Pokemon vs Digimon: When Worlds Collide

Pokemon vs Digimon: When World's Collide is a fanfiction crossover story by moviefan-92.

Summary
Devimon has resurrected and found a portal leading to another dimension. He ends up in the Pokemon World. With power exceeding that of the Pokemon there, he plans to take it over. But the DigiDestined aren't about to let that happen and follow after him. There they meet up with Ash and his friends. Suspicion and distrust rises as the past comes back to haunt both parties

Chapter 1: Worlds Beyond
How was it that the evil Digimon kept managing to cheat death and come back stronger than ever? It was a question many of the DigiDestined had long since wondered. Etemon had done it, somehow surviving getting absorbed by the Dark Network and getting lost between dimensions before coming back stronger as MetalEtemon.

Myotismon had done it, his bat familiars sucking the energy of other Digimon to resurrect him as the vastly stronger VenomMyotismon, and even after his second death, his data had survived, allowing him to possess Owikawa and use the power of the Dark Spores to become the even more powerful MaloMyotismon.

Diaboromon had done it, his data surviving online until he was able to reform and create an army of Kuramon, only to die again and use his army to Digivolve together into the unbelievably strong Armageddemon.

Kimeramon and the Dark Master Machinedramon had done it, defying time and space to combine their data to form Millenniummon, who later resurrected himself to Digivolve to MoonMillenniummon, and then later to uncomprehendingly powerful ZeedMillenniummon.

Even Apocalymon's data had managed to form Mephistomon after he was destroyed, who then later Digivolved to Gulfmon. True, it wasn't the same as the others, but it still allowed Apocalymon's reign of destruction to continue through another.

Yes, it seemed survival tended to favor the evil Digimon; likely because of the immoral methods they resorted to in order to survive. And now it seemed to have happened again. Devimon had return, and he was out to cause trouble.

This wasn't his first time either. After Angemon had destroyed him over five years ago, Devimon was revealed to have survived, having lost the lower half of his body, and retreated to hide in the Dark Whirlpool. That is, until Ken, back when he was still the Digimon Emperor under the influence of the Dark Spores produced by Millenniummon, discovered him, taken his data, and used it to help create Kimeramon.

Izzy theorized that after Magnamon had destroyed Kimeramon, Devimon's data managed to survive and reform into the fallen angel Digimon once more. At least he was back to his original size, the black gears he had absorbed to grow in size and strength gone.

All the same, Devimon was a truly evil being and a formidable opponent. This was why the DigiDestined were tracking him down. As long as he was at large, there would not be peace within the Digital World. And so, the six members of the second generation of DigiDestined were on the hunt, having discovered his location.

Flying through the air and running on the ground, the chosen children rode on the backs or flew in the arms of their Digimon partners. With the exception of Gatomon, who had Digivolved to her Ultimate level, Angewomon, the others had Digivolved to their Champion levels. With Devimon at the Champion level as well, their combined power was more than enough to defeat their original enemy. Either Angewomon or Angemon on their own should have been enough to take him out, but they didn't want to take any unnecessary chances.

"Alright, we're coming upon the location Gennai mentioned," said Davis, the leader of the group, as his Digimon, ExVeemon, carried him along. "Lets finish this quickly."

Riding on the back of Ankylomon, Cody, the youngest member of the group glanced at him. "We still don't know what the anomalies that are happening in this area are about, do we?"

It was Ken that answered, shaking his head as he flew on Stingmon's back. "Not yet, but the area does seem to be unstable. It's likely due to BlackWarGreymon destroying so many Destiny Stones. The Seeds of Light Azulongmon planted must not have grown enough yet."

"Whatever Devimon is planning," TK growled from on Angemon's shoulder, "it can't be good. We've got to stop him."

Flying beside him in Angewomon's arms, Kari glanced at him in concern. Though she hadn't been present when it happened, she knew of TK's history with Devimon. During the final battle with the fallen angel Digimon, Angemon had sacrificed himself to take him out. At the time, none of them had known that Digimon were reborn after they died. TK had thought he had lost his partner for good. She couldn't imagine how that must have felt, not knowing what she would do without Gatomon. It must have been traumatic for him; she could understand why Devimon proceeded to remain a touchy subject for him.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked worriedly.

TK's eyes narrowed, and he didn't even look at her. "I'm fine!" he snapped. A moment later, he seemed to realize he had taken out his frustration on her and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just... Devimon is..."

She gave him a smile. She understood, to an extent. Myotismon had been a similar touchy subject for her and Gatomon. "It's ok. Things will be different this time."

"She's right," Angemon replied. "We hold the advantage this time. Everything will be fine."

TK wanted to believe that, but until Devimon was well and truly defeated, he didn't think he would be at ease. "I hope so."

They flew along in silence after that, getting closer and closer to their destination. Their primary concern wasn't so much Devimon, but whatever he was planning on doing with these anomalies taking place. For all they knew, he was planning on powering up somehow like he did when he absorbed the black gears, or maybe even managing to Digivolve. Not that even an Ultimate would be a problem for them when they were at full power.

"There he is!" cried Yolei, the only other girl in their group, from on Aquilamon's back.

Yes, they could see him now too, and they came in for a landing. Standing with his back to them was indeed Devimon. He slowly turned to face them, his mouth set in a wicked sneer that showed off his fangs. "Ah, DigiDestined. I had a feeling I would be seeing you."

He was the same as always, not that Digimon actually physically changed, unless one counted Digivolving. Standing over ten feet tall, he resembled a human crossed with a bat, giving him a devilish appearance. He was almost completely black, the Mark of Evil standing out in red across his chest. Large bat wings, torn to shreds, protruded from his back, stretched out, giving him the power of flight, despite their condition.

The DigiDestined climbed off their partners and glared at the fallen angel Digimon. "Devimon," TK seethed.

The smile on the fallen angel Digimon's face grew larger. "Ah, I see the little one is not so little anymore."

"What are you planning?"

He laughed. "Nothing that concerns you Digi-brats."

Davis pointed at him. "Anything evil freaks like you do is our concern."

"Yeah," ExVeemon agreed, "so why don't you just fess up? We're going to stop you anyway."

A wicked chuckle escaped the fallen angel Digimon. "Not that you will believe me, but I actually have no intention of causing you or this world any trouble."

"You're right," Angewomon told him, "we don't believe you. I know your type better than anyone."

Devimon sneered at her. "Yes, as Myotismon's former lackey, I suppose you would. All the same, I'm speaking the truth." He looked at Angemon. "The day you nearly destroyed me, I had a bit of an epiphany. I may have been trying to intimidate and discourage you when I said that there were other Digimon out there far stronger than me, but it was also the truth. There are some whose power make mine seem like nothing."

He looked at his hands, and almost appeared to be frustrated. "I thought I had a good plan. If I could take over File Island, the location of Primary Village, where all Digimon are reborn, then I could corrupt them when they were just starting out, and lead them down a path of darkness, with me as their master. But now I realize that that was just a pipe dream. It was doomed to fail from the beginning."

The DigiDestined exchanged uncertain looks. While there was truth to his words, they didn't believe he would actually give up. He wasn't saying it, but there was definitely a 'but' in his little speech somewhere.

"Do you really expect us to believe that you've changed your ways?" Angemon demanded. "That you're in this area of the Digital World by chance?"

A sneer crossed Devimon's face. "Well, you have me there. But you don't need to worry about me trying to take over this world. The anomalies that are happening here won't be able to help me with that."

"But they can help you with something else," Ankylomon guessed.

Devimon was silent for a moment before relenting. "Yes, they can. You know about the anomalies occurrences, but I'm guessing that you don't know what they are."

Yolei crossed her arms. "Oh, and you do?"

He chuckled. "As a matter of fact, I do. Allow me to enlighten you. You should know by now that there are other worlds out there besides the Human World and the Digital World. It seems that these anomalies are portals opening up to one of these worlds. They've been appearing almost like clockwork, and I intend to go through one. You DigiDestined can have the Digital World and the filthy Human World, but this new one will be mine." He turned around. "The anomalies have been appearing around the same time for days now. One should be occurring any minute now."

"I knew you hadn't changed!" TK snapped. "What's it going to take for you evil creeps to stop destroying everything?"

Devimon glanced back at them and laughed. "Well, you won't need to worry about me much longer. Soon I'll be out of your hair for good."

That's when it happened, a flash of light lit up the area, and a tear in space and time appeared. It was almost as if they were watching a movie, and a hole had suddenly been torn in the screen.

Devimon's eyes lit up with excitement. "The portal, right on time."

"Don't let him go!" Davis ordered.

"Hell Contract!" Devimon cried, and unleashed a cloud of cursed energy that engulfed the area, obscuring everything aside from the light of the portal.

"Everyone attack!" ExVeemon exclaimed. "Vee-Laser!"

"Moon Shooter!"

"Blast Rings!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Knock Out Blast!"

The barrage of attacks flew into the cloud, most striking either where they had last seen Devimon or around the portal since they knew that that was where he would be heading. They heard a series of blasts as their attacks struck, but didn't know if any had found their mark.

"Hey, Angewomon," said Kari, "could you clear this cloud."

The angel Digimon's wings stretched out. "It would be my pleasure. Holy Tornado!"

A heavy wind picked up and blew away the cloud. The portal was still present, but there was no sign of Devimon.

"Whoa, did we get him?" Yolei asked.

As if to answer her question, Devimon's arm dropped down from the sky and snagged Cody, yanking him into the air. Everyone else looked up to find Devimon flying above them, now holding Cody hostage. "Looking for me?"

Davis pointed up at him. "Hey, let him go!"

Smirking, Devimon dropped down from the sky, landing beside the portal. "Certainly, once the portal starts to close; it only stays open a short while anyway. As soon as I go through, you can have your little friend here back."

"Put me down, you creep!"

The fallen angel Digimon's grip on him tightened to the point where Cody felt as if his bones were going to be crushed. "Silence, boy. I could kill you at any moment. Right now, you're just insurance."

Ken glared at him. "You'll never get away with this."

Devimon chuckled. "On the contrary," he glanced over his shoulder as the portal began to close, "I already have."

He threw Cody at Angewomon. She flew forward and caught him as the others rushed towards Devimon. He fired his Evil Wing attack, unleashing a wave of dark energy that knocked them all back. Stepping backwards, he disappeared into the portal, laughing all the while.

"No!" TK cried as the portal closed behind him. Dropping to his knees, he slammed his fist on the ground. "He got away."

"This is bad," Cody replied as he slid out of Angewomon's arms. "How are we going to figure out where he went?"

The others exchanged uncertain looks. There was really no telling how many other worlds were out there, or which one Devimon had gone to. Even if another portal appeared, there was no guarantee that it would lead to the same world he had just gone to. Nor was there any guarantee that they would be able to return once they went through it.

"We better talk to Gennai," Ankylomon suggested.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Professor August Stevens was ecstatic as he entered in the coordinates. He was close, so very close. If this worked, not only would he be recognized worldwide, it would be of great benefit to humanity. This was what he had been working on for years, and now he was closer than ever.

"Power is almost at 100 percent. Energy is stable. How you hanging up there, Porygon?"

He looked to the pink and blue polygon Pokemon hooked up to the large machine by numerous cables. "Porygon!"

He smiled and nodded before turning his attention to the computer screen where the evolution of Porygon floated around in cyberspace. "How about you, Porygon 2? Everything good?"

"Porygon 2, Pory."

Nodding, he pulled down his tinted goggles. "Alright, lets try this again. I think I gave the right coordinates this time. Hopefully we'll be able to create a stable doorway this time." He looked at the power gauge. "If only it didn't take so long to recharge, we could try this more often."

Going back to his notes, he wrote down the date and time, along with the new coordinates and power velocity. He'd tried everyday at the same time to create a stable portal ever since he had completed his machine. Now it was just a matter of getting it working properly.

He turned his attention to his invention. It could pass for a giant Pokemon transporter that Trainers used to send and receive Pokemon, but this one served another purpose. And now it was time to try to activate it once again.

"Ok," he told the two Pokemon, "lets give this another shot. You both ready?" He received affirmative nods from the two Pokemon and smiled. "Alright, here we go. Activating now!"

Porygon and Porygon 2 winced as power flowed into them, circulating through their bodies, and was then pumped into the power converter. They had no idea how any of this stuff worked, but Professor Stevens was very smart, and they trusted him.

The professor was not blind to the discomfort his machine was causing his Pokemon, and he was sorry for it, but they were willing participants in this, intent on seeing his project through, and he was deeply appreciative of it.

"I know, I know!" he called to them, speaking loudly to be heard over the sound of his machine. "Just hold on, the doorway is appearing!"

From the satellite dishes hanging down from the top if the machine and the ones standing on the bottom, bolts of energy flowed out. The end points converged, forming a ball of energy that proceeded to grow. Even from behind his tinted safety goggles, Professor Stevens had to squint due to the light's intensity.

"Energy is stabilizing!" he said, all but shouting now. "Establishing connection! Prepare for dimensional rip!"

The ball of energy suddenly burst open, revealing a tear in space and time. The sight brought a smile to Professor Stevens' face, no matter how many times he saw it. This had been his goal ever since he had made his discovery many years ago. He had always been fascinated by the Porygon species' ability to travel into cyberspace. One day, while researching it, he had stumbled across something incredible.

There had been no way to prove it, and his discovery had vanished mere seconds after finding it, but he firmly believed that he had stumbled across a portal to another dimension. Of course, he had no evidence to back it up, and none of his colleagues believed him, but he was sure of it.

It had been proven that there were other dimensions out there. The Unown dimension, the realms of Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga, the Reverse World of Giratina, the subspace where the Ultra Beasts came from, they were all examples of this, and who knew how many others there were. It was logical to assume that there were still other undiscovered dimensions.

His colleagues had laughed at him, saying it was preposterous that another dimension existed within the computer, a man-made object. Hearing it put that way, he had to admit that it did sound ridiculous, but that had not been what he had been suggesting, just that a portal to another dimension had appeared within cyberspace, not that the dimension itself was in the computer.

He theorized that humans didn't actually create data, but had only learned how to use it, and there was actually a much greater depth to it; the portal he had discovered being one of them. It was his hope to use Porygon and Porygon 2's power to enter cyberspace in order to create a doorway to this new dimension.

Of course, this was still all just theory, but he hoped to prove it with this experiment. So far, he was able to create a portal, but was unable to maintain it in order to research it, or what lay beyond it. It was happening again, he was losing power, and the portal was collapsing again.

"No, no, no, no." He tried to stabilize the portal, but it was no use. "Another failure."

With a sigh, he looked at the readings, trying to see what hadn't worked this time and what he had managed to do right. A frown crossed his face as he looked at the readings. The doorway may have been closing, but there was another source of power. It seemed to be inside the portal. That had never been there before. And now the readings were getting stronger.

Professor Stevens' eyes widened as he looked back at the portal in disbelief. "Something is coming through... Convert all power reserves to maintaining the doorway! This could be the breakthrough we've been looking for!"

