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.

24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

YAR, ME HEARTIES! I, Captain Zayden StormVoid, am here to plunder your attention and pillage your brains with another chapter of My Hero Pokedamia!

Last time, we had the battle between Izuku and Shinsou, where our favorite cinnamon roll got himself brainwashed, found out the Shinsou was responsible for Aoyama losing the first round, and got severely pissed at Shinsou's words, before getting woken up by both the Vestiges of One For All and a massive overflow of Aura that got him immune to Shinsou's brainwashing, with the bonus of having his amplified voice project his thoughts to the viewing world. Wonder who will listen to them?

We had Izuku have a talk with All Might about the Vestiges and the skeleton-like man sheds a tear, Izuku talks with Serena which we didn't get to see in completion but led to a severe blush from Izuku and Iida's fight with Hatsume where the Chief Class Officer was made her testing dummy for 10 minutes to the entertainment of the world and the embarrassment of 1-A and Iida himself. Speaking of whom, someone is on the hunt for some Heroes, will we see the aftermath in this chapter? Or will I string this along for the rest of the festival arc? Guess you will have to wait and see.

But what you won't have to wait any longer is Serena vs Todoroki! Happening now!

But before we begin, firstly, I do not own My Hero Academia, belonging to Horikoshi and adapted by Bones Studios; secondly, I do not own Pokémon, either, which is owned by Gamefreak and Nintendo, who I applaud for finally letting Ash's journey end and look forward to seeing how the Scarlet and Violet DLC will go, especially with Terapagos and what is quite possibly his pre-evolution that they just revealed.

Now, with that all said, get ready for the next match! Fight!

---

The Sports Festival Part 6: Raging Waters

Third POV

Two Weeks before the start of the U.A. year...

"Come on, Serena!" Izuku begged. "Can't you tell me?!"

"Nope!" Serena replied with a chipper, mischievous tone, her smiling face holding no worry whatsoever.

The two walked through the busy mall in their lighter clothes with the arrival of spring. Izuku wore an unzipped green hoodie that covered his muscular arms yet didn't obstruct his white T-shirt with a simple green box with the kanji for 'T-shirt' on it. His blue shorts reached down to his knees, at least failing to hide his more muscular legs than since a year ago, and his iconic red sneakers- which somehow haven't been worn out to Serena's amazement -he still wore. His attire was what most people considered plain and uninteresting, but to Serena, it was part of Izuku's charm. And it helped that as his body grew more muscular said T-shirt and hoodie were hugging his figure, to the enjoyment and blush of Serena.

Meanwhile, Serena's outfit was considered the opposite of Izuku's plainness. A black, sleeveless blouse hugged her top half like a glove, and with the way it highlighted her large breasts, Izuku was amazed she didn't suffocate, at least when he wasn't blushing madly at his eyes drifting toward her assets. A black choker wrapped around her slender neck, hidden behind the curtain of Serena's hair, framing her face and flowing down her back to her waist. Today, her hair wasn't in her usual ponytail, instead, she let it relatively free yet wore a hot pink hat that matched the color of her purse, with a black segment around the end of the top of the hat and a pair of white, fashionable sunglasses resting on the hat. She wore a red skirt that reached to the mid-thighs, a small space of her thighs teased out between the skirt, and a pair of black leggings that hugged her slender legs to her black sneakers.

It was times like this when Izuku forgot that Serena may not be as rich as Yaoyorozu, but her family was by no means poor, with her father as a successful detective and her mother a professional Rhyhorn racer. And with her mother originally from France, Serena inherited her mother's knack for fashion. Serena looked like a supermodel to Izuku, and if this were the first time he met her, he more than likely would be a slack-jawed blubbering idiot. Luckily, months of the two hanging out and becoming the best of friends had him built up a resistance to her beauty, not that she still didn't leave a blush 90% of the time on Izuku's face.

"Well, since I am the one holding onto all the bags here, can't you give a hint?" Izuku bargained, lifting his arms to emphasize the numerous shopping bags full of school supplies for both of them. He would have simply peeked in to satisfy his curiosity, but his mother raised no snooper. Plus, Serena had the foresight to tape her bags shut.

Serena gave a fake gasp, her hand raised to her chest. "Izuku! And here I thought that you were simply a gentleman! And yet you use such an act of generosity to have me behold to your unreasonable demands?!" Serena topped her performance with the back of her hand over her aghast face. "Oh! How your mother must be ashamed of you!"

Izuku deadpanned at her. "I see your mother must be proud of how much you take after her," Izuku retorted back, having met Serena's mother and found the resemblance between the two at this moment uncanny.

The two finally burst out laughing, unbeknownst to Eevee and Piplup walking behind them and rolling their eyes at the lovey-dovey act between these two. Eevee sometimes found it unbelievable how oblivious his Trainer was to how the two acted pretty much like a couple, yet Izuku couldn't see the feelings Serena had for him, or his own for her. Piplup found it honestly nauseating, doing all it took in her to not blast the back of Midoriya's head with a burst of water.

"Besides, you don't even look inconvenienced," Serena said, looking at how effortlessly Izuku held four heavy bags full of school supplies, journals, and Pokégoods on each arm without issue. "You aren't even breaking a sweat."

"Says you. I have an itch on my nose that I haven't been able to get," Izuku replied, shifting his nose.

Serena rolled her eyes, walking closer to him and scratching his nose lightly. She tapped her finger on the tip of his nose, smiling at his flabbergasted expression. "There. You good now, you big baby?" Serena teased.

"U-Uh, y-yeah," Izuku dumbly nodded, blushing madly at Serena's forward actions.

Serena giggled. "Oh, come on, Izu. We've been friends for months and you still get nervous around me?" Serena raised an amused eyebrow at her best friend/crush.

"Hey, it's not like 11 years of social out-casting can be just undone," Izuku defended himself. Izuku immediately flinched at how defensive he sounded by the slight quiver of Serena's eyes. "Trust me, before you came around, I would be a hot mess. I still can't thank you enough for loosening my shell."

Serena smiled, her cheeks gaining a light blush. "You're welcome, Izu," Serena said. "Maybe in the next few months, we can upgrade to losing that shell of yours completely?"

This time it was Izuku to make the fake gasp. "Madam Serena!" Izuku moved his arm for the shopping bags to cover his body. "And leave me fully exposed! Why how forward you are!"

"Oh, shut up!" Serena giggled lightly pushing him. Or rather attempting to but didn't even get the green-headed teen to budge. "Now, who's getting influenced by my mother?"

"Still you," Izuku quipped. The two fell into another fit of laughter and giggles.

'Show me a couple that doesn't even know they're a couple yet.' Eevee thought dryly, still watching the interaction with a deadpanned look. He was honestly regretting coming to this so-not-a-date, as Izuku insisted, rather than continue Torchic's training with Pikachu.

'Honestly, get a room, you two,' Piplup rolled her eyes, fighting back the bile rising in her throat. Not that she wouldn't find a way to sneak into said room and water blast the verdant boy to Arceus-knows-where the minute things started getting too spicy.

The two stopped their fit, with Izuku sighing. "But come on, Serena, seriously, why can't you just tell me which Hero school you got accepted into?" Izuku asked for the umpteenth time. "Shiketsu? Ketsubutsu? Seiai?"

"Now, where would the surprise be in that?" Was Serena's smirking response, her face taking on the most innocent, yet mischievous it has ever been.

Izuku would have sighed exasperatedly, again, until his mind clicked, and his eyes widened. "Serena, don't tell me that you also got into U-"

"Oooh! Wallace's Mystery!" Serena spied and whirled toward the Pokémon Coordinator store with the photos and images of Italy's Pokémon Champion and the World's Top Coordinator. "I think they just released some new Water-Type Seals! I'll be right back, just stay there, Izu!"

And with that, Serena rushed into the store with as much grace as she could, the Water-Type Pokémon left waddling after her Trainer as she rushed headlong into the store. Izuku and Eevee were left with a comical sweat drop down their heads. "When it comes to Coordinator stuff, she's almost like I am with Heroes, doesn't she?" Izuku asked Eevee.

"Oh, absolutely," Eevee added another notch on the board of why he believed Izuku and Serena were positively perfect for each other.

Izuku decided to take a seat on a bench looking around the mall curiously at all the people milling about. "A lot of people out here today," Izuku muttered.

It was an obvious statement to the two, given how soon most schools will be starting the year in just a couple of weeks. That was why Izuku and Serena came today, to pick up all the school supplies they would need, including picking up the uniforms for Hero schools for those in the area. Izuku remembered coming down here a week ago with his mother to get measurements for his U.A. uniform, and he had just now picked it up. Serena, too, picked up her own school uniform yet was very secretive about which Hero school she got accepted into, so much so that she hid it in one of her bags and made sure to tape it shut.

'Why doesn't she want me to know?' Izuku asked himself again. 'Is it because she doesn't want me to track her down or something? Is she trying to ghost me because she finds me annoying?' Izuku immediately shook those negative thoughts. 'No! That's not it. Serena isn't like that. She could never be like that.'

Izuku often hated how his mind could sometimes flipside and reach the most negative outcomes and possibilities. Another negative consequence that 11 years of bullying and hopeful expectations shattering will do.

'Good. I was afraid I was gonna have to smack you in the head for even thinking that.' Eevee's voice rang in his head, causing the green-haired teen to slightly jump in his seat. 'Jumpy, huh?'

'Heh, yeah. I guess I'm still getting used to this whole understanding you through One For All and stuff,' Izuku thought back, rubbing his neck.

"Well, well, look who we have here, girls?" Izuku froze, the hairs on his neck standing up at the familiar feminine voice. Izuku slowly turned his head toward the voice's direction. His eyes widened at who they were.

Getting out of the store, Serena held a bag with some new Bubble Seals for her Pokeballs and some special hairbands that were very resistant to various harmful elements, like explosions and harsh winds.

'These black and blue ones will be incredibly useful to add to my Hero suit to keep my hair back,' Serena thought, feeling rather giddy at the thought of both her Hero suit and her U.A. uniform. 'I can't believe I actually got in. I thought I had failed when I came in third at the race. Guess my lucky charm still holds strong.'

Opening her purse and digging through it, she pulled out a silver linked-chain necklace, a blue oval-shaped jewel hanging like a teardrop, a red orb surrounded by eight yellow, tinier orbs surrounding it. 'Grandma Haruka's necklace,' Serena remembered the original owner of the necklace, the last gift and memento of her grandmother before her passing. She carried it with her always, whether on her neck, or in a pocket away from strangers, and it always brought good fortune. Yet there was a time when she didn't.

