Training

Hey everyone! I'm finally back here, and merry christmas/holidays/whatever you celebrate! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, I finally have a tumblr that I made almost exclusively because people told me I should. I'll be posting updates on story progress and ideas there, so follow me if you want to keep up to date. And if you want, send me any bnha/pokemon art you can find. Anyways here's my page (Replace commas with periods)! bakufan15,tumblr,com

Izuku and All Might started meeting up for after school training sessions that Friday. That meant that Izuku would be training twice a day, every day, in addition to his normal schoolwork. He got up every morning and trained with Uraraka for about an hour before school, and now he'd be also training for about an hour after school as well.

"Play, let's start off with something simple." All Might said. He was in his powered down form, but that didn't matter, since they were alone at one of the training grounds. The entire area was forested, surrounded by a towering wall. The sun was still in the sky, but considering that it was after school, it wouldn't stay that way for very long.

"Let's try activating One for All like you did at the USJ." All Might continued. Izuku nodded, looking to Riolu, who was standing next to him. Izuku tried to recall how it felt, but it wasn't all that easy. The first time, it had been in the spur of the moment, done on instinct.

Izuku took a deep breath, reaching out towards that well of power. He felt it prod at his consciousness, trying to get in. Recalling what he did differently last time, instead of reaching out and grabbing for the power, he just let it...flow.

The effect was instant. Izuku felt the soreness in his arms and legs disappear, and all the tiredness from the day completely disappeared. Izuku looked down, seeing light green sparks coiling off of both his and Riolu's skin.

Excited, Izuku jumped up in a combination of surprise and glee. Just as he did, the sparks disappeared and Izuku was back in his own head.

"Huh?" Izuku said, looking down at himself, "What happened?"

"You lost concentration." All Might piped up. Izuku looked over to his mentor as he continued, "One for All is a connection. It requires the focus of both of you to be in sync for it to work. If you break your concentration for even a moment, it will fail."

Izuku hummed, looking down at his feet, "So when I got excited that it worked, it broke." he concluded. All Might nodded.

"Try again."

Izuku reached out for One for All, and this time, now that he knew how it felt, it was a bit easier. Power washed over him and he fell into the limbo between his own and Riolu's consciousnesses. Focusing on keeping the bond active, Izuku devoted his entire mind to the task. Even so, he couldn't help but feel a need to move.

"Good." All Might's voice came after Izuku had held the connection for a few moments. Izuku looked up, Riolu's head matching his motion.

All Might looked taken aback for a moment, before sighing, "Now I know what they meant be 'that's creepy'." He said under his breath. Izuku tilted his head, Riolu's head moving in perfect sync.

"What do you mean?" he asked. All Might just shook his head.

"One of the most important parts of learning to use One for All is to control your movements separately. While moving in perfect synchronization is the easiest way to use it, it's not exactly the most practical." All Might explained.

"Moving in…" Izuku muttered, only just now realizing that he and Riolu had been moving in sync the entire time. He tilted his head, Riolu following the motion as well, "How do we do that?"

All Might put his finger to his chin, thinking. After a moment, he spoke up, "It's hard to describe. The way that my mentor was able to do it was different than the way I did it, so it may be different for you. It's something that you'll need to figure out on your own. For me, it was like taking a paper and ripping it in half. One side was me, and the other side was Lucario. You're separate entities, but it's still the same piece of paper, right?"

"Like a piece of paper…" Izuku thought, nodding. He looked up to his mentor, "I think I'm ready to try."

"Good," All Might pointed to one of the trees nearby, "Have Riolu jump up to that branch while you keep your feet on the ground."

Izuku and Riolu walked over to the tree in question, looking up at it. The branch that All Might had pointed to was at least seven feet off the ground. Izuku had no doubt that Riolu would be able to make it up with a One for All empowered leap, but it was still a daunting task.

"Think of the paper...think of the paper." Izuku focused all of his attention on the task, focusing on the feeling of his feet on the ground. Taking a deep breath, Izuku prompted Riolu to go for the jump. Riolu kicked off the ground.

