The next evening came, and the pair made their way to the park.

As they arrived, the tamer couldn't ignore the stares from a few of the park's regular visitors.

“Uh… guess people haven't quite forgotten what happened the other day."

The behaviour bothered Ren more than the tamer. The digimon was timidly clutching to the tamer, seemingly trying to hide from the stares. He whispered into his tamer's ear.

“They are staring, just like in your office."

“Yeah, I know. But I can't really do anything about it. We'll just have to go somewhere quiet and wait for Haley and Gaby to turn up."

They continued through to a less popular part of the park, finding a lone bench nestled amongst some trees.

“...I guess we're a bit early. Might be a little while before they turn up."

“Do you think they will be able to help us, Tamer?"

“Uh, I hope so. I honestly didn't know Gaby could digivolve until we asked Haley. But I think they've been partners for quite a while, so they do have a bit of experience. Have to wait and see, I guess."

—

The pair waited a while for Haley and Gaby to arrive. Eventually the tamer got a message saying they had arrived and asking where to go. After a few messages back and forth, they managed to find each other.

Haley and Gaby approached, with Haley giving an enthusiastic wave to the pair.

“Hey Miles. Hi Ren."

The tamer moved to meet them and returned the wave.

“Hi Haley, hi Gaby. How's it going?"

“Well, definitely nothing as exciting as you."

“Uh… yeah."

Haley turned to Ren.

“You been letting your tamer get up to some trouble, hey Ren?"

Ren's gaze fell to the ground, avoiding the question.

The tamer stepped in when he noticed his digimon's reluctance.

“Uh, I think we don't really wanna talk about that, if that's alright."

“Oh, sorry. I didn't realise it was a bit of a touchy subject."

“It's fine. I'll tell you about it later."

“Well, then I guess we can jump straight into the reason we're here. I know Gaby has been itching to show off since I mentioned this yesterday."

The smaller digimon gave his tamer an indignant look.

“More like you want me to show off."

“Alright, maybe there's a bit of that. So… you guys wanna work on digivolving?"

Ren was still staring at the ground, but gave a timid nod.

The tamer spoke up for the pair.

“Yeah. We tried finding some info about it, but nobody seems to want to share. So we figured maybe you could give us some pointers."

“Right. I guess we can just get into it then. So… you wanna show them how it's done, Gaby?"

The short digimon gave a simple nod, although he also had a big grin on his face. He took a few steps away from the group, before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

After a moment, his eyes shot open, with the normal red colour now glowing golden.

“Gabumon… super evolution!"

“Wait, what?"

Before the tamer could question any further, Gaby was engulfed in a bright light.

As it happened, the tamer thought back to when Ren had evolved and how how he was able to feel the energy from his digimon. He couldn't help but focus on how much more powerful it had seemed. The amount of energy erupting from Ren had felt like it could knock him off his feet. By comparison, Gaby's evolution felt quite mundane.

The tamer mused to himself as he watched on.

“Perhaps he just has better control over it?"

The glowing form suddenly became massive, towering over the three bystanders.

"Weregarurumon."

As the light faded, the tamer was left staring up in awe at the massive werewolf before him.

"Damn! He's huge."

The giant wolf crossed his arms, giving a smug grin.

“I may have grown by a few inches."

Haley clapped the tamer on the shoulder.

“Pretty impressive, huh Miles?"

“Uh, yeah! Isn't Weregarurumon an ultimate level?"

“Yup."

“So… how do you just skip the champion level?"

“Practice."

The tamer just stared, still bewildered by the display. His colleague took the initiative to put forward a plan of attack.

“...anyway, I figure we let Gaby and Ren talk it over by themselves... you know, digimon to digimon. And I can give you some tips to help support Ren. Cool?"

“Uh, yeah. I'll defer to your expertise on this. You fine with that, Ren?"

He looked over to find Ren staring apprehensively at the massive wolf.

“...Ren? You ok?"

The further question got his attention.

“Hmm? Oh…yes, that sounds like a good plan." 

Haley gestured for the tamer to follow her away from the two digimon.

"We'll leave them to it for now."

The two tamers wandered over to the nearby bench to sit and talk.

"...so… you gonna tell me what's going on?"

"With Ren?"

"I mean at the office. Pete was telling everyone you got arrested."

The tamer was quick to rebuke the accusation.

"What? No!"

He thought back to what actually happened.

"...alright, technically yes. But I didn't tell Pete that part when I took the day off."

