Casey looked at the small creature following her. "Could you please tell me
why you're following me?" She was a bit nervous. It was getting late in the
day, and she was hoping to make it to the next pokemon center where she could
stay the night and give her pokemon a much needed rest. The next thing she
knew, a small bug that vaguely resembled a Weedle was following her, going on
about being partners and something about a great darkness threatening the world.
Kunemon looked up. "Because we're partners, that's why!" she replied brightly.
Bayleef, walking beside Casey, didn't take to well to that. "BayBAYleef!" he
snapped, glaring at Kunemon.
"Same to you, you walking salad bar!" Kunemon replied.
"Knock it off, both of you!" Casey yelled. "Bayleef, if he wants to follow
us, that's fine. And I don't know why a talking Weedle would want to be a
partner." A nasty thought crossed her mind. "This isn't one of those magical
girl things, is it? 'Cause there's no way I'm doing one of those perverted
transformation scenes."
"For the last time," Kunemon answered, exasperated, "I'm NOT a Weedle, I'm
Kunemon, a digimon! And what's a magical girl, anyway?"
"Look, if you look like a pokemon, and act like one, you must be a pokemon!"
Casey reasoned (Don't ask, alright? -ed). "Pokeball, GO!" Casey threw a
pokeball at Kunemon, expecting the creature to be captured.
Kunemon was drawn into the pokeball, but was released again a second later.
"Huh?" Casey asked, confused.
"What was THAT for?" Kunemon demanded. Bayleef got between Casey and Kunemon,
ready to attack. "Do all humans treat their partners this way?"
"Huh." Casey said. "Must be broken. Well, we're near Azalea Town, so I can
have it checked there." She reached down top pick up the ball. As she touched
it, it rocked back and forth, crackled, and exploded in a small grey puff of
smoke. Reflexively, she pulled her hand back, but watched the smoke dissipate.
When it cleared, there was a small silvery square lying on the ground.
"See?" Kunemon exclaimed. "We ARE partners! So THERE!" she said to Bayleef.
Bayleef responded with a Razor Leaf while Casey wasn't looking. Kunemon was
about to respond with her own attack when the group was knocked over by a
speeding white pokemon. "What was that?" Kunemon asked.
"I didn't get a good look!" Casey said, getting up and adjusting her baseball
cap. "But I know that was a pokemon, and I'm going to catch it!"
"OUT OF OUR WAY!" two humans on a hovercraft shouted, knocking the group over
again. "Absol is OURS!"
Casey recognized the outfits. "Team Rocket!" she shouted. "Come on, we can't
let them get away!"
==
Digimon: Digicross Episode 29
-'Kunemon's Home-Run Evolution!'
==
==Lansdale, PA, early evening
Ryo and Kyle Evanick sat at a small coffee hut at the edge of town. "I can
check this pokeball out for you." Ryo offered. He held a small black sphere
that Kyle had recovered a few days ago from Parrotmon. It was an unusual
pokeball, fitted with a timer that allowed the user to set the exact time the
ball would release its monster. Moreover, the ball had been modified to handle
Digimon instead of pokemon.
"Parrotmon said that Darkrizamon had sent him here. That makes it personal."
Kyle replied. Beside him, Tsukaimon, sipping on a short latte, nodded. "How
can you drink that?"
"Caffeine." Tsukaimon replied, deadpan. "It's what makes me so alive and
energetic. I'm surprised there isn't a Starbucks in the digital world already."
"Gods willing, there'll never be one, either." Kyle replied. "So this Kurt
guy is the expert on pokeballs?"
Ryo nodded. "Yeah, he designs pokeballs for a living. If anyone can figure
out who modified this design. it'd be him. I can take the ball to him, if you
want. I just have to make a quick detour home first."
Kyle shook his head. "Nahh, I'll go myself. I've heard enough about this
Pokemon World from everyone else, I might as well see how it is myself."
"What about your folks? And school?"
Ryo and Tsukaimon shared a glance. "They won't miss me for a few days. Trust
me." Kyle replied, a bit darkly.
"Well, alright. I'll give Stuart and Seth a call. Maybe they'd like to tag
along too."
Kyle shrugged. "Knock yourself out. Though this shouldn't take that long. I
mean, what could possibly happen?"
"Fight the forces of evil?" Tsukaimon piped up. "Meet the love of your life?"
Kyle snorted. He got up and left the table, and entered the mall the coffee
hut was attached to. It was late, there were not too many people left in the
mall, and the computer store was still open, the latest IBM-clone on display,
monitor brightly blazing. Tsukaimon darted out and perched on Kyle's shoulder.
"Would it kill you to at least TALK to a girl?"
"Well, better safe than sorry, right?" Kyle replied. "Besides, you're a
digimon, not a dating computer."
"Hah!" Tsukaimon responded. "All it takes is taste, which I have plenty of."
"Says the purple football that sucked back a cup of low-grade battery acid."
"Just open the portal."
"Right, right." Kyle took out his digivice, and, checking that there was no
one watching, held it to the computer monitor by the store entrance. "Put your
head inside a microwave and give yourself a tan..." he muttered, quoting a song
he had heard once.
Across the hall, Ryo watched the two leave. "Takes all kinds, I guess." he
muttered. "Well, I guess I'd better go say hi to mom and wish her and dad a
happy anniversary."
==Near Azalea town
The computer glowed, and Kyle and Tsukaimon emerged. "Oh, hello!" Nurse Joy
said, greeting them. "My sister's second cousin twice removed in Viridian City
told me about you. Are you here to visit someone?"
"Your...?" Kyle stammered. He got his wits back, then asked "Is this Azalea
Town?"
"I'm sorry. Azalea Town is about a 20 minute hike down the road. My name's
Nurse Joy, and this is a pokemon center. Here, we can give you a place to rest
and a chance to heal your digimon if it's been wounded."
"Looks like we got the co-ordinates wrong." Kyle muttered.
"I don't know, I think this is my kind of place!" Tsukaimon said, flying over
to the nurse. "I'll have my bath now, thanks!" Kyle sighed, shaking his
head.
Nurse Joy grabbed Tsukaimon between the ears, and handed the digimon over to a
Chansey. "Chansey's in charge of that."
"Don't worry." Kyle sighed again. "He just looks like a pig. I'm sure
there's a halfway decent digimon somewhere in there. Though God alone knows
how often I've tried to find it."
"After Brock, this is nothing." Joy replied. She looked out the front door,
startled by several loud noises. "Team Rocket!" she gasped, recognizing
several figures.
"Who?" Kyle asked.
"They're a gang of crooks that work on this world, according to what
Monodramon and Wizardmon told me." Tsukaimon answered. "It looks like they're
attacking that...white dog?"
"They were." Kyle replied, clutching his digivice. "Let's break them up."
"You should wait for the police." Nurse Joy said, warningly. "Team Rocket is
very dangerous."
Kyle shrugged. "We'll be fine. Tsukaimon?"
"Tsukaimon, digivolve to...Wizardmon!"
==
"That's far enough!" Casey called to the two thugs. "You better leave that
pokemon alone or I'll have to send you to the bleachers!"
One of the thugs (generic TR thug. Kinda like security guards on Star Trek. -
ed) smirked. "Spare me the lecture, runt. This Absol's ours. Not to mention
the Pichu that goes with it. Go, Skarmory!"
"Steelix, get in there!" the other thug called. The two pokemon appeared in
front of Casey, challenging her to move ahead. "Think your little Bayleef can
stop our Steel Type pokemon?"
"How about challenging someone in a fair fight?" another voice asked,
unafraid. Casey saw a boy, about 14 or 15, stepping out of the pokemon center.
Beside him was a creature, a pokemon, Casey assumed, holding what looked like a
staff.
"Hey, I can take these two on!" she called. "You and your overdressed Marowak
can just stay out of it!"
"I think I've just been insulted." Wizardmon stage-whispered to Kyle.
"I'll have to go with the overdressed part." Kyle replied. At Wizardmon's
glare, Kyle smirked. "Well, that cape is a bit over the top."
"I am ever underappreciated." Wizardmon sighed. "Magic Game!" Skarmory's
head was engulfed in a bluish haze, and the bird quickly collapsed,
unconscious. "So, who's next?"
"Steelix, crush those two!" Steelix' head darted forward, but Kyle and
Wizardmon dodged the attack, Kyle running at the two criminals, Wizardmon
launching a wave of electricity at Steelix. Steelix ignored the attack,
picking the human as the easier target. "No, wait!" the thug yelled as Steelix
charged at Kyle, and was then unable to stop itself as Kyle quickly jumped to
one side, and the pokemon ploughed right into the vehicle the two Rocket thugs
had shown up in. Steelix and the humans were both knocked out.
"Not bad." Wizardmon said. "But a bit sloppy. I could have cut it much
closer, personally. Try tucking more when you roll."
Kyle was about to suggest where Wizardmon could tuck his staff when Casey
stormed over. "Hey! I could have handled those two creeps! You didn't have
to go getting involved!"
"Look," Kyle replied, a bit annoyed, "Wizardmon's more powerful than your
pokemon. Grass type, right?"
"Um...yeah...?" Casey replied, a bit taken aback.
"Well, look, even I know that a grass attack isn't going to do much against
something made of metal, right?"
"We do appreciate the effort though." Wizardmon added, seeing Casey's face
turn a bit red. "*right*, Kyle?" Kyle blinked, about to ask what Wizardmon
meant by that, when he felt something brush against his leg. It was the large
white creature he had seen earlier escaping from the two crooks. On its back
was a small yellow and black creature, smiling and waving to Kyle and Wizardmon.
"A Pichu and an Absol." Nurse Joy said, recognizing the two pokemon. "That's
an odd combination." She smiled a bit, glancing at Kyle. "I think its trying
to thank you for helping them against Team Rocket."
"A Pichu?" Casey asked. "I always wanted one! I wanna catch it!" Absol
heard this, nodded to Kyle, and took off before Casey could get a pokeball out.
"Looks like Absol had other ideas." Kyle remarked.
"Strange place." Kunemon said.
Wizardmon glowed and reverted to Tsukaimon. "Hey there, I didn't see you
before!"
"Hello, I'm Kunemon. I'm Casey's partner. I assume you're his partner?"
Kunemon asked, indicating Kyle.
"Yeah, I'm stuck with Captain Deathwish here." Tsukaimon replied
melodramatically. He then yawned. "Hey, Kyle, can we rest here tonight?"
"No way! I was going to rest here tonight!" Casey protested.
"The pokemon center is open to all travelers." Nurse joy pointed out. "If
Kyle wants to stay here, he's more than welcome to."
==About 1 in the morning.
Kyle was always a bit of a light sleeper; the slightest noise would tend to
wake him up. That was why he was awake right now; there was something coming
from the adjacent room keeping him awake. He clambered out of bed, shook his
head, and wandered over.
The pokemon center was set up a bit like how Kyle thought the YMCA was set up;
central room for receiving people and pokemon, eating area, and several rooms
with beds in it. Dormitory style, he'd heard it called once. He found the
door unlocked, still amazed at the concept. Back home, places like this
typically had locks on every door, inside and out.
"Hey, you mind keeping it down?" he asked.
Startled, Casey spun around, clutching a small radio playing a baseball game.
Figures, Kyle thought to himself. "I'm trying to get some sleep in the next
room."
"GET LOST, PERVERT!" Casey yelled, throwing a pillow at him.
==Half an hour later.
"I was NOT peeping!" Kyle said, getting a bit angry. "I was trying to sleep,
but that stupid radio was keeping me up. All I did was go over and ask her to
turn it down." Kyle glared at Casey for a second, then looked away. "Like I'd
even want to look at an uncute tomboy like her." he muttered.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Casey snarled.