And only rose about a foot into the air before falling back to the ground again with a yelp. One for All's green sparks sputtered out as the bond broke. Izuku immediately realized his mistake.

"I was focusing too much on keeping my feet on the ground that I didn't keep the focus I needed to maintain One for All." Izuku muttered, chastising himself. A moment later, he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder.

"I didn't expect you to get it on the first try, so don't go too hard on yourself." All Might said, flashing a smile. Even despite All Might's kind words, Izuku couldn't help but feel bad about making such a simple mistake. If he couldn't get a grasp on this, how was he going to perform well at the Sports Festival in a few weeks?

"Let's go again." All Might removed his hand from Izuku's shoulder, taking a few steps back.

Izuku worked for the next hour or so on figuring out how to separate his and Riolu's consciousnesses. Every time he felt like he was getting a grasp on it, it slipped away from under his hands.

One time, he'd managed to make the separation actually work. He'd felt himself snap into his own body, looking exclusively through his own eyes, feeling his own senses. Riolu's side of the bond was still there, but it felt..far away, like he could reach out and grab it if he wanted to. When he'd gotten into that state, he'd been able to easily keep his feet on the ground while Riolu jumped into the tree with no problem.

In his excitement, Izuku lost his concentration on the bond and One for All fizzled out. When he'd tried to make the separation again, he couldn't figure out how to replicate it.

"I think it's time we call it quits for today." All Might said, "We can get back at it tomorrow, and it's getting dark." Izuku looked at the sky, seeing that the sun was beginning to fall beyond the horizon. As much as Izuku wanted to get this down, he knew that his mother would die from worry if he was out too late.

Nodding, Izuku gestured to Riolu to follow them as they started to walk back towards the school. Izuku and his mentor walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds between them being the soft padding of feet on the gravel trail.

As Izuku walked, he felt his thoughts start to drift. Not only to the sports festival that was coming up, but other things as well. The first thing that popped into his head was Mew, who, Izuku realized, had been watching on for the entire training session from one of the nearby trees.

The pink pokemon seemed to have taken some kind of interest in him for some reason. Mew liked to follow Izuku around everywhere, even in school sometimes. It would play pranks on him by randomly stealing objects off his desk during class, or making funny faces above the teacher while they were talking, forcing Izuku to keep himself from laughing. It even slept in his room on most nights.

Many would consider Mew Izuku's pokemon by now, especially if they saw its behavior. The problem was, when Izuku had brought it up, Mew had practically ignored his question, slapping one of Izuku's spare ultra balls out of his hand with its tail, making its message clear.

It didn't want to be caught, yet, Mew insisted on staying around, making appearances more and more often. It was quite an awkward position to be in. Izuku couldn't really start using Mew during class exercises because, well, he had no idea if Mew would actually be there during the exercises. Not to mention that he had no idea what moves Mew had, whether it would listen to him, or how his classmates would react.

Then there's the problem of Mew being so powerful that it had single handedly taken out an entire group of villains in one attack. That was also a problem.

Izuku had heard of people being friends with pokemon without actually catching them before, as it wasn't all that uncommon. A lot of the time it was due to an immense amount of trust between the human and the pokemon, as well as a bunch of other factors that varied from case to case. Perhaps that was what his relationship with Mew would become. That wasn't even considering the fact that nobody in recorded history had any recollection of this pokemon, but thinking about that made his head hurt.

After Mew, Izuku found his mind drifting to Uraraka. The previous few mornings, even if it had only been for an hour with minimal conversation, had been some of the most enjoyable hours that Izuku could remember. He never really...had friends like that. Friends that he felt comfortable around, that he felt comfortable talking to about whatever was on his mind.

Ever since that fated day that they met at the entrance exam, she'd been there for him. She'd seen him at his weakest, and had been there to make him stronger. She just seemed so...upbeat and supportive so often.

What was this feeling in his chest?

"Young Midoriya, do you have something on your mind?" All Might's voice drew Izuku out of his thoughts. He saw his mentor smiling back at him.

"Oh, yeah I do, I suppose." Izuku muttered, kicking a rock at his feet, "Stupid teenager stuff, I guess."
"I was a stupid teenager once, if you want to talk about it."

