IXEN (Nature Hardy): Wow, Author. I didn't expect college to screw you up so much. It's been like two weeks.

YAMATO (Lonely): Well you can't expect her to immediately set up a pace to juggle writing and school.

RYO (Modest): Besides, there are actually a lot more readers interested, according to the traffic.

IXEN (Hardy): You shouldn't be saying anything, Ryo-san. Author has been playing your Anode/Cathode game a lot more than actually writing.

~RYO~

When I opened my eyes, the sun was just beginning to rise. After a few minutes of staring at the sky, I remembered standing on top of Infinity Mountain, looking out over the Digital World as it broke apart. Realizing I was in the middle of a giant pit, I quickly got to my feet.

"Yellow?" I asked aloud and searched for the blonde teen. "Monodramon?" I turned around and felt something pulling on my right arm. I looked down and noticed it was fishing string.

I followed it to its source and sighed in relief when I found Yellow sitting against a rock, sleeping peacefully. Monodramon and Chuchu were still asleep too but I gently woke them both up.

"Ryo!" My partner said happily.

"Morning, Monodramon," I smiled. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head and looked towards Yellow. "He'll be asleep for a long time though," the small dragon frowned. "Yellow used her powers to heal me after the entire Digital World broke apart. What do we do now, Ryo?"

I decided to remove the fishing string from my arm before lifting the blonde onto my back. Chuchu looked up at me curiously before deciding to follow Monodramon. "Let's get moving, Monodramon, Chuchu. We saw the Digital World disintegrate and fragment with our own eyes so I want to know why we're still here and not lost in empty space."

"So where are we headed then?" Monodramon walked behind me with Chuchu next to him. They exchanged confused glances before catching up to me.

"I'm not sure, but this place seems familiar somehow." I looked towards the distance and noticed the pit was actually miles deep. There was no way we could climb out but something strange caught my eye. A flight of stairs were in the distance and it led to a few buildings. I might have figured out where we were but I had to make sure so stared out at the ground. There were signs of the area being an aqueous environment, but it seems as though the entire lake had dried up. "Gennai…"

Monodramon tilted his head to the side and looked towards the buildings in the distance. "So is that a safe place, Ryo?"

"Yeah, let's hurry. Something isn't right. The water in this lake is supposed to protect Gennai's home!" I broke into a run with Monodramon and Chuchu exchanging even more confused glances behind me.

The closer we got to the house, the more difficult the terrain became. There was charring and jagged breaks in the land. There must have been a fierce battle here recently but there were no signs of surviving Digimon or Pokémon at all. "Ryo!" Monodramon tensed up as he caught up and spotted the damage.

Chuchu poked around the attacks and the ruined garden before crying out towards Yellow. The trainer didn't wake up but the blonde only muttered, "Red… Pika… Everyone…"

Monodramon looked up at me seriously. "Chuchu says that their friends were here recently. The scents are actually pretty fresh, but they're no longer here. There were even Digimon here, Ryo."

"The Chosen Children and Dex Holders," I decided. I sighed and headed towards the ruined house. "Gennai? Are you here?"

Monodramon rushed ahead of me to inspect everything. "Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone here?"

There was some shuffling and I immediately turned to face it. I was relieved when I saw the familiar old man smiling at me. "Ryo Akiyama, welcome back to the Digital World."

"Gennai, what happened to the others?"

He frowned as he looked at his battered home. "The Digital World has broken itself up and now I fear the others are also lost between the world fragments."

Yellow mumbled in her sleep. "No. They're okay. I know it. Red and the others won't give up." I glanced over my shoulder and noticed she was smiling.

Gennai stared at her oddly. "Who is that young man with you, Ryo?"

"Actually, Gennai," I set Yellow down and her straw hat accidently fell, revealing her long ponytail, "She's not—"

"—from the Digital World or human world, I know." Gennai frowned as he studied us. "You two were on File Island, weren't you?"

I nodded. "We don't know what happened. One moment we were destroying a pyramid of dark energy and the next we were being tossed into space as Dark Gears dispersed around us. What exactly happened here, Gennai?"

