AUTHOR (Currently feeling Guilty): SORRY, SORRY! I apologize for my very late update. I normally don't have this long a gap, but I couldn't help it. Between all my science classes, video games, and mental insanity, there wasn't really a good time for me to write. There might be longer gaps coming up, because I think the only time I do have time to write stuff is during the summer, or whenever I have absolutely no homework (which is never). And for those wanting to know what happen to Ruby and Sapphire, sorry too. The pacing didn't really suit me so they probably won't be back until about two chapters. Instead, let's move on too... well, if it wasn't obvious enough by the chapter title: the Sinnoh trio and Red.

IXEN (Annoyed): About time. You can't go abandoning things you start now... Then again, that's totally like you to if you don't have the same drive for it.

RED (Pleased): Come on, Ixen. She's busy putting her drive into other things that are necessary, like the future.

TAKERU (Calm): Yeah. Red-san is right. We're not the only ones fighting for our future.

~PLATINUM~

The steady rhythm of the morning sound got louder and louder, urgently reminding me of Diamond and Pearl. I opened my eyes, expecting to see Pearl's relief and Diamond's cheerfulness but I saw instead a boy with cropped reddish hair holding my Pokédex.

I was about to scream for help and try to take my Pokédex back but he quickly shushed me and handed it back. He looked nervously at the small pink Digimon sticking his head out of the digital tree we hid in. The elastic Digimon came back in and nodded. "The danger is gone, Koushiro."

The older boy sighed in relief. "That's good." He looked down at me and checked to make sure I was okay. "You're not hurt, are you, Lady?"

I shook my head and studied him carefully. He was the boy that had been with Diamond's blonde friend and was the same boy who was trying to fix the small television. If Diamond trusted these people I would have to attempt to try, but I still had some misgivings about this world.

The Digital World was a strange and curious place filled with danger. I had hoped to follow Green to learn more as it didn't seem as though I could learn as much from Red. The Chosen Children didn't seem very knowledgeable of the Digital World so it would have done me no good to follow along after them.

This particular teenager seemed different from the rest however. His eyes were filled with an unusual amount of curiosity. "I didn't quite get your name," I said as I got to my feet.

He quickly straightened up and bowed to me. "Koushiro! Koushiro Izumi, second year middle school! It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady."

His Digimon partner looked at him and sighed. "You're still so formal, Koushiro." The Digimon looked up to me and held up his right hand. "I'm Mochimon. And your name is Lady?"

"She's a noble, Mochimon," Koushiro quickly said. He bowed apologetically towards me. "Sorry if we offend you. We're just not used to people of high class." His eyes widened at what he said. "That's not to say that we're crude or anything! Actually—"

"Koushiro, you're making the situation worse," Mochimon stated. The Digimon looked up at me and apologized himself. "Please excuse Koushiro. Sometimes he doesn't know how to act around people since he's normally absorbed in his research and computer."

The redhead closed his mouth and sighed. "Yeah…"

I calmly smiled at the two. "No, it is okay. Travelling with Diamond and Pearl has taught me a lot about the lives of everyone else in the outside world. For most of my childhood, I was homeschooled by my father who was a research aid for Professor Rowan." I was intrigued by Koushiro's work. "You are a researcher?"

Koushiro stared at me oddly before his eyes lit up with curiosity. "No, I'm still a student but I intend to become a researcher when I am older. I study the Digital World right now as a hobby, but there's always something new and exciting to learn. But," his smile faltered as he stared at the tree's entrance, "I suppose I can't do anything about that now."

"Well, as long as I'm here, there's nothing to worry about, Koushiro," Mochimon said as he happily inflated himself before letting out the air in a relieved sigh. "We'll just learn as we go along, just as we've always done!"

I smiled at two before thinking of my own team. I checked my Poké Balls and realized only four of my six Pokémon were with me. "Where are Empoleon and Rapidash?" I asked them.

My Pokémon turned their heads towards the entrance, making me rather confused and worried. There was currently no danger so why were Empoleon and Rapidash not in their Poké Balls? Could something have happened to them?

I rushed outside and blinked back the bright sunlight that managed to get past the rainforest's thick canopy. I heard some rustling and immediately turned around. I spotted the flames of my fire Pokémon so knew they were trying to hide.

