Authour's Note:
I almost forgot to write this part, I have never done this before, but after seeing the responses the story got, I think it was time.
Just wanted to say, thank you for all the reviews on my story, it means alot to see you guys enjoy my work.
Also to two certain reviews, first, thank you for you constant support and that is a good question, I'm afraid I can't give that away hehe.
Flint out!
School was the last thing that had entered his mind after Erik got his Quirk, it never occurred to him as they registered his Quirk, it was not until he was woken up one morning that he realised he needed to go to Kindergarten, it was not just the ridicule he may face nor the fear that he would become the object off, no what was souring about going to school was that he would not be able to bring his Pokémon.
His mother explained that his school could not allow random creatures to come into the building as they feared being held responsible if something happened, it hurt that he would not be able to spend time with his friends, they had grown close during the week he had taken off from school which made his goodbye all the more gut wrenching.
His walk to school was nerve wracking, his mind raced with thoughts about how his classmates would either pick on or fear him for how his eyes glowed, the only thing that prevented him from collapsing in fear was the presence of his mother and his mask. It was another thing that had changed during the week as Erik never felt comfortable without wearing the hood which was enough to convince his mother to let me wear it, although she insisted on modifying it, so it looked cleaner, Erik was unsure until Mimikyu insisted on being a part of the process.
This led to the modified mask he wore on his way to school, the cloth been trimmed so to allow his hair to breath but it was attached to a plain craft mask so it look sleek, the mask had a small belt that he could adjust if it ever felt too tight, despite the upgrade, he still received many stares for the large black oval eyes and small oval mouth that the design held and it only added to his fear at what was to come.
After his mother left with her sweet promises that the day would not be so bad, Erik entered his class where all the eyes immediately fell on him, his gaze quickly fell to the floor, but he managed to catch a glimpse at the eyes that had focused on him, many were confused, others fearful and some looked at him with disdain. He knew his eyes were hidden by the mask which eased his fear that he may incur some kind of wrath from his classmates should he look at them, the teacher was kind enough to explain his situation and brought up how bullying behaviour was not tolerated, Erik felt the talk would have had more impact if she did not appear uncomfortable as she stood next to him.
Fortunately, he was mostly ignored during class time, the only thing that happened was the occasional odd look from someone close, it was not until their break that his fears became warranted as he sat beneath the shade of the tree and he heard the shuffling of feet, Erik looked to see two of his classmates come near, he recognised them as Yui and Hinata, Yui was a girl who often picked on Erik due to his pale skin and called him ugly while Hinata made fun of his weak physique and would force him to play games with the others which often humiliated Erik as he always came last.
"Wow, looks like you finally got something to cover your ugly face, it's better." Yui sneered before cackling to herself, fixing her hair so it remained flawless as she would claim.
"Hey! Erik, nice try with the disguise, but I'd know your weak body anywhere, so don't try and get out of playing with us!" Hinata growled, his approach blunter.
Erik struggled to swallow his fear to speak, his mask could only do so much, he quickly learned that he preferred the company of Pokémon over people as his nervousness grew when Hinata came closer.
"Also, take that stupid thing off, you won't be able to play with it on, it will make you worse than you are." He started with an irritated tone, raising his hand to grab Erik's mask which caused the boy to press himself against the tree, his fear skyrocketing as well as anger that Hinata would dare call something his mother and Mimikyu worked hard on stupid.
"Shuppet~" purred a voice which caused Erik to freeze, he felt his fear vanish as he turned to his side and as greeted by nothing, he was confused as the sound came from there as he looked forward again.
"Shup!"
Erik yelped as he jumped back, hitting himself on the tree, he winced in pain before looking up to see a strange black thing floating in front of his bullies who looked bewildered at his sudden fright.
"Seriously, stop being a wimp and take off the mask!" Hinata said with irritation as he walked forward.
