The Crest of a Master

by PizzaSpino

When the Digital World is in peril it doesn't just turn to a regular group of kids. It turns to a group of kids raised in a world centralized around raising and battling monsters! Join Ash and Agumon as they make new friends, battle an army of monsters, and hopefully save both of their worlds from an ancient evil.

3. Your Rival Would Like to Battle

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction written by someone who enjoys creature collector franchises. Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc. and Satoshi Tajiri. Digimon is owned by Bandai, WiZ, Toei Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo. If you want to support the official releases, worry not. Lord knows there is plenty of merchandise to choose from.

Listening to as I write: Trainer Battle Music (Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, Yellow Version)

The Crest of a Master Chapter 3: Your Rival Would Like to Battle

When Gary woke up this morning, he was expecting his usual daily routine. He'd start out by helping Gramps and his aides with feeding and cataloging the Pokémon on the laboratory reserve followed by trading some barbs with his older sister who would then disappear for the rest of the day into her room to study for her college entrance exams. Meanwhile he'd study and prep for his own upcoming journey followed by some chilling and maybe a phone call from one of his parents.

It just so happed that this morning he was given the errand of picking up Gramps' headache medication when lo and behold there was Ash Ketchum. He just had to stop and give the guy some good old-fashioned taunting. It was just so easy to rile his old friend up that it was almost a waste of his time. Almost.

What Gary had not been expecting was to find himself on some unknown beach with what had to be the weirdest Pokémon he had seen smiling at him. Which was saying something as he'd seen shape shifting blobs, vaguely humanoid boxers, and egg-shaped nurses.

The Pokémon in front of him was reptilian, though for a brief moment he thought it was mammalian as it was wearing some kind of striped pelt making it look as though it skinned a weirdly colored Growlithe. To make matters odder the creature could speak. Not telepathically project its thoughts like he heard some psychic Pokémon could do in rare cases. Actually speak. "Hello there! It's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

Using lightning reflexes Gary didn't even know he had, he scrambled backwards in a clumsy crab walk. As he tried to put as much distance between himself and the whatever-this-thing-was he grabbed a couple of seashells and rocks and chucked them at the animal. It was an action that he would later look back at and cringe. The Pokémon didn't actually attack him or do anything warranting projectiles. Not that said projectiles had any effect anyway as none of the shells hit their mark. The Pokémon just briskly weaved around them.

Fortunately, the Pokémon didn't mind the brief volley of hard objects. If anything, he was encouraging. "Wow, those were all close ones. You've got a good throwing arm," Catching the uncomfortable look on Gary's face the creature continued. "Don't worry, it's okay. I'm very good at dodging. None of the shells hit me." He must have mistaken Gary's worry for his own self as concern for the creature.

Backed up against a boulder, Gary opened his mouth, but nothing came out for a quick minute. When he finally found his voice, he asked the first question on his mind. "What kind of Pokémon are you?"

"I'm not a Pokémon. I'm a Gabumon." The not-Pokémon, Gabumon, strolled right up to Gary and began eagerly sniffing him. "You're a humon, right?"

"Human, yeah," Gary felt his panic begin to subside and muscles relax. Pelt of questionable origin aside Gabumon seemed calm and gentle.

"I thought so," Gabumon gave Gary a warm smile and his thick, scaly tail began to slowly wag. "You're holding my Digivice after all."

Gary glanced down to his hand that hadn't just been lobbying blunt objects at his acquaintance. There was the device that gotten him into this mess. It was no longer glowing. The only part of it that was blue was the round frame for the screen. He had also regained the use of his hand and could now move and relax its grip. Holding his arm out Gary offered the device to Gabumon. "Uh, sorry. I guess you dropped this?" Up into the sky. Down onto another planet.

Instead of taking the offered device Gabumon calmly shook his head. "Oh no, it's yours too." His smile brightened. "You see, we're partners!"

Partners? As in starter Pokémon partner? "You must be mistaken. I've never met you before." He would have definitely remember seeing this thing walking around Gramps's lab.

"That's because this is our first meeting!" Gabumon explained. His tail continued to wag as held out his hand to Gary to help him up. Once Gary accepted the hand Gabumon pulled Gary onto his feet and began to gush. "Oh wow, I can't wait to get to know you. I've got it! Let's ask each other some questions. Do you have a favorite kind of food? Mine's baked goods. I haven't had any for a long time since I'm living on this island and most of the villagers don't have any hands to cook with, but I'd love to visit a bakery with you once we get started on our journey…assuming there are any left."

Alright, time to pull the plug on this before it got out of hand. "Okay, Gabumon was it? I'm sure you're a nice, whatever you are, but I've got to get home."

"Oh," Gabumon's entire body began to slump much like an Eevee that realized you weren't taking it on a walk. The look of rejection on the monster's face kind of made Gary feel bad for the guy. But he couldn't stick around here. He was a very important person after all. "But you can't leave yet! You just got here!"

"What can I say, I'm a busy guy," Gary dusted himself off. "So how do I get out of here?"

Despite his immense look of disappointment, Gabumon did not object. "Oh, uh, sure. You see you've got to…" Gabumon looked back, forth, and all around the beach. "Huh, now that I think about it I don't know how you get home. I kind of just figured you'd either magically get sent back after we saved the world, or you'd live with me."

Hold up.

Gary's attention snapped from looking around the beach to Gabumon. "Wait, could you tell me more about that?"

Gabumon immediately perked up. "Living with me? Sure! I've got a hut next to the beach. It's in a sweet spot where the tides won't reach us, and I already made you a bed! I picked the best grass."

Uh huh, try again. "No, no. Before that."

Gabumon tilted his head. "Saving the world?"

Gary snapped in fingers. "Bingo."

"Oh yeah. Guess I should have led with that," Gabumon rubbed the back of his head mareepishly. "You see, there is this evil guy who's destroying the world. Well, it's not so much him as his followers. Which is good because the prophecies say that if he fully manifests, we'll all die. Well, it's actually still bad because his armies are still destroying the world in the meantime, just not as fast as he would if he was here…hmmmm."

Gabumon folded his arms and closed his eyes in contemplation. "I'm not very good at explaining these things," He then opened his eyes and smiled. "How about I take you to the island's shrine? The elder should be here any moment and he and Candlemon are way better storytellers."

Gary grinned. "Well, what are we waiting for? Lead the way!"

"Right!" Gabumon nodded and turned to run across the beach with Gary in tow.

