1st Person POV, Saga

My eyes watered as I watched the casket get lowered into the ground. Uncle Nighteye placed a hand on my shoulder, his own eyes misty as the gray morning itself. It was raining the night before, so the grass was still wet even though it was way past noon. It was also quite humid outside, making breathing feel as if we were in soup, especially with the heat of late May in action.

I held the katanas that was part of my inheritance after my mother's passing; when we found them after following the instructions in her will, I refused to part ways with them, even if I received strange looks when carrying them in their specially made sheathes. Even now as I hid them on my back in an X-formation under the large jacket I wore over my kimono suit set that my aunts helped me pick out as my mother wished for everyone to attend the funeral in traditional Japanese attire, as she was very fond of Japanese culture. A love I had inherited from her despite our Indian roots (though we have stuck to some traditions from her ancestors' birthland).

My father was nowhere in sight, but I didn't care at the moment. I was not too surprised by this; he never was on time when it came to things like my birthday or scholastic events (I inherited my mother's brilliant mind instead of my father's brawn). He was going to be late to my mother's funeral because of some press conference. Apparently that was more important than my mother's funeral. Uncle Nighteye came in his stead, which I was fine with. He and I have a mutual understanding, even if he was once my old man's sidekick. My mother always liked having chats with Uncle Nighteye when she visited his agency, sometimes bringing me with her. Even though I was Quirkless, he claimed to see potential in me, especially when I had once aspired to be a hero. At least back when I wanted my father to notice me more. Which he does not, by the way. Like at all.

I have given up that aspiration after the incident that led to my mother's untimely death. Her death was what opened my eyes to what the hero life is really all about. Beneath all the glitz and glamour, there is nothing but the ugly truth itself. If choosing your public image means more than keeping your own family safe then I want nothing to do with that life.

As the casket disappeared from view as it lowered into the ground, I wrenched myself from Uncle Nighteye's grasp and ran off, the feelings of grief and sorrow becoming too much for me to keep under wraps. I may be a precocious child with many academic achievements that would bring even the best college professors to their knees, I was still a child. A child that had lost their mother too soon and had nearly no one to turn to. My aunt Rakshata yelled in alarm as she saw me bolt away, her younger sister following suit.

I heard Uncle Nighteye, plus Uncle David and my cousin Melissa call out to me in alarm, but I ignored them all, running through the cemetery with almost reckless abandon. I managed to avoid stepping on anyone's else's graves as Mom had taught me a long time ago about graveyard etiquette. I wanted to get away from all of it; not just the funeral and the people gathered there, but from life itself. What is the point of life if my rock and anchor in life is gone, leaving me adrift in the sea of despair and loneliness. I don't have any friends to confide in as I was homeschooled by my mother, and the only other people my age that I had to talk to is Melissa, but she doesn't get to visit us a lot as she lived on I-Island with Uncle David, which is kinda far from where Mom and I lived. And Aunt Shanti is about to be going to college so our time together is gonna be limited at best some time in the near future...

It was not like my mother left me with nothing; quite the opposite really. At one point, one of her lawyers, a personal acquaintance of hers, had pulled me aside a week before the visitation (which I attended alone as Uncle Nighteye was held up at work and Uncle David and Cousin Melissa were on a plane heading our way so they were not able to show up until the next day) with Detective Tsukaichi, my father's "substitute" for the visitation, and Eraserhead, a colleague of my father's though he is clearly not fond of him (not that I blame the guy), and read me my mother's will. And I got more than her family heirloom that was the twin rainbow bladed katanas. Thanks to her technological advances in the field she worked in, she retired early and started her own business of running a dojo/bathhouse so she could raise me and live comfortably with what she made in her 401k and what she saved up from all of her jobs plus the business she ran. She had no need for frivolous stuff (though she had been known to indulge herself, especially where her favorite hookah pipe was concerned, but aside from that she had the most level head when it came to "buyer beware" and whatnot) though she had occasionally spoiled me when I got good grades in the online classes she enrolled me in and we would spend the day together, making it a girls' day or night. Turns out, she also had a fat life insurance backing her up, and she left several things in her possession to me. She also made it clear that none of it goes to my father, as he did next to nothing for me and to an extent, herself, even before I turned four and went to the doctor for my Quirk assessment, nor declaring me to be his so-called "successor" as she was already informed before her untimely death that he had no intention making me his successor for his Quirk. Despite his own past for being Quirkless before he met Nana Shimura, the previous holder of One For All before she met her end at All For One's hands, he has no respect for us Quirkless. Which I found to be rather hypocritical of him. Especially when you factor in the story of All For One and how One For All came to be.