Erik did not pay attention to his words as he focused on the strange Pokémon that had appeared out of nowhere, it had a spherical body with pointed horn at the top, its eyes were large and shaped like teardrops turned their sides and were surrounded by a black ring, enhancing the yellow pupils and dark blue iris. The strangest thing was that it looked like it was covered by a cloak, not the same as Mimikyu because Erik could see that it was just the cloak which made it more peculiar, he also noted how it became interested in Hinata as he got closer, its horn started to glow red and so did Hinata which made Erik react.
"W-wait, what are you doing!?" he asked, his voice wavering with concern as he reached out to the Pokémon.
"Didn't you hear me?" Hinata said, he noticed his lack of anger as Erik came at him, he brushed it off and continued.
"I'm taking at stupid mask – "
"Shuppet!"
Both Yui and Hinata froze as a weird black ghost looking thing had suddenly appeared right before their eyes, with its horn glowing a sinister red and a smirk appeared on its face, the two bullies quickly grew pale at the sight and looked to their classmate for his reaction, their blood ran cold as they saw the haunting purple iris shine through the darkness of his mask with his hand still outstretched as if reaching for their very souls.
That broke the camel's back as they screamed bloody murder and took off running to the safety of others, leaving the boy stunned and the Pokémon laughing at their fear.
"Shup! Shup! Shup!" it cackled gleefully as it flew in circles above Erik who stared at it in bewilderment.
"H-hey! You shouldn't laugh, they were scared!" He said in a commanding tone, the puppet Pokémon was surprised by the sudden confidence he showed, Erik thought that he managed to get its attention and was going to continue when it flew up to his face, startling him.
"Shup, pet? ~" It purred with a big smirk on its face as it stared down the young boy who was taken aback by the body language, it screamed that this Pokémon was mocking him which made him feel nervous as he knew he had little to stop it.
"Konrei, what did you do!?" Snapped another voice, Erik stiffened and looked back to see that one of the teachers was walking towards him, with Yui and Hinata in tow as they cried, he froze as he tried to think of how to explain the sudden appearance of the Pokémon when he noticed that it was no longer flying above him, he frantically looked around for it and was stumped to find nothing.
"Yes, I'm talking to you!" Said the teacher as he looked down at the masked boy with an irritated look, Erik yelped and looked up to see his disapproving teacher which caused his fear to spike.
"Now, I'm sure the Principal made it clear that you weren't allowed to bring your creatures and yet you brought one that terrified young Aoi and Akiyama." He stated with utter seriousness, he let what he said sink in before continuing.
"I'm very disappointed that you abuse the trust given to you, even after they gave you permission to wear that mask." He continued his scolding, his irritation and disappointment burning bright, he knew that Erik was an antisocial boy and presumed that his wealthy family had raised a spoiled son which was why he felt he could flaunt the rules.
"N-no…Sensei, they're not mind…I" Erik mumbled, he tried to explain himself, but his nerves turned his words into mush which was clearly not convincing his teacher who held up a hand.
"I don't want to hear it, you're going to stay behind and…" He paused as he suddenly felt all his irritation drain out of him, leaving him feeling calmer as he looked at the shaking boy in front of him, while he disliked his antisocial behaviour, he knew he needed to hear him out.
"Shuppet!"
The teacher stiffened from the sound that came from behind, he slowly turned his head to see what had made the sound and found nothing, he was slightly confused until he noticed both Yui and Hinata staring at him in horror, Hinata had his hand pointing towards Erik. He grew annoyed by the games and turned to face Erik when he was face to face with a strange puppet looking creature that had a horn which glowed a villainous red with a cruel smile as it glared at him.
"Pet, Shup." It said cruelly which drew another terrified scream as the teacher jumped back in clear fright, however, the Pokémon did not let up as it quickly followed him, he quickly started backing away along with his two students who fled with him, the trio quickly ran back to the schoolhouse much to the surprise of other students and teachers who watched with confusion. They noticed Shuppet who flew closer, Erik who had snapped out of his shock had quickly followed the Pokémon as he prayed that he could stop anymore chaos, to his surprise, the Pokémon did stop chasing its victims and instead floated around the students with a pleasant smile as it let out joyous cries which caused many of the students to coo and awe at how cool it was.
"Aw, it's so cute!" said one student.
"What is it?" asked another.
