"Where are we Matt? Don't tell me we're lost again." Gabumon said.
"Okay I won't but just take a look up at that ridge over there." Matt said.
"Where? Hey other Digimon." Gabumon said seeing three Digimon on the ridge.
"I say we follow them wherever they're going and hope they're not lost too." Matt says and then he and Gabumon follow the three Digimon to a restaurant.
"Huh, now that's weird. A restaurant in the middle of nowhere." He said.
"The perfect location for hungry Digimon." Gabumon said.
Inside the restaurant the three Digimon are ordering from a Digimon who's also a waiter.
"Gomamon. Are you okay?" Gabumon asks his friend.
"Gabumon and Matt! Is Joe ever going to be happy to see you two." Gomamon says.
A moment later Gomamon brings his two friends to Joe who was in the kitchen cooking food for some reason.
"Hey Matt." Joe says happy to see him and Gabumon.
"Hey Joe, where've you been and what are you doing here?" Matt asks.
"Well you see I um..." Joe begins.
"You left, then Mimi and Izzy wandered off leaving me and T.K. alone." Matt tells him.
"I know. Well it started when we all went our separate ways to look for Tai. I wasn't lost. I definitely knew where I wasn't, but I just didn't know exactly where I was...I think." Joe says as a flashback starts.
[Flashback]
Joe and Gomamon were walking through the desert when DemiDevimon appears in front of them.
You're lost aren't ya." DemiDevimon says.
"Ah! Why'd you sneak up on me like that? Who are you?" Joe asks.
"Just a friend. I thought you'd like to know I saw a human with a Tentomon nearby." DemiDevimon says.
"You say you saw my friends, Izzy which way?" Joe asks.
"This way. But we've gotta hurry before we lose them." DemiDevimon says flying in a random direction he says he saw Izzy.
"I was sure he was leading us the wrong way but who was I to question? It's not like I knew my way around. Eventually we ended up at this restaurant which at the time was good cause we were starving." Joe's over voice says.
"Boy I wish my mom cooked like that." Joe says with a full stomach.
"Delicious." Gomamon said with a full stomach as well.
"And now the bill." Vegiemon says.
"Oh sure. This should be enough." Joe says handing the Digimon Japanese yen.
"What are you, some kind of comedian pal?" Vegiemon asks angrily.
"Here you go Vegiemon." A Numemon says placing US dollars on the counter.
"Uh dollar bills?" Joe questions in a shocked voice.
"What did you expect?!" Vegiemon yells.
"Oh well I was um all I have are Digi-Dollars." Joe says.
"Some play money is all you have?!" Vegiemon questions.
There was a long awkward silence between the two.
"So...what I'm hearing is...you thought I actually let you eat without paying?!" Vegiemon yells.
[End Flashback]
"And now he's making you cook the food to pay him back." Matt saying coming to the conclusion himself.
"When I'm not doing dishes or scrubbing toilets." Joe says.
"Hey! What's going on here?! I'm not getting richer with you to stand here chit chatting! What?! Do you want me to say pretty please?! Dish out that stew!" Vegiemon shouts.
"Ah! Okay! Alright! Quit yelling or you're gonna make me spill it all over my pants." Joe says pouring the soup into a bowl.
"About time. Hey who are these jokers?" Vegiemon asks seeing Matt and Gabumon.
"We're friends of Joe and Gomamon." Matt says.
"Well whoopee doo and good for you." Vegiemon say and takes a bite out of the soup. "Ah! Disgusting! I can give that to any of my customers!" He says throwing the bowl onto one of the floor cabinets.
"Um...but, but I..." Joe stutters.
"Now you'll work an extra day for the ingredients you wasted!" Vegiemon yells.
A red bird passed by overhead and then went back the way it came. Ash and the others were seated at a picnic table in the middle of nowhere. He was presently preparing some food for the rest of the group. Tai, T.K. Agumon and Patamon were surprised how good the food was.
"You're a great chef, Ash." Tai complimented him with watering eyes.
"You should share your recipes with us." T.K. added.
"I learned how to cook from Brock, Cilan and Clemont." Ash explained.
"Do you miss your world Ash?" Patamon asked.
"Yeah, but I'll return home some day. For now helping you guys is more important." Tai and the others nodded.
Then the red bird came into view.
