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 shake the bug spray: The Art of War (Team Fortress 2)
The Crest of a Master Chapter 21: Operation Pesticide
Weeks Ago, Petalburg City
"Okay, here we have the Striaton Gym Eggs Benedict. Already we can see the Hollandaise sauce is looking rich and velvety. I'd say they added the right amount. You can also see there's a bit of an overflow so that I can use it as dip, but it's not to the point where the food is drowning in it. And if you look here, the poached egg is sticking out, but not bleeding out yet. Now to taste it."
Sitting in her room, May decided to start out the day by watching a video from one of her favorite content creators. As the influencer dug into his meal, May couldn't help but to feel a twinge of envy. The Hoenn region had its specialties ranging from various ramen shops to Lava Cookies, but those were all in other towns and cities.
"May, could you come here?" May heard the voice of her father from down the hallway.
Curious, May answered her father's summons. Walking down the hallway, May felt a little estranged. It had been a couple of months since her family moved from Johto and she still hadn't gotten used to the new house. It was a cozy little home with a massive green house in the back to hold all her father's Pokémon and then some, but it wasn't her home.
Before they moved, her father, Norman, worked as trainer in the Goldenrod Gym by substituting whenever the gym leader was out and training up her granddaughter to take over the gym. One day May's father came home with some "good news." He had gotten an offer to start up his own gym! Not only was this a big promotion, but the new gym would be close to their new home meaning Norman could see his family every day!
The bad news was that Johto already had a normal type gym. As such, the family would have to move to an entirely different region. Fortunately, an old friend of the family, Professor Birch, was able to put in a good word with the Hoenn Pokémon League. It also helped that Birch and the Hoenn League wanted to start a program to protect and breed more of the endangered Slakoth, a species of Pokémon Norman was very adept at working with.
Thus, May had to pack up and move away from the only home she had ever known, say good-bye to all of her friends, and settle down in a completely alien city. May wanted to be happy for her dad, she really did. But ever since the move she had been stuck in a rut. She didn't know anyone in town, she felt like an outsider at all the local hangouts, and even her own house had an uncanny valley effect.
"Here you go, sweetie. I made you your favorite breakfast!" smiled May's mother as she placed a plate down at the table.
May smiled and immediately dug in. At least her mother's cooking was great no matter where she went.
Sharing the table was the rest of her family. Her younger brother, Max, sat to her right. He was a pretty shrimpy boy with black hair and a pair of large glasses that made him look like the textbook definition of a nerd. It didn't help that the kid was almost always buried nose deep in some book about Pokémon.
Sitting opposite May was her father. Standing side by side with other gym leaders, Norman looked, well, normal. In contrast to some gym leaders who dressed in sports gear, wardrobes which highlighted their side professions, or just made it look like they mistook a history book for a fashion catalogue, Norman work a plain red jacket, grey sweatpants, and had a modest, short haircut. Okay, maybe he liked to wear geta from time to time, but everything else about him looked normal.
Norman smiled at his daughter. "How are you doing this morning, May?"
"Fine?" May answered. She wasn't sure what was happening, but the atmosphere in the kitchen was starting to feel like the time when her dad made the moving announcement.
Seeing his daughter's stiffening shoulders, Norman continued. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble."
"But we have noticed that you've been hauling yourself up in your room a lot as of lately," May's mother sat down next to her father.
"And that's bad?" May said slowly.
"Well, yeah," Max pipped up. "It's not like you can accomplish anything if all you do is stare at the computer all day."
May glared at her brother. "Nobody asked you, you little-"
"May, settle down," Norman said sternly before addressing his son. "Max, let me and your mother handle this."
Max pouted but complied with his father's order.
"We know the move has been hard on you, May," May's mother picked the conversation back up. "But you're entering into the prime years of your life. We don't want you to waste them away in your room."
Internally, May sighed. Here's the part where they tell her to start looking for a summer job.
"Which is why you're going on a Pokémon journey!" Norman said with a grin.
What? "What?"
"I made a call to my friend, Professor Birch," Norman continued. "I'll be serving as your main sponsor, but he can supply you with your first partner. We'll also have to give you a survival test but given how well you're able to help out during our family camping trips, I think you should do just fine."
Max's jaw dropped. "May gets to go on a Pokémon journey?! Lucky!"
Lucky was the last word May would have used. She was going to have to spend months trekking through an unfamiliar wilderness while rationing food and money. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad if she was doing it with friends, but all her friends were back in Johto. Which meant that her only companions during this journey would be her Pokémon.
May could see it now. She'd somehow get lost in a jungle surrounded by a bunch of plants that she wouldn't know how to eat and animals that would be too dangerous to hunt. Low on rations, it would only be a matter of time before her Pokémon would look at her with hungry eyes before surrounding her and-
"Daddy, I don't know if I can do this," May thought back to her father's Pokémon. "Like, I know you and Slaking are best friends, but I don't think I could get one to listen to me." She should know. May told that Sasquatch a thousand times to leave her hair alone but that massive ape somehow kept sneaking up on her and picking through her scalp.
"May, you won't be starting out with a Slaking. You'll be given one of the Hoenn starter Pokémon. They're a lot more docile and easier for a beginning trainer to work with. But given enough time and experience, I'm sure you'll be able to work with even more powerful Pokémon. It's all a matter of establishing trust," Norman reassured his daughter.
Despite her father's reassurances, May continued to frown. Catching this, Norman spoke again. "You don't have to go on a Pokémon journey if you don't want to. If there's something else you want to do, we can help you."
Here it was. Her door out. All May had to do was finally admit to her dad that she did not like Pokémon and wanted nothing to do with the monsters he devoted his career to and loved with his heart and soul. "Nope, a Pokémon journey sounds great!"
May's parents shared a look. Her mother gave May a cautious frown. "Are you sure, May?"
"Yeah. It's not like there's anything else I want to do," May said with a forced smile. That last sentence was actually true. All May really wanted to do was travel to different places and try new foods. It was a goal that could work if she had a job that required frequent travel or if she had a lot of free time and money, but she didn't know what she wanted to do when she grew up. "Can I go ride my bike?"
"Sure," Norman got up from the table. "Just make sure to be back by noon. If you're going on a Pokémon journey, then I want to start giving you more in-depth training on how to care for Pokémon."
It didn't take long for May to hop on her bike and bolt away from her house. Pedaling along, May found herself paying closer attention to the Pokémon she passed than she usually did. She could see some oversized cocoons clinging to the trees with their sticky webs. Said webs were also gathering various pieces of gunk and dead, non-Pokémon bugs. Next May saw a flock of Wingulls, a seabird Pokémon with white feathers, beady eyes, and long beaks, fighting over the remains of a pile of discarded food. This display was slightly less gross than the Zigzagoon, a brown mammalian Pokémon with a stripped coat, popping out of a trashcan and spilling the contents everywhere while it made off with the rotting leftovers of someone's dinner.
