Chapter Text
At long last, the Internships had ended. Students returned to their regular school activities with improvements to their Quirks and fighting skills: Aoyama developed a new technique with his Dazzling Gleam that allowed him to manifest the Quirk as a blade of light rather than simply a beam, Hagakure learned that her scales had light-refracting properties which combined well with Aoyama’s Quirk, and Ashido developed a new technique where she coated herself in her Acid Spray and then rammed into targets just to name a few.
After class, All Might took Izuku and Kacchan aside and asked them to come to his office for a private meeting.
“Congratulations on finally getting Grass Knot under control, young Midoriya! And you too are growing quite strong, young Bakugo: there truly seems to be no limit to your potential!” The Jolteon congratulated the two teenage Pokémon.
“Well, duh!” the Quilava grumbled “Get to the point already! You obviously didn’t bring us here just to heap some extra praise.”
“You really are clever for one so impulsive.” All Might chuckled slightly “But yes, let’s talk about Extreme Evoboost.”
The Jolteon reached into his sash’s pocket and pulled out a plain-looking notebook, which he placed in front of Izuku and Kacchan.
The Eevee and Quilava inched closer in curiosity.
“After some research I managed to dig up as much as I could about the past users and wrote it all down in this for you, young Midoriya. I was unfortunately unable to find anything substantial about the second and third, however.”
Kacchan promptly snatched the notebook without asking and started flipping through the pages. “Alright, fifth user. Name: Dangoro Banjo. Species: Leafeon. Hero name: Lariat. Quirk: Grass Knot, which allowed him to shoot out ensnaring tendrils of grass out of his body. He mainly used this Quirk for mobility and restraining opponents. Looks like your Leech Seed upgrade would’ve been real useful for this guy, huh, Deku.”
“Yeah, that’d make sense.” Said Izuku “Now that I can use Grass Knot better, I’ve noticed that the Leech Seeds don’t show up every time I use it, but since the tendrils still don’t last that long I’m not sure why.”
“Well, no wonder this guy and those other bozos were such nobodies: their Quirks were lame!” Kacchan scoffed.
“How can you say that?!” Izuku cried “There’s no such thing as a lame Quirk!”
“Of course you’d think that, Deku!” Kachan rolled his eyes, “You were Quirkless once! Figures that even the crappiest power would look awesome when you don’t have one to begin with!”
“Well, although that’s a rather curt way to put it, young Bakugo’s not exactly wrong.” Said All Might with a light cough “See, All for One has an insatiable lust for power, and during the height of his reign he stole the best and strongest Quirks he could get his paws on while simultaneously crushing any Pokémon that even seemed like they’d be strong enough to oppose him, which means the best candidates to pass Extreme Evoboost onto were Pokémon with weak and innocuous Quirks that All for One wouldn’t even glance at.
“In fact, in most instances, the past users were only able to pass on Extreme Evoboost at the end of their cut short lives to the nearest candidate.”
Izuku’s fur bristled with fear. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how it must have felt, to be dying and desperately passing on something so crucial to anyone available… and how that Pokémon would themselves become a target.
“Yep, that tracks.” Kastuki said, as he closed the notebook with finality “So, anyway, what power should the nerd learn next?”
“Ideally, Fairy Wind. My master’s Quirk.”
At that, Izuku perked up. Nana Shimura’s Quirk! All Might’s Master’s Quirk!
“A-are you sure, All Might?!” Izuku squeaked.
“Of course!” the Jolteon laughed “It would be quite a useful ability to unlock! You see, Fairy Wind, as its name implies, allowed my master to conjure up gusts of wind imbued with Fairy energy. However, they were too weak to do much damage, so my master mainly used this Quirk to make herself float in the air.”
“Ha! My Lava Plume does that and can be used offensively! That means I win!” Kacchan laughed triumphantly. “You’ll be struggling to take off while I continue to hone my skills!”
“W-well, I’ll just have to catch up quickly, then!” Izuku retorted.
“Careful with the crash-landings, nerd! With how clumsy you are you’ll probably break your whole skeleton for the umpteenth time!” Kacchan ribbed.