"Talonflame came back!" T.K. shouted.
"I see. Talonflame said he spotted two boys inside a restaurant in the middle of nowhere."
"It has to be Matt and Joe." Tai said.
"Lead the way Talonflame." Ash ordered.
Talonflame took them to where the restaurant was.
Speaking of the restaurant, things were going poorly. Matt was forced to work at the restaurant alongside Joe.
Meanwhile Digitamamon walks into his room to find DemiDevimon there.
"DemiDevimon? I didn't know you were coming." Digitamamon said.
DemiDevimon looks to his left to show Digitamamon a stack of money on the table.
"I take it you have another job you want me to do." Digitamamon said.
"The new boy...you mustn't let him leave here." DemiDevimon said.
"One more thing."
"What's that?"
"Keep a eye out for the person reuniting them. He has a red baseball cap on his forehead and is accompanied by a yellow mouse. He's in possession of something that needs to be destroyed."
"Perhaps you could pay me extra?"
"You really are greedy. Here." DemiDevimon handed him some more money.
The group continued heading towards the restaurant.
"What's that sound?"
"My Digivice is going off again."
"So is mine. We're definitely heading in the right direction." Ash returned Talonflame to his Poke Ball.
"Gomamon." Tai said.
"And Gabumon." T.K. added.
"If you're here then that must mean my brother's here too." T.K. says running up to Gabumon.
"And Joe's here too, right pal?" Tai asks Gomamon.
"Yeah he's here but..." Gomamon trails off.
"What's wrong?" Tai asks.
"Joe can tell you about it." Gomamon replies.
"Joe?" Tai questions and the four walk into the kitchen.
"Tai! I'm so glad to see you guys, but don't break anything." Joe tells them.
"Sure but what are you doing here?" Tai asks.
"Hey Joe it's great to see ya but where's Matt."
"Matt's around back." Joe answered.
"Matt!" T.K. calls out as he runs outside.
"So what are you doing here?" Tai asks but Joe doesn't reply.
Matt was staring up at the sky unaware of his surroundings.
"Hi ya Matt!" T.K. says appearing in front of his face.
"T.K.!" Matt says surprised to see him again.
"I thought I'd never see you again!" T.K. says hugging his big brother.
"Hey kid, you okay?" Matt asks.
"I'm great now that we're together again." T.K. says.
"So where's Tai?" Matt asks.
"Hey Matt." Tai says standing behind him.
"Alright! There you are." Matt says excited to see his friend.
"So seems like something weird's going on around here." Tai says.
"Yeah you can say we got ourselves into some hot water." Matt jokes.
"Oh a cooking joke." Tai says.
"I'm really sorry I didn't keep my promise to come back and get you T.K." Matt apologizes.
"That's alright. I'm sure you would have if you could have, Matt." T.K. says.
"Anyhow you're here and that's what counts." Matt says.
"No what counts is that we get out of this weirdo place and quick." Tai says.
"What?! Run away?" Gabumon questions in shock.
"Of course run away. I don't see any guards around here." Tai says.
"I don't want to." Matt suddenly says.
"Huh?" Tai is shocked by this.
"But why not?" T.K. questions.
"I'll leave when I want to. Anyway I'm not going anywhere with Joe." Matt says.
"Huh?" Joe says in shock.
"He doesn't want to work together. He only cares about himself." Matt says hurting Joe's feelings.
"How dare you say that Matt! We're all friends here!" Tai yells.
"Right what friends?! Oh you mean this guy who deliberately wrecks everything to keep me here cooking rice until I'm an old geezer?" Matt questions.
"Hey back off!" Tai shouts.
"And what about you big shot?! The one who got us all separated in the first place!" Matt continues to yell.
"Matt stop yelling! Aren't you glad–" T.K. begins.
"Be quiet, T.K.!" Matt shouts at him shocking everyone.
A Vegiemon then came up to them.
"Hey, you two are free to leave."
"What." Matt, Gabumon, Joe and Gomamon said in unison.
"But I didn't pay you." Joe responded.
"Someone bailed you out."
"Who was it?" Tai asked.
"A kid with black hair and a small yellow mouse." Vegiemon explained as Ash appeared behind them.
"That would be me." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu added.
"Ash, Pikachu." T.K. said.
