Pokémon Trainer Hero
Chapter 65: Names and Decisions.
The next day had come faster than Gar wanted it to. Normally he'd be up bright and early, but today he mopped about for a good chunk of the morning. By the time he had bathed, eaten food, and thought about getting dressed it was already nearing the afternoon. He considered simply staying put all day, but he knew that would somehow be worse. His dorm building was just near the perimeter of the protective UA wall with none other than media and paparazzi on the other side. He'd have to hear them all day! Not to mention that they had started to implement drones, which was a huge pain and probably illegal. So the lesser evil to choose would be to store himself away within UA to keep out of shouting distance.
So he donned his UA uniform, still keeping his favorite headband on, and made his way to the school. Walked through the silent hallways, and finally came to the door of 1-A. He slowly opened it and unsurprisingly got all the attention of everyone at once. Not caring one bit about the sudden attention he closed the door behind him and took his seat without a word.
Aizawa was the first to speak to him and said with a neutral tone, "I'm surprised to see you here today. Half expected you to be out. Any particular reason to be with us, even this late?"
Gar sighed loudly while blowing a raspberry as he slumped into his chair. Just before letting his head fall he replied, "Paparazzi."
"So they're at it again. What a pain.", Aizawa groaned while rubbing his hair.
He sighed and went back to babbling about what he was talking about. While distracted, the students seated near Gar began to question him about his worn-out state. Since it was extremely worrying he did a complete 180 from yesterday's fart joke.
"Hey Gar, you okay?", Kirishima whispered to him.
"Depends on your definition of okay.", he moaned with his face on the desk.
"You just look awful. Are you sure you're alright? Did it have to do with Aizawa Sensei wanting to talk with you yesterday?", Momo inquires.
Gar let out a hearty sigh and rolled his face to the side so he could be heard as he replied, "Yes and no. I don't wanna get into it, but let's just say that I had a bit of an intervention mixed with self-reflection."
Unfortunately, the questioning didn't last long as Aizawa quickly caught on and firmly told them "If you wanna talk, talk on your own damn time.", the whole class went silent and stiff while Gar reminded the same. After everyone quiets down he says in his normal tone, "Now then, as you all know you'll be choosing your hero names today with Midnight. You had all of yesterday, so I hope you thought of some good ones.", Aizawa takes his sleeping bag over his shoulder and walks to the door while saying, "I'll be napping in the teacher's lounge while you choose. This should take till lunch so I'll see you after that."
Once he left it only took seconds for the door to suddenly slam open again and in struts Midnight with her hands over her head and behind her back, showing off her sexual physique, and making sure that every step made her bounce. She trudges up to the podium, snaps out her whip, and announces, "Hello little heroes! I hope you're all hot and ready for one of the hardest decisions of your career as heroes! Pray that your palms are not the only things that are wet and sweaty, cause today you are choosing your moniker as a hero!"
'Does she have to talk like that to a bunch of teenagers?', Har thought in his head while staring at her with a disgusted expression.
Midnight continued forward, explaining in more detail, "Now remembered, a hero's name isn't just their moniker but also their identification within the public heroics system and marketing, but also a reflection of said hero.", The whole class titled their heads at this statement, so Midnight elaborated further, yelling at them, "As you all know, my name is a reflection of both my quirk and its use, attire, and personality. All of those things make up who I am as a hero."
Gar raised his eyebrow skeptical as he asked aloud, "You mean a dominatrix S & M freak?"
"Precisely!", Midnight exclaimed in excited agreement, making Gar and the rest of the class sweatdrop. Midnight snapped her whip again and stated, "Now take those whiteboards and markers you were given and write down your name. We'll go in order of seat placement, so whenever you're ready, go right ahead Ayoma-kun."
She stepped off the podium and Aoyama immediately ran or rather danced up to the front with whiteboard already at the ready. He did a spin, struck a dramatic pose, and held up his sign while announcing, "I cannot stop Twinkling!"
The whole class was silent, apart from several people who muttered under their breath. Things like; really? Or that's not a name that's a sentence. Or Why is it so long? Or It makes no sense. Or Is Aoyama okay? Things like that.
Midnight rubbed her cheek in awkwardness and replied to this, "Well it definitely has finesse, but maybe we should shorten it a bit. Or reword it to convey what you're trying to say."