Seriously, why was everyone so obsessed with Pokémon? What did the rest of her family, and society for that matter, see in them?
May continued her bike ride until she reached the top of a cliff that overlooked the city. There were no Pokémon or humans around giving her some much-needed silence. Kicking the stand into position, May dismounted her bike and looked over the fenced off cliff. It was while she was gazing out that May saw something streaking across the sky. Was that a shooting star? At this hour?
Weird as it was to see a shooting star in the morning, May wasn't one to pass up this rare opportunity. Closing her eyes, May made her wish. "I just want some way to go on a fantastic journey without Pokémon."
Her wish spoken; May looked back up at the star only to see the space debris heading straight for her!
Releasing a quick scream, May dived behind the closes park bench right before the "star" finished its decent. The ball of light came right down on top of her bike, obliterating her vehicle and blasting it into smoking, metal chunks.
Bikes Destroyed: 1
Now safe from the falling star, May peaked out from behind her bench and made her way over to the hole in the ground where her bike once stood. Rising from the crater was a small device cloaked in an emerald green glow. Before May knew what she was doing, her hand reached out to grab the device and within seconds the device went sky rocking, dragging a terrified and confused May along with it.
One trip to another
Blinking, May slowly got to her feet. She now found herself in large rock garden of a mansion in the middle of the woods. How did she get here? Last she remembered she was overlooking a cliff before a meteor came and…
"WELCOME HUMAN!" May's train of though was interrupted when a man who looked like a cross between a kabuki performer and a plant person complete with pink petals framing his face leapt down right in front of her.
Faced with a weird stranger standing uncomfortably close practically shouting into her ears, May took the most reasonable action anyone could in her shoes. She screamed and decked the intruder in the stomach before running away.
May continued to put distance between herself and the plant man running around to the other side of the mansion. There she took a moment to catch her breath and figure out what the heck just happened.
"Pardon me."
"Eep!" May practically jumped from her spot. Somehow a large, pink bird Pokémon managed to sneak up next to her.
"You'll have to excuse my tutor. He's very excited to meet you, as am I," the bird did a little curtsy. "Salutations, human. My name is Biyomon."
The Digital World, Now
"Coredramon! Dive down and use Strike Bomber!"
From his spot in the sky, Coredramon folded his wings in and began his decent to the battlefield down below. He pulled up at the last second but not without striking his powerful tail into the ground below.
"Whoa," Gargomon jumped back. "Goh that would have been a good time to tell me to dodge."
"I know! I was trying to come up with a counterattack!" Goh shouted back at his partner.
"Gotta be faster," Gargomon remarked before turning his gauntlets on the dragon.
The group of trainers and their Digimon had stopped for a break after a long day of hiking and decided to set up camp. From her spot stoking the campfire, May watched Iris's and Goh's sparing match. It was a face off of polar opposites. Iris and Coredramon were in perfect sync with Coredramon following all of Iris's orders to a T. Iris herself was also putting on a good show quickly issuing orders and adjusting her plans as the battle played out.
On the opposite side, Goh and Gargomon weren't doing as well. Or at the very least Goh wasn't doing so well. Normally Gargomon was a quick and reliable battler, but for this battle he was clearly holding back. Instead of reacting to Coredramon's attacks right away, he would pause until the very last second waiting for Goh to give an order. Goh, meanwhile, was struggling to keep up.
"Circle around and snatch him off the ground!" Iris called out to Coredramon.
With smooth grace, Coredramon turned around midflight and dived down again to grab Gargomon and haul him into the air. Gargomon called down to Goh. "They've got me Goh. What do I do now?"
"Escape!" Goh shouted his order into his Digivice to better communicate with the ascending gun hound.
"But if I break out, I'll fall and lose a lot of health," Gargomon replied over the device's speaker.
"Spread your ears and glide down," Goh ordered after a couple of seconds of thinking.
There was a pause before Gargomon responded with a simple "Okay."
There was a loud blast followed by a pained roar as Gargomon's lasers launched him out of Coredramon's grasp. Gargomon then straightened out his ears, parachuting himself to the ground while Coredramon fell past him.
"Coredramon! Pull up and grab him again!" Iris ordered her dragon.
Hearing Iris's voice, Coredramon's eyes snapped open, and he managed to change his trajectory just before he hit the ground. The dragon then made a beeline straight towards Gargomon before snatching him again.
"Looks like I've been captured again!" Gargomon shouted down in a tone that clearly indicated that he knew this was going to happen.
Goh just groaned and face palmed. "I'm done."
"Sounds like a white flag to me," Coredramon grinned before landing and letting Gargomon go. He then immediately stomped over to Iris to receive her praises and some chin scratches.
Gargomon jogged up next to Goh who was making his way to the campfire. "You're getting better. But you've got to stop stalling. Combat isn't turn based. While you're standing there thinking, your enemy is going to do everything in their power to beat us to a pulp."
"I know," Goh grumbled as he sat down by the fire. "But I can't just shout random orders just to be speedy. That removes the point of me being your trainer."
"Battling is a balancing act between split second decisions and long-term strategy," Gargomon lectured, taking his place next to Goh. "You've just got to learn to think ahead while going with the flow. Iris and Gary are able to do that."
"Iris has a Pokémon. I'm pretty sure she already has battle experience," Goh said while he helped himself to some of the curry that was cooking on the fire. "And Gary is the next in line of a family of famous trainers. Can't match up to those genetics."
"I don't think being a good trainer runs in the family. My dad is a really good trainer while I'm just bleh," May said. She wasn't really certain if that was helpful, but maybe relating to Goh's lack of talent could make him feel better?
"Oh yeah," Goh turned his attention towards May. "Your dad is a gym leader, isn't he?"
"Yep, but I've never been into Pokémon battles, which is why I mostly hide behind you guys," May said with a nervous laugh.
"It doesn't have to be that way," from besides May, Biyomon looked up with a smile in her eyes. "Let us compete in the next sparing match!"
"Uh," May's eyes wondered around the camp looking at all the champions from Gargomon, to Coredramon who was walking with Iris to the campfire, to Garurumon and Lekismon who were off to the side with their trainers looking over some holograms from the Digivices. "I don't know."
"If it makes you feel better, we can revert to rookie," Gargomon suggested.
That did not make her feel better. It just highlighted that she was so behind the others couldn't fight her without putting on their kid gloves.
