Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, Pokemon, or anything that doesn't seem to be mine... however, the Middle World, Stellath, and all seemingly original things do.
A/N: Well, it's a really long chapter to introductions and explanations... to both introduce the main story premise and also help those who are not familiar with one or the other of Digimon or Pokemon. In the original, it was much the same. However some differences... the entire fish scene did NOT happen. Instead, two characters began arguing and then the OC ran off after getting a bit ticked off. I think the fish idea is better, plus it introduces some foreshadowing... heh heh heh.
I'm starting to think that I should just write an entire story based off of Nicole's pokemon adventure, since there's so much behind it all. Some of it will be revealed throughout this story, but there's a lot to it. Let me know if you think this is a good idea!
If Nicole seems Mary Sue-ish, it's because... well, I originally wrote this in 6th grade, so she practically was a Mary Sue (and I am now in 11th grade as I rewrite this, so...) I am trying desperately to not make her one in this rewrite... but I also have to introduce a lot of aspects to her character before she can lapse into a more passive role.
Okay, I've talked way too much. Read and enjoy!
Chapter 3
Explanations in a New World
She felt warmth from above shining down upon her, and she calmly stayed still, savoring the feeling of lush gentle heat. She kept her eyes closed, as she slowly registered the fact that she was lying down, with something soft and grainy rubbing against her face. In the distance, she could hear the roar of ocean waves as they crashed against a shore, and the cries of a few seabirds.
Somehow, though it was extremely comforting, the situation did not feel quite right.
"Damn, is she still out?" came Blastoise's deep rumbling tenor. "Stellath?"
"No she's up. It's weird that you can understand me chirping..." came a long series of whistles and squawks, which strangely enough, she could understand.
Something sharp poked her in the back. She ignored it, not wanting to get up.
"Well, she's not getting up..." Scyther's voice spoke gently, seeming somewhat concerned.
"Are you sure she's all right?" a young boy's voice spoke. She couldn't recognize it, but it sounded Japanese, like earlier...and she could understand it.
"She'll be fine. It's just a combination of an energy surge and sleep deprivation" Stellath chirped again.
"Like the amount of sleep I'll be getting next year..." said another boy in a somewhat resigned manner, much older than the last one but also speaking in Japanese.
There was a strange cackle, and another voice spoke up, Japanese and yet not human. "Don't worry about it Joe, that's next year, right? A whole year away?"
"Still, she should probably to wake up."
She felt herself being poked in the back again.
"Come on Nicole, wake up," Scyther's voice lulled soothingly.
She just couldn't get up...
"Aah, you guys take too long. Thundershock!"
BZZTT!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!" Nicole yelled as she bolted straight up, the electricity running through her. "OKAY, I'M UP! I'M UP, I'M UP, I'M UP, STOP SHOCKING ME!"
At that, she finally opened her eyes, breathing hard as the flow of electricity stopped while her skin tingled all over. The first thing she saw was the concerned faces of all the pokémon plus Stellath, with Raichu directly in the center. Raichu smiled innocently.
Nicole shook her head, trying to get the numbness of the electricity out of her system. "Thanks for the wake up call," she mumbled, "...you make a really, really painful alarm clock..."
It was only about then that she noticed eight humans and eight digimon standing in a group behind the pokémon and staring at her in a sort of shocked and concerned manner. She blinked, wondering why they seemed so surprised, as she dazedly rubbed her temples, her mind seemingly stuck and unable to comprehend anything. She felt lightheaded and dizzy, as though she had used up a large amount of energy in a short time period. It took her about a minute to realize why the other kids and digimon were so shocked – after all, normal people didn't usually receive electric blasts as wake-up calls. And when they did, they were usually rushed to the hospital or something.
In all, the fact that Raichu had just shocked Nicole had stunned the others.
One of the girls, one her age with a large pink bird next to her, spoke haltingly, eyes wide in both astonishment and concern. "Are...are...are you okay?"
Nicole slowly nodded. "Yeah...just don't get near me for the next few minutes," she answered, noticing that her speech was somewhat slurred. Inwardly, she wondered just what had happened – the last thing she remembered was herself in a trance mode, pointing in the direction of the portal. And now...
She took the moment to look around. The entire group rested on a long beach, covered in soft white sand. The azure ocean sparkled with the sun's reflected rays as it peacefully rolled its waves onto the shore, its gentle roars echoing about the entire area. A few palm trees dotted the landscape, complete with coconuts, mangoes, and other tropical vegetation. Opposite the ocean, high up on the bank, was a flat, rocky surface, which led into the thick undergrowth of conifer trees. (Here Nicole was suddenly confused – since when did temperate zone trees grow right next to tropical ones? Even in the Pokéworld, it was considered strange.)
Yes, something had most definitely happened.
A boy with blue hair and glasses came up to her warily, pushing gently through the crowd of pokémon. He jumped back when a jolt of electricity sprung from Nicole, smiling wryly. Nicole shrugged back apologetically, bringing a couple fingers together and wincing when a light shock ran through them.
The boy nodded. "Good point, it'd be smart to wait until the shock goes away."
Another voice popped up from the group. She recognized it as Matt. "Oh Nicole, that's Joe, he wants to be a doctor."
Nicole smiled back. "Nice to meet you Joe. Um..." she looked around the entire giant motley group of humans and monsters, then at their surroundings again. "What happened? I'm supposing something happened with that portal...?"
A small seal creature next to Joe suddenly stared, and piped up before anyone else could speak. "What, you don't remember? How can you not remember glowing blue and all that crazy stuff happening with the earthquake and the portal!"
