Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

Chapter XV: Rise of the Mastermind

The Tagtree Thicket started to settle down for the night. Pokémon returned to their dens and burrows to sleep, but Arven's party remained awake a little longer. 7:00 was a little too early for them to go to bed.

Nemona built a fire and started to cook chorizos.

In the meantime, Arven and Sada sat in utter silence after Sada's memory faded, but eventually, Sada explained, "Miraidon and I escaped, but just barely, and we came here. Miraidon told me it was safer."

Arven grasped her hand. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, Mom, but... maybe this is a good thing."

"A good thing?" Sada glared. "How could you say that? I'm supposed to laugh after seeing so many Pokémon die like that?"

"No, of course not," Arven stated. "What I'm saying, Mom, is that was your first taste of what it means to be human." He gestured for Mabosstiff to go to her. "We live in an unpredictable world. Pokémon have powers, yes, but they can't stop natural disasters. There was nothing you or them could do. The world thinks and acts on its own."

"I could've saved them," Sada argued. "I'm an AI. I have a power. I could've saved them."

Arven moved closer to her. "Mom—"

"I could've saved them!" Sada's breathing intensified. "But I ran." She collapsed into Arven's arms.

He patted the back of her head. "Shh, shh, it's okay. It's not your fault, Mom. We're going to get you through this. You're going to be human before you know it." He stayed with her until she calmed down, and then he helped her lie back. "As soon as dawn breaks, we'll get you back to your cabin, but for now, I want you to try to rest your arm." He noticed that Miraidon had lifted his head, and he stared at him, intrigued. "What are you looking at, Miraidon?" That was the first time he didn't try to pull Arven away from Sada.

***

At the sight of Arven approaching her, Penny hopped off the log she sat on next to the fire.

Nemona, Scarlet, Celebi, and Koraidon warmed themselves up by it.

"Well?" Penny asked Arven. "What did you learn?"

Arven inhaled. "It was an earthquake."

"An earthquake? Really?" Penny scratched the top of her head. "I didn't expect that."

Arven nodded. "Evidentially, she and Miraidon recently received the power to travel through time, so they went to Koraidon's. Mom was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Something still doesn't add up, though." He glanced at Sada. "If she and Miraidon already have the power to time travel and bring us here, then what's the point of Celebi?" Next, he looked at Celebi, who flew in circles around Koraidon's head.

Arven and Penny fell silent for a few minutes.

Penny then gasped. "Her mastermind."

"Mastermind?" Arven said. "Penny, I don't think now's the time to—"

"No, no, hear me out." Penny freed her phone from her pocket and turned it on. "All computers have some mastermind behind them. I guess that Celebi is their Pokémon, and they gave Sada and Miraidon the power to time travel via Infrared."

"But... that doesn't make sense." Arven folded his arms. "I mean, Mom came to the past."

"Celebi probably took her to the future," Penny continued. "What's happening right now, Arven, has something to do with its trainer—her mastermind."

"So, we find the mastermind, we find answers," Arven concluded.

"And our first step is figuring out why that Pokémon attacked Sada," said Penny. "You talk to her, Arven, and I'll talk to Celebi."