Chapter 5: Worldwide & Sincere
The worldwide tour began and for Ash and Pikachu, they were getting a look at what the world looked like from high on Imperialdramon. This, by the way, wasn't a free look at the world Davis, Kari, Yolei and the other Digidestined were trying to protect. There was a job to do, pre-Christmas time. Imperialdramon unleashed its Positron Laser, tagging and destroying control spires that have been springing up all over the world. Never underestimate Imperialdramon's accuracy. However, that was only part of the problem. The other would be to get the Digimon back home in the DigiWorld. The first stop: Australia with its sunny beaches and clam-like theater in the distance. Cody wanted to stop here since he claimed to have Submarimon that can protect the coral reefs. Joe chose to stick by Cody and make sure he was okay and that went double for Gomamon. "You guys take care of yourselves!" Pikachu shouted. Yeah, Gennai gave Pikachu a little voice-altering collar so that it could speak like the rest. Anyway, Imperialdramon lifted back off before making the next stop: Hong Kong. Hong Kong looked just like Odaiba. What the heck? This was Kari's stop since she knew Mandarin. Izzy offered to tag along with Kari. Speaking of tag...
"Ash, be careful in New York," she wished. That's when she laid a kiss onto Ash's cheek. Ash had been getting a lot of loving between her and Yolei. Kari, Izzy and their Digimon disembarked onto the grounds of Hong Kong. Davis was not too pleased that Ash was getting the love and he wasn't. Next: the frozen tundra of Moscow. So who would take it? Yolei and Sora volunteered. Good luck. Yolei embraced Ash in a bear hug and a peck onto the other cheek before leaving. Imperialdramon took off, leaving the girls to freeze their tushes off.
"Great, everyone has a warm place while we're in the middle of a Russian Blizzard," Yolei moaned, wishing she was still by Ash's side. The next stop in the tour: Paris, France. There was a pointy iron tower which stretched twice as high as the control spires which once stood. Because of family, TK chose this area.
"This is it, Imperialdramon," Tai advised. Guess he wanted to side with TK on this case. "TK and I will unite a revolution to combat the Digimon here." We're counting on you.
"Viva la France!" TK chanted as Imperialdramon left. So now it's Mexico City and New York to go.
"Alright, Ash," Davis spoke up. "We'll be taking a little detour to Miami and pick up Michael." Ash remembered the talk beforehand. Michael was Mimi's friend.
"But what about Mexico City and New York?" Ash wondered. There wasn't a fret in the crowd.
"There are a couple of jets that we can use to arrive at our destinations," Matt reassured. Talk about planning ahead. "Since Davis offered New York to make sure he has a babysitter in case." Oh, that's low. Davis steamed a bit from that figurative jab.
"I need no babysitter!" he snapped. Finally, Imperialdramon landed and began to change. Before long, Imperialdramon shrunk and split into Veemon and Wormmon.
"Oh no, don't tell me," Veemon began to freak out. Davis had calmed enough to see Veemon was okay.
"Relax, Veemon. You just need an energy boost." So the remaining Digidestined and Ash were on American soil...well sand first.
"So, Davis," Ken addressed. "Do you know when Michael's coming?" It had to be soon. Suddenly...
"Davis!" a male shouted. The boys turned to see a curly blond boy approaching them. By the boy was a small forest green amphibian. Davis beamed a smirk, knowing who it is.
"Michael!" he named. The boys met up with the now-named Michael. Of course, that included him meeting Ash and Pikachu for the first time. "Oh yeah. This is my romantic rival, Ash and his Pokémon, Pikachu." Romantic Rival?
"Davis, you're still pretty jealous over the fact that Kari and Yolei like me more than you," Ash retorted. Matt and Michael shared a giggle at Davis' shortcomings.
"Well, anyway," Michael tried to readjust. "I've managed to round up the helicopter and Cessna that you ordered to get us to our locations." Cool. The boys left the beach and ran to the tarmac of a runway. Of course, they got a ride in an SUV. There was the helicopter and the Cessna that Michael borrowed. "Ken, Matt, the helicopter can take you directly to Mexico City." That would mean Ash, Davis and Michael were taking the Cessna or small plane.
"I guess a plane ride should be safe if there's a pro waiting in this Cessna, whatever those are," Pikachu anxiously geared. The teams had split to their assigned airliners. In the Cessna, Davis threw the bags to the back.
