Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, it was already 1999. This summer wasn't special for other people, but for the eight of them it marked the start of their adventure, and their arrival in a colorful Digital World.
Though Tai took good care of Kari, narrative inertia is always the strongest force. With no warning at all, Kari caught a cold on the eve of summer camp. Maybe that was for the best—after all, Gatomon wasn't on File Island. And Tai had his hands full just trying to protect himself, never mind adding one more to look after.
"Kari, take good care of yourself while you're home alone," Tai reminded her.
"I know, big brother."
Tai looked back to see Kari standing in the doorway with a hand on the frame, watching him. He waved, then headed downstairs without looking back.
He took the bus to the campsite. Whether it was that same narrative inertia or not, Tai, Sora, Matt, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and T.K. all gathered around a small cabin. Tai lay back on the steps, lost in thought. Izzy sat on the stoop fiddling with his computer.
Suddenly, it began to snow—hard. The seven of them hurried into the cabin.
Tai slid the door open and said, "Looks like the snow's letting up." T.K., still just a little kid, said, "Snow! Awesome!" and rushed out to play. Matt chased after him. "T.K., careful!" Sora stepped outside; a gust of wind made her hug her shoulders. "So cold. Doesn't feel like summer at all." Joe followed right behind—he was the oldest of the group—and seeing everyone run out, he blurted, "We should head back to camp. If we keep staying out here, I'm afraid—" Mimi shoved past him, eyes sparkling. "Wow, it's beautiful." Izzy stared at his laptop; no matter what he tried, there was no signal.
"Izzy, come on out," Tai called from the doorway, waving to the last one still inside.
"Oh."
"Look—what's that?"
Hearing the shout, Tai and Izzy came up behind the others.
"It's an aurora. It's gorgeous!" Mimi cried.
"How strange. An aurora in Japan?" Izzy sounded baffled.
"Look—over there!" Matt was the first to notice something odd within the lights, and shouted.
It was—
A streak dropping from the heavens like a meteor.
"Aa—aa—ah—" A cacophony of noise echoed overhead.
A burning orb hurtled toward the kids. Mimi and T.K., the more timid of the bunch, screamed. The others forced themselves to stay calm, but still hunched over, hands over their heads, eyes squeezed shut. Tai squinted, forcing himself to watch it descend.
"Is everyone okay?" Sora was the first to open her eyes and immediately checked everyone.
"That was terrifying," Mimi said.
"Looks like we're fine," Matt sighed, holding T.K. close.
"What even is this?" Joe was at a loss.
"This is…" Izzy stepped forward to take a closer look. "A meteor?"
In front of each child floated something smaller than a pager.
"It's not a pager, and it's not a cell phone," said Izzy, a whiz at electronics, though even he couldn't make sense of what he was seeing.
As he spoke, a thunderous rush of water sounded.
A waterfall-like curtain of water appeared out of nowhere and swept all the children away.
Tai had steeled himself mentally, but that was only preparation. He still went head over heels, lost all sense of direction, and blacked out.
"Tai! Tai!"
A jumble of sounds jolted him awake. He opened his eyes. His whole body ached, his eyelids felt heavy, and when he did force them open, he was greeted by blinding sunlight.
"So bright."
He raised his left hand to block the glare—and realized something seemed to be sitting on his chest. Staring back at him were a pair of pink eyes set in a round, bouncy body; two long, fluffy, ear-like tufts rose from its head. They looked… like ears?
"Great! Great! Tai's here, Tai's here!" The round little creature bounced in circles around him, chirping nonstop.
He'd seen this on TV more than once, but hearing it speak human words in real life was still a bizarre feeling.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Koromon." The round creature suddenly hopped, landing in Tai's hastily outstretched hands.
"I've been waiting for you, Tai."
"Koromon? You were waiting for me?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice reached Tai's ears.
"Tai!"
He turned toward the sound. Faces from summer camp came into view.
"Izzy!?"
"Thank goodness. I thought I was the only one left."
He sounded like someone who had just found his bearings again.
"What are you talking about? I've been right here with you."
The voice came from a strange little creature at Izzy's feet. It was about the same size as Koromon—maybe thirty to forty centimeters tall. That must be Motimon. "Izzy, that's—" Tai began.
"Hello, I'm Motimon. Pleased to meet you," the little one answered politely, confirming Tai's guess.
Tai glanced around. The scenery was tropical. Even knowing a lot already, going from a snowfield to the tropics in an instant still felt unreal.
"Tai, do you know where we are?"
