==Orange Archipelago
Edward Silver, his partner Penguinmon beside him, scanned the area around an island a short distance off. He was currently on the back of his Blastoise, traveling to a nearby inhabited island that had a Pokemon Center.
"Anything?" Penguinmon asked.
Edward shook his head. "No. I heard rumors that there were some unusual pokemon in the area, and I hoped...wait a minute..." Unconsciously, Edward leaned forward, coaxing as much zoom as he could out of his binoculars. He scanned one area intensely, then gasped.
He saw a flash of silver, then a second flash a moment later. "I think we're on to something, Penguinmon. I might have seen a pair of Lugia."
Penguinmon blinked. "But I thought Lugia was one of a kind."
"Popular misconception. Lugia are very long lived, but there are very few of them. Seeing a young Lugia...that's a once in a lifetime thing." He stopped, looked again. "Wow...I think there's another pokemon on that island...Blastoise, let's go!"
"What's up?" Penguinmon asked. "Should I digivolve?"
"Hope not. If that Lugia gets into a fight, every living thing in the area's in danger."
"Why?"
"Well, Lugia are very rare, very powerful, and very, very protective of their young. And when a pokemon is able to control the weather like Lugia are supposed to be able to, getting them mad is a bad idea."
Digimon Digicross Episode 30
'Legendary trainer to be: Trey Miller!'
Sora Takenouchi relaxed. School had closed for the Christmas break the day before, and she had decided to celebrate by going to the pokemon world.
Not for shopping though; a tip from Davis' girlfriend Melody had involved a very nice island near Melody's home. It had a pokemon center, a small shopping area, and, so far, had managed to completely avoid being on the main tourist route. It also had a very nice, quiet beach. So it was that Sora, Biyomon, Tai, and Agumon had come here. Getting permission from her mom to bring Tai along had been a challenge; it took repeated assurances that Biyomon would be Sora's chaperone, and wouldn't permit anything...untoward happening between Sora and Tai. Sora smiled, recalling the little 'talk' her father had with Tai about what would happen if he so much as laid a hand on his little angel. Tai, turning a bit green, had nodded, and promised to behave.
So Sora was able to relax a bit. She had picked a nice pink swimsuit that Mimi had once pointed out to her; one piece, and had a subtle floral print on it. She stretched, enjoying the warm weather, eyes closed behind her sunglasses, half asleep under the shade of the beach umbrella. (This text-based fanservice sequence has been brought to you by Farfetch'd Productions, and dedicated to the semi-hormonal audience I'm trying to shamelessly cater to. -ed)
A footstep in the sand snapped her out of her light sleep. She saw Tai, standing over her, grinning evilly. He was dripping wet, she noticed, his hair was matted and hanging down around his head. In his hand was a large plastic bucket.
"No...Tai, don't you DARE!"
"You had the sun." Tai said, lifting the bucket. "Now it's time for the surf! Sooo...SURF'S UP!" he shouted, upending the bucket of water on Sora.
The weather was warm. The water was ice cold. As a result, Sora was blazing mad.
==Outside Azalea Town, 25 years down the road.
Trey Miller looked around, enjoying the warm weather. It had been a few weeks since he had left New Bark Town, and all the inhabitants therein. He heard the sound of pokemon. He didn't look; he knew that the Espeon he had just caught was playing with Grovyle, the grass pokemon he had started with, some time ago. Today, at his partner digimon's insistence, he was engaging in the unusual activity of 'relaxing', which he found he thoroughly enjoyed.
"You want to tell them to keep it down?" Dakarimon, his partner complained. The wolf-like digimon hopped down from the tree he was resting in, and strolled over to Trey. "Some of us are trying to nap."
"Right, right." Trey replied. "I just thought I'd let Espeon out, have a little fun." The two watched the pokemon play for a few minutes.
A rustle in the bushes caught Trey's attention. He looked, and saw a small green pokemon fly out, looking around. "Another Celebi?" he wondered. "I wonder what the odds are?"
"Getting better all the time, I'd say." Dakarimon replied. Seeing the two, Celebi flew over, chirping happily. "He seems happy." The small pokemon flew around the two.
Trey had an uneasy feeling. Quickly, he recalled his pokemon. "Remember that story those guys in New Bark told us?" Dakarimon nodded, sensing an energy buildup. "I think it's our turn...HANG ON!"
==Present. Well, Digicross Present. You know....
"Tai Kamiya, you get back here right now!" Sora yelled, chasing Tai. Across the beach, Biyomon and Agumon looked up, saw Sora chasing Tai, decided that trying to kill Tai was an acceptable pastime, and went back to sleep. Along the way, Sora had picked up the bucket Tai had dropped, and had filled it with water herself, intent on drenching Tai.
As he was running, Tai heard something like a howl. He stopped, and looked across the ocean. In the far distance, he thought he could see two...figures fighting, though he could not make out what they were. A second later, Sora dumped a bucket of ocean water on his head, driving the image from his mind.
"So there! Honestly, while I was trying to relax a little. Don't you ever act your own age?" Sora scolded. Chuckling, Tai shrugged his shoulders, helplessly. "What am I going to do with you?" Sora muttered.
"Umm...let me take you to dinner sometime?" Tai hazarded.
Sora glanced at Tai. "It's a start." she replied. A loud cry got their attention, as well as Agumon's and Biyomon's. Two giant digimon exploded out of the water a short distance away. One was a giant silvery bird, sleek and gleaming, the other was a long, green serpent, reminding the two humans of a Chinese dragon. They were fighting each other, with a rage that frightened Tai and Sora.
"I think we should leave now..." Tai said, eyes locked on the two pokemon. His eyes widened as he recognized the giant bird. "Is that..."
Sora looked up, and gasped, recognizing it. "Lugia?" She yelped a second later as Tai knocked her over, just before the two pokemon, paying no attention to the surroundings, took the battle onto the beach, missing Tai and Sora by mere inches. Agumon promptly digivolved, tried to tackle one of the pokemon, got clobbered by the silver bird's tail, and was knocked back to Agumon. Biyomon digivolved as well, but stayed airborne, trying to find an opening to attack.
"Birdramon, don't attack!" Sora called. "Is that dragon another pokemon?"
Tai shook his head. "I don't know! Come on, let's head back-" The dragon broke off, spotting the two humans and mistaking them for enemies. With a brutal headbutt, the dragon shook off the bird and dove at the two humans.
"ICE WINDER!" A bolt of ice slammed into the dragon's head, stopping the attack. Tai and Sora spotted a Seadramon, several meters away, glaring at the dragon. A human ran over to the two.
"Hey, aren't you that guy...arrgh!" Tai tried to remember the boy's name.
"Edward Silver; I was here looking for Lugia when I heard a battle was going on at the beach."
"Looks like you got lucky!" Seadramon called. "But the handsome green dragon's a mystery."
"They're both weak against ice!" Edward said, taking out a pokeball. "Go, Blastoise! Help Seadramon keep those two back with your Ice Beam!"
Blastoise, cannons coming out of his shell just over his shoulders, appeared, and stepped towards the two combatants. "Blastoise! Blast, BLAST!" He fired a pair of Ice Beams, these striking Lugia and forcing the bird back to the ocean. Seadramon focussed on the dragon, doing the same with his Ice Winder. Both pokemon switching between glaring at each other and the digidestined on the beach, they flew away, heading to an island in the distance. Tai narrowed his eyes, wishing he had his miniature telescope with him.
"You've got that look." Sora said.
"Look?" Edward asked. As he spoke, Seadramon reverted to Penguinmon, and waddled over to his partner.
"Tai." Sora explained. "He's got that 'I'm about to do something dumb, like go off on an adventure' look."
"Well, then we should go find out what's going on." Edward said brightly. "Blastoise can carry all of us." Blastoise nodded.
"I'll go on Birdramon." Sora said. "We might have a better chance if one of us is searching from the air."
Edward thought about it. "Well, Lugia tend to travel underwater, but they do come up frequently."
"Alright then." Sora said, running over to Birdramon, stopping to pull on a pair of shorts over her bathing suit, and a loose button up shirt. "See ya around!" Birdramon flapped her wings, and took off.
"Sora, wait!" Tai gasped, picking up a still-dazed Agumon. He watched as Birdramon took off, and started off in the direction the two pokemon had taken.
"Looks like it's you and me." Edward said, smirking. "Let's go. Ever ride a Blastoise before?"