"Why were sensei, Hinata and Yui running from this little guy?" Wondered another aloud.
"Erik, what happened?" asked another teacher, she was surprised at the sight of the strange creature and figured it had something to do with their recent bloomer.
"U-um, I-I was sitting by the tree…when Hinata and Yui came over. I-I don't know h-how, but this Pokémon appeared and scared them…sensei too." Erik said honestly, holding the bottom of his jumper nervously, he dared not look up as he feared the other teacher would be mad, but she was not as she read that his Quirk did not control when these creatures showed up and something else must have happened. She was going to ask when laughter came from the children as they continued to play with the Pokémon who was suspiciously sweet.
"Man, Sensei, Hinata and Yui are scaredy cats!" One chuckled, much to the amusement of everyone except for the trio who grew angry at the comments and glared at the Pokémon who looked back and flashed them with a devious smirk before returning to its sweet demeanour, the teacher sighed as she reminded the children to be careful around the creature which some heeded as they simply watched it from where they stood before she focused on Erik who was still fearful.
"Look, Erik, I think we need to have a discussion with your family, you're not in trouble, but we clearly need to talk about how we're going to handle your Quirk." She explained, calming the boy when she mentioned the talk before going back to watch the children, dreading the conversation that was going to be had when the parents arrived.
The tension in the small office was so thick that a sword would struggle to cut through it, Principal Hashima was sweating as he received a sharp glare from Akiyama's mother as well as Aoi's father, looking to the other side did not help as Konrei's mother also gave him a sharp look that dared him to crumple under the pressure. The parents were not pleased to have been called into his office with the news that one of their children had caused an incident with their Quirk, Aoi and Akiyama called for Konrei to be punished for using his Quirk while his mother defended him and stated the fault was no ones as he held no control over what appeared, it was not until they sat down before the principal that they quietened down.
"Now, let's discuss what happened today and see how we can resolve it, Erik, can you give us your events on what happened?" He asked softly, knowing about the boy's shy demeanour, however, the obnoxious sigh from Akiyama's mother cut the boy off.
"Why does he get to speak first? It was my child who was the victim here!" She started aggressively, ignoring the glare she got from Konrei's mother.
"Your son had given his side of the story to both of my colleagues; however, Erik is the quirk owner and may shed some light on what happened." Hashima explained, his answer calmed the annoyed mother who leaned back into her seat.
Erik looked down as he gathered his thoughts, he was nervous, but his mother was here and it reassured him that he would be fine and the Principal was patient, even giving him a welcoming smile that eased any doubt he had.
"I was sitting by the tree during break…Yui and Hinata came over then the Pokémon appeared and scared them. I told them to stop but they ignored me and when Sensei came, they scared him too." Erik explained to the best of his ability.
"I see, now, Erik, I'm aware that your quirk lets you see these "Pokémon", however, it doesn't say how you make them appear, can you explain that?" He asked the boy who looked down again as he thought.
"The Pokémon started getting interested in Hinata and his horn started to glow red…I reached to grab it then Hinata and Yui saw it." Erik said, his voice quivering slightly, he gripped his mother's hand harder who decided to speak.
"Actually, this happened before, when we were testing his Quirk, my husband noted that he was unable to see what my son saw, however, when he caught a Pokémon called Phantump then my husband could see and interact with him. The specialists surmised that if my son interacts with a Pokémon then they become visible, although they eventually vanish." Explained Annabel, clearing some confusion about what her son could do, giving his small hand a gentle squeeze to reassure him.
"That explains how, now, Erik, can you tell us why you think this Pokémon was interested in Hinata?" Asked the principal, sensing that there was more to this story.
I can explain that!
The people in the office jumped sans the Konrei mother and son at the voice, from Annabel's open bag an orange smartphone floated into the air and turned to reveal a smiling face that is not normally on smartphones.
"Ah, Mr Hashima, this is Rotom, he is another part of my son's quirk and is the one who provides information on the different Pokémon we've encountered." Annabel quickly chipped in before anyone freaked out.
"O-oh, I see…hello Rotom, you said you can explain this other Pokémon's interest in Hinata."
