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It's late and Tony is tired as he stumbles back downstairs after a movie night with the rest of the team. Almost everyone else has left the room in twos and threes, until Tony was the only one left. Steve made him promise to go up to bed, and Tony had every intention of doing just that until he remembered the simulation that he and JARVIS were working on before the movie began.
Fortunately, it only takes a few minutes to confirm that the next iteration of the Iron Man armor still needs a lot of work. Tony tinkers with a couple of the settings and then leaves JARVIS to run more simulations. He takes the elevator up to his own personal floor and yawns as the doors slide open and he stumbles out. His head is buzzing with numbers and the memory of Steve's chest under his cheek as he heads for the bedroom.
"Hey Stark."
"Jesus!" Tony jumps about a foot in the air and swings around, badly shocked. "Lights!"
The lights automatically flick on to reveal one of Tony's least favorite people. Deadpool is reclining on the couch like he belongs there, idly spinning one of his katanas. Tony glowers at him, trying to pretend that he wasn't as surprised as he was. He's not sure how Deadpool got in, and even less sure why JARVIS didn't alert him to the intrusion. But he also knows there's no point in asking, because asking Deadpool questions is just begging for a headache - and a lack of a straight answer to boot.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Tony hisses, putting a hand over his chest. His heart is racing. He's pretty sure the arc reactor is working double time to accommodate it.
"I thought about coming to the front door, but I figured you wouldn't let me in," Deadpool says earnestly.
"You're right. I wouldn't."
"I'm hurt, Stark. Genuinely hurt." Deadpool launches himself up. "I came to ask a favor, actually."
"A favor? For you?" Tony can't keep the derision from his voice.
Deadpool pauses and cocks his head. "I did help to save Spider-Man a couple weeks back."
Tony bites his lip to forestall the automatic snarky response that wants to tumble out. Because Deadpool is right. Sometimes Peter gets caught up in wanting to prove himself to the rest of the Avengers, to the point where he'll do incredibly dangerous or stupid things. Two weeks ago, he did something that was both. He followed a Hydra operative right back to their headquarters, which was - much to Steve's fury - right smack in the downtown of Manhattan. Peter claimed he was only there to gather information. Tony has his doubts.
Regardless, it didn't take Hydra long to figure out that Spider-Man was there. Even Fletchling and Joltik weren't a match against all of those operatives. But it just so happened that Deadpool was nearby when the shooting began, and it turned out that the mercenary didn't take kindly to Hydra agents trying to kill teenagers. By the time the rest of the Avengers arrived, a stunned Spider-Man was standing outside the building with minimal wounds and Deadpool was gone, the only sign he'd ever been there the carnage inside.
"You did," Tony says slowly. "Thank you for that. He wouldn't be here if you hadn't been there." His chest squeezes tight at the thought.
"It was nothing," Deadpool says dismissively, waving his hand.
"If it was nothing, why are you here?"
"I want a pokémon."
That's about the last thing Tony expected. He stares at Deadpool in surprise before he gets a hold of himself, crossing his arms. "You want a pokémon? Why?"
"Who doesn't like pokémon? They're awesome."
He has a point. Tony narrows his eyes. "Is this just a thank you? Not blackmail? Some kind of future bribe?"
"You're so suspicious, Stark. I did your team a favor and I thought you might do me one back." Deadpool dramatically shakes his head and looks at the corner of the room. "Trust issues," he says to no one in particular.
Tony stares at him for another moment, trying to work out all the possible angles. He's not really sure what else Deadpool could be getting out of this. All of the pokémon Tony creates come with a failsafe button built in. If they overstep their boundaries, JARVIS can and will cut the power and then Tony has to personally turn them back on. Nintendo knows this and is now (thanks to Pepper) okay with Tony creating pokémon, so it's not like a pokémon can be held against him in any way. And it probably wouldn't hurt to curry a little favor with Deadpool, especially if he's going to be in the habit of helping Peter out.
Finally, Tony sighs. "Okay. But you have to understand that my pokémon aren't designed to kill people. They can help in battle, but -"
"I would never," Deadpool says, sounding offended, and oddly enough Tony believes him.
"You'll have to care of it," Tony persists. "They may not need food or water, but they all require recharging and regular oiling and other light maintenance. It's just like having a regular pet."
"Is that a yes?"
Tony knows he's going to regret this, but nods. "It's a yes."