"Lady!" Koushiro came out too and noticed I was intently staring at where my two Pokémon were. "You're worried about your Pokémon… Those four with you I managed to get into their balls easily. Those two however seemed rather upset and wouldn't return no matter what. Your small penguin chick seemed the most upset though, even attempting to fight against the Kuwagamon that threatened to get near the tree."

"Small penguin chick?" I repeated. I clenched my fist and determinedly stared into the trees. "Ponyta, Piplup, come out!"

I sensed their hesitation before Ponyta willingly revealed himself to me. Piplup sat on his back with her back turned towards us. I felt my pride as a trainer hurt since something as impossible as this has happened. This must have been why Ponyta and Piplup refused to go into their Poké Balls. It wouldn't have mattered either way since I would have found out sooner or later, but my Pokémon and I shared the same fierce pride.

"Koushiro," Mochimon spoke up after a long moment of silence, "we have to get going before other Digimon show up."

"That's right," the boy realized. "Since we're separated from the others, the first thing we need to do is to go look for them."

I looked up at that. My two devolved Pokémon finally turned to face me at the thought of training with them again. If we could find another of our comrades, both Pokémon could evolve to their former state. I remembered the reason I had awaken and stared at my Pokédex.

"Diamond and Pearl must be nearby!" I exclaimed.

Koushiro was surprised by how certain I was of that statement. "How are you so sure? Mochimon and I were calling for help but we couldn't find any sign of the others."

"My Pokédex made the morning sound! When three Pokédexes of the same model come together they ring. Diamond and Pearl are near," I gripped the machine tightly.

The redhead sadly shook his head. "Sorry, but they're not. I was looking through your Pokédex on my computer and when I was about to return it, your Pokédex, watch, my Digivice, and D-Terminal suddenly went off." I lowered my gaze to my Pokétch. "The beeping didn't last long but I thought the sound was going to attract attention from dangerous Digimon. It didn't go off because your friends were close though, but it did have a strange reaction to my equipment."

"I see…" I was greatly disappointed, but there was nothing else to be done or said. I then realized he had been going through my things. "You were studying my Pokédex?"

"You dropped it and I got curious as to how it functioned!" Koushiro quickly tried to explain himself. "It was wrong of me but I had to learn something." Koushiro froze when the ground shook. "Mochimon? Is that a Digimon or more of those shadows?"

"Shadows?" I looked around carefully as the thought of the creatures I encountered on Captain Eldritch's ship. Piplup jumped onto the ground and prepared to fight and I climbed onto Ponyta's back.

A loud roar caused Mochimon and Piplup to jump. "Kuwagamon!" Mochimon dodged out of the way as a large red insect Digimon slammed its pincer into the ground. "Koushiro!"

"There's nothing we can do but run!" Koushiro tightened his shoulder strap and motioned for me to go ahead. "A Baby-level won't do anything against an Adult," he said with a frown.

I nodded in understanding and had Ponyta start. Something caught my eye on my left though and I quickly yelled out an attack. "Ponyta, use Flamethrower!"

The Pinsir dodged the attack and charged towards us with its sharp pincers open. Piplup rammed its beak into the Pokémon and proudly puffed up her chest. She then quickly turned around and used Water Pulse to give Koushiro and Mochimon enough time to catch up.

The tall boy thanked Piplup and took out his D-Terminal. "Lady! Please find a safe place for us to hide. I'll try to e-mail the others and let them know we're—" his eyes grew wide as he stared at the small machine's screen.

"Senior Koushiro?" I asked with some concern.

"Never mind me. We need to get out of danger."

Mochimon jumped into the air. "Elastic Bubbles!" Sticky bubbles attached themselves to a Pinsir going after them. The Pokémon struggled but got stuck to a nearby tree. "Koushiro, I see something up ahead."

I turned my head towards the direction the small Digimon pointed to. I was able to make out a pyramid ruin past the trees. "We'll go there," I stated as I guided Ponyta.

"Okay," Koushiro nodded.

As we got closer to the ruin, less Pinsir and Kuwagamon chased us. Soon we were safe, but we didn't take any chances as we carefully made sure nothing inside would attack us. Koushiro found an empty chamber and I followed him. I climbed off of Ponyta's back and noticed some strange runes etched into the cave walls.