"Who?" Matt, Gabumon, Joe and Gomamon asked.
"He's our new friend." Tai answered.
Digitamamon then approached them and he was in a bad mood.
"I know you. You're the kid who's been stealing my customers and ruining our business. You weren't planning to bail them out were you, that would make me very angry." Digitamamon said.
"I don't think I like your attitude, you overgrown egg." Ash retorted making Digitamamon angrier.
"Yes that would be a very bad idea." DemiDevimon says from a tree branch.
"Hey isn't that..." Joe begins.
"Him again." T.K. said.
"DemiDevimon!" Patamon finishes.
"It's the evil Digimon we met before." Agumon says.
"You lied!" Matt yells.
"You lied to me about seeing Izzy to get me to come here. And you're the one who's wrecking everything!" Joe says angrily.
"I thought I smelled a rat with wings." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu added.
"You're going to regret calling me that. But first you have something my master wants, your Digivice."
"You're not getting your claws on my Digivice. We're going to teach you a painful lesson." Ash said.
"You got that right Ash." Tai agreed.
"Pepper Breath!"
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on that rat."
"Pika chuu!" Pikachu yelled as a bolt of electricity surged towards DemiDevimon.
"Alright that's it. I'm outta here." DemiDevimon made his escape.
"After him you guys."
"How honest. Pay me to let your friends go." Digitamamon said.
"You're a thief!" Ash and Matt yelled.
"Wise guy huh. I'll send you and that rodent to the moon!" Digitamamon shouts getting bigger and attacks them. "You wanna leave? You'll have to beat me first!" He says from inside his shell.
"We accept your challenge." Ash replied. He then turned to Matt.
"We need to work together to defeat him." Matt nodded.
"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!"
"Talonflame we need your help." Ash released the Fire/Flying type Pokemon.
'No way. What kind of Digidestined is he? I'll ask that question after we end this.' Matt thought.
"Howling Blaster!" He shouts firing blue flames from his snout.
"Talonflame, Flame Charge." Ash ordered.
"His shell! His shell is closed so the blast has no effect." Gomamon says.
"Hold on a second. Look at Digitamamon's shell." T.K. pointed out. A crack had formed in Digitamamon's shell.
"You'll pay for that!" Digitamamon said and then rams into Garurumon and Talonflame, knocking them down.
"Garurumon!" Matt yelled.
"Talonflame!" Ash shouted.
"Matt! Ash!" T.K. calls out to them. Vegiemon was holding him up off the ground by his leg.
"Call off your beast!"
"That's going too far! I've had it!" Joe said. Pikachu assisted him in the attempt to save T.K.
"Put Pikachu down you overgrown vegetable garden." Ash demanded.
"Pika chuu." Pikachu struck Vegiemon with a metallic silver tail causing him to let go of T.K. but ends up getting caught instead with Joe.
"Joe! Pikachu! They're caught." T.K. said.
"That's right. Now you can't master Digivolve without that rodent." DemiDevimon smirked.
"Matt, you were right. You always said we would all have to work together to get out of this mess. Now it looks like it's my turn." Joe says struggling to get free.
"We gotta help them." T.K. said.
"Tell your friend I'm a very short tempered Vegiemon." Vegiemon says as he tightens his grip on Joe and Pikachu.
"Aw man, after I accused him and yelled at him, he still risked himself for T.K. And Ash and Pikachu made it possible for us to reunite with Tai and T.K." Ash put a hand on his shoulder.
"We can't quit Matt. The two of us can beat them." Ash said encouragingly.
"He's right, but I can't beat them alone, I need Tai, T.K., Sora, Izzy, Mimi and Joe as well as my new friend Ash. Together we're strong." Matt said.
"That's right. We can win." Ash said.
Matt's Digivice then turned solid blue and shot a beam through his tag causing the Crest of Friendship symbol to come out.
"Garurumon digivolve to..." Garurumon then stands upright and has an anthropomorphic build. He wears a belt across his waist that goes across his upper body and connects to his blue jeans. A 'glove' covers one arm and spiked brass knuckles are on one hand. He also wears earrings and bandages on various parts of his body. "...WereGarurumon!" He howls.
WereGarurumon's howl gained the attention of a customer that had a hood covering his head.
