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.

4. Greymon Roars

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

Listening to as I write: Brave Heart (Adventure Version)

The Crest of a Master Chapter 4: Greymon Roars!

That night Ash got a taste of the celebrity life. He, Gary, and their Digimon were directed towards the picnic grounds by Pegasusmon and Candlemon who had to go off to survey the island and finish packing supplies for the kids' journey respectively.

The picnic grounds themselves were fairly quaint. They consisted of a large campfire surrounded by smaller rocks for seats and piles of various items. Said piles consisted of fruit freshly plucked from the island's orchard, sticks to be used as skewers, vegetables to be grilled, a net of freshly caught fish, and a bunch of drinks "harvested" from the vending machine. Which begged the question: was there someone who came by the island to restock the vending machine or was the vending machine like a berry bush and it just spawned the drinks?

The second the group placed one foot on the picnic grounds they were swarmed by the tiny villagers who began pushing and arguing on where the kids would sit and bombarding the boys with various edible offerings. For their part, Agumon and Gabumon knew how to handle themselves. They went around opening various drinks for the handless islanders and skewering the fish and vegetables to be roasted.

While the Digimon partners helped the villagers Ash and Gary allowed themselves to be shepherded to opposite sides of the picnic grounds. It took a while for Ash to properly seat himself as he found himself literally covered in excited chatting heads.

At first Ash was showered with complements and praising for being the cool human of prophecy while serving him the best food they had. Considering Ash spent his life in a small town at the bottom of the rung in his class it was a nice change of pace.

Then the villagers started asking questions.

Some of the questions were simple.

"What do you like to eat?"

"You wear a lot of clothes, are you cold?"

"What do you do for fun?"

Then there were questions which were broader.

"What's it like to live in a world run by humans?"

"You said something about a Pokémon earlier. What's that?"

"Do humans have civilization and how does it work?"

Finally, there were questions which were just plain weird.

"Your limbs are so thin, how do you not fall over without wings or a tail for balance?"

"Do you have a special attack? Can you shoot lasers or channel electricity?"

"Pegasusmon said you were probably a rookie, can you Digivolve? What do you want to become?"

"What was your home like?"

Overwhelmed with the swarm of inquiries (so this is why Professor Oak had the class raise their hands) Ash choose to focus on that last question. "Well, I'm from Pallet Town."

"Ooooooh!" Coursed the villagers.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nice place." Ash grinned. Is this what it was like to be one of the Elite Four giving a press conference? Because it felt pretty good. He continued to speak, this time with more confidence. "We've got lush forests that are way bigger than this orchard and the beach isn't too far away so we can visit the ocean whenever we feel like it. But I guess you guys are a bit closer to the sea. Oh! There are also a lot of farmers there so Mom is able to get the freshest ingredients for her restaurant."

"What's a mom?" That question came from a little whitish pink creature with stubby limbs and a pair of long thin protrusions coming from its head which could have either been ears or antennae. At this point Ash could assume it was either.

"Well, uh," How does one explain what parents are to a crowd of monsters who hatched from eggs that came from the dust of the dead?

"My mom's the person who took care of me," Ash explained. "She fed me, protected me, and taught me things until I was old enough to leave on my journey."

"Oh," Responded the pink villager. "So does that make Pegasusmon a mom?"

Shoot. The definition Ash gave for his mom did match the island's guardian's role. "No, Pegasusmon didn't, uh, lay your egg."

"What's 'lay egg'?" This guy didn't know when to quit.

Ash felt his face heat up in a massive blush. "Uhhhhh…."

1 week ago

Ash sat down to watch some TV when he was interrupted by his mother snatching away the remote. "Ash, sweetie, can I speak with you for a bit?"

"Sure, Mom." Ash carefully responded, not sure what to make of the serious tone she was using. "What is it?"

His mother smiled. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I was just thinking about your upcoming journey. You see Ash, you are growing into a young man and as you continue to grow you are going to notice some changes happening to yourself."

Ash's mother reached under the table and took out a thick book with a teenage boy and girl on the cover. "I think it's about time that I gave you The Talk."

Present

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope…

"Uh," Ash nervously said, "That's a very good question…."