That caught Izuku off guard. Looking into All Might's eyes, he could tell that he was genuinely interested. It wasn't feigning some sort of interest, Izuku could tell that he actually cared. With a deep sigh, Izuku made the decision to trust All Might.

"This is just all so...new. These last few months have been both the hardest and best weeks of my life. I finally have a pokemon, I'm training to become a hero, everything I've ever wanted since I was a kid is starting to fall together. That's not it, though." Izuku took a deep breath, "I was always so alone as a kid. Nobody really wanted to talk to the weird kid that freaked out once a pokemon got within a few feet of him. It was just me, my notebooks, and my mom."

Izuku looked up from the path in front of him, turning his head to the sky, "This is the first time that I've really ever felt like I belong somewhere. I have friends, I have a best friend. I've never had a best friend. She's so supportive, so nice, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"You're talking about young Uraraka." All Might interjected. Izuku felt his face heat up, confirming All Might's suspicion. The older man just smiled mischievously. Izuku nodded with a sigh.

"I don't know what it is, there's just this feeling I get in my gut whenever I'm around her. Like everything is going to be okay, that even if I'm down, she'll be there to pick me back up. We haven't even known each other for a year yet, and I still feel more comfortable with her than anyone else." Izuku took a deep breath, recovering from his long-winded rant before continuing, "I don't know how to explain it."

All Might patted Izuku on the shoulder with a large hand, laughing, "Not being able to explain it is a good thing. Now, let me give you some advice, young Midoriya." He pulled him to a halt, looking Izuku in the eyes seriously, "If young Uraraka is special to you, if she's that person closest to you, then don't make the same decision I did. Don't shove them away, let them in. Don't make the same mistake I did, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

All Might didn't wait for a response, immediately taking off at a stride, walking through the exit of the training ground, "I suggest you do some thinking tonight, young Midoriya! These things are things you need to discover on your own!" he called as he walked off, leaving Izuku staring after him in a mix of confusion and understanding.

Ochako crashed onto her couch as soon as she got back to her apartment. With a groan, she stared at the ceiling. Reaching to her belt, Ochako tapped the three buttons on the three pokeballs, releasing all of her pokemon so that they could have some time out of their balls.

She should be doing something, but she just didn't want to. Every day had been a constant loop of exhaustion, and she just felt like she needed a nap. She'd wake up in the morning and workout for at least an hour, only to go right to school. At school, she'd have her normal schoolwork, then during the time that Heroic Basic Training would happen, they'd be released to got train individually.

Ochako had been going to the gym and working with different people in her class, either on physical fitness or sparring, both hand to hand and in pokemon battles. Izuku would normally train with the rest of the class. Usually, they'd train with the class and then Izuku and Ochako would walk to the train station together. Today, however, Izuku hadn't trained with the rest of the class. Instead, he'd left early, telling her not to wait up for him, as he might go a little longer anyways. That left her to walk home alone.

It was probably for the best, anyways. She was basically just a bundle of nerves at this point, ready to snap at any moment. There was just so much stress on her plate right now that she didn't know what to do. Between preparing for the sports festival and training outside of class with Izuku, she was on the brink of self destructing. She was always sore, she was always exhausted, and hardly ever got any freetime to herself.

Then, there was the mental exhaustion. It wasn't because any of her classes or anything. She wasn't having any problems with the normal school courses, and she liked to think of herself as a good student. No, the problem was because of Izuku.

He hadn't done anything wrong, it was all her. She doubted that he even knew about the turmoil she'd been facing since her...realization. Her realization that she was in love. Now that she thought about it, it had been pretty obvious for a while now, she'd just been oblivious to her own feelings.

She'd tried to distance herself over the last few days, but it had proven to be far from an easy task. She thought that if she could keep at a distance and not interact very much for a week or so, that the feelings would blow over and everything would go back to normal. All she needed to do was keep herself detached whenever she was interacting with Izuku, while also keeping interactions to a minimum.