“No fair, I’ve gone a good while without breaking anything!” Izuku protested.
“You still break more bones in a year than most Pokémon do in their entire lives!”
All Might could only suppress a laugh at the childish back and forth.
After the meeting, Izuku took a long hard look at what All Might had written down about the past users, and it soon became obvious why the Jolteon had wanted his protégé to start preparing for Fairy Wind first.
The second and third users had only their names and species listed: respectively, they were a Flareon named Toshitsugu Kudo and a Vaporeon named Bruce Lee. The only other information about them was that they’d been members of a resistance that opposed All for One, at least according to All Might’s own suspicions, since information about the group itself was scant. With the second and third’s Quirks a mystery it was impossible to prepare.
The fourth user was an Espeon named Hikage Shinomori. His Quirk was Detect, which allowed him to sense incoming danger. This one seemed to be automatic, so it likely wouldn’t need training. There was something odd about the fourth that was unrelated to his power, though: for some reason, All Might had crossed out a portion of miscellaneous notes. Izuku would have to ask his mentor about that later when he got the chance.
The fifth user was Daigoro Banjo, whom Kacchan had already gone over. He’d died after confronting All for One, but not before he managed to pass Extreme Evoboost to the sixth user, a Glaceon named En Tayutai. His Quirk was Snow Cloak, which allowed him to surround himself in a cold fog to hide. This one seemed simple enough and was clearly not for offense.
And last but certainly not least, Nana Shimura, whose portion was the most detailed since she was the only user All Might had personally known. It had been her who had inspired him to always smile. Her mastery of Fairy Wind was so good that it made her practically capable of flight. According to All Might’s notes, this was in part because the flowing ribbonlike feelers characteristic of her species helped her catch Fairy Wind and act as rudders.
By the time Izuku finished going over everything, it was already late.
I’ll start training tomorrow. An anxious Izuku resolved.
Next morning after breakfast, Izuku took Uraraka, Kacchan, and Sero aside to plan out a training session.
“I understand asking Sero for training, but why me?” Uraraka asked.
“Um, well, turns out that when I use my new power to swing around I kinda get vertigo for some reason, so I was hoping training under the influence of your Gravity would help me overcome that.” Izuku said, hoping to Alpha that his white lie sounded convincing.
“Huh. Strange, you never had that problem with all the jumping around you already do, but I guess swinging from a thread is a different feeling entirely.” Said Ochaco, much to the Eevee’s relief: he really hated lying to his friends like this…
“Oh, qu'est-ce que c'est? You guys are making party plans and not inviting moi?” Aoyama suddenly butted in in that overdramatic fashion of his.
“Fucking- why are you eavesdropping?!” Kacchan snapped.
“I’m not eavesdropping, I just happened to overhear!” Aoyama said innocently.
“Calm down, Kacchan.” Izuku said “There isn’t any harm in letting Aoyama come and train too.”
“Oui! Thank you so much ma petit boule de coton!” Aoyama said giddily as he suddenly tousled the fur on Izuku’s head.
“Well, we best reserve one of the training grounds before Monoma tries to hoard them all!” Sero said with a cheeky laugh. The rest of the young Pokémon couldn’t help but chuckle; even Kacchan cracked a grin.
There were no problems with reserving a training spot, as it turned out.
“Alright, Midoriya, you need help with your weird grass tendril thingies, right?” Sero asked as soon as the group made it to the training ground.
“Well, I have more control over them now, but they have… a bit of a time limit.” Izuku explained “They don’t last for very long, and I still haven’t figured out what exactly causes the Leech Seeds to appear. I do know that my emotions influence them, but for now it’s only the control part I’ve gotten a hang of.”
“Show me.” Said Serio.
Izuku nodded before taking a deep breath and extending his forelegs. The Eevee concentrated and fired off two tendrils of grass from each paw. The tendrils reached the middle of the field, where they wrapped themselves around the nearest object: a small rock pillar.
No seeds again. Izuku noted. Activating the power boost of Extreme Evoboost, Izuku prepared to pull at the rock, but Grass Knot dissipated at that moment.
