Chapter Text
It was just another day in summer camp for Taichi Yagami, a fifth grader in primary school, along with his friends. He had spiky dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and was wearing his blue T-shirt with stars on the sleeves, three yellow buttons in front, and a yellow collar. He was also wearing brown shorts with large pockets on both sides, white and blue sneakers, and tall white socks. He was currently sitting on top of a tree with his dark grey binoculars, examining what he could see from the camp. As Taichi observed the distance, a snowflake fell on his nose, causing him to blink.
“…Snow?” Taichi asked no one in particular.
Just as Taichi noted that, snow started plummeting to the floor, creating mass hysteria for the kids at summer camp. Camp leaders attempted to restore order by shouting at the kids to go inside a building. Some kids obeyed, while some still ran around like headless chickens.
Another fifth grader in Taichi’s class was Sora Takenouchi, who tried to help the camp leaders by escorting the other kids to one of the empty buildings. She had orange hair tucked underneath a light blue hat with two cords hanging on the sides, and had dark red eyes. She wore a yellow sleeveless top with a white collar and a white triangle below the collar, long blue jeans with folds at the bottom, grey- and- red sneakers, and red gloves.
One kid Sora was escorting was a younger boy named Takeru Takaishi, who wasn’t a student, but seemed to be related to one of the other students and was running around like a lost child. He had dirty blonde hair underneath a large green hat with a dark blue jewel in front, blue eyes, and was wearing a green cardigan over a light green shirt, a pair of light brown shorts, yellow socks, and green and white strapped sneakers.
Takeru ran in the direction Sora was instructing when he saw his older brother, Yamato Ishida, whom he could only meet at this summer camp because their parents divorced a few years back. Yamato was in the same grade as Taichi, had spiky blonde hair with a bunch in front covering his blue eyes partially, and was wearing a green sleeveless top, brown gloves, and dark blue jeans with folds at the bottom, and dark brown shoes. Yamato spotted Takeru at the same time and ran toward his younger brother. The two then went inside a nearby building together.
Another student hurrying along was Mimi Tachikawa, who was a grade lower than Taichi. She had brown eyes with similarly brown hair contained underneath her large pink cowboy hat, with some of her hair hanging from the sides in front and the hat being tied below her head. She was wearing a pink western-styled dress with a brown belt, light brown gloves with a darker shade band around the wrists, light pink socks, and brown and white boots.
One student was already inside a building with his laptop propped open on his lap. His name was Koushirou Izumi, who was in the same grade as Mimi, but in a different class. He was busy tapping away at his laptop when the snow came falling. He had spiky red hair and black eyes, sporting an orange, buttoned-up shirt, yellow gloves, a pair of teal shorts, light green socks, and grey and purple strapped sneakers with a lightning logo on the sides.
Jou Kido, a student a year older than Taichi, Sora and Yamato, was one of the older kids. He had blue, side swept hair and black eyes. He was wearing a white dress shirt underneath a white vest with blue stripes on the waist, long light grey shorts tucked underneath, long blue socks, and red and white shoes, with a wristwatch on his left wrist. As an older student and as part of his personality, he was helping the camp leaders escort the younger kids into buildings spread around the camp.
Another kid seen running into the same building that Sora brought Takeru and Yamato to was Akie Watanabe. She had long, wavy pink hair that went past her waist, and a pair of dark red eyes. She was wearing a light pink shirt with lacy short sleeves, a white pleated miniskirt, and tall black boots.
As the eight kids went inside the building, they watched the snow fall, feeling astounded that it was snowing in August. As soon as the snow stopped, Takeru was the first one to run outside to play in it. Yamato ran after him, as was his responsibility as Takeru’s older brother. Taichi and Sora left cautiously at around the same time, their sneakers crunching over the pure white snow. Jou tried to keep the others inside the building until a leader said it was safe to do so, though no one paid him any mind. He and Koushirou were the last ones to leave the building.