It wasn't just Digimon levels. Outside of Digivolution, the rest of the humans had their own talents to contribute. Gary was both competent fighting with wild Digimon and really smart. Goh and Lillie were not as natural fighters as Gary, but they could keep up with him just fine in conversations about science, deduction, and reasoning resulting in Gargomon dubbing them the Brainiac Trio.
Iris wasn't on the same level as them academically, but she made up for that with her battle and survival skills. With Iris and Dracomon's introduction to the team, the team's supplies lasted longer because the wilderness lovers were both experts in foraging and thanks to their extended camping resume the team was able to locate safer spots to settle down for the night. It could be argued that she was running neck and neck against Gary, their team's self-appointed leader, for the spot of MVP.
Speaking of Gary, he, Lillie, and their Digimon had stopped whatever they were doing to join the rest of the group. "Finally, dinner," Gary said helping himself to a bowl.
"What have you guys been up to?" May asked.
"We've been looking over the files that the other team shared with us," Lillie responded. "The coded ones."
That's right. The other group of traveling humans met a lore master who had given them a collection of reports that dated back to the time the first human journeyed to fight Millenniummon. The files were all coded, but the lore master had left some notes in the back to give them a head start in figuring out what was written in the reports. Ever since they got the documents Gary, Lillie, and Goh had been obsessed with them and had spent a good chunk of their downtime trying to decipher the old military files.
"Did you guys make any breakthroughs?" Goh asked. The only reason he wasn't with them was that Gargomon dragged him away for some battle practice.
"As it just so happens, we've been able to decode one of the entries," Gary said smugly.
May blinked. Already? "Really?"
"Well, the professor that donated the reports gave us a head start," Lillie admitted. "But we're hoping to use the rest of his notes and the entries that have already been translated to translate even more entries. Or at least the ones from the Metal Empires."
"So, what does this entry say?" Iris asked Lillie.
"It's a pest control request," Lekismon answered. "The paper details a mysterious, bipedal creature spotted in the slums of the city. It also notes that the creature had another animal. It was identified as a rodent that would mess with the city's circuitry whenever law enforcement would get to close to the bipedal creature. We think the rodent may have been one of the first human's Pokémon."
"Any more details than that?" Goh pressed. "There are a lot of electric rodents. Raichu, Emolga, Plusle, Minun-"
"Yeah, the possibilities are endless," Gary cut Goh off. "Personally, I'm looking for the important stuff. Reports about how he defeated the stronger Digimon, how he got the Digivice, or how he got to the Digital World."
"Didn't you read the first entry?" Iris asked dryly. "It said he was dropped off by a train Digimon."
"I know," Gary responded with unsaid 'duh.' "I'm just wondering what kind of train has stops in two separate realities."
"Quite a few actually," Lekismon said helpfully. "It's said that Trailmon can cross the borders between realities when blessed by angels. In fact, I think the Celestial Army has a GranLocomon working for them."
"Yeah, I've heard of that guy," Gargomon muttered. "He used to go on a whole bunch of expeditions into the multiverse. Too bad none of the worlds he found had humans in them. We could have had an army of you guys."
"Do you think he'd be able to find our world?" May blurted out. For the first time in weeks, a spark of hope blossomed in May's chest.
"I don't know," Lekismon admitted. "My village wasn't near any Trailmon tracks, so I didn't have much information on them."
"Do you want to go home?" Biyomon asked quietly.
For a brief moment, May felt guilt bubble up inside. "I'm sorry. But I'm not cut out for this. I'm subpar at camping, I'm not smart, and even after being ambushed by oversized, stupid, bloodthirsty monsters every single day I still can't make Biyomon Digivolve."
May's voice trembled as she continued to speak. "I didn't sign up for this. I didn't sign up for anything. I don't even want to go on a regular Pokémon journey where the fate of the world doesn't depend on you knowing what to do. You guys are better off without me."
There was an awkward silence around the campsite. Even the more vocal members of the party were quiet. From the corner of her eye, May saw Biyomon cast her stare at the ground. May was about to say something to her when a small rumble came from the ground.
"Speaking of ambushes," Garurumon stood up from where he was lying near the camp.
"We're due," Gargomon agreed, gun barrels whirling to life.
Following another short rumble the ground near the camp burst open revealing a new Digimon. This Digimon resembled a Beedrill with a massive abdomen ending in a stinger that looked like laser gun. The upper half of the Digimon was supported by a thin waist which held up heavily armored shoulders which ended in small, clawed hands. The Digimon floated in the air thanks to a pair of robotic, wing-thrusters which stuck out behind a robotic bug head.
Holly guacamole that thing just popped out of the ground like a zom-bee! You better bee-lieve we have to scan this bug to get the buzz on what's going on.
"Waspmon, champion level," Goh read off his Digivice. "They use the antennae to scout for enemies while their propeller wings optimize their movements. They can either shoot you down using their rapid-fire Turbo Stinger or create one massive blast with their Bear Buster attack."
"On the bright side it's just one," Lillie said optimistically. "That should be easy."
Because Lillie just had to tempt fate, the ground began to rumble more intensely creating a small earthquake. Coredramon was immediately on his feet. He released an anguished roar and began breathing fire at the ground. This was fruitless as the group soon found themselves surrounded by a massive swarm of Waspmon which erupted from the ground and swarmed the campsite.
Still roaring, Coredramon wasted no time turning his fire on the bugs. Had this been a Pokémon battle bathing a steel coded bug in flames would have been super effective. Alas, Digimon elemental weaknesses are not always as straight forward and Coredramon's fire just ended up agitating the swarm rather than KOing them.
In an instant the campsite had turned into a battlefield. Coredramon continued his assault by taking off into the air and grabbing onto the nearest Waspmon and biting down on its face before ripping its head off. Lekismon leapt from Waspmon to Waspmon pushing them back with her Moon Night Kick and Tear Arrows. Both Garurumon and Gargomon fired their attacks into the air detouring the robotic wasps from the group of humans that were evacuating to the tree line.
May was not one of those humans. Instead, she froze up staring at an incoming bug like a Stantler in a car headlight. She knew she had to run, yet her feet felt bolted to the ground. For a brief moment she wondered if it was all worth it. Why keep running when there was always something else looking to turn her into mincemeat around the corner with the promise of even more dangerous monsters in the future. Would she even be able to make it to ask for the Trailmon home? Would it be better to just skip the middleman and end it all now?
The Waspmon was about impale the girl when a hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the dive-bombing bug. It was Iris!
"Follow me!" Iris urged May before yanking her along.
