Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

Chapter XVII: Bound to Infrared

Song: "Honest" - Kodaline

"Ro-to-to-to-to..." Arven's Rotom Phone soared out of his pocket and turned on.

"Penny, thank goodness," he said at the sight of his friend on the Zoom screen. A draft from the cave's entrance passed through his hair and temporarily blew away the tuft that usually hid his right eye.

"Are you okay, Arven?" Penny asked, but then she blushed. "I mean... are you and Sada okay?"

Arven blushed, too, but he quickly threw away the fuzzy feeling in his gut and answered, "Well, I mean, I'm okay, but I'm not sure if she is." He moved to the side and revealed Sada twitching on the ground. "I think she's getting worse. Please tell me you've come up with a diagnosis, Pen." He just realized that Penny was the only person he gave a nickname to.

"I'm sorry, Arven, but it's a little difficult when y'all are there and we are here," she admitted. "I tried talking to Celebi before those Iron Moths attacked us, but all I heard was, 'Bi, bi, bi.' The best thing we can do for Sada now is figure out what is damaged. If I could guess, it's probably her motherboard."

"Her motherboard?" Horror replaced Arven's warm feeling.

"All computers have one," Penny explained. Did she seriously have to re-rub that Sada was an AI in Arven's face? "There is no doubt that Infrared's connected to Sada's motherboard and her mastermind."

Arven kept his cool. "So this means we're back to Square One—trying to figure out who her mastermind is." He groaned. "Terrific."

"I'm assuming the interrogation didn't go well?" Penny guessed.

"Please don't rub it in," Arven begged. "I'm embarrassed enough."

Penny chuckled. "You need to watch more crime shows, Ven." Since when did she start giving Arven nicknames? Luckily, Sada saved him at the last second.

"What's all the hubbub about?" Behind him, a smile broke across her weary face, and she came within reach of Arven. "We should be celebrating. I stood up to Infrared! Whoo-hoo!" She punched the sky a few times. "Is this what someone means when they say they're happy?"

Did she finally overcome the earthquake's trauma and learn another emotion besides fear? Arven thought to himself.

Penny moved closer to the screen. "Oh, wow. Congrats, Arven. I think your mom has finally learned joy. This is good. It means the human contact you're giving her is weakening Infrared."

"Really?" But Arven didn't do anything. Sada learned joy herself. Penny was right, though. It was a good step.

"I think she's okay for now," Penny said. "Just keep trying to talk to her. Make her comfortable, and we'll meet back up at her cabin early tomorrow morning. I'll take another look at her there."

"You seem to be growing quite fond of her, Penny." Arven didn't know if that was a good thing. Did Penny even see Sada as a human, like him, or did she see her as one of her machines? He changed the subject before his doubts overthrew him. "How's Nemona? Her Meowscarada got beat up pretty badly back there."

"She's shaken up," Penny answered, "but Scarlet and I think Meowscarada will be okay after a good night's rest. Scarlet has some Super and Hyper Potions."

"Okay." Arven inhaled. It would have been terrible if Nemona had to go through what he did with Mabosstiff. He closed his eyes and opened them again. "We'll see you tomorrow, Penny." With those words, he hung up, and Rotom returned to his pocket.

Arven checked on Sada.

She stretched her arms and twirled a few times.

Arven had to admit that to see an AI experience joy for the first time was interesting. Was it all thanks to human contact? He cracked a smile, but it faded when he noticed something after Sada stopped dancing. "Mom, what's wrong with your hand?"