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

[guilmon]

Ooh! Is that your friend?

[He's got a big beard, and now Guilmon is imagining himself with a big beard... for a few seconds, before he decides that's weird.]

Guilmon felt weird... It was like I got really sick, and I passed out. Evolution's not supposed to do that... It usually makes you feel really strong!

[dunchies]

Huh? [ He's still getting used to this whole thing, but that image does get a big smile from him. ] Oh, yeah. You'd probably like him. He'd make sure you'd eat more than just bread, though.

Sorry it wasn't what you were expecting. Sounds a lot like just... transforming. [ Images of flat purple mushrooms in a circle come to mind. ] But at least you look stronger! I wish I had claws as big as yours.

[guilmon]

Other food's okay... Guilmon just likes bread the best!

[But maybe other food with bread? Hmm, hmm... He grunts, scratching his cheek as he contemplates this.

Then his thoughts scatter with the image of mushrooms.]

Those mushrooms look different than the ones in the woods... But Guilmon feels stronger, too! It's nice to have longer arms.

[dunchies]

Hmm. Bread is pretty hard to beat, but I think it's even better with a nice stew.

[ Encouraging a balanced diet for a growing dragon-lizard is important! ]

You're right. Those mushrooms are from back home. Their spores could change what you look like too, but sounds like it just sort of happened for you. [ He's still wrapping his head around it. ] But, I'll bet! I wonder what new moves you can learn. You look like you can do some serious damage now, even without your firebreath!

[guilmon]

Stew... Hmmm.

[Give him a moment to consider this. Something with bread...

There are many options. Options he has not fully considered...]

Guilmon's a lot faster now, which is good! It was hard running around on short legs, and grabbing things was hard, too. But you're a dog, so I bet you're really fast!

[dunchies]

[ He'll contemplate along! An image comes to mind of them both sitting around a big pot, dipping some fresh bread into a deliciously meaty stew.

Oh, now he's really getting hungry. ]

That's good to hear. It'd be pretty tough to climb up the Canopy with those little legs, too. [ He's... not going to dwell on that. Instead, he practically lights up! ] Yeah, that's true! Apparently I can go even faster with my electricity, but I haven't thought of trying it yet. Not around town at least.

[ A beat. ] Wait, what're the dogs like where you're from, Guilmon? Are they... kind of like other Digimon?

[guilmon]

Dogs are... dogs. They bark and sniff and do dog things, but there are dog Digimon like Dobermon.

[His thoughts are tinged with sadness, as a dobermon Digimon and a little girl flicker through his mind.]

Actually, lots of Digimon look like animals. I guess because humans made Digimon, so they based them on things they knew.

[dunchies]

You'd think so, but all the dogs here are... Pokémon! But that's right. You said you came from a drawing. Your partner must really like dragons, then. [ Is he jealous his monster drawings never came to life to be his friend? Maybe a little. ]

Ah. So big... [ He lingers on the image of Dobermon, obliviously curious. ] I'm not surprised, though. Most humans would prefer something familiar.

[guilmon]

Lots of Digimon look like animals, but some of them don't... Meramon was a big, fire man! And Culumon...

[How to describe Culumon...

Maybe it's better if he just projects an image?

Small, cute, white, with big eyes...]

Culumon is small, but that's okay. He's lots of fun to play with!

[dunchies]

Culumon looks like they'd fit in around here. [ Small and cute. Seems to be a common Pokémon description so far. ]

Meramon... maybe not so much, though. I imagine whoever designed it wanted something stronger, but it'd likely need constant fuel to stay optimal. [ He's picturing an almost golem-like creature made of fire. ] Not to mention a big weakness to water... your fire-tail makes more sense by comparison.

[guilmon]

Being fire all the time would make it hard to have fun in the snow, too... You'd just melt it all! But I don't know all the different fire types here...

[Maybe some are all fire, too? He'd have to really do some looking around to know for sure...]

I just wonder what the fire tail's for.

[He grabs his tail and... sniffs the flame. For science!]

[dunchies]

That too! [ Guilmon, too precious for this world. ] Good point, actually. Maybe we're too close to the coast to see most of them.

[ And you know what? Laios respects a fellow lad of science. ] Smell anything different? I noticed some Pokémon have special glands to control their fire. Maybe you do too!

[guilmon]

Glands?

[Sniff, sniff... Different smells? Well...]

It smells like fire. I guess that's new? Guilmon's tail wasn't on fire before...

[dunchies]

That's right! They're special organs that can secrete all sorts of things, like sweat or saliva or a fuel-like substance, in some cases. It should smell a bit more oily than usual.

I think that's how some Pokémon control the flames on their bodies, but... Can you change how big your flame is? Maybe it's not as intuitive as I thought.

[guilmon]

Hmmm...

[Guilmon stares at his tail, sharp and intense.]

Get bigger!

[...]

C'mon! Bigger!

[Still nothing.]

Rrrgh... Bigger!!

[All too suddenly, the flame BURSTS to life, and Guilmon yelps.]

Wah, not that big! I don't want to set the room on fire!

[dunchies]

[ Laios leans in close to his pearl, eager to see how Guilmon might be able do it, only to jump back at the sudden burst and unfortunate yelp. ]

Ah! Guilmon! The Canopy! [ He can't tell if anything caught fire yet, but maybe encouraging this while Guilmon is surrounded by trees wasn't the best idea. ] Are you okay? Can you put it out? Should I come help?

[guilmon]

Water's probably not good either!

[He's holding his tail, trying to keep the fire away from any leaves and wood.]

Come on... You don't have to be big anymore! Guilmon understands now!

[It may be that his nerves are what's keeping it so big. A reaction to his mood...]

[dunchies]

No! No water! [ That mix would be just as bad. ]

M-maybe it's a defense mechanism! Try to calm down, Guilmon. It'll be okay!

[guilmon]

Um... bread is good! Lots and lots of bread. Good Digimon don't start fires, and good Digimon get bread!

[This weird self-talk seems to be doing... something? The fire shrinks just a teensy bit.]

[dunchies]

Yeah, that's right! Bread! Bread is good, and Guilmon is good, too!

[ It seems to be working, so Laios is just going to run with it, third-person quirk and all. ]

If... if Guilmon doesn't set anything on fire, then Laios will make him lots of bread.

[guilmon]

Lots of bread?!

[Oh!! A jolt of excitement shoots through the message. This seems to settle his tail flame down, too. Congratulations, Laios! You unlocked the secret to pacifying the fire.]

[dunchies]

Lots and lots! [ Seeing the fire go down, he lets out a loud sigh of relief. Crisis averted, but now he's going to have to figure out how to make good on that promise. ]

Your fire might be useful for baking, actually, but we're going to need a spot without tons of trees... I'll let you know when I find it, okay, Guilmon? Just be careful for now!

[guilmon]

Hmm... maybe we could get some rocks, too? Ooh, or we could ask the bakeries how they do it...

[He giggles at the prospect. Making bread! Lots and lots of tasty bread...]

[dunchies]

The bakeries are a good idea! Maybe they'll let us borrow their ovens for a while. [ Guilmon's giggling always manages to get him laughing too. ] How about it? I can ask, get us the ingredients, and you can put your big fire tail to good use.

[guilmon]

Yeah! And maybe they can tell us how they do it, too. Or where to find the really good ingredients...

[They live here, so they have to know! They're probably even experts.]