Staring at the cheerful orange-haired girl in front of him, Kaito can't help but feel slightly weirded out.
'I'm an adult, what would I even talk about with a child?'
Sighing inwardly, he decides it's best to just get used to it, so he answers.
"Uh... sure." Beginning to eat his lunch right after.
Itsuka nods with a bright smile on her face at the answer before turning to Zorua.
"Is that your Quirk? It's so cute!"
Kaito answers in between bites.
"...Yeah. Her name's Zorua."
He barely finishes when she questions again.
"Can I pet her?"
Zorua scoffs and turns her head away, clearly uninterested. But Kaito gives her a look, and she reluctantly makes her way over—much to his amusement.
A smirk tugs at his lips as Zorua looks back at him, silently asking to be saved.
"So soft!" Itsuka exclaims as she enthusiastically rubs Zorua all over.
"You should finish your lunch," Kaito reminds her, continuing to eat.
Some time later...
Once again outside, Kaito stands in front of Zorua, ready to continue his testing. Itsuka stands next to him, while Miss Kirameki monitors from the bench.
He contemplates what else he can experiment with.
Focusing on Zorua, his irises make a few spins, and a list of available moves flows into his head.
A grin makes its way onto his face.
'Fascinating... Oh? She has this move as well?'
Pointing his hand at a nearby rock, Kaito tells her:
"Zorua, use Extrasensory on that rock."
She nods and fires a purple beam of psychic energy, allowing her to control the rock for a few seconds before it dissipates. The stamina drain for both of them is noticeably higher—sweat forms on Kaito's face as Zorua pants slightly.
'Well, it makes sense. The stronger the move, the more costly it is.'
"Woah! So cool!" Itsuka exclaims next to him.
Kaito gets curious, so he asks her:
"Itsuka, do you have a Quirk?"
"Yeah!" Bringing her arm to the side, she activates her Quirk, making her hand expand several times its normal size.
This time, it's his turn to exclaim in excitement. "Woah!"
'So Quirks can be like this as well? So far I've only seen the ones that change your appearance.'
With a proud look on her face, she tells him:
"When I grow up, I will become a hero!"
Kaito raises an eyebrow at her declaration.
'A hero? Like in the cartoons?'
He recalls how the children said they were playing 'Heroes vs. Villains.' But he's still slightly skeptical of the existence of heroes.
"A hero? What do heroes do?"
Itsuka happily explains:
"Yeah! They beat up the bad guys and help people!"
"So... you want to be a police officer?"
She pouts slightly at his answer and looks at him as if he's an idiot.
"No! A hero!"
Kaito just looks at her in utter confusion. Deciding it's best to confirm for himself, he makes his way over to Miss Kirameki sitting on the bench.
"Excuse me, can we go to the library?"
She ponders for a bit.
"Hmm... I don't see why not."
The four of them make their way inside. While walking, Kaito asks the caretaker:
"Do heroes exist?"
Itsuka pouts slightly at his question and hits his shoulder. "Did you not believe me?"
He ignores her and listens.
"Yes, they do exist. With the emergence of Quirks—and people using theirs for personal gain—the profession of hero appeared: individuals who fight against these villains and bring them to justice."
Kaito insists on his point.
"That just sounds like the police to me."
She looks at him with a sheepish smile on her face before clarifying slightly.
"Well, you're not wrong in thinking that way, but unlike the police, heroes are celebrities. There's even an online hero ranking."
Kaito can't help but frown.
'Does that mean they're technically below the police? Because it seems as though all they have the right to do is apprehend dangerous individuals.'
"Still just seems like a special police force to me..."
His murmur earns another punch to his shoulder.
Finally arriving at the library, he sits down at one of the setups and turns it on.
Miss Kirameki comes closer, thinking she'll need to help him find what he wants, but she is left astonished as Kaito starts typing—just rather slowly, considering his one hand.
"You can write, Kaito?"
He turns to her in confusion, before he remembers he's technically four years old.
'Oh... Now that I think about it, why did the director not ask about this...? Well, whatever.' (AN: oops)
"Uh... yeah, I can."
She continues looking at him in astonishment as Kaito turns back to the screen. Just before he can finish searching for the hero ranking, he realizes he doesn't know what country he's in. So he makes a slight detour to a different tab, typing in "my current location," much to the bewilderment of the caretaker standing next to him.
'Chiba, Japan? So I'm in Japan?'
His curiosity gets the better of him, so he makes another detour, opening the map to find where it is.
'Wow. It's tiny compared to the rest of the world...'
As he takes in all the different countries in fascination, Itsuka asks him:
"What's so fun about a map?"
Kaito gives a sideways glance before replying. "You wouldn't get it." After which he finally searches for the Japanese hero ranking.
Instead of focusing on the number one hero, he looks through the different names on the rankings.
'All Might? Sounds like a muscle-brain. Best Jeanist? Does he make jeans? Gang Orca?'
The last name intrigues him, so he clicks on it, going wide-eyed at the image.
'Kyogre? What's it doing in this world?'
Before Kaito can continue the nonsense in his brain, Itsuka complains:
"Gang Orca is cool, but you should look at All Might! All Might!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, he complies and clicks on the muscle-brained-sounding hero. The image nearly makes his eyes pop out of their sockets.
'What the hell is that physique!? Not even a Machamp is that muscular.'
"Hey hey! Click that video!" Itsuka shouts, pointing at one particular video among the many on the website.
Clicking on it, the video starts with the one filming panning around a destroyed city, injured people gathered nearby.
Kaito puts on a serious expression at the sight.
'Damn... Just what could have destroyed a city like this? In my old world, only Legendary Pokémon could have caused something similar.'