"Well, it seems as though you released the Gears about the same time everyone else battled Apocalymon."

I heard yawning and felt Yellow shift behind me. "Apocalymon?" She became fully awake and noticed all of us staring at her. "Ah, Ryo!" The short teen looked around and frowned. "How long was I asleep?"

"Quite a while," Monodramon said. "Hey, Yellow! Who's Red?"

She looked surprised as she got to her feet. "How do you know Red?"

"You were saying that everybody else would be fine and his name came up," I answered. "He and the rest of your friends must have ended up in the Digital World too."

"Really?" She looked up at the sky and took out her Pokédex. "So they are here." She turned to look at Chuchu. "That must mean that everyone is trying their hardest to save the Digital World too." Yellow fixed her straw hat and smiled. "Red leads the Dex Holders and is the person who inspired me to start on my own journey to find him. It looks like I just missed him again, so I'll just have to start looking for him again!" Her eyes flared with determination as she finished adjusting her hat. "The others will need me to be stronger before I catch up with them."

Seeing her ready to go, I couldn't help but agree. "Right." I turned towards Gennai. "So what happened to Ken and the others?"

"Like I said before, the Digital World has been broken apart and cast into space. Your release of the Dark Gears and Apocalymon's Darkness Zone attacked seemed to have clashed each other. One event was meant to fragment the world while the other was meant to delete it. That has led to a partial deletion and fragmentation. May I see your Pokégear and D-Arc?"

Yellow took out her small device and I handed over my D-Arc. "What do you need it for?" Yellow asked.

"As I suspected, it seems as though this machine has gained the functions of the Digivice." Gennai studied the Pokégear for a long time but handed me back my D-Arc. "As for you, Ryo, you do not have a D-Terminal like the other Chosen Children but your device has gained the ability to identify Pokémon."

"It has?" I stared at my small device and a screen came up when I pointed it towards Chuchu. "I didn't even notice."

Yellow took back her Pokégear. "Oh? There are blinking dots on the screen. What does that mean?"

"Those must be the Chosen Children or Dex Holders. It will take a while to gather everyone again, but will you go after them?"

"Of course!" Yellow cried, sending out her entire team. "I'm their Healer after all."

I slowly thought things through and smiled. "I guess it's settled. Yellow, I was still given the task of training you to use your powers, but since it won't be of any use without the others, we'll have to travel and train at the same time."

She nodded in understanding. "Okay! I'll do my best to keep up with your teachings, Ryo!" She turned to face her Pokémon. "Are you all ready?"

I looked down to Monodramon and smiled. He smirked back and Gennai understood we were ready to start on our journey. "Be careful. Since the Digital World does not fully exist, there will be many dangers."

~GREEN~

I sat up when the morning arrived, but when I opened my eyes, I could only see mist. I closed my eyes and sharpened my mind so that I would be able to see beyond the fog. When I opened them again, I stood up and decided to check on my Pokémon. I could see their silhouettes nearby and walked towards them only to be surprised by their state of being.

"Chariz— No, Charmander, Machoke, Scyther, and Porygon…" I frowned at the four before looking at the others who were unchanged. "Pidgeot, Ninetales, and Golduck… So just you three are evolved." I took out my Pokédex and checked everyone's stats. "This is disappointing. All of you have gotten weaker." And so did I, I thought with a sigh before motioning for my Pokémon to follow me so I could restart our training. Before I could leave though, I noticed one of the Chosen Children was watching.

He had long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. He casually wore some sort of green school uniform and appeared to be no older than Ruby. Despite that, he stared at me with some sort of disgust as he looked between me and my Pokémon. "You're disappointed with them even though they fought they're hardest to defend you?"

"They fought and they lost. More than half of my Pokémon have also dropped in level and evolution," I calmly stated. "When Pokémon evolve, they are meant to remain in that form, not revert like a Digimon does." My eyes sharply fell onto the boy's Digimon, a small ball with a large horn and orange fur. "A weaker form does not help me win battles."