As the two made their way down the beach Gary took note of their surroundings. For the most part it looked similar to any other beach he'd seen. Sand, rocks, a cliff side, same old, same old. But amongst the expected scenery there were a number of oddities. For starters some of the clusters of rocks had large computer mainframes, the kind that Gramps used to store the mountains of data from his research. Gary could just chalk this up to littering, but the tech looked like it was in pristine condition. He could also make out some patches of sand which had a bit more of a pixelated look.

Rounding a corner Gary saw a village of some kind. It consisted of multiple clusters of huts so small that all they could house was a human head. Or at least that was the impression he got from eyeballing them from a distance. Gary thought back to hut Gabumon mentioned. It looked like Gabumon lived on a different section of the island seeing as he came up to just past Gary's hips (minus the horn).

"Whoa!" Came a familiar voice.

Craning his neck Gary could make out the source standing on top of the cliff side and looking at the village below. "Hey! Over here!" Gary called out.

Sure enough, there was Ash. And standing next to him was another Pokémon. Or not Pokémon given Gabumon's reaction to the word earlier. Though this one did kind of looked like a large orange Totodile as appose to…. seriously, what was Gabumon?

Ash turned to Gary and stared bug eyed. "You're here too?!"

"Yep, wherever 'here' is," Gary called back. "Why don't you get down here?"

The probably-not-a-Totodile hoped down the cliff side using the different rocks sticking out from the side as steppingstones until he neatly landed at the bottom. Ash tried to follow suit but ending up sliding down the hill. He tried to save his fall by sliding down on his feet and credit where it was due, the kid actually had a decent sense of balance. He almost looked cool sliding down the hill like it was nothing. Up until the last minute where he couldn't quite stick the landing and fell face first onto the beach below.

The orange reptile happily ran over to Gabumon. "Hey, Gabumon, I've got my human partner!" He proudly motioned towards Ash who was slowly rising from his crash landing. "Look how durable he is!"

A confused expression crossed Gabumon's face. He looked at Ash, then Gary. "That's your human?" He took a couple more looks back and forth. "Is there something wrong with him?"

Gary barely held in a laugh. He was liking Gabumon more and more by the minute.

Ash, on the other hand, was not as amused. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He demanded making his way over to the rest of the group.

Gabumon slunk back and bowed his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean any offense. It's just that," He took another look back and forth between the two humans. "You both look so different."

That was an interesting tad bit of information. "Are you saying every one of your species looks alike?" Gary asked.

Gabumon shook his head. "Well, no. There are slight differences. But nothing so radical."

"Yeah, just look at you guys!" The orange reptile started circling the humans with a look of awe dancing in his eyes. "The clothes, the hair. If you didn't say anything I'd think you guys were just variants on each other."

"I guess I never really thought of ourselves as looking extremely different," Ash responded thoughtfully. "But now that you mention it a lot of Pokémon of the same species look a lot alike too."

Gabumon tilted his head upwards in thought. "Makes you wonder what the first human looked like."

Gary arched a brow. "First human?"

The orange reptile folded his arms, closed his eyes, and sagely nodded. "Yep. Legend has it that there was one other human long ago," He paused for a moment as if he was going to elaborate, but his eyes just snapped open as he moved onto the next talking point. "Alright, Human and Human, let's go meet the elder. Then Human can than stay with me for the night while Human can bunk with Gabumon."

There was an awkward pause before Ash broke it. "So, when you say 'Human' do you mean both of us or one or the other?"

The orange reptile looked thoughtful for a moment before addressing the two boys. "I guess humans aren't very good with context clues. Alright, how about we give you guys' nicknames for now. You can be Human One and you can be Human Two." He pointed at Ash and Gary respectively.

Neither Gary nor Ash looked flattered by these new names. "How about you just call us by our actual names?" Gary suggested in a flat tone.

"You guys don't just call each other Human?" The reptile tilted his head. "Makes sense since you had a hard time tell which human I was talking about but each human having a different name just sounds confusing."

"Well, it works for us," Ash smiled and pointed a thumb at his chest. "My name's Ash Ketchum. You can just call me Ash."

Gary placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "Gary Oak. Just like with Ash you don't have to use my full name. Gary should be just fine."

The orange reptile nodded. "Ash and Gary. Those should be simple enough to remember," He gave the kids a grin showing off his sharp teeth. "My name is Agumon."

Gabumon gave Ash the same warm smile he gave Gary. "And I'm Gabumon. You shouldn't have to worry about mixing us up with anyone else. We are the only members or our species around for miles."

"Nice to meet you," Ash gave Gabumon his own smile before turning to Gary. "So, Gary, has Gabumon told you the same thing Agumon told me? That we're supposed to save the world?"

Alright, back to the important stuff. "Something like that. Gabumon was taking me to meet their elder."

"Same here," Ash nodded. A thoughtful look came over his face as he looked at their partners. "Wonder what that guy looks like."

"NEEEIGHHHN!"

"You won't have to wonder much longer," Agumon pointed skyward. "There he is!"

Gary and Ash followed the direction Agumon's claw pointed. Quickly drifting closer was a winged figure. It was tough to make out the details as the afternoon sunlight glinted off of the animal, but aside from the wings Gary could make out a basic quadrupedal body design (hexapodal if you counted the wings) and a golden light wrapped around a net of what Gary could only assume was cargo.

As the figure swooped overhead it dropped its cargo and the light ropes retracted into its legs. The net bundling up the cargo fell open releasing a pile of fruit, wood, some small crates, and several large eggs. A loud cheer erupted from the tiny village as groups of creatures came hopping across the beach and from the tiny huts to the cargo drop.

The creatures, whom Gary had to assume were the villagers, were all various degrees of small with the largest looking as though it couldn't even make it past Gary's shins. They had a wide range of colors and features, though most of them just seemed to resemble bouncing, Pokémon heads or heads with stubby limbs. The lack of arms didn't stop them from unloading the cargo as they worked in groups to gnaw open some of the crates and headbutt fruits and boxes onto each other's craniums to be carried back over to the huts. It was actually pretty impressive as the bouncing heads managed not only to completely balance the cargo on top of themselves, but they were able to do so while hopping.

Meanwhile, the flying creature came back around and landed next to the village allowing the humans a better look. It was an orange equine with a stark white mane, tail and underbelly. It wore some golden armor around its lower legs, chest, and face. Branching from its shoulders were a pair of golden, feathered wings which gave one final stretch before neatly folding to its sides.

