My Hero Pokedamia

by Zayden StormVoid

Izuku realized at a young age that all men are not created equal. They aren't treated equal either. Some people have more power over others. The same can be said for the wondrous, mysterious creatures that inhabited the world before Quirks: Pokemon. This is the story of Izuku Midoriya, in this world of Quirks and Pokemon, and his path to become the Very Best, like No One Ever Was.

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

SALUTATIONS GOOD SIRS AND MADAMS! TIS I, ZAYDEN STORMVOID, RETURNED ONCE AGAIN TO DELIVER TO THE MASSES ANOTHER CHAPTER OF MY HERO POKEDAMIA!

Hoped you guys had a great fun time on the 4th of July, I had a pretty memorable time. My little brother finally got both a car of his own and his license, so good for him, but we also hung out with our Dad and we planned to see Transformer: Rise of the Beasts, which we somehow couldn't because the universe hates us, and our Dad did something that I don't think has ever been done before: he bought the wrong tickets, and we ended up seeing Indiana Jones and Dial of Destiny, BY ACCIDENT!

On another note, Dial of Destiny is now the first movie ever that I actually fell asleep to because it was so uninteresting. Quite an achievement KK, you have ruined both Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Also, if anyone really cares about this whole Barbenheimer phenomenon thing, I went to go see Oppenheimer. I just wanted to see a cool historical biopic about the man behind the atomic bomb, the guilt about possibly dooming the world, and because I just didn't feel like I was the target demo for the Barbie movie. The rest of my family went to see it, and they said it was great, so I guess I will take their word for it. Though it wouldn't be the first time I found their taste questionable...

Also, I've read up on the latest of the MHA manga, Spoilers ahead for anime only's, and... whelp, unlike the fitting and okay end to the Todoroki family arc, it feels, personally, like the Toga and Uraraka story is falling up short. The dialogue feels a little clunky and confusing, any parts remaining that made me sympathize for Toga are just gone now, and not in a good way, and just feels like they went zero to 80 on Toga's story and just feels weird and confusing. And the more I'm thinking about it, the more unsatisfied I am, so much so that I might end up just doing something completely different for Toga in this fic when I get around to her.

On the plus side, Uraraka got a Quirk Awakening that is pretty cool, and that's the only good thing I can say was a good part of the chapter.

But getting back to my own story, last time on My Hero Pokedamia, we had the watery brawl between Serena and Todoroki, with everyone's favorite OC character handing the Icy Hot prick his ass, and ending the fight by quitting, belittling Todoroki's half-ass efforts and leaving the white-and-red-haired teen a humiliating conclusion to their fight. We got more backstory on Izuku and Serena's friendship before U.A. with a trip to the mall, Serena going inside the Victoria's Secret parody, Wallace's Mystery, that no one picked up on, Serena helping defend Izuku from some mean girls, and showing more of the bond and growing that their friendship has gone done for each other. Tsu and Izuku got heated during the cold battle between Todoroki and Serena. Uraraka struggles with her feelings of inadequacy compared to the girls and her chances with being with Izuku, some comforting from her Pokémon, and the gravity girl proving her worth by defeating her opponent, Sero, in the fastest match of the finals, thus far, and actually advancing to the second round.

And now before continuing to the next chapter, I must first say that I do not own My Hero Academia, which is Horikoshi's and adapted by Bones Studios, good luck with animating all the brawls and fights for the last season, and I do not own Pokémon, a property belonging to Gamefreak and Nintendo.

Also, in other news, I wanted to save this for my birthday for you all, but because I will likely be unable to release anything till then, I will be releasing a story on both my FFN and AO3 accounts. The story is a short one-shot that I don't have any plans to expand upon, but if I get enough support, I do have the ideas to turn the one-shot into an actual story in itself. The one-shot story will be called My Villainous Medley, so if you are interested, head on over and check it out. I will say that, as a heads up, it is quite the 'musical' experience.

P.S. I made a typo in Chapter 20 where I had Ibara's partner Pokémon during the 1st event as Roselia, when it was, in fact, her Tangela.

P.P.S. I wanted to get this out sooner, specifically on Izuku's birthday, which I found rather fitting, but also because coincidentally, that same day is my dad's birthday, so I just thought that would be a cool thing to do. So, Happy Late Birthday Deku and Papa!

Now, onto the next chapter and the next fights, BEGIN!

---

The Sports Festival Part 7: Bitterness and Defeat

Third POV

As soon as Uraraka entered the locker room, she collided with multiple cheering bodies jumping at her.

"Ahaha! Guys, come on! Enough, that tickles!" Uraraka laughed as her Pokémon hugged and cuddled with her with happy smiles, or at least what would pass as a smile for Minnie and Doc.

"Kir-Kirlia Kir!" Airalin chirped up, her slightly watery eyes looking up at her, joyfully.

Uraraka, sadly, couldn't tell what exactly her Kirlia said but she was 100% sure that it was a congratulations on her victory. The others made their chirps of affirmation that strengthened her thoughts.

Uraraka's smile whimpered and shook, the gravity girl fighting back the welling of tears in her eyes. "Oh! I love you guys! So much!" She brought her four Pokémon into a big hug, so tight and strong, Uraraka half-worried if she was going to break Minnie's Outer Shell.

"Oh! Uhm...Is this a bad time?" A voice spoke behind her.

Uraraka blinked surprised at the sudden voice, when she realized that she never closed the door to the room before her Pokémon jumped at her. Turning around and looking up, she saw Izuku standing there, rubbing his neck as he smiled awkwardly.

"D-Deku!" Uraraka squeaked out, her face burning from embarrassment at the rather silly position she must be in.

"I-I'll come back later-" Deku stuttered out, his body moving to turn around.

"W-Wait, wait! No! It's ok!" Uraraka got out before Izuku could continue, her Pokémon, thankfully, detangling and moving aside for the two teenagers to talk. Uraraka resolved to use as much extra money as she had to buy them some of the best Poké-Food she could afford. Getting up and quickly fixing herself up, she looked back to the likewise blushing Deku. "We can talk, i-if you want!"

"U-Um, a-are you sure?" Izuku asked, unsure himself. "I don't really want to detract from your time with your Pokémon or anything."

"No, no, no, it's alright. They're cool with it," Uraraka waved off his worries. "Right, guys?" Her Pokémon gave affirmative nods and noises, Airalin doing her best to hide her smile under her hands. "See? But wait, isn't Kaminari up next? Shouldn't you be cheering him on?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure he'll do fine," Izuku waved off her concern, confident in his 'Pika Bro' to succeed.

---

Meanwhile...

"KAMINARI JUST GOT IMMOBILIZED!" Present Mic announced.

Not two seconds had gone by after Mic and Midnight announced the start of the 5th match of the finals when Kaminari, after offering a date to his beautiful opponent, unleashed a massive surge of electricity, intending to paralyze and subdue his foe instantly.

Unfortunately for 1-A's human taser, Ibara Shiozaki countered easily. Turning her back to the rush of electricity coming her way, her long vine-like hair, grew rapidly, detaching from her and implanting itself into the ground, growing more until it formed a barrier of vine hair that shielded Shiozaki from the electricity.

While the now dunce-faced Kaminari was shocked, the vines continued their growing, advancing toward the now defenseless electric boy. Almost instantly, Denki Kaminari found himself hanging in the air, his body constricted in Shiozaki's vine hair.

"Well, folks, it looks like we got a new fastest round! This match-up was over in an instant!" Mic continued announcing, ignoring the disappointed grumbles from Aizawa due to Kaminari's hasty and reckless performance.

"Kaminari is unable to compete!" Midnight declared, seeing how Kaminari was both in his dunce state and Shiozaki's hair was proving a poor insulator for his electricity. "Shiozaki advances to the next round!"

While the crowd cheered for her, Shiozaki looked to the sky, her hands clasped in prayer, while a heavenly light- that seemed to appear out of nowhere -shined down on her. "I am truly thankful that I was able to do the most with my opportunity this day," Ibara muttered in prayer. "Thank you, my Lord, above, for allowing me this chance."

[Present Mic: Ibara Shiozaki! Quirk: Vines! The vines on her head can extend and grow to great lengths, as long as she has plenty of sunlight and water. Plus, they're detachable! Give her a second and she'll wrap you up like a Tangrowth!]

Shiozaki peered over at her immobilized opponent as she commanded her vines to slowly put him down. As she looked at his derpy face, she smiled sweetly and giggled. 'He is rather cute,' Ibara admitted, contemplating whether to humor the boy with his request for a date.

Nezu chuckled. "Ah, a Christian, quite a rare sight here," Nezu mentioned, gazing over at Taishi with a knowing smile.

Taishi chuckled back. "Another name for the same worship," Taishi replied, his hand drifting toward his amulet, fiddling with the golden gated orb and its 18 multi-colored gems.

Outside the stadium, Kamui Woods stood guard and looked cautiously around for any signs of trouble. The Wood Hero then heard his current partner, Mount Lady call out to him. "Hey, Kamui, I think I just found the perfect sidekick for you!"

Kamui glanced back to the monitor Mount Lady was looking at, seeing Shiozaki praying to the heavens. "Huh, yeah, I guess she would be," Kamui admitted, catching a glimpse of the match beforehand and how comparative her Quirk was to his. Kamui even pondered if she was perhaps a distant cousin of his. "Wish I could have seen more though."

"Yep, she would be great for your brand. You need someone cute," Mount Lady turned back to him, a teasing look on her face complemented with an innocent hand over her smile. "Wouldn't you two look like the cutest Uncle & Niece-like superhero team?"

"Just get back to work," Kamui replied, dryly.

"Yeah! Way to go, Shio!" Setsuna cheered for her classmate. "You totally rocked that guy!"

"Way to represent Class 1-B's strength!" Tetsutetsu joined in.

Cheering alongside Setsuna, Tetsutetsu, and the others were Shiozaki's Pokémon. Her Roserade and Mawile waved their arms in cheers for her while Tangela and Ferroseed did their best hopping in cheer. On the other side of the divider to their right, Kaminari's Pokémon were instead rather embarrassed by their Trainer's quick defeat, exemplified by Sparky and Elekid face-palming and Toxel and Blitzle sighing and lowering their heads.

"Well, that was a little embarrassing," Tsu said, bluntly.

"Yeah, but you got to admit, she's good," Kyoka scratched her head.

"Guess he was right," They heard and looked to their left to see Nieto Monoma sticking his up from over the divider between their separate stands for their classes. Monoma's face was, to their opinion, the perfect example of mocking and arrogance. "That match was over instantly! Guess his real Quirk must be the ability to predict the future! Hey, wasn't Class 1-A supposed to be so much better than us?! HAHAHA!"

Meanwhile, still watching the Festival, Nighteye sneezed and thought of someone that he might consider for an internship.

But back to the hero students, Monoma's laughing, as well as his consciousness, was cut short with a quick chop to the back of the neck. As Monoma's face fell from their sight, 1-A was greeted with the pleasant, yet apologetic smile of Itsuka Kendo. "Sorry about that," She apologized.

'I hate that guy,' Most of the class thought as one.

---

Meanwhile, back with Izuku and Ochaco...

