Chapter 10: Amphibious Princess

Being stuck in the Digital World wasn't the worst part for Ash, Max, May and their Pokémon friends had to regroup the Digidestined after finding TK all alone. The antics of DemiDevimon split the Digidestined away and bringing Patamon to the Trainers. Thanks to Tai and Agumon, DemiDevimon's plans burned. There was also confusion among the return as while Sora spent days with Ash, weeks past in the Digital World while Tai and Agumon were away for only a few hours. Times between the three worlds were not in-sync. Now, May had joined Tai and TK while Sora stuck with Ash and Max. Tai tried to understand the discrepancies of the different flows of time. "I don't know how we have three different times between all of us," he struggled. "Although, checking in on Kari did help ease me about her sickness." Patamon on his head, TK recalled a moment from sometime ago.

"Yeah, you told all of us when we first arrived at summer camp that you had a sister who couldn't make it," he remembered. Patamon also recalled something else, one just minutes before.

"What I like to know is how your sister knew Agumon," the winged piglet tried to make sense. "The only way I can think of is if Digimon came to your world." Tai pondered about Patamon's theory. May, still relatively new to Digimon, believed Patamon about their world having Digimon invading their land.

"It's not that farfetched to think that Kari saw Digimon sometime ago, maybe during an invasion," she thought. Tai gave the theory a run-through in his head.

"May may be onto something," Agumon believed.

"Maybe..." his partner minded. "When we find Izzy, I'm sure we'll get some answers." As the three traveled down one path, Ash, Max, Sora and their Pokémon friends continued down the other road. After meeting two more Digidestined, Ash gave some thought to his assessment of Tai and TK, including the mention of Tai's sister.

"Sora, do you know Kari?" he asked.

"Tai's sister?" guessed Sora. "Yeah. She's been a rather sickly girl since she was born. I heard she nearly died when playing with Tai." Ash may have been thinking too highly about Tai after hearing how he nearly lost a family member.

"That's scary to know," Max gulped. "Hopefully, he treats May and TK better."

"Max, he's not bad! He's just quick to judge!" Pikachu began to squeak about Ash being similar, one Ash didn't want brought up.

"Don't start comparing me to Tai!" he retaliated. Pikachu snapped back, not listening to Ash's denial. Max and Biyomon laughed at the mocking of Ash.

"Now be nice to him!" The group soon saw a large gray castle as the road led them to the palace. Max saw the size of the castle, awed by the scale.

"The Digital World has some large castles, I see," he admired.

"I guess. Then again, we did sleep in a large abandoned hotel before Devimon attacked." Noises echoed out of the castle but Pikachu's ears picked them up. He squeaked about the activity within. To Biyomon, it could be one of her Digidestined friends.

"Pikachu says there's someone inside," Ash tried to understand. Biyomon believed Ash's thought.

"Another one of our friends, no doubt," she beaked. "Let's go inside!" Ash nodded before he pried the doors ajar. As they entered, they saw green frogs with the bell of a French Horn attached to their necks and overgrown purple tadpoles with legs. They ran frantically, saying some random gibberish with the only word being "Princess" clearly heard.

"These may be a couple of Digimon Misty would admire." To Biyomon, these were Digimon she recognized.

"These green Digimon are Geckomon and the tadpoles are Otamamon. Geckomon are fond of music, though their Crash Symphony attack questions their taste. Otamamon come before Geckomon and their Lullaby Bubble will put you to sleep." The creatures didn't sound frightening until one Geckmon emerged from the top of the stairs. It readied an announcement.

"Humans and Digimon!" it croaked. The humans, Pokémon and Digimon turned to the lone Geckomon with its tongue randomly exiting. The tongue looked like a fork but with three holes within. "Presenting the Princess of the ShogunGeckomon Castle!" From the doorway, a girl came out in a gorgeous pink royal gown, silver tiara and arm-length gloves holding a paper fan opened up, covering her face. However, her wavy brunette hair under the tiara gave way her identity to Sora who gasped.

"Mimi?" she called. The "princess" partially folded her fan, her eye spotting Sora below her.