Ayoma shrugs and says back nonchalantly, "I'm always open to suggestions, mademoiselle."
Gar hated that name idea, mostly because it was definitely last minute and not even a name. He thought for a second and announced, "Hey Yuga, how about The Shinny Hero: Enteral Twinkle."
Aoyama jumped up at the suggestion and leaned back dramatically while exclaiming, "Ah! Magnifique! I love it, it's perfect!"
A low murmur of excitement and intrigue broke out amongst the class at his suggestion. With some giving congratulations or showing envy at his dynamic and clever naming scheme. Aoyama couldn't stop gushing or sparkling about it himself and Midnight wrote it down on an Ipad looking device to register his name.
"Wow! That was amazing Garfield! How come you can't do that with your Pokemon?", Midnight praised and tousled Gar.
Gar rolls his eyes and says back, "Cause they got names."
"No, they don't. You just call them what they are. That's like calling a dog, dog.", Tsuyu pointed out, getting a few snickers from people.
Gar gave a snort of aggravation at this and replied with a sharp finger, "Everyone has their strong suits. Don't judge me for my shortcomings."
Next was Mina who partially bolted up to the front and excitedly displayed her board to the class, saying, "Ripply Hero: Alien Queen."
"You mean that gross thing from the movie!? No way!", Midnight rejected the name after turning pale and shivering.
Dejected and with her head low, Mina started to return to her seat until Gar spoke up, asking with a disgruntled tone, "What? Are you kidding me? That's a great name. What's so wrong about it?"
Midnight shivered again as a chill ran up her spine and she asked the young man like he was crazy, "You've never seen that movie?!", Gar gave her a blank stare in reply, and the woman immediately sweat dropped in shame as she apologetically said, "Oh yeah, you haven't. But it's about an alien monster that's birthed from human bodies! It's creepy and disgusting!"
Gar narrows his eyes disapprovingly at her and with crossed arms he shoots back at her, "And your name says that you shouldn't be within 100 kilos of any school system, and yet you're still a teacher are you not?"
Midnight pouted at his statement and crossing her arms while narrowing her eyes she asks back, "I don't suppose you have a better option."
Gar smiles at the challenge and replies, "Actually I do if you're okay with it Ashido?", Mina gives him a thumbs up and Gar sits in thought for a few seconds before suggesting, "How about…..The Alien Hero: Pink Queen?"
"That. Sounds. AWESOME!", Mina exclaims at the name while practically bouncing up and down.
Midnight, happy with the name, took it down into the registry for later submission. Next was Tsyuy who held up a name she had been working on long before she got to UA, got a huge round of cheering from the whole class at her name. Even Gar couldn't help but join in the chant and watch the frog girl smile. Next, Iida only wrote his first name….it was lame.
"It's just your name?", Midnight pointed out.
"Tenya, are you okay? I kinda thought you'd hold up your family name? Why the…..", Gar trailed off trying to find the right words to describe his decision.
"Lameness?", Tokoyami asked aloud and bluntly.
"NO!", Gar yelled at him with panic and embarrassment in his tone.
Iida sighed and told them, "I did want to uphold my family's iconic name, but right now I'm…just not sure. I'd like to use this as a placeholder."
The room was quiet and in deep thought of this seeing Iida as not his usual over the top and boisterously rule-abiding by the book to the dot self. No one knew the underline issue he was dealing with except for two. Both of which started at one another uncomfortably as Iida himself had a mix of emotion on his face. Until Midnight was the one to break the uncomfortable silence.
"I suppose that'll do. I'll put a note on the side of it.", she told him while putting down the name and details.
Iida returned to his seat and from there, things operated normally with almost no other issues from Midnight or Gar rejecting the names that all the teens choose. Uraraka choose Uravity, Ojiro choose Tail Man, Kaminari choose Charge Bolt, Kirishima choose Red Riot in honor of Crimson Riot, Koda choose Anima, Sato choose Sugarman, Shoji choose Tentacole which reminded Gar of the Pokemon Tentacool and Tentacruel, Jiro choose Earphone Jack which was just her quirk, Sero choose Cellphoneage which gar thought was most creative name ever, with no surprise that Tokoyami chooses Tsukuyomi, and then came Todoroki who only choose…..his name.