The Digimon cowered under my stare, but the boy seemed ready to get into a fight against me. I was prepared to defend myself with my martial arts training, but paused when I heard rustling around me. The small Digimon and my Pokémon felt something and immediately got into ready stances.

"Yamato, we're surrounded," the Digimon said.

"By the enemy?" the boy asked as he looked around.

"Do we even know who the enemy is?" I asked rhetorically. "No, it's most likely we're trespassing on someone's territory." I couldn't see much beyond the trees and fog but a bush rustled near my left and I pointed towards it. "Pidgeot, Defog the area now! Charmander, Flamethrower!"

I couldn't count on Charmander's accuracy so had to make sure he could see where I pointed before he unleashed the steady stream of flames. His attack managed to frighten the small group of Swinub hiding. Once the Pokémon dispersed, Charmander looked around for anything else that could have posed a threat.

"We need to leave," I said carefully. "Those wild Pokémon are weak so won't fight us, but if a herd of Piloswine, or worse Mamoswine, arrive we'll be outnumbered and overwhelmed."

Yamato took a quick look around and assessed the decision. "Yeah," he agreed. "Where should we head? Should we start looking for the others?"

His partner looked up at him carefully. The small creature and I could see the slight worry in Yamato's blue eyes. The boy was doing his best to hide it so I turned away and started down the narrow trail Pidgeot's Defog uncovered.

"The others will be fine," I stated as I recalled everyone except Charmander and Pidgeot. "If a Dex Holder is unable to stand on their own and fight, they are unfit to be a trainer let alone own a Pokédex." I stared at the small machine grandfather built for us and thoughts of my family immediately filled my mind.

How were things going in Pallet Town? Are grandfather and Daisy still safe? They didn't end up in the Digital World, did they? Only the Dex Holders were outside. Daisy had gone to meet with Bill to hand over some documents regarding the box system in Sinnoh, as well as other personal business. Travelling and old age had taken a toll on grandfather so he should have been indoors resting.

But even so if he wasn't transported, grandfather was alone. There was no one else in the lab with him since his only lab assistants were Crystal, Emerald, and me. If someone were to take him again, who would go after him with me being stuck here?

It was only until Yamato reached for my shoulder that I realized I had begun to shake with cool frustration and worry. "We should get moving—" Once his hand was on my shoulder, my Pokédex and Pokégear went off. Yamato's eyes shot down towards his Digivice and D-3 as they began ringing.

We didn't get a chance to look at the devices though because around us, I could sense that more and more Pokémon gathering around us. I could make out the many Ice-type Pokémon attracted to the forest's misty atmosphere and looked down at my two Pokémon to measure up them up to those in the wild.

As long as Charmander and the small Digimon could fight off a quarter of the mass, Yamato and I would be able to navigate our way out with Pidgeot clearing the mist every now and then. I looked at the blonde carefully and he eyed me with a nod.

"Tsunomon," he turned towards his small Digimon.

The small ball jumped with determination. "Okay, Yamato."

The wild Pokémon eyed us carefully before a Piloswine let out a fierce roar and charged towards the small Digimon. Tsunomon did his best to ram himself against the larger Pokémon and Charmander quickly followed up with Metal Claw.

"Let's go," I curtly said to Yamato as Pidgeot took the lead ahead of us. "Whirlwind!" The sudden gust of air forced the group of Pokémon ahead of us to scatter. Those that resisted were quickly pushed aside by Charmander and Tsunomon.

In the distance, I could see the forest's edge as the trees thinned out into a clearing. The fog was also lighter here so I had Charmander take it easy. Less and less Pokémon were crowding towards us and we were almost out.

As we neared the exit though, the fog suddenly thickened and Yamato and I were forced to stop. "Pidgeot, Defog!" I commanded. Pidgeot tried, but there was no difference in our visibility.

Yamato looked around in wonder. "What's wrong? That move worked before." He turned towards Tsunomon with concern. "Are you holding up alright?"

The small Digimon nodded and glanced around. "There's something waiting for us up there, Yamato."