The creature was immediately greeted by a mob of the villagers who all chirped and cheered. It bent down to the crowd and allowed itself to be bunted by its various members, even going as far as to nuzzle some of the ones which got close to its muzzle. It didn't take long for the creature's ears, two small protrusions sticking out from the top of its face mask which looked like tiny, membrane wings, to flicker and face forward as the creature rose its head from the mob to stare at the humans. It spoke in a deep and gentle voice which reminded Gary of one of the elderly gentlemen Gramps would conference with every so often. "Don't be shy. Come on over. We're all quite eager to meet you."

At these words the villagers turned their attention to the humans standing just a ways off. Immediately the chirps and cheers' volume tripled as the crowd of bouncing heads hopped over to the duo and their Digimon.

Within seconds Gary and Ash found themselves surrounded by a crowd of adoring monsters. Some of them tried to crawl or leap over each other to get a better look. Others acted as crowd control pushing the rowdy audience back with high pitched commands of "Give them some space!" As tough as the tiny crowd control team acted, they couldn't contain the excited cheers from the mob.

"They're here! They're here!" Squeaked a head which resembled a Meowth's with a tail sticking out the back.

"You guys are going to save the world, right? Do you know how?" Asked another head which looked like a red dragon type.

"The legends are true!" exclaimed a creature which looked like a gray, long eared head.

For a brief moment Gary recalled looking at some old magazine articles of his Gramps back when he was a champion. The island inhabitants weren't human, but they shared the look of awe that were in the eyes of the audiences at Gramps' matches in those old photos.

A tug on Gary's hand broke him out of his reminiscing. He looked down to see Gabumon holding his hand and gently pulling forward through the crowd and down the beachside to where the winged horse and a large candle looking monster waited. Gary spared a quick glance over at Ash and his partner. He saw Agumon was also directing Ash through the crowds, though with less modesty than Gabumon. While Gabumon seemed content just leading Gary, Agumon held his head high with a smug look on his muzzle. Meanwhile Ash was transitioning from a mareepish grin to enthusiastically waving at the little monsters. Talk about a lack of class.

With a satisfied smirk, Gary pulled his hand out of Gabumon's and tucked in into his pockets. He straightened his walk into a confident strut as he let the cheers of the small crowd wash over him. This was really nothing, at least nothing compared to what he was going to get once he got back home and his trainer carrier took off. Still, might as well take this moment to get used to the herd of admirers.

Once the new celebrities made their way past the village to the waiting monsters the large candle hopped up to them. "Greetings, humans," He gave them a courteous bow. "I am Candlemon, apprentice lore master to our island's guardian elder. We humbly welcome you to our realm."

"Thanks!" Ash smiled down at the wax monster before voicing the question that was on both humans' minds. "So where is here?"

"Why the Digital World of course," said the candle as if that explained everything.

"The Digital World?" Ash glanced over at Gary, probably checking to see if his rival was anymore clued in than he was. Gary just met Ash's gaze and gave him a quick shrug. Digi-what now?

"Yes, the Digital World," The candle's gracious and welcoming tone now had an inkling of impatience. "Surly you've heard of it. It's where Digimon are from. The Digimon of your world no doubt have told you all about it."

Gary frowned at Candlemon's tone and folded his arms. "Sorry, we don't have Digimon. Just Pokémon."

"You don't?!" Candlemon's eyes darted between Ash's look of confusion and Gary's look of scrutiny. "But the legends say…"

"Ha!" Agumon was wearing the broadest grin. "Looks like Mr. Know-It-All needs to study harder."

That comment sent Candlemon over the edge. "Oh, like you knew!" He scolded Agumon, the flame on top of his head swelling in size with his anger. Gary half expected the two to start fighting until a loud and firm throat clearing cut the two mons off.

"To be fair," The winged equine spoke evenly. "The texts on the first human just stated that he came to our world with a small entourage of mysterious creatures. It is just a popular theory that these creatures were a new breed of Digimon. It could just be that they, like the human, were life forms not found in our lands at all. These 'Pokémon' perhaps?"

"Maybe?" Ash scratched the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm kind of lost. I just woke up and Agumon was there. He was telling me that the world was in danger and that I needed to use my 'human powers' to turn him into a powerful warrior to save the day."

"I got straight to the point," Agumon said with a proud tone.

"Yeah, as informative as this all has been, I think we could use a little crash course," At the risk of upsetting their hosts with his impatient tone Gary just decided to be direct as possible. "If you want us to help you guys out it would be nice to know who you guys are, what you guys are, where we are, and why we are here."

The equine nodded. "I suppose I should take it from the top," For a brief moment Gary was reminded of his grandpa with how the old horse spoke and stood: with a sense of warm playfulness, yet unquestioning authority. "Welcome to the world of Digimon! My name is Pegasusmon. As your new friends have probably informed you, I am this village's elder and guardian."

Pegasusmon swept one of his wings outward motioning towards the crowd of villagers. "This world is inhabited by creatures called Digimon, digital monsters." As if on que all the townsfolk started calling out various forms of "Hi!" or just made some welcoming noises.

Pegasusmon continued. "Some Digimon live in villages such as this one. They take up jobs and make a life for themselves. Others like to spend their days fighting and roaming the wilderness like animals," He then neatly folded his wings drawing the boys' eyes back to him. "Myself…I use my skills to protect these little ones and pass on what I've learned. My studies have informed me that humans refer to themselves by individual names. Could you tell me yours?"

Ash smiled and stepped forward "My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet Town! Someday I'm going to be a Pokémon Master!"

Not to be outdone, Gary also stepped forward. "I'm Gary Oak, also from Pallet Town. I'm working to become the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer." He shot Ash a smirk. "It's pretty much a given seeing as how my grandpa is a top scientist and my parents are both highly skilled trainers themselves."

For a brief moment Gary swore he heard Agumon whisper to Gabumon asking if he knew what some words meant. Before he could ask the two what they were whispering about Ash decided to bite down onto Gary's bait. "Well, my mom runs the diner. Which is also important!"

Gary shrugged. "Yeah, your mom's diner is pretty good."

The anger on Ash's face settled down into confusion. "Uhh, thanks?"

"In fact, you should probably work there instead of becoming a trainer," Gary continued. "I could use a good meal once I return home from the league."

Before Ash could verbally retaliate Pegasusmon interrupted. "Hmm, do you mind me asking for your ages?"

"We're both ten," Ash responded, easing away from anger.

Beneath Pegasusmon's mask Gary could see its eyes carefully observe the boys. After a moment of appraisal, he spoke. "I take it you're both rookies?"

