Digimon Digicross episode 19
'Calm between the storms'

==Tokyo

"I haven't got a clue."

"Come on, Sora, what should I do?"

It was Monday afternoon, and Kari had visited Sora, hoping to get some advice on how to deal with how Izzy felt about her. "Look, Kari, just because I have the crest of Love doesn't make me an expert or anything."

"It's not that, it's just that you and Tai...well, you know..."

Sora chuckled lightly. "Don't ask me how it happened. We were friends even before we went to the digital world four years ago. I guess being through all that brought us closer together. Or something like that."

Kari sighed. "I just wish I knew what to do. I like him, yeah, but I don't know if I feel that way about him."

"Look, Kari, you're only 11, and I don't think Izzy's about to drag you off to Paris and marry you." Sora arched an eyebrow as she saw Kari blush a bit. "What about that concert he took you to. How did he act?"

"He was nice. He was a little jumpy, I guess."

==

Outside Sora's room, Tai leaned closer to the door, trying to listen in on the conversation. Unnoticed by him, Sora's mom saw Tai listening. She briefly considered removing Tai, but thought better. Quietly, she stepped outside and dialed her home phone.

==

"Look, you've known Izzy a long time, and even if he did do something really dumb, you've got all of us to help you out." The phone rang, and Sora picked up the phone in her room. She listened for a few minutes, said "is that so?", and quietly hung up. Then she looked at the door to her room. "Just follow my lead." she whispered.

"Who?" Kari whispered, but Sora stopped her, evil grin appearing.

"Of course," Sora said, getting up and walking slowly to the door, "Izzy does have a lot going for him. I mean, someone that smart and cute doesn't come along that often."

"Really?" Kari asked, catching on.

"Oh, yes." Sora sighed. "Tai's cute, but I've always thought me and Izzy would wind up together."

"Oh, no!" Kari said, feigning shock. "What will I tell Tai?"

"Anything you want." Sora replied. "Just the thought of running my hand through that short red hair makes me shiver. And the way he kisses."

"No!" Kari said.

"Yes." She replied, finally reaching the door to her room. "He said he got it all from the internet." Wrapping a hand around the doorknob, she slowly twisted it, moving back a bit so she could open the door. "Isn't that right, Tai?" As she said that, she yanked the door open, causing Tai to fall into her room, flat on his face.

"TAI!" Kari yelled. She had been half expecting Davis.

"Umm, hi Kari. Mom was worried about you?" he tried.

"I called her before I left."

"I meant dad? Grandma?" Tai looked at Sora and Kari. "I'm in big trouble, aren't I?"

==Stone Town Pokemon Center.

Kari's kidnapping had happened on Friday, and had not been resolved until Saturday. In that time, Scizor had suffered heavily, from battling several opponents without any time to recover in between those fights. After getting Scizor checked in, Nurse Joy had ushered Kyle out, and told him to wait until Monday to check back.

Kyle was in the waiting area when Nurse Joy came out. "Well, you're back. Honestly Kyle, I thought you were a better trainer than this! It looks like your Scizor's been battling for several hours straight, without any time to rest or heal."

"Well, he was, but it wasn't like that!"

"I don't care! A pokemon trainer's responsibility is to his pokemon. If he can't take care of them-" The sound of the door to the operating room caught her attention, and she turned around to see who was coming out. She stopped when she saw who had come out.

"It's not his fault." Scizor said.

Nurse Joy blinked, not believing what she was seeing or hearing. "It's...not?"

"Picked a fight with a Sneasel."

Kyle looked concernedly at Scizor. He hadn't heard what had happened while Scizor was in the Dark Ocean. "And?"

"She got stomped on by Silphymon." Scizor staggered, causing Kyle to run over and help the pokemon up.

The main doors opened. "I'm sure that must be a very interesting story." a male voice said, hint of age in his voice.

Kyle looked at the source. There were two people there, both male. One looked old, with grey hair and tanned skin. The other was about his age, dressed in a green shirt and shorts, hair held back by a headband. "You're..." he breathed, unable to believe who he was talking to.

"Professor Samuel Oak at your service. This is my assistant, Tracey. Nurse Joy contacted me concerning some unusual things she found out about your Scizor. May I talk to you and your pokemon? I understand Scizor's not the only pokemon that can speak human."

