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 pack my bags: Menu Music (Digimon Dawn/Dusk)
The Crest of a Master Chapter 9: Interlude: Road Trip!
Misty (Fears, Bullies, and Discomforts)
The rivers of the Heisenbug Jungle were a mixed bag for Misty. On one hand the waters were beautifully crystal clear and framed with lush foliage dipping down from the riverbanks. On the other hand, they were still in the Heisenbug Jungle.
"Careful, Seadramon. There's a fly right on your back," Misty told her partner as she used a stick to swat a fly the size of a baseball off the serpent's back.
After the group bid the hive farewell, they found the river which Butterflymon told them about. From there, Greymon reverted back to Agumon and he, along with the humans, strapped their cargo on to Seadramon and hopped on her back for what was mostly a pleasant cruise down the jungle river. Save for the local wildlife.
From his spot behind Misty, Ash watched the insect swivel off into the air. "Whoa Misty, I thought that you got over your fear of bugs."
Misty just huffed. True, being forced to face down a titan of an insect did put her fear of the more friendly jungle inhabitants into perspective. As a result, she was able to temporarily put on a more polite face when they saw the group off. "I can put my fears aside when I need to. But that doesn't mean I like them. Bugs still bug me!"
To emphasize her point, Misty slammed her stick into an incoming mosquito the size of a Zubat.
"Well, at least you're not screaming every time one of them gets near," Ash said as he ducked under the batted mosquito.
"And Seadramon said more than three words to us this morning," Agumon added on from his spot on the serpent's back where he was laying on his belly and basking in the morning sun. "That hive trip was definitely for the better."
"Well, glad to see you two are happy about it," Misty then shifted her seating on Seadramon to turn around and look at her fellow riders. "Now it's your turn."
The boys shared a look before Ash addressed Misty. "Our turn?"
Misty nodded and grabbed her Digivice. She turned on the hologram and opened the chat. "More specifically your turn, Ash. There's a group meeting tomorrow and you are joining."
Ash's face turned red. He turned his attention to watch the riverbank. "I'll look at the chat on your Digivice."
"You can't avoid Gary forever, Ash," Misty chided.
"I'm not avoiding him!" Ash responded heatedly. "I'm just saving what I have to say to him until I see his stupid, smug face!"
"Then talk to the other humans," Misty pressed. "You don't need to put so much stock into what Gary thinks. He's just one guy."
"It's not that simple," Ash huffed.
There was a moment while Misty and the Digimon waited for Ash to continue. But the boy wasn't talking. Misty sighed. "We can't read your mind, Ash. I can't force you to say anything if you really don't want to. But I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
There was another minute of silence where Misty thought Ash wouldn't respond. Then Agumon spoke up. "Back at my old village, before I moved in with Pegasusmon and Gabumon, there was a pack of Gazimon who pretty much made it their mission to make everyone else miserable."
"Gazimon?" Ash asked.
"They're these dog, rabbit, cat Digimon. Not all of them are bad. Just this pack."
"So, what did you do about them?" Misty asked.
"There wasn't much we really could do," Agumon shrugged. "The village leader spoke to them from time to time, but he was busy and they knew which lines not to cross and what they could get away with. Our leader said they acted that way because they were scared of what was happening to the world and were looking for an 'outlet,'" Agumon's snout curled with disgust when he said that last word. "Personally, I think they just wanted to abuse what little power they had."
A part of Misty suspected that both explanations were correct, but she didn't know these Digimon, so she decided to throw her own story in. "I have three older sisters. They'll tease me from time to time."
Agumon tilted his head. "What are sisters?"
"Pains in the butt," Mistry grumbled.
"That's not true," Ash interjected. "Gary has an older sister, Daisy. She's pretty nice. I didn't have any brothers or sisters growing up, so I hung out with her and Gary a lot."
"Still don't know what these words are!" Agumon called back.
"Brothers and sisters are family members," Misty explained. "Families are humans who are very close to one another and look after each other."
Agumon's snout scrunched up in a display of scrutiny. "Doesn't sound that way to me. From where I'm sitting you guys seem more focused on bugging each other."
"Well, you're more likely to fight with someone you spent more time with. But we're getting off topic," Misty turned her attention back to Ash. "So, you and Gary used to be close. Do you know what changed that?"
"It's a power struggle," Agumon supplied. "Just like with the Gazimon. Hey, maybe Gomamon was right. Maybe he's trying to exert dominance!"
"I don't know," Ash admitted. "There wasn't just any one moment that changed everything. It just happened."
"Have you tried asking him about it?" Seadramon, who had been quietly listening, chimed in. Catching the look of discomfort on Ash's face she immediately turned her attention back to swimming. "Ofcourseyoudon'thavetoifyoudon'twantto," She quickly amended.
"I don't want to sit down and talk with him. I just want to wipe that stupid smirk off his face," Ash grumbled.
"If it makes you feel better there hasn't been much drama in the chats. Mostly status updates. Gary hasn't even said anything about you. He's either just asking where everyone is or bragging about Garurumon. Actually, speaking of which…"
Misty holstered her stick under her arm and began to quickly type. "There we go. Now everyone knows that I have an even better champion Digimon."
At that announcement, Seadramon began to duck her head into the water.
"Oh, would you look at that," Misty said as she read a response to her post. "Dragons For The Win is already giving her kudos. Looks like you've got a fan, Seadramon."
Seadramon's head was now completely submerged.
"Fine, I'll join the meeting," Ash relented. "But I'm not saying anything to Gary."
"You don't have to," Misty smiled at her victory before looking over Ash's shoulder to check on Agumon. "How about you, Agumon? Do you have anything you want to get off your chest?"
"Nope," Agumon lazily replied. With the conversation concluded Agumon had gone back to basking on his belly, his limbs gently floated beside him streaming through the water. "I don't have to deal with those Gazimon anymore, so no bully drama, nor do I have any fears."
"No fears," Misty responded, doubt obvious in her voice.
"No fears," Agumon simply replied.
"Come on, Agumon," Ash prodded his partner. "You've got to be afraid of something."
"I am a legendary hero in the making," Agumon smiled. "There is nothing that can shake me."
Misty was about to respond when she noticed the water began to speed up. When she saw what was coming, she quickly switched herself back to facing forward and slapped Seadramon's sides. "Rapids!" She called out.
Seadramon's head shot up from the water. When she saw the oncoming torrents and stones she tried to swim away. But it was too late. The water's pull was too strong.
Immediately, Misty took action. She released Staryu and stationed it on top of Seadramon's head. "Seadramon, move around the rocks. Staryu, if there are any rocks approaching too fast, blast them with Swift."
