A Day on the Town {Riya}

"Koromon, Pagumon, this is a ridiculous idea!" Hide shouted at the two small Digimon partners. "You can't win, and you know it! We have to go! Now!" He had finished going over the information that the Digivice had shown to him. But none of it had been particularly helpful in planning any kind of counterstrategy. He had already seen the fireball and the Rock Crusher smashing attack. It seemed like their only chance would be to run after all. But how was he going to convince Koromon...?

If Koromon had heard his Tamer, he didn't show it. Instead, he had been distracted by Pagumon's declaration. There was no way this runt was going to do it. No, if anyone was going to be the strongest, it was him! Of course, that said...he couldn't help but admit that he was but an In-Training Digimon, and this Rookie was stronger and faster. And up to this point, he barely seemed to even be putting forth any kind of effort. He'd have to really up his game.

"Acid Bubble!" Koromon shouted, paying no further mind to Pagumon. he hoped that the red Digimon would be distracted by his waggling and wanted to make the first solid attack himself. He lunged forward, aiming another barrage of bubbles at as hard as he could right for Guilmon X's midsection. Of course, in the end, all it really amounted to was a stream of bubbles.

Hide groaned and shook his head. It seemed like the only way he could get Koromon out of here was to just grab him and run. And so, he kept a sharp eye out, looking for any chance to rush in with minimal risk of personal injury....

Koromon's eyes widened in surprise when the Guilmon X did not let itself get distracted by Pagumon's taunts. His bubble attack did not do much more than provide the slightest of annoyances. This was unbelievable...how tough was this guy!? But that was only the start of what was to come. He was incapable of moving away from the dinosaur Digimon's next attack. And he froze in place, bracing himself.

Hideaki, however, had been watching Guilmon closely. He seemed to prefer attacking the smaller Digimon from a distance instead of approaching them. The only time he used physical attacks was when he was using it to deflect an attack, including when they got close to him. And so, when Koromon's bubble attack was deflected, he could immediately figure out what was coming next.

Hide's eyes widened and he looked at Koromon. His Digimon partner was in danger! It was for the briefest of moments that he fought with his own self-preservation instinct. But something about the small pink blob, who was partially just trying to protect him, being seriously hurt in this fight urged him to take action. There would be no safe way to approach and escape...but as long as Koromon was still okay....

"Koromon, get down!" Hide exclaimed, suddenly bolting forward as quickly as his non-athletic legs would carry him. By the time he got close to the little guy, though, the Pyro Sphere was already on its path. Hide didn't have time to scoop the little guy up and jump away like he had hoped. So, he made a split-second decision.

The human lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the little Digimon and holding him up against his chest, covering his body as best as he could. This, of course, meant that it was not Koromon who was in the way of the incoming, flaming projectile.

"H-Hide...!?" Koromon suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "Wh-what're you-!?"

Hide covered his own face the best that he could, and then there it was. An explosion of pain erupted from his upper back and the back of his neck. He let out a loud cry of pain as both he and the Digimon he was clutching, got sent flying backward from the force of the blast. He flames touched his skin, leaving a burn that was plain to see and his clothing scorched. The shirt probably would have been set ablaze if it weren't for the fact that he landed on his back, smothering the flames against the ground beneath him.

Once the two had landed, Hide's grip slackened and Koromon suddenly pulled himself free from Hide's grasp. "Wh..what the heck was that...!?" he shouted down at the human boy. "Y-you know that it's supposed to be the Digimon that does the protection! I didn't need your help!"

Hide did not answer, merely trying to fight down the pain, biting his tongue slightly to distract himself from the burns on his back.

To say Guilmon X was focused only on Koromon would have been incorrect. He knew better than to keep all of his attention on one enemy. "You'll need more than cunning to defeat me!" he warned as he spun around. "Heat Mitt!" Once again, he used flaming claws as a means to block an attack, only this time it was Pagumon's. "Hmph. Fool," he muttered as he had saw that Koromon''s Tamer acted as a human shield in the corner of his eye.

"Say hello to Cherrymon when you find yourself in the Village of Beginnings. Rock Crusher!" He brought his sturdy claw down in an attempt to smash Pagumon rather than in an attempt to swat him away like an annoying bug. Of course what he didn't know was how close Pagumon and likewise Koromon actually were to Digivolving to their Rookie forms.