"O-Okay, um, I-I wanted to congratulate you on your win earlier," Izuku said, the two deciding to talk out in the hall, alone. "It was really smart and cool."

"Hehe, t-thanks, Deku, that means a lot," Ochaco's perpetual pink cheeks grew redder. "But wouldn't it have been easier to congratulate me when I got back?"

Izuku's nervous look intensified, rubbing his neck while he looked away in shame. "Y-Yeah, but...t-there is something else that I wanted to talk to you about," Izuku stuttered out, a faint blush on his cheeks. "It's really important."

Ochaco blinked in surprise, her cheeks brightening further. 'W-Wait Wait! Hold on! I-Is he going to ask me out on a date or something!' Uraraka thought in a panic, though a part of her almost threatened to squeal. "Yeah, what is it?" Uraraka asked him.

Izuku seemed to squirm in place, almost unsure of how to proceed. Before Uraraka could say anything, Izuku's arms clasped tightly to his sides, bending down to a bow so fast, Uraraka momentarily worried that he might have snapped his snipe. "I'M SO SORRY, URA-OCHACO!"

"..." Uraraka stood there, repeatedly blinking her eyes at the apologizing verdant boy. When the reality of what happened was processed in her brain, Uraraka yelped and squirmed. "Um uh, what?! What is this for?! What are you apologizing for, Deku?" Uraraka waved her arms frantically.

"It's well...before Serena and Todoroki's fight, I didn't notice that you had left so I couldn't have wished you luck for your match," Izuku began as he rose from his bow, yet his gaze was still lowered.

"Oh! That? You don't have to apologize for that, Deku," Uraraka replied, guilt starting to eat at her for her untimely exit. "You were writing notes and I didn't say anything. I should have-"

"No, no, it's not just that," Izuku shook his head, scratching at his head. "If you didn't want to say anything when you left, you perfectly could have. But, during Iida's match, I saw that you looked down or something, and it started when I suggested using for you to use one of Hatsume's 'babies' for your hero suit."

Uraraka grew noticeably stiff at the mention of the pink-haired girl. Jealousy welled up in her again, and the demeaning thoughts about herself compared to the other girls came back to sour her mood. "Oh..."

"I'm sorry if suggesting that made you feel angry or anything," Izuku continued his apology, flinching as he noticed her shift in demeanor. "I didn't mean to say anything bad about you, I just thought that it would have been something that could help you out in the future."

Uraraka's stiff shoulders relaxed a bit, the thin line of her mouth slowly creeping into a soft smile. "I know," Uraraka said. "It's just who you are, Deku. Always thinking about others and how to help them."

Izuku blushed. "I guess, but I should have thought about you more," Izuku said, lifting his gaze to Uraraka's eyes. He felt nervous seeing her eyes widen in shock, but he pushed through to say what she needed to hear. "During the 2nd event, you turned down everyone's offers to join their team for me, and you helped so much on the ship, but I didn't give you the credit you deserved. Hatsume helped out her 'babies' and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were a great offensive and defensive help, but you, Ochaco, you were the biggest help to me."

Ochaco's eyes widened further, shining as they started to grow wet. Her heart started beating a mile an hour.

"Before you came, I was worried that I was going to have to do the event solo, I felt that despite everything up to that point, I was still looked down at and targeted. I felt alone, again," Izuku's eyes drifted down as those sad memories and feelings came up again. "And then you came up and told me that you chose to team up with me regardless of the disadvantages or better offers. You by my side, meant everything to me." Izuku looked back up at his friend. "You gave me the strength and confidence that I needed throughout the round. Your Pokémon and your Quirks helped so much with my plan. You helped give me hope again when I thought I lost it."

Uraraka sniffled, taking everything she had to not break down and hug the boy silly. "You were my most valued teammate, one of my best friends, and I can't thank you enough for all you did for me, Ochaco Uraraka," Izuku's soft smile fell to a sad frown. "And I-I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to properly say that to you or made you think that you were unappreciated or-"

Izuku's words died in his mouth as Uraraka's body collided with his own. The hug that Ochaco gave him, the crushing embrace behind it, reminded him of Serena's and Momo's hugs. "Thank you," Ochaco's words were choked under her emotions, her heart felt like it was soaring with joy and pained with sadness at the same time. "Thank you for that, De-Izuku. I-I'm sorry that I made you feel like this."

Izuku's shock fell, and he smiled softly. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the jerk that should be apologizing," Izuku lightly chuckled, hugging Ochaco back.

Ochaco sniffled and chuckled back. "I guess we both can't help ourselves from feeling sorry," Ochaco half-joked, the two of them laughing as they hugged each other harder.

Unbeknownst to them, Ochaco's Pokémon heard every word behind the door to her waiting room and were all comically crying. Airalin looked close to a breakdown as she spied her Trainer's emotions through the door, seeing how brightly they glowed, like a star.

Eventually, the two Hero students broke their hug and smiled at each other. "Thank you, Deku," Ochaco thanked him again. "I guess I didn't know I needed that."

Izuku smiled back. "I'm glad that I could fix a mistake I made," Izuku replied.

"Speaking of that, about Hatsume," Ochaco's fingers squirmed against each other. "I'm not mad that you two are becoming friends or anything. So, if you want to be friends with her, you can do that, you have every right to. Just don't forget about me or the others, okay?" Uraraka had meant to say to not have her fall for him, she already had enough competition for his heart as is, but she couldn't get it out of her.

Izuku nodded, continuing to smile. "Like I could ever," He flashed a brilliant smile that nearly blinded Uraraka.

Ochaco blushed bright red, but smiled back, lovingly.

"A-Anyways, we should head back soon," Izuku said. "We could probably catch the last of Kaminari's match and wish Yaomomo luck."

Uraraka waved Izuku's offer. "Thanks, but you go on ahead, Deku," Ochaco replied. "I got something to take care of. But wish Yaomomo luck for me, ok?"

"Ok," Izuku nodded, turning around to make his way back to the stands.

"Deku," Uraraka called out suddenly.

"Yeah, Ocha-" Izuku was cut off again by the feeling of warm lips pressing on his cheek.

Ochaco removed her lips from Izuku's cheek. "You always make me feel valued, Deku-kun," Ochaco whispered into Deku's ear.

Just as quickly, Uraraka retreated into her waiting room and slammed the door shut. Izuku stood there frozen until a comical burst of steam shot out his face and the blushing teen stumbled and muttered incoherently back to the stands.

Ochaco slumped down the door of her waiting room, her face completely red and panting rapidly, trying to slow down her heart. 'OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! I can't believe I did that! I-' Uraraka's thoughts ended their coherency as she squealed.

Then she remembered where she was, or, more importantly, who was there. Uraraka slowly peered over to her Pokémon, all of whom were doing their best to not burst into laughter and failing at it.

"S-Shut up!" Uraraka pouted and hugged her face behind her knees.

"Kir-Kirlia," Airalin said, patting her shoulder. Uraraka interpreted it as the Emotion Pokémon congratulating her softly.

Her phone started ringing as Uraraka calmed down, her perpetual blush lowering back to its regular pink. "H-Hello?" Uraraka quickly answered the call.

"OCHACO! MY BABY GIRL!" Uraraka had to move the phone away from her ears from the loud voice that blasted out. "I'M SO SO PROUD OF YOU! WWWAAAAA!"

"Your father has been crying ever since your victory in the match," Uraraka's mother took over the call while her father continued bawling. "We are so proud of you, Ochaco. Congratulations."

"Thank you, Mommy, Daddy," Uraraka sniffled, her joyful tears returning once more. "Thank you so much for your support."

"WWAAAAA! MY BABY GIRL IS SO STRONG AND AWESOME! SHE'S GOING TO BE THE BEST HERO OF THEM ALL!" Uraraka's father once more started to bawl.

"Daddy, please," Uraraka tried her best to calm down her father through her laughter and happy tears.

---

"Hey, I'm back! What did I miss?" Izuku announced his arrival back to the stands, sliding out the doors as he continued to fight down the blush on his cheeks.

"Izu!" Was all the warning Izuku had before getting tackled into another hug by Serena.

"Serena!" Izuku hugged back. "Are you alright? That match with Todoroki was really intense."

"Yeah, I'm fine, no need to worry, Izu," Serena drew back to smile cheekily at him.

"Good, but still are you okay?" Izuku asked more seriously. "I think I know why you threw the match but still."

Serena sighed and nodded, finishing the hug as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Yeah, I mean, it would have been nice to continue onwards and show more of myself for the Festival, but I just couldn't do that when my opponent is such a jerk that wouldn't even go all out," Serena explained herself. "Plus, there's something about him that I think only you can solve, Izu, and I'm sure you will make it all the way to face him for me."

"I will," Izuku nodded back, a determined look on him before softening to a smile. "Regardless though, you fought really well. Congrats, Serena."

Serena smiled brightly, her cheeks blushed pink as she pumped a fist into the air. "Thanks, Izu. I sure did clobber that jerk, alright," Serena replied. "Had to get some payback for Yaomomo, you know?"

"Oh, yeah, did I miss her match?" Izuku asked, slightly worried.

"No, you arrived just in time," Serena grabbed his hand and led him to two empty seats beside Iida and where his Pokémon waited, all the while oblivious to Izuku's bright blush.

"Hey, boss, sure took you a while," Pikachu greeted his Trainer.

"Master Izuku, did you finish what you needed to do with Miss Uraraka?" Froakie greeted and asked.

"Yeah, I sure did, buddy," Izuku sat down and patted the two's heads, and then Eevee's and Combusken's, the former of whom jumped up to his lap.

"That's good to hear," Combusken smiled. "Ochaco is a sweet girl. I'm sure she must be feeling overjoyed at her victory."

"She is," Izuku nodded, fighting back another blush at the memory of what she did outside the locker room.

"Oh? Is that a blush on your face, Izuku?" Eevee grinned, cheekily. "Did anything happen between you two?"

Izuku's blush only worsened. 'No, nothing happened!' Izuku replied, switching to a mental conversation, eyes peeking over at Serena as if she still heard him.

"You do remember that we can feel what you feel, right, Izuku?" Eevee added a raised eyebrow to his teasing look. "Including whatever you felt that made you hotter than a sweaty Magmar."

Izuku's blush grew at the laughter from his Pokémon, shaking his head. Choosing to move away from the losing argument, Izuku turned to Iida. "Hey, Iida, so what did I miss? Kaminari already went right?" Izuku asked.

"Indeed, he did, Midoriya," Iida nodded. "Unfortunately, he was defeated rather quickly by Ibara Shiozaki from Class 1-B. The fight didn't even last 5 seconds."

"Really?" Izuku blinked, surprised at such a sudden defeat of one of his friends.

"Yeah, you should have seen it, Izi," Hagakure jumped in from the seat behind his. "Her vine-like hair just grew so suddenly and shielded her from Kaminari's electricity and then whoom! Kaminari is wrapped up like a present!"

