Second A/N added on May 22, 2002: I've revised and edited this story, and added a new scene.
It was a dull, dry day in August. Vanessa Vacation was chatting
online in an open channel.
TravelinGirl enters the chat>
TravelinGirl: hi everyone
GogglesII: hi! where are you from?
TravelinGirl: Canada. You?
GogglesII: I'm in Japan.
DigitalV enters the chat>
DigitalV: hey "GogglesII," I know who you are ;)
GogglesII: DemiVeemon?!
DigitalV: yeah, it's me
GogglesII: What are you doing here?
DigitalV: chatting, what else?
GogglesII: Are you using my D-Terminal?
DigitalV: yes...
TravelinGirl: What's going on?
GogglesII: Can you keep a secret? This is serious.
TravelinGirl: Yes, I can.
GogglesII: Okay, here's the deal. I'm Davis, and DigitalV is
DemiVeemon, my partner Digimon. He's from another world, the Digital
World.
TravelinGirl: @_@ Really?
DigitalV: Really. Davis is a Digidestined. They're people
chosen to protect the two worlds from evil.
GogglesII: It started on the first day of school, when I met TR and
Kari, two other Digidestined who had been to the Digital World before.
DigitalV: It's T*K*. and you like kari ;)
GogglesII: DemiVeemon! Anyway, after school, I got a Digivice,
and so did Cody and Yolei. Tai and Izzy (more older Digidestined)
explained about the Digital World and what the Digivices were for.
I went to the Digital World for the first time that day. Then I met
Veemon, and he taught me how to use the Digi-egg of Courage.
TravelinGirl: Cool! I'd love to go there.
GogglesII: Sorry, Digidestined only. Besides, you'd need a Digivice.
LunarCharm enters the chat>
LunarCharm: Digivice? I can do that.
GogglesII: Hacker! >:-(
TravelinGirl: No, wait, don't kick it off! It's a friend of mine.
GogglesII: "It"?
TravelinGirl: Well, that's *my* secret. Can I trust you with
it?
GogglesII: Yes, of course.
TravelinGirl: "It" is Unitria, my Unity Charm. It has no gender
and it can do a lot of stuff . . . like sneak into chatrooms . . .
LunarCharm: Relax! As always, I'm here to help you. You
want to visit the Digital World, right?
TravelinGirl: Yes! It's an adventure!
LunarCharm: Then I'll be your Digivice and let you in.
GogglesII: *You* have to figure out how to open the Digiport.
DigitalV: it's not that hard
GogglesII: Do you *want* her to get in?
DigitalV: why shouldn't she?
GogglesII: She's not one of us, and besides, Ken will notice.
DigitalV: you don't know for sure that she's not one of us. but
you're right about Ken.
GogglesII: OK . . . TravelinGirl, I have to warn you, the Digital World
is dangerous. Ken, the Digimon Emperor, is taking it over, and we're
trying to stop him.
TravelinGirl: No problem. I have Unitria and . . . well, I'll
show you when I get there. They'll protect me.
GogglesII: All right, you can come. What's your real name?
TravelinGirl: Vanessa. By the way, why the name "GogglesII"?
GogglesII: When I came to the Digital World, I broke my goggles, so
Tai gave me his. I'm the second person to wear them, so I'm GogglesII.
TravelinGirl: Oh.
GogglesII: Hey, "LunarCharm," when you get to the Digital World, look
for the signals from our D-3s. We'll be using yours to find you when
we go there tomorrow.
LunarCharm: Okay.
GogglesII: See you then. bye!
GogglesII has left the chat>
DigitalV: laters
DigitalV has left the chat>
LunarCharm: Okay, I found out how to get into the Digital World.
You have to hold me up to your computer screen and say, "Digiport open!"
TravelinGirl: Terrific. Tomorrow, another adventure!
*******
"Digiport open!"
Vanessa didn't plan to stay in the Digital World for very long, so she was only bringing the purple purse that held her wand and Pokéballs. She was wearing her usual green-and-pink vacation outfit. Unitria still hung on its chain around her neck, but it was now shaped like a silver D-3.
