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.

17. Foxes and Hounds

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 get to my next class: Tree Village (Tak and the Power of Juju)

The Crest of a Master Chapter 17: Foxes and Hounds

"My name is Serena. Ash, do you remember me?"

Ash stared deep into Serena's eyes. He thought back to his childhood in Pallet Town. He remembered the small group of children he would play with while his mom was at work. Serena didn't match any of their faces.

Maybe she was from out of town? Out of towners were fairly frequent thanks to Professor Oak. Whether it were some scientists looking to collaborate on some kind of research project, TV and radio executives seeking a guest star, Ash would hear about them all the time from his mother who usually ended up catering for the lab or from Gary who never passed up a chance to brag about how important his family was. Serena was too young to be someone from one of those groups, and Ash was willing to bet that she was the same age as him so she couldn't have been someone picking up her first Pokémon.

Oh hey! Professor Oak's summer camp had little kids from all over sign up. She must have attended one year! "Did you go to Professor Oak's summer camp?"

"Yes!" Serena's smile became more confident. "You do remember!"

"Actually I don't," Ash admitted scratching the back of his head.

"You don't?" Serena slumped.

Catching the disappointed look on Serena's face, Ash tried to figure something out. "I think I remember a girl at the stable that the Rhyhorn slobbered over, was that you?"

"No," Serena sighed. "I got enough Rhyhorn at home, so I hung around the Persian."

"Oh," Ash searched his memories. Dang it! That camp was forever ago! "Were you the hive covered girl who had to duck out of the Pokémon grooming class?"

"No, I'm not allergic to Eevees," Serena's face was starting to turn pink.

Ash's eyes began to dart around the area. All three Digimon were watching him with curious expressions. Opposite them were Brock and Misty. Brock's mouth was twisted into a grimace while Misty hid her face in her hand.

Okay, third time's the charm. "There was someone in the woods, was that you?"

"No. Look, let's forget, wait," Serena perked up and her blush began to disappear. "Yes! Yes that was me!"

Ash grinned. Finally, he was getting somewhere! "Yeah, I remember now! You were the girl who tripped and cried because you were afraid of Poliwags!"

The blush was now back with a vengeance. "I mean, I guess that's kind of what happened."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Everyone present turned around to see a new Digimon making his way over to the entrance platform. This Digimon had a humanoid build and was even dressed in white, traditional ninja garb with a cloth mask concealing its face. His limbs were long, springy vines which clamped onto shurikens to serve as hands and feet. There was a pair of leaves for shoulder pads, a large shuriken holstered on its back, and a bundle of red hair sticking out from the back of its head.

"Shurimon, armor level," Ash, now distracted from his summer camp reunion, read off his Digivice. "He's a ninja who specializes in blending in with nature to spy and attack. Special attacks include Double Star Strike and Double Stars."

"I presume you six are the chosen Digimon and their human partners that we were expecting? Ah, I see you've already met Serena. Good!" Shurimon gave the group a quick bow. "You may call me Professor Shurimon. Welcome to my school."

"Are you a real ninja?" Agumon blurted out.

Lifting his head, a dangerous gleam appeared in Shurimon's eye. "I'd tell you that, but then I'd have to kill you."

After seeing the various looks of horror on his guests' faces, Shurimon began to laugh. "Just joking! A little ninja humor. Yes, I am a fully trained shinobi. I opened this school in hopes of passing on my skills to young Digimon so that they may be able to defend themselves and survive in a hostile era. A skill set which sadly has yet to go out of date. But enough of what you already know, you must be exhausted from your journey. Would you be open to joining me for some tea and snacks?"

"Heck yeah!" Agumon leapt to his feet, energy fully recovered at the mention of snacks.

"It's been a long time since I was able to enjoy a good cup of tea," Brock agreed.

"Um, do you have any cheerful apple cider?" Betamon shyly asked.

With that everyone was about to follow Shurimon until the headmaster noticed Serena lingering behind. "My invitation was for you as well, Serena. I made some of your favorite tea cakes."

"Thank you, headmaster," said Serena, who was still fairly pink faced. "But I have to hand out some puffs to some friends at the dojo. This may be my last chance to watch them before I leave."

"Very well," Shurimon gave the girl a nod. "Just make sure you come by my office later. I would like to have a final tea time with you before you leave."

Curious, Ash watched Serena quickly walk away before following everyone else. What was that about?

Later, Ash and his friends found themselves in a small, cozy room. Or as cozy as a room decked out with ninja weapons could get. Though the chabudai in the middle looked inviting with a small assortment of tea cakes and finger sandwiches, the walls were codded in sharp pointy objects ranging from a collection of decorative sai to a lovely set of kama sickles. Ash was pretty sure that if he so much as casually leaned up against any of the décor he'd end up slicing himself.

"Make yourself at home while I prepare your drinks," Shurimon said before walking away.

As soon as the headmaster left the room, Misty spoke up. "Ash, about what happened back with Serena…"

Okay, here it comes. The criticisms. Let's just get this over with.

"I think you mostly handled that well."

Oh. "Thanks?"

"Mostly," Misty emphasized. "Nobody can blame you for not remembering someone you met a long time ago right away, and it was nice of you to try and jog your memory. But did you really only remember the moments from your summer camp that were embarrassing for people?"

"It's not like I was trying to. They just stuck out," Ash shrugged. Truth be told, Ash kind of felt bad for those kids, especially the girl who found out that she was allergic to Eevees that day. At least Gary wasn't there to rub salt in those kids' wounds. Summer camp time for him was taking a trip to some foreign region with his older sister and dad. "Wait, do you think that's why Serena didn't want to come with us? Because I embarrassed her?"

"Maybe," Brock folded his arms thoughtfully. "Whatever the case was, I think you should go talk to her. It looked like she really wanted to meet you."

"You think so?" Ash said thoughtfully. "We just briefly saw each other at summer camp. Why would she want to see me again?"

"How are you this dense?" Gotsumon said bluntly before popping a tea cake into his jaws.

Ash scowled at the rock monster. "What mean by that?"

Gotsumon swallowed the sweet. "I mean I've interacted with your species for less than a month and I've already got a better read on your social ques than you do. It's obvious that that girl…"

"Gotsumon, what did I tell you about staying out of personal matters?" Brock warned the rock monster.

"Fine," Gotsumon rolled his eyes. "But if this whole situation ends up dragging on and going nowhere, don't come crying to me."

"What situation?" Ash beseeched. He looked over to Agumon to see if his partner knew anything he didn't, but the Totodile just shrugged.

"I don't want to jump the gun on anything," Misty mused. "We just met Serena. I think we should get to know her better before we make any hasty conclusions on her or what she wants."

WHAT CONCLUSIONS!? JUMP THE GUN ON WHAT!?

That's it. If no one was going to be helpful, then Ash was just going to have to take care of this matter himself. He got ready to stand up. "I'm going to go find Serena."

"Ash, be careful when you talk with her," Misty warned. "If it turns out that you hit a sore spot, she might want some time alone."

"Okay, what should I do?" Ash asked.

"There is only one way to treat a girl in this situation," Brock said, his voice becoming very serious. "You must shower her with praises!"

"Uh, okay?" Ash blinked. That made some sense. If Ash embarrassed Serena then complementing her might put her in a better mode. He wasn't so sure about that shower part though. Wouldn't that just make her more embarrassed?

Brock wasn't done. As he spoke his voice became more passionate and his body language more animated. "Yes! You must let her know that she's the sun! The moon! The stars! Then, when she knows how much you mean to her, you must sweep her off her feet by asking her to mar-GAH!"

Brock's fountain of advice was interrupted by Misty yanking his ear. "Settle down, you're confusing him and scaring me"

While this was happening, the Digimon all stared at the rock specialist with wide eyes.

"Wow, Brock has really strong feelings about meeting new friends," Betamon surmised.

Agumon leaned over to whisper to Gotsumon. "What's going on with Brock? Why's he acting so weird?"

"Don't know," Gotsumon said blinking in surprise at his normally mature trainer. "He's never behaved like this before. Well, except for that one time."

That One Time

It was during a rest stop in the middle of their desert trek where Brock had returned Onix to rest that he and Gotsumon had the unfortunate luck of coming across bandits. The leader of the group was a champion level Digimon who decided to take advantage of the weakened civilian population instead of fighting in the war. She was a tall, well-endowed, amazon of a woman dressed in scantily clad golden armor adorned with demon skulls who carried a massive, spiked club. Her name was Kinkakumon.

"Alright!" grinned Kinkakumon brandishing her club. "If you want to keep breathing, I suggest you hand over all your valuables!"

