I thought Digimon was just knock off Pokémon?
Not really, monster anime were just
in in the late 90's, with Pokemon, Digimon, YuGiOh, and Lillica's favorite, Monster Rancher.
Personally I like Digimon over Pokemon due to the Real World and Digital World setting.
In Pokemon, some things are left either unexplained or to the imagination which results in a rather grim thought. For example in the world of Pokemon there are no animals other than Pokemon which function as that world's equivalent yet we see characters eating meat in the anime while at the same time taking a PETA-like stance in regards to Pokemon leaving no explanation as to where the meat comes from. The Pokemon world is also "too happy", most "evil" characters aren't even evil, they are simply acting out till they realize the error of their ways. The only evil person to actually die in Pokemon on-screen is Hunter J who is also the only villain to remain consistently evil through cruelty towards the defenseless.
In Digimon, the main cast is almost always a kid or group of kids from the real (our) world who slip into a dimension where reality is tied to data from the real world.
Pokemon kinda represents these 'Pocket Monsters' as natural beings, thus we can accept that a Charmander can spit fire, but there is no logic as to why or how.
Digimon, on the other hand, represents 'Digital Monsters' as beings born of, made of, and governed by data in a world that isn't natural, thus Agumon can spit 'Pepper Breath' simply because he manifests data into a physical attack.
Well, at least I know what I'm trying to say. Also, not EVERYTHING in Digimon has a 'digi' prefix attached to it. In Pokemon, everything is "Poke-"