==
The air shimmered, and Celebi, Trey, and Dakarimon appeared out of the portal. Trey looked around. "Tropical island. Great. I don't suppose you know when we are, would you?" he asked Dakarimon.
"Do I look like a Clockmon?" Dakarimon replied sarcastically. "Hey, you know where we are?" he asked Celebi.
"Bee? Bibibiiii!" was all Celebi said, before flying down a path, then looking back at Trey and Dakarimon, expectantly.
"I don't suppose that made any sense?" Trey asked.
Dakarimon shook his head. "Nope. Well, we might as well do as he said, whatever it was he said, anyway. Might be the only way back home."
"Fair enough." Trey replied, following the Celebi. As he walked, he released Umbreon and Grovyle. "No point taking chances. For all we know, Celebi might want us to raid a Lugia nest, or something."
"Yes, and a Grovyle will do so much against Lugia." Dakarimon snorted. "We can't afford to be reckless; for all we know, there might not be any pokemon centers here. They might not even have been invented yet."
"Yeah, but there's no reason I can't let my pokemon gain some experience, oh wise teacher." Trey looked around. "Humph. Beautiful tropical island, all we need are a few native inhabitants."
"Bii?" Celebi asked, looking between Trey and Dakarimon.
==
Sora and Birdramon flew across the water, Tai, Edward, both riding Blastoise, a fair distance back. Sora saw that they were nearing the two pokemon, and that they had resumed fighting. "We'd better wait here." Sora called to her partner. "Any closer, and those two might attack us instead."
On Blastoise, Edward looked at the water, a bit concerned. "Don't fall off." he told Tai. "I know this stretch of water; there's some nasty undercurrents here." Even here, the two boys felt Blastoise's efforts to stay on course. "I don't know how much further we can go."
"I can go." Penguinmon said, holding onto one of Blastoise's cannons. "But I don't think I can carry two people with me. I tried this area as Seadramon once, and Edward nearly got ripped off my back in one area."
Edward nodded. "There are some deep sea pokemon in this area. It's one of the routes that pokemon like Seel and Dewgong take when they migrate."
"Kyle has a Dewgong." Agumon said. "Isn't this place a bit warm for them?"
"Well, down deep, it's pretty cold, and there aren't too many predatory pokemon that live here. You do see a lot of nests on deserted island shores. A lot of the Seel that live in these parts are adapted to the warmer climate."
Ahead, Sora looked back, and saw that Tai and Edward were still there. There was a faint splash ahead; Sora looked ahead, and saw a large splash in the water, just under where the two pokemon were battling. "I think-" Sora started.
Suddenly, the water under Birdramon erupted, and the two battling pokemon shot out of the water, colliding with Birdramon and knocking Sora off.
"SORA!" Birdramon shouted. Tai and Edward saw Sora fall, and surged forward. Birdramon tried to grab Sora with one of her feet, but missed. Sora struck the water, and was quickly pulled under.
"NO!" Tai yelled, trying to jump off, but prevented by Edward. "Let go of me! Sora's in danger!"
"You can't go!" Edward replied. "If you go in there, you'll be sucked down too, and we'll have two people to find. Penguinmon, go!" Penguinmon nodded, and jumped off of Blastoise's back just as his digivolution started.
"Penguinmon, digivolve to...Seadramon!" Seadramon dove into the water. Instantly, he was buffeted by the strong current under the water. He could just make out Sora, being dragged even further down. Grimly, he forced himself to go further down, managing to close the distance between himself and Sora. However, Seadramon was struck by a heavy blow; Lugia and the dragon pokemon had gone back underwater and, in the confusion, Lugia mistook Seadramon for his opponent, and began attacking.
"Not now...I'm in the MIDDLE of something." Seadramon roared, launching a bolt of ice at Lugia. The bird fell back, surprised by the attack. "No!" Seadramon snarled, seeing Sora had drifted away even further. He did spot something coming towards her, and carry her off. He tried to follow, but Lugia kept making attacks. Finally, the dragon darted in, and resumed his battle. Seadramon surfaced, exhausted.
"Where's Sora?" Tai called.
"I think I saw some Seel carry her off." He replied, swimming closer. "I tried to follow, but those two pokemon got in my way." Above them, Birdramon was flying around, trying to find Sora. Lugia resurfaced, still fighting the dragon, and Birdramon attacked them both, in a near berserk state. However, the two pokemon quickly turned on her, and knocked her out with a pair of Hyper Beams. Seadramon shot forward, catching Biyomon, knocked unconscious by the blast and forced back to her Rookie level, and carried her back to Tai and Edward.
Tai looked around, desperate. He wished Agumon could swim; right now, he wanted nothing more than to have Wargreymon tear those two pokemon apart, but that, he realized, wouldn't bring Sora back.
"Tai?" Agumon asked. "What about your digivice? Can you track Sora's location with that?"
Tai glanced at Agumon, then felt the digivice, clipped to his belt. "Thanks, buddy." he whispered.
==
Trey had expected several things; giant monsters, pokemon poachers, attacking digimon from the Dark Ocean, in general, something rather apocalyptic that would require such extreme measures as time travel for a trainer as (in his humble opinion) skilled as himself. Celebi flew around the spot he was guiding them to, chirping happily.
It was not what he expected.
"Well, at least we don't have to fight Devimon." Dakarimon remarked.
"An egg." Trey replied. "Hey, I'm all for helping out pokemon when needed, but this is a bit anticlimactic, isn't it? I mean, I'm not sitting on it." Espeon padded forward, sniffing the egg.
"Adventure rarely comes in the form you expect." Dakarimon replied, smirking. "Perhaps we time-traveled a bit too far back?" He glanced at Celebi. "You new at this? How far are we back, anyway?" Celebi shrugged.
Espeon walked over, sniffed Celebi, than darted over to Trey, yipping, and looking at the egg and the Celebi. "What is it?" he asked. Espeon broadcast a sense of similarity, as if the egg and Celebi were linked. "This is Celebi's egg?" Trey asked. Espeon nodded. "He laid it, or something?" Espeon shook her head.
Dakarimon clued in. "No, this isn't Celebi's egg." He gasped. "This is Celebi!"
"Before he hatched?" Trey replied, also stunned. Espeon nodded enthusiastically. "Woah. Time travel is too weird for me. So something must be about to happen to this egg, then?"
"Makes sense." Dakarimon sighed. "But what? It must be something pretty nasty to have Celebi bring us back here."
Dakarimon's question was answered a few seconds later as the two pokemon, their fight having carried them to the island, flew overhead, exchanging attacks.
"Lugia." Trey gasped. "And...Holy..."
"What?" Dakarimon asked. Already, Celebi was hovering protectively over the egg.
"Rayquaza." Trey whispered. "He's a legendary dragon pokemon. But this is way outside his normal territory."
"This must be why Celebi brought us back." Dakarimon realized. "We'd better move the egg for now; I don't think attacking two pokemon like Rayquaza and Lugia is a good idea." Grovyle scurried over, and pointed to a small rocky outcropping. "Looks like we have a place to hide, for now."
"Right." Trey said, getting a small towel out of his pack and wrapping the egg in it, then picking it up. As he knelt down, he noticed his digivice was flashing. "Hmm?" he wondered. It only went off when another digidestined or digimon was nearby.
==
When Sora came to, she found that she was laying face down on a stone floor. She tried to get up, then started coughing. She spent a few seconds regurgitating a sizeable amount of seawater, then collapsed, panting. "Where am I?" she wheezed. It was dark, hard to see anything.
"Dewgong?" A white figure chirped. Sora nearly fell over, startled, then saw the pokemon. The Dewgong was floating in a pool of water, looking at Sora, concern on its face. "Dew Dewgong?"
Sora looked around again. She remembered falling off of Birdramon, then it felt like an invisible hand grabbed her and dragged her underwater. Before she blacked out, she remembered feeling something swim under her and carry her away. "Did you bring me here? Is this your home?" she asked the pokemon. Kyle has a Dewgong, Sora remembered. He said they were pretty friendly. The pokemon nodded, then dove back under. She heard flippers dragging on the stone floor. Looking behind her, she saw several Seel, also watching her.
Suddenly, she started shivering. Ice types, Kyle had told her once. They preferred cold areas, like in here. Her wet clothes were not helping much. Idly, she noticed that her shoes were missing; probably lost when she fell into the water. By some miracle, she still had her digivice, still clipped to the waistband of her shorts. And it was flashing, indicating that another digidestined might be nearby. "Hello? HELLO?" she yelled. She curled up, trying to conserve as much heat as she could. "Help me!"