Scared, Gotsumon looked over to his human to see if he had any plan on how to get out of this mess. So far, the human hadn't said anything. Instead, he stared straight into the bandit leader's eyes, arms folded, cloak flowing dramatically in the wind. Was this it? Was Brock going to show that same stalwart spirit and talent for battle as the human from long ago?

Finally, Brock spoke. "I'm afraid I can't do that," he said in a dead serious tone. "For you have already stolen my most valuable possession."

"I what? When?" Kinkakumon's face scrunched up in concentration, trying to remember if she already mugged this duo. "What did I steal?"

Before anyone could react, Brock was right in front of Kinkakumon on one knee holding one of her hands while wearing a goofy smile on his face. "My heart!"

There were a few beats where everyone, Gotsumon, Kinkakumon, and the rest of the bandits, processed what just happened. Then Kinkakumon, face flared up in a mad blush, swung her club into Brock sending the human flying far into the desert. Gotsumon took that time to sneak away before any of the bandits could snap out of their dumbstruck stupor.

Flashback End

"Back then I thought he was just suffering from a heat stroke, but now I'm starting to worry," Gotsumon frowned.

"I'm back!" announced Headmaster Shurimon. The plant monster had managed to balance a tray of filled teacups between his shuriken hands, truly the mark of a ninja master.

"Hey, Shurimon, where's the dojo?" Ash asked.

"Ash, manners!" Misty groaned. "I am so glad Serena is joining our group because I'm beginning to feel like I'm the only human who knows how to act normal."

But Shurimon didn't look bothered by Ash's lapse of manners. "Out the back, to your left, down a flight of stairs and a couple trees over. It's the large building covered in wear and tear; you can't miss it."

Ash ran out the door. "Thank you, uh, sir!"

Agumon grabbed a plate of tea cakes and dumped them down his gullet before scampering after Ash. "Wait for me!"

Misty

"While you're there, could you please remind the students that since you have arrived they have the afternoon off to finish working on their goodbye present?" Shurimon called after Ash.

"Good bye present?" Misty asked

"Yes," Shurimon put down his tray of drinks and sat down, crossing his curly vine legs. "Some time after word got out that a student at this school was a reincarnation of one of the Digimon who faced Millenniummon, other students wanted to put together a gift for her human to mark this momentous occasion. After much deliberation, it was decided that the best way for all students to participate would be to put on a short play. When we heard that Serena was waiting for your group, it was decided that we'd also put the play on for you."

"Oh wow," Misty remembered when she first arrived at Phising Village and the small feast they held in her honor. Never before or since did she feel such a strong case of imposter syndrome until now. "You really didn't have to."

"Think nothing of it," Shurimon chuckled. "It was good for the students to have something to work on and look forward to rather than be stuck in a state of fear and depression that comes with constant conflict."

"But that's what you guys are here for, right?" Misty eyed the wall of weapons. "To learn how to deal with conflict?"

Misty thought back to her own world. At the moment it was relatively peaceful save for reports of some criminal organizations in various regions. Yes, Pokémon could be dangerous if provoked. But most Pokémon just left humans to their own devices and even a child as young as ten could venture out into the wild so long as they had their own Pokémon partner. Since Misty began her hike across the Digital World it felt like there was an attempt on her life every other day.

Shurimon took a sip of his tea (which consisted of him bringing the mug under his mask before putting it down). "It's true, our world is built on the back of conflict. Even when Millenniummon was defeated for the first time our Era of Peace still had wars."

"That name seems a bit of a misnomer," Brock frowned.

"It certainly is," Shurimon laughed. "But there were a lot less worldwide battles and anytime there was a tyrant who attempted to assert themselves as the supreme leader they would find themselves toppled before too long. Alas, it seems as though no matter how hard we try to escape it, violence will forever be a part of our core existence. That is the reason I opened this school, to teach young Digimon how to defend themselves in an unforgiving world whether that defense comes from combat or by finding the mental strength to have merriment even when death looms on the horizon."

As the two trainers took in Shurimon's words, a loud croaking sound echoed through the school campus.

Sighing, Shurimon rose to his feet. "Sounds like one of our stealth and survival teachers has returned. I must go met with him. Feel free to help yourselves to the rest of these snacks and to use our facilities to rest and restock."

With that, the headmaster left the two humans and their Digimon.

"What do you want to do?" Misty asked picking up a sandwich to feed to Betamon which the amphibian gratefully accepted. "I'm pretty sure it's still technically day. I don't think we can rest just yet."

Brock put down his tea mug. "I'll take care of restocking. I just need to find where the school's infirmary and cafeteria are."

"Let me guess," Gotsumon said grabbing a couple more cakes. "You want me to help carry everything?"

"If you don't want to help I'm sure I can find you somewhere to practice fighting. Maybe even find you a sparring partner," Brock suggested with a mischievous smirk.

"Leave all the heavy lifting to me," Gotsumon volunteered.

"What should we do, Misty?" Betamon looked up at her partner.

"Well, since Brock and Gotsumon are getting our supplies, how about we see if there's a class for some training?" Misty said rising to her feet.

Ash

Following Shurimon's instructions, Ash was able to find the dojo. True to the headmaster's description, the massive tree house had seen better days. It looked to be the size of a small, school gym held aloft by multiple trees. Scattered across the building's surface were little clusters of wooden planks fixed over various holes in the walls and ceiling.

"Wow, they must really know how to party over there," Agumon commented. "Do you think that they'll allow an outsider to go a couple rounds with some of the students? We've been spending most of our traveling time fighting wild Digimon, it'll be cool to see how we measure up to some trained warriors! Are you with me Ash?...Ash?"

"Huh?" Ash snapped out of his thoughts. "Uh, yeah. Could you repeat that?"

Agumon frowned. "I was talking about finding new Digimon to fight! What were you thinking about?"

"I'm trying to remember that summer camp with Serena," Ash folded his arms. "She remembered me right away and I had to really think to remember her."

"Do you remember anything other than the forest polliwog stuff?" Agumon asked.

"No, that's about it," Ash folded his hands behind his head. "Professor Oak is a really busy guy, so his summer camps only last a day. I don't think I saw any of the other kids afterwards. Brock and Misty made it sound like I'm supposed to say something to her, but I don't have anything to go off of except the memory she found embarrassing!"

"Hm," Agumon folded his arms and closed his eyes in concentration. "What if you just don't talk about it?"

"I think she's going to expect me to say something about camp," Ash frowned.

"But you don't remember camp, remember?" Agumon raised his claws in the air. "So just talk about something else!"

It seemed too simple, but Agumon had a point. Ash couldn't talk about something he couldn't remember. With that in mind, Ash made his way over to the dojo with Agumon in tow.

As the two walked, Agumon threw in some words of encouragement. "If it makes you feel any better, look at it this way: Serena seems to like you. When you first met Misty, she hated you and now the two of you get along fine. Most of the time."

Dojo

Despite his desire to go on a Pokémon journey and compete in the Indigo Conference, Ash had never even seen the inside of a Pokémon gym. This was mostly because he wasn't old enough to challenge any gyms, but also due to the lack of a proper gym in Pallet Town. When he asked Professor Oak what a Pokémon gym looked like, the old man informed him that while the design varied from facility to facility there was always a battlefield for the gym leader to face off any challenger. It made sense, gyms were supposed to be a place for trainers to be tested. But Ash always imagined there would be more training equipment to actually give the Pokémon a workout like a human gym.

The school's dojo was a misnomer in the opposite direction. There was a small battlefield in the middle, but most of the building was dedicated to various kinds of workout equipment. Both the battlefield and the equipment were occupied by different kinds of Digimon that Ash had never seen before. So he did the most logical thing he could think of and brought out his Digivice to scan them.

Running through an obstacle course of swinging logs on ropes and speed bumps was a furry dragon type-looking Digimon with plates on its back that gave it the appearance of a samurai. The dragon tripped over one of the speed bumps and was about to be hit by a log when he regained his footing and deflected the incoming blow with his armor. He then spat a sword out of his mouth severing the rope carrying another incoming log.

"Ryudamon, rookie level. Though he's covered in armor, he's pretty nimble giving him high mobility and defense. If he wants to attack, he can spit an Iai Blade from his mouth."

On the other side of the gym was a creature which was covered in kendo gear leaving only a pair of purple, reptilian legs and tail visible with a pair of glowing yellow eyes peering out from within the mask. It was practicing different katas with its bamboo blade by striking at a squad of dummies with different body types, some humanoid others beastly.

"Kotemon, rookie level. It's a bit of a crybaby but has a strong sense of justice and will defend its friends by either charging its blade with electricity or fire for its Thunder Kote and Hothead attacks."