Nicole grew slightly pale. "I glowed blue?" She glanced around and saw everyone nodding. She inwardly hit herself. I hate it when this kind of thing happens...
However, the looks of worry in everyone's faces only grew more concerned. "You don't remember." Joe stated, staring in an exceptionally shocked manner. He moved forward, evidently to check Nicole's forehead or something.
Nicole only answered by bringing her two index fingers together again, where a bright jolt of blue electricity ran through them. Whereupon Joe immediately stopped and decided to wait a little while before checking on her, Nicole gave Raichu a pointed look. The pokémon only shrugged apologetically. "You needed it," Raichu said plaintively.
Nicole responded by groaning and placing her head into her hands, ignoring the shock that came with it.
A pause followed. Besides some shuffling of feet in the sand, an awkward silence filled the area. Nicole felt slightly uncomfortable, and glancing around, she could tell most everyone else present felt the same way. However, she felt somewhat indebted to the Digidestined now, as they were all concerned about her...and she didn't even know most of their names yet.
Suddenly, from within the group, Matt nodded and came in front of the others. "Well, I think it would help if we all knew each other's names, and who we all are, for starters," he commented, motioning mostly to Nicole, Stellath, and the pokémon. "So, for everyone who hasn't figured it out yet, or has forgotten, this is Nicole." He gestured in Nicole's direction.
Nicole resumed her calm seated position and responded by grinning and waving. "I'm a pokémon Master."
Before Matt could do anything else, a sudden roar came from the pokémon group. Charizard strutted forward, as the unofficial pokémon leader of Nicole's team, crossing his arms and looking somewhat indignant. Everyone else turned towards the flame pokémon. Charizard's presence alone commanded a good deal of respect, even if he happened to be ridiculously goofy.
"And with Nicole comes the team," Charizard announced, eyeing Nicole with a slight grin. Nicole had to smile back.
It had always been a belief of hers that she did not deserve the credit for any real battling prowess the pokémon made. Even after attaining Master status, Nicole had always considered herself as just someone helping the pokémon become stronger in both body and mind, while caring for them at the same time. Throughout their travels in the Pokéworld, Nicole had always acknowledged the members of her team whenever they won battles and tournaments, insisting that the team deserved the most acclaim for everything. In return, the team thought of Nicole as a true family member, including her in every pokédebate and decision. She was a member of their group.
The red-haired boy scratched his head, glancing interestedly at the entire group. "Well, would it be impolite to ask what you are?"
Charizard blinked, and glanced at the rest of the team, who all chuckled in unison. Venusaur took the moment to explain. "Well, we're monsters. Pocket monsters, to be exact." At the red-haired boy's confused look, Venusaur shifted his gaze over to Nicole, who sighed and calmly unhooked a pokéball from her belt, holding it out in one hand towards the larger creature. He carefully let a vine uncurl from his flower and wrapped it delicately around the ball (being careful not to touch Nicole in the process), bringing it up to where the other kids and monsters could see. "See, we can actually travel inside of these things. They're called pokéballs, and as they can fit in the pocket of a human, it only made sense that they humans decided to call us pokémon."
"Fascinating," the boy gazed at the ball in wonder, a sense of curiosity coming over his expression. "I am supposing there are different types of pokémon, all with unique abilities?"
Venusaur nodded. "Yes. That's where trainers come in," he pointedly looked at Nicole, who sighed and waved. He carefully dropped the pokéball in front of her, letting the vine retract afterwards.
Nicole only decided to stay silent as she picked it up and hooked it back onto her belt. She felt slightly like some sort of museum exhibit, as she sat where she was surrounded by her team.
"Trainers are humans that basically come in and train pokémon in the art of battling," Venusaur continued to explain. "They not only teach pokémon how to utilize their abilities, but they also take care of the pokémon they train."
"And in turn," Blastoise interjected, who along with the scholarly Venusaur, wanted to explain things a bit, "Us pokémon protect the human trainers, who travel around training the pokémon and competing in gyms and tournaments that test our abilities."
The boy nodded, but not before the small blond boy with a white bucket hat decided to speak up. "Let me guess, Nicole is considered a pokémon master because she's trained you guys exceptionally well and you've won stuff?"
The pokémon, Nicole, and Stellath all glanced at each other. – Good enough for now, - Nicole finally spoke in their heads, and the group collectively nodded.
Charizard grinned, as he decided to introduce himself. "Yeah, so anyway, I'm Charizard, I'm a fire dragon pokémon and... I really like food." He added the last comment as though it were completely matter-of-fact.
The rest of the group stifled snorts of laughter, everyone from the humans and digimon, to the other pokémon and Stellath. Nicole noticed that the boy wearing goggles gently nudged Matt with his elbow, grinning while nodding his head slightly towards the light orange dinosaur creature that was standing close by. Matt glanced at the monster and chuckled softly.
"And I'm Scyther," came another voice, feminine and smooth. Then the Digidestined and the digimon all stopped laughing when Scyther stepped up next to Charizard. The mantis pokémon noticed, and blinked in confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked, crossing her blades and unconsciously flashing them at the group.
Stellath quickly flew up over to Scyther and whispered in her ear. Scyther immediately widened her blue eyes. "Wait, I'm fine! I'm not moody or anything like Mewtwo! I'm mostly harmless! I'm just a bug type pokémon!" she cried out, raising her arms in exasperation and trying to displace any scared feelings the Digidestined and digimon had about her, although it didn't quite work due to the positioning of her blades.
