----------------------------------
DECEMBER 21st, 2000
Mewtwo's Lab on New Island II
----------------------------------
Ash stared at the screen as the next question flashed on. The pokemon trainer read, reread, and re-reread the question, but still it seemed to easy. There HAD to be a trick. That's the way tests were. There weren't easy answers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- MULTIPLE CHOICE: Which weighs more: A ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?
- a. bricks
- b. feathers.
- c. Both bricks and feathers.
- d. Neither bricks nor feathers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"That's easy. Bricks are heavier than feathers, so A." Ash said, punching the appropriate key. "Next question..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- TRUE OR FALSE: Magnetic North is different than True North.
- a. True
- b. False
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh I know that one. I may get lost a lot, but I know how to use a compass. A."
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The computers instantly froze when the time was up, and the answers that were completed were downloaded into a central computer within Mewtwo's lab. The kids that were present (Ash, Davis, Yolei, TK, Mimi and Misty) made their way to the lab to see how they ranked.
"Phew, I'm glad that's over." Mimi sighed. "I hate tests."
"Oh man, that sucked!" Davis said, rubbing his tired eyes and stretching his arms. "I think I got the lowest score in my life on that test."
"Well, that would make sense, since this IS an IQ test." said Yolei, making the others laugh.
Davis laughed mockingly. "Oh VERY funny. I'm sure glad we have the nerdette on our side, so that our world doesn't look TOTALLY stupid." The others laughed some more, while Yolei stuck out her tongue at Davis, who did the same.
"So how about you Ash?" Misty asked. "Did you bomb the test as you usually do when under pressure?"
Ash laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha. If you must know, I think I did pretty good on that test. I probably am a genius just waiting to be discovered."
"What'd you say for the bricks and feathers question?" Yolei asked.
"The bricks, right?" Davis said. Ash nodded in agreement, bringing on some giggles from the other kids. "What? What's so funny?"
"Well, we'll just have to see the results. Here's the lab." TK said. The kids all walked up to the screen, where Mewtwo's Dragonite stood to make sure there was no tampering with the machine. When the IQ's were displayed on the screen, the kids approached and looked at their names.
"Wow! I got a 70! That's the best test grade I've ever got." Davis cheered. The others sweatdropped.
"Uh, Davis...that's not 70%. That's IQ 70. That means you're not a moron, but you're still below average." Yolei said.
"Aww, dang." Davis said, sulking and walking away.
Yolei fixed her glasses and looked at her score, smiling. "120! Go me!!" shouted Yolei, dancing away.
"I gotta 100. That's a little above average!" TK said, smiling. Davis clenched his fists and glared at TK, who walked back where the fellow digi-destined was standing.
"Hey, a 90! Great!" Misty said. "That's what a beautiful, intelligent girl like me should have."
"I think the computer has a bug." Ash said, smiling. Misty growled and clenched her fists, making Ash dodge and run up to get his score.
Mimi smiled. "An 80 for me. Mmm...it's okay. I'm not much of a brainiac anyway. I'll leave that to Izzy and Yolei." she said smiling.
"Hey I gotta 80 also. Alright!!" cheered Ash, leaping up and down.
"And you're happy with that?" Misty said. "What happened to the 'genius waiting to be discovered'?"
Ash smiled. "Not all geniuses have high IQ's. Look at Einstein."
Misty groaned. "If you're another Einstein, then I'm another Amelia Earhart."
"I guess that makes us even so far." TK said. "I wonder how the others will do."
"Hey, here come the digimon and the pokemon. Did they do the same test?" Misty asked as the gang strolled in.
"I think so." Yolei answered. "But why would Mewtwo do that? Some of that stuff is humans only kind of stuff, and digimon don't go to school."
"Neither do Pokemon." Ash mentioned. "But then again, they're pretty smart."
Dragonite punched some commands, and the scores of the others appeared on screen. The kids and their nonhuman companions looked at the scores with interest, and noticed a little pattern.
"The digimon are pretty close to their human partners. Only about 10 points different." Yolei said. "I guess that makes sense, since each digi-destined works with a digimon that is directly compatible with them, so it would make sense that they are as smart as each other."
"Is a 75 good?" Veemon asked Davis. The digi-destined sighed and shooed the question away.
"The pokemon are all different- around 90, but look at Pikachu's score. It's much higher than Ash's." Misty said, pointing at Pikachu's 110. "Good job Pikachu!"
Pikachu did a victory pose and smiled. "Sorry to blow you off the board Ash." Ash groaned, but laughed along with everyone else as he returned his pokemon to their pokeballs, as did Misty.
"Are all your brothers and sister as smart as you Pikachu?" Yolei asked.
"Nah. We're as different as humans are, just like the other pokemon. I just happen to know a bit more about the world."
"Yeah. We sure have seen a lot on our journey, and have learned a lot from our adventures."
"Guess that doesn't leave a lot of time for school." TK said.
"Oh, we don't go to school." Misty said. "When you turn 10, you start your Pokemon journey, and learn what you need on the road."
"No way?! You mean you don't have to do homework?!" Davis said. "Man, I wish I didn't have to go to school."