Gliding overhead were a pair of Noctowl-looking Digimon. One had green wings while the other wore a purple vest. They maneuvered around hanging rings and trapeze bars. Occasionally they would grab onto one of the obstacles to kick off and continue their aerial acrobatics.

"Falcomon, rookie level. The green winged one uses its powerful legs to attack its opponents with a Falco Rush while the one with a purple vest favors ninja tactics with its Ninja Blade attack."

Following behind Falcomon was a Digimon wearing armor made of a collection of boxes with some holes poked into the head box for his eyes to pear out of. He didn't have any wings, so he just clumsily swung from hanging ring to hanging ring until his slipped and fell to the dojo sparing matt with a loud yelp.

"Bakomon, rookie level. It's so shy that it has to cover itself with cardboard boxes to even walk around. It can immobilize its foes with its Gum Roll attack and send them flying using Transdelivery."

Bakomon only had a second to recover before scrambling to get out of the way of two sparing Digimon. On one side of the battlefield was a white, bipedal Luxio in blue armor armed with a crystal-clear blade. On the other side was a small, bipedal Rhyhorn wearing golden armor with a white cape and a massive blade horn.

The Luxio charged forward and clanged his blade into the Rhyhorn. When his blow was deflected, the Luxio leapt back and then charged forwards from a different angle. He did this again and again, trying to find an opening in his opponent's defense.

"Spadamon, rookie level. It can transform itself into a weapon that can bring around great good or evil depending on who wields him."

Having enough of his opponent's attacks, the Rhyhorn charged forwards blade first. At first Spadamon was able to leap out of the way, but then the Rhyhorn swung around and transformed into a sword. Using the momentum from his swing, the sword spun around and continued spinning as it flew after Spadamon. The sword's flight was stopped when Spadamon transformed himself into a spear, parrying the sword away. The sword transformed back into a Digimon and landed on its feet, facing Spadamon who had also changed back.

"Zubamon, rookie level. He can also transform into a weapon and is in constant pursuit of ideal sharpness. He's also obsessed with the number 20."

Looking up from his Digivice, Ash observed the different Digimon "What kind of class is this?"

A voice with a heavy Unovan accent spoke up from behind. "Pain 101."

Turning around, Ash spotted a tall humanoid Digimon wearing tattered pants, a white zipped up wife beater, wooden gauntlets, and a white, horned mask. Crossing around the Digimon's chest were thorny vines keeping a large plushy strapped to its back. The only visible features of the Digimon were its blue reptilian feet and its wild red hair.

The Digimon twirled the twin bokken in its hands until they stopped at his shoulders. "Your instructor is Yasyamon."

Okay, one more. "Yasyamon, armor level. If his melee Double Strike doesn't put you down, he can use his psychic powers to control you like a puppet with his Kugutsu no Jutsu."

"You the new human?" Yasyamon asked.

"Yeah, name's Ash!" Ash smiled up at the instructor.

It was hard to get a read on the masked Digimon's expression, but judging by the way his eyes narrowed, he wasn't returning Ash's smile. "You some kind of punker?"

Ash blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Serena came in here, face red, didn't want to talk to anyone," Yasyamon explained. "You wouldn't know anything about this, would you?"

"Maybe?" Ash backed away slightly. "I wasn't trying to hurt her feelings. I was just having a hard time remembering her and, uh, might have brought up an embarrassing memory?"

"But it's okay because we're here to make things okay!" Agumon declared. "Ash is going to talk with Serena and make everything better and I'm going to kick everyone's butt!"

"Kick all my student's butts, right," Yasyamon snorted. "Well, you're free to use the dojo for a workout if you…hold that thought."

Yasyamon turned around and called out to the Kotemon. "Kotemon! You're forms off!" Yasyamon's eyes began to glow, and strings of psychic energy formed around Kotemon moving his limbs like a marionette. When Yasyamon was done, Kotemon's stance looked a lot more balanced.

"Thank you, sensei!" Kotemon called out before returning to his training.

Satisfied, Yasyamon gave the rookie a nod before returning his attention back to Ash and Agumon. "Where were we?"

"I'm trying to talk to Serena to see if she's okay," Ash stated more firmly.

"Right," Yasyamon pointed to the other side of the dojo. "She's over there, setting up towels and snacks for the class. You can help her out while your partner gets a workout."

"Alright!" Agumon began to run off towards the training equipment with the same enthusiasm as a little kid towards a playground before turning back and waving at Ash. "Good luck!"

"Hey, kid," Ash was about to head over to Serena when Yasyamon called out to him again. "Make her cry and I make you cry too. Capeesh?"

Ash gave the instructor a mute nod, not sure if schoolteachers in the Digital World were allowed to threaten visitors and continued to head over to the corner Yasyamon pointed towards. There was Serena, laying out drinks and towels next to a box of sweets.

Ash took a deep breath. "Uh, hi."

Serena's form went ridged before she turned to face Ash. "Oh, uh, hi!"

"Need some help with those?" Ash offered, making his way closer.

"No, I'm pretty much done," Serena said taking a seat next to a box of sweets.

"Okay," there was an awkward pause. "Can I sit next to you?"

"Go ahead," Serena scooted to the side to allow Ash a spot on the bench.

Taking his seat between Serena and the boxes of sweets, Ash watched the students practice. Normally this would have been really cool, seeing a bunch of new Digimon show off their moves and even some of their powers. But right now, all he could think about was the blushing girl sitting next to him. Looks like she was still embarrassed from before, so maybe he shouldn't bring up the camp. Maybe he should take Agumon's advice and talk about something else. "This place has really nice weather." Brilliant, Ash! That would break the ice!

"Yeah, it's really nice," Serena nodded before going silent again. Shoot, back to square one! Recover! Recover!

What was Brock's advice? Shower her with praises? "These desserts smell really nice; did you bake them?"

"Mmhmm," Serena nodded. "They're called Poké Puffs. They're popular in Kalos. It turns out that Digimon like them too, so I've been retheming them as Digi Puffs."

"That's cool," Ash reached into the box and grabbed a puff. "Let me try!"

"Wait! Not that one!" Serena cried.

Too late. Ash bit into the dessert. At first it tasted just like any other chocolate treat, but then his mouth burst into flame. "SPICY!"

Quickly, Serena grabbed an orange puff and handed over to Ash. "Eat this!"

Ash accepted the treat and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed until the heat died down. "Thanks."

"Sorry about that," Serena smiled apologetically. "Ryudamon and Zubamon both really like spicy food. The spicy chocolate puffs are for them."

"Good to know," Ash choked out. He reached over for a bottled water and began chugging down the contents.

While Ash drank, Serena took another deep breath. "Ash, I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Ash finished gulping down what was left of the pastry. "I should have asked about the flavors first."

"Not about the puffs," Serena wrung her hands. "I wanted to apologize about what happened at the entrance. I put you on the spot and tried to get you to remember something that happened a long time ago. It wasn't fair to you."

Ash blinked. Here he was thinking about how he probably hurt Serena's feelings and figuring out how to clear the air. It didn't occur to him that she might have thought the same. Ash smiled. "It's alright! At least you've got a better memory then me! Most of the stuff I remember about the other campers that summer was the embarrassing stuff. I was just busy having fun."

"I wish I had fun," Serena sighed. "My mom was at a race that day and just dropped me off in a camp filled with strangers in a town I did not know. When you helped me in the forest, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Like there was someone in that moment who genuinely cared."

"That's just what you are supposed to do," Ash said, bashfully scratching the back of his head. "You see someone who's hurt, you just help them. It's not special."

"I guess," Serena watched the Falcomons swoop down to perform a tag team match against the weapon shifters. "When I saw your name in the chats, I just got a sensation of déjà vu. Here I was, dumped off in a foreign land where I knew no one and was feeling pretty lost. Then you pop up again."

"Huh," Ash said thoughtfully. "That is kind of spooky."

"Maybe," Serena admitted. "As weird as it sounds, it gave me a little hope. Like this was some kind of sign that end was near and that things would get better from here on out. Somehow. But that's just me glorifying an old memory."

Ash looked over at Serena. Despite her youthful appearance, she suddenly looked really tired. Despite just meeting the girl (again), Ash sort of got it. She, like him, was whisked away to an alien world and told about the ancient evil on the horizon. But unlike Ash, Serena spent the last few weeks waiting. Yes, it was to make meeting up easier, but the experience must have still been maddening. Ash knew that if he was supposed to just wait around and instead of proactively working towards a goal, he would go stir crazy. "Who says it won't get better?"

"Huh?" Serena looked over at Ash, confused.

"I mean, this school looks cool and if I had to stay anywhere in the Digital World for a long time this place maybe it. But I think you need to hit the road!" Ash punctuated that last sentence with a fist pump.

