#but Shinso Hitoshi and Class 1-B are his favorites to teach

[toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp]

Hello and welcome to Day 19 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

Another day, another zany MHA Crossover/AU that I wanna cross off my list of plot bunnies that I wanna explore. This time, I wanna make a Pokemon AU (it's kinda a fusion more cause Pokemon Regions exists still), where people either choose to go and become a Pro-Hero or become a Pokemon Trainer.

This unfortunately doesn't have a title yet, so ideas are always welcome. (I will update this when I find a title for it - temporary one or not)

The premise is more or less like this:

Midoriya Izuku is 4 years old when he is declared Quirkless. This puts a stop to his dream to become a hero, but doesn't stop him from being a Pokemon Trainer.

When Izuku turns 7, his mother gets a new job as a Professor Sycamore's Assistant in Kalos, so they have to move. Inko sees this as a good thing since she knows Izuku is being bullied for being Quirkless. People in this world still put more importance on the Pro-Hero job than on being a Pokemon Trainer, even though Pro-Heroes also use Pokemon as their sidekicks during missions.

And so, at 10 years old, Izuku starts his Pokemon Journey in Kalos together with his new partner, Shinx.... after he falls down the Lumiouse Tower trying to calm Professor Sycamore's Garchomp down only to be caught by a Mega Lucario. (Look, I LOVE that scene in the anime. My brain will not permit me to have a Kalos Pokemon Jouney of any kind without someone falling from Lumiouse Tower *looks at my other Kalos based Pokemon AUs* Yup, all of them include the scene)

Despite the ... surprising start to his jouney, Izuku ends up traveling through Kalos with two other kids: Reina, a more strategic minded trainer, and Akira, a spitfire who is ready to have Words™️ with whomever treats their pokemon badly.

Izuku challenges all the gyms in Kalos and wants to challenge Diantha as well, but Team Flare's plans of "destruction of humanity" interfere. As it is the norm, rather than Pro-Heroes doing their job, it is, in fact, Izuku and his friends that save the day/world. A fact that hammers down to Izuku that Heroes don't really do as much as they could to help people.

This makes Izuku and his friends determined to help people out more in their adventures from then on.

Four years and many other adventures later, Izuku and his friends are contacted by Principal Nezu with a proposition: the 3 of them will become new teachers at UA who need to teach the students how to not only battle and work together with their Pokemon, but also how to use items during battles correctly and how to take care of their pokemon correctly. Izuku is the Battle Teacher, Reina is the Items Use and Strategy Teacher, and Akira is the Pokemon Care Teacher. The three accept.

And so, their next few years will be filled with making training programs for the students, butting heads with All Might who thinks their training regiment is not suitable for the Hero hopefuls, dealing with villains who seem to be flocking towards UA because of All Might, and general chaos because this is UA afterall.

Details to note:

There will be time travel shenanigans involved here because Celebi/Dialga is a thing, and I wanna put Izuku and his friends through the Kalos, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova regions - with the Movies included. Meaning Jewel of Life is a thing here. Celebi is also kind of a jerk and pulls Izuku through time. Because of this Izuku meets people that in the present time are long dead and ends up saving maybe one of them *cough* Oboro *cough*.

Inko, during her stay in Kalos as Sycamore's Assistant, marries again (this time with Augustine Sycamore). This makes Izuku and Alain brothers and Alain is ready to throw hands with anyone that bullies Izuku.

Katsuki and Izuku’s friendship never truly healed since Izuku left early which makes Izuku being one of Katsuki's teachers quite problematic at the beginning.

As a teacher, Izuku is ruthless. He kinda emulates Aizawa in his examination of the classes: the students will choose one of Izuku’s Pokemon, and it will be a 1vs20 battle. If they can understand that they need to work together and impress Izuku during the battle, they pass and are allowed to take his class. (His classes are mandatory to pass into the 2nd year, so if Izuku won't bother teaching them, it means they already failed the year)

Since Izuku is not in 1-A, Shinso Hitoshi takes his place in the class.

Izuku's favorite class (out of all the ones in UA) is definitely 1-B since they grasped the meaning of his teachings from day 1 and just improved from there. The only one that Izuku is impressed by in 1-A is Hitoshi.