'As Grandma said, it will always lead your heart on the right path.' And to the right path, it always did. She had it in her pocket the day she met Izuku, the first time since her grandmother passed away almost a year ago today, and since meeting the boy she would come to hold feelings for, she would have it with her at all times, almost like she feared the good fortune she felt that led her to Izuku would disappear and the boy with it.

Despite having it on her constantly, seeing her lucky necklace always brought a feeling over Serena. The way the jewel felt like it almost hummed to her, a hum she wore she heard the closer she got to the jewel. And the way the jewel's insides seemed to move. Her father, bless his cynical heart, dismissed it as a trick of the light or the work of reflection of the jewel, but Serena felt it was more than that. Almost like it was...alive.

Shaking her head, Serena put the necklace back on, making sure she still looked presentable for Izuku as she heads out of the store. That was when she heard the laughter and giggling, cruel the minute it reached her ears.

"Really? You, weak useless Deku, out with a girl?" A girl's cruel voice directed her to where she last left Izuku. "Are you sure that Pikachu that follows you around didn't finally fry your brain?"

Her eyes found Izuku sitting on a bench, looking miserable as he was practically surrounded by four girls, a part of his eyes she could see held panic in them. The girls wore clothes that Serena found to be rather tacky, these girls trying to look as important and wealthy as they could compare to the plainness of Izuku's outfit. She even spied Eevee beside Izuku, appearing ready to chase these girls off in defense of his Trainer.

"Yeah, like when he somehow convinced the school that he got accepted into U.A.'s Hero Course," One of the girls laughed mockingly. "He probably tricked them by saying he got into the Hero Course when he's just a Business Course loser."

"It's true, Aki-san!" Izuku spoke up, his face a clear show of trying to act confident in the face of girls Serena realized must have bullied him from Aldera. "I have a Quirk now and I'm in the Hero Course. I even have the uniform and everything."

Serena saw how this Aki girl, the one with the short light brown hair, sneered at him like he was worse than a Trubbish in her eyes. "And who told you to say my name?" Aki's question displayed all the disgust her face showed toward him.

"Maybe he thinks because Bakugou hasn't even touched him all year that he has the right to be confident," Another girl said, with short blue hair that had tiny icicles at the ends of her hair. She said the last word like it had no business being used to describe Izuku.

"Hahaha, spineless Deku, confident? Oh, you are so funny Mifuyu!" A third girl, this one blonde with several sunflowers poking out of her hair. Her laugh seemed to be both cheerful and condescending. "Everyone knows Deku is just a jealous Quirkless wannabe!"

Izuku sighed, sadly. "What happened to you, Himawari-san?" Izuku asked the sunflower girl. "I remember when you used to be as kind as your Quirk. Why did you become this?"

For a moment, it seemed like the girl, Himawari, was taken aback by Izuku's response, her eyes even looking unsure for a moment.

"Eww! Are you trying to flirt with Himawari?" The girl who spoke first, the pink-haired one, looked disgusted.

"No, I'm not, Sakura-chan. I am merely stating the truth about someone I used to know since I was a kid, and how disappointed I am with her life choices," Izuku replied. "You are lucky I am not as disappointed in you, Sakura-chan. I don't have any fond memories of when you were ever pleasant to be around."

Sakura looked enraged, her face turning red, her pink hair beginning to change colors to red, and a spark or two forming in her hands.

Serena knew that was her time to come in before things got ugly, well anymore anyways. She walked over quickly and called out, "Izu!"

The girls jumped at the voice and looked behind themselves to see Serena coming. They were all immediately surprised to see an unknown girl as pretty as her run over to them. Sakura even blushed at the sight of the beautiful girl.

"Um, who are-"

"Izu! There you are!" Serena ran past the blue-haired girl, Mifuyu, not even bothering to let her finish her sentence. Serena lifted Izuku from his seat, wrapping her arms around his own, intentionally pressing her breasts against his arm, shocking the four girls further and making Izuku blush. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!" Serena flashed Izuku a smile and slight nod toward them, the non-verbal, secret message she was sending to him being to 'Play along'.

"No worries, Serena, really it's fine," Izuku played along, smiling at her. "You didn't take long at all. You got everything you needed?"

"Oh, yeah! I got a cute and cool hairband, so I can keep my hair secure for my Hero outfit," Serena replied, smiling brightly, a little satisfyingly vindictive seeing the further shock on the four girl's faces. "By the by, I almost forgot to ask if you got the protective soles for your shoes?"

"Yeah, Mom and Toshinori-sensei help with the design and the right material for my Quirk," Izuku replied, paying the four girls who looked at him like he was crazy no mind. "I really like these shoes and I don't just want to have them suddenly blow apart."

"Well, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Serena giggled. She then looked at the girls as if she finally noticed their presence. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you all there. Who are they, Izu? Friends of yours?"

Izuku turned to look at the four, all of them shocked beyond belief as if the world had turned upside down. This time, it was Izuku's turn to sneer at them. "They're nobody. Let's just go. Shall we?" Izuku offered his arm to Serena.

"We shall," Serena replied, chipper, dismissing the girls like an afterthought.

And with that, Serena and Izuku walked away, never bothering to look back at the four girls. Eevee blew a raspberry at the four before sticking up straight and dignified and walking after his Trainer and Serena. Piplup even stretched her lower eyelid down at the girls in a taunt and waddled after Serena. The four girls stared with various degrees of shock, with Sakura bright red and fuming, angry and jealous at Midoriya, and Himawari looked crestfallen, even remorseful as Izuku walked away and paid her no mind.

As soon as they were far enough away, and was clear they weren't being followed, Izuku sighed, visibly relaxing. "Thank you for that, Serena," Izuku thanked the girl. "That was getting stressful."

"No problem, Izu," Serena smiled kindly back. As she turned away from him, her smile turned to a frown. "I am just glad we got out of there quickly before I did something unpleasant."

Izuku noticed Serena's grip on his arms tightening. "It's okay, Serena," Izuku tried to calm her down.

"No, it's not, Izu," Serena shook her head, her fury rising at those girls' sheer audacity toward him. "I know you told me about how you were treated before we met but seeing it for myself..." Serena's lip quivered. "How did you handle it? How did you go through all of that and worse without just snapping?"

Izuku frowned, looking through the memories of his past, of all the beatings and taunts. "To be honest, I was close at times," Izuku flinched at the day he met All Might, and how he felt that desire to take Bakugou's advice twice in that one day alone. "If it weren't for Eevee, Pikachu, and you too, I believe I could have ended up worse."

Serena held back the tears that began to well up at what Izuku was implying, the mere thought broke her heart for the boy and all he had been through. Serena was highly tempted to just head right on back toward the girls and use her Quirk on them.

Izuku realized it with the look in her eyes and continued. "But truly, I reminded myself of All Might," Izuku recalled all the time he spent watching All Might's debut video. "I told myself that he wouldn't have given in, no matter what happened. He would never give up on saving everyone with a smile on his face, so I did the same, never once giving up on my dream, no matter what anyone said or did. Anything less would have been an insult to his example, and to Eevee and Pikachu, who were always there to support me whenever I stumbled."

Izuku turned his head to give Eevee beside him a smile, and one returned by the Evolution Pokémon.

Serena was again in awe of the inner strength that Izuku had, doubting she could ever match the same restraint and determination as him. "But...doesn't it make you angry?" Serena asked further. "Knowing that all those asshats will never get what they deserve for all they did to you?"

Izuku thought back to his and Bakugou's meeting with the Principal of Aldera, how that bastard just congratulated and smiled at the two of them for getting into U.A. How that poor excuse of a principal only then started to cozy up and praise him when he had a Quirk and was going to U.A. And especially, above all else, that Bakugou would be joining him at U.A. and 11 years of bullying would forever be swept under the rug.

"Of course, it does," Izuku admitted, but his face relaxed to a sadder acceptance. "But to whine and get mad at the world for being cruel and unfair does nothing. Action is the only thing that will make a difference. Meaningful action that I can take when I become a Hero. Even if the road is hard and unfair, I would do things right, not just for me, but for all those who suffered like me."

"And..." Izuku sighed, reluctant to admit what he was about to say but willing anyway. "If I'm being honest, I just feel sad for them. Knowing they will continue with their lives the way they are, and sooner or later they will find themselves biting off more than they can chew and realize the world doesn't revolve around them. Acting on my anger won't help anyone, not me, not them. All I would end up doing would be harming myself."

Izuku turned to Serena and gave her a sad smile. "In the end, no matter how much they try to break me, they just aren't worth it."

---

Present Day...

SSSHHHKKK!

Just as Midnight brought her hand down and Mic declared the start of the fight, the whole stadium was left frozen. Eyes wide, mouths agape, this ranged from the civilians and pros in the stands, the teachers in the upper booths, to even ever-stoic Aizawa, and Mic, the latter stunned enough for his shades to tilt diagonally across his face.

The 1-A students instinctually scooted further back into their seats at the looming shadow in front of them. Opposite Todoroki's side of the field, a sudden glacier appeared, completely swallowing Serena's side, and the water girl with her. The looming structure was tall enough to swallow the entire field, yet the icy spires failed to overtake the upper stands.

"W-WHAT THE ARCEUS?!" Mic found his voice and shouted to the heavens. "A GIANT GLACIER JUST SUDDENLY SPRUNG OUT AND SWALLOWED THE WHOLE FIELD!"

The eyes of the stadium followed the trail of ice from the glacier to its source, landing on the planted right foot of Shoto Todoroki. Patches of ice and frost littered his body, mostly on the right side of his body, yet the patches were small and spaces evenly from each other. A cold gasp of breath escaped Shoto's mouth. "How's that, Dad?" Shoto muttered, affrontingly.

"Holy," Mirio exclaimed, his wide smile looking strained with such surprise on his face. His clothes almost seemed to have slipped out of his body out of instinctual habit.

Whether or not Amajiki was shivering out of fear of the power just displayed or the cold of the glacier, the shy teen was vibrating like a Vibrava's wings.

Nejire was similarly taken aback by such power displayed almost instantaneously, wide eyes blinking in wonder.

Izuku gaped in wide-eyed awe and terror at the sheer power he witnessed right before his eyes.

"H-Holy shit..." Pikachu stuttered out, his yellow fury sticking up as straight at his ears, tilted back like the angle of the iceberg the duo-hair-colored teen created. Eevee was at a loss for words and could only nod in agreement. While inside their Pokeballs, Combusken and Froakie could feel what their Trainer and comrades felt and left even the Fire Type shivering.