"But it's true though?"

"Well... I ended up in the back of a cop car."

"Holy shit, Miles! Because of that battle?"

"Yeah. But I don't know how Pete found-"

He paused mid-sentence, as realisation took hold.

"...awww… damn you, YouTube."

He quickly pulled out his phone and searched for any new videos. Sure enough, he found a recent one filmed from a different angle which showed the aftermath of the battle.

He skipped through, finding the point where the police put him in the back of the van.

Haley was watching the video over his shoulder and interjected as she saw what was happening.

"They locked you in with Gulusgammamon? Are they crazy?!"

"Eh, it was fine. He didn't try anything. I mean, I had already helped him up at that point."

"Uh… why?"

"Well… after the fight, Yuki just left him lying on the ground. He looked injured and nobody else was helping him up. So… I did."

"That… you know that was really stupid, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your digimon had just kicked his butt. What if he wanted revenge?"

"Uhhh… I guess I didn't think about that."

"But you've seen that digimon fight before, yeah?"

"Uh, yeah. He's pretty strong."

"Strong… and cruel. He doesn't have a problem hurting others, Miles."

The tamer went silent for a moment as Haley's words set in.

"Alright, maybe that wasn't the smartest thing ever."

They sat in silence for a moment, before a question found its way to the tamer's mind .

“...did Gaby ever battle him?"

"Yeah, once. It was ages ago."

"How did it go?"

Haley's expression turned glum.

"Not… not well. I know Gaby's Weregarurumon form is an ultimate level, but that freak still managed to beat him. I ended up calling the fight off."

“Damn. Gulus really is crazy strong."

"Yeah. We tried so hard. I hate that we let that little twerp win. So when I saw the video of Youkomon dominating Gulusgammamon like that, I almost couldn't believe it. Your digimon must be ridiculously strong, too."

The tamer looked over to Ren for a moment, sitting cross-legged on the ground. Gaby was doing the same opposite him. It was hard to imagine Ren having so much power hidden within.

"I guess he could be. I think… it must have something to do with that dark digivolution. Maybe Gulus is the same. He was the one who mentioned it first. Anyway, that's sort of why we wanted your help. Ren's uncomfortable with that digivolution, so he wants to be able to control it."

Haley gave a confused look.

"Like… afraid of his own digivolution?"

"Yeah, kinda. In the video, did you see the part just before he digivolved?"

"Yeah, looked like he totally lost control."

"Uh huh. And the last time it happened, Yuki attacked his friends."

"So you call his Youkomon form Yuki instead of Ren?"

"Yeah. Like I said, they're different digimon."

"I still don't get how that's possible."

"I don't really know either. When I spoke to Yuki, he said it's like he's trapped inside Ren. If Ren gets desperate, he can accidentally let Yuki loose. The trigger seems to be when he's losing a fight."

"Hmm…"

Haley sat in thought, mulling over the information.

"...can I suggest something you might not like, Miles?"

"Uh… I guess."

"After seeing that video, I think something you said actually set Ren off."

"Really? I didn't think I said anything… provocative."

"You said he couldn't win."

"Uh... yeah. I thought it was just obvious at that point. He was trying to keep going, but he would've just gotten injured even more."

Haley gave him a sympathetic look.

"I know that's how it may have seemed, but you should never say that to your partner."

The tamer's expression fell.

"Uh… sorry. I didn't know."

"Don't apologise to me. Tell Ren that."

"Right now, you mean?"

"In a minute. Let me explain it first."

Haley took a slow breath before continuing.

"...so, you know digimon live to fight?"

“I've heard that, but I'm not sure I subscribe to the idea."

“Well, that's alright. Let's just say fighting is a big part of who they are. And there's a lot of ego involved."

“Yeah, I've seen that."

“Right. So when you tell a digimon they can't win a fight…"

“You're hurting their pride?"

“Exactly."

“So when I said that to Ren… that's what made him lose control?"

“Partly. You know the role of the tamer?"

"Uh… to help guide their digimon partner?"

"Well, yes… but it's more than that. A partnered digimon draws on their tamer for strength. The stronger their bond, the stronger they'll be."

"Ok, how does that work?"

"Well, it's a bit of a mystery. But I think it's why kids tend to make strong tamers. They totally believe their digimon can beat anything.. even if it might seem impossible. Us grown-ups… our minds are too set in reality. It's much harder to believe your digimon can win when it seems impossible. So… the most important thing in helping Ren to digivolve is… you need to believe in him."

