Time passes, and the boy is now eleven. His physique is developing well, especially with puberty around the corner. Morning jogs and weight lifting give him a defined build, but this doesn't help him maintain any of his forms, instead giving them a bit more strength. While this is not what he expected, he is more than welcoming of anything that might help him be a better hero.
As he gathers another armful of scrap, he reflects on the day he found this beach, heading back towards his mother with a small smile. Helping others, even if he won't get recognized for it, leaves a warm sensation in his heart.
She has her own workout outfit on, finding that bonding through healthy exercise was something she enjoys doing with her son. This being his project though, she mostly jogs while he works and makes sure he takes breaks. She always makes sure to bring a backpack of food and first aid kit just in case.
He sets the stack down on a wheelbarrow, dusting off his hands and sighing to himself. The child turns to what appears to be a broken fridge, frowning a bit. "Some of this seems too heavy for the waves to bring in..." He walks around to the other side, slowly pushing the appliance closer to their transport and the steps.
"You'd be surprised what water can carry," his mom replies, glancing at the truck nearby, "but I agree, I think some people might've just dumped some things here."
"That's not very nice of them," he says, now simply leaning against the fridge. "...how do I get this up the stairs?" he calls to his mom over his shoulder.
"I would suggest either waiting for puberty to hit, or, if you're impatient, asking for help." A voice speaks up behind him.
"Oh, that makes sense." Izuku turns with a grateful smile. "Th-"
His voice cuts off as he freezes, staring wide-eyed at the sickly-looking figure before them. Arms and legs thin as twigs, eyes sunken into his face and mouth drawn into what appears to be a permanent grimace, spindly body poking out of much too baggy clothes. What would draw most people's attention, the two strands of blonde hair hanging down before his face, were looked over in favor of the IV stand in his grip, as Izuku was too busy worrying for the man's health or lack thereof.
"Ohmygosh," he lets out all at once, abandoning the fridge to approach the man. "Are you alright?"
His mother rises to come see what the fuss is about. She also looks concerned as she sees the man.
He chuckles and waves him off. "It's nothing, young man." He barely gets it out before a bit of blood escapes from the corner of his mouth.
Predictably, Izuku screams out in shock. His next response is to turn into Ralts and gather water in his stubby hands. "Life Dew!"
The stranger startles at not only the transformation, but at the sudden voice in his head and the water that looks to be an attack. He looks to the boy's mother, sunken eyes full of panic.
She looks a little surprised, but not worried, holding up a hand to the man as she tries to get the words out fast enough that he is not in danger.
Before he can even turn incredulous, he gets a small splash, barely enough to wet his face, yet he feels much better than he has in the last few months. He rubs the water off himself, mildly bemused. "Young boy, while I appreciate it, you would do best to warn someone."
"Oh, right. Ralts." He gives a bow right before shifting back, the change in size making him fall forward onto his face. "Sowwy," he says, muffled.
A cold sweat develops on his neck. "He... doesn't really have good control, does he?" He asks, glancing at Inko.
She smiles sheepishly, bowing quickly before pulling her son back onto his feet and dusting him off. "I apologize for that, sir, though I assure you he only had good intentions. As for your question, we're still working on it and figuring out all the specifics of his quirk."
"Ah, I see." He watches the kid eat an energy bar for a second before turning back to the mother. "So his quirk turns him into a Ralts?" He tries to clarify, missing as Izuku heads back to the fridge.
"Oh? You know what that is, then?" she asks, pleasantly surprised.
"Well, yes, I used to play Pokémon when I was a kid." He chuckles softly and rubs the back of his head. He hears a groan of metal, then turns to her son to see a small black and blue canine carrying the fridge up the stairs quickly. He stares blankly for a moment. "...do you have another kid?"
"No, just a talented one." She says proudly. "This is a new look for him."
"Oh." He looks mollified for a bit. "Pretty strong for his age," he hedges, trying to keep the conversation going. His eyes stay trained on the kid until he sets down the appliance, visibly relaxing as Izuku changes back safely.
She nods. "It seems like the strength of his forms reflects a bit from his own. We found this beach when we were exercising and it's been his little project ever since."
"That's admirable," he says, smiling a bit. "Cleaning up the beach brings to mind how heroes used to also do community service, inspiring others to help out by their actions."
Izuku perks up at hearing the word "heroes". "You think I can be one, as well?"
