...

<Unknown>

In the middle of a thick forest, a great pillar of pure light could be seen rising up to the heavens. Said pillar seemed to constantly change, first a circular tower, then a sort of spiral staircase, then a tube with strange scriptures around it.

It almost seemed as if God himself had opened the door that connected the Divine and the Earthly.

Inside the strange changing structure, a small shadow could be seen falling rapidly until it hit the hard ground raising a great cloud of dust that enveloped a good part of the forest.

Not long after the strange pillar shone brightly and released some strange white symbols which began to rotate around the pillar emitting a sound reminiscent of a symphony in perfect harmony.

And then the pillar disappeared without a trace. The forest was enveloped in an eerie silence, although there was nothing, it seemed as if hundreds of eyes all over the world were looking in the same direction.

And in the midst of all the attention, a small human boy slowly opened his eyes.

 

***

<PoV - Noah>

Feeling my consciousness slowly but surely returning to my head, I lay there rigidly for a while before opening my eyes. I was immediately blinded by the bright sunlight forcing me to close them again.

Finally I sat up on my knees and opened my eyes again, my body felt strangely tense, almost as if I had been sleeping in the same position for a long time. A strange but familiar feeling that reminded me of the effort of getting out of bed to go to school.

I began to look around me, where only large trees and giant roots could be seen running through much of the forest. I quickly realized that I was not in the sanctuary forest, the trees were too tall and were completely different in color, these seemed to be much more greenish almost jungle like.

Closing my eyes for a moment to get my bearings, I opened them again with a confused look.

"Where am I?"

Suddenly memories flooded my mind faster than a bullet train, and with them, so too came emotions.

My breath caught in my throat as fear invaded every inch of my blood making me tremble. The fear of never opening my eyes to see another day, the sadness at the thought of all that was lost in the blink of an eye, and finally, relief at feeling my heart still beating at a rapid pace.

I was alive.

I began to breathe unsteadily in a pathetic attempt to calm my heart, my hands began to wipe away the small tears that were slowly falling down my face.

It felt like hours before I finally got the feeling of dread and fear off my back, but I also knew that it had really only been a few minutes.

I took a deep breath before standing up, not caring about my body's protest.

I looked up at the sky thanking whatever it was that saved me.

"Noah!" Called a voice from behind his back. "Noah!"

Noah froze for a moment before turning around quickly a little scared.

The scene and the fear of the tsunami was still fresh in his mind.

Shaking his head to focus on the childish voice he saw...a small hedgehog. Its white body was covered with hundreds of tiny silvery spines, one of them stood out above the others as it was larger and of a prominent golden color. The little hedgehog had large round blue-green eyes and a cheerful smile that exposed its sharp teeth.

Too stunned to move, the little spiny body tackled me to the ground and sat on my chest looking up at me with a gleeful grin. "Finally you're here!!!"

"I- You-...what?" My head was spinning as I looked at the small animal, which was strangely strong if it could knock me down without much effort. "You can talk?"

The little animal laughed in amusement as it jumped gently on my chest. "Of course silly, all Digimons can talk!"

"Digimons?" The term was unfamiliar to Noah, before a question escaped his mouth. "That's what you are, a Digimon?"

"Sure silly" Pusurimon replied as he jumped up and down playfully. "And you're my partner! You don't know how long I've been waiting for you!"

"Partner?" Suddenly his pocket began to glow with a green light. "What is it...?"

Getting up and carefully placing the hedgehog on the ground, I reached into my pocket and to his surprise there was something inside, pulling it out quickly he saw that it was the same device that came out of the snow before he fainted.

On top of the device appeared a 3D hologram with an image of the little hedgehog, as well as a lot of information about him.

 

[======]

Name: Pusurimon

Level: Baby II

Type: Data

Partner: Noah Tatsumi

...

Pusurimon are Rare Digimons that like to sharpen their spines to gain more power, it is said that their spines can become sharp enough to cut trees and rocks easily. They are usually friendly and energetic, sometimes they seem to stand still suddenly but in truth they have fallen asleep.

Special Attack: Prickly Rolling

[======]

 

I read all the information before looking at the hedgehog confused. "Pusurimon?"

"That's my name!!!" Pusurimon said jumping for joy, he definitely had a lot of energy in that little body of his. "And yours is Noah! Together we will become strong and we can defeat the most evil and wicked evil of all evil evils!"

I blinked twice before deciding to ignore that part. "Are you some kind of animal?"

"Nope, I'm a Digimon."