“So… like, thinking he can win even if it seems impossible?"

“I know it sounds stupid. But digimon don't really play by the rules in our world. If you really believe, they can do anything."

“You know you sound like a character from a kid's show, right?"

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, when you said Ren couldn't win, you hurt his pride. But you also crushed the bond between you two. He would've taken that as you not having any faith in him."

The tamer thought it over for a while, slowly realising how what he had said must've affected Ren.

“That's what made him resort to that dark digivolution."

“Well, I don't know about that part."

“So I need to work on believing that he can win?"

“I think so. Look, you won't get it straight away. It'll probably take a while to work up to that level of understanding. For now, I think just focus on believing he can digivolve. If you believe it, and Ren believes that you believe it, you'll be in a good position."

“Well, I know he can digivolve. I saw him do it."

“So you've got a head start then. Now you just need to convince him."

Haley gestured over to the two digimon.

“...why don't you go have a chat? Tell Gaby to come sit over here with me."

“Uh… yeah, sure."

He headed over to where the digimon were sitting, facing towards Gaby.

“...Haley was wanting you to go sit with her for a bit, Gaby."

The wolf gave a simple nod, before heaving himself up and wandering over to join Haley.

The tamer took his position sitting opposite Ren.

“...so… how's it coming along?"

“Gaby has been giving me some advice on focussing my energy. I think it will be very helpful."

“Huh. Sounds promising. And there's some things I need to work on, too."

Ren sat silently, letting the tamer talk.

“...Haley explained some things to me… about the job of a tamer. I… it sounds like I've not been holding up my end of the bargain."

“That is not true, Tamer. You do more than I could ever ask."

“Um, thanks. But, like, as your tamer there are things I need to do to help you in battles… and I didn't know that."

He gave a sigh.

“...you know how you blame yourself for letting Yuki loose?"

“It is my fault."

“Well, Haley reckons that's not quite true. See… I don't know if you remember, but right before you digivolved…I said something."

Ren thought for a moment, remembering back to the battle as far as he could.

“You... were on your knees trying to assist me."

“Yeah, and you were trying to get back up and keep fighting… and I was trying to convince you to give up… because I didn't think you could win."

Ren didn't say anything for a moment, simply staring at the tamer.

Eventually he looked away shyly, and his next words were much quieter.

“I… do remember you saying that. It… hurt."

“I know. I shouldn't have said it. I just… didn't really appreciate our connection. I guess I just saw it as like… I dunno… an agreement between us. I didn't realise it was a literal connection."

“If I am honest, Tamer… I did not fully appreciate it either."

“Oh… really?"

“Yes. I never had the chance to learn about the connection between tamer and digimon. It may have been something I missed out on when I was cast out from the village. A better partner would have known these things."

“Ren, don't say that. You're the best partner ever, ok?"

Ren was taken aback by the tamer's admiration.

“You… really mean that?"

“Of course. You're so dedicated to being a good partner, it's honestly ridiculous."

The tamer took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.

“...and you're so much stronger than I could imagine, Ren. Fighting Gulus… and coming out on top like that…"

“I was not the one who defeated him."

“Well, technically, I guess it was Yuki. But he didn't just pull that strength out of nowhere. He got it from you."

“Me?"

“Yeah. Somewhere hidden inside you, you've got that power. You just couldn't use it, because I was holding you back. I just couldn't see it til Yuki let it loose."

The tamer got up and walked over to Ren, offering a hand to the digimon.

“...I'm sorry I didn't believe in you."

Ren took the offered hand and the tamer helped him to his feet.

“...you reckon we could give it another go? Work to get stronger together?"

“I… I would like that."

The tamer gave a small smile, before pulling Ren into a hug.

“From now on, I'll believe in you. And I believe that together we'll work this out."

Ren wrapped his arms around the tamer to return the hug.

“Me too."

The pair stood for a moment, before suddenly Ren began to glow.

The tamer stumbled back, blinded by the brightness.

“No way..."

"Renamon digivolve to…"

The bright light fully engulfed Ren as the transformation took place. The tamer had to raise his hands to shield his eyes from the light.

"He's doing it."

He looked on in anticipation, wondering if Ren would turn into Yuki again, or something different.

Slowly, the light began to fade and the newly evolved Ren began to emerge. The outline of a massive four-legged fox slowly became visible, followed by a fan of nine great tails.