"That's the plan, isn't it?" Serena still looked confused.

"Well, yeah," Ash replied. "What I mean is we're far away from home and the Digital World has been trying to kill us ever since we arrived here, but when you're out there traveling and training and working towards something your problems just don't feel that bad. Sure, I've almost been sliced up, trampled, dehydrated, eaten, and I'm really not selling this am I?"

"No, go on!" Serena was grinning. "I've only been able to glimpse at everyone's' adventures through the chat. I want to know more about what you guys have been up to."

"Only if you tell me more about this school," Ash grinned back. He then gestured at the training Digimon. "Like, are these guys your friends?"

Serena nodded. "I've mostly been hanging around the academics department. But I have been helping out in the dojo and the other classes. I've gotten to know a lot of these guys."

Serena then pointed at the different Digimon. "For example, once that Kotemon graduates he wants to travel to the Castle of the Royal Knights to learn more swordsman skills. Digimon don't really have siblings. But if they did, those Falcomon would probably be brother and sister since they both hatched in the same village and grew up together. That Bakomon may seem like he's struggling, but he's really good in the archery and ranged attack classes."

Both Serena and Ash spent the rest of the class sharing stories of their stay at the Digital World and all the different characters they met. The conversation came to an end when the students stopped their training and began filling on over to Ash and Serena for drinks and snacks.

"Sorry were short a spicy chocolate puff," Serena said handing some sweets to the Ryudamon. "There was a bit of an accident."

"Hey, I'm happy to have some of your baking no matter what flavor," said Ryudamon accepting the treat. "By the way, is that other human the one that…"

"That has just arrived and is going to be traveling with me, yes!" Serena said very quickly, cutting off Ryudamon. She then handed him a bottle of water. "Here, I think Spadamon was looking for you earlier. Why don't you go find him?"

"Which one is yours?" Ash asked.

"Which what?" Serena asked, still sounded a little panicked.

"Your partner," Ash elaborated. "You've seen Agumon and I told you all about him. I want to know what your Digimon is like."

"Right, my Digimon," Serena slowly said, shrinking into herself. "My partner…"

"Check it out!" exclaimed one of the Falcomon. "Gaomon and that chosen Digimon are squaring off!"

Almost immediately, the rest of the students took their snacks and drinks and made a beeline towards the sparing matt. Ash and Serena followed to find that Agumon was standing on one side of the matt. Standing opposite him was another rookie Digimon who resembled a blue canine with a red headband and matching red boxing gloves.

"Oh boy," Serena sighed.

Brock

Finished with restocking the team's food supplies, Brock decided to take a little break before finding the school's infirmary. Curious about the treehouse school, Brock took a stroll across the different bridges and porches. Both Gotsumon and Geodude followed. Geodude had come out to help Brock pack the supplies and stuck around for some sight-seeing. The floating rock would hover in and out of various classrooms and go up to murals to inspect them with the same expression as a wealthy art collector looking over a possible purchase. Whether this was because of genuine enjoyment or as a joke was anyone's guess.

"What's his deal?" Gotsumon said watching Geodude fiddle around with a pencil gripper made for students who lacked dexterous hands.

"Geodude's just like me, curious," Brock explained putting a book back on a desk. "Back home, only humans went to school. Unless it was a school for trainers or some other profession involving Pokémon, Pokémon didn't participate. And even at the schools for Pokémon professions the Pokémon weren't the students."

"Meh, it doesn't look like either of us missed much," Gotsumon said moving out of the classroom and onto the bridge.

Brock followed. "You didn't go to school?"

"Didn't have to," Gotsumon explained. "I got all the special tutoring I needed for my job."

"Special tutoring huh?" Brock said. He decided to push his luck and see if he could que Gotsumon to open up about his past. "Sounds ritzy."

Apparently Geodude had the same line of thought because he floated up next to Gotsumon and wiggled his eye ridges. "Geodude," he said rubbing his thumb and index fingers together.

"Don't get excited. I was lower class," Gotsumon responded. "Very lower class."

Brock was about to ask more questions when he heard some voices coming from inside one of the classrooms.

"You are such a numbskull that you don't even know what a numbskull is!"

"You know you are, but what am I?"

Peeking into the classroom, Brock could see three Digimon. Quickly, he analyzed them with his Digivice. 'Bokomon, rookie level. A natural scholar who carries a large book around to chronicle his findings. Shoemon, rookie level. A timid Digimon who can sense threats through vibrations in the ground. She can tie up her opponents with her Petit Needle. Neemon, rookie level. These guys may seem dimwitted, but what little knowledge they have can be very useful.'

Currently, the Bokomon and the Shoemon were in a heated debate.

"The most significant event in the history of the Digital World had to be the battle against Millenniummon!" argued the Shoemon. "The human's rise to the Digital World's champion brought social reform and unity! Plus Millenniummon almost destroyed the Digital World. That's kind of a big deal."

Bokomon didn't look impressed. "If we're judging significance by doomsday scenarios, then you shouldn't discount the Demon Lord's campaign to topple Yggdrasil. To this day no one other than Lucemon and General Bagramon were able to breach the domain of the Server Tree. If they had successfully destroyed the tree then the Digital World may have died for good! Between that incident and the other battles that took place during the Era of Legends I submit that that age was the most significant in history."

"You are both wrong!" declared the Neemon. "The most significant event was the invention of clothes!"

This comment earned a look of irate from both debaters.

"How is tailoring remotely considered important?" Bokomon asked. "It's not necessary since most Digimon who wear clothes only have them because their wardrobe was already programmed into their core."

Shoemon nodded. "Extra clothing can be commissioned, but I don't think accessories have ever played any important roles in history."

The Neemon leaned in with a smirk. "But humans can't manifest clothing. What if the human was naked? Would the Digital World have chosen him as a champion then? Hmm?"

Bokomon stared at the smug Neemon slack jawed before erupting. "THAT'S THE STUPIDEST IDEA I'VE EVER HEARD!"

Brock decided to intervene. He stepped into the classroom with Gotsumon and Geodude behind. "To be fair, humans tend to be more comfortable wearing something."

All three Digimon looked at the new group. "Are you new students?" Shoemon asked.

Bokomon took a moment to study Brock. Glancing at Brock's belt, Bokomon spotted the Digivice hooked to it. "The tall one is one of the new humans!"

Just like that, all three Digimon forgot their argument and swarmed around Brock and his team.

"Amazing. Though he has the same basic body type, his appearance is different from Serena's," Bokomon said taking some notes.

"He has a different lifestyle too," Shoemon added on sniffing at Brock's pant leg. "His pants are made of a more durable, less flashy material then Serena's clothes. And it smells like he uses more savory ingredients for cooking. I suspect he's more of a stew chief then a baker."

"I can do both," Brock smiled, amused by the scholars' antics. "Stews are just easier to prepare on the go."

"Oh! Look at this guy!" Neemon said, hovering around Geodude.

Immediately Bokomon and Shoemon turned their attention from Brock to his Pokémon. "It must be one of those foreign Digimon!" Bokomon deduced.

"No, I don't think it's a Digimon," Shoemon said, observing Geodude form a lower angle. "It doesn't feel like it has a Digicore. I think it's just some fauna from the human world."

"I think it's a floating rock!" Neemon put in.

Like Brock, Geodude allowed the scholars to examine him. He even went so far as to flex for the trio causing the group to quickly scribble down some notes.

Finally, the group moved onto Gotsumon. Bokomon took out a magnifying glass and began prodding Gotsumon from head to toe. "And I suppose that would make you the chosen Digimon."

Gotsumon looked over at Brock. "You know, we didn't have to stop and talk to these guys. We could have just kept walking."

"Sorry for interrupting you guys," Brock said scratching the back of his head. "I overheard your debate and got curious."

Bokomon stopped studying Gotsumon and turned to address Brock. "Think nothing of it. My classmates and I were in the middle of brainstorming the topic for our upcoming essays. We were trying to figure out what the most significant event or period in Digital World history was."

"I thought this was a school for combatants," Gotsumon said as he moved over to sit on a bench.

"It is," squeaked Shoemon who was now sketching a picture of Geodude. "But Professor Shurimon doesn't just want his graduates to be pure killing machines. That's why we have all these classrooms, to study core academics like history, writing, and math."

"Besides, not all of us come to this school to become fighters," Bokomon threw in. "While Shurimon's Academy puts emphasis on battling, it has an excellent history depart. Perfect for anyone studying to be a lore master."

"That's why we're here!" Neemon chirped. "We're lore masters in training!"

"What's a lore master?" Brock asked.