"I'd like to see this baby in the air," he chuckled to where the pilot turned. It was another blond, hunkier than Gennai but not by much. Davis was flabbergasted.
"It's in safe hands, kid," he grinned. Ash and Michael boarded and saw the stunned look Davis portrayed.
"You...okay, Davy," Ash teased. Davis couldn't shake the look off.
"I feel like I'm watching a movie," he stammered. "He was in my favorite movie ever in my life." The pilot was an actor? Talk about a dream come true.
"That's just my dad," Michael confessed. Dad? Try coolest dad.
"You never told me that your dad was a famous Hollywood actor." Kinda wished we had dads like that, huh? The cool dad started the turbine engines which helped push the Cessna to move forward.
"Okay!" Ash gritted with a smile. "Next stop: New York City!" The Cessna took to the air, leaving Miami. As they flew above the country, flying Digimon were viewed airing toward the same direction. "You think the Digimon got the same message as us?" Maybe. They began to enter New York airspace where there was a tall lime green statue of a woman in a toga and crown holding a torch and tablet.
"The Statue of Liberty, Ash," Michael identified. "We're closing in." They reached the city where there seemed to be rush hour traffic. Dozens of cars were lined up on a bridge. Talk about gridlock. Suddenly, there was an open stretch of road with green lights lined up. The cool dad assumed that this was the stop.
"I see the runway," he announced. On the ground was Palmon waiving two of the green lights. Hey, we haven't seen her since the second chapter. Behind her, also waiving green lights was a blondish-redhead in a green coat and beanie hat. That's got to be Mimi. The Cessna flew over the two and landed in the streets. A perfect three point landing. The occupants in the Cessna began to file out as the two from the ground dashed over to meet them. Ash started to stretch his legs when...
"Davis!" she called out. "Michael!" The boys spotted the girl dashing towards them.
"Mimi!" Davis called over. True enough. As soon as Mimi made it to the group, Palmon recognized Ash. Mimi didn't see him since she was rather focused on Davis and Michael.
"Ash, welcome to Manhattan," she greeted. Ash and Pikachu knelt down to greet the plant.
"Well, looks like I get to fulfill your wish," he teased. In the second chapter prior to departing, Palmon had hoped for Ash to meet her partner. Mimi saw the meeting and wondered who this new boy was.
"Excuse me, but what are you doing with Palmon?" she questioned. As soon as Ash looked, Mimi gasped. A moment of pause before...she tackled him, pinning Ash to the street and hugging him with some shaking. "Oh my. Aren't you the most adorable boy ever. Oh I should hold you in my arms until death that you're so cute and brave to face such the crisis going on-"
"Poison Ivy!" Palmon shouted as she shot vines out of her arms, wrapping around the two before forcefully yanking them apart. Mimi was pulled down onto her buttocks. She was wondering why Palmon lashed out like she did. "Geez, this is the first time you've met him and all of a sudden you wanna love him? For gosh sake, at least know who he is, first." Someone's keeping the team in moderation. Ash got to his feet and got to Mimi to help her onto her legs.
"Allow me," he offered with a hand out. "I'm Ash and unlike you or Davis or Michael, I'm a Pokémon trainer." Mimi looked more confused than when she first saw Ash.
"P-Pokémon?" she repeated befuddling. Then she smiled as if that detail was not necessary. "I'd like to know how you heard about the situation going on that a trainer would get involved but any extra help is accepted. Sorry about that, I just couldn't help it. You are cute for a boy." Ash huffed a chuckle like the incident wasn't that bad of an issue.
"Thanks." Needless to say how jealous Davis was when Mimi pounced on Ash.
"One of these days, Ash, I'll find your secret to getting the girl," he proposed. That's when he quickly thought of an idea. It had to be that incident. 'Hold on! Mimi was on Ash faster than both Kari and Yolei. If I can, by all mean, keep Ash with Mimi, Kari might be left with me. Oh, Davis, sometimes I wish I was such a criminal genius!' His grin began to spook Veemon.
"Davis, is there something you wanna tell us?" he shuttered. That snapped Davis out of the loop he was in.
