-x- Shoto -x-

"You got a pokemon, what's your quirk?" Bakugo demanded of Izuku. "Tell me!" Shoto walked over and got in front of him protectively. He didn't appreciate his friend being yelled at and bullied. He also didn't want anyone to know about his being quirkless, as they both knew he'd be bullied from some of the students.

It seemed Izuku and Bakugo had been friends before, but now the blonde was unnecessarily mean to Izuku and Shoto. The red and white haired boy hated Envy being put down for no reason other than to anger and be mean to Shoto, but he didn't act on his anger. He didn't want to be like his father, who lashed out at others when he was stressed and angry.

"Leave him alone, you don't gotta know," Shoto said firmly. Bakugo narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"It's something lame, isn't it? Hah, I bet it's super stupid!" Izuku sighed, looking away, seeming to confirm it was something stupid. Shoto took Izuku's hand and took him away. While they were sitting on the swings, silent as Izuku moped, a girl from their class who was usually quiet came over.

They both looked up when she put her fingers together. "I think that was really mean of Bakugo… I don't think a bad quirk should be mocked. I just wanted to say that, if you felt sad." Shoto rose his brows, pleasantly surprised by her kindness. They'd never spoken before, even if she was one of the girls constantly in awe with the plusle and minum that hung out with Shoto often.

"What's your name, again?" Izuku asked, a small smile on his face for having someone else support him like this. Shoto liked having someone nice, too. They weren't usually spoken to since they always went to the play areas the least populated. And they'd only briefly said one another's names, and 20 little kids with names to remember wasn't easy.

"Uraraka Ochako!" Uraraka said brightly. "You're Todoroki and Midoriya, right?" They nodded. Most people didn't know Endeavor's first and last name, so the Todoroki children and wife were fine in public with their surname. Endeavor was leaving them alone but for sending money while their mother worked on the divorce.

It was just lucky the hero wasn't trying to win her back or force her. After they left, Rei became more confident and independent. She was looking for a job based on her college major, which was psychology. Shoto hoped she got something happy to do. Touya and Fuyumi agreed to babysit Shoto when needed.

But only because Shoto was extremely easy to babysit. He wasn't mischievous, didn't make messes. He wasn't noisy and usually snacked on cheerios or some other small food while watching tv or playing with the pokemon. Though he wasn't allowed to go outside without supervision.

He was glad he was no burden to anyone. He wasn't disliked or unwanted anymore, not with them not around father. But Shoto was trying, he was writing letters to him. Well, telling Rei what to write. She was happy he was trying, telling all of her children that they had the right to speak to him, or to never again.

"Whether he was a good one or not, he's your father and it's your choice to stay in contact with him." Fuyumi was also writing to him. He didn't write back regularly, but when he did they were essay length. Sometimes he complained about them leaving, but as the weeks turned into months, he stopped being so bitter with the children, and only was to Rei.

"Do you have a quirk?" Izuku asked curiously, brightly. She nodded, and showed her fingers, which had little pads on the tips. Small but noticeable if she brought attention to them. "What is it?" he asked brightly.

"I can take away gravity from things! It's super cool, but I dunno how useful," Uraraka said. Izuku asked her to show them, and Shoto was pretty curious too. She picked up a pebble, and touched it with her fingers. Her eyes scrunched closed as the pebble float. She then pressed both hands' fingers together, and it fell. It seemed hard to do, but she only just got her quirk a bit ago.

"Wow! That's amazing! Can you float yourself?"

"I tried… I throwed up, though," she said in embarrassment. "Your quirk is super cool, though!" she said to Shoto. He flushed and scratched his cheek shyly, and just nodded. "Do you have pokemon, too?" she asked Izuku brightly. She sat down on the wooden edge of the play area, looking so interested and excited.

"Yeah! I have a chikorita. She's super silly and shows affection by slapping her head leaf onto people and things!" Izuku said proudly.

"I have a mareep! She's shy but really playful with the other pokemon in my house. What about yours? The jolteon?" Uraraka asked Shoto.

"Envy was in a bad house before now, so she's scared of a lot of things. I'm trying to help her get better," he said simply. "I dunno why she's named Envy, cause she's a good girl."

"That's so sweet!"

"Most of my family have eeveelutions. The ones we don't have are vaporeon, leafeon and sylveon," Shoto explained. They were then called inside, and Shoto felt they'd made a new friend. She was very different from both quieter boys. Shoto liked the quiet more, but when she played with them, when they were both silent, she was too, unless she had something she really wanted to talk about.

After school, Rei was waiting with Envy by her side. "Ooh, can I try and see her?" she asked.

"Not yet. She's still trying to get used to Izuku," Shoto said simply. "Gotta take stuff slow for her." Uraraka smiled and nodded.

