The Next Day
Sharpedo Bluff, Grass Continent
Victor slowly wakes up from sleep, gets up, and looks around his surroundings with a slightly sleepy expression. He then looks at Thorn sleeping peacefully on the bed next to his, which startles him a bit, before he notices his hands.
'Oh, right…I forgot…' Victor thought before his mood plummeted, looking frustrated again. He quietly gets out of the bed and walks out of the house through the stairs, which are basically on the cliff side, shaped like the head of a shark monster, and he recognizes it as a Sharpedo.
As he climbs out, he looks around before looking at the mark on his hand that summons his strange sword. He had no idea how he pulled that out; the only explanation is that he instinctively uses that technique without giving much of a thought. He also notices that the shape of the mark resembles the Crest of Miracle. Does that mean his destined evolution path is Magnamon?
He decided to put those thoughts aside before practicing his punches and kicks. He used to take a self-defense class back in the human world, but it has been a while since he stopped. To survive in this world, he needs to relearn his skills while also learning his moves. He made sure to relearn the basics first, punching and kicking properly till he could do it instinctively.
Unknown to him, he isn't the only one who's awake at such hours. A Pokémon with a skull covering its head like a second skin and a bone club in its hand walks past and watches Victor's practice with interest. The Pokemon had never seen Veemon in their life (Not surprising, they live in a different universe), mistaking him as Bagon too, and seeing the supposed 'Pokemon' practicing alone intrigued him.
To him, Bagon is mostly obsessed with trying to fly while also practicing headbutts with its thick-skinned head. So, seeing the Pokémon practicing Fighting-Type moves is strange for him. The Pokémon notes how his movement and posture are stiff, but good, like he had practiced before stopping for a while.
Then, the Pokémon sees Victor stop as he takes a breather before starting to do exercises that he usually sees from a Fighting-Type Dojo to build up his muscles. Honestly, he was surprised at Victor's endurance, stamina, and recovery. After a long session, he then takes another breather before starting to practice a move.
The Pokémon silently watches as Victor calms himself down, as gold sparks appear on his fist before attempting to deliver a punch, but the sparks disappear, and it starts to frustrate Victor. The Pokémon blinks in surprise, not expecting such a move from a 'Bagon' of all Pokémon. Not to mention, the move he performs isn't using aura like Fighting-Type attacks, while at the same time, it looks similar.
Did this 'Bagon' tap into an energy that has never been discovered?
"Damn it, it fails!" Victor exclaims, which surprises the Pokémon at how much older he sounds compared to his appearance, before remembering that Dragon-Types have a slow maturity rate. Interested, the Pokémon decided to show its appearance.
"You should be more patient," The Pokémon speaks, startling Victor. "You didn't let the energy gather properly, discharging it prematurely."
"U-uh…" Victor stutters as he is still caught off guard by a Pokémon, which he recognizes as Marowak, watching him train. "W-who are you?"
"I am Daichi, the owner of this town's Marowak Dojo." The Marowak, Daichi, introduces himself. "Well, why don't you give it a try?"
Victor is a bit hesitant before he follows what the Marowak had advised, being more patient before unleashing his Attack. When he first performed the moves, he understood how to gather MP (He calls it that since in the game, it's what the Digimon used to perform an Attack) into his hand, but performing an attack is another matter.
With nothing to lose, he follows the advice and gathers his MP into his hand, letting it gather as much into his hand. It takes a lot of time, too long for Victor's liking, but he keeps himself patient. He tries to control his impatience in check before he feels he has gathered enough power and unleashes.
It was a simple punch, but it unleashed great strength. Daichi was taken aback by the raw power of the move. He didn't expect the punch to be this powerful, especially from a 'first-stage' Pokémon. The gust of wind and pressure unleashed by the little dragon is nothing to scoff at. Daichi then notices the disappointed look on Victor's face.
"Is something troubling you?" Daichi asks.
"…I am thankful for your advice." Victor thanks the Marowak, which surprises the Marowak again. Most Dragon-Type Pokemons were too prideful to thank anyone. "But…the result is unsatisfactory. It was too slow, and in battle, I would lose immediately."
"…" Once again, Daichi seems impressed by the dragon's thought. The 'Bagon' could see his weaknesses, not blinded by the strength he had displayed. He shows signs of wanting to improve beyond their current strength. It's shocking how humble the dragon is. "Perhaps…you could come to my dojo and train?"
"H-huh?" Victor looks at the Marowak in surprise.
"I own a dojo in the town, not officially open yet, but you could come and train there to improve your strength even more," Daichi suggests. "It'll be a waste to let your talent go unrefined."
