[IC] Digimon: Materialization

[Big McLargehuge]

Mizumoto Park, Katsushika Ward

June - 18:02

---

It was going to be dark soon. Tamaki didn't mind, though. It meant less people being out and about, which she was all for. It was dark and cool, nobody to bother her with questions, no stupid tourists asking for directions in broken Japanese.

SMACK!!

Of course, the mosquitoes were out in force. The little parasites were almost as annoying as that one extroverted girl in class who seemed to radiate sunshine and wanted to be friends with everyone. Dealing with that in the morning is the worst, thought Fujiwara. She glanced around, and, seeing a bench, took a seat. The young woman took out her phone and opened up her most-used app.

She was greeted by the loading screen, and a real-time map popped up on her screen. In the corner of the screen was a little alert, and she smiled. Kuro had found something while she was out walking. The little Digimon warbled and cooed, blinking its big eye. Kuro had been the first Digimon she'd hatched, a Kuramon. It wasn't a species that many people sought out, but it was cute.

Tamaki smiled as she collected the item from the Digimon, who continued his gurgling and cooing. She swiped her finger on the screen, the action translating into the little Digimon being pet. Kuro gave a purr, wiggling the tentacles (feelers?) on his head happily. She was quite fond of the little critter, and sometimes she wished that the Tsumemon was real, so she could hold and cuddle the little Digimon when days were bad.

[tobiax]

Mizumoto Park, Katsushika Ward

18:03

---

The soft blue light reflecting into the surrounding trees slowly faded into a warm orange. An idle thumb gently swiped the screen back and forth. If his calculations were correct- and more often than not they were, then a large concentration of X-Data would be spawned in the relay points that correlated to the park tonight. His eyes scanned the horizon, mainly listening more than anything. A quick glance down to his phone, and his thumb flicked to the portion of Emergence that stored scanned data to be converted into eggs. For someone as active in the game as he, there were a surprising number of partial and unloaded eggs.

Most players Haruka had seen loaded every egg they could, then scrambled to fit them all in their farms, and agonized over which ones to delete when that failed them. This was an obvious trap in game design meant to make the sentimental types grind or pay money for extra farms. Haruka was better than that. He was, after all, the Hexagon_Dragon. His game plan was far more exacting. He would only select the strongest, most effective Digimon. He had been lucky that the first egg the game gave him had been a carrier of the X-Antibody. With a Ryudamon already in his hand, his plan for a perfect fighting force was off to a glorious start.

Returning to the map screen, Haruka glanced at it for a moment, before scanning the path ahead. On a bench, there was a young woman with white hair, in a white coat, face aglow with the light of her own phone. Stopping there, his figure illuminated by the night-time-mode glow of his phone, Haruka waited a moment, simply looking. However, knowing better than to stare at people as night was falling, he began to move, scanning his phone from side to side, a common tell for players of Emergence.
"Well, Ryudamon," he began, his tone holding a lilt of sarcasm, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say there's a Tamer waiting to be squashed."
This kind of baiting line usually got most players in a huff. So much so that they would forget about a Digimon's ability, if they even knew Ryudamon's in the first place, and end up falling right into Haruka's hand.

[The World]

Mizumoto Park, Katsushika Ward

18:05

---

Tsubomi was perhaps not dressed the best for the weather, given that it was June and hot out during daytime. Wearing her signature black hoodie, she was at least somewhat protected from her surroundings, even if she was sweating a bit from it and her earlier exertion. She was used to that though, but not as used to the chemical scent of bug-spray that enveloped her. Those that got especially close might be able to smell the scent of chlorine instead, a by-product of the bleaching of all of her clothes other than her favorite sweatshirt, or notice the off-coloring of her originally black but now nearly orange in places track-pants. Close inspection of the girl would reveal that she was taking careful, slow steps through the park, her head down and looking towards where she walked, even past her phone in her gloved hand.

The phone in question, a silver model with a black and violet case and as many screen protectors as one could stack on without rendering it inoperable, was running her lifeline app, Digimon: Emergence, with 100% battery despite the day's use. Two cords ran from the phone, one to her complete with microphone headset and one to a large battery-pack in her left pants-pocket, next to her pocketknife. Being somewhat boyish in this regard, she carried not a purse, but a wallet in her right pocket, alongside a small multi-tool. Though these items were not for the world to see, as the pockets they were in had zippers that were closed tight, letting only the cord through to her phone. While many would find it strange to wear a headset in public rather than a pair of regular headphones, it saved her from having to unplug them when she got a call, as rare as that was.

