Bakugo Katsuki sat in the VIP section of the arena, trying to hide his frustration at the fact that he was here at all because stupid Deku had decided to invite his family to this stupid tournament thing. And his parents had agreed to come for some stupid reason.

"Izuku's two to one," Tsutsumi Kaina, aka Lady Nagant, a fuckin' pro hero who had been assigned to be Deku's bodyguard, because he deserved one of those apparently, said. Her knee was jumping up and down as she ran a hand down the beak of her giant toucan pokemon, "He's gonna win this match!"

Fuckin' so? What did it matter if he won this whole contest with his stupid pets? That wasn't [I]real[/I] strength, why was everyone acting like if Deku won this he would be the strongest person in Alola. That was acting like All Might's manager was stronger than All Might! It didn't make sense!

"IIIIZZUUUKKKKUUUU!" Aunty Inko cried as the tiny pink Pokemon she had, which had a stone in its pouch like an egg, ran around her with a mop to clean up the tears, occasionally stopping to pull out a futile tissue and hand it to Inko before returning to the process of running around and cleaning up the floor.

"Happiny!" It took a second to stop and thrust a fist into the air, staring down at Izuku. Then a particularly large splash of water got its attention and it went right back to mopping up Aunty Inko's tears.

"Go, Crabominable!" The fatass Deku was fighting, "Hala" threw out one of the balls as he pulled back in the monkey and out came a furry crab, "Ice Punch!"

"Return, Pikakyu!" Deku snapped up a ball, red light pulling the small thing back into it as he tossed out another ball, "Mea, Fire Punch!'

The crowd roared as the animal wearing a skull came out, pulling back the fist holding a flaming bone and punching forwards, the green flames on either end of the bone coming together at the fist and igniting it. Ice and fire met in the middle of the stadium, causing an explosion of steam that caused Hala's robes and Izuku's stupid sleeveless jacket to whip in the air as they both dug their feet into the ground and refused to budge.

"They're really going at it, aren't they?" Katsuki whipped around as a boy a couple years older than them stepped into the VIP section, holding one of those damn gimmicky pokemon phones that were all the rage on this side of Ultra Space to the electronic lock before dropping it and letting it float in behind them.

"Considering the amount of times I had to watch Kukui's League Challenge back when he was a brat," Nagant said, drawing a laugh from Inko, "I think I would be firing a Beak Blast at the arena right now if he wasn't. Hello, Gladion."

"Hello, Ms. Tsutsumi, Mrs. Midoriya, uh…? I don't think we've met, you three?"

"I'm Bakugo Mitsuki, and these are my husband, Masaru, and son Katsuki."

"Nice to meet you. Excuse me, Happiney, just trying to get to a seat. Come out, Silvally," Out of a ball came a dog with a wing on its head, staring down at the arena. It stared down at the arena as Emo Cut began to run a hand through its feathers and fur, "I'm Gladion, I'm a friend of Izuku."

"Where's Lillie?" Inko asked, wiping tears from her eyes as she did.

"Down in the locker room, she wanted to act as his medicinal support if anything went really wrong. She doesn't like watching Pokemon Battles anyways," Gladion said.

— X Mea X—

Mea landed on the ground, catching her bone and beginning to rhythmically tap it against the ground as she waited for the steam to fade. In the background she heard Izuku start to pace and smiled, if a bit sadly, under her bone mask.

"Fire Blast!" Izuku finally called, and Mea brought her burning bone up to her mouth and breathed in, before spitting out a giant daimonji of green flames into the mist, forcing it to disperse and revealing Crabominable and Hala having struck a pose.

"Shoot!" Izuku snapped, pulling out a container of crystals and quickly picking one, slotting it into his Z Power Ring and crossing his arms in front of himself. Z Energy exploded like a raging inferno around his body, before flowing into Mea as she struck a pose.

"I am the Kahuna of Melemele Island, Young Izuku," Hala called, Z Energy flowing from himself to Crabominable as he continued the dance, "That means, at one point in the past I too went on a Island Challenge journey! Did you really think I only knew one Z-Move?"