"Right. Let's check the situation out and see where the Digimon are going." The rest nodded before heading off to a park with a bench. Michael activated his laptop and scoped the radar. There were plenty of dots that seem to be heading to a fixed location. A meeting of mythical proportions. "The Digidestined and Digimon are all heading toward Central Park, about a mile from here." To Davis and Veemon, it was a good thing. "Awesome. They had to know that we're the only ones able to handle a job as big as this." To Ash, this was like a rodeo.
"Those guys rounded up the wild Digimon like Prof. Oak to my herd of Tauros," he compared. Tauros, and Ash had a herd?
"You don't mean the steers that trample through the ranch everyday, do you?" Veemon asked. Ash nodded to what Veemon meant.
"So, Mimi, was this your plan to gather the Digimon in one place?" Michael guessed. Ash had a doubt about it.
"You ask me, that might have been too tall of a task for one person to accomplish alone," he figured. Little did he know how right he was.
"You got that right," voiced...Gennai? All turned to...Gennai! What the heck was he doing in New York?
"G-Gennai?" Davis hiccuped. Gennai shook his head. Huh?
"Not really. The name's Benjamin. Gennai and I have been good friends." Gen...Benjamin got a look at the lineup while Davis and Veemon still acted dumbfounded.
"But you look exactly like him," Veemon viewed. Yeah, isn't there anything different like an accent or a tattoo that could tell the two apart?
"That's because I was once Gennai with the others." How did that work?
"Every time I turn around, there are more Gennais and Digidestined," Davis complained. "I don't think I've ever had to endure so much to the point of a headache." Suddenly, something on Mimi began to beep. She dug into her pockets and pulled out a hand-held device.
"Speaking of Digidestined," Mimi spoke when she read an e-mail. "We've been called upon. There's a boy named Phil telling us that a Cherrymon is destroying Christmas trees in Rockefeller Center." That's not good news to handle. Damaging Christmas trees?
"Someone's not in the holiday spirit," Ash joked. "We need to move out." Good idea.
"Ash, do you know where Rockefeller Center is?" Not Ash but Pikachu's ears seemed to be picking up the destruction of the trees.
"I have a pretty good hunch," he guessed. "Ash, I need a ride." Ash pulled out a red/white ball and tossed it to the air, unveiling a large black bird. Whoa, Ash bringing out the big guns. The rest were flabbergasted that more than just Pikachu on hand...from a little ball.
"Swellow, listen to Pikachu and head over to the Rockefeller Center," he ordered. "We'll catch up!" Swellow flew to the air with Pikachu on its back.
"Over there!" Swellow and Pikachu hurried off, rather impressing Mimi even more.
"I don't think Davis would've been that quick to figure out a solution," Palmon studied.
"Tell me about it," Mimi agreed. "The more I see Ash work, the more infatuated I am about him." Uh oh! "But we shouldn't be stalling. I don't know how strong that Swellow is, but I do know it can't do the job alone." That's when Benjamin decided to speak up.
"Then how about I give you a little boost, courtesy of Azulongmon," he offered. Palmon wondered if this was a dream come true. Davis, Michael and Mimi presented their Digivices which Benjamin showed off a light covered by Davis? Was it another of the cores? That's when...
"Veemon digivolve to...ExVeemon!" Veemon chanted before becoming ExVeemon once more. Then it was Palmon's turn.
"Palmon digivolve to...Togemon!" she chanted when she grew...higher than what a lot would imagine. She became a giant walking cactus with red punching gloves. She wouldn't remain thorny for long. "Togemon digivolve to...Lillymon!" Togemon shrunk to a human size. She was like a fairy. She had green wings and matching color boots. She had a pink dress designed like a flower and her head was fitted with such the occasion.
"Betamon digivolve to...Seadramon!" the last green creature called out. That creature suddenly shifted more shapes than one screensaver. It was now a giant sea serpant with a yellow head. Ash was in some shock, more awe about Mimi's Digimon who was not Lillymon.
"If these female Digimon can grow like Palmon and Gatomon, I may be falling for them more than a mere human," he mumbled. He's got to be concentrating more on Pikachu. "Let's get going!"