On her screen was her pride and joy, her "baby," as it were, Dodomon. The result of winning a TCG tournament earlier in the year, it had taken a long time for its Digitama to hatch. Her partner, as she liked to think of it, Salamon was just a few taps of the phone away as well. A quick check of her Farms gave her a small hoard of items, and reassured her that they were all still self-sufficient.

Finally, she found an unused bench to sit on, though unfortunately across from someone, and sat down, never once looking up from the ground or her phone for more than a second.

[Big McLargehuge]

Tamaki pretended to ignore the voice. She knew that Digimon: Emergence was incredibly popular, but she wasn't one for battling face-to-face. Sure, she'd battle players over the web, but face-to-face? Nope. She was always nervous around people. The young woman glanced up at a bench across from her. Another girl had decided to take a seat, her eyes glued to her phone. Her clothing looked like it had seen much better days, as if she had no idea how to properly wash her clothes.

Not everyone has to learn early like you did, Tamaki thought. The girl looked to be around Tamaki's age. God only knew why she was wearing a hoodie during summer. Was it a comfort thing? Tamaki understood that kind of thinking. Having something that acted as a sort of security blanket was something she herself hadn't completely grown out of.

Tamaki glanced at her phone's battery level. Should last a while, she thought. Her mind began to wander a little bit, namely to that story she'd read on Nichan. There were all kinds of urban legends that went around. Aka Manto, the Curse of the Colonel, the Kuchisake-onna. It seemed only natural that some kind of weird stories would pop up around something popular like Digimon: Emergence, especially on the internet. Hell, she still remembered an urban legend in some dinosaur-hunting game from the 90's talking about a troll or demon that would could appear on the first map of the game. There was no proof, aside from a few blurry pictures that wouldn't be out of place in a gallery of Bigfoot pictures.

She glanced up at the girl again. Something in her wanted to speak up, to say hello. But she held her tongue. Odds are she'd think I'm weird, like that guy, Tamaki thought, her eyes flitting quickly to the young man nearby.

@tobiax@The World

[AlteredTundra]

Mizumoto Park, Katsushika Ward

18:06

Despite it being June and the temperature - even at this time of day - was usually scorching, Mizuki found the sudden breeze refreshing. There was always something about the wind and feeling it touch her skin and how it kissed her purple and blue-dyed hair. It typically didn't hit it as much when she was on the ground, but she was perched up one story on a sturdy branch in one of the trees. She found herself the most at peace when she would climb trees. Her uncle would frequently chastize her for such reckless behavior, just as he probably would later on because she missed her Kendo lesson to just be one with the wind.

She's always been a bit impulsive and adamant to follow her own path. She loved kendo and found it was a source of finding her own inner-peace, but there was always something about it that felt too rigid for her liking. Too restricting. It's why she loved video games and especially those kinds that allowed her to roam around. She's always stayed within Tokyo, but she also tended to go a bit outside despite it being just a tad dangerous.

Again, she's a reckless girl. But she's also one that follows her own path.

Having spent the last half hour just in the tree, she had a great view of the part and all of those who came and went. Including the two boys who were sitting on the bench and one that was eying one of them before the other joined.

She took a gander at her Digimon: Emergance app for a few moments, seeing if anything needed to be done. Her farm was very specific. If it wasn't avian or reptile, she didn't want it. But also a lot of combat specific mons were among her collection. But of those, she valued two very specific ones: Shijima, her Kotemon. A quiet digimon but one she loved dearly and Kenja, her black and purple Falcomon. She named him after her uncle. She collected an item from both, which were mainly random ones that weren't very useful but she hoarded them anyway. Never know when you'll need em!

Satisfied, she pocketed her phone in her front pocket and jumped down, executing a rather flashy landing on both of her feet. The impact made her bend her knees and she felt it somewhat, but she had done that kind of jump so many times that she was used to it. She might regret it later in life, but for the time being, she had to enjoy her youth. What else was a thriving young girl like herself to do?