But in the end, I got the last laugh, as I got a lot of moo-lah in my own personal bank account plus a lot of my mother's prized possessions, be it sentimental value or a vast financial value (even a house, which was basically a summer/winter house she and I often went to during certain seasons and take a few weeks off staying there, with a vast forest nearby, chocked full with many different creatures unknown to man), and he doesn't get to put a single finger on it, as per my mother's will's instructions. I am looking forward to seeing his shock when it will be brought to his attention that he didn't get jacksquat from her will. The bloodbath (courtesy of his "condition" after his "fight" with this so-called "Toxic Chainsaw") is gonna be fun, rest assured.

But I'm getting off track here.

Getting away from the crowd was pretty easy, as I can blend in easy and I'm small enough to fit into tight spaces. Which was a big advantage when playing hide n' seek with Mom.

And here I am using it as a means to run away from life at that present moment.

I managed to hide myself away in the chapel's belfry, where I knew it would be the last place they would ever look for me. I sat down with my knees tucked under my chin, my personal smartphone (given to me as a gift from Uncle David at my last birthday) in my trembling hands as I opened the photo gallery app and scroll through the pictures of me and my mother, always smiling at the camera as we were having fun together. From my kindergarten graduation to my first English essay award, from my fifth birthday bash to our girls' only outings, seeing our frozen happy faces made tears blur my eyes once again. The heat in my eyes becoming too much and my vision is now altered by the tears, I hastily locked my phone and set it next to me as I buried my face into my knees, my sobs becoming muffled into my suit.

My phone buzzed a few times, no doubt Uncle Nighteye and Cousin Melissa spam messaging me, trying to find my current location. I didn't care; I just wanted to be alone. Being near any of them, even Uncle David, just hurts too much right now.

I lifted my head, my eyes bloodshot from the tears. I used my sleeve to wipe them away, not caring if I ruined the suit. Why should he care anyway? He barely knows that I exist, and he hardly gave his own wife the time of day, especially when his hero career launched. A part of me wished my mother divorced him sooner, otherwise this wouldn't be happening right now. It's all his fault that my mother is dead, the only blood family that gave a shit about me and what is best for me. It should be him!

My eyes began to burn again, only this sort of heat is different. This isn't from sorrow or loss. It is not even anger anymore either.

It was hate.

I gritted my teeth, rage beginning to fill my body from the core, making me tighten my fists beneath me to the point that blood was beginning to slip through the fingers and hit in droplets onto the dusty wooden floor below me. I really wanted to tear the earth apart just to find my old man and have the business end of my newly acquired swords just to make him feel a shred of my anguish and pain over the loss of my mother and the wrath I feel towards him and his blatant negligence.

"Child...."

My breath froze, making me unclench my fists instinctually as surprise with a tinge of fear began to fill me in place of my boiling rage. Looking around I saw that everything around me has frozen. The slight breeze that had been blowing through the belfry had seemed to stop suddenly. A leaf that had been flying on the wind had stopped midair, like someone hit the pause button on a TV remote. Fear began to eat me from within, thinking back to my mother's death where a villain took her life, and I began to fear that the same was about to happen to me next.

"Fear not," a powerful voice, neither male nor female, echoed, making me look around for the source. "You won't find me out here," they almost sounded like they were close to laughing as they continued speaking. "Rather, I'm in your head. And before you ask, I'm not some being with a so-called Quirk, as your fellow humans call them."

I swallowed, deciding to just go with it and debate my mental stability later. "So I take it you are not human yourself?" I asked aloud.

"That be correct, child. I'm more than a mere creature too."

"Then what, or who, are you?" I asked, remembering my manners.

"A polite one...." the voice mused. "Finally, a human that was brought up properly, unlike these uncouth flesh monkeys."

That made me choke on a laugh, making me slap my hands over it to smother it. It reminded me of my mother's smart remarks, as I learned a good percent of my comebacks and savagery from her when she takes me to work or someone's agency asking for her services. Especially when she sees something she does not particularly like.

I heard the voice chuckle with me. "Glad that made you smile a bit."

"After what my week has been turning out to be, I needed that." I responded, wiping a tear from my suppressed laughter from the corner of my eye.

"Indeed. But I suppose salutations are due. I am known as Arceus. Let me show myself to you, as I believe it to be poor manners not to let you see who is talking to you and vice versa."

After a moment, a bright light emitted from in front of me, taking the shape of a wormhole, before a white equestrian creature with... is that some ornate yellow fence encasing their midsection? They had a grey face with red eyes with green sclera, and some sort of wispy appendage at the back of his head.