==
Tai and Edward tracked the signal on Tai's digivice to the edge of an island. Tai, carrying Biyomon, got off and looked around. "I think Sora's digivice is coming from this direction. I hope she still has it with her."
"I'm sure she will." Agumon told Tai. "It's not easy losing a digivice."
"Hey, over here!" Edward said. "I think I might know what's going on." Tai and Agumon dashed over to where Edward and Penguinmon were standing. Beside them was a large circular grouping of rocks, upended timber, and other detritus. However, parts of the formation had been torn up and tossed around.
"What is that?" Tai asked. "It looks like a nest."
"A Lugia's nest, to be exact. Parent Lugia lay eggs on land, near the ocean. They build nests out of the strongest materials they can find to defends their eggs from predators."
"So?" Tai asked. "What does this have to do with finding Sora?"
"Well, if that dragon lived in this area, he might have seen Lugia's nest as an invasion, and attacked Lugia, trying to drive it away." Edward replied. "That's probably why those two were fighting."
"What if we found the egg that's supposed to be in this nest?" Penguinmon asked. "It looks like there was one here, not too long ago."
Edward grimaced. "Let's find Sora first. If she's on this island, then she's in a lot of danger, especially if Lugia and that dragon come back."
==
Trey looked up, hearing a faint call for help. "Another human, here?" He shifted the egg in his arms, carefully picking his way through the jungle. "Espeon, check it out." Espeon dashed forward. Trey and Dakarimon ducked as Lugia and Rayquaza shot overhead, still clawing at each other. Rayquaza breathed fire, which Lugia deflected. The gout of green fire tore into the ground, some distance back down the path Trey and Dakarimon had come down.
"Okay, I think we've established the egg is in danger." Trey said sarcastically. Up ahead, Espeon stayed by the entrance to a small cave, looking between Trey and somewhere further down. Trey ran over.
"Someone...help me!" It sounded a little faint, but there was someone down there.
"Hello?" Trey called. "Someone down there?"
"Yes, me!" Female voice, Trey noted. Slight stutter to the voice, too. "Can you see any way to get to you?"
"It's t-t-too d-d-dark!"
"Hypothermia?" Dakarimon guessed.
Trey nodded. "Espeon." he said, calling out another pokemon. "Can you get down there, and see if there's a way to get the girl out of there?" Espeon nodded, and entered the small cave. "Good. Hurry up, now."
==
Sora curled up as tightly as she could, still shivering. "Are you still there?" she called, teeth chattering.
"Yes!" the voice came back. "I'm sending a pokemon down, to see if there's a way to get you out of there. Is anything broken?"
"No!" Sora called back. "But it's really cold down here! There's a couple of Seel here too, and a Dewgong." A second later, Sora heard footsteps sliding down. She could make out something moving in the darkness, but couldn't tell what. "Okay, there's another pokemon here, but I can't tell what it is."
"That's Espeon. Espeon, can you light the place up?" The pokemon standing near Sora started to glow. Entranced, Sora watched as a soft glow surrounded Espeon, lighting up the area. "Can you see where you are?"
"There's a pool of water in front of me, and I'm on a low rock shelf. It's a round chamber, I don't see any way for me to climb out. I think Espeon might be stuck here too. The passage he came down looks too smooth to crawl up."
"Does it come out over the pool?"
"No." Sora called, shivering even more. Espeon padded over, hopping into Sora's lap, trying to warm her up.
"Okay. Move back as far as you can from the entrance. Go, Aggron! Use Dig right over there! You might want to cover your ears!" Sora did as told. A second later, there was a horrendous screeching noise, and a lot of rock falling into the water. The Seel got as far away as they could. The Dewgong, coming up on the rocky shelf, stayed by Sora.
After the noise subsided, there was a crash, and a huge pokemon fell through the roof, landing clumsily on the shelf. Its body glinted in the light Umbreon was giving off. A young man came down after the pokemon. "It's okay, that's my pokemon Aggron. My name's Trey Miller, I'm here to rescue you."
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" Sora asked, recalling a movie she and Tai had seen a few weeks before. Trey looked at Sora, then laughed.
"Let's get you out of here." he said, offering Sora a hand. He nearly gasped as she took his hand. Her hand's like ice, he thought. "And you are?"
"Sora." Sora answered, teeth chattering. She staggered, feeling a bit weak.
"Okay, you're suffering from what looks like hypothermia, so I'm just going to get you out of this cave. Aggron, can you help Sora up? Sora, my digimon, Dakarimon, is going to get you out of the tunnel once Aggron helps you up, alright? Don't let his appearance freak you, he just looks like that."
"I heard that!" Dakarimon called. He helped Sora up, and then Aggron passed Sora up to Dakarimon. The tunnel Aggron dug was at an angle, so it was easy for Dakarimon to help the girl out and into the light. A minute later, Espeon came up, then Aggron vanished, recalled into Trey's pokeball.
Sora collapsed, strength drained. Dakarimon carried her over to where Trey and put her on the ground. "That fire ready yet?" The digimon asked. As he spoke, Grovyle and Umbreon ran over, carrying small pieces of wood, tossing them onto a small pile of wood already there.
"Just waiting for you." Trey replied. Dakarimon nodded, summoned a small fireball, and tossed it onto the pile of wood and leaves. "Just wait here, you should be warmed up in no time." A thought struck him; he took a light jacket out of his pack, and put it around Sora's shoulders. "Best I can do; the only other things I can think of involve your father, a pair of pliers, and a public lynching."(Use your imagination -ed) He said, smirking. "This is going to sound a bit odd, but...what year is this?"
"Smooth, Romeo." Dakarimon muttered, shaking his head. "Very smooth."
==
Tai ducked behind a fallen tree; Lugia and Rayquaza were still fighting. "Tai!" Agumon yelled. "Let me digivolve and fight those two! I can take them!"
"I think he's right!" Penguinmon said. "At the rate those two are going, they'll kill us before they finish each other off!"
Tai scowled, wishing there was some other option; "Alright. Edward and I will go after Sora; can you two handle those pokemon?"
"Piece of cake!" Agumon said. "Agumon, digivolve to...Greymon!"
"Penguinmon, digivolve to...Seadramon! Get going you two!"
"All right!" Greymon snarled. "Break it up! Nova Blast!" The fireball shot between the two pokemon, stopping the battle for a moment. Tai carried Biyomon, and ran off, following the signal on his digivice. Edward called out a Typhlosion, and followed.
==
Sora looked up, hearing the explosions. Squinting, she saw a large blue and white serpent rear up, firing icicles at Lugia and Rayquaza. "A Seadramon? And...Greymon! Tai must be here!"
"Tai?" Trey asked. Sora blushed a bit. "Ah." Trey answered with a knowing grin.
"Disappointed?" Dakarimon whispered.
"Shut up." Trey replied good-naturedly.
Tai came crashing through the undergrowth at that moment. Trey gasped, ran forward, and tackled Tai. "What'd you do THAT for?" Tai demanded.
"You almost stepped on that egg I was trying to protect." Trey replied. "You must be Tai?"
"Oh...Yeah, I'm....SORA!" Tai shouted, getting up and running over. He hugged Sora tightly, clearly relieved to see her again. "I'm so glad you're alright. I...Where'd this jacket come from." Tai glanced at Trey.
"It's alright, Tai." Sora said. "Trey helped me out of a cave I was stuck in, then offered me this jacket and made this fire to warm me up. Nothing else happened." She sighed. "Boys. Honestly."
"Ehhh...hehehe..." Tai stammered. "Sorry, Trey. I guess that's twice I almost clobbered you." Biyomon hopped out of Tai's arms and over to Sora, who picked her up. Dakarimon noticed that Espeon was staying with her too.
Trey shook his head. "You keep thinking that." He replied. He then looked up, saw Greymon and Seadramon were still fighting. "And you are?" He asked Edward, who had decided to stay out of conversation.
"Edward Silver." Edward replied. "Seadramon's my partner."
"Pleasure. Trey Miller. I've read absolutely none of your books." The two shook hands.
"Then I'll have to write better books." Edward replied. "So, what brings you here?"
"That." Dakarimon said, indicating Celebi. The small pokemon chirped, and hovered.
"A Celebi?" Edward asked, voice barely above a whisper. "So...when are you from?"