I sensed it too. I glanced down at my Pokédex and frowned. Pidgeot still had plenty of PP to use Defog. Something was cancelling its effects. Could it be Haze? I tested my theory. "Defog," I calmly said to Pidgeot.

The large bird flapped his wings to clear the fog. The air cleared for only a few seconds before the mist returned. I frowned when I knew I had been right, but this left me with the question as to what Pokémon would know Mist and Haze and would be willing to reside in such a forest.

I was answered with an intense purple colored mist. I managed to dodge out of the way but the attack completely took Yamato by surprise. It didn't hit him, but he was now confused as to what we were fighting. "Tsunomon, there!" He pointed towards the direction the flames came from.

The weak Digimon started for the area pointed out, but he paused to look around. "Where is the enemy?"

"Airborne?" I suggested. I tried to search for it in the thick mist but couldn't find it. All I knew was that Pidgeot was struck by an icy attack from behind. "Pidgeot!" I returned him into his ball and sighed. "You did your best to get us this far so take the time to recover." I looked through the others in their Poké Balls but didn't know who to choose next. Our opponent was invisible and I had no idea which type to pick. "Charmander, Flamethrower!"

The small Pokémon spewed flames around us, but it didn't seem to hit anything. Tsunomon and Charmander shook their heads when they realized we were just sitting ducks.

Yamato frowned and took out his Digivice. "Is it a Digimon then?" He scanned around him, but found nothing.

Another stream of purple mist came at us and I dove towards the ground. This was getting frustrating as we couldn't make out anything in this mist. There were no shadows or silhouettes to reveal the whereabouts of our attacker. The more I stared into the white fog though, the more I realized what Pokémon it was.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at the fog closely. Finally, I saw a large mass of the fog move and pointed towards it. "Fire Spin!" Charmander immediately obeyed and created a vortex of fire which managed to trap out assailant. The flames clung to the Pokémon and it flapped its cottony wings to try to put it out. "So those attacks were from a Dragon-type then," I said with some satisfaction.

Yamato managed to rescue Tsunomon from a panicked Dragonbreath. "It's body looks so much like clouds that it actually disappeared into the fog. It's too strong for us to fight right now. We should run."

I agreed but kept a wary eye on the Altaria. Something about the Pokémon bothered me. An attack it used wasn't known to wild Pokémon. Could this Altaria have belonged to someone and was transported here by mistake? I took out my Pokédex and considered it as I followed Yamato.

I didn't have too much time to think about it because we were nearing the edge of the forest. Right before I reached the clearing, the Altaria freed itself from its fiery prison and targeted me. An alarmed yell from Yamato made me turn to see the incoming Fury Attack.

"Green!" Yamato cried out. At that moment, a light erupted from his Digivice and my Pokégear. Another light surrounded Tsunomon and Charmander as the small creatures launched themselves into the air to come to my aid.

"Tsunomon evolve! Gabumon!" The familiar blue-furred Digimon rammed into the Altaria, diverting the attack. Gabumon then jumped back and spat out blue flames. "Petit Fire!"

My newly evolved Charmeleon finished the battle by using Dragon Claw on the Altaria so that it would not get up again. I calmly stared at the downed Pokémon before going up to it. I carefully pet the Pokémon's head before looking over its wounds.

Frozen with confusion and shock, Yamato just stared blankly before Gabumon went to his side. "Yamato!"

The blonde shook himself and smiled down at his partner. "You can evolve, Gabumon! But there was a light coming from Green's Pokégear too…"

I took out the small machine and studied it. There was a status screen and it displayed Gabumon's stats. I stared between Charmeleon and Gabumon but there was nothing I could figure out from just studying them. I decided to turn my attention back towards the Altaria.

Yamato walked over to my side and watched as I took out some medicine from my belt pouch. "You're healing the Pokémon that attacked us?"

"This isn't an ordinary Pokémon. It's too well-trained, so it must belong to someone. Whether that person is here in the Digital World or not, I don't know, but it targeted me because it saw that I had this." I took out my Pokédex and stared at it. "There aren't many Altaria or trainers with this Pokémon from where I am from, but it must have recognized this machine."