Something about this creature's aura exuded regality and commanded utmost respect, which is probably the reason why I sat up properly and bowed to him out of sheer instinct. Despite the superiority rolling off their figure, I couldn't help but feel safe in their presence. Like how I felt safe with my mother whenever I had a nightmare and ran to her for comfort and security.

"Lift your head, dear child," their voice felt warm, like a blanket on a cold wintry night in front of the hearth. "While I appreciate the respect, there is no need for that. I came to you.. for I have watched you from afar and, despite the heartache and tribulations you have to suffer through, your light burns brightly like a fire..."

I had no idea what to say to that. On the one hand, I could very well deny it openly and risk arguing with this deity-like creature, or just accept it even though I have next to no idea what it means, and I don't want to seem ignorant.

"Erm..." I struggled to think of what honorific to use for them, before I settled on the more simple yet meaningful one, "Arceus-sama... if I may ask, why is it me that sparks your interest? Out of all the humans on this planet, why me. I'm just one person, one without a power to call my own. You have your pick of more powerful... candidates, I suppose is the word. So why me? I'm nothing special. Just a powerless kid who had just lost her mother..." My voice cracked when I said this aloud, making me wince at myself.

"While it is true that there are many powerful candidates, I care naught for them. The vast majority of them flaunt their so-called gifts to the point they see themselves at the level of a god, which is a major insult to me as both a deity among my own kind and giving the label a bad name in that regard...."

I could understand that. I mean look at my old man and my best friend's father. Both powerful in their own right (though the latter is a bit more scummy than the former with the physical abuse as mine is more of being neglected than being beaten, I'll admit) yet they are prideful and very much arrogant to the point of narcissism.

Still...

"I'm afraid that still leaves the question, if I may be so bold to point out," I replied, "Why me?"

They stared at me for a moment, their red/green eyes looking deep into my soul, before they responded in kind, "While you may think yourself powerless, I see a great potential in you. What others perceive as weak, is what I see as potential. Potential to even change this world's foundation with your beliefs."

I deadpanned at them. "You're starting to sound like a politician."

This made them give me an eye-smile along with a slight chuckle. "My apologies. While I'm not fond of human politics myself, I guess a few choice figures have influenced how I sometimes speak with others... But onto to serious business, as one of my children Dialga can only hold this world's time on pause for so long."

"Who?" I asked.

"You will learn in due time, but time is of the essence, and I have wasted quite a bit as it is. And don't think it be your fault, as the fault lies within me, as I tend to get carried away." Their head looked toward where my phone sat beside me. "Might I see that for a moment?" they inquired.

Seeing no reason why not, I picked up my cell phone and lifted it up to them. I decided to throw all caution to the wind at this point. I still haven't quite grasped the weirdness of this situation, and I'm sure once it all catches up to me, I may just lose it.

I blinked with mild surprise as it suddenly levitated up to their face with some sort of telekinetic hold. Holding it up, it suddenly became engulfed in a bright light, making me shield my eyes to avoid being blinded. When the glow died down, I heard their voice again.

"Here you go, child." They spoke, making me lower my arm from my face to see that floating in front of me, it was my phone. Only now it looked way different.

"Sugoi..." I murmured in awe, taking it in both hands.

"Take it as a gift." they spoke, sounding like a parent giving their child a reward for good behaviour. "It will also be our means of communication to each other aside from the telepathy link I will establish in a moment."

"Umm... Thank you." I dipped my head, feeling gratitude towards the godlike creature.

They gave me another eye-smile. "Glad you like it. Now stay still for a moment." Before I could respond, they craned their neck down to were their face touched my forehead. When it did, a soft yellow glow emanated from them before it exploded like a firework, the sparkles falling onto my skin, only for it not even hurt. It actually felt nice, like a hot shower after a long day.

"There. Now we can communicate more often once I leave here."

"Do you really have to go?" I asked, feeling saddened by the idea of them leaving so soon. Their presence is what is soothing me from the grief of losing my mother.

Their eyes became melancholic, as if they could sense my emotions. "I'm afraid so. But fret not. I will not be far. With that," they nodded to my new phone, "We can speak to each other as much as you like, and with the telepathic link to boot, it shouldn't be a problem."

I took solace in that. I was already convinced this wasn't a dream as I have been pinching myself since the beginning of the funeral until Uncle Nighteye told me to stop when he caught me.

"Okay, then." I nodded. Getting to my feet.

"Before I go, lift your hands up." they instructed.