==Digital World, near Primary village.

Yolei and Hawkmon walked towards the wreckage of the Digimon Emperor's base. She had heard Ken had come here earlier today, and decided to track the boy down and find out why he hadn't called her.

"Why are we here, anyway?" Hawkmon asked. "Couldn't you just call him? You did give him a portable phone, after all."

"It's not that simple." Yolei replied. Reining in her temper, she continued, "I just need to talk to him, that's all." Hawkmon shrugged, and followed Yolei.

Outside the base, they found Wormmon, Ryo and Charmeleon. "Hey, Yolei, right? Let me guess, you're looking for Ken."

"Yeah, have you seen him?"

Charmeleon nodded. "He's inside. He wanted to get some stuff out of here before we linked up and blew the place off the map."

Ryo nodded. "It's probably for the best, letting go of the past and all that. He went in the door at the sand level."

Yolei looked at the base. "I don't remember there being a door there."

Wormmon shrugged. "Charmeleon said it was 'spontaneous redecoration.'"

"Thanks. Hawkmon, could you wait here?"

"I beg your pardon? It could be dangerous in there."

"It's fine." Ryo said. "We'll keep an eye on Hawkmon, you go in." Yolei nodded, and headed down to the abandoned base. "Back just over a week, and he's already got a girlfriend."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hawkmon replied, mock offended. "Just because she talks about him all the time, wonders why he never calls her back, I think it's perfectly normal behavior for her."

"That bad?" Charmeleon asked.

"She called him an 'evil cute guy' once." Hawkmon replied flatly.

==Tokyo, Izumi home.

"Why hello Kari. Izzy's in his room, did you want to talk to him?"

Kari nodded. "Thanks, I do. Is that all right?"

"Sure. The poor boy's been in such a state lately." Mrs. Izumi leaned close to Kari, saying "just try to keep it down, all right?" Izzy's mother was rewarded with the image of Kari blushing bright pink.

"It's not like that!"

Izzy's mom laughed. "I know, I know. Let an old lady have a little fun now and then." After giving Kari a minute to recover, she showed the girl to Izzy's room. "If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen." Kari nodded, and entered.

In Izzy's room, she saw Izzy and Tentomon staring at the computer screen; neither of them noticed Kari's entrance. Kari walked closer, and saw that the two partners were playing chess. Looking over Izzy's shoulder, she laughed when she saw that the chess pieces were replaced by digimon.

Izzy jumped, startled by Kari's laughter. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you enter!"

"It's all right," Kari replied, "I didn't want to disturb you. Does Gomamon know you made him a pawn?"

"I was...short of ideas." Starting to panic, Izzy started babbling. "Y'see, I was tinkering with the Battlechess program when-"

"Izzy," Kari said gently, "stop." She looked at Tentomon. "Could I talk to Izzy?"

"Sure." Tentomon said, not moving. After a second, he got it. "Oh, you mean privately. Well, I guess Gatomon will have to hear it from someone else." Tentomon flew out the door.

"So that's how Gatomon keeps finding stuff out." Kari said, resolving to have a little talk with her partner about privacy and gossip. And not telling her any of the good stuff. "I just wanted to talk to you about, well...how I feel about you."

Izzy lowered his head, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I must seem like some sort of creep or something. But I didn't know how to tell you, you have to believe that!"

"I know." Izzy stopped, looked at Kari. "When you were trying to pull me out of that vortex to the Dark Ocean, I saw it in your eyes. You really do care about me, I can tell that." Kari paused, collecting herself for what she had to say next. "Look, Izzy, I'm only 11, I don't know if I'm ready to feel...that way...about someone else yet." She saw Izzy start looking depressed. "Of course, when I'm a bit older, maybe we could...go out somewhere?"

Izzy looked up. "I'd like that." he said quietly.

Kari smiled. "Good. I could use a dance partner at the Halloween dance on Friday."

Izzy blinked, caught off guard. "But..I thought..."

"Silly. I'll be three days older by then. You don't think that's enough?" Kari started laughing as Izzy fell over backwards, lying face up on his bed.

==Pokemon world

Professor Oak had taken Scizor back into the recovery room, saying he wanted to do a full examination of the pokemon. Kyle and Tracey waited outside, and the two swapped tales of their travels.