Gotsumon answered. "Lore masters are kind of a mix between story tellers and historians. They're supposed to pass on and protect history, culture, and all that junk."

"It's a profession that balances the knowledge of a scholar with the heart of an artist. To become a lore master one must dedicate their life to studying the past so that they may teach the future while preserving traditions in music, art, and theater."

A new Digimon plodded into the room. It was some kind of canine with luscious, cream-colored fur save for its floppy ears, fluffy tail, and some markings under its eyes which were all dark magenta. It walked across the wooden floors on four, clawed legs but was able to rear up onto its haunches to grab some papers off a desk.

Hey, check it out. We're in a school. Time to do some learning. Scan this new doggo.

"Labramon, rookie level," Brock read. "These guys are very loyal Digimon who can either heal their friends with their Cure Liqueur or create hyper-oscillation with their Retriever Bark."

Brock looked up from his Digivice and offered Labramon his hand. "Nice to meet you. Are you a student here too?"

Labramon accepted the shake. "The pleasure is all mine and no, I'm not a student. I'm actually the teacher."

Surprised, Brock quickly apologized. "Sorry. You just sound so young."

"It's quite alright," Professor Labramon responded, wagging his tail. "The rookie level is the child stage. It can be tough to tell who really is young and who's delayed their evolution. Truth be told, it's high past time that I Digivolved, but I held off in case I got a form that was too big or didn't have opposable thumbs. Though now that Digivolution has somehow been locked, I'm regretting that choice."

"What would you Digivolve into?" Brock asked.

"Hard to say for certain," Professor Labramon continued to balance himself on his back legs until he reached the cluttered desk at the front of the class where he put the papers he was holding down. "Statistically speaking Labramons tend to either transform into Seasarmon or Dobermon, but Digivolving as a whole is very open ended. Had I Digivolved I may have also become an apish Mojyamon or a sea bound Coelamon."

A thoughtful look passed over the dog's face. "Personally I would love to become a Gaogamon. That way I could keep the maneuverability of a quadruped while gaining some extra limbs to make up for less flexible paws."

"That's interesting," Brock said thoughtfully. "That's pretty different from Pokémon. There are some Pokémon with branching evolutions, but most of the Pokémon who evolve are pretty straight forward. For example, if Geodude ever felt like evolving he would only become a Graveler."

"You sure he can't become an Onix?" Gotsumon asked. "They look close enough."

"Nope, just Graveler," Brock stated. Geodude nodded in agreement with a sagely "Geo."

"Now that is very interesting," Labramon said. He balanced some reading glasses on his muzzle began making notes. "I can see some pros and cons to this. A Pokémon who undergoes Digivolution, or at least their version of Digivolution, would have more predictability. Whilst a Digimon would have more options."

While Labramon took notes, Shoemon spoke up. "Excuse me, Professor? We're trying to figure out what the most significant period in history was. Would you say it's the Era of Legends or the rise of the human champion?"

"I think you're missing the point of the essay," Labramon lectured, not looking up from his writing. "There is no right or wrong answer. What I want you to do is to pick a period or event and make an argument as to why you would consider it the most significant. Though, if you want my opinion, I'd have to say it was the development of agriculture."

The mouse blinked. "Agriculture?"

"Yes," Labramon put down his pencil to properly address his students. "It may not be flashy, but the innovation of farming has allowed for the expansion of Digimon civilization. Imagine our needs as a pyramid. Basic needs such as food would serve as the base for other needs such as community, art, and discovery, to stand atop of. Why, I suspect that any group of creatures, no matter how intelligent or self-aware, would not be able to build their own civilization without proper agriculture. They'd probably just live like animals."

Geodude opened its mouth to say something, then adopted a thoughtful look and began scratching its chin.

Brock nodded. "That makes sense, wait," an idea suddenly occurred to the trainer. "If you're a historian, then you would know about the first human's adventures, wouldn't you?"

"Yes and no," though it looked like Labramon was putting on a serious face, his tail gave a couple of excited thumps. "I could recount every story I've heard about the first human, though I can't guarantee their authenticity. You see, most of the deeds of the first human had to be passed down through word of mouth, making it difficult to tell fact from fiction."

"There aren't any written records?" Brock asked. Though he had a hard time getting a pulse on just how advanced Digital World was, they were obviously at the point where they could keep written records. Surely some scholars would keep track of an alien species and his equally alien Pokémon.

"Oh! I know this one!" Neemon waved one of his stubby paws in the air as if trying to get called on in class. "It was because Millenniummon's powers made it so that there weren't many mattresses!"

"Materials, Neemon," Bokomon face palmed. "Millenniummon's time power interfered with the Digital World's ability to produce materials."

"Let us revisit an earlier subject: agriculture," Labramon brought out a couple of photographs of some Digimon tending a barren field or blasting at some rocks with attacks instead of using mining tools. "Millenniummon has the ability to warp time and space. One manifestation of these attributes was in interfering with the Digital World's ability to provide us with resources. Crops would often develop too fast and die before harvest and animals used for hunting wouldn't grow up properly. Attempts at mining were also difficult as whenever the vein of a precious mineral was discovered it would warp to a completely different location."

"That hasn't started to happen now, has it?" Brock's trek through the Database Dunes was tough enough, he didn't want to have to think how difficult the group's travels were going to get if space-time distortions were added into the mix.

"Not yet," Shoemon squeaked. "Millenniummon's shadow phases in and out over our world, but he's still sealed so he hasn't been able to do much. Yet."

"We are fortunate in that way. But as for our forbearers," Labramon put away the pictures and brought out a book. "Paper and ink were not taken for granite back then. Documentation was reserved for important matters such as inventory, hospital records, and the military. Journals such as this one were a rare luxury. This just so happens to be a copy of the first human's diary. Lore masters have been attempting to interpret it to this very day."

Curious, Brock picked up the book. To his chagrin, he could see why scholars had such a difficult time trying to read it. His youngest siblings had better handwriting then this guy!

"Gotsumon, you traveled with the first human," Brock handed the book over to his Digimon. "Can you read it?"

The rock monster shook his head. "Nope. And to be honest, I'm not sure I'd want to be associated with this work."

"Do not fret. Connecting with a past life is never easy. Most Digimon aren't able to do it. But that does not mean you should give up. The few who can receive visions are able to relearn insightful wisdom from the data stored deep within their cores," Labramon gave Gotsumon an encouraging smile.

Gotsumon just gave the dog a half-lidded look of scrutiny. "My past life thought it was a good idea to fight Millenniummon of all creatures. The wisdom I'd gleam would be dubious at best."

"Are you saying that there weren't many written records of the first human?" Brock asked Labramon.

The professor nodded. "The start of the first human's journey is shrouded in mystery because he was originally considered an unimportant oddity. It was only once the human gained notoriety that he showed up more in documentation. Which, as luck would have it…"

Labramon plodded over to a door on the other side of the room. When he placed one of his paws on the knob a series of ruins began glow into existence around the door. The glow died down and the ruins disappeared as soon as Labramon pulled the door open. The dog then went inside what looked like a large closet filled with books, papers, and scrolls. He shuffled around through some of them before finding, grabbing, and then lugging a massive tome over to Brock.

"I have taken the liberty of gathering some of the more notable records mentioning the human and putting them together in a book for your reading pleasure!" Labramon announced. At this point his tail had gone from a small wag to waving back and forth wildly.

"How are we going to carry that thing?" Gotsumon asked dubiously. "I mean, I'm still trying to figure out how Brock is able to pack all of his cooking supplies and ingredients, but I'm pretty sure we're at carrying capacity."

While Brock agreed that yes, they were pretty much at the limit of how much they could carry, he also knew that these documents may have some clues as to how to defeat Millenniummon or perhaps some other useful information. Maybe he could take some pictures? He didn't have a camera, but the Digivice had multiple apps like a phone or a computer. He was sure that he remembered one of them looking like it had a camera function of some kind.

As Brock began fiddling with his Digivice, Geodude made his way over to the massive book. The floating rock opened the book and began flipping through the contents. Gotsumon looked over.

"Can you even read?" Gotsumon asked Geodude. He then looked over at the contents of the book and blinked. "Huh, never mind. I can't read it either. And I'm pretty sure it's typed."

Neemon peered over Geodude's head. "It looks like alphabet soup!"

"I think it's written in code," chipped in Shoemon who had hopped on a chair to look over the crowd of monsters.

"That it is," Labramon confirmed. "You'll unfortunately find that most of these old military documents are written in code. Most of the Digital World was fighting each other over resources back then and weren't keen on risking information getting into the hands of the enemy. However, thanks to a handful of veterans and code crackers, modern day lore masters have been able to do some decoding. I have written some notes in the back to help."

