Chapter 46: New Friends

Once the last few students who had passed entered the waiting area, Mera began announcing the next phase of the test. "We will now begin preparations for the second part of the Provisional License Exam." He said.

Suddenly, they all heard the sound of loud explosions. They turned to the TV screen and saw several explosions going off, causing the buildings and mountains in the arena to collapse. "W-What the…?!"

"This next phase will be the final part of the test. For this, you all will participate in a rescue mission." Mera continued. "The first part of the test tested you more on how you'd participate in combat and high-stress situations against opponents. This will test how well you perform rescue procedures."

"There are people in there?!" One boy in the crowd called out. The camera moved over closer to the ground where all the students were stunned to see several civilians battered and beaten up, stuck among the rubble.

"Do not worry," Mera said. "These are professionals who have undergone a lot of training. They are trained to help students like you practice rescue missions. For this test, we'll use a scoring system and you will pass if your final grade exceeds the passing score."

He let out a smile and pressed a button, signaling the guards standing by the doors to approach the students. They each carried boxes with them, half of them being empty and the other half containing Pokeballs. The ones with empty boxes lined up to the left of the door while the ones with Pokeballs lined up to the right.

"One aspect a Hero must also learn is how to adapt to any situation. For this test, you won't be allowed to use your own Pokemon."

Izuku looked up at the speakers in shock. None of his own Pokemon?! That meant… he couldn't use One for All! Using a completely new Pokemon also meant he'd have to adapt to a completely new style, something he was completely unfamiliar with!

"Please deposit your Pokemon into the boxes of the guards on the left. They will forfeit the Pokeballs to your respective instructors. Once you are done, please take one Pokeball from the guards on the right."

Izuku took a deep breath before looking at his Pokeball. "Thanks for the hard work, Blaziken. I'll take care of things from here." He smiled before handing in his Pokemon. The rest of the students seemed pretty uneasy as well. It wasn't easy using a Pokemon you had never used before, much less in a high-stress scenario like this one.

"The guards on the right are ordered by your class. Please take note of the sign above them to find your respective guard. As for your Pokemon, do not worry too much. We have taken a lot of care and specifically chose a Pokemon that fits your fighting style. These Pokemon were approved by your instructors, so please rest assured."

That last bit was a double-edged sword for the students of 1-A. Either Aizawa properly approved the Pokemon chosen for them to help with their training, or he purposefully gave them Pokemon that completely contradicted their fighting styles. Regardless, it was at least comforting to know that they had taken care with choosing the Pokemon.

"These Pokemon were selected from a proper training facility that trains wild Pokemon for future use. These Pokemon were rescued from the wild after being injured and were given proper care."

That was another comforting note. One aspect that separated a Hero's Pokemon from a regular civilian's is the training that the Pokemon and the trainer go through. Of course, that connection won't be there now, but at the very least, these Pokemon were trained well and would listen to orders.

Izuku walked up to the guard and took a deep breath. "Name please?" The guard asked. "Izuku Midoriya." He replied. The guard looked through the box and pulled out a Pokeball before handing it to the boy, along with a piece of paper. "On that paper, you'll find a list of moves your Pokemon has."

He didn't send it out right away though and opted to meet up with his friends first. He found Ochako and Tenya with their own Pokeballs, nervously discussing the test itself. "I guess it could be worse, right? At least we won't have to do any active fighting with new Pokemon." Ochako said. Tenya nodded, but it was clear that he too wasn't feeling the greatest. "The Pokemon are well trained and handpicked as well. I think we'll be fine."

"Hey, guys! Have you checked out your Pokemon yet?" Izuku asked as he approached them. "Not yet," Ochako replied simply. "You wanna do it together?"

"Sure!" Ochako answered. Tenya simply nodded his head and smiled before holding out his Pokeball. The three of them sent them out and held their breath, waiting for the Pokemon to fully emerge from the ball.