Doing as they said, I then realized how much damage I did when my nails buried themselves into my palms. I winced at the now-dreid blood caked into the lines of my hands. Uncle Nighteye and Uncle David are bound to freak out if they saw this. As if I'm not already on a watch for self-harm as last week before the funeral, Eraserhead walked in on me with a razor blade in my hands. I didn't do anything to myself, but I didn't get the chance to when he just about had to wrestle the sharp object out of my hands (he later commented that I was the only kid half his students' size and age that put up that big of a fight and lasted that long against him, Quirk or not. I couldn't tell if he was impressed or a bit surly that a kid my age nearly bested him...) and have Nighteye schedule routine visits to Hound Dog for counseling. As if that did not suck enough given my situation. It doesn't help that I'm less than forthcoming about sharing my issues with a giant scary looking dog with a muzzle on his face and with a seemingly short fuse to boot.

That worry vanished as the same warm glow from before engulfed my hands, the puncture wounds made by my fingernails closed up and the dried crimson blood washed away like water from a faucet.

"There." they nodded with approval, "Try not to hurt yourself, dear child. It won't do for my Chosen One to be harming themselves, even if it was unintentional."

My own heart warmed at that; it didn't sound patronizing nor pitying; it actually felt caring, like a doting parent with their own child.

Thoughtlessly, I ran up and hugged them, taking them off guard. Sure I only could manage to wrap my small arms around their front leg (I am only seven after all), but still.

"Thank you..." I whispered tearfully into their foreleg. I felt them touch their face on top of my head, a comforting weight.

"It is no problem, my child. You can call me your parent if that is what you wish. Be it mother or father, I can do both rather well..." (A/N: Let's not bring up the canonical dysfunctional family relationship known as Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina with Arceus. Though rest assured Saga will be making her wisecracks about it once she gets to meet & know the Sinnoh Trio and their origins.)

I nodded against their leg, not having a problem with that arrangement. While I may be stuck under my father's custody for at least a little while until I figure out a way to get my hands on some emancipated minor papers or whatnot, I think can endure this loss if it means I won't be alone in it.

The bright hole Arceus came in through began to pulse with light, like a light signal in Morse code.

Arceus sighed, not even turning around to see it.

"I'm afraid that is my cue to leave you for now. We will meet again, dear child."  They turned to enter the luminous wormhole before adding one last thing, "Also, when you get home, you will find a present from me. Consider it another gift from yours truly. And it will help cure some of that loneliness whenever I'm not with you. And a bonus with your telepathy link. You'll see what I mean in due time..."

With that said, they vanished into the bright light, the wormhole closing up with a quick yet bright flash, making me shield my eyes for a moment before it died down.

Lowering my arm, I saw that time had resumed it's natural course.

And right at that exact moment, I heard footsteps going up the staircase. Rising to my feet, albeit unsteadily, I looked up in time to see my secret friend, Shoto Todoroki, along with Touya, his older brother, right behind him.

Their eyes widened when they saw me before they rushed over to me and hugged me. I was one of the few people they initiate physical contact with aside from their two older siblings Fuyumi and Natsuo and their mother, Rei. Why? Because we have the bond of shitty father figures and that's more than enough to initiate a mutual understanding at the very least. And I like Fuyumi, as she is one of the few older sister figures I have in my life aside from my cousin Shanti.

"Where have you been, dammit!?" Touya gritted out with thinly veiled worry.

"You shouldn't be cursing," I pointed out in a half-assed nonchalant tone.

"Don't change the subject, baka!" He held me close. "We brushed off our old man to find you, don't scare us like that! Mom got very worried!"

I winced. Rei is such a sweet woman. She doesn't deserve a person like that jackass Endeavor to be her husband, forced marriage or otherwise. She was my mother's friend outside of work, so I develop a closeness with her, like that of either an aunt or a second mom. Her children are okay with me, though I never saw much of Fuyumi and Natsuo as they are more than a few years ahead of me, about the same age as Shanti as they had their own higher education to deal with. Of course there is also Touya and Shoto. Those two have grown on me the most, and vice versa though it took them awhile to figure it out. When their old man caught wind of his "two masterpieces" associating with little old Quirkless me, he tried putting the ban on their hanging out with me. Not that it stopped them; I helped devise ways to hang out on the sly with them. Anything to pull one over the flaming garbage bag.

"I'm sorry," I said genuinely. "It just..." I sniffed. "It just got too much...."

Their eyes softened. They understood how I felt.

"Just don't scare us like that," Shoto reprimanded, his voice softer now as he placed a hand on my head.

"Gomen-nasai," I pulled away to bow my head. "It won't happen again." Yeah, right...

Touya placed a hand on top of my head this time. "Don't go making promises you can't keep, squirt." That earned him a pout, at both the nickname and the way he messed up my hair.

I playfully smacked his hand. "Shut up, big bro..." I grumbled, making him smirk at me.

