Chapter 30: Kota
Author's Note: Hey, everyone! We're now approaching a really intense part of the story. In case you don't know, the action scenes are much more tiring to write than chapters like this (though the training aspect was difficult in a different way). I'll need a bit more time than normal since the next few chapters are pretty much non-stop action. I've said before that with the last few episodes since the Stain arc, one chapter has basically been equivalent to one episode. With the upcoming fights, I think that'll change. We'll have to see!
Also, just something else, this chapter was originally much shorter. My original intention was to make this half of the episode it's based on and have the second half be a part of the longer chapters, but I decided that it was a better idea to end on the beginning of the invasion.
Anyway, leave a review if you can. It really helps me out. Enjoy!
Due to their schedule, Class 1-B ended up waking up a little bit later than Class A. However, this also meant that their Homeroom teacher, Vlad King, had to rush them. After all, the other class had begun training much earlier.
"Strengthen our Pokemon?" Itsuka asked, unsure what their teacher wanted them to do. He slowly led them through the forest and to their training site. "Your training so far has been all about how to be a Hero, not how to make your Pokemon stronger. Here, we'll aim to increase the strength of your moves as well as your Pokemon's capabilities." Vlad said.
He clenched his fist as they continued walking. "Last semester, Class 1-A had all the glory, but not this time! The second semester will be all about Class B, got it?!"
Setsuna ran up to her teacher, still confused. "All of us have different Pokemon, so how're we gonna make every Pokemon stronger?"
"Fire, Water, Electric, Ice, Fairy, there are plenty of different types. You need to use those to your advantage, but you already know that. However, Pokemon are much more than just their types. Pokemon with the same types can have different specialties. Here, we want to develop those specialties further." They stepped out and the students were astonished at what they saw. "You'll have to exceed your limits!"
There was a huge area where each of Class 1-A's Pokemon were pushing themselves to their limits. Each student was assigned a training regimen for their Pokemon, made to enhance their abilities and allow them to take advantage of their types.
For example, there was Katsuki. Considering he had more aggressive Fire-types, his Typhlosion and Torracat focused on releasing Flamethrower after Flamethrower while sitting in boiling water. While it wasn't uncommon for Fire-types, these two did overheat given enough Fire attacks and time. Sitting in boiling water and using Fire-type moves one after the other was meant to increase that limit.
Meanwhile, his Thwackey and Primeape worked together to train against the more defense-oriented Pokemon of Eijiro. Thwackey strengthened his sticks while Primeape trained to maintain his "angry outbursts" longer, with their constant barrage of attacks increasing the endurance, stamina, and durability of all of Eijiro's Pokemon.
Included in fighting Eijiro's team was all of Rikido's Pokemon. They all focused on powerful attacks, with Slurpuff being the only one among them who specialized in Special Attacks.
Meanwhile, the three trainers were challenged with balancing on a thin pole over mud. It required a lot of focus, something both trainers needed. They were generally impatient, so the goal was to fix that.
Meanwhile, Shoto's two Blizzards at each other constantly. Similar to Fire-types, Ice-types did get cold after a while, their tolerance is just much higher than everyone else. This was not just to increase their endurance though, but also to allow them to increase their accuracy with their most powerful moves.
Shoto himself was placed perfectly in between the Blizzards as well as the aforementioned Flamethrowers so that he could feel the drastically changing temperatures. It was incredibly difficult, but he needed to considering he was working with a special Ninetales. Worst comes to worst, he should be able to endure both temperatures.
Then there was Hanta's Pokemon. They focused on extending their reach. To do this, they sat on top of a mountain and shot out their webs and tentacles as far out as they could. This ended up being much more difficult than they had expected since, after a while, they started feeling the fatigue of constantly pushing themselves to reach further. Meanwhile, Hanta was trying to break out of a tight binding. Since his Pokemon specialized in restraining others, he should know how to escape most traps that restrained him.
Next were Mashirao's Pokemon. He and his Pokemon all had the same training: break all the giant boulders in the area. There were nearly a hundred of them and since they specialized in martial arts, they needed to split each boulder in two, strengthening their bodies.
There was also Denki's Pokemon. Since they were all Electric-types, they all simply held on to wires connected to a power generator. This filled them with electricity, pushing their limits to how much they could energy they could contain in their bodies at any given moment. Denki himself had to train his eyes by having bright lights to his sides constantly flashing. He needed his eyes to be able to adjust to the bright lights that his Pokemon were constantly emitting with every attack.