As soon as all the students were outside, a large wave suddenly appeared in front of them that ebbed over immediately. Eight lights appeared, blinding them before diving to the ground in front of each kid. Taichi was the first to kneel and take a small object from the snow. It was a strange object; it was light blue in color with a circular button on the left, two buttons on the right side, weird text surrounding a small screen, and a small black antenna-like stick on the upper left.
The rest of the children picked up the very same type of object in their hands, all with confused expressions as they did so. Jou was the last to do so; being cautious was his duty as one of the oldest in the camp, after all. Akie examined her device, turning it over with her hands, before looking up to see the others doing the same.
“What… is this?” Akie asked.
“I don’t know, but…” Taichi started to say.
That was when another wave showed up and swallowed up all eight kids. They were taken in as they traveled to another area, going through a location like a digital network. As they traveled, Koushirou gripped onto his laptop with one arm while the other hand had the device. Akie looked around at the others who wore the same baffled expression as her as she held down her skirt with both hands as they flew through the network.
Taichi and Akie soon exited the network and landed in an unknown area. It was grassy with a digital look to it. When they regained their bearings, Taichi and Akie noticed they were the only ones there; it seemed everyone was separated when they arrived.
In front of Taichi was a small pink creature with two antennas as some kind of ears on top, two large red eyes, and a mouth with jutting teeth. Beside it was another small creature, this one with a feline-like head and a fan-like frill above its head, with the rest of the ‘body’ being elongated and appearing more like a tail.
“What is this?!” Taichi exclaimed.
“I’m Koromon! Your Digimon partner!” The pink creature bounced in place.
Akie kneeled at the other creature, poking its face gently with one finger. “And you are…?” She asked softly.
“I’m Frimon!” The other critter responded. “I’m your partner, Akie!”
Akie looked shocked. “Wait. How do you know my name…?”
Taichi glanced at Akie. “Oh, so you’re Akie? I’m Taichi!”
Akie turned to face Taichi before replying, “Uh… Yeah. Nice to meet you, Taichi.” Then she turned to Frimon. “And it’s nice to meet you, too, Frimon.”
“Yay!” Frimon bounced.
“Taichi! Taichi! What about me?” Koromon bounced toward Taichi.
“Uh… yeah. It’s nice to meet you, too, Koromon,” Taichi said nervously. “Now where are the others?”
Just as Taichi asked that, Takeru showed up from the other direction with a small critter in his arms. It was small and white, with a body almost like gelatin. He walked toward Taichi as fast as he could and immediately hugged Taichi’s legs the moment he arrived. Trying not to cry, the other two tried to comfort Takeru. Taichi and Akie introduced themselves again to Takeru when he calmed down slightly. Takeru introduced his Digimon partner as Tokomon, gripping it tightly while also holding onto Taichi’s shorts.
The three then began trekking through this unknown area in search of the other kids who were sucked in as well. Akie was mostly silent, only talking when Taichi asked a question, which frustrated Taichi as he wanted a conversation, not a question-and-answer thing. Taichi was about to attempt another conversation when he noticed the kid with the laptop standing by the a tree, with another critter by his feet. This one was pink with black circular eyes, two arms with three digits on each hand, and multiple protuberances on its underside.
Akie, Taichi and Takeru ran over to where the kid was, who looked over to the three when he spotted them. He merely nodded as they approached, gripping his laptop with one arm. The four introduced themselves, and they learned that he was Koushirou Izumi, a year younger than Taichi but older than Akie by a year, and that his partner was Mochimon.
The four critters attempted to explain they were in this place called File Island, which was separate from where they came from. The four kids were still confused as to what happened and how they got there, but even the Digimon—which was what the creatures called themselves—didn’t know how to explain it any further than that.
The Digimon gave up and just played with each other while the children exchanged confused glances. Koushirou expressed curiosity about this new place, and Akie was wary about Digimon and this digital world, while Taichi played with the Digimon.