"Which means that in addition to fist fighting a bunch of Digimon, we have no business going up against, we now have homework," Gotsumon drawled.

"I promise you it shouldn't be as hard as you think it is," Labramon assured Gotsumon.

"Then why haven't you decoded it already?" Gotsumon asked skeptically.

Labramon hung his head and released a small whine. When he spoke, there was a tired wobble in his voice. "Time. All the other academic teachers have been called to the front lines, so I've had to take over their classes. I also have lore master duties storing, restoring, and documenting artifacts and scrolls in case the Digital World falls to ruin. It's gotten to the point where I have to turn this part of the school into one big study hall."

"Here it is!" Brock announced. He showed the Digimon the app he opened. It was the DigiFile app which up until now had been a mystery. "We haven't been able to figure out what this app is for, but it has a camera function. Maybe we can use it to take pictures of the book. We just need to figure out how to get it to save those pictures."

Brock pressed the camera button, not expecting much. He had tried fiddling with it before in his downtime, but the camera refused to take any pictures. With a few extra Digimon who were more educated about the Digital World around, Brock had hoped that they could show him what he was doing wrong.

What Brock didn't expect to happen was for the words in the book to go flying off the pages and into his Digivice. The book began flipping through itself. Page after page the ink zoomed through the air and into the Digivice's screen. When the process was done, the book was completely blank. But there was a new ebook available in the DigiFile app along with a pop up asking if Brock wanted to share the document.

Everyone in the classroom stared at the hologram in shock before Gotsumon spoke again. "So long as we are discovering insanely convenient uses for this thing, could you double check if there is an app which can summon a ride Digimon like a Komondomon to give us a lift to the temple?"

Misty

"This room looks useful," Misty said.

Misty and Betamon's tour through the treehouses came to a halt when Misty spotted a large, empty house sitting on top of a small groove of apples. When she inspected the building, she found a sign and a list of rules.

"Ranged Attack Class," Misty read. "Instructor: Professor Sagittarimon."

Curious, Misty took out her Digivice and looked up the instructor's species. The hologram displayed a black centaur-like monster with dark red and black armor wielding a bow. Unlike the average centaur, the Digimon's lower half wasn't equine, but reptilian. "Sagittarimon, armor level. It's a gallant fighter who can snipe any target using its Judgement Arrow."

Misty peaked into the classroom. There wasn't a Digimon insight, but there were plenty of targets. There were targets lined up against the wall. There were targets hanging from the ceiling. There were even targets that looked like they could rotate around on gears and tracks like a carnival game.

Betamon read the rules. "It says here we can use the classroom for extra practice so long as we clean up after ourselves and have a spotter incase an accident happens."

"Perfect," Misty took out Staryu's Poké Ball. "Staryu, time for some practice."

Staryu popped out his ball and landed right next to Betamon.

"Okay, Betamon," Misty addressed her Digimon. "I've noticed that when you're Seadramon you rely on sweeping movements with your Ice Blast. Your Electric Shock attack also just seems to hit a general area. Today, we're going to work on accuracy. Staryu, please demonstrate."

"Hi-yah!" Staryu fired off a Water Gun at a target and hit it dead in the center. He then cartwheeled over to the next target and repeated his performance. He did this again and again and finished off by launching himself in the air and striking more targets with his Swift attack.

"Wow, Mr. Staryu. You're really good at this," Betamon complemented.

"Hi-yah!" Staryu stood tall and proud.

Misty changed out some of the targets with some spare sheets that were sitting stacked to the side. "It's your turn, Betamon," she called. "Show us what you got."

"Yes, ma'am," Betamon picked a target and charged up her electricity. "Electric Shock!"

Like Staryu, Betamon fired off multiple attacks at different targets. When she was done, Betamon and Misty looked over her handy work.

"Not bad," Misty noted. She looked at the burn marks on the target sheets. "But you could center them some more. It looks like you keep veering off to the left."

"My precision could use some work too," Betamon sadly noted looking at a scorch mark where she misfired at the ground.

"Hi-yah!" Staryu cried out.

"Huh?" Betamon turned towards the Pokémon standing next to her.

"Yah!" Staryu tapped the floor with his two lower limbs.

Betamon blinked. "Is there something wrong with my stance?"

Once again, Staryu tapped his limbs on the floor.

"Like this?" Betamon moved her claws around and faced the target again. She fired off another Electric Shock. It hit the target like before, but this time it was closer to the center.

"Great job!" Misty beamed.

Betamon blushed and lowered herself to the floor. "Thank you Mr. Staryu," she muttered.

Staryu's posture straightened into a pose that Misty new meant it was pleased.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Misty and her partners looked over at the door. In trotted Sagittarimon looking down at Betamon and Staryu with interest. Misty came forward and addressed the dragontaur. "Professor Sagittarimon I presume? Hello, my name is Misty. These are my partners, Betamon and Staryu. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi," Betamon said, slowly ducking behind Staryu.

"The pleasure is all mine," Sagittarimon gave Misty a small bow. "When I heard some noise going off in my classroom, I thought I was going to have to remind some students what my office hours were. I didn't think I would be honored with meeting one of our new human heroes."

"Oh, I wouldn't say I'm a hero just yet," Misty said, grinning and blushing. "But we're working our way there."

"Don't' be so modest," Sagittarimon smiled (or at least Misty assumed he smiled underneath his helmet). Sagittarimon walked around the classroom, looking at the targets. He stopped at a pile of discarded target papers that were marked up from Staryu's demonstration. "I'm assuming these are yours?"

"Betamon's and Staryu's," Misty smiled down at her monsters. In response, Betamon offered her a small smile while Staryu puffed its chest out proudly.

"Interesting," Sagittarimon studied the targets. "I assume the scorch marks were left by Betamon's electric attacks. Did your starfish, pardon me, Staryu perform the other attacks? Or do you have more of his kind with you?"

"I do have other Pokémon," Misty responded. "But they were left behind on my home world. Staryu's the only Pokémon with me right now." Misty's heart clinched. She really missed the rest of her Pokémon. She had left them in her PC box to do some special one on one training with Staryu, which should have been safe. But she wasn't sure what it would be like for Pokémon to stay in storage for so long. Were they sleeping in suspended animation, or were they still awake in the simulated environment within the ball, trapped in limbo?

Shoot, Misty never really thought about his kind of stuff before. She just assumed that any Pokémon put on the PC was perfectly fine since they never showed any signs of unrest whenever they were stored. But then again, she never left her Pokémon alone for so long.

"So, this little monster is responsible for both the water and energy attack markings on the target sheets?" Misty was snapped out of her thoughts by Sagittarimon's question.

"Yes," Misty answered. "Staryu can use multiple kinds of attacks."

"May I see them?" Sagittarimon inquired.

Misty stared. "Are you saying you want a battle?"

Sagittarimon waved her off. "Oh no. I do not have that kind of time. I was just curious about what Pokémon could do and how their abilities compare and contrast against a Digimon's. Perhaps on some of the targets?"

"Sure," Misty complied. It might actually be good for Staryu to show off a little. Since arriving in the Digital World, the battles had gotten progressively more difficult. It got to the point where Misty's first reflex upon seeing an enemy Digimon was to send out Seadramon, leaving her Pokémon to sit and wait in his ball. "Staryu, use Swift!"

On command, Staryu leapt into the air and fired out multiple stars at a target hitting it dead in the center.

"Excellent aim!" Sagittarimon clapped.

"If you think that's impressive, check this out," Misty turned a crank which caused some of the targets to move. She called over to Staryu. "Swift again!"

Staryu fired off the move again. Despite the targets' mobility, the stars followed them around and hit them.

"A homing attack," Sagittarimon said in approval. "Is there a range on it or can you lock onto someone whose miles away?"

"No, just someone who's nearby," Misty responded.

"Interesting," Sagittarimon scratched his chin in contemplation. "Do you mind telling me about his other attacks?"

"Well, there's water gun," Misty listed. "It's basically a pressurized waterspout. It has a bit more power because Staryu is a water type, we call that a same type attack boost, or a STAB attack for short. Rapid Spin, where he spins around and hits his opponent. And Reflect. That's a defense move we recently learned."

"That's a good range of attacks," Sagittarimon complemented. "If I was to make a comparison, I'd say Pokémon are like pocketknives with multiple tools for different situations while Digimon tend to be chainsaws. Not as versatile, but with a lot more power."

"Tell me about it," Misty sighed. "So far, we've only battled Digimon that don't go any higher than the champion level and those guys already hit like a truck. I'm not sure how long Staryu would last against the stronger Digimon."

