Chapter 5- Secrets and Crests Revealed

Chloe found Tai and Kari in Kari's room talking. They stopped when Chloe came in. "Guys, I need to talk to you."

Kari glanced at her coolly. "Oh really? What is it?"

Chloe looked nervous. "I need to talk to all of you. That includes the other Digidestined too."

Tai looked at her suspiciously. "Why can't you tell us first?"

"It'd be a lot easier if all of you heard it at the same time." Chloe looked at them tensely. "Please meet me at the park okay?" She left the room.

Kari and Tai stared after her and then looked at each other. What does she want? They both wondered.

* * *

The Digidestined all met up at the park. The Pokemon trainers were already there. "Okay, what's all this about?" asked Matt aloud as they sat down.

Chloe sat on a smooth boulder. She looked pained. "It's time I told you about my past. I just don't want to hold this secret inside me any longer." Ash looked at her, wide-eyed.

"Like Ash told you, my psychic powers have some connection with what happened to me 7 years ago in Pallet Town. I was about seven years old then. Ash was four. He and I were great friends. Our age gap didn't matter at all to us. We had a lot in common and Ash's mother was like a second mother to me. We both dreamed of becoming Pokemon trainers someday and competing in the Pokemon League."

As Chloe told her story, the other kids listened intently. They could see images in their heads as she went on. "I didn't look like the way I do now. My hair was long and sometimes messy and I always wore flower crowns in my hair. I was small for my age. And I loved to run. Ash and I would run every day to watch the trainers go off on their journeys or find wild Pokemon to see. I was happy and content with what I had. Then one day, my whole life changed forever."

"I was visiting Ash at nighttime for my mother. She needed some recipes from Mrs. Ketchum. I don't know why she couldn't have visited herself, but I was happy to have the job. I loved going to Ash's house. Anyway, I walked over to his house and was just about to ring the bell, when I heard something. Voices talking in the dark. Being a curious person, I decided to check it out. I regret that now.

You see, no one had ever told me about the Rockets. They were around even then. Of course, they consisted of Rocket Grunts and scientists. They didn't care about who they hurt or what the cost was so long as they got the job done. I overheard then talking about robbing Professor Oak's lab. I couldn't bear it if they hurt the Pokemon so I guess I just sort of lost my head and ran out from where I was hiding. They were shocked to see me at first and then they thought well what could I do; I was just a little kid. At that, I ran over to them and kicked them as hard as I could. That did it."

"They grabbed me and knocked me out. I don't remember much after that except that I woke up later in a dark room. A light shone in my eyes. I heard one scientist say that I could be useful in their latest experiment. I better cooperate unless I wanted to be disposed of."

"They started to do experiments on me. I couldn't do anything. They took research, drew blood, examined my pulse and vision. Once they finished, they started analyzing my DNA. I learned that they were going to see if they could transport the energy from psychic trainers and Pokemon into my own DNA and energy and be used for the Rockets' purposes. I was given injections at least once a week. They made me test my vision on objects to see if I could move them, lift them, only with my eyes. They made me practice teleporting many times a day before I could rest for the night. You're probably wondering why I didn't teleport myself out of there. I was too afraid of them and besides I was too weak.

It was painful undergoing those tests and processes. I was taunted and teased when I couldn't do anything Every time I was given an injection, I felt either fire or ice going through my veins and my head hurt so badly I could never stand up straight. They didn't care if I was hurt, just as long as they didn't kill me. They could not conduct the experiments if I was dead. I was nothing but a specimen to them. That's all I was."

"One day, I couldn't stand the torture and the torment anymore. I was tired of being poked, injected, and hurt almost every day. I didn't know that my powers had been growing; growing stronger and stronger every day for two years. They yelled at me when I refused to lift a boulder and throw it at a Tauros. I was smacked and was told I would be thrown in the basement of the lab until I cooperated. Finally, I exploded in a rage and my psychic powers let loose—and I blew up the building. When the fire and smoke cleared, I realized I was the only survivor.

I couldn't believe what I'd done. I was only nine then and I had killed about 15 people in my rage. They deserved to be put in jail, not destroyed by me. Even though they were evil, I knew even they didn't deserve being blasted into oblivion. I was scared; not of the police or anyone who saw. I was scared of myself and what I had become."

As Chloe went on, she quivered as if just letting everything out was too painful for her to bear. Misty reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I never wanted to hurt anyone anymore. I had changed, even my features. Once I got a look at myself, I almost screamed. My skin color had turned from normal peach to this luminous white color. My hair had grown and cascaded to above my waist. And my eyes had changed from black to this strange combination of blues so they looked different from anyone else's. I was afraid of this change and everyone who knew me was in danger if they got me angry."