"Do you wanna see Mitty?" Izuku asked eagerly. Uraraka nodded and they darted to Izuku's car. Mitty, predictably, slapped Uraraka in greeting. Plusle and minum followed him out this time, and he got distracted trying to take them back inside before plusle jumped off his shoulder and ran to Envy.

Minum followed, and the jolteon seemed surprised until the two little pokemon roughly rubbed their cheeks, generating electricity. Envy seemed shocked, eyes widening and head jerking upright more. Shoto and Rei watched as she attempted some electricity in response. A tiny bit from her left front paw.

It seemed the two little electric types were happy with this and zoomed back inside, between little kid legs. Shoto had a soft smile on, and walked to give his partner a hug. "Good job," he said nicely, and she dipped her head with a nod.

"Looks like she's bashful, too," Rei said with a smile. "Let's go get some ice cream, how about that?" Shoto nodded. He waved goodbye to Izuku, who waved back, talking brightly with Uraraka. Shoto got into his carseat, needing some help and getting it. Shoto felt happy they made another friend. She was super nice. Maybe she could take some of the slack when it came to hanging out with Izuku.

Shoto wasn't that good at making small talk, so having someone else who really wanted to talk could balance out. Though there was no guarantee she wanted to be anything more than friendly classmates.

The next morning, she had her mareep by her side, and when Shoto got out of the car and said goodbye to Envy, she hurried over, the pokemon following behind at a fast pace. "This is Melody! I got her last month." Shoto pet her. Smell good! "Dd she say something?" She rubbed against Shoto's leg, her fluff squishing down.

"She said I smell good," Shoto said.

"Melody, do I smell good?" Uraraka asked, looking at her brightly. Such love in her eyes." Like peaches. Don't like it.

"She said she doesn't like the smell of peaches."

"Oh, sorry! I'll change my shampoo!" Uraraka said. She hugged her, and sent her back to the car with her parents. "Bye, bye! I wonder what pokemon the others have? Do they have quirks, too? It's interesting, I want to meet more! I'm glad Melody can talk to you! But I won't have ya as a teller, so don't worry! Hey, what's it like to have friends all over the place?" She sure was noisy.

He said, "Different than people," in a simple voice. She looked at him in an odd way.

"Do you want me to talk less to you?"

Shoto flushed. "I'm just… not a big talker. I listen, though. Izuku is better at talking," he said honestly.

"Okay!" she said. Her whole demeanor changed when she talked to Shoto from then on. Much calmer and less noisy. Shoto preferred this, though she still talked rapidly with Izuku. Shoto, surprisingly, didn't really feel left out. Or jealous. She hung out with them the whole school day. Quirks weren't allowed to be used inside, so she didn't use hers. Shoto thought it was interesting.

Shoto couldn't help his quirk being used since it was the pokemon that initiated the contact. Not that plusle and minum really talked. They were very energetic, and Uraraka was happy they interacted with her, along with Izuku. It was nice, and Shoto was so happy he was making friends.

Bakugo looked irate, but sad, too. He went to try and talk with the others, but only blew up in their faces when they did something "wrong". How was Izuku ever friends with him? He paid no attention to him, though, now. Shoto hoped he was a much better friend than Bakugo had been. And he thought he was. He didn't ever yell at Izuku or blow up at him, literally and figuratively. "Hey, I heard about a legendary pokemon at the park!" Both young boys perked up at this. "I don't know if it's true, though. But I want to go see!"

"Can I come, too?" Izuku asked in excitement.

"Of course, that's why I told ya!" Uraraka said. "Maybe Todoroki could get along with it, and they could be friends." Shoto thought that would be amazing. So they planned to go the next day to look for sightings.

-x- Izuku -x-

"Are you sure there will be a legendary here?" Izuku asked Urarka as they walked through the park, well, hiking up it, with Touya and Uraraka's father. Touya wanted to come, too, and see, since they had a day off and he wanted to tag along. Uraraka's father was the one to be the escort and main supervisor.

He was a nice man who really adored Uraraka and was happy she had two friends. They all had backpacks on, with their pokemon tagging along. Well, Mitty didn't come because her stubby legs would have trouble uphill since her natural habitat were grasslands. Envy was a bit before them, looking around in curiosity. Hono was behind them a bit, also happy to be on a hike.

Uraraka's mareep was there, too. It was getting kind of tiring, but there were so many forest pokemon that it was amazing, and so many crowded them. Shoto asked if they had any sightings, and they said yes, but Izuku wasn't sure to trust them or not. Shoto said that the pokemon always seemed to tell him what he wanted to hear, and so he was not sure if they always told the truth.

Touya reached the ridge that Envy was peeking over, and he put his hand over his mouth to silence himself while he told the others to hush. Izuku peeked over the edge. It was not a Suicune like they had heard. It was a Celebi!