"It certainly isn't helping you any." Yolei joked, bringing on another fit of laughter.
"Let's go see how the others are doing." TK said. "I heard they're doing the stamina part of the tests. Lots of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and running, all wrapped up into a relay race."
"A race?!" Davis said. "I'm there!" he said, dashing towards the outdoor gym area.
"Wait up Davis!" Veemon shouted. Veemon and the others quickly followed Davis, and soon were all out the door.
****
"Come on, Sora! Hurry!" Gabumon shouted. "You're almost there!"
Sora ran as fast as she could, complaining "I didn't wear my shoes!"
"But Mewtwo gave you a uniform for this!" Gabumon said, pointing out the new clothes that everyone was wearing for the test. "That included tennis shoes!"
"But they aren't MY shoes!" Sora added, making the others groan.
"Good for me then." Joe said, running past her as fast as he could. Having longer legs, Joe should have been able to run faster. However, like Izzy, who was lagging behind, he wasn't much of a runner. Luckily, they all were pretty much not push-up artists.
"Let's go Armadillomon!" shouted Cody from across the field at his relay point. "This should be easy for you!"
"My legs are too short!" Armadillomon said from his place next to Izzy in third.
Soon, Sora and Joe reached the point where they were to do twenty push-ups as fast as they could. Joe started his first few push-ups as Sora flew through the push-ups, thanks to her tennis arms.
"One...two...th-three..." Joe counted, trying to do his push-ups.
"Oh man...this is tough....five...six...seven..." Sora said, counting away as Armadillomon and Izzy made it to their push-up points and started to do their twenty.
They counted away, and soon the push-ups slowed down, with Sora hovering at 15, Joe at 10, Armadillomon 10 and climbing fast (since he didn't have to work barely at all to do push-ups), and Izzy in last with 5.
Mewtwo looked over at the computer monitor that hooked up to the recorders. The pokemon nodded and returned to the 'action' as Davis ran up next to him, followed by Veemon, and the other test-takers.
"Who's winning?" Davis asked. Looking at the counter, he got his answer, and yelled "GO!!...eh, who's team is Kari on?"
Mewtwo groaned, but answered. "Izzy and Kari are on the same team."
"What?! Izzy is too slow!" cupping his hands together, Davis shouted, "Come on Izzy! Suck it up!"
Izzy growled and continued his push-ups, nearly falling over. "I'd like to see you try this Davis."
TK smiled at the competitors. "This reminds me of the basketball tryouts at school."
"I wish Pikachu and I were out there." Ash said. "We'd beat everybody without breaking a sweat!" he boasted. Pikachu agreed and laughed.
"I'd be surprised if you could even do a push-up, as lazy as you are." Misty said, giggling.
Ash growled, but returned his attention to the race when Yolei shouted, "There goes Armadillomon!"
"And there's Sora." said Hawkmon. They watched as Armadillomon tagged Brock, who dashed to the sit-up point, along with Sora's relay partner Gabumon. Soon, Joe and Izzy followed, tagging their respective partners Agumon and Gatomon, who raced after the other two.
"Looks like a close race." Patomon said from on top of TK's head.
"Go Gatomon! Go go go!" Davis shouted.
"Way to go, Brock!" Ash shouted, waving his hands fervishly.
Brock and Gabumon reached the sit-up station at about the same time, and each started knocking out sit-ups quickly. By the time their count reached 10, Gatomon and Agumon reached the station and started theirs.
"Let's go Gabumon!!" shouted Yolei, waving her purple hankerchief she wore for a hat in the air like a rally flag.
"Come on Agumon!" Misty yelled. Togepi clapped and waved his little flippers as well.
Brock shot up and ran the rest of the way to the next relayer, Geodude (whom Brock picked because he knew the next event was pull-ups). Only a second after Geodude hopped along, Gabumon and Agumon tagged their partners, Biyomon and Gomamon, respectively. Just after them, Gatomon raced up and tagged Kari, who dashed off after the others.
"Way to go Kari!!" Davis and TK shouted at the same time. The four runners reached the station, and all of them started doing the dreaded pull-ups. Like the other stations, they had to do twenty, so this one would probably take a little longer. Kari struggled with hers, as did the aquatic Gomamon, while Biyoon and Geodude flashed through the pull-ups, since both had strong arms.
"It's quite even." Mewtwo mused, checking to make sure the physical data was being recorded along with the contest counters. Seeing that the computer was functioning properly, Mewtwo resumed his watch of the contest.
"Eighteen....Nineteen...Twenty!" cheered Biyomon, who fell to the ground and started to run to the last relayer. Geodude quickly followed, with Kari and Gomamon not to far behind.
Tai and Matt waited at their spots, holding their hands out in wait. Looking over at Matt, Tai said "Heh heh. Bet I make it to the finish line before you even get halfway."
"You're on!" Matt joked. "I warn you Tai. I won a lot of relay races back in school."
"You never faced me though!" he retaliated with a smile.
"Man, I hate not being able to fly for this. Mewtwo's a real party pooper." Tentomon complained. "Geodude could fly!"