Both water monsters followed Misty's instructions. Seadramon wove herself in and around the rocks all the while looking for an opening to remove herself from the powerful current. Meanwhile Staryu would unleash a volley of laser stars at various stones and logs that looked weak enough to break apart. Their efforts were in vain, however, as the team found themselves launched over the edge of a tall waterfall.
Fortunately, the waterfall fed into a pool of water that was deep enough to catch the large sea snake. Once Seadramon recovered from hitting the water she immediately dove under to fish for her friends. She rose again from the water carrying Ash and Misty by the scruffs of their soaked shirts.
After taking a moment to spit out the excess water, Ash began looking around wildly. "Where's Agumon!?"
"Hi-yah!" The group turned to spot Staryu standing by Agumon who was laying on the shore by the river.
Ash didn't wait for Seadramon to put him down. He wiggled out of his jacket and dropped into the water below to swim to his partner. Once he got to Agumon, Ash flipped the reptile over. Agumon blinked for a second before scrambling to his feet, coughing, and loudly declaring that he was okay, despite the nervous undertones in his boisterous voice.
Seadramon placed Misty back on land and bent down her long neck to whisper in Misty's ear. "Do you think this is a fear of heights or fear of drowning?"
"I think," Misty responded as she watched the orange reptile try and dry himself off with the soaked towel Ash handed him. "This is fear of looking afraid."
Gary (A Different Approach)
Gary took a deep inhale through his nose and slowly exhaled out his mouth. It was a tactic for calming down that he'd seen his mother use when she was feeling particularly aggravated, namely by his father. Right now, Gary was using it to deal with a growing sense of frustration with his current travel partner.
"It's okay, Lillie. Take your time," Lunamon's encouraging voice rang out from the ground below.
Ever since Gabumon became Garurumon, Gary had been itching to ride his newly evolved monster. The two of them had gone on a couple of practice runs during their group's travel where Garurumon demonstrated the speed and power of an Arcanine mixed with the agile grace of a Persian. Having experienced riding various Pokémon on his grandfather's reserves, Gary was able to easily adjust to his new mount. Between Garurumon's speed, stamina, and keen senses working to detect and avoid oncoming threats, Gary was convinced that road to the temple could be swift and easy. There was only one problem.
Lillie's phobia.
The duo's rides could never stray too far from the nightly campsite or else they'd leave Lillie and Lunamon completely unguarded. Normally the solution would be to just to have Lillie and her Digimon ride Garurumon as well. But given that Lillie couldn't even touch Garurumon let alone sit on him they were stuck walking while the canine ran laps around everyone.
In a bid to speed the trek along, Gary proposed that Lillie try and get comfortable petting Garurumon. So long as the wolf wasn't in battle mode his pelt was as warm and soft as a newborn Growlithe, so there was no harm in at least trying. Both Lillie and Garurumon agreed to give this arrangement a go.
Thus, here Gary was, sitting on the back of a large canine waiting for the shaking girl to at least poke the gentle giant. Currently Garurumon was laying down with his paws neatly folded to his sides, ready to go at a moment's notice. Lillie, meanwhile, kept holding her hand out before immediately pulling it back. Lunamon was next to Lillie either cheering her on or trying to distract her with some random talking point like favorite foods or questions about human tea parties. They had been at this for what felt like hours and Gary was just on the verge of losing his mind.
Finally, after what felt like ages, Lillie crept closer to Garurumon's side. She was slowly reaching her hand out to the canine. Her fingers were less than an inch away…
Suddenly, a loud yawn erupted from Garurumon's muzzle forcing it wide open and showing off his razor-sharp teeth.
Lillie yelped and zoomed back to the tree line. Back to square one.
While Garurumon and Lillie started to profusely apologize to each other, Gary buried his face in Garurumon's mane. There had to be an easier way to do this.
'There isn't a simple trick you can use to speed things up,' Gary's grandfather's voice came from the depths of his mind. 'Situations like this require time and empathy. You'll just have to be patient.'
But Gary didn't have time to be patient! They had to get to the temple now!
'You think this might be karma?' Gary's sister's voice chimed in. 'Like you're having riding problems because you terrified my Ponyta with that popped balloon? I couldn't ride her for weeks thanks to you.'
It was an accident. Get over it.
Next, Gary could hear his dad's voice. 'I'm going to have to go with Dad on this one,' he managed to say, though he was clearly suppressing his laughter at the miserable look on his son's face. 'You can't force your way through this. You'll just have to keep working at it.'
You're only saying that because you're not the one who has to put up with this.
Finally, Gary could hear his mother. 'It looks to me like your friend has been attempting to conquer her fears through this method for a while. Perhaps you should try a different approach.'
Alright, looks like Mom was going to be the most helpful voice in his subconscious today. Time to try her advice. "Hey Lillie, Garurumon, how about we switch this around. Instead of waiting for Lillie to go to Garurumon, we have Garurumon go to Lillie."
Everyone looked at one another before Garurumon peered over his shoulder to address Gary. "What would you want me to do?"
"Just go over to her, put her on your back, and run for a bit," Gary explained. "Lillie gets some practice touching Digimon and, depending on how fast you go, we can get more than a day's worth of hiking in. Everyone wins!"
Lunamon looked back and forth between Garurumon and Lillie who was slowly approaching the wolf again. The rabbit brought her paw up to her chin. "I don't know."
"No, I want to try this!" Lillie stood by Garurumon and curled her hands up into fists. She looked Garurumon square in the eye. "I can do this!"
Both Digimon shared a concerned look before Lunamon hopped on to Garurumon's back and Garurumon's tail gently coiled around Lillie to pick her up.
"I can do this, I can do this, I can do this," the girl chanted, her eyes slammed shut.
The tail gripped around Lillie's hip and lifted her off the ground. "I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!"
Once Garurumon placed Lillie on his back, Gary began to have second thoughts about his plan. Sure, the girl was touching the Digimon, but she was shaking from head to toe. Her already light skin had gone completely pale, and tears began to wind up in the corners of her wide eyes.
Gary was about to instruct Garurumon to let Lillie down, but he was cut off when said girl wrapped her arms around his neck and diaphragm to hold on. For such a little girl she sure had a strong grip.
Garurumon rose to his feet. "Is everyone alright back there?"
"I can do this. I can do this," Lillie repeated almost robotically.
"Air!" Gary gasped.
"We'll make this quick," Garurumon then bolted off, balancing his three riders on his back: the asphyxiated boy, the zoned-out girl, and the rabbit who was looking more doubtful of this arrangement by the second.
