Chapter 21: Control
Author's Note: We've finally started the Hero Killer arc. So this chapter's pretty important because it fleshes out One for All more and helps Deku catch up to the rest of his class. Something else to take note is that this entire arc was written in just two chapters! That means that tomorrow, you'll be able to get the full fight between the students and Stain. I'm really excited for you guys to see that! Anyway, leave a review if you can. It means a lot to me. Enjoy!
Tenya had arrived at Manual's agency in Hosu city fairly early. The Ordinary Hero decided to take the student on patrol to get to know him a little better.
"Usually, our agency waits for calls from clients to do our work. But as you might have seen, Hosu's been pretty busy recently. Simipour and I have been dealing with a lot these past few days." Manual said.
Tenya looked around the streets as Skarmory flew above them. "You've been patrolling the streets for crimes?" He asked. Manual nodded. "That's right. If you ask me though, I'm pretty surprised that Ingenium's little brother came to my agency. I'm sure you got offers from higher ranked Heroes, right?"
Tenya didn't respond. He was looking for any kind of sign of where the Hero Killer may be. It was impossible to find him just by research as the man had pretty been everywhere throughout Hosu. Still, there had to be something that told him where Stain was… he had to make him pay for what he did to Tensei!
By the time they were reaching the end of their patrol, Manual apologized to Tenya. "Day in, day out, it's patrolling. Sorry we can't do much to make your internship more interesting." He said.
Tenya shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry. It's actually quite nice." He said. Manual stopped and turned to the student. "Anyway, I hate to have to ask this, but… you're going after the Hero Killer, right?" He asked.
Tenya stopped and his eyes widened in surprise. "That..."
"I couldn't think of any other reason why you'd choose my agency." Manual said with a nervous laugh. "I'm happy you still came here though! But still… you shouldn't act on a personal grudge. I know how he hurt your brother, but we're still Heroes, not executioners. It isn't our place to punish Villains on our own. Our Pokemon are allowed to fight because of special regulations, but no matter what, you cannot use them to fight for your own benefit."
Tenya looked down in shame. Manual saw this and began waving his hands frantically. "O-Of course the Hero Killer still needs to be brought to justice! I'm not saying that he isn't at fault! You just seemed like the serious type so I was worried that you might be focusing on that!"
"Thank you for your concern." Tenya said, bowing down. The Hero smiled and nodded. "It's no problem. Anyway, let's get back to business." The two began walking again, but the young student clenched his fist. If he couldn't find the man who hurt his brother… what was he going to do?
Meanwhile, Izuku looked at the address on his form then back at the decrepit building in front of him. This… was this really the place? He triple checked to make sure and there was no mistaking it, this was where he was going to be interning. There was a "WELCOME" sign that looked like it was ready to fall down any second it seemed like there had been no maintenance done on this place at all for at least a decade.
The boy took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. On the ground, he saw an old man lying dead with a pool of blood under him and his intestines scattered on the floor. Izuku was horrified at the sight.
"He's dead!" He shouted out. The old man quickly brought his head up and smiled. "I'm alive." Izuku only screamed louder. "He's alive! … phew." After realizing the situation, he let out a sigh of relief. The man was just fine.
"It's just ketchup and sausage. I fell over while holding them" The old man said. He seemed to be shaking just by standing up. He was in a Hero costume though, so was this really Gran Torino? "Who are you?" The old man asked.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya from UA's Class 1-A!"
"Could you repeat that?"
"Izuku Midoriya!"
There was a brief moment of silence. "Who are you?" Gran Torino asked, deflating the young boy. He knew that since this guy was All Might's teacher, he'd be pretty old, but this guy… he didn't think it would be this bad.
Gran Torino sat down on the floor suddenly, startling Izuku. "I'm hungry." He said. "You wanna eat?!" Izuku was absolutely baffled. How was he supposed to learn anything at this rate?!
Torino looked up at Izuku and squinted his eyes. "Toshinori?"
"That's not me!"
Again, there was a brief moment of silence. Torino just stared at the boy. Izuku took out his phone and let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, I'm just gonna make a quick call. I'll be right back." He stepped out of the doorway and quickly tried calling All Might, but just before he could even finish dialing, he heard something behind him.
Izuku quickly turned and was shocked to see Gran Torino rummaging through his Hero Suitcase. "What are you doing?!"
"So these are your Pokemon, huh?" He said in a much more serious tone. "Use them against me. I wanna see just how strong you are with it." Gran Torino pulled out the two Pokeballs and sent both Riolu and Combusken out.