Hearing the Pokémon's voice snapped Izuku from his shock to a horrifying realization. "Serena!" Izuku yelled, unable to look where his best friend was with the glacier now smack dab in the middle of where she was.

"Dear Lord..." Momo shivered, petrified in her seat at the power of her 'fiancé's' Quirk. Her ears picked up the low stuttering of ribbits, her eyes whirling to see Tsuyu Asui huddled in her seat, arms around her legs and shivering terribly. 'Of course! Asui's Quirk grants her the biology of an amphibian-species Pokémon, and thus their weakness to artic and winter conditions that would put them in hibernation or even death!'

"Asui!" Momo rushed to the Frog girl's side, wrapping the girl in an embrace to warm her up with her body heat.

"T-T-T-Told y-y-you...c-call m-m-me...T-T-Tsu..." Asui barely managed to croak out.

With Momo's action, it spurned the others of 1-a from their shock, the other girls rushing to their classmate's side, joining in the hug to help her. Momo even opened up her shirt to start forming a thick blanket and heater for the girl. Izuku noticed too, staring back and forth between the glacier where Serena was to the suffering Asui. His hands gripped the slightly frosted rails tightly, his eyes glaring past the glacier to the source of both of the girl's predicaments.

'Todoroki!' Izuku growled in his mind. The desire to rectify his earlier mistake and fully punch the teen in the face clashes against the ones telling him to help Serena or Asui.

"Z-Z-Zu..." Asui ribitted.

His heartstrings tugged and in pain at Asui's desperate call to him, Izuku made his choice. Turning from the field, he rushed to Asui and joined wrapping Asui in his arms, practically planting her on his lap without a second thought, taking her spot on her now cold seat, wrapping his arms and blanket over her while Momo's heater warmed them. Truthfully the combined heat was making the teen already sweat but he couldn't care less.

'As much as I want to, I can't go down there and interfere in the fight,' Izuku reminded himself. 'This is Serena's fight with Todoroki, not mine yet. I have to do what I can for those around me, and I can't leave Asui here to freeze, she needs me. A-And us.' The last part he quickly added to his blush, tightening his hug around the Frog girl.

Asui's shivering lessened, her breath evening. Fighting off against her instincts to hibernate, Asui's sleepy consciousness barely could make out what was going on around her. She had faintly heard Momo calling out to her, and the feeling of her hug- she could tell because of her massive boobs pressing on her - along with the feeling of the other girls hugging her and what felt like a warm blanket covering her.

She had called out to the one thing that she wanted, that green-haired ray of sunshine she came to adore, and suddenly she felt her body pressed and wrapped around both a blanket and a muscled physique. The powerful yet gentle arms around her sides, the chest that felt as sturdy but soft as a mattress her head laid on, the steady, loud heartbeat she could feel and hear. Asui didn't need anything else to know who held her, ribbitting and blushing madly in sheer, animalistic contentment, if not pleasure.

Izuku smiled for a moment down at her, one of his Pokeballs opening up to have Combusken join the hug, the Fire Type adding her high body heat to the equation. Like a mother hen. Izuku knew he made the right choice in choosing to put Asui over interfering with the fight.

'But the thing is,' Izuku looked to the field, where Todoroki stood alone where his other fighter looked completely engulfed in ice. 'Is there even a fight left to be had?'

"Jesus," Miruko muttered, for once taken aback at another's power. 'First that Midoriya dude with that light show and pressure, and now this kid?' Miruko was left both grateful that Ryukyu had her come yet irritated that she, fearless, unflinching, unstoppable Miruko, was left spooked by a couple of high schoolers.

The Rabbit Hero rubbed her shoulders from the chill and didn't protest when Lopunny pressed onto her to warm up. She gazed to her side, seeing Ryukyu immediately placing Salamance into his Pokeball, the Dragoon Hero forgoing shared body heat to keep her weak-to-Ice-Dragon Type Pokémon from the icy elements.

Todoroki stared coldly at the glacier he had sent out. 'So that's it then,' Todoroki concluded, definitively. 'Mariella has proven that left with but a second she can turn the tables and use my Ice as a water source for her Quirk' The two instances of her doing so, the Battle Training Exercise and the 1st Round, were what he thought of. 'So, a quick and powerful wave of ice should do the trick and leave her completely frozen. Hard, impossible even, to control anything without conscious movement.'

Todoroki's raised his eyesight to the top of the stands, finding the fiery visage of his father. His cold gaze narrowed. 'I could have done more, but I used enough so that my ice overshadowed him.'

Sure enough, Endeavor took his eyes off Shoto to inspect the reach of the artificial glacier, the shadow of the structure covering him in shadow that the light of his fire kept a bay. Realizing the intent, the Flame Hero sneered in distaste.

"Todoroki has completely covered his opponent in ice!" Mic continued announcing. "Is that it?! Is the third match of the Sports Festival Finals finished with a single stroke?!"

Iida arrived at the door to the 1-A students' stands, an orange juice can in hand. He had felt the rumbling and rushed over to see what was going on. As stepped out into the stands to find a glacier of ice in front of him, he gaped in shock, the ice reflecting off his glasses.

'You see, old man.' Todoroki continued thinking, staring defiantly at Endeavor's scowling look. 'I don't need your stupid Quirk to surpass you and All Might. I'll win this festival and become the Number 1 Hero without-'

The sounds of rumbling shook Todoroki from his thoughts. Midnight stopped her hand from rising and announcing Todoroki's victory, the two staring at the glacier where the sound was coming from. The middle of the glacier started to crack, drawing the attention of the crowd and the students when the cracks began spreading throughout the icy structure.

Suddenly, a swell of ice and water burst out of the middle of the glacier, the topmost part of the berg collapsing and crashing and sliding off the generated forcefield protecting the crowd and student stands.

Todoroki stared surprised at the flow of water and mist bellowing from the hole. "Jeez, Todoroki!" A familiar female voice called out from the hole. "Forward much?!" Todoroki's eyes narrowed and gritted his teeth.

The mouths of the girls raised into smiles, while the guys divided up their reactions from agape jaws again or wicked grins. Bakugou's own eyes raised a bit and his firm lip fell open to reveal his gritted teeth. All Might and the teachers let out a sigh of relief they didn't know they were holding for fear of Serena's fate.

Izuku smiled wide, eyes shining brilliantly at the figure he spotted rising from the hole.

Floating up from a rise of water, her jacket and face slightly frosted, rose Serena Mariella, smirking challengingly. "You could give a girl a warning next time!"

"Serena Mariella has just blasted through Todoroki's attack almost completely unscathed!" Mic declared toward the roar of the crowd.

Back in her waiting room, her previously worried Pokémon cried out cheers of relief and support for their Trainer.

"Impressive," Ryukyu smirked, intrigued at the display. Miruko cackled madly, pleased the fight wasn't over just then.

"How is this possible?! That glacier had swallowed her completely!" Mic questioned dramatically.

"Mariella's Quirk is known simply as Hydro," Aizawa read the info from Midoriya's notebook. "She can manipulate the water molecules around to use to her control in any way she wants. She can even harness the water molecules from sources like ice and snow by moving the frozen solid water molecules back into liquid form through heated movement."

"You hear that, folks?! Mariella just tanked Todoroki's glacier and pulled out an Uno reverse card!" Mic shouted out. "Todoroki just gave her the perfect weapon to fight back!"

Endeavor's glare only narrowed at Mic's explanation. He was already aware of the danger the girl possessed when he noticed the use of her Quirk during the 1st event, but to hear the announcer point out Shoto's mistake so bluntly only served to fuel his frustration with the boy.

Izuku grinned brightly. "Way to go, Serena!" Izuku cheered out, oblivious to the blush on his cheeks at how cool she looked.

"Impressive," The students turned to see Iida readjusting his glasses. "Truly, Mariella has proven why she got here on recommendations with such skill to break through an attack like that."

"Hey, Iida," Kaminari greeted his Chief Class Officer, trying, and failing, to keep his snickering low. "Congratulations on winning the match. You sure put on quite the show."

"Quit it," Jiro chided Kaminari, poking at his head with her jacks.

"Sorry, Iida," Izuku apologized, rubbing his neck. "I probably should have told you about how...eccentric Hatsume can be."

"No, no, it is quite alright," Iida cleared his throat, keeping down the embarrassed blush he had. "It was my own fault to have been led astray by that she-devil." Iida involuntarily shuddered, picturing the pink dreadlock-haired girl and her creepy smile. "I was naive enough to trust her and accept her invention."

"Well, at least it was a learning experience for you," Momo brought up the bright side of things, patting at Izuku's previous seat for the Chief Class Officer to sit.

"Well, time to change the tide of this fight!" Serena raised her hand, and on cue more of the ice around her melted, unleashing a large tidal wave of water making its advance on Todoroki.

Todoroki growled through his gritted teeth. Without another word, he stomped his foot, another large wave of ice blasting out and meeting the wave of water, the frozen temperatures making work on freezing said water.

Serena jumped up into the air with an upward flick of the water keeping her up before the ice hit. Landing on the icy slope, the ice turned to water as she began surfing down, a wide smile on her face.

"Todoroki struck again with another wave of ice, but Mariella's now surfing the ice like a Gholdengo on his board!" Mic announced the fight.

With an upward and forwarding wave of her hands, a large amount of ice to her left broke apart into a torrent of water that curved and angled toward Todoroki. Todoroki countered with another wave of ice that stopped and froze the torrent. He looked back at Mariella's approach but before he could blast her away Todoroki quickly spotted and unleashed another ice wave to his left to block and freeze another one coming at him. Serena slid to a stop on a platform of water and raised her hands, the frozen water from right, left, and in front of her rising, and with a forward thrust, the three spires of water launched out toward Todoroki from all three sides.

Todoroki growled angrier and wave his right arm across him a wave of ice curving around him diagonally and shielding him in a large dome of ice from the three attacks. The protective dome held with only a few chunks of ice falling from the weighted impact. He panted out more chilly breaths, the ice and frost on his sides accumulating slowly. Narrowing his eyes, he noticed the large mass of blue coming toward him before jumping out of the way, the mass of water smashing and breaking through the ice.

Todoroki quickly created a wave of ice, sliding and surfing through his own Quirk out of the wave and right by the line out of bounds. He looked back to see Mariella in hot pursuit, riding on his ice-turned-water and blasting torrents of water after him. He sped up and slowed, hopped away, and form another ice slide to evade the multiple torrents of water while trying to fire his own smaller waves of ice to strike at Serena.

