(A/N: I had someone stat that Pokemon with the ability to Mega Evolve are capable of facing Mega Digimon. While I can understand the confusion due to the 'Mega' title, this is not true. With the exception of the strongest of Legendaries, Pokemon just do not possess that level of power. If you watched the YouTube video Death Battle where Charizard faced Agumon and his Digivolutions, that was all just for show. Case and point, MetalGreymon's profile states that his strongest attack has the power and force of a nuclear blast, and he's only at average strength for an Ultimate. Charizard, even Mega Charizard doesn't possess even a fraction of that much firepower. If they actually met, MetalGreymon would have wiped the floor with Mega Charizard with little effort {though Charizard would have the speed advantage}. This is not me playing favorites, that's just how strong Digimon are. There really is no comparing Pokemon to Digimon in terms of power beyond the Champion level except for a select few. Maybe, MAYBE, a Pokemon like Mega Mewtwo or Arceus could face off against a Mega level Digimon like WarGreymon, but even that's stretching it.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: Making Preparations

The older DigiDestined didn't take as active rolls in the Digital World as the newer ones due to the responsibilities they had in the Real World, but they did at least attempt to be present during the meetings. And for a meeting as important as this, they were all present, having commandeered the computer lab at the school in order to communicate with those in the Digital World.

With the exception of Patamon and Gatomon, who were in their Rookie and Champion forms, the other four Digimon were in their In-Training forms; it made it easier for them to pass themselves off as stuffed animals, allowing their human partners to blend in with the other children rather than stand out as the heroes that saved the world from evil Digimon like MaloMyotismon, Armageddemon, and such.

The older DigiDestined's Digimon were present as well, only they were on the computer screen, broadcasting from the Digital World. Gennai was with them as well, listening to the report the newer DigiDestined had given in regards to their encounter with Devimon.

"Hmm," he muttered, thinking over what they had told him. "This is indeed troubling. And you have no idea where he went?"

TK shook his head. "None. It certainly wasn't the Real World; we would have heard about it here by now if it had been. From the sound of it, it's a completely undiscovered world."

Yolei was tapping her chin. "Couldn't he have gone to that freaky wish-granting dimension Owikawa ended up in when he tried to get to the Digital World?"

Though he was taking part in the meeting, Izzy was busy typing away on another computer. "It's possible, but very unlikely. That place was more of a space between the worlds rather than a world itself, which was why reality was so distorted there. And there's really nowhere for him to go once he's there anyway, so he likely would have just broken through the layers to either the Real World or the Digital World rather than just remain there if that was where he ended up."

Beside him, Mimi scowled, giving the computer he was typing on what could almost be passed as a look of jealousy. Reaching over, she grabbed the back of his shirt, yanking him away from the computer. "Would you get off that thing and pay attention! We're trying to find out where Devimon went."

Seemingly completely oblivious to the true source of her irritation, he pulled away, giving her a frustrated look. "That's what I'm trying to do too. I'm going over the flow of data around the area where Devimon disappeared to see where it leads."

On the other computer screen, Tentomon raised a limb in praise. "If anyone can figure it out, Izzy, it's you."

Gennai cleared his throat. "In any case, I'm afraid Izzy is right. It looks like Devimon went somewhere else."

"Could it be that dimension Davis, Veemon, Agumon, and I went to in order to fight Quartzmon?" Tai asked.

"Or maybe even the Dark Ocean," his sister suggested.

It was Izzy who answered, once again back on his computer. "I've already contacted the DigiDestined from that world, along with the DigiDestined of the other worlds that also joined in the fight with Quartzmon. There's been no signs of any anomalies to suggest that Devimon ended up there."

"That's too bad," said Matt, "we could have just warned those DigiDestined, and they could have taken care of Devimon for us; they're certainly strong enough."

Sora walked over and took a look at Izzy's computer. "What about the anomalies in our Digital World? Couldn't we just use one of those to follow after him?"

On the other computer, Gennai shook his head. "That's no longer an option. The anomalies have stopped appearing. It seems that whatever was causing them was happening from whatever world Devimon ended up in, and he put a stop to it."

A frightening thought suddenly occurred to Joe, and he did his best to hide his panic. "Hold on! You don't think he got online, do you? Some of us were able to get on the internet in order to fight Diaboromon. Did he find out how?"

Izzy was still unconcerned as he continued to type away. "The internet is fine. Someone would have noticed if Devimon was online."

On the computer, Agumon waved to get attention. "These anomalies were coming from a world of technology, we know that much at least, so it must be a dimension similar to the human world."