He looked up at Izuku and smiled. "Who are you?" The old man asked. Izuku clenched his fist and shut his eyes. "I need to learn how to control this power fast. I know All Might doesn't have much time left, so I don't have time to be dealing with this kind of stuff right now. Please excuse us."
With that, Izuku was ready to leave. Surely if he explained what had happened to Aizawa, he'd arrange for another agency instead. Just as Riolu and Combusken were about to follow their trainer, Torino stood upright and dropped his cane to the ground.
"Alright then..." He quickly pulled out a Pokeball and sent out Hawlucha. Without hesitation, the Flying type began quickly hopping from wall to wall. He stopped right above the door and Gran Torino smiled.
"Then you have even more reason to fight me now!" He said. "I saw how you used that power at the Sports Festival. You were uncoordinated and reckless. He's called the number one Hero and the Symbol of Peace, but that All Might lacks in his teaching skills."
The way that Hawlucha moved… this was a strong Pokemon no doubt. If this was really the same man who trained All Might, Izuku was in for a tough fight now.
"I can't stand to watch you use that power, so I'll train you myself! Get your costume on and fight me!" Torino said. Izuku smiled and nodded confidently. "Yes, sir!"
The boy opened up his Hero case and looked at his new costume. There was a small booklet seated atop the suit. "User's manual?" He read out loud. Apparently, All Might had Aizawa had requested for specific changes.
First of all, the design of the suit looked much cleaner. It was a darker green with black accents along with a new belt. The material was also made to be a bit more durable so that it wouldn't get destroyed nearly as easily. It also had braces on his arms that made it a little easier to deal with the effects of One for All. Now, whenever he used a Smash, it wouldn't hurt as bad.
Once he had put it on, he turned to the retired Pro. "I'm ready." He said. Gran Torino nodded and Hawlucha joined him. "Okay, go for it. You can use both of your Pokemon."
"Are you sure it's okay? We can't really control the output yet. It'd destroy this place and if I hit you with a 100% Smash-"
"You just keep on rambling, don't you?" He snapped his fingers and Hawlucha began bouncing from wall to wall with intense speed. "Hawlucha's been itchin' to fight for a while!"
The Wrestling Pokemon landed a powerful Aerial Ace from behind Riolu. "This is a battle?!" Izuku asked. Without responding, Torino just laughed as Hawlucha continued flying around, eventually landing on, and shattering, the microwave.
"You really couldn't tell what we could do just now?" Gran Torino sat down on the couch calmly and looked at Izuku right in the eyes. "So the ninth holder of One for All is a puny weakling like you? All Might must really be stupid."
Hawlucha began flying again, landing a powerful Poison Jab on Combusken. Izuku could barely keep track of where the Pokemon was. He was way too fast. Without anywhere to hide, instead of trying to follow him, he needed some kind of way to stop his movement all together. All three surged One for All in their right arms.
He waited for the right moment, then, he saw their opportunity. "Riolu, Force Palm behind you!" The Pokemon turned around and saw Hawlucha flying right behind him. "Imagine the egg not breaking…!" Izuku whispered to himself.
He mimicked Riolu's movement as he reached out to try and hit Hawlucha. "Predicting movements, huh? Not bad." Gran Torino said as the Wrestling Pokemon easily dodged the attack to the side. "But your movements are too stiff and your Pokemon aren't thinking as one." Hawlucha hit Riolu with an Aerial Ace. Combusken tried to go in with a Double Kick, but the Pokemon quickly dodged the attack and threw the Fire type into the wall.
Izuku reluctantly returned his two Pokemon to their Pokeballs and frowned. "I thought we had you for sure."
"Your performance at the Sports Festival showed that your body was still adjusting to One for All." Torino said, returning Hawlucha to his Pokeball. "You have an understanding of its fundamentals, but your admiration for All Might is holding you back."
Izuku looked at the Hero with confusion. "It's holding me back? But how?" Torinos walked over to the door and rested his back on its frame. "It's true that you need to get stronger, and you need to do it fast. However, you think One for All is more special than it actually is."
"So what should I do?" The boy asked. Torino stood up straight and looked back at Izuku. "Figure that out on your own. I'm gonna go get something to eat."
As Izuku began cleaning up the room, he took the time to think about what Gran Torino had said. His admiration for All Might was holding him back… he needed to take Torino's words seriously. Was One for All not really as special as he thought? Was that why he and his Pokemon weren't working as one? What did he mean by that anyway?
Then, it hit him. He pulled out his notebook and began scribbling notes. He was using One for All as some kind of super powered technique. He had seen it before with All Might, so how had he never realized it? One for All wasn't meant to just be a single attack. He needed to think how to use it differently… he just needed to figure that part out.