That was when they heard a loud buzzing sound coming from above. All four children looked up to see a gigantic red insect flying toward them. It had large red wings with another white pair flapping behind it, two front claws with three-digit feet, and two large pincers on its head. The sheer appearance of a dangerous creature caused panic in all four of them and they started fleeing, with their Digimon bouncing behind them. There was no way they could fight something like that, especially with these small critters.
Koushirou noticed a tree that seemed to be switching between real and digital, and he felt drawn to it. He hurried along to the aforementioned tree, which he ended up disappearing into, shocking the other three. Seeing that they hadn’t followed him, he popped his head out. Though only his head was seen, Koushirou gestured to them that it was a good hiding spot from the giant monster. The other three and the Digimon hurried along into the tree, not knowing what would happen. Inside the tree, which was somehow roomy enough for four children and baby Digimon, they stayed hidden and silent until the monster disappeared.
As soon as the buzzing faded, they all left the tree, only to find Sora standing next to another small Digimon. This one was pink and shaped like a bulb, with blue leaves jutting from its head that opened up to a flower, and round green eyes with multiple tentacles below its bulb body. Sora waved to the others as they exited the tree, her Digimon partner just standing in place.
The other five introduced themselves, learning that Sora’s Digimon partner was named Pyocomon. They hadn’t bumped into any of the other children, which made Takeru more depressed and about to cry. Sora quickly knelt and gave him a comforting hug. Takeru hugged Sora back and clung to her neck.
That was when Yamato’s voice was heard coming from another direction, along with another female voice, calling out to slow down. As soon as Yamato joined up, Takeru ran to his older brother and was picked up in his arms. Yamato had a small orange Digimon that was a mere head with red eyes and a mouth, along with a large horn at the top of its head-body and a white face. It was named Tsunomon. The other child who was following Yamato was Mimi, which they learned as they all introduced themselves. Mimi came with a small green plant-like Digimon that had a sprout protruding from the top of its head and red eyes, also with a white face and four white paws with three claws. It ran after Mimi just as Tsunomon was bouncing after Yamato.
The last one to show up was Jou Kido, who was now running toward the group at an unbelievable speed with his Digimon floating behind him. He was panicking about a strange creature following him, which was believed to be his partner. It was brown in color with blue eyes and two flippers in front, teeth protruding from its mouth, a white underbelly, a brown tail, and a tuft of orange fur at the top of his head. Jou was crying to be saved, but the others merely watched him as he reached them.
“Help! Help!” Jou cried out. When he reached the others, his eyes became enlarged at the other Digimon standing by the children. “Wait… What is going on?!”
Koromon attempted to explain what was happening, and that the creature following Jou was called Pukamon, but Jou was having none of it. Taichi rubbed the back of his head and tried explaining from a human perspective, and that helped a bit.
That was when the giant insect monster showed up again, flying above them, causing everyone to run away together, with Yamato still carrying Takeru.
The partner Digimon banded together to attack the new enemy despite their size differences. Taichi tried to tell them to just run, but they refused as they were their Digimon partners, and it was their responsibility to protect their human partners.
Koromon jumped up and shot a beam of bubbles at the large Digimon, causing it to stagger a bit, but it regained its balance quickly. Koromon repeated its gesture a few more times while telling the humans to keep running. He was not about to let an enemy interfere with meeting his human partner after waiting a long time.
Tanemon released her own bubbles at the Digimon, but was only swiped to the side. This caused Mimi to exclaim, but Sora simply grabbed Mimi’s arm to continue running. Mimi gave more resistance as she wanted to help Tanemon, and was worried about the Digimon fighting something that much bigger in size.
Frimon jumped at the opponent and slapped its face with her tail, this time doing some damage as it flew backwards. To counter, the enemy swiped Frimon, causing her to fall to the ground. Akie tried to return to Frimon, but Taichi grabbed her arm and kept running with her in his grip.
