Sada and Arven stopped what they were doing and turned their heads when they heard Miraidon.
Arven ran his fingers through his oily hair and said, "What on Earth has gotten into Miraidon?"
"Agias!" That time, Miraidon's cry busted down the back door and swamped the cabin like an enormous wave crashing into the shoreline.
In listening to him, Sada saw the Past Pokémon running for their lives, the earth breaking, and the space-time rift opening in all the chaos. What a horrible memory, but she tried not to let it get to her, even though it was difficult.
She and Arven tossed their knives onto the counter and hustled for the door.
Sada placed her hand in her pocket. In a calm voice, she guessed, "He may have seen a Slither Wing. There's a rabble of them that fly by occasionally." She forced a smile and looked at the worried teens. "Not to worry. Y'all stay here, and I'll check it out."
"Stay here?" Nemona asked. "And do what? I wanna battle!"
"I already told you to stay clear of the Paradox Pokémon, Nemona," Sada said. "Trust me, most of these are far more ruthless than the ones you faced in Area Zero. I don't want any of you getting hurt." Her eyes moved over to Arven. "Especially you, Arven, since you already took a beating in the Zero Lab."
"Bu... But, Mom," Arven stuttered. He shook his head. "No, I'm going with you."
"No, you're not," Sada sternly stated. "You're too young." She took Arven's shoulders and sat him down in his chair. "Remember my code. My battling abilities surpass even the Champion. I'll be fine." She patted Arven's shoulder and turned on her heel. "Miraidon, I'm coming!"
***
Arven rose to his feet, but Penny held her arms up to his chest.
"You heard the lady. We need to stay here."
"I don't care." Arven ripped Penny's arms off him, and she toppled back onto the chair. "She's my mom, and I'm not going to let her run astray with a bunch of dangerous Pokémon."
Penny's face reddened. Like a volcano during an earthquake, she erupted, hopped off the couch, and snatched Arven's shirt collar. "For Pete's Sake, Arven, your mom is dead!" Penny shook his shirt a few times. "What you're looking at is an AI! A robot! Do you want proof? I'll give you proof."
Penny started to pull out her phone, but Scarlet grabbed her and lugged her away from Arven before she could.
"My mom's not dead, Penny!" he shouted, straightening his collar. "I love her, and she's ghosted me long enough."
"You're in love with an AI?" Penny growled. "That's sick, Arven. It's a freaking robot."
"She's not an 'it'! She's my mom!"
"She's an AI!"
Nemona finally stepped in. She turned on her student president self and pushed Arven and Penny apart before they could draw their pokéballs. "Break it up, you two!" Pausing, she inhaled and lowered her voice. She faced Arven, who was on the brink of tears. "Arven, we understand. It's sad, and it hurts. However, what Penny's saying is true. Your mom"—she shook her head—"she died. AI Sada told us in Area Zero. You've got to accept it."
"No, never," Arven choked out. "A computer's controlling her. I just need to find a way to break her away from it, and then I'll finally have my mom back. If y'all don't want to help me, fine. I'll do it myself." He dropped his pack and clutched Mabosstiff's pokéball. Arven barely saw Scarlet hold out her hand before he rushed outside.
There was Miraidon, now calm, but no sign of Sada. She couldn't have gone far in such a short amount of time.
Arven's familial instincts told him to follow the closest hiking path on the right side of the cabin. He pushed through some ferns, and then he saw her.
Sada walked under the Tagtree Thicket's tallest trees in front of him. Occasionally, her boots became caught in a few thorns, but she plucked them off.
Arven stayed quiet and hid behind trees and logs every time she stopped, careful not to step on a stick. What was she doing? Arven assumed she was looking for whatever frightened Miraidon.
A few times when she paused, Sada moved her head back and forth. Her movements were short, choppy, and robot-like, but Arven didn't think too hard about them. Everybody had a unique way of moving their bodies. What concerned him was that Sada suddenly stumbled on her feet.
She dropped to one knee and dug her fist into the dirt, gasping.
For a second, Arven thought she heard something, but then he concluded that something much more sinister was happening because it looked like someone had punched Sada in the chest. There was no way she was the only reason Celebi brought him to the past, but whatever that second reason was, Arven knew it was not good.
"Something fishy is going on," he concluded.
Sada pushed herself to her feet and carried on with her search. She soon reached an opening in the thicket. It was a section of tall grass that some Pokémon roamed in. A few crawled under her legs.