Yessir, nzzt, I can. Allow me to scan the Pokémon first and I can identify them!
Rotom stated before floating towards Mrs Akiyama who looked at the floating phone with clear disgust, if Rotom noticed, he said nothing as he turned to face his camera and quickly scanned, his screen loaded for a moment.
Got it, Nzzt. Shuppet, the puppet Pokémon, a ghost type Pokémon, it loves to feed on envy and malice, its upright horn catches the emotions of people.
Principal Hashima's eyes sharpened at the explanation as he looked briefly looked at Hinata and Yui who grew pale at the sight, he was aware that Hinata was quite boisterous and Yui was critical, however, from what they had been told then they had also been trying to bully Erik which was a serious problem that the school did not tolerate. He was not the only one to reach this conclusion as Mrs Akiyama stood up abruptly with an impatient look as she rudely pointed at Rotom.
"This is preposterous, my child could not be malicious even if he tried and envy is laughable." She stated with a sharp edge in her voice.
Malice and envy are the most common emotions documented, other reports state that Shuppets love to feed on negative emotions in general, nzzt. Fear, anger, or sadness could explain its interest.
Rotom chipped in with his little piece of information and this quickly fell on Erik who kept his gaze low as if he knew what was going to be asked next.
"Erik, what happened before the Pokémon took interest in Hinata?" Asked Hashima, his tone soft yet strict which made Erik squeeze his mother's hand all the tighter, his breath became shallow as he feared what would happen if he told on Hinata, he did not want to make the boy angry.
"Shup~pet." Said the same Pokémon in joy as it's horn glowed red and Erik felt his fear drain away yet again, he looked to his side to see Shuppet had appeared next to him with the same coy smile it had before as it seemed to enjoy the small bit of chaos it was causing.
"Erik?" Principal Hashima called, grabbing the masked boy's attention as he cleared his throat.
"Shuppet appeared…when Hinata and Yui came and it got interested when Hinata…reached for my mask."
"He's lying!!"
"How absurd!!"
As soon as Erik told the truth, both mother and son shouted in disagreement, the pair looking at the boy with clear anger at the accusation that the meek boy had made, Principal Hashima raised his hands to silence any more protest and turned to the fuming mother and son.
"Mrs Akiyama, please calm down and let's figure out what happened before we come to any conclusions." He explained clearly to the mother who snorted before leaning back and patting her son on the back.
"Now, Hinata, did you try to grab Erik's mask?" He asked calmly.
"No! He's lying to get me in trouble!!" Hinata protested, pointing at Erik who flinched.
"Shuuuuup." Said the puppet Pokémon as its horn glowed brighter as it neared Hinata, much to Erik's concern, he quickly raised his hand to speak.
"Erik, let Hinata finish, okay?" Hashima said kindly, however, it did little to dissuade Erik's concern as he noticed that Shuppet seemed to have grown.
"B-but Mr Principal…" Erik tried to argue before he was interrupted by a haughty voice.
"How rude, disobeying your seniors and interrupting someone who is talking, you have some nerve after what you put my daughter through, boy!" Came the voice of Mr Aoi who shot a dirty look at the boy, this proved to be a bad move as Annabel wrapped an arm around her son and glared at Mr Aoi.
"How dare you talk to my son like that, he wouldn't say anything unless it was important!" She snapped, her Quirk activating and her rage growing.
"So, you're justifying his rude behaviour and allowing him to get away with it, shows how you raised him!" Sniped Mrs Akiyama as she gave Annabel a dirty look.
"Excuse me!?" She roared back as the discussion quickly descended into a screaming match between the three parents, Principal Hashima tried his best to calm their fiery tempers but nothing stopped them as they insulted and criticised each other, Annabel fighting off the criticism of the two haughty parents.
Erik was fearful as everyone started screaming, not because of the anger, but because he watched as Shuppet drained the emotions from the parents with wicked glee and was growing larger by the minute, it had been the size of a child's stool before and now grew to the size of Erik himself which frightened him.