"Yeah, she's really gentle and sweet," Charizard piped up. He carefully draped a muscular arm around Scyther's shoulders.
Although the Digidestined and digimon didn't notice, everyone else became somewhat surprised when Scyther didn't push Charizard away. That's funny, Nicole thought, She usually rejects him... and they were even arguing yesterday...
Then Charizard added, "Except on the battlefield or when she's mad, considering she's also part fighting type pokémon. But she's beautiful when she's angry."
Scyther reacted by jumping up, whapping Charizard's head with the flat of her blade and pulling away with a slightly annoyed glare.
Never mind that then...
The other pokémon stepped up as well. "I'm Blastoise, and I'm a water pokémon," Blastoise rumbled in her tenor voice, eyeing Charizard disdainfully and shuffling her water cannons slightly. "And Charizard, you're an idiot."
"Hey! Says you Blastoise!"
Venusaur shook his large dinosaur like head as he glanced at the two. He stepped forward slightly, making the leaves on his back rustle. "Both of you need to chill," he advised. Then he sighed. "Well, I'm Venusaur, a plant pokémon."
Raichu came up next, playfully jumping up on top of Venusaur's head. While Venusaur sighed, smiling, Raichu sat up, letting her lightning tail whip around. "I think you guys know me now, I'm Raichu."
"And you're electric," the short boy with red hair commented. The large bug next to him let its wings buzz.
"Yep!"
"And you're also the reason why Nicole is electrified right now," Gabumon, who had padded up to Matt, pointed out with a slightly disapproving tone.
"She's used to it."
All the Digidestined and digimon collectively winced.
Then, Haunter floated up above the entire group, purposely casting a dark shadow over everyone. He let out a cackling laugh, grinning demonically down at the Digi group, letting his almost insubstantial body fade slightly in the bright sun. The effect it created caused the group to stare in a strange sort of horrific apprehension.
Then Venusaur ruined it by yelling upwards, "Stop scaring them! It's not funny!"
Haunter pouted, which looked extremely funny to everyone else. "Yes it is!" he retorted, coming down and letting all remains of his little 'joke' disappear.
Nicole sighed, finally deciding to speak up a bit. "This is Haunter. He's a practical joker."
"And I'm a ghost type pokémon!" Haunter answered, grinning again, before laughing.
Finally, Stellath came up from where she had been keeping herself aloft next to Scyther, and glancing at Nicole, seemed to make a decision and flew up to perch on Charizard's head knobs. "I'm Stellath, I'm not a pokémon, I'm a dragon. And I'm only this size because I want to be. I'm actually a lot bigger."
"It's because she was from the Morphias dragon clan in her home world – they can change their size at will," Nicole added in.
"Show us!" one of the smaller kids, one with blond hair, a bucket hat, and an uncanny resemblance to Matt piped up, grinning at Stellath.
Stellath glanced at Nicole, who shrugged. With that, Stellath hopped off of Charizard's head to the ground, and let herself glow with a yellowish light, which masked all her features. Her form grew, taller and larger, and suddenly stopped when she reached Charizard's height. With that, the light dissipated, and there stood Stellath, who, as large as Charizard, commanded an even more impressive display of power. Her golden scaled skin rippled with sparkling light, and her green eyes became prevalent, showing a brightness that shone with wisdom. Yet hidden deep within them was a slight shimmer of sorrow.
The Digidestined and digimon, who had never seen Stellath like that before (or had really ever seen Stellath in general), gazed in wonder at the dragon before them.
The brown haired girl with the clip in her hair watched, fascinated. "Is this your true size?"
Stellath grinned toothily, though she really couldn't help it at her size. "No. I'm bigger. But I don't need to go larger, I actually like being small." Her squawks had changed into a deeper, more tenor sounding croon.
"Because you like to spy on everyone," Blastoise muttered.
Stellath ignored the pokémon and with a shrug, proceeded to shrink back down to the small dragonet she had been moments before.
Nicole nodded. "Okay," she began, shifting a bit from where she was sitting into a cross-legged position, facing pointedly at the others. "Now we know that you guys are the Digidestined, and you," she turned to the other creatures, "are digimon, though we don't know how you all managed to meet up. So how about some introductions from you guys as well?"
Tai looked over the entire group of pokémon, one human, and one dragon. It almost seemed too surreal for there to be another group of monsters who weren't digimon, plus a dragon, and one person who seemed amazingly well integrated into the group. He supposed they were used to it, like his team was used to being the Chosen kids for the security of the Digiworld.
Shrugging, he stepped forward. "Right then. Well, the story with the digimon comes in when we were all at summer camp two years ago, and we got pulled into the Digiworld, where we met the digimon. Then a ton of things happened, we found out the world was digital, our home was attacked, we had to save the world... yeah, it's all very confusing. Anyway, I'm Kamiya Taichi, or Tai to you. I'm kind of the unofficial leader here..."
Matt laughed. "Come on Tai, we all chose you back in the Digiworld. Well, all of us except Kari, but that's beside the point."
Tai blinked by the sudden show of support. "Okay, yeah, I was chosen as the leader back when we had our big adventure."
"Where he met me!" Agumon piped up, jumping forward in excitement. "Hi, I'm Agumon, Tai's digimon partner! I'm a rookie level digimon, and I like both fire and eating."
He was automatically met with a loud outburst from Charizard, who yelled, "Rock on, dude!"
While the group collectively burst out into a round of laughter, Sora shook her head in a motherly fashion. "Well, I think we've found two 'mons who will be getting along really well," she commented. "By the way, I'm Takenouchi Sora, nice to meet you."