Ash (Training and Apps)
"Alright, Agumon. Are you ready?" Ash held out his Digivice.
"Ready!" Agumon responded with a determined expression plastered on his muzzle.
"Let's do this, Digivolve!" Ash shouted holding up his Digivice.
"AHHHHH!" Agumon held his claws out and roared. He held this pose for a minute before turning to Ash. "It's not working."
Their group had reached a spot at the edge of the jungle which fed into some grasslands. From here the team could finish drying off their equipment from the waterfall drop and transition from Seadramon back to Greymon to head towards the desert. All they needed to do was to Digivolve Agumon again. But without an enemy Digimon for Ash and Agumon to focus on, the two were at a loss as to how to invoke the evolution. Which led them to their current training session.
They had tried exercising.
"Can you keep up Agumon?" Ash called back as he jogged forward.
"Can I keep up?" Agumon laughed as he charged after Ash. "I used to run laps around the island! Can you keep up?"
They had tried pretending to fight someone.
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted blasting another log. All around the duo where different logs either slashed up by Agumon's claws, snapped by his jaws, or just burnt to a crisp. It was a scene of carnage that would later be known as the First Great Log Massacre.
They had tried meditation.
"Ash," Agumon said from his spot cross-legged on a rock.
"Yeah," Ash muttered back, same position, different rock.
"This is stupid."
"Yeah."
So, now they were trying vocalizing the change.
Ash studied his Digivice. "Maybe we're saying the wrong lines. Why don't you say 'Agumon Digivolve to Greymon?' I think that's how you got it to work the first time."
Agumon just shook his head. "No, I definitely started to Digivolve before I said that. It's kind of like saying 'Whee' when you go down a slide. You don't say 'Whee' to go down. You just get caught up in the moment and shout."
"Well, I'm out of ideas," Ash gestured to the campsite. "Want to see if Misty has any fish?"
At this suggestion, Agumon's gut let out a loud growl. "You read my stomach."
Once the boy and the Digimon returned they saw that yes, Misty and Seadramon did catch some fish which were now roasting on sticks next to the campfire. Approaching closer to the campsite, Ash and Agumon could see the water duo a bit further down the river. At first it looked like Misty was just standing to the side watching Seadramon roar and snap at the air. Upon closer inspection it turned out that Seadramon was not the only monster in the water.
Leaping and spinning into and around Seadramon was Staryu. Every so often the starfish would stop to shoot a stream of water. In response, Seadramon would roar and try to blast Staryu with ice.
"Seadramon! No attacking!" Misty shouted at the serpent. "Dodge!"
"Hey, Misty," Ash said as he walked up behind the water trainer. "What are you guys up to?"
"Sparing," Misty responded. "I'm trying to get Seadramon to work on her evasion skills. Her first instinct is to fight back when attacked, which is fine. But I'm afraid that we might bump into something that can withstand her attacks. If that happens, I want her to be able to avoid anything fatal."
"Yeah, I guess I can understand that," Ash said. He watched Seadramon weave her body back and forth as she got into the motions of dodging Staryu's attacks. "What about Staryu?"
Misty smiled at this question. "We actually did some special training earlier. Watch this."
Misty then turned back to the sparing pair and called out. "Seadramon, try and hit Staryu with a physical attack. Staryu, use Reflect!"
In response to these commands, Seadramon lashed out with her tail. Staryu's gem then began to glow and a flat, rainbow-colored barrier appeared in front of it. The barrier stopped the tail from hitting Staryu with a loud "CLANG!"
"Cool!" Ash and Agumon coursed.
"After that one hit knock out from Kuwagamon X, I thought I'd buff his defenses with the Reflect move," Misty held up a yellow canister and opened it up revealing a drawer filled with various discs. "I usually favor an all-out offensive strategy, but sometimes you've got to be flexible in your approach."
"Whoa, TMs!" Ash marveled at the discs.
"TMs?" Agumon questioned.
"It's short for Technical Machines," Misty explained. "Sometimes you can teach Pokémon they normally can't learn on their own using these discs."
"They don't work on Digimon, though," Seadramon spoke up. "We tried to use one to teach me Bubblebeam. Nothing happened."
"Dang it," Agumon huffed.
"Of course, the TM can only do so much," Misty added on. "It can teach the basics, but we can only perfect the move through practice and experience. Our end goal is to get Staryu's Reflect to work on the entire party, that way Seadramon and Greymon can get some extra shielding as well. It won't be a perfect shield, but the barrier should reduce damage from physical attacks."
"That's great, Misty," Ash grinned. "Have you ever considered entering a Pokémon League or becoming a Gym Leader?"
Suddenly, Misty became very bashful. "Well, uh, sure. That's one of my goals," she responded while rubbing the back of her neck.
"What does making shields have to do with running a gym?" Agumon cocked his head in confusion. "Shouldn't she be more focused on teaching punches or stretches or something?"
"You are thinking of a human gym. A Pokémon Gym is different," Ash became more energized as he went deeper into his explanation. "You remember when I was talking about the Pokémon League? Well to get into it you've got to go to these places called Pokémon Gyms which each specialize in a different kind of Pokémon. You then have to defeat the gym's leader and earn a badge. Once you've earned enough badges you can enter the league. Then you've got to fight through a bunch of other trainers to win the league. And then you can challenge the Elite Four!"
"Elite Four?" Agumon's head cocked the other way as he processed all this new information.
"The Elite Four are like gym leaders, but much tougher," Ash continued. "If you defeat all four of them, then you can become the champion!"
"Unless there's already a regional champion," Misty amended. "Then you've got to defeat them to take their title. Personally, if I was to take any league challenge, I'd go for the Hoenn league. They've got two champions and one of them, Wallace, is a water specialist like me. I don't even care about earning the title. I'd just want a chance to see how my skills match up to his."
"That does sound cool," Ash muttered. He then snapped his fingers. "Maybe I should test my water battling skills when I get back home. I hear there's a water type gym in Kanto, maybe I should visit it."
At this declaration, Misty went ridged. She then began to rapidly wave her arms around. "Oh, no, no, no. You don't want that gym. I hear it's not a very good gym. You should test yourself at one of the other gyms!"
Ash and Agumon shared a look before turning their attention back to the flustered girl. "Well, yeah, I'm going to challenge the other gyms too," Ash said. "But I still want to see the water gym."
"Tell you what," Misty gave Ash the widest, most fake smile he'd ever seen. "If you want to test out your water Pokémon skills, just find me. I can even give you some tips on water battling, no gym needed. Okay?"