"That's just your name.", Midnight pointed out yet again.
"I don't have any ideas.", Todoroki replied nonchalantly.
"Oh come on! You don't have any ideas! Your quirk has so many possibilities for hero names!", Gar let out an aggravated grunt mixed with a groan and shouted, only to get another nonchalantly shrug from the teen. "I bit my tongue at Mashirao and Kyoka, but this is where I draw the line in the Sandygast!", he exclaimed while drawing a line on the tabletop with his finger, while getting nasty looks from Jiro and Ojiro. Gar groaned again while smacking his forehead and said, "Look, total spitball here but how about The Double Elemental Hero: Frost Flame."
"Sure.", he replied with zero hesitation or care.
Gar paused on his emotional explosion and stared at him with neutral surprise as he asked in disbelief, "That's it? Just that name I pulled from my Basculin?"
"Sure, I'm fine with that.", Todorki again agreed with no hesitation or retorts.
Gar stared at Midnight who looked back at him with a shrug and an uncomfortable expression as she took it down. From there it was Toru who chose Invisible Girl. Then came the one that Gar and probably the whole class were looking forward to the least. Bakugou, who trudged up to the front and held up the sign with an expression that said, say anything and I'll bite your ass.
"King Explosion Murder.", he announced boldly, looking ready to kill.
"No.", Midnight shot him down.
"Yeah definitely no.", Gar agreed.
"Oh shut up Purple Fucker! You're not a teacher! You can say shit!", Bakugou snapped at him while practically throwing himself on top of the podium.
Gar rolled his eyes at his outburst and shot back casually and slightly sarcastically, "First off, that name is outdated since my hair isn't purple anymore. And second, I'm an adult sooooooo yeah, I can say Shiinotic. And I say no to that name."
Trying to deescalate the situation further, Midnight stepped in and calmly ordered, "It may speak of…..you Bakugou-kun, but it's not heroic. Go sit down and think of another after your other classmates finish."
Bakugou growled at this but saw the serious expression on Midnight's face and the whip at her ready, so he regressed and heeded her. He clicked his tongue and took his seat as he tried to think of a new name. Once he was seated, Izuku took the front, and just before showing his sign, he went on a small rant.
"I had been unsure of my hero name. But now I have something I'm sure of using!", he admitted with full disclosure, getting confused glances from everyone. "It was actually something that was used to put me down, but now I'm gonna use it as my symbol of hope.", he proclaimed proudly as he showed his board that read in English, Deku.
Everyone was awed in amazement of the name and some people muttered to one another about it. Midnight was also gushing at the name and happily wrote it down. Gar was also impressed with Izuku, if not a bit sad at the same time. Though he couldn't fault Izuku for his maturity and flexibility to change an insult into a term of delectation. Then a thought dawned on him and he used his pretrial to glance over at Bakugou. How was he faring at this choice? After all, he was the one who made that insulting nickname and used it to hurt Izuku every day.
When he did manage to see Bakugou from the side of his eye, he was taking it just as he expected. Barely holding it in. His face was red, his teeth were grit so tight he thought they would break, and the curve of his fingers around his marker was so tight it looked ready to pop! He was just barely keeping it all down to not make an unnecessary scene, and no doubt he would confront him about it. Gar couldn't help but mentally groan at his reaction for turning his childish insult on him, but he gave him credit for keeping hold of himself.
After Izuku left, next was Mineta who chose Grape Juice which was not what Gar was expecting him to pick knowing his personality, but it was fitting nonetheless. Last was Momo who chose Creatie, which was both simple and fitting. Bakugou tried to go up again to pick a name after her but only went as something slightly different from his original name; Lord of Explosion Kills. Which was shot down by Midnight, again. He tried several more times but always ended with something that made him sound like a crazed homicidal maniac. Eventually, Midnight just told him to stop and that his name would remain unchosen until he could wise up and think of a new one.
After this lunch had come several of the students had gone to leave for the lunchroom while a few stayed behind to chat. Some talked about things outside of school, the newest things to do, what they wanted to eat, and so on. But the main topic of the talk was who they were gonna be interning with for next week. Some had gotten offers from big-name heroes and their agencies while others got C listers. The most talk of this happened around Izuku's friend group and the most excitement.