The screen shone with a brilliant light that sucked her through a zone of light and color. She landed hard on the ground in a forest.
"She's here!" a voice exclaimed. "Come on!"
Five people and five things that looked sort of like Pokémon ran over to her.
"Hey, you made it!" said one of the people.
"You must be Davis," said Vanessa. "And is this DemiVeemon?"
"No," said Davis, "this is Veemon, DemiVeemon's Rookie form."
"Rookie form?"
"All Digimon have several forms, and they Digivolve to get from one to another."
"In the real world," added Veemon, "we tend to be in In-Training form - DemiVeemon, for me."
"Oh! And they must be the other Digidestined . . ."
"Yes," said a girl with glasses. "I'm Yolei, and this is Hawkmon."
"I'm Cody, and this is Armadillomon."
"TK and Patamon here."
"I'm Kari, and this is Gatomon."
"Nice to meet you," said Vanessa. "I'm Vanessa Vacation."
"Are you just here as a . . . tourist?" asked Kari.
"Yes," said Vanessa. "I love going to new places and seeing new things."
Then Davis said, "I see you have your Digivice. Was it always like that?"
"No," Unitria wrote in the air. "I usually look like a crescent moon."
"This is how Unitria always communicates," said Vanessa. "I know, it surprised me too the first time."
"I exist to help people like Vanessa who travel to many worlds," continued Unitria.
"Many worlds?" asked Cody.
"Yes," said Vanessa. "This is the third separate world I've been in this year."
"You mean there are more like this one?" said Hawkmon.
"Uh-huh. I'm not supposed to tell much about them, because the people who live there don't want people to come and gawk, but I think it's safe enough to show you the Pokémon I got in one of them."
"Okay, let's see," said Davis.
Vanessa opened her purse and pulled out all her Pokeballs. "Come out, everyone!"
Venomoth, Voltorb, Vulpix, Vileplume, and Vaporeon appeared. Everyone stared.
"They came from another world?" said Gatomon.
"Yes," said Vanessa, "but they're not like you. They have a language only they can understand."
"What a shame! How do you get along?"
"We get along okay. You have to treat them well and make them trust you."
"We were the same way. Do Pokémon fight?"
"Yes. Trainers help them hone their fighting skills and then have them battle other trainers' Pokémon for money and other prizes."
"I wouldn't like that much. Here, we only battle against evil Digimon. Are there no evil Pokémon?"
"No, only evil trainers. Speaking of evil, are you going to battle it today?"
"Probably. We're going to destroy another control spire. The Digimon Emperor builds them and makes all the Digimon in the area wear Dark Rings. The spire controls the rings and makes the Digimon wearing them do the Emperor's evil bidding."
"That's worse than anything the evil Pokémon trainers do! Let's go!"
*******
"There's the control spire," said Davis.
"It looks like a big black building," said Vanessa. "How do we destroy it?"
"With some of our Digimon's attacks. We usually have to fight our way past one of the Emperor's minions first, so keep an eye out for them."
The control spire was located on the edge of a lake. They walked along its edge, and when they were a little way from the spire, something stepped in front of them.
"You must be those meddling kids!" said the evil, Dark Ring-wearing Digimon.
Digimon Analyzer screen>
"I am Sharpmon, loyal servant of the Digimon Emperor! My Puncture
Attack really stings!"
/Digimon Analyzer screen>
"You don't scare us!" said Davis. "We're the Digidestined! Ready, Veemon?"
"Ready, Davis!"
"Digi-armor ener-gize!"
"Veemon, Armor Digivolve to . . . Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!"
"Fire Rocket!"
The attack barely fazed Sharpmon. "Puncture Attack!"
Flamedramon fell over backwards.
"No!" yelled Davis. "Somebody cover me!"
"I'll do it!" Kari yelled back. "Digi-armor energize!"
"Gatomon, Armor Digivolve to . . . Nefertimon, the Angel of Light!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
Sharpmon dodged the attack and flung Nefertimon into the lake.
"Oh, no!" cried Kari.