"Vine-like hair, growing, interesting," Izuku pulled out a notebook and pen and immediately started writing down the information he was given. "With a Quirk like that Kaminari really didn't stand much of a chance. I've seen Kaminari in action and he's really tough, but Shiozaki placed 5th in the Entrance Exam and finished 4th in the 1st event, so she must be quite strong and quick. Plants and vines aren't good conductors for electricity, that's probably a reason why Electric Type Pokémon aren't effective against Grass Types, so Ibara's vines wouldn't be that much different. I'm sure that Kaminari decided to go all out with a massive blast of electricity and was left vulnerable when she shielded herself. I guess he could have done better if he instead charged at her, but with a Quirk and reaction time like hers, Kaminari would have little room for error..."

As Izuku continued his nearly incoherent word vomit stream, the students around him just sweatdropped and looked disturbed by the actions of their Class President, all while wondering where he pulled that notebook from. Only Serena and his Pokémon weren't as affected by it, and even Froakie had to get used to it a bit. And Bakugou growled and grumbled at the annoying habit of his former punching bag, but now couldn't do anything to physically shut the nerd up.

"Um, Midori, sweetie, not that we don't all love your mutter storm, but the match is starting," Mina interrupted Izuku, smiling sweetly, if not slightly intimidated by his intellect.

"Alright, Sports Fans, it's time to move on to the 6th match," Present Mic announced. "Offense and defense in one emo-package, the dark samurai of Class 1-A and his darker shadow. From the Hero Course, it's Fumikage Tokoyami!" Mic announced the first fighter, the avian-headed teen standing with his arms cross on one side of the field, his eyes slightly narrowed only by the light of lit flames beside him.

"And his opponent, the great creator, another student admitted because of Recommendations, and she's proven why throughout this festival. Also from the 1-A Hero Course, it's Momo Yaoyorozu!" Mic announced the second fighter, the Creation girl stood on the other end of the field, one arm crossed over her waist as she stared at her opponent, clutching her other arm as it trembled nervously.

"Let's go, let's go, Yaomomo! Show Tokoyami who's the star of the show!" Hagkure began cheering, waving her pom-poms around. Following the invisible girl's lead was Pikachu with his Pika Libre mask, as he referred to it to Izuku, and Piplup, now garbed in a cheerleading outfit of her own.

"I think that cheer needs some work," Sato said.

"So, how do you think this match might go, Midoriya?" Ojiro asked, nudging Midoriya lightly, smiling friendly.

Even with the admittedly recent surge of friends that he has made in the past year, Midoriya couldn't help but smile back, overjoyed at people not only being friendly with him but willingly asking for his opinion.

"Well, to be honest, this match could be a toss-up to either of them," Midoriya replied, working on his notes while he watched the two fighters. "But I believe that the key to this battle is timing."

"Hmm? How so?" Ojiro asked, intrigued.

Down on the field, the two students stared each other down, waiting for the signal to start the match. Whilst Tokoyami was as stoic and unmoving as a statue, his opponent's eyes were a glimpse into her turbulent mind.

'Present Mic's description of Tokoyami's Quirk was accurate,' Yaoyorozu analyzed her opponent, memories of his Quirk's powers and skills evidence of her inner calculations. 'With Dark Shadow, he is skilled at both attacking from a distance and impressive defense. His call of the Quirk is also near instantaneously, so a preemptive strike is a highly likely possibility. A simple shield is what I need to create immediately; otherwise, I'll get caught off-guard and it will all be over in a second.' The negative outcome made Yaoyorozu's nervous grip on her arm tighter.

"Momo will have to act fast to defend and evade Tokoyami's attacks and get in his blind spot quickly," Izuku, as if on the same track of mind as Momo, muttered as he explained to Ojiro. "She will also have to think up an effective weapon just as quickly. From what I saw in the 2nd event, Dark Shadow is weak to brightness like light and fire. The more either of them is exposed, the weaker Dark Shadow will be till it's either incapacitated or destroyed. With her Quirk, she can probably make a flash-bang grenade to blind and weaken Dark Shadow or a magnesium flare even."

As Izuku looked toward Momo, he frowned, concerned. 'However, something's not right with Momo.' He thought.

'Then after I get an opportunity to counterattack, I can safely advance with a weapon to bat Dark Shadow away, maybe a flare, or a flashlight? No, no, it has to be something more debilitating like a flash-bang grenade or-'

"LET THE 6TH MATCH BEGIN!" Present Mic's declaration startled Yaoyorozu out of her thoughts, almost entirely unprepared for when the avian-headed teen sent out the equally avian-looking creature of darkness.

---

A few minutes later...

Momo Yaoyorozu sat on the floor of a dimly lit hallway, her knees brought in close, her arms wrapped tightly around them while she slumped her head against her arms, hiding her deeply ashamed face from the world.

"I...I lost," Momo repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. "I lost the fight."

In truth, Yaoyorozu didn't feel like it was a fight, it was a massacre. She had successfully created a shield to block Dark Shadows's preemptive attacks, just as she foresaw. What she didn't foresee was how quickly the Quirk continued in its strikes. The sentient Quirk hammered into her shields so fast and so strong that Yaoyorozu could only block and create more shields when Dark Shadow knocked the first couple out of her hands. She was so vastly overwhelmed she didn't get a chance to evade or advance, let alone create a weapon to fight back until it was too late.

Looking back, it was extra humiliating creating that staff to fight back, never noticing that her foot was already pushed out of bounds.

'20 seconds. The match took less than 20 goddamn seconds,' Momo's body shook further, hugging her knees tighter. 'And I didn't even get to do anything!'

The humiliation, the embarrassment, it all was so painful, the world felt numb to her. She was numb to the sounds and bright lights of her Pokeballs opening on their own, the cries, chirps, and nudges from Togetic, Wartortle, Kadabra, or Beldum. All she could feel was just the sheer utter humiliation she felt.

'Even Kaminari and Sero did something in their matches, they at least fought back. I couldn't even do that,' Momo didn't want to think badly about her classmates or come off as superior compared to them, but on the other hand, she was supposed to be her Class's Deputy Rep, a student admitted through recommendations, she was supposed to set an example, to exceed, and she lost the quickest and easiest of them all. Even compared to that Arceus-damned General Course student who brainwashed Serena and Ojiro to do his dirty work.

And what was worse was that she couldn't even blame Tokoyami for her defeat.

For all her turmoil, the raven-haired girl could still acknowledge that Tokoyami went easy on her, deliberately having Dark Shadow strike at her shields instead of striking from behind, enlarging and striking her with the full weight of the creature she saw in the 2nd round, or a myriad of other ways that could have ended the battle quicker. He purposefully had her pushed out of bounds as quickly and painlessly as possible, like he didn't want to risk truly hurting her like she was made of glass.

Admittedly, it was an effective and considerate strategy, at least far more respectful than Todoroki's deliberate self-handicapping. No, the true person at fault for her loss was herself. She distracted herself by spending too much time deliberating on her plan of attack, she let herself get caught off-guard, she spent too much time trying to concentrate on what to create, she was too unsure and indecisive, and it cost her everything.

'I tried so hard, I sacrificed so much to get this far,' Yaoyorozu thought back to the very reason she wanted to win this tournament: to escape her arranged betrothal to Todoroki. She even sacrificed her friendship with Izuku Midoriya, the boy she couldn't deny she was head-over-heels in love with, and her other friends, to advance, to get a shot at winning the tournament, to free herself, and afterward, even if she had to venture into Hell itself and back, to make it up to Izuku and win him back. But now...

"But after all that, after everything I did, it was for nothing!" The Yaoyorozu heiress could not hold back the tears, sobbing into her knees, unaware of the same saddened and tearful expressions of her Pokémon. She felt like her world was collapsing, the strong, intelligent, unwavering image of herself crumbling to dust while the crushing weight of her future fell upon her: a prized broodmare sold off to a cruel, cold, and hateful person by her own parents.

She felt empty. Destroyed. Hopeless.

That was when she heard his voice. "MOMO!"

Momo's body stopped shaking, slowly raising her head from her knees, turning to that voice. Izuku was there, slightly panting, and looking at her with concerned eyes. "I-Izuku?" Momo's shaky voice stuttered out.

The teen became a green blur as he nearly collided with the young heiress, sliding to his knees as his hands firmly, yet gently clasped on her shoulders. "Momo! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" Izuku fired off question after question, his concerned eyes looking her over for wounds.

Momo couldn't help but flinch, wishing she at least had been wounded to say she had a difficult match. Quickly noticing that her flinch was picked up on by Izuku, she said, "I'm fine, Izuku, but what are you doing here?"

"I managed to come back in time to see your match, I'm sorry I couldn't have wished you luck beforehand," Izuku quickly threw out an unnecessary apology. "But when I saw how hurt you looked, I-I just needed to see you."

"B-But I'm not-" Momo's words of reassurance died in her throat at the look Midoriya gave her. It wasn't pushy or condescending, it held the trademarked Midoriya warmth and care those eyes always held, but the knowingness mixed into the look said all it needed to cut off her assurances.

Momo's tears began to flow down her eyes again. "I'm sorry," Momo whimpered and sniffed through her tears. "I'm so sorry, Izuku. I tried so hard to win back in the 2nd event, even betraying your trust and friendship to team up with him. I did so much to you, and it was all for nothing!"

"Momo," Izuku whispered, his eyes saddened as he gazed at his friend. The strong and confident friend of his looked so broken before him, she looked no different than how he did after that fateful doctor's visit, and all the years afterward. It broke Izuku's heart.

"I was supposed to be one of the best of the best, admitted through Recommendations, the Deputy Rep, I wanted to show to the world, to my parents, that I wasn't this fragile girl they needed to get married off to be protected," Momo's body shook like she was freezing under Todoroki's Quirk. "But in that field, I did nothing. I just stood there, I let myself get distracted. All that work I did, all the lessons, the training, it amounted to nothing!"

"To-thico," Togetic muttered, the Happiness Pokémon sadly looking at her Trainer, helpless to do anything to cheer her up despite its title.

"I-I shouldn't even be here, I don't deserve to! I was just lucky to be born with wealthy parents that got me into this school!" Momo cried. "Despite my Quirk, I'm just as weak, useless, and pathetic as my parents think I am!"

Suddenly, she felt a pair of rough, yet warm hands on her cheeks, clasping onto them firmly. Her head was lifted forcibly to meet Izuku's emerald ones. Wet with tears, they blazed with a fierce aura that burned like an inferno. She was lost in them, just as much as her heart broke to see her crush in tears.

"Never say that. Never say that about yourself Ever Again!" Izuku roared to her face. "The Momo Yaoyorozu I know is anything but weak or useless or pathetic. You are one of the strongest, smartest, most amazing people I have ever met!"

"Izuku," Momo breathed out, stunned by his sudden and powerful declaration.

"Tell me, Momo, in the girl's side of the Recommendations Entrance Exam, who placed first?" Izuku asked.

Momo blinked at the sudden question. "But-"

"Tell me, Momo, please?" Izuku asked again, almost begging.

"M-Me?" Momo said, uncertainly.

"Exactly!" Izuku exclaimed, a warmth brought to her by his soft smile. "It doesn't matter how you got into the Exam, what matters is that regardless of everything, you got that spot all on your own. You won against Serena and Tokage. Do you think someone that can surpass Serena, someone that can go toe to toe against Todoroki, is weak? Do you think the person that placed first in Mr. Aizawa's Assessment Test is weak?"