"Man, I'm so excited for next week, but also so scared! I hear Gun Head is a real tough guy.", Uraraka exclaimed while flapping her hands with panicked excitement.
"Oh, so you're gonna be interning with Gun Head? That's awesome!", Izuku exclaimed with envy and intrigue.
"Yeah, I do need to work on my combative skills, and I think he's my best shot. What about you guys?", Uraraka admitted while asking her friends.
"I'm gonna be working with Selkie. Kero. He is one of the few Ocean Heroes out there, so I think I'll get along with him the best.", Tsuyu told them with a bright smile on her face.
"I'll be with my dad.", Todoroki blurted out with no expression, getting strange looks from everyone at the bluntness.
"What? Really?", Gar asked him incredulously, only to get a small nod. Gar took a breath like he was holding something back and grabbed the teens arm while saying, "Shoto, can I speak to you for a second.", once they were out of speaking distance, he turned to the teen and asked him with a serious tone, "Your dad! I thought you hated him? Why in the name of Entei would you intern under him?! He's not forcing you is he?", he asked with concern.
Todoroki shakes his head and explains, "No, I'm doing this of my own accord. I want to prove to him that I can be better than him in every aspect of being a hero. I want him to be there and see it all."
Visibly dissatisfied with the answer he got, he begrudgingly accepted it and with a sigh, he told him while placing a hand on his shoulder, "Well….so long as you're sure of it. Just watch out for yourself, okay? Physically and Mentally."
He gives Todoroki a light poke on the forehead and the teen nods while touching the spot. When they returned and before anyone could ask them about their private conversation, Gar quickly switched gears and quickly asked, "Sorry about that guys. You were saying? Uhhhhh Izuku! What about you?"
Izuku was taken aback by the sudden question and stumbled as he answered half-heartedly, "Oh um, I didn't get any offers from heroes."
"What?", all of them exclaimed in shock.
"That's crazy! You got so far along than most of us! On top of that, you even won the Pokemon Battle!", Uraraka exclaimed while grabbing Izuku's shoulders.
"Uraraka is right, you should've gotten something! The Pokemon Battle may have been for entertainment, but it still showed your fortitude and intellect.", Iida agrees while waving his arms in surprise and anger.
"Even in other universes people are still as thick as a Geodude.", Gar groans out while hunched over.
Izuku could help but feel happy at his friends getting furious on his behalf, but he quickly deescalated them by quickly following up with, "But it's okay! Cause All Might has set me up with his old mentor."
"Really?", Todoroki asks.
"That's great!", Gar adds in.
"I wonder what kind of person was the one who trained All Might of all people? Kero.", Tsuyu asks aloud while putting a finger on her chin.
"Well….when he brought it up, he was pretty scared.", Izuku begrudgingly admitted.
"Scared? All Might?", Iida asks in disbelief.
Izuku sucked in air as he explained further, "Apparently he was rough on him and still has terrors of him to this day. He got so scared talking about him that his legs gave out on him."
"That's horrifying.", Uraraka said with a pale expression as a chill ran up her spine.
Quickly changing the current bone-chilling subject, Gar turned to the last person in their group and tried to ask nonchalantly, "Soooooooo what about you Tenya?"
Iida also seemed to be taken aback by the sudden question, which was strange but ignored at the moment. Then he shuffled nervously while looking down and told them, "Oh, um, I'll be interning with the Hosu City Hero Office. I'll be working with Manual."
"Manual? He's a support hero, why are you working with him? Not that I'm judging you or anything.", Izuku asked him.
"Kinda thought you'd intern at your parent's place. Kero.", Tsuyu thought aloud.
"I just….have my reason. Let's leave it at that.", Iida admitted with an unconvincing tone and making more nervous gestures.
This is what set the bells and whistles in his head, taking into account all his current and uncharacteristic behavior. He soon grabbed the teen's arm and pulled him away while quickly saying, "Tenya, can I speak to you for a moment.", once out of range he asked in a serious and no-nonsense tone, "What are you planning?"
"Eh?", Iida asked back, trying to play it cool.
But it didn't work as Gar rolled his eyes at his lame attempt and stated firmly, "Don't 'Eh?' me, I know you're up to something. I've seen this sorta thing happen before. You're not going on a whim, you thought this out. You're going there specifically for a reason."
