Chapter 29—Battle on the beach—

After Irene left my Digihome, I soon heard Dianamon say: "Well those were certainly some fascinating discoveries… all the same though, I suppose that leaves us with the question of what we should do next…" and then ShineGreymon said: "I know! After all that sitting around, I'm all ready to go out and explore now!" Mastemon then turned to me before she said: "Well what do you say, Mark? Where are we going now?"

I paused and thought for a moment before I said: "I think we're about ready for our next advancement battle now. Let's go to Eden Shores and get our last badge!" and then Sakuyamon grinned and said: "That's a great idea! And then we'll be all ready to enter the championship this year!" "Yeah! We'll prove Ikaruga Server is the best for sure!" Gryphonmon said. I smiled before I said: "I'm glad you're all so fired up! This is going to be a big step for all of us!" "Of course, that still leaves the question of who's going to stay behind…" Lillymon said before I said: "Oh, right… alright, then I'd better check my digivice… nothing helps like knowing what your opponent specializes in."

And then I used it to look up information on the next arena leader… it said that she specialized in darkness and machine Digimon, meaning that her Digimon were weak against holy and earth. That meant I had lots of options… Sakuyamon and Mastemon were both strong against darkness Digimon and ShineGreymon and Dianamon could use holy attacks too… then there was BanchoLeomon, who could use both earth and holy attacks… and he wasn't weak to their attack types either. Of course, Hudiemon and Lillymon would be at a serious disadvantage, both by being weak to darkness and under-digivolved compared to their competitors.

Finally, I said: "Well it looks like the arena leader specializes in darkness and machine Digimon…" and then I turned to Hudiemon and Lillymon and went on: "That being said, I hate to ask you both to stay behind again, but I think it wouldn't be fair to send you into battle against darkness Digimon." "We understand, Mark. And it's sweet of you to worry about us!" Lillymon said before she turned to Hudiemon and said: "What do you think, Hudiemon? Should we have another race?" "I love that idea! Let's go, Lillymon!" Hudiemon said. And they flew off as I chuckled before I turned to Sakuyamon, Gryphonmon, BanchoLeomon, ShineGreymon, Dianamon and Mastemon as I said: "This is it! Let's get that last badge!" and they all cheered before we left the Digihome.

When we returned to the port in Aloe Island, we took a ship to Eden Shores… ironically, it was a smaller island than any of the ones we had been to. The island was mostly beach and forest land, but the inner city itself was equipped with lots of modern, current technology. As we stepped out on the dock, my Digimon all looked around and Sakuyamon said: "Wow! What an impressive city!" "Yes… it strikes a great balance between natural and developed… it's impressive." BanchoLeomon said. I chuckled before I said: "I agree with you, BanchoLeomon—getting that balance just right is so hard… but that makes any place that can much more special. Even though they're hard to find, I like places like this."

And then we all smiled again before I said: "But I suppose that's no reason to lose sight of what we came here to do… let's see…" and then I checked my digivice before I pointed across from us at a stadium and said: "It looks like the arena's that way! Let's go, everyone!" and everyone nodded before we went to it.

When we entered it, there were separate lines for both spectators and challengers, as there usually were… the lines on either side of us were for spectators, while the line that went straight ahead was for challengers only. I then called my Digimon back before I got in the line for challengers and waited… it took a while, but as I approached the front end, I could see we were going up to a beach… it wasn't too long before I was next in line. I saw a man wearing swim trunks and holding a surfboard here too… it looks like he must be the referee here… as I approached him, he said: "Yo, little bro! Is this your first time taking on the Eden Shores arena?" "Yes it is." I said back. "Right on! Then let me give you the lowdown on how you'll fight here: first up, the battle is a 3-on-3 fight. Next, you can't use any items or switch your Digimon at any time in the battle. And that's all! Is there anything else you wanna know before you start the battle?" The referee asked. "No, but thanks! That'll do it." I said. "Awesome! Then good luck, little bro!" the referee said. I nodded before I stepped out into the beach…

It turned out it was only a few pools on a manmade shore… it even had some palm trees and a lifeguard stand, with a ladder going up to a chair on top and there were also bleachers behind the shore too… and there was a machine to scan my digivice on, once again. I then approached it and saw it said: "Ready for next battle. Please position your digivice screen-side down over this screen." I then held my digivice over it as it had instructed and I saw the text disappear and a gray horizontal bar appear onscreen that almost instantly was filled by a white line and then that disappeared before more text appeared. It said: "Digivice read. Welcome, Mark. Please proceed into the arena."