Momo remembered clearly the level of strength and power that Serena displayed, pushing Todoroki to the edge and nearly defeating if she hadn't quit. And despite that, she had passed her, won against her in the Exam. How compared to Todoroki and Izuku, she got 1st in Aizawa's sudden Assessment testing.

"B-But-"

"So, what if you got in on recommendations, you would have still gotten in the normal way, too. I am sure of it," Izuku said, confidently. "You fought the robots from the Entrance Exam and beat them. You blew up the Zero Pointers so easily whereas I broke my arm the first time."

The first event came back to her mind, and she found that everything Izuku was accurate, too. A swell of inner pride beat again in her heart.

"Tell me, who was the one that accurately summarized everyone's efforts in our Battle Training Exercise? The one that is Number 1 on our class's grades?" Izuku asked further, smiling warmly at her.

"M-Me," Momo said more assuredly, yet her voice still cracked from emotion.

"And would someone that smart, someone who can memorize the molecular structure of an object enough to create a hydraulic press or a cannon ever be truly useless?" Izuku questioned her.

Momo choked, the words refusing to come out, so she did the best she could and shook her head, tearing up more.

"And tell me, Momo Yaoyorozu, who was the one who survived against a group of villains, who got back her team's flag, who had my back through everything?" Izuku asked her, wiping away the tears on her cheeks with a tender swipe.

Momo choked out a sob. "Me," She answered.

"Pathetic is the last word that I could ever describe about you," Izuku declared. "Yes, you may have lost to Tokoyami this time, it was a mistake to think so much, but no one gets through life without making a couple of mistakes. What matters is what you learn from them and grow from the experience. So, you lost, but don't let that loss make you forget about all you had done."

"You helped lead Jiro and Kaminari against the villains, you were the reason why Jiro's and Kaminari's parents were able to see their children again. You were the one that got your team's flag back from us, not Todoroki, You. And you, Momo Yaoyorozu, never betrayed me willingly, never stood truly against me, you were there by my side when we elected Iida to Chief Class Officer, the one who helped me be confident enough to stay on as Class President, the one who was my friend when I had very little."

Momo's heart, that felt listless before, now felt like it was drumming rapidly, pride, joy, and love all pounding together in a beautiful symphony.

"I know how it feels Momo, how it feels to lose so effortlessly, how to feel down like the world is against you," Izuku started, the light in his eyes dimming at the memories. "That was every day of my life before U.A., before I met you or Serena. Every day where I felt so wrong, so broken, so numb to everything. There were days that I felt so low that...that I just wanted everything to end."

Momo's breath hitched in her throat. She didn't need to be intelligent to know the implications of Izuku's words. The very thought of it made her want to bawl her eyes out and latch onto him with everything she had. But all she could do was listen to him.

"But in those times, I always had people that were there to help me up, to help me see that I wasn't the weakling and waste of space that everyone thought of, including myself," Izuku turned, Momo following his sight to see Izuku's Pokémon standing off to the side. Eevee and Pikachu stood there, smiling tearfully at their lifelong friend. "They helped me when I was at my lowest, they helped remind me that I wasn't a mistake, they helped show myself what kind of person I was and wanted to be." Serena came to mind in his head, as well. Turning back to Momo, he smiled at her. "And you are not alone either, Momo."

Izuku jerked his head to the side, Momo turning to see her Pokémon smiling at her. "You have your Pokémon, you have your friends, Serena, Ochaco, Iida, Kaminari, Hagakure, Asui, all of us, are here for you. And you have me," Izuku's smile was so brilliant, she felt like she was looking at an angel. "And I swear to Arceus or whatever goddamn other-worldly power out there that I will always be there for you. I will be there for you until the day I die if I have to. To help you see just how amazing you are."

Momo's lips whimpered, as the memory of herself and Izuku when they first met played in her head. How he had saved her that day, how the two played and bonded in her yard with Torchic and Squirtle, at the time, and all the times they hugged.

"So, tell me, Momo, who are you?" Izuku asked one final time.

"I-I'm strong," Momo sniffled.

"And?" Izuku continued.

"I'm smart," Momo began to smile.

"And?" Izuku smiled back.

"And I'm freaking amazing," Momo declared with a giggle.

The two broke into a fit of giggles and laughter. After they calmed down enough, Momo drew herself into another hug with Izuku. "Thank you, 'Zuku," Momo whispered into his ear, affectionately.

Izuku, for once, didn't blush violently. The verdant-haired boy smiled at the new nickname and hugged her back. "Anytime, Yaomomo," Izuku replied.

The two turned to their Pokémon mid-hug and gestured for them to join in. And join in the eight Pokémon did till all of them were in one large cuddle pile of hugs and love.

While in her hug, Momo gazed at Izuku, an ocean of love inside her eyes, all for this verdant-haired angel Arceus bestowed onto her. She wanted to say it, she wanted him to know how she feels about him, who she wants above all else to choose. But for now, she will choose to say in her head.

'I love you, Izuku Midoriya.'

---

"The 7th match of the Sports Festival is underway and, I will say, these two students make for quite a Solid matchup!" Present Mic punned as the fight continued.

"Why are you the way that you are?" Aizawa bemoaned.

On the field, Midnight watched with full attention, as well as some amusement, at the brawl happening in this particular matchup. Ejiro Kirishima of Class 1-A and his Hardening Quirk against Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu of Class 1-B and his Steel Quirk. The two students had spent the last few minutes striking each other with their respective Transformation Quirks, either blocking their hardened attacks or striking at them only for the other to quickly counter back. This effectively became more a match of endurance than any of the others, aside from perhaps Serena vs Todoroki.

Kirishima landed a right hook across Tetsutetsu's steel-covered face, sparks flying off from the blow. Tetsutetsu was pushed back a bit, his heavy foot paving through the stadium's cement and sliding to a halt. "Is that all you got?!" Tetsutetsu taunted before charging back at Kirishima. "I thought you were supposed to be your class's manliest dude?!"

Tetsutetsu landed his own left hook across Kirishima's hardened face, similar results happening that Kirishima noticed and growled for it. "Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you!" Kirishima rushed back at Tetsutetsu, landing a solid jab in the center of Tetsutetsu's face. "Isn't Steel supposed to be super-effective against Rock?!"

Up in the student stands, Izuku stepped out of the door, blinking at the feeling of Deja vu.

"Hey, Izi," Hagakure this time came up to greet Izuku. "How's Yaomomo?"

Izuku sighed. "She's doing okay, for now," Izuku replied honestly. "She took the loss pretty hard, but I managed to cheer up a bit. She just needs some time alone right now."

"Okay, phew I was kind of worried after you sprinted after her like a Noibat out of Hell," Hagakure sighed, relieved.

"Midoriya," Izuku heard and turned to see Tokoyami walking up to him. A brief moment of tenseness came up before it faded when Tokoyami bowed towards him. "I didn't mean any offense or ill intention towards Yaoyorozu or intended for her to feel terrible over our match. Please, accept my apology and pass the same sentiments to Yaoyorozu the next you meet."

Izuku relaxed, smiling softly at his classmate and teammate from the 2nd event. "Apology accepted, Tokoyami," Izuku replied. "Though, I believe Momo doesn't blame you for anything. She was more upset with herself than anything."

"Still, I wish for her to believe me when I fought as effectively and quickly as I did because I respected Yaoyorozu's strength," Tokoyami continued, rising from his bow. "I knew if I gave her a second too long to react, I would have surely been bested instead."

"I'm sure she would like to hear that," Izuku nodded, impressed with his classmate's tact and respectfulness. His gaze shifted toward a certain white-and-red-haired teen casually observing and overhearing with a sideways glare. Izuku glared back. 'At least Tokoyami didn't hurt her intentionally.'

'Easy, Izuku,' Eevee mentally calmed him down. 'We don't want you to start something that could get you disqualified from the Festival.'

Izuku breathed and sighed deeply, turning to his partner and nodding. 'You're right, Eevee,' Izuku thought back. 'Unfortunately, with Momo eliminated, now the only way to break off her engagement with Todoroki is if one of us wins the Festival for her.'

'Of the 9 students that know of Lady Yaoyorozu's plight, including she and yourself Master Izuku, only 4 remain that can complete Yaoyorozu's requirements to break off her engagement,' Froakie informed.

'Yeah, Kaminari and Yaomomo got beaten while Serena forfeited, and Asui and Hagakure never made it to the finals, so they couldn't help even if they tried,' Pikachu stated, scratching his head as he remembered Yaoyorozu's and Kaminari's swift defeats and Serena walking away from a bested Todoroki.

'So, of those remaining that have advanced to the next round, include yourself, Izuku, Iida, and Uraraka,' Combusken summarized. 'And Miss Mina has yet to have her matchup with Bakugou.'

Izuku smiled proudly at his Pokémon at how they analyzed the situation. 'Like Trainer like Pokémon, I suppose,' He thought to himself. However, the mention of Mina's coming fight with Bakugou made him frown.

"Come on, I saved you a seat," Hagakure led Izuku to a seat beside her, much to the raised, jealous eyebrows from Serena and a recently returned Ochaco.

"Oh, hey, Ochaco, did you finish what you needed to do?" Izuku asked, referring to what Uraraka from returning with him after their talk.

"Hey, Deku," Ochaco greeted him, her pink cheeks brightening up. "Yeah, I promised to call my parents as soon as my match finished. Had to spend some time calming my dad down before he flooded the apartment with his tears."

Izuku felt a sudden comradery with Mr. Uraraka at that last bit. "That's good to hear," Izuku replied, taking the time to at the stands for Class 1-A, noticing that Bakugou and Mina were absent. "I guess Mina and Ka-Bakugou already left to prepare."

Izuku frowned, feeling rather guilty that he couldn't have wished his friends luck in their fights. Iida's was unavoidable given he was up after his own fight, and he managed to catch Serena in time to wish her luck, but with Ochaco, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, and now Mina, he failed to do so while he went out to talk with Ochaco and Momo respectively.

And with Mina, knowing that she was to face his childhood bully, he felt extra guilty, not even giving her a helpful heads up or notes on how Bakugou fought. A part of Izuku grimaced, feeling that was cheating, but this was Bakugou he was talking about, someone who had screwed him over for 11 years of his life and got away scot-free, why not give one of his newest friends a tip to win?

"Hey, I see that look there. Don't you go blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault, Izu," Serena warned. "Mina knows that you were helping out Yaomomo from her funk, so she doesn't mind."

"Ditto," Kaminari spoke up, also having freshly returned from the Recovery Girl. "When I heard that you went to talk with Uraraka about something important, I understood completely. 'Pika Bros stick together', and I knew both of mine were wishing me luck, even if my match didn't go so well."

"Plus, we wished Mina luck and said that you were wishing her luck too, so you're covered, Zu," Asui ribbited.

Izuku smiled at his friends, doing his best to stop himself from gripping his heart. 'Even if it's been a while, I don't I will ever get used to how nice it feels to have such amazing friends,' Izuku thought.

"Hey, we're right here, boss!" Pikachu scoffed, shaking his head. "What are we, chopped liver?"