"… what's the catch? How much do I need to pay?" Victor asks as Daichi gives the Digimon a silent approval. A sign of cautiousness is always needed in any kind of way.
"Like I said, it'll be a waste to let your talent remain unrefined. And it's free, I have been funded by the main Dojo itself to open this, and honestly, they provide a lot of funds." Daichi says honestly, which Victor notices that he's telling the truth, and relaxes before he bows.
"Then…I'll be under your guidance," Victor says as Daichi nods and walks away. As Daichi disappears from the view, Victor can't help but be confused at how things end up like this before remembering that he's the catalyst of all changes, leading him to facepalm. Victor decided not to think too much about it and continued his training, and he can feel the Marowak's advice to be very effective as he's now able to successfully release his Attack 5 times consecutively before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, completely wasting his MP.
He curses himself for having such low MP and decides to end today's training before Thorn wakes up. The Bulbasaur sees Victor lying on the ground in sheer exhaustion and becomes panicked. Victor reassures that he's fine and just exhausted before they both meet with Tesla and Sabo.
After recognizing how weak all of them were yesterday, Sabo decided to hold his registration on a later date and focus on proper training, believing that the Guild might have strength requirements to join. While Victor wants to believe there's none, he didn't want to test fate itself, given how he almost dodged a massive bullet by helping Sabo regain his confidence to join the Guild.
Besides, he's still too weak to even be able to do any proper Guild job, so he agreed. But, there's another problem that appears. Neither of them knows how to train properly. Going to a Mystery Dungeon without permission, no matter how low the rank they are, is considered illegal by the public. Victor feels like his soul leaves his digital body when he first hears it, thinking how he almost becomes a criminal in just a day in his new isekai life.
Second, their training always consisted of sparring, in which Tesla continuously beat them to the ground, so that the only thing they improved was their endurance against non-physical attack, which explains why Tesla is much stronger than the two of them. So, Victor decided to tell the Marowak Dojo in the town so they could train, knowing he'll be stuck with them for a very long time, and he would rather not have to deal with the possible death of his teammate.
So, they all visit the dojo, and the first thing that comes to their mind is that the Dojo is still closed. Others look at Victor skeptically, which the human-turned-Digimon ignored and decided to enter.
"Ah, you're here," Daichi says as he turns to face him. "And it seems that you have companions with you as well."
"Y-yeah," Victor apologized Mareepishly. "I am sorry for bringing others with me, but-!"
"No need to apologize, the more the merrier," Daichi says as the Pokemons enter. "Oh, I didn't know you were acquainted with Sabo and Tesla."
"You…know them?" Victor asks in surprise while looking at the two of them.
"The two siblings are quite well-known in town, especially Tesla, due to his…interesting attitude."
"What's that supposed to mean!?!" Tesla exclaims in anger before Thorn slaps the back of his head.
"Don't be rude!" Thorn exclaims.
"Me?! He's the one who insults me!" Tesla exclaims as Sabo tries to calm them down. Victor gives an 'I'm so done' expression before facepalming out of shame.
"I'm so sorry about them…" Victor says as Daichi chuckles.
"I've seen a more eccentric group of children before." Daichi waved it off before gesturing for them to get in, which they did. "So, you all planned to train yourself? Why is that?"
"W-we want to join the Exploration Guild and become apprentices!" Sabo exclaims. "I-I want to train so I can defend myself more in a future danger."
"I want to get stronger so my little brother won't get hurt," Tesla says while crossing his arms.
"I find myself lacking in skills, so I hope I can improve more here," Thorn explains as Daichi merely nods, used to hearing those reasons. He then looks at Victor, who looks a bit hesitant to answer.
"… the reason why I joined sounds a bit selfish," Victor says nervously. "I want to be safe. Mystery Dungeons and bad guys, I honestly think it's too dangerous, and it wasn't safe to get involved in those kinds of matters."
"Yet, you choose to be part of the Exploration Team," Daichi points out. "Why is that?"
"…to be perfectly honest, I'm lost. I have no idea where exactly I am, how I ended up here, and how I am going to return." Victor explains, surprising Daichi with the reason. "And there's a chance that I might find the answers out there, but to do so, I need a lot of things, one of them is the ability to defend myself."
"…interesting answers, very well," Daichi says with a nod before gesturing to several doors behind him. "Well, if you seek to improve your combat skills, you can choose these respective doors to a makeshift Mystery Dungeon, where you can train yourself against Pokémon around your strength!"