"Ash, over here!" Benjamin called. Ash turned to see the others file into a car. No choice and since the silver car was a four-door, he could easily hop in. Benjamin and Mimi were in the front and the boys were in the backseat. Sucks to be there. "Just be glad I have a driver's license last week." He adjusted the stick to D and kicked down the accelerate pedal. The car sped off in pursuit of the other Digimon as well as Pikachu and Swellow. As if out of a King Kong movie, a giant oak tree was climbing a skyscraper which had illuminating orange "RCA" lights on top. What are the odds that's Cherrymon? A streaming flame that looked like a grown Agumon came forward to knock it off. The tree wanted nothing of that and smacked the flame aside.
"Oh man, Flareizamon!" A black kid who somewhat resembled Ash cried out. "Where's help when you need it?" Help would arrive at that moment with Pikachu and Swellow. "What's that? New Digimon?" Not quite.
"Thanks to learning from Ash, I've got the move set down," Pikachu reminded as Swellow circled the living tree. The tree swiped at Swellow but the swinging was in vain. "Do Aerial Ace! I got the first strike."
("Okay!") Swellow beaked. The tree tried to swipe once more. Swellow looped, avoiding the hit. Pikachu was right there to snag onto the limb offered.
"Time to chop you down!" Pikachu swung the Iron Tail. BOOM! In the face. The tree staggered and tried to recover but here came Swellow. KABLAM! Swellow barreled into the tree with such force, it was shot into the "R" light. Glass from the shattered sign rained onto the tree as Pikachu hopped back on board Swellow. The living tree began to shake off the glass shards. Lillymon swooped in, ready to finish what Pikachu and Swellow started.
"Leave the rest to me!" she announced. "Flower Wreath!" She began to circle around the tree when a wreath of flowers snared the walking wood as the ride arrived to join the black boy. All exited where the boy noticed Mimi and Michael.
"You guys, thanks for getting my message!" he praised for help. So he's Phil. All looked back up in time to see the tree rip the wreath skirt from beneath. That got Lillymon in dismay.
"What happened?" Mimi knew about Lillymon's attacks and what they could do just as ExVeemon got to the rest.
"Cherrymon isn't in control of a Virus," she figured. And that tree, Cherrymon, isn't a Virus?
"He's just out on a limb against Christmas trees," Phil added. That's rather interesting to say.
"He's acting more lemon than cherry if he's taking only his own kind down," Ash huffed. There just had to be tree jokes in the Christmas season. Davis decided to allow ExVeemon to go for an attack.
"Alright, ExVeemon," he called upon. "We need to get this giant cherry tree on ice!" It's already cold so why rub it in? ExVeemon noticed the frozen ice rink in front of a gold statue of a woman lying down.
"On ice, eh?" ExVeemon plotted. "Leave everything to me!" He flew up the RCA building and met Cherrymon. "V-Kick!" ExVeemon did a drop kick which knocked Cherrymon off the ledge. That's not good. Cherrymon fell from so high up, it appeared to be a suicide plunge. Everyone gasped, knowing the mega hard impact Cherrymon would feel, even Ash.
"Oh, boy," he murmured. "This is gonna leave a splinter." Ash, not now! WHAM! Head first into the ice rink. Cherrymon was on ice all right. Too bad there wasn't any skates his pair or pack. He began to recover from the fall, still a little branched out in thought. Great, now they got the author doing it. Thanks a lot, you guys!
"Is that what you meant by putting him on ice, Davis?" Davis loudly groaned at the literal meaning.
"Not exactly," he moaned. Can't blame him for thinking as such. Uh, anyone paying attention to Cherrymon?
"Pit Pelter!" it shouted as cherries from the leaves fired at the group at high velocity, smacking into the Digimon. Suddenly, vines spurt out, wrapping the helpers.
"ExVeemon!" Davis cried out.
"Lillymon!" Mimi teared for her Digimon's safety.
"Seadramon!" Michael choked.
"Flareizamon!" Phil gasped. Chaerrymon had the Digimon...not the Pokémon, giving Ash the best shot ever.
"Swellow, continue Aerial Ace and into Steel Wing!" Ash called. The others wondered why Ash wasn't in a panicked state. Swellow darted from high up, Pikachu still on his back when the wings began to glow like Pikachu when he did Iron Tail. SLASH! The vines were cut. The Digimon broke free from the vines and regrouped. Phil was still a little startled with who Ash had.
"Swellow? That's a Digimon name I hadn't heard of!" If only he knew.
"Later, Phil. We need to stop that bark from the roots."