"Of course!" His grimace briefly becomes a smile, the preteen's energy rather infectious. "Be sure to have a spotter next time you try lifting, though."
"Right." He coughs and heads back to the beach to clean some more.
"I didn't think he'd actually be able to move the fridge on his own." His mother admits. "They grow up so fast."
"If I remember correctly," the man muses, "Riolu can crest three mountains and two canyons in one night. It might be an exaggeration in the Pokédex, but there's no doubt that they're strong."
"Impressive," she smiles at the man. "I'm Inko Midoriya, by the way. Would you care to join me at the bench I was watching over him from? You look like you could use a little rest."
He hums thoughtfully and nods, moving to sit down on one edge of the bench. "Toshinori Yagi. Pleasure to meet you." He watches the kid roll a perfectly good tire along the ground before he continues. "So we know he can turn into Riolu and Ralts." He puts a hand on his left side, looking distant. "We also know he can properly use Pokémon moves, though I'd never heard of Life Dew before."
"You haven't?" Izuku asks, passing by with a microwave in his arms.
The man awkwardly coughs, and looks at his clean palm in surprise. "No, I... normally just gave my Pokémon offensive moves. 'A good defense is a strong offense' and all," he tries to quote.
Inko laughs softly. "Ahh, you're one of those. It's fine of course, play how you want. I tended more towards ones I liked and then tried to see what their potential was."
He tilts his head to the side. "Oh? Now you have me interested. What was your main team?"
She looks up as she thinks. "Well, it varied by game... but I definitely kept an eye out for the Ralts line after that generation. I think I once beat the first games with a Butterfree as my main Pokémon."
"I personally like Lucario." He manages a sickly grin. "They only trust trainers with justice in their hearts!" He laughs boisterously before devolving into a coughing fit.
Inko puts a hand on his back in concern, offering him a bottle of water. "Here, maybe this will help?"
He takes it gingerly, nodding his thanks as he sips it. "Sorry, I've got respiratory problems." He glances at the kid a bit away who's practicing with his Ralts form. "I don't think magic water will be enough to help."
"I'm sorry to hear that." She nods. "Are you still under medical watch?" She indicates the IV bag.
"Oh, no, we're trying to... figure out a new diet. It's full of nutrients until we figure out what I can handle." He looks mildly guilty, glancing away with a nervous sweat. "It's... a new development. From an accident."
"Oh dear... that's horrible..." She sniffs, tears in the corners of her eyes.
Yagi just looks at her with surprise, not expecting her to sympathize with his situation so easily.
"Mom can help," Izuku thinks at them, hurrying past with a vacuum in his telekinetic grip. He suddenly changes back and catches it, smiling at her. "She can cook anything and make it taste great!" As he hurries away he calls back, "Does it have to do with your left side?"
Once more Yagi is stunned, this time by how observant the kid is.
Inko clears her throat to shift the subject slightly. "I have gotten pretty good at nutritious meals these last few years."
He quickly shifts his attention to her, nodding once. "That makes sense. If you're willing to help - of your own volition," he gives a pointed stare in Izuku's direction, "then maybe I can offer my help in turn."
"Oh?" She asks, looking between the two. "Do you have some ideas about his quirk?"
"Not exactly," he says, "but I do work with heroes. All Might for ex-"
"No way, really?" The youngster hurries over. "You know him? I'm a huge fan of his! I'd love to see him in person!"
He holds up his hands. "I'd have to ask him, young man. What I was going to offer was a personalized workout plan." He gestures to him. "You're planning on becoming a hero, right?"
"Yes! I'm hoping to get into UA, All Might's high school!"
"Then we should make sure you make an impression." He chuckles. "We just need your mother's permission, first, and to know what meals she's set up for you."
Inko smiles at her son. "As long as you show me so I can approve of it, I don't see why he can't help us with your training." She turns to Yagi. "And in return, I can get you some of those meals you're looking to try."
He smiles at her, nodding once. "I believe that is a fair trade." The skinny man holds his large hand out to her. "Don't worry about a thing. As long as he sticks to my 'Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan'!" He pauses for a moment. "May I ask for more of that water down the line? I'd like to see if it'll help out other heroes I know, too."
"If you think it'll keep." She nods and takes his hand, shaking it.
"Then we have a deal!" He smiles at her, then looks to Izuku, who is eating another energy bar. His eyebrow raises.
The green-haired kid notices, blushing a bit. "Transforming makes me hungry."
"You have been doing it a lot today, so it's perfectly fine." His mom rubs his head.