Torino hid right out of view from the door and smiled. He knew even from the Sports Festival that Izuku was a smart boy. He could adapt to situations well, even with his weaker Pokemon compared to the competition. "I think you found a good one, Toshinori..." He whispered to himself.
Eventually, the end of their first day came without any Hero activities. To be fair, Izuku should have expected that considering Gran Torino has been retired for a long time. Still, the guy fell asleep right after arriving with the food, leaving no time for Izuku to ask anything.
He decided to run some tests to see how they could change their usage of One for All. He headed outside and into an alleyway where he sent out Riolu. He had to think about how his classmates used their Pokemon in battle. They got into UA for a reason, and something so simply for them required conscious effort from Izuku.
All Might said that he could handle 5% of One for All's power. It's just like both Aizawa and Eijiro said, if he could learn to control his power, he could do a lot more.
He turned to Riolu and nodded. "Alright, let's do it." He said. Riolu pumped his fist and got ready. This Pokemon wasn't exactly the best at movement, but with 5% of their power, he'd be able to jump between the buildings.
"Okay, imagine the egg not breaking..." He said as both he and Riolu channeled One for All into their legs. Riolu jumped up into the air, though instead of bouncing off the wall, he slammed face first into it.
Izuku felt the pain, though it wasn't nearly as bad as what they were used to. Plus, their legs weren't broken. He caught Riolu and the two tried again.
"Okay, you need to cushion the jump with your arms, so let's try putting a bit of the power into our arms at the moment we hit the wall. Still, if we miss one step, there's a chance we could seriously get hurt. I don't have time to visualize it like I normally do… okay! One more time!"
They did as they had planned, but it didn't go so well. It was difficult having to swap the power from their legs to their arms then back to their legs instantaneously. They needed to go faster, faster than what they could handle.
By the next day, Izuku was still exhausted from their training. They may have gotten a little carried away if he was being honest… he had to explain why he was in such bad shape to Gran Torino. "I tried to take what you said and apply it, but I still have a long way to go." He said.
"That's expected for your first roadblock. It's natural, so I wouldn't worry about it too much." Torino said. "But that kind of progressive thinking you're doing now would have never come from All Might. He was able to use One for All from the very beginning, so the way he was taught was very different. His body was already fully prepared for 100% of One for All."
Izuku's eyes lit up and he smiled. "All Might as a student… what was he like?!" He asked excitedly. Gran Torino thought for a moment before smiling. "Ah, we did a lot of combat training. He and his Pokemon took a lot of beatings."
So that's why All Might was so scared…
"I couldn't train him half-heartedly." Gran Torino said. "He was entrusted to me by my dear friend before passing."
"A-All Might's predecessor has passed away?" Izuku asked. Torino looked up at him with surprise before the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" The boy said.
Torino looked down and shook his head. "Toshinori, you haven't told him about the seventh?" He whispered to himself.
As it turns out, the delivery was a new microwave! Hawlucha had accidentally destroyed the old one, but that one was reaching the end of its days anyway. Their first order of business for the day? Heat up some of the frozen Taiyaki that Torino had bought yesterday and eat up!
"Taiyaki for breakfast?" Izuku asked nervously.
"I love sweet stuff!" Torino stood up and immediately grabbed the bag of groceries from the day prior.
Izuku placed a few on a large plate that he pretty much had to force into the microwave. He set the device to defrost mode and watched as the food got ready. While watching, he began contemplating on his training.
Every trainer in the Hero course are the best of the best from their generation. Izuku only got in because he happened to be at the right place at the right time. These people have had their Pokemon for years, and Izuku has barely had his Riolu for one. Not to mention, their Pokemon were all some of the strongest their species had to offer. Katsuki's Typhlosion and Tenya's Skarmory were good examples of that… how was he going to keep up with them?
Eventually, the microwave dinged and he set the food on the table. "Oh boy, let's eat some hot Taiyaki!" Torino exclaimed, picking one up and taking a bite. "It's still frozen!" He said, his body still shaking from the unexpected toughness of the pastry.
"W-What? But how? I set it to defrost..."
"You idiot! Did you put this whole plate in there?! If you shove the entire plate then it'll get stuck and won't turn! Only one part gets heated up! Have you never used a microwave before?!"
"A-Ah, sorry! Ours doesn't turn! I'm really sorry-" Izuku then had a sudden realization. "I got it!" He shouted out. He picked up one of the pastries and held it up to Torino. "This Taiyaki… it's me!"
"No it's not. Are you okay?"