The voice that finished the sentence was similar to Ren's, but it had a whole lot more energy behind it.

"Oh yeah, check me out. I'm fabulous."

The tamer covered his face with one hand and cringed.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming and my digimon didn't just say that. Seriously, way to ruin the moment."

As the light dissipated, the tamer took in the details of Ren's new form, including his vibrant gold fur. He recognised the digimon from a picture he had googled previously.

"Uh, Kyubimon?"

"Yeah, baby, that's me."

"How did my sensible Ren digivolve into someone so flamboyant?"

The digimon came strutting over.

"...hey Tamer, check me out. How cool is this?"

"Uh, yeah…pretty cool. That was… certainly quite an entrance."

Kyubimon glanced over to Gaby.

"Hey Wolfy, thanks for the advice."

The stoic digimon gave a grunt and a thumbs-up.

Haley made her way over to get a closer look, with Gaby following behind.

“That was pretty cool, Ren."

Kyubimon shot her a snarky look.

“Who you calling Ren?"

Haley gave a confused look in return.

“Uh… you?"

“Nuh-uh. I'm Kyubimon."

“What do you mean?"
“Well, duh. I'm Kyubimon."

The tamer scolded his digimon.

“Hey, don't be rude to Haley."

“What? I'm just saying… pretty obvious what that means."

Haley was completely stunned by the digimon's new attitude.

“How'd you get so rude? Ren was so polite."

“I'm not-"

Before the fox could make another retort, the tamer interrupted.

“Alright, don't go getting mouthy."

He turned to his colleague.

“...is that normal? For digimon to change when they digivolve?"

“Well… to some extent, I thought so. Like, Gaby gets a bit more serious when he changes. But he's still himself. This is…different."

“The same thing happened when he became Yuki."

Haley clasped a hand to her chin as she thought.

“Maybe he has, like, multiple personality disorder or something?"

Kyubimon was quick to object, stomping a foot petulantly.

“Hey, I haven't got any disorder! What are you, a digimon psychiatrist or something?"

The tamer turned to look at Kyubimon.

“Ok, be honest. You're definitely not Ren? Not just playing tricks?"

Kyubimon gave a casual shake of his head.

“Nope. No tricks… for now."

“Alright, let's not worry about that. On the plus side…"

The tamer had a grin on his face as he dramatically gestured to his digimon with both hands.

“...we did it!"

Haley took the chance to acknowledge the achievement.

“Yeah, that's the important part. You guys managed to pull it off… rather easily in the end. Guess you just needed a nudge in the right direction. So, well done everyone."

Kyubimon once again had to get in a petulant opinion.

“I did all the work…"

The tamer chastised the digimon.

“I think you mean Ren did all the work. You're just stealing the glory."

Kyubimon just turned his nose up in defiance.

Haley gave a laugh at the antics.

“Alright, I think you two have some things to discuss, so we might leave you to it."
“Thanks for the help Haley. And you too, Gaby."

Once again the wolf kept silent, just giving a nod.

“...Kyubimon, do you have something to say?"

“Hmph. I guess… thanks for helping me to digivolve."

“You are so welcome, Kyubimon."

Haley's words were dripping with sugary sweetness, rubbing it in as much as possible.

“...not sure what's gonna happen or when you might be back, but take care Miles."

“You too, Haley. Oh, and tell Pete if he doesn't stop spreading rumours, I'm gonna come and steal his stapler for real."

“Uh…sure..."

With that, she gave a confused wave and headed off with Gaby, leaving the pair to themselves.

The tamer turned to face Kyubimon.

"Well, I think it's time we head home too. Have a bit of a chat?"

"Ooh, are you gonna ride me?"

"What?! No, I'm just gonna walk."

"Oh, come on… you said you wanted to."

“Yeah… as a joke."

The giant fox ignored his objections, staring at him enthusiastically with ears perked in anticipation.

He'd only known Kyubimon briefly, but somehow the tamer was already sure the digimon wasn't going to accept no for an answer.

He let out a long sigh.

"...argh, fine. Just don't make me regret it."

"Yeah! This is gonna be so much fun, Tamer."

The digimon lowered himself to the ground so his tamer could get on.

Reluctantly, the tamer climbed onto Kyubimon's back, grabbing the red and white rope around the digimon's neck.

"Alright, just go slo-"

Before he could finish, they took off like a rocket.

"-OOOWWWW. HOLY SHIIIT!"

The tamer clung to the digimon for his life.