"This is File Island," answered Motimon at Izzy's side, clearing up Izzy's question.
"I'm going to climb up and take a look. Izzy, wait down here for me." Tai found a tall tree and scrambled up like a monkey. Koromon looked round and squishy, but it moved just fine, quickly reaching the top with him.
Tai pulled out his monocular and scanned the area. A tall mountain range rose before him; beyond it, the sea stretched out.
He swept the horizon and suddenly noticed a small red dot growing larger.
"What is that…"
"Ah, that's Kuwagamon," Koromon explained, answering Tai's doubt.
"Kuwagamon should be the first enemy we run into," Tai thought.
"Get down, Tai!"
Koromon screamed. Tai immediately clung sideways to the branch, and a violent shudder ran through the whole tree.
Sunlight hit his face, and Tai realized the entire canopy had been sheared off.
"Incredible." He swallowed. Seeing it in real life was nothing like on TV.
"Tai—" Koromon barely had time to call his name before leaping out, spitting bubbles in hopes of buying Tai a moment—but the attack did nothing to Kuwagamon. The giant beetle slammed Koromon head-on, knocking him from the air.
Thud!
Tai crashed to the ground, hard. His whole body felt like it had come apart; he could barely muster any strength.
"Tai, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He pushed himself up—and then realized something was off.
Falling from over five meters up and coming away with just pain? That didn't add up.
Koromon dropped down a moment later. Tai scooped him up. "Thanks."
"Not good—it's coming again! Quick, this way!" came Motimon's voice. Tai ran after him. Legless or not, Motimon moved fast.
Motimon led them to a big tree, then vanished right in front of their eyes. Izzy froze for a second at the sight.
But Tai knew this wasn't the time to stand around. He waved Izzy over and headed straight for the tree. It was a disguised space—like a hideaway. With this, Kuwagamon probably couldn't see them. Looking up, the tree's interior seemed pieced together from metal plates, which was a strange sight.
"It's safe now," Sora's voice called from somewhere. Tai and the others stepped out from the tree.
"Izzy, fourth grade; and he's…" Tai's gaze shifted to T.K.—someone he didn't really know. "I'm Takeru 'T.K.' Takaishi, second grade."
"Weird. Is it just us?" Sora asked. "No, there should be one more! Mimi Tachikawa is missing!" Izzy said, as if something had just clicked.
"Ah—ah—!"
"That's Mimi!" Sora reacted at once, and she and Tai ran toward the sound.
Mimi burst out of the bushes, with a Digimon at her side. Besides the petite Tanemon, something big loomed over her head.
"Oh no, it's back again. Everybody run!" Tai called, urging the others to sprint.
They ran until they were out of breath, only to hit a dead end—a sheer cliff. They'd actually chased themselves to the edge. Tai felt a twinge of regret. He'd forgotten this part of the story; it had been so long since he'd watched the show.
"Let me go," Koromon said from Tai's arms.
"Don't be ridiculous. In your state—"
"I'm supposed to protect you, Tai."
As if answering Koromon, the other partners made the same decision.
They slipped free of their partners' arms and charged Kuwagamon. Then the Digivices on Tai and the others lit up, and as if in response, seven beams of light poured down from the sky and enveloped the Digimon.
"Koromon digivolve to… Agumon!"
"Yokomon digivolve to… Biyomon!"
"Tokomon digivolve to… Patamon!"
"Tanemon digivolve to… Palmon!"
"Bukamon digivolve to… Gomamon!"
"Tsunomon digivolve to… Gabumon!"
"Motimon digivolve to… Tentomon!"
Radiance wrapped the seven Digimon, and even the sky obligingly went dark for a moment. As a kid, it had just felt hype—cue the beatdown. Now Tai could only feel at a loss for words.
Looking back on Digimon, it seemed like Agumon and the others only evolved at critical moments. That wasn't exactly good news. If anything went wrong, he was toast.
But that was for later. Right now, seven Rookies were facing down a Champion-level Kuwagamon. Evolving from In-Training to Rookie meant they weren't entirely helpless anymore.
Together, the seven Digimon brought it down. The kids cheered—cheating death was a huge mood swing for children like them. Tai felt something was off though, like he'd forgotten something.
Kuwagamon got back up. Then it slammed its massive pincers into the ground. No wonder it was the ruler of this forest—rock split instantly from the blow, and the kids and their Digimon plunged down with it.
"Ah—ah—ah—!"
"Joy turns to sorrow—guess the ancients weren't lying," Tai thought as he fell.