Shit goes down in this chapter. Enjoy

-x- Izuku -x-

Izuku already had an idea of what would happen based on the art he'd seen. It was just art, but most of what Shoto would draw were realistic and rarely imaginative. So those dark pokemon fully colored drawings struck Izuku as truth. Then there was the fact he'd been told, whatever happened, would happen with no way to prevent it. And that it had happened before and was generally not good.

He understood why Shoto took the information from him, and hadn't told Touya the extent of what would come. This journey he'd been on eight years, and would stretch to eleven. Izuku wanted to share it with him in every way he could. He wanted to be his support, someone he could openly speak to.

Just as Shoto had matured to stand up for himself, Izuku was not so scared of the world. And there was nothing anyone could do to stop whatever was to come. Shoto had to be ready, and having someone to talk to would benefit him. Izuku wanted to support him in every way possible.

After Shoto outed himself for his burn, and offered up the cruel nickname, Izuku had been sadly shocked. He should have expected him to do that, but he didn't know that someone could be so truly loyal, to sabotage themselves like that without a second thought. Without any hesitation whatsoever. It was deeply touching.

When he was walking to Shoto's house, he came across something odd. No, not odd, alarming. The mega charizard that belonged to All Might was stuck in a thick muck that was swallowing him like quicksand. It wasn't an actual muk, but what looked like some pit. Where was All Might to help his pokemon partner?

Shoto had rubbed off on him. Izuku acted immediately, throwing his bag down and sprinting down to the drowning charizard. He looked around for anything, and saw a large branch. The charizard was a little taller than Izuku but had to weigh a lot more. Izuku got the stick and started to stir the muck the charizard was trapped in, trying to loosen it up.

"Grab onto that ledge! Hold tight!" It was very lucky pokemon could understand humans. Izuku took the branch, running and having the strain of the stick in the thick mud was making his arms burn and tremble from the effort. When the charizard had a good grip, Izuku scraped the stick along the scaly skin to try and loosen the stuff. The grip got firmer, and Izuku managed to scraped the muck downhill into the sewers. Shoto should purify that stuff, it stunk and was going to pollute the water.

When the charizard came out, Izuku let out a deep breath in relief. He fell on his butt, utterly exhausted. His arms were feeling so heavy and his back hurt from the effort. Then All Might arrived, far too late to be fashionable. He saw the mega charizard covered in black goo, and the kid panting.

"What happened?" All Might asked.

"He… got stuck in the mud… and couldn't get out."

"Then you helped him?" Izuku nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry I wasn't here to help. Is your friend around?"

"No, just me this time," Izuku said. Of course All Might was more focused on Shoto. He was the one able to speak to pokemon. And so much more. At least All Might recognized him in some way. "Just me…" he sighed. He stood up on shaking legs, picked up his backpack, and then hurried away, tears in his eyes. Not of pride, but of shame.

If he had a quirk, he could have possibly done more, gotten it done faster and more efficiently. He was only thankful for his quick thinking. He was glad to have saved the number one hero's partner, though. All Might's work might have been impacted from grief. And that charizard helped save a lot of people.

When Izuku ended up at Shoto's house, the sprinklers were going off in the yard with the eeveelutions all laying in lumps, letting the cool water rain down on them. It was a funny scene. He wished Mitty liked leaving the house more, and was like Envy who was with Shoto everywhere he went. Even on the top of a mountain in Norway.

Fuyumi let him in when he knocked on the door. He went inside, taking his shoes off at the door, and headed upstairs to find Shoto there. When he got inside, he slumped onto the bed, exhausted. "What's wrong?" Shoto asked in worry.

"Saved All Might's charizard from drowning in mud." Shoto's eyebrows shot up in question. The story wasn't all that interesting, but Shoto looked extremely engaged in it. It was short and to the point. Izuku had better things to talk about besides that. It wasn't a big deal. Not to him, he acted before he thought and was able to problem solve. He was proud of that, but mostly embarrassed.

He said, "I wanted to talk to you about your situation."

"Okay."

"I think I know the gist of what will happen. Routinely, something goes wrong with the pokemon and they get dark and violent. You can't stop it and it is very dangerous."

"How'd you figure it out? Did you… remember?"