"And I'm Sora's partner, Biyomon!" Biyomon hopped up next to her partner cheerfully. Sora glanced over to the digimon, and the two smiled at each other with an intimate understanding.
Tai inwardly shrugged to himself. He didn't understand how girls understood all those subtle things that he tended to overlook... and it wasn't exactly his fault either, as he was a guy. Girls would be girls. And he himself was probably doomed to being forever blunt.
He suddenly had no idea why he had thought of the topic in the first place.
Izzy was next, smiling and shrugging. "My name is Izumi Koushiro, it is a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Izzy, it's faster to say than Koushiro."
"Yes, Izzy is our computer expert here. Oh, and I'm Tentomon, I'm Izzy's digimon partner!" Tentomon stepped forward, sitting down readily next to Izzy.
Raichu's ears perked up. "You're the electric one right?"
Tentomon cocked his head to one side. "Yes?"
"Pika-bug!" Haunter suddenly shouted out, cackling. The other pokémon looked at each other and began chuckling. Stellath was visibly shaking, and even Nicole seemed to be trying to keep her mouth straight.
In response, Izzy and Tentomon glanced at each other. Then they shrugged, deciding not to bother, although Tai could tell that Izzy was slightly curious as to find out why the Pokégroup found Haunter's comment so amusing.
Then Mimi waved, and spoke (to everyone's surprise) in English to Nicole, though they could all still understand it. "Hi, I'm Mimi Tachikawa!"
Nicole, Stellath, and the Pokémon blinked. "That's English!" Nicole blurted, suddenly surprised.
Mimi nodded. "Yes, I'm moving to America. So I've been working on my English!"
Nicole grinned. "That's cool! Where in America?"
"New York."
Nicole looked slightly disappointed. "Dang, I live on the West Coast."
"But wait, email?"
"Oh yeah!"
"Yes!"
"Girls..." Matt muttered barely loud enough for everyone to hear, rolling his eyes slightly. While the boys all burst out laughing (including the male pokémon and digimon), all the females in the group all glared at him. Kari even stuck her tongue out at him, which only increased the laughter of the other guys, and made some of the girls begin giggling as well.
Still giggling, Palmon also nodded, jumping up with Mimi. "Then hi, I'm Palmon! Nice to meet you!"
Gomamon also hopped up next to Palmon. "And I'm Gomamon! I'm a water digimon!"
"And he's also my partner," Joe answered, shaking his head slightly. Still, he smiled. "So you know me, I'm Kido Jyou. Joe works fine too."
With that, TK and Kari both came up together, with cheerful attitudes. They looked at each other for a moment, until TK nodded towards Kari. Kari shrugged, and turned to the pokémon group. "I'm Tai's little sister, Hikari. But everyone calls me Kari for short," she said. "And Gatomon is my partner, but she's at the Champion level, unlike all the other digimon." She picked up Gatomon as she said this, hugging her partner closely. Gatomon only nodded and smiled in reply towards the group.
"Champion?" Blastoise asked, tilting her head to one side. "That's one of those stage things right?"
The Digidestined and digimon all looked at each other. "Yeah, it is. You heard it from Matt, right?" Izzy answered, giving the pokémon a confirmatory glance.
All the other group nodded. "Digi-egg, Baby, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, Mega," Scyther listed off, "Right?"
"Yep!" TK grinned heartily. Then he smiled. "My name Takeru, or TK for short. Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed brightly. "I'm Matt's younger brother!"
Patamon came up to join TK on top of his head. TK grinned upwards, while Patamon made himself comfortable. "And I'm Patamon, I'm TK's partner! You can call me Patamon!" he replied. A moment later, he blinked. "I didn't need to say the last part did I?"
TK laughed. "That's fine, Patamon. Or should we instead call you Pata-chan?"
"Hey!"
After some general giggling from the cuteness of the scene, Tai sighed, feeling his old leadership emotions coming back. Here everyone was, together, with many 'mons, and in an entirely new world none of them had ever been to before. It felt almost exactly like the first time they had gone to the Digiworld, only there were extra people and mon's. However, unlike before, he now felt responsible for the well being of the entire group. Like he truly was the leader.
The entire first adventure had matured him a good deal; in fact, it had matured everyone. He was almost a different person from the one that had yelped and jumped away from the shock of seeing Koromon two years earlier. For this adventure, he was ready to jump back into the leader position, this time watching for everyone from the very beginning.
He nodded. "All right then. We all know each other, so now we should come up with sort of plan as to what we're going to do." Tai glanced around the beach area, and over towards the forest. "I think the best thing to do first would get some people to scout the area, and see what supplies everyone has, along with maybe some others going off to find food so we can save whatever other food we have. We don't know how long we'll be here, and if this is like our first experience in the Digiworld, we're going to be talking a lot about food and such."
He immediately noticed as Nicole groaned. "We always talked about food!" she moaned softly. Charizard sniggered at her.
Inwardly, Tai snorted. It seemed the two groups were similar after all.
At that, it seemed that Joe had decided to check on Nicole. He once again approached her warily, to make see if the electric field surrounding her had finally dissipated – after all, Venusaur had let one of his vines come close to her without being injured, so perhaps she was no longer electrified.
He blinked when he felt a slight shock come back from her when he came to touching her arm. Sighing, Joe shook his head. "Still electrified."
With that, Blastoise groaned, stamping her foot and facing Nicole. "This is taking too long," she muttered, and with that, she ungracefully shoved Joe away.
Joe fell over into the sand, a little ways from Nicole. "Hey!" he cried in indignation.