Izuku pushed Shoto forward, and he fell over the roots, landing with an "oof!" Izuku felt bad for shoving him. Celebi looked at him warily. They were all waiting for bated breath to know what would happen next. Slowly, Shoto walked forward. He then sat down in front of the legendary pokemon. It had a stare down with him before flying forward to right in front of him. The other four and their pokemon held the breaths, though the Celebi had to know they were there. Shoto did not reach out to touch it and risk any boundaries being crossed.

"My name is Shoto," he introduced in a level voice, not too loud but not whispering. "I'm sorry if I'm being too close to you, you can fly away." But then the Celebi patted Shoto's head twice in some sort of positive gesture or speaking to him, and then flew away and out of sight. Izuku and Touya jumped over the roots, same with Envy and Hono.

"That was amazing!" Izuku cried loudly. Uraraka bustled over, too. The one frozen in shock was her father. "Did it say anything when it touched you?"

"No. She just patted me on the head and flew away." He gently touched his hair where he'd been pat. "She was so pretty." Uraraka squealed about it, and Envy was on a rock, looking into the distance where it had flown away. Well, a she, according to Shoto. "Envy," he called, and she padded over. "How was that for you? What did you think?"

Shoto pet her and listened to whatever she said. "Me, too. Envy said Celebi seemed kind of frightened."

"Frightened?"

"Maybe because there were a bunch of humans right here. Sho, you're so sweet," Touya praised. "You didn't even try to get close, you just let her come to you." Shoto flushed, but Izuku agreed. Pokemon definitely liked Shoto for more than his quirk. He was gentle and patient with them, even when he was so excited to see a legendary pokemon.

"Uraraka, we gotta listen to your hunches more," Touya said with a smile. Hono and Envy splashed into the stream that Celebi had been floating over, and Melody joined in.

"Daddy, did you see? Isn't Todoroki super cool?!" the girl said excitedly. Shoto was blushing under all the praise, trying to hide his face in his bangs. Touya helped him sit up, his bottom a bit dirty from sitting on the damp soil.

"That was amazing, Todoroki-kun," he said. Shoto looked even more bashful. They took out the snacks in their backpack, and Touya complained about not getting any photos. "Well, it was probably best to not have any concrete proof of this. Perhaps Todoroki-kun would have been sought out for it. You just seem like the kind of kid to not want to be under a spotlight."

Izuku saw Shoto looked surprised with how he hit the nail on the head. He just nodded, and they ate the snacks and talked in joy. It was a real experience. Izuku wondered if there were other pokemon themed quirks out there. And where did Shoto's quirk come from anyways? His mommy and Endeavor had searched their family trees but there was no trace of the quirk Shoto had. It was more rare than even being quirkless, having nothing in common with your predecessors' quirks.

Shoto was quiet the whole time, just listening while he pet Envy's ears, rubbing the thick fluff between his fingers gently. "We should be pokemon explorers!" Uraraka announced. "We can travel places and look to make friends with them." They talked about how excited it would be to meet more legendaries, and the two older ones didn't burst their bubbles.

It was unlikely there were many legendaries in Japan, let alone would be lucky enough to catch them at the right times. Izuku wondered about that, too, but was excited with the prospect nonetheless.

All three children slept on the way back home, tired out. The pokemon in the back were all a bit crammed since it wasn't a very big car, but they figured out a position where they could all sit. Melody's fluff took up a lot of the space. Hono was also very fluffy, so Envy was stuck between two cloud of fluff converging on her.

They were dropped off at their homes, the mothers taking the carseats out to return to their own cars. Inko carried her small kid upstairs, and after he finished the rest of his nap, he hurried to the living room to get his drawing supplies out and draw what he'd seen. "How was it, Izuku?" she asked curiously.

"We saw a Celebi! And it touched Shoto! It pat his head and then flew away!" Izuku was not a liar or exaggerator, so the woman believed him and looked shocked. "It was super fun, and Uraraka's dad is really nice! It was so fun, oh my GOD!"

"W-wow, what an experience. Did anyone get photos?" Izuku shook his head. "That's amazing." Mitty came out from her little enclosed bed-box and hurried over, slapping Izuku in greeting. He was still restless, unable to stand still. "Can I go on a walk? I'm so fulla' energy!" he said brightly. "And I wanna include Mitty since she couldn't go with us."

"Sure, let's go on a walk," she said, and got her things. Izuku was still on a high from the amazing day. Uraraka was so bright and Shoto was soft and kind. Izuku didn't know if he'd even have been able to be that calm in front of any pokemon, let alone a legendary one. She had been so cute!

They left the house and went on a long walk, Izuku reminiscing the rest of the hike. It was fun, he wanted to go on more. "And Touya's so friendly and awesome! I wish I had a big brother," he exclaimed. "Shoto's so lucky."

"He does seem lucky, having a loving family. And Rei-san is doing a phenomenal job as a single mother already, even after a few months alone."

