Work Text:
In a world where most trainers did their best to fill a six-roster team, Midoriya only happened to have only one filled slot and said Pokemon wouldn't even come out of its Pokeball.
“ He's shy,” he tried to explain but they all laughed at his face.
“ What kind of Pokemon is too scared to fight?” Bakugou had said, sneering.
Midoriya wasn't to be swayed. “ He doesn't want to come out of the Pokeball,” he stubbornly insisted. “ Not yet, at least. I'm not going to force him out if he doesn't want to.”
Everyone saw it as a sign of weakness and a failing on Midoriya's part as a trainer.
~.~.~
Midoriya soon picked up a Magikarp and once again, everyone laughed and mocked it for him. They told him he had a habit of picking up weaklings and weirdos for Pokemon.
“ Magikarp and Fearow aren't weak,” Midoriya frowned.
Ahh, so his first Pokemon was a Fearow. They thought it was strange that a Fearow would refuse to come out of its Pokeball. After all, Fearows are known to be vicious hunters and have a hunger for good fight.
(though most kids wouldn't be well suited to have a Fearow as their starter, anyways)
Midoriya must have the worst misfortune in the world to pick up the one Fearow who did not like to fight.
~.~.~
“ You need to train up your Pokemon,” All Might explained. He eyed the flapping Magikarp and inwardly sighed. Young Midoriya had his work cut out for him. “ They need to be stronger if you want to hope to get into Yuuei.”
“ But - but I think my Fearow is strong enough,” Midoriya stuttered, trying to stand by his decision while not wanting to refuse a direct instruction from his idol.
Fearows aren't known to be in these parts, All Might mused. “ How did you come by one?”
“ I found him near the power plant.”
Power plant? All Might knew of an abandoned one north of the city. There were plenty of wild Pokemon there but he didn't think one would find a Fearow there. Perhaps it was an odd stray Fearow that Midoriya happened to come upon.
It was strange, but All Might soon turned his attention back to training Magikarp, the one Pokemon who needed plenty of work to even gain the most basic attack move, tackle. Fearows are tough Pokemon as it were and he would rather focus on the Magikarp.
~.~.~
Iida had been flipping through his giant encyclopedia book on Pokemon, casually discussing each one to Midoriya when he noticed Midoriya frowning as the last page landed on a Fearow.
“ I thought Fearows look differently than that,” he finally said.
The topic of Midoriya's Fearow was a hot topic among the other students. A range of theories came forth. Kouda thought perhaps it had social anxiety, just like Midoriya had said. Kaminari joked there was no Pokemon in there and Midoriya was lying to them the whole time. Yaoyorozu suggested it wasn't a Fearow but a different Pokemon and chose not to come out due to annoyance of being called the wrong name.
“ What do you mean?”
“ My Fearow's color ... is a bit different,” Midoriya admitted.
Iida was immediately interested. He himself did not see a Fearow in person before, so he naturally did not think too much about Midoriya's words. “ Most Fearows have shades of brown. You must have caught a one-of-a-kind Fearow. Perhaps a Shiny Fearow? One from another region? The possibilities are endless!”
Midoriya laughed. “ I suppose so.”
~.~.~
Tsuyu finally asked the question that was on all their minds, “ Why don't you capture more Pokemon? Having two on your roster won't be enough.”
What she did not say (and what everyone else silently agreed) was that having a Magikarp whose strongest attack was Tackle and a Fearow who repeatedly refused to come out of its Pokeball was a rather silly notion and one that could put his life in danger if the wrong kind of opponent came after him.
Midoriya shrugged. “ My Fearow is enough.”
“ A Fearow who disobeys you,” Tsuyu pointed out.
“ It's not like that,” he tried to explain.
“ It's just a coward,” Mineta chortled.
“ Like you're one to talk,” Jirou scolded.
An argument soon broke out among the students and Aizawa entered the room to signal the start of class and they all quickly forgot about Tsuyu's question.