Wait, what was this guy's name? Ash took out his Digivice to analyze the little Digimon. "Okay, it says here you are a Tokomon, In-Training level. It also says you've got a pretty nasty bite."

"Sure do," To demonstrate the adorable, pink ball opened its mouth way, wide revealing rows of Sharpedo teeth.

"Whoa!" Ash bent down to get a better look at the wicked jaws that were hidden behind a deceptively cute face.

It was then that Ash realized, he made a mistake. Not getting down to get a better look at Tokomon's teeth, the little guy was a good sport in letting Ash dodge his question to look at his molars. No, the mistake was in taking his Digivice to scan in the first place. Now instead of a swarm of tiny Digimon asking him about his personal life and questions he wasn't ready to answer, he had a swarm of tiny Digimon asking him to scan them. It was less awkward, but every bit as overwhelming.

"Tanemon, In-Training. It uses its tiny feet to quickly dig a hole to hide in and disguise itself as a plant. Pagumon, also In-Training. A prankster who can use his ears as hands and spits poisonous bubbles. Chibomon, Fresh level. Can potentially grow into any dragon Digimon. Hiyarimon, In-Training. It is always covered in snow which is why it tries to stay out of the hot sun. Boy are you misplaced." Ash read off Digimon profile after profile with no end to the number of villagers wanting a moment with him. "Man, you've got a lot of neighbors, Agumon."

There was no response.

Ash looked around. Where was Agumon? He turned towards the crowd of villagers. "Hey, did any of you guys see where Agumon went?"

Unfortunately, all Ash got were various "Nope" and a couple of "He just likes to wonder off sometimes."

That was weird. Ash glanced across the picnic site. He could see Gabumon sitting next to Gary nibbling on some cooked fish while Gary was talking to his own crowd of villagers. Ash excused himself from his gathering and made his way across the site.

"So, there we were, in a practice battle," Ash could better make out Gary's braggart voice as he approached. "He takes out this Primeape, which is basically a big, muscular fuzzball with a bad attitude. I let out my Pokémon, a teeny, tiny Rattata, not much bigger than any of you guys. My opponent thinks he's got me beat, because fighting types tend to have the advantage over normal types. But what the doof doesn't know is that this Rattata is equipped with a Focus Sash, an item that can keep a Pokémon fighting even if it was dealt a knockout blow. So,a then I...Oh there he is. Hey Ashy-boy! We were just talking about you! Want to join in?"

"Hey, Gary," Ash said flatly. As if he wanted to hear Gary recount the various times Ash lost a simulated battle. At the very least he had to find his Digimon so that he could properly retaliate. "I wanted to ask Gabumon if he knew where Agumon went."

From his spot next to Gary, Gabumon spoke up. "Well, usually he'd be here eating a bunch of fish, but I guess he wasn't in the mood tonight. Which I guess explains why I've been able to have seconds," Gabumon lifted his snout and gave the air a couple of deep sniffs. "I think his scent is coming from our huts. Maybe he wanted to go to bed early? He was up pretty late last night waiting for the Digivices to activate."

Ash quickly thanked Gabumon and headed over to where Gabumon pointed. After wondering around the groves a bit, he found another beach with two huts. Sitting between the small buildings was Agumon, staring off into a trio of moons on the horizon.

Hearing Ash's footsteps, Agumon peered over his shoulder. "Oh, hey Ash. Sorry I bailed. You seemed to be having a good time answering questions and I didn't want to interrupt you."

"Well next time could you please warn me?" Ash huffed. "Or at the very least take me with you? It was cool at first, but the questions just kept coming and coming."

Agumon chuckled. "Yeah, those guys will wear you down if you're not careful." He sighed and turned to face the moons. "It's hard to believe this may be the last time I see them or that this may be the last time I see this place."

Ash sat down next to his partner. Since Ash had arrived on the island Agumon had been nothing if not energetic. But now the small dinosaur looked so serine. He gave Agumon a smile. "Don't worry about it. I don't think this island is going anywhere. As soon as we defeat Millenniummon we'll come right back here and tell everyone about it."

Nodding, Agumon shared Ash's smile. "Yeah, and by then I'll be a powerful warrior worthy of the greats!"

"But aren't you already one of the greats?" Asked Ash.

"What do you mean?" Agumon gave his partner a questioning look.

