to many wrong words that would confuse us. It will then output a file that will contain all the words in appropriate order, or better yet I can even detect large gaps between useful data to output many files that could contain different information. What do you think Ash?"

Ash was dumbfounded. "Um... OK."

"You didn't understand a thing, did you?" Tentomon Said

"Um... I know how to use Windows." was all Ash could say.

Izzy, Tentomon and Pikachu all had sweatdrops.

"Bill Gates would be proud." Izzy Said

Meanwhile... (again)

Kyougumon was sitting on a tree branch resting. He had analyzed many things, unfortunately with each analysis the feeling of comfort become weaker. All the things He analyzed had two things in common, the desire to live and to reproduce. Why was such an irrelevant task so important? The whole process did not seem to have a goal in hand But to continue the process. Everything had not been in vain though, one of the subjects was more interesting, a young boy by the name of Jonathan He had seen in a town. According to his database this was a human, and a town is where humans live in groups. Like all other beings He had the same two goals, only He seemed to make the process more complicated. What made him real interesting is that He had some of the feelings Kyougumon was feeling, only not as strong. Unlike all the other creatures He had analyzed; the human wanted harm against another human. Kyougumon then remembered the visions He had earlier, where weak creatures were replaced by stronger ones, the process of the weak was put to a complete stop when the process of the strong began. All of these only made the uncomfortable feelings become stronger, it was torture. He wanted to learn more to subside the pain, But the more He tried to understand what He was learning the more painful the feelings became.

Back to the show... (again)

The Yellow Team had finished eating and were ready to continue their journey. They were about to leave when they heard a voice "Hey wait!"

"Sora?" Izzy asked.

They saw Sora and Biyomon running towards them. "Huff... puff... I'm glad I reached you in time."

"What's up?"

"Nothing, we're supposed to do an interview with the team who's collected half of the badges. But you guys were quick and won another one before we could catch up with you."

Goku laughed "We're real good."

"OK, I have to interview each one at a time. So let's get started." Sora held a small capsule in her hand. She pressed a button on the capsule and threw it a short distance away. It exploded and a large booth appeared. "Let's start with the captain. Would you please go in Goku?"

"Sure!" Goku went in and was followed by Sora. Biyomon stayed outside.

Inside there were a couple of chairs, Sora had Goku sit on one while she sat in the other. "So Goku, please tell us how you feel about your team."

Goku smiled "It's great, we're getting along nicely."

"Do you believe every member is important?"

"Of course! Ryoga is terrific as long as you keep him in the right direction. Freya is an outstanding fighter and helps the team keep perspective of things. Ash's pokemon are always useful and I like his attitude. Izzy is very smart, it's like being with Bulma But without all the shouting."

"How would you grade yourself as a captain?"

"Well, I guess I'm going a good job when it comes to leading the team into action. But I have to let Izzy and Freya make most of the decisions since I'm not very good thinking about that stuff."

"You met the Red Team yesterday, what was your impression of them."

"They're nice, we're very grateful for what they did. But I was kind of hoping Trunks would have developed his skills more thought."

"OK, thank you for your time. On your way out could you ask any of your team members to come in?"

"OK, see ya."

Freya went in next.

"Freya, Goku told us how great the team is doing. Would you agree with him?"

"Well, we're doing fine and we have 5 badges to show for it. But like all teams we have our flaws. Izzy is very smart But very distracted, I think He lacks focus. Ash is full of energy and courage, that's very admirable, But he's too careless at times. Ryoga is very honorable and nice, But let's his feelings get the best of him. I suppose that was useful when we fought Myotismon thought. And Goku, well he's an excellent warrior, truly one of a kind, But like Ash He is also careless."

"Do you feel it's your responsibility to keep the team from making mistakes?"

"Well, I believe we are all responsible for the team. That's what a team is for, one member's flaws should be compensated by another member's virtues. I think we're doing that well."

"What do others do for you?"

"Well Izzy is doing a good job of helping the team decide what to do. Ash and Goku make this team more pleasant. I can't imagine what kind of team we would be without them. Ryoga is very reliable in combat."

"OK, thank you for your comments. Please ask someone else to come in."

"You're welcome." Freya left and Ryoga came in.

"Ryoga, when we first started the challenge you didn't get a chance to hear your comments. Tell us why you entered the Ultimate Challenge."

"Um... well, there are several motives. But beating Ranma Saotome is one of them."

"Like Ranma we know that you're cursed. He Said He would use the money to buy a trip to China. Would you do that same?"

"Of course, being cursed is one of my biggest obstacles to realizing my dream."

"What is your dream?"

"I... I... can't say it on TV."

"OK Well then, what do you think of your team."