"Everyone, stop!!" He screamed, his voice cracking from the strain which startled the adults out of their arguments and focused on the boy who ignored them and looked at Shuppet, the red glow vanished from its horn which surprised it before it faced Erik with a furious glare.
"Shuppet" It growled before rushing up to the boy and shoving its face into his mask, much to his shock and the shock of everyone else who jumped from their seats in surprise at the sudden appearance of the Pokémon.
"Holy hell! What's happening?!" Shouted Mr Aoi as he held his daughter close to him, ready to flee with her in his grasp.
"It was feeding on you fighting, it was getting bigger!" Erik stated, never taking his eyes off the Shuppet who looked around the room with a smirk.
That's another side effect of their feeding, Shuppets grow as they feed and this one has gotten huge!
Rotom explained as he backed away from the seething ghost Pokémon who glared at Erik before smirking and floating over to Mrs Akiyama and Hinata.
"Shup, Pet shup, shuppet, shup shup." It stated proudly.
"R-Rotom, what did it say?" Annabel quickly asked the phone.
Translating…done! It said. "So, what, you can't stop me, I'll just follow them, their malice and envy are tasty!" Nzzt, it is not joking!
Rotom said with fear as Shuppet circled the room before focusing on Mrs Akiyama and Hinata who stood by the door in clear terror, Shuppet quickly charged towards them and they fled in response, leaving the small office with the Pokémon menace following close behind. The room watched in shock as they tried to process what had transpired in the last few minutes, it was Rotom who snapped to attention and quickly floated to Annabel, his screen flashing a caution sign.
Quick! Mrs Konrei, give Erik, Mimikyu, he's the only one who can stop that crazy Pokémon!
Annabel flinched at the order before it clicked in her head what she was asked and she quickly reached into her purse and pulled out a familiar object, she wasted no time in grabbing her son's attention and pushing the Poke ball into his startled hands, when he recognised the object, he looked at his mother who nodded in permission before letting him go. Erik stumbled as he bolted from the small office, with Rotom close behind, and chased after the terrified mother and son, he heard screams and yells echo down the hall as he ran as fast as his young legs could manage, his heart was drumming and the adrenaline coursed through him as he followed the screams to the outdoor area where it all began, he opened the door to see Mrs Akiyama and Hinata running in circles as Shuppet followed with its horn glowing red and it slowly grew bigger.
"H-hey!!" Erik shouted, grabbing the attention of everyone, Shuppet glared at Erik before noticing the Poke ball in his hand which prompted a smirk to grow on its face.
"Shup, shup, shup, shup!" It laughed as it ignored its previous victims and flew towards Erik, making it clear he was challenging the young trainer.
"Okay, Mimikyu, time to battle!" He shouted before releasing his partner who blinked before noticing the situation she was in, looking back to see Erik tense face, despite his mask, then noticing Shuppet glaring at them with a menacing smirk.
"Mimikyu?" She asked Erik.
"This Shuppet is terrorising Hinata and his mother, we have to stop it." He quickly explained, Mimikyu quickly perked up and faced Shuppet with a look of pure intensity as she was ready to battle.
"Shuppet!" Said the puppet Pokémon before vanishing from sight startling the pair, neither noticing the shadow reaching out towards Mimikyu's, Erik gasped as something came out from behind Mimikyu and hit her, launching her forward with a cry of pain.
"Mimikyu!" Erik cried out to his partner who struggled to get up after the hit, adding to his concern.
User Erik, nzzt, that attack was super effective against Mimikyu, it was a ghost type attack called Shadow Sneak where the user extends their shadow to an opponent before attacking from behind!
Erik had barely managed to pay attention to Rotom's analysis as he watched Mimikyu stand back up and face Shuppet who laughed at her, Erik knew they needed to be careful in this fight and did his best to think of a strategy, Shuppet did not allow him time to think as a sinister blue flame appeared in its mouth and shot to Mimikyu.
"Mimikyu dodge!!" Cried Erik, just in time as Mimikyu dodged the blue flame that narrowly missed her, he saw a chance to catch Shuppet off guard.
"Now, use Shadow claw!" He ordered.