"The Pokédex…" Yamato stared at it for a while and noticed I was shaking again. "It must be extremely important to you."

I tightly held onto the machine. "It's personal for me because this was created and built by my grandfather. A device to record all Pokémon data so that trainers and Pokémon can bond… that was his dream. It was a gift to the world but because of its great innovation but low supply, those associated with the Pokédex are often targeted." My eyes narrowed as I remembered my goal of returning home.

Yamato was silent as I continued my work. When I was done, the Altaria stood up and bowed. It made motions towards me, but I didn't understand. Gabumon stood by my side and turned his head up towards me. "Green, this Pokémon says it belongs to someone called a Gym Leader."

"A Gym Leader?" Yamato asked. "What is that?"

"A title," I answered. "Gym Leaders are usually powerful trainers who own gyms where trainers go to test their abilities. I hold that title myself for a city north of where I live. So if this Pokémon belongs to a Gym Leader, she must be Winona of Fortree City, a personal friend of Sapphire's." At the mention of my junior's name, the Altaria happily straightened up. It seemed eager to take off to look for said trainer, but I calmed it down with a shake of my head. "Knowing this doesn't matter much though since we're stuck in the middle of the Digital World."

Yamato wore a small smile. "Then we should head out together and look for the others." I was about to argue to find a way home on my own, but Yamato cut me off. "Or whatever it is you decide, I'll go with it. Look at this as a sign of Friendship." He offered out his hand for me to shake.

I smirked back at him. "Friendship?"

"Yeah, that's my special trait as a Chosen Child. It took me a long while to understand what being a friend meant, but I know it when I see it." His eyes glowed knowingly. "My friends and family matter a lot to me too, so I'm going to help when I can, even if I'm 'undertrained' like you said."

I accepted his hand and shook it firmly. "Don't worry about that. My title among the Dex Holders is the Raiser. Seeing as how we're not strong enough yet, we're going be training for quite a while to reach an adequate level worthy to match any opposition we will face."

Yamato laughed as I coolly smirked. Gabumon looked back and forth between us before looking towards Charmeleon. "Yamato and Green are actually very alike. They always have such a cold outward appearance but inside, their hearts burn with the same kind fire."

"Gabumon!" Yamato exclaimed with embarrassment.

I merely allowed my smirk to grow a bit before saying, "I suppose so. But we'll need to strengthen our hearts." I looked back at the Pokédex still in my hand. My mind turned back towards grandfather and the rest of the Dex Holders.

Wait for me, everyone. I'll become stronger and find a way home for all of us.

~YAMATO~

I stared out at the desolate scene and sighed. The Digital World was a jumble of broken areas. The small forest we had been trapped in was completely isolated. The clearing we managed to find meant nothing as it had led nowhere. It was a good thing the Altaria we encountered decided to stay with us though.

We flew above the broken world and looked for any piece of land where the others could be. I was riding Green's recovered Pidgeot while Green was on top of the blue cloud-like bird from earlier. It was easier for him to control the Altaria since he was an experienced Pokémon trainer as well as Gym Leader whereas I was only a Chosen Child with no knowledge of how to command a Pokémon.

Pidgeot actually responded well to me though. It could have been because of how Green strictly raised his Pokémon, but despite his coldness, I can see he's just like Red in the sense that Pokémon mean a lot to him. It made me respect him more than I had when we had first met.

My first impression of him was that he was completely the opposite of Red, caring only about returning home without regard for the danger he would face in the Digital World. He seemed capable of fighting off the threats, but that intimidating glare of his made it seem as if he didn't care what happened to us or his friends. It wasn't an act either; it was just that he was extremely confident that the others would be completely okay with whatever happens to them. He didn't just think it; he knew it. Despite the independent adventures of the Dex Holders, it appeared they had a strong bond that matched the teamwork we Chosen Children had.

