Pokémon Trainer Hero
Chapter 40: The Sports Festival part. 12-The Plight of Hitoshi Shinso.
Shinso was at a crossroad right now. He had done his best and pulled all the stops to ensure he would make it to the end of the sports festival, and he had done just that. It was the third event, the last one, the one that really counted! If he could get top three, then any chance of him going into the hero course he could kiss goodbye. But he didn't know if he could pull it off, with the people who still remain, it seemed like a far cry. Or at least that was the first road he was at.
The other one consisted of his feeling towards his goal. Whether it was worth chasing or not. Only two week ago was he given a 'wake up call' so to speak, by UA's very own interdimensional visitor. Now he felt...dejected and unsure or even scared of his goal. Should he even consider trying to fight for it? He's already pulled dirty moves and fought tooth and nail for where he was now.
And then there was the other crossroad that stood before him, but not in a metaphorical sense. Cause now standing on the other side of the hallway he was walking was the very same inner-dimensional visitor who had told him off and nearly vered him off his path. And with the hallway he was traveling down being the only one he could use to find his destination, there was no going back, even if he had the time.
But maybe it was for the best. He wanted to fight against him two weeks ago or at least confront him. But that almost seemed like a lucrative thought, since he was one of the main oppositions in the tournament, always moving around, or the center of attention. But here he was, all alone with no one else around him. It almost seems too good to be true. He was always used to things never working out in his favor.
Right now the schools in our dimensional friend were standing in front of a vending machine and yelling at it.
"come on.", He complained in an aggravated tone while pressing the buttons.
"Come on!", He projected a little louder while pushing the buttons faster.
"COME ON!", he yelled while shaking it!
"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!", He complained in a yell while shaking the machine some more.
He slapped the glass window and exclaimed in a comical and overly animated voice, "I demand that you unhand your forbidden chocolatey goodness that I have paid for this instance!", The machine, obviously, said and did nothing in return. So he narrowed his eyes while cracking his finger, and said, "So! It's gonna be like that, eh? Well I've got more than a few tricks to get you to work for me."
Suddenly he took and stepped back, and Shinso almost back away thinking and prepping for the worst. But that thought fleeted as fast as it came.
"Shaking!", He said aloud while grabbing the machine and shaking it as hard as he could.
"Kicking!", He said aloud while kicking it without trying to dent it
"Punching!", He said aloud while Punching it once.
This is when he got a really annoyed look on his face and said aloud, "Punching multiple times! Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora Ora!", He shouts in a war cry while Punching it really fast while breaking it.
He finally stopped, took a few steps away while taking a calming breath. then charged, backwards and hit the machine with his backside while exclaiming, "Butt Attack!"
He looked dejected by the results of nothing, and said to himself, "Normally that works in video games. You lied to me Smash Bros and Street Fighter!", He yelled into the ceiling at nothing.
He then turned back to the machine, which was still doing nothing, and asked it like it was a living thing, "Still not giving up? Then I guess I'll have to pull out the big guns!"
He then spat into both his hands, threw them back, puffed out his chest, and then threw them out in front with palms flat, "Open Sesame!"
When nothing happened he drops his hands dejected and says in a disappointed voice, "Kinda thought that would work.", He then cracks his neck while saying, "Guess I'll have to break out my bigger bigger guns….by invoking the dance of my people."
Suddenly he began to dance around in a completely random and overly comical way, complete with hand gestures and over exaggerated body movements. Hopping between his feet and making strange noises in his throat. Shinso was completely confused at this point and simply stood there watching him in stupor. Eventually from all his dancing around he eventually caught sight of Shinso standing and staring at him.
"AH!", He screamed while jumping back in defense. After that, the two stood there and stared at one another in awkward silence. Gar looked around and then asked, "...How much of that did you see?"
"The whole thing.", Shinso finally admitted.
Gar immediately crumpled to the ground and in a crying tone he sobbed out, "Why don't you stick a Pinward in me, it would be less painful."
"So what are you trying to do exactly?", Shinso finally worked up the nerve to approach and ask.