"Excellent! I know exactly which one I want."
"Which one?" Tony's fully expecting something crazy. One of the god pokémon he's read about, or maybe something like an Unown. He still hasn't figured out some powers. Psychic, for example, eludes him, though Wanda seems to be making out very well with Gothorita. But that's a situation Tony doesn't want to touch with a ten foot pole no matter how much information it would give him. He and Wanda co-exist best by completely ignoring each other.
"Mimikyu."
"What? Did you say... Mimikyu?" Tony blinks, a little surprised. He's come across that pokémon, which is a ghost/fairy typing, before. He had to do a lot of research before he could create any pokémon, and it was pretty hard to miss the explosion over a pokémon with a tragic backstory. Supposedly, in the world of pokémon, Mimikyu was so horrifying to look at that someone actually died of fright. So now all Mimikyu wear costumes that ressemble cuter pokémon, like Pikachu, in the hopes of getting people to love it.
Why would Deadpool want that pokémon?
"Yup. Can you make it?"
Tony thinks about it for a moment. He's curious to know why, but that doesn't really matter. He hasn't done a ghost pokémon yet, but Lila has a Sylveon and a lot of its fairy attacks are done with lights and lasers. He'll have to think about the ghost part. It might have to be more lasers, or maybe a blaster of some kind. And he knows that Mimikyu wears the costume, but it could have claws underneath for close combat. And it'll have to fly, though it won't have wings - maybe he could put miniature repulsors in?
"I think so," he says slowly. "It might take me a while to figure out the logistics, but it's probably do-able. Come back in three months and I'll -" He cuts himself off as Deadpool takes a running leap out the window.
"Thanks Stark!" he bellows over his shoulder.
"You crazy fucker," Tony says under his breath, hastening over to the window. He locks it and then pulls the curtains for good measure. He might have another pokémon to make, but first he's going to look into patching whatever security hole allowed Deadpool to get in.
He doesn't tell anyone about the meeting, not wanting to have to defend his decision to anyone else on the team. Instead, he quietly sets to work two days later. As with all of the pokémon Tony creates, his first step is to have JARVIS pull together every bit of information on Mimikyu that he can find - everything from official Nintendo merchandise to fanart and theories. He combs through the data and slowly figures out he's going to do this. At least Mimikyu isn't very big, averaging about a foot in height and just over six pounds in weight, which is helpful with the whole flying part of it.
On his next day off, he clears out his other projects and begins. He can't spend all his time on Mimikyu, but he works on it whenever he's got a spare moment. He opts not to put anything terrifying under Mimikyu's costume because that seems cruel, instead leaving Mimikyu's underbody as smooth metal and builds the costume on over it. It feels just as wrong to code in Mimikyu's fabled terror about its body being seen, but that's such a big part of the pokémon's backstory that Tony can't not include it. At least this Mimikyu can be 100% sure that no one will ever see beneath the raggedy costume its wearing.
He gives it mini repulsors that are loosely based off the ones that power the Iron Man armor, and claws that can extend beneath the costume. Lasers will act as its fairy powers, while he goes with a mini canon that can shoot something similar to a repulsor blast - black in color, of course - for its ghost powers. As he works these features into the body, Tony realizes that he's glad Deadpool went with Mimikyu. Like all pokémon, Mimikyu can do some serious damage. But it's also small and will run out of energy much faster than, say, Thor's Raikou or Sam's Growlithe, both of whom are bigger and can pack more of a punch. It makes him worry a little bit less about what Deadpool might want Mimikyu for.
Almost three months to the night that Deadpool was in the tower, Tony sits back and looks at Mimikyu with satisfaction. He's imbued it with all of the typical features for a pokémon, like solar panels on its back and the ability to exude heat and a voicebox with Nintendo's official Mimikyu voice. It'll look, act and feel just like a real pokémon, and no one will ever be able to tell its made of metal. The fabric of its costume is made from the same fabric that Tony uses for Steve's, Clint's and Wanda's uniforms, so it can take a real beating without tearing.
"Okay, J. Time for a test run."
JARVIS doesn't respond, but Mimikyu does twitch. Tony looks at it closely as Mimikyu literally comes to life, black eyes peeping up at him from the middle of the costume. The biography of Mimikyu says that its neck is broken and that's why its costume flops over the way it does; Tony couldn't abide that, so this Mimikyu can choose to have its head sit straight up or flop over. Right now, the costumed head sits upright and looks... well, to be honest it looks kind of eerie. The costume is a little raggedy and tattered, as per the Nintendo specifications, and the blank eyes on the face are a little creepy.
