LULLABY ARC PART 3: Lunch
As a Pokemon without a brain or fingers, you'd think Nihilego would be terrible at cooking. And you'd be right.
The stove nearly exploded when the Ultra Beast tried operating it. It was only thanks to Oranguru and Indeedee that nothing bad happened. The two bipedal Pokemon looked at Nihilego with disappointment, making the parasite's tentacles droop in sadness.
"Why were you trying to use the stove?" Oranguru signed, noticing how the UB reacted.
Suddenly, at least from Oranguru's perspective, Nihilego transformed from a cnidarian to a human girl with blonde hair and pale gray eyes. "Dominic's counting on us to look after Eri and Amara while he's gone. I just wanted to feel useful, I guess." the disguised beast explained, a sad look in its eyes. It then turned back into a Pokemon.
Oranguru relayed the message to Indeedee, who seemed to understand where Nihilego was coming from. After all, it too wanted nothing more than to be useful. The Emotion Pokemon walked closer to Nihilego, then took the end of one of its tentacles into its hands. "It appears that Indeedee wishes to help you learn to cook." Oranguru signed to the parasite. In response, Nihilego spun around while making a sound reminiscent of a wind chime.
UA Stadium (Day)
After around an hour of recreational activities, it was time for the tournament to start.
"Hey guys! Are you ready?" Present Mic shouted. Everyone in the crowd responded quite loudly. "A lot's happened, but it's finally come to this! A serious battle! Even if you're not a hero, you'll face lots of situations like that! Knowledge, Emotion, Willpower. That's what makes a hero's heart!"
"(Sigh) Let's-a-go." Dominic said with a smile as he walked onto the field.
"Everyone! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Match Number 1: It's the boy who surprised us all with his extraordinary teammates, Xiao-Long Dominic from the Hero Course! His opponent hasn't done anything to stand out yet, but here's Shinso Hitoshi from General Studies!"
Shinso walked out onto the field, an almost dead expression on his face.
"The rules are simple. Force your opponent out of bounds, or immobilize them. You can also win by making your opponent say 'I give up'." Present Mic explained as both boys stepped onto the battlefield. "Bring on the injuries! Cause we've got Recovery Girl on standby. Put your morals and ethics aside, but of course, anything life-threatening is against the rules!"
"I'll stop things if they get too far." Cementoss said, taking a seat in a chair he conjured.
"Hmm. I give up, huh?" Shinso said, as if trying out the phrase for the first time. "This is a fight to test the strength of your spirit. If you know what you want for your future, then you can't worry about appearances. That monkey was going on about his pride, but don't you think it was dumb to throw away his chance?"
"..." Dominic remained silent as he brought out a Poke Ball. With a devious smile, he threw the device, releasing Hypno. As soon as Shinso laid eyes on the Hypnosis Pokemon, his eyes widened.
He woke up to the sound of footsteps. He got out of bed to check on his sister, only for her to not be in her room. Frightened, he ran to his father's room. On the way there, he passed a window and caught a glimpse of something yellow outside. In its arms was Amara, still asleep.
"What's wrong? Memories resurfacing?" the blonde asked, his voice distorted. "Shadow Ball!" Hypno formed an orb of darkness before lobbing it at the purplette, causing the boy to stagger.
"What did you do to Amara?!" Shinso asked, furious.
He tried to break down the front door, but the locks were too strong. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything. He can't do anything.
"Follow up with Dazzling Gleam!" Dominic commanded. Hypno's body started glowing in rainbow light before needles of light shot at Shinso, temporarily blinding him.
"Why isn't Shinso's Brainwashing working?" Ojiro wondered aloud.
"Because Xiao-Long can't hear him." Jiro said, pointing to her classmate. There was a faint red light surrounding the blonde like a bubble.
"Of course, that's why his voice sounds weird!" Midoriya shouted, prompting everyone except Jiro to look at him strangely. "Sound waves can't travel through superheated air! As long as Xiao-Long keeps that bubble around him, he can't lose!"
"Tell me where Amara is! Right! Now!" Shinso yelled, running directly at Dominic. He never managed to get to that point though, as Hypno used Psychic to keep him in place. Even going as far as to keep his mouth forcefully shut.
He was punished for Amara's disappearance. His wrists hurt. He couldn't fight back. His mouth was taped shut again, rendering his Quirk useless.
Grinning, Dominic let down his bubble and approached his opponent. "You're going to tell me everything I need to know about Amara after you forfeit, got it?" he asked, his eye blazing. He snapped his fingers, and Shinso regained feeling in his jaw. "Now. Is there something you want to say?"
Terrified, Shinso did the only thing he could. "I...I give up." he said, prompting Hypno to stop using Psychic and dropping the purplette. Hypno then strode over to the boy and offered its arm to help Shinso back up.
"Don't worry about Amara, by the way." Dominic said, just loud enough that only he, Hypno, and Shinso could hear. "She's safe."