“Huh, that’s interesting...” Sero said pensively “Believe it or not, my String Shot was similarly limited when it first emerged. I can teach you some leg exercises that will help stimulate it. I would also suggest eating more fiber, since it does look like grass.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that?!” Izuku’s ears perked up, and his tail thumped into the dirt repeatedly. “It’s got Grass-type properties, so I need a diet that can help it grow!”
“Alright, well, you can plan the diet later. We’re here to train.” Kacchan said impatiently.
“Chill, dude, I was getting to that!” Sero protested before turning his attention back to Izuku.
“For now, we’re just going to do what I did for my Summer Camp training.” Said the Spidops “The strategy is straightforward but effective: use your attack continuously, and over time you’ll be able to make longer and more continuous tendrils. It will also help increase their tensile strength. Once you manage to maintain those tendrils indefinitely, we’ll focus on their use.”
“Right.” Izuku nodded with determination. He had seen Sero’s training, so the Eevee had a pretty good idea of what he was in for.
Facing away from his friends, Izuku assumed the same stance from before and launched Grass Knot from his forepaws again, trying to keep them continuous this time.
The Eevee kept at it for over the next thirty minutes, during which time Grass Knot petered out a lot. The Leech Seeds still failed to make an appearance
“Alright, that’ll be it for now.” Said Sero “I’m pretty sure I saw the tendrils last longer near the end, so I’d say you’re making good progress, Midoriya!”
“Thanks, Sero!” Izuku said with a happy tail wag.
“Alright, looks like it’s my turn!” Uraraka chirped as she stepped into the training field and stood in front of Izuku, who immediately felt his ears burning. Alpha, she was so pretty…
Pressing her paw pads together, Uraraka activated Gravity and made herself weightless before doing the same to Izuku.
“How are you feeling, Deku?” Uraraka asked.
“So far so good.” Izuku replied as he instinctively paddled in place “How do you move across the air when you’re weightless?”
“I can do it at will since Gravity is my Quirk.” Uraraka said. “It sadly doesn’t work that way for Pokémon I use it on, but for now I’ll fly you around.”
The Espurr the offered Izuku a paw, which the Eevee sheepishly accepted. And for a while the two just traveled across the air, Uraraka gently guiding Izuku, who was already silently brainstorming on how to apply this to when Fairy Wind manifested. All Might’s notes had said Nana used her feelers as rudders, so maybe he could use his fluffy tail in a similar manner? Unfortunately, there was no wind in the training grounds right now, so Izuku had no way to put that idea to the test right now.
For now, the Eevee just focused on the feeling of being airborne. It was relaxing in a way. It didn’t hurt that his training partner was the most wonderful Espurr in the world…
“Alright, this has been boring as shit for long enough!” Kacchan suddenly blurted out as he propelled himself into the air with Lava Plume “TIME TO LEARN HOW TO DODGE IN MID-AIR, DEKU!”
“Wha-KACCHAN, HOLD ON!” Izuku shrieked. Lucky for him, Uraraka was quick to react and pulled him away to safety.
“Don’t help the nerd, he has to dodge by himself!” Kacchan protested as he gave chase
“He can’t control his own movements under the influence of my Quirk, it’s not his fault!” a startled Uraraka pointed out as she pulled Izuku out of the way again.
From down below, Aoyama and Sero watched the aerial chase scene with a mix of amusement and bewilderment.
At some point during the chase, Kacchan landed on a stone pillar to reorient himself, but mistimed his positioning, and crashed into it, causing the Quilava to plummet followed by dozens of large boulders.
“KACCHAN!” Izuku fired Grass Know from his paw to grab the rocks threatening to crush the Fire-type.
And this is when the Leech Seeds finally made a reappearance, immediately latching themselves into the rocks and sprouting vines upon contact. The vines helped retrain the boulders even more, eventually stringing them together into a large mass of grass and rocks.
“Dammit, Deku, I would’ve been fine!” Kacchan grumbled as he landed without issue.
“We know you would, Splody McSploshun!” Sero cheekily laughed “But, hey, look: the seeds are finally back!”
Meanwhile, Uraraka and Izuku floated back down so that the latter could set his cargo into the ground carefully.
