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"What are you looking at, Izu-chan?"
Izuku lifts his phone to find Tsuyu and her Greninja observing him. "Oh, well...I'm thinking of getting Eri her own starter." For all his "pampering" of Eri, Overhaul never allowed her to have Pokémon, much less be anywhere near one. Izuku can feel the loneliness and slight envy emitting from the girl whenever anyone brought their ace.
"Do you think she's responsible enough to have one?" Kirishima looks a little unsure. "Don't get me wrong, having a partner is awesome and all, but what if the Pokémon starts getting a little out of hand?"
"It's no so much about responsibility as it is about her well-being," Shouto replies. He gently strokes the purring Flareon in his lap. "I didn't exactly make my home life a secret, so you know I would have turned out much worse if I didn't have my Pokémon to get me through."
That part is all too true. Izuku remembers him mentioning how, after his mother was admitted to the hospital, her Froslass would come and go to provide the emotional care Endeavor robbed of his own son. Whenever Froslass wasn't around, Flareon and Glaceon would pick up the slack for her.
Eventually, Endeavor's own Pokémon began ignoring him in favor of Shouto. They were already dissatisfied with the man before, but after the incident, they began disobeying him entirely. They no longer saw him as their trainer for the damage he had done to his own family. It also made sense to leave: after all, if a man was horrible to his own wife and children to the point of physical abuse, who's to say he won't turn on his own Pokémon as well?
All of that further adds to Izuku's criteria of finding the perfect starter for Eri: it has to be compatible with people, easy to tame and befriend, but not so tame that they're unwilling to fight back if they need to. It also shouldn't be too strong for Eri to handle, just enough to ward off bullies or suspicious persons, and they have to be able to get her to safety as quickly as possible. There is also, of course, the bonding part. Pokémon aren't just tools for battle and arresting villains, but man's best friends.
Izuku sighs and turns to his Lopunny. "What do you think, Mimi...?" He's had Lopunny ever since she was a Buneary, so he knows from prior experience that out of the two of them, she's the one who comes up with better ideas faster than he does.
Lopunny crosses her arms and taps her foot, and then her eyes light up. She plucks the phone out of her partner's hands and searches something before showing him. Once he sees for himself, his eyes light up too. "Oh...! That's a good idea!"
He grabs his backpack and runs out the door with Lopunny.
When they said Galarian Ponyta are rare and difficult to catch, they were not kidding.
"I know the place is hours away," Izuku grumbles, "but jeez..." Lopunny is similarly exhausted, and plops onto the couch with Izuku as soon as they return to the dorms. Their legs pulse uncomfortably from the marathon they ran trying to catch that Ponyta (evidently it was just racing around the countryside to mess with them). "I wonder if Eri's still out with Togata-senpai..."
A blond head pokes out from behind the couch. "Someone call for us?"
Izuku squeaks, almost falling off the couch he was laying on. "S—senpai, you're back already?" Well, that makes having to wait very brief. "Is Eri in her room right now?"
Togata nods. "Tsu said you were out looking for starters, right?"
"Yeah, but um..." Izuku scratches his neck. "Lopunny and I actually got her two. They're both super friendly, though, so it should be fine."
"Hey, the more the merrier, right?" Togata beams encouragingly. "Whatever you've chosen for her, I'm sure she'll love them!" He peers at the two Poké Balls in Izuku's bag, one Dusk Ball and one Heal Ball. "I am kind of curious about what you got her."
Izuku smiles and releases the two Pokémon.
Mirio grins at the sight of the Pokémon. "Something other than, Fairy-type, I knew it! Hadou's forking over 20,000 yen today!"
"But the Ponyta's a Fairy-type...and you were holding a bet?"
"I'm getting us a good dinner." The blond straightens up to stretch. "You ready to show her?"
"I think so, yeah." Izuku motions for the two to follow him up to the elevator.
The Ponyta paces in place until the elevator opens to Eri's floor, and Izuku leads them to a door decorated with all sorts of stickers. He lightly knocks. "Eri? Mind if I come in? I've got some new friends for you."
Eri's voice instantly calls out, "The door's open!"
"You got her a Misdreavus!?" Kaminari warily watches the Ghost-type Pokémon, while Eri can be heard squealing in delight even after losing another round of hide-and-seek. Even his Yamper, who is always running yapping at everything, is cowering under the couch Izuku is relaxing on. "Not to be that guy judging a book cover, but are you sure that's a good idea!?"
Jirou lightly jabs him with a smirk. "What, you scared of a little ghost?" she teases.
"Uh, let me think about— Yes!"
"I'm afraid I have to agree with Kaminari-kun." Iida adjusts his glasses the way he usually does when hesitant. "Ghost-types in general tend to be very mischievous, no matter how endearing some of them may appear."
"Iida-chan." Tsuyu tilts her head in amusement. "I didn't know you're afraid of ghosts."
Their class president squawks indignantly, "I am not!"
Izuku slumps a bit with pleading eyes. "Hey, come on you guys. I know Ghost-types have a bad rep, but this one is really friendly! She actually helped me and Mimi after we almost got lost chasing after Ponyta."
"I'm with you on this, Midoriya-chan." Tsuyu pats his hand reassuringly. "But have you checked with Aizawa-sensei first?"
His jaw clacks shut. He had completely forgotten to ask Aizawa if it was alright to get Eri her first Pokémon...!
Right as he's about to bolt out the door in the dead of the night, the man himself strolls right in with his Cofagrigus. "You forgot your pain medication, Midoriya," he mutters.
Izuku yelps when Cofagrigus chucks a white paper bag signed by Recovery Girl square in his face. "Th—thank you, sensei, Cofagrifus...!"
Kaminari crawls over the couch and scrambles to their teacher. "Sensei, talk some sense into him! The Misdreavus—"
"Midoriya's choice is a logical one. The Misdreavus has my approval."
Kaminari face-plants. "Why am I not surprised...?"
Iida swallows hard. "Sensei, are you sure about this?"
"Did you even give him a chance to explain?" Aizawa counters, and gets brief silence. "I figured not. How is Eri's Quirk is activated?"
"It requires physical contact," Tsuyu answers, "and some Ghost-types, most commonly Gengar, are known for being able to turn intangible. They can also do the same for others." She nods in content with the conclusion. "So Misdreavus is supposed to act as a counter in case Eri's Quirk activates without sensei around."
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone." Kaminari lifts his head and points at the observing Misdreavus. "If Midoriya wanted to get Eri a Ghost-type that can go untouchable, why not a Gastly to train and evolve into Gengar? There are plenty of abandoned places in town where you can find them."
"Gastly's also a Poison-type," Izuku points out. "I was afraid Eri might accidentally get herself poisoned playing with one."
"Ah, that's a valid concern."
Aizawa walks over to the whiteboard and scribbles something on Saturday. "No objections? Good. You've got a quiz with thirty questions tomorrow, so start studying."
Kaminari groans and is about to plant his face on the floor again when he pauses. "Oh?"
Izuku raises an eyebrow and follows the blond's stare—
Oh.
Oh no...!
Kacchan is walking towards them with Misdreavus hovering above him, holding a pair of scissors at spiky blond hair.
"Kero...!" Tsuyu makes a decision and drags Izuku out of the lounge.
They haven't even made it to the stairs and it's already chaos.
"MISDREAVUS! PUT THOSE SCISSORS DOWN THIS INSTANT!"
"THE FUCK ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT THIS TIME, FOUR-EYES!?"
"I take back everything I said! Can we keep her!?"
"We just got Sensei's approval, Jamming-Whey."
Tsuyu holds the elevator door open for Jirou's Noibat to join her and Izuku.
Snip!