"Of course not," Izuku said, continuing their dance alongside Mea, "Now, Mea! Inferno-"

Mea raised her club to her mouth, breathing in until her ghostly ribcage felt like it would crack. At the same time, ice began to build around Crabominable. Hala swept an arm outwards, "Subzero-"

"-Overdrive!" Mea breathed out, a miniature sun exploding into existence in front of her and building until she finally fired it at Crabominable.

"-Slammer!" Ice exploded forwards, crashing against the Inferno Overdrive and warring with it until finally both Z-moves exploded, coating their halves of the field in fire and ice. Mea cut through the resulting steam with her bone, staring at Crabominable as it shattered the ice that formed over it, the arena now evenly divided into fire and ice sections.

"Fire Blast!" Izuku called, and Mea shot out another Daimonji, which crashed home and staggered the Crabominable backwards, "Flare Blitz on its underbelly!"

Green flames ignited all along Mea's body and she kicked off, rushing forwards and gripping her bone like one of Gardy's swords. She hoped her son was watching this, wherever he was.

The flaming bone crashed into Crabominable's soft underbelly, sending it collapsing back, unconscious.

"Mea, return!"

— X Katsuki X—

Katsuki's jaw dropped as the arena turned into something out of an anime, half burning with fire and the other half coated with ice. That was… that was like something Endeavor would do! Why were these pokemon listening to losers like Deku when they could do something like that.

"So, we finally see the famous Z-Moves of Alola," one of the talking heads said, the TV in the back flicking back to them, it was the one with red hair swept back, wearing a cape like he was some kind of Hero. None of them were Heroes, they were just… just riding on the coattails of their Pokemon! "And it seems to have reshaped the battlefield around them."

"It's definitely an impressive move, Lance," the one wearing a hat said, taking it off to run a hand through his hair, "I can see why it's compared to Dynamax and Mega Evolution."

"Otherwise, I don't have much to say about that particular round," the pretty blonde said, "Izuku sent out the Pokemon with the clear advantage and won. If I had to guess-

"Pikakyu, I chose you!"

"Hariyama, your turn!"

-We'll likely see something of a sweep from here on out. Pikakyu has the advantage."

— X Pikakyu X—

"Pikakyu, don't rough them up too hard," Pikakyu flashed Izuku a thumbs up as Izuku pulled out another pokeball and sent out the unconscious Gardy, before fishing out a full restore and beginning to apply it to Gardy's wounds while Pikakyu focused on Hariyama.

"Fire Punch!" Hala called out, and Pikakyu dodged to the side, letting the move go wide before using Play Rough to bat Hariyama back, "Fire Punch and Heavy Slam repeatedly! Don't let it escape!"

"Keep Playing Rough, don't let him hit you!" Izuku called, cracking open a revive and wafting the crystal under Gardy's nose as Pikakyu launched into a storm of Play Roughs, flying around Hariyama's bulk so the Fire Punches and Heavy Slams missed it until finally Hariyama tipped forwards unconscious at the exact same time Gardy jerked upright with a gasp, "Slowly, slowly, stand up slowly, Gardy, you were unconscious for fifteen minutes or so."

I'm fine, I'm fine. I can fight, Gardy forced herself up, Pikakyu, switch out for me.

…Don't wanna.

You'll get your spotlight when we fight Acerola, let me show I can fight with the best!

…Fine.

Pikakyu retreated as Gardy rushed the field, landing on top of Izuku's head and beginning to sulk until-

Aguav berry!

Pikakyu snagged the offered berry from Izuku, beginning to munch away at the berry happily.

"Thank you, Pikakyu. You know Gardy's been looking forward to this," Izuku said softly as Gardy stared down the Bewear. Pikakyu hummed, focused more on the steady supply of her favorite berries Izuku was giving her over the fight about to happen.

— X Katsuki X—

Katsuki scoffed as the green and white pokemon took the field again, "What's he doing? That weakling already lost once."

"So?" Nagant said, "I know Gardy, she's only going to be more determined to win and prove that she's a good knight now that she went down once. That's just how she is, it's her version of being a Hero."

"Heroes don't lose," Katsuki scoffed again, "That's why they're heroes, they win."

"Do you really think that?" Nagant said, "That Heroes never lose? Ever? How childish can you get."