And then I stepped forward… but didn't see the arena leader here… I kept looking around before I heard a girl's voice say: "Heads up!" and I looked in the direction I had heard the voice… and got bumped in the face by a beach ball! I shook my head and looked ahead to see someone climbing down the ladder on the lifeguard stand… it was a girl who looked a little younger than I was. She was wearing a blue bikini and had waist length black hair… when she was a couple steps from the bottom of the ladder, she jumped off and turned to me before she giggled and said: "Eyes on the sky, challenger—you should keep an eye on your surroundings when you explore outside of cities. It'll help keep you safe." and then she went on: "Well, I offer you a warm welcome to my arena! I'm Trish, the arena leader here! What about you?" and I chuckled and said: "Well it's certainly warm enough… I'm Mark. It's nice to meet you, Trish." and then I extended my hand and she shook it before she said: "Alright, Mark—has my referee given you a proper rundown of how battles are fought on my little beach arena?" "Yes Trish, he did." I said back. "Great! Then go on across from me and show me what you've got!" Trish said.

And I grinned and backed up before I heard an announcer in this arena too. He said: "And now it's time for today's next advancement battle! Every challenger who steps into this arena on Ikaruga Server has had many battles and a fascinating story for the year in Digimon View… but every story must have an ending. The only question is, will this be the day Mark ends his tale of collecting badges? Let's find out right now!" and the audience cheered, but I couldn't help but feel inspired by what the announcer had said about stories having an ending… if my quest to collect badges for this year was coming to an end, I wanted to have a way to preserve it… so I took out my digivice and switched it to its dynamic camera mode. I then heard Trish giggle before she said: "You're going to film your battle, huh? Well I have no problem with that! Now you can keep your attention fully on your Digimon!" and I chuckled before the announcer said: "And now the time has come! Both sides, call out your first Digimon!" and I said: "Go, Sakuyamon!" as I called her out and Trish said: "Go for it, VenomMyotismon!" and she called a demon Digimon that was enormous! It walked on 2 legs and had 2 arms that were almost as long as it was tall. Its torso and arms were red, and it had 4 belt buckles around the tops of its forearms—the backs of its hands were also colored black with a tan ghost-like pattern on each one. The lower half of its body was black with white markings on its legs and it had 3 red, nail-like objects coming out of its knees… it had a silver tail and gray feet with lavender-colored toenails too. It had 4 enormous black and red demon wings on its back and 2 red horns with black stripes sticking horizontally out of its head. It had gray skin on its face with a red mask around its yellow eyes and had waist length blonde hair. It looked 18'2 tall.

I then felt my digivice vibrate and I checked it. It said: "VenomMyotismon scan data: 5%." It also said VenomMyotismon was a darkness elemental Digimon and a mega level Digimon as well… it looked like I had lucked out! Sakuyamon was strong against him! I then said: "Sakuyamon, let's get this started off right! Almighty sun!" and she said: "Almighty sun!" and she sent a yellow line up into the air… before it suddenly turned into a giant, yellow-orange sun! It then came down as VenomMyotismon looked overwhelmed by heat and shielded his eyes as he screamed as the sun stayed there for a few seconds, then caused a giant flash before it was gone—it looked like it had worked great too! The announcer then said: "Well that's perfect proof of why you should always bring sunglasses to a beach! Sakuyamon has used almighty sun! VenomMyotismon has taken damage and had his accuracy lowered this turn!" "VenomMyotismon, strike back! Use venom infusion!" Trish said before VenomMyotismon said: "Venom infusion!" and he backed up before he fired white beams from his eyes… but he had aimed them incorrectly and they missed Sakuyamon completely.