"Knock it off with the tree jokes!" Davis shouted, annoyed. "Besides, they're not any good!" No, but what came next would be.
"Solar Ray!" someone shouted. A yellow beam struck Cherrymon, flooring it. The others turned to see a man/horse combination with a cannon for an arm. By that big hybrid, a brunette girl.
"My name's Maria," she called herself. "Did someone call for help?" There's plenty of enforcement now.
"You bet we did," Michael cheered. "Thanks!"
"Strong Carapace!" another creature shouted. All turned to a tan tortoise with rocks in its shell. Those rocks started to glow before shot out at and hitting Cherrymon. This was an ambush. There was a brunette boy with a red headband on the tortoise.
"My name is Lou, is everyone okay?" he asked. They're fine.
"Yes!" Mimi cheered. "Thank you!" Then, out of the blue...
"Sub-Zero Ice Punch!" a white bear shouted as it fist the air which a blast of white snow formed and barreled into Cherrymon, freezing the tree. There was another blond in the area.
"Hi, I'm Steve," he announced. "It's nice to meet all of you." More help to aid the situation.
"Hey, anything for some extra assistance," Davis smirked. "Now how about we take care of wooden Scrooge?" Cherrymon was cornered. It would be best to surrender.
"Blaze Blaster!" Flareizamon shouted before shooting a red hot beam.
"Ice Blast!" Seadramon, recovered, scorned as it fired a whitish beam at the same target.
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon called out while a flower bloomed in her hands to unveil a cannon. It shot a green shot to Cherrymon as well.
"V-Laser!" ExVeemon chanted while firing that laser from his chest.
"Pikachu, top it off with Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered. Volt Tackle?
"You got it!" Pikachu agreed as he leaped off Swellow and dove down at Cherrymon in a streaming yellow comet. "Eat this!" The attacks struck Cherrymon all simultaneously. The multiple strikes were too much for the raging tree who was knocked out. The group celebrated the crushing victory. Before long, Benjamin started to lead the Digidestined, Digimon, Ash and Pikachu to Central Park. Ash got a ride on the man/horse who didn't mind extra riders with Maria.
"I guess I wasn't counting on a Pokémon trainer to aid the Digidestined, let alone you," she awed. "But I'll tell you one thing, your Pikachu is the most adorable thing compared to when Digimon are born." That was a rather sweet thing to say.
"Come on, Maria. You're making me blush!" Ash smiled at the quickened friendship with the Digidestined who camped around the US. He saw Lillymon making the rounds.
"Lillymon, what's the status of roundup?" he asked.
"All Digimon are present and accounted for," she reported. "We should be at Central Park any minute." That's good.
"Okay. That should be my way back home." Ash was leaving? Maybe he needed to get moving again, go to his next adventure. That even made Davis do a double take.
"You're not staying?" he gasped. Ash shook his head. His mind had been made up. That had Mimi retreat back to him.
"But why so soon?" she began to plea. "Couldn't you stay at my house? At least for the night? You can stay in my room!" That's an invitation that no one could turn down...but Ash was focused on his new journey.
"I appreciate the offer but I've already caused too much to stay around," he admitted. "Besides, if love is the issue, I would only be holding everyone back, even me." That's deep. Somehow, Davis understood something else. Ash could be afraid of falling in love. Was that it?
"As much as you're my romantic rival, this doesn't sound like you," he doubted. "Are you scared about having a relationship?" He sounded sympathetic.
"I don't know if it's that. It just may be that I'm not ready or know how to start it." Not ready for one? Understandably, Davis knew that Ash was more focused on the creatures back in his world and not really on Yolei or Kari or Mimi for that matter. Finally, the group arrived at a park by a lake. Michael set the laptop down. It was time. Davis rose his D-3 to the monitor.
"Digiport open!" The screen began to flash. For Ash, this was farewell. "Ash, good luck in Sinnoh. The Digidestined will root for you." Even after all that heat between them, Davis sounded like a true friend to Ash who nodded.
"Thanks, Davis." That's when the flash brightened. A second later, it all dimmed. Ash was heading back to Pallet...much to Mimi's, Kari's and Yolei's chagrin. How will they take the sudden departure of Ash?
'Ash, please don't forget about me,' Mimi wished in thought. This story...is far from over.
TO BE CONTINUED...