"No. I once saw your drawings of the creepy, evil pokemon. You always draw things from real life… I assumed they were real. I'm not scared. I don't think so, I've thought about it a lot and I'm sort of… resigned? Like, not even Arceus can stop it. It'll happen and being scared of it will not be productive."

Shoto let out a small smile, clearly relieved. "You can handle it?"

"If I can't, I give you permission to make me forget about the explanation." Shoto nodded, and explained everything about the situation. Like he had, Izuku figured it out on his own, there wasn't really anything left to hide, only build on the truth. "Oh, god. So, this happened before?"

"Yeah. Arceus doesn't know the cause because it's not something that was created by him or anything that he created created themselves."

"How can't he creator of the universe not know something?"

"I don't know. I'm the first try he's made like this. But, if there's another extinction, it'll wipe everything away again. I don't want to die, but I also don't want society to fall apart. Since nobody has really survived the past times this happened, I just worry about the after effects of the pokemon all going evil. What if they're treated awfully? Then it might not matter if they aren't shadows anymore, they could get angry and hurt. Going from banning battles and pokeballs onto to be treated awfully… it just is all around bad," Shoto sighed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm worried and nervous… really nervous and worried, but I don't think worrying will help. It's hard to not worry about the end of the world, but knowing there's nothing anyone can do to hope to stop it - I don't know. I don't think you need to erase my memories again." He paused. "Does Touya know?"

Shoto shook his head. "I didn't want a repeat of what happened with you."

"Sorry," Izuku said.

"Wanna go out hero scouting?" Shoto asked suddenly. "You like doing that, don't you?" He had a soft smile on. Izuku smiled back, more than happy to go nerd out on things other than a pokemon god and the fate of the world as they knew it. Less than four years. He could enjoy the current life before that.

-x-

"The fuck is this?" Bakugo asked, holding Izuku's notebook on Shoto. Thank god it was written in code. And the key wasn't there, they both knew the rules and meanings by heart. Izuku had burns on his arm from being exploded. "Didn't know you were fucking dyslexic, too."

"Give it back!"

"What did you say to me?" Bakugo asked with a sneer. Izuku was upset about this. They'd been fine for years, neither bothering the other, but now the blonde was a complete bully. The people who treated him like shit rubbed off on him. "This a little code you and Tomato Face use?"

"Don't call him that!" Izuku was punched in the face, slamming his back into the wall. He was shaking, knowing he was helpless, completely. Then Bakugo's houndour showed up, and started barking angrily at the blonde. Bakugo ignored it. Sulfur barked louder, and both of them realized they weren't just angry barks, but a calling signal since Shoto came running over.

"Izuku! Bakugo, what the hell is your problem?" Shoto demanded, standing in front of Izuku.

"I don't like quirkless or ugly idiots. Is that such a sin?"

"It's sad to see when your own pokemon heavily disapproves of your actions," Shoto said, sounding sad. Bakugo flinched, looking at Sulfur, who was pointedly looking away. He then wandered away, leaving campus. Bakugo ran after him in worry, the other bullies dispersing. Shoto touched the wounds and healed them. "Sorry…"

Izuku sighs. "It's not your fault to not find me first."

"It's not that. I'm sorry that you're probably embarrassed cause I came to help." He picked up the notebook, and Izuku was glad it wasn't destroyed.

"I don't like having to be saved, but it's no so bad when it's you." Shoto smiled in relief. Izuku was still jealous of his powers, but it didn't negatively affect their friendship anymore, thankfully. That nightmare of a situation was far behind them. When they walked to Izuku's house, some pokemon joined their walk.

Izuku was itching to go on another adventure to meet a legendary. He got his wish when Shoto told him over the phone only the next day, that he was approved to try finding another legendary. "Ooh, which one?!"

"Xerneas," Shoto said and Izuku cheered. "I have the location and the portal to it is actually super close. It'll be a climb to get up it, though. But we can totally do it on our own. It's been awhile since Lugia. I thought it would be fun to just be you with me," Shoto explained. It made Izuku feel nice. He was wanted to come along over Touya, who was strong, smart and had a fearsome quirk.

Though, for a peaceful pokemon like Xerneas, Touya might not be welcomed. Fire was destructive in any form. Izuku would be entirely nonthreatening. So, they got backpacks ready, and told both clueless, helpless mothers they'd be going on a camping trip. Touya was their cover again, he'd pretend to go with them, but just drop them off and hang at a friend's place until they got back.

