Chapter Text
Ever since I could remember I always wanted to be a hero. It was because of All Might, the greatest hero of all time! He saved everyone with a smile on his face! And I wanted to be just like him. But then when I turned four, I learned not all men are created equal.
"Yeah, you're quirkless," the doctor said, almost bored of the conversation.
My body froze up. I dropped my All Might toy to the ground and my body refused to try and retrieve it.
"How are you so sure?" My mother asked, clearly worried for my well being and wanting to make sure there was no mistake.
"It's in the x-ray. See right in his pinkie toe, he has two joints. Quirkless people have the extra joint, while quirk users have only the one," the doctor explained pretty quickly, like he didn't care that he just crushed a young boy's dream.
"I see," my Mother replied, "Well, thank you for seeing us, have a nice day," she quickly said, picking up my All Might toy with her quirk and pulling me out of the chair.
The rest of the day was disappointing. I didn't do anything else but watch my favorite video of All Might's debut for hours on end. I didn't realize I was crying until my Mom came in and said, "Izuku?"
"Can I still become a hero? Even without a quirk?" I asked my Mom with all the tears streaming down my face, hoping and praying that there was a way.
"I'm so sorry, Izuku!" Mom quickly exclaimed, running over and hugging me while bawling her eyes out. And that's how the worst day of my life happened.
Ever since that day, life just got worse. My former best friend, Katsuki Bakugou, started bullying me for not having a quirk. Hisashi Midoriya, my biological father, divorced my Mom and went AWOL. We only knew he was still alive because of the child support checks. Mom started treating me like I was made of glass.
Everything sucked, except for Heroes. I didn't give up on my dream. I knew I could become a hero, somehow, someway. So I started taking notes on every hero that appeared. Of course, I made entries on All Might, but also Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist, Eraserhead, Miruko, Edgeshot, Kamui Woods, Crust and tons of other heros that showed up. Because of the work I put into my hero journals, I became pretty good at analyzing heroes and villains. This continued, the good and the bad for 6 years, until one day something strange happened.
On my tenth birthday, I was walking home from school, after another bullying session with Kacchan happened, when some old guy bumped into me.
"Oh goodness!" Was the stranger's
immediate reaction. He looked down at me on the ground, "I'm so sorry! That was completely my fault! Let me help you up!"
The old man quickly grabbed my hand and hoisted me up. He looked a little odd, wearing a white lab coat over a red polo and khaki pants. His hair was a sandy blonde becoming gray with very stern looking eyebrows. His stern expression immediately softened when he saw I was alright.
"Good to see you're alright! How clumsy of me to bump into such a kind young man as yourself. Anyway, I'm Samuel Oak, or Professor Oak or just Oak for short!" The professor said.
"I-I'm Izuku M-Midoriya," I stuttered out.
"Hmm, well to apologize for my earlier rudeness, how about I give you this gift?"
"W-What? I-I can't j-just take t-that f-from you!"
"True, I should probably explain what it is," Oak mused, "Very well, this device helps its user understand their quirk better, adapting to assist in whatever way it can!"
"Woah! So it could become like a pair of goggles for a person with a quirk in their eyes, like Eraserhead!" I quickly spoke, "or it could become a device that supplies the melting point of certain materials for someone with a flame quirk!"
"Exactly, my boy! You have a quick understanding of these things. So, willing to accept?" The professor asked.
"I can't," I said, becoming saddened, "I'm quirkless."
"Well that can't be right," Oak said.
"Huh?" Was all I could respond with.
"Well, the device is already reacting to you. I mean, I'm quirkless, so it can't react to me so it has to be locked onto you!" Oak said while holding the device out to me.
The screen of the device had a single bubble saying,
[Quirk detected]
Activate?
Y/N
I was speechless. I had a quirk? How? What was happening? Without even realizing it, my hand reached out and tapped the yes on the device. In response, the device started glowing. It grew in size and became rectangular. A screen was at the top and at the bottom was a dial shaped like a circle split by a line with another circle in the middle. The dial was red, with the center circle being white. The rest of the device was gray.
"Wohoho! What an interesting new contraption! I've never seen– wait a second! Yes I have! My goodness! I didn't think I'd ever see this here!" Professor Oak was going off on a very confusing rant all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but what's wrong?" I asked, confusion spreading across my face.
"What's wrong? Nothing is wrong, I'm just surprised, is all. Why, this contraption is a Pokédex!" The professor exclaimed excitedly.
"A Pokédex?" I asked, confused.
"Yes, yes, yes. A Pokédex! A wonderful part of a game from the far past. Why, I was named after one of the characters of the game series!" Oak quickly exclaimed, "Oh dear, I can't believe it! I'm late for my talk show, Quirk Talk with DJ Mary! I'm so sorry I can't explain anymore, but maybe we'll run into each other again and I can teach you more! Enjoy your Pokédex and good luck with your quirk!" Professor Oak yelled over his shoulder.
'What a weird experience,' I thought.
But, two things were now very prominent in my mind. Number one, I had a quirk! Somehow, I actually had a quirk! I can become a hero! But, the weirder part was number two, my quirk had something to do with this Pokédex doohickey. I was gonna have to experiment once I got home.
When I got home, I immediately entered my room and sat on my bed. I turned the Pokédex over in my hands. It didn't seem to need a charge or any batteries, but it wasn't on. Then, I pressed the white circle. With a click, the back of the Pokédex slid up to reveal a dual screen that immediately turned on. What surprised me was the menu. It said there was one seen and zero caught. What did it mean? I hadn't seen anything, had I?
That's when it happened. Behind me, a voice said, "Bulba?"
I screamed.