Gennai tapped his chin. "He's right, but that still doesn't give us much to go on. There are several worlds that have learned to use and access data in order to tap into the Digital World, and more and more worlds are discovering it as well. Why, just a few years ago, another version of the human world created an online virtual realm called OZ where an artificial intelligence called Love Machine was unleashed."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "OZ? Love Machine? Are you making those up?"

DemiVeemon suddenly jumped onto Davis' head. "Who cares about that? Lets just find a way to go after Devimon."

Izzy didn't even take his eyes off the computer. "I already have a solution for that."

All heads turned to him in surprise. "How'd you figure that out?" TK asked in astonishment.

Finally looking away from the computer, he turned to them. "It's the same way we got from the Digital World to the Real World the first time."

Davis took out his Digivice, which was very different from the first generation's Digivices. "You mean with 'Digi-Port open'?"

Yolei sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Can you please stop talking."

A bit more sympathetic, Ken turned to their leader. "I think he was talking about the older DigiDestined."

Sora's eyes widened as it suddenly clicked. "Ah, the cards!"

Nodding, Izzy turned back to the computer and brought up the image of the ten Digimon Cards. "That's right. The same ones Myotismon used to get to the Real World. Ten cards, nine slots to place them in, and a whole lot of combinations."

Gennai nodded as well. "Yes, I told you there were other worlds out there. Depending on how you arrange them, and which ones you use, each combination opens a door to a different world or parallel universe."

Cody's eyes were wide with amazement as he began to calculate the countless variables. "That's a lot of worlds."

"I'll say," Davis agreed. "Ten cards, nine slots, that's a lot of combinations. And a world for each combination? There's got to be hundreds of worlds out there." He immediately received strange looks from the others, and realized he must have gotten the math wrong. "Um, I mean thousands." More stares. "Er, millions?"

Izzy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Anyway, the real problem isn't getting to whatever world Devimon went to, but figuring out which world it is."

"Billions?" Davis asked.

"We're done talking about how you're failing math!" Yolei snapped at him.

Sitting on Kari's lap, Gatomon looked at the ten cards on screen worriedly. "We can't possibly try out each and every combination and hope we get lucky. That'll take forever."

"Trillions?"

"Davis!"

Sighing, Izzy arranged the cards on the screen in the order they had used to get from the Digital World to the Real World. "It seems the basic order opens a doorway to the Real World. Swapping out the Gomamon card for the Agumon card opens one to the Digital World."

In Cody's arms, Upamon glanced up at his partner. "But didn't that open the doorway to that weird dimension Owikawa ended up in?"

Izzy was typing again. "Not quite. Like I said, that was the space between worlds. The reason why it seemed to grant you wishes was because the rules of reality weren't entirely established. You only ended up there because BlackWarGreymon used his body to seal the pathway to the Digital World in that location. AHH!"

The others jumped as he suddenly cried out. "What was that for?" Tai demanded.

"BlackWarGreymon!" he exclaimed. "He could help us!"

Gennai looked thoughtful. "Yes, that could work. He should be able to trace the distortion caused by the anomalies back to the source. From there, we should be able to determine what order to arrange the cards in to open up a doorway to wherever Devimon went to."

While Izzy and Gennai seemed to be excited by this prospect, the others seemed confused. "Hey," said Yolei, "how can BlackWarGreymon help? He was an artificial Digimon created from Control Spires."

"Yeah," Cody agreed, "they just disappear once they're destroyed."

Gennai nodded. "Yes, ordinarily, you would be right, but as I'm sure you're aware, BlackWarGreymon was no ordinary Control Spire Digimon. He managed to gain sentience and free will. After his body broke down and he used it to seal the entrance to the Digital World, he became a type of spiritual being that now guards and protects the borders between the worlds."

"No, way! That's amazing!" TK exclaimed. He looked at Izzy. "You knew about this?"

The older boy nodded. "I found traces of his data that were still active and was able to establish communication with him. I didn't want to say anything because… well, I thought it would be hard. He's still technically gone…"

A sad silence descended over the group as they thought about their old enemy turned ally. No matter how much time had gone by, the loss still hurt.

Gennai cleared his throat. "Well, he's not gone completely, and I'm sure he'll be willing to help us. I'll work on getting in contact with him."

Izzy nodded. "And I'll get to work on figuring out which card order we'll need with the information you get."

Davis beamed. "Sounds like a plan. Everyone, lets get ready." He punched the air, and the others mimicked him with a cheer. Then he looked at Izzy questioningly. "So, zillions?"