Izuku wanted a brother like Touya. But he acted as a brother to him sometimes. They'd grown up seeing one another. Well, Izuku had grown up knowing and constantly interacting with Touya. He was part of the family, really.

Shoto was carrying the flimsy tent on his back while Izuku carried the single sleeping bag they'd share. He also had the provisions and other objects needed for an expedition. They had no idea how long they'd be there. "Xerneas stays in forests, so we don't need to worry about ending up in Norway again."

"That's good." Envy nodded in agreement, she hadn't liked the cold apparently.

In the car, Touya was quiet. "Sorry I can't go with you guys much anymore. You don't really need me anymore and I don't give off the kind of vibe needed for this shit."

"You still help us a lot by doing these things," Shoto stated. "I appreciate it. Without you, I wouldn't be able to do this stuff." Izuku nodded in agreement. Touya nodded, and dropped them off at the park. He wished them good luck, and the two followed the map in the book to the portal. It wasn't an uphill climb, but a downhill one.

They came across a cave system, completely dark pitch black. Shoto took out his phone flashlight, and Izuku did as well. Envy sniffed the cave before looking to Shoto. "She says there's nothing living down there. No pokemon, at least." Izuku swallowed deeply when they carefully lowered themselves. Well, Shoto levitated and helped Izuku get down safely.

When their feet made contact with the cave floor, it echoed deafeningly. "I saw a really scary movie about monsters in a cave system that's never been explored before." Shoto simply pointed to a sign beside the entrance of the cave. Beware of deep water. It had already been explored enough. Good.

Envy kept her fur covered with electricity as a bright, moving lantern at the parts that weren't flooded with water. Izuku hated it, he was scared of this, but wasn't going to chicken out. He was about to ask to go back before Shoto smield. "That wasn't too long at all," he said when they arrived at the portal around the corner, spilling natural light through the dark cave, lighting up glowing, tiny bug pokemon on the wall.

Shoto took Izuku's hand. "Ready?" He nodded, and the three walked through the portal. They squinted their eyes at the sudden light, and Izuku looked around the gorgeous forest in awe. "This time it says were in Scotland. Let's get to searching."

Wild, curious pokemon were out and about, and Shoto was silent, communicating through Envy to understand the wild pokemon. They looked for prints for hours, but found nothing. No people, either. Not a trace of people, there were no paths, they were noisy as they blundered through the forest.

There were plenty of bug pokemon in the trees, and some stantlers came over curiously, stopping from eating the leaves off of the lower trees. When a delcatty came out, Shoto had them follow it. Envy was beside it, no doubt talking. "He knows where Xerneas is." Izuku nodded. "We need to be more quiet, take your shoes off."

Izuku did so without hesitation. They carried their shoes, walking in their socks. The foot steps were quieter, duller, but still crunching on the leaves and twigs. The three stopped walking when they found a waterfall. There were many pokemon drinking from the water, but it was full of mud. Shoto had an idea, and walked forward. The ground was damp since it was morning, so their feet were wet by now.

The wild pokemon backed away a bit, and Shoto crouched down to use Suicune's power to clean the water. It became crystal clear, the effect seeming to spread up the soft waterfall. The wild pokemon approached the water slowly, and drank. They were all very eager to consume the water now.

Smart. It could be a show of peace. The whole forest fell silent when the waterfall parted. Shoto stayed down, and so Izuku lowered himself, too. His eyes widened in awe at the stag legendary pokemon. It was almost 10 feet tall, nearly as tall as Arceus had been. This one was gorgeous. It gave off a sense of peace, like calm radiated off of it in waves. It approached Shoto, who stayed silent. Izuku wished he could hear what they were saying. He stayed motionless and silent. Trying to be as small as possible. The massive antlers had shimmery colors coming through it, like LED strobe lights but softer, more hypnotizing and distracting. Izuku wished he could take a photo, but that felt wrong to do and Shoto would be furious.

Xerneas went to stand right in front of Shoto, and leaned down. The pokemon and human made long, direct eye contact, and Shoto's hand finally touched the neck of the pokemon. There was no glow, nothing. It just looked like a gentle, silent touch. Shoto looked magical next to the tall pokemon.

Then it turned and walked back through the waterfall. Shoto walked over casually. "C'mon, let's get to the portal before it closes again."

