Chapter 4: Visitation & Manifestation
What a crazy night last night. Two separate celebrations were happening with Matt's concert and Ken's Christmas bash only to merge when Digimon invaded. While the Digidestined repelled the attack, a more unique situation reared a lovely head. Yes, lovely, not ugly. In a reckless disregard for his own life, Ash yanked Yolei from being a human pancake by a falling Greymon. Sure, if he wasn't invited by her, Kari and Ken, he would've been well on his way to another big adventure. Then again, he wouldn't have received his reward...which was a kiss from Yolei. Of course, where there's an upside, there's usually a downside. That downside involved Kari. She recalled a previous adventure with Ash...in which she claimed his lips. The concept of dismay kept Kari from sleeping at all...and she wouldn't like the look in the mirror in the bathroom. "You've been awake all night long?" Gatomon gawked. She could help it if it was no big deal.
"It's just...bothering," she gulped. For her to be up all night, it's no question. A whimper had Tai and Agumon concerned for the younger sister.
"Are you regretting bringing Ash over here to celebrate Christmas with us?" Tai questioned. Kari's disfiguring look had a lot of volume.
"That would be like regretting me seeing the Pokémon World and meeting Ash at all." Her mind began to backtrack. A lot of memory flowed through her mind like a stream. "You remember the first time you saw Ash...back on the bridge, during the investigation of the desertion of Pallet Town." Tai could recall the moment.
"Yeah, but wasn't it you who wanted Ash? You were all over his face like he was a pool of chocolate you dove into...and might want at this moment to cheer you up." Kari wasn't in the mood for a chuckle, mulling her brother's analogy. Agumon began to understand Kari's depression.
"I can't really blame her," he voiced. "It did happen right in front of me." The rest shot looks at Agumon, wanting detail of the incident.
"So you saw what happened between Ash and Yolei?" Gatomon figured. He did witness the scene.
"Well, Ash was making sure that Yolei was alright when she pulled him down and..." As if to say "enough said," Agumon stopped. That made Kari stop and think. She might have been blaming the wrong person.
"So Yolei was the one who kissed Ash, not Ash on Yolei?" Kari guessed.
"Pretty much." If there was a time for Kari to calm down, now was the time. Tai believe that Ash was looking out for everyone, even his Pikachu.
"I could bet that if it was Cody or Sora," he reasoned. "He would've done the same thing. He's a pretty selfless guy." Yeah, no need to get huffy about a small incident like that. Contemplating, Kari had a bit of soul searching ahead of him. Meanwhile, Ash and Yolei looked like a married couple sleeping so soundly. It would be rude to wake them up.
"Yolei!" someone feminine outside the room shouted. "Yolei!" That's when the door opened. It was an older blond/brunette female who had shorter hair than Yolei herself. When she saw the pair in the bed, she thought they were doing more than just sleeping. To make sure, to all the men out there, be ready to feel Ash's pain. "Really, Yolei? You bring home a cute guy for this?!" She mud-hole stomped on Ash's groin. Needless to say how...hard that felt. Ash was awakened...and cringing from that stomp below the belt. His scream rudely woke Yolei who looked to the older girl...and to a fetal positioned Ash. In a snap, she became enraged.
"Momoe!" she yelled. "What was that for?!" Momoe really gave a footprint on the boys.
"Hey, I was just making sure you two weren't doing anything beyond inviting him to sleep the night." While her reason seemed understandable, her way to make sure...far from it.
"You couldn't just peered under the covers to make sure?" Well, Momoe did yank the covers off...and saw Yolei without anything in her lower region other than soaked white panties. Guess she wanted to be sure. "Someone was stealing my pajamas and not advising me about it. I'm sorry I didn't have anything more than undergarments." Hearing that allegation, Momoe quickly became sympathetic...to a fault.
"Alright, where is he?" Who? Momoe stormed off to seek out whoever "he" was. Ash sat up, still holding that space where he got forcefully stepped on.
"You alright, Ash?"
"Just...a few...minutes," he groaned. After sometime to recover, Ash and Yolei entered the living room where a TV was on. On the bottom of the screen read "Special Report." Above...another control spire?