Katsuki froze, before turning towards her, "What?"

"Heroes lose, Kid. We lose a lot, we fail a lot. I was a real big failure of a Hero before I was assigned to be Izuku's bodyguard. Heroes don't always win, we always try to win, but that doesn't mean we succeed."

"Nobody wins every time," Emo Cut said, "I've lost to Izuku more times than I can count, and Izuku's lost before too. The key is winning when it counts."

"You're not strong," Katsuki snapped, "You just use your pokemon-"

"I ran away from home at 11, I survived until I was 13 without help. I'm currently running one of the biggest companies in the world. Tell me, what have you done to judge what strength is?" Emo Cut stood up, ice filling the room as his Pokemon tugged at the back of his sweatshirt, "You're just a kid who's never done anything in his life, but you think you're smart enough to unilaterally decide what strength is, [I]brat?[/I]"

"Gladion, he's just a kid, he doesn't know what he's talking about," Aunty Inko sniffed, taking a tissue from Happiney.

"Exactly, he's just a kid, and he's saying me and Izuku aren't strong because we train pokemon. Have you ever trained a Pokemon, kid? Ever had a Rockruff about to evolve maul your arm?" Emo Cut shoved up his sleeve, showing bite scars along his arm, "have you ever sync your aura to a Pokemon to the point you feel the pain they do? Had a move gone too far and burned you, or frozen you? How about have a sandstorm bite at your skin as you fought with everything you had? Being a Pokemon trainer isn't some walk in the park, kid. It's a hard job, and you're disrespecting everyone who has devoted their lives to the profession by calling us weak. So do us all a favor, sit down, shut up, and cheer for Izuku, because he clearly cares about you enough to invite you to his crowning as Champion of Alola."

"I…" Katsuki through himself into the chair, huffing, "Fine, whatever. Loser."

The last word was muttered under his breath, even as chills crossed his back and he focused on Izuku, noticing the faded and fresh scars along his arms for the first time. What had caused those?

— X Gardy X—

Gardy teleported behind the Bewear, forming a blade of Psychic energy and driving it into its back.

"Brutal Swing!" Gardy ducked under the full force swing from Bewear, eyes glowing as she picked it up with her psychic energy and lifted it high into the air before slamming it into the ground. Red energy formed around the crystal on her chest as she drew another sword and rushed in, launching a barrage of Psycho Cuts at their chest.

"Brutal Swing and don't let up!" Bewear was suddenly in Gardy's Guard (that joke wasn't as funny since she changed her name), Dark type energy glowing as it brought down both arms. Both hit Gardy straight in the shoulders as Gardy thrust the created an Aura Sphere and blasted back Bewear.

Draining Kiss, Izuku ordered, and Gardy teleported behind Bewear, planting a soft, draining kiss on its check, and then drove a Psycho Cut into its chest, dropping in to the ground unconscious.

"YES!" Izuku cheered, rushing out onto the pitch and tackling Gardy into a hug she quickly returned, sending out Mea so she and Pikakyu could join in the hug.

"And with that, Izuku Midoriya has beat his first Elite Four member. There will be a fifteen minute break to fix any damage done to the stadium and allow Izuku to patch up any injuries, then we'll move onto the next member, Khaili."

"Well done, young Izuku, Guardy, Mea, Pikakyu, you all did well," Hala said, walking towards them, As a celebration of your victory, I have a gift for you."

He opened up his hand, revealing a marble sized crystal on a small rope. Gardy immediately felt psychic energy flow between her and it the minute she lay eyes on it.

Is that- Gardy asked.

"A Gardevoirite, from a friend in Kalos," Hala said, "I know you have your reservation about Mega Evolution, Young Izuku, but I figured if you could Mega Evolve someone that can tell you the stories are false, you can use it with confidence. You may you use it in this tournament, because I'm going to assume you'll prefer your Z-Moves, but you never know when having something like this as an ace will come in handy."

— X AN X—

Next chapter is a Flashback

No, "Guardy" in Hala's listing is not a misspelling.

My goal for this month is to get OHA(P)M a TV Tropes page. If you're willing to help with that, it's Greatly appreciated.