He smiles and continues eating, watching Yagi rub his chin. "May need to account for transformation hunger," he muses. "Can't let your quirk get weak, after all."
"Oh yes, we've been trying to narrow down what makes it happen but it seems rather spontaneous." She informs him.
"Well, it might be a good idea to do a few tests to see what affects his quirk," Yagi proposes. "As I recall, certain natures had preferred foods. Maybe that's a place to start?"
"Did they?" She thinks. "Oh right, the berries..."
"Berries?" Izuku asks, finishing off his bar. "You mean like blueberries?"
"No, made up ones." She explains. "It was more the flavor that mattered."
"Too true!" Yagi proclaims with a grand gesture of his arms. "Of course, figuring out whether your forms even have natures will be tricky, much less what those natures are." He taps his chin, then stands up. "I'll be back, with several food items. You two keep training and working out!" With a wave he hurries up the stairs, leaving behind mother and son.
She looks to him. "He definitely seems more chipper than when he got here. He seem nice."
Izuku considers this. "Maybe health points are vitality instead of damage?" He muses, covering his mouth as he thinks. "Of course, that might make sense. Pokémon faint instead of dying, so surely it's unlikely for health to actually mean damage unless it's specifically stated somewhere I haven't read yet but if mom doesn't know then maybe Toshinori-san might and he did say that he'd help us however does that include experimenting with moves or maybe I need to try at a hospital or with a tired hero to start because I don't want to raise hopes only to dash them on accident-"
"Okay okay..." She smiles and pats his head. "I'm glad you've put thought into it."
He blushes brightly, even his ears turning red. "I did it again, didn't I?"
"I find it endearing and it shows off your big brain." She laughs.
He smiles up at her, glowing at the praise. Before he can say anything, Yagi is back with arms filled with groceries.
"Alright, so it was hard to find something dry, so I went with grape skins." He holds up a bag of peeled grape skins and another bag of skinless grapes. "It's the favorite of Pokémon whose nature favors special attacks, so it might help with your Ralts form?" He suggests, offering it to Izuku. "Really, it's hard to find something astringent."
She blinks at his rapid return, getting up to help him. "Wow, you prepared so quickly and bought so much..."
"Headed to a superhero market. They supply almost everything one might need for a quirk, and quickly in case of emergency." He shrugs as the kid tries the skins, shuddering at the taste.
"That's so weird," he mutters, "it tastes both bitter and sour..."
"Weirdly enough, that's what dry tastes like," Yagi says, offering Inko the other bag of grapes.
"I always thought it meant the texture." Inko admits.
"That too!" He says, chuckling to himself. "So, young man, are any of your forms calling to you right now?"
Izuku closes his eyes, and then suddenly there's what looks to be a reptilian toddler sitting before them. He blinks and looks around, the lightning bolt protruding from his forehead moving along with him.
"...so that means Ralts doesn't have a special attack preference," he says, nodding his head once.
"Oh! That's a new one." Inko notes, looking to Yagi. "Reminds me of when he was younger."
"He does look to be a baby," he muses, shrugging a bit. "Young Izuku, please bear with us while we see how long you can stay in this form for."
He gives a defeated sigh of "Toxel" before he simply sits down on his lighter purple bottom, eyes narrowing at the spot on his chest that looks like a bib.
"Should we have him do anything? She asks, seeing him bored.
"What is Toxel's moveset?" Yagi asks. "I'm not entirely sure what this baby Pokémon can really do."
"Tox!" He cries out indignantly, crossing his arms petulantly before him.
"I think he's saying he's not a baby." His mother translates.
"I'm not saying you are, young man," the tall man tries to reassure, "that's just the type that Pokémon is."
"And even small ones can be powerful, and that's before they grow up." Inko assures him.
Izuku tilts his head before nodding once.
"In the meantime, we should see what else he might like or dislike," Yagi states, holding up his bags. "How long do his forms normally last?" He asks, pulling out chili peppers.
"Usually it varies but I'd say... long enough for him to accomplish what got him into them."
Izuku waves to get their attention, then raises a certain number of fingers before miming a ceiling.
Yagi raises an eyebrow. "Three minutes max? Well, so far you're beating it. Four and counting."
"Do you think that's because he's not done much?" She asks..
"Possibly?" He shrugs, then watches as Izuku eats a pepper and becomes dizzy, his eyes becoming swirls. "...oh, so he becomes confused if he eats the food his nature dislikes. Just like the game, so this guy is Modest natured."
