You never had the point in your life where you wanted something significant to change in it?

You did? Well then, did you also want it to not be too much either? no world at stake, no life at the line?

…Yeah, didn't think so.

So, I thought, why not try to get myself a significant other? a girlfriend perhaps, but I wasn't against something more exotic either. It's not like I was old or anything, still being in my young adult years, settling into my current temporary routine after my… let's just say a very eccentric lifestyle.

Many of you would likely say that starting my search with dating websites may not have been the best choice if my goal was to try finding a healthy relationship, but hey, it was the path of least resistance to trying, so I decided to go for it.

It did take …. a considerable amount of effort to find someone worth giving this a try, but I feel this might be it.

Confirming the time of date and location once more on my laptop where I would be having my first local meeting with "lunaM", a girl who seemed to be very into her roleplay or was way too innocent for someone using an adult website all things considered.

Having searched around her history a bit, I did find her having tried multiple times already, but none of them seemed to have worked out, with her partners citing her as a complete weirdo.

I still struggled to decide if she was either a really good actor, or someone completely isolated from the rest of the world that I may have found someone with a common sense as broken as mine.

 

We have this sort of routine that she would ask me questions and I would answer back at her as seriously as I could, and I was still not sure if it was a sort of play she liked to do with me or if she genuinely didn’t know the answers to those questions, but I enjoyed answering those questions anyway just for the reward of that genuine sounding appreciation for my answers.

 

I felt she was worth the try, I had experienced weirder things in my life already, and dating a hardcore role player or a girl living under the deepest of rocks wouldn't even make it on the list by now. I enjoyed her company, her quirkiness, and enjoyed our back-and-forth discussions and banter as we talked about various things first through text and eventually through the voice chat. So, I decided to see if this go further as she invited me to a local meeting, and I accepted. It was as simple as that.

At best, I was getting myself a girlfriend, at worst, I was going to find an underaged kid way over her head, in which case I would perhaps get an entertaining friend to have fun with hopefully.

Well, I guess there could be even worse things, like finding out that the girl I had been in touch with for months now was a legendary in disguise making fun of me.

I swear Mesprit, if this is you again, I will make sure the god llama will know you have way too much free time in your hands again and have you work with a new chosen one or something, serves you right for tormenting me again.

"Bayyyy!" I hear from my orderly housemate from downstairs.

"Just a few more minutes."

"LEEEF!" came a more forceful answer back with a clear force behind it.

"Fine, FINE. I'm coming!"

Taking a one more look at the address of the meeting, I leave my messy room that smells way too clean with all the trash in it, I moved from my crammed den to the living room slash kitchen of the house, where my dutiful starter who still looked like the 1.2m sized green dinosaur with seven green sprout mane and a very large leaf sticking on his head as he had done all the preparations for my date beforehand without even asking him.

Honestly, considering the clear outfitting the Bayleef had done to himself already, I was starting to wonder which one of us was actually going on the date, as a red scarf surrounded my friend's neck and the usual shard of an Everstone earring piercing the large leaf on his head close to the root, seemingly freshly dyed blue just to increase the sheen on the stone.

I groaned a bit as I checked the sheer amount of clothing prepared for me to try out.

"Where did you even find half of these? why do even have this much proper clothing, actually, don't answer that, I don't want to know, the less I know, the smaller are my chances of getting stuck in a maid costume again."

Sigh.. Sometimes I wonder how a regular trainer deals with all this, and then I remember they wouldn’t.

"Maraaaa…." I hear an answer from another room with way too good of a selective hearing for a walking houseplant.

"No Merry, that was not an offer to get me try out your outfits again, go find someone else to torment instead!"

"Maaaa…" came an absent answer back from the Maractus of the house with the usual sound of a sewing machine resonating in the house, a monotone sound I had grown way too accustomed to hearing.

 

I truly wondered if I could even sleep soundly without hearing the eternal running machine in the background anymore.

I swear, for a supposed cactus she sure hates sunlight, and no, extended use of Sunny day even when it comes as a cost of another Pokémon's effort ain't going to work forever, not to mention it's a safety hazard for the eyes in a house this small with little to no windows.

Anyway, where was I? Right, the date. I briefly forgot as Aurora had begun to huff over my perfectly fine hair as he used a vine to hold a comb and fine tune my hair while using three other vines to compare different jackets on me that would fit the aesthetic of the pants.

 

Sometimes I wonder which of us is the actual trainer in the house, and as time passes the less confident I become on that answer.

"Leee?" my outfitter asks me as two of his vine whips hold up two jackets while a third keeps pointing between the two.

"I don't know? I'm fine whichever, want me to toss a coin?"