For Ochako, she was pleased to see an Altaria. Based on what she knew, Altaria was a strong Pokemon that struck a good balance between defense and offense. Its Flying and Dragon typing would no doubt be of great service, and its battling style fit with her own mix of offensive and defensive Pokemon.

As for Tenya, he was very happy to see his Pokemon was a Cinderace. The Pokemon was known not only for its incredible firepower, but its amazing speed as well. Considering Tenya's whole team revolved around speed and movement, Cinderace would fit his style very well.

Finally, there was Izuku's Pokemon. He wondered what it'd be. Maybe a Machamp to fit with his powerful strength-based fighting style? Or maybe it'd be something like a Greninja to match his Pokemon's movements. Maybe on the other hand it was a Delphox, a completely special-based Pokemon who countered his physical fighting style.

He waited anxiously as the Pokemon took form and was surprised to see a Golisopod. Izuku thought this was meant to be a bit of a funny metaphor. Just like him, Golisopod started out as a weak, ignored Pokemon. Just like Wimpod though, Izuku would grow to become more powerful, in no small part thanks to those who helped him along the way.

Izuku knew quite a lot about this Pokemon. Golisopod wasn't the fastest Pokemon around, but it was strong. With moves like Leech Life and Liquidation, its physical attacks hit hard. Bug and Water wasn't the strongest type combo, but they did compliment each other nicely. Water was able to hit Rock and Fire while Bug hit Grass. Izuku was more than pleased with this Pokemon.

The other 1-A students had also gotten their Pokemon. Katsuki had gotten a Hatterene, much to his dismay. Aizawa picked out the Pokemon not because it fit with his fighting style, but because the two were very similar in personality. Katsuki was a very angry and aggressive person and Hatterene got very angry in the presence of strong emotion. The two would surely make a great pair.

Shoto got a Dragapult. He was far from upset considering this was a very strong Pokemon, and its fighting style focused on distance and speed similar to his other Pokemon. He was more used to using Fire and Ice types but this wasn't a bad choice for him.

Fumikage and Tsuyu got Houndoom and Swampert respectively, while Denki and Jiro got Quagsire and Primarina. Momo was happy to see a Blastoise while Hanta couldn't be upset at all about an Araquanid.

Eijiro was happy to see another defensive Pokemon in Chesnaught assigned to him and while Mina was a little bummed at first to see Dustox, she thought up some cool strategies to use with Dustox's powders. Mashirao was far from angry with Breloom and Yuga was very pleased with an elegant male Unfeazant.

Koji and Rikido revealed their Pokemon together, pleased to find Abomasnow and Appletun. The last ones to get their Pokemon were Mezo, Toru, and Minoru, and they each got a Tentacruel, Tsareena, and Exeggutor respectively.

All things considered, while the UA students got some interesting Pokemon, they were given a strong selection to use. "Alright, looks like everyone's received their Pokemon. We'll begin the next phase in 10 minutes. Please use this time to get to know your Pokemon and prepare."

Izuku looked up at Golisopod and smiled. "It's nice to meet you." Golisopod looked down at his trainer and smiled back, excited to work alongside him. "Let's do our best." Golisopod nodded, much to Izuku's surprise. This Pokemon was surprisingly cooperative.

"Hey, Shiketsu's coming this way," Eijiro said, getting the attention of the others. They turned to him and saw a small group of students making their way towards them. In the front was a tall boy with blonde hair who stopped in front of Katsuki. "Bakugo." The boy said.

Katsuki looked at them and scoffed. "What?"

"Sorry for my question but did Shishikura come after you?"

"Yeah. He came after me and I took him out."

The boy let out a sigh and bowed. "I see. I'm Nagamasa Mora, his classmate. I apologize on his behalf. He probably acted rudely and tried to offend you. He has a tendency to impose his values on others." Nagamasa said. "He must've gone on a rampage considering how popular you are. I want to build a good relationship with UA, so please don't take it to heart."

"A good relationship?" Shoto said to himself. He held up his hand with some food to feed Dragapult as he thought. "Sure didn't seem that way." As the group was walking away, the boy called out to one of them.