"What language is this, Senior Koushiro?"

"I can't read it myself but it should be DigiLetters."

"That's right!" Mochimon cried. "It's the written language of Digimon. This ruin is filled with them."

"Should we decode it?" I asked. "It might be important."

Koushiro shook his head. "I've been here before. It's the Temple of the Digivice."

"Weren't we with Mimi at that time, Koushiro?" Mochimon looked up at his partner.

"I don't really remember."

"I remember! You were too absorbed in your computer to notice Mimi went off into the labyrinth. I got lost with her in there!"

Koushiro's face went red with embarrassment. "Oh, that's right!" He paused and stared at the doorway leading into a long hallway. "Without a proper guide, it's easy to get lost in there forever."

I nodded in understanding. "Is there a way for us to navigate it?"

"We'll need my laptop," the boy said as he unpacked it from its case. "But first, is there something different about your watch? Back when I wanted to e-mail the others, this came onto the screen of my D-Terminal." He handed me the device and I was surprised to see the Pokédex page for Piplup.

I curiously inspected my watch and checked its applications. I found something new. "This is?" I pointed it towards Mochimon and another screen came. "A Digimon Analyzer?"

"So your watch gained some functions of the Digivice?" Koushiro seemed intrigued by the thought and immediately turned to his laptop. "I have to look into this immediately."

"Maybe I can be of some assistance?" I offered.

He nodded his head. "I know it was wrong of me before to look over your Pokédex without permission, but can I see your watch and Pokédex?"

I placed my things next to his Digivice and D-Terminal. "Okay."

"What are all of the functions of your machines, starting with your Pokédex?" He prepared himself to type down notes.

"The Pokédex is able to collect and recall information for any species of Pokémon, even holding the ability to track certain Pokémon. Each one is registered specifically to a Dex Holder, so will ring when they come together and held by its correct owner. There's a cancel evolution function in case we do not want our Pokémon to evolve. In battle, our Pokédex is capable of gauging a Pokémon's health, level, and known attacks," I recited everything I've read from Professor Oak's letter to Professor Rowan.

"So it seems that my D-Terminal, originally meant to send e-mails between the other Chosen Children, has adopted the information function. There's another function the D-Terminal has but the younger Chosen Children are the only ones capable of using it to store their Digimentals used for Armor Evolution." He looked down at my pink watch. "Now what about this?"

"My Pokétch has different applications to do all sorts of things. It contains a map of Sinnoh, clock, pedometer, and calculator. I mainly used it as a phone but there seems to be some interference preventing me from calling Diamond, Pearl, and our seniors. Before leaving Sinnoh with Diamond and Pearl, we all had new applications installed but I did not get a chance to see what they are for."

"And now it has an application that can link to the Digimon Analyzer," Koushiro added. "The Digivice can identify Digimon but all of that data can only be accessed again with this special port in my laptop." He pointed to the strange slot located near the top of his keyboard. "The Digivice also contains a tracker that can locate other Digivices and has the power to dispel darkness. The most important function is its ability to gather up human emotion and energy, allowing me to evolve Mochimon up to Adult level, but all regular evolution seems to be jammed. Under normal circumstances, I could combine my Digivice's evolution abilities with my Crest of Knowledge to bring my partner up to Perfect level, but it's impossible now."

"Knowledge?" I asked.

Mochimon nodded. "That's Koushiro's special trait as a Chosen Child. He's the holder of the Crest of Knowledge."

"I see! This makes it easier for me to trust that Senior Koushiro can find the answers to our problems." I bowed my head respectfully and prepared myself to learn from him.

Koushiro stared at me oddly and nervously smiled. "What's this for, Lady? I'm not that knowledgeable. There's still a lot that I don't know yet."

"But as a person close to the Knowledge Pokémon, Uxie, I believe Senior Koushiro is capable of learning what needs to be done to save the Digital World."

"Knowledge Pokémon Uxie…?" Koushiro's eyes widened as he understood what I meant. "So Knowledge is your trait too." He paused to stare at our four devices and smiled. "Okay then I'll get started on uncovering the secrets behind why our worlds linked." Koushiro glanced outside our shelter. "You should rest, Lady. It's getting dark outside."

"Will you need my help, Senior Koushiro?" I picked up my Pokédex and put my Pokétch back on.

