"Welcome to try outs. I hope your first day of middle school was good. My name is Mr. Schmidt. I will be your coach for the next three years. This is my partner Datamon."
Datamon waved.
Drake huffed impatiently. He was bored already. He adjusted his glasses on his short Asian nose. Combed his somewhat curly black hair with his hands. Rolled his brown eyes, and sighed.
"Tis is fun!" His Koromon said.
"Waiting around is fun?" Drake asked sarcastically.
"Yes!" Koromon smiled.
Drake rolled his eyes. "You're as weird as Dawn sometimes."
Koromon just smiled. Alex, Micheal and their partners laughed. Drake couldn't help but join in. Coach Schmidt shot them a stern look, which shut them up.
"I want you to pair up." Coach Schmidt continued. "There will be two matches. The first will be without cards, and the second will be cards only. Remember that winning does not guarantee you're on the team. I've had players that lost both of the tryout matches, but proved to be the strongest duo on the team."
Drake did a quick head count. Twenty pairs. Ten spots on the team. Five starters, and five subs. Only half will make it. Then half of that will actually get to fight.
"Hey Drake!" Micheal called. "Let's partner up!"
"Sure!" Drake smiled. He walked over to his friend.
Once everyone was lined up the coach told them to begin.
"Koromon Bubbles!" Drake ordered.
"Missimon Missile Crash!" Micheal said.
Missimon flew through Koromon's attack and rammed into Koromon. It began to circle back around for another attack.
"Switch to Frothy Spit!" Drake ordered.
Koromon did as instructed. The acidic bubbles slowed Missimon down enough for Koromon to jump to the side.
"Now hit it with Soft Tackle!" Drake said.
Koromon yelled as it hit Missimon. Missimon fell to the floor. Micheal called Missimon to his digivice.
"Alright." Coach said. "After a brief rest the next part will begin. Please change your partners."
"You're pretty strong." Micheal said. "I know you're getting on the team."
"Totally." Alex said, holding his Upamon, "Hey! Want to be my partner now?"
Drake laughed. "Sure!"
Once everyone was in position again Coach Schmidt told them to start.
"DigimonStat Boost, Attack!" Drake and Alex yelled. A white light surrounded their Digimon.
"DigiModify, Tanemon's leaves!" Alex called. A green stem with two leaves formed on Upamon's head.
"Ha!" Drake laughed. "DigiModify, Nyaromon's Tail!" A yellow and purple striped tail materialized behind Koromon.
"Try this card!" Alex taunted. "I got it from Josh. Digiattack, Wanyamon's Smiley Fang!" Upamon jumped up with its mouth open ready to bite.
"Oh yeah!" Drake smiled. He knew attack cards worked best when you had modified your Digimon with something from that Digimon. "DigiAttack, Fox Tail!"
Koromon swung its tail at Upamon, knocking it out of the air. Upamon landed with a thud. Alex took Upamon into his digivice to rest.
"Alright!" Coach Schmidt yelled. "I saw some very interesting strategies today. The results will be posted on Friday."
Later that week
"Mom! I got the first spot on the team!" Drake slammed the door closed and ran upstairs.
"Good job Dana! Oh? Aren't you a hungry one Dan! Good boy!" He heard his mother say. His mother looked over, and saw him. "What did you say?"
"Mom…" Drake whined. He sighed, "I said I got the top spot on the team."
"That's nice. So who's all on the team?" She asked.
"Well there's Alex, Micheal, Josh, someone named Jake, he has a Wanyamon, and that's all I can remember." Drake said.
"When is the first game?" Gatomon asked.
"October third. It's a home meet. Sixth graders go first, so it'll be at four." Drake smiled.
"Ok. Since it's early I'll be able to go." Drake's mother said.
"Do you promise?" Drake asked. He hoped she would promise, but part of him doubted it.
"I promise." His mother said.
Drake smiled. He felt excited, but that was soon interrupted.
"Can I come?" Dawn asked, as she ran up the stairs, her short dark brown hair bobbed up and down as she did.
"When did you get home?" Drake asked, annoyed.
"She had a doctor's appointment today." Their mother said.
"I knew that." Drake said sarcastically.
"Then why did you ask?" Dawn asked. Her dark brown Asian eyes showed she was clearly confused.
"I was being sarcastic." Drake said. He rolled his eyes. Dawn could be so dumb sometimes. Then again, so was he at her age. Not that he'd ever admit it.
"So can I go to your game?" Dawn asked again.
"Yes!" Koromon said.
"No." Drake said.
"Drake." Their mother warned.
"I don't want her embarrassing me." Drake said.
"Too bad. She can come if she wants." Their mother said.
"YAA!" Dawn and Koromon cheered.
Drake rolled his eyes. His sister was going to embarrass him in front of his friends, but he was still excited. His mother missed his first little league game, but she promised wouldn't miss his first middle school game. He couldn't wait to show her how strong he and Koromon were! He just hoped Dawn wouldn't embarrass him too much.
The following week
"Hey Jake," Drake said. "I'll give you an extra Nyaromon's Tail I got, for your Smiley Fang."
"Sorry. My brother gave it to me. I can't really part with it." Jake said.
"But it's useless." Drake said.
Jake shrugged. "How about a Tokomon's Bite card?"
Drake thought about it.
"Do it!" Koromon shouted.
Drake laughed. "Alright deal!"
"I see some of you are trading cards." Coach Schmidt said as he walked in.
"A good deck can make the difference between victory, or defeat." Coach Datamon said. "Be sure to have some defensive cards. Not just offensive ones."