Until now, May hadn't quite grasped how athletic Iris was. Yes, she was clearly the most physically fit human as she could effortlessly climb trees and always seemed to have spare energy at the end of a day's hike, but these feats were nothing compared to what May was now witnessing. Charging forward, Iris was able to swerve and dodge around all the lasers that rained down on the field. Her movements were smooth and seemed to come to her as naturally as breathing. May wondered if these skills were thanks to her special powers and what more she could do if she wasn't stuck hauling May around. Once the duo reached the tree line, May found herself out of Iris's grasp and into Biyomon's.
"May!" the bird rookie began inspecting every inch of the girl's body while Iris charged back out to help Coredramon. "Are you okay?"
Out of the danger zone, May's knees began to buckle. "Why are they always like this?"
"May?" Biyomon tilted her head.
"Why is everything always hide or die?" May asked weakly. "Can't they just leave us alone?"
"ZZZZ!" The answer was no. May didn't need to turn around to know a Waspmon was hovering right behind her.
"Scrrrr" Biyomon's feathers began to fluff out as the bird released a low growling, screech. May was sure Biyomon was about to fling herself at the robo-bee but she was interrupted by another attack. This one came from behind the bird.
May stared in surprise. Springing from the air itself was a long tongue. The tongue shot forward past May and harpooned itself straight through the Waspmon causing the bug to fizzle before losing all power and dropping to the ground.
Looking back to the source of the tongue, May saw a new Digimon appear. Standing in front of May and Biyomon was a large green and red stripped lizard. The front half of its body was covered in green armor with a massive, googled helmet protecting the upper half of its head, though May could still see the bulging eyes looking down at her from under the headgear.
"Stand back. We'll take care of this," said the lizard.
Suddenly, the area wasn't just crowded with giant bugs as a troop of giant lizards joined the fray. The lizards would disappear into thin air only to reappear later after they punched through or roped up a Waspmon with their long, rapid-fire tongues.
"Chameleonmon, armor level," May read off her Digivice. "These guys excel in infiltration and stealth attacks thanks to their ability to blend in with their environments and a 360 degrees eyesight. If they need to fight, their Tongue Whip can pack a punch."
Between the partner Digimon's attacks and the surprise reinforcements the Waspmon swarm was successfully exterminated. While the Chameleonmon spread out to gather the eggs, one of the lizards marched up to the travelers.
"Excuse me. I'll have to ask you're group to come with us," said the Chameleonmon in a stern yet courteous voice.
"Why? Are we in trouble?" Lillie asked in concern.
The Chameleonmon frowned. "You will be if you don't move through this area carefully. We'll explain once you're all safe at camp."
Oddly vague statements aside, the group saw no danger in following the Chameleonmon. Soon enough they found themselves at what looked like a military camp run by the giant lizards. Almost everywhere they looked there were Chameleonmon marching on patrols, performing equipment maintenance, and basking next to a bunch of makeshift heat lamps.
"Why as I live and breathe. Biyomon, is that you?"
Biyomon, as in this Biyomon? May looked over to see a non-lizard Digimon scampering toward them. This Digimon looked like a quadrupedal Sandshrew with a massive shell and fluffy ears. "Armadillomon, rookie level," May read off her Digivice. "They're easy going Digimon who can either attack with their claws using Scratch Beat or smash through obstacles with their Diamond Shell attack."
"Armadillomon!" Biyomon chirped happily. She dashed over to the yellow mammal and embraced him in a warm hug.
"Hey! Long time no see," Garurumon said following Biyomon.
Armadillomon squinted at Garurumon before his muzzle broke into a wide smile. "Well look at who's all grown up and strutting around in a champion's paws. You wouldn't just so happen be that scruffy Gabumon who showed up at Kabukimon's mansion, would you?"
"The one and the same," Garurumon's tail wagged. "You can thank my human, Gary, for that."
"It was nothing," Gary said smugly, folding his arms.
Armadillomon whistled looking over the group. "So, these are humans. Pleasure to meet y'all. My name is Private Armadillomon. Welcome to our camp."
"Is this a military camp?" Goh asked watching a Chameleonmon walking by carrying a bundle of dynamite with its tail. "Or a mining operation? We didn't cross over into the warzone, did we?"
The Armadillomon shook his head and turned to lead the group further into the camp. "Nope. If you want to go into the warzone you'd have to pass the blockade. I don't see anyone doin' that without gettin' squished or turning into a smolderin' crater."
"So, what is this about?" Gargomon asked. "You don't call in soldiers to dig a hole. Unless that hole is a trench or something like that."
"We ain't diggin' any trenches," Armadillomon said grimly. "We're diggin' for an aircraft."
Before anyone could ask the private to elaborate, the group arrived in front of a large tent surrounded by a crowd of Chameleonmon. Most of the Chameleonmon were just talking amongst themselves while a few were arm wrestling or smashing their heads together and hissing in shoving matches as their skins changed colors. To the side May could see a group of Armadillomon putting down some coins and fruit in what looked like a bet.
"TEN-HUT!"
Immediately all the Chameleonmon and Armadillomon ceased their activities and lined up in a straight line in front of the large tent. Oddly enough, Gargomon was right there with them, standing at attention.
The front flaps of the tent flew open and another Chameleonmon, slightly larger than the others, marched out carrying a crop in his tail. His scaly lips curled in disgust as he made his way down the line of soldiers. "Listen up you pathetic pieces of pixels!" he shouted in a gruff voice. "Today has been an absolute disaster! Another swarm of Waspmon has made it to the surface and we have yet to rig the main explosive. They should have sent me a troop of Namakemon! Those Digimon would have had the enemy base blown sky high by now! You!"
The lead Chameleonmon marched up to another Chameleonmon and smashed in its stomach with the handle of his crop. "Suck in in your gut! Did your elder teach you no discipline!?"
"Sir, yes sir!" gasped the private Chameleonmon.
"And you!" the leader towered over an Armadillomon which began shaking under the lizard's stare. "Where is your gear, soldier?"
"I-I forgot it at my tent, sir," stuttered the private.
"You forgot them?!" shouted the leader. "Being unarmed could be the difference between life and death!"
"I'm sorry, sir!" yelped the Armadillomon.
"Don't apologize to me, private! Apologize to your squad!" the lead Chameleonmon continued marching down the line of soldiers. "If you die, it will be one less Digimon to watch their back! One less Digimon to give them cover! One less Digimon to carry their egg out of harm's way. Now drop and give me twenty!"
"Sir, yes sir!" responded all the soldiers in unison. As one they began performing push-ups, though the humans noted the "drop" portion of the leader's command was kind of unnecessary seeing as how all the soldiers were quadrupeds.
With all the soldiers doing their exercise, the leader Chameleonmon was able to zero in on the group of spectators standing to the side. He marched on over. "What have we got here? New recruits?"
"I guess?" Garurumon started scratching the back of his head with one of his hind legs. "We bumped into your soldiers while fighting some Waspmon and they took us here."
