Japanese Title: Ruki and Renamon, The Crisis of their Bond!
Yamaki mulls over having seen kids with Digimon flee from the scene of the last Wild One...
Takato tries to join Hirokazu and Kenta in a Digimon card game, but they don’t seem very enthusiastic. When Takato asks them why they ran away the day before, Hirokazu says that Takato must have faked it and departs while Takato yells at them. Juri passes by and overhears their conversation.
Ruki returns home and finds no one there. Meanwhile, a bunch of Flybeemon Realize at a field, and Renamon arrives alone to fight them. Ruki finds the fight, and as Renamon struggles, she asks Ruki to perform a Card Slash. Ruki, however, does nothing, and when Jian and Terriermon appear, she runs off. Renamon ends up defeating and loading the data of the Flybeemon all by herself, and declares that she’s still strong even without Ruki.
Ruki walks home with Culumon following her, saying that Renamon only needed her to evolve and for nothing else. Jian tells Renamon that Ruki was there a moment ago, and Terriermon says that she must have been worried about Renamon. Jian asks Renamon if she can be Ruki’s partner again, and Renamon questions what it means to be a partner. Jian responds that he sees Terriermon as a friend, and that while it may be different for Ruki, there must be a reason that Ruki and Renamon became partners.
Jian later asks Takato about it, and Takato says that he sees Guilmon both as a friend and as a partner but doesn’t know how Ruki might see things. They run into Yamaki, who identifies Takato and Jian and the fact that they were at Shinjuku Railroad Bridge the day before. He tells them that they’re playing a “very dangerous game” before leaving. Jian goes to chase Yamaki, while Juri finds Takato and asks him about the “real Digimon” he had showed Hirokazu and Kenta. She asks to see it, and Takato brings her to Guilmon. To Takato’s surprise, Juri isn’t afraid of Guilmon, finding him cute instead...which unnerves Takato, who’d wanted Guilmon to be “cool” rather than “cute”.
Renamon seeks out Impmon, who’s watching two children fight over a teddy bear - two young siblings, Ai and Makotonote , who had once been close to Impmon but had tried to pull him into their fights. Renamon finds him and follows him around until he gets annoyed enough to talk to her. Renamon asks him why he doesn’t have a partner and what partners mean to Digimon. Impmon claims that humans and partners are useless, and that Digimon should try to become stronger without evolving. As Impmon’s unable to explain how one would do so, Renamon takes her leave.
Ruki arrives home, acts coldly to her grandmother, and once again throws her Digivice in the trash can. Ruki collapses on her table and her grandmother asks what’s wrong, but Ruki refuses to say. Her grandmother tells her that not everyone can live their lives alone before leaving.
When another Digimon Realizes, Renamon goes to fight it in the hopes of charging in on her own, while Ruki finds her Digivice informing her of the event but refuses to do anything. At Guilmon’s hideout, Juri takes her leave and promises to come back the next day, and Jian returns with no leads on who Yamaki was. Guilmon and Terriermon detect the presence of a Digimon, and the four of them go off to find it.
Culumon finds Ruki’s Digivice in the trash can and retrieves it again. Jian and Takato arrive at the Digital Field to find Renamon fighting off a Harpymon, and shortly after Ruki arrives. As Renamon fights off the Harpymon, Ruki concludes that Renamon is strong without her, but Renamon hesitates to load Harpymon’s data while questioning the meaning to do so, giving Harpymon the opportunity to attack again. Ruki, having left her cards at home, charges into the battle and stabs Harpymon with a stick. This causes Harpymon to turn to Ruki, and as Culumon watches, Renamon evolves to Kyuubimon and defeats Harpymon. However, she refuses to load her data, saying that she doesn’t need it because she has Ruki.
Kyuubimon thanks Ruki for saving her, and Ruki says that it couldn’t be helped because they’re partners, and that Renamon had saved her before as well for the same reason. As Takato and Jian walk home, Yamaki watches over them, saying that he can’t allow computer data that pretends to be living beings to exist and that the children’s “little adventures” are about to end...
Tropes
- Alternate Character Reading: Yamaki initially pronounces Jianliang's name as "Genrya" (the correct Japanese pronunciation being "Jenrya") due to the ambiguous nature of his name's Chinese hanzi in being transliterated to Japanese kanji readings.
- In the Back: Ruki stabs Harpymon with a pointy stick to save Renamon.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Renamon's inner monologue ends up giving the downed Harpymon time to recover and turn the tables on her.
