The process was brief, the questions direct.
Soon, Aoyagi had gotten the full scoop on Agumon.
It didn't know any Tai Kamiya or Chosen Children. It was just an ordinary Agumon living on File Island.
Before being summoned, Agumon had been catching fish by a stream. When the circular portal appeared, its fearless, reckless curiosity drove it to step right in.
Once its eyes adjusted to the blinding light, it found itself under the sky of the Pokémon world.
As for its "urgent business," Agumon explained it had spotted several stranded fish in a puddle by the stream. It worried that if it returned too late, the fish would die and lose their fresh taste.
Such behavior and thinking were very Agumon.
Meanwhile, through Aoyagi's simple explanation, Agumon grasped how it got here and what kind of world it was in now.
As for the rest—like "Pokémon" and "unique creatures"—it tried hard to follow, but it was all a bit much.
Scratching its head awkwardly, Agumon said, "Sorry, I kinda get each word you're saying, but when you put them together, I'm totally lost."
Aoyagi expected this and waved it off. "No worries."
"I should be the one apologizing. It was my first time using that thing, and I didn't expect it to pull you into a completely foreign world."
He had only wanted to see what Pokémon the panel would summon as his starter, not cross entire fictional universes to bring over an Agumon.
Ultimately, this outcome was his fault.
Agumon, however, didn't care at all. With a wave of its claw, it said, "No big deal! I didn't have any friends on File Island anyway. As long as there's food and I'm not starving, I'm happy anywhere… grrr~"
Halfway through, its stomach let out an untimely rumble.
Its confident tone faltered, tinged with regret. "Such a shame about those fish in the puddle. I should've grabbed a few to fill up before coming here."
"Hahaha!"
The unexpected yet perfectly in-character comment made Aoyagi burst out laughing.
Though this wasn't that Agumon from his memories, its carefree, food-obsessed personality was identical. A racial trait, perhaps?
Recalling the "Hungry" status on the panel, Aoyagi pulled out a few ping-pong-ball-sized wild berries he'd collected for lunch and handed them over.
"Fish are hard to come by around here, but I'll make it up to you later. For now, eat these berries to tide you over."
Looking at the berries and hearing Aoyagi's words, Agumon fell silent. Its eyes welled up, and it sniffled several times to hold back tears.
Back on File Island, it had lived alone, with no friends or companions. To fill its stomach, it had to hunt or forage, sometimes facing life-threatening dangers.
It had tried sharing food with other Digimon to gain their trust and make friends, but they either ghosted it or turned on it the moment they got the food.
After years of solitude, Agumon thought its heart had grown as cold as a dead fish. Yet, upon arriving in this "Pokémon" world, it met a creature—a human, no less—who willingly shared food with it.
The surreal feeling overwhelmed Agumon, but the reality was undeniable, and it was deeply moved.
Since this human was so generous, Agumon decided it had to reciprocate.
It resolved that, once it was full and they left this place, it would show off its hard-earned fish-catching skills and snag a pile of fish for this human as thanks.
With that, Agumon took half the berries and pushed the rest back. "Half is enough for me. You eat the rest."
Its tone was firm, insisting on taking only half and nothing more.
Aoyagi nodded, saying nothing.
His attention was now drawn to changes on the panel's data for Agumon.
[Bond]: 10 (Initial Encounter) → 60 (Acknowledges you internally and sees you as a friend)[Status]: Hungry (Alleviating)
How did the bond jump so much?
Just because he shared some food?
Recalling Agumon's near-teary reaction, Aoyagi watched it devour the berries and formed a quiet hypothesis.
It might seem carefree, but it had a sensitive side too.
This meant Aoyagi didn't need to worry about how to keep Agumon by his side for now.
The next step was to get out of here…
Suddenly, a faint buzzing came from the crack in the boulder, catching Aoyagi off guard.
"Those guys didn't leave?"
Based on the past few days, the Unown would typically scatter and return to sleep after he vanished from their sight.
He'd relied on this pattern to navigate the ruins safely.
Yet today, they were lingering outside?
Talk about slacking when they should be serious and getting serious when they should slack.
Aoyagi dismissed the panel and looked toward the sound.
Agumon, still munching on berries, followed his gaze while chewing.
An Unown slipped through the crack in the boulder from the other side of the passage. Spotting Aoyagi, it let out a sharp cry.
"Jima!"
At its call, more Unown poured in, far more than before—over thirty by rough count.
They glared at Aoyagi with unbridled fury.
Clearly, their earlier barrage of Hidden Power had failed to take out this "intruder" and "vandal." Instead, he'd slipped into this corner of the ruins, nearly escaping under their noses.
This series of events had pushed their anger to the boiling point, and they were ready for a fight to the death!
Agumon, standing beside Aoyagi, sensed their aggression and blatant hostility. Still chewing, it said, "Aoyagi, are these the creatures you mentioned? The ones that look kinda like me, called… 'Pokémon'?"
"Yeah."
"They don't seem very friendly."
"Not just unfriendly. More accurately, they'd love to beat me to a pulp right here."
"No way! You're my friend, and I won't let my friend get bullied."
Agumon swallowed the last of its berries, let out a satisfied burp, and said, "Leave it to me."
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but there's too many of them. A smart guy doesn't fight when the odds are stacked. Let's retreat—"
Before Aoyagi could finish, Agumon tilted its head back, and surging orange flames gathered in its mouth.
In the next instant, a fireball wreathed in roaring flames shot from Agumon's mouth, streaking across a dozen meters at breakneck speed toward the swarm of over thirty Unown.
Boom!
The sound of an explosion rang out as the flames erupted. An Unown, unable to react in time, was scorched and plummeted to the ground, knocked out cold.
One hit, one KO!