"All of them take care of each other, so they make it easier for their mommy! Shoto said he was easy to babysit cause he was boring." Inko chuckled. "But he's not boring! He so interesting."

"Shoto seems like an insecure little boy, so your friendship is great for him," the mother praised. Taki was next to her, but he needed a leash because he really was not well behaved anywhere he went. But Inko still loved him.

Izuku cocked his head. "What's insecure?"

"It's when somebody doesn't love themself. They look down on themselves. You're insecure, too, Izuku."

"Wow, I am? Is that a bad thing?" he asked with a frown.

"It is something that can hopefully be overcome with time and care," Inko said patiently. Izuku hummed. He didn't want to be insecure- it didn't sound like a nice feeling at all. "Insecure can be how you feel around Katsuki-kun. You feel he can be cooler than you. That's what being insecure feels like," she kindly explained.

"Oh! Yeah, I don't like that feeling!" Izuku said with a nod. "But I got Shoto and Uraraka and Kacchan doesn't really have many friends. But he has a quirk," he mumbled sadly.

"Even so, you still got your chikorita. Just because your quirkless does not mean you don't deserve to be treated with respect." Izuku nodded, looking down at his pokemon. She didn't really run, she looked to be skipping. She was so different from Envy and he hoped the joleton could be more bold and comfortable soon.

-x- Shoto -x-

Shoto had lied. The Celebi had spoken to him. He just didn't share because it wasn't something nice. Celebi could time travel. Maybe she'd seen his future, and that was the warning. He didn't know, and didn't want to think about it. Her words weren't necessarily scary, but sort of foreboding.

A hard path is before you. Good luck. He had no idea what she'd been referencing and she was long gone before he could think to ask. What kind of hard path? What would go wrong? What did she see, or what was the reason she said that to him? He tossed the rubber ball to the ceiling, and Envy pushed the door open and walk inside.

She pressed to his hand. Are you okay?

"I lied. Celebi did tell me something," he said quietly. He'd lied to Touya as well, and he didn't want him to overhear. The words were meant for Shoto alone, and he didn't want to worry others. That something bad was waiting for him in the future. But maybe it wasn't something awful, just hard to master his quirk or make friends or something. She cocked her head and sat down, waiting for an explanation. "She tol' me good luck, and that a hard path is before me," he said, sitting up and squeezing the squishing ball in his hand.

Are you okay? Envy asked again.

"I'm jus' kinda nervous. What if it's something really bad?"

Would she say something like that and not explain if it was something bad?

"I don' know. I'm kinda scared…" he said honestly. She jumped onto the bed beside him and rubbed her head against him. He carded his fingers through her yellow fur. It looked sharp and spiky unlike Hono's, but it was still soft and smooth, nice to pet.

He didn't tell anyone else any more. He only confided in Envy, who couldn't exactly spread it around, not that he though she'd ever do that. He wished he could see Celebi again and ask for more explanation. It was kinda mean for her to leave him hanging like that, not knowing what she meant, but worrying about it deeply.

-x-

Shoto was out with Rei, shopping for some new shoes and a new backpack, preparing for kindergarten very early, due to Shoto's request. He wasn't going to the same school as his two best friends. And it wasn't the same private school as his siblings. There was no reason for him to go to an expensive school. They didn't need the prestige, as nobody but immediate friends and family even knew of their relationship to Endeavor, which wasn't as toxic as it had been.

It still wasn't very healthy for him to be close to any of them, Touya especially. Endeavor put so much work into him only for him to abandon that and not go to a hero school at all. Shoto was happy with that, though, so he could stay with his friends and be a normal kid, a normal teenager.

They had been picking out a pokemon backpack, Envy beside him, scared of everyone, but she had asked to be given a chance, and was doing her best. She had a harness on that was attached to a harness on Shoto. They had no chance of being separated. He got some nasty looks about it, but Envy was the one who wanted it.

Shoto chose a ninetails backpack. Veera, who was predicted to have passed months ago, was a kicker and continued to live and sleep and cuddle the days and nights away. They were both walking back to the car when All Might was there! And his mega charizard! There was a taillow perching on his shoulder.

Other people's pokemon still converged on him, but not in the way semi-wild pokemon did. But they just watched from a distance, Shoto not sure if he was brave enough to ask for an autograph, mostly for Izuku. But he didn't want to be a bother when he was already so busy. Maybe if they waited for him to be on his way, they could catch him. Though he was too fast and would be gone.

But the size of his mega charizard was not as tall as he saw in most videos and photos. All Might was only a little taller than he was. The black and blue evolved pokemon looked in Shoto's direction, and made its way to him. Everyone cleared out, wary of a charizard. Shoto didn't feel an ounce of fear.

"Hi," the small boy said. Envy wasn't afraid by the size. "You're really cool as a hero partner. I like seein' you in videos," he said with a smile. He'd ever met a charizard face to face, let alone a mega. It bent down and touched his head to Shoto's. His arms were kind of stumpy so he didn't reach out too easily.