"You said earlier that you and Gabumon were two of the Digimon who fought with the first human. Doesn't that make you a legend?" Seemed pretty straight forward to Ash. At the end of the day they were technically the same person.

Agumon turned back to watch the sky and frowned. "That's a past life. I don't want to rely on who I used to be. If I become a legend, it's going to be because of what I did in this life!"

"I get what you mean," Ash agreed. "I'd feel lousy if I found out people only treated me a certain way because of who my dad was."

"What's a dad?" Agumon asked.

Dang it. He just got out of this discussion!

"A dad is a parent. He's a man who watches over and raises someone. Or at least he's supposed to." Ash watched the pixelated waves slowly climb and recede across the shore. "I don't remember my dad. He passed away when I was very little. But I do have my mom, my other parent, and she's great. You should meet her someday. After we make you a warrior."

"Hey! I'm already a warrior. Just not a legendary one yet." Agumon stood up and struck a pose with his chin up in the air and his claws crossed over his chest. "By this time next year I'll be so powerful that no one on this island will recognize me at first. Then I'll use my new powers to find a way to cross over to your world and get you home. And then I'll meet your par-ent."

The orange reptile shivered with energy. "I'm not sure if I can sleep. I've been waiting for this day for forever!"

Ash shared Agumon's grinned and stood up. "I know what you mean. I'm just a few months away from starting my journey to become a Pokémon Master! I'm not sure how much longer I could stand the wait!"

Agumon glanced up at Ash with a curious expression. "You've mentioned that before. What is a Pokémon Master?"

"I'm quite curious myself."

Ash and Agumon whipped around to find Pegasusmon watching them from where the rest of the island met the beach. He walked forwards to meet the two. "Forgive me for intruding, I wanted to check in on you before we call it a night. So please enlighten me, Ash. What is a Pokémon Master?"

Far be it from Ash to hold back on talking about his favorite subject. "Well, Pokémon Masters are strong trainers who catch a bunch of Pokémon and raise them. They go to different places, fight powerful Pokémon and other trainers, and sometimes they end up saving the day like if a really strong Pokémon goes berserk or some crooks mistreat Pokémon."

Agumon lit up at this explanation. "Awesome! That sounds like what I'm trying to do! I want to be a Digimon who takes on other powerful Digimon and saves the day. Looks like our goals aren't all that different. We were made to be partners!"

Pegasusmon, on the other hand, looked more thoughtful. "Interesting. Sounds like combat prowess is highly valued in your world."

"Oh yeah," Ash eagerly responded. "Pokémon battling is the number one sport where I'm from. Trainers hold tournaments all around the world to see who is the strongest. My region has the Indigo Conference. Each year a bunch of trainers fight each other to get a chance to go up against the four strongest trainers around and become the champion!"

"Ah, so there must be many Pokémon Masters then," Pegasusmon surmised.

That comment caught Ash off guard. "What?"

"It's as you said Pokémon battles are very popular and many attempt to gain notoriety in the sport. So I would imagine there are hundreds of people who have a large team of Pokémon at their command to battle with one another. That would make them all Pokémon Masters, am I correct?"

"Well, no," Ash slowly explained. "There are a lot of Pokémon Trainers, but there aren't too many masters."

"I see," Pegasusmon nodded. "So, what sets them apart?"

"Huh?" Ash was beginning to suspect that Pegasusmon was no better than the rest of the villagers.

"If I am understanding your descriptions, both average trainers and masters excel in collecting, raising, and battling Pokémon. So I'm curious, what separates the average Pokémon Trainer from the Pokémon Master?"

"I think it's the champion title. Whomever becomes the champion is a master," That was the right answer, right? Up until now he was sure that was the right answer.

"So champion and master are synonymous?"

"What?" What was this guy getting at?

"I'm asking if champion and master are one in the same or if one could be a master without becoming a champion or become a champion without becoming a master."

Ash thought this over. On one hand it certainly seemed as though champions were Pokémon Masters. Every kid dreamed of becoming the champ so there was no shortage of competition for the title which meant that the champions had to excel at fighting in order to retain their positions. Champions also had to be on call in case of a disaster which they tended to solve using their own Pokémon or their knowledge of Pokémon in general which just added to the "Master" feel.

