Chapter Text
Shouto took a deep breath as he prepared to face his final opponent. This battle was the most important battle of his admittedly short career. But it was not for the reasons that most people would think. Sure, this league win would bring him one step closer to the Pro-circuit. But he still had two years before he was old enough to even participate... well participate without a trainer sponsor. That was the last thing he wanted was to be stuck under his father's thumb for another two years. Not to mention that everyone loved to pretend he was only good because he had his father's Pokémon.
He actually was pretty skillful, as much as it pained him to admit it, due to his father's facilities and insistent need for him to train. But that was also his work, too. His father's style of play was not his style of play. Honestly, his father hated it. He preferred crushing his opponents, Shouto tended to be more of a strategist. Although, he still could be heavy handed if he was backed into a corner. He felt he was constantly at war with himself and it often left his Pokémon open to problems.
But... if he won this match, they could all catch a break.
Why?
Because he made a deal with his father.
The Musutafu region had become a center for Pokémon based events the world over. Anything from coordination, breeding, Pokémon shows and showcases, and trading... and, of course, battling. Many people came to watch and compete in these events and train. Many champions from other regions and even league hopefuls would come here to train. It was often referred to as the Training region. Some of the highest ranked trainers and battlers came from the Region including his father and his father's rival, Yagi Toshinori most often referred to as All Might... his trainer handle.
Given Musutafu's rather unique situation, their school systems and culture was shaped around it. So, most battlers and even civilians lived on 'on' and 'off' years. Pokémon Trainers and Battlers either lived by even vs odd years, their off years being every other year. Even years were the years that Musutafu was closed battle and training wise to those that were not legal residents or citizens of Musutafu. Odd years were the open years. Trainers and students could travel freely in and out of Musutafu. Pro Battlers were considered entertainers and it was basically their job to battle, much like athletes in other sports.
So, people that wanted to become a sponsored battler, they trained as any other athlete would. By battling learning strategies, etc. This is where the 'on' and 'off' years become important. Depending on when you officially become a battler on the circuit, you would either start on an even or odd year number wise. Those that were looking to be Pro battlers always started on odd years, even if they had to wait an extra year to start battling. They had to if they wanted to get a head start on other battlers later on, because Odd years would maximize not only the trainer types but Pokémon and gear as well.
Many came from different regions to trade, sell, and show off Pokémon. There were also stone and item shows, which provided power ups and evolutions. So the circuit runners and up and coming trainers would have an advantage over their even year counterparts. Those on even years would have to wait until the leftover sales from the local merchants or if the items or stones they were looking for could be found or made... they would have to produce them by their own hands.
All that aside, to make things fair, Odd year trainers did not compete in local tourneys during Even years... in fact those that performed well during the even years were offered the chance to transfer to the Odd year track. Although, Shouto had seen only a few Even trainers last long in the battling scene. All Might was one as was Aizawa Shouta or Gym Leader Eraserhead. Bakugou Katsuki was another. There had also been another Even year kid that had made a splash during Shouto's debut year on the junior circuit, but they vanished after winning the Tournament and forfeiting the win to Bakugou… no one knew what happened to them.
While the Evens would battle it out, the Odd year trainers would be training or out on sabbaticals if they were not in mandatory schooling. For kids like Shouto, who came from Pro families or wanted to head for higher level circuits, they would be taking classes on strategies or apprenticing under a gym leader if they were finished with mandatory schooling.
For people still in school age range, they would either be participating in local or school leagues. Many of the eighteen plus crowd would travel if they could afford it. They would participate in other leagues or check out other regions for other Pokémon or items. Sometimes to face off against Gym leaders for the experience. Some also take a break along with their Pokémon by pursuing other hobbies or interests for some of their down time before getting ready for the next year's cycle.
This was the reason Shouto made the deal.
He really wanted a break and he wanted to spend time with his mother and his other Pokémon. His parents divorced the year before he would debut as battler. Since then, Shouto had not spent a lot of time with her aside from letters and video calls. He sometimes got to spend a few weeks with her at the Rehab center she ran for Pokémon, if his father felt that he had done sufficiently well that year. This year he was 18 and able to travel as he wished. It was a relief, but his father was adamant that he stay in Musutafu and train. Shouto wanted to visit Lushia where his mother was working. He missed his other Pokémon and her, besides it wouldn't hurt to go see what his siblings were up to as well.