Koji and Kyoka shared their training, along with Chatot. The three of them had to scream as loud as they could. Simple vocal exercises that would allow the two students to increase the volume of their voice. This was important since their voices needed to be able to reach other Heroes that may be a bit far away.
As for the rest of their Pokemon, they were training with others. Koji's Pokemon, Rapidash and Diggersby, were racing with Tenya's Pokemon around the mountain to increase their speed. Along with them were Yuga's Furfrou and Swanna, two Pokemon who had potential high speeds but were unfortunately untrained. Tenya himself was doing laps as well, though considering he was human, he wasn't going at the same extraordinary speeds.
Kyoka's Pokemon, who specialized in gathering information, were training with Mezo and Toru. Kecleon wandered around camouflaged, while both trainers along with all the Pokemon with them had to find him. This was to train their senses and allow them to detect things they normally couldn't see.
Back with Yuga, he was doing underwater exercises. It was well-known that he did not like getting wet, so they simply forced him to. While he was doing a variety of activities, it was mostly to get him used to being in the water.
His Starmie was working with Ochako's Clefable and Espurr to lift all of the broken boulders that Mashirao's Pokemon left behind using Psychic. Considering these were giant boulders, it was difficult for them to lift the rocks. This was to increase their strengths and how much weight they could carry with Psychic. Ochako herself was also being lifted by the Psychics, having to get used to the nauseous feeling of being held up in the air by her Pokemon's Psychic abilities.
Her Whimsicott and Emolga were working with Fumikage's Honchkrow and Corvisquire. The two birds were creating strong gusts of wind that strengthened their wings while Ochako's two Pokemon were focusing on being able to control their light bodies against outside forces.
As for Fumikage's other two Pokemon, Absol and Zweilous trained by fighting against each other within caves. Due to their Dark-typing, they needed to be able to see within dark areas. By fighting and avoiding each other's attacks, they were able to adapt better to the darkness. Fumikage himself was doing the same, identifying different words and runes scattered around the cave to adjust his eyes better.
With Tsuyu, she and her Pokemon shared their training. They simply climbed up a mountain over and over to build up their strength and stamina. Her Pokemon focused on being quick-footed, but this would help increase the actual power of their physical attacks.
Next was Minoru and his Pokemon. Trubbish and Bonsly shot out Sludge Bombs and Ancient Powers to increase their stamina and endurance. Meanwhile, Sableye and Minoru himself focused on avoiding their attacks. This was to increase their evasion and allow them to remain safe even when in close combat.
With Mina, she was to have Nidoqueen and Ivysaur use Toxic on her, Corphish, and Sligoo. The two of them would endure the poison for as long as they could before using an antidote, repeating the process to build up their tolerance for the poison as well as increasing the potency of the two Poison-types Toxics.
Finally, there was Momo Yaoyorozu. Braixen and Gallade would unleash a flurry of attacks on Aegislash, strengthening his shield and allowing the other two to increase their attack power. Occasionally, Momo would step in and take Aegislash's Shield and undergo the same process.
Class B was astonished at the seemingly brutal training that 1-A was going through. "Normally, this type of training would be done over time," Vlad said. "The thing is, we don't have the luxury of time," Aizawa said, approaching the class.
"Once we join in, we'll be forty students with several Pokemon. Can the two of you really handle all of us?" Itsuka asked.
"That's why we're here!" A girl with green hair wearing a yellow costume similar to Mandalay and Pixie Bob's appeared with her male Meowstic. A man with an Incineroar appeared as well wearing a brown costume. Mandalay and Pixie Bob stood with them as well. "We're the Wild Wild Pussycats!" They all shouted.
"Ragdoll's Meowstic and my Espeon can keep track of all of you using their Psychic abilities!" Mandalay said. "With my Persian and Tiger's Incineroar, we can also help train the students using powerful attacks!" Pixie Bob continued.
Tiger stepped forward and crossed his arms. "Alright, I'll be taking some of you. If I call out your name, head over there!" He pointed over to where Izuku and his Pokemon were training. They were training their muscles by following an intense workout routine.
"Okay, let's see what you got!" Tiger shouted. Izuku clenched his fist and pointed right at Incineroar. "Double Kick, Veevee Volley, Force Palm!" The three Pokemon ran forward to attack, but Incineroar simply dodged and hit them all back, slamming them against the wall. "You're all still pretty lively. That just means that you haven't pushed yourself hard enough yet!" Tiger said.
