Determination

The DigiDestined welcome Meiko and Meicoomon.

Synopsis
protects Primary Village from an infected, who has broken the s. Ogremon injures Leomon and then runs away, with the latter giving chase. Their fight is observed by the Digimon Emperor.

In the Real World, Mimi organizes a large trip to Ooedo-Onsen Monogatari to welcome Meiko to the team as well as try to help Tai and Matt patch things up. Meiko almost arrives late due to her indecision in what to wear to make a good impression, gaining no help from Meicoomon, while Mimi has to retrieve Tai and Kari herself. When arrives, he announces that Joe has declined due to continued studying. They bring their Digimon partners and, despite being told to lay low, get into their usual hijinks while under the supervision of Himekawa, Nishijima, and their National Data Processing Bureau. and accidentally get lost in the men's section of the bath. While Mimi distracts the men in the dressing room, Sora, Meiko, and Kari rush in to rescue the two. Kari slips and is saved by a mostly naked T.K., and Sora and Meiko find their partners, though not before coming across Tai and Matt. With their trip a success in that Meiko is welcomed into the group, though Tai and Matt remain at odds, they return to their homes. At night, Himekawa and Nishijima observe another incursion, field-testing new electrical weaponry with soldiers under their command. It initially looks well, but Ogremon breaks past their defensive line and retaliates, only stopped by Leomon's timely arrival.

At school, Meiko joins the school festival committee alongside Mimi. When asked for suggestions, Mimi immediately volunteers to lead the committee to using a café idea with a Daters theme where all the girls wear revealing cheerleader outfits. Despite her enthusiasm, she falters due to the lukewarm response from the rest of the committee, though her suggestion is carried due to a lack of outspoken opposition. Mimi takes Meiko to gather ideas, and Meiko manages to come up with a design while they are joined by their Digimon partners. A distortion then occurs with Ogremon arriving again, but this time, he's attracted news cameras to his location. Despite being ordered to hold her position until backup arrives, Mimi decides to use the cameras to boost the Digimon's favor in the public eye and has attack Ogremon. However, Togemon's area of effect attack downs a news chopper that flies too close to the battle, and the distraction gives Ogremon the upper hand. As things look grim for Togemon and Meicoomon, Leomon arrives and drags Ogremon back into the.

After the others sans Joe arrive, Izzy grills Mimi for her selfish and egocentric behavior causing more harm than good. Mimi returns home in a funk. The next day at school, Mimi is dealt further blows when the rest of the girls at the committee finally announce their dislike of the cheerleader outfits and reject her proposal, calling her egocentric as well. Mimi snaps at Sora and Meiko when they reveal the outfits they made, which makes her run off in shame. Elsewhere, Joe is having trouble trying to balance his life between his need to improve his mediocre grades, the expectations of his parents, his girlfriend, and burden of being a. The stress begins to wear on him despite Gomamon's continual support.

As Mimi runs home in the rain, saddened by the events of the day, she spies Joe who is lamenting about his position in life. She asks him if she is egocentric. Joe does not deny it, but he also tells her that at least her selfishness lets her act, in contrast to how Joe's fear and stress paralyze him. Kari, who was eavesdropping, realizes that Joe's doubts about being a DigiDestined are identical to Tai's, and she confronts him about it only to be rebuked. The next morning, Joe discovers that Gomamon has run away.

In Izzy's Office, Gomamon asks for shelter and is allowed it. Tai then arrives with Leomon, who informs them of the terror the infection has unleashed on the Digital World. He decides to aid them as best he can between the worlds. When Joe texts the others about Gomamon's location, Gomamon asks them to deny knowledge of his location, to which Izzy reluctantly agrees. As this is going on, Izzy receives a strange message from the Digital World telling him "to look into the darkness in oneself and beyond to find power", which leaves him confused. He spends his day investigating the message rather than going to the school festival.