"Large black towers have started to spring up out of nowhere all over the world," someone reported. "Early reports of an internet marketing scheme have been dismissed as..." As what? Ash and Yolei got a chance to see numerous locations which had the control spires. "Wait a minute...this just in. Dangerous creatures like those from Odaiba last night have begun to appear in the same locations as these black towers." The video began to show Digimon. Various Digimon were shown attacking innocent civilians and landmarks.
"Guess my return home's gonna be postponed."
"Here are some areas where these towers and monsters have been located: the hills near Asa, areas adjacent to the clock tower in Sapora, around the ancient castles in Osaka, near the Tomachi train stations in Tokyo, the grassy knoll in Dallas, Texas, Venice Beach, California and the list goes on and on." Some list. That's when the phone began to ring as the anchorman advised people to remain inside.
"Inoue residence," Yolei answered. A pause... "Got it, Cody. We'll stop by Izzy's house. See you there." She hung up and turned to Ash. "I gotta go, Ash. There's a meeting at Izzy's home." Ash wasn't about to let Yolei and Hawkmon go off.
"Let me come with," he offered. "I have a feeling that Davis may bring Pikachu along." Yolei totally forgot about Pikachu. Quickly, she changed her mind and allowed Ash to come with.
"Okay. Let's go." Uniformed for the wintry cold, Ash and Yolei bolted out of the house. In the meantime, Tai, Kari and the Digimon were heading to Izzy's place as well the moment the news of an emergency meeting was announced. Behind them was Davis, Veemon and Pikachu. Davis was beginning to slow down. Tai and Kari heard the slowing footsteps, a sign that something didn't fit.
"Come on, Davis," Tai shouted. "We need to understand what's up around the world." Davis knew that it was a duty he needed to fulfill yet something else nagged him.
"You guys watch Pikachu," he denied. "I need to get to Tomachi." That was one of the areas where a control spire and Digimon were reigning chaos.
"Where?"
"It was on the news. Tomachi has Digimon and Ken's there. He's probably in trouble." It was an understandable reason. Tai felt that a bigger issue was at hand.
"Timeout. Tomachi is the least of our problems. There's Digimon all over the world and people that need to be saved. We can't worry about one person." One person? Wasn't he a Digidestined, too?
"That's it! I can't believe that a guy who had the Crest of Courage would be heartless as well! I'm going to Tomachi and that's that!" Someone was sticking up for another person. Tai realized that he could no longer hold Davis back.
"I-I'm sorry. Go and get Ken from danger and come to Izzy's, ASAP." Davis bobbed a nod prior to his dash to find Ken. The others with Pikachu in tow proceeded. The gathering at Izzy's home was sudden. Izzy was on the computer with the rest of the Digidestined and Digimon cramped inside. On screen, there was a count of unread e-mails piling up in Izzy's mailbox.
"Unbelievable!" he awed at the continuously growing amount. "I'm getting e-mails from kids all over the world. This is just like a few years ago." It happened before? Ash had to wonder about all of the mail that was coming in.
"They must be experiencing the same problems as over here in Odaiba," he summarized with Pikachu back on his shoulder. "But how do they all have your e-mail address when they're stretched thousands of miles away?" That seemed like a question with a complicated answer...unless you were Izzy.
"Because all these kids are Digidestined kids. Kinda makes this place Digidestined Main HQ." The amount was in the triple digits.
"No way!" Cody gasped. "There's over 200 e-mails already!" That's a lot of e-mails. Some barely get two a day, not 200 in a matter of minutes.
"Are you implying that we're not the only Digidestined trying to maintain balance between the two worlds?" Yolei wondered. Ash sounded a throat clearer, causing Yolei and Cody to realize his world as well. "Sorry. Three worlds." Ash nodded to the correction.
"To be honest, I don't have a clear amount to how many Digidestined there are but I believe that anyone who's seen a Digimon would qualify like Willis in Colorado or Mimi's friend, Michael in St. Petersburg, Florida." There's no rough estimate?
"The way it sounds, there's gotta be thousands if not millions of Digidestined kids being stretched thin," Ash figured. "But then wouldn't I be one as well? I mean, here I am with you guys and not that I'm complaining but..."