~.~.~
“ Why don't you use your Fearow?” Todoroki suggested, as he, Midoriya and Hagakure crouched inside the vents, as they attempted to complete the current mission Aizawa had given to their team of avoiding being captured by the 'villain' team.
“ That's a great idea! It could fly us away from the other team,” Hagakure chirped.
Midoriya was startled, stunned that the ace of their class and a girl was even speaking to him. “ Let – let me ask,” he stammered.
He raised an eyebrow and she blinked in confusion (even if the other two couldn't see it). Since when did trainers have to ask their Pokemon permission to come out? They watched with amusement as Midoriya reached over and touched the Pokeball that hung so frequently from his hip that at first glance, most people thought it was an accessory key chain.
There was a pause and a few seconds as Midoriya tilted his head, as if listening. “ He says it's too dangerous to come out here,” he finally answered. “ Not enough space.”
Now that took Todoroki and Hagakure back. Most Pokemon obeyed their masters, some even recklessly loyal. For one to refuse to come out and even argue that it was not safe to come out, Midorya's Fearow really was a weird one.
(in hindsight, they should have been suspicious that they were in human-sized vents large enough to accommodate Hagakure's Vileplume and a Fearow surely wouldn't have taken up that much space)
~.~.~
Midoriya had been staring out the window, where a storm was beginning to gather. “ Worried about the rain?” Uraraka asked.
“ Not really. My Fearow is out at the moment.”
“ Your Fearow went out of its ball?” she asked, surprised. This was the first time she ever heard of said Pokemon actually leaving its Pokeball of its own accord.
“ Yeah. He wanted to stretch his wings.”
The thunder rumbled even more loudly in the distance. “ I hope he comes back soon. The storm is getting worse.”
“ I'm not worried about that,” Midoriya explained. He glanced out again, though Uraraka was confused by his cheerfulness and lack of concern. “ He likes storms.”
~.~.~
The odds were beginning to stack against them. All Might's Pokemon were already exhausted and the rest of their Pokemon had either fainted or at low HP levels. The storm above them raged and churned violently, spitting out flashes of lightning against the darkened sky.
Midoriya rushed forward to face the villains, as if he himself could protect All Might and his team. His Magikarp was already exhausted, dealing with the water-based villains earlier. And to the rest of the world, there was no relying on his cowardly, pathetic Fearow.
If nothing else, Shigaraki was amused by the imagery of a tiny chick attempting to shield its old, failing parent. “ What are you going to do? Have your Magikarp splash at us?”
A small smile appeared. Midoriya, who previously would have scream and cry in terror at the first sight of danger, appeared nothing but confident. If the others had chose to listen, they would have realized the roar of thunder was becoming increasingly loud and closer.
“ Magikarp isn't for battling,” Midoriya explained. “ My Fearow is.”
Shigaraki snorted. “ A Fearow? What good will a Fearow do against –”
A sudden lightning bolt from the sky interrupted him, burning and cackling through the air and landing between Shigaraki and Midoriya. Some screamed, diving out of the way, trying to escape the heat and light. Others, including the arriving teachers, stood in shock and horror as the erupting luminous electricity grew larger and larger, forming a set of vast jagged wings, stretching out wicked sharp talons and a thin, long beak.
Zapdos, the bird of thunder and lightning and power, was before their very eyes.
And it landed right behind Midoriya, nearly dwarfing the boy with its massive wingspread alone. It dipped its head down to gently nuzzle the boy's head. Midoriya laughed, reaching up to pet Zapdos – a titan, a myth, a legendary – as if it was any common creature.
They could only stare, words failing them. “ That's – that's not a Fearow,” Black Mist finally said.
“ Of course, he is.” Midoriya frowned.
Zapdos shrieked, causing them to clap a hand to their ears to stop the sizzle of electricity from burning them from inside out. It regarded them all with its relentless beady eyes, almost like it was daring them to contradict Midoriya's words.
They wisely said nothing more.