"This battle is ruining my lunch. Come on Falcomon, we're putting an end to this." He and Falcomon left the restaurant.
Shortly after exiting the restaurant, the pair saw that Joe and Pikachu were being suspended in the air.
"Who's bright idea was it to ruin my lunch?!" The young man snapped.
Matt pointed to Digitamamon.
"So you're the one. Time for payback." He presented a long phone-like Digivice and then had a purple aura surrounding him.
"D.N.A Full Charge! Rrah!"
"Falcomon digivolve to...Crowmon!" Falcomon changed into a large black crow with turbines on it's legs. Crowmon produced a loud screech.
"We're not going down without a fight." Ash gritted his teeth in frustration. Then a glow emanated from his Digivice and Talonflame.
"What is going on?" Matt asked.
"He's about to turn into a Digimon Matt." T.K. said.
"Oh no, this is bad. There's no telling what he'll turn into." DemiDevimon said.
"Digimon."
"Ash master digivolve to!" He and Talonflame overlap and change into a new figure.
"Talonspirit!"
"Wow, you changed into something new!" T.K. said.
(Digi-Analyzer)
"As Talonspirit, my enemies are blown away by gale force winds."
"Coming up, one scrambled egg." Matt said.
"None of you scare me! Nightmare Syndrome!" Digitamamon sends another blast of dark energy at them but WereGarurumon stops it with his claws.
"Impossible." He said.
"That was just the beginning, you little poacher." Matt said.
"Kaiser Nail!"
"Savage Emperor!"
"I'll sunny side that egg. Ancient Flame!" They sent Digitamamon flying.
"They...beat...Digitamamon!" Vegiemon shouts in shock.
"Ti...ti...time for me to fly!" DemiDevimon says and takes off.
"Well he's gone." Tai said.
"Now then." Crowmon turned his attention to Vegiemon, who was starting to get nervous.
"Put Joe and Pikachu down Vegiemon." Matt warned.
"Unless you wanna be salad." WereGarurumon says causing Vegiemon to set Joe and Pikachu down and release him from his grip then runs off.
"Yeah! Wow Matt that was so cool. You're an awesome big brother." He used this opportunity to apologize to Joe for his lousy attitude. Joe accepted the apology as Talonspirit separated into Ash and Talonflame. Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder.
"Where did you come from?" Matt and Joe asked. Tai filled them in.
"Whoa, you come from another world. Awesome!" Matt was starting to like Ash already.
"It's very interesting how you manage to change into a Digimon with your Pikachu and Talonflame."
Tai had some questions to ask the stranger.
"What's your name?" He warily asked.
"Ray. This is my Digimon partner Falcomon. And what you saw me use earlier was called the DNA Charge."
Meanwhile DemiDevimon was meeting his master somewhere far away from the DigiDestined.
"Myotismon, one of the humans got the Crest of Friendship causing WereGarurumon to be born and the trainer transformed into another Digimon." DemiDevimon says to the shadow in the portal.
"What?!" The shadow shouts.
"I tried but..." DemiDevimon begins but bats start to attack him.
"Perhaps your brain is too small for this job." The shadow said.
"You rotten Digimon and Ash Ketchum, you'll pay for this." DemiDevimon said.
"So everything is linked. If we don't fix things here then our world and Ash's world will be in trouble too." Matt says after Tai explains the situation.
"My Digivice is trying to tell me something." T.K. says and then Matt and Joe's go off as well.
"It seems every time this happens we find one of our finds." Tai says.
"So there must be someone around here. But mine's pointing to the right." Joe says.
"Mine says someone's off this way. What's yours say T.K.?" Matt asks.
"Same direction. Which means two of our friends must be together." T.K. says.
"I guess if we want to find them we'll have to split up again." Tai says.
The wielder of the Crests of Courage and Reliability realized there was a problem.
"Sorry, there's no room for you on the boat." Tai apologized.
"You won't fit." Joe added as Ash presented a Poke Ball.
"I have my own means of transport." He released Charizard, surprising the four.
"That's awesome." Matt said, admiring Charizard.
"Are you sure you won't be joining us Ash?" T.K. sadly asked..
"Use this to contact us if you need to. Prof. Oak knows where I'm going and gave me three extra." He handed T.K and Tai a phone for communication purposes.
They waved goodbye to him and went off to find the rest of their friends.