Porygon and Porygon 2 exerted more energy. The portal held, and something began to emerge from it. Professor Stevens stared with shining eyes, his mouth hanging open in an excited smile.

The creature stepped out of the portal, and the doorway closed behind it and vanished. The smile diminished from Professor Stevens' face as he stared at the creature, he had never seen anything like it. It almost looked like a Zubat, or one of its evolutions, crossed with a man. It was... intimidating to say the least.

He shook his head, choosing not to judge by appearances. After all, some Pokemon looked pretty menacing, but could actually be quite friendly, and the reverse was true too. Perhaps this creature's frightening appearance was merely a defense mechanism against predators.

That isn't to say he wasn't going to be cautious. He motioned to both Porygon and Porygon 2, beckoning them to come to him, and they immediately came to his side, the latter emerging from his computer. He carefully approached the creature while his Pokemon stood in front of him protectively.

"G-Greetings to you," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Welcome to our world. I am Professor August Stevens. I bid you welcome."

The creature looked down at him, its eyes narrowing. "You're human. Different from the ones I know, but human all the same."

Professor Stevens' eyes widened in astonishment. They spoke the same language! This was astounding. Was it natural, or a result of crossing over dimensions? "Yes, I am human. You say there are humans in your world too?"

A scowl crossed the creature's face. "Far too many of them." It looked at the two Pokemon. "And what manner of creatures are these? They appear to be Digimon, but are unlike any I have ever seen before."

The professor looked at his Pokemon. "Um, this is Porygon and its evolution, Porygon 2. They're Pokemon, short for Pocket Monsters. There are hundreds of different Pokemon in the world, all with different powers and abilities." He looked at the creature expectantly. "What are these 'Digimon' you speak of? Is that what you are?"

"Indeed," the creature replied. "I am Devimon, a Champion level Digimon, one of the many different types of Digimon in my world."

He stared at the Pokemon hard, seemingly deep in thought. Raising a hand, he pointed a clawed finger at them. "Tell me, how strong are these creatures compared to the other... Pokemon in this world?"

The professor blinked, not expecting the question. He wondered if this Digimon was worried if they would attack it and was trying to see if they were a danger to it. "Well, a Pokemon's strength varies based on its species and how much it trains. In terms of overall strength species-wise, I would say they fall somewhere in the middle."

Devimon stared at them with interest. "You don't say. I would like to test this strength of theirs. Have them attack me."

Professor Stevens stared. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, have them attack me. Death Hand!" A beam of unholy energy shot out of Devimon's hand. It struck the ground by the professor's feet, burning a hole through the floor.

Professor Stevens jumped back, alarm bells going off in his head. This creature was hostile! "Porygon, use Tri Beam! Porygon 2, Psychic!"

The two Pokemon jumped forward. A blue aura of psychic energy surrounded Porygon 2 and was launched at Devimon. Likewise, Porygon fired three triangle shaped beams of red, blue, and yellow that swirled together. Devimon raised his hand and easily swatted the attacks away. "That was pathetic. Evil Wing!"

A wave of energy flowed out of his wings, destroying most of the technology in the room as the darkness flowed over it, including the machine that had opened the portal. Both Porygon and Porygon 2 were blasted back by the attack. They hit the wall hard and dropped to the floor with dizzy swirls in their eyes. They were both down for the count, defeating with a single attack.

Professor Stevens stared at his fallen Pokemon in shock. "No way! He beat them so easily!"

Devimon gave a bark of laughter. "If that is the 'average' strength these Pokemon possess, then taking over this world will be all too easy." He spread his wings wide and pointed at the professor. "I hope you valued your freedom up until now, because that is a thing of the past. Say hello to your new lord and master."

Chapter 2: A Fearful Fight
Narrator: "The incredible world of Pokemon! An amazing place, full of even more amazing creatures. Flying in the sky, swimming in the ocean, racing across the ground, or burrowing in the earth, Pokemon can be found everywhere, coming in all shapes and sizes.

" But Pokemon aren't the only residents of this world. Humans live side by side with them, many sharing the dream of challenging Gyms in order to become Pokemon Masters. Together, Trainers and Pokemon alike strive to reach their fullest potential.

" Today, we join Ash Ketchum and his partner Pikachu as they continue on their journey through Johto to collect all the Gym badges and defeat the Pokemon League. Joining them are their good friends Misty and Brock. Together, they have journeyed far and seen much, but little do they know that today begins a new adventure unlike anything the Pokemon world has ever seen before."

The walk through the forest had been relatively peaceful, but that peace was soon disrupted by a loud grumbling. All attention shifted to Ash, whose hands went to his stomach as it growled. A nervous chuckle escaped him as he gave his friends an embarrassed look. "I think my stomach is telling us it's time to stop for lunch."

" Pikachu," the electric mouse Pokemon on his shoulder agreed.

The redhead of the group stubbornly turned her nose up at him. "I told you that you should be more careful with your rations, but you insisted on stuffing your face."

" Toge, Toge," the spike ball Pokemon in her arms chirped.

A bead of sweat appeared on Ash's head. "Well, a future Pokemon Master needs to keep up his strength. Lets eat!"

Misty sighed. "You really don't listen, do you? We're out of food. We've got nothing to eat until we get to the next town or city."

"I'm afraid she's right, Ash," Brock admitted as he rummaged around in his backpack, but came up empty. "All we have left is some Pokemon food."

"Aww," Ash grumbled, hanging his head in dismay. Pikachu patted his head reassuringly, and he turned his attention to Brock. "How much further until we get there?"

"Well, lets see." Abandoning his search for any leftovers, Brock took out the map and began looking it over. He studied it for several long seconds before letting out a long drawn out, "Hmmmm..."

Ash peeked over his shoulder to see the map. "What? Are we almost there?"

"Hmm, it's hard to say."

Misty appeared over his other shoulder. "Why? Where are we?"

"Well, according to this map... we're lost."

The two preteens fell over. Misty immediately jumped to her feet and rounded on Brock. "What do you mean we're lost?"

His eyes scanned the map, looking for any familiar landmarks. "I guess that dirt road we took wasn't really a path after all."

Ash gulped, feeling Misty glaring daggers at him. He had been the one to insist that the supposed path they had come across was a shortcut, one they would likely find Pokemon on since it was separate from the main trail. "Well, it looked like a path..."

His stomach growled again, and he gave his friends a nervous smile. Misty sighed, figuring there was no point in getting angry; this wasn't the first time they had gotten lost. "Well, what do we do now?"

Brock was still studying the map. "I guess we'll have to backtrack, 'cause I don't recognize anything on this map."

Ash sighed again. "I'm too hungry, I don't think I can go on."

"You're the one who got us lost in the first place!" Misty raged at him. "And you're the one that ate the rest of out food!"

Ash sweat-dropped again and gave her a nervous smile. On his shoulder, Pikachu taped him on he head. "Pika, Pi, Pikachu."

Hopping off his shoulder, he ran over to a bush and plucked a berry. Sniffing it to make sure it wasn't poisonous, he took a bite, and the berry's sweetness filled his mouth. "Ka!"

Ash immediately perked up. "Hey, yeah! We can just gather a bunch of berries to tide us over."

Brock frowned as he looked at the bush. "I don't think that will do much. That bush hardly has any berries on it."

"Hey, maybe there are more nearby," Misty suggested.

Smiling, Ash turned to Pikachu. "What do you think, Pikachu? Can you find some more?"

The electric mouse Pokemon nodded. "Pika." Closing his eyes, he began sniffing the air. After a few moments, he began waving his arms and pointing. "Pi, Pikachu."

He led them a short distance from where they were. Coming to a stop, he pointed. A few yards away were several berry bushes full of berries.

"Alright!" Ash cried. "Nice going, Pikachu."

In Misty's arms, Togepi reached towards the berry bushes. "Togepi."

Misty smiled down at the egg Pokemon. "I guess you're hungry too, huh?"

"Lets eat!" Ash cried.

He and his friends broke out in a run for the berries. But as they ran, the ground suddenly gave out beneath them, and they fell down, down, down, landing painfully in a heap.

"Oww," Ash grumbled. "Why is there a hole right here?"

Obnoxious laughter came from up above, and three figures blocked out the sun. Misty looked up at them, scowling. "Don't tell me..."

"Prepare for trouble, and it better be quick."

"Make it double, this is a fanfic."

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight."

"Meowth, t'at's right!"

" Wobbuffet"

Ash could honestly say that he was not surprised, nor was he happy to see the group. "Not you guys again."

"How'd they even know to dig a hole here in the first place?" Brock wondered out loud.

Jessie laughed. "Unlike you twerps, we had a perfect view from the air."

"Based on the direction you were heading," James took over, "we were able to assess that you were heading for Cotton Town, so we got here ahead of you."

Despite the cramped space, Brock was able to pull out the map. He found Cotton Town, seeing that it was just beyond the border of the Johto region. "Oh, so that's where we are. Wow, we really were off course."

This time it was Meowth who laughed. "I'm guessin' t'at you twerps went and got lost. Well, yer about ta lose somethin' else."

Down in the hole, they just now realized that Meowth was wearing a backpack of some kind. The top popped open, and a pair of mechanical arms came out and reached into the hole. They grabbed Pikachu, pulling him out, and holding him in the air.

" Pikachu!" the electric mouse Pokemon cried, unleashing a Thundershock. He didn't know why he bothered trying, as the rubber hands were obviously shockproof.

Team Rocket laughed at his futile attempt to escape as they turned to leave. Their laughter angered Ash. He was so tired of them trying to steal Pikachu. He didn't know why they were so obsessed about it, but he figured it was likely more personal at this point than anything. But he was not about to let them walk away with his best friend. Whatever twisted method Team Rocket used to force stolen Pokemon to obey them, he swore Pikachu would never experience it.

Reaching onto his belt, he grabbed one of his PokeBalls. "Bayleef, I choose you!"

He threw the red and white ball into the air. It burst open, and a bright white light poured out, taking the form of a new Pokemon. "Bayleef!"

"Bayleef," Ash called up to her, "use your Vine Whip and get us out of here!"

" Bayleef!" From beneath the leaves sprouting from her neck, two vines emerged and reached into the hole, grabbing the three Trainers and pulling them out.

Ash gave the leaf Pokemon an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Bayleef."

Once again displaying her crush, she began nuzzling him affectionately. "Bayleef, Bay."

"Come on, we gotta hurry."

They ran after Team Rocket as the three thieves strolled along with Wobbuffet in tow Pikachu still being held in the the mechanical arms. They turned as Ash called out to them and saw their three would-be victims coming for them.

"How'd t'ey get out?" Meowth cried.

James' gaze settled on Bayleef. "My guess is they used Vine Whip to climb out. Why do we never account for that?"

"We'll make up for it now," Jessie declared. "Go get them, Wobbuffet, and go Arbok!"

She threw a PokeBall, and a giant purple cobra appeared. "Arbok!"

As Wobbuffet waddled over to stand beside the snake Pokemon, James threw his own PokeBalls. "Go, Weezing, Victreebel, attack!"

" Weezing, Weez!"

" Victree!"

As the giant two-headed purple growth floated by its comrades, the giant bell plant leapt at his master, swallowing him from head to waist. James cried out, his legs kicking wildly out of the flycatcher Pokemon's mouth. "I said 'attack', not 'a snack'!"

"Bayleef, use Razor Leaf!" Ash ordered.

" Bayleef!" The leaf on her head began spinning, and smaller leaves with razor sharp edges flew at the opposition.

"Arbok, Poison Sting attack!"

The snake Pokemon opened its mouth and began firing a barrage of stingers. They collided with the leaves, cancelling out the attack.

James finally managed to pull his head out of Victreebel's mouth. "Weezing, use Sludge attack!"

" Weezing, Weezing." The larger of the two heads opened its mouth and spat out a black fluid.

"Dodge it, Bayleef." Ash smirked as she avoided the toxic substance. "Now, use Headbutt."

" Bay!" She charged at Weezing, slamming headfirst into it, and the poison gas Pokemon crashed to the ground.

"Arbok, use Dig!"

" Ar!" The giant snake buried into the ground, disappearing beneath the earth. Bayleef looked around, searching for any sign of the snake Pokemon's presence.

"Victreebel, Razor Leaf!"

" Tree!" Flicking the two large leaves on its sides, Victreebel flung two deadly leaves. Bayleef jumped to the side, dodging the first leaf, then jumped to avoid the second. Arbok chose that moment to come bursting up from underground, coming up beneath Bayleef and sending her flying.

She landed on her feet as Arbok lunged at her. Sidestepping the snake Pokemon, she bite its tail and swung it around, tossing it into Victreebel.

Weezing was up in the air again, and James commended it to use Smokescreen. A thick black cloud was blown out of the poison gas Pokemon's pores, but Bayleef improvised. Spinning around her leaf like a fan, she blew away the smoke.

"Great job, Bayleef!" Ash cheered. "Now Tackle it!"

" Bayleef!" She charged forward, slamming into Weezing. The poison gas Pokemon flew backwards and crashed into Team Rocket, knocking them over.

Ash gave her a thumbs up. "Nice work. Now get Pikachu."

Nodding, Bayleef used Razor Leaf. The leaves cut through the metal arms, and Bayleef shot out her vines to catch Pikachu and deliver him to Ash.

"Pikachu!" he cried happily, glad to have his friend back.

" Pika, Pi!" The electric mouse Pokemon responded.

"Hold on, I'll get you out of there."

He attempted to pry the mechanical hands open, but they remained tightly clamped shut. Team Rocket climbed to their feet, and Jessie pointed at him. "You're not getting away that easily. Go get them, Wobbuffet."

" Wobbuffet!" the patient Pokemon responded, saluting his master.

Ash glared at them. "Bayleef, use Vine Whip."

" Bay, Bay!" Her vines shot out, rising into the air and coming down hard.

"Wobbuffet, Counter it!"

" Wobbu!" His flat black tail rose up into the air as Wobbuffet began glowing. Bayleef's vines came down on him, but froze the moment they made contact with the light surrounding him. They suddenly flew back towards her, striking Bayleef with her own attack, and she went tumbling backwards into a tree.

The impact shook the entire tree, waking the sleeping Pokemon in it. Cranky eyes cracked open irritably as the Pokemon's nap was disturbed. It peaked through the branches for the cause, and spotted the two groups of humans and Pokemon. It was merely annoyed at first, but then its gaze landed on one human and Pokemon in particular. Recognition filled its eyes, followed by hatred of the deepest loathing; it knew who they were.

"You alright, Bayleef?" Ash asked worriedly, still trying to pry the mechanical hands off Pikachu.

Shaking her head, Bayleef got to her feet and hurried over to him again. "Bayleef!"

Arbok, Weezing, and Victreebel were once again on their feet, for lack of a better word, and gathered around their comrades, ready to continue the battle.

"We're not going down this time," James declared.

"That's right," Jessie agreed. "With Pikachu out of commission, we've got this battle in the bag."

Ash hugged the electric mouse Pokemon. "Don't be so sure. Ready, Bayleef?"

" Bayleef, Bayleef!"