"25 years in the future." Sora answered. "Celebi brought him here because its egg was in danger."
Trey glanced at the battle. It was stalemated, Lugia and Rayquaza matching the power of the two champion level digimon. "So, Seadramon? Good choice, they're both weak against Ice type attacks. I didn't expect to see a Rayquaza out this far though."
Edward blinked. "That's a Rayquaza? I didn't think they left the Houen region. I never thought I'd see one here of all places, especially trying to nest out here."
"Yeah." Tai said. "We found a trashed nest by the ocean."
"Great." Trey muttered. "Now neither of them will stop fighting. I don't think they'll take well to being caught, either." He winced as Greymon was knocked over by a wing buffet. "Dakarimon? I think it's time we joined in." Dakarimon nodded to Trey, and the two ran towards the fight.
"Aren't you going to digivolve?" Sora asked Dakarimon.
"You know, I've never needed to before." Dakarimon replied. "Someday, I'll find out what I can become, though whether I like it or not...well, we'll find out." With that, Dakarimon jumped into the trees, then bounded in, launching small bolts of fire at Rayquaza, trying to get some of the attention off of Seadramon.
"I have a Lapras." Trey said after a minute. "Ed, how about we double team those two with paired Ice Beam attacks?" Edward nodded, and the two ran ahead. "You two just wait there. This won't take a second."
"But-" Sora said. "Biyomon can help too." She felt Espeon rub against her leg.
"I think Espeon's saying otherwise." Biyomon said. "I'll stay back. If things start to go bad, I can digivolve and fight." Reluctantly, Sora nodded.
In the battle, Dakarimon latched onto Lugia, making several light slashes on its back. Lugia rolled in midair, trying to shake off Dakarimon. This, however, left Lugia open to Seadramon's assault. Dakarimon saw Edward and Trey approaching. He waved, and pointed to Rayquaza, hoping his partner would see him.
"I think he wants us to help out Greymon." Edward observed. "Blastoise!"
Trey called out Lapras, his Ice pokemon. "Lapras!"
"Ice Beam!" both shouted. The two attacks struck Rayquaza, weakening the pokemon. Seeing a chance, Greymon slammed his head into the dragon, knocking him out. He gave the two trainers a thumbs-up, then moved towards Lugia.
Dakarimon jumped off of Lugia, and landed on Seadramon's extended neck. "Pyro Flash!" he shouted, sending a bolt of flame at Lugia. It struck, flaring brightly and blinding Lugia. "Now, Greymon!"
"Nova Blast!" The fireball slammed into Lugia. A safe distance away, Sora winced in sympathy for Lugia, seeing the mighty bird finally give in and fall to the ground, spent.
Edward glanced at Rayquaza. "Okay, everyone, stand down!" he called. "Seadramon, change back to Penguinmon! Lugia's too weak to fight, so it might start listening to us now." Seadramon nodded, and reverted. A second later, Greymon switched back to Agumon as well, then ran back to Tai..
"What about Rayquaza?" Trey asked.
"Not going anywhere." Dakarimon said. The dragon still had ice crystals on its body from the last attack.
"We're not here to take your nest away, do you understand?" Edward said to the Lugia. "We know Rayquaza came here and destroyed it before you could lay your eggs. But you can still rebuild the nest, alright? Don't worry about Rayquaza, he's been taken care of. Just go back to your nest, alright?" Lugia stared at Edward, then the rest of the digidestined there. Slowly, it got up and made its way back to the wrecked nest.
"How did you know it hadn't laid its eggs yet?" Penguinmon asked.
"I guessed." Edward replied. "And prayed, too. If Rayquaza had destroyed Lugia's eggs, then there'd be dragon tartar all over the place."
Raquayza got up, sniffling and glaring. Dakarimon and Agumon marched over, and just stared at the dragon for a few seconds. Then, Rayquaza got up, flew away, and never came back.
"What was all that about?" Tai asked.
"Sometimes, you just have to know how to convince someone a fight's not worth it." Dakarimon answered. "Well, I'm hungry."
Edward was about to say something when everyone heard Trey's Grovyle and Umbreon start shouting. They ran over to see what was up. Celebi, who had stayed with Tai and Sora during the battle, was flitting around the egg, as it rocked back and forth, glowing white.
"The egg's hatching!" Trey said, stunned. The egg glowed for a few more seconds, then it seemed to flare and disintegrate, revealing a small green figure. "Congratulations," he said to the future Celebi, "it's...you." This pleased Celebi no end, and flew to his younger self, chirping as he did so.
"Isn't meeting your past self supposed to be a bad thing?" Tai wondered.
"Nahh. If it happened, then it happened. He's probably telling himself to find me in 25 years so he can make sure this happened the way it's going to. Did. Will have already to happen. You know what I mean."
==
Half an hour later, everyone was back on the beach where Tai and Sora had started the day. "Thanks again for saving my life." Sora said to Trey. "I don't know how to thank you."
"Oh, think nothing of it. We heroes have this thing about rescuing damsels in distress and all..."
"Oh, please." Dakarimon groaned. "Celebi, please get us out of here. I think Tai's about to shoot him."
"Kidding, kidding. Espeon?" Trey glanced at his psychic pokemon, who had stayed with Sora the whole time. "We have to go now." Espeon looked up, then at Sora. She then jumped into Sora's arms. Biyomon, standing beside Sora, blinked, surprised. "Espeon? Do you want to stay with her?" Espeon, eyes sad, nodded. "Well, she is cuter, I agree." Tai rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
"Me?" Sora gasped. "But-"
"She likes apples, and fish. But don't give her milk, it gives her gas." Trey said, voice a little sad. He walked forward, and placed a pokeball in Sora's hand. "Groom her once a week, and make sure she gets lots of exercise."
Umbreon appeared. He barked at Espeon, and Espeon replied, shaking her head. Umbreon dipped his head, the looked up. He barked once again, then walked over to Trey. Celebi flew over Trey, and he, Umbreon, and Dakarimon vanished, bound back to the future. Tai and Sora watched, Sora cradling Espeon in her arms.
Edward looked at Tai. "I'm going to stay here for a while. I think I'd like to be here when Lugia's egg hatches. And make sure she isn't interrupted by any other pokemon who want to invade her turf."
"Yeah. It'll be nice to sun myself for a while." Penguinmon said.
"That's all you ever do." Edward sighed. He waved, then headed for the pokemon center. After about an hour, Tai, Sora, Agumon, and Biyomon went there, ready to go home.
==Takenouchi home.
"Quite a day." Tai said, walking Sora to her home. "I'm going to miss him."
"Trey? Or Edward?" Sora asked. She still held Espeon, asleep now.
"Both." Tai looked into Sora's eyes. "I'm glad you're alright, Sora. If I could have-"
"I know." Sora replied, leaning forward and kissing Tai. "You were coming to rescue me, too. Trey was just there ahead of you. We should find him in 25 years or so, and thank him again." She said goodnight, and went inside. "Mom? I'm home."
"Welcome home, Sora. How was the...Sora, did you pick up another digimon? Because I'm getting tired of finding pink feathers in my sink."
Sora sighed. "It's a long story."
==Azalea Town, 25 years later
Trey glanced through the newsstand, searching for a particular magazine. "Umm...why this section?" Dakarimon asked. "Fashion isn't your thing."
"I know I recognized her from somewhere...A-HA!" he said. "See?" Trey indicated a page out of a recent magazine, which listed a new line of clothing from one Sora Takenouchi, renowned fashion designer.
"Well, I'll be. You were hitting on her."
"I was not!" Trey replied. Since getting back last night, Dakarimon had teased him relentlessly about that very thing.
"You have no idea how long it took me to convince Tai of that." a woman said, walking over to Trey and Dakarimon. She was beautiful, well dressed, and had a faint hint of grey in her red hair. Beside her was her husband, a bit taller than her, with dark hair. Following the two were a small yellow dinosaur and a pink bird. On the woman's shoulder was an Espeon, old but unbowed.
"Boy," Trey remarked. "The difference one day can make."
Next Episode-
Seeking to divert attention away from Metal Devidramon's draining of the Destiny Stones, Demon launches a massive assault on Primary Village while the digidestined are all busy at their homes. Joe Kido and Gomamon are the only digidestined there, and must assist Ogremon in defending the village from the massive army of dark digimon. Next time, on Digimon: Digicross -
'Great Defense: Ikkakumon against the dark horde.'