Shoto's mouth quirked up into a brief smile before smoothing back into his neutral poker face. "C'mon. Old man's bound to be on a rampage at any given minute if we don't get back over there. And we gotta get her back to Nighteye-san before he could see us."

"And I wouldn't trust that charcoal brain in a room with your other siblings and your mother alone when he has a wasp dropped down his pants," I quipped, making them smirk and try to hold back a snicker at my choice of words.

Slipping my phone into my pocket, I beckoned my hand to them. "Follow me. I found a secret passageway that will help us both avoid your old man's unholy wrath and make it back to Uncle Nighteye with time to spare."

With that, we all left the belfry.

After a brief scolding from Nighteye and Uncle David and my aunts, I was then driven home by the former, with me riding in the backseat. It was quiet in the car but I didn't mind. For my thoughts from the earlier events at the belfry was still fresh in my mind and it kept me busy with my thoughts throughout the fairly long car ride back to my mother's place. Thankfully Uncle Nighteye knew better than to take me to wherever my father was at the moment. Being remotely in the same vicinity with him always makes me more than agitated. And given that he had never shown up at all at the funeral, you could say I was quite unhappy with him, more than usual. And there was a good chance I was gonna let him have it the second I see him again in the near future.

Deciding to move my thoughts away from that moronic sperm donor, I focused on something that Arceus told me.

"I wonder what he meant by curing part of my loneliness...?" I pondered to myself as I fiddled with my newly designed phone. I kept it on silent and kept it locked since the funeral ended as the battery was beginning to run low so I used the spare car adapter to charge it on the way home.

As I stared out the window to watch the scenery blur past us, the corner of my eye caught sight of my phone lighting up, silently telling me that I have a notification. Reaching over to my phone, I opened it to see a message.

Go straight to your quarters to find the "bonus" gift I had mentioned....

It didn't take a genius to figure out who sent me that message. Nodding to myself, I placed my phone back on the adapter and leaned back into my seat, closing my eyes to take a light snooze before I get home.

After a while, we finally arrived. After seeing that I had made it through the front door, Uncle Nighteye drove off, wishing me to get some rest and to be sure to eat something before leaving. One of the best things about Uncle Nighteye? He doesn't hover.

As soon as his car receded from sight, I went straight to my room to see what Arceus meant by the "bonus" gift he had sent me.

Nothing could have prepared me when I opened the door and found several creatures with varying appearances, from two-legged to quadraped, and with varying colors loitering in my room. They all looked very similar to the creatures that live around my mother's vacation house. They all seemed fairly young, too, not exactly infants but not exactly full-grown either. So somewhere in between. When I opened the door, they all stopped whatever they were doing to stare at me with curious eyes.

My phone's screen flashed again out of the corner of my eye, making me wordlessly unlock it and turn on my notifications volume so I don't miss any of Arceus's messages, and find that a new message was waiting for me to be read.

Enjoy your new friends. Do not worry about them attacking you, as they are actually orphaned ilk of mine that are in need of a parental figure themselves. So they will imprint on you upon first sight, like a duckling to their mother. Consider it your first assignment from yours truly. Learn everything you can of them, as they will play a big role along your side when the time comes.

Good luck, my chosen one.

Looking up from my phone, I looked down at my feet to see three of the creatures, a blue otter with a seashell on it's belly, a green and tan small owl, and a blue and cream colored rodent-like creature with shut eyes were looking up at me with curious eyes.

With that said, I had some work that needed to be done. Looking up at the other creatures before me, I felt something akin to determination filling me to my core, as I resolved to raise these guys like my mother had raised me and like they were my own children.

"I will not fail you guys... not like how my father had. Upon my new patron god's word, I will rise above his expectations and make him regret ever overlooking me...."

Pokemon Team (at that time):

Oshawott

Rowlet

Cyndaquil

Zorua (Hisui)

Eevee

Stantler

Teddiursa

Riolu

Ralts

Rufflet

Petilil

Growlithe (Hisui)

(A/N: the full team roster is in the character info chapter, and she gets the others as years go by, as a way of Arceus rewarding her for her progress and challenging her further with the more challenging species, like Scyther and the Hisuian Basculin)

Annnnnnnnnndddd cut!!!!

There's the prologue. I don't have much to say on this aside from this may not be my best intro, but I did what I could work with. I just hope this isn't my worst one. I have been doing this between doing stuff while at work. Being a certified nursing assistant is quite demanding after all especially when you have the night shift. But hey, I quite love my job and I hope to progress further in this field of work.

But enough on that.

This is ArtVampire signing off!

Ja ne!