"Yes, sir…"
"I didn't hear you!"
"Yes, sir!"
Tiger held the boy by his shirt and stared at him menacingly. "It's Plus Ultra, remember? Do it! Where's your Ultra?!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Aizawa let out a sigh and turned back to Class 1-B. "Because of certain circumstances, we could only afford to let Vlad King and I come on this trip to represent the faculty. As such, we decided that the Pussycats would be the best alternative considering their careers and capabilities."
Eventually, Izuku and his Pokemon collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion. Still, they knew the blessings and lessons they were given by All Might, Gran Torino, and so many others. Even if it meant destroying their bodies over and over, they were going to improve. They've gotten this far with the help of others, but now it was all up to them!
"Let's go!" Izuku got up and his Pokemon quickly followed, all of them shouting to hype themselves up. "Yeah, that's it! Hit us with everything you got!"
That night, just as they were getting ready to eat, they were thrown yet another challenge. "Yesterday, we told you that that dinner was going to be the only time we'd prepare food for you!" Pixie Bob said. Ragdoll smiled and nodded her head. "Exactly! From now on, you'll have to prepare your food yourself! Tonight's dinner is… curry!"
"Yes, ma'am…" All the exhausted students said. "You all look tired!" Ragdoll said, laughing. "But that doesn't mean that you can slack off and make sloppy food!"
Tenya's eyes lit up and he placed his hand on his chin. "That's right. It's all a part of the rescue activity. Fill a victim's stomach and lift their spirits. I expected nothing less from UA!" He stepped forward and sent out his tired Pokemon. "Everyone, let's work together with our Pokemon to make the best curry ever!"
"Yes, sir…"
They all gathered the materials and got to work. Since they had over a hundred mouths to feed, everyone had their Pokemon work together with them to get everything done efficiently. The Fire-types, specifically Shoto's Ninetales, lit most of the fires. Katsuki's Pokemon tried as well, but their fires were more explosive than helpful.
"Guys, give Ninetales a break. If you keep relying on him, you'll never learn how to light a fire yourself." Momo said. Shoto shook his head and walked over to another set of students. "It's fine, right, Ninetales?" The fox Pokemon nodded her head and lit another fire.
Considering Izuku's skills and his Pokemon, he had an entire station to himself. The process was simple: Combusken lights the fire, Eevee uses her tail to fan the flames, and Riolu helped Izuku add the ingredients and stir the pot. They all seemed pretty excited to be making the food, especially Eevee.
After they were done preparing the food, Izuku made sure to add the final ingredient that his mom always told him to add: a lot of heart. At least, he… erm… he tried. He didn't exactly know what that meant but he did his best.
Once everyone finished cooking the food, they began eating. It wasn't the greatest, but considering just how hungry everyone was, it was amazing. After the training they went through, all of them went out of their way to prepare extra batches of food so that everyone could have multiple servings.
After the initial slaughter of the curry, everyone calmed down a bit and were able to talk. This was the first time that Class A and B were together like this so it was a good chance for everyone to get to know each other.
It was a fun experience, with Eevee even coming in and secretly stealing food from Izuku when he looked away. Riolu also bonded with Itsuka's Medicham. The Psychic-type was much more experienced and expressed her interest in teaching Riolu more fighting techniques. Combusken meanwhile was playing around with some of the other Pokemon. Jangmo-o, Vigoroth, Duskull, they all reminded him of his friends back at the park where Izuku found him.
Even the teachers ate the curry. They were sat at their own table, but all of them seemed to be having a good time talking to each other.
However, there was one person who wasn't with them. Kota only watched from a distance as everyone ate before walking away and heading off into the woods. As Izuku was heading back from a trip to the restroom, he saw the young boy heading off into the woods. "I'll be right back, guys." He told his Pokemon.
The child walked to a nearby cliff with the entrance to a cave beside him. His Squirtle could hear his trainer's stomach rumble. The boy was hungry, but he refused to eat with the UA students.
"Kota, you're hungry, aren't you?" Izuku called out, surprising him. "You can eat this, it's curry." The One for All holder walked up to the boy with two plates in hand: one for Kota and one for Squirtle.
Squirtle stepped in and stood in between Izuku and Kota. "How'd you find me?!" Kota asked aggressively. "Oh, I uh… I followed you here. Sorry…" He stepped a little closer, making sure not to get too near to the turtle. "I thought you might be hungry so I brought this."