Edward Silver, his partner Penguinmon beside him, scanned the area around an island a short distance off. He was currently on the back of his Blastoise, traveling to a nearby inhabited island that had a Pokemon Center.
"Anything?" Penguinmon asked.
Edward shook his head. "No. I heard rumors that there were some unusual pokemon in the area, and I hoped...wait a minute..." Unconsciously, Edward leaned forward, coaxing as much zoom as he could out of his binoculars. He scanned one area intensely, then gasped.
He saw a flash of silver, then a second flash a moment later. "I think we're on to something, Penguinmon. I might have seen a pair of Lugia."
Penguinmon blinked. "But I thought Lugia was one of a kind."
"Popular misconception. Lugia are very long lived, but there are very few of them. Seeing a young Lugia...that's a once in a lifetime thing." He stopped, looked again. "Wow...I think there's another pokemon on that island...Blastoise, let's go!"
"What's up?" Penguinmon asked. "Should I digivolve?"
"Hope not. If that Lugia gets into a fight, every living thing in the area's in danger."
"Why?"
"Well, Lugia are very rare, very powerful, and very, very protective of their young. And when a pokemon is able to control the weather like Lugia are supposed to be able to, getting them mad is a bad idea."
Digimon Digicross Episode 30
'Legendary trainer to be: Trey Miller!'
Sora Takenouchi relaxed. School had closed for the Christmas break the day before, and she had decided to celebrate by going to the pokemon world.
Not for shopping though; a tip from Davis' girlfriend Melody had involved a very nice island near Melody's home. It had a pokemon center, a small shopping area, and, so far, had managed to completely avoid being on the main tourist route. It also had a very nice, quiet beach. So it was that Sora, Biyomon, Tai, and Agumon had come here. Getting permission from her mom to bring Tai along had been a challenge; it took repeated assurances that Biyomon would be Sora's chaperone, and wouldn't permit anything...untoward happening between Sora and Tai. Sora smiled, recalling the little 'talk' her father had with Tai about what would happen if he so much as laid a hand on his little angel. Tai, turning a bit green, had nodded, and promised to behave.
So Sora was able to relax a bit. She had picked a nice pink swimsuit that Mimi had once pointed out to her; one piece, and had a subtle floral print on it. She stretched, enjoying the warm weather, eyes closed behind her sunglasses, half asleep under the shade of the beach umbrella. (This text-based fanservice sequence has been brought to you by Farfetch'd Productions, and dedicated to the semi-hormonal audience I'm trying to shamelessly cater to. -ed)
A footstep in the sand snapped her out of her light sleep. She saw Tai, standing over her, grinning evilly. He was dripping wet, she noticed, his hair was matted and hanging down around his head. In his hand was a large plastic bucket.
"No...Tai, don't you DARE!"
"You had the sun." Tai said, lifting the bucket. "Now it's time for the surf! Sooo...SURF'S UP!" he shouted, upending the bucket of water on Sora.
The weather was warm. The water was ice cold. As a result, Sora was blazing mad.
==Outside Azalea Town, 25 years down the road.
Trey Miller looked around, enjoying the warm weather. It had been a few weeks since he had left New Bark Town, and all the inhabitants therein. He heard the sound of pokemon. He didn't look; he knew that the Espeon he had just caught was playing with Grovyle, the grass pokemon he had started with, some time ago. Today, at his partner digimon's insistence, he was engaging in the unusual activity of 'relaxing', which he found he thoroughly enjoyed.
"You want to tell them to keep it down?" Dakarimon, his partner complained. The wolf-like digimon hopped down from the tree he was resting in, and strolled over to Trey. "Some of us are trying to nap."
"Right, right." Trey replied. "I just thought I'd let Espeon out, have a little fun." The two watched the pokemon play for a few minutes.
A rustle in the bushes caught Trey's attention. He looked, and saw a small green pokemon fly out, looking around. "Another Celebi?" he wondered. "I wonder what the odds are?"
"Getting better all the time, I'd say." Dakarimon replied. Seeing the two, Celebi flew over, chirping happily. "He seems happy." The small pokemon flew around the two.
Trey had an uneasy feeling. Quickly, he recalled his pokemon. "Remember that story those guys in New Bark told us?" Dakarimon nodded, sensing an energy buildup. "I think it's our turn...HANG ON!"
==Present. Well, Digicross Present. You know....
"Tai Kamiya, you get back here right now!" Sora yelled, chasing Tai. Across the beach, Biyomon and Agumon looked up, saw Sora chasing Tai, decided that trying to kill Tai was an acceptable pastime, and went back to sleep. Along the way, Sora had picked up the bucket Tai had dropped, and had filled it with water herself, intent on drenching Tai.
As he was running, Tai heard something like a howl. He stopped, and looked across the ocean. In the far distance, he thought he could see two...figures fighting, though he could not make out what they were. A second later, Sora dumped a bucket of ocean water on his head, driving the image from his mind.
"So there! Honestly, while I was trying to relax a little. Don't you ever act your own age?" Sora scolded. Chuckling, Tai shrugged his shoulders, helplessly. "What am I going to do with you?" Sora muttered.
"Umm...let me take you to dinner sometime?" Tai hazarded.
Sora glanced at Tai. "It's a start." she replied. A loud cry got their attention, as well as Agumon's and Biyomon's. Two giant digimon exploded out of the water a short distance away. One was a giant silvery bird, sleek and gleaming, the other was a long, green serpent, reminding the two humans of a Chinese dragon. They were fighting each other, with a rage that frightened Tai and Sora.
"I think we should leave now..." Tai said, eyes locked on the two pokemon. His eyes widened as he recognized the giant bird. "Is that..."
Sora looked up, and gasped, recognizing it. "Lugia?" She yelped a second later as Tai knocked her over, just before the two pokemon, paying no attention to the surroundings, took the battle onto the beach, missing Tai and Sora by mere inches. Agumon promptly digivolved, tried to tackle one of the pokemon, got clobbered by the silver bird's tail, and was knocked back to Agumon. Biyomon digivolved as well, but stayed airborne, trying to find an opening to attack.
"Birdramon, don't attack!" Sora called. "Is that dragon another pokemon?"
Tai shook his head. "I don't know! Come on, let's head back-" The dragon broke off, spotting the two humans and mistaking them for enemies. With a brutal headbutt, the dragon shook off the bird and dove at the two humans.
"ICE WINDER!" A bolt of ice slammed into the dragon's head, stopping the attack. Tai and Sora spotted a Seadramon, several meters away, glaring at the dragon. A human ran over to the two.
"Hey, aren't you that guy...arrgh!" Tai tried to remember the boy's name.
"Edward Silver; I was here looking for Lugia when I heard a battle was going on at the beach."
"Looks like you got lucky!" Seadramon called. "But the handsome green dragon's a mystery."
"They're both weak against ice!" Edward said, taking out a pokeball. "Go, Blastoise! Help Seadramon keep those two back with your Ice Beam!"
Blastoise, cannons coming out of his shell just over his shoulders, appeared, and stepped towards the two combatants. "Blastoise! Blast, BLAST!" He fired a pair of Ice Beams, these striking Lugia and forcing the bird back to the ocean. Seadramon focussed on the dragon, doing the same with his Ice Winder. Both pokemon switching between glaring at each other and the digidestined on the beach, they flew away, heading to an island in the distance. Tai narrowed his eyes, wishing he had his miniature telescope with him.
"You've got that look." Sora said.
"Look?" Edward asked. As he spoke, Seadramon reverted to Penguinmon, and waddled over to his partner.
"Tai." Sora explained. "He's got that 'I'm about to do something dumb, like go off on an adventure' look."
"Well, then we should go find out what's going on." Edward said brightly. "Blastoise can carry all of us." Blastoise nodded.
"I'll go on Birdramon." Sora said. "We might have a better chance if one of us is searching from the air."
Edward thought about it. "Well, Lugia tend to travel underwater, but they do come up frequently."
"Alright then." Sora said, running over to Birdramon, stopping to pull on a pair of shorts over her bathing suit, and a loose button up shirt. "See ya around!" Birdramon flapped her wings, and took off.
"Sora, wait!" Tai gasped, picking up a still-dazed Agumon. He watched as Birdramon took off, and started off in the direction the two pokemon had taken.
"Looks like it's you and me." Edward said, smirking. "Let's go. Ever ride a Blastoise before?"