"Arbok, Wobbuffet, teach them a lesson!"

"Weezing, Victreebel, go get 'em!"

" Arbok!"

" Wobbuffet!"

" Weezing!"

" Victree!"

" Fearow!"

The battle came to a stop at the fifth unexpected cry. From out of the treetop, a large brown bird Pokemon took flight. It circled overhead, its gaze locked on Ash, and came in for a landing. Glaring at Ash and Pikachu, it spread its wings and screeched loudly. "Fearow! Fear, Fear! Fearow!"

Pikachu glared at the beak Pokemon. "Pikachu..."

Ash blinked. "A Fearow? What's it want?"

"Did we disturb its nest during the battle?" Brock wondered out loud.

" Fearow!" the beak Pokemon cried. "Fearow, Fearow! Fearow! Fear Fearow! Fearow!" Meowth was nodding with interest along with what the Fearow was saying. "Oh boy, looks like t'e twerp really stepped in it t'is time."

Jessie and James looked at their furry friend with interest. "What's it saying?" the former asked.

"It's saying 'so we meet again, human. Only t'is time I shall have my revenge. For t'e rock you t'rew at me, and for drivin' me and my flock from t'e land we claimed from t'ose Pidgey and Pidgeotto'."

Misty's eyes widened. "You mean this is that Fearow?"

Jessie and James hugged each other. "I remember! It kept us trapped in a tree for hours, and then the entire flock chased us for miles."

"It must have migrated here after Pidgeot reclaimed the land for the Pidgey and Pidgeotto," Brock theorized.

Ash growled softly. He remembered this Fearow, The two of them had a bad history. On his first day as a Pokemon Trainer, back before Pikachu would listen to him, Ash had thrown a rock at some Pidgey he saw in attempt to weaken one enough to capture it. Well, ok, maybe he had also been frustrated and had been taking out his aggression on them, but he had mistaken a Spearow for a Pidgey, and had nailed it right in the back of the head with a rock.

Sufficient to say, the Spearow had not been happy about the assault. Already having a violent nature, it had viciously attacked Ash and Pikachu, and then called for the rest of its flock for aid after it was hit by an electric attack by Pikachu. The two of them had literally almost met their end that night as the flock of Spearow had mercilessly pursued them for miles before Pikachu managed to use a lightning strike from the thunderstorm to unleash a powerful blast of electricity that had warded off the Spearow.

Having returned to Pallet Town a year later, Ash had discovered that the Spearow he had hit with a rock had evolved into Fearow, and had risen in the ranks to become the leader of its flock. It had also taken over the territory that had once belonged to the Pidgey and Pidgeotto of the area, and viciously attacked anyone that entered its new territory.

Pikachu, Ash, and Pidgeotto, having evolved to Pidgeot, were able to defeat Fearow, chase away its flock, and reclaim the area for the Pidgey and Pidgeotto. Ash had then left Pidgeot to lead the Pidgey and Pidgeotto, and protect them in case Fearow and its flock returned.

It seemed like there was no need to worry about that, not since the very Fearow he had faced before was now glaring at him, miles away from Pallet Town. And based on what Meowth was saying, it was still holding a grudge. And as it continued to screech, Meowth continued to provide a translation. "'I've dreamed of returnin' and takin' my revenge for so long, but it seems t'at fate has delivered you to me instead. T'is time, I will kill you and your little yellow rat for what you did to me'. Ah! Kill them!?"

Jessie pulled away from James and pointed at the Fearow. "Not so fast. That Pikachu belongs to us. I don't care what kind of grudge you're holding."

"Yeah, we have dibs," James added.

Fearow glanced at them, its eyes shining menacingly, zapping them of their confidence. With a loud screech, it flew at them, its wings glowing with silver light as it used Steel Wing. Team Rocket cried out and hugged each other as Fearow plowed into the group, and all seven of them were sent flying into the air.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

Screeching, Fearow doubled back, heading for Ash and his friends, its wings still glowing. Bayleef charged forward and used Headbutt, crashing into the beak Pokemon. Fearow took to the air again, its wings no longer glowing. It swooped down, heading for Bayleef, and used Fury Attack.

Bayleef dodged as the beak Pokemon jabbed at her again and again. One of her vines lashed out and struck it in the face. Fearow cried out furiously, and its beak began spinning. It pecked at Bayleef, but she leapt away, and its beak buried into the ground.

"That's Fearow's Drill Peck !" Brock cried. "It really means business."

Ash could see that for himself. "Bayleef, use Razor Leaf!"

" Baaay-leef!" She began spinning the leaf on her head, flinging smaller ones at the beak Pokemon. Fearow cried out as the leaves sliced across its body. It glared daggers at Bayleef before screeching loudly.

" Fearow!" A black hole appeared in front of it, and several leaves identical to the ones Bayleef had just fired flew at her.

"That's Mirror Move!" Misty cried in warning.

"It lets Fearow copy the last attack used against it," Brick finished for her.

Ash growled. "Bayleef, Vine Whip!"

" Bay!" Her vines shot out, striking the leaves out of the air. She missed one, and it flew past her face, cutting her cheek. It wasn't deep, but she still winced at the pain.

Fearow screeched and flew towards her. Bayleef braced herself for its attack, but was unprepared for its eyes to flash menacingly. She flinched as Fearow's Leer took effect, and the beak Pokemon grabbed the leaf on her head and carried her into the air.

"Bayleef!" Ash shouted. "Fearow, put her down!"

The beak Pokemon ignored him as it flew higher. It began summersaulting in the air, building up speed, before suddenly plunging down towards the ground. Ash and his friends recognized it as an improvised Seismic Toss. Fearow pulled up at the last moment, but released Bayleef, slamming her to the ground.

When the dust settled, Bayleef lay in a crater. She struggled to get up, her legs shaking, but then her strength gave out, and she collapsed. Ash realized she couldn't fight anymore and held up her PokeBall. "Bayleef, return."

A beam of red light shot out of the PokeBall. It flew towards Bayleef, but it was suddenly cut off as Fearfow deliberately flew in its path, preventing Ash from recalling her.

The others gasped, never having seen such a thing. Fearow didn't give them time to dwell on it as it flew towards Ash, tackling him to the ground. He ended up on his back, hugging Pikachu protectively as Fearow stood over him. Its beak began spinning again. Ash recognized the attack as Drill Peck. He knew that if used on humans, it was a very dangerous, potentially fatal, attack.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" he ordered, preferring the electrical attack to the alternative.

The electric mouse Pokemon recognized the danger and attacked right away, even though he knew Ash would be shocked as well. Unfortunately, the mechanical arms wrapped around him simply absorbed the electric attack.

Screeching, Fearow drove its drilling beak downward. Ash had just enough room to roll to the side, and Fearow's beak drilled into the ground. It still had him pinned down though, and it tried again. Ash rolled the other way, once again narrowly missing getting drilled.

"Go, Onix!" Brick cried, tossing out a PokeBall. The giant rock snake Pokemon appeared, and it lashed out with its tail, knocking Fearow off Ash.

"Staryu, you help put too," Misty cried, preparing to throw another PokeBall.

Instead, from out of her bag, a stream of light flew in front of her, forming a Pokemon she did not call for. "Psyduck."

Misty dropped to her knees. "Psyduck, not you!"

The platypus Pokemon grabbed his aching head, looking confused. "Psy, y, y?"

"Return." She released a beam from Psyduck's PokeBall, which converted him into red light and sucked him back up. "Now, go, Staryu!"

Flying overhead, Fearow screeched at the new opposition. It swooped down towards Onix, despite Flying types being weak to Rock types. Brock was ready for it. "Onix, Tackle it!"

Screeching, Fearow flew towards the rock snake Pokemon. It suddenly used Double Team, splitting into multiple copies. Onix halted his attack, not sure which one was real and which ones were illusions. The Fearows' beaks began spinning with Drill Peck, and they flew into Onix. Fortunately, only one caused him damage, but Onix found out too late which one it was. At the very least, the attack wasn't very effective.

"Staryu, use your Water Gun ," Misty ordered. "Find out which one of those Fearow is the real one.

" Staryu!" It began spraying water from its top point. The fake Fearows disappeared as the streams of water hit them until it struck the real one, and all the remaining fakes vanished.

Fearow screeched angrily, flying out of the path of the water. It flew down and used Mirror Move, copying Staryu's Water Gun. It's target, however, was not the starfish Pokemon, but Onix, and the rock snake Pokemon cried out in agony as he was doused. Fearow followed up with its Steel Wing plowing into him, knocking the giant Pokemon over.

"Staryu, use Rapid Spin!"

The starfish Pokemon began spinning through the air like a deadly shuriken. Fearow flew to meet it, and the two collided, knocking the other back as Fearow batted Staryu away with its large wings. They collided together several more time before Fearow used Drill Peck, pecking forward. It's spinning beak struck the jewel in the center of Staryu's body, and it went crashing to the ground. Its five points drooped, and it stopped moving, completely drained of energy and utterly defeated.

Fearow screeched loudly, and energy began to gather in its open mouth. A colorful beam was fired, heading straight for the starfish Pokemon.

"It knows Hyper Beam !" Brock exclaimed. It had to have been at a very high level to know that move. "Onix!"

The rock snake Pokemon rushed over, shielding Staryu with his body. The Hyper Beam struck, and Onix went down, no longer able to continue fighting. Fearow continued to circle overhead. Being so high up, allowed the three Trainers time to recall their fallen Pokemon, but the threat was still present.

"I've never heard of anything like this," said Brock. "Some Pokemon have aggressive nature, and some can hold grudges, but what this Fearow is doing is beyond any of that."

Misty gave Ash a desperate look. "We need Pikachu's electric attacks. Can't you get it out of there?"

"I'm trying," Ash groaned as he attempted to pry the mechanical hands off the electric mouse Pokemon again, "but they're not opening."

" Fearow!" the beak Pokemon screeched, and swooped down at them, brandishing its talons. The three Trainers and Pikachu all cried out as it approached.

In Misty's arms, baby Togepi didn't seem to comprehend the danger, seemingly thinking this was all one big game. It cheerfully waved its arms back and forth playfully as Fearow approached. "Toge!"

Its arms began glowing as its Metronome was triggered. A ball of electricity appeared in front of it as Togepi randomly unleashed Zap Cannon. Fearow's eyes practically bugged out of its head, and it tried to pull out of its dive. Not fast enough, it seemed, as the attack hit, erupting in a blast of electricity. The beak Pokemon cried out as it went flying through the air, its muscles locking as the electrical current flowed through its body, paralyzing it, and it went crashing into a treetop, getting stuck in the branches.

It slowly registered to the Trainers that Fearow was gone. They looked around in confusion, not realizing who had saved them.

"Hey, what happened?" asked Ash.

"It looked like an electric attack hit it," said Misty. "But I didn't see who did it, just a flash of light."

Ash looked down at the electric mouse Pokemon in his arms. "Pikachu?"

He shook his head. "Pikachu."

"Well, whatever happened," said Brock, "I'm just glad that Fearow's gone. Something wasn't right about it. It was literally trying to kill you, Ash. I've never heard of anything like that before."

Misty nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me neither."

Ash frowned and looked up into the sky where Fearow had disappeared. There may have been Pokemon that were dangerous and aggressive, and yes, some have even been known to gravely injure, and in a few cases, kill others, even humans, but that was only due to their nature, like when they were hunting, threatened, defending their territory, protecting their young, or sometimes obeying the orders of their Trainer if the Trainer was truly wicked. But as Brock said, he had never heard of a Pokemon trying to actually kill anyone purely out of spite.

It made Ash wonder if something was off about this Fearow, or even if he had somehow drove it to this state. "Fearow..."

" Pika, Pi," Pikachu muttered reassuringly.

"I'm still wondering who saved us," said Misty.

"Don't know," Brock replied. "I had my eyes closed."

The sound of bushes rustling drew their attention. The three Trainers shared a look, all thinking the same thing. They carefully approached the bushes, wondering if this was who had attacked Fearow.

"Hey," Ash called to whoever was hiding, "were you the one who saved us? We really owe you."

Misty bent down lower. "Yeah, come on out so we can thank you properly."

The bushes rustled some more, and a small pink ball with big turquoise eyes stepped out. "Jigglypuff."

The three Trainers cried out as the balloon Pokemon raised its microphone to its mouth and took a breath as it prepared to Sing. They didn't give it a chance as they took off running, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Jigglypuff blinked at their sudden departure and puffed up angrily. "Puff!"

Chapter 3: Cotton Town
The three Trainers didn't stop running until they were sure they had put sufficient distance between themselves and Jigglypuff. They didn't have time to sleep the day away, nor did they fancy having marker drawn all over their faces.

They really didn't know why Jigglypuff kept following them. They fell asleep every time it sang its magical tune. Did it hope that one day it would get lucky and they would be able to stay awake throughout the whole song, or was it just in denial? Maybe it had even become personal, and it was determine to make them listen to the song in full, no matter how many attempts it took.

"You think we lost it?" Misty asked, breathing heavily.

"I hope so," Ash replied. "I really wish Jigglypuff would just sing a different tune."

Something caught Brock's attention, and he held his hand up to his ear to listen better. "Hold up, you guys, do you hear something?"

They listened as well and heard it too. It sounded like someone snoring. They followed the sound, and eventually came across a man in a white lab coat, sleeping soundly on the ground. Based on the drawings on his face, it seemed he'd had the misfortune of running into Jigglypuff before it crossed their path.

"Looks like one of Jigglypuff's victims," Ash noted. "Should we wake him up?"

"Well, we can't just leave him out here," Misty pointed out.

Brock nodded in agreement. "Especially with that Fearow around." He bent down and shook the man. "Hey, mister, wake up. Hey, mister." He stood up, shaking his head. "No good, he's really out. Jigglypuff must have put him to sleep just recently."

Ash took out a PokeBall. "Well, I know one surefire way to wake him up. Totodile."

The ball burst open, and a small blue reptile appeared and began dancing around merrily. "To, To, Totodile!"

"Totodile, use you Water Gun on this guy, but just enough to wake him up."

" Todi." He sprayed a stream of water into the man's face.

The man's eyes snapped open and he sprang to his feet. He immediately dropped to his knees and began repeatedly bowing. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, forgive me! I swear I'm trying to find a way to fix this!"

The three Trainers were surprised. They weren't sure if he thought they were someone else, or if he was still caught up in a dream he had been having.

Misty sweat-dropped. "Um, I think you're mistaking us for someone else, sir."

"Yeah, my name's Ash, and this is my partner, Pikachu."

" Pika."

My name's Misty, and this is Togepi."

"And I'm Brock. Sorry we had to wake you up like that."

The man blinked. "You meanâ€¦ you're not out to get me?" He sighed deeply. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought you were someone from town."

Ash cocked his head to the side. "Someone from town? You mean Cotton Town?"

The man wiped the water from his face. "Yes. I came into the forest to hide, and ran into that Jigglypuff. Oh, where are my manners. I'm Professor Stevens. Thank you for waking me up... and for the bath."

