Team Hope's Base
It's a peaceful day in Team Hope's Base as Izuku can be seen sleeping on the pond while snoring. It didn't last long as he starts squirming and whimpering. He seems to have a nightmare.
Dreamscape
"I suggest you to give up, kid."
"I'm sorry, Izuku. I wish things could be better."
"Give it up, Deku! Quirkless freak like you can't be a hero!"
"Pathetic, I never saw someone as weak as you."
"I'm sorry, young man. I don't think you can be a hero without a quirk."
"You know, if you want to be a hero so badly, why don't you take a swan dive off the roof? Maybe you can get a quirk in the next life!"
SPLAT!
Real World
"GASP!!"
Izuku immediately wakes up as he gets out of the pond, breathing heavily. He frantically looks around before slowly takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh in relief. He looks at his paws before using his paws to grab some water on the pond and splash it onto his face. He sighed before looking at his paws once more.
"I thought I was back." Izuku mutters before looking at the sun dial. "I definitely need to build a clock. I've thinkered a lot of machine back then, it'll be good to use that knowledge to made a working alarm clock." He added before walk to grab his scarf and he looks at the badge attach on the scarf.
"Can't believe it's been 6 months since I got here." He said before outting it on. He went to grab a plain white shirt with Kanji for 'shirt' on it.
'Ever since the natural disaster permanetly stopped, less pokemon has stuck in Mystery Dungeon. Sure, some of them still gets stuck in there, but it become less frequent as usual.' Izuku thought before walking out of the door. He went to the mailbox, hoping for something. He saw a newspaper before sighing. He pulled the newspaper before something fall from the mailbox. It's an envelope with a gold Rescue seal on it. Izuku looks confused as he looks at the letter.
"'To Team Hope', huh. I wonder who gave us this." Izuku said with raised eyebrow.
"Heya, Izu." Izuku turns around and saw Ifrit walks towards him with a toothy smile. He stops when he saw Izuku's shirt. "Seriously? That shirt, Izu?" Ifrit asked. He understand what that said thanks to Izuku but he is not amused at all.
"Hey, my shirt my choice." Izuku retorted playfully. "How's your night, If?" Izuku asked.
"You need to think a better nickname than that." Ifrit said dryly. "I'm fine, you?"
"I sleep well." Izuku said before frowning. "But, my dream suddenly turns nightmare at the last minute." Izuku added.
"Are you okay?" Ifrit's personality immediately shifted to worried boyfriend. "You didn't stop sleeping, didn't you?" He added before Izuku stops him.
"If, I'm okay. Like I said, last minute." Izuku said, calming his boyfriend down. "I may still bothered by my past, but I've moved on from them. They're strangers to me for now." Izuku added and he is being honest. He had a hard time as he never bother to open up his past. But, after almost sent back to human world and meeting Gardevoir who talks to him about open up, he has start to get less nightmare and no longer terrified of them.
'I've fought 3 legendary birbs that represents recipe of disaster, 2 out of 3 gods that build the Earth, and stopping the giant meteor from the sky. I think those nightmares are no longer scary to me.' Izuku thought with a sweatdrop.
"You sure?" Ifrit asked.
"I'm sure. Believe me." Izuku said with a smile.
"Okay, good." Ifrit nodded before looking at the envelope with wide eyes.
"Izu, do you know what letter did you hold!?" Ifrit asked in shock.
"I was about to ask you. I mean, I don't know all of Rescue Team stuff." Izuku said while giving the letter to Ifrit, who took it and carefully remove the seal on the it.
"This is the letter from the Rescue Team Headquarters. The Headmaster of this continent's has just sent us a letter! From the seal itself, It means it's really important!" Ifrit said gleefully before opens the letter.
Dear Team Hope,
It has getting my attention that your team has played an important role of saving our world from a shooting star. As the headmaster of Air Continent Rescue Team Headquarter, I would like to give you both our biggest gratitude. I am sending this letter for you about an important matter.
Rescue Team has always celebrate of our founder every year and chosen Rescue Teams from each continent will gather together at that specific day. We always held a tournament. As our old tradition, we always get to know new pokemon through battling. I have decided to invite you with two other team to join for this tournament. I hope that your team are able to join us the second moon after you receive this letter. Wish you all the best.