"Just look at this turn of events, folks! What seemed like a slammed dunk victory for Todoroki has turned into a surfing contest between our two students from Recommendations!" Mic announced, getting fired up. "And Mariella has put Todoroki on the defensive this time!"

Todoroki slid off his icy slide, throwing his arm out with his forward momentum, unleashing a thinner yet sturdier wave of thick-blunted ice. Serena directed her watery slide across surfing up and around the attack in a loop-the-loop. She hopped out of her water slide and landed on the wave of ice, directing the bottom upward and surfing up its path till she landed on where the ice attack ended.

She shouted, quickly raising her arms as several structures of ice collapsed into water spires. Her hands curled into claws and twisted, the water spires swirling around before the watery constructs opened up to what looked like jagged-toothed maws.

With a thrust forward, several serpentine-headed torrents launched out at Todoroki from nearly all sides. "LERNAEAN VOLLEY!" Serena shouted her attack.

Todoroki huffed before running forward. With a wave to his right, he momentarily blocked the draconic-looking torrents, leaped into dive between two, and landed into a roll. Rolling to a stop, he quickly formed a spire of ice that launched him from two coming at him from both sides. Landing the ice leading up to where Serena hid behind, he launched out another blunt wave of ice. Serena dove out of the way as the impromptu cover broke apart, forming another slide of water to evade another attack. The two continued to slide and chased after one another, striking at each other with waves of either ice or water.

"This fight is so sick!" Kaminari exclaimed, pumping his fists. "Those two are really going at it!"

"The two seem to be going back-to-back in their attacks, but looks like Serena has the advantage here," Jiro commented. "Every time Todoroki fires another wave of ice, he is just giving Mariella more fuel for her Quirk."

"Yeah," Sato nodded, arms crossed. "The longer this goes, Todoroki is going to make the whole field one big toybox for Mariella to use on him."

However, Izuku frowned as he witnessed the fight going on. 'They're missing the point.' Izuku thought grimly, as he analyzed their attacks.

Serena created more and more torrents of water around her as she evaded Todoroki's ice, launching a few his way. As Todoroki shielded, his body side getting covered rapidly in frost till even his left side seemed covered in icy patches, he fired another blunt wave of ice that was noticeably smaller than the previous ones. As Serena waved and turned the wave of ice into water, her teeth gritted, a spire of water off to the side slumping and splashing onto the ground lifeless.

Bakugou blinked, catching that detail. 'I see. Their Quirks are like using mana in an RPG.' Bakugou analyzed, cupping his mouth as he continued inspecting the fight. 'Icy Hot is using his ice like a wizard firing off magic spells, but the more he is using his Quirk the more frostbite is covering his body.' In the explosive blonde's head, he imagined a more chibi version of Todoroki firing waves of pixelated ice with a blue gauge over him that lowered as he used his Quirk. The more the gauge would lower, the more the ice wave lowered and the more ice spread around the imagined teen. 'Without his left side to heat himself up, he's trying to space out and ration his attacks to stave off the frostbite.'

'And then there is Sea Bitch, who's almost the complete opposite.' Bakugou continued with a now chibi version of Serena turning the ice around her into more and more spires of water while her gauge lowered slowly. 'Unlike Icy Hot, Sea Bitch isn't creating that water from nothing but rather from Icy Hot's ice and controlling it like an extension of herself. But she can only lift and control so much water before she reaches some limit and has to lessen the amount she is manipulating.' As the imagined gauge started to lower down drastically, chibi Serena would either make the controlled water thinner or lower or simply have one spire of water collapse and refill the gauge. 'However, the more she is using her Quirk as well, the more she is exhausting herself too, like a weightlifter after too many reps.' Even as Chibi Serena lowered her usage, the gauge in Bakugou's mind only continued to lower, even after refilling.

'This more than just a battle to catch the other off guard and push out of bounds, this is a battle of endurance.' Izuku thought as well, the two unconsciously agreeing with each other. 'Either Serena exhausts her control limit and gets overwhelmed by Todoroki's ice, or Todoroki freezes himself still and vulnerable.'

Izuku frowned, a tiny growl of frustration coming out. While he wanted Serena to win, it bothered Izuku to no end that despite all this Todoroki had, in a way, a hax to his icing problem: his left side. He could simply refill his mana reserves, thinking along the same lines as Bakugou, with his fire and balance his usage of his powerful Quirk by using his two sides in tandem.

"You see, I'm going to win this tournament using only my left side," Izuku remembered Todoroki's speech. "Not His Fire or Pokemon."

Izuku's fist clenched tightly. 'He isn't using his full power, not like Serena and everybody else.' Izuku gritted his teeth. 'He's insulting everybody by not giving it his all!'

"Zu," Asui's voice brought Izuku's attention away from the fight and toward the Frog girl as she cutely stared up at him.

"Asui, are you okay?" Izuku asked worryingly. "You gave us quite the scare there."

"I'm fine, Zu," Asui replied, nodding. "My Quirk doesn't do well in cold temperatures, especially with Todoroki's ice and it was putting me in hibernation. But I'm warming up now."

"Okay, that's good," Izuku sighed in relief. Izuku nodded toward Momo, who nodded back and turned off the heater. As he nodded to Combusken for her aid and the Fire Pokémon broke away from the hug, Izuku finally realized how he had put Asui on his lap. His face turning red, Izuku stuttered out, "U-U-Um, w-well since y-you are g-good, I guess I should just g-give you some space."

Just as he was about to lift Asui off of him, Asui lightly gripped his wrist. "Don't," Asui said. Izuku blinked, surprised, and looked at the Frog Girl, who continued to stare at him with a light blush below her wide, stoic eyes. "I'm still a little chilly. Not as much as before, but can you still warm me up for a little while longer? At least until the match is over?"

Izuku's eyes widened as his face burned bright. Despite his drastic rise of confidence in recent months, the notion of a pretty girl asking to continue sitting on his lap was still way out of his ballpark. "O-Okay," Izuku nodded, his cursed heroic heart adhering to her wishes.

"Good. Thank you, Zu," Asui smiled at him.

Izuku's blush only seemed to worsen at Asui's cute smile. "I-I-It's no problem, Asu-I mean-Tsu!"

"Better," Asui croaked.

Izuku sighed, thinking it was all over until Asui decided to take the extra mile and shift in his lap. The verdant-haired teen looked like a tomato about to explode at the feeling of Asui's lithe body shifting next to his, from the brush of her C-cup breasts across his chest, her large and well-muscled thighs dragging over his own, and the light, subtle press of her large, shapely ass against his lower regions, all of which, if Izuku wasn't so naive and disbelieving, would have been seen as intentional.

Izuku felt a certain part of his anatomy come to life and quickly worked on trying to keep it down as best as he could. 'Down, down, down, down, down, down, down!' He recited like a mantra toward his disobeying member. But the combination of Asui's body and heat rubbing off on his, the thick warm blanket around himself, Asui's cuteness, and the still present beauty and allure of Serena in her battle being a deadly combo to his inner discipline.

If Asui had noticed anything, she didn't show anything outwardly, yet she couldn't deny feeling that certain body part brush against her ass cheeks, or deny the power behind Izuku's package that was now engraving into her mental faculties. She worked to keep the blush and shudder- this time not because of the cold -and seem as normal as possible as she stared at the fight.

She, however, snuck a glance at the girls next to them. Momo's twitching eyes and dark expression over her smiling face looked perfectly suited for someone ready to murder. Mina's smile became strained and her right eye twitched. She couldn't see Hagakure expression but the shake of her arms and shoulders seemed to suggest she was vibrating with rage. Even Jirou had a massive blush on her aghast face, trying her best to ignore this as well. The Frog girl didn't even know just how furious Uraraka and Serena would be if the two were here.

And Asui didn't very much care at all for the awkward blushes from some of the guys, the rest either not caring to point them out or notice. She did, however, find Iida's aghast expression rather amusing.

Currently, on the other side of the stadium, Mineta was almost crying blood tears down his eyes from a wave of sheer unbridled jealousy.

Back on the field, Todoroki formed a wall of ice in time to block a torrent of water. Todoroki panted, shivering as half of his body was almost completely covered in frost. He cursed his ill fortune at having to face Serena of all of his classmates for his first match, the one person who perfectly countered his Quirk. He remembered back to their match against each other in their first Battle Training Exercises, where just like now, she had ruined his winning strategy of freezing the entire building and the enemy team easily.

Back then, his team had gotten the win, but only because the battlefield then was a more narrow, cramped environment, and while he dealt with both Mariella and Yaoyorozu, Shoji and his Grapploct worked their way through Yaoyorozu's traps and security measures and gotten the device. But now, he was on his own, without even his Ninetails as a backup. Plus, the more open environment was proving more beneficial for Mariella than for him.

He had hoped to end things quickly with one large attack to catch Mariella off guard, and when large, wide glacier attacks wouldn't work, he tried resorting to smaller, more precise, blunted ice waves to trip Mariella up or knock her out of bounds. But everything he threw at her she dodged and redirected back at him.

'I have to find a way to end things fast.' Todoroki thought, doing his best to move his right arm around from the chilling frostbite that was accumulating. 'If this keeps up, I'll lose. I'll fail to show that bastard up and prove I can win with just my Mom's Quirk.'

The sound of ice cracking drew his attention to his ice wall, Serena smashing through the thick wall with two large and thick constructs of water as arms.

With every thrust, Serena was truly starting to feel the painful throb of her muscles, not to mention the splitting headache beginning to form. 'Shit! I thought I would be able to catch him off guard and wash him out of bounds already!' Serena cursed inwardly, finding it already a miracle that she got this far.

She recalled a few minutes ago during the beginning of the match. She felt in her heart to prepare herself for something, that feeling proven right when she had barely a second to counter Todoroki's massive glacier of an attack. She remembered how the world seemed to move slowly upon her actions, turning the ice around into water, and surrounding herself in a protective bubble from the ice attack. Once she felt the rumbling of the ice finish, signaling the end of Todoroki's attack, she reached out and began tunneling her and the water out of the glacier. If she was at least another second off during the attack, she would have been completely frozen, and she has never deliberately gotten herself frozen to see if she could still use her Quirk like that, and she wasn't going to risk it for the match.

Serena knew Todoroki's attacks were not just wild bursts of power, they had precision and purpose behind them, and it left her begrudgingly respecting Todoroki's level of control, which only made her angrier. She felt she shouldn't be respecting or praising anything about this jerkass who gunned for Midoriya because of some issues he had or using Yaomomo like a piece of property to his advantage. She may have been aware of the rich girl's obvious feelings for her Izu, her and the other 1-A girls- other than Kyoka for all she knew -but that didn't mean that Serena couldn't feel terrible for Yaoyorozu or excuse Todoroki's actions.