"Aren't you already an honorary Digidestined member?" Gatomon meowed. "I mean, you've got Wizardmon inside of you." Wizardmon? A Digimon inside of Ash?
"What's this about Wizardmon inside Ash?" Joe gawked. Ash would answer but Tai stood up.
"That can be saved for another time," he replied for Ash. "What we should do is answer all those e-mails and see who has a Digivice and who doesn't." Good idea. Izzy was quick on the draw.
"Okay," he agreed. "Tai, you write back the kids in Europe. Matt, you can take both North and South America. Sora, take Africa and Joe, why not order us some pizzas." Why pizzas? There's a Digimon epidemic going around.
"How about that? An entire army of Digidestined from all over the world...and I'm the leader!" Really? Come on, Tai. You're not fooling anyone. Not even Pikachu...who shocked Tai into submission. All Tai could do was collapse.
"I think that's Pikachu's way of saying that you're full of it," Sora mocked. Once recovered, the older teens evacuated the room to work on their assigned regions as Izzy opened up a map of Earth. There were spots that began to flash all across the lands.
"These are the locations where digital ports have opened and Digimon emerged from," he summarized. "Man, they're lighting up like a Christmas tree." That's a problem. Cody was quick with a solution.
"It doesn't sound like much of a problem," he believed. "All we have to do is get the Digimon back through those ports." While he was confident, Ash didn't think it was so clear cut.
"I highly doubt it's gonna be that easy," he figured.
"In more ways than one," Izzy backed. "All of the ports are closed up. We need to hit on all of these ports and use the D-3's to open them back up." Okay, any suggestions on how to get to all of these places? Ash had one.
"Say, is there any way to reach all those areas using the DigiWorld and emerge everywhere?" Kari shook no.
"The DigiWorld opens up one port at a time and a moment to reset," she motioned. "It would take us months to reach everywhere." Months? That's a long time...time they don't have.
"We don't have months," TK groaned. "The way the control spires keep popping up, it would take days before everything's ruined." So now what? Then, Izzy got another e-mail...with three names and a possible solution.
"Apparently, Gennai has an option," Izzy noticed. "And...who's Delia and Sam Oak?" Uh oh! Ash began to retreat to the back wall. "Let's bring them here and see what's up." Everyone took a few paces back. Suddenly, there was a flash. When it dimmed, Ash's mother was right there. She was joined by an adult brunette male in a white cloak and an gray-haired in a lab coat. Oh boy!
"Morning, Ash," she chirped. She's a morning person. Ash's jaw dropped. He wasn't the only one. Kari's and Yolei's mouths crashed the ground as well.
"Mom, what are you and Prof. Oak doing here?" he gulped. You could bet that she came for Ash.
"Well, come on. I came to make sure you were on your way back. So what's the holdup?" The holdup may have been Ash recovering from that groin kick.
"Delia, we just got news that there's a worldwide pandemic with an invasion," Kari informed. "By the way, how did you and Prof. Oak wound up meeting Gennai?" All Delia did was giggle.
"An accident." Accident? Did they happen to stumble across Gennai just like that?
"We came here to pick Ash up and see that he was on his way back when we saw a giant blue snake-like dragon and wondered what it was," the gray-haired motioned. "Gennai told us that the Digimon had escaped somewhere and I was starting to think the Pokémon world was being invaded again, knowing the chaos from before." Gennai came forward, the last of the new ones to speak.
"It would seem that the holes within each universe may need some tempering,"he mulled. "However, I came because I have a present from that dragon, or Azulongmon in that matter. Hold out your Digivices." Sorry, Ash. The Digidestined held out their devices in which Gennai presented a blue orb. That caught Ash's eyes.
"Gennai, what's that?" he wondered.
"This is a digital core. Azulongmon has twelve of these and who knows how powerful each one is. Ready?" The orb began to flash a shining light, followed by the devices. That's when there were warm feelings inside. No, not loving emotions.
"I feel...kinda fuzzy," Gatomon purred.
"You are fuzzy," Patamon snapped...before he felt the warmth. "Hey, I feel it too." The Digimon seemed to have no problem. Soon enough, it was over. Okay, people. We can look again.