"Okay," Ash slowly said. He made a mental note to defiantly check out the Kanto water gym once he started his Pokémon journey if for no other reason than to see why it had Misty so up in arms.
"Alright, now that we've got that settled," Misty began.
Agumon raised his claw. "I've got a few more questions about that water gym."
"NOW that we've got that settled," Misty said more firmly. "Let's focus more on some Digimon training. Ash, have you looked at the other apps on your Digivice yet? Maybe one of them can help with your Digivolution training."
"Yeah, I've looked," Ash shrugged. Since Misty and Seadramon took over transportation duties, Ash decided to poke around his Digivice a bit. Ash already knew about the DigiChat and DigiFinder apps from looking over the chat and maps at the beach and thanks to his fiddling he now knows a bit more about the other apps.
The DigiDex was the first app that caught his eye if for no other reason than its name. Sounded a bit like the device that Professor Oak promised to give him and the other starter trainers once they were off on their Pokémon journeys. When Ash selected the icon that looked like a book, he found a list of Digimon names. Some of the listed Digimon were ones he knew and some he didn't.
When Ash showed the list to Agumon and asked if this was a complete list of every Digimon, Agumon just scoffed and said that the list was way too short. After flipping through some of the files, the travel party deduced that the Digimon listed were probably only the ones that were scanned by the ten Digivices since some of the Digimon listed, Lunamon, Terriermon, Penguinmon, were reported in the chat as the partners of the other humans.
The Digimon profile that interested Ash the most was Garurumon. He admitted to himself that the white Arcanine looked pretty cool. But it was safe to say that Greymon was by far the better champion. No contest.
A weirder app was the DigiView app. By pressing the eye shaped icon Ash was given a screen showing the world through Agumon's eyes. Ash spent a few moments staring at the back of his own head before speaking. The app just got weirder from there.
"Whoa!" Agumon's head shot up.
Ash peered over his shoulder. "What is it, Agumon?"
"Say that again."
Not sure where his partner was going with this, Ash repeated himself. "So, when are we going to stop for lunch?"
Agumon's eyes squinted in concentration. "Say that again, but this time to the Digivice."
Even though Ash was thoroughly confused, he complied.
"Whoa!" Agumon's eyes widened to saucers.
Misty was now looking over her own shoulder. "What's wrong, Agumon?"
"Just now, I heard Ash's voice," Agumon stared up at the two humans. "But in my head."
And that's how they figured out that the Digivice had telepathic capabilities.
The Digivices also housed a couple of minigames from Ash and Misty's world such as "Berry Ninja," "PokéBlock Crusher," "Gear Station Surfers," and "Angry Pidgeys." How and why these games were on the Digivices were anyone's guess. According to Misty there was a channel in the DigiChat dedicated to comparing high scores.
Then there were the DigiFile, DigiNursery, and DigiCode apps. They were completely empty with no clues as to what they could be used for. Moving on.
The last app was an icon showing a little black blob with a pair of petite eyes and ears simply labeled "Digimon." When Ash opened the app, it displayed a slowly rotating picture of Agumon along with various stats ranging from health and energy bars to estimates on how many Pepper Breaths Agumon could fire.
Ash showed this screen to Misty and pointed to a box in the lower right corner which was labeled "Digivolution" with "Ready" written in the middle in bright, green. "It says that Agumon can Digivolve, we just don't know how to outside of battle."
Misty opened up her own Digivice and looked at Seadramon's stats. Unlike Agumon's page, Seadramon's Digivolution status was listed as "Not Ready." Misty pressed on the box and it opened up to reveal a list of requirements.
"It says here that we can either go beyond champion by collecting data or practicing a virtue," Misty read. She pointed to a nearly empty bar under the data collection route. "I'm guessing this is getting filled up by either battle experience or regular care like feeding. But at the rate we're going it's going to take forever. Maybe that's the reason why some Digimon absorb each other."
"We're not absorbing other Digimon," Ash frowned.
"I know. I was just thinking out loud," Misty rolled her eyes. She then pointed down to the virtue requirements. All that was written there was "Path not chosen." "I'm hoping that the temple can tell us more about this."
"They should," Agumon piped up. "Pegasusmon said that Digimon used to go to the temple to receive a virtue to follow to become an ultimate. Or an armor, but those guys usually aren't as strong."
"Did Pegasusmon say anything on how you get your virtue?" Misty asked.
Agumon scowled. "No. He said that you are supposed to go in blind so that you get the virtue that best matches you."
"Ah man, now I really want to know," Ash groaned.
"Personally, I'm happy for what we have so far," Seadramon leaned her long body over the shoreline to look at the Digivices. "It's nice to have all of these ways for you guys to watch out for us."
"Yeah," Misty agreed. "I tried to find a way to register Staryu on the Digivice so that I could see its stats, but it looks like they only work on Digimon."
"Well, that's just one of the various ways Digimon are superior to Pokémon," Agumon said as he smugly folded his arms.
In response to this declaration, Staryu leapt from the river and fired a Water Gun straight into Agumon's face.
"Hey!" Agumon shouted. "Are you trying to start something?!"
Staryu just splashed Agumon with another Water Gun.
Agumon spat out the water and growled. "Alright. You asked for it!"
With that, Agumon charged into the river. In the midst of his charge a cocoon of energy formed around him. "Agumon Digivolve to…Greymon!"
The cocoon burst open to reveal Agumon's champion form who then proceeded to stomp into the river and try and catch Staryu by angrily snapping into the waters in a vain attempt to catch the starfish. Staryu just swam laps around the angry dinosaur and would every so often leap out of the water to taunt its opponent with another Water Gun.
Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, and Seadramon just watched from the riverbank.
"Does this count as him Digivolving outside of battle?" Ash asked to which Misty just shrugged.
Lillie (Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow)
Lillie groaned and collapsed onto her sleeping bag. They spend the day trying Gary's method of getting over her fears, but the results were just the same. Shaking, hyperventilation, and mental stalls, followed by a temporary black out. She would always reawaken to a group of concerned faces, but at her insistence they would try it again. Eventually the rest of the travel party cut her off with Gary citing that while he had some first aide training as preparation for his Pokémon journey, he wouldn't be able to help her if she ended up needing a trip to the emergency room.
Nonetheless, both Lunamon and Garurumon gave Lillie their congratulations on her attempts. Garurumon even thanked her for her bravery as they were able to cover a good distance with everyone riding him. Though Garurumon meant well with that observation, it just made Lillie feel worse. All she could think about was how faster their team would be if she wasn't holding them back.