And what was worse for Serena was that Todoroki was holding back. She and the whole class were aware of the fireside of Todoroki's Quirk, seeing it in action both at the end of the Battle Training Exercise and even at the end of the 1st and 2nd events when he heated himself. She knew that just as he could fire these waves of ice at her, he could do the same with fire. Hell, while Seren could easily put those out with her water, Todoroki could just heat himself back up and maybe even overwhelm her again.

It wasn't like she wanted to be beaten so easily but knowing that he has an easy means of victory, and isn't even contemplating using it, it offended that well of pride in her as someone who was giving it her all in this fight. That anger made her grit her teeth and smash through the ice harder.

"Is that all you got, Todoroki?!" Serena taunted/raged. She spun on her heel, waving her arms right and bringing the two water constructs together and swirling around her. "Cowering behind your icy walls and not even using that fire of yours?! It's honestly pathetic!"

She launched the larger fist of water and cracked through the ice. Todoroki has barely stumbled away from the majority of the torrent, grazing his side and leaving a scratch on his right cheek. He brought up another shield of ice and blocked the torrent again.

"Todoroki is not doing so hot!" Mic commented. "Looks like he's been put on the end of his rope from Serena's constant wet assault. Could this promising young man about to be swept off to sea?!"

Aizawa glared disapprovingly at the battle before him. When he looked at Serena, Aizawa held nothing but praise for Serena's performance thus far, displaying apt agility, resourcefulness, and conservation of her strength. The only thing he could criticize would be a few instances of tripping up and unnecessary flashiness.

However, he couldn't say much of the same for Shoto Todoroki. While the boy's beginning show of strength proved the boy knew the dangers of his opponent and needed to finish her off quickly, and his defensive and offensive use of his Quirk was incredible, he was left wanting compared to Serena. He had been caught off his guard more than Mariella and refused to use the other half of his Quirk that would have given him an easy way to overwhelm Mariella but has thus far been refusing and the consequences were shown clear as day through his loss in speed and half of his body covered in frost.

'He's not rationally conserving his strength to tire her out; otherwise, he would have heated himself after Serena broke out of his first glacier.' Aizawa critically analyzed.

The very same surge of anger and annoyance that he felt back in his Quirk Assessment Test was rearing back up. Back then, it was towards Midoriya for not using the full extent of his Quirk's power, back when he failed to realize his inexperience came from not out of laziness but inexperience with a Quirk the boy had only a month ago, by his account and the Quirk registry files he pulled up. It was one of the few times Aizawa felt he was the irrational one, especially compared to a child.

Now, with Todoroki, he knew better and Todoroki's lack of trying was far more deliberate and purposeful. And the irrationality of it was grinding his gears.

Todoroki registered Serena's taunt for the bait it was. The bait to use his fire.

"You're not winning this tournament. You don't deserve it. You're not worthy of it," Midoriya's words from then echoed in his head, taunting him. "Not worthy of your mother or her memory."

Todoroki gnarled his teeth, growling. "So, did Midoriya blab to you and your group about my past?" Todoroki roared back, slamming his foot down, unleashing another wave of ice. "Is this his way of getting me to use my fire?!"

Serena brought the accumulated water and slammed down like a waterfall onto the ice, smashing it before her. "Get over yourself!" Serena yelled back. "He didn't tell us anything we didn't already know!"

Midnight perked up as she listened to the two from afar, and, with her listening device, so too did Aizawa, intently.

"He said that you refused to use your Quirk because of some issues he wouldn't clarify. Said to respect your privacy or something," Serena continued, chuckling fondly. "Honestly, sometimes he's too nice for his own good. But he did make one thing clear." Raising her hands again, forming more torrents of water, she lashed them out at him. "The fact you are holding back like this is an insult to all of us!"

"You don't know anything!" Todoroki yelled, shielding himself from some of the water, only for a few torrents to curve up above his shield, forcing Todoroki to dodge and roll his way out of the water crashing around him.

"I know that you're hurting Yaomomo by forcing her to do what you want because of that stupid Quirk Marriage!" Serena launched a whip of water, wrapping it around Todoroki's left side arm. Todoroki's eyes widened. "I know that you're hurting your Pokémon with whatever this grudge is!" She brought the whip back, swinging Todoroki into one of his previous ice structures, Todoroki left gasping at the impact. "And I know you're after My Izu, so that makes my enemy!" With a final swing, Todoroki rolled and stumbled painfully across the floor, barely making an ice wall behind him to stop his path from going out of bounds.

"Shut up," Todoroki muttered through his groans. His eyes were shadowed by his hair, his mouth in a vicious snarl. His head throbbed from a flash of a white-haired woman smiling at him. "Shut up."

"You're an insult to this Festival and all of us for holding back like this," Serena continued berating Todoroki, raising her arms, ignoring the painful throb and wicked headache. "You're an insult to the name of Heroes for wanting to be one just to prove some stupid point!" The water around her swirled, her vicious glare making her come off as a vengeful goddess to the crowd. Her glaring eyes twitched as she remembered those fake, selfish Heroes that let all those people die and her father depressed. "You don't deserve to be here!"

"SHUT UP!" Todoroki roared, throwing caution to the wind, letting loose a final, massive wave of ice, coming at her like a tidal wave.

Waving her raised hands over her, the water followed her commands the three large, gyrating water spires wrapped around each other like snakes. Serena brought her hands back before thrusting the spiraling, drill-like spire forward with all her might. "WHIRLPOOL IMPACT!"

The ultimate move smashed through the ice like a drill, carving its way toward Todoroki. Todoroki barely brought up a weak shield of ice as it reached him, smashing through it easily and smacking the teen in his ice wall, enough for the ice behind him to crack.

Todoroki panted and groaned, his entire right side covered in frost and every breath of his visible. His vision blurred as he tried to lift himself back up. As it began to clear, his eyes widened. Serena was rushing right at him with two torrents of water ready to smash him through his ice.

Todoroki panicked trying to fire another wave of ice but found his right side wouldn't respond. 'Too cold...No...it...can't end like this!' Todoroki's panicked eyes widened. 'Mother.'

Serena was right on top of Todoroki, her snarl vicious, her fury fueled by all of Todoroki's actions in this Festival. From Iida and Kaminari for tricking them into his team to go against Izuku, to Asui and Hagakure for playing on their own emotions for Izu. Using Yaomomo like a slave. His own Vulpix was a victim of Trainer abuse, for Arceus's sake. For a moment, she had mistaken Todoroki for Shinsou and what he did to her.

'This is for all of them, and Iz-' Serena's thought stopped dead, her furious eyes meeting Todoroki's panicked ones. Her eyes widened as she registered that panic, his fear, that tear on his left side. He looked so sad and...afraid. Desperate.

"You always see the good in others, no matter how deep down." Serena's words from before echoed as her mind traveled back to her talk with Izuku.

---

Flashback...

"You are a kind and forgiving person. It's what you always are, Izu." Serena said, sincerely and lovingly. Her eyes turned hard and serious again but with concern mixed in. "I just hope you can tell the difference between forgiving and naivety."

She and Izuku stood in the middle of the hallway, his Pokémon off to the side, listening in but staying away respectfully during their moment.

Izuku looked contemplative for a moment, taking her advice into account. He then placed his hand over her own over his heart, squeezing it tight, yet comforting, followed by his other hand placed on her shoulder, over her heart. Stubborn, yet respectful, as he always was.

Izuku smiled at her. "You are always there to help put some sense in me, Serena," Izuku replied. "Just as I hope I help you see the good in others, and those in need of help."

Serena was silent to Izuku's words. She knew he was talking about Shinsou, how Izuku saw that Shinsou was in pain, lost, and hurting. It didn't mean all he did was justified or to let it all go. To Serena, she felt that he didn't deserve Izuku's compassion, but then she realized that wasn't fair of her or to Shinsou. That it was anger over what he did to her that helped say that.

And to Izuku, someone who held just as much anger towards him as herself, he saw through that anger and looked at the person deep down that was hurting, someone who needed to be saved. And Izuku chose to do so, like the Hero he is. Like the kind person he is.

Serena smiled, following Grandma Haruka's words and following her heart. She reached forwards and planted her lips on Izuku's cheek.

She drew back to see Izuku's shocked, blushing expression. She knew she was likely blushing madly, too, but she didn't care. She had to let him know before the embarrassment killed her nerve.

"You do," Serena replied, warmly, her free hand placed over Midoriya's hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, lovingly. "I know I have a problem with my anger. I'm bitter and vengeful, it's hard for me to let go of a grudge, especially if it's to those who hurt the people I care about. But then I think of you, and you help pull me out of that blind rage. You help me to see things. Help me see when people are hurting just as bad."

"You mean more to me than you will ever know, Izuku Midoriya," Serena confessed. "Thank you, for being the one to save me, even from me."

Flashback over...

---

Todoroki's eyes snapped shut, waiting for the imminent blow to end his goals.

He waited one second.

...And then three seconds.

...And then several seconds.

Todoroki's eyes peeked open, slowly, wondering what was happening.

A centimeter from his eyes a floating tendril of water floated and hovered in front of him. His eyes registered everything else. Serena Mariella held the two tendrils over him still, not moving. Her eyes were shadowed but, Todoroki could see how they stared at him. Eyes full of pity for him.

"Huh?" Mic's confusion sounded through the speakers, capturing likewise the confusion on everyone's face. "M-Mariella stopped?!"

"Serena?" Mina blinked her eyes, rubbing them, thinking she was seeing things.

"What is she doing?!" Hagakure exclaimed. "She has him right there?!"

Momo herself couldn't fathom what Mariella was doing, her brain coming up empty for why. Jiro, Asui, and the guys were likewise left befuddled. Even Bakugou was taken aback.

Izuku's face remained emotionless, staring at the events with a serious examination of Serena's actions.

On the field, Todoroki stared at the tendrils and Serena with complete bewilderment. She had him. If she hadn't stopped, he would have been knocked out of the ring and lost. She would have gotten the revenge she was seeking for Yaoyorozu and Midoriya.

'So why did she stop?' That was all Todoroki could think.

Serena continued staring at Todoroki with all the pity she could muster. She recalled back when she and Midoriya shopped for their supplies and those mean girls from Aldera. How they left them humiliated and what Izuku said about them.