"Hi-yah!" Staryu flexed its five limbs, demonstrating that it was willing to jump into battle whenever it was needed.

"B-but that's why we've been practicing Reflect, right?" Betamon fretted. "So that he can help out in battles with stronger Digimon."

"Hm, can I see another demonstration?" Sagittarimon requested.

"Alright," Misty picked up a throwing knife.

"Upupup! Don't throw it like that. You're only going to hurt yourself," Sagittarimon reached out to correct Misty's grip.

"Thank you," Misty gave the knife a throw. "Reflect!" she ordered.

A rainbow-colored barrier flashed into existence deflecting the knife.

Sagittarimon applauded. "Wonderful! I take it this stops all attacks?"

"No just physical attacks," Misty explained. "It won't work on energy attacks or moves that don't do any damage at all. And it doesn't really stop the attack, it just halves the damage. I just hope it's enough."

The ranged teacher regarded Misty for a moment before speaking. "It's time for me to leave. But before I go, allow me to impart onto you two pieces of advice: one uplifting and a word of warning."

Sagittarimon began walking out the door. "When the first human arrived in the Digital World, all he had were monsters whose abilities were completely out classed by the upper brass of the Digital World. Yet, he still ended up doing what none of the strongest Digimon could, defeat Millenniummon. Don't sell yourself short."

That sounded like the uplifting advice. "What's the warning?"

A note of menace crept into Sagittarimon's voice. "Don't be afraid to shamelessly spam that Reflect attack when you find yourself leaving the safe haven of this school. That is, unless you want to die a quick and painful death."

With that, Sagittarimon closed the door behind him. Misty was stunned. What was that? That didn't sound like a warning! That sounded like a threat! Not liking the feeling in her gut, Misty chased after the professor.

"Hey! What do you mean by…" Misty opened the door to go after the professor, but the dragontaur had completely vanished.

A little while ago in the Dojo

Thump, Thump.

Agumon grinned as he slashed at the practice dummy. This was awesome! As much as he loved his old makeshift gym that he, Gabumon, and Pegasusmon put together back on Byte Island, it didn't compare to the high quality of the equipment here!

Pegasusmon.

Thinking of his old mentor, Agumon slowed down his strikes. Just the thought of that hold horse brought back a rush of memories. Like the time that Pegasusmon taught him to focus the energy he used for Pepper Breath into a more powerful move or the time that he and Gabumon met Gomamon while learning how to swim. Even the various times Pegasusmon had to literally drag him away from the makeshift training camp for studying filled Agumon with a sense of nostalgic comfort.

Shaking his head, Agumon went back to swiping at the dummy. Pegasusmon's island may have lacked a proper gym, but that horse was the best teacher a Digimon could ask for and Agumon wouldn't trade his time with his time with the pegasus for any other education. 'That training won't go to waste!' Agumon thought to himself. "I'll prove it! I'll become the strongest Digimon anyone has ever seen!"

Thump! Agumon emphasized that last thought with a satisfying punch in the dummy's gut.

Thump, Thump!

Agumon looked over to the dummy next to his. Punching the dummy was a rookie who resembled a blue dog with boxing gloves. The dog was hard at work punching the dummy and even throwing in some kicks every once and a while.

Between a couple of punches, the dog's eyes met Agumon's. After a quick evaluation, the dog snorted and went back to practicing his moves. Sneering, Agumon continued to hit his own dummy with more power. When he did this, the dog also began hitting his dummy harder.

Not one to be out done, Agumon increased the pace of his strikes. Looking over, he saw the dog had also raised the intensity of his moves. The mutt even sent Agumon a small smirk.

"Raw!" Agumon's claws raked the stomach of his dummy, spilling its sandy guts onto the dojo's floor. Meanwhile the dog performed an uppercut on his dummy completely decapitating it.

For a moment, the two rookies stood there, panting, eyes locked onto one another. Then the dog gestured to the obstacle course with his head. Nodding, Agumon followed along.

Once they got the obstacle course up and running, both rookies charged straight through it. Immediately Agumon took the lead weaving through the swinging logs like it was easy. Feeling good, Agumon turned his head to give his opponent a smirk, only to be sent flying fast by a log he didn't see.

Dizzy, Agumon looked up. Great. Now not only was that dog was ahead of him, but the mutt was wagging his tail! Not one to take things laying down, Agumon got back up and ran forward ahead. He was halfway through the swinging logs when he got an idea.

Spotting the log Ryudamon cut free earlier, Agumon began rolling it across the ground. He then jumped on top of it and began running backwards sending the log barreling forward with him on top on it. At first it looked like he was going to catch up to the dog, but then he hit a speed bump sending him flying forward.

The blue dog had only a few seconds to react before the flying reptile came colliding into him. He wasn't fast enough. "Get off of me!" he growled, wedged between Agumon and the pile of padded obstacles the two had collided into during the crash.

"Whoops," Agumon clumsily began to untangle himself from the other rookie. "Guess my log running needs some work."

"Clearly," snorted the dog. "My first piece of advice would be to watch where you were going to begin with. That way you wouldn't be taken out by a piece of wood."

"Hey! Sometimes you mess up," Agumon yapped. "What's important is getting back on your feet."

"Hmph. Spoken like a mon who's had to implement that advice regularly," the dog said as he started to set the knocked over obstacles back up.

"Are you calling me a screw-up?" Agumon stepped forward, smoke rising from his nostrils. "I'll have you know I've lived through more battles then a trained mutt like you could ever dream of. I could kick your fuzzy butt to kingdom come!"

The two rookies stared down each other. Agumon, claws at the ready and growling like a feral animal. In contrast, the dog stood with more poise. He evaluated Agumon with a calculating gaze until a small smirk tugged at his lips. "Prove it."

Ash

Ash stared at the Digimon who was about to fight Agumon. "Huh, must have missed him before."

Curious about the blue canine, Ash took out his Digivice. "Gaomon, rookie level. Their gloves are used to both protect their growing claws and to perform moves such as their Rolling Upper, Double Backhand, and Gao Rush."

Putting away his Digivice, Ash addressed Serena. "What's this is about?"

"I'm sorry, Gaomon is very competitive," Serena explained. "He probably sniffed out Agumon and decided to see what he can do and, well, you see what happened."

"It's alright," Ash grinned. "Agumon's really competitive too."

Yasyamon stepped between the rookies. "Alright, since one of you is new I'll list the rules. Rule one, this is a sparring match. So I don't want any death blows. Rule two, you step out or are sent flying out of the arena you lose. Rule three, you can also lose if you stay down or are grappled for five seconds. Rule four, we're all classmates here, even if some of us are just passing through. Treat your opponent with respect."

"Yes, master," Gaomon said dutifully. He then gave Agumon a respectful bow.

"Yeah, I can work with those rules," Agumon said, returning Gaomon's bow.

"Begin!" Yasyamon shouted raising his hand in the air.

Immediately Agumon charged forward and began swiping at Gaomon with his claws. In return, Gaomon would block and punch with his fists. Though Agumon was able to land a few blows, it was clear that Gaomon was more suited to hand-to-hand combat then Agumon and was making sure that the tiny dinosaur wasn't leaving the dojo without a few bruises.

"Agumon!" Ash called out. "Use your jaws!"

Responding to Ash's advice, Agumon snapped his jaws around an incoming punch. Once he snagged Gaomon, he tossed the dog into the air and launched a Pepper Breath after him. Rather than let the fireball land, Gaomon managed to twist himself around and managed to disperse the flame with a single punch.

"Whoa!" Ash stared at Gaomon, who had managed to land on his feet and charge back at Agumon. "Did he just punch fire!?"

Serena nodded. "Gaomon is one of the hardest working students in this school. It doesn't' matter if it's in the gym or the classroom. From what I hear he's the second highest ranking member of the student body."

"Double Backhand!" Gaomon began spinning around turning himself into a blue tornado. His spinning fists collided into Agumon sending the reptile flying back into the corner closest to the humans.

Ash ran forward. "Are you okay, Agumon?"

"Never better," Agumon groaned as he lifted himself up.

"I have an idea on how you can win," Ash whispered to Agumon. "Try and lure Gaomon into another spin attack and then…"

Agumon listened to Ash's plan and nodded. "Gotcha."

"Are you done?" Gaomon asked, bouncing on the balls of his paws.

"You bet! Pepper Breath!" this time Agumon launched multiple fireballs at Gaomon.

"Gao Rush!" Gaomon rapidly punched the air, dispersing fireball after fireball.

"You're open!" Agumon taunted. While Gaomon was punching the Pepper Breaths, Agumon ran around Gaomon to strike him in the back.

Gaomon caught Agumon's claw. "Am I?"

