Chapter I: The Arrival of Gatomon
It was a quiet, sunny day in the outskirts of Viridian Forest. The two young Pokémon trainers could probably not have picked a more normal day to go for a Pokémon hunt. Or so they thought. They were about the same age, but the blond Kay was somewhat taller then his dark-haired friend Tim. They were both dressed like regular Pokémon trainers, Kay in a red I-shirt, black shorts, sneakers and fingerless gloves, Tim in a casual white T-shirt, a blue vest, red shorts and sneakers. Both had come to see if they couldn't find a rare Pokémon or two, and Kay was as optimistic as he always was when the sun was shining. Tim, however, was not as merry at all, being firmly convinced that they were not going to find anything.
"We're not going to find anything," he said. "You do understand that, Kay? I cannot believe I let you drag me into this!"
"Tim, don't be so negative," Kay said. "I'm sure we'll find an interesting Pokémon."
"Kay, there is no interesting Pokémon in this forest!" Tim complained. "I've been here before, you know. Besides, you know I'm only interested in water Pokémon."
"Specialisation like that will get you nowhere," Kay said. "Come on, man, where's your sense of adventure?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure it's having a better time then me," Tim grumbled. "Dude, I've said it before and I'll say it again; we are not going to find anything when haven't seen a hundred times…"
ZAPOFF!
A white light appeared in front of the two kids, and they shielded their eyes. When they looked back, they saw a white, feline little creature that was shaking its head and looking around. It seemed as confused as they were. Kay turned to his shorter friend and grinned.
"You were saying?"
"What the heck is that?" Tim said and brought up his Pokédex while Gatomon looked at them, still a little confused.
"Eh, excuse me, but could you please till me…" she began.
"Pokédex searching. No entry," Tim's Pokédex said.
"All right! An unidentified Pokémon!" Tim shouted.
"Ehm, excuse me!"
"And it can even talk!" Tim continued, paying no attention to what the Digimon was actually trying to say. "This is a dream come true!"
"Oh, no Kay! We are never going to find anything interesting in this forest!" Kay said while trying to mimic Tim's voice.
"Okay, okay!" Tim said, clearly very irritated. "You can gloat later, let's just catch it?"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Gatomon said, starting to get angry.
"Go Pokéball!" Tim shouted and threw a spherical object at Gatomon. Reacting instantly she hit it hard with her paw, sending it back from whence it came. The Pokéball hit Tim right between the eyes, knocking him off his feet. "Ouaaow!"
"Nice try, Timmy," Kay said and held another Pokéball in Gatomon's direction. "Let's see you take throw this one back! Go, Growlithe!"
The ball opened and a flash of white light released itself from it's inner. Gatomon stared as a creature in the form of some sort of small dog appeared in front of her. Its fur went in brown and beige, and it had black striped on its back and legs. It gave her a challenging look. Within a blink of an eye Gatomon had analysed the situation. The two human's were some kind of Digidestined, albeit unfriendly ones, who had just made a completely unknown Digimon appear in front of her. It did not look so formidable, but Gatomon knew better then to underestimate her opponents. She awaited her opponent's next move, and she did not need to wait for long.
"Growlithe, Flamethrower!" Kay shouted. The Growlithe opened its mouth, and Gatomon reacted on pure instinct, ducking for the enormous flame coming straight for her.
"Hot stuff, puppy," Gatomon growled as she felt her fur sizzle in the heat. "But this kitty is faster then that!" She decided not to give the Growlithe time to hit her again, and launched forward. After all, attack was the best defence in her book. "Lighting Claw!"
She did not want to hurt the creature seriously, since there was still a chance that it all was some kind of misunderstanding. Her claws gave the Growlithe some deep scratches, which made it cry out in pain, but it was nothing life threatening. She ended it with a hard kick that sent it flying backwards. It slumped to the ground and struggled to get up.
"Growlithe, return!" Kay shouted, and the Growlithe turned into red energy and returned to the Pokéball. "Holly cow! Did you see that!"
"It must be of a very high level," Tim said. "We better work together if we are to take it down."
Gatomon was not at all amused in how the humans referred to her as "it" and by their way of talking about her, she realised that it was indeed not a mistake, and that they were here enemies. She took a battle stance, deciding to give it all she had. "Bring it on!" she hissed.
"Go, Scyther!" Kay said and threw another Pokéball.
"Squirtle, go!" Tim shouted and did the same. Two more flashes, and then two new creatures stood before Gatomon.
The first one looked like a small turtle with big eyes and a stupid grin on his face. Gatomon would have bursts out laughing if she hadn't been so focused on the upcoming battle. The other one looked more fearsome, a green insectoid creature that looked amazingly much like a very small and way less monstrous Snimon. Even though it was smaller, it was still much larger then Gatomon.