"It would be better if you slept. I'll be fine." He rubbed his eyes and gave me a reassuring smile.

Mochimon frowned at his partner but the boy didn't see because he was busy linking his laptop to the ruins. "I'll keep an eye on Koushiro. He always gets like this whenever he finds something interesting."

I nodded and smiled. "Please take a break if you really need it, Senior Koushiro." The boy didn't respond as he had already gotten lost in his research.

Ponyta helped me start a fire to light up the ruin and keep us warm. I sent out all of my other Pokémon to feed them but remembered a seventh Poké Ball I had put into my bag. "Phione!" The baby Pokémon came out and smiled at me. It quickly looked for my bodyguards but I sadly shook my head. "The three of us separated."

The small Pokémon gave me a comforting hug and I felt a bit better. This small baby was hatched by the three of us so just the small act brought me a little closer to my friends. I wondered if the two boys were fine. It would be unbearable for me if they were hurt.

I shook my head to clear such thoughts. "Pearl is completely capable of taking care of himself and Manaphy. And Diamond has Gi and Rotom with him."

I looked around at my Pokémon and noticed they were dozing off. I stared into the fire and became drowsy myself, but I didn't want to sleep just yet. The steady clicks and clacks of Koushiro's typing were lulling too but something made me sit up.

Mochimon noticed me stir. "Lady? Is something wrong?"

I stared into the dark hallway leading into the labyrinth and stood. I saw the shadows of a short familiar bear-like Pokémon and another parrot Pokemon. My eyes widened in disbelief as a larger quad-pedal turtle Pokémon and fiery ape Pokémon stood side by side with their trainers in between them.

"Are they here?" I asked aloud to no one in particular.

Mochimon and Phione looked at each other. "Who, Lady?"

"Diamond and Pearl," I replied.

Both boys had their backs to me but Pearl turned to look at Dia. He smirked to his best friend. "We'll find Little Miss for sure."

The slower boy nodded. "Yeah. No matter what."

"Let's go!" They took off for deeper into the labyrinth and I called after them.

"No, I'm back here! Come back!" I took off after the boys.

Phione came after me in surprise, crying out for me to stop. Mochimon did the same and pulled on my leg. "Koushiro! Look up from your computer! We have an emergency! Koushiro! Lady, stop!"

"My friends are looking for me!" I stated with conviction as I passed the doorway leading into the hall.

~JOU~

"Ack! That stings!" Pearl shouted as I sprayed the cut on his arm with disinfectant.

"Just sit still and it'll be better," I said apologetically. "I'm almost done." I bandaged the wound carefully and stood up. "Okay, you and your Pokémon are all treated."

"Jou…" I looked down at Pukamon.

"Oh right! I need to treat you, too." I knelt down and diagnosed his injuries.

Pearl stood up and looked around. "So do you have any idea where in the Digital World we are?"

I shook my head. "Nothing seems familiar. After all that running this afternoon, we were lucky to even find this cave for shelter."

The younger blonde boy clenched his fists and went to the cave's mouth. "Dia! Little Miss! Are you out there?" He glanced down at his Pokédex and Pokétch before coming back in a collapsing. He curled up and glared into the flames. "The second time…"

I finished patching up my partner and stared at the boy oddly. "The second time what?"

"Dia, Little Miss, and I are separated," he glumly replied.

"Don't worry! They'll be fine! The Chosen Children are always getting split up like this!" I stated cheerfully.

"Jou…" Pukamon looked at me oddly.

I nervously tried to say something else to cheer Pearl up. "Er! It'll be harder for them to encounter danger now that the Digital World has been broken up!"

"Jou…" Pukamon was getting more annoyed.

I gave up trying to be optimistic. "Pearl, I'm sure your friends are fine. You're not alone at least."

Pearl looked up at that. "I'm… not alone?"

"Of course not," I said with a small smile. "You've got Pukamon and me here with you, right?" I stared into the fire and thought of the others. "I mean, Pukamon and I might not be strong like Taichi or Yamato, but we've made it through the Digital World on our own strength before."

"That's right, Jou! We were able to find Yamato and catch up with Sora and Taichi in time for the final fight against Piemon!"

Pearl sat up and smirked. "That sounds exciting. What happened when you were alone?"