Immediately Gar jumped from his spot on the ground and glaring at the machine he said, "This dumb machine ate my money. I just wanted a Triple Checker Cocoa Bar! Was that too much to ask?!", With one swift kick on the machine's side from Shinso, the candy bar he wanted fell into the slot where Gar snatched it up in a flash!
"Oh yes! Come to papa you sweet sugary thing you!", He moaned with pleasure while rubbing the plastic wrap on his face.
"Please stop being weird.", Shinso sweat dropped from his act.
Gar then ripped the treat free and gobbled down half of it while thanking Shinso."Thanks for the help uh…..kid. See ya around!"
"Hold it.", Shinso stopped him before he could walk away. Gar stopped in his tracks and turned around, where Shinso stated, "You really don't remember me."
Gar looked around and then asked with his mouth half full, "Am I…. supposed to?"
"Think back.", Shinso told him, making the older teen put on a thinking face for several unsuccessful seconds. Shinso sighed, aggravated and stated, "You really have no idea."
"Was I drunk when I met you?", Gar asked while shrugging his shoulders.
"I gave you and your class my declaration of war and you broke my nose.", Shinso briefly explained.
A light bulb went off in Gar's head and snapping his fingers he exclaimed, "Ooooooooooh! Now I remember you!"
Shinso sighs while rubbing his head and begins to say, "About-OW! WHAT THE-?!", Shinso stops mid thought as Gar suddenly flicks his forehead.
"That was for having the gall to say those things.", Gar stated while pointing a convicting finger at him.
Shinso grumbled and was about to retort when he suddenly got another flick on the forehead. "That was for claiming that our lives are easily up for forfeit if it means you'll get ahead."
Another flick on the forehead. "That was for being petty over something that doesn't even really matter."
Another flick. "That was for being a jerk."
Another flick. "That was for not having any insight in thinking ahead for what you said."
And another flick. "That was for making me lose my temper on an already shit day."
Shinso swatted his hand away in a frenzy while exclaiming, "Fine! FINE! I guess I deserve-OW!", He was stopped again by another forehead flick. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?", Shinso demanded angrily!
"That was because I felt like it.", Gar admitted while shooting a finger gun at him and taking another bite of his candy.
Shinso sighs aggravated and asks rhetorically, "Are you done?!"
Gar shrugs and replies, "Yeah I think I got it out of my system."
Shinso takes a calming breath and says, "Good, then-.", He stopped again by yet another flick from Gar. He didn't even flinch or say ow. Just stood there with eyes full of anger.
"I don't know why I did that last one? Guess I just got in a groove.", Gar weakly tried to defend himself, but still only got a red hot glare from the purple haired teen. "...okay I'm done.", Gar said in a meak tone.
"Then I can speak?", Shinso asked between grinding teeth.
"About?", Gar asked him back.
"What I said before.", He clarified.
Gar rolls his eyes and says with a sarcastic tone, "Even though you're obviously in the wrong for what you said, but still have the irking need to defend yourself to hold onto your fragile self confidence, you can go ahead and state your case."
Shinso narrowed his eyes in irritation and stated, "You don't get it."
"I don't?", Gar asks back fully confused, before getting a lightbulb and replies back with the thickest amount of sarcasm he could muster, "Nooooooo! You don't say! Well, please, enlighten me oh superior one."
"You don't know what it's like to be me. To live the life I've lived.", Shinso tells him.
"Well you're 100% correct on that statement. I don't have any clue on that.", Gar agrees with him while finishing the candy.
Shinso then moved away, to avoid getting emotional, and taking a deep breath he goes out on a full tirade that the Gar listens to intriguedly, "All my life I was told I was good for nothing. That my quirk was evil. That I was destined to be a villain. And nothing I do would change that fact!...do you have any idea what that's like? Being alone for so long because people thought you were inherently bad. You try to work your way through the mud that people constantly threw at you, just to be thrown through a loop where you can even accomplish your dream? Do you have any idea how that feels?", He asks while cleaning his fist and eyes while Gar still stays silent. "I couldn't get into the hero course all cause of that stupid flux villain exame. My quirk was useless, and all UA wanted was flashy quirks that are meant for combat. I worked myself to the bone just to be spat in the eye with some who's invisible, some who talk to animals, and someone who has a tail is chosen over me."