Best Regards,
Shade the Decidueye
Headmaster of Air Continent RTH.
Ifrit widens his eyes as he starts to squeal in glee while Izuku looks confused at his boyfriend's antic. Sure, getting an invitation from the headmaster of the rescue team, but why did Ifrit looks so happy?
"Uh, If. An explanation please?" Izuku asked.
"Shade is one of the famous Rescuers in Air Continent, he is known to solo most of his mission but he also works with others very well! In fact, he's also was a former member of a team that manage to reach Lucario Rank!" Ifrit went into full fan-boy mode, which reminds Izuku about his past a lot.
"So, he's popular, strong, and record breaker?" Izuku asked as Ifrit nodded. "I hope he's not a dick."
"Izuku, please watch your language. I miss your innocent blue bean." Ifrit said. "And no, he's not a 'dick'. I encounter him once and he's a nice mon. He act like a wise old mon." Ifrit added.
"How did you encounter him?" Izuku asked in confusion.
"When I was still with my mother, I love to explore the dungeon alone. One day, I did an idiotic move by challenging the dungeon boss. I was saved by Shade when he was younger. I think it was 7 years ago, when I was 8." Ifrit said.
"Sounds cool." Izuku said before opening the newspaper. "We got two months before the tournament. Which I think is like Sports Festival. We can went to go for some rescue job before starting to train." Izuku offered as Ifrit beamed.
"We can brought Rogue and Sheriff as well!" Ifrit suggested with excitement.
"Sure, It's been two weeks since we're fighting together again." Izuku said with a nod.
Pokemon Square
Izuku and Ifrit was surrounded by the crowd, happily cheering for them.
"Congratulaion, Team Hope!"
"You deserve it!"
"Cheers for Team Hope!"
Izuku and Ifrit sweatdrops at everyone cheering their team name. They were wondering how in the world they manage to get the news so fast.
'One of the biggest mystery in my life.' Izuku thought before clearing his throat. "Okay, everyone. Thank you for your support, but can any of you let us through? We still have jobs to do." Izuku said, trying not to sound rude.
They all complied and went back to what they were doing. This cause Izuku's sweatdrop grow bigger. Did his team's action really give them this much popularity and power?
'I feel like I'm abusing this power.' Izuku thought while sulking. Ifrit looks at Izuku and couldn't help but giggles.
'He's too kind for this world.' Ifrit thought with a smile before placing his arm around Izuku's neck (Izuku's height: around 5'5" and 5'6" while Ifrit's height: around 5'10" and 5'11"). Izuku turns to his left and see his boyfriend before smiles. He's glad that he has Ifrit on his side.
Later Mt. Thunder
"I hate Monster House!"
Izuku and Ifrit can be seen fighting several Ferals around the dungeon. There are several pokemons attacking them, one resembles a brown worm with a huge horn, a purple rat with spiky long ears and poisonous horn, a birb, walking ball of cactus, orange doggo and yellow-mane electric lion.
"If, use protect on yourself!" Izuku shouted before preparing Muddy Water. Ifrit knows what he's planning immediately sets a green barrier around him. Izuku grins before shooting out the Muddy Water, hitting the worm. It didn't stop there, Izuku keeps firing the attack before he starts to spin on his back as the Muddy Water turns into a huge vortex and starts to hit every pokemon surround them. This is Izuku's Counter Shield, one of the moves that inspired him from a certain show.
Ifrit was still in awe. No matter how many times he saw it, Counter Shield always been the most amazing creation he ever saw. He never ever thought of using a move like this. Even Team A.C.T and some legendaries were caught off guard at this attack and unable to counter it.
As the vortex slowly turns smaller, Ifrit can see every pokemon were down by the attack. Izuku had stops spinning as the vortex completely disappear before getting up from the ground. He turns towards Ifrit before walking towards him.
"Are you okay, If?" Izuku asked in worry. "I didn't accidentally hit you, right?" Izuku added.
"I'm fine, Izu." Ifrit said with a laugh. "Protect didn't fail me."