The claw quickly shot out from Mimikyu and headed straight for Shuppet, it missed as Shuppet vanished again, however, Erik looked down to see the shadow already reaching behind Mimikyu and reacted quickly.
"Mimikyu, your shadow! Use Psychic!" He shouted.
"Kyu!" She shouted as she turned on the spot, just as Shuppet re-emerged, a glowing ball of pink energy formed in front of Mimikyu as she concentrated.
"Shup!!" It cried as it realised the situation, but it was too close and Mimikyu launched the ball of psychic energy which slammed into the large puppet Pokémon and knocked it back.
"Mimikyu, play rough!" Erik seized the chance and Mimikyu happily obliged as she charged at Shuppet who was recovering from the surprise blow and could not shield itself from the repeated blows as Mimikyu kicked up a dust cloud around them and launched her frenzied attack which weakened Shuppet further.
"Alright, time to end this!" Erik stated, his knees were bent, and his head was raised as he looked down at the Pokémon who caused this chaos, his arms were held out in front of him and his hands dangled like a zombie and his glowing eyes enhanced the image.
"Mimikyu…" He said softly.
"Shup? Pet!" The Pokémon had only just gathered its bearings when it noticed the haunting sight of the young boy pointing at it with ghostly eyes and standing like a kindergarten grim reaper.
"Shadow claw."
"Mimi…"
Shuppet flinched at the malice that dripped from his voice and turned to see the malice filled glare that Mimikyu gave it, an attack already in motion.
"Kyu!!"
It struck home as the shadow claw slammed into Shuppet who was launched from the sheer force of the attack with a cry, it struggled to move as the toll of the fight had on its body and Erik saw his chance, reeling back his hand, with a thought a poke ball appeared just as he was about to throw it with all his might. He stopped as he stared into Shuppet's eyes, there was a touch of malice, but also an overwhelming sense of sadness as it waited for the trainer to catch it, it was enough to stop Erik and drop his arm, staring back at the shrinking Pokémon.
"Erik, are you okay!?" Cried out his mother who rushed to his side, following close behind her was the principal and Rotom who eyed the fallen Pokémon warily.
"I-I'm fine, it's just, why does it look so sad?" Erik wondered.
"Who cares, get rid of it!!" Cried out Ms Akiyama, who stared at the puppet Pokémon with disgust and fear.
"Shuppet."
Erik blinked as he could see the clear hurt in its eyes, a familiar feeling rose in his heart. This Shuppet was here for a reason, so taking a brave step, he went up to it.
"You're lonely aren't you?" He asked softly, clearly startling the pokemon who flinched at the question.
The Pokémon shook itself before glaring at Erik with great anger, it got into the masked boy's face.
"Shuppet! Shup!" It snarled, clearly hostile to the young man, not wanting to lose his nerve, he turned to Rotom who was ready.
He said, nzzt, how dare you suggest that!!
Erik nodded at the response before he took a deep breath and held out his hand. Before everyone's eyes, a pokeball appeared, Shuppet was ready to fight once more, but Erik surprised it by holding out the ball to it.
"I'm sorry for offending you, but please take this before you go, so you know that we will ease your loneliness." Erik said with a small smile, raising his mask slightly to show it to Shuppet.
The puppet Pokémon blinked and Erik could swear he saw its lips tremble before it glared again and let out an ear piercing screech, everyone held their ears for a moment before it stopped. Erik looked to see Shuppet was gone and a quick scan of the area showed it was gone for good.
After the incident, the school day ended with the children being sent home, the principal refused to take action against Erik as it was clear it was not his fault. While the parents of his bullies argued, they quietened when they were reminded their own children were not being punished for possible bullying. Annabel was disappointed to hear this, but focused on her so who sat with his partner as they stared out at the sky, she came up to him and offered a comforting smile.
"I'm sorry, Erik, I think Shuppet would need some time, it was kind of you to offer it love." She said before taking Erik's hand as they walked home. Erik was quiet as he simply smiled to himself, his mother was right, Shuppet needed time, but when it came he would be there to welcome it, as he stared at his other hand, devoid of any pokeball.