Is this a quirk? he asked, eyes looking up to Shoto's shoulder, which had the wild pokemon perched still. A butterfree latched onto the back of his hair like a massive, living bow. It was heavy.

"Yeah," Shoto replied. All Might came over, and Envy started to freak out. "Don't come closer!" he said to the number one hero. Envy was scared of how big All Might was. "It's okay, he's a good guy," Shoto soothed before just picking her up, barely able to do so.

"I apologize for scaring her," All Might said. He looked between Shoto and his pokemon partner. "Were you speaking to Ember?"

"It's my quirk," Shoto said with a nod. Envy was slowly calming down, and when Ember stood in between All Might and the joleton, she calmed a bit more. All Might just looked around the charizard. "I can talk understand pokemon." He didn't add the completely overpowered part of it. Well, it wasn't overpowered yet, but if he practiced it, he could be very strong by picking up pokemon abilities for an extended period of time. But he didn't try it, not wanting to do such a thing. It felt wrong to steal a pokemon's power.

"That's quite the quirk!" All Might said loudly, earning a whimper from Envy, hiding in his legs. "Ember, why don't we go? We're making the jolteon nervous." Ember nodded and left with his human.

Shoto hugged his still very traumatized joelton. "Let's go home." She nodded, and they quickly walked to the car. When Rei went to close the van door after helping Shoto into his seat, she ran a cool, comforting hand along Envy's cheek. "You did good, Envy," she said in a proud voice. The boy agreed.

"We weren't planning on seeing a giant person, you did very well."

I'm sorry. I'm a burden.

"You just need estra help sometimes. It's not a burden, promise," Shoto said sincerely. Envy nodded, and laid down, putting her paws over her face in shame. When they went inside, Shoto got her some treats, and they sat in the living room and watched some cartoons before Shoto called Izuku and Ochako and told them the news.

"Wow! You talked to All Might?!" Izuku shouted.

"Poor Envy," Ochako said sadly. "Being around someone so huge would make me nervous, too. And a mega charizard!" Now she sounded excited. Envy was sleeping, Veera curled up around her, both snoozing on the couch.

"It was sad. But the charizard was a lot smaller than he seems in vidoes. He's shorter than All Might."

"I never noticed. Did you get an autograph?" Izuku asked.

"No. We had to leave and didn't have time. But he knows about my quirk, maybe he'll remember me some day," Shoto mused. "I've never met a charizard before. It was cool. But I'm sad he scared Envy so much. She was so freaked out. It was sad."

"Still have a long ways to go," Ochako said softly.

"It's okay. I'm not gonna impatient cause I love her," Shoto stated.

"Awwww. Hey, let's go hang out at the park!" Ochako said. They agreed and planned with their parents to go the next day, Inko planning on being the one to supervise. Shoto was excited. He ate dinner, talking with his siblings about All Might and Ember, his charizard's name. The pokemon were eating their pokefood and then some raw meat to have as treats. They were all carnivore pokemon, they didn't eat grass or trees. Not like Izuku's chikorita.

"All Might, huh? What'd you think of him?" Touya asked.

"I didn't talk to him that much, though. I don' know. He seemed nice, cause he left when he saw Envy was scared. His charizard was nice, though. He went in front of All Might so Envy felt safer. I liked him a lot."

Natsuo said, "Endeavor would have just laughed or mocked her."

"And that is a good reason as to why we don't live there anymore," Rei said, shutting down that conversation before it began. Natsuo was very bitter about their father, both because of how he was ignored then and ignored now while the other three still held at least some attention. Though it was only "good" attention for Shoto and Fuyumi. Endeavor was incredibly bitter at Touya, still. They never spoke, though.

After dinner, Shoto drew in his coloring book, doing his best to stay in the lines, laying on the floor in front of the fire place, where all the eeveelutions were sleeping, in various relaxed positions, enjoying the warmth of the fire. Shoto smiled at them, and at Envy. He didn't care how long it took, he'd always be a good human for her.

He wanted her to be happy sooner, but it was okay if she had to take time. He wanted to keep being good and kind for her. How he wanted to be treated by others.

After taking a bath and being read a story by Rei, he went to go to bed. There were modifications to the bedroom doors where the pokemon could go through flaps to come in and out as they pleased unless the little entrance/exit was locked.

He was sleeping soundly before his dream came. A weird one. He was sitting in a dark room, and looked around, seeing there were stars all around him. It was really pretty, he liked it, and laid down to watch the stars pass by. Then there was a booming echo, and he jerked upright, and then onto his feet.

Sh….m…ssn…

There was some large white specter, which he could not tell what it was or its form. It just looked like a white and gold blur, but then he was catapulted out of the starry room, and woke up screaming, Touya shaking him awake as he poured sweat like he had a water producing quirk.