Ash rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "Yeah, sorry about that, but you weren't waking up otherwise. Totodile, return."

Professor Stevens watched as the big jaw Pokemon was drawn back into the PokeBall. Then his gaze fell onto Pikachu and the mechanical hands holding it. "Um, excuse me for asking, but what's up with those things on your Pikachu?"

Ash frowned down at his friend. "That's kind of a long story. We're having some trouble getting them off."

Professor Stevens raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't question him further. "May I?" he asked, holding out his hands.

Ash hesitated before holding Pikachu out to him. The professor examined the mechanical hands for a few moments before nodding. "I think I'll be able to help you. Come on back to my lab, and I'll get them off."

"Your lab?" Brock repeated. "Then Cotton Town isn't that far from here?"

The professor smiled. "Oh no, not at all. Follow me."

He led them through the forest, and they eventually came across a path. They followed it, and were soon able to see houses in the distance beyond the trees. It was good to see civilization again after being in the wilderness for so long.

Yet as they walked along, the three Trainers couldn't help but notice that Professor Stevens seemed to be rather nervous. He kept looking around, as if afraid that he would suddenly be attacked by someone or something.

They exchanged uncertain looks before Brock finally asked, "Um, excuse me, sir, but is something wrong?"

The professor sweat-dropped and looked back at them nervously. "Wrong? No, of course not. Nothing's wrong. Um, so what brings you to Cotton Town? We're a small town that's pretty much hidden from the rest of the Johto region, so we don't usually get visitors."

Ash smiled sheepishly. "Well, we actually got lost, and have been going in the wrong direction for some time now."

The professor nodded in understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, I can show you how to get to wherever it is you're going once I take care of your Pikachu. Oh, uh, this way."

Rather than leading them into town, he remained in the forest, walking along the town's borders. The Trainers weren't sure where he was going, but they followed without question until they came to what seemed to be a warehouse just outside of the town.

"Would you mind waiting here, please?" he asked, looking embarrassed. "I'll be right back."

To their surprise, he jumped into a bush, sneaking towards the facility, remaining hidden in the shrubbery. The Trainers exchanged questioning looks as they watched the professor sneak along.

"I think this guy has a few screws loose," Brock commented.

Reaching the warehouse, the professor's arm poked out of the bush and began pressing buttons on a control panel. The door opened, and the professor sneaked inside.

"What's up with that?" Ash wondered. "Some sort of secret entrance?"

" Pikachu?"

Sticking his head out the door, Professor Stevens waved them over before ducking inside again. The others hesitantly followed, wondering if they were making a mistake as they entered the warehouse.

"Sorry about that," Professor Stevens told them. "I'm not the most popular person in town right now. It's better if no one sees me. But come on, let's take care of your Pikachu."

He led them through the warehouse, and the Trainers looked around at their surroundings. The place did indeed appear to be a laboratory of some sort, but it looked like a hurricane had come through recently, and the place was still in the process of being cleaned up. When they asked the professor about it, he hesitated before replying that it that it had been an experiment that had gone wrong.

"You see," he explained as he set to work on the mechanical hands holding Pikachu," this facility is a branch of Silph Company. We do a lot of experiments and create many inventions to help the public. Sometimes things go wrong, but hey, that's the result of progress."

"I've heard of Silph Company," said Brock. "They have a major headquarters in Saffron City."

Professor Stevens nodded. "This place was chosen to provide a quieter more secure location for certain experiments. Unfortunately, my last experiment has caused the town quite a bit of trouble, which is why no one really likes me right now. Ah, got it!"

The mechanical hands opened, and Pikachu was released from their grip. Ash beamed and held his arms out to his little friend. "Pikachu!"

" Pika, Pi!" the electric mouse Pokemon cried, jumping into his arms.

Ash smiled at the professor. "Thanks a lot, Professor Stevens."

A smirk crept up the professor's face as he twirled around the screwdriver he was holding. "Glad I could help." The smile slowly slipped from his face, and he turned away. "It's the one good thing I could do."

Finding his words strange, Ash exchanged a bewildered look with his friends. "What's up with that?" he wondered out loud, voicing the thoughts of the other two.

Exchanging his screwdriver for a pencil, he turned back to the Trainers with a forced smile. "Now, if you'll let me take a look at your map, I'll mark the path you'll need to take to get to your destination."

"Thanks," Ash muttered, somewhat suspiciously, "but we don't need to leave right away."

Brock nodded. "Yeah, we need to restock a bit, and pay a visit to the Pokemon Center."

"And I've been dying to sleep in a real bed," Misty added.

Professor Stevens frowned. "I see. Well, I can show you where the nearest shop is, but I would advice that you leave after that."

"How come?" Brock asked.

The professor sighed. "Lets just say that this isn't the best time to visit Cotton Town. In fact, several families have already fled due to..." He hesitated, then shook his head. "It's just best that you get what you need and leave."

Before they could question him further, a window shattered as a rock went through the glass. Professor Stevens yelped and crouched down, covering his head as angry voices rose up from the outside. Ash and his friends ran to the window to find that a group of people had gathered outside. They were shouting and waving their fists, some looking ready to tear the warehouse apart

"It's all your fault!" shouted a member of the angry mob.

"You've doomed us all!" cried another.

"Why did you have to play with forces beyond your understanding?"

"No one wants you here anymore! Get out!"

Misty stared at the angry mob in bewilderment. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," said Brock, "but these people sure are angry about something."

Behind them, Professor Stevens remained crouched down in the fetal position with his eyes closed and his hands over his head as he chanted. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The three Trainers stared at him before a determined look crossed Ash's face. "Come on, we've got to stop this."

His friends nodded in agreement, and they hurried outside. The crowd paid them no mind as they continued to shout at the professor cowering inside. Another angry townsfolk picked up another rock and threw it at the broken window.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" Ash ordered.

" Pikachu!" A bolt of electricity was fired from the electric mouse Pokemon, shattering the rock to bits. The angry townsfolk turned their attention to the three Trainers, not happy that they were interfering.

"Hey, get out of here, you kids!" a member of the mob demanded.

"You get out of here!" Ash shot back. "You're destroying private property!"

"He deserves it! That man doomed us all with his little science experiment!"

Ash just growled, refusing to back down. Behind him, Misty and Brock stood at the ready, prepared to send out their Pokemon if they had to. It didn't come to that though as a siren was heard, and a blue-haired policewoman rode up on her motorcycle. Ash and his friends immediately recognized Officer Jenny. Family names, appearances, and occupations certainly went hand in hand with law enforcement, and this Jenny was undoubtedly related in some way to the countless other Officer Jennys they had met in their travels.

Hopping off her motorcycle, she stood between the Trainers and the angry mob with her hands out. "Alright, alright, break it up, everyone! You people," she looked at the angry mob, "you have no business being here. Go on home and take care of whatever you need to, just stay away from here."

The mob did not look willing to comply. "But, Officer Jenny," one of them complained, "you know what he did."

"Yes, I do," she argued back, "and it was a terrible accident. But that's all that it was, an accident. Now, all of you get out of here before another accident happens and someone gets hurt."

Grumbling, the crowd began to disperse. Officer Jenny let out a relieved sigh and lowered her arms as the three Trainers looked on, two in admiration, one with a dopey look on his face.

"Officer Jenny is so great," Brock awed dreamily. "No matter which one it is, I always love to see her take charge."

Finally turning to the three of them, the policewoman placed her hands on her hips. "This is a pretty small town. I know just about every person in it, but I haven't seen you three before."

Ash shook his head. "No, Officer Jenny, we just got lost in the woods and ended up here."

"I see," she replied, throwing a leg over her bike. "Well, you kids had best move along, and I do mean from this town. Times are dangerous here, and I wouldn't want you getting hurt."

Without another word, she sped off on her bike. Completely confused, Ash and Misty shared as look. "What did she mean, we could get hurt?" the latter asked.

"I don't know," Brock muttered, still blushing profoundly, "but Officer Jenny can hurt me anytime."

A vein throbbed in Misty's temple as she impatiently gave his ear a yank. "Focus!"

Ash motioned for them to go back inside, and they went back into the warehouse. They found Professor Stevens hiding under a table, shaking like a leaf, and they sweat-dropped.

Finally taking notice of them, Professor Stevens poked his head out. "Are they gone?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, they're gone. What was that about?"

" Pikachu?"

" Toge, Toge, Piiii."

Sighing, the professor crawled out from under the table. "That was the reason why I suggested you leave. Cotton Town has become a dangerous place."

Misty cocked her head to the side. "Because of those people?"

He shook his head. "Because of me, of what I unleashed."

Brock crossed his arms, not seeing what could have possibly stirred up such an angry mob. "And what is that?"

Sighing, Professor Stevens adjusted his glasses. "I might as well show you; the world will find out eventually."

He motioned for them to follow, and he led them further through the lab. The Trainers couldn't help but notice that the farther in they ventured, the more rundown the lab looked. No, not rundown, but destroyed, as if a violent-natured Pokemon had rampaged through it.

They eventually came to a sealed door that required a code to enter. Professor Stevens punched in the code, and the door slid open. "This is where all the projects are kept."

The Trainers entered the room and gasped at what they saw. Various inventions and technology they had never seen filled the room. Most of it was broken in some way, but a good deal was still intact.

"What is all this?" Brock awed.

The professor walked them through the room, pointing out a few things. "Like I said, these are different projects Silph Company has been working on. Most of them are prototypes, but they still work. Like this," he picked up what looked like a handheld telescope, "this is the Silph Scope. With it, you can see through illusions Pokemon might create, or even see them if they turn invisible."

"Hey, that'd come in handy if you were trying to catch a Ghost Pokemon," Ash noted.

The professor nodded. "If you want to catch Pokemon," he picked up what seemed to be a PokeBall with the letter M on it, "this is what we call the MasterBall. It will automatically capture any Pokemon without fail, and without needing to weaken it first."

"Whoa, really?" Brock awed.

Ash, however, was frowning. "That doesn't seem very fair. There's no challenge or need to prove yourself if you can just capture any Pokemon with no effort."

The professor wobbled his head. "Well, it's only a prototype. It has a one out of 65,536 chance of failing. So really, it has a 99.994 percent chance of automatically capturing any Pokemon without fail."

Ash looked at him with hooded eyes. "Oh, well if it's only a 99.994 percent chance..."

His sarcasm seemed to go unnoticed by the professor as he pointed to a multicolored ball. "If you want to make catching Pokemon easier, you could use this. This is the Pester Ball. It will temporarily stun a Pokemon, making it easier to capture. Or it could be used as a quick getaway if you need to escape from a Pokemon that's attacking you."

"Hey, what's this?" Misty asked, pointing at what could only be described as a cart of some kind.

Professor Stevens' face lit up. "Ah, that is the ZERO-ONE all-terrain safari vehicle. It's meant to explore different places in the world. It can acclimate itself to several different environments by using wheels, inflatable pontoons, and jet thrusters to travel across the ground, in the water, and even through the air. The ZERO-ONE has no steering mechanism. Oh, and this goes along with it." He patted what looked like a doorframe. "It's called the goal gate. It's not finished yet, but this baby will eventually allow you to use the ZERO-ONE to teleport from one goal gate to the another."

Ash's eyes practically popped out of his head. "Whoa, really?"

" Pika?" Pikachu marveled.

A chuckle escaped the professor; it was obvious he enjoyed talking about his work. "If you think that's impressive, just take a look at this." He walked over to a massively large machine that seemed to be built into the wall. "This is a time machine. It doesn't work yet, but I'm hoping to find a way to duplicate Celebi's ability to travel through time."

Misty laughed nervously. "That would be quite a feat."

The smile slipped from the professor's face. "Yes, well, unfortunately, I've learned that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. Sadly, I never appreciated this philosophy until it was too late."

Ash was lost. "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Professor Stevens led them over to a giant machine that was very clearly broken. He placed a hand on it and gave the three Trainers a remorseful look. "This is an invention of mine, and the cause for all the town's problems."

Brock looked the machine up and down, unable to figure out its purpose. "What does it do?"

Another sigh escaped the professor. "It's a machine that's meant to open a doorway to another dimension."

"Another dimension!?" Ash exclaimed.

" Pikachu!?"

"You can do that?" Misty marveled.

The professor nodded. "There are other dimensions besides this one. Some are parallel universes, some are completely different. There are even some Pokemon in this world that originated from other dimensions."

"Like the Unown," said Brock, recalling their encounter with the alphabet Pokemon.

Professor Stevens nodded again. "I was first inspired to build this baby when I caught a glimpse of one of these other dimensions in my computer several years ago."

"What?" Ash glanced at the broken computer hooked up to the equally broken machine. "You saw a whole other dimension in your computer?"

The professor shook his head. "No, just a doorway leading to one. Actually, my Porygon discovered it, but it disappeared soon after, leaving no trace of it behind." He made a fist. "But I know what I saw, even if no one would believe me, and so I dedicated my life to trying to find that dimension again." His enthusiasm slowly died down. "I should have just forgotten what I saw that day."

Brock was getting a bad feeling, and almost regretted asking, "What happened?"

Removing his glasses, the professor rubbed his eyes. "With the help of my Pokemon, Porygon and Porygon 2, I attempted to build a machine that could create a portal to the dimension I had discovered. And after many years of trying, I was able to do so."

He lowered his hand and put his glasses back on. "But I was unable to keep the doorway open. It just wouldn't stabilize, and it would collapse after a few seconds. I kept the results of my experiments to myself, because I didn't want anyone else to take the credit, not after they spent years laughing at me."

He gave the Trainers a series look. "Then, one day, something happened that I hadn't anticipated." He paused for dramatic affect. "Something came through."

Shocked gasps escaped the Trainers and Pikachu as they stared at the professor in disbelief. "No way," Brock marveled. "What was it?"

Sighing, the professor dropped down in a chair. "A monstrous creature unlike anything I had ever seen before. It looked like a demon straight out of Hell. I tried not to judge it by its appearance, but it was as wicked as it was terrifying."

"Was it a Pokemon?" Ash asked.

Professor Stevens shook his head. "No. It was a creature similar to a Pokemon, but not a Pokemon. It was a Digital Monster, or Digimon for short."

"A Digimon..."

" Pika, Pika."

The professor nodded shamefully. "This Digimon, he said his name was Devimon, and he's pure evil. He attacked my Pokemon and caused the destruction you see in my lab. Then he declared that he was the new ruler of this world, and that he would start by taking over the town."

"Didn't anyone try to stop him?" Misty asked, unable to believe that anyone would just accept this Devimon's leadership.

"Of course!" Professor Stevens exclaimed. "Many of the townsfolk are Pokemon Trainers, and Officer Jenny even had her entire Growlith attack force fight, but Devimon is so powerful that he easily defeated anyone who challenged him. No, I fear nothing short of a Legendary Pokemon will be able to stand up to Devimon."

Brock crossed his arms, thinking about the various Legendaries they had encountered on their journeys. "A Legendary Pokemon, huh?"

Misty seemed to be of similar mind. "Too bad we can't call Lugia or Celebi."