To Arven's surprise, she said, without turning around, "Arven, I told you to stay at the cabin."
"Dang it!" Arven whispered, clenching his fist. He remained behind his tree, which had a giant chunk ripped off due to a lightning strike.
Sada rotated her body at a quick pace. Her necklace and braids bounced with her.
Eventually, Arven, clutching the tree's trunk, poked out from it. "Hi, Mom," he nervously said. "It-It was getting hot in the cabin, so I decided to go for a walk."
"Oh really?" Sada inquired, not convinced. "And out of all the hiking trails surrounding the cabin, you just happened to take the one I took?"
"Um... touché?" Arven's face dropped. He lowered his chin and started to mess with his hands. "Mom, what's going on with you?"
A metallic cry in the woods stopped Sada from answering. A Pokémon that looked like Slither Wing fluttered out of it. Except, this Pokémon was like a futuristic version of it. Its tough, bug-like body was held in the air by two sets of orange, iron-based wings that had red inside tips. It stood at least three and a half feet tall and most likely weighed a ton with all the iron on it. The red fangs that stretched down from the top of its head to its body opened and closed a few times.
"What the—?" Arven questioned. He stepped out from behind the tree and joined Sada. "What is that thing? It looks like your Slither Wing, but at the same time, it doesn't."
It looked like Sada didn't have a theory for what hovered before them, too. There was a moment of silence, and then she said, "I'm not sure. I've never seen it, either. I didn't even know Slither Wing had other forms." She glanced at Arven. "However, do you remember what I told you about the Paradox Pokémon? These things will attack out of nowhere."
"Mom, look out!" Arven shrieked out of the blue.
In the short time Sada gave him attention, the futuristic Slither Wing had jumped forward and latched onto her upper left arm. Electrical energy surged through its fangs into it, and Sada's arm sparked and smoked under their impact. She didn't scream, but she did collapse to her knees.
"Mom!" Arven shrieked. His voice cracked. He quickly drew Mabosstiff's pokéball and threw it. "Mabosstiff, come out and use Crunch!"
Mabosstiff soon appeared from the pokéball, growling. His fangs glowed up, and he chomped down on the futuristic Slither Wing's wing and ripped it away from Sada.
The Pokémon cried out. It shook Mabosstiff off and fluttered back into the woods, its wing limp.
"Good boy, Mabosstiff," Arven said. "Keep watch, will ya?"
"Woof!" Mabosstiff barked. He opened his legs and bent his body.
Arven rushed to Sada, who twitched on the ground and clutched her arm. "Sit still, Mom, and let me look at your arm."
"No!" Sada instantly protested. "I'm fine, Arven. Really."
"Mom, you're clearly in pain," said Arven. "I'm just trying to help you."
"Is that what this is?" Sada asked. "Pain?" She continued to twitch. "Arven, please no. Infrared."
"I don't care what you say," Arven sternly stated, although he was curious about this Infrared she mentioned. "I'm going to get you some help. Just stay still." He nodded at Mabosstiff, who returned it and trotted to Sada's side.
Arven left her and called into the woods, "Hello? Is anyone out there? Please! My mother's hurt!" When no one answered, he hustled to Sada and started to pull her lab coat's left sleeve off her arm, but she snatched his wrist with her good hand.
"Arven, stop. I can't let you see what's under there. The best thing you can do now is help me home."
"Sorry, Mom," Arven said, "but if you're bleeding out, I need to know."
"Arven, no!" but Arven had already pulled Sada's arm out of the lab coat, and his jaw dropped.
The futuristic Slither Wing's fangs had burned off the upper layer of her arm, revealing nothing but wires and sparks underneath.
Arven fell onto his backside, and he quickly crawled away from Sada. No, it was true! His mom was a robot! His back hit a log. Arven jumped behind it.
"I'm sorry, Arven," Sada whimpered. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."
Even though he was shocked, Arven still couldn't sit around with his mom injured like that. It shouldn't matter that she was a robot as long as he had her back.
He came out from the log and returned to her. Arven took off the rest of her lab coat and tossed it over Sada's shoulders. He offered her his hand. "Penny's good with machines. She'll fix you."
"Thank you, Arven." Sada's voice was weak. She struggled to lift her right hand but managed to take Arven's.
He pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. Arven led Sada forward, and Mabosstiff followed. "You're going to be okay, Mom," he promised. "You're going to be okay."
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