Despite that, I still have to wonder and worry about the others well-beings. I believed in my friends but it fell short compared to how much Green believed in his friends. Perhaps it was just my brotherly instincts but I was reminded of how much I had wanted to protect Takeru during our first adventure. I had been a failure then for not overcoming my shortcomings first and this time, I don't intend on making the same mistake.

As if he could sense my worries, Green flew closer to me. "There's no sign of danger at least," he remarked as he studied his Pokégear. The ringing and light emitting from the machine had caught his interest so now he was spending some time examining how much the small device had changed.

I nodded gratefully. "But it would be better if we could find the others and group together. I still have no idea where we're headed."

"I'm simply following the map on my Pokégear," he showed me the screen. "There seems to be a new function where red dots are appearing in the edges."

That reminded me of the Digivice's tracking function. I took it out and stared at the screen. "I forgot about this…"

Gabumon sat in front of me and laughed. "You were too busy lost in your thoughts, Yamato. Don't you remember we used it to find Koushiro?"

"Yeah, but I didn't expect for us to be separated like this again. But with the Digital World like this, I'm glad we have a way to find the others."

"There's a pair close by." Green turned his head towards a piece of land with a giant mansion in the middle of it. "Over there in that house."

I stared at it for a while and decided it would be best to find those closest to us first. "Okay, let's check it out then."

"We'd better hurry," Green remarked. "Knowing some of the Dex Holders, there's bound to be trouble." He frowned and muttered the name Gold under his breath.

Hearing the explosive boy's name reminded me of Daisuke and I smirked. "That holds true for some of the Chosen Children. Hopefully we get to them before anything happens."

~GOLD~

I dropped out of the sky and landed on something soft and bouncy. Annoyed, I got up onto my feet and looked down to see I hadn't landed on anything but the ground. I jumped up and down and noticed the grassy pasture was actually more like a comfy mattress than a field.

I bounced towards something sticking out of the ground nearby and noticed it was a cradle. "Hey, how cool!" I exclaimed as I looked into the cradle to see a furry black face staring up at me. I poked it and it jiggled like gelatin. I patted the small creatures head before turning my head to look at the other cradles. My smile grew wider when I saw an egg lying nearby. "Hey! This is amazing!" I bounded over and picked it up. There was a note attached and I read it. "'Rub me?' Well, okay…" I rubbed the colorful egg carefully and was surprised when it hatched so suddenly. The shell turned into a puff of smoke and a cradle appeared underneath where the egg once was. The creature that was inside the egg hatched into the cradle and yawned. This remarkable finding made me look around for my partners excitedly. "Hey, everyone! Come look at—" My face fell when I noticed how down everyone was.

Explotaro, Suntaro, Aitaro, and Politaro all sat in a sad circle. They had reverted back into their baby forms. They didn't seem to feel my excitement for my discovery of these eggs and I could see why. My team didn't seem that much stronger than the babies sitting in the cradles around us. Even Sutaro, who can't evolve, was down.

"Come on, all of you can't be that down. We'll just evolve again!" I tried my best to cheer them up, but noticed two other Pokémon I supposedly had with me were missing. "Where's Pich and Togetaro?" I asked.

I heard crying and saw the two hanging around a cradle, making some of the babies laugh. I had thought they were bullying the babies, but no, those two understood what it meant to be a child so wanted to have some fun. I smiled and looked back at my other Pokémon.

"Look, even if you're all in your most basic form now, we're still partners. Togetaro and Pich might be more used to being the youngest, but this is exactly how we started out, right? Just think back to before when we went after Silver! We need that motivation now." I looked towards the distance and scowled. "Really, I want to pummel that giant creep who did this to us."

Aitaro stood up and smiled at the others with fierce determination. Explotaro nodded and got to his feet and angrily flared his back. Politaro and Suntaro hopped up and looked up towards me. I smirked back and turned towards Pich and Togetaro who had made friends with the Digimon babies.

"Come on, everyone!" I called out so the two I hatched could hear me. "Since it looks like we're on our own, we're going to have to travel around by ourselves to search for everyone else. Hopefully our friends are close by." I immediately frowned when I remembered those other kids in the Digital World too. "If we come across any of those weird kids, I guess we'll have to stick with them but we won't unless it's absolutely necessary. Got it?"