"Yeah," Ash agreed, "or Mewtwo."

Both Brock and Misty immediately clamped their hands over his mouth. "Ixnay on the 'ewtwoM-nay," the former whispered, reminding him that they were not supposed to let Mewtwo's existence be known.

It seemed that they were safe, as the professor seemed to have assumed that he had said 'Mew too', and his eyes widened in amazement. "You've seen Lugia, Celebi, and Mew? That's pretty impressive."

Misty immediately ran with this, trying to take the focus off Ash's slip of the tongue. "Oh, we've seen a lot more than that. We've seen an Entei, a Suicune, the Legendary Birds, the Eon Duo-"

"Pikachu and I even saw a Ho-Oh our first day together," Ash added. "Though I didn't know what it was at the time."

Professor Stevens' eyes were wide with astonishment. "That's... quite a resume. Even the greatest of Trainers will be lucky to even get a glimpse of a single Legendary Pokemon."

Smirking, Ash arrogantly rubbed his finger beneath his nose. "Must be because I'm the chosen one." His friends all sweat-dropped.

The professor continued to look impressed, but then he sighed sadly. "It doesn't matter. Even if a Legendary Pokemon does eventually defeat Devimon, I'm afraid he'll cause for too much damage by then. He doesn't plan on stopping with Cotton Town. This is just the beginning. He's going to make an example out of us."

Brock didn't like the sound of that. "What does that mean?"

The professor glanced at the clock nervously. "He gave us one week to decide whether or not we would accept him as our master, otherwise he would kill us all. Either way, it will teach other cities and towns that obeying him is the best course of action."

Ash held up a fist. "We're not going to let that happen. We'll find a way to stop him."

Professor Stevens just shook his head again. "I'm afraid it's too late. Tonight is the deadline."

But Ash wasn't deterred. "Then we still have time. You with me, Pikachu?"

" Pika!"

Smirking, he looked back at the professor. "I need to use your phone."

Unbeknownst to them, three pairs of eyes stared down at the group from up in the air duct. Having come crashing through the roof of the warehouse, Team Rocket had made their way through the facility, taking cover when the professor and his guests had arrived.

"What do you think?" Jessie asked her companions.

James was smiling broadly. "It sounds like this Devimon would make an excellent addition to Team Rocket. We should capture it for the boss."

Meowth, however, seemed less enthusiastic. "I don't mean to rain on your parade, but how are you plannin' ta catch t'at t'ing?"

The two humans blinked. They hadn't exactly considered that. If Devimon wasn't a Pokemon, they wouldn't be able to catch it like they would a wild Pokemon.

Jessie smirked. "We'll leave it to the twerps. Once they weaken Devimon, we'll swoop in and snatch it."

"And take it straight to the boss," James added, catching on.

Meowth grinned as well. "And maybe we can even nab Pikachu too."

The three villains chuckled gleefully.

Chapter 4: Making Preparations
The older DigiDestined didn't take as active rolls in the Digital World as the newer ones due to the responsibilities they had in the Real World, but they did at least attempt to be present during the meetings. And for a meeting as important as this, they were all present, having commandeered the computer lab at the school in order to communicate with those in the Digital World.

With the exception of Patamon and Gatomon, who were in their Rookie and Champion forms, the other four Digimon were in their In-Training forms; it made it easier for them to pass themselves off as stuffed animals, allowing their human partners to blend in with the other children rather than stand out as the heroes that saved the world from evil Digimon like MaloMyotismon, Armageddemon, and such.

The older DigiDestined's Digimon were present as well, only they were on the computer screen, broadcasting from the Digital World. Gennai was with them as well, listening to the report the newer DigiDestined had given in regards to their encounter with Devimon.

" Hmm," he muttered, thinking over what they had told him. "This is indeed troubling. And you have no idea where he went?"

TK shook his head. "None. It certainly wasn't the Real World; we would have heard about it here by now if it had been. From the sound of it, it's a completely undiscovered world."

Yolei was tapping her chin. "Couldn't he have gone to that freaky wish-granting dimension Owikawa ended up in when he tried to get to the Digital World?"

Though he was taking part in the meeting, Izzy was busy typing away on another computer. "It's possible, but very unlikely. That place was more of a space between the worlds rather than a world itself, which was why reality was so distorted there. And there's really nowhere for him to go once he's there anyway, so he likely would have just broken through the layers to either the Real World or the Digital World rather than just remain there if that was where he ended up."

Beside him, Mimi scowled, giving the computer he was typing on what could almost be passed as a look of jealousy. Reaching over, she grabbed the back of his shirt, yanking him away from the computer. "Would you get off that thing and pay attention! We're trying to find out where Devimon went."

Seemingly completely oblivious to the true source of her irritation, he pulled away, giving her a frustrated look. "That's what I'm trying to do too. I'm going over the flow of data around the area where Devimon disappeared to see where it leads."

On the other computer screen, Tentomon raised a limb in praise. "If anyone can figure it out, Izzy, it's you."

Gennai cleared his throat. "In any case, I'm afraid Izzy is right. It looks like Devimon went somewhere else."

"Could it be that dimension Davis, Veemon, Agumon, and I went to in order to fight Quartzmon?" Tai asked.

"Or maybe even the Dark Ocean," his sister suggested.

It was Izzy who answered, once again back on his computer. "I've already contacted the DigiDestined from that world, along with the DigiDestined of the other worlds that also joined in the fight with Quartzmon. There's been no signs of any anomalies to suggest that Devimon ended up there."

"That's too bad," said Matt, "we could have just warned those DigiDestined, and they could have taken care of Devimon for us; they're certainly strong enough."

Sora walked over and took a look at Izzy's computer. "What about the anomalies in our Digital World? Couldn't we just use one of those to follow after him?"

On the other computer, Gennai shook his head. "That's no longer an option. The anomalies have stopped appearing. It seems that whatever was causing them was happening from whatever world Devimon ended up in, and he put a stop to it."

A frightening thought suddenly occurred to Joe, and he did his best to hide his panic. "Hold on! You don't think he got online, do you? Some of us were able to get on the internet in order to fight Diaboromon. Did he find out how?"

Izzy was still unconcerned as he continued to type away. "The internet is fine. Someone would have noticed if Devimon was online."

On the computer, Agumon waved to get attention. "These anomalies were coming from a world of technology, we know that much at least, so it must be a dimension similar to the human world."

Gennai tapped his chin. "He's right, but that still doesn't give us much to go on. There are several worlds that have learned to use and access data in order to tap into the Digital World, and more and more worlds are discovering it as well. Why, just a few years ago, another version of the human world created an online virtual realm called OZ where an artificial intelligence called Love Machine was unleashed."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "OZ? Love Machine? Are you making those up?"

DemiVeemon suddenly jumped onto Davis' head. "Who cares about that? Lets just find a way to go after Devimon."

Izzy didn't even take his eyes off the computer. "I already have a solution for that."

All heads turned to him in surprise. "How'd you figure that out?" TK asked in astonishment.

Finally looking away from the computer, he turned to them. "It's the same way we got from the Digital World to the Real World the first time."

Davis took out his Digivice, which was very different from the first generation's Digivices. "You mean with 'Digi-Port open'?"

Yolei sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Can you please stop talking."

A bit more sympathetic, Ken turned to their leader. "I think he was talking about the older DigiDestined."

Sora's eyes widened as it suddenly clicked. "Ah, the cards!"

Nodding, Izzy turned back to the computer and brought up the image of the ten Digimon Cards. "That's right. The same ones Myotismon used to get to the Real World. Ten cards, nine slots to place them in, and a whole lot of combinations."

Gennai nodded as well. "Yes, I told you there were other worlds out there. Depending on how you arrange them, and which ones you use, each combination opens a door to a different world or parallel universe."

Cody's eyes were wide with amazement as he began to calculate the countless variables. "That's a lot of worlds."

"I'll say," Davis agreed. "Ten cards, none slots, there's got to be hundreds of worlds out there." He immediately received strange looks from the others, and realized he must have gotten the math wrong. "Um, I mean thousands." More stares. "Er, millions?"

Izzy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Anyway, the real problem isn't getting to whatever world Devimon went to, but figuring out which world it is."

"Billions?" Davis asked.

"We're done talking about how you're failing math!" Yolei snapped at him.

Sitting on Kari's lap, Gatomon looked at the ten cards on screen worriedly. "We can't possibly try out each and every combination and hope we get lucky. That'll take forever."

"Trillions?"

"Davis!"

Sighing, Izzy arranged the cards on the screen in the order they had used to get from the Digital World to the Real World. "It seems the basic order opens a doorway to the Real World. Swapping out the Gomamon card for the Agumon card opens one to the Digital World."

In Cody's arms, Upamon glanced up at his partner. "But didn't that open the doorway to that weird dimension Owikawa ended up in?"

Izzy was typing again. "Not quite. Like I said, that was the space between worlds. The reason why it seemed to grant you wishes was because the rules of reality weren't entirely established. You only ended up there because BlackWarGreymon used his body to seal the pathway to the Digital World in that location. AHH!"

The others jumped as he suddenly cried out. "What was that for?" Tai demanded.

"BlackWarGreymon!" he exclaimed. "He could help us!"

Gennai looked thoughtful. "Yes, that could work. He should be able to trace the distortion caused by the anomalies back to the source. From there, we should be able to determine what order to arrange the cards in to open up a doorway to wherever Devimon went to."

While Izzy and Gennai seemed to be excited by this prospect, the others seemed confused. "Hey," said Yolei, "how can BlackWarGreymon help? He was an artificial Digimon created from Control Spires."

"Yeah," Cody agreed, "they just disappear once they're destroyed."

Gennai nodded. "Yes, ordinarily, you would be right, but as I'm sure you're aware, BlackWarGreymon was no ordinary Control Spire Digimon. He managed to gain sentience and free will. After his body broke down and he used it to seal the entrance to the Digital World, he became a type of spiritual being that now guards and protects the borders between the worlds."

"No, way! That's amazing!" TK exclaimed. He looked at Izzy. "You knew about this?"

The older boy nodded. "I found traces of his data that were still active and was able to establish communication with him. I didn't want to say anything because... well, I thought it would be hard. He's still technically gone..."

A sad silence descended over the group as they thought about their old enemy turned ally. No matter how much time had gone by, the loss still hurt.

Gennai cleared his throat. "Well, he's not gone completely, and I'm sure he'll be willing to help us. I'll work on getting in contact with him."

Izzy nodded. "And I'll get to work on figuring out which card order we'll need with the information you get."

Davis beamed. "Sounds like a plan. Everyone, lets get ready." He punched the air, and the others mimicked him with a cheer. Then he looked at Izzy questioningly. "So, zillions?"

"Davis!"

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Things were quiet in Charicific Valley, but Liza knew that that could change. The residential Charizard would often battle each other, strengthening their skills. Not that Liza minded; this was a place for the Charizard to train after all. Most were wild, able to come and go as they pleased, but a few belonged to Trainers, left here to train with the other Charizard.

One in particular was snuggling up with her own Charizard, nicknamed Charla. The sight of the mated pair made Liza smile. She wondered how long it would be before the two of them had a bunch of little Charmander running around. That would certainly be a surprise to Charizard's Trainer.

Yes, Ash's Charizard had improved greatly since it started staying here. Not only had it gotten a lot stronger, it had also matured a lot. That wasn't to say that Ash had been a bad Trainer. On the contrary, he had been a very good one, and certainly had a lot of love for his Pokemon. He'd simply been too inexperienced when it came to Training a Pokemon as powerful as Charizard.

The sound of her phone ringing brought her out of her thoughts, and she went to answer it. Upon clicking on the ANSWER button, the image of the Trainer she had just been thinking about appeared on screen, and she smiled at the coincidence.

" Hi, Liza," he greeted, waving at her.

Taking a seat, she scooted closer to the screen. "Ash, how are you? It's been a while. How's everyone doing?"

Brock suddenly pushed his way onto the screen, a deep blush on his face. "I'm doing fine! Seeing you again has my heart burning with the red hot intensity of every Charizard in Charicific Vall- AH!"

Misty had grabbed his ear and was pulling him away from he screen. "Cool off, hot head, this is an important call."

Sweat-dropping, Ash appeared on the screen again. "Sorry about that."

Liza chuckled in amusement. "I see Brock hasn't changed."

" Yeah, we're all doing fine. How's Charizard?"

She beamed. "Your Charizard is doing great. I take it you're calling about it?"

Ash smiled nervously. "Yeah, we have a bit of a problem, and I need Charizard's help. Do you think you could send it over?"

"Of course. Just tell me where you are, and I'll zap it right over."

A bashful look crossed Ash's face. "Yeah, about that... We're in Cotton Town, but there was a bit of an accident here, and the Pokemon transporter was damaged. So..."

Liza's eyebrows rose. "So you need Charizard to fly there?"

Ash just sighed. "I know it's a long way and really asking a lot..."

Liza just smiled and shook her head. "Nonsense. I don't think there's anything Charizard wouldn't do for you. I'll let it know right away."

" Thanks a lot."

"Not at all. It was nice talking to you again. Good luck with whatever you're dealing with."

" Thanks, and say hello to Charla for me."

"Will do. Later."

The screen went black. Liza got up and went to retrieve a map of Johto. Finding Cotton Town, she headed outside over to Charizard and Charla. "Hey, you two. You look like you're enjoying yourselves."

The two flame Pokemon glanced at her. "Charizard," the male responded in his own species' language.

She motioned for him to come closer. "I just got a call from Ash. He's in a bit of trouble and needs your help."

A flash of concern crossed Charizard's face, and he exchanged a look with Charla. "Char?"

Liza help up the map. "He didn't say what kind of trouble, but he's here in Cotton Town." She pointed to the location on the map, and Charizard bent down to get a look. "Unfortunately, the Pokemon transporter is down right now, so you're going to have to fly there. Think you can manage it?"

Standing up straight, Charizard spread his wings and breathed a stream of fire into the air. "Zard!"

Liza chuckled. "Yeah, I know you can. Go show him how strong you've become."

The flame Pokemon nodded and looked back at Charla. She nuzzled against him for a moment before licking his cheek. Charizard roared his determination and took to the air, disappearing over the wall of the valley a few seconds later.

Liza watched him go, smiling. "You made good choice, Charla."

The flame Pokemon just cooed.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Professor Stevens was busy showing Brock and Misty another one of his inventions. An instant Pokemon Restoration Machine he called it. Placing the PokeBalls of Bayleef, Onix, and Staryu onto the machine, he pressed a button. "Ok, here we go."

A bright light flashed along with six pings, and a moment later, they were done. Taking Onix and Staryu's PokeBalls, he handed them back to their Trainers. "And we're all set. You're Pokemon are fighting fit."

Misty took Staryu's PokeBall, looking amazed. "That's really it? Staryu's all better?"

The professor nodded. "This machine duplicates the ability Recover . Although we're still years away from it, it's my hope to one day have them installed in every Pokemon Center."