"You saw Lugia?" Kyle asked incredulously.

"You bet." Tracey replied. "Remember that big weather disturbance a while back? That was when it happened. Some guy was trying to capture Lugia and the three legendary birds for his collection. If it wasn't for Ash, we might not even be here."

Kyle caught the name. "Ash? Yay high, black hair, has a Pikachu with him?" Tracey nodded. "Wow. I ran into him in Olivine City. I think he was planning to head out to the Whirl Islands."

"What were you doing in the Johto region?"

"Fighting a giant digimon." Growlithe said. Kyle had released the two digital pokemon he had and introduced them to Tracey. The two pokemon related the battle to Tracey, who listened attentively.

"A whole world of creatures like pokemon. I'd do almost anything to go there; the other pokemon watchers would flip if I could bring some sketches back."

"Well," Kyle said, "you really need to have one of these to get in." Kyle showed Tracey his D-3. "They're called digivices, and they only work for the person they're sent to."

"Hey, Kyle." Growlithe said to his trainer. "Maybe we could show him something."

"Huh? You mean your armour form?" Growlithe nodded. "Sure, why not." Kyle looked around. There was no one else there. "OK, Tracey, watch this. Digi-armour energize!"

"Growlithe, armour digivolve to...Cyberarcanine, the strength of Loyalty!"

"I...I don't believe it.." Tracey breathed. "He evolved...and it's not permanent, is it?" Kyle shook his head. "This is...Just hold that pose!" Tracey started drawing a picture of Cyberarcanine.

Professor Oak watched the digivolution, stunned at what he saw. "It seems all the old theories on evolution will have to be rewritten." He turned back to Scizor. "Now, let's see how you're different from other pokemon."

"Does it really matter?" Scizor asked.

"Yes. No offense, but you are unique in many ways. If pokemon continue to interact with the digital world, I would like to know if there are any potential side effects. For example, did you know that you are unusually light for a Scizor of your size?"

"Huh?"

"Yes. By almost 70 pounds. And for some reason, you are able to fly as well, an ability that many Scizors lose when they evolve. Not far or very fast, granted, but it's something that should be noted. And I found this in your exoskeleton." Professor oak displayed a pair of molecules on a nearby computer screen. "The molecule on the left is common to most steel type pokemon. But your skin has this element as well; in a way, your Steel element has become alloyed with this new metal. It would explain your lighter weight and greater resistance to damage."

"It's Chron-digizoid." Baihumon said, appearing behind Professor Oak.

The professor jumped, whirled around and stared at the newcomer.

"You." Scizor said. "You're that guardian of the digital world, the big tiger guy."

Baihumon smiled, bowed. "Baihumon, eastern guardian, at your service. I figured you could use an expert on digimon, Professor Oak. Kyle will vouch for me, if he's done showing off to your assistant..."

==Digital World

Yolei wandered around the wreckage of Ken's base. "Wow. We really did a number on this place." She remembered the fight, and winced a bit remembering Stingmon's sacrifice. "I wonder where Ken is?" She wandered a bit more, then heard a low moan, coming from ahead.

Running up a hallway, she found an open door and saw Ken, lying on the bed. He was asleep, a small bag beside him on his bed packed with some things that she couldn't make out. Ken turned every few seconds, apparently gripped in some form of nightmare.

"Ken? Ken, wake up!" Yolei shook Ken, trying to wake him up. After a second, Ken sat upright, unaware he grabbed Yolei's arm as he did so.

"Sam, I'm sorry..." Ken stopped, aware of his surrounding again. And that he had grabbed onto something. Realizing he had a tight grip on Yolei's arm, he let go as quickly as he had grabbed, blushing and apologizing at the same time.

"It's all right." Yolei said, massaging the arm Ken had grabbed. Strong grip, she noted. "You were having a nightmare. It was your brother again, wasn't it?"

"You knew...?"

"Wormmon told us. When Ryo showed up at Digitamamon's diner." Yolei's expression softened. "You miss him a lot, don't you."

Ken straightened up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "I hated him sometimes." he said hoarsely. "He was always the center of attention, and then I wished he'd just go away...and he did..." Ken began shaking.