"A…makeshift Mystery Dungeon!?" They all exclaim in shock. Victor knows its existence, but hearing it in real life is far more impressive and shocking. Lorewise, Mystery Dungeon is like a space-time anomaly that can't be explained by any kind of logic —scientific, natural, magic, or even anime/manga/cartoon bullshit. No one truly knows the true origin of Mystery Dungeon, and some had to come up with ideas about it for the sake of world-building in their fanfics. Some make sense, some are simply bullshit.
"Indeed, thanks to the magical tech provided by the Psychic Pokemon that leads the technological advances, including the tech used by the Expedition Society, they're able to create a simulation room replicating Mystery Dungeon's rules, restrictions, and anything discovered in it," Daichi says with a wide grin.
'Okay, a tidbit of lore in this universe and connectivity to another franchise. Cool,' Victor thought.
"One thing that you should know, the only thing that isn't available in this dungeon is the time dilation. So, you shouldn't expect time in the dungeon to either move faster or slower." Daichi says as Victor thinks it makes sense. Unless you're Dialga or have any time-related artifacts, time manipulation is almost impossible, especially to such a degree.
"Anyways, would you like a recommendation on which dungeons any of you enter?" Daichi asks as Victor nods, before being followed up with others agreeing. "Very well, "You, um…Sorry, I forgot to ask your name, young Bagon."
"… it's Victor, and I'm no Bagon," Victor says as Daichi blinks while his acquaintances stifle their laughter.
"….ah, that explains a lot yet so little…" Daichi mutters while looking away, slightly blushing under his skeletal skin. "A-anyways, Victor, I recommend you visit the Ice/Ground type Dungeon over there!"
Victor merely nods as he walks in the direction Daichi points at, while Daichi profusely apologizes to him. He didn't hear the rest of his acquaintances getting recommended by the Dojo master as he entered the dungeon. To his surprise, he can feel the space shifting upon entering, and the room changes into a frozen cave covered in snow.
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Ice/Ground Maze
1F
Victor could feel the cold seeping through his scales, mists coming out of his mouth, and the heat inside his body trying to keep him warm. Victor started to shiver as his body started to register the cold. Before he could do anything, he barely dodged incoming icicles flying towards him.
Victor was taken aback by the incoming attack and looked at the culprit behind this, a tiny furball with closed eyes and a tiny pig nose, three stripes on its back. It's a Swinub, and it looks threatened by Victor. The human-turned-Digimon takes a deep breath before cracking his knuckles, preparing himself to attack the Pokémon.
The Swinub screeches before shooting several mud balls, and Victor is barely able to dodge all of the attacks while gathering MP into his fist. He continues to move forward, closing the distance with his enemy as Swinub switches the mud ball with icicles. As Victor successfully gathers enough energy after several seconds, he roars before smacking the incoming icicles to pieces and slams an MP-enhanced punch right on Swinub's head, knocking it out immediately.
"It's…much easier than before…" Victor mutters as he flexes his hand while the Swinub slowly disintegrates to nothing. "…so that's the graphic version of the fainting Dungeon Pokemon…"
Victor then looked at a horde of Swinubs starting to gather on the path, all glaring at Victor with menacing expressions. Victor takes a deep breath before slamming his fist into his palm.
"I got a lot of time…let's use it to my fullest," Victor mutters before approaching the army of Swinubs. All of the wild Pokemons squeal in rage and start attacking Victor. Victor continuously uses V-Punch on every Ice-Type he encounters. As time goes on, Victor notices that for every certain amount of Pokemons he beats, he recovers to full health and gains strength while his V-Punch takes less time to recharge.
Victor is slightly confused by his rapid growth, unable to understand how simply continuously beating enemies helps getting stronger, while wondering if it's possible that growth in this universe is like game characters gaining experience to level up. He shakes the thought off, thinking it might not be possible because he would be greeted with a dumb plot device like the System.
"Maybe due to Veemon's different physiology, my growth is much faster, but that doesn't make any sense. Digimon's rapid growth is possible after absorbing the defeated Digimon's data, but there's no Digimon here besides me," Victor mutters before looking at the pile of beaten Swinubs and some Phanpy. "…I really shouldn't think too much about it, but it's too strange that it bothers me."
Victor decided that V-Punch is officially learn as 3 hours in dungeons allows it to reduce the recharge time from 10 seconds to 4 seconds. It was an improvement compared to the first time he used it under Daichi's guidance, so he decided he needed to learn other Attack moves obtained by Veemon. He decided he needed a long-range attack; sadly, the only long-range attack he knew Veemon could learn is V-Shot.
'Okay, so…instead of gathering energy on my fist, I need to gather it on my mouth…' Victor muses before he tries to gather energy and flows it towards his throat. It is much harder than he thought, as the energy will instinctively move to his fist, but he forcefully moves them towards his throat.
