My Digimon Partner

so, when i was a kid, i was really into digimon. now entering the grown years of my life, well, i'm still really into digimon. it's a hard franchise to explain to people who haven't experienced it: it's a little bit pokemon, little bit tamagotchi, lotta bit its own thing entirely.

the one thing that sticks out to a lot of people (particularly pokemon fans) when getting into the franchise is that, rather than having a sort of "team" format like other monster catchers, digimon focuses a lot on the bond between one specific digimon and its tamer (or digidestined.) the next big thing that sticks out is the evolutionary format. rather than set lines of growth like pokemon, digimon can have wholly unique evolutionary lines, differing even amongst digimon of the same species. you have to admit it makes sense, considering these digital monsters are lifting data off of one another, their environment, and even the internet, and using that data to evolve...

it's common amongst the digimon fandom to have a digimon partner that you hold particularly dear to your heart (if you believe enough, they become real, after all.) and the best part about it all is getting to come up with a partner with characteristics special to you, maybe something truly sentimental. my partner and i have this kind of special bond, and knowing i never have to be truly alone has been one of the best feelings, even if she may not be entirely "real" by all standards of the word.

i have known for quite some time that patamon is my partner. even when watching the original digimon adventure anime with my best friends at the time (the other children that my mom babysat), something about tk's patamon allured me. i remember having a fascination with the way he moved...? he would use his ears to flap around, and it would make a special little sound that just captivated me. after all, the name "patamon" comes from the japanese onomatopoeia for the beating of wings. even in present day: guinea pigs have a lot of sentimentality to me, and the bat wings are just uniquely beautiful...

her patamon digivolution is only 1/6th of the fun though! of course, she can digivolve just like any other. like i said, these evolutionary lines can differ vastly amongst individuals, so why don't i introduce you to each stage my partner goes through?

Fresh: Pichimon


this is her fresh digivolution (or Baby I: i grew up on the dub, so i tend to prefer dub terms.) this is how she looks right after hatching, or at her most vulnerable. for this reason, you won't really see this stage much! pichimon are very tiny, and live in the net ocean, so they're almost comparable to a shrimp..? they're notable for being quite emotional, and a little sporadic...even so, caring for a tiny pichimon can be something special.



In-Training: Tokomon


this is her in-training (or Baby II) digivolution. a big jump, huh? this stage is the smallest you'll usually see a grown digimon, under normal circumstances. tokomon are seen as very cute and innocent, despite those big ol jaws :) this is the same in-training digivolution as tk's patamon, although that's the only shared digivolution between his patamon and mine. it's also often considered the most common in-training stage for a patamon!



Rookie: Patamon


her rookie (or Child) digivolution, though i'm sure by now you already know that. it's no surprise that patamon is absolutely my favorite digimon ever (rivaled only by gabumon, gatomon, and the greymons, and even still...) so this is honestly a no-brainer. this is probably the stage you'll most often find my partner at, and that's true for a lot of digimon. she's a little bigger than most patamon you'll see, but that just makes her all the more unique! a great little companion.



Champion: Prairiemon


her champion (or Adult) digivolution is something quite special. you see, typically, prairiemon are an armor digivolution of patamon (they utilize a digimental to undergo this digivolution, rather than just being a standard progression) but thanks to inconsistencies in some digimon media it doesn't seem like this is a stone-cold requirement. and it's just the perfect gap-filler in between her rookie and ultimate stages, so how could i resist? i imagine she is about my height as prairiemon, which makes for a fun contrast between her as patamon and her as prairiemon. this is her second-most frequent stage !!



Ultimate: Wargreymon


this is her ultimate (or Perfect) digivolution! now THIS might be a head-scratcher for a lot of digimon fans, considering wargreymon is just so associated with tai's agumon and his digivolutions, but wargreymon is very very special to me and i wanted it in my partner's line Somewhere. that's kinda the beauty of digimon, you can do whatever feels best to you :) sometimes a mammal can become a reptile guy. this is when the dynamic between tamer and partner sorta flips, from me protecting her to her protecting me... fun fact: the first merchandise i got depicting my partner was a small wargreymon figure, from my local gabriel brothers. theres a lot of emotional value for that reason!



Mega: Metalseadramon


this is her mega digivolution (or Ultimate, yea the sub-dub translations are kinda confusing!) and she is BIG! achieving the amount of data and strength necessary to reach this level is quite hard, so its a rare yet beautiful occurance. returning to an aquatic creature, metalseadramon is quite similar to pichimon (poetic, huh?) while taking the whole dragon-ness from her previous digivolution. she is very large in this form, and would probably be quite adept at protecting me in the digital world. she progressively gets more and more Metally throughout her evolutionary line, going from a very gummy thing to entirely metal. i think it all ties together nicely..! :)









Armor: Goldramon


when brainstorming these digivolutions, i knew i wanted to come up with an armor digivolution unique to the crest/digimental i made for myself, especially since i was using prairiemon as a standard champion form. goldramon somehow just stuck! although digimon do not really have sexes/genders in the human sense, my digi partner is mostly aligned with She, so it might seem a little strange to go with such a masculine design, but i dunno it just feels right :). i like how the horns are reminiscent of tokomon's ears, and the serpentine body of metalseadramon. everything just ties together quite comfortably. (plus, it seems like goldramon is canonically associated with patamon now!)






some fun facts about my partner!

- she is quite chubby compared to digimon of the same species. though the canon art for wargreymon and goldramon look quite muscular and well-defined, shes much softer and rounder, with a prominent tummy. *swoon*

- like i mentioned earlier, her digivolutions have a bit of a gradual shift between being squishy and defenseless to hardened, almost artificial...! this is fun to play with. if she was physical in the real world, i'd imagine it would be a very stimmy experience for the both of us c:

- compared to other digimon of the same species, she tends to be a bit on the taller side! not too terribly so but just barely noticeable. heavier, as well.

- however: as a wargreymon, since she is an ultimate, she is actually a bit smaller compared to her mega wargrey peers. not drastically, but noticeably.

- her metalseadramon form sounds just like the dark master metalseadramon in the adventure dub, i liked his voice, and you can fight me

- she is smart :) she is cute :) i love her :) wheek wheek




these are some extra little things i made for fun, my own digivice and crest :) the digivice is based on some of my favorite colors both as a child and now, green, teal, and a blueish-indigoish, with accents of orange and yellow to match with my digi partner's color scheme. i decided to go with an original adventure-style digivice because that was the one i grew up with! the crest is the "crest of devotion", because i think thats just an aspect of me that shines out the brightest. my loyalty, my limerence, my Luuuuv... its loosely based on the design on goldramon's helmet, tweaked with some heart motifs, and stylised to look like two Things joined at the hip. its special.