"I never deep dived too much into that except for ones that determined evolutions... funny how in depth it all is." Inko admits.
Izuku turns back and collapses onto the sand.
The man helps him back into a seated position, brushing off his back. "Just in case, don't eat the food that's disliked before transforming," he advises.
She nods at this. "I'll need to organize my recipes."
"Of course. But first," he pulls out a piece of candy, "we need to test and see what all helps his forms, possibly unlock other ones."
Izuku, being the hero-hopeful he is, immediately agrees and tries the treat.
Inko nods. "Let me grab his notebook..." she digs into her bag.
She pulls out one labeled "Hero Analysis for the Future No. 5". Yagi takes notice and raises an eyebrow, missing the conflicted look on Izuku's face.
"Was this the one with the section on you, Izuku?" She asks her son.
Before he can answer, he suddenly transforms into Ralts, looking up at her with a relieved smile. "Yep. I had to restart it a few times because more stuff kept showing up."
"Why not have a notebook about yourself, or the Pokémon you turn into?" The gangly man suggests, gesturing towards them.
Izuku considers this before shrugging.
"It's an idea." Inko nods. "That way you don't have to start over unless something major happens."
He thinks about it a bit more before nodding.
"By the way, what was wrong? You took a bit to transform, there." Yagi asks, mildly concerned.
Izuku scratches the side of his head, or rather, his helmet hair. "It was weird. It felt like I was being tugged a few different directions? I chose this form out of the three because it was familiar, and I can talk to you."
"I see." He taps his chin, looking at the tiny Pokémon. "Three different ones that like Sweet... so they must all have a boost in Speed." He nods, offering the notebook to the green-haired kid so he can add to his notes. "Another mystery solved."
"So what he eats makes it easier to choose his form?" She clarifies, watching smoke form from the tip of the levitating pen as it writes multiple notes and theories to the pages within.
"It seems that way," he says, then gestures towards the beach. "Young Izuku, see how long you can carry things back up the stairs in this form."
"Yes sir!" He hands the book to his mother and hurries off, stubby legs carrying him quickly.
"You seem to be a natural at this training and testing quirks thing." Inko observes.
He starts a bit, then gives a bit of a laugh. "I did say I worked with heroes before. You could even say it's my job!" He gently pats her shoulder, gingerly taking the hero notes and flipping through them one-handed. "I should be complimenting you, raising such an intelligent son."
She blushes softly, looking out to him. "I've certainly tried to do my best, and I couldn't ask for a better son."
"I'm sure most parents would love a child like yours," he replies, watching Izuku as he carries several pieces of scrap metal without touching them.
She sighs softly as she watches him. "Thank you. He's my world."
As the kid walks back, he looks in their direction. "Mom, do you think we should get his number?"
Yagi blinks before nodding, smacking a fist into his open palm. "Right, so we can better communicate. Good idea, young man!"
"Oh, right, yes!" She nods, her mind having been wandering a bit. "Here..." She writes down their number for him and offers it.
He takes it, entering it into his phone before writing his own down to give to her in return. "I may not always be able to answer, but if you leave a voicemail I should be able to get back with you afterwards," the tall man tells her.
"Of course, we won't bother you if it's not important." She assures him.
Yagi smiles at her. "I would appreciate talking with your family in my free time," he says, nodding once and looking at Izuku once more. "That's ten minutes, now!"
"I think we'd be glad to." she smiles back.
He smiles and turns back to watch the young boy train, looking forward to the future as he touches his side. "I wonder..."
Thank you for the follows and faves. ^^ I know that it might be a bit of a skip, but I was thinking of saving the childhood scenes for flashbacks, like in the original show. Also, while I don't want to reveal everyone immediately, I do have all six of his forms planned out, already.
Trust me, I did an in-depth dive into each evolutionary line. It took me a few weeks. I struggled to find a role for each one, even when some of them had such obvious ones. Also, with the lack of stones, some of his evolution lines are pretty railroaded. Well... one, I guess. Still.
By the way, I will admit that I have issues with some stories that just... get abandoned. Such a thing bothers me. Especially when it's a great story.
Please let me know if I ever accidentally do that. I have some chapters in queue, but I want to make sure they're better before posting, and my friend and I can only go so fast when we're doing turns writing. Updates won't be constant, but we're trying.
That said, please tell us how we can improve and what we might've done right! Have a nice day!