All Might (supposedly) has a Lucario here. What the public doesn't know is that his Lucario left him since he decided to be an idiot and shoulder everything by himself instead of relying on others. All Might's Lucario is the same Lucario that saved Izuku after he fell from Lumiouse Tower and later he also joined Izuku as part of his team.

All Might is not quite pleased with Izuku and his friends because he sees their efforts to teach about Pokemon Battles unnecessary and also is heavily against Izuku being at UA since he is Quirkless. (He wants Izuku - who is fragile in his eyes - away from danger. Who wants to tell him that Izuku and co. took on like 4 evil teams set on world destruction/domination ever since they were 10? Cause I won't tell him all that fast and neither would Nezu)

Since this includes time travel, yes, Nezu met Izuku when Celebi threw Izuku at the point in time where Oboro should have died and Izuku changed history by saving Oboro. Aizawa, Oboro and Hizashi became friends with Izuku during his stay in the past and Nezu was impressed by Izuku's intellect and ability to battle and decided UA should also teach something similar to their students. This is how Nezu played the long game to get the best Pokemon Battle teacher possible for his students.

All Might wants to give Mirio OFA, but Mirio seeks Izuku's advice about taking it. (Mirio feels like Nighteye will just tell him to take the Quirk and he wants the opinion of someone who doesn't know anything about this so he asks Izuku, without truly explaining the Quirk itself, just that it will make him stronger) Izuku tells him to his face that if Mirio feels like this is a good idea for HIMSELF then he should take it, but also tells him that it might make things difficult since he will have to learn, in a short period of time since he will graduate soon, how to handle the 2nd power and use it reliably in battle. Izuku also tells him that if his mentor (Nighteye) is the one that decided this for Mirio, he should confront him about whether he is doing this for Mirio's sake or for his own (Nighteye's) sake, cause Izuku thinks that Nighteye is too emotionally invested in Mirio getting a new power-up for his Quirk.

Reina and Akira are my OCs - remember their names cause I tend to reuse names for other OCs in other fic ideas. Personality wise, in this one, Reina is the more down to earth, calm, and collected girl who gets frustrated when things don't go according to her plans. She hates being late to anything since it derails her entire plans for the day. She loves stategy games and finds Izuku to be a very good opponent - be it in Pokemon Battles or in general games. Akira, on the other hand, is more hot-headed. He hates people who mistreat their Pokemon - whether they are aware of their faults or not. His parents own a Pokemon Daycare, so he is very knowledgeable about the ways in which you can raise Pokemon correctly and how to make sure their diet is well-balanced. Akira thinks Izuku is too nice of a kid and that he will be taken advantage of due to this nature of his. So he decided to tag along to make sure Izuku isn't going to be in too much trouble. Akira is the one that says, "I told you so," to both Reina and Izuku whenever something bad happens - especially if he told them that they will end up in said situation. He is also the one that bemoans the amount of trouble they get dragged into constantly - Akira is still not over the "Jewel of Life" shit; by the gods, Akira kinda hates Arceus by the end of that entire thing.

And this is about all I can think/remember about this plot bunny.

Honestly, having both Pokemon and Heroes together in one universe would make people think, "Oh, Heroes know how to handle Pokemon and use them in rescue missions." Yeah, sure. They don't. Half the Pro-Heroes can't truly handle Pokemon all that well. Especially because most of them never fought with Pokemon before. So Pokemon are relegated to "sidekicks that are meant to look cool but rarely do shit." This is why Lucario left All Might. He felt like his own trainer won't rely on him to help in battle any longer, and Lucario didn't want to be some wall-flower during a fight. So he left, and All Might is kinda disappointed in himself (as he should be). I want to explore the whole Heroes and Pokemon Trainer relationship in this, since in this world you can only be one and not both - at least not until Izuku and co. show up to mess with people's expectations. And making them teachers is fun since they can actually teach something useful rather that just teaching the kids how to punch someone's face in.

My ramblings aside, I hope you enjoyed this idea of mine. Did you find it interesting or not? Do you want me to go more in detail about it or not? Or would you be interested in what Pokemon everyone has? Let me know!

Hope you will have a great day/night and that you take care of yourselves!

See you tomorrow,

-TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

[recentanimenews]

My Hero Academia, Vols. 1-19

By Kohei Horikoshi | Published by VIZ Media

Reviewing nineteen volumes of a manga at once is a pretty daunting task, but here goes!