Gary immediately straightened up. Sure, the horse was right, technically he and Ash were just starting their Pokémon trainer carriers, but Gary didn't feel the need to broadcast that. After all he already had plenty of experience working with Pokémon at the lab and his parents were both experts in their fields who gave Gary plenty of personal training. He was only a rookie on paper, not practice, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the world knew! On the other hand, maybe that's not what Pegasusmon was asking about. It didn't really seem to know much about Pokémon so how would it know their current skill level?

Ash held less qualms about being called out. "Uh, yeah. We're both about to begin our Pokémon journeys."

Wait a minute, it just clicked. "I think he's asking if we're kids," Gary said.

Pegasusmon nodded. "Indeed," He craned his neck skyward as though he was watching something off in the distance. "You see when I was young, I heard stories about the original human to wield a Digivice. It was said that he was a champion. Or an adult if that is your preferred term."

"A Digivice?" Gary suddenly remembered the small contraption which transported them to this world in the first place. He held it up to Pegasusmon. "Is that what this is called?"

"That it is," Pegasusmon affirmed. "The Digivice is a technological marvel which bonds human and Digimon. Though the texts don't go into detail as to how the Digivice works, they have listed multiple functions. Scanning, checking your Digimon's status, long distance communication, and most famously increasing your Digimon's strength."

"You had it all this time and never tried to figure out how it works?" Gary asked incredulously.

If Pegasusmon was bothered by Gary's snark, he did not show it. "The Digivice does not respond to Digimon commands. The most we were able to do with them was locate the Digimon each device chose to couple with. Afterwards the devices stayed silent. It was foreseen by prophets that once a doorway to the human world opened up the Digivice would go through the guide their humans to our realm."

As Pegasusmon explained Ash looked down at his Digivice. He began pressing the buttons around the surface in no particular order and even flicking at it a bit. Typical. Seriously, what did Gramps see in this guy?

"Whoa!" Ash jumped back as a flat, circular hologram jumped out from the Digivice's screen.

Gary stared at him bug eyed. "What did you do?"

Ash scratched at the back of his head. "Just fiddled around with it a bit and look, it's Pegasusmon," Ash turned the hologram to face Gary and indeed, there was a picture of Pegasusmon. Accompanying the picture were walls of scrolling texts and stats reminding Gary of the Pokédex his grandpa invented. Except with more writing and no voice over. Ash turned the screen back towards him and read. "Pegasusmon, armor level. Known as the Flying Hope he uses holy powers to shot stars from his wings, needles from his mane, and lasso his opponents. Cool!"

Ash then turned to face Candlemon. The hologram flickered and changed now displaying Candlemon's picture and information. "Candlemon, rookie level. He shoots out a Bonfire from his mouth to attack. It says here that the flame on top his head is his true form. Is that true?"

Candlemon folded his waxy arms. "I like to keep people guessing."

"Wow!" Agumon stared at the hologram starry-eyed. "Do me next!"

Ash obliged. "Agumon, also rookie. Has a fierce disposition and sharp claws that he uses in battle. His special attack is Pepper Breath."

Agumon proudly snorted, releasing small plumes of flames from his nostrils. "Spot on!"

Intrigued, Gary brought up his own Digivice. It took a couple of clicks, but he found the scan function and pointed it to his own partner. "Gabumon, rookie level. Special attack is Blue Blaster. Looks like that pelt he wears is made from the data of Garurumon fur, what?" Gary stared at Gabumon's pelt which looked just like a regular animal pelt. "What does it mean you made that pelt out of data?"

Gabumon brought up his arm to give Gary a better look at the pelt. Still looked normal. No ones and zeroes. "Technically I got this fur when I first Digivolved, but I do use data to maintain it. Since there aren't any Garurumon around anymore I just make do with the spare packets you find rolling around every so often," he turned and pointed out towards the sea. "There's one now."

Sure enough, there was a…something. The best way Gary could describe it was a ball of gibberish. A bunch of jumbled characters, words, and numbers wound up into a sphere that was currently making its way across the ocean current in the same manner a Bramblin would across a desert.

Gary made a note to unpack that and a number of other points in Gabumon's statement later. For now, he was more interested in the main goal. "So, you guys were saying that there is a major threat that you need me and Ashy-boy to take care of?"

Before Pegasusmon could elaborate, Candlemon pipped up. "Excuse me, master. May I handle this? I've prepared a presentation just in case our guests wanted to know about the war."

"Go right ahead," Pegasusmon nodded. He walked over to lay down between the two boys and their Digimon while Candlemon hopped inside the shrine. "Would either of you boys like a drink? We may not have exactly what you want but I'm sure we can find something similar."

"I'll take some lemonade," Gary said as he sat down. Gabumon followed suit.

"Do you guys have any soda?" Ash asked taking his seat.

"I'll take some fresh water!" Agumon declared. He started towards a vending machine on the beach. "Here, I'll grab them."

No sooner had Agumon taken his first step that he was stopped by a pile of villagers who all squeaked at him to let them fetch the drinks instead. Pegasusmon chuckled at the sight. "Let them play a part. It's been a while since we've had so much excitement around here."

As the villagers gallivanted over to the vending machine Ash turned towards Agumon. "Shouldn't we give them some money for the vending machine?"

Agumon tilted his head. "Why? What's a vending machine going to do with money?"

"Alright," Candlemon hopped back out of the shrine with some poster boards in his arms as the villagers came back with the drinks. "Gather round everyone and I shall tell you all the story of The Shadow Beast and the Human."

At this announcement the villagers all huddled around Candlemon, now more still and quite with the promise of a story. Candlemon began by holding up a poster board with a crude drawing of a globe. "Once upon a time our world was whole and the Digimon were not as small and weak as we are now. There were Digimon the size of mountains, Digimon who could topple mountains, and even a freshly hatched slime could one day grow into a mighty dragon."

Candlemon dropped the first poster and picked up a new poster. This one depicted a gangly monster with four arms, or maybe it was six arms. Was that horn coming out of its nose or forehead? "But it was not to last, for lurking in the shadows outside of time and space was the cruelest Digimon of all: Milleniummon!"

At the mention of Millenniummon's name the crowd around the kids began to boo and hiss. In response Candlemon took a brief moment to wave the poster in a menacing (or at least that's what Gary figured the candle was going for) fashion. "For the longest time Millenniummon was thought to be a ghost tale told by champions to get rookies to behave, but then one day he began to manifest."

Candlemon picked up a new picture. This one depicted Millenniummon roaring at various stick figures. Some of these figures looked humanoid while others had body shapes closer to Pokémon. "The more powerful Millenniummon grew, the weaker the Digital World got. Crops aged quickly and died, Digimon reverted to eggs, and even the earth began to crumble into space dust. Many powerful Digimon rose to fight him, but they were all defeated, and their data absorbed."