I blushed as I remembered that time in the Digital World. "It was a bad time for all of the Chosen Children. Yamato went on his own separate path to search for himself while Taichi decided to lead the rest of us forward to fight the Dark Masters who had distorted the Digital World. Mimi didn't want to fight anymore because a lot of our allies had already died trying to protect us." I rubbed my eyes as they began to tear up.

"What about you?" Pearl asked.

"I chose to go with Mimi, to protect her. I… wanted to find my own strength and I couldn't leave Mimi on her own in the Digital World. We travelled for a while and met a few old enemies and friends. After an important Digimon friend died, Mimi and I solidified our will and reason for fighting and began looking for allies to aid us in the final fight." I smirked when I remembered asking Ogremon to join us to avenge Leomon. "We wanted to revive the Digital World so that the Digimon friends we lost would be reborn again in Primary Village."

"That's right!" Pukamon said. "And that's when Jou decided to travel on his own."

I nodded. "I wanted to walk down my own path just like Yamato had. I wanted to find him and learn what he did. It took a long time but we finally met and found Sora and Takeru. Those two took us back to Taichi where he was facing the final Dark Master, Piemon, alone. Taichi had been waiting for us to return because he believed in us."

"You guys were victorious," Pearl smirked.

"Of course, we were!" Pukamon cried. "It was no match for us!"

I nervously chuckled as both of us omitted the entire keychain incident. That was best not to be relived.

Pearl smiled to himself as he stared at the fire. I stared at him and noticed he was carefully holding onto a Poké Ball.

"How about you, Pearl?" I asked. "You and your friends must be pretty close."

His gaze softened at the Poké Ball he held. "Yeah. The three of us became inseparable. Originally, Dia and I were never meant to be Dex Holders. There was a mix-up and by coincidence, we were able to meet Little Miss. We travelled together under a misunderstanding, but Dia knew all along. He just never wanted to clear it up because he thought it would have ended our travels. His selfishness made me realize my own feelings about the situation and we swore to protect Little Miss in place of her true bodyguards."

I chuckled a bit. "What were you two really?"

"Aspiring comedians!" Pearl declared passionately. He laughed as he thought back on it. "Dia was the funny man while I played the straight man. Dia was never one to get angered easily because he's always so relaxed. I was the one always deciding for us what to do," he became a bit depressed, "but soon we met an enemy Dia refused to leave alone. I wanted to run and protect Little Miss, but Dia chose to fight and protect the future. Picking fights with other people is something he's never done before so we got into our own fight where he finally revealed to me his true feelings."

"His true feelings?" I repeated absently.

"Yeah, it was a big surprise for me, but I was proud of Dia and I chose to believe in his decision. We didn't win the battle against the enemy, but after that, we were closer than ever. Our manzai was a lot smoother and the three of us resumed our travels."

"So when did you three separate?" I asked.

Pearl paused and frowned. "That was a hard time for us too. We learned of news that Little Miss' father had been taken. Dia and I wanted to help her. We wanted to protect her, but we ended up hurting her." Pearl lifted an arm up to wipe his tears. "She found out the truth and didn't want to see us ever again. Our adventure was brought to an end just as Dia believed it would if the truth got out." Pearl calmed down but didn't raise his head to look at me. "Little Miss forgave us the next morning and I was relieved but it was short-lived. The three of us were a trio and she received news that the enemy we've encountered throughout our travels was going to drop a bomb on the three lakes of Sinnoh."

I blinked at that. "What would that achieve?" I asked.

"They wanted to awaken three legendary Pokémon who lived at those lakes. The bomb was going to be dropped on a set day but we had no idea which lake it was to be at, so we went our separate ways." Pearl fell silent as he looked at the Pokémon in his hand. "That next morning was hard on the three of us, because from that point on, we were alone." Pearl frown slowly turned into a smile as he went on. "When I saw them again, it was extremely hectic. There was smoke everywhere and everything was loud, but I heard it: the morning sound that greeted us every day during our travels. We were reunited and were able to stop Cyrus' ambitions together."

I smiled at the thought and began laughing. "The two of us are similar, aren't we?"

Pearl laughed too. "Well, yeah. We have a strong will burning in our hearts. If there's something to be done, we'll see it through no matter what."