A sound that I would describe as a sigh comes out of my partner as he settles on the usual red and black jacket to my right, putting it on me with precision showing just how used to my crap my starter truly was.

"Sooo, just to make sure, you ain't coming along to my date, right?" I asked my outfitter as I gaze below me and see the mix of black jeans alongside the full pocket black and red sleeve jacket with a clean blue shirt under it that I swear wasn't there before.

The silent deadpan my partner was giving me on my question told me just how little faith he had in me to not mess something up if I went alone.

"For frick sake, it's not like I'm going to get lost in the city I have lived in for years now, and besides, the last time something actually happened was a week ago! I'm not that much of a trouble magnet to find a major event more than once a month! Have some trust in me!" I pleaded my case at my trial for independence.

The wordless answer of a continued deadpan now mixed with squinted eyes filled with doubt was the clear answer to just how much belief he had in me.

"… Fine, you can come with me, just stick in the ball once we get close to the destination." I answer as I give up trying to make a weak case for my independence to the one who had just prepared everything beforehand for me.

Aurora answers with a huff as he picks up a backpack that he straps around his large waist and picks up the large tablet custom built for him off the table as he shows the two large words written on it:

'GOOD LUCK!'

"…Thanks pal" I answer as the words finally make me notice the anxiety I was feeling for the situation.
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???

New Bark Town, a fairly silent and out of the way small town, with nature and sandy roads covering even the major roads of the urban environment with the sounds of Pokémon and children occasionally echoed silently in the background of the vintage town.

From most points of the town, the largely out of place looking large lab of Professor Elm could be seen in the distance, contrasting the rest of the older, simpler architecture of the city with it's more modern look.

 

 Yet, the lab was so very much part of the identity of the town as the starting point of many upstarts with dreams of achieving greatness be they human or Pokémon.

A truly unremarkable yet serene location, a place of calm silence as people lived their lives in that relative calm.

But none of that really mattered to the small being watching a certain small and nameless empty kid's park from the deep brushes as the sun was already beginning to rest as the first stars had begun to show.

Holding in her two small hands, she held a device that she would protect with her very life, the very soul of a still nonexistent bond it would hopefully come to connect soon as the being patiently waited for the planned time to arrive.

Maybe the being shouldn't be so hopeful, as she had experienced a sense of disappointment so many times before already, but she just couldn't help it, as she once again came early, watching the meeting spot with hopes that her search would finally be over.

So far, the site that claimed to find soulmates had not been working well for her, but she still held a small hope that it would help find her fated bond despite the previous results telling her otherwise as most of her meeting partners just didn't even bother seeing her, and the very few that bothered gave nothing that that would suggest a bond so she didn’t show herself to them.

She held a lot of hope for this one, as this try gave a very different feeling from the rest to her.

 

Talking with him had just felt so natural, and she couldn't help but to drop her guard as she discussed and asked about so much from her 'date'.

None other were as patient with her as him, he didn't shun her questions, he didn't find her 'odd' like  the others seemed to always be bothered about as she tried her best to understand the world she had found herself stranded in.

Right now, more than anything, she hoped that this would be the one, as everything in her wanted this to be it, to the point that she was willing risk it to befriend him anyways even if this turned out to be another dud. That is how much she had enjoyed his brief company.

As the few minutes she waited in that spot felt like hours to her, as she finally noticed steps approaching the small kid's park.

 

She held her breath as she focused on those steps silently approaching the meeting spot, until she could finally see movement in the corner of her eye as she turned her head to finally see him.

It became clear in an instant to her that this was different as she felt like the very world around her stopped mattering in that brief instant as her eyes gazed at the newcomer.

As he had described himself in their talks, he was arguably a somewhat mean-looking young human with relatively long scarlet red hair wearing a set of black and red clothing along with a green cap.

What set him apart from the many other humans she had seen was his general countenance he gave off, a feeling of reassurance and an odd feeling of confidence that he radiated that she couldn't quite describe the reason for, one she could best compare to the Champions she had seen who had lived through harrowing events.

Honestly, she couldn't care less what he looked like really, as right now, A deep, intricate feeling of closeness began to rise as he as he sat down on the swings, a feeling so indescribable to her yet now so very precious now that she would certain she would rather be deleted than let it fade away now.

And as the small device lit up for the first time in its existence in her hands, sinking in the last nail in her head needed to tell her that her search was finally over.

 

All that effort, all the struggle, all of it was seemingly finally over.

She had finally found it, the very reason she had started this search that had slowly begun to feel hopeless to her.

 

She had found her PARTNER.

 

And with that realization, any remaining calmness left her as the anxiety finally hit her full scale.