"Hey, you! With the shaved head." The boy, Inasa, stopped and turned to face him. "I saw the way you were looking at me. Did I do something wrong?" The Shiketsu student's eyes weren't the same as they were before. Rather than being filled with joy and excitement, now they were filled with rage and bitterness.

"Oh? I'm sorry little Endeavor. I hate you both. You might have changed since we last met, but you've still got his eyes." Shoto's eyes widened in shock from such a statement, and Dragapult seemed to sense this. She moved forward and growled at Inasa, but the boy's Pidgeot growled back.

It looked like there was about to be some kind of confrontation when Nagamasa called out to them. "Yoarashi, is there an issue?"

"Nothing, sir!" Inasa turned around and began walking back alongside Shiftry, leaving Shoto and Dragapult stunned. "My… father's eyes?" Shoto said, looking down. Izuku looked at his friend and a frown formed on his face. "Todoroki…"

Suddenly, the walls around them began to unfold. "We are now starting the next phase of the test. In light of this disaster, the first wave of rescuers has experienced a delay. Your job as Heroes is to carry out the rescue mission until they arrive." Mera said into the speakers. "Try to save as many people as you can. This will all affect the score you receive."

Mera smiled and moved closer to the microphone. "Alright then, let's get this started shall we?" He pressed a button, causing a loud buzzer noise to go off. "Begin!"

"Let's go, 1-A!" Tenya shouted. Everyone followed behind him along with their Pokemon. Izuku looked up at Golisopod and smiled as he saw the determination in the Pokemon's eyes. He had nothing to worry about. "Let's give it our all, Golisopod."

"They mentioned a scoring system, but they didn't give any specifics. Let's just stick with what we know!" Tenya shouted. The class responded with a single "Yes, sir!"

"We'll head to the nearest urban area! There will surely be plenty of victims there! Let's work together as a team!"

Mina looked to her side and let out a sigh as she saw Katsuki running off to the side. "Bakugo?! Seriously, again?!"

Katsuki looked back and let out an angry shout as he saw more people following him. "What the hell?! You two again?!" He shouted, seeing Eijiro, Denki, and their Pokemon tailing him.

Tsuyu rode atop Swampert and surveyed the area, but she was pretty astounded by what she saw. "I know this is just a drill, but the situation here is pretty intense." She said.

Izuku was running along with Golisopod when he suddenly heard something. Was that… someone crying? "I hear someone!" He ran up some debris and found a child crying on the ground. "H-Help! My… My grandpa, he… he's been crushed!"

Izuku ran up to him and let out a shocked gasp. "This is bad! Where is he?!"

The boy suddenly looked up with an angry look on his face. "The hell?! You'll get points docked for that!" He shouted in a deeper voice. "C'mon, man! You should know this! First, you need to check whether I can walk or if I have any major injuries. I was breathing in strange intervals and my head is bleeding pretty bad! The victims should always be the top priority!"

Izuku took a step back as Golisopod watched his trainer nervously. "We're being scored by the victims themselves?!" He said to himself. "This is about your training! Look at the bigger picture! Look all around you!"

The UA students looked around and saw the other students hard at work. "I'll mark this off as a danger area!" One student said, his Machamp helping him set up a few markers. "No, go bigger! This is a terrorist attack. There might be things we aren't seeing."

Nagamasa stepped up and walked over to a pile of debris along with his fellow Shiketsu classmates. "Let's turn this into a safe landing zone for helicopters! Mawile, think you can handle it?" The Pokemon looked up at him and nodded before chomping away at the rocks.

"We're setting up a first-aid station!" Shindo shouted as his Rhyperior set down two injured victims in a flat area. "There's a lot of space here! It'll double as an evacuation area!"

Aizawa began scratching his head as he watched his students fumble the beginning of the test. "I guess when it comes to rescue missions, we don't have as much experience."

