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Once he made it to the wide, circular room next to the lab’s barracks and charging stations, Turo halted. He set Infrared down next to the steel staircase that led to the control room and propped her up against the wall. “I’ll be right back, baby.” With a pokéball in his hand, he jogged to the barracks. He needed something to guard them while he and Arven dealt with Infrared.
She lifted her hand and waved Miraidon over to her.
He switched to his low-power mode and came within reach of her. “Gias?” he questioned. He hit the ground with his tail. It made a ringing sound under its mechanical weight.
Infrared’s eyes glitched, but she stayed strong and patted her Pokémon’s shoulder. “You know what I need to do, Miraidon.” She held back a few tears. “Arven and Turo will not be able to destroy me.”
Miraidon knew this day would come—ever since Infrared changed him. His face drooped, and he said, “Agias.”
Infrared’s hand moved up to his left cheek. “You’re my good boy,” she said, smiling slightly. “I knew you could make friends with Arven. He will need somebody to look after him. Can you do that for me, please? I can’t be there for him anymore.”
“I will, Sada, I promise,” Miraidon nickered. He pushed his cheek into Infrared’s palm.
“I’m sorry, Miraidon,” she said. “I’m sorry I did this to you.”
“Well, we got one last adventure out of it, didn’t we?” Miraidon communicated back. He chuckled, but it wasn’t long until his face dropped again. He removed his cheek from Infrared’s palm when he heard Turo.
“Iron Hands, keep watch!”
The futuristic Hariyama emerged from his pokéball. Its plump, mechanical body clicked on and off like a light bulb, and it held its enormous hands in front of it. As an Electric-type Pokémon, it would not hesitate to shock any robot that tried to jump it.
Turo returned to Infrared. He reached out to pick her up again, but she bumped him off.
“No.”
“But, Sada, you can’t walk.” Turo swallowed a lump in his throat, but it only returned as a larger, cancerous mass.
“Yes… I can.” Infrared pushed through the pain in her arm and shakily stood. “To be brave is something you learn over time.”
Turo was really worried now. “Sada, what are you talking about? Here, let me help you.”
Infrared gave his hand a quick slap. “You’ve done enough.”
The guilt returned. Turo felt it passing through his veins. He wondered what would have happened if he never lost himself to his grief and invented Infrared.
Infrared speaking broke his train of thought. “Let’s go, Miraidon.” She used him to support her balance and headed down the steel staircase.
“Motherboard damaged by fall,” Infrared’s robotic voice announced. She and Miraidon weren’t even halfway down the stairs when she toppled forward.
Turo caught her before she tumbled down them. He pulled her arms out of her lab coat and wrapped it around her like a blanket. Turo scooped her up and said to Miraidon, “We need to get her to the control room—and fast.”
They were right behind Arven and Celebi, who just made it there.
“3D printer, 3D printer,” Arven said, looking around. He noticed that the room’s holographic screen was on. It showed the center section of Levincia where all the moving walkways connected. The sky above it had turned infrared again and pulsed repeatedly, indicating that the space-time rift was opening. Arven had to hurry before Past Pokémon ran rampant in the future. Nobody else had to die because of his mistake.
“Bi!” Celebi called from the experimental table.
“Celebi?” Arven said, peering over his shoulder. He shuffled to the Pokémon and studied the table. “Is this the 3D printer?”
“Yes,” Celebi replied telepathically. It plopped down on the table. “This is where Infrared was born, through the power of 3D printing and futuristic technology.”
The tall and long, black table had golden edges (similar to the Scarlet and Violet Books), three small computers attached to its front, and a hook-like mechanical feature at the back that moved from side to side like a typewriter. Arven knew that was the printer part of it.
He saw two rectangular-shaped pockets under the table’s computers. Arven brushed his hand across them and held the Violet Book up to one of them. It was a perfect fit. “Is it really that simple?” he inquired. Dropping to his knees, he took off his knapsack and opened it, pulling out the Scarlet Book.
Arven’s eyes rolled over to Celebi, and he said, “You gave me the Scarlet and Violet Books, didn’t you?”
“Yes. You finally figured it out!” Celebi grasped its cheeks. “I’m Turo’s Pokémon, so I knew he was struggling. I traveled through time to find Sada and bring her and Koraidon here.” It peeked back at the 3D printer. “Turo transferred some of Miraidon’s new powers to her when he programmed her with Infrared. Those powers and Sada’s link to it—”
“—allowed her to open the space-time rift,” Arven interrupted. He pinched his nose. “I had a feeling.”
“Yes,” Celebi said. “So, in a nutshell, Arven, Infrared was born from electricity. Miraidon’s, to be accurate. Turo used 3D printing to create the Violet Book afterward, but keep in mind that Miraidon was once Koraidon.”
“And that’s where the Scarlet Book comes in handy,” Arven concluded.
Celebi flapped its wings. It floated in front of Arven. “With both the Scarlet and Violet Books, we will be able to destroy Infrared.”