"They're wonderful people. I wouldn't replace one of them."

"Do you feel attached to anyone in particular, or felt you've learned something important from them?"

"Well, I've learned a lot from Goku. He really enjoys what He does. Like me He has trained hard to be the best He can be, But unlike me He seems to enjoy every second of it. I did it because I felt I had too, I had never thought about enjoying it. Ash has talked to me about his rival and how He hopes to defeat him, just like I would like to beat Ranma. But that's not his goal, He has to be the best there is. I'm glad to have met them."

"Well we're glad to hear that. Thank you Ryoga."

Ryoga smiled.

"We have to keep going so could you let the next member inside?"

"OK"

Ash and Pikachu were next.

"Ash... so how different is this from your pokemon journeys?"

"Very very different. I've always taught myself to trust my pokemon, But now I have to take that trust to the limit. We have to take risks that I would have never dreamed of during a pokemon journey."

"Do you feel like an important part of the team?"

"Well, I was really scared about that at first. But that was because I thought my pokemon were weak compared to the digimon or Goku. But then I realized that it wasn't just about fighting. There are several things to be done and my pokemon have really come in handy at times. I feel good about that."

"How about you Pikachu?"

"Pika pikachu!"

"Um... Biyomon should have come in..."

"He's happy to be a part of this, like me." Ash Said

"Well, you guys are doing well. Could you now ask Izzy to come in?"

"OK"

Izzy and Tentomon were the last to come in.

"Hi Sora, nice seeing you."

"Nice seeing you too Izzy, hi Tentomon!"

"Hello Sora."

"OK Izzy, I guess what I wanted to ask you was. Is this different from being with the digidestined?"

"Well, yes and no. We have had to learned about each other to work as a team, just like being digidestined, But this time I was a bit better at it. But this time we really have to think about each other's strengths, much more than when we were in the digiworld."

"And the challenges are very different too." Tentomon Said"Fighting a snake was different from fighting any other digimon."

"Yes, everyone has learned to deal with different things." Izzy Said

"That is the point you know. Well I'm glad to have talked to you. Let's go outside."

"OK"

Sora, Izzy and Tentomon went outside and the booth became a capsule again. Sora and Biyomon stood in front of the Yellow Team. Well I'm glad to hear you're doing so well. I'm going to keep doing my job so you can't be sure that I'll never be far away."

"We're right behind you all the way!" Biyomon Said

Everyone waved good-bye at Sora as she started to leave.

"OK everyone!" Goku Said"Let's continue!"

"Right on!" Said Ryoga as He started to leave.

"Ryoga?" Izzy asked.

"Yes?"

"That's the way we came from."

"Um...sorry. I'll follow you guys."

The Yellow Team continued their journey.

Sora and Biyomon did not walk much. "Well, you heard what the Yellow Team has to say. Let's all wish them luck as they continue their journey."

"Unless you're rooting for another team, then wish them bad luck." Biyomon Said

Sora had a sweatdrop. "Well I suppose that's true."

"Sora should watch out or Biyomon replace Sora as host."

"Biyomon wouldn't do that to her partner, would you?"

"Of course not Sora." Biyomon hugged Sora.

Sora sighed in relief.

Matt, Tk, Gabumon and Patamon were waiting at the entrance of Highthorn's guesthouse.

"Matt, how long will it be before they arrive?" Tk asked.

"Be patient Tk, they must have gone take a walk or something." Matt Said

"I'm bored."

"Don't complain Tk" Patamon Said"Let's play to help the time pass by."

"OK"

"Can I play too?" Gabumon asked.

"Sure!" Tk and Patamon Said

"You want to play to Matt?"

"No thanks."

It was getting dark, the Red Team was seen walking in the woods, Cologne was following them. Brock was watching from the distance.

"Hello, it's time to see what's going on with the Red Team. Now you're probably wondering what Cologne is doing with the Red Team. Well, instead of explaining it to you why don't you watch for yourself. This is what happened this morning."

The Yellow Team had left early, the Red Team was ready to leave But Trunks was talking to Cologne.

"So you see, I did train a lot as a kid." Trunks Said"But not much since then."

"You hit each other, that's not true training." Cologne Said"It's true that you must have developed speed and strength, But without discipline that's pretty much pointless."

"I knew our training wasn't very formal, I didn't know it was that bad. Please teach me about discipline."

"So... do you want to train under me?"

"I want to know if I'm cut out for this or not."

"I just don't go around teaching people for no reason."

"Well, doesn't it sound appealing to teach a saiyan?"

"Now that you mention it, I suppose it is something special. Very well, I shall go with you and train you, But I won't help your team for anything."

"Deal."

