Chapter Text
Waking up at home was like waking up from a nightmare. One that he’d lived for two years.
He remembered. Everything that had stayed out of his reach for so long he could remember.
He was Izuku Midoriya, his moms name was Inko, he was from Japan in the year 22xx, and there were no pokémon here.
As the information slammed into him he too slammed to the floor.
The sound of feet running towards him had Izuku moving on instinct, tossing out Kaito’s pokéball right as the door swung open.
“Izuku! What On Earth-!?! What Is That Thing?!” Someone was yelling, someone he knew.
Someone he missed dearly.
“Mom!” Izuku jumped from the floor and ran around Kaito to embrace her.
“Izuku honey, get behind me-” She tried to push him back but he stood firm.
“Mom- I missed you- I didn’t want to go! I promise! I’m so sorry!” The teen said, stumbling over his words.
Kaito, seeing his reaction to the woman calmed significantly, even though his fighting stance did not slacken.
“Izuku come here- get away from it.” She was still trying to pull him away- from his partner- his family.
“No mom, he's safe I promise.” Izuku pressed his palm into his eyes and shook his head to try and clear it. “Kaito, calm down, she's okay, this is my mom.”
The Samurott was clearly surprised by this and actually stood down. Even moving back as to not intimidate his mother further.
“Mom- something happened and I need to tell you- everything.” He held onto her like she would disappear.
“Izuku- honey.” She ran a hand over his face, mapping his scars. “Izuku- what.”
“Please mom, I need to tell you.” He spoke over silent tears he’d thought he’d trained himself out of showing.
+x+
Izuku sat bundled in a blanket on the couch while his mom made tea. It was 3:37 in the morning, perfect time for a mental breakdown.
When Inko finally sat down next to him, placing both their mugs on the table, she took her son's hand and looked at him seriously.
“Okay honey, tell me what happened. I’ll listen.”
Izuku felt a few more tears stream down his face but powered through regardless.
He told her about being taken, about falling into Hisui with nothing but his name.
He told her about being given Kaito and becoming partners, about the pokédex, about the Clans and Nobles.
About the Frenzies.
About Red Sky.
About the Plates.
He told her about Arceus.
The entire time Kaito had settled beside the couch, occasionally growling when someone he disliked was mentioned.
Mom cried when she heard how he’d fought, fought to work, fought to be accepted, fought to survive. Izuku shook as he talked about his near misses- about his failures- about…
When the words ‘Red sky’ left his mouth, Kaito had snarled so loud it had jolted him into a shocked laugh. Someone did not forgive and forget so easily.
When it was over and all the tears had been shed, the tea did little to soothe his throat.
“You believe me right?” He begged her.
His mom held his face very carefully in her hands like he was made of glass- how long had it been since someone treated him gently?
“Of course I do.” She said firmly. “I- I know it sounds crazy, but I also know you. You wouldn’t lie about this.”
She looked past him at Kaito.
“Besides, you have the proof right there.” She smiled at the Samurott who still eyed her wearily but made no effort to get between them. “Thank you, for standing by him.”
Kaito huffed but nodded.
“Try to sleep, love.” She told her son firmly. “You certainly won't be going to school today.
+x+
The first thing Izuku did after he woke up was take a shower. It wasn’t like he never bathed in Hisui, Jubilife had a whole team of pokemon to have warm water at the bathhouse, several he helped train.
The general store sold soap, Yui would sometimes give him free samples to see which worked best. He could use it when he was out in the wilds, where hotsprings and rivers offered a place to get clean and wash his uniform.
But well- modern conveniences were invented for a reason. And Izuku was enjoying the pleasure of having conditioner again as he attempted to work out the knots in his hair. And there were many- He’d have to see about having mom cut it- he wasn’t sure he could handle a trip to the barber right now.
When he was finally clean, he had a hard time picking what to wear. All of his clothes should still fit, but going from exclusively natural fibers to mix blends had his skin crawling. He eventually managed to find an all cotton t-shirt and was able to stand the feel of a pair of All Might pajama pants enough to wear them.
He’d need to go shopping- or at least send mom.
Oh Dialga- how was he going to adapt to this? He remembered everything- but he had been gone for two years! His body had learned to behave differently. To react to certain situations, to reject textures, scents, and sounds that just- hadn’t been a thing in Hisui!
There were no pokémon here, no reason to cower in the tall grass or stay hidden behind trees and bushes. He couldn’t call on Braviary to catch him when he fell, but there also weren’t nearly as many cliffs to fall off!
Mom wasn’t going to make him earn his keep just to keep living there, he didn’t need to fight her for every shred of acceptance.
With that thought in mind and a lump in his throat, Izuku slunk out to the living room.
Inko was sitting at the kitchen table, intently reading something on her phone while a cup of coffee was sitting next to her, getting cold.
“Mom?” He said, cautiously.
“Izuku, how are you feeling?” She stood up, and her hand cupped his face as her fingers swiped over the scars at his temple as another one hovered over the ones on his collar.
“Better.” He sighed, leaning in to hug her again. “I missed you.”
“I’m here, and if anything tries to take you again, I’ll be the one they answer too.” She said sternly. “No one steals my baby and gets away from it.”
He chuckled, “You’ll get along with Haru, I can tell.”
They both sat at the table and Inko took her son’s hands into hers again.
“Now, I want you to tell me everything again. Don’t leave out any details.”
Izuku hesitated but slowly began to retell his tale, this time going more into detail. At one point he ran to his room to pull his journal from his satchel. His pokedex was gone, but that was okay, everything important was in this one anyways.
“This is Professor Laventon, he found me on Prelude beach and offered me a job in the Galaxy Team so I had a place to stay, and he gave me Kaito to help me.” He showed off a photograph they had taken the day Izuku reached 10 stars. “Captain Cylene agreed to take me on in the Survey Corps, she was my boss and evaluated my work on the pokédex so I could move up the ranks. She was really scary at first, but I slowly realized it was only surface deep. Cyllene went and paid for my uniform before I even finished the trial to let me in.”
It wasn’t until he looked at the photo of Akari the first few tears began to spill down his cheeks.
“I- I’m never gonna see them again, am I?” He said, as large globs of water spilled onto the table and he held the book away from himself to not ruin them. These were the only photos he had left!
He would never pose with Akari to poke fun at Warden Ingo again. He’d never coerce Cylene into making heart hands- never sneakily snap a photo when Laventon’s compliments left her blushing. Laventon would never joyfully take a photo of them outside the Wallflower.