He was shaking violently. "Sho, what happened?" Touya asked in shock, the other two outside, with all their concerned pokemon. Rei was at the store, something about Fuyumi needing a "girly thing."

"I-I don' know," he said, looking at his trembling hands.

"Was it a dream?" Fuyumi asked, looking worried.

"A noisy one," Natsuo muttered.

"I don' know. It didn't feel like a dream."

"What happened in it?" Touya asked. Envy was looking frightened and worried over him. Shoto took some calming breaths, but had no idea what about the dream made him react in such a way. He'd never had a dream that conjured that reaction. He'd had nightmares, but never screaming and sweating. He tried to remember what made it so awful, but from what he could remember, there was nothing that should be so scary.

"I was in a starry room. Then there was a deep voice, only I couldn' tell what it was saying. Then I got thrown out and everything was spinny," he explained. "I don' know what was so scary about it. Sorry, everyone…" he said in shame.

"Don't worry, Sho, none of us were asleep, just startled. Do you want to go back to sleep or stay up a bit?" He decided to stay up for a bit more, and went into Touya's room with him, and sat on the chair in the corner. He tried teaching Shoto how to play a video game with him, but he was distracted.

Out of seemingly nowhere, he said, "I lied to everyone." Touya paused the game and rose an eyebrow. "Celebi did say something to me…" Touya's brows furrowed, now, and he gave Shoto his full attention. "All she said was that I had a hard life ahead and good luck. Celebi can time travel, right? Did she see my future, and it's not good?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't want you to worry…" he mumbled. "It scared me… I didn't want to scare anyone else."

"Thank you for telling me. Have you noticed anything else strange? With the pokemon, at least?" Shoto shook his head. He was tired, and decided to go back to bed. Or at least, try. It took two hours of staring at the ceiling, worried to go back into the Star Room before he fell asleep and had zero dreams, and not that terrifying nightmare that he couldn't figure out what was so scary.

-x Izuku -x-

"He seems sad," Ochako whispered when Shoto went to the park restroom. "What happened?"

"I dunno. He seems sad, yeah," Izuku agreed. They both smiled when Shoto walked over. "What's wrong, Shoto? You seem sad." No use beating around the bush, they didn't want him to be sad. They sat at a picnic table. Inko was supervising from the further table, which gave her the view of the playground and the grassy field beside it. They could run around all they wanted. Shoto shrugged. "Did you have a bad dream?" Izuku pressed.

Shoto nodded. "What was it?" Ochako asked kindly. Not sounding pressured at all.

"I don't… I don't know. It was so scary. Touya woke me up, I was screaming and sweating but I don't know what was so scary." He sounded frustrated, fists balled on the picnic table.

"Can you talk more about it?" Izuku wondered patiently. Neither of them wanted to press Shoto because sometimes he would just close off completely. It only happened sometimes, but every time it was unpredictable. He never showed or spoke when he was having a bad day. They only knew when he would close up and shut down.

Izuku knew that he was relieved they had Ochako because when he shut down, it wasn't like it was just complete silence and he was robbing Izuku of conversation. "I was in a Star Room. Then there was a loud noise, and a white and gold thing was in front of me. I couldn' tell what it was, just a blur. It tried talking to me, but I don't know what it said. Then I was thrown outta the Star Room," he explained. Izuku wasn't expecting that much detail was pleasantly surprised.

They didn't have their pokemon with them right now, so Envy wasn't there to look worried over him. "Sorry you had a scary dream like that." Shoto chewed on his lip, looking uncertain and at war with himself. "Shoto?" Izuku asked.

"What's wrong?" Ochako questioned, also worried.

"I got a scary message. I lied to you two," he said. Izuku was surprised by this, and glanced at Ochako, who shrugged. They turned and listened to whatever Shoto had kept from them. "Celebi did talk to me. She said good luck because I have a hard life in front of me."

That was a few months ago. Since then, Shoto had gotten more distant, and then started the shutting down. Was it because of that? Did it really scare him that bad? It was creepy, because Izuku knew Celebi could time travel, so a creepy message like that could hold weight considering what kind of pokemon it had been.

"I feel like something bad will happen, but I don't know what. I'm sorry I lied to you," he said in shame. "I didn' want to worry anyone, or make the trip not fun anymore."

"It's okay," Ochako said. "I'm not mad. I mean, it is creepy. And I wonder why she just left after that." Izuku was already muttering to himself, distant. Something about Celebi probably not being able to try and change the future. Or something like that. "Izuku," Ochako interrupted. "Wanna tell us what you're saying?"

"R-Right! Well, with time travel theory outside of pokemon, you're not supposed to change the past, right. To Celebi, maybe you were part of the past, and so saying more could change the future! So she couldn't say much. All she could do was give you a warning, even if it's misty."