From the corner of her eye Lillie could spot Gary and Garurumon near the campfire. The canine was currently curled around the boy creating a makeshift cushion for Gary to lean back into while he read through some of the profiles on the DigiDex. Lillie released a wistful sigh. She used to be able to play and cuddle with Pokémon all the time. What changed?
One year ago
Lillie ran down the pathway which led away from her family's mansion. Normally she wouldn't be out this late, but tonight there was an emergency. Her brother snuck out.
Nobody heard the boy leave. He had disarmed the mansion's security system and could move so quietly that he could give a Liepard a run for its money. The only reason that Lillie knew that he was leaving was because she was staring out a window at the time of his breakout. She was just looking for any falling Miniors when she spotted a boy with blonde hair and a stuffed backpack sneaking away with a small brown vulpine Pokémon, his Eevee, faithfully at his heels.
Immediately Lillie ran after her brother. She caught up to him where the mansion's long driveway fed into the main road. "Gladion!" Lillie panted.
The boy turned around and shined a flashlight at her. "Lillie?"
Lillie took a moment to catch her breath before looking up at her older brother. "What's going on?"
Gladion's stare hardened. "I'm sorry, Lillie. I can't stay in that house any longer."
"But, but, Hobbes and the staff will miss you!" Lillie felt her heart sink. Gladion was her closest companion. He couldn't leave like this. "What about Mother? She'll be worried about you!"
At this remark, Gladion's stare turned into a full out glare. "She won't care."
"How can you say that?!" Lillie could feel tears start to form. "Just because Mother is busy doesn't mean she doesn't still love us!"
"It's more than that," Gladion's glare began to intensify. "I thought it was just a freak accident. But even after everything that happened, after what happened to you, she's still running her experiments. She doesn't care about us at all!"
Lillie wanted to argue. She wanted to defend her mother. But she wasn't sure what Gladion was talking about. "What do you mean? What experiments? What happened?"
At this, Gladion's look of fury changed into confusion. "At the Aether's Foundation's laboratory. Don't you remember?"
"No. Why? What are you talking about?"
Gladion stared into Lillie's eyes before speaking again. "You really don't remember, do you?"
Before Lillie could respond, she felt a warm and soft body rub up against her leg. She looked down to see that Gladion's Eevee was nuzzling up against her, probably in an attempt to cheer her up. Normally Lillie would return the Pokemon's affection by petting him or picking it up, but all that Lillie could do now was scream and yank her leg away.
The poor Eevee ran behind Gladion. It peered out at Lillie from behind its master's leg and gave her a sad and confused "Vee?"
Seeing this display, Gladion sighed and readjusted his backpack. "You know what? It's probably for the best that you don't remember."
Having snapped out of her fear-stricken state, Lillie saw that Gladion had gone back to walking away. She called after him. "What don't I remember? Where are you going? Gladion!"
That was the last she saw of her brother. Lillie considered herself to be fortunate enough that she was never truly alone. She had the staff at her mansion and her classmates for company. But at the same time, Lillie couldn't help but to feel lonely. With her mother practically living at her job and her brother living who knows where, Lillie was at a lost as to what to do about her ever-splintering family.
Brock (Intervention)
Even by Digital World standards, the Database Dunes were not a friendly place. Miles upon miles of hot sand would get kicked up by the wind turning the entire place into a giant dust devil that was unpleasant on its friendliest days. Food was scarce meaning that if a large enough Digimon spotted you, you were probably its next meal. Then there were the cactuses which ranged from small spiky pin cushions to towering behemoths. Some of them would even punch you in the eye if you so much as looked at them funny. It was basically suicide to cross this place on foot.
Good thing Brock had a ride.
Slithering and rumbling through the sands was a large snake composed of a series of boulders with one long, stone horn atop its skull. There were two figures balanced on the snake's head. On one side of the horn was a Digimon the size of a human child with a humanoid build who also was composed of rocks. The only part that wasn't humanoid was its head which had a large mouth of blunt, rock teeth, a pair of blunt, rock horns, and a pair of wide yellow eyes what peaked out from their rocky sockets.
On the other side of the horn was a human. This one was a bit older than the other humans summoned to this world being in his late teens as opposed to a pre-teen. Most of his body was concealed under a cloak given to him by the village he arrived in to protect him from the desert's harsh sun and unpredictable sandstorms. All that was visible where his tanned hands and eyes which were kept in a permanent squint.
"Hey Brock," called out the Digimon in a craggy voice. "I think I spot an oasis. We should stop to grab some supplies."
The human, Brock, mulled this new information over before nodding and tapping the snake's horn with one of his feet. He then tugged the horn in the direction of the oasis redirecting the rock monster's trek.
Once the party arrived at the oasis, the rock snake lowered its head to allow its passengers off. The rock Digimon made a bee line to the group of vending machines near the water's edge while Brock gave the snake a grateful pat. "Thanks, Onix."
Onix gave an appreciative grumble and lay down to rest.
Not wanting to let the break go to waste, Brock opened one of the large saddle bags strapped to the snake and took out multiple canteens. He then made his way over to the water's edge and began filling up the canteens. At some point he undid the wraps around his head to dump some water over his short, spikey, brown hair.
Meanwhile, his Digimon partner was in the process of emptying the contents of various vending machines into another saddle bag. Brock called out to him. "Gotsumon, make sure to leave some food and drinks for other travelers."
Gotsumon just looked at his partner. "Who would be crazy enough to come all the way out here? Besides us."
"We're going to be meeting up with two other humans, remember?" Actually, Brock was hoping to meet the other humans a bit closer to the temple. He kept checking the map to make sure Onix was traveling at an angle that would intersect with the other travelers. "Besides, there might be other Digimon out here who could use this spot too."
"Fair enough," Gotsumon said as he found a particularly large palm tree to sit under.
Brock let Gotsumon rest while he refilled and fastened the saddle bags. Once he was satisfied with his work, Brock called back to Gotsumon. "Alright, let's hit the road."
Gotsumon didn't budge. "We've been at this for days, only stopping to eat and sleep. I think we're due for a break."
"We'll rest once we make it to the temple. Come on, Onix," Brock tried to climb back up on his Pokémon, but the snake just made a loud groan and pulled its head away. The snake's tail then pushed Brock towards the pool.
"Looks like your pet agrees with me," Gotsumon popped open his can of soda and began to drink. "Come on. Take a load off. Go swim in the water or bury yourself in sand or whatever you humans do for fun. I don't know."
"You know why I can't do that, Gotsumon," sighed Brock.