"That's good." Izuku said with a relieved smile. Ifrit returns the smile. He can't gelp it, Izuku's smile is contagious.
"If you're going to get full romantic towards each other, I advised you two to get somewhere private." A voice said as they turn around and saw two familiar voice.
The first one is a quadrupedal, mammalian Pokémon with a dark blue to black body covered in white fur. It has a ruff around its neck and chest and a tuft on the top of its head adorned with a single blue-black oval. Between the dark skin, the curvature of the white fur on its head, and positioning of its horn, Absol's face vaguely resembles a wu wei symbol. It has a feline face with almond-shaped, red eyes, a scythe-like tail, and a crescent-shaped horn on the side of its head. Its broad feet are equipped with three claws each, and dewclaw-like spikes protrude from the heels of its hind legs and the elbows of its front legs. This is Absol, the Disaster Pokemon.
"Bzzt, hello Commanders. And congrats on becoming couple, Bzzt." Another voice said in monotonous tone. The voice blongs to a certain pokemon. It resembles a UFO. It's body is wide and circular, similar to a disc or saucer, with a thin edge circling the diameter of its body. Its main eye is in the center, containing a large, red pupil. On each side of its body, it has a ball-shaped addition, with each side containing an eye, horseshoe magnet, and Phillips head screw. On top of its head is a tall, thin, yellow rod, closely resembling an antenna, which it uses for certain attacks. Behind its body is a third horseshoe magnet, positioned like a tail. This is Magnezone, the Magnet Area Pokemon.
"Oh, heya, Rogue, Sheriff." Izuku said, trying to hide his embarassement in front of his teammates, which unsuccessful due to the blush on his face.
"It's good to see you up and well, Captain." Rogue, the Absol, said with a curt nod.
"Bzzt, I hate to interrupt, but we still have job to finish. Bzzt." Sheriff, the Magnezone, said. This cause Ifrit to gave him a dry look.
"Always the diligent one, aren't you, Sheriff?" Ifrit said dryly.
"Bzzt, apologize. But, it's safer to talk after the dungeon clear. Bzzt." Sheriff said as Izuku nodded.
"Well, me and Ifrit's job request is in this floor. So, we just need to look around the floor." Izuku said.
"Funny, our job request also in this floor." Rogue said before pulling out the job request from her bag.
"Bzzt, I advised to stick together. It'll be faster to finish this job. Bzzt." Sheriff said before looking at Ifrit. "Bzzt, and no, Second Commander Ifrit. We're not going to ruin your alone moment with Commander Izuku. Bzzt." This causes said mons blushed.
"Sheriff!!" Ifrit shouted in embarrassement as Sheriff laughed. Izuku hids his face on his paw in embarrassement while Rogue shook her head in amusement.
One Dungeon Clear Later
"Thank you, Team Hope!"
Izuku, Ifrit, Rogue, and Sheriff waved goodbye at a pokemon that resembles a hedgehog with a pair of long claws, a pokemon resembles an armadillo, a pokemon that resembles walking sunflower and a pokemon that resembles a floating sprout.
"Phew, glad that we didn't spend that much time in the dungeon." Izuku said with a relief. This catches Rogue and Sheriff attention, what made Izuku said that.
"Izuku had just received a letter from the HQ." Ifrit said, getting their attention. "We got the news about our team has been chosen to participate the yearly tournament of Rescue Team Gathering!" Ifrit exclaimed excitedly. This confused Rogue but it made Sheriff blinking his light excitedly.
"Bzzt. Oh my Arceus! This is fantastic!! Bzzt!!" Sheriff said excitedly. Izuku couldn't help but sweatdrop. How did one pokemon that resembles robot shows that much emotion? But, he won't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, he prefer this than emotionless pokemon.
"I don't see anything that worth excited for." Rogue said as Ifrit gasped in horror.
"How could you!?" Ifrit said before getting closer to Rogue, who takes a step back. "I get it that Izuku didn't look excited because he didn't know much about this world, but not you! This is the biggest tournament for every Rescue Team around the world, showing who's the best Rescue Team ever!" Ifrit said with an excited tone.