They're worse than Ash and Misty, Nurse Joy said to herself. "Casey, calm
down. Kyle wasn't doing anything wrong, it was just a mistake. Why don't we
all go back to sleep and try to resolve this in the morning?"
Casey stormed back to her room, fuming. It hadn't helped that Nurse Joy had
confiscated the radio.
==Next Day.
"You called her a WHAT?" Tsukaimon asked.
"Just leave it alone, alright?" Kyle replied. "You know I'm a light sleeper."
"This from a guy who stayed up until 3 watching Dragon Ball movies."
"You know darn well it was Gundam 0083." Kyle replied. "Big difference."
Tsukaimon looked off towards the mountains. "I wonder how those two are
doing?" he wondered. "Absol and Pichu; those two pokemon I saved yesterday."
"Okay, I...hey, what's this 'I' stuff?" Kyle demanded. "You didn't have a
giant iron snake chasing you down!"
"I had 'em right where I wanted them." Tsukaimon replied dryly. Kyle rolled
his eyes, shook his head, and kept walking.
They heard shouts ahead of them. Curious, the two ran over to where the
noises they heard were coming from. They soon caught sight of Casey and
another boy, calling commands to their pokemon.
"So, this is a pokemon battle." Kyle whispered, watching. "Okay, that's
Casey's Bayleef, but what's that other thing?" he indicated what looked like a
large mouse with black stripes, red cheeks, and what looked like a lightning
bolt on its tail.
"It's a Raichu." Kunemon said, wandering over. "Casey spent all morning
explaining the whole pokemon thing to me. That kid just walked in out of
nowhere and challenged Casey to a match. I volunteered, but Casey wouldn't let
me fight. Now that I see it, I'm glad she didn't."
"Can't you digivolve?" Tsukaimon asked.
"She probably hasn't clued in yet." Kyle said, watching the battle. "I don't
think Bayleef was too thrilled with the whole idea, from what I saw last night."
"That pokemon is very protective of Casey." Kunemon agreed. The three watched
the battle, Kyle having a sudden urge to do his Tom Servo impression as he did.
"Raichu, use Bide!" the other trainer called, just before Casey's Bayleef
connected with a Vine whip.
"Buy Bide, and Bide Bonds." Tsukaimon whispered to Kyle. The two started
sniggering, while Kunemon tried to figure out what was so funny.
Casey, who hadn't noticed Kyle and Tsukaimon show up, thought for a second.
If I attack again, Raichu's bide will only get stronger. And Bayleef doesn't
know Sleep powder yet..."Bayleef, use your Reflect and get ready for Raichu's
attack!"
"Reflect?" Kyle asked Kunemon. "He's not even shiny."
"It's a sort of defensive move. It reduces the damage a pokemon takes by
about half."
"Man," Tsukaimon muttered, "PETA would just *love* this place."
"Don't look at me," Kunemon replied, "I just live here now." They watched at
Raichu released the stored energy, which splashed against the Reflect barrier
Bayleef had put up.
"Alright! Hit it out of the park with another Vine Whip!" Casey yelled.
Eagerly, Bayleef used the attack Casey called for, and caught Raichu across the
back. The vine wrapped around, and Bayleef yanked hard, spinning Raichu around
and stunning it. "Body Slam!" Casey called. Bayleef slammed into Raichu,
sending it flying into Raichu's trainer, knocking both over.
"I think that's a win." Kunemon said, watching as Casey ran over to check on
the other trainer.
"You think?" Kyle and Tsukaimon chorused.
Casey finished helping the other trainer and his Raichu up, made the standard
congratulation and commiseration speech ('you were a really tough opponent',
'Toughest battle yet', that sort of thing. Normal post- battle speech. -ed),
and turned to leave. She spotted Kyle and Tsukaimon with Kunemon, and
immediately marched over. "You'd better not have been doing something to my
Weedle!" she said fiercely.
"I am NOT a Weedle!" Kunemon shouted back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kyle replied. "Look, I was just on my way to
Azalea Town, and I saw you and whatshisface fighting it out. I am so sorry for
my curiosity!"
"Oh," Kunemon piped up, "you're headed there too? What a coincidence."
"That's enough out of you!" Casey said, picking up Kunemon. "Just stay out of
my way." Casey stormed off.
"Allow me to applaud you on your flirting technique." Tsukaimon said
innocently. Kyle scowled at his partner, and moved on.
==
Kyle scowled again, this time at the sign on the front of Kurt's house. It
told him, in somewhat florid language, that the whole place was closed and that
anyone intruding would be either prosecuted or fed to the pack of Houndooms.
"'He's open all the time'." Kyle huffed, mimicking Ryo's voice. "'Just knock
on the door'. Well, this was a waste of time."
"Eh, beats math class." Tsukaimon shrugged. "Well, we might as well head back
to the pokemon center. We can always come back later."
"Yeah, but it seems like a waste. We didn't accomplish anything."
"I don't know." Tsukaimon replied. "Casey was cute."
"I'll throw rice at your wedding to her, then." Kyle replied sourly. He
caught sight of a little girl sitting on the curb, sniffling. Beside her were
several creatures that looked like pink and white...bears? Curious, he walked
over. "Are you alright, kid?" he asked.
"My grandpa threw me out this morning." she replied.
Kyle's face darkened. Tsukaimon noticed that his hands were clenched into
fists, and that his knuckles were already white. "Did he now?" he asked slowly.
"What's your name?" Tsukaimon asked suddenly. The girl looked up, and her
eyes widened at the sight of Tsukaimon. "It's OK. I'm Tsukaimon, a friend."
"M-my name's Maisy, and my grandfather's name is Kurt. He spends a lot of
time making pokeballs for the local trainers. He's usually a bit gruff, but
he's really a nice man. Well, he was..." Maisy trailed off, and started
crying again.
"Why did you-?" Kyle asked his partner.
"'Cause you were about to do something stupid. You had that look again. And
it might help if we knew what happened before we go charging in." Tsukaimon
whispered back. The digimon flew over, landing on Maisy's head. "Why don't
you tell us what happened next?" he asked softly.
"Well, Grandpa got a strange visitor a little over a week ago, and then he
started acting strange. He started chasing off all the Slowpoke that lived
around here. And all these Machops showed up, and they were really mean ones.
Then, this morning, I checked in on Grandpa and saw him talking to what looked
like a Magmar. He saw me, started screaming, and had the Machops throw me out."
"Well, why don't Kyle and I take you to the police station, and you can tell
the police what happened?"
"No!" Maisy replied. "He's just been under a lot of stress, that's all!"
Kyle looked right into Maisy's eyes. "There's no excuse for what he did." he
replied. "Is there another way in? I think I'd like to have a word with your
grandfather." He glanced at Tsukaimon before the digimon could say anything.
"I promise, I won't get into a fight with him. I just want to find out his
side of the story." And shove it down his throat, Kyle added mentally.
"You can get in around the back through the Apricorn groves, but there's all
those Machop guarding the place."
"We'll be fine. Why don't you go to the police station. Or the pokemon
center, if it's closer?" Kyle replied. "Do you know the way?"
Maisy nodded. "They're in the same building." Kyle nodded, grinned, and saw
Maisy off.
"Okay, what's going on?" Tsukaimon asked.
"Maisy's trouble started just before Parrotmon showed up. And this guy just
happens to be the number one pokeball maker in these parts. I think there's a
connection. So we sneak in, and find out how this Kurt guy was bought off."
"In other words," Tsukaimon replied evenly, "your spider-sense is tingling."
"No," Kyle replied sarcastically, "I just got a call on my belt-buckle Bat-
Phone from the Commissioner. Now, do you want to put on the Robin suit, or are
we going to do this?" Grumbling, Tsukaimon followed Kyle, and the two headed
towards the forested area.
==
Casey knelt beside Maisy, and listened to the story of how her grandfather had
tossed her out that morning. "That's terrible!" Casey exclaimed. "I hope the
police throw the book at him!"
Maisy sniffed. "You sound like that boy I talked to earlier. He said pretty
much the same thing. He even had a weird pokemon following him around, just
like you." Maisy indicated Kunemon.
"I am NOT a Weedle!" Kunemon growled, getting tired of the running gag.
Casey had a sudden feeling of dread. "This boy...did his pokemon have big
ears and purple skin?"
"Yeah!" Maisy said. "Do you know him? Are you his little sister?"
"Ew!" Casey replied, sickened. "Well, there's no way I'm letting that jerk
cause any more trouble. I'll go bring him back!" Casey got up and walked
towards Kurt's estate.
==
The fifth Machop fell to the ground, unconscious. "That was a really intense
fight." Wizardmon huffed. "Shame no one was filming it."
"More on the way. Did you have to knock that tree over with that lightning
bolt? We were TRYING to be quiet, remember."
"Picky, picky." Wizardmon replied, twirling his staff in one hand. "These
guys are pushovers. NEXT!"
Two more Machops obliged him. The first was quickly knocked out by a
carefully aimed lightning bolt, the second was tackled by Kyle, who rolled
clear and allowed Wizardmon a chance to get a second shot off. "This is
getting us...huh?" Kyle leaned over, inspecting one of the felled pokemon.
Part of the body was cracked, as if it were made of plaster. Underneath was an
evil looking black substance. Curious, Kyle brushed at the cracked area on
Machop, revealing more and more black material. "Some kind of rock pokemon?"
"DUCK!" Strikedramon yelled, claw smashing into another attacking pokemon.
Like the one Kyle was examining, this one too was made of the same black
material. "They're made of control spires! They're not real pokemon!" the
digimon explained.
Seth, his Wizardmon, and Stuart ran over to Kyle and his Wizardmon. "Ryo
called us and told us you'd be here; we couldn't get here until now thanks to
SOMEONE getting the portals mixed up."
"What?" Strikedramon replied. "We weren't that far off!"
"How did Control Spire digimon get here?" Seth wondered. "Wait, pokemon.
This is bad, guys."
"Perhaps Demon and the Dark Ocean have changed their target from the digital
world to here." Seth's Wizardmon mused.
"I don't like that at all." Strikedramon said. "Which one were you again?"
Wizardmon sighed and pointed to Seth. "Right. We gotta start naming you guys."
"Deal with it later." Kyle said. "We have to get to Kurt's place; the answers
lie there! Come on, Wizardmon!" Kyle and his Wizardmon ran towards the house,
off in the distance."
"Right. Let's go, Binky." Strikedramon said, following.
"Binky?" Seth asked. Wizardmon made no reply, just shaking his head and
vowing revenge.
==
Casey made it to the front gate of Kurt's estate, and was surprised to find
the door unlocked. Cautiously, she pushed the door open. Seeing no one, she
wandered inside. "I guess no one's home."
"Be careful," Kunemon whispered, following Casey, "there's something odd here.
I can sense it."
"You're just being silly." Casey replied. "Right, Bayleef?" Eagerly, Bayleef
nodded. The trio made their way through the house, in the direction of Kurt's
workshop. "I think I hear something going on in there. Let's have a look."
Opening the door, Casey, Weedle, and Bayleef peeked into the room, and saw
Kurt there, as well as a large humanoid figure, seemingly wrapped in reddish-
black flame. "The new capture balls are working just fine." Kurt said. "I'll
be glad when this assignment is finally over. Do I really have to maintain
this disguise, Darkrizamon?"
The humanoid creature nodded. "You know as well as I do that this form is
shielded against detection. Once you shed it, Mewtwo or the other guardians
may detect you on this plane."
Casey moved away from the door, confused by what she had heard. "What's going
on here?" she whispered. "Did we sneak onto a movie set or something?"
Darkrizamon looked up. "Who's there?" he called. Snarling, he and Kurt
smashed through the door, in time to see Casey, Bayleef, and Kunemon round a
corner, heading for the exit. "Stop her!" Kurt yelled. Snarling, Darkrizamon
gave chase.
