Chapter Text
This was it. The perfect chance. The world was not kind to people like him, all because of a trick of genetics which left him with no power to call his own, and that somehow made him abominable. It hurt. It hurt so much.
The walls of his bedroom were bare where once they had thrived. Posters of heroes that had previously been there proudly now were removed. Figurines were packed into boxes and sold. Dreams of being a hero that had once sustained him for years upon years now lay crushed and ruined at his feet, all because the symbol of peace had told Izuku he couldn't do it without a quirk.
At least this way he could escape. The hero merch had sold for quite a lot of money, enough for him to buy the biggest console release of the century. The Nerve Gear, the pinnacle of artificial reality technology that would allow players to enter the games they played. It had caused quite a stir, and Izuku had been interested, even more so when he heard what the launch title would be.
It was a MMO version of a classic video game series, one that hadn't been updated in nearly fifty years. As it happened, Izuku had played them all. Having no friends left him with plenty of time to do other things.
He lay down in his bed, wanting to be comfortable, and slipped the Nerve Gear on his head. He tried not to be too happy. He'd be going to a world where there were no quirks, where nobody knew who he was, where he could be so much more than a useless Deku. The machine whirred into life and his eyes grew heavy.
Opening them, he found himself standing on a glowing disk of light in a dark void. He didn't wait long before a ball of light appeared before him. It shone with a soft yellow glow, pulsing outward every now again.
"Hello, and welcome to the world of Pokémon," it said.
Izuku smiled. This was very familiar.
"Available to you are all 8 regions of the classic game. Different Pokémon can be found in different regions, and which region you enter will all depend on the Pokémon you choose as your starter."
A screen appeared in front of him. There were three rows of 8 sprites. When he hovered a hand over one, it expanded, showing him the name and a more detailed picture.
This was just like the classic games, only by extension he could choose the region as well. He thought back to the games he'd played and which ones he liked best.
He immediately crossed the fire Pokémon off the list. He had too many bad memories of fire and explosions, and he didn't want his very first Pokémon to be saddled with a bad reputation before he'd even got the chance to use it. That left water and grass types. He'd played a few games with the grass starter, but they never really clicked with him. Snivy had been good, but it looked really snooty here, and a few of the others looked quite hyperactive.
He wanted something calmer, so he looked over the water types. Piplup was cool, and Froakie had an awesome final evolution. Sobble might actually make him want to cry. In the end, he made his choice. If he remembered correctly, this one was quite useful in its home region, and he'd quite liked it when he played it.
He pressed his hand against the screen and the light grew brighter and brighter until he couldn't see anything.
When it cleared, Izuku was standing in a small town. Around him were a bunch of houses. He took a deep breath in. Despite being a bunch of ones and zeroes, the town smelt homely.
With the flick of a wrist, he explored the menu. There was a tiny inventory, with one open slot and a bag. He clicked the bag and a small weight suddenly appeared on his back.
'I guess I equipped the bag. Maybe the other slot is a free inventory space, the equivalent of putting something in my pocket?'
Now when he selected the bag in his menu, it opened up the familiar inventory system he was used to from the old games. It had space for general items, pokeballs, TMs and HMs, as well as key items. Curiously, there was also a space for clothes.
Coming out of his menu, he decided to explore the town a bit. More players had spawned in while he was distracted and most of them were exploring like he was. Some had pulled out their Pokémon, cooing over how cute they were or bigging up how strong they were going to get.
Honestly, Izuku didn't blame them. The starters for this region were quite cool, and even the fire type was pretty cute. He idly flicked up his menu and opened the Pokémon tab. Just as he was about to select his Pokémon, he bumped into another player.
"I'm so sorry!" they both said at the same time.
The other player was also using the male the character model, but he'd changed the hair to be blonde. Izuku had stuck to the default black.
"Sorry, I was a bit distracted with the menu," the blonde said.
"Same here."
"I'm Raiju by the way," he held out a hand.
"Akatani," Izuku replied, taking the offered hand.
He wasn't going to be Deku here. Once they'd said their screen names, they appeared above their heads, floating there for a second before fading away.
"That's so cool," Raiju said, "I've been looking forward to this game for a long time."