"So, its a tournament to see who's the greatest barbarian?" Rogue asked while squinting her face in disgust.
"It's not that! It also shows to the Headmaster from other continent our strength, mind, willpower, and most importantly, unity." Ifrit said with a smile. "It's a great way to show why we are a team in a first place!"
"There's more to it, isn't it Ifrit?" Rogue decided to aaked, gaining her teammate attention. "You seem to hide something. You must have other reasons wanting this so badly."
"W-what, nooo. I just want to do this because its once in a lifetime opportunity. Hehehe." Ifrit said nervously as Rogue narrowed her eyes before sighed.
"Alright, I'll come with you." Rogue relented. "Don't expect me to be all excited for the tournament. I'm not into flashy moves or brute strength." She said.
"Understandable. I prefer non-flashy moves but all of the moves I modified are flashy." Izuku said with a Mareepish grin.
'Liar.' His team thought in unison.
"Bzzt. Are we going to train or we're going on an adventure. Bzzt?" Sheriff ask.
"We're training for first few weeks before going on an adventure while on the way to the island. The adventure will not just simply exploring, we're using the wild area to train our strength. It'll help for us to be one with nature." Izuku said with a smile, but his words confused his friends. What do you mean be one with nature?
"C'mon, we got a lot of things to work." Izuku said before gesturing them to follow him. They did so without hesitation, but they still wondering what he mean by be one with nature.
Team Hope Base
Izuku and his team can be seen standing in front of the Team Base. They all look confused.
"Uhh, Izuku. This is your base, I thought we're going for training, like Hariyama's Training Dojo?" Ifrit asked in confusion. Izuku grinned at his boyfriend before gesturing them to follow and walks to the base's backyard.
They look confused before deciding to follow him. Their leader always did some unexpected stuff, but they always ended up exceeding expectations. Like when Izuku shows them modified Liquidation for the first time, It helps to beat Groudon easier.
When they follow Izuku, they saw something unexpected. The backyard of the base has a lot of training equipments, obstacle, and trainibg field. Unlike Hariyama's dojo, this one doesn't involves artificial mystery dungeon.
"This is...an interesting place." Rogue commented.
"I'm pretty sure there isn't one back then." Ifrit said, confuses at how is there so many equipment here.
"It's been here since Mankeys renovate the base. You all didn't bother to go to the back area after the renovation. I always come here for training every morning." Izuku said before moving a wooden pole to other place.
"Wait, you've been training here since we cleared your name?" Ifrit asked.
"Bzzt, I thought Second Commander Ifrit knows this. Bzzt." Sheriff said in confusion.
"No I didn't. This is new to me." Ifrit said.
"I never bother to tell anyone because we always never talk much about training. And our conversation never talk about training. We worried for each other too much to made any other conversations." Izuku said Mareepishly.
"That's fair. You both love to worried for each other. I still remember you two never stop worrying during our journey to find Kyuubi." Rogue said with amused tone. "I still asking how did you guys took so long to be a couple." She added.
"I never had a good experience with romance." Izuku admits while scratching his gills. "Everytime people ask me for a date, they pretend to fall for me before ruining my already bad reputation in front of everyone." Izuku added, causing the area to go silent. Rogue's expression turns from curious to guilt.
"I'm sorry, for asking such sensitive topic." Rogue said guiltily.
"I-It's okay, I don't really care about my past anymore. Thanks to open up to Ifrit last night, I'm able to slowly move on." Izuku said with a smile. "Right now, this team is my family and nothings going to change that." Izuku added, making his teammate smiled at him. Well, not Sheriff since he has no mouth, but his eyes indicate that he's smiling.
"Bzzt, what's the plan, commander. Bzzt?" Sheriff asked as Izuku grins.
"Well, I hope you all ready for my training routine since I'm planning to train you to the brink of exhaustion." Izuku said cheerfully. "First thing first, I want you to master your attack, so I hope you all bring enough Elixir, because no one is going to stop till I said so."
'...What have we gotten ourselves into...?' Team Hope's members thought as they look at their leader smiling sweetly with a shadow of Giratina appeared behind him.