Shoto pouted, not happy with this. "Has anything else weird happened to you? With pokemon at least?" Ochako asked. Shoto shook his head. "Hmm… Has anything been weird?"

"No. Just that dream," Shoto replied in a mumble. "Are you mad? That I lied to you?" he asked, looking up from beneath his bicolored lashes. They shook their heads. Izuku wasn't angry, he saw why Shoto hid it, and just wished he could do more to help, really. He was about to ask something else before Shoto's eyes seemed to glaze over and turn distant before he fell backwards and off of the table bench.

"Shoto!" they both shouted, and hurried to the other side. He was just looking up at the sky. "Ochako, go get mom!" She nodded and sorted away. "Shoto? Are you okay?"

"The… thing is here," he whispered, but didn't look like he was seeing anything that was there. Then he passed out, and started to tremble. Inko hurried over, and picked Shoto up before running them to the car, and clipping them all in before driving them to the hospital. Shoto was unconscious the whole time. Even when they got him out.

Both other children were crying in worry, running after the mother and into the emergency room. Shoto was taken in immediately, and Inko called Rei, who was frantic on the other end. It was awful, and scary! And Shoto said that "the thing" was there. Was it really there, or was he seeing things? Was he sick? What was wrong?!

Rei arrived and sprinted inside, shoving past people roughly as she ran to her son. It was only an hour later that Shoto walked back out, looked very bothered. Izuku and Ochako ran to him in worry, begging to know what happened. "They don't know," Rei said. Shoto, however, looked like he knew full well what happened. He didn't look surprised or fearful. He knew what happened to him.

Was he keeping it a secret again? Izuku hoped not.

They went separate ways, but Shoto stayed on the phone with them when he got home. He would not answer what happened, which was very frustrating. He refused to say. It was upsetting, and Izuku felt like he was being thrown away or just not trusted. It hurt, and he didn't really want to go to school the next day.

But he had no choice because Inko had a doctor's appointment and so he needed to be at school during it. When he walked past Kacchan, he glared at him. He hated Izuku, now. He hated Shoto, too. Izuku wished it wasn't that way, and they could be friends, but he gave up on that. It was just a wish he knew would never happen.

When Shoto came inside, plusle and minum were on him in an instant, clinging to both shoulders. They didn't need to jump very high for the boy since he was still short, just like all the other four and five year olds. He went outside, glancing at his two friends to come, too. So they went to the swings.

"I got a lot of stuff said."

"The thing? You said the thing was there when you were out of it at the park. Are you really okay?" Shoto nodded. "What happened?" Ochako nodded, confused as well, needing answers to what on earth happened to Shoto the day before.

"I'm gonna be a hero." But when he said it, it looked sad.

"What does that have to do with yesterday?" Izuku asked patiently, hoping he wouldn't close off and shut down. Shoto never said he wanted to be a hero. And just because Izuku couldn't didn't mean he didn't want to rob it from Shoto. They had a very long time until then.

"Promise you won' think I'm crazy?" They both shook their heads vehemently. "It's hard to remember it all. It was noisy, like the voice was booming in my ears."

"But you saw it, too?"

"I'm gonna sound so crazy," he said sadly. "The voice in my dream was the one that came in my head again. I saw it at the park, but nobody else could." His shoulders slumped, but the two waited for elaboration. "It was the biggest pokemon I've seen in person before… Arceus."

Izuku's jaw dropped. "What? What is it?" Ochako asked. She wasn't a crazy pokemon fan that knew all the lore and history. All that he could access on the internet. "What is Arceus?"

"Um… it's sort of like a god."

"A… god? A pokemon god?"

Shoto nodded. "Said it created the pokemon universe. Don't know if it made people, too. Just pokemon. I wish I could prove it," he said in frustration. Izuku firmly told him he believed him. Ochako nodded, too. Izuku was sure she didn't really realize what Shoto was saying. Pretty much god spoke to him. But Arceus wasn't actually proven to exist, there were no images of it in any way. Though Izuku didn't think Shoto was lying one bit, so Arceus did exist.

"What did it tell you?"

"Something bad will come, and hurt a lot of pokemon and people. It just told me I hafta get stronger to help deal with it."

"Why you?" Ochako asked quietly. Shoto didn't know, and simply shrugged. "So, you want to be a hero so you can do what Arceus said?" Shoto nodded. "Well, do you have to do what it says?"

"Ochako!" Izuku hissed. She looked confused. "That's god."

"What, is it going to hit me with lightning from the stars? It's his choice, it's his life, right? You don't look happy with this at all!" She was protesting what Shoto was saying. Izuku had no idea what went on wherever Arceus talked to Shoto, and they could only believe what he was saying, as they wouldn't be getting any information from anywhere else.

"Was it scary?"

