The Rival Champions!

The Fusion Fighters stumble into the middle of a battle between Castle Bastia and IceDevimon's army, and must compete with Blue Flare to ally with the Castle.

Synopsis
Arriving in the Lake Zone, the Fusion Fighters try to find any inhabitants only to discover a group of Pandamon and ToyAgumon frozen. Mikey then hears the DigiMelody of another dying Digimon and rushes to the source, discovering a group of crying whose leader,, was knocked into the icy lake after being defeated and will die if no one can save him. Mikey dives into the lake and puts him in his Fusion Loader to heal, but soon begins to drown; however, saves him as he blacks out.

Coming to, Mikey gets scolded by Angie for risking his life to save Knightmon. Mikey then reloads Knightmon out of his Fusion Loader, making the PawnChessmons happy. Knightmon thanks Mikey for rescuing him and convinces him to come to the castle where the battle is occurring. After driving off the Bagra Army, Mikey and his group are introduced to the castle's princess. Though Knightmon tells her that they have got their champion, Beastmon reveals she found another candidate: Christopher Aonuma. Meanwhile, the Bagra Army's Lake Zone invasion commander learns that his superior  has arrived and pleas for her forgiveness as they are joined by, who offers his assistance.

Back at the castle, as Shoutmon and the others enjoy the feast in their honor, Mikey talks to Christopher and learns he only came for the Lake Zone Code Crown. After Christopher takes his leave, Mikey reveals a bit of his past. When he was little, he saw a boy in pain, who he left behind when prompted. He later discovered the boy taken to the hospital and, scarred by the event, refused to ever turn his back on anyone ever again. By then, the Bagra Army resume their attack, with Shoutmon, Starmon, and the Pickmons too full to participate. Christopher takes to the front line, but Mikey realizes that IceDevimon isn't present. IceDevimon takes the opportunity to hide in the ice shards along with his Icemon and uses the attack as diversion to sneak into the castle and kidnap Beastmon.

Luckily, getting his second wind, Shoutmon ruins the kidnap attempt as the rest of the Fusion Fighters arrive. Furious, IceDevimon absorbs the Icemon to enter his Enhancement Absorbent state but is driven off. With Christopher taking his leave, Beastmon names Mikey her champion before he collapses from exhaustion. Meanwhile, unhappy with IceDevimon's failures, Laylamon is at the gates which open to reveal a gigantic Digimon.

Recap
Analyzers from the recap aired before the episode.

Digivolutions
(Number indicates order of occurrence.)

Quotes
Mikey: "There was this kid. It was a long time ago. He was in my class, but I didn't know him very well. One day, I found him sitting on the ground, all by himself." Young Mikey: "Hey, are you alright?" Boy: "Mind your own business, just leave me alone." Mikey: "So I did what he said, I minded my own business. I took the easy way out. That's when I learned the easiest way isn't always the best way. It turned out that that kid had gotten really sick after soccer practice. He was fine by the next day, but I could've at least tried to help him. Instead, I just walked away."''
 * — Mikey reveals why he can't turn away from someone who needs help