"ATTENTION!" shouted the Chameleonmon causing Garurumon to stumble back in surprise. "You will not scratch yourself during debriefings! It is disrespectful! Were you raised in a barn?!"
"No, sir! Sorry, sir!" Garurumon straightened up.
"Dragon!" Chameleonmon moved onto Coredramon. "What makes you think you're qualified to smoke out bees?"
"Well, as a ranger I have been trained in both stealth and entomology," bragged Coredramon. "See, every time we entered a new habitat my master would-"
The Chameleonmon cut him off. "I didn't ask you for your life's story!" He then moved on to Lekismon and began speaking in a condescending tone. "How about you, little lady? Do you think you can fight against the big, bad bees?"
Lekismon scowled, falling for the sergeant's taunt. "I didn't come here for a party, sir."
"HA! You wouldn't last in a shindig let alone the battlefield!" the Chameleonmon marched past Lekismon and over to Gargomon. "What about you, rabbit? Are you going to turn cottontail and hop away when you hear buzzing?"
Internally, May cringed. She remembered Gargomon did not like being mistaken for a rabbit and fully expected him to back talk the lizard. But surprisingly the normally mouthy hound stayed stoic in the face of the leader's barbs. "Sir! No, sir!"
Not satisfied, the Chameleonmon got right in Gargomon's face and spoke in a low growl. "I've seen my fair share of Gargomons in the Celestial Army. Good fighters, though a bit too wild for my tastes. Have you heard about the Battle of Mt. Malware?"
"Yes, sir," Gargomon dutifully responded.
"Drill sergeants like to tell that story to new recruits to let them know exactly what happens when cocky little snots think they can ignore the chain of command. A lot of good Digimon died that day because one lone Gargomon put his glory above the wellbeing of his squad mates. Can I trust you to put your wants aside for the sake of the team?"
There was a pause before Gargomon answered. "Sir yes, sir."
Finally satisfied, the Chameleonmon moved onto the humans. As the massive lizard stood over May, she could see both of his bulging eyes, one darting back and forth between the other humans and one fixed right on her. "I don't think I've seen your species before. What's your name?"
"May," May squeaked.
"Maymon," Chameleonmon's voice began to pick back up the volume.
"Actually, it's just-" May tried to correct but was cutoff.
"What in the name of King Drasil were you thinking Digivolving into that joke of a form?"
"Harsh," May winced.
"Just look at you! No armor, no weaponry, not even a decent set of claws or spikes! What kind of assets would you bring to the mission?"
"Brains?" May said with as much confidence as she could muster, which wasn't much at the moment.
"Debatable!"
May felt her face heat up. "Well sorry for not being perfect person who knows how to battle monsters or camp or solve ancient puzzles or have any idea on what I'm supposed to do with my life!" May felt her eyes begin to tear up again. "All I'm good for is eating and breathing. Is that what you want to hear?!"
Before the Chameleonmon could respond, there was a rapid fluttering of feathery wings. Biyomon leapt up from where she was standing and flew right in front of the lizard's face where she began hovering and ranting. "Leave May alone! Just who do you think you are?!"
Despite Biyomon's shrieks, the large lizard remained composed. "I'm the sergeant put in charge of this operation. Part of my job is to make sure that the soldiers under my command, both trained and newcomers, are fit physically and mentally for the battlefield. Wartime is stressful and each and every soldier will have to set their fears aside and look death in the eye on a daily basis. If you can't handle yelling and taunting then you have no spot in this operation!"
"And what exactly is this operation?" glancing to the side May felt her insides clinch. Gary was addressing the Sergeant with his usual to-cool-for-school attitude and she could see by the reptile's curling lips that he did not appreciate it. "Since we were ambushed we've just been lead to this camp which looks like some kind of mission, but nobody has told us a thing. What exactly are you up to?"
Sgt. Chameleonmon parked himself in front of Gary, towering over the boy. "Are you asking for classified information without properly joining the unit, boy?"
It was here that Lillie decided to come in to defuse the situation. "I'm sorry, sir. We didn't mean any offense. We were just on our way to the Temple of the Crests and we got attacked and were told to go to your camp for safety."
"Also we didn't choose to Digivolve into this forms," Iris added folding her arms. "We're humans."
"Humans, eh?" Sgt. Chameleonmon reached up with one of his forelimbs to lift his helmet. While the other Chameleonmon and Armadillomon began to whisper amongst themselves, May watched as the lead lizard's bulging eyes dart in multiple directions to get a good look at the group. When the sergeant spoke again, he didn't shout. But his voice continued to carry an aura of authority. "Well, I'm sorry to say you're going to have to stay at this camp until our target is destroyed. If you head out now, you could be stepping into another minefield. DISMISSED!"
At Chameleonmon's command, most of the soldiers dispersed (though a couple lingered to get some extra looks at the humans) leaving the sergeant, the Armadillomon that was friends with Biyomon, and their group. May could only assume "another minefield" meant a swarm of Waspmon like the one they encountered today. "Where are all the Waspmon coming from? Is there an underground hive?"
"Worse," Sgt. Chameleonmon replied. "We are standing above an entombed CannonBeemon."
The reaction from the Digimon was instantaneous.
"Shoot, we are on a minefield," Gargomon said, folding his gauntlet arms.
"Seriously," Coredramon checked under his claws as if the Digimon in question was right there. "How did one of those guys get underground?"
"Have there just been Waspmon or has the CannonBeemon been carrying anything else?" Garurumon asked in concern. His long tail tucked itself between his legs. "Is there a TigerVespamon in the area too?"
Curious about the buried Digimon, May and the rest of the humans took out their Digivices. Submitting the name "CannonBeemon" yielded a picture of another robotic Beedrill. Unlike the Waspmon, this Digimon's laser abdomen was long and sleek. The main body of the bee was hunched over its weapon allowing it to carry what looked like a bunch of honeycomb shaped containers on its back.
"CannonBeemon, ultimate level," Lillie read out loud. "It's a Digimon who can serve as an airborne base using the munition containers on its back to carry anything from a massive storage of weapons to an army of smaller Digimon. If threatened it can fire its Nitro Stinger cannon or unleash its weapons storage using its Sky Rocket ∞."
May felt her stomach drop. "Ultimate level?" As in the level that Knightmon was at? The level above champion?
"Are you going to fight it?" Iris asked curiously as she wearingly eyed the holographic display's oversized cannon.
Sgt. Chameleonmon shook his head. "Negative, missy. You're average CannonBeemon can grow to be the size of a small city. Taking one down in a fist fight is ill advised even if you have a team of ultimate leveled soldiers."