"And what's a Digimon?"

"A Digimon is a Digimon!"

I rolled my eyes feeling lost and a bit of an idiot for asking, a lot of strange things were happening very quickly and I couldn't understand half of it.

So he did the best thing he could think of.

Go with the flow, no questions asked.

"Okay... Hey Pusurimon, do you know where we are?"

"I'm not sure" Pusurimon shook his head. "I was gathered together with other Digimons when suddenly someone spoke in my ear and a big light appeared, when the light disappeared I was in front of you!"

"So we're lost... fantastic" I let out an ungraceful sigh before motioning Pusurimon indicating him to follow. "Come on Pusurimon!"

Pusurimon quickly jumped towards Noah, the latter barely able to react to catch the little Digimon in his arms. Looking at him from above I can tell he is quite small, he could almost be mistaken for a cute stuffed animal.

Pusurimon smiled happily as he pointed to a random spot in the forest with his little paws. "Let's go! Off on an adventure!"

I can only chuckle under my breath at the little hedgehog's extreme positivity.

 

***

After walking for a couple of hours hiking through the forest in a random direction, the duo finally found a tall hill which they decided to climb to get some landmark.

During their hikes Noah noticed that something was wrong with the forest.

For starters, there was no sound of insects or animals which was already very disturbing in itself. Also, he had the feeling that he was being watched by something or someone, as if they were waiting for him to make a mistake to eat him....

All this made him uncomfortable and wary of the environment, The only thing that didn't make him panic was Pusurimon's positivity.

'The others must be worried...'. Noah thought imagining the uproar from the teachers and students, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for possibly causing such concern. 'Besides, I don't know if the others...'

Noah shook his head quickly as he continued his slow pace up the hill. 'Positive mind... positive mind...'

Pusurimon looked up from Noah's arms with a worried look. "Noah, are you okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry" Noah smiled weakly to calm the hedgehog's worries, though he quite obviously didn't succeed. "I'm just a little nervous...we're here."

They had finally made it up to the top of the hill. Noah lowered Pusurimon from his arms and turned his gaze to the surroundings.

And...

"I'm pretty sure there wasn't a desert near the mountain I went to..." Noah muttered as he looked out into the vast desert that stretched for miles and miles. "A jungle next to a desert... what's going on?"

A growing headache was tackling Noah. This situation was far beyond him.

"I want to go home..." Noah muttered as the cold hill air made him shiver slightly. "Why does this have to be so weird..."

Pusurimon took a big leap placing himself just above his head without losing his balance. "But that's the normal thing isn't it? Weird things always happen in the Digital World!"

Noah lost his speech for a few moments. "Digital... world?"

Before Noah could think about the implications of what Pusurimon had said, footsteps sounded behind him.

Tensing at the footsteps, Noah turned quickly to see....

A strange little green man. He had large eyes and a large mouth which had sharp teeth, his hair was orange with a hairstyle reminiscent of a mohawk. He was dressed in a leather shirt and a loincloth.

"Hehehehe! Finally my meals decide to stop!" said the strange green dwarf with a mischievous grin. "Two delicious meals soon to be at the bottom of the Great Goburimon!"

"Goburimon?" asked Noah as he took a step back. "Are you the cheap ugly copy of Yoda or something?"

"I'M NOT UGLY!!!"

...

..

.

Noah shrugged. "Well, they say beauty is relative sure you can find someone who appreciates you and loves you, cheer up."

Veins popped in the green man's head. "You're dead!"

Before Noah could react, Goburimon was already swinging his big mallet at Noah. The small goblin moved at great speed despite its size.

Noah could barely react in time and quickly threw himself to the ground away from Goburimon's attack. Pusurimon fell to the ground from Noah's sudden movement and rubbed his face in pain.

"Ouch..."

Noah saw the ground sink slightly from Goburimon's attack causing his eyes to widen in alarm. Knowing that he can't face the goblin, Noah quickly scooped Pusurimon up in his arms and ran off in an attempt to escape....

Unfortunately, the only place he could run to was quickly blocked by Goburimon.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Goburimon exclaimed angrily. "No prey escapes from me! The Great Goburimon!"

Suddenly his strange device began to glow with a green light, pulling it out quickly a new information screen came into view.

 

[======]

Name: Goburimon

Level: Child

Type: Virus

...

An evil, mischief-loving Digimon with the appearance of a small goblin. Cunning but worthless, he rarely acts alone and is usually accompanied by a group of Goburimon. However, once outnumbered, they flee at full speed as they scatter like baby spiders.