Except, every time she tried to do any of those things, she caved. She couldn't help but be happy and giddy while around Izuku, and they were around each other far more than she'd realized before. They got up and exercised in the morning, had class together, went to lunch together, trained together again, and texted at night when they were out of class. It was such an emotional drain to constantly be around someone she cared about so much, but knew she couldn't be with. It hurt, and she wanted it to stop.

Yet, she still couldn't. She felt bad if she didn't text him back, she felt bad if she tried to distance herself when he was just being so friendly. Being around him in general made her resolve crumble. Maybe it was just a lost cause and she'd need to just deal with herself for the rest of eternity.

Bzzt Bzzt the sound of her phone buzzing made Ochako groan, turning her head to look over at the device. Reaching her arm out, Ochako tried to grab for the small flip phone, only to realize it was just a little too far away.

"Come on!" She pouted, letting her arm drop down. Shifting her weight, Ochako prepared to get up to grab her phone. To her surprise, she didn't need to. Eevee got up from her spot on the ground a few feet away and rushed over. She grabbed Ochako's phone off the coffee table (using her mouth), and cantered over, dropping it on the ground next to Ochako.

Ochako smiled, rubbing Eevee's head affectionately, "Thanks…" She wiped off the slobber and took a look at who the message was from. As soon as she did, she didn't know whether or not she should groan or be happy.

Sorry I left you to walk home alone today. I won't be training with the rest of the class for the next week leading up to the sports festival, but we should be able to meet up for walking back to the station! The text from Izuku read. WIth a sigh, Ochako shut her phone, not wanting to respond yet. She couldn't just not respond, but she didn't know what to say yet. Looking down at Eevee, Ochako sighed when she saw the state of Eevee's fur. Even if it happened today in particular, the pokemon had been spending a lot more time around Izuku's Riolu recently. Essentially every chance they'd had during training, Eevee had been sparring, even if it was obvious that she was grossly under-skilled to be taking on a fighting type like Riolu. Still, she insisted on throwing herself at the problem and getting rowdy. Which also meant Ochako had to brush it.

Ochako patted the couch next to her, and Eevee jumped up immediately, knowing exactly what was next. Ochako grabbed the brush from the coffee table and Eevee crawled into her lap. Carefully, Ochako started running the brush down Eevee's body, eliciting a happy pur. While Ochako ran the brush up and down, she found herself thinking about Izuku. Again.

She needed to make a decision, and this next text was going to be what decided her fate. Either she could just keep going how things had been, slowly letting herself succumb to the feelings, or she could distance herself even more. She could essentially avoid Izuku for a week, or however long it took for her to get over her feelings, and everything would go back to normal afterwards.

"What am I gonna do?" She said to the air. Togekiss, who was perched on one of the wooden rafters on the ceiling, just looked down at her with beady black eyes, and Clefairy was nowhere to be found. Eevee just sat still, her eyes closed on Ochako's lap. Knowing her, she was probably already asleep. This was a decision she'd have to make on her own.

Hesitantly, she wrote out her message. Well, she wrote it out, deleted it, then rewrote it until she found something that worked.

'It's fine. Actually, there was something that I wanted to ask you. Can we do our warm ups separate in the morning? There's something I want to work on and keep a secret.' She hit send. It was a total lie, she didn't have something to work on.

She was going to distance herself until the feelings went away, even if it hurt. She'd take it slow at first, one step at a time. First, she'd start working out in the morning separately, then she'd start eating lunch separately. It would be a slow process, but she'd spend less and less time with Izuku until she had her feelings sorted out.

Ochako's phone buzzed, signaling that Izuku had texted back.

'That's fine' it read. Ochako let out a sigh, sinking back into the couch.

It was going to be a hard few days, but she'd get through it. Looking down to Eevee, Ochako sighed, shaking her head softly.

"Sorry, girl, but you'll have to deal with a few days away from Riolu." Eevee just ran her head up against Ochako's hand, purring softly. Ochako let herself sink into the couch cushions, trying to fall asleep.

Izuku was able to go on a longer run the next morning, now that he was back to working out alone. He had actually been enjoying the morning workouts in tandem with Uraraka, but she'd requested to go separately, and he completely understood why. He was practicing separately at the end of the day for a very similar reason, after all.

