With Ravio still missing and the Thunder Temple still under control of either Ellios or Sabios, our heroes leave the search for their young friend to Kira and Tanvir who have enlisted the aid of the Forest, Fire, and Ice Captains that were previously rescued. Ben and Summer once again split their team into two to speed up their progression in the Thunder Temple.

Ben, Takumi, Arata and Ami entered their segment of the Thunder Temple. This time Ben brought the newly recruited Lucario along.

"Okay, first let's figure out what Pokemon we're looking for." Takumi said.

"Look over there!" Ami pointed beyond a pit in front of them where a bird glowed. "That kinda looks like Summer's Staraptor."

Takumi put his Digivice over his eyes. "Starly. The starter form of Staraptor. Normal/Flying type."

"We need to find a way over there." Ben said. "Come on."

Luciario dove into the Ranger as a blast of electricity flew by. A Manectric out of their reach was firing bolts of lightning at them.

"Yikes the Pokemon here are aggressive!" Terriermon said.

"Yeah! Maybe even more so then the Fire Temple!" Palmon added.

"I hope Summer and the others are okay." Ben muttered.

Manectric shot more blasts of electricity at them. "I doubt whatever they're dealing with can be worse than this!" Arata said.

"Run, run, run, run, run!" Accompanied by her Feraligatr, Summer along with Nokia, Yuuko and Yuugo were running for dear life as three Luxeray chased them down the straight path.

"Why are they chasing us!?" Nokia yelled. "What'd we ever do to them?!"

"I guess losing three temples has convinced them to up their game!" Yuugo said.

Ben's team found themselves facing two switches.

"Which way do we go first?" Ben asked.

"Rather than doing one then the other, why don't we just split up?" Takumi asked.

Ami glanced at him. "But what if we run into more Starly? Only Ben can catch them."

"We can always do what we did in the Ice Temple when we were looking for Vulpix with Summer."

"Er, care to elaborate bro? Not all of us were around for that."

"Just have your Digimon hold onto the guy and bring it to Ben when we meet up, so he can catch it. Those birds are pretty small."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess." Ben replied. "Okay, Arata, Keramon and I will take the left zone. Takumi, Ami, Terriermon and Palmon, you take the right."

"Be careful." Ami said.

Arata nodded. "Same to you."

The group then split up and were teleported away. Ben and Arata found themselves in a large room with the path spiraling towards the center. There was a tall wall to their right, blacking the way in that direction, but they could still move forward. And move forward they did, until they bumped into a Claydol.

Arata took out his Digivice. "We got this. Keramon!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Keramon Warp Digivolve to…Phantomon!"

The Claydol shot energy spheres, but Arata's Digimon knocked them aside with his scythe.

"Nightmare!" A purple explosion engulfed Claydol, knocking it out.

"Nice!" Ben smiled.

"Ghost against Psychic is super effective, right?" Arata smirked.

"That's right. You're getting the hang of facing Pokemon with your Digimon."

They continued onward but shortly after they started moving, they were stopped by a stone wall. "Well that didn't take long." Arata sighed. "Turn back?"

"I guess we have no choi- Suddenly the wall started shaking, alerting them. Then the wall slowly lowered, revealing the way. "Um…Did you do this?" Ben asked.

"No, I thought maybe you did." Arata replied.

Lucario looked in another direction. It tapped Ben's shoulder and pointed into the distance. "What is it Lucario? Ben looked where it was pointing. He could narrowly see someone in the distance. He squinted and saw two people walk down the path in the distance. "Hey…It's Takumi and Ami!"

Arata looked where Ben was staring. "Seriously?" It looked like the two Sleuths were walking down a similar path and were blocked by a stone wall, just like the one Ben and Arata encountered. "Maybe they did something about that wall."

"It looks like they're stuck now. Come on, let's see if there is something here that can help them."

They walked down their path and saw a yellow switch. Arata ran over and stepped on it. "There. This should do something." He looked ahead and saw another stone wall. "Seems like the switches to open our path are on Takumi and Ami's route and vice versa. Splitting up was a good call. Having to go back and forth repeatedly would be such an annoying waste of time."