"You just aren't worth it," Serena finally said, her tone displaying a pitiful sadness for him.

Seeing how she had captured Todoroki's complete attention, she continued with "This whole fight, it's a joke, a sham. You're just not worth the effort." Serena's eyes narrowed with hate and anger toward him, his tendrils subtly moving closer to his face, sharpening like points of a spear. "Not just because of what you did to Momo, but because you aren't giving it your all. It's sad, pitiful really. If you aren't giving it your all, you're just wasting everybody's time."

Serena flicked her wrist and the water tendrils flicked up and splashed all over Todoroki's stunned face, leaving him sputtering. He stared back up to see Serena, half-turned away from him, looking at him like he was a sad excuse of a person.

"You aren't worth my time, and I'm not the kind of person to help fix you. I'm not ready for that." Serena fully turned away from him. "But there's someone who is. Someone who is better deserving to put you in your place."

Serena began walking away from him, the waves of water that loomed over the two of them falling slack to the ground, leaving all but Serena's path spotless. "I quit." She declared, loud enough to be heard.

Midnight blinked in surprise. Shaking her head and schooling her features, Midnight raised her hand. "Serena Mariella has forfeited the match! Shoto Todoroki moves on to the next round!"

A wave of confusion and shock swept across the entire stadium, exclaims of surprise joining with befuddled mumbles for a cacophony of chaos.

"Wha-Mariella just quits?!" Mic exclaimed, the girl herself walking away with a blank, uncaring expression on her face. "And right at the moment of victory?!"

Aizawa remained silent, likewise taken aback by Mariella's decision, the irrationality of it. And then the information he received throughout the match fully registered in his brain. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at Shoto Todoroki, briefly considering whether the boy even deserved to be in U.A. He wasn't immediately believing in Mariella's accusations, but the ferocity the girl fought with and the lack of denial from Todoroki painted an unflattering picture for the son of Endeavor.

He heard what Mariella said to Todoroki at the end and realized the truth of her decision. 'She has already proven herself superior, if not on par with Todoroki, and the boy will have to accept that he will only be going as further because Mariella gave him the victory.' Aizawa deduced Serena's intention to deal a blow to Todoroki's pride, and from what he could see from the boy himself, it was working.

Then Serena's last words before her declaration registered. 'Someone better deserving.' He thought out loud. It didn't take a genius to figure out who she was referring to, given how a certain problem child's name was brought up, by Todoroki no less. 'She means for Todoroki to eventually fight against Midoriya.'

Aizawa would have criticized Mariella's rash action to believe that both students will end up fighting each other despite the one 1/5 odds, with not even Todoroki's next opponent decided as of yet. The insomniac teacher supposed that it ultimately said more about the level of faith Mariella had in Midoriya that he could advance, and even the begrudging acknowledgment of Todoroki's use of half his Quirk that he could reach Midoriya in the semi-finals, should it come to it.

Aizawa sighed. He couldn't change what has happened or deny Mariella's decision to forfeit, especially after Mariella reached the end of her side of the field and stepped over the line. The teacher would respect his student's decision and won't say anything, but he will expect Mariella to face the consequences of her actions, whatever so they may be in the future.

"Y-YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Miruko fumed and raged, comical imaginary fumes coming out of her head as she flailed her arms and stomped her foot, hard enough to cause cracks on the floor. "SHE JUST GAVE UP?! WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT AM I WATCHING?!"

"The girl must have a reason," Ryukyu replied, confused over Mariella's choice, as well. "It was clear that she would have achieved victory if she followed through on her attack. There must be a personal element to this decision, perhaps an attempt to humiliate the boy with such an empty victory?"

"IF SHE WANTED TO HUMILIATE HIM THEN JUST SPLASH HIM OUT AND WIN!" Miruko continued ranting, acting rather like a child on a tantrum in Ryukyu's eyes.

"Well, whatever the case may be, it is the girl's decision. There's nothing we can do to change the outcome now," Ryukyu shrugged. "Besides, it looks like the boy isn't taking this well."

On the field, Todoroki watched Mariella walk away, stunned. And then that shock turned to sheer anger. He failed to notice himself subconsciously heating himself, his left hand gripping the ground, almost painfully. His teeth mashed together in a snarl as the utter embarrassment of this outcome made deep wounds in Todoroki's pride.

'Just like Midoriya.' Todoroki growled in his mind, taking a trip down memory lane back to the two's Pokémon battle, one that ultimately ended in an official tie, but a tie only because Midoriya gave up one of his Pokémon. And now Mariella has given up her chance of victory for Todoroki to advance, only because she believes he will face Midoriya eventually, and he will still lose. Because he isn't using that bastard's Quirk.

'I won't. I won't. I won't...' Todoroki repeated, each time sounding like a broken record, even to himself. And with every repeat, his pride only grew more wounded, the victory becoming emptier, the more Serena's words felt truer. How pathetic he felt.

Endeavor glared furiously at his son as he brooded on this shameful victory. The Flame Hero refused to even call it a victory. 'A sham, a pitiful mercy is more apt.' He growled to himself. As he did, the flames around him grew brighter and hotter, making all those around him scoot further away, both from the heat and the fear they felt around Endeavor's terrifying presence.

Ultimately, Endeavor calmed down and walked away in a huff, choosing to avoid the stares from this embarrassing turn of events from his foolish son.

"Well, ahem, anyways folks, I can say that this is a first in Sports Festival history. In the past two matches, two of our fighters willingly forfeited," Mic continued. "Though, that was quite the awesome battle, am I right?!"

Mic's words allowed the crowd to start to cheer and clap for the two students and their performance. Mariella smiled, only for how this would leave salt in Todoroki's metaphorical wounds. She was right.

"Why did she quit?!" Kaminari exclaimed; his hands thrown up in the air, jumping out of his seat. "She had him! She could have beaten that bastard and ended Yaomomo's whole torment with that douche!"

"Urgh! I know!" Hagakure whined. "And she fought so hard in the fight! Why just throw it away?!"

"Maybe Mariella isn't happy that Todoroki isn't using the fire half of his Quirk?" Kirishima figured, scratching his head. "She did look pissed, and I would be too if someone was purposely holding back on me. That would be so unmanly."

'For once, Shitty Hair is speaking facts.' Bakugou begrudgingly agreed yet kept the words to himself. No need to audibly agree with the Sea Bitch that wounded Quilava.

"Guys, enough," Izuku's stern voice cut any further whining from the students. They looked at their Class Rep, finding a proud smile on his face. "It's Serena's decision. Leave it at that."

Shaking himself from his surprise, Iida nodded. "The Class Rep is correct. We must respect Mariella's decision and not hound her questions when she arrives."

"Agreed," Momo nodded. "Regardless of how I feel, I cannot deny what she believes is best; nor my respect for the courage to follow through with this decision in front of the entire viewing world."

"Yeah, Yaomomo makes a good point!" Kirishima smiled brightly. "The guts to do that is so Manly!"

Bakugou just scoffed, thinking how Shitty Hair has gone back to just saying nonsense.

"Shouldn't it be womanly?" Jiro raised an eyebrow at the spiky redhead.

"Don't bother," Mina waved off Jiro's question. "Kirishima calls everyone manly. Says it's a gender-neutral thing."

As they discussed, Izuku looked down as Serena made her way to the exit. The two locked eyes as everything tuned out. 'You quit because you want me to beat Todoroki, don't you?' Izuku thought. 'With what you just gave up, with how you believe I can win, guess I have more reason not to lose.'

Izuku brushed the tip of his thumb over his nose and gave Serena a thumbs up. Serena's eyes watered before copying the action.

---

Meanwhile, inside a waiting room, Uraraka watched the whole event take place on the TV.

"Wow...such power," Uraraka muttered at the strength of both fighters and their skill with their Quirks. The sheer power of Todoroki that he displayed with that glacier. Now, even if she wins her match, she has to go up against that?!

Though, surprisingly, Uraraka was left more nervous and jittery with Serena than Todoroki. How gracefully she fought with such agility and resourcefulness, how powerful she was to stand on par and even overwhelm Todoroki. But worst, how beautiful she looked all while doing so.

'How can I compete with that?' Uraraka frowned, looking down at her fiddling fingers, thinking of the boy the two of them shared feelings for.

Mariella was almost perfect for Izuku. She's kind, compassionate, and loyal. She is incredibly powerful and skilled and can fight alongside Deku better than she ever could. And worse, Mariella and Deku have a history, the two being best friends since before U.A., and thus knows Deku better than her and would know better how to take care of him as he would her.

And that was just with Serena. When she turned her thoughts to the other girls, her chances felt slimmer and slimmer. Ashido was just as graceful and amazing when she fights, is an incredible dancer, has a fun and cheerful personality, and her looks add a more exotic flavor to her. Hagakure may lack the looks, mainly because nobody can see what she looks like, but she more than makes up for it with her outgoing and perky persona, how sweet and doting she can be, along with being mischievous and adorable with how excitable she can get, and any chances of being the girl that Deku saved also applied to Hagakure.

Asui spent an entire fishing trip with Deku, and it showed just how successful she was in getting closer to the verdant-haired boy. Her blunt personality made her honest and dependable as a potential girlfriend, Uraraka bets that Asui already has her family's approval and connection with Midoriya- 'I mean why wouldn't they?' Uraraka thought -and Uraraka couldn't deny how adorably cute Asui can be when she smiles. Hell, with what Asui told her about how she took care of siblings all the time, she came off as the perfect housewife material.

Yaomomo easily eclipsed Uraraka in the beauty department too, she felt. So poise and beautiful, with the heiress's mature figure a dreadfully high bonus, incredibly intelligent, an incentivizing rich background, if Deku was ever the shallow type which he wasn't, and the two also share of history knowing each other before U.A. The two were also the Reps of their class and have a clear trust in each other, almost as far as Deku and Serena have.

Uraraka hasn't seen Jiro have any explicit interest in Deku like the others, but she feared that if she did, she would fall short of her. Her petite figure was enticing to some guys, and she knows Deku isn't the shallow type when it comes to a girl's body either. Her cool tomboyish attitude could also be a bonus for her, and her shyness could match well with Deku's.

And then there was Hatsume. That pink-haired menace wasn't around for more than a day and she still is leagues ahead of Uraraka. Her mind replayed how Deku noticed and praised her, how the two bonded over Hatsume's inventions, and while Uraraka had confidence in her body, Hatsume had a figure that rivaled Momo's and Serena's.