"Now run one lap around the gym. Then line up for stretches." Coach Schmidt said.
"Come on Koromon!" Drake said.
"Ya!" Koromon cheered. They did their one lap, then lined up for stretches.
"Ok. Drake you're in the first spot, so you will lead the sketches." Coach said.
Drake and Koromon went to the front with the other leaders. Together they led their team in stretching out their muscles.
"Ok. Time for target practice." Coach Schmidt said.
Drake and Koromon headed over to the targets at the far side of the gym.
"Alright. Start with Bubbles." Drake said.
Koromon did as instructed. All of its bubbles hit the target.
"Now Frothy Spit." Drake said.
Koromon hit the target again with bubbles.
"Hey Drake!" Micheal said. "Bet I can pop more of Koromon's Bubbles than you!"
"You're on!" Drake laughed. Koromon blew some bubbles and the two boys began popping them. They all laughed, until Coach Shmidt saw them
"Ehem!" He cleared his throat, "Please stop goofing off, or we won't be winning any games."
Drake rolled his eyes and sighed. Micheal, and Koromon apologized. They went back to work.
"Soft Tackle!" Drake said.
Koromon jumped as hard as it could into the target.
"Nice one!" Drake cheered. Koromon jumped up and down as it cheered.
"Very good you two." Coach Schmidt said with a smile.
Drake smiled. He was glad his coach was pleased with him. It felt good. He wished his parents praised him more. Or any of them. Well they praised the two babies, but he doubted that would last forever. He hoped Dawn and Dana never realized how little their parents, especially their mother, cared about them. Their step-dad was trying his best, but he had issues of his own.
"Alright. One lap around, then line up for stretches." Coach said, snapping Drake back to reality.
Drake shook his head, and began to run.
One month later
"Mom! Don't forget tonight's my first game." Drake said. He walked into her room, and noticed she was packing for something, "What are you doing?"
"I have to take Dawn to the hospital. Her levels haven't been good, so they want to keep for a few days to run some tests." His mother explained.
"So Ernie's taking her?" Drake asked. His voice sounded hopeful, but in his heart he already knew the answer.
"No. I want to be there." His mother said.
His heart sank.
"But you promised!" Drake whined.
"I can't help it." His mother said. "Dad isn't as familiar with Dawn's condition as I am. I need to be there to answer any questions the doctors may have."
"But you miss da fun." Koromon said.
"You promised…" Drake cried. He let no tears fall. He was sad, but tears were for babies.
"She said she can't help it!" Gatomon said, crossing her arms.
"ARG!" Drake stomped off to his bus stop.
"Why couldn't you have been born normal Dawn?!" He thought angrily.
He shook his head. He knew that wasn't fair. Their mother only spent time with her if she was sick, or had a doctor's appointment. If she was healthy then she would just get ignored like he was. But yet he was still mad.
The school day passed slowly, but eventually it was time for the game.
"So Drake, are you excited?" Micheal asked.
"I guess." Drake shrugged. He was careful not to let his friends see how upset he was, as they wouldn't understand. Or they would, but either way he didn't want their pity.
"Where are you parents?" Alex asked, looking at the audience as they filed in.
"My mom is with my sister in the hospital. Her doctor wants to do some tests. Ernie is at home with my other two sisters, and my baby brother." Drake explained nonchalantly.
"That sucks." Alex said.
Drake shrugged. "My grandparents are here at least."
"Ok team, warm up, then get to your seats." Their coach said.
Once they were warmed up they took their seats on the sidelines.
"Drake you're up first." Coach nodded to Drake.
Drake and Koromon went to the center of the gym. His opponent did the same. A barrier appeared and separated the two tamers from their partners.
"Remember, battles are five minutes. If there is no knock out, then we go by who has the most health left." The referee said. Drake nodded, as did his opponent. The referee looked at them then yelled, "BEGIN!"
"DigimonStat Boost, Attack!" Drake yelled and scanned a card.
"DigiStat Boost, Speed!" His opponent yelled, scanning a card..
"Koromon, use Bubbles!" Drake said.
"Tokomon dodge them!" Drake's opponent said.
Tokomon ran out of the way of Koromon's attack.
"Now use Bite!" Tokomon's Tamer ordered.
Tokomon rushed towards Koromon.
"Digimodify, Nyaromon's tail. Digiattack, Fox Tail." Drake yelled as he frantically scanned the cards.
A purple and yellow striped tail appeared behind Koromon. Korormon readied itself. It knew if it hit Tokomon wrong it would bite down on the tail. It waited for Tokomon to make its move. Tokomon jumped up, and was ready to bite down on Koromon's head. Korormon smiled. Just wanted it wanted. It jumped to the side of Tokomon and slammed the tail right into it. Tokomon yelped, and collapsed to the side.
"STOP!" The referee's Palmon entered the field and used its Poison Ivy attack to separate the two combatants.
"Tokomon is unable to battle. Koromon wins. One point for the Tigers." The referee pointed to Drake.
Drake, Koromon, and their team cheered as the crowd clapped. Drake could see his grandparents, and their partners clapping and waving at him. He smiled and waved back. He was still sad his mother couldn't be here, but at least Dawn wasn't here to embarrass him. He just hoped the doctors would be able to help her.
"If only there was a way to create organs from her own body." Drake thought.
"My lord, I have found a potential recruit. He may even be able to inherit the Spirits of Flame."
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Wait until his partner is at the Rookie level. And keep an eye on his sister. She'll be getting her partner soon. Now get me recruits from the surrounding cities. "
"Understood my lord."