There was silence between them. Nothing but silence. It felt like an eternity in the calm and unmoving. Until Gar finally broke the stillness.
"No. I don't.", He says in a calm and simple tone. "I don't know what it's like to live in a society of brainwashed idiots that believe what tv and stories tell them and not real life and common human decency. I don't know what it's like to be called evil or the power I have is bad just because others with less brain cells than their shoe size say so. And to be fair, I'm totally wondering about the legitimacy of that test and my classmates myself.", He tells him while scratching the back of his head in confusion. He then takes a deep breath of his own and tells him, "But I do know what it's like to fail. To be brought down. To be told to give up because you're weak or not good enough. To be thrown through a loop you weren't ready for.", He walks up behind the teen and stands next to him while looking out into the empty hallway. "I may not know your plight, but I understand where it comes from. Becoming the best, for me, didn't happen overnight.", He says kindly while turning his head to look at him.
Shinso still had his face turned away from him, trying to avoid his gaze. So still without looking at him he asks, "So….how did you?"
Gar smiles, knowing this is the question he wanted, and went on his own tirade of knowledge, "Every time I was knocked down, I got back up, took a step back, viewed everything around me, and then leaped forward! If someone tried to put me down, I say 'Fuck em!' and keep moving forward. I'd stop and take a break when I needed it. I asked for help. I never took shortcuts. If I was still at the bottom even after so much work, I'd work harder knowing my opposition was just as strong. I never looked at the past, but I kept gazing forward. I never gave up, and I kept my goals and beliefs strong and real.", He takes a breath and let's his head drop for a moment. He brings it back up to look at Shinso and sees him looking at him with wide eyes. He smiles and finishes off saying, "That's how I did it."
So then gained an expression and posture of uncomfortableness, and asked with a fidget, "What happens when you make your goal? Do you just….keep going?"
Gar gives a slight 'humph' and answers, "If you feel you can, then yes. But if you're always stuck, then that is where you should stay. Cause that's all you could do, cause that's all you can do. You gave it your all and this is where it got you. You should be proud of that much.", He tells him while patting his shoulder. "In life, there's always gonna be someone who's stronger or better than you. That's called life. But if you give it your all and try your best, then that all anyone can expect from you." "Anything else?", Gar asks him.
Trying the whole fact of the flood of emotions washing over him, he states while breaking eye contact, "I saw your meeting with the big wigs on the internet. I saw the part where you chewed them out for how they allow people to be treated because of the way they were born. It….made me feel like you were defending me…...thank you.", He says the last part in a small voice.
"Someone has to scold them eventually.", Gar says simply with a shrug. "And speaking of scolding.", He says quickly, drawing Shinsos attention.
"OW!", The purple haired teen cried out while receiving another flick on the forehead.
"That was for using your quirk to gather a team. You should know better than to do that! Going through any means to accomplish your goal doesn't make you better or opportunistic. If anything it only reinforces the stereotype that's brought upon you.", He scolded the teen with a disappointed finger.
Shinso grumpled and said under his breath, "sorry."
But to his surprise, Gar then dropped his hand hard on his head and began ruffling his already messy hair.
"But that's okay.", He said while rubbing it harder and shinzo trying to pull away but only flailing around. "Your a kid. Your supposed to be dumd and make stupid mistakes. That's how you'll learn and grow into a capable person. So make all the mistakes you can now. Just note that someone will either tell you they're wrong or reprimand you for them.", He educated him.
"I'll keep that in mind.", Shinso told him while finally being able to pull himself away. After rubbing the back of his head he stated, "I am kinda surprised you talk to me so casually. Normally people are on edge when they know about my quirk."