Mimi arrives at the school to find that Meiko has decided to wear the outfit anyway, thinking it would bolster her. Mimi is heartened by this act and decides to wear the outfit as well; though the rest of the class only wears normal outfits, it is enough for Mimi that everyone is comfortable. Himekawa and Nishijima are at the festival, as their organization calculated that an incursion would be likely there. They reflect on their past as they patrol, eventually ending up in the Daters café. Nishijima laments that Izzy is not present to see Mimi, so Himekawa texts him a picture of Izzy, which almost instantly brings him to the school. Left alone, Leomon is weakened by Meicoomon's cuteness to allow them to go to the school. The Digimon desire food but lack the money, so they enter the "Creepy-Cute Costume Contest" to win free food, which draws the DigiDestined to the scene. When Tai comes across Matt, however, Matt confronts him about their previous battle with where 's fusion failed. Matt deduces that the fusion was disrupted by Tai's inner doubts and presses him about it, only for Tai to run off without an answer.

When Meicoomon wins the competition, the DigiDestined realize the spectators think they are kids in costume and order them to follow suit. With Joe's arrival, he questions Gomamon about his departure. Gomamon tells him he left because he knows that Joe doesn't want to think about his status as a DigiDestined, while Joe rants about the burden fighting places on him when all he wants to do is become a functioning member of society, inadvertently rejecting Gomamon at the same time. The argument grows ever more heated until Joe storms off. As this is happening, Himekawa witnesses what she thinks is Ken in his Digimon Emperor persona again, but she loses sight of him.

As Meicoomon goes exploring, she is met by Himekawa, who promises her a treat if she stays put. As she leaves, however, the Digimon Emperor arrives and abducts Meicoomon through another distortion, but only Digimon are allowed through. It closes with only, Gomamon, and Leomon inside, leaving the DigiDestined and the other Digimon outside. As they try to stop who they believe is Ken, Leomon ends up attempting to fight off an infection, leaving Palmon and Gomamon to try with deal with the who appears under the Digimon Emperor's command. The fighting grows desperate, so Kari marches off to stop Joe. She confronts him about his fears and doubts, telling them that what truly matters is that he and Gomamon were chosen to be partners together. Joe realizes that his relationship with Gomamon is the more important thing, and so he charges back to the battle. This rebirth of confidence allows Gomamon to achieve his Mega level,, much to everyone's surprise. Seeing Joe's resolve, Mimi regains faith in herself as well and helps Togemon obtain her own Mega level in. The two Megas, united with Leomon who has fought off his infection, defeat Imperialdramon and rescue Meicoomon, but they fail to apprehend the Digimon Emperor.

Reunited, everyone wonders what has happened to Ken to make him take the persona of the Digimon Emperor again. As the fully reunited DigiDestined discuss their next plan, Meicoomon appears to confuse Leomon with his infected form. As Meiko's turns black, unseen, Meicoomon seems to mutate, growing more monstrous with elongated claws. She tears Leomon apart to the DigiDestined's horror, though Himekawa has a smirk unseen by the others. The DigiDestined try to deal with what they just witnessed, while Himekawa and Nishijima leave to plan their next course of action. Himekawa deduces that Meicoomon is somehow the source of the distortions and the infection.

Digivolutions
(Number indicates order of occurrence.)

Quotes
"All were born out of the scorching heat... Beings that create and those who destroy, coexisting, yet mutually opposed... Both created the entire universe... Finally to return to the scorching heat..."
 * —The narrator talks about creation and destruction.

Gomamon: "...Meicoomon just won a bunch of free food." Matt: "Listen you guys, that stunt you pulled was a seriously risky move. What if you had been recognised?" Tentomon: "WORTH IT!"
 * —Food is always a priority.

Release
"Determination" was shown on Japanese theaters starting March 12, 2016. A pre-release screening was held on February 11. started streaming the episode for premium users on March 11, 2016, with availability for normal users on April 10. Crunchyroll split the episode into four 23-minute long parts. "Determination" will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on April 2, 2016. "Determination" was released in the US on August 15, 2017 in DVD, Blu-ray.