Yolei put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm Ken down. Looking around, she noticed the edge of a picture frame in the bag on Ken's bed. With her other hand, she pulled the picture out. Ken saw what she was doing, but wasn't able to stop her. "This is him, isn't it? Sam?" Ken nodded. My God, she thought. Is this where Ken got the idea for his Emperor outfit?

"I shouldn't have come back."

"That's a stupid thing to say." Yolei said. Ken looked at her, startled. "Hey, you can't ignore what happened in the past, and you can't go on beating up yourself for things you thought. You think you're alone? I've got three older brothers, I think I can relate a bit to how you feel."

"I-"

"OK, you made a mistake. A huge one, granted. OK, a couple...." Yolei trailed off. "I'm not really good at this. Look, you're not alone, all right?"

"I'm not?"

"Hel-LO! I gave you that phone, didn't I? You could have called any of us, any time! Why didn't you?"

Ken looked at his feet. "I was ashamed. I didn't deserve-"

"Oh, for...you're one of us now! Listen, I can assure you, we're not about to string you up! You can trust me. Us, I mean us!" Yolei tried to rein in her temper. "Just...talk to us once in a while, please?"

Ken nodded. "All right." he said quietly.

"It was an invitation, not a death sentence!" Ken flinched at Yolei's tone. "I'm sorry. I just get a little...emotional at times, you know?"

Ken looked at the photo of his older brother. "Yeah. A little."

10 minutes later, Ken, Yolei, Hawkmon, and Ryo watched as Dino Beemon tore the base apart. Ryo didn't say anything, but he did grin a bit when he saw Yolei take Ken's hand as the base began to collapse in on itself.

After the base was leveled, Dino Beemon landed and split into Leafmon and Charmander. "That's it," the pokemon said, "I'm exhausted. You'd better use Fearow for a ride back to the portal. Should be room for all of us."

"Actually, I think I'll walk." Ryo said. "I need to stretch my legs a bit. 'Sides, I want to see Primary Village. I think Magby should have some time to play with digimon his age." Ryo walked off. As he did, he whispered to Ken "don't do anything I wouldn't do." and fought the urge to cackle as Ken's face went crimson.

"Perhaps I should digivolve." Hawkmon offered. "You two don't look up to walking that far." Hawkmon looked at Ken as he spoke. Yolei nodded, and Hawkmon digivolved to Aquilamon.

==Tuesday (again after school)

"I'm telling you, it'd be perfect!" Davis said, excited.

"Do you know how long it would take for that?" TK replied.

"What?" Davis replied. "I just think it'd be neat if we went as our digimon! I already have a Flamedramon outfit ready to go! And you'd look good as Angemon."

"I suppose I could go as Shurimon." Yolei hazarded. "But I think mom might object to the throwing star motif."

"What about me?" Cody asked. "None of Armadillomon's forms is really human compatible. I could do Digmon, I guess, but there's not enough time to make a costume."

"Well, I could go as Angewomon." Kari said, teasing. Davis and TK colored a bit.

"But how would you see through that faceplate?" Cody asked. Kari began to snicker.

Yolei sighed. "It's not the faceplate she's talking about." More laughs, from Davis and TK.

"But I don't...oh" Cody replied, blushing as he remembered Angewomon's outfit (or lack thereof).

"Yolei, you're corrupting him." Kari laughed. "Anyway, I don't think I could put Tai through that."

"Yes you could." TK replied.

"I got it!" Davis exclaimed. He explained his idea to the rest of the group.

"You realize that no one else would get it. Except maybe their close friends." Kari said, although the idea did appeal to her.

"And we'd have to get a picture of this later. Mimi would kill me if I didn't send her one." Yolei added. "It's got my vote."

"It's settled then. We just need to divide up who's going to go as who."

==Pokemon World, same day.

"I must say, this is very interesting." Professor Oak said to Baihumon. The two had spent much of yesterday and today discussing the differences between pokemon, digimon, and how the two species had interacted. "So some pokemon are able to evolve at will, and return to their lower forms, once they've been exposed to the digital world?"

Baihumon nodded. "Yes, but not every one of the pokemon Kyle or Ryo has brought with them has been effected, or in the same way. Eevee, Growlithe, and Charmeleon all gained the ability to digivolve, Scizor here's been only slightly affected, and the rest...well, I've seen no real effect. I'm confused as you are."