I nodded and was startled when the Poké Ball in Pearl's hand suddenly shook. "Ah! What's going on?"

"Manaphy?" Pearl stared into the ball and let out a translucent blue baby Pokémon. "What's wrong?" The small Pokémon stared outside worriedly and Pearl was careful to watch it.

"What Pokémon is that?" Pukamon asked curiously.

"A mirage Pokémon of Sinnoh," the blonde replied. "It's a legendary Pokémon the three of us hatched after resolving some loose ends left over from our initial adventure. It was supposed to be with Dia since most Pokémon preferred being with him and he's the best at uncovering their emotions, but he handed Manaphy to me and Little Miss. There's another Pokémon that goes with Manaphy, but Little Miss must have Phione with her." Pearl stared at the ocean. "I hope everyone else is doing all right."

I studied the boy's face and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine. In the morning, we'll go after them."

Pearl's smile widened. "Right!"

"Uh, Jou?"

I looked down at Pukamon. "What's wrong?"

"Manaphy is leaving!"

Pearl and I turned to the cave's entrance and saw the small Pokémon slip away. Pearl hurriedly chased after it. "Wait, Manaphy! Where are you going?"

I got to the entrance and saw Pearl try to pull Manaphy back, but the Pokémon refused to return into its ball. Pukamon listened carefully and looked up at me in confusion. "Manaphy is crying about returning into the ocean with the other legends."

"What does that mean?" Pearl asked as Manaphy slipped out of his fingers. "Manaphy!" The blue Pokémon became more liquid-like and evaded the blonde.

"I don't get it either, but Manaphy is saying it needs to get into that dark-looking ocean."

I caught up to Pearl's side and watched as Manaphy entered the water. Red eyes stared back at us as we watched. Pearl didn't seem to mind as he charged into the water. "Manaphy!"

"Pearl, don't be reckless!" I called out after him. A shadow rose out of the ocean and attacked Pearl, sending back onto the shore. "Pearl!"

The blonde stared at the glowing blue light in the ocean. "Manaphy!" He clenched his teeth and looked towards me. "We've got to go after it."

I nodded knowing we couldn't let Manaphy go on its own. It was just a baby after all. Pukamon and I charged towards the shadows and Pearl sent out a small orange weasel. Pearl and I looked at each other and smirked, knowing this was a test of our willpower. "Let's go, Pukamon!" I shouted.

"Don't hold back, Zellord! Water Gun!"

"Air Bubbles!" Pukamon shot the bubbles towards the shadow but they seemed ineffective. I turned to look at my partner but noticed he was already surrounded by the light of evolution. "Pukamon, evolve! Gomamon!" He dove into the dark ocean and smirked at the shadows. "March of the Fishes!" The familiar colorful fish attacked the creatures while more gathered together to build a small raft.

I got Pearl's attention and the two of us got on board. Pearl recalled Zellord and gulped as he peered into the ocean's dark depths. "Just what are those creatures?"

Gomamon and I looked at each other with a shrug. We had never seen them before at all.

~TAKERU~

I stared down the cliff and quickly backed away as I saw the violent waters of the Dark World beneath them. "There's nowhere else we can go," I stated, an edge of fear entering into my voice.

Dia went to the edge and took a look for himself. "If we jump from here, would we land somewhere else?" He shook his head vigorously to answer his own question. He carefully lifted his gaze and stared at the other fragments of the Digital World. "Lady and Pearl are out there somewhere."

I nodded and glared down at the Dark World's ocean. "And Hikari might be in danger." I clenched my fist and let out a curse. "Damn it! Below is the Dark World and out there is the Digital World, but we can't go anywhere!"

Dia looked at his Pokétch and grimly nodded. "It's clear that everyone else is on another piece of the Digital World, but we can't get to them." He checked his Pokémon and sighed. "I don't have a Pokémon that can fly."

Tokomon looked up at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, Takeru."

I immediately let go of my anger and picked up my partner. "No, it's not your fault, Tokomon," I said with a smile.

"But if I could evolve, we would be able to armor evolve and fly away towards the others."

I sighed and held him close to me. "That's okay. It'd be worse if you were hurt, Tokomon."

Dia looked at me and smiled. "Yeah, so let's not give up. We'll find another way."