'whatdoidowhatidowhatdoido!'

All she wanted to do right now was to run and hug her partner, but what would he think of such an act?!

She couldn't mess this up, she can't mess this up, she just can't!

It didn't help her nerves that her partner was looking increasingly more impatient waiting for her as she was most definitely late now!

Maybe it was a defense mechanism, or perhaps foolhardiness, with very little thought in what she was doing now, she began to dash across the green brushes.

And right as she was about to step out into the open, into the moment that she was certain would be a turning point in her a life…

She…. tripped.

 

In the small line of tiles separating the grassy foliage and the silent park, landing her face first in the sandy ground and losing her grip from the surprise on the device as the blue rectangular brick began flying straight towards her partner!

… SHE HAD MESSED UP!!!!

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???

"CLONK!"

I honestly don't know what my first real date was to be like, but getting assaulted in the forehead by a device the size of a PokéDex was nowhere high in that list, and yet seems just what I should have expected.

Getting back on my feet and picking up the rectangular device attracted to my mug, it certainly resembled that of a PokéDex, but the symbols on its cover were nothing I had ever seen before or heard of, I would at first have treated it as a cheap knock-off or perhaps a toy, but the feeling the device gave me was… otherworldly, something that demanded respect to its very presence.

As I was about to open the device to check up on the lit-up screen under the lid, my attention was disrupted by the sound of silent sobbing.

"uuuh….."

Pushing my head towards the sound of the voice. I felt like my heart stopped as I gazed upon the… Pokémon?

I stared at the velvet like pink rabbit with ears mixed with some blue that had way too much happening on with their head with an appendage tuft stuck in the forehead and somehow boasting what I was guessing to be four large ears cause apparently two just weren't enough anymore with two on sides and two at the back with the side ones looking way too large for the size of that small head, making me just wonder the insanity of the world I lived in once more.

They certainly looked like they had heard that the world was ending considering the sorrowful moans that silently echoed in the now just mostly empty park as the Pokémon tried their best to bury their shame away in the sandy soil.

Not very often do I not recognize a Pokémon on sight, but hey, I ain't omniscient no matter how I try to make it sometimes look.

…Nor had they made me ever feel like I currently felt for Aurora today just on first sight.

It was so confusing, and yet so soothing that I was beginning to worry that someone was attempting to mind control me again.

… should I have Aurora slap me?

… let's not get ahead of ourselves…

"uuuh……."

Right, right, priorities, deal with the Pokémon looking wanting to become a mollusk right now, then perhaps get slapped by a tree branch.

"… You okay there? "I ask with some uncertainty on how to deal with this awkward situation.

As if lightning had struck the Pokémon in reaction to the question, she quickly tried to gather her composure and stood up to her small feet, looking at me still with some leftover tears dropping on the ground.

"… I'm fine, I'm totally fine!" she yelled at me while seemingly struggling to keep her cool under her nervousness.

… Oookay. Not every day do I see Pokémon not repeating their name.

Honestly, I would be way more freaked out if I hadn't crossed paths with a certain blabbermouth of a Meowth in the past before, but still, this was odd even by my standards.

After a short awkward staring that was clearly making the Pokémon uncomfortable as it began to fiddle her hands around one of their ears, I decided to break the ice with an obvious question of…

"Is this yours? do you... want it back?" I pointed at the device I was holding with my other hand, hoping that the question would break the silence before things escalated into depression again.

The answer that I got back was a snappy and quick, "YES!" that quickly caused her expression to turn into horrified one as she began to try correcting her previous statement, "NO! I MEAN YES, BUT NOT REALLY, I MEAN-!"

She took a deep breath to compose herself before continuing as she stared straight to my eyes and said to me, "No, you cannot give it back, because it's ours, and will always be."

Those very words seemed to have finally calmed her down as she stared at me with a gaze that could only be described as gaze filled with hope as she smiled as she began what I could only describe as a practiced speech coming out with conviction in her voice like a knight giving her oath as she began saying:

 

"From now and ever after, it will be the physical manifestation of the connection between us that can never be broken."

"A bond that will never be broken, that I will never allow to be broken for as long as I stand."

"Because from now on, we will be partners, through thick and thin, through any hardship, through anything that would wish to crush us."

"I, Lunamon, swear to always protect you, to always stand by your side, to always be with you, no matter what!" she finally yells out as a few tears of joy drop from her eyes as she finishes her clearly heartfelt practiced speech.

…. I don't think I would ever have the experience of having a Pokémon give me an understandable speech on just how much she wanted to be with me.

Honestly, I'm feeling quite flattered, I don’t think just anyone gets a speech that borders on a confession on their first date.