"Well, that was a unique light show," Oak huffed. Before everyone felt relief to see again, Ash began to moan in pain. Everyone turned to Ash, knelt down and clutching his chest. His face showed agony.
"Ash!" Delia, Kari and Yolei gasped as they got to Ash.
"What's wrong?" Joe wondered.
"My chest!" he cringed. "It feels like...something wants to come out!" What could that something be? "I...can't release...it!" That can't feel too comfortable. Delia got to behind Ash. Wait...was was she plotting?
"You might want to stand back," she advised. A good shot to the spine? What kind of mother would do that?
"Hold on, Delia," Gennai called as he felt the ribs of Ash. He then smiled. "I know what he needs. Kari, Yolei...on the cheeks." A pair of kisses? Explain, Gennai. Yolei and Kari had to be getting a pretty odd feeling. Still, if it helped... Kari held her fist up. Then she rose one finger. Then two finger and three. Both lunged in and pressed lips onto Ash's cheeks. That's when a shine ruptured from Ash, lighting up the room only to shoot out a beam which hit Paildramon as he was battling a few of the loose Digimon. That's when Paildramon felt a rapid surge of energy from the light.
"Paildramon, what's going on?!" Davis worried. Before answering, Paildramon vanished in a veil of the light...and began to morph.
"Paildramon Mega-Digivolve to...Imperialdramon!" It roared out as it emerged from the light with a ravaging awesome look. It was a large freaky dragon-like creature. The head appeared to be wearing a white devil mask in addition to the black scaly legs, large blue/orange dragon wings with a dome-like design. On that design was a cannon turret. "I am Imperialdramon, a Mega-level Digimon that operates like a mobile fortress with weapons in unique areas. My Positron Laser will devastate anyone in my path." Imperialdramon was ready for battle. Back at Izzy's house the shine faded. When done, Ash was no longer in pain, a relieved sigh was best placed. Everyone else seemed shocked and awed.
"Glad to feel pain-free again," Ash breathed...until he looked ahead where a new figure took shape. It was a midget of a man emerged. He was garbed in a white cotton jumpsuit with red pieces of fabric sticking out over zippers and a purple witch's hat with a skull as an emblem. He also wore boots with crescent moons over shoestrings. A purple scarf was over most of his face. The only thing you could see was his eyes. Those eyes stared at the hands, wondering what the heck just happened.
"I...I'm alive?" he stuttered. There was one Digimon it gazed upon as she ran up to him. "G-Gatomon?" Awkward silence. Finally, Kari's and Gatomon's faces beamed joy as they hugged...
"Wizardmon!" they cheered in a tearful unison. TK was overwhelmed in the excitement in seeing Wizardmon up and about. Everyone else became shunned about such a sight.
"Well, to say that it was unexpected is the easiest explanation," Gennai huffed. "Wizardmon, welcome back to the living."
"Thank you, Gennai," Wizardmon greeted. "I'll tell you, it was a long road back to being in the flesh. Without the realization of Ash possessing a source called aura and being aligned with my spirit for support, I'd doubt either Ash or myself would be alive." Aura?
"What do you mean Wizardmon?" Cody gulped. Wizardmon shot a look, not feeling familiar with the youngest Digidestined. Armadillomon was right there to help him.
"Oh, he's Cody, one of the newer Digidestined," he pointed out. "And over there is Yolei. She's also one of them." Wizardmon took stock of the new Digidestined.
"So, the amount of Digidestined grows," he sighed. He had no clue about the quantity of the issue.
"That's a light way to put it," Delia gawked when she saw the ever-rapidly growing "stack" of mail in Izzy's box. Suddenly, the screen shifted to a camera shot from some helicopter. There was Davis and Ken in a transparent dome on Imperialdramon. Everyone became shocked by the new creature.
"Awesome!" Ash cheered. "That's the coolest thing since I saw that DNA Digivolve last night."
"That's Imperialdramon," Gennai identified. "A Mega-level Digimon. Azulongmon's digital cores are more powerful than I would've imagined." And that's not all. There was a map of Japan where the areas where control spires stood were cleared. "It seems Davis and Ken have taken care of Japan. However, they can't do it alone." Obviously.