On the other hand, no one ever explicitly said that you had to be a champion to be a master. Champions were often described as masters, but it wasn't exactly a listed prerequisite. Or at least he didn't think it was a prerequisite. Was there even a list of requirements needed to be a master? Ash would have bet that the qualities he described earlier were it, but now?

"Ugh. Don't listen to him, Ash," Ash turned to see Agumon rolling his eyes. "He always does this. First you say I want to be a great hero. Then he asks you 'well what you mean'? Then when you try to explain it he asks even more questions. Isn't being a great warrior and a master commander enough?"

"Don't misunderstand, my intention is not to undermine your dreams. In fact, I'm in your corner, rooting for the both of you. However," Pegasusmon gave Agumon a short nod before turning to look Ash straight in the eye. "Though you both have grand visions, I wonder if you truly understand what it takes to accomplish these goals. True vigor will be necessary for your journey, yes, but such prestigious titles take more than just mere strength and gumption."

Pegasusmon looked down at Agumon. "Agumon, by now I'm quite aware of your desire to be a warrior worthy of fable. But I want you to remember that heroes such as the Royal Knights and the Ten Legendary Warriors are not celebrated for their raw power, rather how they used their abilities."

"I get it. I get it." Agumon groaned.

Pegasusmon gave Agumon's vexed look a light chuckle before turning back to Ash. "Ash, I'll admit that I am uninformed as to the happenings of your world, but it sounds to me like there may be some qualifications that you are not listing that separate the average trainer from the master. As you travel with your friends, I want you to take some time to think over what those traits are. Remember few of the most rewarding goals are ever easy."

Ash was about to respond when a loud CRACK followed by a cluster of high-pitched screams sounded from across the island.

Pegasusmon's wings leapt out from his sides. He didn't even spare a glance at Ash or Agumon as he barked his next order. "Stay here!"

With that the island's guardian took flight towards the source of the disturbance. For his part, Ash just stood there flummoxed. Every part of his body devoted to survival anchored him to the spot. All he could hear were rocks smashing, trees snapping, some muffled roars accented with more screams. A couple times he could make out a series of fireballs blasting into the air and exploding at the height of their arc.

He should stay here away from the danger. He should find a rock to crouch behind in case the danger got closer. He should curl into a ball until the danger had passed and hopefully he'd make it out okay.

And yet…

The screams continued. The screams of the same villagers who had welcomed Ash to their secret island with open arms. The same villagers who looked up to him as a savior. And it wasn't just the villagers. He could now hear various blasts and whinnies join the other noises signaling that Pegasusmon had joined the battle, putting himself in danger just to make sure Ash, Gary, and their Digimon were alright.

Heck, Ash could even feel a fair amount of concern for Gary. Sure, the guy had an ego the size of Kanto and had become a bit of a bully this last year, but that didn't mean he deserved to die!

Ash felt his sweaty hands clench into fists. "Agumon, I'm going to check this out."

Agumon gave Ash a determined nod. "And I'm going with you. This is my island!"

The two of them took off across the island. As they passed through the orchard Ash noted the scattered debris of what was once the picnic grounds. He also noticed that the trees weren't just snapped in half by a powerful force, some were cleanly sliced through.

As the two approached the village Ash could make out the huts, but they were ablaze turning the beach into one large bonfire. The source of the fire was probably form Candlemon who was lobbing fireball after fireball into the air probably as some kind of distress signal. Ash could also see various villagers hopping and scurrying away as fast as they could to escape the source of the disturbance towering in the middle of the village.

It was a giant, dark purple chrysalis. The cocoon had a series of yellow spikes circling its "neck" and one bent, red horn in the middle of its forehead between two eyeholes in the shell that allowed a pair of glowing, yellow eyes to glare down at the village below. To its sides were three pairs of long thin tentacles tipped with sharp blades.

Ash took out his Digivice. "Kurisarimon, champion level. The real Digimon is inside the hard shell storing up energy while using the tentacles to defend with its Data Crusher attack."

"Agumon!"

Ash and Agumon turned to see Candlemon frantically hopping over to the two. He stopped just short of them to catch his breath. "I've, huff, got, huff, orders from Pegasusmon."

"Star Shower!"