"Oh, hush you," Combusken smacked the Electric Mouse across the head. "He knows we got his back, but a boy still needs some friends of his own kind for social reasons."

"Yes, Mom," Pikachu snarked back, dodging another smack from the Young Fowl Pokémon.

"OOF! EVEN I FELT THAT LAST PUNCH AND I'M JUST WATCHING IT! Is it over?! The hardheads are both down!" Mic's voice snapped the group back to the field to see an unexpected sight.

Both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, after delivering to each other a solid hook across the face, were both on the ground, immobile. As Midnight came over for a closer inspection, she saw that both of the Hero student hardheads had blank white eyes and some cuts that were bleeding but, thankfully, noticed the two were still breathing.

With no other choice, Midnight raised her hand and announced, "Both combatants are knocked out. It's a Draw!" The crowd cheered for the unexpected and exciting ending to the fight. "When both contestants recover, the winner will be decided by a simple contest."

"Wowie, that was unexpected!" Nejire exclaimed, feeling pumped up from the recent back-and-forth brawl between the two. "They were both so determined and strong."

"Both of them had the same kind of hardening Quirk. I think they wanted to try and prove which of them was the strongest and wouldn't give the other an inch," Mirio analyzed, smiling impressed before flexing. "They truly showed some POWER!"

"Hey, Tamaki, think that Fat Gum will send them an internship offer?" Nejire turned to her shyer friend. "You could put in a good word for them."

"Maybe, but me and Fat have a lot of things scheduled during that time. Investigations, raids, we'll be swamped with work that we won't have time to train a newcomer," Tamaki Amajiki explained, though he agreed with his enthusiastic classmate that both students' Quirks and personalities would match well with his Hero mentor. "Perhaps we'll have room for more another time."

"RAH! TETSUTETSU! THAT WAS THE STUFF! YOU SHOWED YOUR WORTH AND FOUGHT TO A STANDSTILL FROM ONE OF CLASS 1-A!" Vlad King cried out, pumping his fists into the air while spewing forth a river of tears that made All Might momentarily think the blood-Quirk Hero was perhaps related to the Midoriyas.

All Might did also commend the two students for their passion and was impressed by how evenly matched the two's Quirks were against each other. Toshinori was even more impressed with Kirishima with how strong his Hardening Quirk had to be to match the steel composition of Tetsutetsu's Quirk. The Symbol of Peace almost thought that the matchup would have been more favored to the redundantly named student, like the Rock and Steel Type Matchup with Pokémon.

But as the two were carted away by the robot assistants made by Power Loader, All Might frowned at the next announced matchup; more accurately, he frowned at the equally frowning image of Katsuki Bakugou.

---

Walking down the hallway into the field, Mina's normally jovial and happy persona was completely gone, an uncharacteristic serious frown on her face instead. She tried to smile for her friend as the robots carrying Kirishima's and Tetsutetsu's bodies passed by, not that the unconscious faux redhead would notice anyways, but she could only maintain a small smirk before it fell.

Time almost seemed to crawl to a snail's pace as she walked toward the light at the end of the tunnel, toward where she would face her opponent, the boy that has been on her mind this whole Festival, and not in a good way: Katsuki Bakugou.

The name was almost enough to make Mina growl. Over the past two weeks before the Festival, Kirishima had made it a mission of his for her to get to know the most explosive member of their class, to see 'just how Manly he was', trying to form a friend group of their own, much like the unofficially named friend group that Midori had made out of nowhere.

Both she and Bakugou were apprehensive about this, the one thing they had in common, but for entirely different reasons. For her, Mina felt that she was already part of a friend group, Midori's group, she had formed an already strong friendship and comradery with Hagakure, her fellow playful teaser in crime, and Kaminari, another fellow goofball. Iida and Momo were stricter and socially lacking, but both of them had a charm to that lacking that made them all the easier to have fun with, made her feel like the smart one instead when she taught them the ways of actually being a teenager, and she was pleasant enough friends with Serena, Uraraka, and Asui.

And Midori...even she couldn't tell why she felt more drawn to him than any other guy from her previous school. Maybe it was because of that cute mixture of shyness and confidence that both endeared and attracted her? Was it his mutterings and startling analytical intelligence that startled her as much as she found it adorable? His overwhelming compassion and care he has for his Pokémon and his friends? Or maybe it was simply because he was just so much fun to tease with how stuttery he gets or how much he blushes?

Mina shook her head, a fond smile on her face. What had become of her? Mina Ashido, her previous school's resident flirt, and yet unobtainable prize, now falling head over heels for a guy most would call plain and uninteresting. Yet she didn't care and wanted to get closer to him, which was why joining another friend group felt so weird.

'But hey, the others have friends outside of our group. Momo has Jiro, I think Kaminari is striking up a friendship with Mineta, so why the hell not have some more friends?' Mina repeated the thoughts she had that day. 'The more the merrier right?'

However, that offer of friendship and a friend group with Bakugou became all the bitterer of a mistake the more she got to know him. Kirishima called Bakugou Manly, confident, and strong, but Ashido only found him rude, arrogant, and mean. Whenever anyone questioned him, argued with him, or even looked at him the wrong way, Bakugou would just snap like that Gyarados of his, like they committed some cardinal sin going against him. He was dismissive and- 'What was that word that Iida and Momo used? Oh yeah, impudent, that was the one!' -impudent to everyone around him, he called everyone an extra like he was some main protagonist of an anime or something. Arceus, the jerk couldn't even bother to remember hers or Sero's name, even after the 2nd event that they worked hard to win!

And that confidence that Kirishima said Bakugou had was so clearly arrogance that she worried that maybe Kirishima had knocked a screw loose in his brain with all those times he tossed himself off a building to strengthen his Quirk. Mina could admit that Bakugou was very powerful, she wasn't blind to that, but whenever he took a single loss, even a small inconvenience, he would rage and whine like some spoiled child that always got what he wanted. Anytime Kirishima praised him, Bakugou would look annoyed, but Mina could see that he secretly enjoying the attention and near reverence that Kirishima had over him. At least when she praised herself, she did it with humble joking air to it, like she was making fun of herself to make everyone have fun more than anything.

Again, Bakugou seemed just as reluctant to form a friend group as her, but when Kirishima mentioned the group of friends that Midori had formed as an example, the ash-blonde teen seemed to change his tone. It only seemed like he wanted this friend group to happen just so that he can rival or surpass Midori's friend group, a 'Bakusquad' to the 'Dekusquad'.

And there was that word: Deku. Bakugou always tossed that word out like it was the vilest insult he could call a person, other than 'extra', and he only said it to Midori. When she asked why Uraraka called him Deku as well, the pink-cheeked girl had informed her, and the others that weren't present at the time, what Izuku told them about the name's origin and what little he would divulge of his past with Bakugou. And she hated it.

She understood why Uraraka used the name and was even glad that her classmate could turn such a horrid insult into a cute nickname between the two, but now whenever Bakugou called Izuku that name, she knew what it meant, and she grew to hate the explosive teen all the more. It seemed anything that had to do with Midori seemed to enrage Bakugou a great deal and any loss he had been given by Midori or his friends, from their Battle Training Exercise, his defeat in the Pokémon battle against Serena, the 1st and 2nd events, he would go ballistic over it. And Midori seemed to be 100% not responsible for it or intentional in it.

From what she saw, Midori tried to keep his distance from Bakugou and tried to mitigate or passively shut down any confrontation with the blonde. Midori flinched every time Bakugou's name was mentioned or every time they interact or even see each other. Clearly, Midori wasn't the bad guy in this bitter rivalry between the two, if you could even call it a rivalry. Mina was more opposed to calling it a victim trying to escape his past from his bully.

And that word she hated even more than Deku: Bully. She had faced a dozen or so bullies in the schools she attended before U.A. From those jerks that picked on smaller and physically weaker kids, mean girls that tried to belittle and mock other girls for not being as pretty, to even those assholes that made fun of her because of the unique features she got from her Quirk.

Quirk Discrimination ranged from more than just the power difference between Quirks or even those who didn't even have Quirks, but also to those whose Quirks made them look entirely different from regular humans. Racism and prejudice against different races or ethnicities were almost seen as a thing of the past today in his post-Quirk Awakening world, though there were still instances of it here or there in smaller occurrences; however, Mutant Quirk Discrimination became the new poster child of prejudice. Discrimination against Quirks that mutate and alter a person's appearance to something else, such as an object or like a Pokémon, there were even groups that were entirely prejudiced against Mutant-based Quirks, like the Creature Rejection Clan. And Ashido, for how her Quirk made her look, was no stranger to such discrimination in her younger years.

In fact, it was because of such prejudice that she hated and fought against bullying with a passion. She didn't want others to feel like she felt, she wanted people to be more open, accepting, and loving to one another. This desire was also a reason why she was in the Hero business to begin with, seeing Villains and criminals as no different than a bunch of mean bullies. And now, looking at Bakugou with all she knew so far, she couldn't help but see the guy as nothing more than a bully, especially toward Midori.

Asui's words from after the 2nd event came to her again. "It must have been hard having to take orders and put up with that bully."

Coming out of the tunnel and into the field, she spotted the blonde himself making his way to the field too, with that perpetual angry glare he always held. She met his back with her own fierce glare. First that Shinsou and what he did to Serena and Ojiro, Todoroki and that bullshit engagement with Momo, and now this.

'Asui said that I should ask Midori about what she meant by calling him a bully, but if I'm right about this, then I don't want to upset him by bringing up bad memories,' Mina thought with conviction. 'However, I have no qualms ripping the truth out from you.' She glared at Katsuki Bakugou, a burning fury welling up inside her. 'You will tell me the truth of all of this, even if I have to melt it out of you.'

---

"And now, we have come to the 8th and final of the first round of matches!" Mic announced while the two students entered the ring. "In one corner, he was kind of a hotshot in middle school, and just look at his determined face!" The teen in question had a glaring, almost constipated, angry look. "From the 1-A Hero Course, it's Katsuki Bakugou!"

"Let off that angry look, you brat! Everyone's gonna think that you look like you need to take a shit!" Mitsuki yelled at her son, annoyed that he couldn't make any other face like that for her to take a picture of.

"I suppose that's one way to root for her son," Inko sweatdropped. Masaru nodded, chuckling nervously.

Inko's face became more serious. Katsuki Bakugou was more than just the son of her best friend, for a long time she considered him a nephew, a friend of her son that could have grown as close to him as their mothers. That all changed when Inko found out it was Bakugou who was the main aggressor and bully in Izuku's life, the one responsible for every scar, burn, and injury, either physical or mental, that had been dealt to her baby boy. A part of her wanted to hate him for everything he did to her son, but she knew she couldn't.

For all his faults, he was a child, and her motherly instincts often convinced her that he could change and grow up to be a better person. Additionally, it was hard to truly hate Bakugou for all the reasons she loved her best friend, for Katsuki Bakugou was every bit like his mother, her friend, other than the gender and some standard looks of his father. To Inko, she felt almost guilty to try and hate Bakugou feeling it would be no different than hating her best friend who stood up and protected her for most of their life.

All she could do was hope that Bakugou would lose before the finals, the finals where his opponent would be her son. But then again, it wasn't like the universe ever gave herself or her son a break.