"Kind of," Gotsumon shrugged. "I mean, you explained it to me, but it's all really foreign. I don't think I'll ever really understand. But I do know this: you're made of meat and meat creatures don't last very long if they don't take care of themselves. Especially in the desert. And do you know who they'll blame if you die and Millenniummon destroys the world? Me."
Brock spared one more glance at Onix. The rock snake just coiled up as if to tell his friend that he wasn't budging until he felt like it.
With his Pokémon refusing to cooperate, Brock decided to give in and take a rest. He sat down next to Gotsumon and grabbed his own drink. "I don't think they'll be able to blame you if the world is destroyed. I'm pretty sure if that happens everyone goes along with it."
"They'll find a way," Gotsumon replied as he lay down.
Ash (The Final Boss)
Ash held up his Digivice and took a deep breath. He and his team had spent the late afternoon on Greymon's back hiking through the desert to meet with their new party member. As day turned into night, the party found a spot to set up camp.
Checking the DigiFinder app, Ash could see that they were getting closer to RockSolid. They could have probably met a bit earlier if the guy just stayed put, but they were all heading to the temple anyway, so Ash wasn't going to complain. Once they met up, they would need to finish crossing the desert and get PokePuffPower from a large, forested area. From there it would be a straight shot to the temple to meet up with everyone else. Face to face.
Until then, they would just need to keep checking on each other with the DigiChat.
TomboyMermaid
Alright. Looks like everyone is here. I'll get us started. I'm still with Ash and we have made it to the Database Desert!
RockSolid
That's great! It looks like we are just a few days apart. I'm looking at the map and I'm seeing a small group of mountains. Do you guys think you can make it there?
2BAMaster
I think so. Greymon can go pretty fast now that we don't have any trees to deal with, but he's also pretty big so were having some trouble with food and water rationing.
RockSolid
Here, there's a marking function in DigiFinder. My team was able to find an oasis earlier today. I'll send you the coordinates.
SpotlightQueen
Ugh, I wish I was in the desert.
RockSolid
Right, you're in the artic. Sorry.
SpotlightQueen
I am never taking heaters for granted again! Traveling is slow because have to keep stopping early to build shelter and thaw food and water. But we can't just build shelter anywhere. Oh, no. Because if we don't choose the perfect spot, we're dead.
Can't build over there, it turns out that area is on thin ice. Can't risk building here either, we might cause an avalanche. Oh no, not here! It's out in the open and some hungry, wild Digimon might be looking for a snack because there's hardly any food out here because everything is cold and frozen!
SmellYaLatr
Is the rant over or do you want to air anything else out?
SpotlightQueen
I have to keep tucking my hands into my armpits so now they smell like armpits too….Okay, I'm done.
SightsNFlavors
Wait, why do you need to prepare the water? Can't you just eat the snow?
DragonsFTW
No, if you do that you'll just bring down your body temperature. If you want some extra water, you can take some snow and put it in your canteen and keep it close to your body to melt it, but you shouldn't eat it while it's cold.
BookWurmple
Wow, do you camp a lot?
DragonsFTW
Heck yeah! My village is located in the mountains, so we all know some wilderness survival, but I'm usually hanging out with the wild Pokémon, so I get a bunch of extra practice.
SightsNFlavors
Even in the winter?
DragonsFTW
What? No! I just know some snow survival because it's useful. My go-to winter survival plan is to wrap myself up in every blanket I can find in front of a big fire and drink whatever hot liquid is on the menu that day.
SpotlightQueen
You just described my new idea of paradise.
DragonsFTW
Yeah, well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty cold right now too. Dracomon got in a fight earlier with pack of wild Loogamon and we ended up having to flee down a river to lose them. So now I'm wet.
BookWurmple
Oh no! Don't get sick!
DragonsFTW
I think I should be fine. We've got a fire going and Dracomon is sleeping right next to me. He's kind of like a large hot water bottle if that makes any sense.
PokePuffPower
Oh man, I'm so sorry you guys have to go through all of that.
SpotlightQueen
Oh, that's right. You still haven't left your village.
PokePuffPower
Yeah. The most I've had to deal with is an onslaught of choirs. As weird as it sounds, I'm feeling kind of guilty reading about your adventures. Like I'm some kind of squatter intruding in their home.
2BAMaster
Hey, don't feel bad. I'm sure the Digimon in your village don't mind having you around. And as soon as we get to work on that prophecy, you'll be paying them back tenfold!
PokePuffPower
Oh, uh, thank you.
SightsNFlavors
Well, I guess it's our turn. We're actually pretty lucky too since the elder of Goh's village volunteered to give us a ride until we meet up with Team Garurumon.
SmellYaLatr
Yeah? What kind of Digimon is it?
PalmOfMyHand
He's an Elephantmon. They're kind of like white Copperajah with blue armor and turbines for ears. Also, they can fly.
BookWurmple
No wonder you guys are moving across the map so fast!
PalmOfMyHand
Actually, I was kind of curious about you guys.
BookWurmple
What do you mean?
PalmOfMyHand
I was reading over Garurumon's profile. He should be fast and large enough to carry people. But it doesn't look like you guys are covering enough ground. Is there a problem?
BookWurmple
Well, I, uh…you see, it's because, uh…
SmellYaLatr
Everything's fine. We'll talk more about it later.
SightsNFlavors
Well, the distance doesn't actually look too bad. I think if we just push forward a bit more and wait our groups can meet.
SmellYaLatr
Sounds like a plan to me.
SightsNFlavors
Alright! I think that's everyone. So we'll be signing off now!
SmellYaLatr
Actually there's something else I wanted to talk to you guys about.
PalmOfMyHand
What?
SmellYaLatr
I was playing around with the Digivice's scan function, and I figured I could use the voice search feature to look up our quarry.
TomboyMermaid
Wait, do you mean…
SmellYaLatr
We have a profile on Millenniummon. Look it up.
Ash blinked in surprise. It made sense. If the Digivice could give you a profile of a Digimon using just the name, then why not look up the rumored world destroyer. Looking over at Misty, Ash could see she already had switched her hologram over to the DigiDex. He couldn't make out the picture from the angle she was holding it, but he could see her face: wide eyed and pale.
Next to Misty, Ash could see Betamon staring up at the picture. The rookie's entire body was shaking while her face shared Misty's expression. Before Ash could say anything, he felt Greymon gently prod his back with his head.
"Come on," the champion's eye looked down at the hologram. "Let's look it up."
Ash did so.