Gary raised his hand. "What do you mean their data was absorbed?"

Pegasusmon answered this question. "When one Digimon defeats another in battle they may choose to absorb their opponent to gain their power."

"You mean they eat them!?" Exclaimed Ash. A grossed outlook crossed his face.

"That is one way of looking at it, yes," Pegasusmon calmly explained.

A part of Gary wanted to jump on Ash for that one. His mom owned a restaurant so he should have known where meat came from. Not to mention any five-year-old knew that some species of Pokémon ate each other, so it shouldn't be surprising that some Digimon would do the same. Especially considering both Agumon and Gabumon's jaws were filled with sharp teeth.

But then again there was something about the way Pegasusmon framed it. That this happened when one Digimon defeated another in battle, not through hunting for survival. Yes, Pokémon got stronger through battle experience and victories, but a trainer never ordered their Pokémon to eat the loser.

"As I was saying," Candlemon grumbled, clearly not appreciating the interruptions. "Soon Millenniummon's wrath began to break down the barriers between worlds. Other realms soon met the same fate as our own and there was no one to stop him."

Candlemon brought up the next poster. This one just had a regular stick figure standing in a field. "Until one day, the human arrived! He was a complete stranger to our land with no attacks and his only allies were a small group of alien Digi…Pokémon, from his own world. Alone they stood no chance against the shadow beast, but that didn't stop them from trying!"

The next poster displayed the stick figure again. But this time instead of standing in a field it was surrounded by ten other stick figures. Most of them looked humanoid, albeit with some horns or wings, while the rest had some more beastly body shapes. "The human traversed what was left of the Digital World to gather ten noble Digimon who would stand beside him in combat and together they sealed Millenniummon in another dimension and restored the Digital World!"

After the proclamation of the monster's demise the villagers began to cheer. Once again, Candlemon paused until the audience settled down. "For a thousand years the Digital World returned to peace but alas it was short lived for at the end of those thousand years the seal started to weaken and Millenniummon began to appear again!"

The next picture showed Millenniummon again, but this time he was floating over a bunch of stick figures with hastily drawn angry faces clumped up at the bottom of the drawing. "And it wasn't just him. This time around he had amassed an army of followers. Digimon who wished to gain power or court favor with Millenniummon. They became known as the Forces of Chaos!"

Candlemon's next poster depicted number of figures with wings and armor accompanied by rays of light shooting form their bodies. "To keep the Forces of Chaos from fully resurrecting their master the divine angels formed The Celestial Army to protect everyone from the shadow beast's wrath. But even with the might of the angels, Millenniummon continues to grow in power and our world collapses more each day. But there is hope!"

The final poster showed a Digivice in the middle with ten identical Digivices surrounding it. "For the weapon wielded by the original human, the Digivice, split into ten. Ancient and wise, the angels concluded that this meant we were to be sent ten new saviors to finish what the original human started. So they sent off a small group of their disciples to find and guard the new noble Digimon as they awaited their human companions to guide them to victory and save our world again."

His story concluded, Candlemon took a bow. The audience of villagers all cheered and hopped up and down. The few who had limbs clapped. Agumon stood up and started clapping Ash on the back who just stared at the discarded posters in awe.

"Wow, that's the only time Candlemon has ever referred to use as noble," said Gabumon without a hint of mirth or sarcasm in his voice.

"Quiet," Candlemon hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm trying to give the humans a good impression of you."

While the little bout of fanfare dance around him, Gary mauled over what he just learned. On one hand, it seemed fanciful. He, a kid, had just been summoned to an alien world and given the daunting task of saving it from a fabled fiend. He hadn't even received his first Pokémon or earned a gym badge yet. Although…

Gary looked down at the scribbles of Millenniummon and the trainer. According to the story all it took to fight this guy was one trainer from a thousand years ago. Monster battling had evolved since then and Gary was thoroughly educated on the latest techniques. Besides, one of the trainers these Digivices called on was Ash, the same guy who periodically forgot simple type match ups and couldn't properly complete an assignment if his life depended on it. How hard could defeating this Millenniummon be? "Alright, Pegasusmon! Leave it all to me!" Gary turned and sneered at Ash. "Ash, I hate to say it, but you won't be necessary for this."

Ash shot up from the ground. "Why you…"

"Okay, that tears it!" Agumon interrupted Ash, glaring at Gary. "What's your deal? Why do you keep trying to start something with Ash? He's a great guy and an excellent tamer."

"Trainer," Ash corrected as his glare joined Agumon's.

"What he said," Agumon amended.

"How would you know? You just met him," Gary scoffed.

"And already from our first hour I can tell he's going to be the best of the best," Agumon declared. This comment earned a smile from Ash and a bout of laughter from Gary.

Agumon rounded onto Gabumon who had suddenly become very interested with the sandy ground. "Gabumon, this guy is your human. Get him under control!"

"Oh, I mean, I don't know. We just met." Gabumon muttered not lifting his gaze. "Maybe this is his way of offering advice? I remember meeting this one guy once who acted really mean, but he just was trying to use tough-love to help people."

"Yeah," Gary jeered. "How do you know I'm not just trying to help Ashy-boy?"

Ash snarled, stepped right in front of Gary, and looked him dead in the eye. "I don't need your help. I'm just as ready to fight as you are."

"Past experiences say otherwise," Gary scoffed as he returned Ash's stare.

"How about present experiences?!" Ash pointed directly at his rival. "I challenge you to a Poke… a Digimon battle! Here and now."

"Yeah!" Agumon agreed boxing the air eagerly with his claws. "Let's show him what real winners look like!"

"Hey, fine by me," Gary shrugged. Best to get to know how Gabumon handled in a fight against an easy opponent before moving on to the world saving battles. "How about it Gabumon? You up for a little match?"

Gabumon stared at the ground for a couple more moments before looking Agumon in the eyes. "Well, we are going to have to fight other Digimon at some point," He turned to Gary and gave a small nod. "Alright. I can spar."

Over on the side lines the villagers began excitedly chittering. Most of it seemed in support of the upcoming battle with the villagers dividing themselves into two cheering sections for the different teams. Opposite them was Candlemon who didn't look too pleased. "Oh for the love of, these two humans are too pushy! They're no better than their Digimon partners."

Candlemon turned to Pegasusmon. "Sir, surely you have something to say about this?"