Special Attack: Goburi Bomb

[======]

 

...what?

"Noah!"

Thanks to Pusurimon's shout, Noah was able to react a fireball shot out in his direction. The fireball narrowly missed dispersing into the air a few seconds later.

"Damn it! Hold still!"

Noah simply stuck his tongue out at him mockingly. "Never! Ugly apple!"

"I'M NOT AN APPLE!"

"BUT YOU ARE UGLY!"

"GAAHHHHH!"

Goburimon shouted in frustration as he launched a quick punch from below towards Noah's jaw hitting him directly. The sheer force of the blow managed to knock Noah a few feet backwards.

Noah began to see stars before pain flooded all his senses. "Gah!"

"Not so smart anymore, eh?" taunted Goburimon as he raised his maso ready to deliver the final blow. "You'll look better when I eat all your data..."

"Can we talk about this?" Noah asked with an innocent smile, or at least he tried to but the pain in his jaw made it difficult for him to speak. "Please?"

With a smirk Goburimon brought the mallet down with full force.

"Agh!"

And struck Pusurimon's thorns.

"Pusurimon!" Noah opened his eyes wide as he saw how the strange Digimon protected him with its small body, the little hedgehog's spines were bristling and seemed to be as hard as a rock successfully stopping Goburimon's blow.

Seizing the moment Noah rolled to the side and pushed Goburimon aside, freeing Pusurimon from the attack.

Goburimon growled baring its sharp teeth at the two worms it was facing. "I'm going to eat you until there's no Dato left of you!"

Pusurimon quickly moved and stood between Goburimon and Noah with a defiant pose that is strangely cute. "That won't happen ugly! The only one the one who will eat your Data is me!"

Noah was surprised by the little hedgehog's statement but quickly smiled confidently, not realizing that his device was starting to glow. "You heard him ugly! The only one who will lose out on this is you!"

Suddenly a strong white light enveloped Pusurimon and Noah, blinding Goburimon completely.

"What is this?!"

[-Pusurimon Digievolved to... Herissmon!-]

As the light faded from the surroundings, the little hedgehog was nowhere to be seen.

Now supplanting its place was a large porcupine standing on its two legs. His fur was pure white, his spines had a metallic sheen that reflected in the sun, and they ran down his body from his sword to his head and around his neck. His small claws were a reddish color, his small mouth was full of sharp teeth.

The two things that stood out the most were a few golden colored spines and his big light blue eyes that looked at Goburimon defiantly but with a smile on his face.

Noah looked at it in amazement for a moment before a soothing sensation came over him, so strong was the feeling that enveloped him that he quickly forgot about the pain in his jaw.

The sensation came from Herissmon himself-, no, it came from the destined bond they both had. A connection that could not be explained in mere words, a connection that transcended logic and soared through the skies as if they were his own.

'Is this how Ash feels every time he fights Pikachu?' Noah thought smiling to himself, the feeling along with Herissmon's presence made him feel confident and relaxed, almost as if he was invincible. "Herissmon! Attack!"

Quickly Herissmon wrapped itself in its own spikes forming a silver ball before shooting off at high speed towards Goburimon.

The latter still stunned by the sudden Digievolution was unable to react to the blow and was sent flying backwards losing his wooden mallet in the process.

But Herissmon wasn't done yet, with a quick jump he stood on top of Goburimon and turned back into a ball only this time several yellow energy beams emanated from him.

"Lightning Dive!"

Herissmon slammed into Goburimon crashing hard into the ground raising a curtain of dust, which quickly cleared to reveal Goburimon which was completely knocked out and for some reason had started to become a blur.

Herissmon landed on top of Goburimon's body as if he were a Shonen protagonist.

"Herissmon! Are you okay?" Noah shouted as he quickly approached Herissmon with concern. "You didn't get hurt?"

"All under control!" Herissmon exclaimed jumping out of Goburimon's body and looking at Noah with a smile. "It was easy! I wasn't even close to straining myself!"

Noah grinned before rubbing the large porcupine's head, its fur was surprisingly soft compared to the sharp spiked ball from a moment ago. 'Possibly he can control that at will...'

"The great... Goburimon... can't... lose..." A whisper sounded from Goburimon before fading into a strange blue dust that seemed oddly pixelated, said dust simply hovered in place without doing anything.

Suddenly his strange device glowed again, this time it was not information but a question.

[-Absorb Data?-]

[-Y / N-]

...