Japanese Title: Etemon! The Stage Mounting of Evil!
Whamon and the kids finally reach Server Continent. The kids land and thank Whamon for taking them, and set off to search for the Crests, starting with Whamon's advice to find a Koromon village. They reach the Koromon village rather quickly, but immediately something seems off because the village is inhabited not by Koromon but Pagumon, described by the narrator's Digimon Analyzer as bully Digimon.
The Pagumon quickly take Mimi away, causing a frenzied Palmon and the other kids and Digimon to chase after her. After hearing Mimi scream in the distance, they continue to chase her fervently, even finding her hat and her bag, and eventually, Taichi hears her voice behind a curtain. Seeing two nearby towels, Sora realizes what's up and tries to stop Taichi, but she's too late to stop Taichi and Koushirou walking in on Mimi bathing.
The Pagumon give the kids and Digimon a warm welcome to their village, but Agumon feels that something is wrong because he was sure he could smell Koromon there. The kids also feel something is off, but quickly begin to relax after being served some food, and the Digimon reason that the Pagumon's reputation for being bullies must be just a rumor.
Poyomon evolves to Tokomon while eating, and the rest of the kids celebrate with the Pagumon joining in the festivities...with an evil gleam in their eyes. Expectedly, once everyone's asleep, the Pagumon kidnap Tokomon for no other reason than the fact he evolved. While carrying him away, they run into a bunch of Gazimon, who show interest in the fact humans have arrived at the village and decide to inform a "Lord Etemon", telling the Pagumon not to let the Chosen Children escape.
One of the Gazimon reports to the so-called Etemon, a Gratuitous English-speaking Elvis impersonator monkey (who is not to be underestimated). After his ego gets broken a bit when he finds out the Chosen Children have landed earlier than expected, Etemon goes to attack the kids himself rather than have his minions do it.
In the morning, the kids panic when they can't find Tokomon, and Agumon tries to follow what he believes to be the Koromon scent. He eventually finds Tokomon in a cage — accompanied by the Koromon who are supposed to live in the village! The Koromon explain that the Pagumon had driven them away from their village and taken over it two or three days prior. Having confirmed that the Pagumon are lying, Agumon tries to break them out but is stopped by the Gazimon. Knowing that he needs to evolve, Agumon manages to send a steam signal to Taichi by using his fire attack on the waterfall nearby.
Taichi sees the signal and decides to go towards it, but the Pagumon feebly attempt to stop them, and once Mimi runs into a Botamon (the pre-evolved form of Koromon), the kids conclude that the village really is a Koromon village. Taichi arrives at where Tokomon, the Koromon, and Agumon are, and evolves Agumon to Greymon. Greymon takes quick care of the Gazimon and the kids free the Koromon...but are interrupted by Etemon.
Etemon laughs at them and immediately uses his Dark Network, a network of black cables, to start destroying the Koromon village. The kids' other Digimon try to evolve, only to find the hard way that Etemon's "Love Serenade" attack has the ability to devolve them into their normal forms, and with the power of the Dark Network, he can launch it without being there in person. Knowing that they won't have enough power unless they find the Crests, the kids escape with the Koromon as Etemon collapses the waterfall, trapping them behind it.
The Koromon lead them to a cavern where a legend has told them that they were to flee to if anything happened to their village. Taichi’s Tag begins to glow, as does the floor around them, and the light forms into a Crest that inserts itself into Taichi's Tag, and the kids and Koromon are transported to a location far from the ruined village.
Now armed with his Crest, Taichi is now confident that Etemon won't be a threat anymore, but a cable from the Dark Network tips Etemon off to their location...
Etemon is proud of his victory but his enjoyment is cut short when his henchmen tell him that the Digidestined got away. Upset, the evil monkey begins to plot a new plan to finish them off.
Tropes:
- Arc Villain: This episode introduces Etemon, the Children's second major enemy.
- Bad Boss: One of the first things we see Etemon doing in bopping one of the Gazimon on the head for talking over him.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Chosen Children and the Koromon escape and Tai gets his Crest, but Etemon manages to destroy the Koromon's village, has proven to be too strong for the Children to fight at the moment, and knows they escaped the cave-in, meaning he'll be going after them.
- Drama Queen: Mimi screams her head off over a Botamon sitting on her lap. It's not even doing anything, just sitting.
- Foreshadowing: Etemon's Dark Network is shown to be glitching up.
- Horrible Judge of Character: It takes the kids a while to peg that the Pagumon, who have smug smirks and permanently red eyes and appear to be the only inhabitants of what's supposed to be the Koromon Village, are up to something.
- Orcus on His Throne: Subverted by Etemon, who shows his proactiveness by going after the Chosen Children himself. It's only through sheer luck that they managed to get away from him.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: The Pagumon flee once their deception is rumbled.
- Worthy Opponent: Etemon notes that the Chosen Children are strong, which is what makes them worth killing.