"He didn't fly. He hopped." Cody said. "Besides, he has no legs. You do."
"Oh, fine." Tentomon said.
The four relayers quickly tagged the final four runners. Tai was tagged first, followed quickly by Matt, and tied in third were Cody and Tentomon. The four racers had to run around the race track that was set up, and cross the finish line. The four runners rounded the corner, passing the cheering kids next to Mewtwo.
"Let's go bro!" TK shouted. Matt smiled and gave a high-five to TK as he passed.
"Come on you pansy! Run!!" Yolei shouted angrily towards Matt, who cringed but laughed at the same time. Hawkmon laughed as well, but didn't cheer for anyone in particular.
"Way to go Cody!" Ash shouted.
"Don't give up! Don't let those guys push you around." Pikachu cheered. Cody nodded, and kept on running.
"Come on, Tentomon!" shouted Veemon.
"Go Team Kari!" Davis cheered. Tentomon sweatdropped, but continued to waddle along as fast as he could.
The two leaders rounded the final bend, and were neck in neck. Tai tried to push ahead, but Matt just kept on coming. The two put everything they had into it, but neither could get an advantage over the other. There was only a few yards left until the finish line, so they gave it their all.
Both seemed to cross the finish line at the same time, but each side cheered for their man's victory at the same time. Tai and Matt crossed first (but none of the kids or digimon were sure which one was first), with Cody in second, and Tentomon waddling along in third.
Mewtwo walked towards the main lab while the kids cheered for the racers, congratulating them and each other. Soon the mob of kids made their way into the lab, where the data had been processed. Just for kicks, Mewtwo showed the winner of the race to be Tai (his hair was across before either of them), much to the others' annoyance. Despite his win, the others congratulated him and asked the others about the tests they had to take. The kids said how hard it was, and would have talked about the questions on the test, had Mewtwo not stopped them with a wave of his hand.
"They have to take the test as well this afternoon. Meanwhile, those of you who took the IQ test will do the same race out there."
"Alright!!" Davis shouted. "Your ass is mine, Ash Ketchum! Right, Veemon?!"
"You betcha!" Veemon cheered.
"We'll see about that!" Ash laughed.
"See ya on the field!" Pikachu cheered, leaping back outside to the gym floor to stretch.
Mewtwo shrugged. "Okay, we'll do the race now. Computer, set up the tests computers for the other groups." When the computer was ready, the kids, digimon, and pokemon went to do their next tests.
****
The night sky sparkled with starry light, catching Mewtwo's eye every now and then. The pokemon examined the data on the screen again, eyeing each score from each child, digimon, and pokemon. Averaging them together, and comparing the various data, Mewtwo carefully studied the patterns to see if anything striking jumped out at him. Flicking on a command telekinetically, Mewtwo spoke aloud to the computer recorder.
"December 21st, 2000. First day tests were the IQ and Stamina tests. IQ test results are within expectations. The pokemons' intelligence range as high and low as typical humans (including that annoying Psyduck that rated a 30 on the test...), and aren't apparently influenced intellectually by their trainers in a noticeable way. Digimon, on the other hand, share very similar personalities and mental abilities with their human partners, and thus have scores within a few points of theirs. I expect to see a similar comparison in the psychological and emotional experiments."
Mewtwo flicked the screen data to the Stamina data from the relay race. "Stamina test results are similar. Both the pokemon and digimon share comparible amounts of energy in their Rookie form. The child Izzy (as well as Seth's earlier notes) say that digimon stamina levels reduce at higher evolutions due to more energy being used in those forms. The data here seems to point in that direction as well, since the digimons' Rookie stage seems to store high amounts of energy when compared to the pokemon...except for Pikachu, whose energy levels are somewhat mutated by an anomaly I have identified as a 'power-up' used by Ash a few years ago before his battle with Onix and Brock. Other than that, pokemon and digimon seem to share similar energy levels. Projection of the energy storage and generation capabilities of each species show that higher levels of evolution react similarly. Second and Third stage Pokemon don't generate raw energy as high as the Champion, Ultimate, and Mega digimon, but the Digimon evolutions are not permanent like Pokemon evolution, thus balancing out the two."
Mewtwo turned off the data on the screen, and started to pace. "Tomorrow, I will begin a psychological test with the kids. I will see how they react to an all-out attack by "alien forces" on my island, and hold a staged-battle without their knowledge. This will allow me to study their physical skills, prowess, and their ability to react to situations. End Log." The computer recorder clicked off, and Mewtwo returned to his seat, thinking to himself what plans he had to make.
****
"Man, I'm beat." Davis said, laying down on his lower part of the bunk. "But at least we got to do the race."
"Yeah, and you got to eat my dust!" Ash said, laughing down from his top bunk. "Pikachu and I owned you guys!"
"Well, I wouldn't say 'owned'..." Pikachu said, trying to show some modesty.
"Your race wasn't as close as ours was." Matt said. "Man that was cool. I was just this....close to beating you."
"Oh well, better luck next time, heh heh." Tai gloated from his place above Davis. Matt chucked a pillow at him, which Tai caught and threw back.