A minute later (Kurt's got a *big* house, folks -ed), Casey made it back to
the front gate. "I think we lost them." she gasped.
"No you didn't!" Darkrizamon yelled, crashing through the door. "Snipe Fang!"
"Bayleef!" Casey yelled. "Razor Leaf attack!" Bayleef followed Casey's
command, but the attack never got close to Darkrizamon; the leaves ignited
before they could hit, burned by the flames covering Darkrizamon's body.
"You'll have to do better than that, kid." Darkrizamon snarled. He jumped
forward, claws extended.
"Kunemon, digivolve to...Yanmamon!"
==
Between Strikedramon and the two Wizardmon, the small army of artificial
pokemon was cleared rather quickly. Seth looked around, a bit annoyed. "If
they didn't know we were coming before, they do now."
Strikedramon shrugged. "Eh, so what? Bring 'em on, I could use a good fight
right about now."
Kyle glanced at Stuart. "He's been watching 'Star Wars', hasn't he?"
"Dad just sprang for a DVD player." Stuart explained. "'Han Solo' here's been
watching the three original movies. So, do we just crash in, or look for a
door?"
"You mean we can't just use the force?" Kyle's Wizardmon asked sarcastically.
Kyle was about to respond when he heard a fight coming from the far end of the
house. At the same time, a small section of the wall ignited, and a small
figure stepped out. It was human, looked old, and seemed extremely annoyed.
He glanced at the three humans, then their digimon. "I should have known
this'd happen. Chasing out that little brat and those annoying slackers caused
more trouble than it was worth."
"Who are you?" Kyle demanded. "Are you Kurt?"
"I was." the human replied. "But I got a better offer!" The human glowed,
then changed into a large skeletal figure.
"Skull Satamon!" Strikedramon growled. "Where's the real Kurt?"
"Resting. Skull Hammer!" A black warhammer materialized out of nowhere, and
slammed into the ground, forcing the humans and digimon to scatter.
"Darkrizamon can content himself with one human; killing all six of you will be
more fun!" A bolt of lightning in Skull Satamon's face interrupted his tirade.
"Go!" Seth yelled at Kyle. "We'll take care of this one, you get after
Darkrizamon!"
"Thanks!" Kyle yelled.
"Hey, you're fighting us!" Strikedramon yelled, tackling the demonic digimon.
"Be careful!" Stuart called. "He's an Ultimate level digimon!"
"Never tell me the odds!" Strikedramon yelled back, before getting thrown off.
"See?" he went on, dazed.
==
Kyle and Wizardmon darted around another Machop, then jumped into the house
through an open window. "Over here!" he hissed. "I heard something!" Two
seconds later, what he heard came round the corner. Casey, Bayleef following
her, ran 'round the corner and barreled into Kyle, full tilt. Both went down.
"What the...YOU?" both said.
"Get off me, you pervert!" Casey yelled.
"You're the one who bowled me over!" Kyle snarled back.
"Well, I'll just leave you two alone then..." Wizardmon said, trying to get
around the two humans. "Do try and keep it...PG level?"
"SHUT UP!" both of them yelled.
"Well, I'll just be going then..." Wizardmon whispered, deciding to
investigate the hall a bit more.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Kyle demanded.
"I was trying to find out why that poor girl was kicked out of her house! I
should have known you'd be in on it!"
"I'M NOT!"
"Bayleef?" the pokemon glanced between the two humans, confused. "Bay?
Bayleef?"
"No, don't waste a Razor Leaf on him." Casey replied.
"Gee, thanks." Kyle huffed. "Uncute tomboy." he muttered.
"I heard that!" Casey half-shouted, getting up.
Kyle scowled, also getting up. "Hey, where's Kunemon?"
"That Weedle that was following me?" Casey asked. "He evolved and told me to
run while he fought something called a Darkrizamon. It's some weird flame-type
pokemon I've never heard of."
"I'm not a Weedle!" Yanmamon shouted as he flew past, Wizardmon following him.
"Now RUN!"
"Darkrizamon's right behind us!" Wizardmon added. "We have to take the fight
outside!"
"What's wrong with right here?" a soft voice asked. Kyle recognized it
instantly. Walking slowly, Darkrizamon walked around the corner. "Kyle
Evanick. It has been a while. I see your little friend has gotten better."
"No thanks to you, brimstone brain." Wizardmon replied.
"Such language. You know, I was almost hoping you'd come here. I do so want
to take pleasure in destroying the both of you slowly and at my leisure. After
all, you don't have Michael and his little water snake to hide behind, do you?
Or Seth and his little magician?"
"Thunder Cloud!" Wizardmon launched a barrage of lightning bolts at
Darkrizamon. Darkrizamon was pushed back, but uninjured. "God may forgive
you, but Wizardmon never will!"
"Great, he's quoting 'Battle Angel'." Kyle said. "We're in trouble."
"Battle Angel?" Casey asked.
"I see you've not changed much. I however, have made a deal with the Demon.
Darkrizamon, digivolve to...Diablosmon!" (ever play FF8? You know the GF
Diablos? That's the one. -ed) "Dark Messenger!"
==
Strikedramon ducked as a large black sphere exploded through the roof of
Kurt's house, then fell back through a second hole. "Gwaah?"
"I see Darkrizamon has digivolved. Now there are two Ultimate level evil
digimon to battle. Aren't you proud?" Skull Satamon cackled as he taunted
Strikedramon and Wizardmon.
"If you can digivolve again, now's the time to show us!" Stuart said to his
partner.
"Oh, SURE." Strikedramon replied. "I'll just wave my arms and turn into Super-
Metal Strikedramon."
"Can the sarcasm!" Stuart replied.
"Both of you knock it off!" Seth interrupted. "We ARE trying to save the
world here! Wizardmon, duck!" Wizardmon dodged a wild swing by Skull Satamon.
"Perhaps we should try DNA digivolving?" Wizardmon suggested between attacks.
Seth and Stuart glanced at each other. "Yeah, easy." Stuart said, frowning.
"None of the other digidestined even know how to do it. They just did it."
"The ones that did pull it off were usually in synch with each other in some
way." Wizardmon observed.
"This is all very fascinating..." Strikedramon, grappling with Skull Satamon,
gasped, "but we do have an insane skull-devil from the pit to deal with!"
Skull Satamon shuddered as another lightning bolt hit it. "Thanks!"
Strikedramon called to Wizardmon.
"I'll deal with you later." Wizardmon replied. "'Binky' indeed." he huffed.
"Hey, I was just joking, alright? Jeez, try to lighten up a bit!"
Skull Satamon jumped into the air, using his wings to hover. "Nail Bone
Strike!" Energy bolts shot out, striking human and digimon alike. One large
bolt was aimed at the two humans. "It is Master Demon's theory that if I kill
a human, his digimon partner will lose all its power. Shall we test that
theory?" The bolt of energy was released, aimed at Stuart and Seth.
Instinctively, they flinched, ready to die...
"Strikedramon!"
"Wizardmon!"
"DNA Digivolve to...CYBERDRAMON!"
==
Diablosmon looked at the devastation. No sign of any opponents. "A pity. I
had so looked forward to tormenting that boy and his flying pig again. I guess
I shall have to find some other entertainment. Ah..." The demonic digimon
reached down, brushed aside some rubble, and found Casey, lying unconscious.
"Still alive. A prize for Demon." A spray of leaves hit Diablosmon's arm.
"Ahh, the walking plant."
"Bay...BayLEEEEEEEF!" Bayleef seemed to fluoresce, then his form changed as
the pokemon evolved. "Meganium!"
"Digivolution?" Diablosmon mused. "This should be amusing." He was a bit
concerned about the alarming way the pokemon's neck-leaves were glowing white,
though.
"Put her down!" Yanmamon demanded. Diablosmon, distracted, faced Yanmamon.
"Or what?" Diablosmon asked, amused.
"This! Insect Swarm!" Yanmamon's wings gave off a soft whine as they flapped
even faster.
"Okay..." Diablosmon said after a few seconds. "And that was supposed to...?"
"Yan? Yanma!" A small swarm of Yanma appeared, hovering around Yanmamon.
"This, I guess....GET HIM!" Yanmamon shouted. Obediently, the Yanma did,
firing off what amounted to a massed Sonic Boom assault (And shattered every
window in a five block radius -ed).
"ARRRHHH! STOP THAT INFERNAL NOISE!" Diablosmon shouted. He tried to get
away, dropping Casey as he did. Yanmamon darted forward, catching his partner.
"Thanks!" he called to the Yanma, now departing. "You'll have to teach me how
to do that sometime!"
"Yan! Yanyan!" the pokemon called, getting clear of the battle area.
"You blasted...I won't be made a fool of!" The rest of Diablosmon's rant was
lost when Meganium's Solarbeam struck him in the back, between the wings.
Diablosmon fell into the wreckage of Kurt's house.
"What's all the noise?" Kyle asked, getting up. He saw Wizardmon standing
beside him, staff held up, concentrating.
"Well," Kyle's partner replied lightly, "the fight was going well until
Darkrizamon digivolved into a freaky-looking devil and kinda dropped the house
on us. And the only reason I'm not fighting is 'cause I'm using my power to
keep the roof from crushing us."
"Where's that kid...?"
"Casey? Her partner turned into Yanmamon, summoned a whole bunch of bugs, and
blasted Diablosmon with some kind of sonic attack. All caught up? Oh, and
that oversized hanging basket evolved and fired a laser, too."
Kyle shrugged. "Ah. Everything's normal then."
"Quite. Shall we join the fight?" Wizardmon launched a lightning bolt, and
shattered the rubble covering them.
"Here." Yanmamon said, dropping Casey in front of the two. "Keep an eye on
her!"
"Wait for me!" Wizardmon called, following Yanmamon. "Kyle, wait there."
"What? No way!"
Wizardmon stopped, turned, and aimed his staff at Kyle. "I'll take care of
that wannabe devil. You keep an eye on the girl."
"But-"
"Trust me." Wizardmon said, a bit more forcefully, and ran in.
Casey stirred. Kyle knelt down, checking to see if she was bleeding. "What
hit me?" she groaned. "Oh, it's you."
"You're welcome." Kyle replied sarcastically. "You always this polite, or do
I just have that effect on you?"
"Eww, gross!" Casey retorted. Meganium wandered over, battered but still
conscious. "Bayleef? No, you evolved into Meganium, that's great!" Meganium
glanced back to the battle. "You want to go back in there? Should I send
Beedrill to help?" Meganium shook her head. Casey nodded. "Be careful. Stay
back and pepper him with your Razor Leaf attack. And when you get an opening,
send that creep to the bleachers with your Solar Beam attack." Meganium nodded.
"Are you nuts?" Kyle gasped. "That pokemon's barely able to stand!"
"I trust my pokemon!" Casey replied. "Which is more than I can say for you!"
Kyle started to reply, but Casey pushed on. "I've seen your type before; you
think all you can rely on is yourself, so you don't bother getting close to any
of your pokemon! How many do you have, anyway?"
"Wizardmon, but he's not-NO!" Kyle jumped up. As they were talking,
Diablosmon swung his arm down and caught Wizardmon with a bony hand, sending
the digimon flying. On impulse, Kyle ran over, checking on Wizardmon. "Hey,
you still with me?"
"Kyle!" Casey shrieked. Diablosmon had knocked Yanmamon aside, and had aimed
a sphere of black energy at him. "No, don't do it!"
"Die, Evanick!" Diablosmon yelled. "Dark Messenger!" Diablosmon launched the
attack, grinning in response to Kyle's angered and defiant look.