"Great job, Sakuyamon! Now do it again! Use almighty sun!" I said before Sakuyamon said: "Almighty sun!" and she once again sent a yellow line into the air that turned into a sun, came down and flashed before it disappeared. "Another massive flash from almighty sun and VenomMyotismon's accuracy has been lowered again! Can Trish land a hit through the blinding light?" the announcer asked before Trish said: "Try again, VenomMyotismon! Use venom infusion!" and VenomMyotismon said: "Venom infusion!" and he fired white beams from his eyes… and this time they successfully hit Sakuyamon! She even looked sickened after the attack… it looked like she was poisoned… I guess it's called a 'venom' infusion for good reason… fortunately, we were ready for this. The announcer then said: "Oh, what's this? VenomMyotismon has landed a successful hit and managed to poison Sakuyamon on top of it! What a comeback!"

And I grinned before I said: "Sakuyamon, use saint's spotlight!" and Sakuyamon said: "…Saint's spotlight!" and she made a ray of sunshine shine down on her from above before she recoiled from poison damage. "Alright, VenomMyotismon! Get her! Use tigerclaw!" Trish said before VenomMyotismon said: "Tigerclaw!" and he ran up to Sakuyamon and swiped at her with the massive nails on one of his hands before he ran back.

I then said: "Sakuyamon, show them how pointless their poison is! Use amethyst mandala!" and Sakuyamon said: "Amethyst mandala!" and she swung her staff around before a magic circle formed on the ground beneath her and flower petals went flying into the air as a dome of energy formed around her and shot outward! Not only did it hit VenomMyotismon hard, but Sakuyamon looked completely healthy after the attack, cured of the poison! "Wow, another brilliant comeback already! Sakuyamon has used her amethyst mandala to hit VenomMyotismon hard and cure herself of poison in one fell swoop!" the announcer said and the audience cheered before Trish said: "Not bad, Mark. You're proving to be pretty good after all!" and then she went on: "VenomMyotismon, use tigerclaw again!" and VenomMyotismon said: "Tigerclaw!" and he ran up to Sakuyamon before he swiped at her with his nails again before he ran back.

Trish and VenomMyotismon fought as hard as they could, but it wasn't long before Sakuyamon defeated VenomMyotismon with her holy attacks and protection from his tricks. The announcer then said: "And Sakuyamon has utterly dominated VenomMyotismon with her talents! Now the battle currently stands at 3-2 and it's time to bring in the next Digimon!" and then Trish said: "Go, RustTyrannomon!" and she called in a gigantic, mechanical dinosaur Digimon… it looked like a very impressive T-rex with a rust-brown body with silver knees, a silver underbelly with 2 aquamarine-colored nodes in the center, silver arms (except the wrists), silver jaws and a silver nose tusk and silver spikes down its tail with a silver tip. It had yellow shoulders, a jetpack attached to its back and a giant rectangular cannon mounted on its back that was rather thin. It looked 11'9 tall. I then felt my digivice vibrate and I checked it. It said: "RustTyrannomon scan data: 5%". it also said RustTyrannomon was a machine Digimon and a mega level Digimon, so he had an advantage over Sakuyamon… I didn't think she was going to be in battle much longer…

Since Sakuyamon's saint's spotlight was going to wear off this turn, I said: "Sakuyamon, keep going! Use saint's spotlight!" and Sakuyamon said: "Saint's spotlight!" and she made another ray of sunshine shine down on her from above before Trish said: "RustTyrannomon, use piston punches!" and RustTyrannomon said: "Piston punches!" and then he ran up to Sakuyamon before he swung his tail at her—hard—and then headbutted her before he ran back… I guess he never did any actual punching because of how flimsy his arms were by comparison…

Sakuyamon was starting to look worn down by now as I said: "Don't let up, Sakuyamon! You're doing great! Use almighty sun!" and Sakuyamon said: "Almighty sun!" and she attacked with it before Trish said: "Finish her off, RustTyrannomon! Use piston punches!" and RustTyrannomon said: "Piston punches!" and he rushed in at her… but she jumped out of the way of his attacks! I smiled before I said: "Great work, Sakuyamon! Now do it again! Almighty sun!" and she said: "Almighty sun!" and she attacked with it before Trish said: "RustTyrannomon, try again! Use piston punches!" and RustTyrannomon attacked with it… but he actually got her this time! Sakuyamon knelt down in place as the announcer said: "RustTyrannomon has landed a successful attack and has taken Sakuyamon down after a good fight! Now with the standings even at 2-2, who will Mark call in next?"