"Sora, is that you?"she replied. Just as the girls got to see one another, a walking green bundle of weeds in a pink gown joined Mimi on the stairs while having a pink tropical flower as hair. Mimi completed folding her fan to see her friends. Ash and Max stepped aside to allow the girls to meet. "My goodness! I thought after that battle with Etemon, Palmon and I wouldn't see you again!" Sora nervously laughed to Mimi's cry.

"Now why would I not want to see everyone again? And besides, Tai and Agumon are back too." Mimi breathed a sigh of relief to know Tai returned. The plant creature soon noticed the Pokémon Trainer and Pikachu.

"Hey, who did you bring along?" it pointed out. The Digimon and girls turned to Ash and Pikachu. Mimi's eyes fixated squarely on Ash. Heartbeat racing, Mimi dropped her fan and palmed her chest. Quickly, she had a thought, one wild enough for her to believe.

"So that's why you've been gone, Sora," she trembled. "You…" When she looked again at Ash, hearts overlapped her eyes. "You found me a prince!" Sora and the boys jumped at the excited shout.

"Wait, what?!" shrieked Ash. Despite the size of the dress and stiletto heels, Mimi galloped down the staircase and tackled Ash to the floor. Pikachu jumped to Taillow who flapped the fellow Pokémon to Max as he stood by Sora and Biyomon.

"There's a change of momentum," he joked. The plant followed Mimi to the bottom of the staircase to see her nuzzling her soft cheek to Ash's as her arms squeezed tightly around the trainer, his back flat on the tiled floor with the brunette "princess" on top.

"Oh my goodness, you're so adorable!" she cooed. "I wanna keep you in my arms forever!" She got to her feet before she pulled Ash to his. Both trainer and Digidestined were nearly chest-to-chest. It became a little more outrageous. "I, Princess Mimi Tachikawa, hear by declare this young man as my lawfully wedded husband! To have and to hold… In sickness and in health… 'Til death do us part! So say thee Lord!" Sora and the creatures gasped horrifically to Mimi's quick proposal assessment.

"Forget 'Love at First Sight'," Max joked. "They may be on their way to the honeymoon." Ash couldn't believe his luck… or his misfortune. Despite meeting Mimi for the first time, she just declared him "her husband," regardless of their age.

"Hold on!" he finally spoke up. "Don't I get a saying in this?!" Mimi blinked for a second before having an answer.

"Oh, just say yes!" she replied proudly. "I know we're still young but I can't wait for a life with you!" However, at least one opposed the premature reception.

"Poison Ivy!" shouted the plant as purple vines with green tips wrapped around Mimi before pulling her off. This allowed Ash to breathe and straighten himself. Sora also breathed a sigh, grateful the scene didn't extend too far. "Mimi, you don't even know who he is and just now… you want him as a spouse?" Mimi spun back to the plant with vines still around her.

"But Palmon! He's so cute, I can't just let him go!" His wits recovered, Ash came over to help Mimi back on her feet.

"Here," he offered with a smile as he reached for Mimi's hand. Mimi accepted by grabbing his hand. Once latched, Ash hoisted her to her heels before coming clean. "To be honest, Max and I don't have Digimon like you and Sora do. Heck, Max doesn't have a partner regardless." Both glanced to Max who brought Pikachu back to Ash while Taillow perched itself on his head. Pikachu leaped in his arms. Mimi saw Pikachu, stroking his chin to the mouse's delight. One Geckomon grew curious to Pikachu's appearance.

"Let me get this straight, Prince," it croaked. "You're telling us that your mouse and bird are not Digimon!"

"I'm afraid not. Unlike Biyomon, Palmon and you guys, Pikachu and Taillow are actually Pokémon." Palmon and those of the castle awed the understanding of who Ash brought to the Digital World. Mimi stood puzzled.

"Well, that's a piece of fabric to the wardrobe," Mimi murmured. "Still, someone as cute as you deserves a kiss from a princess." True to her word, Mimi pressed her lips firmly to Ash's. Sora walked to Ash's side, eager to know Mimi's reasoning in the castle while mulling her desire to steal Ash away from her.