Izuku and Riolu game to a stop outside of his apartment, so he ran inside and got a drink of water, before quickly leaving with his bag in order to make it to the train on time. He walked at a quick pace, making it to the train station a couple of minutes early. He put Riolu in his pokeball, boarding the train.

At the next stop, Uraraka boarded the train, just like she normally had before their morning workouts began. Izuku pushed through the crowd towards his friend, apologizing to everyone he accidentally shoved.

Izuku tapped on Uraraka's shoulder, "Good morning!" He greeted. Uraraka turned to him, flashing a smile.

"Good morning, Deku." Her voice was a bit flat, not her usually cheery tone. She didn't continue the conversation, either, instead opting to stare out the window awkwardly. A few minutes of awkward silence and Izuku couldn't take the tension anymore.

"Soo…" He started, "How was your training this morning?"

Uraraka hummed, "It was good." She didn't elaborate, letting the conversation fall flat again. Izuku didn't know why she was so...quiet. Uraraka was hardly ever quiet, yet at the moment, she felt like a wall to try to talk to.

"Is there something wrong?" He eventually asked, once again not able to take the tension. Uraraka just shook her head as the train came screeching to a halt.

"This is our stop." She said, walking out of the train in a hurry, not even waiting for Izuku as she left the train and then the train station.

What's with her? Izuku thought as he walked quickly to catch up.

The rest of the day went pretty similarly. Everyone went through their classes as normal, but every time Izuku tried to talk to Uraraka, the conversation was over just as fast as it had started, and the awkward tension in the air never left.

Eventually, lunch came around, and Uraraka kept her eyes mostly on her plate through the entire course of the lunch hour, skirting away from conversation just as she had that morning.

Maybe she's just having a bad day? Izuku thought, shaking his thoughts clear. That's probably what it was. When the school day ended and everyone split off to go train, Izuku waved goodbye to Ochako as he made his way towards the same training ground as the day before to train with All Might.

"Let's try jumping to the branch again." All Might said as soon as Izuku made it to the training grounds. Izuku nodded his head, setting his bad down and letting Riolu out of his pokeball. Izuku nodded again, positioning himself by the very same tree they'd been training with yesterday.

And, just like yesterday, the attempts at separating his and Riolu's consciousnesses failed over and over again, not able to find a way to split themselves. Picking himself from the ground for the upteenth time, Izuku sighed.

"I can't figure it out!" Izuku sighed in frustration, pounding his fist lightly on the ground. Nothing was coming out of this practice except for gravel marks on his hands. On the brightside, he was a lot more experienced with activating One for All quickly now.

All Might hummed, thinking as Izuku got up, "Perhaps we need to take a different approach. Tell me, what did you do to change how you activated One for All in the first place?"

Izuku tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"What were you thinking when you went from using One for All and breaking your bones to what it is now?" All Might said.

What was I thinking… Izuku thought back on that moment before the Nomu attacked him at the USJ. Suddenly, the answer seemed clear.

"I really wasn't. If I had to put an idea to it, it was like my body just knew what to do when I was in that highly dangerous situation." Izuku said. In that moment, he'd just let his body do what it wanted to do, he hadn't thought about it. He'd just done it.

All Might paused, before smiling and reaching for his belt. He tapped the center button on one of his pokeballs on his belt, and out came a flash of white light. This time, however, it wasn't Lucario. It was All Might's oddly colored Braviary.

"Young Midoriya, I'm sure you've heard about my friend here before, but this is the first time you're properly meeting. Braviary, this is my successor, Midoriya Izuku." All Might gestured to Izuku, who just waved awkwardly.

Braviary, just as a trait of their pokemon species, looked naturally ferocious. The massive wingspan in tandem with its immense size for a bird made it seem terrifying at first, but seeing All Might scratch it under its jaw made it seem so much more...approachable. Of course, Izuku couldn't really approach it anyways, else his...problem start acting up.

All Might bent over and whispered into Braviary's ear for a moment, before turning to Riolu, motioning him forwards, "Riolu, would you be so kind to climb onto Braviary's back? Do not fret, you shall not fall unless he wishes for you to." Riolu obliged, hopping onto the large bird's back. Braviary took flight not a moment later, launching into the air with one powerful flap.