"You said these digidestined children had an extremely strong link to their partner digimon. Could that have something to do with it?"

"I suppose. I've noticed Kyle is particularly close to Growlithe and Eevee, of all his pokemon. And Ryo was close to Charmander when he went to the digital world." Baihumon got up, started pacing around the room. "Willpower is one of the main forces in the digital world. It could be that when they first came to the digital world, their closeness to their pokemon was read by the digital world as a compatible link."

Oak closed his eyes. "And then there's Sneasel."

Baihumon winced. "I honestly didn't know until Kyle told me. That's what's got me terrified. Can you imagine the kind of terror if they created another digimon emperor from a trainer here? Some of those Team Rocket thugs would be nothing short of murder to both worlds."

Oak shook his head. "It's possible, but I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Giovanni isn't the type who likes competition, especially competition that's stronger than himself."

Baihumon blinked. "You know about him?"

"'Know', yes. Have evidence to convict him on, no. He's very slippery these days, since his gym and his lab were destroyed. How did you know about Team Rocket?"

"Mutual friend. I should get him to go to the authorities..."

==Human World, same time (approximately.)

"So, what did we miss?" Kyle asked, as he walked into Davis's room. June and TK were there as well.

"Just setting a few things up for Halloween. You see, we have this holiday at the end of this month-"

"We have Halloween on our world," Kyle said, "and Christmas, New Years, Boy's Day, Girl's Day, in fact, most of the major holidays you have, we have. And I've said this how many times now?"

"Four, but who's counting?" Davis said without blinking. "Ryo coming?"

Kyle shook his head. "He said something about practicing for something, but we'd know about it on the 30th. So, what's the emergency?"

June answered. "Davis actually managed to have a good idea for once." she said, cheerfully ignoring her brother's glare. She went on to describe Davis' plan to Kyle, TK adding in a few comments as she did so.

"Cute, I think the others will crack when they see it. That kind of leaves me out, though."

"It doesn't matter, I'm in a different school, remember?" June said. "Though I'm sure Davis could get us in if it's that important. We could go as a bride and groom, if you want."

"No. You're. Not." Davis growled. TK was doubled over, laughing silently, more at Kyle's reaction than Davis'.

==Friday, late afternoon. October 30th

Tai stood in the living room, waiting for his sister to get back. He had agreed to go with her as a chaperone to the dance, despite her protests that she and Izzy would be just fine on their own (which made Tai all the more determined to go along). Sora was there as well. Davis had managed to talk the teacher into letting Tai and Sora (when she got here with Kari) into the dance. Matt would be there as well; the principal had asked his band to play at the dance.

There was a knock at the door. "About time." Tai said, walking to the door and opening it. A part of him prayed that Kari didn't go through on her threat to go as Angewomon. His father, who had seen the angel digimon once, shared Tai's opinion. "So, Kari are you ready...."Tai trailed off, confused by Kari's outfit.

She was wearing a sleeveless yellow shirt, gloves, blue jeans, and a blue visorless cap. He knew the outfit was familiar, but he couldn't place it. Beside Kari, Sora walked into view. "So Tai, what do you think?"

The memory clicked into place. "You're going as Sora?" Tai asked, stunned.

Kari nodded. "It was Davis' idea. It felt a bit weird, but I think I like it."

"I'm so glad." Sora said. "It looks good on you. But, there's one more you just have to see." Fighting back her laughter, Sora said, "OK, Izzy. Come on over."

"I don't want to." Izzy said, out of Tai's sight. "I feel silly."

"I think you look adorable." Sora called. "Now be a man and get over here."

Izzy sighed. "OK, but promise not to laugh." Izzy walked into view, and Tai knew he couldn't keep his promise. Blue short sleeved T-shirt, shorts, white gloves, somehow he had even gotten a blue headband and goggles. It was Tai's outfit from his first trip to the digital world. Tai cracked up on the doorstep.

==School gym.

Matt looked over the growing crowd of students. "Place hasn't changed one bit. Surprised how many monster costumes there are."

TK walked up behind Matt. "Well, they were here when Myotismon showed up. I guess some of it stuck."