==
The air shimmered, and Celebi, Trey, and Dakarimon appeared out of the portal. Trey looked around. "Tropical island. Great. I don't suppose you know when we are, would you?" he asked Dakarimon.
"Do I look like a Clockmon?" Dakarimon replied sarcastically. "Hey, you know where we are?" he asked Celebi.
"Bee? Bibibiiii!" was all Celebi said, before flying down a path, then looking back at Trey and Dakarimon, expectantly.
"I don't suppose that made any sense?" Trey asked.
Dakarimon shook his head. "Nope. Well, we might as well do as he said, whatever it was he said, anyway. Might be the only way back home."
"Fair enough." Trey replied, following the Celebi. As he walked, he released Umbreon and Grovyle. "No point taking chances. For all we know, Celebi might want us to raid a Lugia nest, or something."
"Yes, and a Grovyle will do so much against Lugia." Dakarimon snorted. "We can't afford to be reckless; for all we know, there might not be any pokemon centers here. They might not even have been invented yet."
"Yeah, but there's no reason I can't let my pokemon gain some experience, oh wise teacher." Trey looked around. "Humph. Beautiful tropical island, all we need are a few native inhabitants."
"Bii?" Celebi asked, looking between Trey and Dakarimon.
==
Sora and Birdramon flew across the water, Tai, Edward, both riding Blastoise, a fair distance back. Sora saw that they were nearing the two pokemon, and that they had resumed fighting. "We'd better wait here." Sora called to her partner. "Any closer, and those two might attack us instead."
On Blastoise, Edward looked at the water, a bit concerned. "Don't fall off." he told Tai. "I know this stretch of water; there's some nasty undercurrents here." Even here, the two boys felt Blastoise's efforts to stay on course. "I don't know how much further we can go."
"I can go." Penguinmon said, holding onto one of Blastoise's cannons. "But I don't think I can carry two people with me. I tried this area as Seadramon once, and Edward nearly got ripped off my back in one area."
Edward nodded. "There are some deep sea pokemon in this area. It's one of the routes that pokemon like Seel and Dewgong take when they migrate."
"Kyle has a Dewgong." Agumon said. "Isn't this place a bit warm for them?"
"Well, down deep, it's pretty cold, and there aren't too many predatory pokemon that live here. You do see a lot of nests on deserted island shores. A lot of the Seel that live in these parts are adapted to the warmer climate."
Ahead, Sora looked back, and saw that Tai and Edward were still there. There was a faint splash ahead; Sora looked ahead, and saw a large splash in the water, just under where the two pokemon were battling. "I think-" Sora started.
Suddenly, the water under Birdramon erupted, and the two battling pokemon shot out of the water, colliding with Birdramon and knocking Sora off.
"SORA!" Birdramon shouted. Tai and Edward saw Sora fall, and surged forward. Birdramon tried to grab Sora with one of her feet, but missed. Sora struck the water, and was quickly pulled under.
"NO!" Tai yelled, trying to jump off, but prevented by Edward. "Let go of me! Sora's in danger!"
"You can't go!" Edward replied. "If you go in there, you'll be sucked down too, and we'll have two people to find. Penguinmon, go!" Penguinmon nodded, and jumped off of Blastoise's back just as his digivolution started.
"Penguinmon, digivolve to...Seadramon!" Seadramon dove into the water. Instantly, he was buffeted by the strong current under the water. He could just make out Sora, being dragged even further down. Grimly, he forced himself to go further down, managing to close the distance between himself and Sora. However, Seadramon was struck by a heavy blow; Lugia and the dragon pokemon had gone back underwater and, in the confusion, Lugia mistook Seadramon for his opponent, and began attacking.
"Not now...I'm in the MIDDLE of something." Seadramon roared, launching a bolt of ice at Lugia. The bird fell back, surprised by the attack. "No!" Seadramon snarled, seeing Sora had drifted away even further. He did spot something coming towards her, and carry her off. He tried to follow, but Lugia kept making attacks. Finally, the dragon darted in, and resumed his battle. Seadramon surfaced, exhausted.
"Where's Sora?" Tai called.
"I think I saw some Seel carry her off." He replied, swimming closer. "I tried to follow, but those two pokemon got in my way." Above them, Birdramon was flying around, trying to find Sora. Lugia resurfaced, still fighting the dragon, and Birdramon attacked them both, in a near berserk state. However, the two pokemon quickly turned on her, and knocked her out with a pair of Hyper Beams. Seadramon shot forward, catching Biyomon, knocked unconscious by the blast and forced back to her Rookie level, and carried her back to Tai and Edward.
Tai looked around, desperate. He wished Agumon could swim; right now, he wanted nothing more than to have Wargreymon tear those two pokemon apart, but that, he realized, wouldn't bring Sora back.
"Tai?" Agumon asked. "What about your digivice? Can you track Sora's location with that?"
Tai glanced at Agumon, then felt the digivice, clipped to his belt. "Thanks, buddy." he whispered.
==
Trey had expected several things; giant monsters, pokemon poachers, attacking digimon from the Dark Ocean, in general, something rather apocalyptic that would require such extreme measures as time travel for a trainer as (in his humble opinion) skilled as himself. Celebi flew around the spot he was guiding them to, chirping happily.
It was not what he expected.
"Well, at least we don't have to fight Devimon." Dakarimon remarked.
"An egg." Trey replied. "Hey, I'm all for helping out pokemon when needed, but this is a bit anticlimactic, isn't it? I mean, I'm not sitting on it." Espeon padded forward, sniffing the egg.
"Adventure rarely comes in the form you expect." Dakarimon replied, smirking. "Perhaps we time-traveled a bit too far back?" He glanced at Celebi. "You new at this? How far are we back, anyway?" Celebi shrugged.
Espeon walked over, sniffed Celebi, than darted over to Trey, yipping, and looking at the egg and the Celebi. "What is it?" he asked. Espeon broadcast a sense of similarity, as if the egg and Celebi were linked. "This is Celebi's egg?" Trey asked. Espeon nodded. "He laid it, or something?" Espeon shook her head.
Dakarimon clued in. "No, this isn't Celebi's egg." He gasped. "This is Celebi!"
"Before he hatched?" Trey replied, also stunned. Espeon nodded enthusiastically. "Woah. Time travel is too weird for me. So something must be about to happen to this egg, then?"
"Makes sense." Dakarimon sighed. "But what? It must be something pretty nasty to have Celebi bring us back here."
Dakarimon's question was answered a few seconds later as the two pokemon, their fight having carried them to the island, flew overhead, exchanging attacks.
"Lugia." Trey gasped. "And...Holy..."
"What?" Dakarimon asked. Already, Celebi was hovering protectively over the egg.
"Rayquaza." Trey whispered. "He's a legendary dragon pokemon. But this is way outside his normal territory."
"This must be why Celebi brought us back." Dakarimon realized. "We'd better move the egg for now; I don't think attacking two pokemon like Rayquaza and Lugia is a good idea." Grovyle scurried over, and pointed to a small rocky outcropping. "Looks like we have a place to hide, for now."
"Right." Trey said, getting a small towel out of his pack and wrapping the egg in it, then picking it up. As he knelt down, he noticed his digivice was flashing. "Hmm?" he wondered. It only went off when another digidestined or digimon was nearby.
==
When Sora came to, she found that she was laying face down on a stone floor. She tried to get up, then started coughing. She spent a few seconds regurgitating a sizeable amount of seawater, then collapsed, panting. "Where am I?" she wheezed. It was dark, hard to see anything.
"Dewgong?" A white figure chirped. Sora nearly fell over, startled, then saw the pokemon. The Dewgong was floating in a pool of water, looking at Sora, concern on its face. "Dew Dewgong?"
Sora looked around again. She remembered falling off of Birdramon, then it felt like an invisible hand grabbed her and dragged her underwater. Before she blacked out, she remembered feeling something swim under her and carry her away. "Did you bring me here? Is this your home?" she asked the pokemon. Kyle has a Dewgong, Sora remembered. He said they were pretty friendly. The pokemon nodded, then dove back under. She heard flippers dragging on the stone floor. Looking behind her, she saw several Seel, also watching her.
Suddenly, she started shivering. Ice types, Kyle had told her once. They preferred cold areas, like in here. Her wet clothes were not helping much. Idly, she noticed that her shoes were missing; probably lost when she fell into the water. By some miracle, she still had her digivice, still clipped to the waistband of her shorts. And it was flashing, indicating that another digidestined might be nearby. "Hello? HELLO?" she yelled. She curled up, trying to conserve as much heat as she could. "Help me!"