Down on the path Takumi and Ami were on the stone wall lowered. "What just happened?" Angewomon asked. "That switch we pressed earlier didn't do anything but not this obstacle went down on its own?"

"Was it a delayed reaction?" MachGaogamon asked.

"I…doubt it." Takumi said. "I wonder if Ben and Arata did something…"

"Then maybe the switch we hit earlier did something for them." Ami suggested.

"Probably. It looks like we need to help each other to get through here."

"Then let's get going." MachGaogamon replied. "They might be stuck on their end until we find another switch."

"Good point. Let's move on."

"There's one!" Summer pointed at a glowing Pickachu.

"Awww! That little guy looks like a grown up Pichu!" Nokia smiled.

"That's a Pickachu. Pichu's evolved form."

"Well, at least we can assume it will do anything Pichu can." Yuuko said.

The Pickachu spotted them and darted away. "Wow, he's fast!" Nokia said. "Come on! We'll lose him at this rate!" The girl ran off.

"Nokia, wait!" Summer sighed. "She never listens."

"That's just how she is." Yuuko shrugged. "But her straightforward recklessness is not her only trait. She's never gives up and is an inspiration to those around her. That's why she was able to make a hacker team superior to mine."

Yuugo smiled. "Yes. It's true that meeting Digimon has changed her a lot."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

"And then there are things about her that never change."

Nokia ran back towards them screaming as two Luxio chased her. Summer yelped as she Yuugo and Yuuko ran away from her. "GET THEM AWAY! GET THEM AWAY!" Nokia screamed.

"DON'T LEAD THEM TOWARDS US!" The others yelled.

Takumi and Ami eventually met up with Ben and Arata in the room they split up in. MachGaogamon was holding a Starly that was trying to get out of his grip. "You found one." Ben said.

"Yeah. Mind doing something about it so it'll stop pecking?" Takumi's Digimon asked.

Ben shot his Styler and whirled it around the Pokemon repeatedly. Everyone heard a sound and looked to the side to see the seal on the red WarpZone disappear. "Okay. Before we go…" Ami looked over to Angewomon who nodded at her.

The Digimon held her hands up high above her head "Aura!" A bright light swirled around her and all the other Pokemon and Digimon in the party.

"There. Now we're ready."

"How do you feel Pichu? Lucario?" Ben asked. "Any different?"

"Chu!" Pichu jumped up and down, bursting with energy. Lucario nodded and glowed blue."

"I'll take that as a yes. Guess it does work on Pokemon as well."

"I won't even begin to think how that works, but whatever. Anyway, time to go." Arata said. They proceeded to the next area and went up a staircase to a platform that elevated them to the Oracle. This one had a disc shaped Pokemon with an antenna. "What's that, a UFO?" Arata asked.

"A Magnazone." Ben said. "An Electric Steel Type Pokemon."

"So, you've come." The oracle said. "The price for trespassing in our sacred temples is high. I will see to your destruction!"

"Bring it on!"

Meanwhile Summer and her team reached their Steelhead. He had a Steel Psychic Pokemon with him.

"That Pokemon is Metagross." Summer said. "It's considered to be one of the strongest Steel Type Pokemon."

"You have done well to make it this far. But now-

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is as far as we go, you're here to stop us, we've heard that literally a hundred times!" Nokia groaned. "Can we just get to it?!"

"Hmph. As you wish. Take them!"

Yuuko glanced at Nokia. "Nokia, we haven't even been inside these temples a hundred times."

"Here he comes people, look alive!"

"*sigh* Why do I even bother?"

"Go! Angewomon!"

"Celestial Arrow!" Ami's Digimon shot a arrow that Magnazone tried to dodge but the attack grazed it.

"Zap Cannon!"

As Angewomon saw it charge energy she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Wait, don't block it! Move!" Ben called.

Before Angewomon could react, the attack hit. Hard. She screamed as she was shocked even when flung into the invisible wall behind her and dropped to the floor. She tried to get back up but winced as electricity crackled around her numb body. "Can't…Move…"

"Tch! Zap Cannon is one of the most powerful Electric Type Moves." Ben scowled. "It's guaranteed to paralyze the target."

"Winning Knuckle!" MachGaogamon charged towards Magnazone but it swiftly moved aside before wrapping itself in electricity and ramming into him, knocking him down.