Matt turned around. "Yeah, I guess. So I guess you came as Angemon..." Matt looked at his little brother, not believing what he saw. "Dude, you're going as Izzy?" Indeed, TK was dressed as Izzy was during his first trip to the digital world. He even had the laptop backpack. "OK, now that's just weird, even for us. Kari's idea?"

TK shook his head. "Nope. Davis'. You should see who he came as." TK looked through the curtains, spotted Davis, and pointed him out to Matt."

"Probably went as Tai. That kid just...." Matt blinked, then looked again, making sure he really did see what he thought he saw. "Did I really look like that four years ago?" He looked again. "OK, that's got to be Yolei going as Mimi, there's Kari as Sora, and...OK, Cody going as you is cute, I'll admit it. But who's that dressed...as...." Matt began laughing. "Is that Izzy...?"

"Yep. Davis loaned him the goggles for effect."

"What about Joe?" TK smiled, and pointed to another figure by Yolei. "OK, I can just about make him...KEN?" Matt stepped back from the curtain. "I'm going to go back and practice before the dance, this is getting surreal now. We have a new member to the band to break in."

"Oh? Who?" TK asked.

"Me." Ryo said, walking in. "Matt said his drummer was moving out, so I offered to fill in."

"You know drums?"

"What, you thought I just battled pokemon all the time? I do have a life outside the arena."

10 minutes later, the dance started. Fun was had by one and all, and a lot of the teachers caught onto the digidestineds' costume theme, and enjoyed it. Ryo did a decent job of drumming, too. For everyone, the night was fairly peaceful, even enjoyable.

==Dark Ocean

Dagomon writhed as Demon sent more blasts of energy through his body. He was forced to watch as his Deep Ones were sacrificed, the energy released on their deaths slamming into his system. It boosted his power, but also did severe damage to his body.

"You failed me for the last time, Dagomon." Demon said. "Your Deep Ones failed twice, twice, to capture the child carrying the crest of light. They also permitted a pokemon to beat them, rescue that same child that Sneasel caught, freed her friends, and did untold damage to my castle."

"And, my old servant, you are no longer needed. Now that I have managed to create spires here in the Dark Ocean without Ken's assistance, there is no longer a need for you or your pathetic Deep Ones."

"M...master, please!" Dagomon shouted, barely coherent.

"I am not without mercy, Dagomon." Demon said evenly. "Once your body has assimilated the energy from your Deep Ones, I shall release you into the Pokemon World, well away from the usual range of operations of the digidestined of that world. Once there, you will fight and destroy as much of the area as you can. Survive, and you may remain in my service. Fail, and...well, do try to take a few legendary pokemon with you, please? After the digimon and digital pokemon, they are the next largest threat." Demon sighed. "'Scubamon', please. That's an execution in itself."

==31st, Human World

Ken leaned back on his bed. "So, how was the dance?" Minomon asked, hanging from the ceiling.

"I liked it." Ken admitted. "I wasn't expecting to, but I actually did have fun." It was especially nice to see Ryo there.

"That's good. Hawkmon was worried you wouldn't go. I think Yolei likes you."

Ken blinked. "That's not funny, Minomon. What's there about me to like?"

Minomon was about to answer when Ken's mom called from the kitchen. "Ken, there's someone at the door, could you get it? I think it's some trick or treaters!"

"Here?" Ken got up, grateful for the distraction. "Why would anyone come here?" Ken grabbed the candy bowl and walked over to the door. Opening it, he said "I'm sorry I don't have a costume on, I-" He blinked. Flamedramon, Veemon, Marowak, and Armadillomon were there, carrying Halloween bags?

"Well, you going to give us something or not?" Davis' voice said from behind the Flamedramon mask. "You're not dressed up, so we should get double, right?"

"I'm not dressed up either, Davis." Veemon said. "What happens to me?"

Ken was stunned. Two of the digidestined were here? He looked at the person in the Marowak costume, trying to figure out who he was. Armadillomon's presence made it easy. "Cody?"

The skull mask lifted up, revealing Cody's face. "Trick or treat, Ken?"

Next Episode
Oikawa's fate is revealed, and Canadian digidestined Stuart and his partner Monodramon take an interesting trip to the Big Apple. Next on Digimon Digicross:
'Love and Sleep Powder!'