“I think that’ll be it for today!” said Uraraka as she released herself and Izuku from the effects of Gravity. “That was amazing, Deku! I do wonder why the seeds are back?”
“The last time they appeared was during our Internship with Endeavor and I had to restrain a villain…” Izuku said, thinking “It responds to my emotions, so I think maybe the seeds only appear when my Quirk feels they’re truly needed?”
“Whatever the case, you always shine so brightly, mon amie!” Aoyama said as he spun around and shot a few small Dazzling Gleam beams out of his belly.
Izuku smiled. It had been a rather short session, but at least he’d make some valuable progress.
Tomura tentatively followed Dr. Garaki through some dark halls. The old Pawmot had contacted him shortly after he and the League took control of the Meta Liberation Army.
“You are ready. Time for you to reap your reward.” Was all that the doctor had said before sending the Ambipom directions to a medical facility.
Now Tomura was back at the lab, nervous but eager.
“You experienced a Quirk Awakening during the fight against the Liberation Army.” said the Doctor in a pleased tone as the duo arrived at a secluded hospital room. “Now you can expand your range of destruction.”
The Pawmot faced Tomura with a smirk “Here’s the million-nugget question: why do you seek even more power?”
“Well, if more power is available why wouldn’t I take the opportunity?” Tomura replied with a wicked grin “I refuse to underestimate the heroes anymore: I want to ensure that I destroy All Might and his legacy completely and utterly. I’m challenging the heroes to an all-out war!”
Garaki chuckled with satisfaction “Using your talents to make your enemy miserable, I like that! Just like your master!”
“Take a seat, please.” The Pawmot gestured towards an oversized cot in the middle of the room that was surrounded by tubes and wires.
Tomura obeyed.
“Before we begin, I have a question for you, young Tomura: if I told you that Quirks are far, far more ancient than what the history books say, how would you react?”
“I’d think it sounds like a conspiracy theory.” Tomura replied with a disinterested shrug.
To the Ambipom’s surprise, Garaki looked disappointed “Shameful, but perhaps unsurprising: that’s what many of my colleagues thought too. In fact, most said far crasser things regarding my theory. It has gained more popularity in recent years, but back in the day the only Pokémon who ever took me seriously was your master, All for One.”
“Master likes conspiracy theories?”
“He was ahead of his time, just like me.” Said Garaki as he tinkered with the machinery “I believe that Pokémon of the ancient past used to have Quirks, multiple of them, in fact. Unfortunately for us, their descendants, the maximum limit for our bodies is two, as any more will eventually take a toll physically and mentally, reverting our brains to a non-sapient state.”
Doctor Garaki walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a glass container with a bright orange gem inside.
“To circumvent that, modifications are in order.” Said the Pawmot as he walked back to Tomura’s bedside.
The Ambipom smirked in understanding “Tell me, Doctor, how long will the procedure take?”
“Excited, are you?” Garaki chuckled “I like that chutzpa! The procedure will take four months to complete, but I must warn you that it will be agonizingly painful. But once it’s complete -should you survive- you’ll be able to have anything your heart desires! Even Extreme Evoboost won’t escape your grasp!”
Tomura’s grin got wider.
“Proceed.”
It was late at night at UA. Students and teachers alike had gone to sleep at their designated dormitories hours ago. The only creature still stirring was the resident Togedemaru principal, who was being kept awake by his own racing thoughts.
Nezu’s quiet chittering was the only thing breaking the silence of his room. Aizawa and Mic were still reeling from the discovery of what had become of their childhood friend, and now Hawks had revealed troubling new information regarding the Meta Liberation Army: it was already bad enough that Tomura Shigaraki had been appointed as its new leader, but it also turns out that he had a terrifying ally on his side that would make things incredibly difficult for the heroes. So far, knowledge of said ally has been kept secret from the population at large, as the Commission did not want to incite mass panic.
Nezu stared back and forth between the picture Hawks had sent and all the notes in his research about human mythologies.
The large reptilian creature in the photo was a near-perfect match to the way humans had depicted it. And it’s reported powers so far looked like a match too.
The Villains had a Legendary Pokémon on their side.