Pegasusmon, who had remained quite throughout the bickering, regarded the two parties. "I will allow this as I am curious on what our new friends are capable of. However, I will ask Gary to tone down insults. There's playful trash talk between rivals and then there's stirring up unnecessary drama."

Gary shrugged. "Fine by me. I can just let my skills do the talking."

As Agumon lead everyone over to the training grounds Gary took his Digivice back out and gave Gabumon's stats a more thorough read. Unlike Pokémon Gabumon only had one special attack: Blue Blaster. According to the Digivice it was a thin stream of blue flames that Gabumon could release from his mouth. Outside of his special attack Gabumon could slash or stab with his horn and could throw some quick and strong punches.

Switching his scanner over to Agumon Gary noticed some contrast. Aside from different types, attributes, and some different fields (whatever those were) Agumon's physical attacks seemed to focus more on his claws while his Pepper Breath came out in quick powerful blasts instead of a steady stream.

"Here we are!" Agumon stopped in front of an outdoor gym. Or the very least the closest thing you could get to a gym on an isolated island. To one side was a series of thick logs sticking out of the ground which were chipped away with various claw marks and some dents from punching. Scattered around the other side were a couple of piles of heavy rocks, probably for weightlifting, and a cliff side covered in scorch marks with even some of the small trees sticking out the side of the wall looking burnt. At the center was a battlefield outlined in the dirt. It looked very used judging from the upturned sand, littered tree branches, and scorch marks scattered throughout the arena.

"So," Agumon turned towards the humans. "How do we do this?"

"It's simple," Gary pointed towards the ends of the arena. "Ashy-boy and I will stand on opposite ends of the battlefield and you guys get in the arena. We tell you what to do and when to fire off your attacks. Loser is the guy who is knocked out or can't get up."

"Sounds easy enough," Agumon said as he punched the palm of one claw with this other hand. "You ready, Ash?"

"Born ready!" Ash declared. "Let's go to our side and talk strategy!"

"Ohh! Good idea," Agumon agreed as the two dashed over to the other end of the arena.

Ha, Ash working on a strategy. What a hoot. That being said, he should probably have his own conversation with Gabumon. Gary squatted down to eye level with Gabumon. "Okay, Gabumon, I've got a couple of questions that I'll need answered before we get started."

Gabumon, who was looking at the excited crowds, fidgeted a bit before answering. "Uh, sure. What do you need to know?"

"How fireproof are you?" Gary asked. Probably not the best phrasing as Gabumon's face lite up with concern. "I'm not going to order you to jump headfirst into a fireball, but I want to know what you can take since fireballs are Agumon's main attack."

Gary's clarification seemed to calm down Gabumon a bit, though his eyes kept darting towards the crowds. "Well, it won't kill me. At least not right away. I guess I'll die if there is a bunch of fire. But I think I can take a few hits. More if those hits are on my pelt. But I'd prefer keeping damage to a minimum, so I don't take up too much time repairing it later."

"So, you're saying this can act as armor?" Gary made for a grab at the pelt to give it a closer look, but Gabumon yanked it away.

"Yes," Gabumon said protectively clutching the sleeve of his pelt. "It can soften damage for me if I need it to. But I really don't want to ruin it."

"Why?" Gary said arching an eyebrow.

"Because I look silly," Gabumon muttered.

"Come again?" Gary leaned forwards a bit.

Gabumon released a defeated sigh. "I look silly without it."

"Is that all?" Gary laughed. He was about to tell Gabumon that it won't matter once he's declared the winner, but he decided against it when he noticed the growing blush on his partner's face. "It's alright, I can work with that. You said you were really good a dodging earlier, so we'll use that. Could you describe your Blue Blaster to me?"

Now that the topic had moved off of his pelt, Gabumon looked a bit more relaxed. "Better yet, why don't I demonstrate?" Gabumon took a deep breath, but before he could exhale Gary stopped him with a hand on his muzzle.

"No demonstration, just describe it. Tell me how far it can reach and how intense it is. Okay?" Gary spared a glance at his competition on the other side of the beach. He could see Ash and Agumon animatedly discussing their tactics. Ash must have asked Agumon about his attack too because he could see the reptile shoot several fireballs from his mouth across the field. Forget monster battles, Ash couldn't even win a game of cards! Now in addition to information about Gabumon's attack Gary was getting an idea of what Agumon could do.

"Well," Gabumon said thoughtfully. "It starts out strong but gets weaker the further the flame goes. I can reach about halfway across the battlefield."

"Not bad," Gary noted this new information along with the Pepper Breath demonstration he just saw. "Alright, final question. How do your sparing matches with Agumon usually go?"

"Not very good," Gabumon relented. "I try to use my blaster, but he's able to cancel it out with Pepper Breath. I try to catch him, but he's able to outrun me."

"Times up!" Both Gary and Gabumon looked up to see Candlemon standing in the middle of the sidelines of the field. His waxy hands were cupped around his mouth as he called out. "Both teams have had ample time to work on strategies and the crowd is getting restless. As an impartial party I, Candlemon, shall act as referee."

"Alright!" Ash did a fist pump before pointing out to the field. "Agumon! I choose you!"

"I guess that's my que!" Agumon said as he ran out towards the middle of the field. He waved over to Gabumon. "I'm ready when you are, Gabumon!"

Before Gary could send Gabumon out, he felt a tug on his shirt. Looking down, Gary saw Gabumon whose gaze was cast down at the ground as he spoke. "I just thought you should know; I've never won a battle against Agumon. So, sorry in advance."

"Hey, don't worry about it. This time's different," Gary gave Gabumon his most charming smirk. "This time you've got me."

Gabumon studied Gary for a moment. He then gave Gary a determined nod and dashed out to the field. "I'm ready too!"

Candlemon raised his hand in a chopping motion. "Battle begin!"

Gary (Gabumon) vs. Ash (Agumon)

"Alright," called out Ash, "Let's start out with a Pepper Breath!"

Agumon's maw flared up as he launched several fireballs. "Pepper Breath!" He called out.

"Dodge just like we talked about, Gabumon!" Ordered Gary. "Then close the distance between you and Agumon."

The fireballs flew across the field towards Gabumon who successfully weaved through the onslaught. As the flames hit the ground, they blasted small, smoking craters in the sand. The already noisy peanut gallery began to cheer as Gabumon then charged forward towards Agumon. In response Agumon scooted away angling himself so that he could swerve around Gabumon if needed.

Noticing Agumon's positioning, Gary called out. "Gabumon, use your Blue Blaster! Aim for the sticks around Agumon!"