Fuyumi had started working at a school in the Paldea region. The region had finally joined up with the other battle regions consortium in order to revitalize its dying Pokémon industry, which they hoped would bring more tourism and business to the region. Fuyumi took the job at their father's behest as he wanted a foot in the door during the region's trial period. He was interested in being the first in Musutafu to get his hands on the new Pokémon breeds. When a new region was added, it went under a trial period of 4 years in order to be acceptable as a partner with Musutafu specifically. Two odd years and two even. It starts on even years so that Pokémon and the region can be evaluated before the craziness of the Odd years.
Natsuo was in Unova, he was a junior doctor in the region. He had put as much distance as possible between himself and their father as he could. He was currently doing really well and had apparently gotten himself a partner but he had been mum on who it was. He just kept saying that they travel a lot and left it at that. Touya was convinced that he had made the partner up.
Speaking of Touya, he was a Pro Battler. However, he was a Team Pro Battler and his father hated it. He saw needing a team as a weakness on the trainer's part. Shouto actually found them to be quite entertaining. When double battles became more popular after the Galar region became a steady consortium member, team battles were created as a unique selling point to add to Musutafu's region by taking the idea of multiple Pokémon battles and sports. It was taking off fast as a concept.
Working together as a team, trainers and their Pokémon would battle each other while aiming to score goals. The team with the most points won. If there was a tie, then the team with the most Pokémon left won. The number of Pokémon and people were limited. 6 trainers with 3 Pokémon each. During play there was one Pokémon out per trainer. The trainer and Pokémon worked together to score goals or keep the other team from scoring. It was frantic and fun, Shouto snuck off to a game whenever he could. Not to mention his teammates were fun, weird but fun.
So, to preserve his sanity and get a chance to have some time off, he made a deal with his father. If he won the Semi-Pro final, his father would let him intern somewhere else for his down year. If he lost, he would train with no complaints. His father agreed. Shouto made him sign an agreement with a laughing Touya and the business lawyer for the company as witnesses. He even had his mom's lawyer help him draft it so his father couldn't renege on the deal later. Once the agreement was made, Shouto got to training.
The fight to get here was long but interesting. But now he was facing his media and father assigned rival, Bakugou Katsuki. He already had a handle: Lord Explosion Murder. He had not appreciated Shouto calling him LEM. Since Shouto had been beaten by the kid at his Debut tournament, his father had been insistent on him crushing Bakugou. Annoyingly, the blonde's skills matched his ego... so it was not like his wins were undeserved. But Shouto wished he wouldn't be such a loud asshole about it.
"Let's get this party started!" the announcer called. "The final round of the Semi Pro Brawl Championship is about to begin! On the right, we have the explosive... Ba-ba-bakugooouuu Katuskiiiii!" The crowd went wild. Shouto sighed and put the large blocky sunglasses on his face and pulled up the overly large hood on his Trainer costume. He took a deep breath in and then let it out. "On the opposite side, the Trainer of Mystery with a cold exterior and a hot battle style, Todoroki Shooooooouuuuuuuttttooooo!" He stepped onto the field. A very familiar blonde stared him down from across the arena. His usual black and orange costume on full display.
Finally, the beginning of the match was called and Shouto called forth his Sandslash and began the fight of his life. The battle was as swift as it was brutal. Bakugou's style of battling was very similar to his father's; both were ruthless battlers that forced their opponents into either just trying to survive or just straight up decimated their opponents. Shouto, however, had a work around for them: his Ice Pokémon. At first glance, using Ice Pokémon against fire types would be considered suicidal. He decided that what they were better suited for was controlling the tempo and terrain of the fight. Status effects and picking off health from his opponents.