Taishi and Nezu likewise inspected the Bakugou with blank faces that held back anxiousness.

The former of them watched the explosive teen closely for the past two weeks before the Festival and during. The Aura that radiated off of her people was more than a means to recognize their own kind, but also a means to figure out a person's personality, their very being, without fail. From what Taishi gathered, Katsuki Bakugou did not hold any potential to use Aura like his fellow Chosen, but the hateful red Aura that radiated like a vengeful cloud seemed to personify anger, and now that anger would face one of the most jovial of souls he ever met.

Nezu has likewise investigated Bakugou from afar but on a more standard kind of investigation. Reviewing the notes over the boy's reports from his previous schools, including Aldera, the boy they described as upstanding, exceptional, and respectful was not at all the one that entered Nezu's school. Instead of upstanding, Aizawa, All Might, and Taishi claimed him violent and quick to temper. While the boy was truly intelligent enough to be 4th in his class's academics and his knowledge and handling of his Quirk were impressive, his character and personality were little to be desired. And respectful was the last thing that any of his colleagues or his fellow students would describe him.

This was all a stark contrast to the files on Izuku Midoriya, riddled with black marks and notes and warnings involving disrespectful and violent behavior. Or at least that is what was officially posted by Aldera's staff, but what the U.A. staff found so far was a kind, heroic, studious, and respectful individual, and that was before All Might weighed in on the character that he witnessed firsthand in his 10 months training Midoriya to inherit his Quirk.

But what made this all the more suspicious was that many of the black marks toward Izuku were done as a supposed consequence of his behavior toward Katsuki Bakugou. Nezu almost scoffed at the idiocy of these supposed 'teachers'. If they had spread Izuku's reported malfeasance toward multiple students it would be harder to disagree, but when 90% of these marks were caused by an interaction with another student with a clear untruthful record, the only malfeasance being shown was the dishonesty of public records regarding an innocent victim and his bully.

Nezu almost wished that they decided to have the finals be a Pokémon battle tournament like the 2nd years, instead of a physical competition where they let what must be the most violent soul in their school free reign to hurt his students as much as he wants, barring purposeful fatal injury.

"And in the other corner, she's energetic, she's wild, and she has horns on her head that I can't figure out what they are for, also in the 1-A Hero Course, it's Mina Ashido!" Present Mic introduced Bakugou fighter, the pink girl glaring daggers at her opponent.

"Mina! Mina! She's our gal! Beat Bakugou's ass! He's not our pal!" Hagakure cheered and waved her poms again, her actions mimicked by Lucha Pikachu and Cheerleader Piplup.

"I think Hagakure is getting too into the whole cheerleading thing," Kyoka sweatdropped at the invisible girl's antics.

"I can see why," Asui whispered to her. "She feels a bit disappointed with her time in the Festival that she wants to help out her friends however she can."

"Huh," Kyoka blinked in surprise, looking back at the transparent member of Class 1-A with newfound respect. "Very admirable of her." Kyoka turned back to Asui. "What about you? Neither of us didn't make it to the finals either."

Asui shrugged in response. "I did what I could, and I ended up short this time. Nothing I can do about that, even if it was a bit frustrating," Asui admitted. "Plus, I'm not good at cheerleading."

Kyoka nodded. "Understandable."

"What about you, Jiro?" Asui asked back. "You feeling down?

For her part, Jiro knew the question would come up to her as well, but it didn't mean she had thought up a response. "I-I guess, a little bit. But as you said, nothing we can do about it," Kyoka replied, as honestly as she could. "But hey, at least there is next time, right?"

Asui smiled back. "Agreed."

As the two smiled at each other, and Hagakure continued cheering, Izuku stared at the field with a completely serious face. If any of his friends turned to their friend, they would think he had turned to stone with how his eyes didn't seem to blink. Eevee managed to do so and noticed something that Izuku only did when he was gravely serious and equally nervous: he set his notebook down, not bothering to take down notes for this fight.

Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the field, a hand cupped to his chin, paying close attention to how Katsuki Bakugou moved and fought.

"Now, let's end this first round of matches with a bang, kiddies!" Mic continued announcing, the two fighters loosening up their forms, arms at their sides and their stances more crouched and ready. "Let the eighth match of the Finals Begin!"

As Midnight lowered her whip, Bakugou immediately went into action. Explosions blasted out his hands as they faced behind him, rocketing the blonde forward at breakneck speeds. "Wowie! Looks like Bakugou's fulfilling my wishes already! He's rocketing towards Ashido like the tail of a Mega Sceptile!"

Bakugou reached where Mina ran up to her, quickly rearing his open palm as it sparked and glowed. "DIE!" Bakugou roared out, thrusting it forward and releasing the explosion forwards, blanketing the area in front of him with smoke.

"DIRECT HIT!" Mic yelled out. "Is it all over already?! That was an explosion right in front of Ashido's face!"

"Mina," Hagakure murmured worryingly, all her cheer suddenly gone.

Izuku narrowed his eyes, the grip of his notebook tightening as he felt the phantom heat and pain he felt in the past more than a thousand times.

Bakugou grinned, confident the large explosion he let out was more than enough to knock Weird Eyes off the field, with enough injury that the judges wouldn't make a fuss over yet teach that annoying pink girl her place after how insufferable she was in the 2nd Event.

Suddenly, though, the peripheral of his eyes spotted someone sliding out of the smoke from his right. He moved his head to see that the pinkette herself was sliding along the ground, her whitish-gooey acid sprouting out of her shoes and the black-sclera-eyed girl was smirking at him.

"Ashido evaded!" Mic announced.

Mina slid down toward Bakugou's exposed right side. With a yell, Mina struck out of her elbow slamming it into his gut. Bakugou gaped at the sudden pain before growling and lashing out with another explosion with his left in a swift arc, only for the pinkette to again evade, backward somersaulting over the explosion and landing in another slightly crouched stance.

"You know for someone so battle-focused you sure are predictable, aren't you, Baka-gou?!" Mina taunted, flashing her pearl-white teeth in a teasing smile. "You do always go for your right first."

The taunt and its meaning sparked a new wave of fury inside Bakugou, growling and roaring out in rage as he rocketed back towards Ashido, boosting himself up higher, before descending downward to deliver a left hook explosion down at Ashido. Ashido again evaded, ducking into a sprint out of the explosion, sliding along another slide of acid. Watching him from her peripheral, while sliding, she twisted herself right, throwing a splash of acid out in time for Katsuki to be forced to evade back to avoid the corrosive liquid.

Sliding to a stop, Ashido vaulted herself in the air, twisting and angling her body in twirls before sticking her foot out, down toward Bakugou, the soles of her feet sprouting more acid. The explosive teen tested his own flexibility, arcing himself backward to evade the attack. As Ashido sailed over him, the pinkette fired a decent amount of acid, cushioning her landing as she slid to a halt. But not before jumping backward and tossing another volley of acid at her foe. Bakugou couldn't stop moving his body up as he registered the attack, his back fully exposed in time for the acid to land on his back.

Bakugou growled at the stinging heat as the acid ate at his clothes and stung his back. He whirled back towards the horned girl as she readied herself. "Ooh, you feel the burn there, bro? What can't take the heat?" Mina taunted again.

If the twitching veins on Bakugou's forehead weren't enough of a sign of his rising anger, then the comical tick mark over his head sure did. "STAND STILL AND DIE, YOU ANNOYING ASS EXTRA!" Bakugou roared, charging once again at Mina.

"Amazing! Just as we thought she was down in one hit, Class 1-A's pinkette has evaded and slid all over Bakugou, even landing some of that acid on his back!" Mic announced. "Looks like the final round of the first wave of matches is turning into quite the stylish fight!"

"Bakugou at first made the mistake to assume that one blast was all it needed to defeat Ashido, and she took advantage of it to strike at his exposed side. Now, both Ashido and Bakugou are quick to react to each other's movements," Aizawa mentioned, analyzing his students. "Despite their movements, they are keeping track of the other for the slightest slip-up and are pushing or countering each other."

"Yeah! That was awesome, Mina!" Hagakure resumed her cheering at Ashido's efforts.

"She's holding her own well against Bakugou of all people," Sato cupped his chin as he watched Mina and Bakugou continue to evade, chase after, and strike at each other. "I mean, no offense to her or anything, but Bakugou's quite the powerhouse."

"Mr. Aizawa was right about them both," Izuku spoke up, his analytical eyes catching every movement and action of the two. "Ashido knows that in a head-on battle against Ka-Bakugou, she'll get beaten easily, so she's resorting to using her Quirk and her flexibility to dodge Bakugou's attacks. She's using her acid to slide away from Bakugou's explosions. She's even using it as a way to cushion her landings."

"Although, Bakugou seems just as agile and acrobatic as Ashido, and he has the aerial advantage to boot," Serena observed, frowning. "And what's worse is that Bakugou has more range with his explosions than Mina's acids so that leaves her more with little opportunity to counterattack up close without being a little risky."

To prove Serena's fears right, Ashido barely was able to jump out of another explosion from Bakugou, forcing herself to keep sliding away and tossing acid to keep him back for a while.

"Mina also can't hurt Bakugou too much with her acid without risking more permanent damage, while Bakugou can limit his explosions better, enough to still land enough pain and knock her out of the field," Izuku frowned. "Mina either has to trick Bakugou out of bounds or strike at him with more physical attacks until he goes down."

"Unfortunately, both avenues seem ill-favored," Iida gave his two cents. "It's likely with how much Ashido is evading and exerting more effort that she will tire herself out first, and with Bakugou able to fly, winning by out of bounds seems unlikely to work."

"Come on, Mina! Burn that douchebag's face off like he's the Wicked Witch of the West!" Pikachu cheered Mina on.

"Did you not just hear that lethal violence is not permitted?" Froakie gaped at Pikachu, flabbergasted.

"But that asshole deserves it after all the shit he pulled on Boss!" Pikachu replied back. "At least a burn to the face would work!"

Back on the field, Bakugou growled as he missed another explosion on Mina. "Why won't you just stand still?!" He raged as he chased after Mina.

Mina grinned. "Sorry, not my style," She retorted, sliding away from another attack.

Bakugou pressed on, lashing out a backhanded explosion. Ashido proceeded to perform a split, ducking under the explosion. The pink-skinned student placed her hands on the ground, looking like she was break-dancing as she evaded Bakugou's strikes, before landing a solid kick to his other side.

"YOU BITCH!" Bakugou growled, slamming another explosion at the ground in front of him.

Mina was taken aback by the sudden force, getting blown a bit away. She tumbled a bit before recovering, sliding and flipping up to her feet like an expert dancer. Mina hissed as she felt the intense heat of Bakugou's attack linger on her. "Jeez, dude, you kiss your mother with that mother?" Mina mocked. "Not very Manly of you."

Bakugou growled, his anger rising. "I don't even know why Shitty Hair convinced me to let you join our team," Bakugou replied, readying himself for another charge. "You were the most useless extra on our team!"

"Ouch, that really hurts, how will I ever recover without the great Bakugou's praise?" Mina sarcastically mocked. "You can keep the invitation to your little 'Bakusquad' for all I care. I'm plenty good with Midori's group."

