Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

Chapter 22 (Old): The Space-Time Rift

The Pokémon that emerged from Sada's Master Ball was equivalent to a prehistoric Salamence. Its large and curvy, red wings had sharp feathers on the end of them, and feathers covered its blue body.

Plopping down in front of Sada, Roaring Moon howled at Arven. It showed off its fangs and prepared itself for battle.

"Going straight for the Roaring Moon?" Arven asked, smirking. "I like it."

"Well, I do like to play dirty," Sada joked, and she scratched her ear again.

"Really? Me, too." Arven slid his foot back and tossed his own pokéball. "Let's go, Cloyster!" His mollusk/pearl-like Pokémon appeared in a flash of white light.

It opened and closed its enormous shell a few times before announcing, "Cloyster!"

Sada continued to scratch her ear. "Oh, an Ice Type, huh? It looks like you know your type matchups, Arven. But too bad for you because Cloyster has terrible Special Defense." She fiercely narrowed her eyebrows and held her hand out to Roaring Moon. "Roaring Moon, use Flamethrower!"

At her command, Roaring Moon hopped into the troposphere and launched a stream of fire at Arven's Cloyster.

"Speed, Arven!" Sada shouted through the chaos. She clenched her fists. "You've got to go for speed! Use your reflexes!"

"Uhh," Arven stuttered, not sure what to do. "Close your shell, Cloyster."

"No, no, no!" Sada ordered, but it was already too late. Roaring Moon's Flamethrower scorched Cloyster—its shell and everything. Thanks to its horrific Special Defense, it immediately dropped to the ground.

Off to the side, Penny smacked her hand to her face. This was why Arven took the humanities track at the academy.

"Yikes! Cloyster, return!" He quickly recalled his Pokémon. "No fair, Mom! You didn't even let me use my Tera Orb!"

"Fights rarely are fair," Sada explained, shaking her head slightly. "I learned this the hard way. It looks like I need to give you some battle tips." She gave Arven a friendly smile. "Here's my first one—know the difference between Special Defense and Physical Defense. You see, Roaring Moon has high Special Defense but low Defense. Therefore, the best approach for him is a physical one. Do you have any hard-hitting physical Pokémon on your team? Mabosstiff, for example? I do know it can learn Ice Fang."

"How do you—?" Arven started, but Sada cut him off.

"Imbued with your mom's knowledge, remember?" She pointed at her forehead.

"Wow!" Nemona said, putting her hands together. "She knows so much!" Sada was officially her new role model. Suddenly, Nemona had the urge to fight her herself.

Arven removed Mabosstiff's pokéball from his collection. "Let's try this, Mom. Mabosstiff, it's your turn!"

Within seconds, Mabosstiff was on the battlefield. "Woof!" he barked, and he planted his feet.

Sada turned on a thoughtful face. "Here's my next question. Does Mabosstiff even know Ice Fang?"

"Uhh." Arven did a face palm himself. Sada won that one.

She laughed. "You kill me, Arven! Let me guess, you gave him a full set of Dark-type moves?"

"No," Arven replied, embarrassed. "He knows Play Rough. That's super-effective on Dark Types, right?"

"Play Rough, huh?" Sada placed her hands on her hips. "Even better! That's four times more effective on Roaring Moon. But... I'm not going to let you get off that easily." With those words, she extended her right arm and stuck her Tera Orb out. "Are you ready, Roaring Moon? It's time to Terastallize!" Waves of crystalline energy circled her orb and blew her hair. However, the crystals backfired and hit Sada instead of the orb.

"Ow!" she shouted. She forgot that she herself was Terastallizing. Weak on her now crystal-covered legs, Sada plummeted and landed on her right arm. Her Tera Orb and Roaring Moon's pokéball rolled out of her hand.

"Oh my gosh! Mom!" Arven shrieked, covering his mouth with both hands. Why on Earth did Sada's Tera Orb backfire?

Arven and Mabosstiff sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them. The second they made it to Sada, Arven dove for her. He grabbed her shoulder and frantically shook it. "Wake up! Wake up!"

Sada did not stir.

Penny and the rest of Arven's friends soon reached them, and Arven wasted no time to ask, "What happened, Penny? You're the machine expert."

Penny chewed off a whole piece of her pinkie's fingernail. Her teeth broke it up into smaller pieces. "I-I'm not sure," she stuttered. Unless, of course, Professor Turo forced the Tera Orb to turn on Sada. "Is she okay?" Penny added.

"Does she look okay?" Arven yelled. "She's knocked out cold!"

Celebi pushed its way through the arguing teens and flew to Sada's face. It slapped her a few times and begged, "Bi, bi, bi!"

By Celebi's sixth slap, Sada finally woke up. She was shaky—and her hair stuck out like static electricity—but she managed to push herself to her hands and knees.

Sada straightened out her hair and inhaled. The first thing she said was, "Do you want to continue our battle, Arven?"

"No!" he quickly answered.

Flash! Arven and his friends closed their eyes against the sudden infrared sky that pulsed like before.

"What the—?" Arven said, holding his arm up to his face. He thought he and his friends escaped the phenomenon when they traveled through time!

A dark red crack, which was shaped like a lightning bolt, appeared in the sky. It was so sudden that flocks of bird Pokémon split apart from each other.

The seconds progressed, and the crack in the sky only expanded.

Miraidon and Koraidon quickly switched to their battle forms, and Celebi put up its barrier.

Nemona looked past it and pointed at the crack. "Wha-What is that?" She didn't recall seeing a crack in the sky in the present.

Behind Nemona, Sada scooped up Roaring Moon's pokéball and returned him to it. She slipped it and her Tera Orb into her pocket and attempted to stand. Nonetheless, Sada only managed to get halfway up before she fell over again. The Tera crystals on her legs acted like a rock and weighed her down. Not only that but they also started to spread. It wasn't long until Sada's legs twitched just as much as her left arm.

She took hold of her aching right arm and studied the crack in the sky. There was a moment of silence, and then she said, "It's the space-time rift."