"The way Imperialdramon had taken care of the country in so little time, there's no question that he's fast as Pikachu's lightning," Oak summarized. "He can pretty much clear the world within an hour." Man that's ridiculously fast.
"The Positron Laser can decimate the control spires that are spread from Beijing to San Francisco," Izzy studied. "However, that only solves half of the problem." Paying attention to Izzy, the news and his elders, Ash figured what the other half was.
"You need to open the digital ports with the D-3's in order to send the Digimon back home," he answered. "But if I'm not mistaken, only six of you guys own the D-3's." That would be Davis, TK, Cody, Ken, Kari and Yolei.
"Someone's been paying attention to the issue at hand," Tentomon praised. Give Ash a graduation cap and gown.
"Right," Gennai replied. "This is why I've marked six certain spots over the world where we can gather the Digimon and send them all back. There, six other mes reside to aid you." Gennai, what are the six? "The points are the coral reefs in Sydney, Australia; the frozen tundra in Moscow, Russia; d'Arc de Triumph in Paris, France; the Aztec pyramids in Mexico City; Rockefeller Center in New York City and Hong Kong." Good places to start.
"Since I know Mandarin, I'll take Hong Kong," Kari volunteered. So Kari wanted to go to Hong Kong.
"I've got family in Paris," TK realized. "I'll take that post." TK in France. Check.
"With Submarimon, I can help protect the coral reefs," Cody pondered. Cody chose Sydney. Now that only left Moscow, Mexico City and New York. Speaking of New York...
"Say, isn't Mimi residing in New York?" Ash remembered. That made Delia act defensive. She had to be thinking that Ash wanted to aid the Digidestined in this worldwide mission.
"Oh, no you don't!" she snapped. This was her son, you couldn't blame her. "You've got Sinnoh to look forward to." Ash wasn't implying that he wanted to go to New York...at least that's what it sounded like.
"I was merely pointing out one of their friends either Yolei, Ken or Davis can team up with." Whoops! Delia began to scratch the back of her neck about that overreacting.
"Sorry. I thought you were going out of line." She's a mother. She had all the reasons to be concerned for her own flesh and blood.
"Ash, it's alright for you to join us," Izzy insisted. "After all, Gatomon did tell you that you're one of us, though without a Digimon, Digivice, D-3 or D-Terminal." Ash was a bit dumbfounded with the notion of joining them after all. Of course, Delia would oppose the choice.
"I don't think so! He's already got a lot of work ahead of him in his next journey, he doesn't need this trip all over the world!" Izzy was nerved out. Delia's outburst prompted the older Digidestined to reenter the room.
"Izzy, what's going on?" Tai called. That's when they saw the mother and the professor. "Whoa, who are they?!" While the older set weren't familiar with the mom and professor, they did realize one thing: it was cramp. Finally, Yolei chose the best way of resolution.
"Delia, maybe I should speak out," she spoke. "First off, Ash has helped us in more ways than what we've been able to think about trainers to begin with. I know he's looking forward to his next journey, but that can wait for a little while longer." Though she had a good point, it wasn't enough to just hand Ash over to a group of kids ready to take a global trip.
"He's a Pokémon trainer, not a Digidestined. He has no Digimon and has no business in your manner!" Oh, but don't dismiss Yolei with comebacks.
"He doesn't need a Digimon to be a Digidestined. Besides, weren't you the one who raised him to be a selfless wild child?" Some argument by Yolei. However, someone decided to play spoiler.
"Actually, you do need to have a Digimon to be a Digidestined," Gennai corrected. That meant that Ash wasn't a Digidestined.
"Gennai, you're not helping the matter," Matt moaned. In other words, be quiet Gennai.
"But I do get Yolei's point. I may not have seen what occurred sometime ago, but with the emitting of Wizardmon, Ash can join the rest in helping rodeo in the Digimon." Delia was a bit appalled. She wanted to keep Ash in line. Then again, was Ash ever in line?
"But-" Delia tried to refuse that acceptance.
"I'm sure where Ash chooses where to go, the crisis in that area is as good as cake." Delia was defeated. Ash was allowed to join. Yolei twisted around to see where Ash would like to go.