==
Tai and Edward tracked the signal on Tai's digivice to the edge of an island. Tai, carrying Biyomon, got off and looked around. "I think Sora's digivice is coming from this direction. I hope she still has it with her."
"I'm sure she will." Agumon told Tai. "It's not easy losing a digivice."
"Hey, over here!" Edward said. "I think I might know what's going on." Tai and Agumon dashed over to where Edward and Penguinmon were standing. Beside them was a large circular grouping of rocks, upended timber, and other detritus. However, parts of the formation had been torn up and tossed around.
"What is that?" Tai asked. "It looks like a nest."
"A Lugia's nest, to be exact. Parent Lugia lay eggs on land, near the ocean. They build nests out of the strongest materials they can find to defends their eggs from predators."
"So?" Tai asked. "What does this have to do with finding Sora?"
"Well, if that dragon lived in this area, he might have seen Lugia's nest as an invasion, and attacked Lugia, trying to drive it away." Edward replied. "That's probably why those two were fighting."
"What if we found the egg that's supposed to be in this nest?" Penguinmon asked. "It looks like there was one here, not too long ago."
Edward grimaced. "Let's find Sora first. If she's on this island, then she's in a lot of danger, especially if Lugia and that dragon come back."
==
Trey looked up, hearing a faint call for help. "Another human, here?" He shifted the egg in his arms, carefully picking his way through the jungle. "Espeon, check it out." Espeon dashed forward. Trey and Dakarimon ducked as Lugia and Rayquaza shot overhead, still clawing at each other. Rayquaza breathed fire, which Lugia deflected. The gout of green fire tore into the ground, some distance back down the path Trey and Dakarimon had come down.
"Okay, I think we've established the egg is in danger." Trey said sarcastically. Up ahead, Espeon stayed by the entrance to a small cave, looking between Trey and somewhere further down. Trey ran over.
"Someone...help me!" It sounded a little faint, but there was someone down there.
"Hello?" Trey called. "Someone down there?"
"Yes, me!" Female voice, Trey noted. Slight stutter to the voice, too. "Can you see any way to get to you?"
"It's t-t-too d-d-dark!"
"Hypothermia?" Dakarimon guessed.
Trey nodded. "Espeon." he said, calling out another pokemon. "Can you get down there, and see if there's a way to get the girl out of there?" Espeon nodded, and entered the small cave. "Good. Hurry up, now."
==
Sora curled up as tightly as she could, still shivering. "Are you still there?" she called, teeth chattering.
"Yes!" the voice came back. "I'm sending a pokemon down, to see if there's a way to get you out of there. Is anything broken?"
"No!" Sora called back. "But it's really cold down here! There's a couple of Seel here too, and a Dewgong." A second later, Sora heard footsteps sliding down. She could make out something moving in the darkness, but couldn't tell what. "Okay, there's another pokemon here, but I can't tell what it is."
"That's Espeon. Espeon, can you light the place up?" The pokemon standing near Sora started to glow. Entranced, Sora watched as a soft glow surrounded Espeon, lighting up the area. "Can you see where you are?"
"There's a pool of water in front of me, and I'm on a low rock shelf. It's a round chamber, I don't see any way for me to climb out. I think Espeon might be stuck here too. The passage he came down looks too smooth to crawl up."
"Does it come out over the pool?"
"No." Sora called, shivering even more. Espeon padded over, hopping into Sora's lap, trying to warm her up.
"Okay. Move back as far as you can from the entrance. Go, Aggron! Use Dig right over there! You might want to cover your ears!" Sora did as told. A second later, there was a horrendous screeching noise, and a lot of rock falling into the water. The Seel got as far away as they could. The Dewgong, coming up on the rocky shelf, stayed by Sora.
After the noise subsided, there was a crash, and a huge pokemon fell through the roof, landing clumsily on the shelf. Its body glinted in the light Umbreon was giving off. A young man came down after the pokemon. "It's okay, that's my pokemon Aggron. My name's Trey Miller, I'm here to rescue you."
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" Sora asked, recalling a movie she and Tai had seen a few weeks before. Trey looked at Sora, then laughed.
"Let's get you out of here." he said, offering Sora a hand. He nearly gasped as she took his hand. Her hand's like ice, he thought. "And you are?"
"Sora." Sora answered, teeth chattering. She staggered, feeling a bit weak.
"Okay, you're suffering from what looks like hypothermia, so I'm just going to get you out of this cave. Aggron, can you help Sora up? Sora, my digimon, Dakarimon, is going to get you out of the tunnel once Aggron helps you up, alright? Don't let his appearance freak you, he just looks like that."
"I heard that!" Dakarimon called. He helped Sora up, and then Aggron passed Sora up to Dakarimon. The tunnel Aggron dug was at an angle, so it was easy for Dakarimon to help the girl out and into the light. A minute later, Espeon came up, then Aggron vanished, recalled into Trey's pokeball.
Sora collapsed, strength drained. Dakarimon carried her over to where Trey and put her on the ground. "That fire ready yet?" The digimon asked. As he spoke, Grovyle and Umbreon ran over, carrying small pieces of wood, tossing them onto a small pile of wood already there.
"Just waiting for you." Trey replied. Dakarimon nodded, summoned a small fireball, and tossed it onto the pile of wood and leaves. "Just wait here, you should be warmed up in no time." A thought struck him; he took a light jacket out of his pack, and put it around Sora's shoulders. "Best I can do; the only other things I can think of involve your father, a pair of pliers, and a public lynching."(Use your imagination -ed) He said, smirking. "This is going to sound a bit odd, but...what year is this?"
"Smooth, Romeo." Dakarimon muttered, shaking his head. "Very smooth."
==
Tai ducked behind a fallen tree; Lugia and Rayquaza were still fighting. "Tai!" Agumon yelled. "Let me digivolve and fight those two! I can take them!"
"I think he's right!" Penguinmon said. "At the rate those two are going, they'll kill us before they finish each other off!"
Tai scowled, wishing there was some other option; "Alright. Edward and I will go after Sora; can you two handle those pokemon?"
"Piece of cake!" Agumon said. "Agumon, digivolve to...Greymon!"
"Penguinmon, digivolve to...Seadramon! Get going you two!"
"All right!" Greymon snarled. "Break it up! Nova Blast!" The fireball shot between the two pokemon, stopping the battle for a moment. Tai carried Biyomon, and ran off, following the signal on his digivice. Edward called out a Typhlosion, and followed.
==
Sora looked up, hearing the explosions. Squinting, she saw a large blue and white serpent rear up, firing icicles at Lugia and Rayquaza. "A Seadramon? And...Greymon! Tai must be here!"
"Tai?" Trey asked. Sora blushed a bit. "Ah." Trey answered with a knowing grin.
"Disappointed?" Dakarimon whispered.
"Shut up." Trey replied good-naturedly.
Tai came crashing through the undergrowth at that moment. Trey gasped, ran forward, and tackled Tai. "What'd you do THAT for?" Tai demanded.
"You almost stepped on that egg I was trying to protect." Trey replied. "You must be Tai?"
"Oh...Yeah, I'm....SORA!" Tai shouted, getting up and running over. He hugged Sora tightly, clearly relieved to see her again. "I'm so glad you're alright. I...Where'd this jacket come from." Tai glanced at Trey.
"It's alright, Tai." Sora said. "Trey helped me out of a cave I was stuck in, then offered me this jacket and made this fire to warm me up. Nothing else happened." She sighed. "Boys. Honestly."
"Ehhh...hehehe..." Tai stammered. "Sorry, Trey. I guess that's twice I almost clobbered you." Biyomon hopped out of Tai's arms and over to Sora, who picked her up. Dakarimon noticed that Espeon was staying with her too.
Trey shook his head. "You keep thinking that." He replied. He then looked up, saw Greymon and Seadramon were still fighting. "And you are?" He asked Edward, who had decided to stay out of conversation.
"Edward Silver." Edward replied. "Seadramon's my partner."
"Pleasure. Trey Miller. I've read absolutely none of your books." The two shook hands.
"Then I'll have to write better books." Edward replied. "So, what brings you here?"
"That." Dakarimon said, indicating Celebi. The small pokemon chirped, and hovered.
"A Celebi?" Edward asked, voice barely above a whisper. "So...when are you from?"