… Yeah, I think she is the date, figures. not like it wasn't obvious by her voice already.

For most people this would have likely been the dealbreaker already, Human/Pokémon relationships tend to be something that most people don't look in a good light, but it's not like it's considered illegal, and my life has been enough of a rollercoaster that something as small this isn't even making it on the list of craziness anymore to not at least give her a chance.

Still, Lunamon huh, connected to the goddess of the moon, The lunar bat Pokémon Lunala or perhaps god of dreams swan legendary Cresselia who tends to also represent the moon? Guess her name explains the distinct lunar crescents covering certain parts of her body with the most prominent ones being on her stomach and on her forehead just under the weird antenna. Now that I think of it, the blue parts of her do remind me of Lunala's wings as they shine just like the starry night sky.

I signal my supposed actual date partner to sit down on the other swing, which she takes with way too much joy as she hobbles towards the swing and hops onto it, proceeding to look at me with what I could best describe as a mix of curiosity and adoration.

"Well, you are certainly keeping to your quirkiness, I don't think most would give a presentation as a meeting, but I certainly appreciated it."

"I'm Silver, or MrShuttle  as you know in the website. LunaM, I assume?" I introduced myself, all the while confirming that I was in fact talking to my date here.

"Yes!" she answered with clear cheerfulness in her voice while raising a hand keeping those large eyes focused on me.

"So, why did you start looking for a partner?" I decided to ask, feeling it was a good way to start talking about each other and sating some of my curiosity.

"To become strong and be a hero of course! I can't wait to start beating bad guys and being awesome with you so I can finally make a real difference!" she answered while somehow managing to make her eyes glitter with the power of her excitement.

…. What?

Did I somehow accidentally give too much information in my profile, or did she somehow find details about me beforehand?

No, I might make mistakes every now and then, but I'm certain I didn't mention any of my escapades in our talks nor did I place any incriminating information in my profile considering this is exactly what I didn't want from this.

The only way I could see somehow getting hands on this information is either her knowing someone who knows me or knows me by association through my work.

And considering her ability to speak in a coherent way to me, I'm going to take the dive and just ask to confirm my first suspicion:

 

"Are you by chance a legendary? Have we perhaps met before?" I asked her with clear seriousness, despite most thinking that would have been a crazy question for anyone else to utter to their date, but I couldn't think of anything else making sense with both the speech and the apparent knowledge of my eccentric life.

 

"Well, I would want to be, but I don't think I'm confident enough to call myself that yet! Also, I'm not a Pokémon, I'm a Digimon, a Digital monster! Your partner!" she answers in a cheerful voice, clearly not understanding what exactly I just asked her but managed to drop a full line of bombshells for me to puzzle out.

 

And before I even get to process whatever I had just heard, she drops another bomb for me to deal with as she states, "And of course we haven't met before, I'm not local, I'm a Digimon, I come from the Digital world where all Digimon are!" with enthusiasm just oozing out of her voice.

"… And this device is?" I blurt out without thinking as I point it right towards her, as I give it my all just trying my best to process each word that were starting ring red bells in my head!

"It's a DigiDex! our physical proof of the bond we share, and that we are heroes! digital destined! Chosen ones!"

I twitch at the mention of that familiar title as my mind stops and just stares absentmindedly for a short bit at the device with gradually widening eyes as the sheer implications that were beginning to hit me hard.

I decide to finally open the lid on the device, and see a mostly familiar interface to that of the usual Pokedex, and almost out of a very old habit in me decide to attempt scanning the being in front of me without much thought:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lunamon, The Lunar Rabbit Digimon, it is said that have been born of moon watching data. Its large ears can recognize sounds from a large distance.

Level: Rookie

Attacks techniques:

Tear shoot

Luna Claw

Lop-Ear-Ripple.

Demi Darts

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Target Is Designated as your partner, so do take good care of them Mon 😊!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I barely even hear the squee of joy from my supposed partner as my mind tries its best to assess all of this.

…Of course, of course the one time try to do something normal, it would turn out into something like this.

Of course, my life would figure out a way to make a turn towards even crazier, of course it would, without a shadow of a doubt.

As my brain finally catches up with the idea that my calmer days may as well be over again and whatever future plannings I may have had may as well be burned into nothing.

There was only one thing I could say about all that.

"FFUUUUUUUUUU--!"

With a practiced routine, Aurora releases himself out of his Pokéball, acting as a living censor as he hits my face with a routine vine-whip slam, dropping me to the ground and snapping me out of it before someone gives me a ticket for causing distress in the small town for auditorial pollution.

You know, just another usual day in my life…