"So, of the six places," she opened up. "Where do you want to go?" Of the six? Join Cody in Sydney? TK in Paris? Kari in Hong Kong? Mimi in New York?
"You know, I would like to meet Mimi," he thought up. "I'll go with the good old US of A. New York City." Ash has chosen New York. Everyone respected Ash's choice.
"Oh, by the way," Gennai voiced. "I do have a little present for your Pikachu." A present? Well, it was around Christmas time. Gennai revealed a black collar. Seriously, Gennai, there's no need to turn Pikachu goth. Pikachu lifted his chin for Gennai to slip the collar onto his neck. Okay, what's the purpose.
("Gennai, why are you making me wear a collar?") he squeaked. ("I mean...") "...not that I'm reject-" Everyone gasped at Pikachu's ability to speak human once more. So Gennai presented a voice-changing collar. "Whoa! I guess I don't need to be in the DigiWorld to do this."
"Guess not. The good thing is that the collar is electricity proof, meaning that you can shock anyone without worrying about damaging it." Pikachu had to feel praised by Gennai to give this back.
"Thanks a lot, Gennai." By that time, Imperialdramon had returned to the nearby area. Kari was the first to spot the dragon-like tank.
"Davis and Ken are back!" That's good news. "Let's get going. We don't wanna waste time." Everyone agreed and headed out the door...except for Ash, Pikachu, Wizardmon, Delia and Oak. Ash had some sort of guilty conscious on him.
"It could be me but I think I've grown a little too fond of the Digidestined, mainly Kari and Yolei," he admitted. Those two were there to help Ash out of a situation before in the Pokémon World. Now the roles have been reversed.
"You may not be a Digidestined, Ash," Oak reminded. "But your unconventional thinking could be of some use to battle the issue. Just be careful in New York or wherever you're going to." This was Ash. He was never careful...yet tried to act like he would be.
"I will." Finally but with Delia and Wizardmon, Ash and Pikachu regrouped with everyone at a park. Davis and Ken had a chance to meet Gennai for the first time. Now came the final instructions from the DigiWorld-home human.
"Now listen since I'm only gonna say this once," he began. "The assigned digital ports will not open without a D-3, thus the early planning with each member to be enlisted to the such location. There, team up with the other Digidestined kids and don't stop fighting until all of the Digimon are back home. Any questions?" Davis rose a hand. This had to be good.
"Flying on Imperialdramon is cool and all," he complimented. "But is it possible to watch a movie during the flyover?" He seemed like someone who didn't want to be bored.
"I'm afraid not, Davis. Imperialdramon flies so fast to each destination, you won't have time for a movie." Anyone else? No? "Well, I guess this is my time to say good luck and godspeed." That's when he saw the Ketchum mom and son. "Ash, I have great confidence that you will be of great asset to the recovery of the Digimon. As for you, Delia...Sam said it best: you've raised a heck of a good child. Just don't lose the confidence he has. Otherwise, we're all in big trouble." Delia bobbed a nod,
"That's not a problem, Gennai," she smiled. She had dressed a warm pink coat on herself. "Though, I guess whenever something comes up, there's no such thing as a typical day in Ash's life."
"Mom!" Ash snapped in embarrassment. Everyone giggled in a tease.
"Well, I'll make sure that Delia and Sam are safe back in Pallet Town," Gennai continued. "I may want to check it out and see if we may keep a link to each others' worlds." Maybe there could be a way that the link between the DigiWorld and Pokémon World.
"Well in that case, maybe you can have a taste of my patent chili dog pizza." Chili dog pizza?
"What is that, a taste of Mexico and Italy combined?" Well it sounded spicy. "Well, you kids...take care." With that, Gennai and Delia vanished. They probably went to pick up Oak and then back through the DigiWorld.
"Well, guys," Pikachu spoke up. "They happened to set 'em up. Let's go knock 'em down." Sora and Kari had a good chuckle out of that one.
"Nice bowling reference, Pikachu," Biyomon giggled. Finally, all were aboard Imperialdramon as different groups came in to see the giant beast. Then, it vanished in a stream exiting the country. The trip over the world had begun.
TO BE CONTINUED...