Gabumon stopped his progression forwards and took a deep inhale. "Blue Blaster!" He opened his mouth and released a thin yet steady stream of blue fire. The fire spray made its way across the ground and back and forth. Agumon was able to dodge the fire by leaping over it, but all the sticks that littered the floor caught the fire and began to blaze.

"Whoa!" Agumon cried as his foot landed on a flaming twig. He was able to dodge Gabumon just fine, but now he found himself in a small minefield of torches. With the possibility of stepping on an open flame he couldn't maneuver around as freely.

"Agumon! Are you alright!" Ash called out.

"I'm fine!" Agumon responded stomping his burnt foot on the sand. He then quickly added on. "Just caught me off guard. That's all."

"Ha! Looks like Agumon isn't completely fireproof," Just like a fire type Pokémon, it looked like Agumon was somewhat resistant to the flames, but not completely immune. "Quick, Gabumon, use a Horn Attack while he's boxed in!"

"Right!" Gabumon bent over so that his horn was aimed at Agumon and charged forwards through a less fire riddled path. Agumon's eyes started darting around trying to find a safe spot to abscond to.

"Block him!" Ash ordered. "Catch his horn with your claws!"

Agumon brought his claws forwards to clamp them around Gabumon's horn. The momentum from the charge pushed Agumon back a bit, but the main attack was stopped.

"Good job, Agumon!" Ash cheered.

"Maybe, if you're the kind of guy who doesn't think several steps ahead," Gary taunted.

"Huh?" The clueless look on Ash's face was priceless.

"Gabumon, punch Agumon in the gut!" Gary commanded.

Spotting the unguarded stomach in front of him, Gabumon swung one of his free fists forwards. It collided with Agumon sending the reptile flying back. He landed on his back in a small clearing in the field of fire.

"Now, Gabumon," Gary grinned. Agumon was pushing himself up, but not fast enough. Here was his moment of triumph. "Grapple him so we can bring this battle to a close!"

"Agumon!" Ash called out. "Grab Gabumon's horn and use it to get up."

Just as Gabumon leapt over the flames to grab Agumon, Agumon snatched Gabumon's horn and used it to pull himself off the ground while shoving Gabumon's face down.

"What!?" Cried Gary. He had Agumon and Ash cornered! "Gabumon, you've got the stronger build. Force him back!"

"Mffft," Gabumon responded, his muzzle eating sand. He none the less pushed back against Agumon's grip.

"Now Agumon," Ash was gaining back some momentum. "Before Gabumon gets back up leap over him and attack!"

Gary glared as he watched Agumon leapfrog over Gabumon and into another clearing to launch another group of fireballs. He called out to Gabumon. "Gabumon, he's about to use Pepper Breath again! Cancel it out!"

Gabumon's head swerved around, and he unleashed his flames. He moved his head back and forth so that his Blue Blaster could hit all the Pepper Breath fireballs which were about to rain down on him. While most of the fireballs exploded into smoke, one stray Pepper Breath flew right over Gabumon and into one of the shrubs growing out of the cliff.

"Kreeee!"

Everyone, combatants, trainers, and audience stared. Dropping down form the smoldering remains of the bush was a grey Digimon. It was about the size of the rookies but resembled neither of them. There was no body, just a collection of thin tentacles which joined to the orange frill just below the head. Extending from the frill were two long, gangly arms with hands that had an eyeball shaped marking on the back of each of them. The head itself was oval with large green eyes, a spotted chin, and long antennae. The Digimon rotated its head around a couple of times to get a better look at its surroundings. When it laid its eyes on Gary it opened its puppet like mouth and started to giggle. There was something to its high-pitched voice which Gary found off putting, though he couldn't quite place what it was.

"Who's this guy?" Gary took out his Digivice to scan the new monster. "Keramon, rookie level. It has a gluttonous appetite, playful nature, and sees destruction as a game. It attacks with a ball of light with its Crazy Giggle. Wait does that mean…"

Keramon continued to giggle. As it did so a series of balls made of light began to emit from its maw. The balls then shot out at the surrounding areas causing small explosions everywhere. The villagers screamed as they scattered and fled the training grounds.

"Everyone get back now!" Pegasusmon sprang to his feet and spread his wings. "Mane Wind!"

Pegasusmon's mane went ridged as a storm of needles sprayed forward. Keramon just continued to laugh. Right before the needles reached him, he sprang to the side and started rapidly floating across the ground. He zoomed across the field towards Gary who froze up.

Just before the demented Muppet could make it towards his target Pegasusmon reared up on his hind legs and flapped his wings. "Star Shower!" A shower of star shaped energy discs flew from his wings smashing into Keramon and sending it flying away from the field.

As Keramon landed on the ground, Pegasusmon flew over to the downed rookie and began to mercilessly stomp it. Even has it was being beaten to a pulp, the Keramon continued to giggle like a maniac.

Pegasusmon paused his stomps to once again rear up on his hind legs. "May you find a peaceful existence in your next life. Equis Beam!" A laser shot out from his forehead and hit Keramon square in the face. The cackling Digimon let out a cross between a laugh and a scream before bursting into a cloud of shattered particles.

Both Gary and Ash stared at the scene in front of them. The islands benevolent protector just disintegrated another Digimon right in front of them! Sure, the Digimon in question was attacking everyone, but to completely snuff out a life?! Even in the harshest Pokémon battles the worse that would happen would be a Pokémon fainting. Suddenly the casual tone that Pegasusmon used when talking about Digimon absorbing each other made more sense. These guys regularly slaughtered each other!

"Gary!" Gary's attention was ripped away from the scene in front of him by a shout from Gabumon. He turned his head to see his partner charging forwards with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay? Did the Keramon hit you? Ohhh, I'm so sorry. I should have acted faster when he started attacking."

Not for the first time that day did Gary have a hard time finding his voice. When he finally spoke, it was in a more slow and careful tone than he was used to using. "Gabumon, when I ordered you to move in to finish the fight, you would have just subdued Agumon, right?"

Gabumon looked hurt at the implied accusation. "Of course I would have just grappled him. He's my best friend! Agumon can be a bit aggressive at times, but he wouldn't hurt anyone unless they attacked first."

"I'm assuming this is your first time watching someone die?" Gary's attention turned back to Pegasusmon who slowly made his way over to the two. He could also see Ash and Agumon making their way over to them as well.