Hide vaguely heard made out Riya's cry of distress, as he was too focused on stopping the burning pain in his back. It wasn't long before the pain subsided slightly, leaving only a sting whenever he folded his skin against itself. Thankfully, his injury wasn't too bad, as it had only been a brief exposure to the flame, and his clothing was now bearing scorch marks, but otherwise he was fine. He had been lucky, that much was obvious.

When the tamer finally looked the small, pink Digimon in the eyes, he was surprised by what he saw.

The small blob was still glaring at the boy angrily, but the smallest of tears were starting to form at the corners of his eyes. "I'm supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around, you idiot!" he growled at Hide. "What was I going to do if the human partner I was supposed to protect ended up getting seriously hurt, huh? What kind of Digimon would that make me!? Did you ever think of that!?"

When Koromon realized that there were small tears forming in his eyes, he quickly looked away and brought his ears down, wiping them away.

"K...Koromon...." Hide murmured lowly.

"Well, whatever," he said, shaking himself. From there, he hopped off of his tamer's body and landed on the ground beside him. "You already did it, so I guess there's no helping it." His tone was one Hide had not yet heard from the little guy. It was confident, but didn't exude the same kind of cockiness that it had before. It was as if, for the first, time, he was serious. "Just sit back and let me do what I'm supposed to, alright?" he said before hopping forward a few "steps."

He stopped after three hops before, suddenly, a bright white glow began to form around the small Digimon. At the same time, the Digivice that Hide clutched in his grip began to let out a sharp, whistling noise as well as a similar, white light. Hide had to flinch and shut his eyes slightly in order to shield them from the light. Once the light faded, though, Hide opened his eyes again...and they immediately widened in shock.

Where a small, pink blob had been standing a moment ago, there was now a yellow dinosaur-looking Digimon that vaguely resembled an upright, waist-high version of a Tyrannosaurus with a stubby tail.

The new Digimon was looking forward, where it seemed like Riya's partner had also Digivolved into a similar-looking Digimon, only black in color. Otherwise, they looked virtually identical. "Alright...and now it's Agumon's turn," he said. He considered using a long-range attack so that he could attack immediately, but he quickly changed his mind. No, he wanted to feel this tall, red punk getting stomped. He wanted to make this close-range.

Agumon then immediately began to charge, heading straight for the Guilmon variant. Hopefully, the red Digimon would be too preoccupied with BlackAgumon's attack, which was probably a lot stronger than the larger Digimon had been expecting. Once he would be within lunging range, he would do just that. He would leap into the air, clenching his claws into a fist. "Claw Attack!" he would cry out, trying to drive his claws down and punch the Guilmon with his right fist, aiming straight for the left side of his face.

"But I was talking to you!" BlackAgumon shouted, his uppercut connecting with his block. "Nobody gets to abuse or name call these humans but me! Dangerous Bite!" He then used his jaw to bite down on basically the the air in front of Guilmon X's face, causing a small explosion to occur and damage the two of them, though mostly, BlackAgumon. He hoped this would be enough to shock and distract him, freeing his arm from the red dragon's grasp, and to stop the incoming claw attack on his side. He also couldn't help but notice during the scuffle that Koromon had joined back in and digivolved as well And what's more, into a clone of him no less. He made a note to himself to comment on that fact after he was done trouncing this punk.

Unfortunately, BlackAgumon didn't count on being pulled into Guilmon X's tail. He tried his best to avoid it, but couldn't, and was slammed to the ground with a thud. He growled as he tried to get back up quick as he could.

"Heat Mitt!" Guilmon X stopped his Rock Crusher and shot his free arm up, blocking Dangerous Bite. He could probably finish off the Agumon at his feet with ease, but doing so could provoke Black Agumon into Dark Digivolving. "Rock Crusher!" Considering this, he used his Rock Crusher like a punch aimed for his head in the hopes of just knocking him out. "Come to think of it, your Tamers at least seem to both have the sense to leave and know better than to leave you behind, so really whose fault would it be if they got hurt? Mine for attacking trespassers... or yours for getting in over your head?"

Flames now licked his reptilian lips. "You both maybe Rookies like me now, but you're still rookie Rookies. Pyro Sphere!" He spat an explosive fireball at Black Agumon. "I've had time to practice with my Rookie form. Neither of you did," he pointed out. They do at least stand a better chance now, but unless they get their acts together, they'll lose for sure, he thought. "Tell you what, since you've managed to reach Rookie, there's a pink Guilmon named Lilly. She owns a mobile restaurant, but don't let that or her appearance fool you; she's far stronger than she appears. Leave and go train with her, and I'll be waiting for a rematch."