Blastoise didn't listen, and looked Nicole straight in the eye, aiming her water cannons carefully.
Nicole's eyes widened. "Blastoise, is this really necessary?"
"Yes," the pokémon replied, before calling out, "Water Gun!"
FOOM.
As all the digimon and Digidestined stared again, Nicole glared at Blastoise as she stood up, letting water drip down from her soaking wet body. She indignantly placed her hands on her hips, as her soaked clothes clung to her. "I give up," she announced, "Come on Blastoise, we might as well do something useful while I'm wet."
"Great idea!" Tai called out, whereupon Blastoise and Nicole both turned their gazes towards him, blinking. "You can go fishing!"
Nicole raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Sure," she answered, glancing at Tai, before motioning to Blastoise. Together, the two headed over towards the ocean, followed by Stellath and Scyther a few moments later.
Tai shrugged off the slightly strange glance he'd gotten from her, before turning to assign everyone else to various jobs for a little bit.
Matt sighed, as he boredly worked on drying out the large pile of fish sitting in the center of the circle of working humans (and a few digimon and pokémon). After some debating and checking over the supplies the group did have, everyone had unanimously decided to preserve a large amount of food and set out the next morning down the beach. The only people who had brought any actual food with them from the Real World were Joe and Nicole, and even then it wasn't a very large amount, and the Digidestined did not want to have to deal with hungry digimon in no condition to fight (as they had dealt with many times at the beginning of their adventure two years earlier.)
He glanced over to a small pile further away, where lay multiple bags and supplies – the things that had been brought to the Middle World. There were the items directly out of people's pockets and/or purses, like a toy slingshot, disposable camera, and mini-telescope (all courtesy of Tai), fishing wire (Kari, surprisingly), some old bandages (Sora always seemed prepared for accidents), a few pieces of candy (TK never ceased to forget his sugar), and a both a large canvas covering and a bottle of rubber cement (where Mimi had come up with that, no one knew). Then there were other supplies from people's bags, most notably Joe's regular pack of food, drinks, medical supplies, and science books. Matt's pack mostly consisted of a few things useful in dire situations (flashlight, rope, pocketknife, notebook, hot cocoa, etc.), and Izzy hadn't brought anything except his laptop. Then there was Nicole's bag, which still lay unopened. She had assured them, in her very words, that the most of the food there was "not safe for human consumption. But great for non-humans."
Later, Matt found out from Blastoise that Nicole had actually made most of the food.
He had a feeling that was the reason why Nicole wasn't helping dry out the fish.
Sighing, he went back to his job. Earlier, the digimon and pokémon had gotten together and using their various abilities, managed to evaporate some seawater, leaving a respectable amount of salt left. Now, all the humans were busy trying to roast and dry out the fish (minus Nicole, who was wrapping and packing the fish instead), while the 'mons took watch and continued scouting around the area.
Somehow, their location did not seem very promising. Tentomon and Biyomon had reported that the forest stretched on for a while, where there were a few ponds and a lake further off. Then beyond that, lay a large desert.
Needless to say, everyone wanted to stay by the beach.
Something wet and slimy hit Matt in the face. The sound of laughter filled the general area, as the fish made a loud slapping noise and fell into his lap. He decidedly kept a mute expression on his face as the others around him tried quickly to muffle their laughter.
"Who threw that?" he demanded, feeling slightly annoyed yet amused at the same time.
Sora glanced over and smiled apologetically. "Actually, we don't know. It just kind of jumped from the pile and smacked you."
"I guess the fish don't like you much," Gabumon commented, taking a break from his shift.
Matt shrugged as gingerly picked up the erring dead fish and tossed it back onto the pile. "I'm surprised, you would think that the fish would like someone who embodies Friendship..." he stated offhandedly in a joking tone, "...but they could be angry because I've cooked them so often."
The group laughed again at the amusing comment Matt made, though a couple of the pokémon suddenly gave Nicole a few suspicious looks. Matt distantly remembered that Nicole was psychic, and suspicion grew in his head.
Nicole noticed the looks. "I'm innocent," she stated simply, while continuing to wrap some of the fish in leaves.
Matt had an innate feeling that she was telling the truth, so he decided to hold off on somewhat unfounded accusations. Still, he wondered what had really happened concerning the fish, also because he was now feeling a strong sense of disgust about the fact his face now had fish oil all over it. The same intuition in his head told him it was Haunter, who had made himself invisible just for the purpose of throwing the fish earlier, so Matt glanced around, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of the elusive ghost pokémon.
In moments, he quickly caught sight of Haunter floating behind Mimi, cackling softly as the human girl complained about "the ickiness" of dead fish and the horrible smell it brought about. While Gomamon began adamantly defending the rights of deceased fish and Palmon in turn tried to defend Mimi, Haunter only continued to cackle, a manic gleam in his eye and a fish hidden behind him. However, the pokémon failed to notice Matt's gaze.
Personally, Matt thought it would have been funny if he let Haunter do whatever he wanted and drop a fish on Mimi's head, but it would have also been somewhat cruel to Mimi. Conversely, it would also have been amusing if one of the fish flew up and smacked Haunter in the face as well. Sighing, Matt pictured the fictional event in his head, subtly grinning.
At once, to his complete surprise, one of the fish by Mimi flew up above her and smacked Haunter in the face.
Matt had to stare, not because Haunter was suddenly cackling his almost insubstantial head off due to the backfire of his plan, but because Matt had pictured the event happening in his mind, exactly the way it had happened. He noticed, blankly, that he was the only one not laughing at Haunter's predicament, and he quickly started laughing softly to try and cover up his moment of confusion.