"25 years in the future." Sora answered. "Celebi brought him here because its egg was in danger."
Trey glanced at the battle. It was stalemated, Lugia and Rayquaza matching the power of the two champion level digimon. "So, Seadramon? Good choice, they're both weak against Ice type attacks. I didn't expect to see a Rayquaza out this far though."
Edward blinked. "That's a Rayquaza? I didn't think they left the Houen region. I never thought I'd see one here of all places, especially trying to nest out here."
"Yeah." Tai said. "We found a trashed nest by the ocean."
"Great." Trey muttered. "Now neither of them will stop fighting. I don't think they'll take well to being caught, either." He winced as Greymon was knocked over by a wing buffet. "Dakarimon? I think it's time we joined in." Dakarimon nodded to Trey, and the two ran towards the fight.
"Aren't you going to digivolve?" Sora asked Dakarimon.
"You know, I've never needed to before." Dakarimon replied. "Someday, I'll find out what I can become, though whether I like it or not...well, we'll find out." With that, Dakarimon jumped into the trees, then bounded in, launching small bolts of fire at Rayquaza, trying to get some of the attention off of Seadramon.
"I have a Lapras." Trey said after a minute. "Ed, how about we double team those two with paired Ice Beam attacks?" Edward nodded, and the two ran ahead. "You two just wait there. This won't take a second."
"But-" Sora said. "Biyomon can help too." She felt Espeon rub against her leg.
"I think Espeon's saying otherwise." Biyomon said. "I'll stay back. If things start to go bad, I can digivolve and fight." Reluctantly, Sora nodded.
In the battle, Dakarimon latched onto Lugia, making several light slashes on its back. Lugia rolled in midair, trying to shake off Dakarimon. This, however, left Lugia open to Seadramon's assault. Dakarimon saw Edward and Trey approaching. He waved, and pointed to Rayquaza, hoping his partner would see him.
"I think he wants us to help out Greymon." Edward observed. "Blastoise!"
Trey called out Lapras, his Ice pokemon. "Lapras!"
"Ice Beam!" both shouted. The two attacks struck Rayquaza, weakening the pokemon. Seeing a chance, Greymon slammed his head into the dragon, knocking him out. He gave the two trainers a thumbs-up, then moved towards Lugia.
Dakarimon jumped off of Lugia, and landed on Seadramon's extended neck. "Pyro Flash!" he shouted, sending a bolt of flame at Lugia. It struck, flaring brightly and blinding Lugia. "Now, Greymon!"
"Nova Blast!" The fireball slammed into Lugia. A safe distance away, Sora winced in sympathy for Lugia, seeing the mighty bird finally give in and fall to the ground, spent.
Edward glanced at Rayquaza. "Okay, everyone, stand down!" he called. "Seadramon, change back to Penguinmon! Lugia's too weak to fight, so it might start listening to us now." Seadramon nodded, and reverted. A second later, Greymon switched back to Agumon as well, then ran back to Tai..
"What about Rayquaza?" Trey asked.
"Not going anywhere." Dakarimon said. The dragon still had ice crystals on its body from the last attack.
"We're not here to take your nest away, do you understand?" Edward said to the Lugia. "We know Rayquaza came here and destroyed it before you could lay your eggs. But you can still rebuild the nest, alright? Don't worry about Rayquaza, he's been taken care of. Just go back to your nest, alright?" Lugia stared at Edward, then the rest of the digidestined there. Slowly, it got up and made its way back to the wrecked nest.
"How did you know it hadn't laid its eggs yet?" Penguinmon asked.
"I guessed." Edward replied. "And prayed, too. If Rayquaza had destroyed Lugia's eggs, then there'd be dragon tartar all over the place."
Raquayza got up, sniffling and glaring. Dakarimon and Agumon marched over, and just stared at the dragon for a few seconds. Then, Rayquaza got up, flew away, and never came back.
"What was all that about?" Tai asked.
"Sometimes, you just have to know how to convince someone a fight's not worth it." Dakarimon answered. "Well, I'm hungry."
Edward was about to say something when everyone heard Trey's Grovyle and Umbreon start shouting. They ran over to see what was up. Celebi, who had stayed with Tai and Sora during the battle, was flitting around the egg, as it rocked back and forth, glowing white.
"The egg's hatching!" Trey said, stunned. The egg glowed for a few more seconds, then it seemed to flare and disintegrate, revealing a small green figure. "Congratulations," he said to the future Celebi, "it's...you." This pleased Celebi no end, and flew to his younger self, chirping as he did so.
"Isn't meeting your past self supposed to be a bad thing?" Tai wondered.
"Nahh. If it happened, then it happened. He's probably telling himself to find me in 25 years so he can make sure this happened the way it's going to. Did. Will have already to happen. You know what I mean."
==
Half an hour later, everyone was back on the beach where Tai and Sora had started the day. "Thanks again for saving my life." Sora said to Trey. "I don't know how to thank you."
"Oh, think nothing of it. We heroes have this thing about rescuing damsels in distress and all..."
"Oh, please." Dakarimon groaned. "Celebi, please get us out of here. I think Tai's about to shoot him."
"Kidding, kidding. Espeon?" Trey glanced at his psychic pokemon, who had stayed with Sora the whole time. "We have to go now." Espeon looked up, then at Sora. She then jumped into Sora's arms. Biyomon, standing beside Sora, blinked, surprised. "Espeon? Do you want to stay with her?" Espeon, eyes sad, nodded. "Well, she is cuter, I agree." Tai rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
"Me?" Sora gasped. "But-"
"She likes apples, and fish. But don't give her milk, it gives her gas." Trey said, voice a little sad. He walked forward, and placed a pokeball in Sora's hand. "Groom her once a week, and make sure she gets lots of exercise."
Umbreon appeared. He barked at Espeon, and Espeon replied, shaking her head. Umbreon dipped his head, the looked up. He barked once again, then walked over to Trey. Celebi flew over Trey, and he, Umbreon, and Dakarimon vanished, bound back to the future. Tai and Sora watched, Sora cradling Espeon in her arms.
Edward looked at Tai. "I'm going to stay here for a while. I think I'd like to be here when Lugia's egg hatches. And make sure she isn't interrupted by any other pokemon who want to invade her turf."
"Yeah. It'll be nice to sun myself for a while." Penguinmon said.
"That's all you ever do." Edward sighed. He waved, then headed for the pokemon center. After about an hour, Tai, Sora, Agumon, and Biyomon went there, ready to go home.
==Takenouchi home.
"Quite a day." Tai said, walking Sora to her home. "I'm going to miss him."
"Trey? Or Edward?" Sora asked. She still held Espeon, asleep now.
"Both." Tai looked into Sora's eyes. "I'm glad you're alright, Sora. If I could have-"
"I know." Sora replied, leaning forward and kissing Tai. "You were coming to rescue me, too. Trey was just there ahead of you. We should find him in 25 years or so, and thank him again." She said goodnight, and went inside. "Mom? I'm home."
"Welcome home, Sora. How was the...Sora, did you pick up another digimon? Because I'm getting tired of finding pink feathers in my sink."
Sora sighed. "It's a long story."
==Azalea Town, 25 years later
Trey glanced through the newsstand, searching for a particular magazine. "Umm...why this section?" Dakarimon asked. "Fashion isn't your thing."
"I know I recognized her from somewhere...A-HA!" he said. "See?" Trey indicated a page out of a recent magazine, which listed a new line of clothing from one Sora Takenouchi, renowned fashion designer.
"Well, I'll be. You were hitting on her."
"I was not!" Trey replied. Since getting back last night, Dakarimon had teased him relentlessly about that very thing.
"You have no idea how long it took me to convince Tai of that." a woman said, walking over to Trey and Dakarimon. She was beautiful, well dressed, and had a faint hint of grey in her red hair. Beside her was her husband, a bit taller than her, with dark hair. Following the two were a small yellow dinosaur and a pink bird. On the woman's shoulder was an Espeon, old but unbowed.
"Boy," Trey remarked. "The difference one day can make."
Next Episode-
Seeking to divert attention away from Metal Devidramon's draining of the Destiny Stones, Demon launches a massive assault on Primary Village while the digidestined are all busy at their homes. Joe Kido and Gomamon are the only digidestined there, and must assist Ogremon in defending the village from the massive army of dark digimon. Next time, on Digimon: Digicross -
'Great Defense: Ikkakumon against the dark horde.'