==
Cyberdramon dodged the attack, worried. Even at this power level, Skull
Satamon was still able to ward off his attacks. More worrying was the fact
that Skull Satamon was leading the battle away from the mansion, a fact not
lost on Seth and Stuart. "Hold still, blast it!"
"And spoil the fun?" Skull Satamon taunted. "Nail Bone!" Growling,
Cyberdramon caught the staff in his hand, yanked, and pulled it out of Skull
Satamon's grasp. "Hey, give that back!"
"Make me." Cyberdramon replied, idly snapping the staff in two. "Ooops.
Clumsy me."
Yowling, Skull Satamon charged, slamming into Cyberdramon and driving him into
the ground. "I'll feast on your digicore, and use your skull to top my new
staff!" Cyberdramon grabbed Skull Satamon by the ribs, heaved, and sent the
devil flying back to the mansion.
"Kurt's gonna be pissed." Stuart said. "At this rate, he won't have a home to
go back to!"
"I'm sure it's insured." Seth replied. "Acts of pokemon and all that. Hate
to see the premiums after this is over. Ohh, there goes the kitchen."
"Monodramon's not gonna like that." Stuart replied. The two humans were a bit
numbed by the ferocity of the battle, and the rather unusual way their partners
had digivolved.
"They wrecked the kitchen?" Cyberdramon asked, Strikedramon's voice creeping
through. "That tears it!" Cyberdramon flew up, dove, and ploughed into Skull
Satamon, driving him through the living room.
"Yeah, way to defend the house." Seth groaned, as a part of the roof fell in.
A few yards over, another black sphere tore through the roof and fell.
"They'll be fine. Let's see how the others are doing!"
"No, further *into* the kill zone." Stuart replied, following Seth. They got
about half way when the black sphere was intercepted by a bolt of blue energy.
==
Kyle opened his eyes, wondering why he and Wizardmon weren't dead yet. His
eyes focussed, and he saw a large white hound, firing a bolt of blue energy at
the black sphere. "Absol!" Kyle gasped. The Pichu that was with him hopped
off of Absol's back, and ran over to Kyle. Absol kept his focus on Diablosmon.
"He came back to save us?" Casey wondered. She glanced over and saw Yanmamon
get up, trying to get back into the fight.
"Wizardmon? Come on, wake up!" Kyle shook Wizardmon. Curious, Pichu ran
over, sniffed Wizardmon, and waved at Kyle. On instinct, Kyle put Wizardmon on
the ground, and Pichu proceeded to use the basic first aid treatment all
electric type pokemon knew.
Electroshock therapy. "Piiii...CHUUU!"
"GWAAAHHH! I'M AWAKE!" Wizardmon yelled. "Could you have found a GENTLER way
of waking me up? Rap music, maybe?"
"Ew." Kyle said without hesitation. He looked up and saw Absol had jumped,
firing more blue energy bolts at Diablosmon.
"That Absol knows Ice Beam?" Casey gasped. "He must be a really high level!"
"Marvel later, we have to beat him!" Yanmamon said, wincing.
It was a second after this rather obvious statement that Skull Satamon and
Cyberdramon, still locked in combat, crashed through one wall, nearly flattened
Casey, and went out the other wall, adding to the general level of destruction.
"What was THAT?" Casey yelled.
"Another digimon?" Wizardmon guessed, getting a 'well, DUH' look from everyone
else in the room (yes, including Diablosmon -ed).
"Kyle!" Seth yelled from the opposite end of the room. "You OK?"
"Just peachy!" Kyle yelled back. Wizardmon got up and headed back to join the
battle. Kyle got up to join him, but Wizardmon waved him back.
"Just trust me." Wizardmon said. "Casey, you keep him here."
"Guh?" Casey managed, thrown off. "How...?"
"Take him to dinner, I don't know!" Wizardmon replied. Both Kyle and Casey
started to get angry, but Wizardmon turned and fixed both humans with a glare.
"You," he said, pointing to Casey, "lighten up. You," indicating Kyle, "trust
me."
"The line," Kyle replied after a second's hesitation, "is 'big trouble.'"
"Whatever." Wizardmon shrugged, then dashed in, lightning flaring from his
staff.
"Who was that big black digimon?" Casey asked Stuart.
"Cyberdramon." Stuart replied. "Our digimon combined to form a single more
powerful digimon."
"Enough!" Diablosmon roared, swinging madly. Absol dodged the attack, landing
on the remains of the television, Yanmamon on what looked like a refrigerator,
Wizardmon ducking into a china cabinet. "Shadow Glaive!" A jet black polearm
appeared, which Diablosmon started swinging with what could be called wild
abandon.
"This is getting out of hand!" Casey yelled.
"When was it IN hand?" Seth asked incredulously.
"I mean, our digimon should try that too!" Casey half-shouted. Kyle blinked,
confused. "Look," Casey went on, "normally, I'd rather not team up with a
weirdo pervert, but we don't have a lot of choice!"
"You smooth, silver tongued devil, you." Stuart muttered.
"Funny way of building team spirit. So, what, we have to do the fusion dance
or something?"
"It just kinda...happened." Seth replied. As he spoke, Absol caught the blunt
edge of Diablosmon's Shadow Glaive, and was sent flying. Seeing an
opportunity, Diablosmon swung his glaive again, eager for the kill.
On impulse, Kyle ran in, hoping to grab Absol and drag him clear. Unnoticed,
Casey followed, same idea in mind. "Stay back!" Yanmamon yelled. "Wizardmon!"
"On it! Terror Illusion!" Wizardmon fired a bolt of energy at Diablosmon's
head, temporarily blinding him.
"Thanks!" Casey called, helping Kyle carry Absol away from the battle. Pichu
stayed with Absol, worried. "We need to get him to a pokemon center!"
"Worry about yourselves! Dark Messenger!"
"No!" Seth yelled! "Get out of there!"
Wizardmon and Yanmamon reacted at the same time, ramming the swinging blade
and knocking it aside, making it miss the target. "Are they...glowing?" Kyle
asked.
"Hey, this thing I found is glowing too!" Casey took out the small digivice,
which was emitting a light, pulsing in time to Yanmamon's own fluorescence.
"Yanmamon!"
"Wizardmon!"
"DNA Digivolve to...Wolfmon!" (Yeah, like the Frontier Wolfmon. No laser on
his arm, though -ed)
"No!" Diablosmon shouted. "Not another one!"
"You'd better believe it! Licht Seiger" Wolfmon pulled out both energy
swords, and started swinging, carving nasty gashes in Diablosmon's legs and
torso. "Check on Cyberdramon!"
"Right!" Seth and Stuart ran out one of the many holes in the wall, concerned
about their partner (Partners. Whatever -ed). They got about two feet before
Skull Satamon sailed back into the battle zone, pursued by a grinning
Cyberdramon, hands glowing.
"Uhh...he's fine." Seth said to no one in particular.
"Finish it quickly!" Kyle said. "I think Absol needs help right now!"
"Done!" Cyberdramon said. "Erase Claw!" Skull Satamon was pelted with dozens
of energy blasts, bits of him seeming to vanish. The assault went on for
several seconds, then, when there was nothing left of Skull Satamon,
Cyberdramon nodded. "Need a hand?" he called to Wolfmon.
"No. He's OURS!" Wolfmon roared, charging again. His first sword slash cut
through the Dark Messenger Diablosmon hurled, dispelling the attack. The
second sword buried itself in the demon digimon's gut, up to the crosspiece.
"N...no..." Diablosmon gasped. "I was winning..."
"Sure you were." Wolfmon replied, linking his two swords together. The two
sword grips locked together, and Wolfmon held it like a bow, pulling back on an
invisible string. "Licht...Pfenil!" (Bad German for 'Light Arrow' -ed). He
released the string, and an arrow of pure light shot out, impaling Diablosmon.
The digimon stumbled back and fell over.
The silence after the battle was a bit unnerving. Cyberdramon, Wolfmon, Kyle,
Casey, Seth, and Stuart looked around, not sure what to do next. "Now what?"
Cyberdramon asked, looking at Diablosmon's inert form.
"Catch him in a pokeball?" Casey hazarded.
"You really WANT to train him?" Wolfmon replied.
Kyle was about to interject something when Maisy, followed by Officer Jenny,
wandered in. "Wh...WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE?" Maisy shrieked. Jenny blinked,
overwhelmed.
Without waiting, everyone else in the room pointed at Diablosmon, pointed, and
said "He did it."
Diablosmon stirred, and got up. "It's not...over!"
"Erase Claw!"
"Licht Pfenil!"
The two attacks struck, and Diablosmon disintegrated. "It is now." Wolfmon
said, smirking, then splitting back into Kunemon and Tsukaimon. Cyberdramon
nodded, and split back into Monodramon, and a small, floating...candelabra?
"Hi, I'm Candlemon." the digimon introduced himself to Seth.
"Always wanted a night light." Seth mused, looking at the rookie level
digimon. "Can you turn back to Wizardmon?"
"Soon, I think." Candlemon replied. "DNA Digivolving took a lot of energy out
of me."
"Um..." Officer Jenny looked around. "How am I going to write this up?"
==Later.
They found Kurt. He'd been tossed into Slowpoke Well, and had survived only
due to the Slowpoke living there bringing him food. Though he swore if he ever
ate raw fish again, he'd throw the chef responsible down the Well himself.
"So, you're heading home?" Casey asked.
Stuart shrugged. "Yeah. School may be winding down, but I don't think they'd
believe where I've been. Shame there's no sunset; we heroes like to have the
nice, dramatic exits."
Seth rolled his eyes. "How about you, Kyle? Now that Darkrizamon's
been...shafted."
"Are you trying to make me bolt?" Kyle replied. "Because that pun didn't even
make me quiver."
"Both of you stop it!" Casey complained. "It's bad enough I have to get
partnered with a pervert."
"Look." Kyle said, annoyed. "I was just going to ask you to turn that stupid
radio down last night, that's all!" He hmph'd, folded his arms, and muttered
"uncute tomboy" under his breath.
"It wasn't stupid." Casey replied. "I wonder...hey, it changed!" She looked
at her digivice. It was a D-3 now, and had a colour scheme that she
recognized. "And it even has the colours for the Electabuzz!"
"The who?" Kyle asked.
"Oh, it's a baseball team." Kunemon said. "Casey spent half the trip talking
about it."
"Gahh." Kyle said.
"What?" Casey demanded.
"Don't mind him." Tsukaimon said. "He's never even seen a baseball game."
"H-he hasn't?"
Tsukaimon shook his head. "Nope. He thinks sports are a complete waste of
time."
Kyle was about to reply that he never said anything like that when Casey
grabbed his arm. "That's it, you're coming with me!" she said, dragging Kyle
down the road. "There's a game at the park, and you're not leaving until I get
that stupid idea out of your head! Waste of time my foot!" Meganium and
Kunemon glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed the two.
"Let me go you...you...Tsukaimon! Little help here?"
"Have fun you two!" Tsukaimon waved. Absol and Pichu came from the Pokemon
center just then, saw Kyle and Casey, and decided to follow them as well.
"And so their eyes met." Monodramon sighed.
"And shot daggers at each other." Seth replied. "Candlemon, you mind? I'm
getting wax in my hair. HOT wax."
"Oh, sorry." Candlemon said, hopping off of Seth's head.
Next Episode
The Authordestined arc concludes with two stories; first, Crystal Melin and
Caryl Kyashi trying to rescue Ryo Akiyama and TK from Team Rocket, who has
learned of the existence of digimon and wants that power for themselves. In
the second story, an unusual companion meets Edward Silver as he chases after
an egg taken from Lugia by none other than Rayquaza, the legendary Dragon.