"What kind of powers did you get?" Izuku asked softly, looking once more at the beautiful scenery. It reminded him of the surroundings of Celebi all those years ago. Lush nature and clean water. The sounds of bird pokemon and bugs filled the silence, and both humans left. Shoto looked deeply content.

"I can only use it under certain circumstances. Envy, will you ask that metapod if I can evolve him?" Envy nodded. Shoto climbed up the tree, and slowly pressed his hand to the cocoon pokemon, which glowed a gold color and then turned into a butterfree. "Xerneas can give things life. Of course, I can't do that much. If he uses it too much, he tuns into a tree. But you saw and felt how calm the presence was. Hopefully that can help me when the shadow pokemon starts. I can sooth them and find out what to do with them," Shoto said with a smile.

Izuku smiled back, watching the butterfree fly around Shoto's head before leaving sight through the tree tops. "You're so amazing, Shoto." He smiled bashfully. "That was so cool, thank you for taking me. Much less scary than watching you get dragged into the ocean."

"Or standing on a mountain, reading a book to Rayquaza," Shoto added. They walked back the way they came, Envy easily leading them back. When they returned to the portal, the sun was mostly set, the sky a deep purple. Izuku was so thankful he got to see that. He was sure that was the most peaceful feeling legendary pokemon but for Celebi. But Celebi hadn't felt like it demanded respect at the same time of being completely peaceful.

When Shoto touched the portal, it disappeared, leaving them staring at the path in front of them. There was a ripping noise, and all the bird pokemon and land rovers fled the scene. "Run!" Shoto shouted. They ran, but Izuku didn't know what it was from.

-x- Shoto -x-

Child of Arceus! Shoto had no idea which one it was, but all the pokemon so far that he'd met either just barely heard of Arceus or had no clue. This one, whoever's voice it was, knew Arceus and Shoto. He assumed it was Palkia or Dialga, which meant they were probably fucked. Then it proved Dialga was the one speaking as Shoto, Envy and Izuku all ran backwards as time was reverse.

"Shit!" Shoto shouted, even his words going backwards. Shoto used vine whip and wrapped it around Izuku's waist before he activated the blast of air from his hand he got from Lugia, which catapulted them backwards, rolling a few times painfully, but out of the grasps of Arceus' direct descendant. Who he created.

Izuku was terrified. Things had been so wonderful, and now they were in this situation. They looked up and saw they were both there. Dialga looking slightly similar to Arecus in body shape, while Palkia looked more theropod. They both looked down on the boys, towering over them at easily 20 feet each.

"Wait! I haven't come to bother you!"

Palkia stomped a foot and Shoto and Izuku were catapulted upside down, screaming, their backpacks and everything in them falling. Their phones shattered. Then they were both slammed down, Palkia using his ability of space to warp everything. "Wait!" Shoto's voice was reversed again, sounding wrong, guttural.

You are an abomination!

"I'm here to help! About the shadow pokemon!"

Do not speak of what you don't understand!

"I want to help! Arceus wants me to help!" Shoto shouted. "I'm doing you a favor!" This pissed them off, and Shoto was slammed into a tree, grunting as the air was knocked out of his chest. The bruising healed over with Celebi's power. "Please, stop!"

You are not doing us a favor by playing on the fine lines dividing humans from pokemon!

"I just want to help stop another mass extinction!"

You've been brainwashed by that false god! You aren't meant to be alive! Izuku could hear them, too, eyes wide in horror. Shoto had all four of his limbs being pulled apart, making him scream. It was painful. Could Arceus save him? Was he there, was he watching? Dialga and Palkia came out of the alternate dimension they'd been hiding in.

Shoto was still holding onto the vine wrapped securely around Izuku and sent one to Envy. He shut his eyes, willing the power to come out that he'd never used. But when he felt the skin of his arms start to split, truly going to lose his limbs, his eyes glowed and he screamed in concentration, pulling forth Celebi's ability. Not to heal, but to time travel.

He squeezed his eyes shut and the three were catapulted through a white space before landing hard on the ground. The sun was up again, and they were in the same place they'd just been, before Dialga and Palkia appeared. The portal had to still be there! He stood up, all of him hurting, aching.

Izuku put him on his back. Their backpacks were gone, stuck in the future. They lost their phones. Shoto had the book strapped to his chest, so it was still there. But everything else was gone. Izuku ran back the way hey came, shaking. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry you came."