In a world where 80% of the population possesses superpowers known as “Quirks,” some people turned to villainy while others, officially trained and licensed, embarked upon careers of heroism to thwart them. Izuku Midoriya grew up idolizing heroes, particularly All Might, the Symbol of Peace, who always saves people with a smile. Unfortunately for Izuku, he was one of those unfortunate few without a Quirk and was forced to watch as his classmates and friends manifested abilities while he did not.

When Izuku is fourteen, he meets and impresses All Might when, despite being powerless, he rushes in to help his childhood friend Katsuki Bakugo when he is attacked by a sludge villain. As it turns out, All Might, who possesses a Quirk called One for All that endows him with super strength, was grievously injured several years previously in a battle with his nemesis, All for One. One for All is unique in that it can be passed on to a successor, and All Might has decided that Izuku is worthy of inheriting his power. All along, it’s been Izuku’s dream to attend U.A. High School and, after ten months of intensive training (and after ingesting one of All Might’s hairs), he succeeds in passing the entrance exam for U.A.’s Hero Course, much to Bakugo’s annoyance. (Bakugo believes he has been deceived about Izuku having been Quirkless all this time.)

Like many other shounen manga, part of the plot of My Hero Academia involves Izuku and the other students gradually getting stronger. Izuku goes through various stages of control over his power and eventually injures himself seriously to the point where he must switch to fighting primarily with his legs because his arms are so damaged. By volume nineteen, he can sustain 20% power only briefly, and All Might (who now teaches at U.A.) is training him how to, for the first time, add long-range attacks to his arsenal.

Meanwhile, just as Izuku is the protégé of All Might, All for One had taken a boy under his wing, as well. Tomura Shigaraki is a nihilistic villain with a particular grudge against All Might. He forms the League of Villains and so far has attempted to assassinate All Might at the school, attacked a training camp and kidnapped Bakugo, and ambushed a police caravan in order to steal Quirk-erasing drugs that had been seized from a former ally. While All Might exhausted the remainder of his powers to vanquish All for One, Shigaraki remains an active threat. Because of the power vacuum left by All Might’s retirement, the U.A. first years are able to take their provisional license exams earlier than normal and also go out into the field in work-study capacity.

The TL;DR version is: the plot is very good. Horikoshi-sensei writes with exuberance and mastery. However, the plot is not the reason I love My Hero Academia. I love it for the characters. I was thinking… I have read almost 90 volumes of One Piece by this point. Clearly, I enjoy it a lot and particularly admire the worldbuilding and continuity. However, while I’m fond of a few of the Straw Hats, I wouldn’t say I love any of them. Whereas with My Hero Academia, I love, like, ten of them. Here are some standouts:

• Izuku Midoriya – One of the things I really like about Izuku is that he’s smart. As a Quirkless hero fanboy, he spent a lot of time analyzing how they handled situations, and he’s good at coming up with strategies. Plus, he possesses all the idealistic qualities that a good shounen hero should have. He’s always out to help people, even if they don’t ask for it.

• Katsuki Bakugo – Bakugo has an explosive temper, but gradually reveals he’s a lot more sensitive that he lets on. Because of his volatile performance at the Sports Festival, Shigaraki targeted him, hoping to recruit him for the League of Villains. This ultimately led to All Might’s final confrontation with All for One, and Bakugo feels responsible that the Symbol of Peace (whom he also deeply admires) has been depowered. He’s the only one who knows Izuku’s secret and, after the most moving brawl I’ve ever seen in which he’s able to process some of the feelings he couldn’t express, he’s finally able to talk to Izuku without hostility. The day he actually smiles at Izuku, I will bawl.

• Shoto Todoroki – He became Izuku’s friend after the Sports Festival, in which Izuku encouraged him to finally embrace the half of his powers that came from his odious dad, #2 hero Endeavor. He’s still got a complex about his dad, but he’s working through it. And, for his part, Endeavor is trying to become a better hero, too, though he’s got a long way to go.

• Ochaco Uraraka – She’s a spunky girl who admires Izuku and has other feelings for him that she’s pushing aside for the moment. When she begins the series, she wants to become a hero for financial reasons, hoping to support her parents who’ve worked so hard. After her work study experience requires her to convey a dying hero to the hospital, she realizes in volume eighteen how much she just wants to save people. The monetary side has become less important.