I smiled and said: "That was awesome, Sakuyamon—you did such a good job and proved what a formidable Digimon you are." and I saw her smile before I called her back and said: "Now you're up, BanchoLeomon!" and I called him in. "And Mark's second Digimon has appeared, BanchoLeomon! With an earth elemental Digimon against a machine elemental Digimon, it looks like Mark has the upper hand right now!" The announcer said. Then I went on: "BanchoLeomon, get RustTyrannomon! Use mudslide!" and BanchoLeomon said: "Mudslide!" and a massive torrent of mud, bark, dirt, rocks and debris came flying at RustTyrannomon! It slammed right into him and he took it hard as he got up before Trish said: "Great job, Mark! But you'd better be ready—we've got some useful tricks up our sleeves too!" and then she went on: "RustTyrannomon, stop him! Use glitch program!" and RustTyrannomon said: "Glitch program!" and he made an odd distortion wave appear around BanchoLeomon… and then BanchoLeomon suddenly turned into an 8-bit version of himself! Now he was suffering from the pixilated status condition… that'll slow us down for sure…

"Wow, what a comeback! RustTyrannomon has pixilated BanchoLeomon, putting his damage output at virtually a standstill! With BanchoLeomon enfeebled, can Trish turn this around? Let's see!" the announcer said. Trish then went on: "RustTyrannomon, use defense drop!" and RustTyrannomon said: "Defense drop!" and he cast a spell on BanchoLeomon to lower his damage resistance to physical attacks… "BanchoLeomon, attack with the blocky bubbles!" I said and he sprayed them at RustTyrannomon, which did very little damage to him…

"RustTyrannomon, use terror cluster!" Trish said before RustTyrannomon said: "Terror cluster!" and he got down on all fours as he leaned forward and fired lasers out of the cannon on his back at BanchoLeomon! "BanchoLeomon, strike back with the blocky bubbles!" I said and he once again sprayed RustTyrannomon with them.

"RustTyrannomon, keep the heat coming! Use piston punches!" Trish said before RustTyrannomon said: "Piston punches!" and he attacked BanchoLeomon with it while BanchoLeomon sprayed him back with blocky bubbles…

Trish then had RustTyrannomon attack with piston punches again… but then BanchoLeomon returned to normal! I gave a sigh of relief before I said: "Alright BanchoLeomon, finish him off! Mudslide!" and BanchoLeomon said: "Mudslide!" and another torrent of earth came flying at RustTyrannomon and knocked him over… and he wouldn't get up!

"And the reign of the robotic dinosaur has ended! With BanchoLeomon back to normal, RustTyrannomon has been dispatched by a well-placed mudslide! And now Trish must call out her last Digimon!" The announcer said before Trish said: "Go, GranDracmon!" and she called out a very unusual-looking Digimon… it was kind of like a centaur, with a humanoid upper body coming up out of an animal-like lower body… only its lower body was a two-headed hound that walked on 4 legs… its lower body was colored maroon with 3 blue-violet crystal-like objects protruding out of each hip. It had black feet with silver toenails and silver, sawblade-like objects coming out of the back of each knee and a long, blonde-colored tail. The heads were colored black with silver teeth and had magenta tongues hanging out of their mouths… they didn't have any eyes either. Its upper body was colored maroon with several red belts where it came out of the lower body and it had red bands all around its forearms with cloth bandages on the backs of its hands. Its face and neck had gray skin and it had a blue-violet colored, ruff-like object covering its chest and shoulders… it also had a blue-violet helmet that was shaped like a 'v' with a triangular point coming up out of the middle that covered its eyes, although I wasn't actually sure if it even had any… it had black and silver striped horns coming diagonally upward out of its head and shoulder blade length blonde hair that was also tied in the front and went down to its chest. It also had black and silver wings coming out of the back of its lower body immediately behind its upper body. It looked 15'11 tall.

I then felt my digivice vibrate and checked it. It said: "GranDracmon scan data: 5%". It also said that GranDracmon was a darkness elemental Digimon and a mega level Digimon… it looked like this had worked out as best as it possibly could! Now we were sure to win, I knew it! Trish then said: "GranDracmon, use tigerclaw!" and GranDracmon said: "Tigerclaw!" and he galloped over to BanchoLeomon and then punched him! BanchoLeomon could still get up though, so I said: "Hit him back, BanchoLeomon! Use flashy boss punch!" and BanchoLeomon said: "Flashy boss punch!" and a half-circle of light formed in front of him before he ran through it and slugged GranDracmon with a powerful punch—it even sent him reeling backwards a step or two!