Brock was back on camera "And that's what happened, Trunks convinced Cologne to go with them so that He could train with her. Even if Cologne isn't helping directly, the training could be a valuable asset for the Red Team."

At that moment it started to rain.

"Ooops... I better go look for cover, and I bet the Red Team should too. See ya later."

"Darn!" Tai Said"Why did it have to start raining now?"

A bolt of thunder was heard, Agumon got scared. "Tai, let's get out of here!"

"Quina no like thunder!"

The Red Team ran for some time until they saw a large house at the distance.

"Let's go over there!" Makoto Said

"Wait!" Tai Said

"What is it?"

"Um... it's dark, it's raining, there's a spooky house up ahead. Need I say more?"

"What are you saying Tai?" Trunks asked "That we just walked into a horror movie?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Haruka Said"Let's go!"

The Red Team headed towards the spooky mansion.

Haruka knocked on the door, But nobody answered. She knocked again, But still no response.

"The door should open mysteriously right about now." Tai Said

At that very moment the door opened But nobody was behind it.

"See?"

"Just a coincidence." Makoto Said Everyone But Tai and Agumon went inside.

"Sure, it's what they always say at the beginning." Tai Said

"Tai? What's wrong with the house?" Agumon asked.

"Nothing I bet, this must be some gag from the challenge. Let's go in."

Tai and Agumon went in.

Once inside Trunks started yelling. "Hello! Anybody there?"

"It's pretty dark." Makoto Said"I'll look for the lights."

"They won't work!" Tai Said

"Will you stop that Tai!?" Haruka Said

"The lights don't work." Makoto sad.

"Told ya!" Tai Said

"Listen Tai." Cologne Said"This is just an abandoned house whose door opened because of the wind, it's no surprise that the electricity would have been cut off. I'm going to look for a room and go to sleep. At my age you get cranky when you don't get enough sleep." Cologne Said

Quina was looking around. "Quina no mind darkness, I go look for kitchen." Quina left.

"Let's go look for a room too." Makoto Said

"Right, let's look around." Trunks said "Why don't you and Haruka look upstairs while Tai and I look downstairs."

"OK, we'll see each other later." Makoto and Haruka went upstairs.

Trunks, Tai and Agumon were walking through a corridor filled with doors.

"Hey Tai!" Trunks Said"Why don't you check the left rooms and I'll check the right rooms."

"OK" Tai Said He opened the door to the first room and peeked inside. In the room was a young woman with long black hair, two little blue flames were around her. "Um... hello?"

The girl turned around and smiled at Tai "Heeellooooo...".

"AAHH!" Tai shut the door.

"What is it Tai?" Agumon asked.

"There's a ghost in there!"

"Really, want me to take care of it?" Agumon opened that door.

"No wait..."

Agumon looked inside "Tai! There's nobody here."

Tai looked inside. "Um.. I'm sure I saw a ghost."

Makoto and Haruka had found a bedroom upstairs and were ready to go to sleep. Makoto was about to lay down when she noticed something breathing down her neck. "Haruka,what is it?"

There was no response.

"Haruka?"

"Ghaaastly!"

Makoto quickly turned around but didn't see anything.

"What was that about?"

Haruka had entered the bathroom, she looked in the mirror but was too dark to see it clearly.

Suddenly her reflection came out of the mirror and grabbed her face. Haruka freed herself and stumbled back, she ran out of the bathroom.

The reflection of Haruka changed shaped "Haunter haunter!"

Makoto saw Haruka leaving the bathroom.

Both said at the same time "Are you playing a joke?"

"Something was behind me." Makoto said.

"My reflection grabbed me." Haruka said.

Suddenly they heard some voices.

"Ghaaaastly."

"Haunter!"

"Geeengar!"

The figures were not seen and scared Makoto and Haruka, but neither one wanted to admit it.

"I'm going to look for the guys, you know, tell them the bedrooms are upstairs." Haruka said.

"I'll go with you, just to... look for Quina." Makoto said.

Haruka and Makoto left the room, but the moment they left there was a knock from inside the room they were in.

"Should we answer it?" Haruka said.

"I guess, maybe it's the guys playing a joke."

"You're right, it must be them."

Makoto opened the door and saw a large cat. "Hello! How nice of you to come."

"I'm telling you I saw a ghost!" Tai said

"Sure..." Trunks said "How come Agumon didn't saw her."

"She disappeared!"

"Are you feeling all right Tai?" Agumon asked.

"YES!!"

"Tai, you need to rest. Let's go upstairs." Trunks said.

"Do you waaant me to guide youuuuuu?" said a voice.

The three turned around and saw a girl floating in the air.

"It's her!" Tai said.

Trunks took a fighting stance. "Who are you!"