• Eijiro Kirishima – Kirishima is just a supporting character until around volume fifteen, when he suddenly gets more fleshing out than even Ochaco or Ida (another of Izuku’s close friends) has received. He’s got an inferiority complex because his Quirk is purely defensive and castigates himself that he couldn’t help when Bakugo was taken. He presents himself as someone more confident and has a lot of noble ideals about what a hero should be, but I love that underneath that persona he’s a lot more complicated.

• Yuga Aoyama – In most other series, the kid who starts off being puffed up with pride over his own abilities (a naval laser!) would remain comic relief forever. But Horikoshi gives Aoyama several important heroic moments and, recently, he and Izuku have bonded over the fact that both of their Quirks cause them bodily harm, which doesn’t seem to be a problem for the other students. I would really love to see Aoyama star in his own arc.

• Mirio Togata – I was not prepared for the dizzying speed by which I’d come to love Mirio. He’s the one the principal (and All Might’s former sidekick, Sir Nighteye) originally had in mind as the next recipient of One for All. He’s optimistic and works hard and I love that he bears no grudge against Eri, a six-year-old girl that he lost his Quirk protecting. His return to heroism has been foreseen, so that’s something I’m looking forward to. His best friend Tamaki Amajiki is highly lovable, too.

• All Might – He���s not the greatest teacher, but he’s really trying hard. He serves as a father figure to Izuku and says encouraging things to him that make me verklempt, like “You’ve already exceeded my expectations more times than I can count. In my heart of hearts, I believe there’s something special in you and you alone.” That’s some Rupert Giles-y dialogue right there! And man, that battle with All for One.

• Shota Aizawa – I saved the best for last. Aizawa is the homeroom teacher for class I-A and I love him so, so much. He is a great teacher and puts a lot of thought into how best to encourage development in his students. One of my favorite Aizawa moments occurs at a press conference when he expresses absolute faith that Bakugo will not be tempted to join the League of Villains. “More than anyone, he pursues the title of top hero with all he has.” Later, during a home visit with Bakugo’s parents to discuss the new on-campus dormitories, Bakugo’s mom reveals how much she appreciated this proof that her son has been understood by his educators. “Most everything comes easy to him. His whole life, people’ve made a fuss about him… praising him for every little thing he does.” Aizawa sees Bakugo’s potential but also doesn’t let any of his shortcomings slide. I love, too, how he helps take care of Eri and buys her outfits with kitties on them.

Barring one, the other students in class 1-A are great, too, and I hope they get their own arcs as revelatory as Kirishima’s recent one. And then there’s class 1-B, who we’ve only glimpsed, as well as Hitoshi Shinso, a boy from the General Studies Course who may have the potential to transfer to the Hero Course.

Alas, there’s one thing and one particular character that I don’t love about My Hero Academia.

• Although the female characters are impressively varied in character design and personality and are always included in various heroic endeavors (and their abilities respected by the male characters), they just don’t get as much of the spotlight as the guys do. True, Ashida and Jiro are more to the fore during the School Festival arc, which is very welcome, but I want to see them out in the field kicking some serious ass.

• Minoru Mineta – Unlike the other students who’ve grown over the course of the series, Mineta starts off as a gross little pervert, remains a gross little pervert, and there’s zero indication that he’ll ever be anything other than a gross little pervert. He doesn’t see girls as people, but as objects, evaluated solely for their attractiveness. In fact, his first words to Eri in volume nineteen—who is, I reiterate, six years old—are, “Look me up in ten years.” I want Shigaraki to use his disintegration Quirk on him. Slowly. And then Shinso can have his spot.

Ultimately, I love this series unabashedly. I love it as much as I love Hikaru no Go, and that’s a lot. And as with Hikaru, I love the anime just as much as the manga and recommend both. It took until volume nineteen to make it to October of Izuku’s first year, so at that pace, we’re looking at around 38 volumes per school year times three years… Sounds good to me! I will plug my ears and go “la la la!” if anyone ever mentions a time jump. This is really too good to rush. Or miss.

My Hero Academia is ongoing in Japan, where volume 24 will be out in August. Volume 20 is due out in English in August. New chapters are also available in English on the Shonen Jump website and app.

Review copies for some volumes provided by the publisher.

By: Michelle Smith