No, not Infrared but Arven’s mom. He seized up. He didn’t want to do this anymore. AI or not, how could he destroy his own mother?
“All we need is Sada,” was the last thing Celebi told him.
“I’ve got her right here.” Turo, who appeared behind Arven, pushed past him. “Excuse me, Arven.” His legs shook under him, but he went ahead and set Infrared down on the table.
Turo turned on its computers. Under him, the pockets for the two books lit up like Iron Hands’s body.
“I can’t do this, Dad,” Arven said. “She’s my mom.”
“It’s okay, son. I understand.” Turo retrieved the Scarlet and Violet Books from him. “I’ll do it.” Nevertheless, he, too, hesitated to slip the books into the pockets. It didn’t make sense. He didn’t hesitate to hurt Infrared before, so why was this happening now? Inhaling, Turo told himself, “On three. One, two…” He still couldn’t follow through.
Infrared expected this. She dragged her head off the table and nodded at Miraidon and Celebi.
Miraidon returned her sign and glowed up the brightest he ever had. He changed his form and knocked the books out of Turo’s hands. His toothless jaws caught both of them.
“Miraidon, what are you doing?” Turo questioned.
Miraidon backed him and Arven up to the control room’s entrance.
Celebi put up a Reflect between Infrared and her family members. It stretched across the whole room, cutting it in two distinct halves.
“Wait!” Turo punched the barrier. “Sada, don’t you dare! Not when our family is finally back together!”
Infrared’s eyes glitched to their cyan-blue color. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but we need to destroy Infrared.” She unwrapped Turo’s lab coat and tossed it off to the side, taking off her own. “You two are ready.”
“Stop!” Turo begged again. He jumped when Miraidon threatened him with a quick Thundershock and grabbed Arven. Turo brought him to his side.
Miraidon dropped the two books into the pockets. A violet light on the Violet side of the table outlined one half of it and a scarlet one on the Scarlet side.
Infrared rolled off it. She hit the floor but rose to her feet and backed away from the table. Turning her body, she clutched her left arm and pointed it at the table’s edge. “Here goes nothing,” she whispered. “To be brave is something you learn over time.”
“Stop!” Turo shrieked one more time. “Please! I love you, Sada!”
“Mom!” Arven yelled after him.
Infrared counted down from three, “One, two, three,” and then she sprinted and slammed the loose crystals on her arm into the table. At once, another layer of them dropped off, and her arm sparked.
“No!” Arven cried out.
Mabosstiff, who heard all the noise, soon appeared next to him. His pokéball dropped onto the floor.
Infrared stumbled on her feet, but she straightened herself and backed away again. “Again!” For the second time, she smashed her arm into the table’s edge. “Ow!”
“No!” Arven couldn’t watch this. He whirled around and hid his face in Turo’s shoulder.
Mabosstiff rubbed up against his leg.
Infrared’s vision was clouded with pain, but she could still see the table’s glowing outline. “One… more… time,” she breathlessly said.
Infrared threw herself into the table for the third time. It was the hardest hit yet. The crystals fell from her arm and revealed her re-opened wound. Infrared tossed her hand into it. With one swift stroke, she ripped her motherboard right out of her arm and slammed it down on the table.
Infrared yelped when her body, the motherboard, and the table started to malfunction. Electricity burned her from the inside, almost setting her on fire.
Miraidon came in for the final blow. In mid-air, he curled into a ball. His electricity sizzled from him, and he rolled into the table. He broke it into two pieces and the motherboard into many.
The Violet Book shriveled, but the Scarlet one remained intact. The force from Miraidon’s attack tossed their pockets apart from one another. The Scarlet Book stabbed Celebi’s barrier and shattered it like glass.
From where she stood, Infrared collapsed onto her tummy in front of the machine’s remains.
In the lab’s main room, Turo’s remaining AI people and Pokémon shut down, allowing Penny to push an Iron Bundle off her. The infrared ceiling above her faded.
Iron Hands grabbed Joy when she reached it. Its body lit up, and it gave her a little shock.
Nemona, Penny, Scarlet, and Kenji straightened up when the AIs and Hologram Pokémon stopped attacking them.
“Whoa!” Nemona said. “What happened?”
In the control room, the last thing Infrared’s holographic screen showed was the space-time rift above Levincia closing and the sky returning to normal. Just like that… Pop! It shut off. Everything else in the control room shut down.
Shaking, Arven let go of Turo. He, his dad, and Mabosstiff hurried to Sada.
“AI Sada critically damaged,” said her dying computer. A majority of the infrared Tera crystals broke off Sada’s body and created piles around her. Burn marks replaced the areas where the crystals once were.
Arven and Turo got down on Sada’s level.
Out of breath, Arven said, “Mom, Mom.” He turned Sada over and held her in his arms. “Why would you do that? Why would you be so stupid?”