"Now, Izuku, activate One for All, and under no circumstance are you to abandon it." All Might instructed, and Izuku nodded, feeling uneasy but trusting his mentor. Izuku reached out towards the well of power, and Riolu reached back, the green lightning cackling.

Izuku saw through two sets of eyes at once. Through his own, he saw the trees of the battle training, and through the others he saw Braviary's back as he and Riolu gained altitude.

Then, the world flipped upside down as Riolu was sent flying off of Braviary's back when the Pokemon flipped upside down mid flight. Izuku fell to the ground as his limbs moved in a panic.

"Young Midoriya, you said that you work well under stress. So, catch him." All Might pulled Izuku to his feet, giving him a light nudge forwards.

Everything felt weird. He was both standing on hard land and sailing through the air at the same time. Every time he tried to take a step forwards, he lost his balance and almost feel to the ground again.

To save Riolu, he'd need to either break One for All's bond, or he'd need to split their consciousnesses, and if he broke One for All's bond, he'd be missing the entire point of the training exercise. No, he had to do this the right way.

Riolu was falling fast. He was spinning in the air, but Izuku got a glimpse of the tree canopy, and it was getting a lot bigger, a lot faster.

He tried to mentally pull himself away, he tried to narrow his field of reference, and he even tried ripping the paper like All Might had suggested. None of it worked. He was still split between two bodies, and he couldn't figure out a way to stop it. Riolu was falling fast and there wasn't anything he could do.

WIth one last effort, Izuku closed his eyes and visualized One for All's unique feeling. He was connected to this power source, and Riolu was also connected to his own. Most likely One for All's part of both of their bodies. Then, there was what connected that body of power. It felt like an arcing green energy, not unlike the sparks coiling off his skin.

Tightening his focus, Izuku looked at the arc between the sources again, feeling for something, anything. Then, it all clicked. The arcs between the sources, that was the bond between him and Riolu. It was like a string, holding them together. So, without any time to think, Izuku did the first thing that came to mind.

He cut the string.

Suddenly, the world shot back into place. He was in his own body, not split between two. He could see out of his own eyes, but at the edge of his consciousness, he could still feel Riolu's side of the bond. He'd cut the string, but it was still the same string. He'd split their consciousnesses, but the bond was still active. The green arcs coiling off his skin was evidence enough.

Panicking, Izuku looked to the sky in search of his partner. Normally, it would've been difficult to pick the blue pokemon out amongst the blue sky, but he still had One for All's bond to reference. It was almost like magic how Izuku's eyes shot to Riolu, tumbling through the air. Izuku kicked off into a sprint, running faster than he'd ever ran without the bond.

One for All's affect on his own body wasn't nearly as great as it was for Riolu, it wasn't like it was a superpower, but it was substantial enough that he made it to where Riolu was going to land with time to spare. Putting his arms out, Izuku braced for impact.

Riolu crashed into Izuku's arms and chest, forcing him into the ground and onto his back. Izuku's breath got knocked out, but he didn't relinquish his hold on One for All. With a groan, he sat up, Riolu in his lap. He smiled at his partner.

"We did it, bud!" Riolu nodded happily, jumping up out of Izuku's lap. Izuku also stood up and turned around to see All Might striding towards them, Braviary flapping above him

"That was probably not very good of me to throw that at you out of the blue. It even seems like an Aizawa thing to do, but…" He smiled, "It worked. And don't worry, Braviary was ready to catch him at a moment's notice, had anything gone wrong."

Izuku let out a sigh, "Doesn't change the fact that it was scary."

All Might let out a hearty laugh, "That it was, but it had to be done, I believe. Now, what changed this time, compared to last time?"

Izuku shrugged, "I didn't think. I think that I've been thinking too much. One for All isn't some crazy technology that needs to be analyzed. It's just…a tool." All Might ruffled Izuku's hair.

"That it is, my boy, that it is."

As Izuku walked back towards the exit of the practice zone, he couldn't help but smile. He was one step, even if it were small, closer towards his goal. Towards his goal of mastering One for All and becoming a great trainer.