Chapter 1: A New Hero Is Chosen
The clock struck ten as Parthasarathi Singh let out yet another yawn, and almost fell off his wooden double-bed. His little brother had already gone for his tennis game, and he knew if he didn’t get up soon, he would be late for his swimming camp. Throwing the blanket aside, he stood up and stretched his arms. Still drowsy, he walked out the door of his room, heading for the washroom, hitting his toe on the hinge. Swearing under his breath, he put on his stylisedslippers (he hated crocs; according to him, they were the gayest things in the world) and brushed his teeth. Then, slipping off his pants, he put on his swimming costume, and slipped on a pair of jeans over his swimming costume. At precisely 8:35 AM, he bolted out the door, and ever wary of his ‘stalker’ stray dog, brisk walked all the way to the IIT Sports Complex. “All right everybody, line up”, said the instructor. And then everybody robotically murmured their roll numbers, and jumped into the water. After two rounds of nonstop paddling, it was finally his turn to do a width. Drawing in a breath of fresh air with his mouth, Parth dived into the water like a dolphin, and then almost went underwater, when he saw something that vaguely reminded him of disco lights. His train of thoughts was interrupted by the fact that he had exhausted his supply of oxygen, and had tightened his body too much to come to the surface. As he lost all consciousness, he thought he saw something that looked like a large mantis with a frilled neck.
*
“You alright, son?” asked the in-charge of swimming, Mr. Hemant. “He’s lucky he didn’t hit the surface of the water. That was the deep end in which he was running. Why on earth did you suddenly stop mid-paddle, kid?” asked the instructor, who seemed livid with rage. “I-I saw a bright light, and then-then...” “He’s delirious, Rama”, said Mr. Hemant. “Yes, I can see that”, snapped the instructor, Rama. “You,” he said pointing at Parth, “stay out of the water for another five minutes. And after that you better not drown again like a wimp. I won’t have any excuses.” Parth nodded, his imagination racing ahead of him. Just what was that giant mantis he had seen earlier? It couldn’t be, could it? Almost ready to throw up again, Parth continued his silent rumination, until it was his turn to do a breadth again. This time he ignored everything else, and made it to the other side of the pool. “Okay, that’s enough for today,” said Rama. “Class dismissed!”
*
Parth kicked a can of Kingfisher’s beer out of the way, as he sat down on his friend’s motorbike. “Don’t exert yourself, man”, he said. “I’m back”, said Parth. “Your breakfast is ready. Today’s special is kebab sandwiches”, said Parth’s mom. “Ok”, he said, trudging glumly into the kitchen and picking up a plate, squeezing a generous amount of tomato ketchup into it. He then headed to his room and switched on his laptop. He had been lately downloading old episodes of the anime Digimon Tamers, and today he was going to watch the 9th episode. As he poured himself a glass of Tang, reclined in his revolving chair and grabbed his breakfast, he waited for VLC Media Player to load. The preliminary growl of Guilmon that preceded Wada Kouji’s ‘The Biggest Dreamer’ sounded. However, something was wrong. The electricity suddenly went out, and the laptop screen started to glow cyan. “Talk about immersive cinema”, commented Parth. However, he didn’t have time to say anything else, as he was sucked, it seemed, into the computer, spilling his glass of Tang, and knocking over his breakfast. He found himself floating in an empty space, with a blinding light before him. “Human, do you wish to be a Tamer?” said a voice with a double timbre that seem to originate from nowhere in particular. “Huh?” said Parth. And then what seemed like an old mobile phone appeared before him, except that it didn’t look anything like a mobile phone. It had speakers like a walkie-talkie, two buttons that looked like direction keys, a central button, a weird-looking button, an SD card slot, and an overlarge screen. It was completely white. It had the letters ‘XJA’ written on it.
“Do you wish to be a Tamer?” repeated the voice. “Yes”, said Parth. “Then grab your destiny. Take this Digivice XJA, and say your name out loud.” “Parthasarathi Singh!” said Parth, grabbing the Digivice, his voice seeming to reverberate everywhere. As he touched the Digivice, it changed colour. “Then it is time,” said the voice, “that you meet your Digimon partner.” Without warning, Parth was unceremoniously swung into a vortex at warp speed, and landed on terra firma. The purple mantis-like creature appeared before him again. As he looked carefully at his new Digimon partner, its resemblance to a mantis became less pronounced. Its head was the shape of a pumpkin, it had thin hands that looked like vines, and it had legs that most certainly did not look like those of an insect. “Keramon?” mouthed Parth. “Hi partner. I’ve waited for you for a long time. It’s time for some fun”, said the Digimon.