Ken studied her. "What about your parents? Didn't you find them and tell them everything?"

Chloe shook her head. "I would have if I could. After I escaped from the broken pieces that was the lab, I headed for home. When I reached it, I found it empty and neglected. I asked someone about the house and about my parents. He said that the house had been empty for a while now and it was going to be demolished. The couple, known as the Devices, had owned the house until they had died so suddenly. It seemed that they had an only child, Chloe, and she disappeared one day and never returned. Mrs. Device, my mother, was so heartbroken; she passed away soon after that. My father died out of loneliness. No one wanted to buy the house after all that because it was rumored to be cursed."

Mimi gasped. "You're alone in the world?"

"I would be if it weren't for Ash and his mother. I changed my name and my identity and I lived alone for the next five years of my life. I was allowed a Pokemon license when I was ten and I started training. I soon realized that I couldn't keep my powers away forever. I had to deal with them, whether I liked it or not. I learned to control them and use them anytime I wanted. Of course, I was still a rookie and my energy started diminishing every time I used them.

I met Ash's mother again when I was visiting Pallet Town again. She recognized me instantly despite how much I had changed. I confided in her the secret I carried alone for 7 years. She invited me to stay with her. Ash and I had a happy reunion when we saw each other again. I've been living there ever since."

Chloe finished her story and stared at the ground. "I can tell that you're' all thinking this secret shouldn't have been kept and it isn't really bad at all. Well you didn't go through the torture and the pain. You didn't live as an outcast and afraid of yourself for holding a guilty secret. You didn't live alone with no one to care about you for half of your lives. There was just no other way."

Everyone was silent as they absorbed what she said. Then Kari walked over to her and placed an arm around Chloe's shaking shoulders. "I'm sorry, I never knew you felt so much sorrow inside. I used to feel the same thing in my heart. Then I found out my friends cared about me and I wouldn't have to fight it alone. You just need to give it time. Don't worry."

For a while no one knew what to do next. Yolei stood up. "C'mon everybody, let's get out of here and out in the open."

They agreed and started to walk out of the park when they saw streaks of light hurtling past them. "Huh?"

The balls of light slammed into the ground, revealing the rocky earth and stone floor. Carved on top of the stone were two symbols. One looked like a Pokeball with another line down the middle of it and another circle surrounding it. The other looked like a galaxy with a star on the four corners. The kids stared at them. "What are those?"

Ash and Chloe walked toward them. A light shone from the stone floor and swirled around them. Their Pokeballs began to react to the light. The stone floor disappeared and two crests hovered above its place. The Digidestined stared in amazement. "Who're those for?"

Two long slender chains rose from the ground and wound gently around Ash and Chloe's necks. The crests fitted into the chains' tags. TK gaped in surprise. "How is that possible? You guys don't have a partner Digimon!"

A young man stepped out from behind a tree. "You don't have to be a Digidestined or have a partner Digimon to earn crests."

The Digidestined glanced at the man. "Gennai?"

Gennai nodded and then turned to Ash and Chloe. "These two children were given crests for a reason. They are the ones who truly symbolize them, now one can change that. You will be facing an unknown force soon. They will help you."

He gestured to Ash's golden crest; the Pokeball look-alike. "This is the Crest of Faith. It contains a powerful key to megadigivolution. The question is how to activate it. And this," he gestured to Chloe's crest which had turned to a glittering silver. "This is the Crest of Life. It has mysterious power that even I do not know about. It is only given to one who is willing to do anything to protect those dear to that person."

"Use these crests wisely. They will come in use when you least expect them to." Gennai vanished.

Misty stared. "Am I the only one who saw that man disappear?"

"No," said Mimi.

Ash and Chloe looked down at their crests. "Okay, what does this make us now? Your friends or your teammates?"

Misty looked over at them. "You know guys can we go visit the Pokemon World? I really miss it a lot. It's nice here, but it's just not he same as home."

Ash nodded. "We'll be back as soon as possible."

TK looked worried. "Be careful!"

"We will," Brock assured him.

* * *

After whirling around in the portal for a while, the Pokemon trainers stepped out into the Pokemon World. At first, fog covered the land but it soon cleared. However, what they saw was not what they expected at all.

Misty screamed. Brock's jaw dropped open. Tracey dropped his sketchpad. "On no!" cried Chloe.

"What happened to it?!" Ash yelled.

* Hmmm…it seems I've got quite a predicament going on there. I'll try to get the next chapter posted soon. I've got tests all this week so I don't know. Anyway, don't worry. I won't leave you hanging like last time for long. *