Few Hours later
Ifrit can be seen laying on the ground while panting like Rockruff. Rogue is struggling to stood up, her legs feels like Ditto. Sheriff can be seen on the ground, motionless. Each of them has experienced difficulties in mystery dungeon, but how in the world did Izuku manages to pushes their limits easily?
"You guys are done already?" Izuku asked, confused. "I thought you guys could do better than this." He added.
"Easier said than done." Ifrit said while panting. "How did you survive doing this most of the time?"
"Actually, I've once overwork myself to the point my body almost collapse." Izuku said, terrified his teammate. "I decided to tone down the training and went to rest."
"This one is toned down!?" Rogue asked in disbelief. She saw a lot of musclebrains, but none of them is as crazy as Izuku, and Izuku prefers brain than brawn!
"Bzzzzt, I can't feel my body..." Sheriff said, glitching a bit. Izuku winced before Mareepishly laughed.
"Okay, I think I overdid it a bit." Izuku said before feel the death glare from his teammates.
"A BIT!?" His teammate yelled in unison, causing Izuku to shrunked down.
Later
Spinda's Cafe
Izuku and the rest of the team decided to take a break as they all hungrily scarfed down their food. Sheriff decided to absorb a huge energy generator designed by Alakazam, converting berries to electricity. He knows there's pokemon like Sheriff, so he takes the initiatives by creating it.
"I would've never thought I'll be scarfing down foods like barbarians." Rogue said with a sigh before grabbing her cup filled with berry smoothie.
"I never feel so tired and hungry at the same time." Ifrit gulped down his berry juice before sighed in relief.
"Sorry, everyone. I guess I got used to do it alone, I forgot that you guys never done this." Izuku said with a guilty expression.
"How are you stay alive anyway?" Ifrit asked incredulously.
"I may not like how your mate's choice of word, but I have to agree with him." Rogue said.
"Mudkip lines have been born with great strength and stamina. We've been able to crush boulders with ease with our strength since mudkip. I guess when I transformed into one, it grant me with their strength." Izuku explained before drinking his juice.
"Huh, your mate will be so lucky." Rogue exclaimed, confusing the couple. "Captain will greatly pleasure you, Ifrit. I hope no one will take him away from you." This cause Izuku to spits out his juice before starts to cough and a blush on his face. Ifrit didn't fare any better as his blue flames emits from the hole on his neck while blushing heavily.
"What the fuck, Rogue?!" Ifrit screamed in embarrassement.
"I'm just telling the truth." Rogue shrugged.
"I-I'm not ready for that, Rogue. Besides, we just start our relationship not long ago." Izuku said before eating his food. "And I prefer to not do 'that', I'm not really comfortable doing it." This caught her attention, pokemon mostly love to start doing 'it' once they found their mate. Is it because he's human? She just shrugged, not really care since it's not her business.
"If you said so, Captain." Rogue said before eat her food. Ifrit looks at his food while poking it with his claws. Izuku notices this and frowns. Why is his boyfriend looks so down? He notices that despite pushing everyone to their limit, Ifrit seems to do less than others, and he's the strongest when it comes to utilising his moves.
"Ifrit, can we talk alone for a minute?" Izuku asked, getting Ifrit's attention.
"S-sure." Ifrit replied, confusion written on his face. Izuku and Ifrit then walks out of the restaurant and went to a nearby secluded area. As they arrive, Izuku decided to start the conversation.
"Ifrit, can you tell me what's wrong?" Izuku asked out of concern. Ifrit rubs his arm nervously while looking away.
"I-It's nothing..." Ifrit mumbles.
"If, I know you for almost half a year and I know that's a lie." Izuku sighed. "If, please. I hate to see you like this."
"Pot, meet kettle." Ifrit retorted.
"I know I don't have the right to judge, but I don't think keep it from anyone will help you at all." Izuku said. "Look, I'm trying to open up to you more, but how can I if my mate decided to hurt himself by keeping something from me?" This cause Ifrit to look guilty. Izuku got a point. He did try to make Izuku open up more, but he acts like a hypocrite doing so.
"Alright, I guess I can tell you." Ifrit sighed as he looks at Ifrit. "I was thinking about something I've been wondering since I was a kid." Ifrit admits.