Iida wipes away his current persona and glares at Gar with a challenging tone, "Are you gonna stop me?"
Gar sighed as he too wipes away his persona and shakes his head while saying with a calm yet understanding tone, "No, but I am going to give you some words of advice.", Iida raises an eyebrow at this as Far puts a hand on his shoulder and tells him, "Think carefully of what you're doing and the reproduction it will have, then go do it. I know you're smart enough to do that, alright?"
"Alright.", Iida replied with a low tone while looking away, and Gar knew he didn't.
Gar's only hope was at the time he decided to do what he was going to do, that his words would echo in the back of his mind. So they both walked back to the group and before he or Iida could say anything, Uraraka butted in fast and asked, "What about you, Gar? What are you gonna do with a week off?"
Gar gave a nervous smile while rubbing the back of his head, and told them, "Well I'm not gonna be off. I'll be working with Photo Finished on my Public Image. So I'll have no time at all to do anything. In fact, I may not be in class very often from next week on.", this got him a collective group expression of sadness and worry. Gar sighed depressed at his friends and told them in a pitiful tone, "Oh come one, don't give me those looks. I'm doing it for you guys. So you don't receive the butt end of the media's idiocy and my own in the ire of the public.", The group of teens didn't change their expressions z they looked even more depressed at his words. So Gar quickly tried to brush it aside in a panic and awkwardly exclaimed, "Anyway, let's have lunch!"
Later After School
After the day had ended and classes were out for the day, Gar was sent a message by Nezu to meet him after hours. Since he had nothing to do anyway, and this was Nezu, Gar came immediately after saying his goodbyes to the class. Gar walked through the school and up to the Principal's office and casually opened the door.
"Hey Nezu, you wanted to see me?", He asked while poking his head inside.
"Ah, Garfield, perfect timing. Come in, come.", Nezu excitedly invited him as a teapot was already on his desk.
"Am I in some kind of trouble?", He asked while sliding into a seat and taking a filled cup.
"Oh, no-no-no. Nothing like that. I've just been thinking.", He waved off the thought while lapping up his tea.
"About?", Gar prods him further while taking a sip.
Nezu wipes his mouth and starts by saying, "Well I don't have to tell you of all people that your relationship with the Government isn't the best."
"That's putting it mildly.", Gar chuckles while rolling his eyes.
"However, what I want to know is your relationship with the Police.", Nezu says out of the blue.
"The police?", Gar repeats it back with confusion. He set the glass down and put a finger to his chin in thought before explaining, "Well I can't say we have a good or bad relationship. I'm still pretty pissed off from when they abducted me and Izuku in broad daylight, but other than that, nothing at all. Why?"
"I've been in close contact with them as of late and we have come to a decision on something that needs you.", Nezu tells him.
Gar blinks a few times before pointing at himself and asking in disbelief, "Me?"
Nezu nods and pointing to him he says, "Yes, you. After the event regarding the Pokémon trafficking raid, the Police came to realize they were grossly unprepared for such things. And as such required our help or more specifically your expertise."
Gar sits back while scratching his head and admits, "This….is a bit to take in."
Nezu sighs with head and ears down before saying, "I know, and I'm sorry about springing this on you, especially after yesterday. But we truly need your help to bring the Police into a more capable fighting force to handle situations like this in the future. And I have a bad feeling it will happen more often.", He gives a hefty and stressed sigh before offering to him, "I know this is a lot and I'm certainly not forcing you. It's all up to you."
Gar sat and thought about his answer. Sure he didn't want to-like didn't want to. He just wanted to decompress for a bit and let someone else handle a mess that wasn't his. But then again, Nezu looked just as stressed about this as he does with everything else. This was eating away at him. Sure he knew quite a bit, but he didn't know everything and had no experience whatsoever. He could probably figure something out, but then it would backfire with any proper experience. He was told he would be asked when only his knowledge was needed, and this seemed like that.
So with a sigh, he told the small animal man thing, "Well I certainly can't have a genius-level novice try and take reigns and expect to perform to the empath degree. Ah screw it, I'm in!"