She casually made her way over to the two sititng at the bench and immediately waved with a two-finger salute. "Yo!" Unlike what she observed, Mizuki was very extroverted. She went where the wind took her and right now, it was striking up a conversation with the two on the bench. "It seems the wind blessed us all today, to have been in the same section of the park."

[Crimson Flame]

Mizumoto Park, Katsushika Ward

Kaito was out in park as the sun was setting. There was a lot less people here than there would be during the day, and Kaito preferred it like that. It was quiet, and people left him alone. The peaceful atmosphere allowed him to revel in the quietude and enjoy his own company undisturbed. The gentle breeze danced through the air, adding a refreshing touch to the pleasant time he spent in the park.

In one hand Kaito had his phone, and in the other hand, he had a teddy bear. 15 years old, and he still carried a plushie everywhere. It was comforting, and Kaito didn’t understand why age made it such a problem. The soothing embrace of the teddy bear reassured him, its significance a mystery to those who couldn't understand the solace it brought.

He sat on a bench, and started playing Digimon emergence on his phone. He wasn’t much into combat, he just liked raising and caring for the mons. He loved all of his babies, but by far his favorite Digimon was Bearmon. He had a thing for teddy bears, and Bearmon was a cute bear with a baseball cap. What’s not to love?

There were several other people in this section of the park today. That was odd, usually this area was empty and he could enjoy the peace and quiet. The two other boys were minding their own business, but the girl in the group felt the need to greet everyone, and point out that how they were all in the same section of the park. Kaito's grip on his teddy bear tightened as a wave of nervousness washed over him. “Um… I-I-I guess so…” He stammered softly. He avoided making eye contact with any of the others, and just focused on his phone.

[The World]

There was an annoyance. Not necessarily a major issue, but it was still bothersome. Tsubomi waved off the offending insect with a gloved hand, and just barely was able to hear over her music that another girl had appeared. For the first time since entering the park, she looked up from her phone. The girl across from her seemed slightly nervous, though the more pressing matter was that the other girl had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Not that Tsubomi was the type to notice when people were around. The girl saluted her and the girl and boy on the other benches, saying something about the wind? She turned her music down slightly, just enough to be able to hear better, and when she looked back up she noticed the cocksure boy who was standing nearby as well. Honestly, none of them were as interesting as Dodomon, but the boy at least seemed to be playing Emergence. So Tsubomi switched her map view to include nearby players.

It seemed that all four of them at least had the app, if not were actively playing at the moment. It wasn't surprising to see so many people playing the popular game; if anything it was more surprising that there were only a handful of them in the park at the moment. Even the timid looking boy sitting across the way and trying to crawl into his shell was a player, it seemed. There were a couple others in the park proper but these were the nearest ones. Still, as long as they didn't bother her too much, Tsubomi wouldn't bring it up.

[TheNoCoKid]

Mizumoto Park, Katsushika Ward

18:15

Raion groaned internally as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Why did Aikido class HAVE to run late on one of the hottest nights of the year? Of course, that made him miss the last bus and he was left with no option, but to walk back to the apartment he shared with his mom and sister. He'd been in such a rush leaving class, Raion had barely even changed out of his gi; electing to wear the red bottoms underneath a tank top to stay cool. Thankfully, this situation had happened often enough that Raion knew of a shortcut through Mizumoto Park. In addition, the breeze blowing through the park would be a welcome relief from the heat and sweat of the dojo. At this point, Raion wasn't even worried about rushing home. His mom would get back even later than he would, and Aiko was old enough to take care of herself.

Shortly after entering the park, Raion heard his cell phone buzzing from inside his gym bag. After pulling it out, he was surprised to see a notification from Digimon: Emergence. The teenager had been a frequent player at one point, but after Aiko decided it wasn't 'cool' to be playing video games with her brother, she'd abandoned him and their frequent outings to play the game. A LARGE GATHERING OF X-DATA HAS BEEN DETECTED! PERFECT TIME TO TRAIN YOUR DIGIMON! The notification flashed across the screen. With nothing better to do, Raion opened the app and began to play as he walked.