"Mim?" Mimkyu asks, looking around.
"Hi there," Tony says, pushing aside his unease. "How do you feel, Mimikyu?"
"Mi! Mim, kyu, kyu, mi!" Mimikyu says. It uses his claws to skitter to the edge of the desk and leaps off. Tony jolts forward, hands out, but the repulsors kick in. Mimikyu lets out a volley of excited cries as it flies back and forth. In spite of himself, Tony laughs.
"You look like you're gonna do just fine," he says affectionately, patting at Minun and Plusle when they leapt onto his lap and peer up at Mimikyu curiously.
"Kyu!" Mimikyu chirps.
Tony stands up and stretches. "Your trainer should be here to pick you up pretty soon. Come on. You can stay in my room till then."
At three months on the dot, he leaves the window open and settles down on the couch to watch some TV. At half past ten, there's a light thud on the windowsill. Tony gets up as Deadpool sidles into the room. It's impossible to tell thanks to the mask, but he almost thinks that Deadpool seems nervous. It suddenly hits him that Deadpool has no idea whether or not Tony kept his word. For all Deadpool knows, Tony decided not to do it five minutes after Deadpool left. This is the first person who knew that a pokémon was coming and wasn't surprised by it. He wonders if Deadpool's spent the last three months in a state of nervous excitement and decides to take pity on him and not draw it out.
"Stark," Deadpool says.
"Deadpool. I have something for you. Mimikyu!" Tony calls. He left the little pokémon passed out on his bed with Minun and Plusle.
There's a rustling sound and then Mimikyu floats out of the bedroom, looking about as sleepy as a fully-charged pokémon can look. Its head is flopping to the side right now, a further indication of exhaustion. It floats over to Tony, making a lazy circle around him, before finally settling into his outstretched hands. Tony takes a moment to brush his hand across Mimikyu's head. Had Deadpool not shown up, he would've been really okay with keeping Mimikyu for himself. Mimikyu is just so desperate for any kind of affection that it's heart-breaking.
He looks up at Deadpool, surprised to see the man standing perfectly still. In all the times that Tony has interacted with him, Deadpool's always been moving in some way. This unnatural stillness is weird, but Tony decides to take it a good sign and clears his throat.
"I've included a pokédex for you. It will tell you everything you need to know about caring for Mimikyu, as well as what kind of attacks it can use and how to use them. You'll be able to handle the smaller bits on your own, but if anything happens please bring it back here and I'll take care of it."
"It?" Deadpool says. His voice sounds a little hoarse.
"You can decide if it's a boy or a girl. Your choice," says Tony. It's about fifty-fifty so far.
Deadpool slowly holds his hands out. Tony gives Mimikyu an encouraging push and lets go, watching as Mimikyu floats over to Deadpool and alights on his hands. For a long moment, mercenary and pokémon just look at each other.
"Boy," Deadpool says finally. "Is that right?"
"Mi!" Mimikyu says with a decisive nod.
Tony smiles. "Boy it is," he agrees, reaching into his pocket to withdraw the pokédex. He tosses it at Deadpool, who catches it easily. The sensor lights up when it senses Mimikyu and the pokédex unfolds obediently.
"Mimikyu, the lonely pokémon. It stands in front of a mirror, trying to fix its broken neck as if its life depended on it. It has a hard time getting it right, so it’s crying inside. It conceals its terrifying appearance beneath an old rag so it can get closer to people and other pokémon," FRIDAY recites, and Tony inwardly winces. That's harsh, but he took it straight from Nintendo's servers.
"Thank you, Stark," Deadpool says after a pause. "You have my gratitude."
"You're welcome," Tony says quietly, meaning it. He knows people will question him and probably think that he’s crazy, but right now he doesn’t regret his decision to build Deadpool a pokémon.
He stays where he is as Deadpool leaps back out the window, this time with Mimikyu flying right beside him. He only crosses to the window when he's sure they're both gone, but this time he doesn't close it right away. He stands there for a few seconds, looking out at the New York City skyline. It's already dark out, so it's lit up with beautiful lights. And for a moment, he almost thinks he can see a couple of dark shadows streaking across a rooftop in the distance.