She had walked out to wait here before Hatsume's fight with Iida ended because she couldn't take hearing Midoriya praise that girl and her 'babies' on and on without feeling worse. Not that she held any resentment toward Deku, she could chalk it up to being such a fanboy about Heroes and their Support Gear, but the hurt was still there.

'And what do I have?' Uraraka thought bitterly. She didn't have the money like Yaomomo, or the inventive know-how of Hatsume. She didn't have the history that Serena shared with Deku, or any significance in his eyes any further than Hagakure. She didn't have Mina's confidence or Asui's boldness; Hell, Jiro came as cooler and more exciting than her. She didn't resent the girls either for their qualities, or even their feelings for Deku, but compared to her, what did Uraraka have to show for herself?

"Kirrr," Uraraka looked down to see her Kirlia, Airalin, had come out of her Pokeball again. The Emotion Pokémon often did so whenever she was in a bad mood, and this time was no different. The Pokémon placed her hand on Uraraka's side, a sad yet comforting look in her red eyes. "Kirr Kirlia Kirr."

Uraraka smiled softly at the Emotion Pokémon. "I wish I could talk with you like Deku and Koda can with their Pokémon," Uraraka lifted the Pokémon to her lap and hugged her, tenderly. "But I always know what you mean. You think I have a shot?"

"Kirr," The Kirlia replied, nodding and hugging back with all the support and comfort she could muster.

Uraraka's eyes welled up with tears. She sniffled. "Thank you, Airalin. For always supporting me." Uraraka hugged her tighter. "Even when Mommy and Daddy didn't see why I wanted to be a Hero, you and Minnie did. Even when I'm at my lowest, you were always there for me to make me smile again. Thank you."

"Kirlia," Airalin's tone whimpered just like her Trainer as she hugged back as hard. The Kirlia truly believed that her Trainer had a shot with her intended mate. The boy was kind, sweet, and shined in a way she had never seen in another human. But what's more, she knew the feelings the boy had for her Trainer. They were small, sure, but she sensed how big they grew when her Trainer had chosen to aid him in the 2nd event despite the risks.

The boy may have had feelings for those other girls too, she could sense that too, deep, true ones at that, but the love her Trainer held for the boy, it was love. True and strong as it could be. If it weren't for the other girls, she would have pegged them as soulmates, destined for each other. Perhaps they are. Whatever the case, whether or not she could tell this accurately to Uraraka, or if her Trainer would even admit to the extent of her feelings, Airalin will support the Trainer she knew and loved as far back as when she was a Ralts she found lost and confused. She owed the world to Uraraka and would give her the world if she so asked for it.

Uraraka's spirits grew high while they hugged, the doubts fading, for a time. Her confidence in herself grew from her Pokémon's unyielding support. 'Airalin is right. I can't give up because it looks hard. Deku wouldn't give up, and neither will I.' Uraraka felt determined.

Suddenly, the sounds of Pokeballs opening brought Trainer and Pokémon to the supportive smiles and looks of her other Pokémon, Minnie, Chu, and her Dottler, Doc. Uraraka smiled at them, lovingly. "Come here, you all," She invited them in the hug.

Chu climbed up her shoulder and hugged the side of her head, while Minnie floated low for Uraraka to hug both it and Doc on her left, while Kirlia remained on her right. Leaning her head on Chu, she looked at the T.V. and how the teachers were soon to finish cleaning and fixing the field for the next match.

Staring determined at the screen, Uraraka thought 'I can worry about my feelings and chances for Deku, later. Right now, I have the promise to keep and parents to support!'

---

Izuku stared out the field, looking aimlessly while the last of the field's damages were finished. He sat in his own seat, sure that Asui was alright, and a little relieved that there wouldn't be another embarrassing incident. Though, Izuku couldn't lie and say a part of him didn't miss Asui's warmth.

Shaking free from those thoughts, he instead wrestled with the internal struggle he felt. Whether to leave and make sure Serena was okay or stay here and watch Uraraka's match.

Guilt welled up in him again that he somehow missed when she left, and he didn't bother to wish her good luck before her match. One moment he was mumbling and writing about Hatsume's inventions, the next she was gone. He had put it at the back of his mind, too distracted with Serena's battle with Todoroki and keeping Asui warm from the cold, but now while they all waited for the field to be fixed for the next match to start, Uraraka's match, he couldn't put it off any further.

'Master Izuku it's fine.' Froakie repeated himself to his Trainer. 'If Miss Uraraka wanted you to wish her luck, she would have made her exit known.'

'Clearly, you don't know anything about women.' Pikachu scoffed at the newbie. 'Or how difficult it is to snap boss here from one of his mutterings.'

'Enough, the both of you.' Combusken snapped at the two. 'Izuku, you mustn't hold yourself responsible for an honest mistake. Uraraka knows she has your support and wouldn't hold it against you if you went to check on Serena, nor Serena wouldn't if you stayed to cheer Uraraka on.'

'Yeah...maybe.' Izuku communicated back, still uncertain. 'But...back before, something was...off with her.'

'Off?' Eevee questioned.

'When I suggested that she could use Hatsume's Electro Shoes for her Hero suit, she responded weirdly, like she didn't like what I said.' Izuku recalled the strained smile and stutter she spoke with. 'Did she really hate the idea so much?'

Eevee hummed. 'Perhaps, it is less the idea she was upset about and rather the person who made the idea you suggested.' Eevee suggested.

'Hatsume?' Izuku asked, confused. 'Why? What does Ochaco have against Hatsume? We made a great team with Tokoyami in the 2nd event.'

'Oh, Arceus above, our Trainer is a moron.' Pikachu groaned, facepalming.

Before Izuku could question the frankly untoward insult, Combusken intervened with 'Perhaps, what Pikachu is trying to say is that you must have missed something that would have Uraraka be at odds with Hatsume about. Can you recall anything that may have upset her?'

Izuku blinked in surprise. Doing as Combusken suggested, he remembered back to every interaction he had with Hatsume that Uraraka was present for. When they formed their team, the 2nd event, the end when they fought to hug hi-

Izuku's eyes widened as he finally realized. When he and Hatsume bonded over their love of Support Items and her 'babies', Uraraka stood to the side silently. When he remembered complimenting Hatsume on her 'babies' when their ship was in the air, he finally noticed that Uraraka was pouting. And at the end of the 2nd event, when they won, the two girls hugged him and struggled against each other to pull him closer to the other.

'That's it!' Izuku exclaimed, almost yelling out eureka.

'Yes?' His Pokémon motioned for him to continue, expecting.

'Ochaco was upset that I didn't pay attention to her!' Izuku declared. 'I mean not to say that my attention is something that she needs or is important or anything, but she had turned down everyone so that she could join my team and then Hatsume came, and I accepted her and her help without consulting Ochaco. And during the whole event, I was praising Hatsume's contributions without giving Ochaco the fair due she deserved. Right?'

'.../.../.../...' All four of his Pokémon were silent, not a whisper of a thought or a peep from their mouths.

'...Right?' Izuku asked again, nervous about their silence.

'MOTHER-'

'YES! Yes, that sounds about right!' Eevee cut off Pikachu mid-curse. The Evolution Pokémon sent a second-long glare at Pikachu to go along with him. 'Respectfully, people generally like to have their contributions acknowledged, especially when they do so at great risk to themselves and out of the goodness of their hearts. It's no different with girls.'

'He's right.' Combusken agreed with Eevee, both of his words and his approach to allow their Trainer to figure his feelings out on his own.

'Arceus, I'm such an idiot.' Izuku muttered, hands on his head.

'At least he admits it.' Pikachu muttered. The reward for his snark was a smack to the head by Froakie. 'Ow!'

'I have to make it up to her.' Izuku decided, resolving to stay and watch her match, then tell her how much her help meant to him. While he still felt like going to see Serena and check up on her, he was confident in Recovery Girl's abilities and can see for himself when she comes back to the stands. 'Serena is as tough as nails, she will be alright without me.'

"Well, now that the stage is fixed up from that last wild battle, I believe it's time to move on to the next match on our playlist, ya dig?!" Mic announced the start of the next match.

"Just announce the fighters and get this over with quickly," Aizawa's tired voice groaned.

"You all heard my grumpy co-host! We've waited long enough!" Mic continued, undeterred, while the next two fighters walked out of their respective corridors and onto the field. "It's time to get the action starting again!"

"On one corner, he's got some skills but at the price of some weird-looking elbows! From the 1-A Hero Course, it's Hanta Sero!" Mic announced the perpetually grinning student.

"Well, that was uncalled for," Sero muttered, still grinning while he stretched his arms and hands. From his waiting room, he was cheered on by his 4 Pokémon, ranging from his signature Ariados, Galvantula, Leavanny, and Spidops.

"And in the other corner, one I'm personally rooting for, also from the 1-A Hero Course, she's the cute, yet fierce, Ochaco Uraraka!" Mic announced the gravity girl, said girl staring determinedly at her opponent.

"Don't play favorites," Aizawa chastised his co-host.

Uraraka felt the shake of her hands, looking at them as they shook from the nerves. Reminding herself of her goals, she steeled herself and clenched them tight, looking back at Sero, ready for the match. As she did, her Pokémon all cheered for her, Airalin placing her hands over her heart, hoping their support was enough.

"She's determined to win," Iida smiled and nodded. "That fire in her eyes was very much the same as when the Sports Festival was first informed to us."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, smirking at how cool Uraraka looked. "She'll win this. I'm sure of it."

"Oooh, sound confident there, Pika Bro," Kaminari grinned. "Care to wager on that?"

"Sure," Izuku smirked back, confident. "What're you offering?"

"I just so happened to have gotten this sweat Seal for Sparky's Pokeball, a rather electrifying one," Kaminari held up the Capsule seal, one shaped like a lightning bolt. "If Uraraka wins, it's yours."

"Oooh! Papa likey! Take it!" Pikachu grinned; his eyes were replaced with stars.

"And what would you get if Sero wins?" Izuku asked.

Casting a glance at one of his Pokeballs, as if worried the Pokémon inside would hear, Kaminari scooted closer and whispered in Midoriya's ear. "Well, Sparky has been feeling rather in the dumps since she accidentally lost her first kiss to her Uraraka's Pikachu, so if I win, I get your Pikachu for a date with Sparky."

Izuku glanced down at the Electric Mouse Pokémon's shocked face. 'Uuuhhhh, on second thought, I don't really need that Seal.' Pikachu shook his head, looking at Izuku with pleading eyes. 'I'm cool enough as is. Don't take the deal. Please.'

Izuku's grin grew the most wicked that Pikachu had ever seen. 'Please?' Pikachu begged again, his voice more uncertain and afraid.