Kota simply turned his back to the boy and faced the cliff. "I'm not hungry. I told you already that I don't wanna hang around you people. Just leave my secret hideout."
Secret hideout? Izuku looked around. The only real notable thing was the cave entrance beside them, but it seemed fairly short. It was pretty dark, but you could just make out the exit to the other side of the mountain.
Kota sat down and crossed his arms. "You keep forcing your Pokemon to get stronger, it makes me sick. All you guys wanna do is show them off." Izuku didn't respond. He knew that that wasn't true, but he couldn't blame Kota for thinking that way.
"You're parents… were they Water Hose? The Hero Team with two Blastoise?" He asked, shocking Kota. "Mandalay told you!" He shouted.
"No! Well, uhh… actually, yeah. Sorry. I did hear her say something about that." Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I remember the day it happened. It was a terrible incident." He set the food down on the ground in front of Squirtle.
"Shut up," Kota said. He pulled his cap down to cover the tears beginning to form in his eyes. "You're all crazy. Calling each other Heroes and Villains then killing each other. Forcing Pokemon to fight. You're all stupid show-offs. That's why they… that's why that happened."
Izuku felt truly terrible. This child had gone through such a traumatic experience that his seemingly absurd feelings made all too much sense. Not only did he despise Heroes, but he hated everything associated with them.
"Well, what are you doing here? Get out already!"
"No, it's not just that. I… my friend, he used to be too scared to become a Pokemon trainer."
"Huh?"
"He almost died after a Villain's Pokemon attacked him. But he still admired Heroes and wanted to be just like them, but with his fear, he couldn't become a Hero. But even then, he didn't give up. He came up with Hero names, imagined his favorite Pokemon, everything that made Superheroes cool… but nothing happened. He couldn't get near them."
Izuku took a deep breath before continuing. "There's a lot of different views and perspectives when it comes to Heroes and Pokemon Battling so I can't speak for everyone, but if you keep living with that kind of hatred for others, it'll just end up being more painful for you."
Kota clenched his fist and stomped his foot. "Get out! Get out of here! Leave me alone!"
The green-haired boy shook his head and gave the child a soft smile. "Sorry, I started rambling there. Here, I'll leave your food with Squirtle." He pats the blue Pokemon on the head as he began eating his food.
As he started walking away, Kota turned back to the cliff and sat down. "Shut up. What do you know?"
Izuku returned to his friends and continued enjoying his time with them, even if Kota was in the back of his mind. They found the little off-time they had together to be amazing. Even if they had just been together for a few months, they all had made lifelong friends.
However, little did they know, something was brewing in the darkness. A group of Villains, including Dabi and Toga, stood atop a nearby cliff. Mustard was a young boy in a school uniform and an older looking gas mask. Magne had a larger build. She wore pretty normal clothing, but she also had a pair of sunglasses with her outfit. There was also Spinner, a young man with purple hair who dressed like Stain. The other was Moonfish, a man in a straitjacket who repeated the words "Work. Work…" over and over again.
But among them, there was one man that stood out. He wore a white mask over his face and a large black cloak over the rest of his body. You couldn't tell what he looked like, but his size is what truly made him intimidating. He stood at 6'7", and he gripped a Pokeball tight in his hand.
"So there's seven of us here?" Dabi asked.
"I don't care. Just lemme at 'em!" The man in the cloak said. The black-haired boy shook his head. "No, not yet. We'll go when the others get here. These kids are in for a surprise."
The next day, while the students went back to suffering, the five students who failed the practicals were going through the most. Their extra lessons with Aizawa lasted until two in the morning, giving them just under four hours of sleep. "Think about why you're more tired than your classmates!" Aizawa shouted.
"That goes for you too, as well! Uraraka, Aoyama, you were very close to failing. Thank Thirteen for letting you pass." The two students let out sighs of exhaustion and continued working, giving a "Yes, sir!" As their teacher passed by.
He stood on top of the mountain and looked at all of the students. "Come on, keep moving! Whatever you do, always keep in mind where you came from. That's what improvement means."
"Where I came from…" Izuku whispered to himself. "Oh, that reminds me! Mr. Aizawa!" His teacher turned to him and jumped down to meet the boy.
"I told you to keep working." He said. "Y-Yes, I know. I just wanted to ask about All Might- I mean… aren't there any other teachers coming? It's already been three days."