Ash watched as the village's guardian rained down a cluster of stars onto the armored monster. Kurisarimon roared and tried to slice at the flying equine by wildly waving its spaded tentacles in the air, but the Pegasus was too nimble. Pegasusmon just weaved and dived around and through the tentacles all the while hitting Kurisarimon with beams from his forehead.

The beams didn't pierce the shell, but they did help to keep the tentacles from establishing a good grip on Pegasusmon as a well-placed Equis Beam would drive off any appendage which got too close. Once Pegasusmon managed to climb up to Kurisarimon's head he released the same golden light ropes Ash saw him use to carry the cargo earlier that day with a cry of "Golden Noose!"

Flying around, Pegasusmon managed to wrangle Kurisarimon's forehead and began to drag him away with all the might his wings could muster. Every time the tentacles tried to whip backwards Pegasusmon would just fly around, released another storm of Star Shower to push them back, and then fly back to continue towing. At first Ash wasn't sure what the horse was trying to accomplish, but then he noticed that Pegasusmon was directing all his power to moving Kurisarimon away from one small, stony building.

Candlemon pointed to the small building Kurisarimon was being driving away from. "This attack isn't just some wild Digimon. It's the Forces of Chaos! Forget the supplies, use the teleporter, and get out of here."

"No way!" Agumon snarled. "I want to fight!"

NEEIGHH!

Before Agumon and Candlemon could begin an argument, Kurisarimon managed to successfully swat Pegasusmon away. The elder landed between the two rookies and wasted no time pushing himself back up.

Agumon stepped forward. "Pegasusmon! If you think I'm going to turn tail and run, then…"

Pegasusmon shot Agumon a glare. "No arguing! Guide your partner to the shrine now!" He then spread his wings and took off to continue fighting the colossus cocoon.

As the battle continued Candlemon turned towards the boys. "I'm going to continue evacuations. If anything goes wrong head to the caves on the other side of the island."

Hopping off, Candlemon called back to the two. "Please just listen for once!"

For a brief moment Ash had considered chasing after the candle or the flying horse. It just felt wrong to ditch those guys while he was sent off to a safe location which was whose knows how far. But then he saw Gary and Gabumon making their way to the shrine. Gary caught Ash's eye and gave him a firm 'get over here' gesture with his arm, probably trying to avoid the attention of the tentacle menace.

Ash gritted his teeth. "Let's go."

In response Agumon made a low growling noise, but none the less followed Ash as they made their way quickly and quietly to the shrine.

It was about halfway to their destination that Ash noticed one of the villagers from earlier, the Tokomon, squirming around. One of its antennae was pinned under a rock keeping the helpless in-training from running to safety.

Without really thinking Ash dashed forwards into the field of fire to free the little guy. This action earned him a look of awe and a grateful squeak of "Thank you!" before the in-training scurried off to safety. Unfortunately, in the middle of the lite up village, Ash was in plan site which attracted the attention of Kurisarimon. With a growl the pupa swung down a bladed tentacle towards Ash.

"Pepper Breath!" called out Agumon. He sent a couple of fireballs at the tentacle.

A low hissing noise came from the monster as it withdrew the attacking appendage. Ash rushed back to Agumon and towards the shrine. Though the villager was saved Kurisarimon was now concentrating his attacks on the boys. They narrowly dodged another tentacle as they slide into the shrine.

Heart pumping with adrenaline, Ash spotted Gary and Gabumon standing on a green glowing pad. Gary shot his hand out. "We've got this thing turned on! Let's go!"

Ash hesitated. "What about Pegasusmon?"

"He's fighting that thing to protect us!" Gary shouted over the sound of a BOOM from the signaling the shrine's structure had been compromised. "MOVE!"

"Agumon, come on!" Ash grabbed his partner's claw and proceeded to drag the hesitant rookie towards the pad.

Unfortunately, just before the duo reached the pad the wall behind the contraption began to cave in. Ash reached out to grab Gary's hand, but it vanished in a flash of light right as the wall came down on the pad.

Yelping some swears he knew his mother would ground him twice over for, Ash fled the collapsing shrine with Agumon in tow. They were able to escape the rubble, but now they found themselves back face to face with the towering attacker. There was no Pegasusmon in sight meaning the horse was either swat away again or that he had thought the teleportation was successful and retreated.