Trish then said: "GranDracmon, finish him off! Use crystal revolution!" and GranDracmon said: "Crystal revolution!" and then he conjured 4 blue crystals very close to BanchoLeomon (almost to the point where they were touching him) and then he clapped his hands and the crystals exploded! BanchoLeomon fell into a kneeling position before GranDracmon looked like he felt a little better once the attack ended. "And with that, BanchoLeomon is finally taken down! Now both combatants are down to their last Digimon!" the announcer said. I smiled as I said: "You did an awesome job, BanchoLeomon! Now come on back and rest easy—we'll take this the rest of the way!" BanchoLeomon grinned before he said: "I like your attitude. Alright, go get 'em!" and then I called BanchoLeomon back before I said: "Let's finish this, Mastemon!"

And I called her out. Before anything else could happen, I said: "Mastemon, get ready! Use saint's spotlight!" and Mastemon did so before Trish said: "GranDracmon, get her! Use cry in the night!" and GranDracmon said: "Cry in the night!" and the entire area went pitch black before several giant bolts of white lightning zapped Mastemon! She cried out before the area went back to normal and I said: "Mastemon, show him what you've got! Chaos degradation!" and Mastemon said: "Chaos degradation!" and in one of her hands a baby blue-colored light emerged, and in her other hand a pink light emerged. Mastemon then brought them together and the result was not a purple-like light, but instead a small swirling ball that looked more like a tiny black hole… Mastemon then sent it at GranDracmon and when it made contact with him, it swirled into a giant black hole that hurt him before it disappeared! It looked like it worked well, too!

"GranDracmon, use crystal revolution!" Trish said before GranDracmon said: "Crystal revolution!" and he once again conjured 4 blue crystals very close to Mastemon before he clapped his hands and they exploded, knocking Mastemon down before he looked like he felt a little better. "Time to go on the offensive, Mastemon! Use almighty sun!" I said. She then did so before Trish said: "GranDracmon, hit her with tigerclaw!" and GranDracmon said: "Tigerclaw!" and he galloped up to Mastemon and punched her! From there, the next turn played out exactly the same, but both Mastemon and GranDracmon looked like they were ready to drop…

"What an intense fight! Both Digimon are being pushed to their limits! It looks like the battle will be over this next turn, even!" the announcer said. I knew he was likely right… both of our Digimon were so badly hurt that whoever attacks first will likely be the winner. I was about to tell Mastemon to use almighty sun, but Trish unfortunately said: "GranDracmon, get her with tigerclaw!" and he came galloping over… this looked bad, particularly since tigerclaw was an attack that couldn't be evaded by the target… he then punched Mastemon… but she forced herself up! I gave a sigh of relief before I said: "Finish him off, Mastemon! Almighty sun!" and Mastemon said: "Almighty sun!" and attacked with it before GranDracmon was soundly down!

"What a pulse-pounding finish! In a magnificent contest of strength, durability and wit, Mark has emerged victorious!" The announcer said and the crowd cheered wildly and applauded before the announcer went on: "Now Mark's tale of collecting badges has come to an exciting ending! But this is also the beginning of a new tale—the battle to prove Ikaruga Server's dominance in this year's competition between servers! Now go on and join the greats! Good luck, Mark! Good luck, all of Ikaruga!" and the crowd cheered again before Trish came up to me and said: "Ha ha… I don't normally get challengers as talented and tenacious as you. That was a truly exciting battle—my heart was pounding at the end. But rewarding, thrilling battles like that are the best kind! And it makes me feel good knowing that I can trust Ikaruga Server's reputation to a tamer full of promise like you. Now come on, Mark—it's time to claim your prize." And we went to the machine before Trish started using it and then she said: "Now go on and check your digivice. Did you get it?" and I checked my digivice and there it was… the fourth badge! It was a graphic of Eden Shore's stadium with the caption: 'Eden Shores badge'!