All of my Pokémon agreed and I led them to the bottom of one of the hills we stood on. I could hear running water nearby so decided to follow it in case the others would do the same thing. But as I got closer to the forest, I noticed a guy with spiky hair and goggles. He was surprised too as he saw me with my Pokémon. "You!?" he exclaimed rudely.

"Hey, respect your elders! I'm Gold of New Bark Town, you Goggle Brat!"

"You're one to talk about respect! I might be younger but I've saved the world twice!"

"Keh! Well, I've saved the world three times!" I held up three fingers on my right hand and looked around me. "And it was a real world too, not some kind of video game world."

"This place isn't a game! It's real too!" Goggle Brat yelled back. "The Digimon and everything are real!" He tackled into me and I had no choice but to fight back.

I pushed him off and threw a punch. I managed to connect my fist to his head but he had a really thick skull so it hurt me as much as it did him. Both of us were left open but his head cleared first so he decided to kick at me. I quickly pulled out my cue and blocked the attack and swung it towards him, missing.

Meanwhile, my Pokémon and this small blue guy were sitting nearby watching. "Daisuke!" the little guy cried out. "You shouldn't really be fighting here! There's Digitama and baby Digimon everywhere!" Even my Pokémon were trying to make sure the baby Digimon who bounced their way over would stand back so they wouldn't get hurt.

We didn't really hear or notice them and just tackled into each other, making this a wrestling match. Being taller and thinner, I was more flexible and quick, but he was actually stronger than he looked and managed to lock my arms so I wouldn't be able to use them. I shoved my head into his stomach and pinned him to the ground.

All while this was happening, things became loud as the baby Digimon started crying. All of a sudden there was some shouting, forcing Goggle Brat and I to look up. "Who's making my babies cry!?" A red Pikachu-lookalike came up and tried to soothe the crying. "It's okay, little ones. I'm here!" He suddenly glared at both of us and came up to us. "You two! What do you think you're doing upsetting the kids like that?"

I sat on top of Goggle Brat and he lifted his head up from the ground and spat. "It's this guy's fault!"

"Hey! I'm pretty sure I wasn't the one who made the babies cry! If anything, all babies love me. That means it's your fault!" I pushed down on his back.

He pushed back and I ended up tumbling off of him, giving him the chance to pin me. We were about to go at it again, but the small red creature shocked the both of us. "Thunder Knife!"

The small bursts of electricity rained down on us and we were forced to separate and find cover. It was a weak attack, but it still hurt a lot. Goggle Brat began whining. "Hey! Don't you know who I am? I'm a Chosen Child! Why are you attacking me?"

"Because it's my job to protect these Digitama and Digimon from harm. And are you really a Chosen Child? The Chosen Children I've met before were never this bad of an influence for my babies."

"Of course I am!" He reached for his goggles. "Senior Taichi gave this to me as proof!"

Not entirely satisfied, the red Pikachu looked at me. "And how about you? Are you a Chosen Child too?" He eyed my partners oddly since he's never seen them before. "Odd Digimon you've got."

"They're Pokémon," I corrected as I rubbed my prickling legs. "And I'm a Dex Holder not a whatever child." I looked at the crowd of baby Digimon and frowned. "So who are you? You take care of these babies?"

"That's right. I'm Elecmon. I've been taking care of Primary Village for years, raising these babies until they evolve into Child level." He raised an eye when he saw the short blue Digimon standing near my team. "I don't think I've hatched any Digimon like you before. Is that kid your partner?" He pointed at Goggle Brat.

"Yup! That's Daisuke and I'm Chibimon." He smiled at my Pokémon. "And these are Gold's partners."

"You've got some cute fellows with you, Gold," Elecmon said as he petted Togetaro's head.

My Togepi became a bit annoyed since he didn't really like being treated as a kid so Aitaro had to hold the small baby back from pummeling Elecmon.