Next time, on Digimon: Digicross -
'First Wolfmon, now HIM?' and 'Legendary trainer to be: Trey Miller!'
why you're following me?" She was a bit nervous. It was getting late in the
day, and she was hoping to make it to the next pokemon center where she could
stay the night and give her pokemon a much needed rest. The next thing she
knew, a small bug that vaguely resembled a Weedle was following her, going on
about being partners and something about a great darkness threatening the world.
Kunemon looked up. "Because we're partners, that's why!" she replied brightly.
Bayleef, walking beside Casey, didn't take to well to that. "BayBAYleef!" he
snapped, glaring at Kunemon.
"Same to you, you walking salad bar!" Kunemon replied.
"Knock it off, both of you!" Casey yelled. "Bayleef, if he wants to follow
us, that's fine. And I don't know why a talking Weedle would want to be a
partner." A nasty thought crossed her mind. "This isn't one of those magical
girl things, is it? 'Cause there's no way I'm doing one of those perverted
transformation scenes."
"For the last time," Kunemon answered, exasperated, "I'm NOT a Weedle, I'm
Kunemon, a digimon! And what's a magical girl, anyway?"
"Look, if you look like a pokemon, and act like one, you must be a pokemon!"
Casey reasoned (Don't ask, alright? -ed). "Pokeball, GO!" Casey threw a
pokeball at Kunemon, expecting the creature to be captured.
Kunemon was drawn into the pokeball, but was released again a second later.
"Huh?" Casey asked, confused.
"What was THAT for?" Kunemon demanded. Bayleef got between Casey and Kunemon,
ready to attack. "Do all humans treat their partners this way?"
"Huh." Casey said. "Must be broken. Well, we're near Azalea Town, so I can
have it checked there." She reached down top pick up the ball. As she touched
it, it rocked back and forth, crackled, and exploded in a small grey puff of
smoke. Reflexively, she pulled her hand back, but watched the smoke dissipate.
When it cleared, there was a small silvery square lying on the ground.
"See?" Kunemon exclaimed. "We ARE partners! So THERE!" she said to Bayleef.
Bayleef responded with a Razor Leaf while Casey wasn't looking. Kunemon was
about to respond with her own attack when the group was knocked over by a
speeding white pokemon. "What was that?" Kunemon asked.
"I didn't get a good look!" Casey said, getting up and adjusting her baseball
cap. "But I know that was a pokemon, and I'm going to catch it!"
"OUT OF OUR WAY!" two humans on a hovercraft shouted, knocking the group over
again. "Absol is OURS!"
Casey recognized the outfits. "Team Rocket!" she shouted. "Come on, we can't
let them get away!"
==
Digimon: Digicross Episode 29
-'Kunemon's Home-Run Evolution!'
==
==Lansdale, PA, early evening
Ryo and Kyle Evanick sat at a small coffee hut at the edge of town. "I can
check this pokeball out for you." Ryo offered. He held a small black sphere
that Kyle had recovered a few days ago from Parrotmon. It was an unusual
pokeball, fitted with a timer that allowed the user to set the exact time the
ball would release its monster. Moreover, the ball had been modified to handle
Digimon instead of pokemon.
"Parrotmon said that Darkrizamon had sent him here. That makes it personal."
Kyle replied. Beside him, Tsukaimon, sipping on a short latte, nodded. "How
can you drink that?"
"Caffeine." Tsukaimon replied, deadpan. "It's what makes me so alive and
energetic. I'm surprised there isn't a Starbucks in the digital world already."
"Gods willing, there'll never be one, either." Kyle replied. "So this Kurt
guy is the expert on pokeballs?"
Ryo nodded. "Yeah, he designs pokeballs for a living. If anyone can figure
out who modified this design. it'd be him. I can take the ball to him, if you
want. I just have to make a quick detour home first."
Kyle shook his head. "Nahh, I'll go myself. I've heard enough about this
Pokemon World from everyone else, I might as well see how it is myself."
"What about your folks? And school?"
Ryo and Tsukaimon shared a glance. "They won't miss me for a few days. Trust
me." Kyle replied, a bit darkly.
"Well, alright. I'll give Stuart and Seth a call. Maybe they'd like to tag
along too."
Kyle shrugged. "Knock yourself out. Though this shouldn't take that long. I
mean, what could possibly happen?"
"Fight the forces of evil?" Tsukaimon piped up. "Meet the love of your life?"
Kyle snorted. He got up and left the table, and entered the mall the coffee
hut was attached to. It was late, there were not too many people left in the
mall, and the computer store was still open, the latest IBM-clone on display,
monitor brightly blazing. Tsukaimon darted out and perched on Kyle's shoulder.
"Would it kill you to at least TALK to a girl?"
"Well, better safe than sorry, right?" Kyle replied. "Besides, you're a
digimon, not a dating computer."
"Hah!" Tsukaimon responded. "All it takes is taste, which I have plenty of."
"Says the purple football that sucked back a cup of low-grade battery acid."
"Just open the portal."
"Right, right." Kyle took out his digivice, and, checking that there was no
one watching, held it to the computer monitor by the store entrance. "Put your
head inside a microwave and give yourself a tan..." he muttered, quoting a song
he had heard once.
Across the hall, Ryo watched the two leave. "Takes all kinds, I guess." he
muttered. "Well, I guess I'd better go say hi to mom and wish her and dad a
happy anniversary."
==Near Azalea town
The computer glowed, and Kyle and Tsukaimon emerged. "Oh, hello!" Nurse Joy
said, greeting them. "My sister's second cousin twice removed in Viridian City
told me about you. Are you here to visit someone?"
"Your...?" Kyle stammered. He got his wits back, then asked "Is this Azalea
Town?"
"I'm sorry. Azalea Town is about a 20 minute hike down the road. My name's
Nurse Joy, and this is a pokemon center. Here, we can give you a place to rest
and a chance to heal your digimon if it's been wounded."
"Looks like we got the co-ordinates wrong." Kyle muttered.
"I don't know, I think this is my kind of place!" Tsukaimon said, flying over
to the nurse. "I'll have my bath now, thanks!" Kyle sighed, shaking his
head.
Nurse Joy grabbed Tsukaimon between the ears, and handed the digimon over to a
Chansey. "Chansey's in charge of that."
"Don't worry." Kyle sighed again. "He just looks like a pig. I'm sure
there's a halfway decent digimon somewhere in there. Though God alone knows
how often I've tried to find it."
"After Brock, this is nothing." Joy replied. She looked out the front door,
startled by several loud noises. "Team Rocket!" she gasped, recognizing
several figures.
"Who?" Kyle asked.
"They're a gang of crooks that work on this world, according to what
Monodramon and Wizardmon told me." Tsukaimon answered. "It looks like they're
attacking that...white dog?"
"They were." Kyle replied, clutching his digivice. "Let's break them up."
"You should wait for the police." Nurse Joy said, warningly. "Team Rocket is
very dangerous."
Kyle shrugged. "We'll be fine. Tsukaimon?"
"Tsukaimon, digivolve to...Wizardmon!"
==
"That's far enough!" Casey called to the two thugs. "You better leave that
pokemon alone or I'll have to send you to the bleachers!"
One of the thugs (generic TR thug. Kinda like security guards on Star Trek. -
ed) smirked. "Spare me the lecture, runt. This Absol's ours. Not to mention
the Pichu that goes with it. Go, Skarmory!"
"Steelix, get in there!" the other thug called. The two pokemon appeared in
front of Casey, challenging her to move ahead. "Think your little Bayleef can
stop our Steel Type pokemon?"
"How about challenging someone in a fair fight?" another voice asked,
unafraid. Casey saw a boy, about 14 or 15, stepping out of the pokemon center.
Beside him was a creature, a pokemon, Casey assumed, holding what looked like a
staff.
"Hey, I can take these two on!" she called. "You and your overdressed Marowak
can just stay out of it!"
"I think I've just been insulted." Wizardmon stage-whispered to Kyle.
"I'll have to go with the overdressed part." Kyle replied. At Wizardmon's
glare, Kyle smirked. "Well, that cape is a bit over the top."
"I am ever underappreciated." Wizardmon sighed. "Magic Game!" Skarmory's
head was engulfed in a bluish haze, and the bird quickly collapsed,
unconscious. "So, who's next?"
"Steelix, crush those two!" Steelix' head darted forward, but Kyle and
Wizardmon dodged the attack, Kyle running at the two criminals, Wizardmon
launching a wave of electricity at Steelix. Steelix ignored the attack,
picking the human as the easier target. "No, wait!" the thug yelled as Steelix
charged at Kyle, and was then unable to stop itself as Kyle quickly jumped to
one side, and the pokemon ploughed right into the vehicle the two Rocket thugs
had shown up in. Steelix and the humans were both knocked out.
"Not bad." Wizardmon said. "But a bit sloppy. I could have cut it much
closer, personally. Try tucking more when you roll."
Kyle was about to suggest where Wizardmon could tuck his staff when Casey
stormed over. "Hey! I could have handled those two creeps! You didn't have
to go getting involved!"
"Look," Kyle replied, a bit annoyed, "Wizardmon's more powerful than your
pokemon. Grass type, right?"
"Um...yeah...?" Casey replied, a bit taken aback.
"Well, look, even I know that a grass attack isn't going to do much against
something made of metal, right?"
"We do appreciate the effort though." Wizardmon added, seeing Casey's face
turn a bit red. "*right*, Kyle?" Kyle blinked, about to ask what Wizardmon
meant by that, when he felt something brush against his leg. It was the large
white creature he had seen earlier escaping from the two crooks. On its back
was a small yellow and black creature, smiling and waving to Kyle and Wizardmon.
"A Pichu and an Absol." Nurse Joy said, recognizing the two pokemon. "That's
an odd combination." She smiled a bit, glancing at Kyle. "I think its trying
to thank you for helping them against Team Rocket."
"A Pichu?" Casey asked. "I always wanted one! I wanna catch it!" Absol
heard this, nodded to Kyle, and took off before Casey could get a pokeball out.
"Looks like Absol had other ideas." Kyle remarked.
"Strange place." Kunemon said.
Wizardmon glowed and reverted to Tsukaimon. "Hey there, I didn't see you
before!"
"Hello, I'm Kunemon. I'm Casey's partner. I assume you're his partner?"
Kunemon asked, indicating Kyle.
"Yeah, I'm stuck with Captain Deathwish here." Tsukaimon replied
melodramatically. He then yawned. "Hey, Kyle, can we rest here tonight?"
"No way! I was going to rest here tonight!" Casey protested.
"The pokemon center is open to all travelers." Nurse joy pointed out. "If
Kyle wants to stay here, he's more than welcome to."
==About 1 in the morning.
Kyle was always a bit of a light sleeper; the slightest noise would tend to
wake him up. That was why he was awake right now; there was something coming
from the adjacent room keeping him awake. He clambered out of bed, shook his
head, and wandered over.
The pokemon center was set up a bit like how Kyle thought the YMCA was set up;
central room for receiving people and pokemon, eating area, and several rooms
with beds in it. Dormitory style, he'd heard it called once. He found the
door unlocked, still amazed at the concept. Back home, places like this
typically had locks on every door, inside and out.
"Hey, you mind keeping it down?" he asked.
Startled, Casey spun around, clutching a small radio playing a baseball game.
Figures, Kyle thought to himself. "I'm trying to get some sleep in the next
room."
"GET LOST, PERVERT!" Casey yelled, throwing a pillow at him.
==Half an hour later.
"I was NOT peeping!" Kyle said, getting a bit angry. "I was trying to sleep,
but that stupid radio was keeping me up. All I did was go over and ask her to
turn it down." Kyle glared at Casey for a second, then looked away. "Like I'd
even want to look at an uncute tomboy like her." he muttered.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Casey snarled.