"I'm glad!" Izuku shouted, sprinting probably out of adrenaline. Envy was violently shuddering in fear. When they got to the portal, it disappeared again, and the two monster pokemon were back. Then he needed to put them further in the past! Too far for them to act! But would changing locations even do anything?

This time Izuku was targeted to get to Shoto. "Izuku!" He screamed when the space warped where his hand was connected to the vine, worrying it until it broke, separating the two humans. Shoto couldn't teleport anywhere without Izuku and Envy. He was stuck as long as they were. "Don't you want the shadow pokemon to not happen?!"

Silence! Even if it was telepathy, it was as if it was bellowed as the trees vibrated with it, Shoto's eardrums hurting. How should he deal with this? He wracked his brain before he remembered that he had the power to calm them. He had the power to use the lake guardians ability! What they were made to do other than gift humans attributes!

He turned on his back and stared up at them, channeling the lake spirits all at once. It gave him a splitting headache. His nose started to bleed as he was concentrating at calming them. He was gritting his teeth, doing his best until Izuku was dropped from Palkia's grasp. Not with his hand, but Izuku was stuck in the air, squeezed.

But he dropped. Shoto shot out Celebi's power and grew plants beneath Izuku so he landed on thick moss and not the rocky ground. He looked back to the two creationists. Thank god the other wasn't there or they'd both be dead. They might be dead with these two alone. Shoto stood up, hair whipping around his head.

Thinking of nothing other than being calm, soothing, summoning the calm aura of the legendary he'd just met and the first he'd ever met. The forest around calmed, the leaves stilling. His other nostril started to bleed too as both celestial pokemon looked sleepy. He was staggering, and his eyes were burning from refusing to blink.

"Shoto," Izuku gasped, wincing at the pain. Shoto would heal him in a few moments. He couldn't speak through the focus, just made a grabbing movement with his left hand. Izuku ran to it, with Envy sprinting over as well. Shoto was shaking as he forced his body to use multiple legendaries at the same time.

You've done well. The familiar voice echoed everywhere, and then Arceus was there. Very well. The feeling he gave off in person, not in the Star Room, where neither of them had physically been, but awful. Well, not awful, overpowering. It was as if his presence messed with gravity, and the two humans and whimpering jolteon were pressed down.

Shoto kept watching eyes wide, so dry and painful. Release. I can take it from here. He finally closed his eyes, and cried out at the pain in his head. Midoriya Izuku, go to the portal.

"Y-yes," he whispered, and helped Shoto up. He was limping, feeling so sick. He threw up everything in his stomach on the way to the portal. There was a huge boom, and the ground trembled beneath them. Shoto cried out at the volume. The portal was ripped away in front of them the third time.

But suddenly they weren't in the forest anymore. All three of them landed hard in a black room. The Star Room. Shoto fell to his front, and threw up everything. The blood from his nose was drying, and tears were in his eyes. "F-fuck," he hissed. Everywhere hurt. There were small lines of blood on his underarms and hips, where his skin was literally starting to tear at the seams.

He took off his shirt, whimpering at the pain. He looked at the nasty red lines, and Izuku put his hand over his mouth. Shoto touched them, and healed them each. He was exhausted in mind and body. They waited in the dark, Izuku crying over the experience. Envy had fainted. Shoto hoped Arceus was doing alright, and drifted to sleep. It was unclear how long he was asleep, but when the air pressure changed, he jerked awake.

Hissing at the sudden movement, he saw Arceus there. His monotone eyes showed a look of sadness. Well, the feeling of sadness came from him. I apologize over that. I did not expect them to be so bitter that they'd come out into the open.

"They attacked us cause of you?" Izuku asked quietly.

Yes. Shoto, you did very well. You used the pokemon powers properly and did not resort to any violence.

"What about them? Wh-where'd they go now?" he asked deliriously. A pillow appeared and Shoto rested his head on it. He closed his eyes, but it wasn't bright inside, the stars dimmer than usual.

They returned their hiding place. They made a mistake.

"What mistake?" Izuku asked. His voice seemed to not be able to get loud enough to be heard clearly. He was kneeling next to Shoto, holding his hand. Shoto felt awful for him being there.