"Me too, but I didn't think I'd be able to afford the Nerve Gear."
"Hey, how'd you get a bag?" Raiju asked.
"It was in my inventory."
Raiju fiddled about with the menu for a moment and a bag identical to Izuku's appeared on his back. Raiju admired it for a second before beaming at him.
"Thanks. These controls will take a bit of getting used to."
"No worries."
The street opened up into a small grassy park. Lines painted on it told Izuku it was a battlefield, but Raiju didn't notice that. Instead, he was once again playing with his menu.
There was a small flash and a red and white ball appeared in Raiju's hand. He threw it and it burst open. White light spilled out and formed into a green lizard. It stood on its hind legs and looked over them all with a serious but calm expression.
"Awesome!"
"You went with Treecko?"
"Yeah! I thought he looked pretty cool and I was right. Look, she's even got a little twig in her mouth!"
Sure enough, the Treecko did have a twig, though where it got it from Izuku had no idea.
"I've got an idea. Why don't we have a Pokémon tattle? That's a thing in this game, right?" Raiju said excitedly.
"It is but I'm sorry. I'm not going to battle you, at least not for a while."
"Why not?"
"Because you chose Treecko and I chose…"
Izuku pulled out his own pokeball and tossed it out. From the white light formed a four legged creature. It was blue and had fins and a tail, as well as bright orange gills.
"Mudkip."
Mudkip looked around a bit. When it saw Izuku, it beamed, if Pokémon could beam, before running around. It settled comfortably next to Izuku's feet.
"I don't get it. Why does me having Treecko and you having Mudkip mean we can't battle?" Raiju asked.
"Because yours is grass type, and grass is super effective against water type," Izuku said.
"This game has a type chart? Please tell me it's not super complicated!" Raiju said.
"I don't think so. Most of them are kind of easy," Izuku said, "I could teach you if you'd like."
Raiju smiled brightly.
"Really? Thanks dude!"
Treecko gave Mudkip a once over before nodding her approval. Mudkip didn't seem to mind. Izuku and Raiju returned their Pokémon and they headed back towards the centre of the town.
"So this place is like the starting town. I wonder if there's a tutorial somewhere, or a player guide," Raiju said.
"There might be one in the menu but I haven't really looked for one."
"Must be nice already knowing your stuff. Were you one of the beta testers or something?"
"No. This game is a remake of old games that came out before quirks emerged. I managed to find copies of them and played them all."
Up ahead, they heard some bangs and crashes. The central square had many people standing around. A few people were standing opposite each other, their Pokémon out and battling. The crowds around each one were calling out encouragement, or else were demanding to fight next.
"Sweet, some battles. Now you can teach me without us having to fight," Raiju said earnestly.
Izuku smiled and agreed. It was nice to have someone being friendly with him. They approached the nearest battle. On one side was a female trainer with her Torchic and on the other a male trainer with a Treecko.
"So who's going to win, oh wise master?" Raiju asked.
"It'll really depend on what moves they use. If they stick to their normal moves like scratch or pound, then it could go either way, but Torchic has the type advantage."
The Torchic and Treecko danced around each, dodging each other's attacks.
"Treecko, absorb!"
The Treecko shot out a pulse of pale green energy. It hit the Torchic and small globules of light flowed out of the chick and into Treecko. It didn't faze the bird much.
"Torchic, use ember!"
The fire attack burst out of the Torchic's beak, tiny sparks of flame which scorched on impact with the Treecko, which cried out in pain. It fell to the ground and shattered into tiny pieces of light.
"No! What did you do to- aargh!"
The trainer who lost the battle cried out in pain. Lines criss crossed their body like cracks. White light shone from them and when his body was completely covered, his cries suddenly silenced. The onlookers were shocked when he fell apart, the pieces fading away with the wind. Across the square, other battles also ended with one person disintegrating, seemingly in pain as well.
That seemed very graphic for a video game for all ages, Izuku thought as everyone else seemed just as stunned. Nobody said anything and even the other remaining battles stopped when they saw what happened.
"Is that what's supposed to happen when you lose a battle?" Raiju asked.