"Davis!"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Things were quiet in Charicific Valley, but Liza knew that that could change. The residential Charizard would often battle each other, strengthening their skills. Not that Liza minded; this was a place for the Charizard to train after all. Most were wild, able to come and go as they pleased, but a few belonged to Trainers, left here to train with the other Charizard.

One in particular was snuggling up with her own Charizard, nicknamed Charla. The sight of the mated pair made Liza smile. She wondered how long it would be before the two of them had a bunch of little Charmander running around. That would certainly be a surprise to Charizard's Trainer.

Yes, Ash's Charizard had improved greatly since it started staying here. Not only had it gotten a lot stronger, it had also matured a lot. That wasn't to say that Ash had been a bad Trainer. On the contrary, he had been a very good one, and certainly had a lot of love for his Pokemon. He'd simply been too inexperienced when it came to Training a Pokemon as powerful as Charizard.

The sound of her phone ringing brought her out of her thoughts, and she went to answer it. Upon clicking on the ANSWER button, the image of the Trainer she had just been thinking about appeared on screen, and she smiled at the coincidence.

"Hi, Liza," he greeted, waving at her.

Taking a seat, she scooted closer to the screen. "Ash, how are you? It's been a while. How's everyone doing?"

Brock suddenly pushed his way onto the screen, a deep blush on his face. "I'm doing fine! Seeing you again has my heart burning with the red hot intensity of every Charizard in Charicific Vall- AH!"

Misty had grabbed his ear and was pulling him away from he screen. "Cool off, hot head, this is an important call."

Sweat-dropping, Ash appeared on the screen again. "Sorry about that."

Liza chuckled in amusement. "I see Brock hasn't changed."

"Yeah, we're all doing fine. How's Charizard?"

She beamed. "Your Charizard is doing great. I take it you're calling about it?"

Ash smiled nervously. "Yeah, we have a bit of a problem, and I need Charizard's help. Do you think you could send it over?"

"Of course. Just tell me where you are, and I'll zap it right over."

A bashful look crossed Ash's face. "Yeah, about that… We're in Cotton Town, but there was a bit of an accident here, and the Pokemon transporter was damaged. So…"

Liza's eyebrows rose. "So you need Charizard to fly there?"

Ash just sighed. "I know it's a long way and really asking a lot…"

Liza just smiled and shook her head. "Nonsense. I don't think there's anything Charizard wouldn't do for you. I'll let it know right away."

"Thanks a lot."

"Not at all. It was nice talking to you again. Good luck with whatever you're dealing with."

"Thanks, and say hello to Charla for me."

"Will do. Later."

The screen went black. Liza got up and went to retrieve a map of Johto. Finding Cotton Town on it, she headed outside over to Charizard and Charla. "Hey, you two. You look like you're enjoying yourselves."

The two flame Pokemon glanced at her. "Charizard," the male responded in his own species' language.

She motioned for him to come closer. "I just got a call from Ash. He's in a bit of trouble and needs your help."

A flash of concern crossed Charizard's face, and he exchanged a look with Charla. "Char?"

Liza help up the map. "He didn't say what kind of trouble, but he's here in Cotton Town." She pointed to the location on the map, and Charizard bent down to get a look. "Unfortunately, the Pokemon transporter is down right now, so you're going to have to fly there. Think you can manage it?"

Standing up straight, Charizard spread his wings and breathed a stream of fire into the air. "Zard!"

Liza chuckled. "Yeah, I know you can. Go show him how strong you've become."

The flame Pokemon nodded and looked back at Charla. She nuzzled against him for a moment before licking his cheek. Charizard roared his determination and took to the air, disappearing over the wall of the valley a few seconds later.

Liza watched him go, smiling. "You made good choice, Charla."

The flame Pokemon just cooed.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Professor Stevens was busy showing Brock and Misty another one of his inventions. An instant Pokemon Restoration Machine he called it. Placing the PokeBalls of Bayleef, Onix, and Staryu onto the machine, he pressed a button. "Ok, here we go."

A bright light flashed along with six pings, and a moment later, they were done. Taking Onix and Staryu's PokeBalls, he handed them back to their Trainers. "And we're all set. You're Pokemon are fighting fit."

Misty took Staryu's PokeBall, looking amazed. "That's really it? Staryu's all better?"

The professor nodded. "This machine duplicates the ability Recover. Although we're still years away from it, it's my hope to one day have them installed in every Pokemon Center."

Brock immediately recoiled from him. "W-What!? You want to render Nurse Joy obsolete!? Absolutely not! I won't allow it!"