Gar cocked eyebrow and replied while waving it off, "What? Brainwashing? Psh! I've dealt with pokémon who have mind control powers a hundred times. I have a mental fortitude against it."
"Really?", Shinso asked in disbelief.
"You want proof? Alright.", Gar said while going to his arm band and summoning two pokéballs from it. He then threw them out and called their names. "Malamar, Salazzle, come on out!"
The first Pokemon, Malamar, was a Pokémon that resembles an upside-down squid. Several purple tentacles with bright blue undersides sprout from the top of its head. It has yellow eyes with black sclerae, a dark pink beak-like mouth, and lighter purple eyelids. Its main body is dark purple and has six circular yellow lights on the front and back. There is also a yellow stripe nearly encircling its upper body. Covering its main body is a transparent mantle with two white fins on the bottom that function as legs. On each side of the mantle is a long tentacle with dark pink at the top and white, scythe-like fins at the ends.
The next one, Salazzle, is a dark gray Pokémon resembling a salamander or lizard. Its thin body has a purple underside with several wavy, dark pink markings: a U-shaped marking with two additional lines inside on its chest and one on each hip resembling wisps of smoke. The dark gray on its head and neck extends slightly onto its chest in a V-shape. It has a slender head with purple, almond-shaped eyes with slit pupils and two fang-like projections on each side of its lower jaw. There are two thin, wavy growths on its back at the base of its tail, which is whip-like with a dark pink underside. Its hands and feet each have five long, thin digits.
"Meet Malamar, the Overturning pokémon. And Salazzle, the Toxic lizard Pokémon. Malamar's psychic abilities are so strong they can mind control anyone or anything. The pheromones a Salazzle produces can make any creature of the male gender do its bidding.", Gar briefly explains the Pokemon while showing them off to the purple hair teen.
Being utterly speechless at this point, Shinso could only muster the words, "So their….like me."
"Pretty much.", Gar shrugged.
Shinso, without realizing it himself, felt his hand raise up in an attempt to pet one of the pokémon. Before his subconscious could decide for him, Malamar grabbed his hand with one of its arm tentacles and held it. Followed up by Salazzle who pushed her head against Shinso's chest, like a dog demanding affection much to Shinsos surprise.
Gar smiled while chuckling and said, "They seem to like you."
Gar then sighed and said, "But you weren't talking about the Pokemon were you? You wanted to test my mental fortitude, yes?", Shinso nodded and Gar smiled with his eyes closed, asking, "You want to see for yourself?"
Shinso nodded again, and while still keeping his eyes closed, Gar compelled Shinso.
"What's your name?", Shinso asked, activating his quirk.
"Garfield.", He answered as his eyes immediately sprang open.
Shinso smirked outwardly, but was disappointed inwardly knowing that no one could resist him. That would sound like a good thing, but when others know this then trust tends to slip away from him. However, the two pokémon standing close by gave their own self knowing smile about what was really happening.
Suddenly Gar shot his arms out in a zombie stance and said in a dreary and monotone voice, "I am under your control master. I will do all that you please.", This surprised Shinso, and even more so when Gar fully dropped the fasade while failing to keep his laughter in. After busting a gut, he settles down enough to speak. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't keep a straight face!", He apologizes while wiping a tear from his face.
"You really are immune.", Shinso states in disbelief and concealed excitement.
Gar smiles while shooting a peace sign and says, "Told ya. Anything else you wanna vent to me?"
"No, I think I got it all out.", Shinso says I'm putting his aloof mannerisms back on and rubbing the back of his head.
"Good.", Gar says with a smile before quickly giving another forehead flick.
"Will you stop that!", Shinso yelled at him!
"Now go apologize to the people you mind controlled during the second event. You may be in the wrong but you still got to be the bigger man in this picture, and own up to your mistakes.", Gar instructed him while pointing the finger out towards the waiting room where the other students were lounging about.
After a small self disappointed sigh, crumpled weekly under his breath, "alright."
To which Gar immediately grabbed him in a headlock and gave him a noogie.