Bakugou flashed his teeth in a snarl. "GOOD! THAT'S WHERE YOU BELONG! WITH ALL THE OTHER WORTHLESS EXTRAS LIKE SHITTY DEKU!" Bakugou snapped, the veins of his neck almost bulging.

Mina's teasing smile fell away, giving way to a serious frown from before. "He's not worthless, and he's in no way useless," Mina growled back. "He's ten times the man that you could ever be. Hell, that's actually quite the downgrade, comparing him to a bully like yourself."

The sparks in Bakugou's hands died out, and whatever charge he was about to do ceased, almost stumbling as he stopped himself. Bakugou's angry face was replaced with surprise, his eyes widening with something that Ashido could only interpret as panic and betrayal.

"What?" Bakugou almost whispered out, yet Mina could hear the shock in his tone.

"You bullied him, didn't you?" Mina began the questioning she was dying to do ever since she got on the field, her glare narrowing at him. "The way you treat him and everyone else, that attitude you get whenever you lose, that ego you have, you just scream bully. You two, you and Midori, knew each other before U.A., and you bullied him, didn't you?"

Midnight blinked, surprised at the sudden accusation. She looked between the two with confusion, while Aizawa and Nezu perked up, leaning in with very keen interest.

Bakugou, to Mina's surprise, was actually frozen still. He looked almost like he got frozen by Todoroki's Quirk or something. Mina was almost about to feel guilty, doubt creeping in as she wondered if she maybe jumped the gun after what Asui said.

Her doubts then faded when she noticed Bakugou start to shake, but definitely not out of sadness. As she stared into his eyes, Ashido saw nothing but pure unbridled hatred.

"So, that Shitty Nerd spilled the beans, did he?" Bakugou began, his face growing redder and redder with rage. "After all this time, he couldn't even keep his shitty mouth shut! IS THAT IT?!" Explosions blasted out of Bakugou's hands as he raced like a demon from hell at her. "HE SNITCHED TO YOU AND ALL THOSE EXTRAS TO GAIN SOME SYMPATHY?!"

Anger burned in her, her knuckles cracking at what she heard, as Bakugou all but admitted to the truth. "He didn't tell us anything!" Mina snapped back, charging toward him into a slide while tossing more wads of acid, more corrosive than the previous ones. Bakugou swiped his hands and exploded the acid away. Mina jumped over Bakugou, getting more altitude from the momentum of her slide, tossing more acid down at him. The bully twisted his body in mid-air, keeping himself from the acid-filled ground with one exploding hand while lashing the other to blast the acid away.

Mina twisted her body as well to evade the flames and heat of the explosion, landing into a roll. "Midori didn't tell us anything about what you did to him, we just happened to be smarter than you gave us credit for," Mina continued, hatred spewing out of her once happy tone. "Out of everyone, you hated Midori the most, snapping at him for anything he does, you went practically feral on him during Mr. Aizawa's Quirk Apprehension Test and Battle Exercise. He at least told us what Deku meant and why you called him that, and I don't have to be a genius to figure out you bullied him for being Quirkless."

"THAT IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!" Bakugou snapped again, charging like a feral Pokémon.

Mina jumped at the last second evading most of the explosion, the heat of it singing her a bit, but replied by sticking her foot at him. Bakugou managed to cross his arms and block the foot, but while Mina used his arm to jump off, she let a bit of acid out of her feet as she did, Bakugou howling in rage at the acid that ate at his shirt and skin.

"I made it My business when Midori became my friend!" Mina declared back. "And it sure is my fucking business when I see someone innocent hurting because of a bunch of bullies. Especially some Quirkist piece of shit like you!"

Bakugou wiped away that last of Mina's acid, looking at the rather large, if mild burn on his arm. The memory of inflicting Deku with burns played in his mind and began to growl. "So, what Deku is so spineless he has to have his cheerleaders fight him?!" Bakugou roared out, a wild look in his eyes. "That's all he ever was! A weak, spineless, jittery, delusional worthless Deku who was weaker than a fucking Caterpie that was too stupid to know when to quit! Nothing more than a pebble that no one would care about, not those lackeys, or suck-up teachers, no one! And he and you all should get out of my way like the extras you are!"

While Bakugou charged at her again, Mina was still, her eyes hiding behind the shadows of her hair, her mouth agape in shock at what she heard. But as she processed what she heard; her body became anything but still. Her fists shook with fury, clenching so tight that they were turning light pink, almost drawing blood. Her mouth closed with her teeth mashed together, her snarl only widening as she growled with hatred she never felt before. Then her eyes were seen as she raised her head, the yellow ring of her iris inside the black scerela of her eyes almost glowed with a vengeance.

"Y-You...You sick, twisted, demented BASTARD!" Mina howled lunging toward Bakugou with a speed that surprised even him, yet the explosive bully had enough sense to cross his arms to block a kick that would have hit him in the face. What followed was a flurry of attacks from the pink-haired girl as she wailed punch after kick after hit onto Bakugou, not giving the blonde any chance to counterattack. As she continued throwing her hits, tears started welling up, her cruel imagination taking over, showing her images of Bakugou bullying and picking on Midoriya to the point of torture, for years and years for all she knew, remembering how she helped this psycho reach this far by being on his team against Midori.

All at once, every single bad feeling and insult from Bakugou coalesced into a single burning hot fire in her mind. Mina stomped onto the back of Bakugou's knees, causing the teen to stumble and let down his guard a bit. Taking her chance, she elbowed him on his side again before bringing up her other hand. Palm open, hissing acid gathering on her hand, Mina saw red.

"I HATE YOU!" Mina yelled before smacking Bakugou across the face with her handful of acid.

Bakugou howled in pain, reacting on instinct as he slammed a palm onto Mina's stomach and fired another explosion sending the pink girl flying back. Mina tumbled across the field to a stop, holding her stomach as she coughed from the hit. Gathering her strength back she looked up at Bakugou to see the damage she did.

Bakugou's sleeves were almost completely torn to shreds, the acid she put in her hits burning through them and leaving small burn scars all over his elbows to his wrists. But it was her slap to the face that showed the most damage. Bakugou removed his hand from his left cheek to see a nasty red burn all over his left cheek, the way it traveled along his cheek from her fingers looked almost like a claw mark. For a moment, Mina almost felt sorry for what she did, believing she may have gone too far.

Bakugou, however, when realized the damage she had done to him, looked once more feral. Roaring like a mad, wild Pokémon, the explosive bully from Aldera launched towards Ashido delivering another explosive attack across her body. And another. And another. Another. Over and over, the crowd was subjected to seeing a teenage boy with the savagery of a Gyarados launch explosion after explosion onto the nearly helpless girl. It got to the point that many in the stands were getting uncomfortable, some of them yelling pleas to the boy to just stop, that he was going too far, and to stop the match.

Midnight was almost ready to agree with the crowd, her arm antsy to tear a hole in her suit for her Quirk and stop the match before it went onward, but she kept herself still. As much as Bakugou's attacks and ferocity were hard to watch, they weren't outright deadly enough for her to call the match off, she wondered if the boy still had some sense in him to hold back under all that rage. Still from what she heard from Bakugou's outburst, she almost wanted to disobey orders and put the boy in deep sleep and arrest him outright for the actions he had implied in his rant.

She wasn't the only one to hear Bakugou's outburst and all that it implied. While Mic commented something about Bakugou's excessiveness and the crowd begging him to let off, Aizawa digested what he had heard from his explosive student. The boy had outright admitted to bullying another one of his students, the same Problem Child that Bakugou tried to attack back during his Quirk Apprehension Test, that Bakugou almost attacked lethally in the Battle Training Exercise, the obviousness in hindsight as to why was as humbling to Aizawa as it was humiliating.

So many things started to line up from Bakugou's attitude and sense of entitlement, Aizawa figured that the boy's old school must have let the boy do a lot more than he initially thought. Bakugou's irrational rivalry, if not resentment, towards Midoriya was finally put into context and it wasn't a picture that Aizawa liked the more he imagined it. And, worse of all, he could start to see where Midoriya's negative tendencies, such as his shyness, self-deprecating thoughts, and verdant-haired boy's own well of rage, stemmed from. The boy must have experienced years of this treatment to have such a psychological effect on him to this day.

As Aizawa overheard Mic's agree with the crowd in their distaste of Bakugou's actions, he stiffened. In another life, he might have foolishly interpreted Bakugou's ferocity to be in respect for his opponent and told the crowd off for it, but now, with what he heard from the boy himself and what he can see of the boy's rage, he knew that Katsuki Bakugou held little to no respect for his opponent or any of his classmates. He was just an irrational, violent, entitled bully.

Nezu and Taishi stared down at the fight frowning at what this match had become. Of course, Nezu was not oblivious to the injury that Mina had inflicted on Bakugou, some of those burns were likely permanent, yet from what he had overheard of the boy from Midnight's comms, he could understand and almost sympathize with Ashido's momentary loss of restraint. Bakugou's, however, was hard to even impossible to sympathize with. The boy lashed out and attacked like an angered Primeape he almost thought the boy was half Primeape himself.

Nezu frowned as it seemed to clear that whatever may come of this festival, Bakugou would waste his second strike and he and Bakugou were to have a more serious conversation afterwards.

As for Taishi, while his outward appearance was as neutral as it could be, inside he was immensely disturbed. Seeing Bakugou lash out and attack his classmate, the raging aura that, for a moment, almost shifted to a vile purple, it was like a flash of deja vu. His mind flashed back to that day, Riley's scuffed and surprised face, the cry of a woman, His hateful red eyes.

Taishi shook himself from the foul memory, knowing if he stayed lost in the past again...well, it wouldn't do to break down in front of his old friend.

All Might growled angrily, every fiber of his heroic being calling him to buff up, jump down there, and cease this madness. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Hound Dog, the school's resident counselor, the one responsible. The Dog Hero looked almost as angry as him, if not more so; All Might could even see a sliver of disappointment in his eyes, and All Might remembered that after the Battle Training Exercise that Bakugou was sent to mandatory anger management with Hound Dog. The Symbol of Peace let out an angry sigh but kept himself in his seat until he was told otherwise, and he was really hoping otherwise.

Ryukyu and Miruko watched from above with obvious distaste. Ryukyu frowned at how ruthless the boy was attacking, her well-trained conscious spotting that whatever came between Ashido and Bakugou in this fight had now devolved into an actual fight, not a sporting match. She trusted her intuition, it led her to the right call many times in the past of her Hero career, and right now, it was screaming that this Katsuki Bakugou had taken this fight too far. He was acting no more than a thug.

The Dragoon Hero turned to see what her friend's reaction was. Ryukyu knew that Miruko prized strength and competence above all else and preferred to be as ruthless as possible toward her enemies. Ryukyu felt guilty for believing that her friend would be okay with how this match was going, but her fears were assuaged as she took in Miruko's reaction. Miruko's ears were perked up straight, yet twitched from time to time, her nose wrinkled, a tell Ryukyu had interpreted whenever Miruko was particularly incensed. The Rabbit Hero's foot thumped fast and hard it was starting to form cracks in the floor. Miruko's eyes narrowed in a fierce glare that would paralyze even the strongest of men.