Outside The School
After his meeting with Nezu had ended and the two discussed how they would proceed further, with Nezu setting everything up, Gar decided to take some time to relax. He headed outside the school and readied the Pokéball containing Dragapult. It had been a while since he went for a fly for…..any reason other than a fight or running away. It would be nice to have his head in the clouds for once and just enjoy the feeling and sounds. Just as he was about to make it to the gates, he heard a voice that made him quickly duck for cover! Once hidden within a shrub he peeked out and saw none other than Bakugou looking pissed off as always.
"Deku!", He yelled the very familiar insult he was known for.
Gar looked over to where Bakugou was yelling and saw Izuku standing there, looking nervous as usual. Gar knew he was a tough kid with nerves of steel, but even he knew muscle memory was a hard thing to break.
Bakugou growled at Izuku and rapidly approached him while yelling, "What the hell was that before!? You think you're slick or smart or something you damn nerd!? Taking my nickname for you and trying to use it to your benefit? Screw you!", He grabbed Izuku by his collar and held him up to his face while yelling into him, "Your nothing, you hear me! That's what Deku means! Nothing! And now you want to turn it around?! So stop pretending your tough! You can't make anything into hope! You have no hope!", He finished off his angry rant with a growl on his red face.
Gar was worried at this point for Izuku. Not that Bakugou would attack, especially since they're on school grounds. He was more worried about how Izuku would react. Sure he wanted to help Izuku break away from the constant mold he had with Bakugou and gain some self-confidence, but he hadn't had a chance to start. He didn't want him to fall into the same hole all over again, especially after the talk they had during the Sports Festival. He didn't want everything he said to be in vain. He just prayed that his words would be remembered now and he didn't go back to the old toxic ways.
He watched Izuku go stiff and silent, two signs that weren't normal. Normally he would panic and begin to apologetically stumble over his words, but nothing like that. He was just silent and still, it was almost unsettling. He sees Izuku bite his lower lip as if fighting something internally and then hears him speak. Low yet clearly.
"I don't care.", He told Bakugou.
"What!?", Bakugou yelled at him.
Without a moment to spare, Izuku grabbed and ripped off Bakugou's hands, making the blond teen flinch in surprise! Izuku held the other's arm in a tight grip and told him, "I….don't care about what you say about me anymore. We're not the kids we were back in Grade and Middle school. So why are you still acting like we are?", He threw the hands away and stared down the shocked teen as he continued.
"I'm not acting tough. I am tough because of everything I've endured. You're right though, Deku still means nothing. It's the name you gave me. So I'm gonna use it as I see it, and you can't change that! If I'm gonna use it as a symbol of hope, then that's its meaning now since it's mine, not yours.", Izuku then fixed his uniform and bag before walking past the stunned teen. Just before leaving he turned his head and told him, "And another thing. Deku is my hero name, since you're still opposing me being a hero, call me by my actual name. To you, it's Midoryia from now on."
Gar saw Bakugou visibly flinching at this statement and tried to turn his head around to oppose him. But when he did he saw Izuku walking away and leaving him with some parting words, telling the awestruck teen, "Have a good day and thanks for helping me this far, Bakugou."
Gar didn't know how to feel at this moment! It was something crossed between shock and pride! He thought Izuku would fall off the wagon and continue as he would with Bakugou…..but he didn't. Was it his talk with him? He hoped so, but either way, he finally told Bakugou where he stood in his life and mind! Gar couldn't be any happier for him!
He also couldn't help but stay and watch Bakugou's follow-up to be told off by his punching bag. As he expected he was just standing there, shaking like a leaf while looking at his hands! His eyes were dilated, his mouth dry, his breathing short, his body sweating and vibrating all over! Bakugou looked like a wreck, like the physical embodiment of having your whole world crumble before your eyes! It was amazing to see, if not a bit pathetic.
Then Bakugou made signs of movement after standing and staring at nothing for several minutes. He clenched his fists, grit his teeth, hunched over, grabbed his hair, then sprang up while letting out a frustrated yell! He made another shorter yell and ran out of the school gates at his max speed!
Gar meanwhile, couldn't help but feel exasperated and a bit happy at seeing him learn. He just hoped he'd change for the better after this experience and not double down. He also briefly wondered how things would go on between the two boys in the future and what it would mean for their relationship if they had any at the end of it all? Even so, he prayed that things didn't get too complicated.