"Heck ya!" Agumon pulled himself back and spat out several more Pepper Breaths.

Predicting that Agumon would make another move at his back, Gaomon span around again. "Double Backhand."

"Now, Agumon! Use Pepper Breath on the ground!" Ash ordered.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon sent a large fireball at the floor. With the sudden change of flooring, Gaomon lost his footing and broke his spinning attack falling to the ground.

"Five, Four," Yasyamon began the count.

Gaomon tried to pull himself to his feet, only to find Agumon's claw pointing right at his face. "Yield!" Agumon ordered.

Sighing in defeat, Gaomon nodded.

"Match set!" Yasyamon called out. "The winner is Agumon!"

As the audience began to clap, Agumon held out his claw to Gaomon. He grinned down at the dog. "That was great. You're not half bad for snobby pooch."

Gaomon stared at Agumon in surprise before smiling and accepting Agumon's claw. "And you're not half bad for a lizard brain," Gaomon then bowed. Once to Agumon, and once to Ash. "It has been an honor to fight against a Digimon partnered with a human.

Ash gave Gaomon a prideful smirk. "Well, I am aiming to become a Pokémon Master. Helping my monster win a battle is just part of the job."

"I'm envious," Gaomon watched Ash and Serena. "It must be nice to be bonded to a companion who would watch you back in battle. Sadly, I did not have the lineage required for the Digivice."

Serena leaned over and whispered to Ash. "Gaomon's a bit of a fanboy when it comes to the first human. He was a bit shy about it first, but he's asked me loads of questions about the human world."

"I'm not a fanboy," Gaomon stated firmly making Serena jump. "I just admire the first human's accomplishments and wanted to know more about the world he hailed from."

"What do you think about it?" Ash was curious about what a Digimon would think about the human world.

"It sounds, nice," Gaomon said sounding guarded. "The first human's ability to command monsters in the heat battle makes sense given your people's rite of passage. I imagine a 'Pokémon journey' were you travel across foreign lands and battle new opponents would be a good way to expand your skill set and force yourself to improve."

"Yep, that's why I'm going on one when I get back home!" Ash grinned.

"Take Gaomon with you!" one of the Falcomon pipped up. "I think the reason he's been hanging out with Serena is that he wants to see if she can take him on as a second partner!"

"Fanboy!" teased the second Falcomon.

"Don't listen to them," Serena gave Gaomon an encouraging smile. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn about my world. You're a great fighter and an awesome Digimon! I bet you'd make any trainer happy to partner up with you."

Gaomon looked away to hide the blush growing beneath his fur. Though he couldn't quite hide his tail's wag. When the dog turned towards Agumon, he saw the reptilian looking around at the crowd. "What are you doing?"

"I heard Serena say you were the second-best student," Agumon replied. "I want to figure out who the best student is so that I can challenge 'em to a match."

"I accept."

Descending from a shadowed spot and landing on the opposite side of the arena was none other than Renamon.

Owlmon

Owlmon had spent the better half of the day flying through the dark forest. Every so often he would spot a large scratch mark embedded into a tree or rock and even the sliced-up leftovers of some animal, but no Digimon. Odd. There should have been a couple more wild Digimon roaming these parts of the woods. Were they scared away like that Tuskmon or…

Owlmon's thought process was interrupted when a massive sickle claw cut him clean in half.

AN: Awesome! With this new DigiFile app we are going to pirate so many books!

Another long chapter. This is the reason I split this mini-arc up into five parts. I knew this would happen!

Think of the DigiFile app as one of those sections in a video game inventory or menu to read unlockable lore bits. Or a means to copy/steal files and information from the enemy. That might come in handy in the future.

The More You Know: Spice is not so much a flavor as it is a pain response triggered by molecules like capsaicin. If you've eaten something too spicy, don't use water. Instead use dairy (casein) products, starchy food like bread or rice, or do what Serena did and consume something acidic like the orange puff. Capsaicin is an alkaline molecule so it can be balanced with acidic drinks like juice.

Reader Response Recess!

Ashpoke55: You got the name right. As for your question, yes.

Ultimate Savior Infinity: I do actually plan for a short featuring a flock of Pteromon in one of the Interludes in this arc.

NoxShiningAbyssal: The sad thing is, Shoemon came out after I brainstormed this fic and by then I already decided which Digimon partners I was using for the main cast. Which is a real shame because Shoemon and her final form, Cendrillmon, both look like great picks for Serena. I suppose I could have switched, but Renamon is a better rookie for the mega Digimon I'll be giving Serena which is going to have some very important powers. That, and I do plan on having some fun with how much of an odd couple these two will be.

Guest: Yeah, the origin of the crush was a little phoned in, but I didn't feel like most of her interactions with Ash was just her fawning over him (granted most of her interactions weren't one on one, but I digress). Yes, she had a crush, but she was just as pleasant with him as she was with most other people which leads me to believe she's just a nice person. This isn't to say that her interactions were void of her fawning over Ash, but it never felt that it was as obnoxious as girls crushing over guys in some other anime. Disclaimer: I only watched the dub, so if it is worse in the Japanese version I'll take your word for it. As for her relationship with Renamon, yeah. That fox wouldn't match well with Serena's usual style. I'm going to have some fun with that.

Legoguy67: Well, okay. Only because you seem like such a trustworthy person. Look back at Coredramon's Siege. There are several hints to the identity of the unearthed Digimon in the scenes where he's not present. Namely in part 1. If you figure out who that Digimon is then you'll have an easy time figuring out who the Colonel is. I'll also be dropping a major hint in one of the Interlude chapters.

The mysterious ultimate will give our heroes a little bad guy monologue on why he wants to kill them. Villains love giving informative monologues to both the main characters and the audience. They're very thoughtful that way.

The One Who Reads and Writes: You hit the two main reasons I partnered Serena and Renamon. I liked the way that Renamon's bipedal fox design alluded to the Fennekin line and how the Renamon specie's stoic warrior inclinations contrasted with Serena's softer feminine traits. Though, as of writing this fic Digimon Liberator is coming out and one of the new Digimon it features, Shoemon, looks like it would also have been a good pick. Thus the cameo as a friend of Serena.

Yeah, romances can be difficult to nail down believably so I usually prefer them as a subplot. I think that one of the reasons Serena's crush on Ash was one of the better anime ships is because the show allowed the two to act as supportive friends with different goals and interests. It just so happens that one of them had a childhood crush on the other.

By the time this adventure is over, Lunamon is going to have enough information to write a series.

While I think you may be able to figure out the chained Digimon's identity by looking back at the Coredramon's Siege chapters, I'm also going to be dropping a major hint in one of the interludes. But you are on the right track, it's a dragon.

Some Digimon will be very friendly with their Pokémon team members (Dracomon) while others are going to start out as fairly indifferent (Gotsumon). There will be a couple of Digimon and Pokémon who won't get along initially. The way I've currently got things planned, Ash and Pikachu are going to meet during some unfavorable circumstances next arc which won't help their relationship get off to a better start than it did in cannon.

I'll give you a couple more hints on the Digimon chronomancers that will be appearing in this arc.

One is a Digimon who doesn't normally have time powers, but was shown with them in its debut movie. He's a potential alley for now, but might become a dangerous enemy in the future. You'll meet him when we cross the blockade into the warzone.

Another is a Digimon that has only appeared in one episode of the entire anime series. He offers rides to those who are truly lost. In this story he's become a Digimon of folk legend and will be elaborated on once our heroes pass the trials at the temple. Though now that I think about it, I might give you guys an early peak at the end of this five partner.

There was once another powerful Digimon with some specialized time powers. You will find his remains close to the core in the belly of the best.

Then there's Millenniummon. I think I may have mentioned him once or twice.

The final Digimon chronomancer that will be appearing this arc is a relatively new Digimon. But in the context of this story, she might just be one of the most powerful Digimon and is responsible for our ten chosen heroes' arrival in the Digital world.

Thank you for reading! Don't be afraid to leave a comment or ask questions (won't guarantee I'll give a straight answer). God loves you and so do I!

Digimon Introduced

Gaomon: Rookie, Data, Beast

Labramon: Rookie, Vaccine, Beast

Shurimon: Armor, Free, Mutant

Sagittarimon: Armor, Free, Mythical Beast

Yasyamon: Armor, Free, Wizard

Kotemon: Rookie, Data, Reptile

Spadamon: Rookie, Free, Weapon

Zubamon: Rookie, Vaccine, Weapon

Ryudamon: Rookie, Vaccine, Beast

Bakomon: Rookie, Data, Mutant

Kinkakumon: Champion, Virus, Demon

Next Time: We learn a bit more about the new additions to our team and watch a historical performance.