"Soul Cho- Before Phantomon could even get near her got zapped by a bolt of electricity fired by the Pokemon.

"Lucario! Aura Sphere!"

Magnazone saw Lucario form a blue sphere in his hands that he threw towards it. The Pokemon tried to move away but even after the attack flew past it, it curved around and flew into its back, knocking it to the ground.

"What?!"

Ben smirked. "Nice try! But Aura Sphere is a attack that's guaranteed to land!"

"Now I got you!" MachGaogamon flew above the target. "Winning Knuckle!" He flew straight down and rammed his fist so hard into Magnazone, the ground under them crumbled and sank. Ben could easily capture the Pokemon with no more resistance. The Steelhead clutched his head in pain and screamed before dropping to the floor. A Heart Slate appeared near him.

Ami helped Angewomon back to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thank you. We should take this man back to the plaza, so we can question him safely."

"Right." Ben nodded. "Who knows, he might have seen Ravio."

"This is the end!" Nokia yelled.

WereGarurumon ran towards the weakened Metagross. "I won't let you!" The Steelhead growled. "Hyper Beam!" The Pokemon started to charge energy in its mouth.

"Oh no you don't!" Yuugo yelled. "Andromon!"

"Staraptor! Steel Wing!" Summer's Starapor's wings glimmered as it flew into the Pokemon from the left, making it flinch.

"Spiral Sword." Andromon show a gale of light at the Pokemon that knocked its head slightly to the side just as it fired. The Hyper Beam narrowly missed WereGarurumon.

"He can't move for a bit after using Hyper Beam!" Summer said. "Nokia! Now!"

"Got it! Go, WereGarurumon!"

"Wolf Claw!" The Digimon jumped up and rammed his claws into the Pokemon, knocking it out. Summer finished the capture and the Steelhead fell unconscious.

Summer saw a Heart Slate appear and picked it up. "That's done. Let's get the Steelhead out of here before he wakes up."

"Yeah. I've had enough of getting chased around in this crazy temple." Nokia groaned.

Everyone gathered around the Steelhead Summer's team found on the floor. "Everything's all right now. You've finally been rescued." Tanvir said.

"Ugh…" the man slowly drifted back int conscious. "What? What did you say? I was rescued? What do you mean?"

"You've been controlled by Sabios." Kira replied. "You may not remember, though."

"I was not controlled…Or maybe I was…I see! I must have been controlled! I have to go say sorry to the Pokemon! See you!" He hastily ran off towards the temple.

"What was that about?" Tanvir asked. "Such a strange one…"

Then Ben's team returned carrying the Steelhead the defeated. "Hi gang." The Ranger waved. "Judging by the Steelhead that just ran past us, I'm assuming you got through your part?"

"Sure did." Summer nodded. "Although the poor guy still can't remember a thing."

"Well, let's hope ours does."

Tanvir walked over to the man Takumi and Arata were carrying and snapped his fingers in his face. "Hey, wake up!"

"Yaaawn…" the man lazily looked up. "What time is it?" Takumi and Arata sighed as they dropped him and let him crash onto the floor.

"Seeing as how ya don't have the siltiest bit of urgency, I take it you can't remember a dang thing about being a brainwashed puppet." Fei said.

The Steelhead groaned as he tried to get off the floor. "Huh? I was controlled? By whom? You mean Brotos, my captain?"

"We don't have a lot of evidence, but we think it's actually, the Dark Captain, Sabios who's responsible for this whole mess." Ami replied.

"How unlikely!" the Steelhead immediately protested. "…Well, actually, I can believe that. He's good at putting people under his spell, I've heard. Other temple oracles from the Dark Temple have been acting suspiciously, too."

"Sounds like the Dark Temple is going to be a tough nut for us to crack into." FanBeemon said.

"Yes, I hear-Wait, you can talk?!"

"Hah…Been a while since we went through this…" Guilmon sighed.

"Don't worry about it." Tanvir said. "Thank you for the information. Go home and have a good rest."

The Steelhead nodded and left. "Three areas done so far." Agumon said. "That means all that's left is the captain, right?"

Ben nodded and punched his palm. "Let's get in there and wrap up the Thunder Temple."