It takes him around 30 minutes to even generate enough energy to his throat, and he can feel his throat start to burn. He holds it before facing towards one of the walls and lets it rip, blasting a ball of energy at the wall. Upon impact, it creates a powerful explosion, and a cloud of dust starts to cover the entire dungeon room.
"H-holy shit!" Victor says hoarsely before coughing, feeling his throat stinging from gathering that much energy. He takes a deep breath before pulling out an Oran Berry he found while exploring the dungeon and heals himself. Victor feels the pain in his throat disappear before sighing in relief.
"That took a lot out of me…" Victor mutters. "…at least I was able to properly learn a move…" Victor then looks at the symbol on the back of his hand.
"…I had no idea what this sword is, but one thing is for sure, it's my trump card…" Victor mutters before getting up. "But, not to worry, I ain't gonna be completely reliant on one weapon. I'm not planning to be a one-trick Ponyta."
With that, he walked to the next floor and trained his V-Shot using the Phanpies in the dungeon as target practice. Victor is glad that the dungeon provides Oran Berries because his throat hurts like having screamed in karaoke for 5 straight days, something he once did with his friends back in post-high-school graduation.
He continues to push himself to get better, fearing the future threat that's coming. Dusknoir, Primal Dialga, Palkia, and Darkrai, their existences are threats to his and everyone's lives, and he had no idea how to face them being weak. Then, he remembers Daichi's casual mention of the Expedition Society, meaning threats from the sequel games exist. He is not ready to face them, because he's too weak.
'I ain't gonna die…not to them,' Victor thought as the symbol on his hand glowed, much brighter than before. 'I'm going to find a way to return and see my family again; that is a promise!'
With that silent promise, he then reached the last floor and finished the training. He had spent too much time inside the dungeon (8 Hours in fact). As he reached the 5th floor, he looked at the crest once again.
"…maybe I should learn how to use it," Victor mutters before looking at the symbol in every direction. "… how do I even summon the sword in the first place…Great, I got a huge trump card but had zero idea how to use it…."
Victor let out a sigh before noticing an incoming Phanpy using Rollout on him and instinctively pulled a roundhouse kick, knocking the rolling Pokémon back as Victor let out a wince. He shouldn't have done that, and instead uses his V-Punch, but he shakes his thoughts off before focusing on his situation.
Victor is surrounded, all path leads to 4 directions that are blocked by a horde of Swinubs and Phanpies, all looking pissed. Victor can't help but chuckle nervously, slightly intimidated by the sheer number of Pokemons in the dungeon.
"Fuck me sideways," Victor mutters as the Pokemons starts charging at him, looking enraged.
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Meanwhile
Marowak Dojo
"Hmmm," Daichi can't help but be anxious as he notices that neither of the Pokémon that entered had walked out of the makeshift dungeon. He was pretty sure the newest magi-tech provided by the technological company was the most advanced one yet, and there wouldn't be errors in setting the Dungeon Pokemons to match their strength.
Then, out of nowhere, the light above the gate leading to Normal/Fly Dungeon lit red, and Daichi watched as Tesla walked out with an annoyed expression on his face, his face covered in scratch marks, some of his fur ripped off, and wounds on his head, looking like it had been pecked harshly by birds.
"….too much for you?" Daichi asks as Tesla snaps and starts rushing towards him, not noticing that the light in one of the gates turns green and a pair of vines keep Tesla at bay. Daichi looks and sees Thorn looking worse for wear, but he is fine, and judging from the light, he has cleared the dungeon.
"Please don't start anything again, Tesla…" Thorn groans; he sounds completely exhausted. Thorn then looks at Daichi. "Also, is it really that strange that I feel somewhat stronger?"
"You never truly train your body, do you?" Daichi asks with a raised eyebrow. "We Pokémon have a special adrenaline which increases our growth exponentially. It only appears when we fight and are pushed to our limits. You can see so many evolved Pokemons who are younger than those who didn't evolve, and they mostly are either rescuers, explorers, or have gone through a lot of fights."
"Huh…" Thorn mutters as he still effortlessly holds Tesla back. Thanks to experiences in keeping Tesla in check and its recent growth, it's much easier to hold Tesla. Then, they see another dungeon with red light, and Sabo walks out, looking completely dejected.
"I failed…" Sabo mutters dejectedly. This immediately calmed Tesla down as he approached his brother, trying to comfort him. Then, the last gate lit green, and Victor walked out of the dungeon, biting on Oran berries to heal the bruises on his ribs.
"That training's rough…" Victor mutters before looking at the rest of his acquaintances, already out of the dungeon. "Um…you guys are done?"