"Spunky too!" Elecmon carefully backed away with a nervous chuckle. He took a closer look at Togetaro and Pich though. "These two look an awfully lot like you."

"Yeah? I hatched them myself!" I proudly stated.

"Really? Impressive. Almost as impressive as a kid I know who hatched his own Digimon years back."

Annoyed that he was being left out of the conversation, Goggle Brat interrupted. "Hey, Elecmon. You're talking about Takeru, right?"

"Yup! Actually it's been a while since I've seen him. I wonder how he and Patamon are faring."

"Well, I'm not sure, but maybe you can help us find him!"

"Did something happen?" Elecmon wondered.

I scoffed. "Nothing really major. It's just that Goggle Brat got separated from his friends."

"So did you!" He glared at me and finally exclaimed, "Stop calling me Goggle Brat!"

"Well, what else am I supposed to call you? Goggle Loser?"

Both of us glared at each other before Elecmon got down on all fours again. Noticing this, we straightened up and quickly looked away from each other in fear of being shocked again. "That's more like it," the Digimon said. "I'd like to help in any way I can, but I can't just abandon the babies. I'll keep my eyes peeled, but Primary Village has to be my top priority."

"I don't get it," I said. "What's so important about Primary Village? I mean, I know there's a lot of these Digimon eggs, but is there more to it?"

"Pfft, why would you want to know?" Goggle Brat asked as he crossed his arms. "Digimon are born from the Digitama and since you don't really think the Digimon are real, there's no use in you knowing."

"You don't think I know about this type of stuff?" I seriously looked at the baby Digimon and the Digitama field behind them. "Real or not, I know miracles when I see them. Pokémon eggs or Digitama, those things are important to me." I smiled at my Pokémon and they beamed back.

Goggle Brat, not understanding what I meant, frowned. "Huh…"

Elecmon smiled up at me. "I guess it doesn't matter what you are then. Chosen Child, Dex Holder, you care about the future, right?" He looked proudly at the hills of cradles. "But to answer your earlier questions, Primary Village is where everything in the Digital World begins. All Digimon are born and raised here. They grow up and eventually go all over the Digital World. They live their lives until they die, but the Digimon never really die. Their data is just reconstituted into Digitama and they become reborn again here in Primary Village. You can think of this place like the beginning and end of the Digital World."

I nodded as I let it sink in. "So… it's just like a videogame where you get an extra life."

Goggle Brat smacked his forehead. "No! It's not a game!"

"Well, the explanation of Digimon sure sounds like a game! In my world, Pokémon can actually die and never come back, so I always have to be careful with my team. What about that little guy you have? If he dies, he gets to be reborn. What else does that sound like to you, besides a videogame character?"

"You don't get it! Chibimon is mo—" He was interrupted when Elecmon got on all fours and was staring towards the field. "Elecmon?"

"I sense an intruder." The red mouse-like Digimon listened intently for any suspicious noise and immediately darted along the edge of the forest.

"Daisuke!" Chibimon jumped up in a panic and wanted to go after him.

Goggle Brat nodded. "Let's go!"

They left me behind and I noticed the baby Digimon were shivering with fear. Seeing their discomfort, I closed my eyes and tried to think it through. "Togetaro, Pich, you're in charge of watching the babies. Everyone else, let's go!"

I left the entire group of babies behind, hoping this wasn't going to get bad. If Goggle Brat only had that little squirt to fight, I would definitely have to help. Even if my Pokémon weren't strong enough, I would have to stand up for these little babies. I looked back and deepened my frown when I made out Pich and Togetaro's impatient faces. Something told me that they weren't going to sit out, but they would still follow my orders and watch the kids.

GREEN (Serious): I don't think I was portrayed very accurately...

IXEN (Hardy): ... Yeah? But don't you have a soft spot inside you somewhere, Green-san?

GOLD (Naughty): Hah! A nice Green-sempai!? That's- Ah! I didn't mean it that way, Green-sempai! Don't give me more punishment training!

IXEN (Hardy): Well, don't forget to review. It's been a while. Hopefully Author will get through this first month without screwing up schedules too much.