"Deal!" Izuku shook Kaminari's hand.

'YOU TRAITOR!' Pikachu yelled out, betrayed, while the others laughed their asses off.

'Hey, I'm sorry Pikachu but that deal seemed too good to pass up.' Izuku replied, sarcastically. 'Besides, as you said, I'm quite the moron.'

Realizing this was to get back at him for insulting Izuku, Pikachu decided to just seal his fate and flash two middle fingers at him.

Izuku just chuckled and looked back down at the field to see the fight.

Uraraka leaned forward, ready for the match to start at any moment. Sero, meanwhile, continued stretching, nonchalantly. "Well, I was considering going easy on you, Uraraka," Sero began saying arrogantly, eyes closed as he stretched.

Uraraka steeled her resolve and ignored the words. 'Just like Deku.' Uraraka reminded herself, recalling Deku's fight with Shinsou and how the indigo-haired teen goaded him. 'Learn from others' mistakes, even Deku's, and focus on the goal at hand.'

"Fighter's ready?!" Mic said. Uraraka dug her foot further back.

"But after Mic played favorites-" "BEGIN!" "I don't plan on losing at all!" Sero struck just as Mic said the words, firing two lines of tape at where his target was. Only to be surprised the tape missed its mark, the gravity girl ducking under the tape and rushing at him with such determined precision like an angry Lycanroc.

"Sero tried to start the match with a quick surprise attack, but Uraraka dodged and is heading right for him!" Mic exclaimed.

"Shit!" Sero cursed at his mistake, firing off more strands of tape, swinging them in arcs to try and catch the perpetually blushing girl.

Uraraka side-stepped, ducked, slid, and jumped over every strand of tape sent at her, making sure to keep her eye on her target.

"Woah, look at Uraraka go!" Mina cheered.

"Sero made the mistake to take his eyes off Ochaco for a second and now he's scrambling to catch her before she reaches him," Asui noted.

"If Uraraka simply touches Sero one time, it could spell the end of Sero's time in the Festival," Momo said.

"Alright, let's try this!" Sero crossed his arms before throwing them back, two strands of tape launching out in an X formation.

The tape flew over to her almost like it was in slow motion and as it grew closer. 'Think, think, I can't jump over it, it's too far high a jump needed that I need to use my Quirk on myself, and if try to slide or jump, I'll be left vulnerable.' Uraraka thought quickly. 'And even if I dodge to the left or right, Sero can just fire another to catch-' Uraraka's eyes widened. 'That's it!'

Meanwhile, in Sero's mind, he grinned wider. 'This is perfect! If Uraraka goes up or down, then I can catch her off guard and swing her out of bounds.' Sero thought while he cut off the tape from his elbows. 'If she dodges left or right, I can snag her, too, and if she gets caught in the tape, she'll get trapped to the ground and lose by incapacitation.'

As he finished his thought, Uraraka leaped to the side, the tape passing by her. "Gotcha!" Sero exclaimed, firing off another tape at her.

Suddenly, though, Uraraka smirked and twisted her body to the side, the tape sailing past her. Before Sero could toss his arm back to snag her, instead, she did something that surprised him: she grabbed his tape herself.

"What the-" Sero could figure out why she would trap her hand on his tape, Sero felt a feeling come over him before he suddenly started floating off the ground. "Uraraka's Quirk? But how-" Sero snapped his eyes back to Uraraka's hand around his tape, still connected to his body. "Shit!"

"Sero is suddenly floating in the air!" Mic announced.

"RRRAAAAHHHH!" Uraraka roared as she pulled the tape. Sero exclaimed as he was pulled through the air, Uraraka spinning Sero across the air round and round.

"Uwaaaahhhh!" Sero yelled as his weightless body spun around the air rapidly in circles. Sero stopped as he started to turn green in the face, gulping back his rapidly rising lunch.

"Now!" She exclaimed, canceling her Quirk and pulling with all her might down. Sero felt his body return to normal just as his body started to swiftly descend to the ground, crashing in a tumble on the grass out of the field.

"Hanta Sero is out of bounds!" Midnight declared. "Ochaco Uraraka moves on to the next round!"

The crowd cheered for Uraraka's victory. "Incredible! Ochaco Uraraka has thrown Hanta Sero out of bounds with his own Quirk!" Present Mic exclaimed, a cutesy blush on his face. "And with that, she has gotten the fastest win of the matches thus far! Way to go, girl!"

"Stop playing favorites," Aizawa snapped at Mic again. "Uraraka's Zero Gravity Quirk requires physical contact with her target to activate, so she banked on Sero grabbing her with his Quirk so that she could render him weightless. Risky, but effective."

Uraraka stared around, stunned at her own victory and the cheers of the crowd for her. It was all so overwhelming for the girl. She slowly looked to the students' stands, finding her friends -sans Kaminari pouting in defeat for some reason- cheering for her. Her gaze drifted to Izuku and Iida clapping and cheering enthusiastically for her.

Izuku flashed a proud and wonderfully smile at her, so bright that she was almost rendered blind.

Uraraka's perpetual blush grew redder, her heart thumping wildly. Eventually, she smiled back, just as brightly.

In her waiting room, her Pokémon were jumping- or in Minnie's case floating up and down -in celebration. Airalin smiled joyfully, feeling such joy and happiness from her Trainer from here, making the Emotion Pokémon light up just as much.

Meanwhile, miles away in a humble apartment complex, a woman who looked like an older Uraraka, her eyes looking perpetually closed and with some bags under her eyes, and a tall, burly blonde-haired man watched the match through their TV.

The blonde man started to shake and shiver. It snapped the older Uraraka look-alike from her shock to look at the man. "Honey?" She questioned, worrying.

"MY BABY GIRL!" The man roared to the heavens without a care in the world, tears firing off his eyes with uncontrollable pride.

---

AAAAAAANNNNNDDDD SCENE! Another two matches are done and done, and now to explain before I get bombarded with lots of negative comments.

Yes, Serena lost, I know a lot of you were expecting Serena to have it on lock given her Quirk's strengths against Todoroki's, and most expecting Todoroki to somehow win so that we can have Izuku vs Todoroki, you're all right and not right. Yeah, Serena might have the edge on Todoroki with her Quirk being able to turn his ice into water for her to use, but many forget that Serena also has her own limits and weaknesses, such as that she can only lift a certain amount of water before her limit is reached, and she has to concentrate to control the water meaning that any momentary loss of concentration means she can lose control of it.

That and, as much as we hate to admit the strengths of people we dislike, Todoroki is still very powerful with starling amounts of strength, precision, and resourcefulness with his Ice Quirk, and as we saw in canon, Todoroki can use a whole of his ice powers even with half of him covered in frost, so when comparing the two fighters, they are practically on par with each other, with Serena having the slight edge over him.

As for the outcome of the battle, I was on heads or tails on whether to have Todoroki exploit Serena's anger to knock her out of bounds or have Serena quit the match. I found the satisfying conclusion to this conundrum, both in humbling Todoroki and staying consistent and fulfilling Serena's character arc, was the latter option. Serena would show that she can easily match and even surpass Todoroki, showing off her strength and power, as well as her resourcefulness, agility, and quick thinking, to the world and proving herself a powerful up-and-coming Heroine, but Serena in sparing Todoroki also comes with helping to conquer a character flaw of her: her anger.

As I have hinted at and foreshadowed throughout the story, Serena has anger issues. She is like the ocean, calm, peaceful, and beautiful on a clear day, but when the storm comes, her anger, she is terrifying, violent, and vindictive. Both sides of the Yin and Yang. But what separates her from Bakugou's anger is that she gets angry for others, for those that are hurt, like Izuku and Momo, unlike Bakugou who gets angry for his own selfish desires. But as the old God of War said, anger can be a weapon if you can control it, and Serena has been struggling to control that, especially here after learning of Todoroki's actions against Momo and Shinsou's actions towards her that kept her from Izuku. She was one big boiling pot of anger ready to explode.

But thanks to Izuku, where she taught him to be more level-headed, less naive, and to think for himself, Izuku taught her in return to be more compassionate, understanding, and willing to see when someone else is suffering just as badly and in need of help. And when she saw that in Todoroki, she realized he needed help, and recognized her beating him wouldn't help, so she delegated the task to someone more qualified, Izuku. This isn't to downgrade Serena's abilities but to show her inner strength and fortitude.

But she wasn't going to just quit without a bit of mocking to pour salt in Todoroki's wounds, as if her smashing through his defenses and his power wasn't humbling enough. Fun Fact: Lernaean Volley is based on the Lernaean Hydra from Greek Myth.

Then when it came to Uraraka's part of the story, we see her struggling with her insecurities towards her chances with Izuku, given her competition. She thought herself lacking in positive traits, or at least enough that would leave her overshadowed by the other girls. But the unyielding support of her Kirlia and her other Pokémon gave her back some of her confidence. Also, yes, I named her Kirlia Airalin after the same Airalin from Rakkuguy's comics. Seemed a fitting name.

And so, unlike canon, Uraraka has reached the quarterfinals, winning the match and proving to herself that she has what it takes to stand on her own, and perhaps win over Izuku. Now, Izuku just has to talk with her. But let's show some love for Sero with a character update!

Hanta Sero:

-Height: 5'10"

-Age: 15

-Birthday: July 28th

-Quirk: Tape

Pokémon:

1. Ariados: AKA Arachne

-Gender: Female

-Type: Bug/Poison

-Moves: Sucker Punch, String Shot, Fell Stinger, X-Scissor, Poison Sting

-Ability: Swarm

2. Leavanny: AKA Silky

-Gender: Female

-Type: Bug/Grass

-Moves: X-Scissor, Leaf Blade, String Shot, Slash, Bug Bite

-Ability: Overcoat

3. Galvantula

-Gender: Male

-Type: Bug/Electric

-Moves: Electro Web, Thunderbolt, Bug Bite, Sticky Web, Pin Missile

-Ability: Compound Eyes

4. Spidops:

-Gender: Male

-Type: Bug

-Moves: Silk Trap, Counter, Assurance, Bug Bite, Pounce

-Ability: Stakeout

And Update for Serena Mariella

-Moves: Whirlpool Impact, Lernaean Volley

And with that, I hope you guys liked the chapter, please comment your thoughts and Pokémon predictions in the reviews, check out my other stories here and on AO3 if you like, and remember to stay safe, sane, and healthy in these crazy times.

This has Zayden StormVoid, and I will see you all in the next chapter. Ride the Wind, Bullseye! HYAH!