It had been a slog, he and Bakugou had been Pokémon for Pokémon practically. But an uninterrupted Roll Out from his Sandslash, took down two of Bakugou's Pokémon. As the fight came to a close, he was down to Froslass and Heatran. But all he needed was his Frolass. Bakugou was down to his Typhlosion. As Bakugou called for his Pokémon to use what was likely a powerful finishing move, Shouto ordered Froslass to use Destiny Bond. Between the noise of the stadium and the roar of flames, it was doubtful that Bakugou heard the command. Sorry Fuyu. he thought. The flames lit up his side of the arena and Shouto stumbled back as the heat and air pushed against him. The smoke and light died down eventually, to show both Pokémon fainted within the battle area. Shouto looked up at the scoreboard in time to see the last light under Bakugou's name go out.
"It seems that both Pokémon took each other out. This was likely due to a rather desperate and sneaky use of Destiny Bond." gushed one announcer.
"Desperate or not, Todoroki Shouto has won yet another title! The rivalry between the two young masters of battling continues on. Todoroki now has three wins over his rival! Well done!" cheered another. Shouto breathed a sigh of relief even as Bakugou stomped his way across the arena, shouting expletives all the way. He had gotten what he wanted. He won which meant that his father had to honor his end of the bargain. But for right now, he needed to get out of Bakugou's swinging range.
Soon enough, he was summoned back out to receive his plaque and obligatory trophy that his Father would display in that weird show room he had. Shouto kept the medals, plaques, or certificates from the various things that he had participated in. He kept a few he was proud of and gave the rest to his Mom. This plaque was definitely going to her. He changed out of his trainer getup in his preparation space. He quickly changed into something more sedate. A soft pink hoodie and matching sweatpants. He threw the hood over his braided hair and threw a pair of brown shades on his face, before grabbing his bag and leaving.
Thankfully, there had still been a crowd exiting the arena. He slipped into it and vanished. A crowded train ride later, he arrived at the large estate that served as his father's private residence and training ground that Shouto just happened to have a room in. He used his pass to enter the gates and made a beeline towards his room, hoping to avoid his father until morning. Luckily, he managed to avoid the man... he was probably still at the arena bragging about his win. He sighed as he opened the door to his room. It was pristine as always, sparsely decorated aside from a few pictures of his mother and siblings and his various plaques and such.
He dropped his duffle by his door, waking up the shiny Sylveon sleeping on his bed. The creature stretched and yawned before crying out in joy. Approaching the bed with a smile, Shouto opened his arms and Sylveon leapt into them. His companion began to nuzzle him and Shouto hugged Vi tightly.
"Sylve! Sylve! Sylveoon!" she cheered.
"Hey there, Vi. I missed you," he sighed as he petted his companion. He had received Vi from his mother as a young child when he was six, she had been newly hatched at the time. It was tradition in her family for children to get their own companion at the age of six. It was meant to teach responsibility and respect for Pokémon. Shouto had fallen in love immediately. His father had allowed it since she was a shiny which came with a stage worth of boost to all of her base stats. He was hoping that by the time Shouto was old enough to make use of evolution stones at 10 years old, she could be evolved into a powerful type. Shouto was not exactly thrilled as he knew that his father would force whatever stone he thought was best on his Pokémon whether she or Shouto agreed or not.
However, they would never get a chance to find out as Vi had evolved on his birthday. It was the best present ever. His father had been livid. Shouto had been ecstatic. His Evee becoming a Sylveon meant that the bond between him and Vi was strong. Of course, he and Vi played and had adventures together whenever he had free time. His father hadn't really studied the evolution requirements for Pokémon outside the "battle ready" Pokémon he was focused on. So, the evolution caught him off guard, he did reassert some control as he refused to let him battle with her.
"Wanna take a trip, Vi?" he asked as he settled on his bed. Vi answered with a cheerful cry. "Cool." He deposited the Pokémon back on the bed and got ready to sleep before diving into bed.
The next morning Shouto woke up with Vi laying on his face. Then he had to face his father for breakfast. It was mostly silent. Shouto was quite happy to let it stay that way. But all too soon, his father started on the type of internship or study he should take up. Shouto leveled him with a glare. Endeavor glared back. The two had an intense staring contest with one another until his father sighed.