"Alright!" Agumon roared. "Back to plan A. We fight! Are you with me, Ash?"

For a brief moment Candlemon's instructions on fleeing to the far side of the island echoed in Ash's mind, but he pushed those thoughts to the side. If he was going to live up to the hype, he had to start acting the part. "You know it! Agumon, fire your Pepper Breath at the tentacles!"

Agumon nodded. "Pepper Breath!"

The fireballs hit their mark earning an angry roar from Kurisarimon. In retaliation it sent one of its tentacles down to squish Ash and Agumon. The two leapt to the side and flopped on the ground narrowly avoiding the impact.

"Okay! Let's try this again!" Ash ordered. "We'll blind it! Aim for the eyes!"

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon sent two more fire balls at Kurisarimon's face, but these were blocked by the spade of a tentacle.

Kurisarimon roared and sent another tentacle straight at Ash and his partner. And this time, still getting up from their last dodge, neither Ash nor Agumon could move fast enough to dodge. In that moment, time seemed to slow. Ash and Agumon were frozen in place watching the bladed tentacle creep ever closer.

NEEIIGH!

Just then, right before blade hit its targets, Pegasusmon dove in front of the pair and intercepted the blow. The blade ran straight through the equine but fortunately stopped just short of cleaving Ash and Agumon.

Pegasusmon was successful in saving the boys' lives, but in exchange for his own. He staggered for a brief moment before his form fizzled and began to dissolve. Just like the Kuramon from earlier that day, Pegasusmon broke down in a cloud of glowing dust.

With the pest that impeded its assault taken care of, Kurisarimon spread its tentacles wide open. A soft glow emanated from its body which slowly attracted the dust particles. Though he had never seen this before, Ash immediately knew what was happening. Kurisarimon was absorbing what was left of Pegasusmon.

"NO!" Agumon released a roar as he charged forwards, maw blazing. Ash felt his heart beat a mile a minute. He just saw one Digimon sacrifice its life to protect him and now another Digimon, his Digimon, was rushing forward to his own doom.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon shouted releasing a volley of fireballs at the shelled monster. This got Kurisarimon to stop absorbing data dust, but now its attention was turned onto Agumon. With a loud hiss, Kurisarimon began to bring its tentacles inwards to skewer Agumon.

From his spot on the side lines Ash began to rush forwards. They may have just met, but Ash could already feel his heart rip at the thought of losing the plucky reptile. He wanted to talk to Agumon more. He wanted to battle with him again. He wanted to help raise Agumon to be the legendary warrior he wanted to be. It was Ash's job as a trainer to make sure that his monster was happy, healthy, and the best it could be. There was no way he could just sit back and lose him.

As though someone was listening to Ash's thoughts, a sudden wave of warmth rushed through him. It took a brief second, but Ash located the source. The Digivice he had hooked onto his belt was glowing. Grabbing it to get a better look, Ash saw a line of text run across the device's screen.

"Digi-evolution"

Just as the bladed tentacles were about to slash down into Agumon they were deflected by a giant clear bubble. Kurisarimon hissed and tried again and again to pierce the sphere, but it was impenetrable. Meanwhile an invisible force levitated Agumon to the center of the sphere. Bolts of red energy lashed and danced around Agumon's form while a feral snarl fixed itself onto his face.

"Agumon Digivolve to…"

Within the sphere Agumon began to grow until he was two stories tall. His stubby tail lengthened into a more powerful appendage as his light orange scales darkened into a deep orange with blue strips. Finally, the skin on the upper half of the skull thickened into a brown helmet like plate sporting three horns: one on each side of its head curving outwards and upwards and one sharp horn sticking straight up from the tip of his nose.

The sphere burst open letting the newly grown dinosaur land on the beach, shaking the ground below. The new Digimon narrowed its eyes at the giant cocoon attacking its home and release a deep roar. "Greymon!"

Greymon let out another loud bellow and charged forwards ramming into Kurisarimon. The giant pupa let a cry of surprise as not only was it pushed back, but the dinosaur's armored skull managed to crack the armored shell protecting itself.

Now that Kurisarimon was pushed away Ash had a moment to breath, but in return he had a hundred new questions circling around in his head. Was that evolution just now? Did Digimon evolve like Pokémon? Because that didn't look like a regular evolution. Was that his job? To get Agumon trained up and evolve him to his final form?