"I think we should hit the hay. The others are already out." TK said, nodding over at the sleeping Cody, Izzy, Joe, and Brock (and their partners). "Besides, if tomorrow is just as tough, I wanna get some sleep, or I'll be running with my eyes closed." TK jumped into his and Matt's bunk bed, while the others did the same. When all of them were in their comfy beds, they realized that the light was still on. Everyone was too lazy to get up, so they started volunteering each other to turn it off.
"You do it, Davis. Your the leader." Veemon said.
"What? Tai's the leader, when he's around. He should do it."
"Can you get that Agumon? Thanks." Tai said.
"You do it, Gabumon. Your closer." Agumon said.
"Ash should do it. He's the new guy." replied Gabumon
"I'M the new guy? You're in my world, so you're all the new guys."
"Grrrr...THUNDER SHOCK!" Pikachu shouted, shooting a Thunder Shock at the light bulb, as well as the talkers. They screamed as electric current passed through them, and each dropped back to their beds with a THUNK.
Tai groaned. "Ouch...I feel sorry for you, Ash..."
"I think we all do." Matt said through his pillow.
"Don't make me do it again." Pikachu said from his part of Ash's bed. Everybody went silent, and sleep started to sink in.
A laugh was heard from one of the bottom bunks, and Davis could be heard trying to shoosh Veemon. The others started laughing as well, for no reason, trying to keep it down. "I'm serious..."Pikachu laughed. A laughing fit started in the dark room, which lasted until Pikachu started to crackle like a freaky night-light. Everyone went silent again, and this time the silence lasted through the night.
****
"So Misty, what's it like living the life of a wanderer?" Yolei asked from her bunk. "Must be great. Not having a care in the world. Nothing to tie you down.
"When you put it that way, I guess it is. But there's more to it than that." Misty replied as she rocked Togepi to sleep.
Sora looked up, then continued to help Mimi with her hair for the night. Kari sat over by Misty, saying "So how did you and Ash meet? Do you come from the same town?"
Misty laughed. "Well, actually no. Our very first meeting was just outside of his home town."
"Oh really? What were you doing?" Palmon asked.
"Well, I was fishing, but Ash was being his usual self, getting into trouble. He had gotten a flock of spearow angry, and they had chased him and Pikachu."
"Did you save them?" Yolei said, leaning over from her top bunk-bed.
"No! Ash stole my bike and rode away to try and get to town to help Pikachu. He ended up breaking it! In fact, he STILL owes me for that bike!"
Kari laughed. "Well, it sounds like you two have become friends since then."
Misty smiled. "...yeah. He's hard not to become friends with. He just has that kind of personality."
"What do you mean?" Gatomon asked, opening her eyes as if she were just waking up, even though she probably had been listening the whole time.
"Well...Ash is the kind of guy who will go and risk his own life to save yours...and he tries his best to do what he thinks is right. He's really brave...or really stupid. Or both."
"Do you like him?" Yolei asked, which caught Misty off guard.
"No! I don't like him!"
"Not even a teensy bit?" Yolei added.
Misty paused for a moment. "Well...okay, maybe a little..." she said, her face turning a bright shade of red. Sora, Mimi, and Kari giggled, while Yolei almost swooned off the bed.
"If he was my boyfriend, I wouldn't let him go!" Yolei said, hugging the air and smiling. "Oh Ash, my hero!"
"Whoa, chill out Yolei. There's a shower over there." Sora said, making the others laugh.
"Well, wouldn't you want a boyfriend who would come to your rescue? Your very own knight in shining armor?" Yolei asked.
Sora smiled, and looked down at Mimi's strands of hair as she combed them and thought. "I suppose it wouldn't be too bad..."
Yolei smiled. "Someone like Tai..." she said, watching Sora's face blush. The others whistled and made cat calls, embarrasing Sora even more.
"Okay then! How about you Kari! I know who your 'knight' is..." Kari froze, and Sora smiled. "Shall I say his name, or do you wanna do it?"
Kari sighed, and took a deep breath. "T.K." The others screamed, and Kari buried her face in her hands out of embarrasement.
"He and you are sooooo cute together!" Mimi said. "Even when you were little, you were a cute looking pair."
Kari blushed, while pointing at Mimi. "And how about you?"
Mimi thought for a while. "My knight... I don't know."
"Oh come on. We know you like someone in the room over there." Yolei said. "I'm guessing he has baby blue eyes..."
"Well, um..." Mimi trailed off.
"Come on! Admit it! You think Matt's a stud!" Yolei said. "Say it! Say it!"
Mimi closed her eyes. "Okay, Matt's a hottie!" The girls screamed while Mimi jumped to her bunk bed. "I just wanna grab him and drag him to America with me!"
"Why Mimi, you animal!" Sora laughed, getting herself ready for bed as well.
"Oh man, I can't believe I said that." Mimi said, covering her head with her blanket.
"You're all nuts." Gatomon said, turning out the lights and going back to her sleeping place. The silence in the room remained for several moments, until...
"Gatomon and Patomon, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S..."
"Shut up Palmon!" Gatomon yelled, causing a round of giggles in the room.