In regards to Pegasusmon's inquiry, no. Both Gary and Ash had observed death before. The first time they had seen something die was when they were a lot younger. The boys were having a playdate when they saw a Pidgey get attacked by a stray Meowth. Ash stepped in and scared away the cat, but not before it could strike a finishing blow on the tiny bird. The two boys hurried the body back to Professor Oak's lab to be treated, but both were distraught to learn that it was too late. What followed was an hour of bawling while Gary's grandfather talked to them about life, death, and the food chain. He then gave them ice cream which eased the difficult topic. "No, we've both seen Pokémon die. But it was always because something needed to eat."

Pegasusmon's head leaned back as he drank in Gary's words. "Your world sounds peaceful. I am truly envious."

"Has it always been like this?" Ash asked.

"Yes and no," Pegasusmon explained. "Our world has always had Digimon who would spend their days fighting one another with the victors absorbing the losers in a bid to gain more power however…"

The equine moved aside to give the boys a better view of the dust particles that were once Keramon. The particles began reassembling themselves, but not as Keramon. Instead, they formed a large gray and orange spotted egg. "Many of us found that a life of constant fighting was not fulfilling. We grew and gained power not from tearing each other apart but by forging bonds, building communities, and pursuing a life of virtue."

"Wow," breathed Ash. "Did he just turn into an egg?"

"Indeed, he did," Pegasusmon nodded. "When a Digimon dies it is broken down to scraps of data. That data can be loaded by another Digimon to increase their strength. But if it is left alone it will reform into a new Digimon. A reincarnation if you will. This new Digimon will have none of the memories of its old life. For the most part it is a blank slate."

"Mostly," Agumon added in. "Some stuff can carry over from the old life. Like I can't remember the battles of the first human and Millenniummon, but I get really nostalgic when I hear about them. So does Gabumon."

"Wait, do you mean you two…" Ash's eyes widened as he looked between Agumon and Gabumon.

"Yep!" Agumon slung his arm around Gabumon's shoulders. For his part, Gabumon just gave the humans a small smile. "Gabumon and I are both reincarnations of two of the ten Digimon who fought against Millenniummon with the first human!"

"Ah, man! That's so awesome!" Ash exclaimed signaling the heavy atmosphere from the attack had completely evaporated.

"I know, right?" Agumon puffed his chest out. "Now we just have to get stronger, complete what our past selves started, and we can put back the Digital World so that villages like this one can live in peace without violent Digimon or Millenniummon's cronies attacking!"

"Well, you can count me in!" Ash declared. "After all, my goal is to be a Pokémon Master! I can't call myself that if I leave a world of monsters to rot. Pokémon, Digimon, or otherwise."

Gabumon turned towards Gary. "How about you? I can understand if this is a lot to take in and that you need to get home. I'll support you no matter what decision you'll make."

Gary studied his partner for a moment. The reptilian canine may have just said that he would support whatever Gary chose, but the begging look in his eyes told him a different story. He did mean it when he said earlier that he had to go home. No doubt Gramps and his sister were turning the place upside looking for him. On the flip side, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. How many trainers could say that their first monster was an unknown species form a parallel dimension? Besides, if there was any trainer who was going to save the world, it was going to be him. "Hey, I said earlier that I would save your world. I'm not backing down form that. You're stuck with me."

At that statement the Digimon started to celebrate. Agumon cheered and jumped around in joy. Gabumon beamed up at Gary with watering eyes. Pegasusmon nodded and walked past the boys.

"It is getting late, Pegasusmon called over his shoulder. "This sparing match is over. Get some dinner and some rest."

"What do you mean over? I was about to win!" Ash complained.

Gary snorted. "Pfft. Which match were you watching? If it wasn't for that interruption Gabumon would've taken down your Digimon in a heartbeat."

Gabumon perked up. "Really?"

Pegasusmon interrupted. He kept the calm and kind voice from before, but this time Gary could hear a stern tone creep in. "Who would have won is a moot point. You'll both have time to polish your skills as you make your way across the mainland. And boys…"

The horse turned around looked both trainers in the eye. "I'm sure you've picked up on this by now, but I must reiterate: this is not a game. You are teammates and you WILL be working with one another. I do not know what disagreements you may have, but it stops here. I take no pleasure in sending youths out to battle and if our world wasn't about to die, I would instead be working to send you home. Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury so all I can do is advise you to cooperate. Our enemies will not show you any mercy just because you are young."

The guardian continued. "Inside the shrine is a Gate Circle. It has the ability to send you to a preset destination. I have programmed it send you, along with another human and partner from a nearby village, to a friend of mine in the mountains. He has a Digivice at his village so you should all be meeting with another chosen. The journey ahead will be long, so I expect you to eat well and rest well tonight."

Catching the tired and put out look on the boys' faces Pegasusmon took on a more optimistic tone. "Don't be too put down. Ash, Gary. Your very own Digimon legend is about to unfold. A world of dreams and adventures with your partners awaits."

As the Digimon and trainers dispersed none of them noticed another Digimon watching them from the bushes. Unlike Keramon this creature resembled a black, quaver musical note with a red trident shaped eye socket hosting a yellow eye. It opened up its ratty, bat wings covered in tiny read speakers and quietly flew off. This creature was known as a Soundbirdmon and while it did not have enough power to take on the island's guardian, it know a nearby Digimon who could.

AN: It's the Muppet Show! Starring our very special guest: your imminent demise! YAAAAAY!

And that is the last of the chapters I wrote before I started posting. Updates are going to be longer from here on out but I'm invested on keeping this going. Have a Happy Fall Equinox and thank you for reading!

Alrighty, here the segment where I explain why I've paired up certain characters with certain Digimon, their evolutions, and whatever other creative decision I made.

Let's start with Ash. I went with Agumon as he and Pikachu are basically the mascots of their respective franchises. Easy enough.

On the other side of the coin I went with Gabumon for Gary since Gabumon is kind of Agumon's complement. Also Gabumon tends to be depicted with a data attribute which trumps Agumon's vaccine attribute. Kind of like how your rival in the games would usually choose the starter with a type advantage. And I guess Gabumon's body build is similar to Nidoking. What with the forehead horn, the bipedal stance, and the thick tail.

And then there's the Digivices. As you've probably noticed these Digivices mostly have original Adventure aesthetics (save for the colored screen frames) but as we go along you'll see I've added in various functions of other Digivices as well as a couple of original features.

Digimon Introduced

Pegasusmon: Armor, Free, Holy Beast

Keramon: Rookie, Unknown, Unidentified

Soundbirdmon: Rookie, Virus, Bird

Next Time: Our heroes get ready to set off on their digital journey. Pegasusmon gives Ash and Agumon some advice to chew on. Will it help them to save the day or will the island crumble under the weight of a new threat?