Chapter 31: Chapter 28: Levincia and the Hologram Pokémon

        Warm, morning sunshine washed over Arven and his friends the next day as they made their way through the East Province. They stood side-by-side and said nothing to each other. They hiked up and down the East Province’s hills, with Nemona’s Rotom Phone leading the way.

        Penny, who walked next to Arven, glanced at him. He had not yet said anything since getting up that morning. He hadn’t even eaten, and that worried his friend.

        Penny hesitated, but she lifted her hand and grasped Arven’s shoulder. “Arven, you need to eat.”

        “I’m not hungry,” were the only words that left his lips. He kicked a few rocks aside and kept his head down. He refused to make eye contact with Sada. She rode on Miraidon next to Nemona.

        Nemona looked up from studying Meowscarada’s pokéball in her hand and gazed at Rotom. She forced a smile and lifted her arm. “Hey, guys,” she said to her friends, “according to Rotom, Levincia is close. Who’s up for an adventure in a futuristic city?” A city also meant that she could finally find a Pokémon Center for Meowscarada.

        “I’m cool with it,” Penny said. “I think we could all use a little breather.”

        “Me, too,” Scarlet agreed. She loved Present Levincia, so she was very curious to see how Future Levincia compared to it.

        “Yes!” Nemona clapped and hurried forward, followed closely by Penny, Scarlet, and Celebi.

        Koraidon, Miraidon, Sada, and Arven stayed behind.

        Up ahead, Penny clenched her fist and held it up to her lips. Blushing slightly, she asked, “Arven?”

        He stopped walking and stood like a statue on the field. Koraidon nudged him, but Arven did not move. The guilt… It was too much.

        Sada slipped off Miraidon’s back, and her jelly-like legs touched the ground. She started for Arven but fell over like a dreidel.

        Scarlet wanted to help her, but Penny held her arm up to her chest before she could get too far. “Remember,” she whispered, “Sada has to learn to be brave.”

        Sada fearfully peered back at her legs and clenched her teeth. She had to fight it. She had to fight Infrared. Arven needed her.

        “To be brave is something you learn over time,” Sada repeated to herself. With that in mind, she got up and stopped her legs from wiggling. She started with small steps before she found her balance and switched to strides. It took effort, but she managed to make it to Arven.

        Sada offered him her right hand and said, “I know I’m not your mom,” in a low voice. “But I’m gonna try.” She did not have too many memories of Professor Sada being a good mom, so that meant she had to experience things for herself.

        Arven swallowed a new lump in his throat. “I don’t want to hurt you, though.”

        “It’s okay,” Sada admitted. “What happened last night was an accident.” She gave Arven a feeble smile. “Let’s just start over. Deal?”

        Arven studied her hand for a minute or two, and then he made up his mind. Slightly happier, he said, “Deal,” and shook Sada’s hand.

        “There you go,” Sada said. Letting go, she took Arven’s shoulders and stared deep into his face. “You really do look like her. I’m sure your mom would be proud of you. I know I am.”

        “What are you proud of?” Arven inquired, bewildered. “I hurt you. That’s nothing to be proud of.”

        Sada dropped her hands and cupped Arven’s cheek with her left one. “What I’m proud of hasn’t happened yet, but I know it will. I know because you’re my son, my greatest treasure, and I just want you to be happy.” She pecked Arven’s forehead. “Now let’s go to Levincia and try to have some fun.”

***

        Stepping into Future Levincia, Scarlet felt like she had entered a whole new world. The skyscrapers were ten times the size they were in the present. Not to mention that the subway that ran through the city now and different-colored, moving walkways were a really neat touch—to Scarlet at least.

        “Whoa,” Penny said, taking a step back. This was almost too much for her.

        Nemona punched the sky a few times. “We’re here! We’re here!” she cheered. “Now this is what I call the future!” She gasped when a few small children rushed past her and almost knocked her over.

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        “The Hologram Pokémon show!” one child said. “We can’t miss it, guys!”

        “Hologram Pokémon?” Nemona questioned. “That sounds sick.” What on Earth was a Hologram Pokémon?

        That question was quickly answered when Penny said, “Look out, Nemona!” She dragged her out of the way of a bright blue, clear figure that resembled the Paldean Form of Tauros.

        The bull-like Pokémon tossed its holographic horns and marched past Arven and his friends. Huffing, it headed for Levincia’s center, where all the moving walkways intertwined.

        “Was that a Pokémon?” Arven said, scratching his chin.

        Penny closed her eyes. “No, that was a hologram.”

        At the sight of the holographic Tauros, Koraidon whimpered and returned to his pokéball.

        “Koraidon?” Scarlet asked, glancing down at it. “What’s wrong?” They weren’t in Area Zero.

        Penny had an idea of what Koraidon was worried about—he didn’t want to be a hologram—but she didn’t say it out loud. “I think the first thing we need to do is find a Pokémon Center and learn more about these Hologram Pokémon,” was what she replaced her hypothesis with. She despised the idea of them. Did everybody have computers in their heads in the future? Penny wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

        Behind Penny, Arven suddenly shouted, “Mom!”

        The crystals on Sada’s body shimmered infrared, and she collapsed onto her front in the street. They now covered both her right and left hands, but she still had the rest of her right arm.

        “Mom!” Arven said again. “Penny, help her!”

        “I’m coming, Arven.” Penny whipped out her phone and pulled up her computer app. She fell to her knees next to Sada, who twitched like a madman on the ground, and pointed it at her. Something new popped up on her phone’s screen. “Oh, that’s interesting,” Penny said. “That’s why the Tera crystals are turning infrared.”

        “What is it?” a panicked Arven inquired. He put Sada on Miraidon’s back but was gentle with her that time.

        Penny opened her mouth to speak, but a familiar voice broke her train of thought. “Oye! If it isn’t the beautiful AI!” Further down the street, Kenji shuffled past a few more Hologram Pokémon and hurried to Arven’s crowd. “I knew you would change your mind, kid.”

        “Kenji,” Penny growled.

        “Welcome, welcome,” Kenji said with a quick bow. He held his arms out to his sides. “Welcome to Levincia—the town of Hologram Pokémon and the amazing Kenji’s Lab. But you knew that already, right?”

        “No, sir,” Arven said with a shake of his head. “We’re time travelers, remember?”

        “Oh, right. I forgot.” Kenji blushed, but then he smiled again. “Well, enough hoopla. Let’s be on our way, shall we?”

        “Hold on!” Penny snapped, holding her arm up to Arven and Miraidon. “Not until you tell us what the Hologram Pokémon are and what exactly you’re planning on doing to my friend’s mom.”

        “As I said before,” Kenji explained, “I’m gonna fix her. I specialize in AI technology. As for the Hologram Pokémon… They’re a brand-new invention, and they are fabulous.” He emphasized the word “fabulous” by pronouncing it in a singsong voice.

        “Come, come!” Kenji added, jumping up and down. “Let me take you on a grand, Kenji-themed tour of Future Levincia.”

        “May we go to the Pokémon Center first, sir?” Penny questioned, a glare on her face. “Nemona needs to heal her Meowscarada.” She had to do something to keep Arven from falling for his father’s trap, and the Pokémon Center was the first step. He would be safe there.

        Penny did not care for Kenji’s sunny disposition because, unlike her friends, she did not trust him one bit.

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