"I guess I didn't tell this to you. We restricted the staff here to the bare minimum to keep the Villains in the dark. It's worrying that they were able to find the USJ, so we took a lot of precautions. There's good reason to believe that All Might is their most wanted target, so we can't have him here."
So All Might wasn't coming…
"By the way, tonight, your classes will go against each other in a test of courage!" Pixie Bob said. "After you work hard, you'll play hard!" She shouted excitedly, getting a tired groan out of several students.
Later that day, while Combusken and Ninetales were helping others light the fires for their food, Shoto approached Izuku. "Did you need All Might for something, Midoriya?" He asked.
"O-Oh, it's nothing. Just something about Kota."
"Kota? Who's that?"
"He's that kid over there. Mandalay's… wait, huh? Where'd he go?" Izuku turned to show Shoto who Kota was, but the boy had disappeared. Knowing him, the kid probably ran off to his secret hideout again just to get away from them.
"The kid hates all Heroes and I didn't really know what to tell him. I was just wondering what All Might would have said, you know, since he's the top Hero." The boy finished placing the firewood and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "What would you say, Todoroki?"
"It depends," Shoto said. "Honestly, hearing some random guy preaching would be pretty annoying. You can tell this kid how good Heroes are all you want, it's not gonna get through his head. Those words need to be backed up by actions."
Izuku thought about what All Might told him, the reason he chose the boy to be his successor. The words he told him on the rooftop didn't mean anything. However, his actions in that one moment were what touched the old man's heart. "You're right, Todoroki." He said, smiling. "What's a stranger like gonna do."
After dinner, the students gathered at a different area where the Pussycats had given them each a piece of paper. On it contained a list of activities they'd be doing for the next few days, including which Pokemon they'd have to use for them. For this specific activity, he was told to use Eevee.
"Okay, now that everyone's ready, you all know what time it is!" Pixie Bob said.
"It's the test of courage!" Mina shouted, jumping up and down. The other four failed students cheered with her. "Let's do it!"
"Actually, the extra lessons group will be coming with me," Aizawa said.
"Are you KIDDING ME?!"
Malamar used Psychic on the five students and lifted them off the ground. "Sorry, but your training today wasn't enough. You still need to catch up."
"Okay, here's how this works!" Pixie Bob showed them a layout of the path. "Class B will do their best to try and scare you first. There are tags along the path that you need to find and bring back here. They aren't easy to find, so you'll need the help of your Pokemon! Direct contact isn't allowed so the scarers need to use their Pokemon as well!"
Tiger pointed to them and slammed his foot on the ground. "The class that makes the most people piss their pants wins!"
"Okay, time to decide your partners! Draw your lots!"
After picking his lot, Izuku began thinking. "Teams of two… with five students in the extra lessons, that meant only 15 students were there. Wait, if that was the case then… one, two, three, four, five, six, seven… eight?"
He looked around and saw that everyone else had already gotten their partners meaning that… he was alone? No, that couldn't be right. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… eight." Ah, shit.
The teams went in one by one, hearing screeching and other noises coming from the depths of the forest. One of the Class B teams had managed to scare off almost everyone who entered their area. It mostly involved Juzo Honenuki's Gabite softening the ground with Dig, allowing Yui Kodai's Xatu to pop up when anyone passed by. Itsuka's Medicham would then come up behind them and scare them off.
"Man, we got Bakugo and Todoroki too!" Juzo and his Gabite began laughing. To be fair, they didn't seem scared. In fact, they were pretty unfazed by Medicham. They were just startled by Xatu's head suddenly popping out of the ground.
"Wait, do you guys smell something burning?" Itsuka asked. The other two shook their heads and looked around. "Now that you mention it, I do see some smoke," Juzo said with a laugh. "Man, Bakugo's Typhlosion must have gotten scared and… used… ugh." Both he and Gabite fell to the ground.
"Honenuki!" Itsuka quickly rushed to her classmate and began helping him before realizing what was happening. "Yui, Xatu, don't breathe!" Medicham quickly picked up the four of them and quickly ran away with Itsuka right behind her. "It's Poison Gas!"
Back at the main gathering area, Pixie Bob began smelling something. "Smoke?" They looked up and saw black smog coming from the forest. Dabi's Chandelure had begun lighting the trees on fire. As he watched them burn, Dabi smiled. "Alright, let's get this thing started."