"So we're doin' a stealth operation instead," explained Private Armadillomon. "We received intelligence a while ago that a CannonBeemon was underground. A few of the Waspmon it carried have woken up and have been diggin' their way back to the surface, but the CannonBeemon is offline. We've been sneakin' down below and plantin' bombs around the CannonBeemon's body so that we can rig it to explode before it wakes up and unleashes the rest of the swarm on the surrounding area."
Goh decided to ask the question that was on everyone's minds. "How did an aircraft Digimon get buried underground?"
"An excellent question, boy!" Sgt. Chameleonmon complemented as it took back the reigns in this exposition dump. "You see during the first reign of Millenniummon the Digital World was divided into eight factions. Leading up to the final showdown with the shadow beast in the sky, the original human managed to unite the factions into one big happy family to beat the pants off of Millenniummon!"
"I didn't know Millenniummon wore pants," Coredramon muttered.
"But the peace was not to last!" the sergeant continued. "For once the dust was cleared and everyone dead there was a power vacuum begging to be filled. Thus a series of smaller, less powerful rulers rose up. Some were benevolent and others were not satisfied ruling over their little corner of the world. One of these monarchs was the late QueenBeemon, ruler of the Royal Base. We believe this CannonBeemon was a member of her armada which she was using to engage PrinceMamemon's battalion on this very field hundreds of years ago."
"Wait, if these battles were centuries ago than the war's over," Iris reasoned. "Can't we just wake up the CannonBeemon and explain to it what's going on?"
"That hippie nonsense isn't going to work here, missy. The queen's main strategy for military recruitment was to hatch as many Digi-eggs as possible. Most of these soldiers weren't civilized outside of following orders from the few Vespamon commanders making them wild Digimon that functioned on a preverbal leash."
Lillie frowned. "Still feels cruel to kill someone for being part of a war that ended a long time ago," she muttered.
"The cruel thing to do would be to let them live," Biyomon said in a deadly serious voice. "If we let that many battle hungry wild Digimon live we'd be passing a death sentence on the next town of peaceful Digimon they flew by."
As Biyomon spoke, May noted the hardened glare in Biyomon's eyes and the slight shake in her voice. "The wilds of the Digital World don't function on justice or compassion. Just instinct and hunger."
"What about Lady Coredramon?" Iris pointed out. "She was a wild Digimon but she stayed loyal to Omekamon."
Armadillomon gave Biyomon a sympathetic smile before addressing Iris. "It is possible to tame a wild Digimon, but they need to be able to trust their tamer. And that can take a lot of time, patience, and bandages."
"And we do not have time and bandages," Sgt. Chameleonmon began marching back and forth in front of the human's again. "What we do have are Chameleonmon and Armadillomon. Digimon who specialize in stealth and Digimon who can excavate fast and quietly so as to not speed up the awakening of the rest of the swarm."
"So, what do you need us to do?" Gary asked looking up at the lizard expectantly.
"Your job is to stay at this base and do nothing until I give you the permission to leave," grunted Sgt. Chameleonmon. "We don't know how many of the soldiers aboard that CannonBeemon have awakened or how far their tunnels reach. I don't want you to stumble into another ambush."
Gary looked like he was about to say something else, but the sergeant cut him off. "I commend you for volunteering to fight, but this isn't a simple brawl. This is a specialized operation and I don't have time to babysit a bunch of untrained humans and their Digimon bodyguards. Out of all of you the only one who looks like he's ready for the frontline is the Gargomon, and don't need the loose cannon gun slinging tactics his species specializes in. We need Digimon who can follow orders, maintain composure, and above all else be VERY, VERY QUIET! DISSMISSED!"
That last sentence ended with a shout loud enough to create a miniature gust blowing everyone's hair back.
That Night
One would think a day of hiking followed by a battle with giant bugs that was finished off with a sampling of boot camp would tire you out and make it easy to fall right to sleep. May, on the other hand, couldn't keep her eyes closed. Inside her tent all she could do was toss and turn as she thought about what she learned that day. Would she be able to make it to the frontlines and ask GranLocomon to send her back home, or would she be stuck here forced to live out the rest of her life as cannon fodder.
Flipping her body back over, May looked to the spot where Biyomon wrapped her own sleeping bag into a makeshift nest. The bird in question was absent, having left earlier for a walk around the camp. May suspected she was looking for that Armadillomon friend of hers.
Frowning, May thought back to earlier that day and the look on Biyomon's face when May asked about GranLocomon. May didn't want to leave the bird or hurt her feelings, she just didn't think she was a good fit for this chosen hero business.
Sighing, May got up and grabbed a flashlight. She had to talk to Biyomon. But first she had to find her which was not easy seeing as how the tent she was sleeping in was just one in what looked like an endless maze of tents that were the exact same size and shape. A couple of times during her search May was stopped by a soldier who was on guard duty. They would point May to a good spot to use the bathroom before May corrected them and said that she was looking for her friend.
"Ooph!" May grunted as she once again. "Sorry, didn't see you. Humans don't have good night vision."
"Don't worry, I understand."
Shinning her flashlight forward, May saw who she bumped into. "Iris? Why aren't you asleep?"
Iris smiled mareepishly. "I was using the bathroom," she stood up and offered a hand to May. "Are you looking for a place to go? I think I saw a couple of spots where I came from."
"Uh, thanks but no thanks," May said with a blush. "I'm looking for Biyomon. Have you seen her?"
"Oh yeah," Iris looked over her shoulder. "She's on the edge of camp with Dracomon, Gabumon, and Armadillomon. They looked like they were having a private conversation."
"Can you take me there? I need to talk with her," May asked.
Iris gave her a smile. "No problem!"
Thus the two girls headed towards the border of the camp. It didn't take long for the silence to make May feel awkward. So, she decided to correct that. "Hey, Iris, I want to thank you for earlier today. When you pulled me away from that Waspmon. And then got me through the battlefield. That was amazing."
"That was nothing," Iris said with a shrug. "I've been spending most of my life in the woods jumping from trees, climbing cliff, play wrestling with Pokémon, you pick up a few skills."
"Why'd you spend most of your time in the woods?" May asked. She figured that Iris was a nature lover given how much she knew about survival and camping, but she didn't think it was the majority of her lifestyle.
"That's where my Pokémon friends live," Iris responded as if it was obvious. "Unova has a whole bunch of awesome Pokémon."
"Yeah, I think my dad's Sawsbuck is from Unova," May said remembering the plant deer. Admittedly it was one of the Pokémon she kind of liked. It had a majestic appearance thanks to the tree branches growing out of its head like antlers and actually respected May's personal space. Though she swore it would spy on her and her brother from time to time when they were younger.
"You're Dad has an Unovan Pokémon?" Iris asked.