DECEMBER 21st, 2000
Mewtwo's Lab on New Island II
----------------------------------
Ash stared at the screen as the next question flashed on. The pokemon trainer read, reread, and re-reread the question, but still it seemed to easy. There HAD to be a trick. That's the way tests were. There weren't easy answers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- MULTIPLE CHOICE: Which weighs more: A ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?
- a. bricks
- b. feathers.
- c. Both bricks and feathers.
- d. Neither bricks nor feathers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"That's easy. Bricks are heavier than feathers, so A." Ash said, punching the appropriate key. "Next question..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- TRUE OR FALSE: Magnetic North is different than True North.
- a. True
- b. False
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh I know that one. I may get lost a lot, but I know how to use a compass. A."
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The computers instantly froze when the time was up, and the answers that were completed were downloaded into a central computer within Mewtwo's lab. The kids that were present (Ash, Davis, Yolei, TK, Mimi and Misty) made their way to the lab to see how they ranked.
"Phew, I'm glad that's over." Mimi sighed. "I hate tests."
"Oh man, that sucked!" Davis said, rubbing his tired eyes and stretching his arms. "I think I got the lowest score in my life on that test."
"Well, that would make sense, since this IS an IQ test." said Yolei, making the others laugh.
Davis laughed mockingly. "Oh VERY funny. I'm sure glad we have the nerdette on our side, so that our world doesn't look TOTALLY stupid." The others laughed some more, while Yolei stuck out her tongue at Davis, who did the same.
"So how about you Ash?" Misty asked. "Did you bomb the test as you usually do when under pressure?"
Ash laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha. If you must know, I think I did pretty good on that test. I probably am a genius just waiting to be discovered."
"What'd you say for the bricks and feathers question?" Yolei asked.
"The bricks, right?" Davis said. Ash nodded in agreement, bringing on some giggles from the other kids. "What? What's so funny?"
"Well, we'll just have to see the results. Here's the lab." TK said. The kids all walked up to the screen, where Mewtwo's Dragonite stood to make sure there was no tampering with the machine. When the IQ's were displayed on the screen, the kids approached and looked at their names.
"Wow! I got a 70! That's the best test grade I've ever got." Davis cheered. The others sweatdropped.
"Uh, Davis...that's not 70%. That's IQ 70. That means you're not a moron, but you're still below average." Yolei said.
"Aww, dang." Davis said, sulking and walking away.
Yolei fixed her glasses and looked at her score, smiling. "120! Go me!!" shouted Yolei, dancing away.
"I gotta 100. That's a little above average!" TK said, smiling. Davis clenched his fists and glared at TK, who walked back where the fellow digi-destined was standing.
"Hey, a 90! Great!" Misty said. "That's what a beautiful, intelligent girl like me should have."
"I think the computer has a bug." Ash said, smiling. Misty growled and clenched her fists, making Ash dodge and run up to get his score.
Mimi smiled. "An 80 for me. Mmm...it's okay. I'm not much of a brainiac anyway. I'll leave that to Izzy and Yolei." she said smiling.
"Hey I gotta 80 also. Alright!!" cheered Ash, leaping up and down.
"And you're happy with that?" Misty said. "What happened to the 'genius waiting to be discovered'?"
Ash smiled. "Not all geniuses have high IQ's. Look at Einstein."
Misty groaned. "If you're another Einstein, then I'm another Amelia Earhart."
"I guess that makes us even so far." TK said. "I wonder how the others will do."
"Hey, here come the digimon and the pokemon. Did they do the same test?" Misty asked as the gang strolled in.
"I think so." Yolei answered. "But why would Mewtwo do that? Some of that stuff is humans only kind of stuff, and digimon don't go to school."
"Neither do Pokemon." Ash mentioned. "But then again, they're pretty smart."
Dragonite punched some commands, and the scores of the others appeared on screen. The kids and their nonhuman companions looked at the scores with interest, and noticed a little pattern.
"The digimon are pretty close to their human partners. Only about 10 points different." Yolei said. "I guess that makes sense, since each digi-destined works with a digimon that is directly compatible with them, so it would make sense that they are as smart as each other."
"Is a 75 good?" Veemon asked Davis. The digi-destined sighed and shooed the question away.
"The pokemon are all different- around 90, but look at Pikachu's score. It's much higher than Ash's." Misty said, pointing at Pikachu's 110. "Good job Pikachu!"
Pikachu did a victory pose and smiled. "Sorry to blow you off the board Ash." Ash groaned, but laughed along with everyone else as he returned his pokemon to their pokeballs, as did Misty.
"Are all your brothers and sister as smart as you Pikachu?" Yolei asked.
"Nah. We're as different as humans are, just like the other pokemon. I just happen to know a bit more about the world."
"Yeah. We sure have seen a lot on our journey, and have learned a lot from our adventures."
"Guess that doesn't leave a lot of time for school." TK said.
"Oh, we don't go to school." Misty said. "When you turn 10, you start your Pokemon journey, and learn what you need on the road."
"No way?! You mean you don't have to do homework?!" Davis said. "Man, I wish I didn't have to go to school."