The injured "boy" stood up and began reprimanding the UA students. "It isn't just about rescuing people. Until the proper authorities arrive, you need to prove that you can work in their place. Try to contain the situation so you can smoothly hand it over when they arrive." He let out a sigh as he wiped some of the fake blood from his forehead. "Being a Hero isn't all about fighting Villains and showing off your Pokemon. Plus, you have to remember everyone here is scared, hurting, and worried. You can't come in here and say 'That's bad!' What kind of impression do you think that leaves on someone afraid?"

Izuku clenched his fist as he remember All Might. He saved people with a smile to reassure them everything was alright. That's what he wanted to do. He smiled at the kid and kneeled down to meet him at his level. "Don't worry, you'll be okay!" He said.

The actor got back into character and began crying again. "M-My grandpa! He's over there!"

"Don't worry, we'll save him." Izuku turned to the rest of the class. "Listen, I'll get this kid to a safe area. You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later."

Tenya nodded and motioned for the class to follow him. "Alright, we'll meet up with you later, Midoriya. Let's move!" Izuku picked up the boy and began running back while the rest of 1-A carried on, moving forward.

Back with Shiketsu, they had separated into smaller groups to find victims more effectively. He found two elderly men dressed up as babies trapped behind a wall of debris. "Okay! Let's do it! Pidgeot, go for Hurricane!"

The Pokemon cawed loudly before flapping its wings, creating a massive gust of wind that lifted up the victims as well as the debris. One of the elderly men looked down and smiled at what he saw. While initially, the idea of picking up disaster victims with potential injuries with a Hurricane might seem reckless, the way Inasa was giving very detailed and specific instructions to his Pokemon proved that he was approaching the scene with care.

The man looked around and saw himself and another victim flying in one draft of air while the debris flowed away from them. Despite being an unfamiliar Pokemon to him, this boy was doing something incredible. However, it wasn't good enough. "Minus points!" The elderly man shouted, shocking Inasa.

"Don't move people so suddenly without checking their health state first. You could make things worse if they have injuries." Nagamasa said. "Oh! Right! Sorry about that!" Inasa shouted, sending Pidgeot up to pick up the two elderly figures and bring them down.

One of the Shiketsu students looked around as he had his Salamence move over a few rocks. "Where's Cammie run off to now?" They looked around but couldn't spot her. She must have gone off on her own to help in a more secluded area or something.

Back with 1-A, they were pretty astounded by how used to this type of mission some of the students were. While they had the experience of actually facing Villains, due to the fact that nearly everyone here was older than them, they had much more experience studying specific scenarios such as this one.

"Everyone, we need to keep moving!" Momo shouted, getting the attention of her class. "There's an old man here! He's still conscious which is a good sign." They spotted the man trapped underneath some rubble, struggling to move. "Help! Please!"

Ochako ran up to them and instructed her Altaria to fly up. "We'll destroy the debris with a Moon Blast!" The old man looked at her and frowned. They were gonna lose points for that. However, Momo quickly stopped her. "Please, Uraraka! Look around yourself carefully. The building is collapsed against a wall, but if we aren't careful, it could collapse."

Momo looked up at Blastoise and pointed towards an open area where the debris had collapsed. "Blastoise, you stay there and prop the building up while we do the rescue. Uraraka, you and Altaria move away the debris so we can clear a way for this man once we get him out."

"We'll help!" Fumikage said, running up to them and having Houndoom clear out some of the rocks over the trapped man once Blastoise made sure it was stable. Tsuyu's Swampert and Mashirao's Breloom helped as well, being very careful as to not cause any more debris to collapse.

The old man smiled as they cleared out the debris above him. Their strategy wasn't perfect, but it wasn't half bad either. More often than not, in scenarios like this, the victims massively outnumber the amount of rescuers. Because of that, efficiency is extremely important. You need to work as a team and know your own role when helping out.