The hologram that appeared displayed a beast that was both muscular and emaciated. It had the lower legs of a blue Garurumon-like beast. Four long arms sprouted from its black and brown torso ending in long, armored claws. Its grey head was reptilian with a helmet like shell that ended in a long horn on its snout and a dark blue mane sticking out its back. Coating the back of the beast was a construct made of yellow and blue energy which stretched over its upper limbs and head making a third set of arms and a hooded helmet. Floating just above the construct was a pair of hefty cannons.
"Millenniummon, ultra level,"Ash's eyes quickly darted through the data displayed next to the image."A composite Digimon made from the data of various strong Digimon. It has the power to compress time and space into a pocket dimension where it can trap its foes for eternity."
Ash switched back over to the chat.
SpotlightQueen
Holy
PalmOfMyHand
We're supposed to fight that! That thing's a monster!
PokePuffPower
Well, it is a Digimon. So, it is a digital monster.
PalmOfMyHand
Was that supposed to be a joke?
PokePuffPower
Sort of? Just thought I'd try and lighten the mode.
2BAMaster
Well, I don't think it's too bad.
SpotlightQueen
Were you looking at the same picture we were?
2BAMaster
I'm not saying it's going to be easy. He looks strong, but it's ten against one. If we train hard enough, I think we can take him!
PalmOfMyHand
Did you read what the size of that thing is?
2BAMaster
No.
PalmOfMyHand
The DigiDex has it estimated to be between 150,000 to 160,000 meters high!
2BAMaster
Um, okay? That's tall, right?
PalmOfMyHand
Okay, look at it this way. You know about Wailord, right?
2BAMaster
Yes?
PalmOfMyHand
Wailords tend to be about 15 meters high. So, this guy is basically the size of at least 10,000 Wailords stacked on top of each other!
2BAMaster
Oh, that's big!
PalmOfMyHand
Yeah, it is!
SmellYaLatr
Wait, how do you just remember a Wailord's size off the top of your head?
PalmOfMyHand
My friend's dad does Pokémon research. I like to help him. So?
SmellYaLatr
Yesh, chill. I was just asking.
RockSolid
What I'm more concerned about is the effect this guy has on space and time. Every Digimon I've spoken to said that when Millenniummon manifested for the first time he warped both of those. Even if he was smaller, I'd imagine he'd still be hard to fight if he's able to break down the fabric of reality itself.
DragonsFTW
So, does anyone just so happen to have Dialga or Palkia on them?
SightsNFlavors
Okay guys, confession time. I'm not a Pokémon trainer and I don't know anything about battling.
BookWurmple
I'm in the same boat. Gary has been tutoring me, but I've still got a ways to go.
SpotlightQueen
I was going to start my own Pokémon journey, but I'm more into contests then battles.
PokePuffPower
I know some things on Pokémon riding, and that's it.
PalmOfMyHand
Yeah, I'm more of a researcher then a fighter.
RockSolid
Wait. Do any of you guys have your own Pokémon?
DragonsFTW
I have a Pokémon. But we're, kind of, currently going through a rough spot right now.
SmellYaLatr
I know how to fight. I just haven't gotten my first Pokémon yet.
2BAMaster
Same.
RockSolid
So most of you are beginners and only two of us had Pokémon partners before we were sent here?
2BAMaster
No, Misty has her Staryu. And she's pretty good with it! Right, Misty?...Misty?
Ash looked up from the chat to see why his travel companion was being strangely quiet. He saw that Misty was still looking at her Digivice, but her skin was still as pale as when she was first looking at Millenniummon's profile. Her eyes were glazed over and tired, not comedically large like with the bugs or shocked like a few minutes ago. Just hopeless.
That's when it really started to sink in. They were just a random group of people who got whisked away to fight an eldritch monster that belonged in one of those old tales about Giratina. The Digivices should have grabbed the Elite Four or some of the Champions or some people who at least had some experience under their belts. Looking back and the chat he could see that he wasn't the only one having these thoughts.
"Ash."
Whiping his head around, Ash could see that Greymon was standing. The champion looked Ash dead in the eye as he spoke. "Remember our promise."
Ash did remember. Back at Byte Island they promised to never again be weak in the face of evil. But that wasn't the only promise Ash made. He could feel the goggles hanging around his neck reminding him of the promise that he made to Gomamon, to watch Greymon's and Gabumon's backs. With these vows in mind, Ash turned back to the chat.
2BAMaster
Well, I still think we can do it.
PalmOfMyHand
Did you forget the size discussion we just had?
SightsNFlavors
And the time and space powers?
DragonsFTW
And I don't think those cannons are just for show.
2BAMaster
But he's been defeated before. We just need to do what the first human did and we can defeat Millenniummon again!
BookWurmple
I see what you're saying, but the first human's Digimon were all mega level. So far less than half of us have made it to the champion level.
2BAMaster
Then we just need to get our Digimon to the mega level!
PalmOfMyHand
We just need to get them to the mega level? I don't know what you've heard, but megas sound like legendries. Some of them have even been worshiped as gods!
2BAMaster
Back when I first got here I was told that slimes could become dragons. We don't even have to work with slimes. We've already got a Tyrantrum, a Gyarados, and an Arcanine and I don't know about you guys, but I'm just getting started!
SpotlightQueen
You know what, I think he's right! Millenniummon hasn't shown up yet and we've got a plan! We just need to head to the temple and we can learn how to get stronger! We've got this!
PalmOfMyHand
Plus the temple is supposed to also have a lot of information on legends outside of Digivolving. Maybe they know more about how the last human defeated Millenniummon.
PokePuffPower
Well, um, never mind.
DragonsFTW
What is it?
PokePuffPower
Sorry, I don't want to bring everyone down, but what happened to the first human? I've heard a number of stories from my village's lore master, but he never went into what happened to him.
2BAMaster
What do you mean? He defeated Millenniummon.
SmellYaLatr
I think she's asking about what happened afterwards. We know the Digimon got reincarnated, but we don't know what happened to the human. For all we know he could have bit the dust during that fight.
BookWurmple
Gary! You don't mean that!
SmellYaLatr
Hey, I don't like it either. But it is a possibility that we can't ignore.
2BAMaster
That's not what you said when you first heard the story.
SmellYaLatr
What I said?
2BAMaster
You said that you could take Millenniummon on all by yourself.
PalmOfMyHand
Wait, really?
DragonsFTW
Ego.
SmellYaLatr
Hey, you try taking anything seriously after watching a presentation made by a Litwick with kindergarten doodles!
"Ash."
Ash muted the chat and looked over at Misty.
"You're going to start another fight with Gary," Misty said. "We don't need that now."