"Those are some pretty creepy fish," Kari commented, carefully eyeing the pile.
Tai laughed. "Aiee! It's the attack of the evil zombie fish!" He mimed a struggle with the fish he was holding, scooting away from the other fish lying around him as he attempted to 'free himself from the death grip of the zombie fish.'
While everyone around him laughed, Joe shook his head disapprovingly. "Tai, that's not funny."
Tai stopped, giving Joe a very indignant glare. "What, are you siding with Gomamon now that the deceased fish should either be given decent burials or ritually eaten?"
"I'm just wondering, what kind of things could happen in this world? You never know, maybe the fish really are undead!"
Maybe there's just something really strange going on, Matt thought, wondering about the phenomenon concerning his mental image and the flying fish. Then he closed his eyes, deciding to ignore it. I'm being stupid, these just must be really weird fish. It's not like they would blow up or anything...
POP.
Matt tore his thoughts away from the idea of an exploding fish, and opened his eyes to look towards the sound. He, along with everyone else there, stared at the pile, where a few fish had seemingly popped or exploded, leaving little bits of raw fish all over the ground.
This is too weird...
"Ew," was Mimi's response to the entire ordeal.
Nicole blinked, and calmly dropped what she was holding. She stood up, stretching slightly. "The fish are disturbing me," she stated bleakly, "So do you mind if I go take a walk?"
"Of course not!" TK answered.
"It's not as though we wouldn't allow it," Izzy added on, though he seemed slightly curious as to the phenomenon regarding the fish.
Nicole smiled. "Thanks, I'll be back," she replied, carefully retreating from the group and walking away towards the forest.
Matt sighed as he watched her go. It was no wonder she was disturbed, with exploding fish and whatnot. He was vaguely relieved that no one else seemed too concerned about the fish, but still, it bothered him. He had only thought about the events happening or pictured them in his head, and they'd happened...
Absently, Matt thought about Nicole's psychic abilities and wondered about them. He hadn't told the others, and Nicole didn't seem too keen on telling them either. He didn't know why, but maybe it was a trust issue, and the fact that he had seen her teleporting into Odaiba had given her reason to tell him about her abilities in the first place. Maybe it was possible that she had inadvertently caused the fish incidents, and was leaving because she didn't want to deal with confused Digidestined?
But the fish events and the thoughts in his head couldn't just be coincidence.
As a test, Matt decidedly concentrated on one fish sitting at the top of the pile, thinking about it suddenly bouncing up and down sporadically like a small rubber ball. He absently conjured the image in his mind, focusing on the fish.
At first, nothing happened. Matt felt a sigh of relief leave him, though he didn't break his concentration. Good, so it was Nicole then...
Then the fish twitched, and began jumping up into the air as though it were an elastic rubber object.
Matt immediately stood up as he broke his concentration, earning the glances of everyone else. "That does it, these fish really are disturbing," he announced loudly, though he tried (rather successfully, he thought) to hide the fact he was extremely shocked and confused. "I'll be taking up Nicole's idea and go take a walk too."
With that, he walked away very quickly, thoughts flying through his head.
What the HELL just happened! What's going on!
What's happening to me?
It wasn't me, Nicole kept telling herself as she walked briskly through the wooded area. It couldn't have, I wasn't trying to do anything, I've been training, I wasn't even thinking about the fish...
For all her worrying, she knew that whatever had happened had occurred due to psychic reasons. She'd seen her own tries at controlling her abilities, and the practicing of others in the Pokéworld, and she knew a psychic occurrence when she saw one.
Absently, Nicole reached into the neck of her shirt, feeling for the familiar cord of her pendant. She pulled it out, letting it rest against her chest as she fingered the upside-down tear-shaped stone quietly. She stopped where she was, standing in a small clearing surrounded by trees and underbrush as she gently let her fingers curl themselves around it.
The small movement comforted her feelings slightly. With a small sigh, she let her hand fall back to her side, decidedly letting the pendant sit outside her shirt.
Nicole forced herself to think rationally. She was stuck in another world with eight other humans and their digimon partners, with no knowledge of how long the entire venture would take. In circumstances like this, people were bound to find out each other's secrets. She knew this fact from experience (but that time it was with a close friend and his six pokémon, not sixteen almost complete strangers). Sooner or later, she would have to tell them about her psychic abilities...
With an optimistic thought, she hoped they would accept her for herself, like all the people in the Pokéworld had. But she still had a nagging feeling that they might just label her as "the freak" like her entire school had because strange things always happened around her – like soda can that had literally exploded once when she was stressed and angry during a school lunch period.
She didn't always necessarily mind, since she had the company of the pokémon and Stellath to return to. But she did miss human company, and she didn't want to spend a long period of time being at odds with eight other humans. With a slight sigh, she decided she had no choice but to hide her abilities. Now, she just had no idea how she would explain the entire "glowing blue while in a trance" situation from earlier.
Done with her introspective thinking, Nicole let out a long breath and backed herself against a tree. She leaned against it, feeling the sturdy pillar of the trunk support her weight. Inwardly, she smiled, idly dwelling on memories, while lifting a hand to finger the stone of her necklace again. I wonder what he would think of this new adventure, she thought, remembering past ordeals and old friends.
Suddenly, a strange shockwave of energy burst through the ground, running through the living trees and plants. Nicole stood upright in surprise as the tree behind her trembled with power, and she quickly gazed around, steadying her posture and readying herself for whatever was coming.