"Squirtle, use Watergun!"
"Squirtle!" Squirtle shouted and drew a deep breath before releasing a thick ray of water on Gatomon. She gagged and tried to shield herself from the water.
"Hey! Cut it out! You're messing up my fur!" she shouted.
"Scyther, Quick Attack!" Kay said.
Before Gatomon had the time to react, something greed bashed in to her and tackled her hard. She finally got out of Squirtle's Watergun, and realised that had been the Scyther. It slashed at her with one of its blades, but she managed to duck it. Now standing between Scyther and Squirtle, Gatomon noticed that the turtle-creature was preparing another Watergun. She quickly ducked and the ray of high-pressured water hit Scyther instead. The power of the attack pushed him back, and Gatomon had bought precious little time to act. Deciding that the Scyther was a dangerous foe as it was without the Squirtle helping it out she rushed forward and started raining blows and kicks at it. By the time the Scyther had recovered, Squirtle was in no condition to fight.
"Squirtle, return!" Tim shouted and retrieved the Pokémon.
"Scyther, Slash!" Kay yelled, determined not to let his prise get away.
"Scyythrrr!" Scyther hissed and came at her with its blades.
"Lighting Claw!" Gatomon shouted and countered the attack. The two of them moved so fast that the Pokémon trainers could not follow. Gatomon traded attacks with parries and held herself on the defensive until she found a hole in Scyther's defence. Her vicious jab connected with Scyther's head and threw the Pokémon off its feet, sending it up in the air and then down again. It hit the ground with a low 'thud', but immediately got up again although it was not as steady on its feet this time.
"Scyther, Swords Dance!" Kay ordered. The Scyther made a quick series of movements and launched forward, attacking once again. This time Gatomon found it hard to keep up, as if the Scyther had received a power boost. She decided she could not keep this up, and pushed the insectoid Pokémon away from her. Their eyes locked for a moment, and it was all Gatomon needed.
"Cat's Eye Hypnosis!"
Suddenly the Scyther froze and just stood there, staring at the Digimon.
"What happened?" Kay asked. "Scyther's paralysed!"
Gatomon knew she had to end the fight quickly and ran towards the hypnotised Scyther. Putting all her strength behind it, her uppercut sent it flying and it fell to the ground once again. "And stay down!" Gatomon shouted.
"Scyther, return!" Kay said. Both of the Pokémon trainers couldn't quite grasp what they had just witnessed.
"We'll be famous, do you understand that?" Kay said.
"We have to catch it first, but it just manhandled three of our better Pokémon," Tim said.
"Hello? I'm standing here?" Gatomon said.
"Double Team Time?" Kay asked.
"Double Team Time," Tim nodded. Both raised their Pokéballs in the same time.
"You two never give up, do you?" Gatomon asked. "Bring it on, I dare you!"
"Gyarados, I choose you!" Tim shouted.
"Onix, let's get it on!" Kay yelled.
It was the same flash of light as before, but instead of an opponent of her own size Gatomon now stared up upon two giant serpents. One had a hide of thick scales and fins like a dragon and horrible fangs that could swallow Gatomon whole. The other one was even larger and seemed to be made out of rock. Both glared at the little cat-Digimon.
Gatomon looked at Gyarados, and then at Onix, and then at Gyarados again.
"Er, nope," she said, slowly backing off. "I don't think so." And then she darted towards the relative safety of the trees. She heard one of the humans shout something, and the ground exploded next to her, almost ripping a tree up with the roots. Soon Gatomon had disappeared into the woods. Making sure she had managed to shake the two monsters and their master's off, she leaned towards a tree and slipped down on the ground.
"I'm in big trouble now," she sighed.
When Gatomon disappeared into the forest, Kay and Tim retrieved Gyarados and Onix since they felt that tearing up the forest was a bad idea.
"Where did it go?" Tim asked.
"I don't know, but we have to get back to Viridian," Kay said. "Our Pokémon need to get to a Pokécenter."
"Should we tell anyone about that Pokémon?" Tim asked, glancing at the woods.
Kay thought for a moment. "Yes. I guess it will leak out anyway, and we might as well try to get a piece of the fame even if we don't succeed in catching it. Besides, we don't know if it's dangerous to humans or something. It's our duty."
"Okay," Tim said. "But you do realise that every Pokémon trainer in Viridian will be after it."
"Yeah," Kay said and smiled. "But I like a challenge. Come on."
Both of them turned around and headed back to the town, not really knowing what kind of creature they had just encountered, or what events they had just started.