"My naaame is Koganeee. I'm a ghooost..."

"Want me to take care of her?" Agumon asked.

"No Agumon, I think she's not a bad ghost."

"Nooo... I would juuust be haaapy to heeelp you."

"Um... thanks." Trunks said. "Where are the bedrooms."

"Uuupstairs, I'll guide youuu."

Quina was in the kitchen, oddly enough there was food in the refrigerator and she was making dinner.

"I need spoon." Quina said as s/he looked for a spoon. Suddenly one floated towards his/her hand.

"Ghaaastly."

"Thank you." Quina did not even turned around. S/He used it to mix up some ingredients. But when s/he was done s/he noticed almost all the things in the kitchen were floating around. "This very handy kitchen."

Suddenly Haunter appeared in front of Quina and put his eyes in his mouth. "Haunter haunter!"

"That be funny!" Quina said.

Haunter noticed Quina wasn't scared, he tried licking him/her.

"Odd tradition, but ok." Quina licked back.

Haunter got scared and disappeared.

A fog surrounded Quina and and yelled "Ghaaastly."

Quina tried to smell the fog. "Mmm... minty fresh."

Gengar materialized behind Quina and he was holding a mirror.

Quina turned around and saw his/her reflection in the mirror.

Trunks, Tai, Agumon and Kogane were back in the main hall.

Suddenly Quina came out of the kitchen running. "AAAAHH!! Quina scared!!!". S/He tried to leave the house but crashed against the door. Tai and Agumon went to see if Quina was all right and Trunks checked the door.

"Quina, you OK?"

Quina was unconscious.

"Hey! The door is locked, and I can't break it open. What's going on!?"

Suddenly a voice came from upstairs. "Help!"

They recognized the voice as Makoto and turned up, they saw her running down the stairs with a big cat running behind her. "Please be my bride, meow.." the big cat said.

"No way! Get away from me!"

"Who is that?" asked Tai.

Suddenly Kogane crept up behind Tai and Trunks and said. "He is Baaaakaneeeko" she scared them.

"Don't do that!"

"Sooorry..."

Bakaneko was about to catch Makoto when Agumon helped.

"Pepper breath!"

He ended up with a burnt faced and disappeared.

Trunks went to help "Makoto, are you OK"

"Ye...yeah..."

"Where's Haruka."

"We ran in different directions."

"I'll go look for her." Trunks ran upstairs.

Makoto was starting to relax when Kogane appeared in front of her. "Caaan I heeelp you!"

"Ahh.. Makoto got scared and ran away."

"Hey wait!" said Tai.

Trunks was looking for Haruka when suddenly a door broke open in front of him, a ghost thing was thrown out and hit the wall. Trunks looked at it, it was a Bakemon.

"What happened to you?" Trunks asked.

The Bakemon looked at Trunks and said "Get her away from me, she's mean!"

Trunks looked inside the room the Bakemon had come out from and saw Haruka.

Haruka stepped outside. "What a lame ghost."

"Heeelp!" The Bakemon said while disappearing.

Makoto kept running and opened the door to a room, suddenly she saw two pale figures.

"Booo!" said a child

"Boo! Boooo!" said an adult.

"Ahh!" said Makoto and then recognized them. "Wait a sec, I know you, you're Usagi's father and brother. You guys can't be ghosts, you guys aren't dead."

The two figures brushed away some powder that made them look pale. "Well we might as well should be." said Shingo.

"Yeah... when was the last time you saw us?" said Kenji.

"Um... I don't remember." Makoto said.

"See!?" Shingo said "Nobody notices us..."

"Come on Shingo, let's go have dinner." Kenji said.

Shingo and Kenji left. Makoto had a large sweatdrop.

Everyone had gathered in the main hall.

"So what is going on!?" asked Haruka.

"This is a ghoooost rest stooop." Kogane said

"Oh..." Trunks said.

Suddenly the voices of Ghastly, Haunter and Gengar where heard.

A familiar voice kept saying "I need a bride!"

"I don't think we'll get much sleep tonight." Tai said.

The whole thing went all night.

Brock was just outside the house. "Well the Red Team seems to have chosen the wrong hiding place. Well let's hope they get some rest, they are going to have a long day tomorrow, like all the other days they have had. Well this is it for today in the Ultimate Challenge see you tom..."

Suddenly Bakemon appeared besides Brock.

Brock turned around and saw him.

They both yelled in fear and ran in opposite directions.

Back in Highthorn...

It was after midnight and Matt, Tk and their digimon were still waiting at the guesthouse. Tk and Patamon had fallen asleep.

"This isn't right." Matt said "They should be back by now, nobody should be out this late." He woke up Tk. "Tk, let's go to the police station, you can re