Chapter 11: Chapter 8: AI Sada

Poco Lab

Eleven years earlier

        “Arven, come outside!” It had been a long time since Arven’s mom actually called him.

        He looked up from playing with Mastiff and picked him up. Arven pushed his shoulder into the lab’s door, and he stepped outside to find his mom… with a very mysterious-looking, scarlet Pokémon in front of her.

        Sada rubbed it under the chin and asked, “You like it there, don’t you?” when she saw the Pokémon’s tail wagging. She turned her head in the direction of Arven’s footsteps. “Arven, check out what I found!”

        Arven’s footsteps slowed the closer he got to her and the more he studied the Pokémon. “Mommy, what’s that?” he frightfully asked, hugging Mastiff to his cheek.

        Sada didn’t even look at him. She continued to pet the Pokémon. “No idea,” she answered, “but he’s amazing, isn’t he? I’m gonna call him Koraidon. What do you think, Arven?”

        A few tears ran down Arven’s cheeks. “I don’t like him, Mommy. He’s scary.”

        “Do you like the name Koraidon?” Sada asked the Pokémon.

        “Mommy,” Arven tried again, “I don’t like him.”

        “Oh, the things I can do!” Sada said, chewing her fingers. She pulled Koraidon close to her. “We’re going to have so much fun together. You and me.” She rushed the Pokémon into the lab and instantly started to type in a few of her computers. An outline of Koraidon appeared on one monitor, a description on another, and a bulleted list of Sada’s goals for her time machine on the final one.

        Arven, who followed her into the lab, put Mastiff down. He dove for Sada and grabbed her ankle. “Mommy! Mommy, please listen to me!”

        “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Sada stuttered while she typed into the monitor about Koraidon’s description. She lifted her leg and shook Arven off her.

        He landed with a plop on the floor. Crying, he punched it and kicked his feet.

        Sada scooped up a clipboard on her desk, and she gestured Koraidon outside. “Outside, Koraidon. I want to study you some more.” She left poor Arven all alone.

        “Mommy!” he screamed, but Sada did not return.

        Mastiff hurried to Arven and sat down next to him. His tail wagged, and he gave him a few, slobbery kisses.

        “Mommy, please come back. Please,” Arven begged. Even with his calls, he did not hear from Sada for the rest of the day.

***

        Dumbfounded, AI Sada hid behind one of the trees in the massive grove. She carefully studied Nemona, Scarlet, Penny, Arven, and the Pokémon. They just appeared over a patch of tall grass that was sprinkled with a few small flowers here and there.

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        “Four humans detected,” Sada whispered to herself. “Vital signs are normal. Only one appears to have sustained some minor injuries.” Sada saw Arven who lay, still unconscious, at Penny’s feet, but she felt nothing—no fear and no sadness. Her eyes blinked red a few times. She hid herself more, but she stepped on a stick.

        “Who’s there?” Penny asked, looking up from Arven. Down at her feet, Arven finally stirred.

        “Ugh,” he groaned.

        “Arven!” Penny said.

        “Is he awake?” Nemona inquired. She patted Koraidon, who returned to his low-power mode, and hurried to Penny.

        Scarlet remained where she was because her eyes had landed on the tree AI Sada hid behind. She narrowed her brows and headed for it.

        “Human presence detected,” Sada told herself. “Switching to attack mode. Wait!” Despite her plea, Sada’s eyes still glowed cyan. Her arm made a whirling sound as she drew a Master Ball from her coat pocket. She stepped out from behind the tree and marched toward Scarlet, her knees not bending in the slightest. “Attack. Attack,” Sada ordered.

        Scarlet quickly removed a pokéball from her belt and held it over her right shoulder.

        Penny and Nemona helped Arven to his feet. The second they had his arms over their shoulders, he yelled, “Mom!”

        At his voice, AI Sada turned her head and lowered her pokéball.

        “Oh my gosh!” Nemona said, a small smile on her face. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day.” She nudged Arven. “Try calling her again, Arven. She responded to your voice.”

        “Right,” he said. “Mom, what are you doing?” He dug his feet into the soggy soil under his boots. He refused to run. This was his mom he was looking at—a woman who finally overworked herself so much that a robot got into her head.

        “Arven,” Sada, after a moment of silence, observed. The ball dropped from her hand, and her eyes returned to normal. Falling to her knees, she clutched the dirt patch she rested on. “I’m sorry, children,” she apologized. “That wasn’t very hospitable, was it?” Sada glanced at Scarlet and told herself, “Be brave, Sada. Be brave.” Finally standing, she placed her hand on her hip. “Welcome, children, to the time of Ancient Pokémon.”

        “Ancient Pokémon?” Nemona asked. “You mean we did it? We traveled to the past?”

        “You’re looking at me, right?” Sada wanted to know.

        True.

        “Yes!” Nemona cheered. She yelled so loudly that Arven’s head spun. Nemona removed herself from him and hurried for Sada. “Professor! Professor! You’ve gotta show us around.”

        Koraidon came within reach of Scarlet, but Miraidon refused to get close to the professor. Celebi set itself back down on Arven’s shoulder.

        Sada’s head moved slightly so she could look at Nemona. “Well, to start, Nemona, where we are now is the Tagtree Thicket, thousands of years ago. Now, while I may be nothing more than an AI, I do wish to escort you children to my humble abode.” Her eyes blinked red again. “Come. Arven could use some rest, too.” With that, Sada turned and stepped over a cluster of ferns in her path. “And remember,” she added, without looking back at the kids and Pokémon, “do not approach any Paradox Pokémon, unless you want to wind up with the same fate as the original professor.”

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