Tsunomon bounced up and shot slightly acidic bubbles at the enemy from his mouth, causing the large Digimon to stagger to the side. Like Koromon, Tsunomon was not going to allow any interference with his meeting his human partner, even if this fight seemed impossible to win. But as long as they could get the enemy from attacking the humans, Tusnomon was content.
Pyocomon jumped up and spat out bubbles from her small mouth at the larger enemy. The bubbles foamed at the enemy, blinding his eyes, and it staggered back a few more steps. She jumped up and ejected more bubbles at the enemy. Sora looked back a few more times, but she knew the Digimon were doing this on their behalf.
Pukamon floated with the other Digimon to attack as bubbles were discharged from his brown mouth. His partner might not have been receptive to him, but Pukamon had to protect him regardless. He floated at another angle and shot more air bubbles at the giant enemy.
Tokomon jumped at the giant insect Digimon and spat air bubbles at it. He knew what he had to do: protect his tiny human partner after waiting for him for ages. He and the other Digimon knew this was futile, but they had to give the humans time to retreat or hide. He didn’t know why he was doing this; he wanted to run away with Takeru, but he didn’t want to abandon his Digimon allies either.
Mochimon jumped at the giant insect Digimon and sent out bubbles from his small mouth. The froth shot at the opponent’s eyes, blinding it temporarily before it swiped Mochimon to the side, causing Mochimon to fall on the ground. Koushirou tried to return for Mochimon, but Mochimon shook his head. He was doing this for the humans, and he would do this again if he had to.
Koromon and the others were worn out and battered from the fight, but they had to keep doing it to protect their human partners. They only wished they could be stronger to do so, as the enemy kept flying toward the humans. Frimon flew after the enemy despite its wounds and the other Digimon’s cries. Akie noticed while fleeing and turned back, escaping Taichi’s grip on her arm as she ran toward Frimon.
“No! Don’t come here, Akie!” Frimon shouted, as she tried to shoot more bubbles at the insect Digimon.
Akie bit her lip as she stood in place, watching the enemy fly toward her. She didn’t know what came over her, but she didn’t want to see Frimon and the others to get hurt on their account. Fists clenched, Akie walked slowly but determined toward Frimon and the others, despite their cries to stop.
In an instant, a light surrounded Frimon, and the other baby Digimon and the humans’ devices glowed simultaneously. As the light grew more and more, the Digimon shouted the same words together.
“Pukamon evolve…!” Pukamon grew in size and changed into a marine beast that was white in color with purple spots and stripes over his body, with four legs and three digits on each paw, a short tail at its rear end, and orange hair growing on the back of his head, as well as green eyes. “Gomamon!”
“Frimon evolve…!” Frimon grew into a reptile-like Digimon standing on two legs with dark magenta colored skin and dark blue eyes. She had aqua blue frills growing from her ears, collar, and spine to her tail, where the collar was made into a bow that went down to her underside. Her front paws had two claws and an aqua blue diamond-shaped design on each one. “Elizamon!”
“Koromon evolve…!” Koromon changed into an orange reptile also standing on two legs with two arms. Both arms and legs had three pearly white claws. He had a stubby tail on his rear end, and green eyes. A few teeth jutted out from his large jaw, and visible nostrils stood on the far end of his nuzzle. “Agumon!”
“Pyocomon evolve…!” Pyocomon became a bird Digimon, her feathers turning pinker with the tail’s and ears’ ends being blue. On top of her head was a single feather that was blue and pink. She had blue eyes and a red beak, as well as claws on both her wings and feet. “Piyomon!”
“Tsunomon evolve…!” Tsunomon changed into a reptile Digimon with a light and dark blue patterned fur pelt over his yellow skin. He stood on two legs with three white claws, while the arms were covered by the blue pelt and had three red claws. A yellow tail grew underneath the fur. On his belly was a blue circular design with a dark purple pattern. “Gabumon!”