You just acquired a new ability from Xerneas. Both of you were touched by Palkia's ability. He did not mean for it. Both of you will have lingering effects.

"Like, injuries?" Izuku asked in fear, voice high and squeaky. Arceus shook his head.

You both have the power to manipulate space. It is faint. Shoto, you should not use it. Shoto nodded. Arceus turned to Izuku. Would you like to keep this ability for yourself? He knew all about Izuku wanting a quirk, it had been a topic young Shoto brought up all the time. When he was little he would talk about how sorry he was for his friend, how he wanted him to get pokemon powers, too.

"I- what would - would it give me?"

I do not know. You have always wanted a quirk. I will allow you to keep this if you never use it against pokemon. If you do, I will have it rescinded from you in at that moment. This was not my will, I did not do this, therefore, you can keep it.

Izuku seemed stunned into silence. "Will it hurt him?" Shoto asked.

Possibly. But Palkia did not give him much. It will be unknown, but will not be so destructive.

"Will you keep it, Izuku?" He nodded frantically. "Will they come back for me?" he asked Arceus. He shook his head. "I'm so sorry," Shoto said in shame. "You had to come into the real world and rescue me." He was so humiliated and ashamed of his weakness. Arceus was quiet for a long moment.

I never set you up to battle those two. This was not your doing, you did not choose this and would not have stood a chance without me arriving when I did. You did well to hold on until then, Shoto. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I am not angry at all. This is something to be proud of.

"Proud?" Shoto scoffed. "I nearly got Izuku killed. I got caught three times. I couldn't do anything."

You are a twelve year old human. Arceus' voice was firm and stern. You are not a god. You will never be a god. You will never be a legendary pokemon. Therefore, there is absolutely no merit to thinking you are invincible. I am a god but I cannot grant you something like that. You need to go home and be at peace for a bit. It was fact that Dialga and Palkia will not come back. I have locked them away for now. They will only come out if needed again.

"So, they're in pokemon jail?" Izuku asked.

I would not force them into such a thing. Enough pokemon have suffered in imprisonment. I simply have locked them away into the dimension they had been residing in. Unless it is my will, they cannot cross over into this dimension and timeline.

"I went to the future. Did that mess anything up?"

Not bad enough to cause any time issues. There will be no time rift. Both of your human minds might confuse it, and this situation could become muddled as your minds try to recalibrate to the right timeline. You both got through this with a miraculous lack of damage. Rest at home, both of you. Shoto, you've done well in this. I am proud.

Shoto had wide eyes, tears in them, and he nodded, wiping his arm along his crusty nose. They were both teleported to Shoto's bedroom. They were both gently put down onto the floor and bed. In shock and terrified over what just happened, both of them cried. Touya was the only one home, thankfully, and when he slammed open the door and saw both of them, clothes ripped apart, Shoto's face crusted with blood and tears, some vomit on his shirt. They looked like they went through hell, which they kind of did.

Touya helped them both get clean and composed, and treated any lingering wounds they had. After an hour of them slowly relaxing back at home, in safety, what felt like safety, he asked, "So, what happened?"

Shoto did his best to explain it all. Arceus was right, Shoto was a bit muddled on the time travel. But the story was cohesive enough to be explanatory to their injuries. "God, I'm so sorry, guys," he said sincerely. "Sho, you're pretty awesome. You fought two little gods and were rescued by the big god."

The preteen let out a shaky laugh. "It was awful," he laughed. "I hope it didn't disturb Xerneas too much. Or the other pokemon… do you think it will show up on human news?"

"I don't know. We're skipping over the fact that Izuku may have an ability." Shoto had been avoiding it, not knowing what he really thought of it. They looked to the shortest. "How you feeling, Izuku?"

"It was scary." Shoto nodded. "I felt like I was going to be ripped apart. Shoto was starting to be ripped apart, the skin on his arms and legs started to tear." Touya looked angry. "It had been so peaceful before. Shoto never did anything to deserve that. Any of that, he's been nothing but kind and gentle! It's not right!" Shoto was surprised by his emotion. "I was a burden. But you were pretty helpless, too… I guess I can't feel too ashamed," he said quietly.

"It was good practice to dealing with shadow pokemon," Shoto said softly.

"I don't really even want to know what that is," Touya said bluntly. "I'm getting you guys some food, I'll be right back."