I stared at the boy oddly. There was a lot of worry and fear showing in his eyes but he seemed so calm. I didn't understand how he could find the strength to put on a smile. He really did have a strong control of his emotions. His closest friends were in danger but he was being rational. I feel the same way but I was letting my fear affect my judgments. I can't protect anyone the way I am now. Seeing Dia so determined though made me realize his sense of Hope might have been greater than mine.

We shared a smirk before we decided to get down from the cliff. As we began, Dia paused because something in his backpack was bothering him. He turned to look at it with a puzzled expression on his face. "Gi?" he asked as he cautiously opened his bag.

I saw a Poké Ball shake violently before it opened. A colossal Pokémon stood in front of us, staring towards the ocean. It towered over me and I couldn't tell what it was thinking. I thought it was going to attack us, but it simply walked to the edge of the cliff and kept a steady gaze at the water.

Dia stared at his Pokémon but couldn't read its thoughts. Suddenly his clear blue eyes widened with realization. His determined expression grew more serious as the large Pokémon lifted its trainer up. "Takeru, we have to go look into the ocean."

A part of me didn't want to, but I tried to force those feelings down. In the end, I couldn't so I started to talk Dia out of it. "Are you sure? You can feel that powerful aura coming from the ocean, right? Aren't you afraid too?"

The boy lowered his gaze and thought about it. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I am. But I want to trust Gi. It never leaves its Poké Ball so whenever it does, it's my job as its chosen trainer to believe in it. I know Pearl and Lady are out there somewhere, so I'm going after them." He lifted his eyes towards me. "The precious future lies in that ocean, Takeru. That powerful aura we sense is threatening that and everything else we care about."

I glared out over the cliff once more. Tokomon looked up at me worriedly. "Takeru…"

I nodded and swallowed my fear. Gi offered out a hand and I climbed up. I sat on Gi's other shoulder and held on tight as the giant behemoth jumped.

~RED~

I rolled over in my sleep but groaned when my muscles ached. My body felt sore so I decided to sit up and check if I was okay. I opened my eyes and stretched, but to my surprise, I wasn't in Gennai's house. I jumped to my feet and looked around in alarm.

"Where is this?" I cried as I grabbed the prison cell bars. I thought back and remembered my previous battle against those tentacle claws. I shook my head when I thought about seeing all of my Pokémon devolving before me. I looked down at my team and sent them out.

My surprised cry was caught in my throat when I saw how hurt everyone was. I fell to a knee and shook in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I messed up again, didn't I?" I lifted my gaze towards Poli and Saur, who were in their first forms. "You two… The two of you were the first Pokémon I ever got." My eyes travelled to Vee. The Eevee seemed to be struggling to maintain its form and I hugged him. "It took a long time for you to be cured of your mutation too." I looked at everyone else but noticed Aero was missing. "Don't tell me…" I rasped out.

Pika sadly held out a small piece of gold-orange amber. My thoughts were confirmed and I clenched it tightly. I shook in silent rage and disappointment at myself, but took a deep breath. There was no time for that right now. I got back up and fixed my hat.

"We need to get out of here," I decided. I tested the bars and noticed they were made of some special metal. Looking at my team, I realized that none of them had enough strength to break it. I had to try anyways. "Snor!"

My Snorlax tried to wrestle the bars apart. I cheered him on but eventually his footing slipped. The large Pokémon gave me an apologetic look but I patted his back to reassure him.

"Oh? Trying to escape?" A voice behind us forced to me turn.

I prepared for a fight, but didn't see anything.

"Over here," the voice taunted me from right beside me.

I jumped and was about to call an attack when I felt a chain wrap itself around my throat. I struggled as my attacker made himself visible to us. It was a strange ghost-like Digimon carrying a scythe. His red cloak covered his face, but his evil blue eyes stared at me coolly.

"It's about time you've woken up! The crowd is getting restless!"

"Crowd?" I struggled to say.

"Yes! This is a coliseum, you know? There's an audience ready to see you fight!" My Pokémon wanted to attack, but the Digimon noticed their tension. He tightened the chain and sneered at them. My team looked at me worriedly and immediately backed down. "That's a good fighter. No your place and win your fights, okay?" He stared into me and laughed. "If not, you'll probably end up dead!"