Vanessa had an idea. "Vaporeon! Go out there and push Nefertimon back to shore!"
Vaporeon swam out into the lake and helped Nefertimon out. At the same time, Flamedramon was getting back up.
"Allow me!" said Vanessa when Vaporeon and Nefertimon were back on land. "Vaporeon, Ice Beam!"
Vaporeon's Ice Beam immobilized Sharpmon. "Now let's get rid of that Dark Ring!"
"Fire Rocket!"
The well-aimed attack melted most of the ice and broke the Dark Ring.
"Thank you," said Sharpmon. "I don't know what came over me."
"It was the Digimon Emperor's evil power," said Davis.
"Want to help us bring down that control spire?" said Vanessa. "It's one of his dark creations."
"Okay," said Sharpmon.
"All together now! said Davis.
"Virtue will be victorious!" added Vanessa.
"Puncture Attack!"
"Fire Rocket!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
The spire came crashing down. Flamedramon and Nefertimon reverted to Veemon and Gatomon.
"We did it!" everyone said.
"Good going," wrote Unitria, "but I think there's something else that requires your attention. I'm detecting an interesting presence in the southeast."
"Let's go see what it is!" said Vanessa excitedly.
"Okay, look at my screen. That cluster of dots there is all of our D-3s." There were six dots - red, blue, yellow, green, pink, and silver. "That other dot is the thing, whatever it is."
"Got it."
Using their D-3s, Vanessa and the Digidestined found their way to a little cave in the side of a hill. Inside lay a silver bracelet with an oval-shaped ornament on it, and a note. Vanessa picked them up.
"This must be Japanese," Vanessa said to Davis. "Could you read it to me, please?"
"Sure," said Davis. He took the note from Vanessa and read it.
Dear Vanessa:
Welcome to the Digital World! I am Gennai, one of the protectors
of this world and coordinators of the Digidestined effort. (TK, Kari,
if you're reading this, hello again! I may be seeing you soon.)
Like the Digidestined, you, Vanessa, were known to us well before you arrived
here. However, you were something different, a visitor. We
decided against choosing you as a full Digidestined, since we only choose
children for that, and besides, we were out of those armor Digi-eggs.
However, we acknowledge you as a friend of the Digital World. Please
accept this bracelet as a token of our friendship. The oval is the
symbol of Variety, your crest trait. (Ask the others to explain.)
I hope you enjoy the time you spend here.
Gennai
"How nice," said Vanessa, putting on the bracelet. "So, what's a crest trait?"
"It's a part of your personality," TK explained, "that helps you to protect the Digital World."
"Back when TK and I were little," said Kari, "we were part of another team of Digidestined. My brother Tai was the leader."
"Davis told me about him," said Vanessa. "Where are all the older ones now?"
"They're in the real world," said Yolei. "This is our battle, and they don't come here much anymore."
"We used to have actual crests that we wore in tags around our necks," Kari went on. "When they glowed, our Digimon could Digivolve to their Ultimate forms. They got destroyed in the last battle we had that summer, but we found out that those powers were in our hearts, so we won in the end. Now, we have those Digi-eggs you saw, and they stand for the same traits as the old crests."
"Fascinating," said Vanessa. "And now I have one of my own. This is so cool!"
*******
Vanessa and the Digidestined were gathered around a TV. The Pokémon were back in their Pokeballs. They were about to go back to the real world.
"You first, Vanessa, you're our guest," said Davis. "Oh, and thanks for your help today."
"Yeah," said Kari, "you saved Nefertimon. Thank you."
"You're welcome," said Vanessa. "It was fun. Let's go home, Unitria."
"Okay," Unitria wrote. "You know what to say."
"Digi-port open!" said Vanessa.
She landed on the floor in front of her computer at home. She
got up, smiled, and said, "That was fun. I think I'll invite them
to my party, too."
Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Saban, Fox, Toei, Bandai, et al. Vanessa, Unitria, and Sharpmon are my original characters (duh). Pokémon belongs to Nintendo, Creatures, GameFreak et al. No money is being made off this; I write because it's fun. :-)