"It certainly isn't helping you any." Yolei joked, bringing on another fit of laughter.
"Let's go see how the others are doing." TK said. "I heard they're doing the stamina part of the tests. Lots of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and running, all wrapped up into a relay race."
"A race?!" Davis said. "I'm there!" he said, dashing towards the outdoor gym area.
"Wait up Davis!" Veemon shouted. Veemon and the others quickly followed Davis, and soon were all out the door.
****
"Come on, Sora! Hurry!" Gabumon shouted. "You're almost there!"
Sora ran as fast as she could, complaining "I didn't wear my shoes!"
"But Mewtwo gave you a uniform for this!" Gabumon said, pointing out the new clothes that everyone was wearing for the test. "That included tennis shoes!"
"But they aren't MY shoes!" Sora added, making the others groan.
"Good for me then." Joe said, running past her as fast as he could. Having longer legs, Joe should have been able to run faster. However, like Izzy, who was lagging behind, he wasn't much of a runner. Luckily, they all were pretty much not push-up artists.
"Let's go Armadillomon!" shouted Cody from across the field at his relay point. "This should be easy for you!"
"My legs are too short!" Armadillomon said from his place next to Izzy in third.
Soon, Sora and Joe reached the point where they were to do twenty push-ups as fast as they could. Joe started his first few push-ups as Sora flew through the push-ups, thanks to her tennis arms.
"One...two...th-three..." Joe counted, trying to do his push-ups.
"Oh man...this is tough....five...six...seven..." Sora said, counting away as Armadillomon and Izzy made it to their push-up points and started to do their twenty.
They counted away, and soon the push-ups slowed down, with Sora hovering at 15, Joe at 10, Armadillomon 10 and climbing fast (since he didn't have to work barely at all to do push-ups), and Izzy in last with 5.
Mewtwo looked over at the computer monitor that hooked up to the recorders. The pokemon nodded and returned to the 'action' as Davis ran up next to him, followed by Veemon, and the other test-takers.
"Who's winning?" Davis asked. Looking at the counter, he got his answer, and yelled "GO!!...eh, who's team is Kari on?"
Mewtwo groaned, but answered. "Izzy and Kari are on the same team."
"What?! Izzy is too slow!" cupping his hands together, Davis shouted, "Come on Izzy! Suck it up!"
Izzy growled and continued his push-ups, nearly falling over. "I'd like to see you try this Davis."
TK smiled at the competitors. "This reminds me of the basketball tryouts at school."
"I wish Pikachu and I were out there." Ash said. "We'd beat everybody without breaking a sweat!" he boasted. Pikachu agreed and laughed.
"I'd be surprised if you could even do a push-up, as lazy as you are." Misty said, giggling.
Ash growled, but returned his attention to the race when Yolei shouted, "There goes Armadillomon!"
"And there's Sora." said Hawkmon. They watched as Armadillomon tagged Brock, who dashed to the sit-up point, along with Sora's relay partner Gabumon. Soon, Joe and Izzy followed, tagging their respective partners Agumon and Gatomon, who raced after the other two.
"Looks like a close race." Patomon said from on top of TK's head.
"Go Gatomon! Go go go!" Davis shouted.
"Way to go, Brock!" Ash shouted, waving his hands fervishly.
Brock and Gabumon reached the sit-up station at about the same time, and each started knocking out sit-ups quickly. By the time their count reached 10, Gatomon and Agumon reached the station and started theirs.
"Let's go Gabumon!!" shouted Yolei, waving her purple hankerchief she wore for a hat in the air like a rally flag.
"Come on Agumon!" Misty yelled. Togepi clapped and waved his little flippers as well.
Brock shot up and ran the rest of the way to the next relayer, Geodude (whom Brock picked because he knew the next event was pull-ups). Only a second after Geodude hopped along, Gabumon and Agumon tagged their partners, Biyomon and Gomamon, respectively. Just after them, Gatomon raced up and tagged Kari, who dashed off after the others.
"Way to go Kari!!" Davis and TK shouted at the same time. The four runners reached the station, and all of them started doing the dreaded pull-ups. Like the other stations, they had to do twenty, so this one would probably take a little longer. Kari struggled with hers, as did the aquatic Gomamon, while Biyoon and Geodude flashed through the pull-ups, since both had strong arms.
"It's quite even." Mewtwo mused, checking to make sure the physical data was being recorded along with the contest counters. Seeing that the computer was functioning properly, Mewtwo resumed his watch of the contest.
"Eighteen....Nineteen...Twenty!" cheered Biyomon, who fell to the ground and started to run to the last relayer. Geodude quickly followed, with Kari and Gomamon not to far behind.
Tai and Matt waited at their spots, holding their hands out in wait. Looking over at Matt, Tai said "Heh heh. Bet I make it to the finish line before you even get halfway."
"You're on!" Matt joked. "I warn you Tai. I won a lot of relay races back in school."
"You never faced me though!" he retaliated with a smile.
"Man, I hate not being able to fly for this. Mewtwo's a real party pooper." Tentomon complained. "Geodude could fly!"