"Yeah," May said with her own shrug. "My dad did some world trekking back in the day. So, his gym's got some exotic Pokémon."
Iris spun around and looked up at May with wide eyes. "You're dad's a gym leader? That's so cool! You must know a whole bunch about the Pokémon from your region!"
"Eh, not really. We just moved to Hoenn a while back," May admitted. Her voice then dropped to a murmur. "Plus I don't even like Pokémon."
"WHAT!?" Iris shouted.
That shout elected multiple groans from the surrounding tents. One tent flap opened up for a Chameleonmon to stick its head out. "What's going on? Is there a problem?"
Catching herself, Iris quickly waved her hands in a stopping motion. "No, it's fine. I just heard something shocking. We're not in danger or anything."
Grumbling, the Chameleonmon and the other surrounding soldiers shifted around in their tents, presumably curling up to go back to sleep. Once everything settled down, Iris turned back to May and whispered. "Why don't you like Pokémon?"
"It's…" May thought back to when she was a lot younger. Her family had gone to the beach on vacation and she decided to take a swim. At some point during her playtime in the ocean, May found herself surrounded by swarm of Tentacool. That alone was terrifying enough, but to add insult to injury her mother saw May's blue swim cap and assumed she was a Tentacool as well and tossed a Poké Ball at her.
She swore to neve speak of that moment again. "It's just that they are gross and weird," May explained having decided to list all the ancillary reasons she wasn't into Pokémon in lieu of reliving one of her worst memories. "There's ghost who pop and scare you for fun, monsters that wreck everything they touch, and giant birds that use the world as their bathroom."
"Don't let Biyomon hear you complain about that last one," Iris said with a frown. "I guess I get it, there are a lot of Pokémon that can be scary or pests. But if you can look past their appearances, you'll find that even the most terrifying Pokémon can be the biggest softies."
Iris looked off into space. "When I was little I stumbled across a cave that was home to a Druddigon, a dragon type. I was scared at first because it was big and angry, but when I noticed that it was injured I was able to help it. The same Druddigon later saved me from a Scolipede, I think it was following me to make sure I made it home safe."
"Wow," May said. She didn't think she could ever summon up the courage to get close enough to help a monster that was in trouble.
"That was the day I learned just how amazing dragon types are," Iris gushed. "They may look intimidating, but they can be real sweethearts who use their strength to protect others. Which is why I'm going to grow up to be a dragon master! I'm going to train a whole bunch of dragons and we're going to show the world just how amazing they are!"
Hearing the passion in Iris's voice, May couldn't' help but to feel a touch of envy. "I wish I knew what I want to do."
"I still say you're over thinking this."
May and Iris stopped whispering when they heard Dracomon's voice come from the other side of a stack of crates. Curious, the pair turned off their lights and snuck up behind the crates to over hear the Digimon.
"You saw the way that May reacted to those Waspmon," Biyomon moaned.
"You're not a Waspmon," Gabumon said comfortingly.
"No, but it's the same every time we come across a wild Digimon," Biyomon replied. "She's terrified!"
Armadillomon spoke up next. "To be fair, you're average civilian Digimon doesn't like bumping into a hungry wild Digimon either. It's more of a survival instinct than pure prejudice."
"What are they talking about," Iris whispered.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," May whispered back. She then stepped out from behind the crates. "Hey guys."
"May!" Biyomon leapt up in alarm. She then started to fidget with her claws. "How much did you hear?"
Before May could respond, there was a loud rumble that shook the camp. She tried to run forward to grab the Digimon and escape, but was stopped when the ground beneath them caved in.
AN: Now I know what you're thinking: we already had a go into a hive adventure. Well, that adventure was about defending the hive. This adventure is about blowing it up. It's completely different.
Short chapter again. Sorry for the long time updating, working on a bunch of real life stuff.
As you can probably tell, I've never been in the military. The Chameleonmon is based on an exaggerated stereo type that I thought would be fun to work with.
Last chapter I forgot to explain my inclusion of Kentaurosmon as Renamon's past life. For the past lives, I was looking less for Digimon I thought would fit the first human and more for mega's that I could see the current Digimon Digivolve into. Kentaurosmon's usual rookie form is a Kudamon who, despite looking like a ferret, is a pipe fox. Meanwhile, Renamon is based on a kitsune, another Japanese fox spirit so I thought Kudamon world work as a past life having some similarities to Renamon, yet its own flavor. I also thought it would be neat if one of the chosen Digimon was a Royal Knight in their previous life.
The More You Know: Though they have the ability to change colors, chameleons tend to use this adaptation more as a means to communicate and express their emotions rather than camouflage.
Reader Response Recess!
Ashpoke55: I'll save the crests for when they get to the temple, but I'll tell you this: don't expect certain Digimon to automatically be linked with certain crests.
Legoguy67: Gary and Ash not come to blows? Sorry, this is not season 1 of Pokémon. These two have a history and it's going to take several chapters for them to work it out. The way I see it, Ash's brush with death scared Gary enough to reexamine himself, but changes rarely come easy. We all know Gary is a proud guy so he's going to end up being his own worst enemy from time to time as the story progresses.
As for past memories, no one is fully going to remember everything from their past life. But they will get bits and pieces from time to time.
Mr. Navit: It's cool. I'm fine with criticism. It helps me know where I need to improve my technique.
It's hard for me to put it on a scale of 1 to 10 on how much I've changed the anime world. We'll be addressing the changes as they come along next arc, but for now I can say this: the Pokémon world is mostly based on the anime, but I blended in some elements from the games and a few from the manga (disclaimer, I've only read bits and pieces of the adventure manga). There are bits and pieces of the lore that has been altered thanks to the interference of Digimon, chronomancers, and our heroes, but the citizens of the Pokémon world don't know their history has been tampered with. They just know that there were incidents in history where mysterious Pokémon popped up, but no one knows much about them because they disappeared soon after.
One big change to the Arceus lore is that no one in the Pokémon world laid eyes on him. People know that he exists thanks to a mysterious fourth dragon that served as Arceus's envoy to humanity (clearly that is his purpose, he has a humanoid body and speaks like a man). This dragon never gave his name, but he has shown up to protect humanity from various large scale threats throughout history.
Yes Arceus still has his thousand arms. He needs them to help protect his creation from an eldritch abomination that can break space and time.
The governmental structure is just as vague as it is in regular continuity.
Ash will not have time to visit the Safari zone, so he doesn't catch 30 Tauros. But as fate has it he will get one in arc 3 (look forward to that in the far distant future).
Clair will not be playing a major role, but for the record she used to be a sore loser. Lance still teases her about it to this day.
Elon Musk is a multi-universal constant.
The Tao trio still exists, but there are no clues as to the whereabouts of Reshiram.