Izuku shook his head. Maybe there was a bug, or a glitch? Normally in Pokémon games, if your last Pokémon faints then you get sent to the last Pokémon centre you visited. But this was the starting town, what happened there?
He opened his menu, intending to log out so he could check the forums. If they'd encountered this here, then surely other players had experienced it as well. If not, then he could send a message and ask the question. He went into his settings and went to log out, but the button was grey and didn't respond when he tried clicking it.
"Hey Raiju, can you try logging out?"
Raiju jumped but quickly went through his own menu. He frowned.
"It's not working," he said.
In the quiet left over from the trainer vanishing, their voices carried, and around them other players also tried logging out. Cries of panic filled the air as people reported being unable to do so. Everyone looked around frantically as though someone else had the answers they wanted. Raiju looked at Izuku questioningly. Izuku shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head to show his confusion.
A bright light appeared underneath each player, steadily growing in brightness. Many tried to run but the light followed them. Izuku shielded his eyes and then in the next moment, they all vanished.
When the light subsided, Izuku was still in the town square. More and more lights appeared as the other players were warped to the same place. Raiju was still next to him, which both were happy about. At least there was someone here that they both recognised in the chaos.
Before people could question what was going on, the same orb of light they'd interacted with at the start of the game appeared in the sky, bigger and brighter than it had been then. It didn't stay that way though. It morphed and took shape, arms and legs stretching out of it. The light faded and left behind a giant man floating in the sky. His dark hair was mottled with grey and he was wearing a pristine lab coat. He looked down on them all, and his smile sent shivers down Izuku's spine.
"Greetings, I am the Pokémon Professor," he said.
Those familiar words, spoken in every Pokémon game, had never felt so intimidating.
"Welcome to the world of Pokémon. It’s a wonderful place full of incredible creatures, and now that you're here, you can never leave. Some of you may have noticed that the option to log out is greyed out in your menu."
There were a few murmurs from the crowd.
"Well that isn't a bug. None of you will be able to leave until someone completes the game. Now surely that'll be easy, some of you might be thinking. Unfortunately for you, it isn't."
"You can progress through this game by catching and training Pokémon to fight for you, but in the past there was this little challenge called Nuzlocke. Put simply, if your Pokémon's health reaches zero, then it's gone forever, and if all the Pokémon in your party die then you lose."
"And if you lose in this game, then you die for real."
A wave of silence crashed over the players, followed swiftly by a crushing cold. Izuku thought back to those players who lost the battles earlier. They'd cried out in pain before disappearing. Those people, they'd died. He'd watched people die right in front of him. Next to him, Raiju looked sick.
"This is insane!"
"You can't do this to us!"
"The heroes will save us!"
"Ah the heroes," the professor said, "there's not much they can do I'm afraid, because if anyone tries to remove the Nerve Gear before the game is completed, your brain will be fried to a crisp."
The Professor pressed a button and an item appeared in Izuku's hand.
"One last thing before I go. This will make everything so much more interesting."
It was a handheld mirror. Izuku held it up, seeing his player avatar staring back at him. There was a blinding flash and suddenly, he was looking at himself. Not the player model he'd selected but his real, actual body. Green hair, green eyes, short and skinny, there was no mistaking it.
"Akatani?"
Next to him was a blonde boy where Raiju had been standing. He was a few inches taller than Izuku, with bright blonde hair with a streak of black like a lightning bolt in it. Above his head, instead of Raiju, it said Denki Kaminari.
"Raiju?" Izuku asked.
"Oh thank god. I wasn't sure because your name is different."
"So is yours."
"I'll be leaving now," the Professor said, silencing everyone again, "I hope you have fun on your Pokémon adventure."
The floating figure disappeared into a fine mist, blowing away on the wind. Nobody moved or said anything for a minute after he was gone as the situation sunk in. They were stuck in this game and they could very easily die. Through the crowd, voices started to bubble up. Nervous cries and panicked shouts. It spread and spread, and Izuku let it wash over him.
This was supposed to be the perfect chance for him to get away from his terrible life. He should have known better. As if he could be that lucky.
Izuku
Mudkip (5)
Denki
Treecko (5)