Brock immediately recoiled from him. "W-What!? You want to render Nurse Joy obsolete!? Absolutely not! I won't allow it!"

Professor Stevens sweat-dropped and held his hands up defensively. "N-Now, calm down. I never said anything of the sort. We'll still need Nurse Joy to operate it. And there's other medical treatment Pokemon may need that my machine can't fix; like if a Pokemon is sick, or if it has any broken bones or other injuries. All my machine does is replenish a Pokemon's strength and renew their energy."

"Hmm," Brock grumbled, staring at him suspiciously. "Well, I guess that's ok then. But I've got my eye on you."

Misty just sighed. Then she noticed Ash coming over to them, and she handed him Bayleef's PokeBall. "Here you go, Ash. Bayleef's all better."

"Thanks," he said, accepting the PokeBall. "Charizard is on its way. Hopefully it will get here before Devimon's deadline."

A frown crossed the professor's face. "I really appreciate this, but I don't want you to put yourselves or your Pokemon in danger. I don't even think a Charizard is a match for Devimon."

Ash just smirked, placing his hands on his hips. "Don't you worry. My Charizard is tough. I know he can win. Right, Pikachu?"

" Pika!"

Despite the situation, a small smile grazed the professor's face. "It's great that you have such faith in your Pokemon. It always does my heart good to see that bond." He closed his eyes in longing. "I sure miss my Porygon and Porygon 2."

Ash frowned. "Why? What happened to them?"

"Yeah," said Misty. "I remember you saying that Devimon defeated them. What happened to them after that?

Professor Stevens sighed. "They were confiscated by Officer Jenny. After I set Devimon loose on the world, I was deemed unsuitable to have Pokemon." He looked at the destroyed machine that had caused all this. "I've been trying to repair my machine so I could find a way to send him back, but even if I do manage to fix it, I won't be able to get it working without Porygon and Porygon 2."

Ash grabbed at the air. "Well don't you worry, we'll beat Devimon, and then you'll get them both back."

The professor looked grateful for the boy's enthusiasm, but was still doubtful. "I want to believe that, but you haven't seen Devimon's power. You don't know what he's capable of."

The three Trainers exchanged uncertain looks. It was true, they didn't know what this Devimon was like. Professor Stevens had made it clear that he was stronger than most Pokemon, but not as strong as a Legendary. From what he had told them, no one in town possessed a Pokemon on Charizard's level, but he still seemed to think Devimon was superior.

"Well, what is he like?" Brock asked, not sure if he wanted to know. "What can he do? What's he look like?"

Sighing, the professor sat down. Taking up a pencil and paper, he began to draw. "He resembles a man, but he's nothing like one. He's tall, about ten feet, maybe more, and he has wings like a Golbat, and horns growing out of his head. And he's got these dark powers. They're like Pokemon attacks, only pure evil. I've never seen anything like it."

He held up the sketch for them to see. It was a very crude drawing, horribly done, but it definitely got the point across. Even from a simple sketch, it was clear that Devimon was not friendly.

Ash took the drawing, examining it closely. "This is Devimon?"

"He certainly looks nasty," Brock observed.

The professor shrugged. "I'm not the best drawer, but yes, he's very frightening. And I was the one who brought him to our world." He glanced at his machine. "I wish I had never started this stupid project."

"Hey now," Misty gently scolded, "it's not like you had any bad intentions."

The professor shook his head. "That may be, but I should have considered the consequences of my actions rather than just blindly charging forward." He grasped his head. "I was so focused on whether or not I could get my machine working, I didn't stop to think if I should, or what would happen if I managed to pull it off. I just wanted to show everyone that I wasn't crazy."

Ash felt bad for the guy. He could certainly relate to him. He thought back to his battle with Fearow earlier. When he had first thrown a rock at it when it was a Spearow, he hadn't been thinking either; he just wanted to catch a Pokemon, and had resorted to a rather crude and unorthodox method of doing so. As a result, he had led that Spearow down a path of hate, and the violent and ruthless Fearow was the outcome.

"Well, the good news is that any mistake can be corrected," he replied. "Just you wait, we'll beat Devimon, and then you can get Porygon and Porygon 2 back."

Pika, Pika, Pikachu."

The professor just sighed. "I hope you're right."

Chapter 5: Pokemon vs. Digimon
They still weren't sure how he had done it, but in a matter of hours, Izzy had managed to somehow get in contact with BlackWarGreymon's essence, or whatever was left of him. With the former Control Spire Digimon's help, they managed to find the world Devimon had ended up in, and discover the correct order the cards needed to be placed in to open a door to that world.

"The cards need to be arranged in the opposite order they would go in to get to the Digital World," he had told them. "This has to be more than a coincidence. Hmm, I wonder if that means this world runs parallel to it."

As was the norm, the six newer DigiDestined would be taking up the burden of hunting down Devimon. That was how they found themselves standing outside the gateway Myotismon had used to get to the Real World. The nine card slots were empty, waiting for the appropriate cards to be placed in them.

"So you're sure we'll be able to use our Digivices to get back?" Davis asked uncertainly.

Yolei placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah, we don't want to end up stranded in another world."

Gennai was standing beside them, having accompanied them to the ancient castle where the Legendary Doors rested. "If they have computers, and Izzy surmised that there's a good chance that they do, you should be able to return with the standard 'Digi-Port open' command, just as you do to get to and from the Digital World."

"And if they don't?" Kari asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," TK replied.

Gatomon was still in her Champion form, but the others had become Rookies once more, and Veemon seemed particularly excited. "This is awesome! A whole new world to explore. I can't wait to see it."

"Don't be too excited," Hawkmon warned. "We have no idea what type of world we're about to enter. The life forms there could be hostile."

Davis pointed to the door. "Well, there's only one way to find out. Gennai, make it happen."

The Digital human nodded and placed the cards on the panel in the order Izzy had indicated. A few seconds of silence passed, and then the large stone doors opened to reveal a hallway of light.

"There's your path," Gennai told them. "It should lead to relatively the same location Devimon was transported to in that world since that spot should be weak from the anomalies that were produced before."

"Sounds good," TK replied. By his side, his finger reached out and touched the back of Kari's hand. "Ready for a new adventure?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah."

Ken knelt down beside his partner Digimon. "I promise, Wormmon, I won't lose myself this time."

The bug Digimon raised his arms. "Are you still worrying about when you became the Digimon Emperor? Come on, you know it wasn't your fault. It was the Dark Spores Millenniummon released influencing you."

"Either way, this time we're sticking together."

Patamon fluttered forward. "Actually, about that, you should probably let us go in first."

Gatomon nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. This way we can take care of any potential threats that might be on the other side."

Cody frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea? If you run into trouble, you won't be able to Digivolve without us."

Gatomon raised her claws. "If Devimon can hold his own there, then I can too; I'm also a Champion."

"Just give us a minute or two," Armadillomon suggested. "Then you can come in after us."

The DigiDestined exchanged uncertain looks, but reluctantly admitted that they had a point. Their Digimon were more durable and capable of fighting back than they were.

A sigh escaped Davis. "Ok, fine. But no more than two minutes. Three tops."

Veemon gave him a thumbs up. "You got it. We'll have everything wrapped up by then." He turned back to the door. "Ok, everybody, lets go!"

Without further delay, they charged through the doorway and into the light.

(-)-(-)-(-)(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

The flash of light startled Professor Stevens and the three Trainers, and they turned to the source. The professor's eyes widened as his machine, his broken machine, seemed to be producing a new portal. He didn't see how that was possible since it was not only broken, but turned off as well, and without the power source of his Porygon and Porygon 2, yet it was clear that another portal was manifesting.

"This can't be!" he exclaimed. "How is this possible?"

"What's going on?" Brock cried over the sound of the air crackling.

The professor couldn't tear his eyes away. "A new doorway is forming. Something else must be coming through."

Misty felt a rush of panic. "You mean from Devimon's dimension?"

The professor nodded. "This is bad. Devimon might be bringing in reinforcements."

" Pika, Pika, Pika."

Somehow understanding, Ash nodded. "Yeah, we should fight."

Brock placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ash, wait, we don't know what we're up against. We should take cover and see what comes through first."

"Brock's right, Ash. We don't want to put our Pokemon in danger."

The portal had fully formed, and whatever was coming through was slowly becoming visible in the light. Ash just growled. "Alright, fine, everyone hide."

They ducked behind anything big enough for them to hide behind. Moments later, six strange creatures stepped out of the portal. They had never seen anything like them before. They looked like they could be Pokemon, but certainly nothing like the drawing of Devimon.

"Are they Digimon?" Ash whispered to Pikachu.

" Pika."

The creatures looked around, observing their environment. Based on their postures and expressions, they looked like they had been ready for a fight. But upon seeing that there was no one around, they relaxed a bit.

"So this is the place," said the bird-like creature as the portal behind them closed. "Looks a lot like the human world."

The armadillo-like creature looked around some more. "Well, there's different technology, but I guess that's to be expected."

"I do hope this is the right place," said the insect-like creature, and Misty shivered at the sight of it.

One of the creatures seemed to be flying in the air with wings that looked like ears. "According to BlackWarGreymon, Izzy, and Gennai, it is, and I trust them."

"Me too," the blue creature replied. "Now enough talking, we've got a job to do before the others come. Be ready to attack. If anyone stands in our way, we'll fight our way through. Now come on, lets get 'em!"

Ash had had enough. He wasn't about to let these invaders go around attacking people. They didn't look that tough; he was sure they could take them.

Jumping out of his hiding place, he pointed at the blue one that had commanded its comrades to attack. "Pikachu, Thundershock!"

The electric mouse Pokemon leapt off his shoulder and fired a bolt of electricity. "Pikachuuu!"

The blue creature's eyes widened in surprise moments before the attack hit him. His body lit up and his skeleton was visible as the electricity flowed through him. He dropped to the ground smoking, and breathed out a small black cloud. "That was shocking."

The others were instantly on guard again as the other Trainers and Professor Stevens crawled out of their hiding places. The cat-like creature hissed at them, her fur standing on end. "Heads up, you guys. Looks like we're going to have some trouble after all."

"We can take 'em," the blue creature replied, getting to his feet. "We'll show them not to mess with us."

"You're the ones that doesn't know who you're messing with," Ash replied.

Out of habit, or perhaps hoping he could get some information on them, he pointed his PokeDex at the group of creatures. "No Pokemon data available," the electric voice stated.

Ash stared at the device. "So they're really not Pokemon." Or they were simply an undiscovered species. Either way, he wasn't about to let them run amuck. "Well, I don't know who you are, but I'm not about to let you do whatever you want."

The blue creature glared at him. "The name's Veemon, and these are my friends, Wormmon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Gatomon, and Patamon. And if it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get."

"I'd advice you to stand down," Wormmon replied. "We've got you outnumbered."

Ash grabbed at the PokeBalls on his belt. "Then let me even the odds. Cyndaquil, Bayleef, Totodile, Noctowl, Phanpy, I choose you!"

He tossed the PokeBalls out, and five more Pokemon appeared, making it six on six. Glares were exchanged between the two groups as they stared each other down.

Ash glanced back at his friends. "I don't know how strong these guys are, but it'll be up to you to beat them if I can't."

Brock nodded. "You can count on us."

"Take them down, Ash," Misty told him.

It seemed that even without being told, each Pokemon and Digimon decided who their opponent would be. Veemon was looking for some payback with Pikachu, while Gatomon was staring down Bayleef. Patamon's gaze was locked with Noctowl, Wormmon's with Totodile, Hawkmon with Cyndaquil, and Armadillomon with Phanpy.

"We don't have much time before the others come," Gatomon reminded her companions. "Lets wrap this up fast."

In the corner, tears of depression ran down Professor Stevens' face as he foresaw the coming damage. "My lab..."

The two groups charged at each other. Bayleef made the first move with her Razor Leaf. Gatomon countered with her Cat Punch, knocking away the leaves. Bayleef attempted to use her Vine Whip next, but Gatomon jumped over the whipping vines and delivered a Neko Kick to Bayleef's head. She cried out and then began spinning her leaf, knocking the cat Digimon away.

" Bay!" she cried, following up with a Body Slam, flattening the cat Digimon beneath her.

Gatomon grunted in pain and glared up at her. Displaying strength her size belittled, she threw the much larger leaf Pokemon off her and jumped to her feet. "Cat Laser!" she cried, firing a beam.

Doing a backflip in the air, Bayleef had prevented herself from crashing into the wall. Seeing the attack coming for her, she ducked beneath the beam. Rising to her feet, she unleashed her Sweet Scent. A pink cloud of powder flowed over to the cat Digimon. A dreamy look appeared on her face as Gatomon felt her head go fuzzy. Bayleef used the opportunity to Tackle her.

Gatomon was knocked back by the attack, but it was enough to clear her sense of the Sweet Scent. She saw Bayleef coming at her with her Headbutt attack, and she rushed forward with her Lightning Paw. Her fist struck Bayleef's head, the impact creating a shockwave that sent them both flying backwards.

Hawkmon had been the first to make a move against his opponent, using his Feather Strike to throw the feather on his head like a boomerang. The fire mouse Pokemon vanished, moving almost too fast to see as it used its Agility. It reached Hawkmon in record time, and used Tackle.

The hawk Digimon stumbled back, but began flying to prevent from falling down. He soared towards Cyndaquil, latching onto his back, and began using his Beck Pecker, hammering Cyndaquil's forehead like a woodpecker.

" Quil!" the fire mouse Pokemon wailed, and ignited its back. Hawkmon screeched and let it go, his feet burning. Cyndaquil looked up as Hawkmon circled overhead and used its Flamethrower.

" Feather Strike!" Hawkmon repeated. His feather sliced through the stream of fire, but Cyndaquil jumped back to avoid it. Hawkmon used the opportunity to swoop down and use his Loop the Hawk, slicing Cyndaquil with his talons. "Cynda, Cynda, Quil!"

Hawkmon glared, accepting the fire mouse Pokemon's attempt to try his attack again. "As you wish. Loop the Hawk!"

Flipping in the air, he swooped down towards his opponent once again. This time, however, Cyndaquil was ready. It used its Smokescreen, breathing out a cloud of smoke that hid it from view. Hawkmon flew into the smoke, missing his target, and flew back out, coughing.

"A clever trick," he commented. "Lets take care of that."

He began flapping his wings, blowing away the smoke until Cyndaquil was revealed. The fire mouse Pokemon immediately used Swift, sending a series of stars flying at the hawk Digimon. Hawkmon flew out of their path, but much to his surprise, they followed him. He flew about the lab, trying to shake off the attack, but it was no use.

Finally, Cyndaquil breathed another stream of fire at him. He stopped, narrowly missing the flames, but allowing the stars to hit him. He dropped from the sky, but Cyndaquil was immediately on the attack again, using Flame Wheel. It plowed into Hawkmon before he even hit the ground, sending him flying.

Similarly, Phanpy had used its Rollout attack. Armadillomon mimicked it with his Diamond Shell, curling up and rushing towards the long nose Pokemon. Both spinning, they crashed together, knocking the other back. They came together again and again, sending sparks flying with each impact as they collided like two spinning tops trying to knock the other back.