"No. I have something I need to say," Ash responded as he unmuted his Digivice.
2BAMaster
I'm not saying that was a bad thing. Well, not the part when you said you could do it all by yourself. That was dumb.
SmellYaLatr
You are the last person I want to hear from on the subject on what is dumb.
2BAMaster
Listen! The part that was cool was when you heard the story about a Digimon who was going to destroy everything and you volunteered to help save the world on the spot. Where's that Gary? Since when are you a pessimist?
SmellYaLatr
I'm not being pessimistic. I'm being realistic! I never said that we should give up on fighting Millenniummon, I just think we need to use our brains instead of bum rushing the reality distorting monster!
PokePuffPower
Sorry, just forget I said anything. The first human was probably just sent home. My mind just wondered there for a moment.
RockSolid
Alright, I think we should call it a night. While everyone is making good points, we just don't know enough to argue about this.
TomboyMermaid
I agree. Let's pick this conversation back up at the temple. Preferably after everyone's had a good night's sleep.
SightsNFlavors
That sounds good, but Elephantmon wants to take us a little further before we set up camp. We're going to be doing a little more flying on our end.
Spotlight Queen
Safe travels!
May & Goh (Mayday)
"Hang on children!" trumpeted Elephantmon as he began to spiral out of control.
May, Goh, and their partners screamed as they held on to their ride's saddle for dear life. What started out as a calm flight quickly turned sour when their group bumped into a flock of wild MailBirdramon, giant bird-like Digimon which looked like they were built out of jet parts.
One of the MailBirdramons managed to grab hold of one of Elephantmon's ear turbines and yank it off causing the pachyderm to plummet from the skies.
"Bear with me a bit longer," called out Elephantmon. "I'll shake them off. Nitro Turbine Wave!"
A powerful shockwave erupted from Elephantmon's ears scattering the robotic flock. Just as the birds backed away, Elephantmon came crashing down onto the ground below. He tumbled forwards sending his passengers flying from his saddle and into an enclave of trees.
"SCREEE!"
Before the travelers could collectively catch their breaths, a stray MailBirdramon came rocketing down towards them. But before it could nab someone, Elephantmon came charging forwards to ram the bird. He then grabbed it by the tail, reared up on his hind legs, and began to spin it around and around using his trunk. Finally he let the champion Digimon go sending it flying away from its would be prey.
His job finished, Elephantmon gave any other enemy Digimon a warning trumpet before turning to his charges and speaking in a more civilized tone. "Now, where shall we set up camp?"
AN: Wait! Hold everything! I forgot to pack a Portable Toilet. Now we have to backtrack to the nearest outhouse or else my Digimon will get constipated and hate me!
I hope you guys enjoyed this little experiment. I think I may do this two or three more times this arc. Once when we formally introduce more of the main cast, again when we have all the characters together, and one more time before the arc finale.
And here we have a peak at Brock and his partner Gotsumon! This is another no brainer as while anime Brock became a generalist, his roots are always going to be in minerals. I'm personally excited to work with Gotsumon because while they are a species that pop up all over the Digimon franchise, they never really get the spotlight. Their personalities have ranged from playful, to stubborn, and even to antagonistic. Brock's Gotsumon is that one guy who does not want to be on an adventure but has to put up with all the shenanigans anyway.
I'm also going to take a brief moment to talk about the different features of the Digivices. Most of the apps are based on abilities that cannon Digivices have. The scan function and the ability to see what your Digimon sees is from Tamers. The telepathic function of the DigiView is inspired by the V-Tamer manga's Digivice's ability to send orders and the mind link from Digimon Seekers. The DigiFinder maps are based on the various mapping and tracking functions seen in Adventures. As for the DigiDex and Digimon stats apps, they are just the index and Digimon pages from the menu in the video games.
The minigames on Ash's device are not a part of any Digivice from any of the series I'm familiar with. I just wanted to make up Pokémon versions of popular phone games.
As you may have noticed, I have changed Millenniummon from mega to ultra level. The ultra level (or super ultimate) is the level beyond mega which is used on and off in the franchise. Most of the time the Digimon in this class are just listed as really strong megas. I'll keep using the mega class for things like mode changes, but when a Digimon completely changes its species from one mega to a more powerful mega I'm probably just going to file that Digimon under the ultra category.
For Millenniummon's height I found a rough estimation of 158,767 meters on using the 2020 reboot. He's a big boi.
I'm probably not going to be able to get the next chapter out until next year. So until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !
Reader Response Recess:
Giblo126: Corny messages are the best kind of messages. They taste great when you grill them with a bit of butter.
Legoguy67: Oh thank goodness. For a moment I thought the other legoguys were dead. Yddrasil, or at least this story's version of Yddrasil, will be mentioned during the latter half of this arc. As for wither or not it will play a bigger role, that will have to come way later. Our heroes will need to do a bit of questing before they are ready to meet a god.
I am considering various enemy Digimon from the library of Digimon movies for our protags to fight. Nothing is permanent yet, but since I've got 10 Digidestined to work with there should be plenty of opportunities to toss a bunch of different monsters at them.
I am also happy that both you and Ultimate savior infinity approve of my use of X-Antibody Digimon. If you like them, then you're going to enjoy a couple of the reoccurring antagonists I've got lined up.
The one who reads and writes: Glad to see that you enjoy the character bits. As I'm writing each of the main chapters I'm attempting to inject a bit of world exploration, action, and character moments. I'm experimenting with interlude chapters as a way to interject either small plot bits or fun character interactions without breaking the flow of a main chapter.
I wouldn't say Misty or Seadramon are completely over their fears. Like you, I don't believe in having characters overcome their fears in a single chapter/episode. But the Aesop of that chapter was that we sometimes need to go into situations that make us uncomfortable so these two are improving. Misty may have learned to keep her phobia in check in emergencies, but I doubt that she'll ever really like bugs. As for Seadramon, she's taking steps. Little steps, but steps nonetheless.
To Ultimate savior infinity, Ashpoke55 and everyone else tuning in: Thank you for reading! God loves you and so do I!
Digimon Introduced
Gotsumon: Rookie, Data, Ore
Millenniummon: Ultra, Virus, Composite
Elephantmon: Armor, Free, Android
MailBirdramon: Champion, Data, Machine
Pokémon Introduced
Onix: Rock/Ground, The Rock Snake Pokémon
Eevee: Normal, The Evolution Pokémon
Next Time: A real chapter! Goh, May, and their Digimon investigate an abandoned city in an effort to learn more about the past. Unfortunately, the city may not be as much of ghost town as they thought.