They're worse than Ash and Misty, Nurse Joy said to herself. "Casey, calm
down. Kyle wasn't doing anything wrong, it was just a mistake. Why don't we
all go back to sleep and try to resolve this in the morning?"
Casey stormed back to her room, fuming. It hadn't helped that Nurse Joy had
confiscated the radio.
==Next Day.
"You called her a WHAT?" Tsukaimon asked.
"Just leave it alone, alright?" Kyle replied. "You know I'm a light sleeper."
"This from a guy who stayed up until 3 watching Dragon Ball movies."
"You know darn well it was Gundam 0083." Kyle replied. "Big difference."
Tsukaimon looked off towards the mountains. "I wonder how those two are
doing?" he wondered. "Absol and Pichu; those two pokemon I saved yesterday."
"Okay, I...hey, what's this 'I' stuff?" Kyle demanded. "You didn't have a
giant iron snake chasing you down!"
"I had 'em right where I wanted them." Tsukaimon replied dryly. Kyle rolled
his eyes, shook his head, and kept walking.
They heard shouts ahead of them. Curious, the two ran over to where the
noises they heard were coming from. They soon caught sight of Casey and
another boy, calling commands to their pokemon.
"So, this is a pokemon battle." Kyle whispered, watching. "Okay, that's
Casey's Bayleef, but what's that other thing?" he indicated what looked like a
large mouse with black stripes, red cheeks, and what looked like a lightning
bolt on its tail.
"It's a Raichu." Kunemon said, wandering over. "Casey spent all morning
explaining the whole pokemon thing to me. That kid just walked in out of
nowhere and challenged Casey to a match. I volunteered, but Casey wouldn't let
me fight. Now that I see it, I'm glad she didn't."
"Can't you digivolve?" Tsukaimon asked.
"She probably hasn't clued in yet." Kyle said, watching the battle. "I don't
think Bayleef was too thrilled with the whole idea, from what I saw last night."
"That pokemon is very protective of Casey." Kunemon agreed. The three watched
the battle, Kyle having a sudden urge to do his Tom Servo impression as he did.
"Raichu, use Bide!" the other trainer called, just before Casey's Bayleef
connected with a Vine whip.
"Buy Bide, and Bide Bonds." Tsukaimon whispered to Kyle. The two started
sniggering, while Kunemon tried to figure out what was so funny.
Casey, who hadn't noticed Kyle and Tsukaimon show up, thought for a second.
If I attack again, Raichu's bide will only get stronger. And Bayleef doesn't
know Sleep powder yet..."Bayleef, use your Reflect and get ready for Raichu's
attack!"
"Reflect?" Kyle asked Kunemon. "He's not even shiny."
"It's a sort of defensive move. It reduces the damage a pokemon takes by
about half."
"Man," Tsukaimon muttered, "PETA would just *love* this place."
"Don't look at me," Kunemon replied, "I just live here now." They watched at
Raichu released the stored energy, which splashed against the Reflect barrier
Bayleef had put up.
"Alright! Hit it out of the park with another Vine Whip!" Casey yelled.
Eagerly, Bayleef used the attack Casey called for, and caught Raichu across the
back. The vine wrapped around, and Bayleef yanked hard, spinning Raichu around
and stunning it. "Body Slam!" Casey called. Bayleef slammed into Raichu,
sending it flying into Raichu's trainer, knocking both over.
"I think that's a win." Kunemon said, watching as Casey ran over to check on
the other trainer.
"You think?" Kyle and Tsukaimon chorused.
Casey finished helping the other trainer and his Raichu up, made the standard
congratulation and commiseration speech ('you were a really tough opponent',
'Toughest battle yet', that sort of thing. Normal post- battle speech. -ed),
and turned to leave. She spotted Kyle and Tsukaimon with Kunemon, and
immediately marched over. "You'd better not have been doing something to my
Weedle!" she said fiercely.
"I am NOT a Weedle!" Kunemon shouted back.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kyle replied. "Look, I was just on my way to
Azalea Town, and I saw you and whatshisface fighting it out. I am so sorry for
my curiosity!"
"Oh," Kunemon piped up, "you're headed there too? What a coincidence."
"That's enough out of you!" Casey said, picking up Kunemon. "Just stay out of
my way." Casey stormed off.
"Allow me to applaud you on your flirting technique." Tsukaimon said
innocently. Kyle scowled at his partner, and moved on.
==
Kyle scowled again, this time at the sign on the front of Kurt's house. It
told him, in somewhat florid language, that the whole place was closed and that
anyone intruding would be either prosecuted or fed to the pack of Houndooms.
"'He's open all the time'." Kyle huffed, mimicking Ryo's voice. "'Just knock
on the door'. Well, this was a waste of time."
"Eh, beats math class." Tsukaimon shrugged. "Well, we might as well head back
to the pokemon center. We can always come back later."
"Yeah, but it seems like a waste. We didn't accomplish anything."
"I don't know." Tsukaimon replied. "Casey was cute."
"I'll throw rice at your wedding to her, then." Kyle replied sourly. He
caught sight of a little girl sitting on the curb, sniffling. Beside her were
several creatures that looked like pink and white...bears? Curious, he walked
over. "Are you alright, kid?" he asked.
"My grandpa threw me out this morning." she replied.
Kyle's face darkened. Tsukaimon noticed that his hands were clenched into
fists, and that his knuckles were already white. "Did he now?" he asked slowly.
"What's your name?" Tsukaimon asked suddenly. The girl looked up, and her
eyes widened at the sight of Tsukaimon. "It's OK. I'm Tsukaimon, a friend."
"M-my name's Maisy, and my grandfather's name is Kurt. He spends a lot of
time making pokeballs for the local trainers. He's usually a bit gruff, but
he's really a nice man. Well, he was..." Maisy trailed off, and started
crying again.
"Why did you-?" Kyle asked his partner.
"'Cause you were about to do something stupid. You had that look again. And
it might help if we knew what happened before we go charging in." Tsukaimon
whispered back. The digimon flew over, landing on Maisy's head. "Why don't
you tell us what happened next?" he asked softly.
"Well, Grandpa got a strange visitor a little over a week ago, and then he
started acting strange. He started chasing off all the Slowpoke that lived
around here. And all these Machops showed up, and they were really mean ones.
Then, this morning, I checked in on Grandpa and saw him talking to what looked
like a Magmar. He saw me, started screaming, and had the Machops throw me out."
"Well, why don't Kyle and I take you to the police station, and you can tell
the police what happened?"
"No!" Maisy replied. "He's just been under a lot of stress, that's all!"
Kyle looked right into Maisy's eyes. "There's no excuse for what he did." he
replied. "Is there another way in? I think I'd like to have a word with your
grandfather." He glanced at Tsukaimon before the digimon could say anything.
"I promise, I won't get into a fight with him. I just want to find out his
side of the story." And shove it down his throat, Kyle added mentally.
"You can get in around the back through the Apricorn groves, but there's all
those Machop guarding the place."
"We'll be fine. Why don't you go to the police station. Or the pokemon
center, if it's closer?" Kyle replied. "Do you know the way?"
Maisy nodded. "They're in the same building." Kyle nodded, grinned, and saw
Maisy off.
"Okay, what's going on?" Tsukaimon asked.
"Maisy's trouble started just before Parrotmon showed up. And this guy just
happens to be the number one pokeball maker in these parts. I think there's a
connection. So we sneak in, and find out how this Kurt guy was bought off."
"In other words," Tsukaimon replied evenly, "your spider-sense is tingling."
"No," Kyle replied sarcastically, "I just got a call on my belt-buckle Bat-
Phone from the Commissioner. Now, do you want to put on the Robin suit, or are
we going to do this?" Grumbling, Tsukaimon followed Kyle, and the two headed
towards the forested area.
==
Casey knelt beside Maisy, and listened to the story of how her grandfather had
tossed her out that morning. "That's terrible!" Casey exclaimed. "I hope the
police throw the book at him!"
Maisy sniffed. "You sound like that boy I talked to earlier. He said pretty
much the same thing. He even had a weird pokemon following him around, just
like you." Maisy indicated Kunemon.
"I am NOT a Weedle!" Kunemon growled, getting tired of the running gag.
Casey had a sudden feeling of dread. "This boy...did his pokemon have big
ears and purple skin?"
"Yeah!" Maisy said. "Do you know him? Are you his little sister?"
"Ew!" Casey replied, sickened. "Well, there's no way I'm letting that jerk
cause any more trouble. I'll go bring him back!" Casey got up and walked
towards Kurt's estate.
==
The fifth Machop fell to the ground, unconscious. "That was a really intense
fight." Wizardmon huffed. "Shame no one was filming it."
"More on the way. Did you have to knock that tree over with that lightning
bolt? We were TRYING to be quiet, remember."
"Picky, picky." Wizardmon replied, twirling his staff in one hand. "These
guys are pushovers. NEXT!"
Two more Machops obliged him. The first was quickly knocked out by a
carefully aimed lightning bolt, the second was tackled by Kyle, who rolled
clear and allowed Wizardmon a chance to get a second shot off. "This is
getting us...huh?" Kyle leaned over, inspecting one of the felled pokemon.
Part of the body was cracked, as if it were made of plaster. Underneath was an
evil looking black substance. Curious, Kyle brushed at the cracked area on
Machop, revealing more and more black material. "Some kind of rock pokemon?"
"DUCK!" Strikedramon yelled, claw smashing into another attacking pokemon.
Like the one Kyle was examining, this one too was made of the same black
material. "They're made of control spires! They're not real pokemon!" the
digimon explained.
Seth, his Wizardmon, and Stuart ran over to Kyle and his Wizardmon. "Ryo
called us and told us you'd be here; we couldn't get here until now thanks to
SOMEONE getting the portals mixed up."
"What?" Strikedramon replied. "We weren't that far off!"
"How did Control Spire digimon get here?" Seth wondered. "Wait, pokemon.
This is bad, guys."
"Perhaps Demon and the Dark Ocean have changed their target from the digital
world to here." Seth's Wizardmon mused.
"I don't like that at all." Strikedramon said. "Which one were you again?"
Wizardmon sighed and pointed to Seth. "Right. We gotta start naming you guys."
"Deal with it later." Kyle said. "We have to get to Kurt's place; the answers
lie there! Come on, Wizardmon!" Kyle and his Wizardmon ran towards the house,
off in the distance."
"Right. Let's go, Binky." Strikedramon said, following.
"Binky?" Seth asked. Wizardmon made no reply, just shaking his head and
vowing revenge.
==
Casey made it to the front gate of Kurt's estate, and was surprised to find
the door unlocked. Cautiously, she pushed the door open. Seeing no one, she
wandered inside. "I guess no one's home."
"Be careful," Kunemon whispered, following Casey, "there's something odd here.
I can sense it."
"You're just being silly." Casey replied. "Right, Bayleef?" Eagerly, Bayleef
nodded. The trio made their way through the house, in the direction of Kurt's
workshop. "I think I hear something going on in there. Let's have a look."
Opening the door, Casey, Weedle, and Bayleef peeked into the room, and saw
Kurt there, as well as a large humanoid figure, seemingly wrapped in reddish-
black flame. "The new capture balls are working just fine." Kurt said. "I'll
be glad when this assignment is finally over. Do I really have to maintain
this disguise, Darkrizamon?"
The humanoid creature nodded. "You know as well as I do that this form is
shielded against detection. Once you shed it, Mewtwo or the other guardians
may detect you on this plane."
Casey moved away from the door, confused by what she had heard. "What's going
on here?" she whispered. "Did we sneak onto a movie set or something?"
Darkrizamon looked up. "Who's there?" he called. Snarling, he and Kurt
smashed through the door, in time to see Casey, Bayleef, and Kunemon round a
corner, heading for the exit. "Stop her!" Kurt yelled. Snarling, Darkrizamon
gave chase.
