Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

Chapter 14 (Old): Rise of the Mastermind

Scarlet, Sada, Penny, and Koraidon marched through the thicket calling, "Miraidon! Miraidon!" Arven, Nemona, and Celebi stayed behind to set up camp for the night. It was already too late to go back to Sada's cabin. Wicked beasts lurked in the forest after dusk.

Penny pulled up the computer app on her phone. She tried to track Miraidon's signal, but her phone always took her back to Sada.

"Have you picked up anything, Penny?" the professor asked.

Penny shook her head. "No. The app keeps leading me back to you."

"Wait, maybe I can help." Sada placed her right hand on her ear. "Request to track down Miraidon initiated."

"Huh?" Penny asked, lowering her phone. That was the most robotic Sada had ever sounded that day. What happened to all the emotion in her voice?

"Tracking, tracking," Sada repeated to herself. She scratched her ear like there was an earpiece in it. "Unable to connect."

Penny lifted her phone again. She scanned Sada and whispered, "Dang it!" when the results popped up. "Scarlet!"

At her voice, Scarlet and Koraidon turned at the same time. Scarlet's high ponytail waved from side to side a few times before it settled down like dust on furniture.

"You and Koraidon look for Miraidon," Penny ordered. Something that sounded like guilt bounced off her tongue. "I'm gonna get Sada back to Arven."

"What's going on?" Scarlet said. She gasped when out of nowhere, Sada's left arm—the arm Penny supposedly fixed—started to spark again.

Penny met her friend's eyes. "It's Infrared. It's trying to overthrow her again."

"What?" Scarlet put her feet together. "I thought you fixed her."

"Yeah, me, too," Penny stated, checking her phone. "Getting her back to Arven is the best thing for her. I'll try to figure out what I did wrong there."

"Right." Scarlet's voice was calm, even though she was scared. "If Koraidon and I need you guys, we'll send a sign."

"Good idea," Penny admitted with a slow nod. "You guys be careful."

"And you, too," Scarlet returned.

There was a moment of silence, and then...

"This darn AI!" a sudden voice said from Sada, but it wasn't hers. The voice sounded like a man—an invisible man.

"What was that?" Penny inquired. She searched for Scarlet, but she and Koraidon had already vanished into the darkness ahead. "Huh, that was weird," Penny said to herself. Hustling to Sada, she took hold of her upper right arm and lugged her forward. "You're okay, Professor. You'll be safe with Arven."

"Infrared. Infrared," Sada said to herself, but the closer she and Penny got to the camp, the more human-like she became again. Finally, they reached a small gap in the forest, and the first thing they saw was a roaring campfire. Sada's arm stopped sparking, and her limbs quit whirling with her movements.

"Oh, hey! Back so soon?" Nemona looked up from making dinner and approached Sada and Penny. "Where's Scarlet?"

"She and Koraidon are still looking for Miraidon," Penny answered. "I had to bring Sada back here." She moved her head from side to side. "Where's Arven?"

"Over there. Poor dude's exhausted." Nemona pointed to the other side of the fire.

Arven was fast asleep. He rested his head on his hands and clutched Mabosstiff's pokéball in between his elbows.

Sada took one look at him and removed her lab coat. "Let him sleep," she said. "He's been through too much today." She went to her son and tossed her coat over him like a blanket.