“Mochimon evolve…!” Mochimon turned into an insect Digimon with a red shell and smaller black shells on its red back. He has one hard shell on each of his forelegs, and four on his middle and hind legs. “Tentomon!”
“Tokomon evolve…!” Tokomon jumped into the air and changed into a mammal Digimon with large wings as his ears. Brown fur covered the top side of his body and wings, while his underside was tan. He had four paws with three digits on each paw, and had light blue eyes. “Patamon!”
“Tanemon evolve…!” Tanemon converted into a large plant Digimon with a tropical flower blooming on her head. She had dark green eyes, and two arms that were like ivies with three claws on each hand, with the tips colored purple. She dug her root-like feet on the ground as she formed her shape. “Palmon!”
“What… what just happened?” Akie asked, stunned into place.
Everyone else froze in place, baffled and in awe at the Digimon switching forms. Taichi walked back slowly toward the Digimon and Akie, while the others did the same, but at a slower pace. They wanted to know what had just happened, but the Digimon warned them to stay back as they were still fighting the giant Digimon.
“Frill Cutter!” Elizamon shouted as she spun her frills while dashing at the giant Digimon, pinching it tightly with her frills. Then she spun her frills again, this time with her tail, and slashed the giant Digimon in the face, causing it to stagger backwards.
“Air Shot!” Patamon sucked in air, then spewed out an air shot from its mouth to the Digimon at the same time as Elizamon’s attack. Afterwards, Patamon flew toward the Digimon and tackled it with his entire body. Before the opponent could counter, Patamon flew away and shot another air shot from his mouth from another angle.
“Petit Fire!” Gabumon shot a stream of blue flames from his mouth, aiming at the giant insect Digimon. It struck its side, making the enemy fall downwards. Gabumon then ran toward the adversary and punched rapidly at its red shell with his red clawed paws.
“Marching Fishes!” Gomamon shouted as he sent a school of fishes at the giant Digimon. The fishes swarmed the insect, blinding it temporarily before Gomamon jumped at the opponent. Gomamon slashed the enemy with his left claw and then encased himself in a bubble of water, hurting the insect with the water shell wrapped around him.
“Magical Fire!” Piyomon sent out a spiral of green ethereal flames at the giant insect. She flew into the air and attacked it with both wings. Then Piyomon flipped into the air and kicked it as she flew upwards.
“Baby Flame!” A fiery breath came out of Agumon’s mouth and straight into the underside of the giant insect, which had collapsed after Piyomon’s attacks. Agumon jumped to the side and accumulated a few Baby Flames in his mouth before shooting all of it at the enemy.
“Poison Ivy!” The fingers were extended to entangle the giant insect with ivies laced with a powerful toxin, paralyzing it temporarily. Then the fingers retracted, and she threw leaves at the opponent, shocking it further. To worsen the poison, she spewed out poisonous smoke at the enemy and grabbed it with her ivies before tossing it to the side.
The giant insect fell backwards before it roared loudly, its large claws banging at its chest. Then, without notice, the enemy flew upward and away from the Digimon and humans. The remaining Digimon cheered and ran toward their human partners, jumping into their arms. They didn’t account for their new sizes though, so the humans fell over with their Digimon partners in their arms.
Taichi laughed as he rubbed Agumon’s head before hugging it. “We were so worried! But we did it! …Just what happened though?”
Agumon tilted his head. “I’m… not sure. I just felt power surging through my body and then… and then we became like this.”
The other Digimon nodded in assent, signaling they too just felt the power course through their bodies and transformed them. The humans slowly got up with their Digimon walking beside them. They decided to explore further, but with a cautious attitude in case something like that giant insect came by again. But before the group of children could leave, the Kuwagamon returned and planted a claw on the cliff, breaking the rock and causing the children to fall into the river below.