A minute later (Kurt's got a *big* house, folks -ed), Casey made it back to
the front gate. "I think we lost them." she gasped.
"No you didn't!" Darkrizamon yelled, crashing through the door. "Snipe Fang!"
"Bayleef!" Casey yelled. "Razor Leaf attack!" Bayleef followed Casey's
command, but the attack never got close to Darkrizamon; the leaves ignited
before they could hit, burned by the flames covering Darkrizamon's body.
"You'll have to do better than that, kid." Darkrizamon snarled. He jumped
forward, claws extended.
"Kunemon, digivolve to...Yanmamon!"
==
Between Strikedramon and the two Wizardmon, the small army of artificial
pokemon was cleared rather quickly. Seth looked around, a bit annoyed. "If
they didn't know we were coming before, they do now."
Strikedramon shrugged. "Eh, so what? Bring 'em on, I could use a good fight
right about now."
Kyle glanced at Stuart. "He's been watching 'Star Wars', hasn't he?"
"Dad just sprang for a DVD player." Stuart explained. "'Han Solo' here's been
watching the three original movies. So, do we just crash in, or look for a
door?"
"You mean we can't just use the force?" Kyle's Wizardmon asked sarcastically.
Kyle was about to respond when he heard a fight coming from the far end of the
house. At the same time, a small section of the wall ignited, and a small
figure stepped out. It was human, looked old, and seemed extremely annoyed.
He glanced at the three humans, then their digimon. "I should have known
this'd happen. Chasing out that little brat and those annoying slackers caused
more trouble than it was worth."
"Who are you?" Kyle demanded. "Are you Kurt?"
"I was." the human replied. "But I got a better offer!" The human glowed,
then changed into a large skeletal figure.
"Skull Satamon!" Strikedramon growled. "Where's the real Kurt?"
"Resting. Skull Hammer!" A black warhammer materialized out of nowhere, and
slammed into the ground, forcing the humans and digimon to scatter.
"Darkrizamon can content himself with one human; killing all six of you will be
more fun!" A bolt of lightning in Skull Satamon's face interrupted his tirade.
"Go!" Seth yelled at Kyle. "We'll take care of this one, you get after
Darkrizamon!"
"Thanks!" Kyle yelled.
"Hey, you're fighting us!" Strikedramon yelled, tackling the demonic digimon.
"Be careful!" Stuart called. "He's an Ultimate level digimon!"
"Never tell me the odds!" Strikedramon yelled back, before getting thrown off.
"See?" he went on, dazed.
==
Kyle and Wizardmon darted around another Machop, then jumped into the house
through an open window. "Over here!" he hissed. "I heard something!" Two
seconds later, what he heard came round the corner. Casey, Bayleef following
her, ran 'round the corner and barreled into Kyle, full tilt. Both went down.
"What the...YOU?" both said.
"Get off me, you pervert!" Casey yelled.
"You're the one who bowled me over!" Kyle snarled back.
"Well, I'll just leave you two alone then..." Wizardmon said, trying to get
around the two humans. "Do try and keep it...PG level?"
"SHUT UP!" both of them yelled.
"Well, I'll just be going then..." Wizardmon whispered, deciding to
investigate the hall a bit more.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Kyle demanded.
"I was trying to find out why that poor girl was kicked out of her house! I
should have known you'd be in on it!"
"I'M NOT!"
"Bayleef?" the pokemon glanced between the two humans, confused. "Bay?
Bayleef?"
"No, don't waste a Razor Leaf on him." Casey replied.
"Gee, thanks." Kyle huffed. "Uncute tomboy." he muttered.
"I heard that!" Casey half-shouted, getting up.
Kyle scowled, also getting up. "Hey, where's Kunemon?"
"That Weedle that was following me?" Casey asked. "He evolved and told me to
run while he fought something called a Darkrizamon. It's some weird flame-type
pokemon I've never heard of."
"I'm not a Weedle!" Yanmamon shouted as he flew past, Wizardmon following him.
"Now RUN!"
"Darkrizamon's right behind us!" Wizardmon added. "We have to take the fight
outside!"
"What's wrong with right here?" a soft voice asked. Kyle recognized it
instantly. Walking slowly, Darkrizamon walked around the corner. "Kyle
Evanick. It has been a while. I see your little friend has gotten better."
"No thanks to you, brimstone brain." Wizardmon replied.
"Such language. You know, I was almost hoping you'd come here. I do so want
to take pleasure in destroying the both of you slowly and at my leisure. After
all, you don't have Michael and his little water snake to hide behind, do you?
Or Seth and his little magician?"
"Thunder Cloud!" Wizardmon launched a barrage of lightning bolts at
Darkrizamon. Darkrizamon was pushed back, but uninjured. "God may forgive
you, but Wizardmon never will!"
"Great, he's quoting 'Battle Angel'." Kyle said. "We're in trouble."
"Battle Angel?" Casey asked.
"I see you've not changed much. I however, have made a deal with the Demon.
Darkrizamon, digivolve to...Diablosmon!" (ever play FF8? You know the GF
Diablos? That's the one. -ed) "Dark Messenger!"
==
Strikedramon ducked as a large black sphere exploded through the roof of
Kurt's house, then fell back through a second hole. "Gwaah?"
"I see Darkrizamon has digivolved. Now there are two Ultimate level evil
digimon to battle. Aren't you proud?" Skull Satamon cackled as he taunted
Strikedramon and Wizardmon.
"If you can digivolve again, now's the time to show us!" Stuart said to his
partner.
"Oh, SURE." Strikedramon replied. "I'll just wave my arms and turn into Super-
Metal Strikedramon."
"Can the sarcasm!" Stuart replied.
"Both of you knock it off!" Seth interrupted. "We ARE trying to save the
world here! Wizardmon, duck!" Wizardmon dodged a wild swing by Skull Satamon.
"Perhaps we should try DNA digivolving?" Wizardmon suggested between attacks.
Seth and Stuart glanced at each other. "Yeah, easy." Stuart said, frowning.
"None of the other digidestined even know how to do it. They just did it."
"The ones that did pull it off were usually in synch with each other in some
way." Wizardmon observed.
"This is all very fascinating..." Strikedramon, grappling with Skull Satamon,
gasped, "but we do have an insane skull-devil from the pit to deal with!"
Skull Satamon shuddered as another lightning bolt hit it. "Thanks!"
Strikedramon called to Wizardmon.
"I'll deal with you later." Wizardmon replied. "'Binky' indeed." he huffed.
"Hey, I was just joking, alright? Jeez, try to lighten up a bit!"
Skull Satamon jumped into the air, using his wings to hover. "Nail Bone
Strike!" Energy bolts shot out, striking human and digimon alike. One large
bolt was aimed at the two humans. "It is Master Demon's theory that if I kill
a human, his digimon partner will lose all its power. Shall we test that
theory?" The bolt of energy was released, aimed at Stuart and Seth.
Instinctively, they flinched, ready to die...
"Strikedramon!"
"Wizardmon!"
"DNA Digivolve to...CYBERDRAMON!"
==
Diablosmon looked at the devastation. No sign of any opponents. "A pity. I
had so looked forward to tormenting that boy and his flying pig again. I guess
I shall have to find some other entertainment. Ah..." The demonic digimon
reached down, brushed aside some rubble, and found Casey, lying unconscious.
"Still alive. A prize for Demon." A spray of leaves hit Diablosmon's arm.
"Ahh, the walking plant."
"Bay...BayLEEEEEEEF!" Bayleef seemed to fluoresce, then his form changed as
the pokemon evolved. "Meganium!"
"Digivolution?" Diablosmon mused. "This should be amusing." He was a bit
concerned about the alarming way the pokemon's neck-leaves were glowing white,
though.
"Put her down!" Yanmamon demanded. Diablosmon, distracted, faced Yanmamon.
"Or what?" Diablosmon asked, amused.
"This! Insect Swarm!" Yanmamon's wings gave off a soft whine as they flapped
even faster.
"Okay..." Diablosmon said after a few seconds. "And that was supposed to...?"
"Yan? Yanma!" A small swarm of Yanma appeared, hovering around Yanmamon.
"This, I guess....GET HIM!" Yanmamon shouted. Obediently, the Yanma did,
firing off what amounted to a massed Sonic Boom assault (And shattered every
window in a five block radius -ed).
"ARRRHHH! STOP THAT INFERNAL NOISE!" Diablosmon shouted. He tried to get
away, dropping Casey as he did. Yanmamon darted forward, catching his partner.
"Thanks!" he called to the Yanma, now departing. "You'll have to teach me how
to do that sometime!"
"Yan! Yanyan!" the pokemon called, getting clear of the battle area.
"You blasted...I won't be made a fool of!" The rest of Diablosmon's rant was
lost when Meganium's Solarbeam struck him in the back, between the wings.
Diablosmon fell into the wreckage of Kurt's house.
"What's all the noise?" Kyle asked, getting up. He saw Wizardmon standing
beside him, staff held up, concentrating.
"Well," Kyle's partner replied lightly, "the fight was going well until
Darkrizamon digivolved into a freaky-looking devil and kinda dropped the house
on us. And the only reason I'm not fighting is 'cause I'm using my power to
keep the roof from crushing us."
"Where's that kid...?"
"Casey? Her partner turned into Yanmamon, summoned a whole bunch of bugs, and
blasted Diablosmon with some kind of sonic attack. All caught up? Oh, and
that oversized hanging basket evolved and fired a laser, too."
Kyle shrugged. "Ah. Everything's normal then."
"Quite. Shall we join the fight?" Wizardmon launched a lightning bolt, and
shattered the rubble covering them.
"Here." Yanmamon said, dropping Casey in front of the two. "Keep an eye on
her!"
"Wait for me!" Wizardmon called, following Yanmamon. "Kyle, wait there."
"What? No way!"
Wizardmon stopped, turned, and aimed his staff at Kyle. "I'll take care of
that wannabe devil. You keep an eye on the girl."
"But-"
"Trust me." Wizardmon said, a bit more forcefully, and ran in.
Casey stirred. Kyle knelt down, checking to see if she was bleeding. "What
hit me?" she groaned. "Oh, it's you."
"You're welcome." Kyle replied sarcastically. "You always this polite, or do
I just have that effect on you?"
"Eww, gross!" Casey retorted. Meganium wandered over, battered but still
conscious. "Bayleef? No, you evolved into Meganium, that's great!" Meganium
glanced back to the battle. "You want to go back in there? Should I send
Beedrill to help?" Meganium shook her head. Casey nodded. "Be careful. Stay
back and pepper him with your Razor Leaf attack. And when you get an opening,
send that creep to the bleachers with your Solar Beam attack." Meganium nodded.
"Are you nuts?" Kyle gasped. "That pokemon's barely able to stand!"
"I trust my pokemon!" Casey replied. "Which is more than I can say for you!"
Kyle started to reply, but Casey pushed on. "I've seen your type before; you
think all you can rely on is yourself, so you don't bother getting close to any
of your pokemon! How many do you have, anyway?"
"Wizardmon, but he's not-NO!" Kyle jumped up. As they were talking,
Diablosmon swung his arm down and caught Wizardmon with a bony hand, sending
the digimon flying. On impulse, Kyle ran over, checking on Wizardmon. "Hey,
you still with me?"
"Kyle!" Casey shrieked. Diablosmon had knocked Yanmamon aside, and had aimed
a sphere of black energy at him. "No, don't do it!"
"Die, Evanick!" Diablosmon yelled. "Dark Messenger!" Diablosmon launched the
attack, grinning in response to Kyle's angered and defiant look.