"Yeah," Tesla hisses as Victor looks visibly confused before noticing Sabo looks crestfallen.
"Y-you okay?" Victor asks in concern.
"I failed…" Sabo mutters as Victor realizes the somber tone. This made Victor give an apologetic look to Sabo.
"You all have done well," Daichi decided to intervene, getting their attention. "Those who failed, please don't be discouraged because it is simply your first training. As long as you learn from your training, it will not go to waste."
"…" Sabo merely looked down, unable to face Daichi.
"I think it's enough training for now…" Thorn says as Daichi looks a bit hesitant before nodding.
"I…suppose…" Daichi says as they both walk out, without saying a word. Daichi feels like he has set up for failure, believing that they won't be returning to his Dojo. Meanwhile, the 4 of them walk through the town silently before they feel their stomachs growling.
"… let's get something to eat, we spend a lot of time there," Thorn suggests.
"I…got a bunch of Oran Berries earlier," Victor says as he pulls out a basket of Oran Berries out of nowhere, much to Thorn's and Tesla's disbelief.
"W-we have an inn here…" Thorn says, shaking his thoughts off.
"…" Victor then pulls out a leather bag and starts counting the gold he found in the Dungeon, causing Thorn to snort and use his vines to push it away.
"I'll pay," Thorn says.
"Y-you sure? I-I feel like I'm taking advantage of your kindness." Victor says nervously.
"I think you believe that way proves you didn't," Thorn says as Victor looks slightly hesitant before nodding. "So…how's your progress?"
"… it's not that great, still struggling." Victor can't help but lie, especially after seeing Sabo's expression.
"Please don't lie, Victor…" Sabo mutters, making Victor look like a Deerling in the headlights. "The green light indicates the success of your training."
"…that doesn't mean anything much when you're still struggling to fight properly," Victor says.
"Your aura…" Victor pauses as he looks at Sabo. "…it's much stronger. Another reason you are lying."
"Aura?" Victor says in utter surprise. He didn't expect Sabo to be able to sense Aura at all, but he shakes his thoughts off. "Sabo…be honest, how are you feeling?"
"… it stings," Sabo mutters. "I…I thought maybe I would do fine because it's just training, but I messed up and failed! And I thought I was ready to be a Guild apprentice before! I-I was such a fool! I am not ready at all…"
"…I know it stings," Victor says. "That is why we're here to train, Sabo. You shouldn't expect success on your first training; it was meant to teach you what your weakness is and set you a goal for improvement."
"It's easy to say when you clear it in your first try…" Sabo mutters.
"I used to fail a lot, you know," Victor says, getting Sabo's attention. "I used to fail back in school."
"You go to school?" Sabo asks in surprise.
"Yup," Victor says with a smile. "I was the worst student in my school. I always struggle in class, unable to focus on my teacher's explanation, and slacking off a lot. It leads me to fail."
Victor is currently telling Sabo his past life, specifically when he was in primary school. He struggled a lot, learning every lesson very slowly, unable to pay proper attention to his teacher, and he tends to fall asleep mid-class. He was always mocked by a lot of students for being dumb due to this.
"But, I try, try, and keep trying, and eventually, I graduated," Victor says. "My dad used to say, if you fail, you pick yourself up and try again. Keep doing until you succeed. Every failure, you learn from it and avoid making the same mistake. Eventually, those failures will lead to success." Victor then looked at Sabo. "So…if you fail, you don't just give up, you try again. And one day, you succeed."
"…do you think I can?" Sabo asks quietly.
"Of course," Victor says with a grin. Sabo was quiet before giving Victor a soft smile.
"O-okay…I-I want to try the training again tomorrow…" Sabo says as Victor nods before looking at Thorn, who looks either impressed or incredulous.
"How did you do that?" Thorn asks.
"Do what?" Victor blinks Noctowlish, not understanding Thorn's question.
"Those…pep-talks, you made it sound so easy to cheer Sabo up with just a few words," Thorn says.
"It's no mere few words," Victor says with a frown. "And I already experienced a lot of pep talks from my parents, so I know what I need to say."
"Huh…" Thorn mutters as they all walk together towards the inn, not noticing Tesla looking at Victor with envy. He never succeeded in cheering Sabo up every time he is sad or dealing with troubles, always resorting to physical means to deal with the problem instead of talking. This always leads to Sabo being unable to recover emotionally since there's no one to guide him. Both being orphans also didn't help them, as no parental figure was willing to guide them in their lives.
Then, Victor just pops out of nowhere and does the job for Tesla, which irks Tesla to no end, as Sabo always gets better with a mere talk. He didn't know how he felt right now, but he didn't like it at all.
To be continued