With his hard armored body, Armadillomon had the advantage. Phanpy seemed to detect this, feeling itself weakening with each blow, and ceased its Rollout. Armadillomon, however, proceeded to spin towards it. But Phanpy had a surprise for him. Summoning up its energy, it unleashed a Hyper Beam. The attack completely blasted Armadillomon back, and he crashed into the wall, his body smoking. He remained stuck there for a few moments before uncurling and dropping to the ground upside-down with dizzy swirls in his eyes. "Boy, that's quite an attack."

Phanpy charged at him with its Take Down. Armadillomon blinked to clear his head and righted himself. He jumped out of the way, and Phanpy crashed into the wall.

" Diamond Shell!" he cried, rolling towards the long nose Pokemon again. Phanpy turned just in time to be slammed against the wall. Armadillomon came at him again, but Phanpy defended with Defense Curl. The impact still sent it flying into the wall again, where it bounced off it, landing behind Armadillomon.

Both uncurled at the same time, but Phanpy struck first with its Earthquake, striking the ground so the floor cracked apart, traveling over towards the armadillo Digimon. Armadillomon jumped out of the attack's path, but Phanpy followed up with Hidden Power. Balls of energy circled around it before being launched in different directions. One of the balls struck Armadillomon before he could stick the landing, knocking him back.

Phanpy attempted to use Take Down again. Armadillomon realized there was no time to avoid the attack and chose to defend against it instead with his Hard Brick, curling into a defensive ball. Phanpy knocked him into the wall, but he bounced off it, coming right back at the long nose Pokemon. He uncurled and used Claw Chopping, slashing Phanpy with his sharp claws, and his opponent cried out before collapsing.

The aerial battle was taking place between Patamon and Noctowl, but it soon became apparent that the mammal Digimon was at a disadvantage. Noctowl was using Sky Attack, glowing with energy as if it were on fire as it swooped through the air, attempting to strike its opponent. Little yelps escaped Patamon as he dodged the owl Pokemon's attacks, nearly getting hit several times.

" Boom Bubble!" he cried as Noctowl sped past him, inflating and unleashing a burst of air. The attack struck Noctowl in the back, and its Sky Attack dispersed. It turned to its opponent, but Patamon didn't give it a chance to attack as he slammed into it with his Air Slam.

Noctowl fluttered, screeching in frustration. Its eyes began glowing as it used Hypnosis. Patamon's eyelids immediately began to grow heavy as the hypnotic waves flowed over him, and the desire to take a nap grew. He started to descend, but the sudden drop jolted him awake, and he retaliated with his Thousand Wing, spinning around to send blades of wind at Noctowl.

The owl Pokemon grunted with each wind blade that struck it, but it countered with Whirlwind, and a heavy wind sent Patamon crashing into the wall. Noctowl began glowing again with Sky Attack, and shot towards Patamon. This time, however, the mammal Digimon was ready. He inflated himself and used Body Blow Tackle, and the two collided with each other.

Noctowl's attack was stronger, and Patamon went spinning through the air. Noctowl came at him again, and Patamon unleashed the air he held in the form of several blades of wind with his Areo Slash attack. Noctwol weaved around the blades of wind. It was about to plow into Patamon again, but the mammal Digimon surprised it by using his Wing Slap, timing it perfectly to slap Noctowl in the face with his ear-like wing.

" Sparkling Air Shot!" Patamon cried. He inflated again, his body glowing with energy, and unleashed a stronger glittering version of his Boom Bubble at point blank range.

Dazed, Noctowl was knocked back. It recovered quickly and screeched angrily. Its eyes began glowing with psychic power as Patamon dive-bombed at him while spinning with his Aerial Body Bomb Blow. Using Confusion, it blasted Patamon with psychic energy.

Crying out, Patamon went spinning through the air until he hit the wall. He looked back at Noctowl and prepared to attack, but something felt funny, as if he couldn't remember how to attack properly.

Unable to focus, when he attempted to use Boom Bubble, he forgot to open his mouth before unleashing his attack, hurting himself in his confusion and causing his ears to pop. Dazed, he drifted to the floor with dizzy swirls in his eyes. Noctowl didn't give him a chance to recover as its beak began glowing, and it used Peck, knocking the mammal Digimon off his feet.

Wormmon had his hands full with Totodile. The big jaw Pokemon was evading his attacks as he happily danced around, avoiding the thread-like needles the bug Digimon was spitting at him.

" Silk Thread!" Wormmon tried again, only to have Totodile avoid this one as well. The big jaw Pokemon seemed more like he was having fun rather than battling.

" Sticky Net!" Wormmon tried, spitting a net of sticky silk. Totodile simply leapt over it and used Water Gun, spraying a stream of eater that took Wormmon off his feet and slammed him against the wall.

Totodile began dancing around happily. "To, To, To, To, Totodile!"

Wormmon got up, wiping the water from his face. "That's some intense water pressure."

Shaking himself dry, he pulled a thread from his mouth with his Silk Thread attack and lashed it out at the big jaw Pokemon like a whip. Totodile jumped in the air, dodging it, and Wormmon whipped outward again. This time it snagged Totodile's foot, and he slammed him into the wall.

" Todi?" the big jaw Pokemon blinked in surprise. Wormmon pounced at him with his Rotating Tail Attack, spinning around and slashing with the pincers on his backside.

Totodile jumped to his feet and used Slash, his claws stopping Wormmon's pincers as they came together. Totodile then used Scary Face, and Wormmon flinched. This enabled Totodile to use Headbutt. The bug Digimon stumbled back with a big bump on his head.

Glaring at Totodile, he curled up and rolled at the big jaw Pokemon with his Rotating Head Slam. Totodile jumped up and landed on Wormmon's rolling body, running to remain on top. They crashed into the wall, and Totodile fell off as Wormmon uncurled.

" Worm Hang!" Wormmon cried, sending out a sticky thread, pulling Totodile towards him. He latched onto the big jaw Pokemon, using his thread to stick to him and began repeatedly head-butting him. Totodile grunted with each blow, and finally used Bite, chomping down on Wormmon's head. The bug Digimon cried out and tried to get away, but Totodile kept his jaws tightly clamped shut.

"Let go! Worm Scratch!" He slashed at Totodile with his mandible. The big jaw Pokemon's mouth opened in surprise, and Wormmon pulled free. He repeated the attack, but Totodile countered with Scratch. Sparks flew as the two continued swiping at each other, neither giving ground.

Totodile attempted to surprise Wormmon with Tackle, but Wormmon jumped back. Using his Random Roll, he curled up, bounced high in the air, and then plummeted towards Totodile, whipping his antennae. Totodile leapt away, and Wormmon's antennae struck the ground with a loud crack. He reacted quickly though, using his Silk Thread Gather, shooting silk in the shape of a hand. The silk threading grabbed Totodile's tail, and his eyes widened in surprise as he was yanked back down.

Wormmon spun the thread around, spinning Totodile with it and tossed him into the wall. He then used his Sticky Net, covering the big jaw Pokemon in the sticky substance, trapping him.

Veemon found himself at a grave disadvantage against Pikachu. The electric mouse Pokemon had speed and long-range attacks on his side, while nearly all of his attacks were meant for close combat. Most, but not all.

" Vee Shot!" he cried, firing a burst of energy from his mouth. Pikachu leapt over the attack and sped towards the dragon Digimon as Veemon's eyes studied his speedy opponent.

"Now!" he declared. "Vee Punch!"

His fist shot out, making contact. Pikachu went flying backwards, but did a flip in the air, landing on his feet. "Chu!"

He sent out a Thundershock. Veemon jumped up, avoiding the electric attack, and launched himself head first at Pikachu with his Veemon Head Spear. Pikachu countered with his Double-Edge, and the two crashed together.

But Pikachu underestimated Veemon's strength, and was knocked to the ground. The dragon Digimon came at him with his Gyral Punch, swinging his arms like windmills as he charged at his opponent. Pikachu simply unleashed a Thunderbolt. The electricity was everywhere, leaving Veemon nowhere to avoid it, and he was lit up once again.

Pikachu charged at him with Quick Attack, plowing into Veemon's gut. The dragon Digimon toppled over with Pikachu on top. The electric mouse Pokemon used Thunder, and a small thundercloud manifested above him long enough for a bolt of lightning to drop down and strike him, allowing him to unleash a powerful burst of electricity.

Veemon cried out as the electricity flowed through him. Pikachu charged at him before he could recover, tackling him to the ground. Gritting his teeth, Veemon glared up at Pikachu and delivered a Vee Punch, knocking his opponent off him. He jumped up and charged Pikachu with his Vee Headbutt, and Pikachu went tumbling back.

But the electric mouse Pokemon wasn't finished yet. He charged at Veemon as the dragon Digimon came at him with his Vee Knockout. Pikachu jumped up, avoiding the punch, while spinning around to smack Veemon in the face with his Shocking Tail. The dragon Digimon feel on his rear, his cheek stinging. Pikachu lunged at him again with his Double-Edge, but Veemon leaned back, allowing Pikachu to fly over him, and then reached out and grabbed him by the tail.

"Now I got you!" he declared, and began spinning him around. Pikachu was eventually lifted off the ground as Veemon gained speed with his spinning, the lab becoming a dizzy blur.

" Pikachu!" he cried, unleashing a Thunderbolt. Veemon realized his mistake of grabbing the electric mouse Pokemon a little too late as he was lit up. Pikachu's tail slipped from his grip, and the electric mouse Pokemon went flying head first into the wall.

Groaning in pain, Pikachu forced himself to his feet and turned back to Veemon, glaring. The dragon Digimon was standing in trembling legs, smoking, but still willing to fight.

The battle was only just beginning.

Chapter 6: Making Friends Out Of Enemies
"These guys are tough," said Brock. "They can fight on equal ground with Ash's Pokemon."

"We may need to send out ours to help," Misty suggested.

"Wait," said Ash, watching the battle between Pikachu and Veemon. He held up an empty PokeBall, taking aim. "Lets give this a try. PokeBall, go!"

He threw the red and white ball. It flew through the air, hitting Veemon in the face. "Ow! What was that?"

Ash's shoulders sank. "It didn't work. Guess they're really not Pokemon."

"Or they're owned by someone already," Brock pointed out. "Devimon?"

"Maybe."

As the battle continued, there was another flash as the portal appeared once more. The four humans looked at it in despair. Were more enemies appearing? It had only been two minutes; they'd barely had time to fight the first wave.

Veemon glanced over his shoulder at the portal. "Heads up, guys, looks like the others are coming."

"This could be bad," said Brock.

Misty took out one of her her PokeBalls. "Guess we'll have to fight after all. Go, Corsola!"

A different flash of light spilled out instead, this one flying from her bag. "Psy!"

Misty fell over. "Psyduck, you're not helping things! Return!"

But as Psyduck was drawn back into its PokeBall, the first figure within the portal stepped out of the light. The Trainers were shocked by what they saw. Rather than more Digimon, it was humans that appeared. Children too, only a couple of years older than Ash and Misty. They looked different though, like they belonged to a different ethnicity, which Professor Stevens assumed only made sense since they were from another dimension, but he was still surprised to see humans appear.

TK's eyes widened as he surveyed the battle scene. "What's going on here?"

"TK!" Patamon cried, and flew over to him.

The rest of the Digimon hurried over to their own partners as well, moving in front of them protectively.

"Veemon, what happened?" Davis asked.

"We ran into some trouble," the dragon Digimon told him.

"You're the ones who came looking for trouble!" Ash shouted at them.

" Pika, Pika!"

"Who are they?" Misty whispered to Brock.

"I'm not sure," he whispered back. "From the looks of it, I'd say they're the Digimon's Trainers."

Cody stared at the Trainers and their Pokemon. They had all gathered in front of him, even the blue crocodile-like one that had been bound by Wormmon's Sticky Net had managed to get free. "Well, we knew we might face some opposition."

"Alright," Davis cried, "everyone attack!"

Standing in formation each Digimon released an attack. Ash called for his Pokemon to counter, and they all released an attack of their own. The lab shook as their attacks met in the middle of the room, erupting into a series of small explosions. Tears continued to stream down the professor's cheeks as his lab was destroyed further. "My lab..."

As the attacks died down, Yolei stared at the Pokemon. "I've never seen anything like them before. Are they Digimon?"

"Whatever they are," said Davis, "they're certainly ungrateful, considering we came all this way to save them."

Ash blinked. "Save us? Hold up. What do you mean 'save us'?"

"We came here to stop someone from our world," TK replied.

Patamon fluttered beside him. "Yeah, a real nasty guy called Devimon."

"Devimon?" Misty repeated. "You mean you're not on his side?"

TK looked insulted. "No way! We would never side with that monster."

Kari touched his arm to calm him, then looked back at the others. "Devimon is an old enemy of ours that managed to escape to this world. We came here to stop him."

The next thing she knew, Brock was in front of her, grasping her hand. "I should have known that a creature as gorgeous as you couldn't possibly be evil!"

Davis' mouth dropped open in shock while the others simply looked bewildered. Kari didn't seem like she knew how to respond, but was saved as Misty grabbed Brock's ear and pulled him away. "We've already made a bad first impression, don't make it worse."

"What was that about?" Ken wondered out loud.

Yolei cut her eyes. "And why did he go to her instead of me?"

Professor Stevens cautiously approached. "Have you... really come to help us?"

"Of course," Hawkmon replied. "Why did you think otherwise?"

"Well..." the professor muttered, looking uneasy, "first Devimon came through the doorway and attacked, declaring how he was going to take over the world. Then you guys come through the same portal, and your little blue friend there said 'we've a job to do before the others come. If anyone stands in our way, we'll fight our way through. Now come on, lets get them'. So..."

Everyone turned to look at Veemon with hooded eyes. The dragon Digimon looked embarrassed as he bashfully rubbed the back of his head at his poor choice of words. "Well, when you put it that wayâ€¦ I guess it can be taken out of contents."

"Veemon!" the others complained.

"What? I was talking about Devimon. Lets get Devimon, that's what I was meant. You guys knew what I was talking about, right?"

"Well, yes, we did," said Hawkmon. "But how would you feel if a bunch of strange creatures came out of a portal and cried 'lets get 'em'? Especially if the last person who came out of that portal was Devimon."

A sigh of relief escaped Brock. "Well, it sounds as if this whole thing was just one big misunderstanding."

"Looks like it," Yolei agreed.

"Thank goodness," said Armadillomon. "I was afraid we were going to have to fight Devimon and everyone else we ran into in this world."

"That won't be a problem," Ash told him. "Most of the people and Pokemon in this world are really nice. Right, Pikachu?"

" Pikachu!" The electric mouse Pokemon approached Veemon and held out his hand in a gesture of peace. "Pika, Pikachu, Pi, Pikachu, Pika."

The dragon Digimon looked at his hand for a moment before smiling and shaking it. "Yeah, we're all good. Sorry for the misunderstanding. You're pretty strong, pal."