"He didn't fly. He hopped." Cody said. "Besides, he has no legs. You do."
"Oh, fine." Tentomon said.
The four relayers quickly tagged the final four runners. Tai was tagged first, followed quickly by Matt, and tied in third were Cody and Tentomon. The four racers had to run around the race track that was set up, and cross the finish line. The four runners rounded the corner, passing the cheering kids next to Mewtwo.
"Let's go bro!" TK shouted. Matt smiled and gave a high-five to TK as he passed.
"Come on you pansy! Run!!" Yolei shouted angrily towards Matt, who cringed but laughed at the same time. Hawkmon laughed as well, but didn't cheer for anyone in particular.
"Way to go Cody!" Ash shouted.
"Don't give up! Don't let those guys push you around." Pikachu cheered. Cody nodded, and kept on running.
"Come on, Tentomon!" shouted Veemon.
"Go Team Kari!" Davis cheered. Tentomon sweatdropped, but continued to waddle along as fast as he could.
The two leaders rounded the final bend, and were neck in neck. Tai tried to push ahead, but Matt just kept on coming. The two put everything they had into it, but neither could get an advantage over the other. There was only a few yards left until the finish line, so they gave it their all.
Both seemed to cross the finish line at the same time, but each side cheered for their man's victory at the same time. Tai and Matt crossed first (but none of the kids or digimon were sure which one was first), with Cody in second, and Tentomon waddling along in third.
Mewtwo walked towards the main lab while the kids cheered for the racers, congratulating them and each other. Soon the mob of kids made their way into the lab, where the data had been processed. Just for kicks, Mewtwo showed the winner of the race to be Tai (his hair was across before either of them), much to the others' annoyance. Despite his win, the others congratulated him and asked the others about the tests they had to take. The kids said how hard it was, and would have talked about the questions on the test, had Mewtwo not stopped them with a wave of his hand.
"They have to take the test as well this afternoon. Meanwhile, those of you who took the IQ test will do the same race out there."
"Alright!!" Davis shouted. "Your ass is mine, Ash Ketchum! Right, Veemon?!"
"You betcha!" Veemon cheered.
"We'll see about that!" Ash laughed.
"See ya on the field!" Pikachu cheered, leaping back outside to the gym floor to stretch.
Mewtwo shrugged. "Okay, we'll do the race now. Computer, set up the tests computers for the other groups." When the computer was ready, the kids, digimon, and pokemon went to do their next tests.
****
The night sky sparkled with starry light, catching Mewtwo's eye every now and then. The pokemon examined the data on the screen again, eyeing each score from each child, digimon, and pokemon. Averaging them together, and comparing the various data, Mewtwo carefully studied the patterns to see if anything striking jumped out at him. Flicking on a command telekinetically, Mewtwo spoke aloud to the computer recorder.
"December 21st, 2000. First day tests were the IQ and Stamina tests. IQ test results are within expectations. The pokemons' intelligence range as high and low as typical humans (including that annoying Psyduck that rated a 30 on the test...), and aren't apparently influenced intellectually by their trainers in a noticeable way. Digimon, on the other hand, share very similar personalities and mental abilities with their human partners, and thus have scores within a few points of theirs. I expect to see a similar comparison in the psychological and emotional experiments."
Mewtwo flicked the screen data to the Stamina data from the relay race. "Stamina test results are similar. Both the pokemon and digimon share comparible amounts of energy in their Rookie form. The child Izzy (as well as Seth's earlier notes) say that digimon stamina levels reduce at higher evolutions due to more energy being used in those forms. The data here seems to point in that direction as well, since the digimons' Rookie stage seems to store high amounts of energy when compared to the pokemon...except for Pikachu, whose energy levels are somewhat mutated by an anomaly I have identified as a 'power-up' used by Ash a few years ago before his battle with Onix and Brock. Other than that, pokemon and digimon seem to share similar energy levels. Projection of the energy storage and generation capabilities of each species show that higher levels of evolution react similarly. Second and Third stage Pokemon don't generate raw energy as high as the Champion, Ultimate, and Mega digimon, but the Digimon evolutions are not permanent like Pokemon evolution, thus balancing out the two."
Mewtwo turned off the data on the screen, and started to pace. "Tomorrow, I will begin a psychological test with the kids. I will see how they react to an all-out attack by "alien forces" on my island, and hold a staged-battle without their knowledge. This will allow me to study their physical skills, prowess, and their ability to react to situations. End Log." The computer recorder clicked off, and Mewtwo returned to his seat, thinking to himself what plans he had to make.
****
"Man, I'm beat." Davis said, laying down on his lower part of the bunk. "But at least we got to do the race."
"Yeah, and you got to eat my dust!" Ash said, laughing down from his top bunk. "Pikachu and I owned you guys!"
"Well, I wouldn't say 'owned'..." Pikachu said, trying to show some modesty.
"Your race wasn't as close as ours was." Matt said. "Man that was cool. I was just this....close to beating you."
"Oh well, better luck next time, heh heh." Tai gloated from his place above Davis. Matt chucked a pillow at him, which Tai caught and threw back.