==
Cyberdramon dodged the attack, worried. Even at this power level, Skull
Satamon was still able to ward off his attacks. More worrying was the fact
that Skull Satamon was leading the battle away from the mansion, a fact not
lost on Seth and Stuart. "Hold still, blast it!"
"And spoil the fun?" Skull Satamon taunted. "Nail Bone!" Growling,
Cyberdramon caught the staff in his hand, yanked, and pulled it out of Skull
Satamon's grasp. "Hey, give that back!"
"Make me." Cyberdramon replied, idly snapping the staff in two. "Ooops.
Clumsy me."
Yowling, Skull Satamon charged, slamming into Cyberdramon and driving him into
the ground. "I'll feast on your digicore, and use your skull to top my new
staff!" Cyberdramon grabbed Skull Satamon by the ribs, heaved, and sent the
devil flying back to the mansion.
"Kurt's gonna be pissed." Stuart said. "At this rate, he won't have a home to
go back to!"
"I'm sure it's insured." Seth replied. "Acts of pokemon and all that. Hate
to see the premiums after this is over. Ohh, there goes the kitchen."
"Monodramon's not gonna like that." Stuart replied. The two humans were a bit
numbed by the ferocity of the battle, and the rather unusual way their partners
had digivolved.
"They wrecked the kitchen?" Cyberdramon asked, Strikedramon's voice creeping
through. "That tears it!" Cyberdramon flew up, dove, and ploughed into Skull
Satamon, driving him through the living room.
"Yeah, way to defend the house." Seth groaned, as a part of the roof fell in.
A few yards over, another black sphere tore through the roof and fell.
"They'll be fine. Let's see how the others are doing!"
"No, further *into* the kill zone." Stuart replied, following Seth. They got
about half way when the black sphere was intercepted by a bolt of blue energy.
==
Kyle opened his eyes, wondering why he and Wizardmon weren't dead yet. His
eyes focussed, and he saw a large white hound, firing a bolt of blue energy at
the black sphere. "Absol!" Kyle gasped. The Pichu that was with him hopped
off of Absol's back, and ran over to Kyle. Absol kept his focus on Diablosmon.
"He came back to save us?" Casey wondered. She glanced over and saw Yanmamon
get up, trying to get back into the fight.
"Wizardmon? Come on, wake up!" Kyle shook Wizardmon. Curious, Pichu ran
over, sniffed Wizardmon, and waved at Kyle. On instinct, Kyle put Wizardmon on
the ground, and Pichu proceeded to use the basic first aid treatment all
electric type pokemon knew.
Electroshock therapy. "Piiii...CHUUU!"
"GWAAAHHH! I'M AWAKE!" Wizardmon yelled. "Could you have found a GENTLER way
of waking me up? Rap music, maybe?"
"Ew." Kyle said without hesitation. He looked up and saw Absol had jumped,
firing more blue energy bolts at Diablosmon.
"That Absol knows Ice Beam?" Casey gasped. "He must be a really high level!"
"Marvel later, we have to beat him!" Yanmamon said, wincing.
It was a second after this rather obvious statement that Skull Satamon and
Cyberdramon, still locked in combat, crashed through one wall, nearly flattened
Casey, and went out the other wall, adding to the general level of destruction.
"What was THAT?" Casey yelled.
"Another digimon?" Wizardmon guessed, getting a 'well, DUH' look from everyone
else in the room (yes, including Diablosmon -ed).
"Kyle!" Seth yelled from the opposite end of the room. "You OK?"
"Just peachy!" Kyle yelled back. Wizardmon got up and headed back to join the
battle. Kyle got up to join him, but Wizardmon waved him back.
"Just trust me." Wizardmon said. "Casey, you keep him here."
"Guh?" Casey managed, thrown off. "How...?"
"Take him to dinner, I don't know!" Wizardmon replied. Both Kyle and Casey
started to get angry, but Wizardmon turned and fixed both humans with a glare.
"You," he said, pointing to Casey, "lighten up. You," indicating Kyle, "trust
me."
"The line," Kyle replied after a second's hesitation, "is 'big trouble.'"
"Whatever." Wizardmon shrugged, then dashed in, lightning flaring from his
staff.
"Who was that big black digimon?" Casey asked Stuart.
"Cyberdramon." Stuart replied. "Our digimon combined to form a single more
powerful digimon."
"Enough!" Diablosmon roared, swinging madly. Absol dodged the attack, landing
on the remains of the television, Yanmamon on what looked like a refrigerator,
Wizardmon ducking into a china cabinet. "Shadow Glaive!" A jet black polearm
appeared, which Diablosmon started swinging with what could be called wild
abandon.
"This is getting out of hand!" Casey yelled.
"When was it IN hand?" Seth asked incredulously.
"I mean, our digimon should try that too!" Casey half-shouted. Kyle blinked,
confused. "Look," Casey went on, "normally, I'd rather not team up with a
weirdo pervert, but we don't have a lot of choice!"
"You smooth, silver tongued devil, you." Stuart muttered.
"Funny way of building team spirit. So, what, we have to do the fusion dance
or something?"
"It just kinda...happened." Seth replied. As he spoke, Absol caught the blunt
edge of Diablosmon's Shadow Glaive, and was sent flying. Seeing an
opportunity, Diablosmon swung his glaive again, eager for the kill.
On impulse, Kyle ran in, hoping to grab Absol and drag him clear. Unnoticed,
Casey followed, same idea in mind. "Stay back!" Yanmamon yelled. "Wizardmon!"
"On it! Terror Illusion!" Wizardmon fired a bolt of energy at Diablosmon's
head, temporarily blinding him.
"Thanks!" Casey called, helping Kyle carry Absol away from the battle. Pichu
stayed with Absol, worried. "We need to get him to a pokemon center!"
"Worry about yourselves! Dark Messenger!"
"No!" Seth yelled! "Get out of there!"
Wizardmon and Yanmamon reacted at the same time, ramming the swinging blade
and knocking it aside, making it miss the target. "Are they...glowing?" Kyle
asked.
"Hey, this thing I found is glowing too!" Casey took out the small digivice,
which was emitting a light, pulsing in time to Yanmamon's own fluorescence.
"Yanmamon!"
"Wizardmon!"
"DNA Digivolve to...Wolfmon!" (Yeah, like the Frontier Wolfmon. No laser on
his arm, though -ed)
"No!" Diablosmon shouted. "Not another one!"
"You'd better believe it! Licht Seiger" Wolfmon pulled out both energy
swords, and started swinging, carving nasty gashes in Diablosmon's legs and
torso. "Check on Cyberdramon!"
"Right!" Seth and Stuart ran out one of the many holes in the wall, concerned
about their partner (Partners. Whatever -ed). They got about two feet before
Skull Satamon sailed back into the battle zone, pursued by a grinning
Cyberdramon, hands glowing.
"Uhh...he's fine." Seth said to no one in particular.
"Finish it quickly!" Kyle said. "I think Absol needs help right now!"
"Done!" Cyberdramon said. "Erase Claw!" Skull Satamon was pelted with dozens
of energy blasts, bits of him seeming to vanish. The assault went on for
several seconds, then, when there was nothing left of Skull Satamon,
Cyberdramon nodded. "Need a hand?" he called to Wolfmon.
"No. He's OURS!" Wolfmon roared, charging again. His first sword slash cut
through the Dark Messenger Diablosmon hurled, dispelling the attack. The
second sword buried itself in the demon digimon's gut, up to the crosspiece.
"N...no..." Diablosmon gasped. "I was winning..."
"Sure you were." Wolfmon replied, linking his two swords together. The two
sword grips locked together, and Wolfmon held it like a bow, pulling back on an
invisible string. "Licht...Pfenil!" (Bad German for 'Light Arrow' -ed). He
released the string, and an arrow of pure light shot out, impaling Diablosmon.
The digimon stumbled back and fell over.
The silence after the battle was a bit unnerving. Cyberdramon, Wolfmon, Kyle,
Casey, Seth, and Stuart looked around, not sure what to do next. "Now what?"
Cyberdramon asked, looking at Diablosmon's inert form.
"Catch him in a pokeball?" Casey hazarded.
"You really WANT to train him?" Wolfmon replied.
Kyle was about to interject something when Maisy, followed by Officer Jenny,
wandered in. "Wh...WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE?" Maisy shrieked. Jenny blinked,
overwhelmed.
Without waiting, everyone else in the room pointed at Diablosmon, pointed, and
said "He did it."
Diablosmon stirred, and got up. "It's not...over!"
"Erase Claw!"
"Licht Pfenil!"
The two attacks struck, and Diablosmon disintegrated. "It is now." Wolfmon
said, smirking, then splitting back into Kunemon and Tsukaimon. Cyberdramon
nodded, and split back into Monodramon, and a small, floating...candelabra?
"Hi, I'm Candlemon." the digimon introduced himself to Seth.
"Always wanted a night light." Seth mused, looking at the rookie level
digimon. "Can you turn back to Wizardmon?"
"Soon, I think." Candlemon replied. "DNA Digivolving took a lot of energy out
of me."
"Um..." Officer Jenny looked around. "How am I going to write this up?"
==Later.
They found Kurt. He'd been tossed into Slowpoke Well, and had survived only
due to the Slowpoke living there bringing him food. Though he swore if he ever
ate raw fish again, he'd throw the chef responsible down the Well himself.
"So, you're heading home?" Casey asked.
Stuart shrugged. "Yeah. School may be winding down, but I don't think they'd
believe where I've been. Shame there's no sunset; we heroes like to have the
nice, dramatic exits."
Seth rolled his eyes. "How about you, Kyle? Now that Darkrizamon's
been...shafted."
"Are you trying to make me bolt?" Kyle replied. "Because that pun didn't even
make me quiver."
"Both of you stop it!" Casey complained. "It's bad enough I have to get
partnered with a pervert."
"Look." Kyle said, annoyed. "I was just going to ask you to turn that stupid
radio down last night, that's all!" He hmph'd, folded his arms, and muttered
"uncute tomboy" under his breath.
"It wasn't stupid." Casey replied. "I wonder...hey, it changed!" She looked
at her digivice. It was a D-3 now, and had a colour scheme that she
recognized. "And it even has the colours for the Electabuzz!"
"The who?" Kyle asked.
"Oh, it's a baseball team." Kunemon said. "Casey spent half the trip talking
about it."
"Gahh." Kyle said.
"What?" Casey demanded.
"Don't mind him." Tsukaimon said. "He's never even seen a baseball game."
"H-he hasn't?"
Tsukaimon shook his head. "Nope. He thinks sports are a complete waste of
time."
Kyle was about to reply that he never said anything like that when Casey
grabbed his arm. "That's it, you're coming with me!" she said, dragging Kyle
down the road. "There's a game at the park, and you're not leaving until I get
that stupid idea out of your head! Waste of time my foot!" Meganium and
Kunemon glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed the two.
"Let me go you...you...Tsukaimon! Little help here?"
"Have fun you two!" Tsukaimon waved. Absol and Pichu came from the Pokemon
center just then, saw Kyle and Casey, and decided to follow them as well.
"And so their eyes met." Monodramon sighed.
"And shot daggers at each other." Seth replied. "Candlemon, you mind? I'm
getting wax in my hair. HOT wax."
"Oh, sorry." Candlemon said, hopping off of Seth's head.
Next Episode
The Authordestined arc concludes with two stories; first, Crystal Melin and
Caryl Kyashi trying to rescue Ryo Akiyama and TK from Team Rocket, who has
learned of the existence of digimon and wants that power for themselves. In
the second story, an unusual companion meets Edward Silver as he chases after
an egg taken from Lugia by none other than Rayquaza, the legendary Dragon.
Next time, on Digimon: Digicross -
'First Wolfmon, now HIM?' and 'Legendary trainer to be: Trey Miller!'