Japanese Title: Defeat Me! Legendary Warrior Vritramon Runs Wild
At the shore, Grottomon throws a tantrum, declaring that he’ll have to do something about Garmmon if he wants the other kids’ Spirits. He creates a Golemon from the earth, hoping to use him as a weapon against Garmmon.
With the group back together, the kids discuss Izumi’s loss of her Spirit to Gigasmon; while Takuya wants to head to Forest Terminal, Junpei wants to get Izumi’s Spirit back, and when Kouji voices his opinion that they shouldn’t charge brashly into things, Junpei responds with resentment that Kouji not only got to keep his Spirit but also managed to get a Beast Spirit of his own. Takuya and Tomoki try to intervene and Izumi says that they should keep going to Forest Terminal, but Bokomon decides to settle the disagreement by taking all of them to see a Shamamonnote for some fortune telling.
At the village, they’re haggled by all kinds of shady-looking fortune tellers, and the kids express doubt that any of this is more than just a scam. Bokomon, however, insists that Shamamon is the real deal, and takes them to Shamamon’s castle. Shamamon warns Takuya and Tomoki that soon something dangerous will befall them, and that they could die if they don’t deal with it properly. The fortune-telling session is interrupted by Grottomon and Gigasmon, and as Shamamon stays behind in his castle, he’s startled by a light shining behind him...
Takuya, Junpei, and Tomoki spirit evolve, and when Kouji tries to follow suit, he ends up trapped in a pentagram Grottomon draws on the ground and unable to move. Golemon proves to be extremely strong against them, but Agnimon, Blitzmon, and Chakmon manage to knock him away with a combination attack. In response, Grottomon slide evolves to Gigasmon and defeats Chakmon, taking his spirit and reverting him to Tomoki. Suddenly, a large and ferocious Digimon emerges from Shamamon’s castle, whom Bokomon recognizes as the Legendary Warrior Vritramonnote of Fire, and Agnimon realizes that Vritramon is the Beast Spirit that he’s looking for.
Vritramon is strong enough to completely destroy the re-emerging Golemon and cause Gigasmon to flee, but Izumi and Tomoki are apprehensive of Vritramon, who’s going on a rampage. Agnimon hears a voice from Vritramon begging him to help and defeat him, expanding that he - Shamamon - had seen a light in his palace, found it to be the Beast Spirit of Fire, and had tried to touch it only for it to take control of him and go crazy. Agnimon tries to release Shamamon from the Beast Spirit by defeating Vritramon, and when Shamamon manages to retake control for a second, Agnimon uses the opportunity to slam him into the ground and scan the Beast Spirit, reverting Vritramon to Shamamon.
There’s only one problem: scanning the spirit makes it enter Takuya’s Digivice, and the Beast Spirit immediately slide evolves Agnimon into Vritramon. Despite the other kids’ attempts to make him get a hold of himself, Takuya isn’t able to control the Beast Spirit either, and Kouji is left with no choice but to spirit evolve to Garmmon in order to stop him.
Tropes
- The Berserker: Takuya after getting his Beast Spirit.
- Shamamon is also completely out of control when in possession of the spirit.
- Breath Weapon: Golemon's Sulfur Plume attack. It packs enough force to send Chakmon, Blitzmon and Agnimon flying.
- Brought Down to Normal: It happens to Tomoki this time.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Shamamon may do his job while dancing around stupidly, but he certainly got his prediction right involving Takuya and Tomoki.
- Circling Birdies: This trope is invoked by a Sepikmon who tries to offer his fortune-telling services.Takuya: How do you read fortunes?Sepikmon: By using the stars.Izumi: Well, this sounds more convincing.Sepikmon: I hit your head with this boomerang as hard as I can. Then I read your fortune through the stars coming out of your head...shoot, they ran away again. (hits self with boomerang, causing stars to circle around his head)
- Combat Pragmatist: Grottomon expects Kouji to transform into Garmmon and immobilizes him before the transformation kicks in.
- Conjoined Eyes: Shamamon.
- Eye Catch: Takuya and Tomoki’s variants are used for this episode.
- Fast Tunnelling: Grottomon escapes Vritramon this way.
- Foreshadowing: The first part of Shamamon's prophecy appears to foreshadow Grottomon attacking alongside Golemon and Takuya losing control of his Beast Spirit at first glance. It could also be referring to the Duskmon arc. The rest of it is about Takuya losing control of his Beast Spirit, though.Shamamon: You will come up against a foe you have faced before, but this foe has a friend and in meeting him you will find a friend is your foe.
- Geometric Magic: Grottomon uses a pentagram-shaped spell to immobilize Kouji before the latter can activate his Beast Spirit.
- Imagine Spot: Junpei briefly visualizes himself in a relationship with Izumi.
- Inconsistent Dub: Agnimon misnames his projectile attack "Pyro Tornado" while fighting Golemon and later Vritramon-possessed Shamamon in the dub.
- Mythology Gag: The villagers in the fortune-telling village primarily consist of Digimon who were one-shot characters in the prior three seasons (mostly Adventure and Adventure 02; there are far too many to list here, but the one worth noting most is a Freeze-Frame Bonus of Adventure 02’s Archnemonnote and Mummymon together in the background, both in human form.
- Palette Swap: Shamamon. He's basically a Goblimon with darker skin.
- Phony Psychic: Most of the Digimon who offer to tell the kids' fortunes use... questionable methods, though Shamamon seems to be the real deal.
- Power Incontinence: Much like the other boys, Takuya can't control his Beast Spirit. None of the others completely lose it like he does, though.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Golemon and Vritramon.
- Ship Tease: See Imagine Spot above.
- Spam Attack: Shamamon uses Pyro Barrage (though it's not named as such until the next episode) to finish off Golemon.
- Stock Footage: When Kouji finally does transform, it re-uses the clip of KendoGarurumon howling in addition to the transformation sequence.
- Summon Magic: Grottomon summons a Golemon at the beginning of this episode and rides it into battle later.