Shoto looked at Izuku from the side. "You did great. We survived, that's what matters."

"Seeing them in person… it was like they forced gravity on us, I couldn't even stand when Arceus appeared."

"I wish he hadn't had to. He hates being involved in things directly. If I had been better, then he wouldn't have needed to step in-"

"He said he wanted to, didn't he? He didn't berate you for it, it did some good. Now he can access them, right? And was able to seal them away to not bother us. Even if we escaped that forest, they'd still be in this world." Shoto knew he was right, but he still felt bad for burdening his teacher.

Arceus was just as amazing in person as he was in the Star Room. Shoto knew he's have nightmares about Dialga and Palkia. Their booming telepathic voices. The feelings of being torn apart at the limbs, being crushed, having his whole body reverse in time. His words warping, his body's inner processes reversing. Blood flowing backwards, it had been terrifying. They were truly monsters.

Shoto opened his eyes again, the images of the two monsters fading away in the light of his bedroom ceiling. "You got a power, Izuku. Maybe you can come with me," Shoto said faintly. Izuku let out a sob.

-x- Izuku -x-

He kept seeing the image of Shoto slowly being ripped apart, screaming, desperately doing what he could so save the three of them. Going far past he was able. Then momentarily subduing Dialga and Palkia. Seeing his eyes flash yellow, not closing, his nose bleeding. Being ripped through time and then the disorientation.

But one thing he kept seeing was a close up of Shoto's desperate and terrified face. It was the most visceral emotion Izuku had ever seen from him. The look of pain, fear and despair. They were going to die, painfully, without Arceus coming. He saved both of their lives. Envy was okay, too, though she was deeply traumatized and loud noises spooker her.

Inko did not know what happened, so when Izuku went home, distracted and pale, she'd not known the truth. He said he'd gotten a stomach bug from camping. Not that two celestial pokemon tried to kill him and his best friend.

Out of everything that happened, one thing had stayed just as intense as the moment they'd been through it. The protectiveness he felt for his kind, innocent best friend. He didn't want to hurt any of them, he tried to reason and subdue them. Though it wasn't as if he could ever win against those two.

Their end was imminent. But Izuku could not stand to ever see Shoto's scared face again. And that was why he was currently in the office, his mother being called for him punching a kid in the face for calling Shoto Tomato Face, shocking everyone. He just couldn't bear to see him anything but his usual bored look or a smile or content face.

Shoto walked in once the last bell rang, and sat next to him. "You don't need to be so protective. They aren't coming back here," Shoto said softly. He took Izuku's hand. "We're okay."

"For now," Izuku said softly. "I don't want you to erase anything, I'm fine. I just… seeing you like that will always be imprinted in my mind. Bleeding, scared. I've never seen something so horrible."

"Our trips together seem to end up with you being scared for me."

"It had been so wonderful, beautiful, until they came. They ruined it," Izuku mumbled. "It was a wonderful memory, you looked magical, Xerneus looked magical. And now it's ruined for what came after it."

"It's something we went through together and came out together. Envy, come here, it's okay. Group hug." The jolteon that had been sitting in the corner came over, and the three had a hug. Izuku pet through Envy's yellow fur in a soothing way. "We've been through a lot together. Makes us better friends," Shoto said softly. "Don't get angry over me."

"I can't promise that. You're the more stronger of us, but I won't let people bully you anymore. And I'm possibly not quirkless anymore."

"Have you tried anything?"

"I moved a rubber band in the air and then released it. I'm starting eight years late. I wish Arceus could help me, but he even said he had no idea how to work this," Izuku sighed. "It was a loop hole to get powers." He chuckled dryly. "Is it wrong that I still want to go on more adventures with you?"

Shoto gave a tiny smile, and shook his head. "If a peaceful one ended up like that, what will scary ones be?" he asked. "Rayquaza was way more peaceful than that," Shoto added. Izuku smiled at Shoto, who smiled back. "Have fun getting detention."

"Yeah," Izuku said.

"C'mon Envy, let's go get ice cream, okay?" Envy nodded, and the two left the office. When Inko arrived, she looked surprised at Izuku for hitting someone when he'd never done that, and was always he recipient of the bullying. But he would do anything he could to protect Shoto. He could not protect him from the monsters from before, but a few human bullies? Maybe Izuku could be truly useful for once. For someone else. For Shoto.