"Shouto you must take this seriously! Your battling career will never--" he stared.
"Sate your bruised ego. Look. I will make sure I take some time to train wherever I end up. I will be ready come competition season. I always am." Shouto sighed as he shoveled more rice into his mouth. He had been expecting his father to try and weasel his way into his break in some manner.
"Shouto-- quite being a brat." he father huffed as he drained his coffee mug.
"I am not being a brat. You signed a contract that said I could choose what to do with my off year. I will make sure I train and condition for the next on year. So, with very little respect... I request that you abide by the contract and let me choose without your input. Thank you." Shouto replied.
"But you have taken my money..." he grumbled, the cup thumping as he put it back down.
"That was part of the agreement..." he returned, feeling no remorse whatsoever. After all, if Shouto was going to whatever training or shiny hunting he wanted him to do... the amount of money would not have mattered.
"Fine. But you better be ready for the next season." he huffed.
"I will." Shouto replied.
"The money is in your account." he grumbled before leaving the table.
"Thanks." Shouto deadpanned to his father's back. He finished his food, gathered the dishes, and washed them in the sink before putting them on the rack to dry, cursing his father's disrespect. The cleaning staff was already busy taking care of the estate. A few dishes would not have killed him. He then set about getting ready for his trip... he was not sure what he was going to do for it, but he was actually excited for it....
A week later, Shouto found himself on a boat in nondescript clothing after boarding with two duffle bags and a book bag containing several Pokeballs, among other supplies. He had packed lightly, as he had other things stored at his mother's place in Lushia as well. Lushia was an island situated in between the Musutafu region and the older chain regions: Kanto, Johto, Unonova, etc. The Sorrin Region lay on the opposite side of Musutafu as well. Most people avoid that region due to the constant storms that pelt the waters around the region. Although some very crazy tales have been told about it.
Lushia was known as the Resort Region, although it wasn't actually a true region. The island was packed with resorts and rehabilitation facilities. Many sports and battle stars recovered and trained there. His mother's facility specialized in natural and holistic rehab for Pokémon. Several Pro trainers come from all over to get their Pokémon back in battling shape or just to take a break. He planned on giving his team a well deserved rest after the year of hard work he had put them through, mostly at his father's insistence.
Shouto sighed as he clutched Vi in his arms, while looking over the railing on the top deck and watched the land of Musutafu slowly shrink as it disappeared into the horizon. As the last of the region faded away, Shouto let out a long sigh as his shoulders slumped and his jaw relaxed. He stumbled over to one of the benches lining the rail and collapsed onto it after taking off his backpack and sitting it on the bench. It always felt strange when he was finally able to relax, truly relax. It was like coming up for air after holding your breath underwater. He stroked Vi as he drifted in thoughts. As he started to get comfortable his backpack started shaking. Oh no... don't you dare!
Despite his mental pleas, the shaking of his backpack grew worse. He groaned and swiftly opened the backpack and grabbed the trembling pokeball. However, the moment his fingers wrapped around it popped open and a red light appeared and shot out ahead of him. The few people that were wandering around on the deck all looked in his direction. Oh, great! He had been trying to avoid getting noticed! The red light faded to reveal his favorite lovable headache.
"Happiny!" squealed the Pokémon. Shouto sighed as Happiny scrambled onto his lap and began bouncing and hugging him, Vi leaping onto the bench next to him to avoid being squished. He wanted to be irritated but ended up reluctantly smiling. Happiny's enthusiasm never failed to lighten his mood.
He hummed.
First, he was going to drop his battle Pokémon off for a month long spa rehabilitation. His mom knew them well and how to treat them. He would also be staying a few weeks. Then at some point he was going to make it to Paldea to see Fuyumi and maybe make it out to Unova to see Natsuo. Then maybe come back to Musutafu in time to see one of Touya's games before he had to get back to training. But in between all of that... he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with the rest of his time.
Maybe his mom would have some ideas.