Being able to do that role is an entirely different story. It takes immense discipline and care to actually fulfill your role properly in a test setting where everyone would likely try to show off their skills as a trainer. However, the way that the UA students were doing it wasn't exactly the most efficient. If they kept up at this rate, they wouldn't be able to obtain their license.

Mezo looked over the groups of students then the entire area around them. "I know some of us already split up, but maybe it'd be best if we split into smaller groups. It's best to reach as many places as possible at once."

"I'll take the rivers then. Swampert and I will be best there." Tsuyu said. Shoto and Toru turned to her and accompanied her to the area as well considering they could be of use. The rest of the class split up into several smaller groups, heading off to different areas of the arena.

The class was determined to not be left behind.

However, most of them weren't as keen to help as others. Katsuki's group stumbled upon two civilians, standing amongst the mountainous area. "Help us!" One of them shouted. Katsuki simply stomped his foot and turned to them. "Help yourselves!" He shouted back, much to all of their dismay.

"Bakugo! You can't go saying stuff like that!" Eijiro reprimanded, but Katsuki simply ignored it while Hatterene scowled at him. One of the victims watched in shock as the boy turned around, but he somewhat understood what he was going for. "The kid must've figured out we were low priority victims. We don't have many injuries, so he must have a good eye for that."

"We'll guide you to a safer area," Denki said as he and Eijiro slid down the mountainside to help them. One of the other victims shook her head and looked up at Katsuki. "I don't like that tone, though. Minus points."

However, rather than adjusting their styles to accommodate the point system, Hatterene simply slammed her hand into the ground, creating a small shockwave that surprised everyone there save for Katsuki. He turned his head towards them with an angry expression and growled. "What did you just say?!"

Things were looking up for most of 1-A, though. They were making good progress in such a short amount of time. Izuku had finally reached the first-aid area, handing over the child to one of the students working there. "He's responsive, but his head is bleeding." He said, passing him over to a girl and her Persian.

The girl did a quick examination before handing him back. "He seems fine. Take him to the section to the right for now. Someone will take care of his injuries over there." The actor smiled and nodded. "Very nice work." He said to himself.

However, things weren't quite over for the students yet. "What's the status?" One voice said into Mera's earpiece. "Well, it's not ideal but it could be worse. There's quite a lot to be desired but most of them seem to be bouncing back. Plus, the actors aren't docking as many points as I thought. Overall, I'd say they're doing fine."

The man who Mera was just speaking to was none other than Gang Orca. His Feraligatr let out a soft roar in the dark room he as well as several other men were seated in. "In order to maximize your role as a Hero, one must be able to multitask. In other words…"

He pressed a button on a remote, creating a large explosion in the wall, catching all the students' attention. "What's happening?!" Izuku shouted, watching as several more explosions went off in the disaster area.

Mera smiled as he approached the microphone once more. "Another large-scale terrorist attack has just gone down!"

Izuku took a step back and ran up to a group of Heroes, including Shindo. "Everyone, it's the exercise scenario!" Shindo looked around and clenched his fist. "You can't be serious right now."

"Everyone, over there!"

From within the wall, they spotted Gang Orca, along with several other men walking out. "Rescue and fight!" Orca shouted his Feraligatr roaring loudly in response. "Can you manage both at once? I wonder…"

Gang Orca was seriously no joke. He was ranked number 10 on the Hero Rankings at the time, and he was called upon alongside the likes of Best Jeanist and Endeavor during the Kamino incident.

He snapped his fingers and several of the men sent out their Pokemon, all of whom charged forward. They were typical grunt Pokemon: Crobat, Arbok, Swoobat, but there were a lot of them. "The Villains have appeared for a follow-up attack!" Mera said into his mic. "Hero candidates should continue their rescue operations while facing against the Villains."

Aizawa leaned forward nervously. "That's an incredibly tough situation, even for a Pro. To do this much just for a license…" He said. Joke nodded and anxiously watched.

Gang Orca smiled as he and Feraligatr slowly walked forward. "What will you do, Heroes? Will you fight or protect? Help or run away? What's your next move?"