And I grinned widely as I said: "Yup, I saw it! It's in there! Thank you, Trish. Now at last, after all this time… we have all the badges!" and then Trish smiled before she said: "Good! And now that you have all 4 badges, you have no more left to get… when the time for the competition comes, you'll have to go back to Ikaruga City to participate, so you've got plenty of time. But even so… don't neglect your Digimons' training. It could make all the difference." "I won't! Thanks again, Trish—that was fun." I said. "Yes, I agree. I always get a great sense of accomplishment every time I battle a tamer like you, tamers who have great potential and personalities fit to represent us…" Trish said before she looked me in the eyes and said: "You will do us proud this year, I know it. Now go on and claim victory!" and I smiled before I said: "Thank you Trish. Don't worry—you can count on me!" and she nodded before I left.

Once I was out of the stadium, I returned to the Digihome. When we arrived at the shore, I looked around for Hudiemon and Lillymon, but I didn't see them anywhere… "Hudiemon? Lillymon?" I said. "I wonder… they did mention they might be—" Mastemon began, but then I heard a: "Heeeeey!" it was Lillymon… we all then looked up to see Hudiemon and Lillymon flying down to the shore in front of us! I smiled and then Lillymon said: "Welcome home, Mark! It's good to see you back!" and I smiled before Hudiemon said: "Yeah, it's good to see you back! So did you…?" and I smiled and said: "Yes! We won our last badge!" Hudiemon and Lillymon smiled widely before Hudiemon said: "Way to go, Mark! You're so awesome!" and Lillymon then said: "Yay! Oh Mark, I'm so proud!"

And I smiled before I went on: "Thank you Hudiemon, Lillymon… I enjoyed it, between the pulse pounding action and the arena leader…" and then Sakuyamon said: "That Trish was a nice girl, wasn't she?" "Yeah. She was a funny one too…" I said before ShineGreymon said: "Funny? How so?" and then I told them about how I had met Trish after entering the stadium… yet by the end of it, BanchoLeomon looked furious and said: "WHAT?! She smacked you in the face with a beach ball?!" "It was all just a little innocent horseplay, BanchoLeomon. She didn't mean any harm." I said back. And BanchoLeomon growled before he said: "That still could have hurt you, though. If I would have known she did that…" and I laughed before I said: "She's just a prankster. She was actually pretty fun to interact with… getting to interact with girls like her with an impish sense of humor and a good heart is… really refreshing." "Ooh, should we go find Trish again so we can leave you alone with her for a moment?" Lillymon teased before I said: "Oh please, Lillymon…" and my Digimon all laughed together.

And then I went on: "Seriously though, you'd all better go and get some rest after that last battle. Then we can start training for the competition!" before Sakuyamon said: "That sounds good to me! I'm bushed after fighting to the finish like that…" and I chuckled before I said: "Sorry, Sakuyamon. You did an awesome job, though—" and then she smiled before she said: "Don't worry, Mark—I understand. Thank you for being so kind, though." and then we all smiled before Sakuyamon, ShineGreymon, Gryphonmon, Dianamon, Mastemon and BanchoLeomon all went to their hammocks to rest while I turned to Hudiemon and Lillymon and said: "Let's go to the house. I'll tell you all about our battle there!" and they smiled and nodded before we all went inside together.

Hudiemon, Lillymon and I all had a great time talking. I told them about our victory and they told me about how their races went. Apparently Lillymon won the second race they had too… and the third had been interrupted by us… we continued for a while before I looked out the window and saw the others starting to stir! "Oh, it looks like everyone else is up! We'd better go check on them. It was a lot of fun talking to you both though, Hudiemon, Lillymon." I said back. "I agree! I always enjoy getting to talk to you, Mark!" Hudiemon said. "Yes, I agree too. I hope we get to do it again." Lillymon said. And then we smiled before I went outside with Hudiemon and Lillymon. When we were before my other Digimon, I said: "Alright, looks like this is it, everybody—let's get out there and train! Ikaruga Server is ours to explore now!" and everyone cheered before Dianamon said: "Although we are going to have to decide who shall stay behind first…"

"Oh right…" I said before I paused and then said: "Hudiemon, Sakuyamon, would you be willing to stay behind?" "Of course! I can handle a little time off." Hudiemon said. "Absolutely! I know I wouldn't mind a break either!" Sakuyamon said. Hudiemon then giggled before she said: "So what do you say, Sakuyamon? Shall we head on over to the volleyball court?" "You read my mind, Hudiemon!" Sakuyamon said as they ran off to it. I smiled before we prepared to leave the Digihome.