Professor Stevens sweat-dropped and held his hands up defensively. "N-Now, calm down. I never said anything of the sort. We'll still need Nurse Joy to operate it. And there's other medical treatment Pokemon may need that my machine can't fix; like if a Pokemon is sick, or if it has any broken bones or other injuries. All my machine does is replenish a Pokemon's strength and renew their energy."

"Hmm," Brock grumbled, staring at him suspiciously. "Well, I guess that's ok then. But I've got my eye on you."

Misty just sighed. Then she noticed Ash coming over to them, and she handed him Bayleef's PokeBall. "Here you go, Ash. Bayleef's all better."

"Thanks," he said, accepting the PokeBall. "Charizard is on its way. Hopefully it will get here before Devimon's deadline."

A frown crossed the professor's face. "I really appreciate this, but I don't want you to put yourselves or your Pokemon in danger. I don't even think a Charizard is a match for Devimon."

Ash just smirked, placing his hands on his hips. "Don't you worry. My Charizard is tough. I know he can win. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

Despite the situation, a small smile grazed the professor's face. "It's great that you have such faith in your Pokemon. It always does my heart good to see that bond." He closed his eyes in longing. "I sure miss my Porygon and Porygon 2."

Ash frowned. "Why? What happened to them?"

"Yeah," said Misty. "I remember you saying that Devimon defeated them. What happened to them after that?

Professor Stevens sighed. "They were confiscated by Officer Jenny. After I set Devimon loose on the world, I was deemed unsuitable to have Pokemon." He looked at the destroyed machine that had caused all this. "I've been trying to repair my machine so I could find a way to send him back, but even if I do manage to fix it, I won't be able to get it working without Porygon and Porygon 2."

Ash grabbed at the air. "Well, don't you worry, we'll beat Devimon, and then you'll get them both back."

The professor looked grateful for the boy's enthusiasm, but was still doubtful. "I want to believe that, but you haven't seen Devimon's power. You don't know what he's capable of."

The three Trainers exchanged uncertain looks. It was true, they didn't know what this Devimon was like. Professor Stevens had made it clear that he was stronger than most Pokemon, but not as strong as a Legendary. From what he had told them, no one in town possessed a Pokemon on Charizard's level, but he still seemed to think Devimon was superior.

"Well, what is he like?" Brock asked, not sure if he wanted to know. "What can he do? What's he look like?"

Sighing, the professor sat down. Taking up a pencil and paper, he began to draw. "He resembles a man, but he's nothing like one. He's tall, about ten feet, maybe more, and he has wings like a Golbat, and horns growing out of his head. And he's got these dark powers. They're like Pokemon attacks, only pure evil. I've never seen anything like it."

He held up the sketch for them to see. It was a very crude drawing, horribly done, but it definitely got the point across. Even from a simple sketch, it was clear that Devimon was not friendly.

Ash took the drawing, examining it closely. "This is Devimon?"

"He certainly looks nasty," Brock observed.

The professor shrugged. "I'm not the best drawer, but yes, he's very frightening. And I was the one who brought him to our world." He glanced at his machine. "I wish I had never started this stupid project."

"Hey now," Misty gently scolded, "it's not like you had any bad intentions."

The professor shook his head. "That may be, but I should have considered the consequences of my actions rather than just blindly charging forward." He grasped his head. "I was so focused on whether or not I could get my machine working, I didn't stop to think if I should, or what would happen if I managed to pull it off. I just wanted to show everyone that I wasn't crazy."

Ash felt bad for the guy. He could certainly relate to him. He thought back to his battle with Fearow earlier. When he had first thrown a rock at it when it was a Spearow, he hadn't been thinking either; he just wanted to catch a Pokemon, and had resorted to a rather crude and unorthodox method of doing so. As a result, he had led that Spearow down a path of hate, and the violent and ruthless Fearow was the outcome.

"Well, the good news is that any mistake can be corrected," he replied. "Just you wait, we'll beat Devimon, and then you can get Porygon and Porygon 2 back."

Pika, Pika, Pikachu."

The professor just sighed. "I hope you're right."

(A/N: Alrighty then, both sides have a plan. The DigiDestined have found a way to follow after Devimon, and now they just require some help from BlackWarGreymon; well, his data anyway. As for the Trainers, they've called in the cavalry. But even as powerful as Charizard is, he won't be able to stand up to Devimon. A regular Champion like Greymon or Garurumon, sure, but not a uniquely powerful one like Devimon. Will the DigiDestined arrive in time to help, or will their arrival just cause more problems? Stay tuned to find out.)