"No, no. I don't mean it literally." Izuku let out a nervous laugh. "I mean, I've finally figured it out. All this time, I've been using One for All as a sort of switch. I only flip on the switch for my arms or legs whenever I need it! So what if… what if I keep all the switches on all the time!"
He sent out Riolu and Combusken and nodded to them. "Both of you, let's all channel One for All at the same time! Don't just imagine the egg in the microwave not breaking! Imagine spreading the heat of the microwave evenly through your own body."
Both Pokemon nodded and they all channeled the energy through their bodies. This was a lot for them to handle, especially Izuku. He had to take on two Pokemon at once like this, but he could still handle it.
Torino smiled proudly as he pulled out Hawlucha's Pokeball. That didn't take the boy long to figure out at all.
Spreading throughout their bodies, this was a power that they could handle! All for One 5%! Riolu and Combusken were struggling to spread it evenly at first, but after a few moments, they were able to move a little.
"You're just imagining a cake in a microwave. Quite plain, isn't it?" Gran Torino asked.
"That's… already… been approved by All Might!" Izuku said.
"So you can move?"
"We'll try our best!"
Gran Torino smiled and sent out Hawlucha. "Get ready then you three!"
Izuku smiled and closed his fist. "We're ready!" Riolu and Combusken both shouted, ready to take on the challenge.
Hawlucha began bouncing around the room at high speed. Torino leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "This will be a good test to see how far you've progressed since the Sports Festival." He pulled out a stopwatch and clicked the button on top. "Let's try three minutes."
"Three… minutes?" Izuku asked, he himself struggling to move. "Try to hit me within that time limit."
Hawlucha landed a Flying Press right on Combusken. The sudden shock caused Izuku to lose focus, flipping off those switches he had just turned on.
"How pathetic. If you can't respond to Hawlucha's speed, how are you supposed to save anyone? If you wanna be the Symbol of Peace, you should be able to overcome this old man's Pokemon!"
Izuku closed his fist once more and focused. "One for A-" Hawlucha attacked him this time, knocking him to the ground. He wanted to protest, but Heroes also got hurt during fights. It wasn't just regular Pokemon battles.
He needed time to focus again. They needed to find something… there! "Riolu, with me!" Riolu jumped into Izuku's arms and the two of them jumped underneath the couch.
"Are you stupid? We can still see you, kid!" Torino said. Hawlucha then immediately bounced off the roof and tried to strike them from above the furniture. But before he could even land, Riolu had released a 5% Vacuum Wave to knock the couch upward, narrowly missing Hawlucha.
"Not bad..." Torino said to himself. Riolu jumped up and tried to go for a Force Palm, but Hawlucha easily avoided it. "But you still haven't taken all my advice to heart. I'm about to take you out kid, which means that you still haven't improved!"
Hawlucha tried to go for a Poison Jab, but Izuku and Riolu were able to dodge the attack with incredible speed. "Behind you!" He said.
Both Hawlucha and Torino's eyes widened in shock as they saw Combusken suddenly behind the Wrestling Pokemon. "Double Kick!"
Combusken screamed as it went for the decisive blow, but even with the help of One for All, they weren't fast enough. Hawlucha managed to narrowly avoid the attack and hit Combusken with an Aerial Ace, knocking him into both Izuku and Riolu.
"And that's three minutes." Torino said. The three let out a sigh. "It's hard to maintain that energy." Izuku said, his two Pokemon nodding in agreement. While Riolu and Combusken didn't feel each other's pain like Izuku did, they had to work together in order to focus One for All through their bodies. That made it extra difficult for Izuku since he needed to take two Pokemon into consideration at the same time. "We've got a long way to-"
"No." Gran Torino cut the boy off. "Through your analysis and quick thinking, you managed to catch me off guard." This kid really was something else. Within the span of a day, he had made an incredible amount of progress. This was the first challenge he and Hawlucha had encountered in a while. He's got crazy potential.
"Anyway! Practice makes perfect, or so they say. Let's keep training!" Torino said. Izuku and his Pokemon stood back up straight. "But first, let's have some breakfast. Maybe you can apply what you learned there! Time to heat up some-"
Gran Torino turned to pick up the Taiyaki, but he was devastated to see that it had been knocked to the ground in the middle of their battle. "NOOO!"
Izuku and his Pokemon quickly ran out to buy more Taiyaki before Torino went absolutely ballistic. As they were running, the young soon-to-be Hero smiled as he saw the two Pokemon ahead of him. They had a long way to go, but there's a light at the end. This new technique… One for All: Full Cowl!
Meanwhile, from the rooftop of the shop Izuku had entered, there was a small Pokemon watching him. It smiled as it quickly hopped down into a nearby alleyway. "Vee!"