“I… had… to,” Sada gasped. “Please… Arven.” She shakily reached for her lab coat.
Turo got it for her. “What do you need?”
“Poké… ball. Kor… ai… don’s. Left… pocket.” Sada’s eyes drooped, but she forced them to stay open a little longer.
Turo freed the pokéball from her coat pocket and offered it to her.
Sada took it. “Ar… ven.” She set the ball down in his palm. “Take… care… of… him… for… me.”
“I will, Mom,” Arven said, wrapping his fingers around the pokéball. “I won’t let you down.” He heard huffing behind him.
Miraidon floated past Mabosstiff and over to Sada’s other side.
Pounding footsteps on the steel staircase interrupted the silent atmosphere. Arven’s party, Koraidon, Slither Wing, and Iron Valiant were soon in the control room.
At the sight of Arven and his parents, Nemona smacked her hand to her mouth. “Oh no.”
Scarlet stopped her before she could go to them.
Arven saw Penny out of the corner of his eye and said, “Penny!” He showed her Sada. “Fix her!”
“I can’t,” Penny admitted. Sada was broken beyond compare.
“It’s… okay.” Sada pinched Arven’s cheek and shook his skin. “You’re… ready… my… grown… up… son. I… love… you… Arven.” She kissed his cheek and let it go.
“Tur… o.” Sada took his hand next. “Grief… comes… in… waves. But… you’re… finally… free… and… so… am… I. I… I… I’m… finally… human.” Her hand fell from Turo’s, and she closed her eyes.
“No, no.” Arven shook her, but his mom did not move. “No! Mom!” Crying, he and Turo hugged her at the same time.
“I’m sorry, Sada,” Turo said. “I did this to you.” Instead of shrinking, his cancerous mass grew larger. “I should have never left you.” His wife would still be alive if he did.
Turo shut his own eyes, but he opened them when Sada’s motionless body sparkled.
A flash of infrared lighting escaped it and washed across the room like an incoming tsunami. It found its way up the staircase and into the main room. Strings of light broke off it like tree branches and hit the Hologram Pokémon. They reverted all of them to normal, including Nemona’s Meowscarada and Arven’s Cloyster.
Bewildered, the two Pokémon tried to make sense of where they were. They checked the area for their trainers.
In the control room, a large band of scarlet light wrapped itself around Miraidon’s head like a crown. It lifted him toward the ceiling.
Startled, Arven and Turo let Sada go. They stood up and backed away from her. Arven almost tripped on Mabosstiff.
Miraidon’s body pulsed and started to change. A plumage of feathers replaced the lightning bolts on his head, and his legs folded down to create two powerful, hind ones. The tire in his chest swapped to that of Koraidon.
Once his transformation ceased, the light brought him to the ground, and his hind legs tapped it. It faded, and he examined his familiar body up and down. Koraidon tapped his feet and clenched his scaly fists. He was at least a head taller than Scarlet’s Koraidon.
Koraidon’s orange-yellow eyes rolled over to Arven and Turo. He showed them his hands and shook the feathers on his head.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Arven grinned. “Koraidon!” He rubbed the tears from his eyes and tossed himself into Koraidon’s arms.
Koraidon’s eyes widened, but he soon returned Arven’s hug. “I’ll take care of you, Arven,” he growled, setting him down.
Arven offered him the pokéball.
Koraidon tapped it with his nose. He turned into red energy and vanished inside the ball. It shook one, two, three times before a small ding was heard.
Turo managed to crack a smile himself. He approached Arven and said, “Congratulations, Arven. You’ve got a new Pokémon. As long as you have him, our Sada will never be gone.”
"I know," Arven said. He brought the pokéball to his face. "Don't worry, Koraidon, you're part of our family now. It's what my mother wanted."
“Bi.” Celebi flew to Turo and hugged his neck.
“Thank you, Celebi,” Turo said, hugging it back. “Thank you for never giving up on me and for bringing my son to me.” He was finally ready to be a dad, but he had a lot of work to do.
“Scarada!” was soon heard from the staircase. Meowscarada, followed closely by Cloyster, skipped the staircase’s last stair and ran to Nemona.
“Meowscarada! You’re back!” Nemona burst into tears. She squeezed her Pokémon so tightly that she almost suffocated her.
Cloyster, who wasn’t as fast as Meowscarada, bounced down the last few stairs like a basketball let loose.
Scarlet’s Koraidon went to it and helped it up with his paw.
“Cloyster,” Cloyster said, embarrassed.
Penny and Scarlet examined the reunions. They hooked hands and snuggled close to each other.
At the sight of Penny’s face turning red, Scarlet said, “Aw, don’t cry, Penny. You’ll make me cry.” Sure enough, a warm, salty tear dropped from her eye.
Penny and Scarlet embraced. They let go after a full minute and shook the water out of their glasses.
Scarlet slipped hers back on first. She pulled Penny to her neck and said, “Let’s go home.”
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