Of course, all his old settings were still in place. Upon opening the game, he was greeted by his partner "Elecmon". Raion smiled as he saw the little red Digimon perk up on screen. He'd received Elecmon's digi-egg when he'd first started playing the game and he immeadiately felt an odd kinship with the Digimon. His sister and friends had laughed at him for holding onto the 'weak' starter, but Raion had been determined to help the little guy become as strong as he could. In a few moments, Raion was walking and playing like he had never stopped in the first place. He was so lost in the game that he didn't notice the small crowd of players up ahead. When he finally looked up, Raion looked around confused for several moments before he realized, "Oh. Are you all here for the X-Antibody event?"

[Big McLargehuge]

Curious, Tamaki opened up the player scan. Sure enough, all of the people nearby were playing the game. In a way it comforted her, knowing they had something in common. But still, she didn't exactly want to chat. Glancing around, it seemed that at least one of the other people was a lot like her. At the very least, that was the vibe they gave off. One young lady, however, gave off a much more... interesting aura. "Excitable" wasn't the right word, but it was the closest thing that Tamaki could put her finger on.

The girl did her best to smile, though it came off stiff and forced. Actual smiles for her were few and far between, at least when she wasn't watching something online. Tamaki glanced at the boy who'd spoken up about the X-Antibody Event. She shook her head. "N-No, I'm not," she answered. "I was just... uh... out for a walk with my Digimon." It wasn't a complete lie. Taking Kuro out for walks like this was a good way to get XP and data. However, Tamaki wasn't just going to say she was out here because of something she saw on an anonymous image board.

But an X-Antibody Event was a good thing to participate in. The X-Antibody made Digimon stronger, but as a game mechanic, it sometimes meant that Digimon would disobey orders in combat. However, there was a known glitch related to the X-Antibody... that sometimes X-Antibody Digimon left in farms would straight-up disappear, and then reappear days or weeks later. Hypnos had addressed this once on ChirpLine, calling it an extremely rare bug that they still hadn't been able to pinpoint in the code.

@TheNoCoKid

[tobiax]

Haruka waited a moment, giving the individual ample time to reply. However, when she didn't say anything, he just rolled his eyes.
"A coward then," came the reply, as he spun the phone in his hand, about to slip it into his pocket and walk away.
At that moment, another individual approached, sitting on the opposite bench. There wasn't much to say about this one, save for her odd state of dress. Pushing his hair back with the heel of his palm, Haruka stepped to leave the path, when an outburst was heard. His eye shot like a dart towards the source of the interruption.
"Superstition is for fools and weaklings," he remarked loudly.
Shoulders back and head high, Haruka made a show of leaving. His eyes shot an icy, analytical glare at the tall kid with the bear hat who was also looking at his phone. Finding nothing much of interest, he began to head down the path, flipping his phone out once again. As he traveled, he began to re-check the status of his Ryudamon, beginning to prepare him for battle. Stopping by an old stump at a crossroads in the park's many paths, Harkua began to wait for the X-Data enemies to appear. According to his calculations, the event would start in about five minutes.

...

And there it was. The hunt was on.

[The World]

The X-Antibody event? Oh, that's right, that was about to start in the area, wasn't it? Tsubomi had nearly forgotten, so smitten was she by her Dodomon. If the boy who had just shown up hadn't said something, Salamon popping on her screen to say "An event is starting!" would have reminded her. It was the perfect event for raising Dodomon as it was not only a good source of XP, but also fitting since it was a natural carrier of the antibody. Having cared for its Digitama perfectly, and having used almost her entire stock of stat boosters on it, it should by all rights be strong enough to fight the Baby II and Child/Rookie digimon that would appear, despite being a Baby I itself. Granted that the only consistent X digimon that was Baby II was Tokomon, and it was already a common prey digimon in the lore, at least she wanted its data anyway. It should only take a single battle to digivolve, though, so fighting Child digimon wasn't an unrealistic goal. Especially if she could get Salamon involved by running into a two-on-two battle. As soon as the event started, her map flashed a red -WARNING- label across itself, the sign of X-antibodies shown in the top right corner. Very quickly, digimon began popping up nearby, including quite a few X digimon. She sat still, waiting for the enemy to come to her. Her eyes raised beneath her hood to look at the other people nearby. She'd watch them while she waited.