"Remember when I told you about Shade saves my life?" Izuku nodded. "I wanted to repay him, and I think I know how. I just hope that it works."
"What is it?" Izuku asked.
"Shade is a well known Rescuers, but he didn't get the reputation because he choose to create teams consist of Rangers." Ifrit said. "Rescue team mades of several types of team, Rangers, Rogue, Traders, Support, and Raider. Each have particular unique skill. But, Ranger has always been look down upon due to how 'lame' their jobs are. We Rangers are seen as talentless because we never actually won at tournament." Ifrit added.
"So, you want to repay him by winning the tournament and help Shade get his reputation back " Izuku summarized as Ifrit nodded. "And you've been depressed because you afraid that you failed?" Ifrit nods again. "Why didn't you tell us before?"
"Because it's not your and my friends problem. I owe him, not you, Rogue, or Sheriff. I didn't want to drag my problem to you guys." Ifrit said.
"Ifrit, look at me." Izuku said while looking at Ifrit. "You can't keep hiding things from everything, it'll only make yourself worse. Trust me, If, I know how that feels. That's why I start to open up." Izuku added with a smile. "You have me and the rest of Team Hope on your side. We're here to help you, you don't have to believe that you'll burden us." Izuku smiled before holding Ifrit's fluffy cheeks. Ifrit couldn't help but sheds some tears before Izuku hugs him.
"I'm sorry, I'm being selfish." Ifrit said while returning the hugs.
"We're Rescue Teams, our job is to save pokemon, even if they're part of the team." Izuku said before kissing his cheek. "I'm here to help, you don't have to worry."
"Mmm." Ifrit hummed before nuzzling Izuku. Izuku notices two other pokemon eavesdrop them, but he has other things to take care of.
Later
"I'm really sorry, guys. I shouldn't keep this to myself."
Ifrit bowed towards his teammate apolpgetically. Sheriff and Rogue look at Ifrit with different expression. Sheriff has no actual expression, but he didn't seem to upset. Rogue looks indifferent, having the 'it's your secret, why are you apologozing for not telling us?' mindset.
"Bzzt. No harm done, Second Commander. Your secret, your choice. Bzzt." Sheriff said while trying his best to wave it's magnet, trying to tell nothing to be worry about.
"I honestly didn't care unless the secret brings danger to our team." Rogue replied. "Since I trust you, I don't bother to pry further into it. But, if you want to win this, try to get your head into the game. You won't know if your opponents will use it as an advantage." She added.
"Hehehe, I gues you're right. Thanks for not getting mad at me, guys." Ifrit said sheepishly before Izuku places his hand onto hos shoulder, giving a 'I told you so' expression.
"Well, I'm glad that we're finally solve the issue." Izuku said with a smile. "I'm going to straight to tell you guys, if you have any problem, don't hesitate to tell others. Not everythong can be done alone. I learn that lesson after I got my ass handed." Izuku jokes at the last part, earning a small chuckles from his teammate. "How about once we go for a short training, I'll tell you all more about my story? I think you all are trustworthy enough to hear it."
"Bzzt, thank you, Commander. I will not betray your trust. Bzzt." Sheriff said happily.
"Sheriff, I didn't really care back then in the dingeon because of the job. But, please stop calling me Commander, I may be the leader by official, but I'm not your superior in any way." Izuku sighed.
"Bzzt. No can do, Commander. Bzzt." Sheriff said cheekily. "Bzzt. And that's 500 times you have told me that. Congratulations, Commander, keep it up and it might reach to 1000. Bzzt."
The team member laughed wholeheartedly, including Izuku after he facepalmed.
"Don't worry, Chief. I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Rogue said with a small smirk as Izuku raised his hand in defeat. He's tired of his teammate looking at him like he's the superior.
"Alright, cheeky brats. Let's get back to training. In a week, if you guys shows improvement, I might teach you all how to execute my special technique." Izuku said, peeking their interest.
"Oh, don't tell me!!" Ifrit said gleefully.
"That's right, Ifrit. I'm planning to teach you all Counter Shield."
To Be Continued
