Video

[guilmon]

[The feed opens with a close shot of a very red snout sniffing the Grumpearl, accompanied by warm, curious thoughts.

Judging by his wooden surroundings, he's somewhere among the Cheri Berries.

When he pulls back, he reveals himself as... a Charmeleon, with three spiky scales on each of his cheeks and a big, goofy smile.]

Hmm.

[Guilmon taps the pearl with one of his claws.]

It's shiny... Oh! But Guilmon's supposed to talk. Or think? ...Think about talking? Wah...

[He tilts his head, trying to figure out what to say.

An image of a Fuecoco flicker through the feed.]

Guilmon isn't small anymore. I think I evolved... That's okay, though. Guilmon's evolved lots of times, and now Guilmon has longer arms and legs and is almost Guilmon-shaped.

[And by Guilmon-shaped, he means... well, a a bipedal red dinosaur with black markings, a white belly, and wing-like ears.

The image accompanying his thoughts starts eating bread. Mountains of bread.]

But now Guilmon's tail is on fire... There's lots of wood here. That seems dangerous, but Ribombee said it's okay for Guilmon to be here. Maybe I can use it to make bread.

[He turns around and looks at his tail.]

Oh! But Guilmon will also work hard! Those quests look important, and there's lots of weird mushrooms now. Maybe Guilmon can burn those, too...

Comments

[offtracks]

Well...yes, it is probably for the best, if you can.

[He's not entirely sure what wild Charmander and their elders do when it rains; he's never seen any of them in the wild before. They must live much farther south, he thinks.]

Though it ought to be more persistent than an ordinary flame would be! It's not as if they cannot battle, after all!

[guilmon]

So it's a strong flame...

[Okay, that makes sense! Guilmon tips his chin down, scratching his cheek.]

But does it still hurt if people touch it? Fire's supposed to be hot....

[offtracks]

Hmmm...well, some Pokemon with flames on their bodies can control whether or not it burns a person who touches it!

[A flash of a Rapidash through his mind.]

But I am not sure about your species in particular. I have never met one in person! Until now, I suppose - though, this is not really in person either... [He doesn't know what a phone is, this distant communication is still sort of new and weird to him.]

[guilmon]

Oh, so Guilmon can make it less hot...

[Ooh! Horse... He takes a moment to focus in on that image and then...

Sends an image of Meramon, though there's a ripple of sadness with the image.]

Some Digimon are made of fire... Guilmon's glad he's not, though. Fire isn't fun to hug...

[Probably, anyway.]

[offtracks]

Ah! Are your kind similar to Pokemon, then?

[That fire one doesn't look...much like a Pokemon to his mind. But there's all sorts and new ones are discovered pretty often, so who knows?]

[guilmon]

Maybe...

[He tilts his head, trying to give it some thought.]

Digimon fight and evolve, but we get the strongest when we have partners. Lots of Digimon don't have Tamers, though, and lots of them don't trust humans either.

[offtracks]

The same is true of Pokemon, where I am from! Though I believe that the distrust between our two species is easing, in my time!

[He thought that already, but now that he's met Emmet, isn't that proven to be the case now? Unless things are just different in Unova. He doesn't know anything about the future of Hisui, really.]

[guilmon]

Maa... I wonder why they're so similar. Are they like Digimon, but not digital? Digimon were originally programs, so...

[Maybe that's why? And the "Poké" means something else... The plot thickens.]

[offtracks]

[Programs? Digital? It's obvious just from the jumble of his thoughts that Ingo doesn't really know what Guilmon is talking about.]

Maybe so. Or the words may just sound the same...but you seem to have been more like Pokemon than any of the beings from anyone else's worlds!

[Animals are confusing!]

[guilmon]

Well, they both have "mon"! But Digimon all have "mon" in their names and Pokémon don't... Like there's Renamon...

[An image of a bipedal yellow fox appears.]

She's really strong and super serious, but she's nice deep down! Her Tamer, Ruki, used to be really mean, but she got better, too.

[offtracks]

Ah! She reminds me of a Lucario!

[The image that flashes through his mind isn't so terribly similar; it's more about the shape.]

A Tamer is...like a human partner, or a coach? ["Trainer" is the normal word, but he's learned to generalize a little bit.]

[guilmon]

Mm! Tamers are partners!

[His thoughts swell with images of his normal form and a little boy, about ten, with brown hair and goggles, playing and fighting other Digimon.

Sometimes the boy even strikes a cool pose and swipes cards through a small, handheld device while shouting, "Card Slash!"]

They help us fight and grow stronger, but they're also our best friends! But Guilmon is special 'cause Takato made me himself. There's no other Digimon like Guilmon!

[offtracks]

Ah! Yes, that...that seems quite like a Pokemon trainer...

[Sort of? He thinks he recognizes the dynamic, even if the cards are sort of inexplicable.]

But how did he make you?

[guilmon]

Takato drew a picture, and then the Blue Card turned that picture into data, and that data became Guilmon!

[A strange blue card accompanies his words, with a lil' dinosaur insignia on it.]

[offtracks]

...oh! I see!

[his ass Does Not See]

That is very...ah, creative?

[guilmon]

Yeah! That's why Takato's the best!

[There's genuine joy rippling through his thoughts, with the sincerity of an ecstatic puppy.]

But most Digimon aren't made from drawings. Guilmon's just Guilmon.

[offtracks]

That makes sense.

[That most of them aren't made from drawings. The drawing part still makes absolutely no sense! It just seems like it would be impolite to ask?]

Did you have fire abilities before as well? You looked a bit like you might!

[guilmon]

Yeah! Guilmon's attack was Fire Ball! And sometimes I'd dig or use Rock Breaker, which is an attack with my claws... or I'd use special attacks when Takato used cards to power me up.

[An image displays Guilmon gaining multiple pairs of glowing, feathery wings. Behold...]

[offtracks]

Ah! Like a....Mega? Evolution...?

[Ingo’s confusion at his own words is obvious. What on earth is a mega evolution...?]

[guilmon]

Mega? Hmm...

[If this was dub continuity Guilmon, he'd have more to say on the term "Mega," but as he is not...]

Well, there's Adult Level, then there's Perfect, and then there's Ultimate! Oh, and before that, there's Child, and before that there's Baby.

Guilmon turned back into a Baby stage when he had to go back to the Digital World, but now Guilmon's big again, so that's okay.

[offtracks]

Oh...of course.

[Now Ingo doesn't understand what either of them is talking about!]

Ah, well. I am glad that you like this form, then!

[guilmon]

It's still not Guilmon's favorite form, but it's okay! Anything closer to Guilmon is a start.

[Hmmm... But they've been talking about him a lot. He doesn't want to hog all the spotlight!]

But what about you? You were human, right?

[offtracks]

I was! I suppose in many ways, I still am!

[Does simply becoming a Pokemon later in life really mean one is a Pokemon? The same way a normal Typhlosion would be? Another philosophical question, probably, more than anything else.]

It has been a bit of an adjustment, walking on four legs like this.

[guilmon]

Four legs...

[Guilmon drops down on all fours, trying to do just that, which might look a little silly, given that a Charmeleon's arms are longer than its hindlegs.]

Crawl, crawl... Hmmm. It makes Guilmon feel sneaky!

[offtracks]

[Ingo chuckles a little, hiding it behind a forepaw.]

I suppose so! Though it does make me miss having proper hands!