Well, he definitely wasn't getting any answers right away, but he could at least scan Agumon's new form. "Greymon, champion level. An aggressive Digimon who uses its claws, teeth, and horns to shred apart anyone who intrudes into its territory. If the opponent tries to attack from a distance, he can hit them with a Nova Blast."

Looking up again, Ash could see the battle rage on as Kurisarimon used its tentacles to whip at Greymon and push him back. In response Greymon would snarl and snap his impressive jaws threating to bite any appendage that dared get too close. Neither of them were paying him any mind nor did they seem to notice that the glowing dust that was once Pegasusmon converge to form an orange and white stripped egg.

Not wanting the egg to be crushed by a wayward attack Ash dashed forwards to catch the newly formed egg as it fell to the ground. He looked up at the battling monsters and watched as Greymon finally bit down on several of the tentacles which were trying to wrap him. With a violent jerk of his head Greymon managed to rip off half of Kurisarimon's limbs causing the creature to squeal in pain.

Once the tentacles were removed, Ash could see the crack made by Greymon's earlier head bash was now fully exposed. "Agu..Greymon!" He called out. "There's a crack on its side! Aim there!"

Greymon's eyes narrowed, now locked onto the fissure. He charged forwards again and swung his head, driving the horn on the tip of his muzzle into the armor's weak spot. This action not only resulted in a screech from Kurisarimon, but the cocoon was knocked over.

His opponent down, Greymon stood over him and released fire from his jaws. "Nova Blast!"

A giant fire ball dropped down onto Kurisarimon who could only wither and scream before its body burst into data particles.

For a brief moment neither boy nor dinosaur moved. They just wordlessly watched the fires from the night's struggle flicker and burn leaving no village, just ashes. Greymon then turned around and approached Ash. In contrast to its savage behavior before, he gently wrapped his tail around Ash and the egg and pulled them in as Greymon lowered himself to the ground to curl up and rest.

At first Ash froze. Now that the battle was done and the adrenaline died down, he could feel fatigue creeping in. Nestling closer to his new friend's face, Ash carefully placed a hand near Greymon's eye. "Greymon, I'm sorry." He whispered as he gave in to sleep.

AN: Don't give me that look. You guys are genre savvy. You knew that horse was doomed the second it had that heart-to-heart moment with our leads.

Obvious pick for champion is obvious. Of course it had to be Greymon, it's Greymon! I guess if you're looking for a stronger reason than just it's iconic nature I would say it kind of references the Charmander line as they are both orange, fire breathing reptiles that Ash and his game counterpart, Red, both tend to promptly feature that line in their teams.

The teleporter is based on the ones you tend to find in the games.

Side note, I originally wanted to use Unimon as the village elder as I thought that Digimon had a nice mix of welcoming fantasy creature and scared veteran in its design. I switched over to Pegasusmon to emphasize how rare champion level Digimon (or at least civilized ones) are in the world at this point in the story.

And finally we have the Reader Response Recess.

To The One Who Reads and Writes: Thanks for the review and reading my story. In regards to a couple of your comments, no I don't plan for the characters to get multiple Digimon partners as once I get this story rolling in the direction I want it to go the cast will already be bloated.

As to whether or not the Digimon will stay in their new forms, it will be situational. There will be sometimes when they will stay in a Digivolved form outside of battle as I would like the kids to interact with their partners in their different forms and other times they will revert back because a lot of the champion and onwards forms are big and I'll need them to be small and childish for a variety of reasons both in story and for my (and hopefully yours) entertainment.

To Kamencolin, Ashpoke55, and everyone else tuning in: Thank you for reading. You guys make my day.

Digimon Introduced:

Greymon: Champion, Vaccine, Dinosaur

Kurisarimon: Champion, Unknown, Unidentified

Tokomon: In-Training, Free, Lesser

Chibomon: Fresh, Free, Slime

Hiyarimon: In-Training, Free, Lesser

Next Time: Ash and Agumon finish evacuating the island and meet an old friend of Agumon's who will direct them to their next destination on their journey. Meanwhile, Gary and Gabumon start off their road trip with some new companions.