However, instead of sensing a threat, she felt the gentle call of another being. She let herself relax slightly, bringing down her guard and trying to locate the source of the call.
The wave ran through the ground again. This time, she let it come through her, feeling it rumble in her bones. A slight buzz came to gritted teeth, and she quickly released them, realizing the tension within her. However, the buzz of her teeth reminded her of the same sensation felt when one hummed with closed teeth. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the wave.
Again, the wave came, but Nicole could now recognize a deep, mellow song in its vibrations. She felt for the source, walking slowly in the direction it came from, using her intuition to guide her where her eyes could not lead.
Soon, the energy signature felt stronger, and she broke into a run, letting her eyes open again so she could evade any trees. Branches and underbrush whipped past, as she continued forward, whizzing by as she put on a larger burst of energy. Spurred on by the strengthening call, she felt everything whistle past, as though she herself was moving faster than she could comprehend...
Then with a burst of light, she stopped.
The lake gleamed with pristine blue, a peaceful body of water in the huge forest. Nicole had stopped on the bank of smooth stones that tumbled forth into the calm liquid. Gentle waves churned smoothly with soothing sounds of lapping water, and orange setting sunlight barely piercing its seemingly fathomless depths. She took in the clear air that arose from the lake, catching the barest hint of salt.
She blinked at the scent of salt, before carefully eyeing the lake with curiosity to why the slight remnants of seawater would be in the lake. The force of the energy felt strong, as it emanated from the lake in intense, almost ardent waves. Cautiously, Nicole approached the point where the water met the shore, carefully feeling her way down the rocks with the toes of her shoes. As rocks shifted beneath her feet, something thumped hard within her.
Nicole looked down in shock, as she saw something glowing blue from inside her chest. My... my heart...?
The glow pulsed for a few moments, before fading, and the lake reciprocated, bursting into light. Rainbow flashes danced across the surface as a dark shape began to form in the depths of the water. Slowly, it grew, as it seemed to near the surface. An echoing sound pierced the relative quiet of the area, growing in intensity as a great white body broke the surface of the lake.
The huge creature, with its draconian head, flew up to float in the air above the lake. It stayed aloft with large, hand-like wings, as blue markings streaked its body and indigo fins dotted its neck, back, and tail. It delicately turned its streamlined, draconic body toward the shore, bending its head down and eying Nicole with intelligent eyes.
Nicole could only gaze back in wonder, as the great sea guardian pokémon Lugia regarded her curiously.
"So... it is you," Lugia spoke, her deep voice seeming to linger everywhere. "I am Lugia."
Nicole only blinked as she stared. Somehow, she couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Lugia smiled slightly. "Do not worry, child. The important thing is that you and the others have arrived here in the Middle World."
"S-so... there is a purpose? For us?" Nicole stuttered out, overtaken by the fact that a great creature such as Lugia was taking the time to speak to her.
Lugia nodded. "Yes. Let me explain, for you must understand. There is a long explanation, Mew child, and you must know before accepting.
"Years ago, here in the Middle World, one of the great Mewtwos made a prophecy; a prophecy of great value to us now. Our young Mewtwo, heir to the role of Middle World Seer, sent it to you in the form of a dream, did he not?"
Nicole nodded.
"He also sent to us, the current guardians of the Middle World, a warning and a call for help. For the time has come. The Four Dark Lords have arisen here, and the Seven Innocents have been taken. And finally, your group has arrived here. The prophecy is coming true, and the four who must fight directly must also accept their duty as part of their destiny.
"You, Mew child, are one of them. Which one of the four, I know not as of now. But as you answered my summons when I sent my stream of power, you must, in turn, become the messenger."
Nicole felt herself enter into a dazed mood. A heavy burden had been placed upon her, a strange feeling of almost implausible thoughts and emotions. Yet she felt great responsibility for what the prophecy had decreed, and what Lugia said. She had no choice but to believe.
Finally, she let out a deep exhale, nervousness and resignation covering her senses. "What do I do? And what do I need to tell the others?"
Lugia seemed to nod in reply. "You must follow the prophecy. You must search out the other six guardians of this world – Moltres, Mewtwo, Houou, Zapdos, Mew, and Articuno. You must gain their signs – you, along with the other three chosen to directly fight the Dark Lords. Here, take two stones from beneath the waters of the lake."
Nicole carefully bent down, letting her fingers dip into the cool waters of the lake. Seemingly, they automatically curled around two, smooth, ovular stones that she carefully fished out, letting water stream from her hand as she held the two stones in her palm. Then she looked back up at Lugia, who watched her patiently.
"I add my power to yours. You have my sign."
Both stones began to glow with a deep, blue light, as a symbol began to form within them. To Nicole's surprise, the stones became hollow, and what seemed like a small moon with a tear drop on it soon became corporeal, within the stones, and began to rotate slowly. Looking back at both, she could see that both stones were identical now, with the same sign floating inside.
"Thank you," Nicole bowed humbly to Lugia, unsure of what was to happen. "The prophecy – it mentions rescuing the Seven Innocents. They are...?"
Lugia bowed her head sadly. "They are the heirs to the guardians, each of the same kind, for in this world, unlike the one of Pokémon, there exist more than one of the Great ones. Among the Innocents are my daughter, and the young Mewtwo. They are victims in this plan of the Dark Lords in the quest for power. If they are to succumb to the Dark Lords, or if they are still captive and current guardians fall, then order will be lost in this world, and the Dark Lords can continue to their ambitions..."