Shortly after, boisterous laughter rings out as All Might climbs over a collapsed building, carrying multiple people, and shouts loudly:
"It's fine now. Why?"
With a wide smile on his face, he declares:
"Because I am here!"
Itsuka echoes the line.
Even Kaito can't help but put on a slight smile.
'Well, he's charismatic, I'll give him that.'
Watching a few more videos to gather more information, they're eventually kicked out by the caretaker, who doesn't let them spend too much time on the computer.
The rest of the day passes normally, and once again, Kaito finds himself sitting by the pond in the forest patch late at night. Even with stricter monitoring, he sneaks out easily thanks to Zorua's illusions.
Stroking her soft fur as she lies on his lap, he contemplates his future.
"I guess being a hero isn't a bad choice..."
His thoughts aren't based on anything like a sense of justice—purely self-interest. While Kaito has never left someone he could save, he never went out of his way to look for people in trouble. His rescues were more coincidence than intentional.
"The world runs on money, but running a company or working a desk job would leave me no time. Being a hero, on the other hand..."
From what he saw earlier in the day, they seem more like volunteers, getting called in on emergencies when necessary.
"Hmm... well, I guess I'll try it. What's the worst that can happen?"
Sitting around for another hour, just relaxing, he feels his eyes slowly start to close. Standing up, he starts making his way back to the orphanage.
"Yawn... I'll start cardio tomorrow..."
That's exactly what Kaito does the next day. While the other children play, he runs—building up stamina for the future. Itsuka asks what he's doing, and when he answers, "I'm training to become a hero," she happily joins him.
During the run, he thinks about a hurdle in his future training: his missing forearm.
'There's no way the orphanage can afford a prosthetic, so I'll have to make do for now. Martial arts will be tricky, but I will have my Pokémon to fight for me... so do I even need them?'
Shaking his head to clear the complacent thoughts, he rebukes himself:
'I'm already at a disadvantage now that I don't have one hand, so I have to try something...'
Kaito isn't new to fighting, having experienced plenty in his last world. While he never formally studied martial arts, his body alone was enough to overpower most people. And that's what he did—using his size and reach advantage to completely shut down anyone who approached him with ill intent.
'Even if I grow into the same size, my whole right side will be open...'
He spends the next week continuing his running and visiting the library whenever allowed, researching martial arts he can train himself in.
'Judo is a hard pass. Not to mention needing both arms, some Quirks will make holding someone for a prolonged period impossible. Boxing is also a pass. Life isn't a sport—there's no need to only use your arms.'
Mulling through different options, he eventually settles on two candidates:
Kickboxing or using some sort of weapon.
Before he can come to a conclusion, the director comes out and calls for him, at which he promptly runs over. Seeing his sweaty appearance, she opens her mouth:
"Go take a shower. We'll be leaving for the hospital in an hour."
Kaito looks confused, before remembering something about registering his Quirk. So he nods and makes his way inside.
Some time later...
Inside a room labeled "Quirk Apprehension," Kaito stands in front of a male doctor with antennae sprouting from the top of his head, clipboard in hand. He stares at the antennae, resembling an ant's, lost in a daze as he considers the practical uses of such a Quirk.
"Okay Kaito, what is your Quirk?"
At the question, he points toward Zorua sitting on the ground to his left.
"I can summon what I call Pokémon, and they can fight for me."
The doctor notes it down and questions further:
"Can you summon anyone else?"
Putting on a sheepish smile, Kaito rubs the back of his neck and comes up with a random excuse.
"Uh... no, I can't, but I think I will be able to in the future. I just sort of... you know... feel like I will be able to." Inwardly, he hopes he's right—he's had no success in summoning anyone else.
The doctor raises an eyebrow at his answer.
"Okay, for now I'll document it as you being able to summon one creature. If your feeling turns out to be correct, come back to the hospital and get it updated. I'll inform the director as well."
Kaito nods—makes sense to him. The doctor continues:
"You said it can fight for you, right?"
Zorua growls slightly at being called "it."
"Her name is Zorua, and yes, she can fight for me."
This time it's the doctor's turn to put on a sheepish smile as he apologizes.
"Sorry, Zorua. When you say 'fight,' do you mean she can bite or scratch like a cat?"
Kaito scoffs at the question before answering:
"You'd wish you were scratched by a cat when facing Zorua's claws. She has other moves and will unlock more in the future."
Taking it as childish pride, the doctor doesn't take him too seriously—but protocol requires further testing for Quirks that can be used in combat.
"Okay, Kaito, let's move over here."
The doctor gestures toward a piece of metal set up in the room.
Kaito muses inwardly, 'What kind of test is this?'
The doctor tells him:
"Showcase her moves on this metal."
Nodding, Kaito decides to use the three moves he's already tested.
First, just Scratch, which leaves a slight mark on the metal.Second, Hone Claws and then Scratch, leaving a noticeably deeper slash.Finally, Extrasensory, which makes the metal piece float briefly before falling back down.
Kaito breaks out into a sweat after the last move.
'Wow, that was heavy.'
The doctor records the information with raised eyebrows—impressed after actually witnessing Zorua's abilities. He notices Kaito's sweating face and asks:
"You get tired from her using these moves?"
Kaito nods and clarifies slightly:
"We both do."
The doctor nods and goes silent, writing everything down before eventually finishing and turning to Kaito.
"What would you like to call your Quirk?"
He looks slightly surprised at the question. 'I can name it myself?'
Kaito replies quickly, already knowing the name:
"Pokémon." (AN: I was also thinking of something like Pokémon Master, but I figured, Eh, just go simpler.)