" Pika, Pika, Pikachu."

Veemon laughed, and bashfully rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, that's nothing. You should see me when I Digivolve."

Pikachu cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Pikachu?"

Veemon looked surprised by this. "What? You mean you guys don't Digivolve. That's weird; I thought you were the Digimon of this world. Do you just call it something else?"

The humans looked on in amazement as the two communicated with each other. Davis bent down to their level, looking lost. "Hey, Veemon, you can understand what he's saying?"

The dragon Digimon looked back at him. "Sure. You mean you can't?"

" We don't even understand them," said Brock. "Pokemon can only say their name. Well, really, they're named after what they say. Only a few species can speak human language."

"Well, we can understand them just fine," Wormmon told them.

Professor Stevens was tapping his chin curiously. "Fascinating. It seems similar to how Pokemon can understand each other. Perhaps these Digimon really are the Pokemon of the world they come from."

Ash felt it was safe to return all his Pokemon to their PokeBalls. Veemon recognized the red and white balls from being hit by one earlier and pointed at them. "Hey, that's the thing you threw at me. What is that? And where'd all your friends go?"

Ash blinked. "Hmm? Wait, you mean you guys don't use PokeBalls for your Digimon? Or DigiBalls, I guess you would call them."

"PokeBalls? DigiBalls?" TK repeated. He held up his Digivice. "Do you mean these? We call them Digivices."

Misty gave the device a curious look. "So you capture Digimon in those?"

Kari's eyes widened in surprise. "Capture? No, we use these to help our Digimon Digivolve."

"Digivolve?" Ash repeated. "Is that like Pokemon evolution for Digimon?"

Yolei punched the air. "I think it's time for a game of questions and answers!"

Professor Stevens was practically salivating as he grabbed a pen and notepad. This had been more along the lines of what he had been hoping for when he began his project. "I couldn't agree with you more! Lets begin!"

As the 'game' went, questions and answers were shot back and forth as the two groups learned about each other and the world they came from. Unbeknownst to them, they were not the only ones learning. Up in the air ducts, Team Rocket looked on with growling excitement as they listened in on the conversation.

Jessie looked at James, her eyes shining eagerly. "This is too good of an opportunity."

Her companion looked at her, equally as excited. "This will put us at the top of Team Rocket."

They looked down at the Digimon greedily. "If we bring those Digimon back to the boss..."

"We'll have brought him a prize unlike any other."

"Just imagine, Team Rocket, masters of the interdimensional beings."

"Pokemon don't get much rarer than that." He blinked as he considered the situation. "But these Digimon aren't actually Pokemon. We saw that the PokeBalls don't work on them. How would we capture them, let alone control them?"

Jessie chuckled. "Why, the same way Team Rocket catches and controls all the Pokemon they steal." She glanced at Meowth, who had remained silent the whole time. "Hey, Meowth, don't you have anything to say about this?"

But the cat Pokemon was barely paying attention. His eyes were large red hearts and a deep blush was present on his cheeks. "She's beautiful..."

"Hmm?" James muttered. "Who?" He looked at the Digimn and saw that Meowth's gaze was locked on Gatomon. "You mean that cat Digimon?"

Meowth sighed deeply. "I t'ink I'm in love..."

Jessie groaned. "Oh, great, Meowth's been love struck."

"Meowth," James snapped impatiently, "what about Meowsie?"

"Who's Meawsie?" the cat Pokemon asked dreamily.

Jessie's fist came down on his head. "Snap out of it; we've got some Digimon to capture."

"Yeah," James agreed, "lets get digital."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Hours ticked by as the two groups continued to exchange questions and answers. They learned that as similar as Pokemon and Digimon were, they were equally as different. They also learned a lot about each other and the adventures they had been on, eventually leading them to where they now were.

"Wow," said Ash, "you guys have been through a lot."

"Yeah, so have you," TK replied. "I guess, in a way, you guys are the Chosen Children of your world."

"Actually, that was just Ash," said Misty, referring to when he saved the world from the wrath of the Legendary Birds' rampage.

Ash gave her a surprised look. "That wasn't just me. You saved me from drowning, Melody played Lugia's song, Lugia and Team Rocket got me to and from the islands, and, of course, I couldn't have done it without my Pokemon."

Davis smiled. "I think it's cool that you can have a whole bunch of Pokemon. Aside from our friend Willis, who has two Digimon, we only get one."

Veemon cut his eyes at him. "What's wrong with one?"

Davis looked startled and began waving his arms. "No, no, that's not what I meant! It's just, the more the merrier, you know. It's nice to have lots of friends."

Cody chuckled. "I think Davis just put his foot in his mouth."

Ken, however, was not smiling. Ever since he learned of how humans would catch Pokemon, he had been frowning with disapproval. Wormmon took note of this and gave him a questioning look. "What's wrong, Ken?"

A low grumble escaped him. "Nothing. It's just..." he sighed, "I don't approve of this whole capturing Pokemon. It feels too much like enslavement."

The other DigiDestined frowned, recognizing where this was coming from. It reminded him too much as his time as the Digimon Emperor, where he would enslave Digimon with his Dark Rings and Dark Spirals.

Brock raised his hand slightly. "Um, I think you're getting the wrong impression. Catching Pokemon isn't enslavement; it's more like a contract that's entered. All Pokemon seek to become stronger, and that's best achieved when under guidance of a Trainer. When a person captures a Pokemon, they're proving their worth to that Pokemon by showing that they'll be a good Trainer to them. In fact, many wild Pokemon have shown to be jealous of Pokemon owned by Trainers because they know that having a Trainer brings out their greatest potential."

Davis looked back at his fellow DigiDestined. "See, Ken. There's nothing to worry about. It's not like using the Dark Rings and such."

"I guess..." the former Digimon Emperor replied. "But what about Pokemon that truly don't want a Trainer, but have still gotten caught?"

Misty shrugged. "Then they simply don't obey their Trainers until the Trainer either release them or finds another way to prove their worth." She glanced at Ash. "In fact, that happened to Ash before. Remember Primeape? And then there was Charizard."

Ash sweat-dropped. "Did you have to bring that up?"

"Why?" Armadillomon asked curiously. "What happened?"

A resigned sigh escaped the boy. "At first Primeape didn't want to listen to me at all, but it later came around. And Charizard obeyed me back when it was a Charmander, but after it evolved into Charmeleon, and then Charizard, it didn't obey me again until much later."

Yolei cocked her head to the side. "Why not?"

Brock crossed his arms. "I've actually been thinking a lot about that, and I think I have a theory."

Ash glanced at him, legitimately curious. "A theory?"

He nodded. "I said before that when a Trainer catches a Pokemon, it proves they're worth to them, but as a Pokemon gets stronger, it will start to wonder if it has surpassed their Trainer, and they are no longer worthy of them."

Misty's eyes widened in understanding. "I get it. So Charizard didn't think Ash was worthy of it anymore since he wasn't actually winning any badges."

Ash jumped angrily to his feet, looking outraged. "What do you mean? I won all my badges, but Charizard still didn't listen to me.

Misty gave him a regretful yet somewhat amused look. "I hate to break it to you, Ash, but you only rightfully earned a few of your badges the first time around."

"What do you mean?"

She began counting them down. "Well, you never actually finished your battle with Brock, Erika, or me, and I wasn't even an actual Gym leader. Brock, Erika, and my sisters basically just gave you your badges. Sabrina only couldn't give commands to Kadabra anymore because Haunter was making her laugh so much, not because you defeated her; it was basically a victory by default. Your battle with Koga was interrupted, which probably affected the outcome of the battle, even though you won. Team Rocket wasn't the actual Gym leader for your last badge; even if they were using the Gym's Pokemon, they didn't have the experience of a Gym Leader, not mention the rules were sketchy at best.

"So, really, the only badges you legitimately and rightfully earned were against Lieutenant Surge and Blaine, and even your battle with Blaine took place outside his Gym. Even if you do count the badges you won from Koga and Team Rocket, that's still only four of the eight. It's no wonder you lost Charizard's loyalty."

Imaginary arrows had pierced Ash's chest with each example she provided, and her final statement caused the entire ceiling to come down on him, figuratively of course.

" Pika, Pikachu," Pikachu told him sympathetically.

Cupping his hand over his mouth, Brock whispered to Misty. "That may have been a little harsh."

"Well, I didn't say that he couldn't have won fairly," she whispered back, "just that he didn't."

Recovering quickly, Ash jumped to his feet. "Well that was then, and this is now. Just you wait, I'm going to win the Johto League and become a Pokemon Master!"

" Pika!"

Up until now, Professor Stevens had been furiously scribbling down notes, practically foaming at the mouth. Having zero interest in Ash's Pokemon journey, he rounded on the DigiDestined. "This is so incredible. I can't believe how much I'm learning. But, if I may make a request, could one of you Digivolve for me? Please."

The DigiDestined blinked in surprise and exchanged looks with their partner Digimon. "I guess so," said TK.

"Yeah, we don't have a problem with it," Yolei agreed.

Veemon jumped off Davis' lap. "I'll do it. I'll even show you how we DeDigivolve. Check it out."

He began glowing, and then started to shrink and change shape. Professor Stevens and the Trainers looked on in amazement. It was like watching Pokemon evolution in reverse. And when the light faded, a smaller, cuter version of Veemon stood in the dragon Digimon's place.

"DemiVeemon!" he cried.

If she hadn't been holding Togepi, Misty would have hugged him. "Cutie!"

Professor Stevens was once again scribbling down notes. "Amazing. You really can evolve in reverse. I mean, devolve. Er, Digidevolve."

Kari chuckled. "DeDigivolve," she corrected.

"Yes, that!"

DemiVeemon smirked. "If you thought that was cool, take a look at this." Golden light engulfed him. "DemiVeemon Digivolve to... Veemon!"

More scribbling as Professor Stevens attempted to record everything he saw. "Amazing! Truly amazing! And you say there are six stages you go through?"

TK nodded. "Yes, after they hatch from their eggs, or the Digitama stage as it's sometimes called, they go through the stages Baby, In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega."

"And some Megas can Digivolve to even stronger Megas," Ken added. "And in a few very rare cases, they can reach an even higher level called the Ultra level."

Professor Stevens was hanging onto and writing down every word. "Fascinating. And the power difference between each level is exponential."

Gatomon looked at Pikachu. "But you Pokemon, when you evolve, you can't go back, can you?"

The electric mouse Pokemon shook his head. "Pikachu."

"Sounds like it's the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly," Kari noted. "Or the way a tadpole becomes a frog. Essentially, they're just growing up."

"More or less," Brock agreed. "Though some Pokemon choose not to evolve. Like Ash's Pikachu."

Professor Stevens was still obsessing over Digivolution. "And there's different types of Digivolution, you said? Armor Digivolution, and DNA Digivolution?"

TK nodded. "Those are the ones we've seen, though there are probably more."

"Fascinating. It sounds like this Armor Digivolution is similar to the use of an Evolution Stone, or another Evolutionary Item. And DNA Digivolution is similar to the way Slowpoke and Shellder evolve together into Slowbro or Slowking." He seemed to be struggling, and failing, to contain his excitement. "This is so amazing! I can't wait to learn everything there is to know about Digimon!" His eyes landed on the DigiDestined. "Can I... see one of your Digivices?"

His request surprised them. But while most of them hesitated, Davis happily handed his over, "Sure, knock yourself out."

With trembling hands, the professor took the device, holding it as if it were a precious item. "Fascinating. Do you... mind if I try something?"

This time, even Davis hesitated. "Um, sure... I guess..."

Beaming, Professor Stevens nearly tripped over his own feet in his attempt to get to the computer. Taking up a cable, he held his breath as he brought it to the Digivice. "It connects!"

He began typing furiously. The others looked on in confusion, wondering what he was doing. And after several seconds, the professor crossed his fingers and pressed a button. The screen changed, and a DOWNLOAD bar appeared, the percentage steadily beginning to rise.

His face lit up. "It's working... IT'S WORKING!"

Feeling out of the loop, Ash sweat-dropped. "Um, what's working?"

Smiling broadly, the professor looked back at them. "The Digimon Analyzers on your Digivice, it's downloading. Soon I'll have everything there is to know on Digimon on my laptop." He stared off into space dreamily. "I could get lost in this information for years."

Everyone sweat-dropped.

"Sounds like this guy and Izzy would get along very well," said Kari.

The professor jumped up. "Which reminds me! I have something for your brainy friend for when you go back." He began rummaging through his drawers until he found what he was looking for. "Ah ha! Here it is." He handed it to the DigiDestined. "Consider this a token of friendship."

TK reached out and took it. "Um, thanks... What is it?"

"It's called a PokeDex. Only this one is a world-class PokeDex. It contains all the information known on every Pokemon species in the world rather than specific regions."

This information surprised even Ash. "What does that mean?"

Smiling, the professor adjusted his glasses. "PokeDexes are expensive, so Trainers are given ones that generally contain information on the species of Pokemon that are native to the region they're in."

Misty took over. "That's why your PokeDex was upgraded back when Togepi hatched, because you were almost beyond the Kanto region."

Ash considered this. "I guess that makes sense. So when Bill said that there were 150 Pokemon, that was only for the Kanto region."

"Pretty much. And they've begun migrating to different regions."

Professor Stevens laughed arrogantly. "There are hundreds and hundreds of Pokemon species in the world. And now, I share all the information we have on them with you, my Digital friends, just as you've so gratefully shared the information you have on Digimon with me."

The DigiDestined continued to look uncomfortable at the professor's eccentric burst of joy.

"R-Right..." Yolei replied. "I'm sure Izzy will find this to be most informative."

"As will I with your data on Digimon. Ah! The download is complete!" Detaching the Digivice from the computer, he handed it back to Davis and immediately began going through his new files. "Incredible... Fascinating... Unbelievable..."

Kari chuckled. "I think we just gave him his reason for living."

The professor nodded in agreement. "Yes, most definitely. But before I can truly appreciate this, I need to look up... Ah, here we go!"

The others gathered around and saw that he had brought up Devimon's profile. The sight of him sent a chill down the Trainers' spines; the professor's sketch had not done then fallen angel Digimon justice.

"Whoa, that's Devimon?" Ash exclaimed.

"He sure looks nasty," said Misty.

Brock nodded in agreement. "Yeah, no kidding."

The professor's eyes scanned over Devimon's basic data. "Lets see... So Devimon is a Champion level Digimon. His attacks include Touch of Evil, Hell Contract, Evil Wing, Demon's Ray, Deadly Nail, Death Claw, Laser Wing, and Death Hand. He generally Digivolves from DemiDevimon, and typically Digivolves to NeoDevimon. Scary."

Ash looked at the DigiDestined uncertainly. "Are you sure you can take this guy? He looks like really bad news."

Davis gave him a thumbs up. "Hey, no worries. Our team is a lot stronger than this guy. We can reach the Ultimate and Mega level."

"Yeah!" Veemon cried, punching the air. "He won't know what hit him."

Ash looked back at the Digimon on the monitor. He really hoped his new friends were right.