He tugged sharply on the chain and forced me out of the cell. I stumbled a bit and felt the chain loosen. "What makes you think I'll agree?" I challenged.

"We dispose of any useless fighter. You don't seem to be able to do much in this position, so I could quickly end this now for you and those creatures that follow you. Besides, if no one fights, we'll have to dispose of all of you." He made a gesture towards the rest of the cells and I saw that more Digimon and Pokémon were cowering in fear inside them.

I burned in anger and so did my team, but we couldn't act on it. I bit back my fury and had to agree to fight. The first chance we get though, we'll free the others and escape. "Fine, lead us to the arena then."

He laughed as he shoved me up the stairs. "Remember, these fights are to the death, so do your best to survive. The bets are already coming in so make this interesting!"

I was left in shock as I realized I would have to totally defeat my opponent. I tensed in frustration but decided to fight anyways. I recalled everyone except Vee. Concerned, the Eevee looked up at me with an expectant gaze.

I smiled back and nodded. We'll fight and win, but we won't be merciless killers. That's not what being a Fighter is about. I reached into my bag and took out the familiar evolution stones. I didn't really think I would have a need for them again, but it was a good thing I had them.

A small green Digimon was brought out. I studied it and realized it wasn't really powerful. The Digimon resembled a slug and it stuck out its tongue goofily. It was afraid as it saw me standing with Vee. It panicked and tried to run back to its side of the coliseum's prison. "I can't win against a Chosen Child! Let me back!"

The reaper Digimon reappeared and blocked his path. "You will fight or you will forfeit." He held his scythe readily and I tensed up.

"Vee," I prepared for him to attack, but the slug Digimon obediently turned to face me.

Satisfied, the other Digimon disappeared again. I stared at the small green slug oddly. "If you don't want to fight me, why do it?"

"Phantomon is sure death," the Digimon whimpered. "Against you, there's a small chance."

I shook my head. "Not just a small chance. I'm not a killer."

"But we have to fight."

"I know," I said weakly.

The match began when the slug threw some sort of sludgy projectile towards us. I dodged out of the way and picked out the water stone. Vee smoothly became a puddle and glided along the ground. He blasted the slug with a steady stream of water.

Apparently that was all it took to take down the small Digimon. He slumped to the ground and awaited the worst, but I didn't do anything. Instead, I called out for Vee. "Okay, that's good. We're done, Vee."

Phantomon appeared, shaking his head at me. "This is a death match. There's no room for mercy here." He raised his scythe to finish the slug, but Vee used Quick Attack to reach the weapon.

I flashed the Thunderstone and called out an attack. "ThunderShock!" The stream of electricity quickly travelled through the scythe, shocking the Digimon. I glared at Phantomon. "I'm not going to allow anyone to die."

"Why you insolent brat!" Phantomon charged towards me, but the crowd began jeering in protest. He paused and stared at me. "I guess I can't finish off a crowd favorite then. Have it your way. I'll just have to pit you against tougher opponents. Some of them won't hesitate to destroy you."

I braced myself for the next fight. "I still won't finish them off. That's not what it means to be a Fighter." My hand went over my heart as I remembered my reason for battling.

The matches did get tougher, but it was unnecessary to kill my opponents. I just knocked them out as best as I could without hurting them too bad. Most of the Pokémon and Digimon were just afraid. They had no reason to be fighting either so I did my best to spare them from any needless bloodshed.

Finally, I was forced to return to my cell to rest. Apparently, there was only one more opponent for me to fight. I checked my team to see if they could handle one more battle. When I gave me their determined expressions, I nodded. "Okay, everyone. The same as before. Let's go."

I silently followed Phantomon out to the field but was surprised to see who it was waiting for me. Apparently he was surprised too. "Red!" The brown-haired boy stared at me with his determined brown eyes. He shook his head. "I can't fight against you!"

"Neither can I, Taichi," I said as we realized our situation.

PLATINUM (Confused): So where are Diamond and Pearl really?

IXEN (Annoyed): Gone, away somewhere. Probably the Dark Ocean.

JOU (Antsy): I guess we won't know for certain what happens next for a while though.

AUTHOR (Guilty): Sorry, sorry. I'll try, I promise... Stupid school... Why can't life be like Pokemon where it's unnecessary? Wah...