"Anyway, Mimi," she called. "What are you doing here and why didn't you want to stay with Izzy or Joe?" Mimi hesitated to respond but the Geckomon provided information in relation.

"She's here to awaken our lord, ShogunGeckomon!" it croaked. "And her song is the key!" Max heard the frog-like Digimon but the name left him puzzled.

"Mimi's song is suppose to wake a ShogunGeckomon?" he repeated.

"That's right!" an Otamamon confirmed. "Our lord, ShogunGeckomon has been asleep for a long time… 300 years to be exact. Funny story about that. ShogunGeckomon lost a contest and in his sadness, fell in a deep sleep. We were told that only a wonderful singing voice would wake ShogunGeckomon from his sorrowing sleep." Ash and Max grew skepticism to the story.

"You weren't visited by a winged bat wearing a mask," Ash guessed. "Were you?" A Geckomon listened with a guess of his own.

"If you mean DemiDevimon, then yeah!" it snapped a reply. The boys gulped at the information, knowing they needed to stop Mimi from awakening their lord. Still, both sides nodded not to alert Mimi about DemiDevimon's scheme as she and Sora had their conversation. Once in agreement, they came to Ash with an easier suggestion.

"Ash, would you like some tea?" she requested. "I would love to know more about the world you and Max came from." A cup of tea after all Ash and Sora have been through was a peaceful idea.

"That sounds like a nice idea," he liked. Max had other plans.

"I'm gonna take a tour of the castle and see what's up," he excused himself. Ash walked off with the girls and creatures for their tea. A Geckomon and Otamamon took Max to a foyer where a giant reddish frog sat with its back turned. "What is that?" One Geckomon hopped over to Max with the giant frog-like creature's identity.

"This is our lord, ShogunGeckomon!" he pleaded. "He's been like this ever since his defeat!" Max crossed his arms, disbelieving ShogunGeckomon's sulk.

"Smells kinda fishy to me. It's only one loss."

"To you, it's one loss," an Otamamon compared. "But ShogunGeckomon's voice helps maintain peace with us Otamamon and Geckomon. That's why he enjoyed singing so much that when he lost..." Max began to see the issue .

"I get it. ShogunGeckomon's depressed. That's why he's been in this state for so long… but it brings me this question: why Mimi?"

"Funny thing about that," another Geckomon croaked. "Legend of ShogunGeckomon's defeat explains that one with a beautiful and wondrous voice , the same one who beat our master in the first place, is the one who can awaken him from his 'depressed' hibernation… at least according to that DemiDevimon." Max studied the situation. He had candidates in his head from the people he came across, including himself.

"There's no way May could sing if her life depended on it, let alone me. Man, that does narrow down the choices significantly." It seemed that only the two Digidestined girls were the only candidates who could wake ShogunGeckomon. "It does seem like you've got the girl to do the job. So what's keeping him asleep?" Another Otamamon clutched its head in a show of agony.

"You wouldn't believe the excuses she came up with," it groaned. "She lost the words to the song, there was no lighting to the foyer… I swear the sun was nearly in the foyer! She got tired quickly, got hungry and thirsty! I swear, her parents should stop spoiling her so much!" With all the detail on hand, Max scoffed to the Geckomon and Otamamon's problems… and even Mimi's.

"Then I guess we came at the right time." The amphibious Digimon turned to the young boy with a Taillow on his head. Even Taillow wondered about Max's snicker. "You see, Ash is a young man of passion… at least that's what my sister and Sora have said. If anyone's gonna set that princess straight, it's him." This drew ire to some of the Digimon telling Max about their issue.

"Are you sure?" the first Geckomon pondered.

"Hey, you saw how fast Princess Mimi engaged that boy as soon as they met!" the second Geckomon pointed out. "If he can convince Princess Mimi to sing and awaken our lord, he IS the prince we all need!" The Digimon could only pray that having Ash around will be the key to their satisfaction, much to Max's chagrin.

'That being said, bad bat's shenanigans are getting out of control,' Max murmured in his head. 'Not to mention once we get the Digidestined back together, how do we get back to the Petalburg Woods?' How could Ash influence Mimi to sing when the apparent trap had been set?

TO BE CONTINUED...