Endeavor narrowed his eyes at the scene, scoffing in distaste. 'I may be the last person to talk about this, but the boy is taking this too far,' Endeavor thought, finding it a wonder how U.A. would allow such a violent soul to enter its halls. The boy's attitude was more of a Villain's than a Hero's.

Nejire whimpered and had to shut her eyes and cover her ears, wanting this travesty of a fight to come to an end already, not able to take any more of the sounds of explosions or the cries of the girl's pain or see that disgustingly hateful aura of the boy. Amajiki, for once, wasn't shivering or quaking in fear of Bakugou's loudness and ferocity but had a stone-cold face full of seriousness. Even Mirio's constant smile fell away completely, bad memories of particularly horrible bullies coming up in his mind that Mirio could easily compare to Bakugou.

The students from the stands were also taken aback by the ferocity of the fight and what it had devolved into. Shinsou and Mineta looked wide-eyed at the monstrous fury of Bakugou, the latter of whom looked pale from fright, and even Shinsou blinked in surprise at the level of cruelty he was witnessing. The 1-B students were likewise in horror of Bakugou's unbridled rage and ferocity, that even Kamakiri looked a bit uncomfortable. Setsuna flinched with every explosion dealt toward Mina. Even Monoma felt uncomfortable despite the fight happening between two of Class 1-A. He and the rest would hardly call the fight and match anymore, but rather a bloodbath.

With Class 1-A, it was worse. The guys were all frowning very heavily over the fight and how it was turning out. Sato looked uncomfortable and almost sick, while Koda whimpered and covered his face with his hands. Ojiro growled in rage while Tokoyami narrowed his eyes, finding Bakugou's actions unlike his own, he wasn't trying to fight this hard because Ashido proved a worthy opponent, he was lashing out a like a feral beast, no objective other than to hurt his foe as badly as he could. Aoyama's constant smile fell to a frown and Sero growled in anger, gripping the armrest of his seat like he was personally trying to crush it. Sero felt a sense of camaraderie urging him to go down and save Mina from Bakugou's attack, but, more so, guilt, for being partially responsible for this fight happening in the first place. If he and his team had just thrown the 2nd event, Bakugou wouldn't have advanced and been allowed to do this to Mina, who also wouldn't have advanced.

Shoji and Iida had to hold back Kaminari and Hagakure from charging the field, Kaminari's body practically sparking with electricity. Asui croaked distastefully at Bakugou and mournfully toward Asui, her instinct shouting at her to jump down there and help her, but reason and logic telling her to keep herself planted in her seat. When she turned to see her classmates' reactions, she saw Jiro looking rather pale and horrified, her jacks twitching almost.

Ochaco covered her mouth in horror at Bakugou's explosive assault on Ashido, almost having to cover her ears to block the sounds of explosions and Mina's cries of pain. Serena was red in the face, rage and hatred in her eyes as she gripped her seat like a vice, her anger going so far as to cause Iida's orange juice to burst out of its can. Todoroki silently watched the fight occur, but even the cold teen narrowed his eyes at the spectacle.

As for Izuku, he was as still as a statue, his lips in a narrow frown, his eyes hidden under the shadow of his hair, his slightly charred notebook all but abandoned.

Meanwhile, in Recovery Girl's room, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu had freshly woken up and were healed up enough to compete further in the Festival. And as they had woken up, they were treated to the sight of Bakugou's battle with Mina on the T.V. Tetsutetsu was roaring about how unmanly Bakugou was being, so much so that Recovery Girl likely whacked the boy in the head to keep quiet.

Kirishima stared in abject horror at the sight, of the man he thought of as Manly and strong and cool unleashing explosion after explosion onto Mina, his best friend, his oldest friend, the very girl that inspired him. Bakugou almost had a feral look in his eyes, whilst Kirishima flinched every shot of Mina crying out in pain.

Finally, back on the field, Bakugou unleashed one final, particularly large explosion, Mina's body flying out of the field and onto the greenery. The second her body landed Midnight took the opportunity to raise her whip and announce, "Mina Ashido is out of bounds! Katsuki Bakugou moves on to the next round!" Midnight felt her mouth sour at delivering that verdict but wasted no time in calling in some robot assistants to take Mina to the infirmary.

The crowd's reaction was a mix of light, half-hearted clapping to a range of boos and sounds of disapproval, many unhappy with the boy's victory through such vicious means. Even the Inko and the Bakugou's were silent about the latter son's victory. Masaru had an almost haunted, deeply ashamed look on his face, while Mitsuki had a hand over her mouth, her eyes almost about to tear up. Inko felt terrible for the two, for having to see their son act like such a monster. And that was what Inko could only see of Bakugou's actions in the fight, like that of a feral beast, and it almost made Inko cry herself for how she now realized what kind of monster they had let torment her son for all these years.

Bakugou panted heavily, tuning out the boos of the crowd as if he would care about their opinions. All that mattered was that he won, completely and utterly defeating his opponent, just like All Might would do.

Looking down at his defeated opponent, Bakugou would realize the extent of the injuries he had dealt to her. Ashido was completely covered in bruises and soot marks, more apparent due to her pink skin. Some parts of her U.A. gym uniform were burned especially around her stomach. The waist of her uniform and shirt was burnt away, leaving her heavily bruised stomach exposed. Ashido panted and groaned, utterly writhing in pain, just as he wanted. To Bakugou, it would show how insignificant she was compared to him, showing her place as nothing more than the extra she was, and especially as payback for what she did to his face.

Bakugou scoffed, uncaring about those robots coming in to carry her off to the infirmary. Instead, he raised his gaze toward the 1-A stands, ignoring the other extras and their looks of anger and disapproval, to find the one person he wanted to see. He wanted to see that Shitty nerd's horrified and terrified face, to smile menacingly at him and all but say to him that this is what he was going to do to him in the finals.

But then, Bakugou paused, his smile ceasing as he actually noticed the nerd's reaction.

Izuku Midoriya stared down at Bakugou with that same look he had back during their Battle Training Exercise, yet now it was steeled, measured, and even more unsettling than before. Deku's emerald eyes almost seemed to glow with barely held fury, the explosive teen swearing that the very same blazing aura from the nerd's fight seemed to have flickered around him. If Bakugou was forced to compare it with anything, he could only say that it looked like the same glare that All Might gave toward that Nomu in the USJ.

Whereas Bakugou wanted to declare his superiority toward him, Deku's glare held a message of his own. One that said, 'You are finished.'

Katsuki Bakugou, for a moment, believed that he may have made a terrible mistake.

---

AAAAAANNNNNDDDDD SCENE! And there goes that last of the first round of matches, and what a bummer this chapter is compared to the others, right?

Honestly, I don't feel 100% confident about this chapter, I felt entirely held back by some writer's block, but I do hope that you guys ultimately like this chapter. I wanted to finish this sooner but again, writer's block held back some of my creative juices, as well as some real-life events. Also, I tried really hard with Momo's talk, as if pressured against the many other stories I've read that I feel handled this better. Some of my inspiration for the Izuku/Momo talk was thanks to fellow fanfic authors Pixel's Fanbook, especially in regard to his Alien Hero Deku 10 fic, My Driver Academia by Supreme King Nero, and most especially, Thank You from Mizu Tori, one of my most favorite of IzuMomo fics that really endeared me to the ship as one of my all-time favorites. So, thanks to all of them for the inspiration.

For the Izuku and Momo talk, I wanted to go for an angle on Izuku helping Momo to realize her strengths and achievements, to have her figure out how amazing she is rather than make it seem like only Izuku can show her worth. I feel having Izuku support Momo in this way and have her discover her strengths and get herself out of her depression speaks to the level of trust between them that Izuku is confident that Momo can figure out this problem on her own, just with a bit of help on his part. I also think this way of doing helps with Momo's later indecisiveness but how it will turn out here is yet to be seen, but our Green Bean has come to her emotional rescue and now Momo has finally found her own nickname for him: 'Zuku. So, add that one to the list.

Also, with the Izuku and Uraraka talk, I almost wanted to space these conversations for later so this whole chapter wouldn't feel a bit redundant but then I realized that isn't in Izuku's nature. He would much rather go and help his friends the very second he can, rather than hold off, and it plays to Izuku's later talk with his friends over his guilt about not wishing them luck ahead of time.

But as for Izuku and Uraraka, I wanted this talk to have a lot more heart and emotion in it, a sign of how comfortable and, paradoxically, complicated Izuku and Uraraka make each other, with the two apologizing back and forth with each other, and Izuku being open about how important Uraraka was to his success in the 2nd event, especially in regard to the feelings of abandonment that he felt during that time. In the 2nd event, Izuku was the brains, Tokoyami the muscle, and Mei the tech support, but Uraraka was the heart and glue of the team, the one that kept Izuku going, a very important aspect of the team and Izuku wanted to make it clear to her how important she was to him. And as an unexpected reward, Izuku got another kiss on the cheek. I actually based this interaction on a scene from one of my favorite romantic comedy anime: Kaguya-sama: Love is War.

And finally, we had Mina vs Bakugou and oh boy I had a hard time writing this. Mostly because of writer's block, but also because a part of me didn't want to do what I needed to do and write the scene out. I had it in my mind, but it was just hard to write if you know what I mean. But ultimately, Mina has discovered the truth of Bakugou's bullying past toward Midori and that slap and burn mark could practically be seen as the nail to the coffin for the 'Bakusquad'. But at least this fight also revealed to the world and the teachers the kind of person Bakugou is, especially to the likes of Nezu and Aizawa, the latter of whom couldn't stand up for Bakugou against the crowd. I always felt like that scene was Horikoshi playing too much of favorites to Bakugou, and kind of unnecessary.

Anyway, let us end this chapter off with a chapter update list:

Momo Yaoyorozu:

-Height: 5'8"

-Age: 15

Birthday: September 23rd

Quirk: Creation

Pokémon:

1. Togetic

-Gender: Female

-Type: Fairy/Flying

-Moves: Metronome, Fairy Wind, Air Cutter, Draining Kiss, Ancient Power

-Ability: Serene Grace

2. Wartortle:

-Gender: Male

-Type: Water

-Moves: Iron Defense, Brick Break, Rapid Spin, Dive, Whirlpool, Waterfall, Water Pulse

-Ability: Rain Dish

3. Kadabra:

-Gender: Male

-Type: Psychic

-Moves: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Psybeam, Psycho Cut, Disable

-Ability: Inner Focus

4. Beldum:

-Gender: Unknown

-Type: Steel/Psychic

-Moves: Tackle, Iron Defense, Headbutt, Iron Head

-Ability: Clear Body

With all this said and done, I hope you guys liked this chapter, despite it not being my best work, and check out my other stories on both FFN and AO3. Comment your thoughts in the reviews below and what other Pokémon will the characters end up getting in the future. And keep each other safe and healthy in these days of blasted heat and poor air quality, and sane in these confusing and crazy days.

I am Zayden StormVoid and I will see you all in the next chapter. In the meantime, I shall now do what the Indiana Jones movies should have done, end it by riding off into the sunset. *Rides on a horse while humming Indiana Jones music. *