"I think we should hit the hay. The others are already out." TK said, nodding over at the sleeping Cody, Izzy, Joe, and Brock (and their partners). "Besides, if tomorrow is just as tough, I wanna get some sleep, or I'll be running with my eyes closed." TK jumped into his and Matt's bunk bed, while the others did the same. When all of them were in their comfy beds, they realized that the light was still on. Everyone was too lazy to get up, so they started volunteering each other to turn it off.
"You do it, Davis. Your the leader." Veemon said.
"What? Tai's the leader, when he's around. He should do it."
"Can you get that Agumon? Thanks." Tai said.
"You do it, Gabumon. Your closer." Agumon said.
"Ash should do it. He's the new guy." replied Gabumon
"I'M the new guy? You're in my world, so you're all the new guys."
"Grrrr...THUNDER SHOCK!" Pikachu shouted, shooting a Thunder Shock at the light bulb, as well as the talkers. They screamed as electric current passed through them, and each dropped back to their beds with a THUNK.
Tai groaned. "Ouch...I feel sorry for you, Ash..."
"I think we all do." Matt said through his pillow.
"Don't make me do it again." Pikachu said from his part of Ash's bed. Everybody went silent, and sleep started to sink in.
A laugh was heard from one of the bottom bunks, and Davis could be heard trying to shoosh Veemon. The others started laughing as well, for no reason, trying to keep it down. "I'm serious..."Pikachu laughed. A laughing fit started in the dark room, which lasted until Pikachu started to crackle like a freaky night-light. Everyone went silent again, and this time the silence lasted through the night.
****
"So Misty, what's it like living the life of a wanderer?" Yolei asked from her bunk. "Must be great. Not having a care in the world. Nothing to tie you down.
"When you put it that way, I guess it is. But there's more to it than that." Misty replied as she rocked Togepi to sleep.
Sora looked up, then continued to help Mimi with her hair for the night. Kari sat over by Misty, saying "So how did you and Ash meet? Do you come from the same town?"
Misty laughed. "Well, actually no. Our very first meeting was just outside of his home town."
"Oh really? What were you doing?" Palmon asked.
"Well, I was fishing, but Ash was being his usual self, getting into trouble. He had gotten a flock of spearow angry, and they had chased him and Pikachu."
"Did you save them?" Yolei said, leaning over from her top bunk-bed.
"No! Ash stole my bike and rode away to try and get to town to help Pikachu. He ended up breaking it! In fact, he STILL owes me for that bike!"
Kari laughed. "Well, it sounds like you two have become friends since then."
Misty smiled. "...yeah. He's hard not to become friends with. He just has that kind of personality."
"What do you mean?" Gatomon asked, opening her eyes as if she were just waking up, even though she probably had been listening the whole time.
"Well...Ash is the kind of guy who will go and risk his own life to save yours...and he tries his best to do what he thinks is right. He's really brave...or really stupid. Or both."
"Do you like him?" Yolei asked, which caught Misty off guard.
"No! I don't like him!"
"Not even a teensy bit?" Yolei added.
Misty paused for a moment. "Well...okay, maybe a little..." she said, her face turning a bright shade of red. Sora, Mimi, and Kari giggled, while Yolei almost swooned off the bed.
"If he was my boyfriend, I wouldn't let him go!" Yolei said, hugging the air and smiling. "Oh Ash, my hero!"
"Whoa, chill out Yolei. There's a shower over there." Sora said, making the others laugh.
"Well, wouldn't you want a boyfriend who would come to your rescue? Your very own knight in shining armor?" Yolei asked.
Sora smiled, and looked down at Mimi's strands of hair as she combed them and thought. "I suppose it wouldn't be too bad..."
Yolei smiled. "Someone like Tai..." she said, watching Sora's face blush. The others whistled and made cat calls, embarrasing Sora even more.
"Okay then! How about you Kari! I know who your 'knight' is..." Kari froze, and Sora smiled. "Shall I say his name, or do you wanna do it?"
Kari sighed, and took a deep breath. "T.K." The others screamed, and Kari buried her face in her hands out of embarrasement.
"He and you are sooooo cute together!" Mimi said. "Even when you were little, you were a cute looking pair."
Kari blushed, while pointing at Mimi. "And how about you?"
Mimi thought for a while. "My knight... I don't know."
"Oh come on. We know you like someone in the room over there." Yolei said. "I'm guessing he has baby blue eyes..."
"Well, um..." Mimi trailed off.
"Come on! Admit it! You think Matt's a stud!" Yolei said. "Say it! Say it!"
Mimi closed her eyes. "Okay, Matt's a hottie!" The girls screamed while Mimi jumped to her bunk bed. "I just wanna grab him and drag him to America with me!"
"Why Mimi, you animal!" Sora laughed, getting herself ready for bed as well.
"Oh man, I can't believe I said that." Mimi said, covering her head with her blanket.
"You're all nuts." Gatomon said, turning out the lights and going back to her sleeping place. The silence in the room remained for several moments, until...
"Gatomon and Patomon, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S..."
"Shut up Palmon!" Gatomon yelled, causing a round of giggles in the room.