Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

        Penny escorted Arven over to Scarlet and Nemona.

        Arven bumped into Koraidon trying to eat and whispered, “Sorry,” giving his shoulder a quick pat.

        Koraidon was too engulfed in his food to notice him.

        At the sight of Arven, Nemona got up and rushed to him. “Arven, thank goodness you’re here.” For once, she didn’t smile. “Please, do you have any leftover herba mysticas?”

        “What’s wrong?” Arven wanted to know. That was when he saw Nemona’s Meowscarada. Oh, he shouldn’t have said “Okay” when Penny called overnight.

        Meowscarada rested on its front, not moving.

        Arven chewed on his pinkie and asked, “Super Potions and Hyper Potions didn’t work?”

        “They worked for a while,” Nemona explained, “but this morning, Meowscarada couldn’t get up at all. And I don’t think there are any Pokémon Centers in the past. Please, Arven, please help my Meowscarada.”

        Next to Arven, Penny tapped her foot. “You do know this is your own fault, right, Nemona?”

        “I know!” A few tears ran down Nemona’s cheeks, and she clutched her head. “I’m such a horrible trainer—a pathetic excuse for a Champion!”

        “Whoa, whoa.” Penny held up her hands. “Let’s not get that far, Nemona. You just made a mistake. Arven and Scarlet know a lot about the herba mysticas, so they’ll help you.”

        Arven turned to her. “But what about my mom? We need to help her, too.”

        Penny narrowed her brows. “Right now, I think Meowscarada’s more important, Arven. Unlike your mom, it’s a living thing.”

        Arven knew that choosing an AI robot over his friends was bad, but he loved her too much. He glanced at Sada, thinking.

        She put the crown back on her head and tried the hand thing he showed her—the Stiff and Relaxed strategy. Her left arm sparked some.

        After a bit, Arven inhaled and lowered his head. “Let me get my bag and the Scarlet Book, Penny, and I’ll see what I can do.”

        Penny released the breath she was holding. “Thank you, Arven. In the meantime, I’ll take a look at Sada.”

        The friends recalled their Pokémon and went into Sada’s cabin. They grabbed a blanket for Meowscarada and sat Sada down in the living room. Penny instantly got to work on her.

        Arven and Scarlet hung out near Sada’s bedroom. They kept Meowscarada calm and flipped through the Scarlet Book. Arven’s knapsack was next to his ankle.

        “Hold this,” he said, handing Scarlet the book. He unzipped his bag and started to dig through it. Arven tossed out a bunch of sandwich ingredients and school supplies.

        Miraidon stood off to the side, alone, and studied the busy crowd. His eyes caught Koraidon approaching him.

        Eager to make friends, Koraidon sat down next to Miraidon. He tapped his front feet and drummed his claws.

        Miraidon only glimpsed at him, and then he looked straight ahead again.

        For about five minutes, the two Legendaries were okay. They didn’t snarl or chomp at one another; however, it looked like Miraidon did not like his personal space invaded.

        He bent his body in an attack-like formation and roared, “Agia!” at Koraidon. He clawed at him.

        “Hey!” Sada yelled from the living room couch. She removed her left arm from Penny and stood. Sada hurried to Miraidon and Koraidon and pushed their faces apart. “Break it up, you two!” She flicked Miraidon’s nose. “You! Bad dragon!”

        Miraidon tried to push by her, but Sada put all her weight on his chest tire and stopped him from moving.

        Nemona looked up from Meowscarada and admitted, “Wow, she’s very strong,” when she saw that.

        Penny soon joined her friends. She held her phone in her hand. “I just don’t understand why Miraidon can’t get along with Koraidon. Well, whatever. It’s not super important.” Penny flashed her phone at Arven. “Arven, I think I’ve figured out what’s wrong with your mom.”

        “You have? What?” Arven and Scarlet hovered around Penny like a couple of Mandibuzz. “Is it her motherboard?” Arven added.

        Penny adjusted her glasses. “I don’t believe so, although her latest scan does show some damage to it. The big thing is that she has not yet experienced the six basic human emotions. Because of that, she’s susceptible to Infrared—meaning that without the basic emotions, she will never overthrow it.”

        “The six basic human emotions.” Arven folded his arms. “What has she experienced, Penny?”

        Penny scrolled through her phone. “Well, there’s a checkmark next to happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger, so I’m assuming those are the ones.” She held up one finger. “What we’re missing is surprise.”

        “Surprise?” Arven smacked himself on the forehead. He forgot all about that emotion.

        Nemona adjusted Meowscarada’s blanket. “Hm, how does one surprise an AI?” she inquired, closing her eyes.

        A lightbulb seemed to click above Arven. “Oh, I’ve got it!” He tapped his friends’ shoulders. “You guys are gonna love this.”

        Arven went into Sada’s kitchen and removed two pans from a drawer. He rotated them in his hands before he tiptoed past his friends and snuck up on Sada.

        She ran her palm across Miraidon’s neck and patted it.

        Arven held the pans up to her head. He waited a few seconds, and then he smashed them together. Clang!

        “Ah!” Arven screamed, dropping the pans. He fell onto his backside.

        Sada, who didn’t jump at all, let go of Miraidon and faced him. She slipped her left hand into her coat pocket.

        Penny, Scarlet, and Nemona hooted.

        Nemona clapped her hands. “You’re right, Arven. We did love that. I think you surprised yourself.”

        Arven’s face turned red. He blushed harder when he saw Koraidon rolling around on his back and felt Sada take his wrist.

        She pulled him up with such force that he bounced a little.

        Sada scratched her ear with her free hand. Dropping it, she smiled and asked, “Do I need to even ask?”