Hours later, he reached Lushia. He put Happiny back in her pokeball and called Vi to his side. The two exited the boat and quickly made his way through the port. It was chilly, but he had dressed for the weather. This made hiding from the crowd easier, too. He hailed a cab and roughly 15 minutes later, he arrived at his mother's home on the rehab estate that she had built. Between one blink and the next, he was standing before his mother and then she was hugging him tightly and chattering about how tall he had gotten.
"Mom..." he laughed. She apologized and stepped back.
"Come in, come in! I hope your ride over was pleasant." she said happily. Shouto told her about the trip and Happiny's mischief. She laughed as she led him through the house. She made a detour to the dining room as she said she had something for him. He nearly dropped his backpack when he saw all three of his older siblings sitting around the table.
"Shouto! It's so good to see you!" exclaimed Fuyumi as she rushed to hug him.
"Yumi! It's been so long! How is school?!" he gasped as he hugged her back. He turned to look at his brothers. Natsuo was making his way over. And Shouto immediately stiffened.
"Don't you dare." he hissed. Natsuo just laughed before mussing his hair up. Shouto threw his hand off. "I don't know why I even bother missing you, you nuisance." Natsuo laughed before hooking an arm around his neck.
"Cause I am the best big brother!" Natsuo cheered.
"Liar! I'm the best big brother," Touya called from his seat.
"No one asked you, meathead." Natsuo called back.
"I agree, Touya is the best." Shouto said.
"All right, children. That is enough. Let Shouto breathe." Rei ordered with a smile. The others backed off and allowed Shouto to get settled. His mom promised that dinner would be on the table soon. He climbed the stairs and made his way to his room. He sighed as he settled his things in the room. Soon enough he returned to the dining room, stomach rumbling as he caught a whiff of his mother's cooking.
Soon they were resting at the table, trading stories and catching up. It was a great time. Shouto had thought that he was going to have to spend the half of his off year traveling to see them all. Instead, they came to him. Fuyumi explained that mom had given them a call, and they all planned to take some time off to come see him and her. Shouto was touched by the thoughtfulness. There were plenty of laughs to be had.
They also brought presents for him.
Touya had given him season tickets for the next season of his team's play, a team jersey, and a poster signed by all of them. Fuyumi had brought 2 sets of pictures of some of the Pokémon she had seen in Paldea. His set also contained a picture of her class and some adorable pictures of her and her Fidough and a pennant from her school. The other set was to satisfy his father. She did not say it out right but all of them were aware of the man's habits. Natsuo gave him a new smaller backpack with his hospital's logo on it. There was also a reusable water bottle in the side pocket. "If you decide to go hiking or egg hunting," he had said. Finally, his mother offered up her gift.
"I know you said you wanted to choose your own internship and all, I won't try to persuade you on anything. But I thought this would be a great thing for you either way." she said as she pushed a package towards him.
Shouto took it and opened it slowly. Inside was a strange looking camera and a packet of papers. He frowned as he took out the camera. It was slim. The thickest things on it were the handle and the lens itself. There also looked to be a screen of some sort.
"What is this? I have never seen a camera like it before," he said as he turned the camera around, inspecting it.
"This camera was designed by an old colleague of mine. He sent me one when it was complete a few months back. He plans on using it at his research center in the Lental Region." she explained.
"Lental Region? Never heard of it." Natsuo said. Shouto nodded in agreement.
"Most people haven't. It is on the other side of the Sorrin Region, most people don't brave going past it for fear of the storms. Professor Tokuda became interested in the Illumina phenomenon that was said to be unique to the islands in the region. So he set out for the region during some of the milder storms near Sorrin. He is looking for another photographer to help with the research. So, I thought that it might be a fun way for you to spend some of your off year. given its January and all. The internship is for 9 months. So, you will have plenty of time to train before the season begins." his mother said. Shouto stared at the camera. Huh... photographing Pokémon. That certainly is new. Not to mention if we do discover something interesting... and report on it... my father's ego would be sated too. Not to mention, I get to be outside again... and dear old dad won't be able to track me down as easily.
"I think I would like that." he finally said. His mother smiled.
"The paperwork is in the box as well. It's all filled out. It just needs your signature. The boat leaves in two weeks." she explained. Shouto smiled. This adventure had not been in his plans, but he was willing to take it.