Nicole also bowed her head. She felt empathy for the plight of Lugia. Inwardly, she vowed to do what she could, as she now had a position to fulfill. "Do you...know of the Dark Lords?"
"Only what young Mewtwo sent as images of them. Bats, with crimson lightning; dark, deadly dusk dragons; a great cloud of pure darkness; streams of lightning from below. These are all symbols of the Dark Lords, and I am sure you will encounter them. All you can do now is gain the signs of the other guardians, but we are strewn across the land. Follow your intuition, and you will find them.
"Moltres is nearby, and he can always be found in a forest fire. But he may not recognize you, so I will give you my song. Remember it, for it may be your last chance in desperate situations."
A melody, clear as a shining crystal, sung through the crisp air. It sang mystery, loneliness, and contemplation, emotions cascading over each other like the rapids of a high-speed river. Nicole took it in for the simplicity and beauty of it, feeling its magic as the song implanted itself in her mind.
"Remember it. Remember my words, the song, the prophecy, everything. It is of utter importance if many worlds are to keep their liberty and order. The Middle World is a balance, one of the many points where different worlds connect. If one balance tips or breaks, it causes the destruction of the system and possibly other worlds."
Lugia seemed to make her last sentence finite, the end of a long speech of important messages and words. Yet Nicole had one question in her mind, one that regarded herself...
"Lugia? Can I ask..." Nicole began. Lugia nodded before Nicole could finish her sentence, seemingly already knowing what she was going to ask. Nicole let her eyes close slightly. "You referred to me as a Mew child. So, you know about... my heart?"
Lugia nodded, a genuine, almost motherly smile coming to her draconic face. "Of course. I could feel it the moment you entered the proximity of the lake. You need not worry about its presence; after all, you have received a gift by having it within you. Although, in this world, inner gifts have a tendency to strengthen by several hundred..."
Nicole had a sudden image of herself accidentally blowing up a mountain by her psychic abilities. She inwardly shuddered.
"Do not fear gifts, Mew child. You will grow into them." Lugia smiled, gently nodding and sending a reassuring sparkle of light in Nicole's direction. Nicole felt warmth, and she reciprocated the smile. Then Lugia asked, "What are you called?"
"Nicole," came Nicole's answer.
Lugia suddenly had a slight brightness in her eye, as though she understood something. "Ah," she said.
Then, Lugia came down towards Nicole to rest on the bank of stones. Nicole blinked, until Lugia nodded. "I am returning to the ocean, so I will bring you back to your friends on the way. Remember, you are the messenger and must inform them of what has passed here. All will come to pass, and you will grow from it."
Unsure, Nicole pocketed the two stones from earlier, and carefully place a slightly trembling hand on Lugia's neck. When Lugia gave her a reassuring smile, Nicole let out a relieved breath and quickly pulled herself into a riding position atop the draconic creature. "Thank you," she whispered.
Lugia bobbed her head for a moment, before launching into the slowly reddening sky.
Nicole smiled as she felt the wind rush against her face. She had a new sense of reassurance, of duty and responsibility. She was prepared for the challenge she knew she had to face, and was ready to pass on all the knowledge she had to everyone else, so they could also prepare. For now, she knew why they had come to the Middle World. She knew their purpose, and the reason for the mission.
Somehow, the weight of what was to come hadn't settled on her yet. She understood the risks though, and had a strange sinking feeling that she could possibly be marching to her doom, along with everyone else. But Lugia's words and calm demeanor relaxed her thoughts, preparing her for what would come.
Although she didn't want to let the others know about her psychic abilities for fear of alienation from them, she remembered Lugia's words. Maybe it would simply take time.
But for now, Nicole would face the future head on.
Just like a Pokémon Master would.
Disclaimer: I do not own Monty Python.
THIS CHAPTER'S NG:
The Fish Slapping Dance
Personally, Matt thought it would have been funny if he let Haunter do whatever he wanted and drop a fish on Mimi's head, but it would have also been somewhat cruel to Mimi. Conversely, it would also have been amusing if one of the fish flew up and smacked Haunter in the face as well. Sighing, Matt pictured the fictional event in his head, subtly grinning.
He glanced over to Haunter, thinking that maybe he should stop the pokémon before anything happened, but then Haunter phased right in front of Mimi. She stopped her complaining, staring at the ghostly creature in front of her.
Then Haunter raised the fish.
SLAP!
Matt (and everyone else) tried not to laugh as Mimi dropped her jaw, having just been slapped on the cheek by Haunter via a dead fish. Haunter just hummed a strange tune as he danced in the air, floating away, then coming back up again.
SLAP!
Mimi just sat dumbstruck, as Haunter once again continued to dance in the air, continuing his strange motions.
SLAP!
Matt joined everyone else in the collective snorts and muffled giggles. Mimi did not seem amused, as a somewhat angry look came about her. Haunter only continued his little song, and he came up to Mimi one more time.
SLAP!
At this, Haunter finally stopped, floating in the air in front of Mimi, grinning and cackling like an insane monster (which he really was, after all).
Mimi, very un-amused, calmly dug through the pile of fish and pulled out the largest one she could find – one that was almost two feet long. With that, she hoisted the fish into her arms, then held it in a batting position, glaring at Haunter.
WHACK!
To everyone's surprise, the fish made contact with Haunter. The pokémon flew away from the group, over the beach, and right into the pounding surf of the ocean with a loud splash.
While everyone finally broke out into insane laughter, Stellath flew up and turned to the poor hapless pokémon now sitting amidst the waves. "It's your own fault, Haunter," she said, making a slight tsk-ing sound with her tongue. "No more Monty Python for you."