"I felt like I was holding something really heavy. But at the same time… he was telling me what to do, but he also seemed sad. He said he was sorry for me, which jus' scared me more!" Shoto shouted. "He said he couldn't give me all the information at once. Said I gotta be older for more, but just to be stronger."

"And it didn't say why you?" Shoto shook his head. Izuku let out a sigh. "You're like, the chosen one or something."

"I love my quirk, but I don't want to make the pokemon my weapons. I don't want to use them."

"If it was Arceus to talk to you, the maker of pokemon, don't you think it's okay to use them? I mean, not use - that sounds bad! But get help from them? And do you have to?"

Shoto said, "I want to, but I also don't! I don't know, I'm only four! Why did he gotta tell me now?"

"To prepare you, maybe? Get a headstart in mastering your quirk?" Ochako suggested.

"Is it even a quirk?" Izuku asked. Shoto looked to him, but didn't look surprised from his words. "I mean, Shoto's family has never had this quirk. Quirks are really human, so why would Arceus have any pull with a human quirk?"

"Then it's magic?" Shoto shrugged. "Whoa. This is crazy. Well, there's not anything you can do until you get more info, right? Besides getting better at your quirk." He nodded in agreement with the girl. Izuku felt sorry for him. It must be a heavy burden. To literally have god tell him what to do. Not a god for humans, but still.

Izuku didn't think it was ever a quirk. But why did he, a human, get any sort of power regarding pokemon? They coexisted in harmony, especially after battles were outlawed worldwide a decade ago, but why would Shoto be pulled so far into pokemon territory and not human? He didn't know, he had no answers and he doubted he could get the pokemon god to explain to help him understand.

His fanboyness got too much for him, and he asked, "What did Arceus look like?"

"Like a horse, but legs were thicker and ended in points. His head had this long thing coming off the top, and there were rings around the middle of him. Mostly white and gold. He had a deep voice but it's words were okay. Not - not mean. But I don't really feel like I have any choice… but at the same time, I really want to help. Cause I love pokemon and I don't want anything bad to happen to them."

Izuku sighed. "Well, we could be heroes, too!" Ochako said brightly. Izuku had managed to tiptoe around his mystery quirk for the few months she'd joined him and Shoto's friend group. Maybe now was the time to say. To be honest. It was a serious moment and Izuku didn't want to lie or fake when Shoto was being so incredibly honest, no matter how insecure he was in their possible reactions.

"I can't, Ochako… I'm quirkless. And I don't have pokemon powers." She rose her brows in surprised and then grew upset.

"Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I'd judge you?" she asked, sounding hurt. Izuku tried damage control.

"No! It's not that… I just don't like it. It's embarrassing," he said quietly. "I don't want many people to know."

"Well, I'm not telling anybody. You're my friend, why would I do that?" she asked, pouting deeply. Izuku slumped, feeling guilty for keeping it a secret. At least Shoto was being open with them equally. Their attention was ripped away from the quirkless boy when something just appeared on the table. It was in front of Shoto on the table.

They were all speechless before Izuku hissed, "A gift from god! Are you gonna open it?" Shoto shook his head. "Can I?" So, he got permission, and opened the wooden box. He pulled out what was a very beautiful stone. Similar to an evolution stone. But Shoto's jolteon was already evolved. Though it wasn't an electric evolution stone. Izuku had no clue what it was. He turned it around in his fingers, and handed it to Ochako when she was curious.

"It just looks like an evolution stone… But why?" She made to hand it to Shoto, but he refused to touch it. She deposited it back into the box, and closed it. There was a little lock on it, so she put that in place so it wouldn't fall open. They were silent for a moment, a long one. Then they jumped when they were called in for snacks and story time.

Izuku hated how bothered Shoto was. Izuku was carrying the box when it was yanked away from Kacchan. "Hey! Don't touch that!" Izuku shouted.

"What is it?" Then plusle and minum were there, biting at his ears. Izuku grabbed it away from him, and held it close while Kacchan shouted over his ears being abused. They didn't have sharp teeth, but they were taken away from Shoto, reaching out to grab them. Kacchan's ears were not bleeding, they were only red and irritated.

It was a mess, and everyone were speechless. "He made the pokemon attack him!" one girl shouted. It got even messier as Shoto tried to stand up for himself.

"They - they only did that after he stole from Izuku," he said in complete confusion as to why he was being the perpetrator now. The two electric pokemon zoomed away from them and back under the bookshelf while the teacher and helpers tried to calm the situation. The box was confiscated and put in Shoto's cubby for nobody else to touch.

It was tense the rest of the day, and Shoto was not having a good one so far. Izuku hoped things got better for him. But he'd be there for him, no matter what happened. He wished Shoto would keep him in the loop. This felt like it would be quite the long term situation. Poor Shoto. God was putting pressure on him to do something. No matter how nice Arceus might act or sound, Shoto was still being forced to do something he didn't want to. At least not now.

Review please.