As of now there haven't been any major changes to Kalos's lore. This may change once the next Legends game comes out.
Pineapple? That must be a typo. You meant pinap, right?
Professor Oak is still a professor, but he's going to be pretty busy in more ways than one starting next arc.
Those different legendary scenarios sound awesome, you'll see how the legendries and Digimon interact as the story unfolds.
Kyukimon vs Galarian Zapdos? Hard to say. They both fill a similar niche as speedy glass cannons. It think it would all be a matter of who gets to land the first blow.
Yeah, I can definitely see Renamon and Greninja as sparing partners and friends.
Yeah, Renamon is swifter by nature than Agumon and on top of that she's older and more disciplined which means she trained more. Agumon's not going to be able to out maneuver her.
I'll be revealing which of the Digimon partners were which of the previous megas at the temple. That being said, don't count on them having the same mega forms this time around. They are living new lives with new partners which will cause them to take different evolution routes.
Red caught Articuno after he gained his champion title. He didn't need a legendary Pokémon to earn what he had. But it sure was useful in the Digital World.
For the Poke Wars joke I was looking for Pokémon who I could both make puns out of their names with and would match well with the person they'd be replacing. For Yoda I'd probably go with a psychic type to match his force powers and elderly wisdom. Sadly I can't think of too many good puns at the moment. Yod-Abra? Clayoda?
The scene at the Metal Empire with the Trailmon was a flashback to Red's arrival to the Digital World.
Merei? Do you mean Marnie? If I was to give her a partner it would be a Gazimon (those guys were groupies to Etemon like Team Yell was to Marnie) that would Digivolve into a Punkmon (Marnie, Piers, and Team Yell take inspiration from the punk style).
The list of partners now are: Ash and Agumon/Greymon, Gary and Gabumon/Garurumon, Misty and Betamon/Seadramon, Brock and Gotsumon/Golemon, May and Biyomon, Dawn and Penguinmon, Iris and Dracomon/Coredramon (Blue), Serena and Renamon/Kyubimon, Lillie and Lunamon/Lekismon, and Goh and Terriermon/Gargomon. I may add other characters with Digimon in future arcs, but these are the main kids.
As for Red his revealed partners are Kentaurosmon, MarineAngemon, MetalGarurumon, MegaGargomon, and Blastmon.
Thank you for pointing out those mistakes. They have been corrected.
The One Who Reads and Writes: The reason Digimon with humans are more durable than their non-partnered counterparts is that I needed plot armor. I joke, but given that Kyukimon is a speedster with massive cleaving blades I needed to have a reason he couldn't just decapitate everyone once Staryu was taken care of. That, and there will be another, much stronger, Digimon who's going to corner our heroes in the arc finally and I need to have a pre-established reason he doesn't just one shot everyone.
Most Digimon are going to see Pokémon as pets as Pokémon don't talk and usually follow orders. The Digimon partnered with humans will eventually come to see Pokémon as their equals as seen with Betamon and Staryu, Gotsumon and Geodude, and even in the flashback where one of Red's partner Digimon is conversing with Blastoise. Kentaurosmon had a number of encounters with the group, but didn't officially join them until they were getting ready to fight Millenniummon so he didn't have that level of familiarity.
At this point, Ash and Gary already have a couple scars with Ash having some healed over slashes from Kyukimon's warning swipe and Gary getting cut during his encounter with Sangloupmon and slicing his arm on Loogarmon's fang. None of these scars are noticeable right away, but if you're looking closely at their bodies you'll know these kids have seen some action.
To be fair to Gary, there aren't many people with aura abilities. Psychics have Sabrina, Anabel, Avery, Olympia, Caitlin, Tate, Liza, and the games have an entire Psychic trainer class. So safe to say people are well aware psychics exist in the Pokémon world. In contrast when we look at aura users there is Sir Aaron (who's dead), Riley (who we don't see much of), Ash (who hardly uses his aura abilities), and a girl who only appeared in the manga.
There are some moments with other characters that you can speculate have aura abilities like how Bonnie shows a connection with Zygarde in the Lumios City attack in the anime and the abilities displayed by Yellow and Lance in the manga, but these moments and powers are never outright stated to be aura. Given how rare it is in cannon and how similar aura users' abilities are to psychics, I think Gary's skepticism isn't uncalled for.
Seeing as how proud Gary is, I would be surprised if he would be willing to admit Iris is right even if she produced an Aura Sphere in front of his face.
On the talking note, yes Gary does know that Pokémon are smart and yes, your average Pokémon can communicate with their trainer through voice tone and gestures. However, whenever someone says "talking Pokémon" they usually mean a Pokémon who can speak human (when people describe Team Rocket's Meowth they call him a "talking Meowth").
While your average Pokémon can express disagreement with a trainer through growling, ignoring orders, or a flamethrower to the face, they can't sit down and give you a thorough critique or play therapist. Even if you know someone is intelligent, hearing them speak fluently in your language is going to hit different than a simple growl.
Gabumon was trying to do the right thing and tell his friend that he has a problem, but Gabumon made the mistake of doing it right after a heated debate which, in my experience, is when people don't want to hear you talk to them about their faults. It also doesn't help that in addition to the language barrier, well-trained Pokémon usually obey their trainers without question. A Pokémon not obeying someone usually is seen as a sign of incompetence on the trainer's part. So on a subconscious level there's an extra sting to Gabumon walking up to Gary and saying here's where you need to improve.
You'll be seeing bits and pieces of Red's stories in the interludes and in flashbacks.
Broker has Digivolved and reverted through the usual method of living a long time and absorbing data. He can't do it as freely as a partnered Digimon can, so Digivolving and reverting to him are calculated risks. If he Digivolves, he loses his illusion abilities and drastically alters his body but gains strength. If he reverts, that's a lot of hard work down the drain because the second he's back to rookie he has to restock that data and time all over again. Most Digimon in this continuity don't do this as they don't want to revert to a lower, weaker stage especially when it takes so much time and effort to reach the next level. But Broker has lived long enough to know that power isn't everything.
To Giblo126 and everyone else, 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
Waspmon: Champion, Virus, Android
Chameleonmon: Armor, Free, Reptile
Armadillomon: Rookie, Free, Mammal
CannonBeemon: Ultimate, Virus, Android
Kabukimon: Armor, Free, Mutant
Pokémon Introduced
Silcoon: Bug, The Cocoon Pokémon
Cascoon: Bug, The Cocoon Pokémon
Wingull: Water/Flying, The Seagull Pokémon
Zigzagoon: Normal, The Tiny Raccoon Pokémon
Next Time: Biyomon and friends fill May and Iris in on her past while the group quietly make their way to the heart of the hive.