Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

        Miraidon moved as fast as his four legs could carry him. He slipped and slid off moving walkways and ended up in a lake under one of them. The Pokémon kicked his feet and lugged himself to a park. It had robotic trash cans, Pokémon, and another display of Hologram Pokémon.

        People tried grabbing him, but Miraidon booted them away with his rump. He finally told himself, “Ah, screw this,” and switched to his battle form. With Arven on the brink of becoming a cyborg, he couldn’t stall any longer. He had to get him out of that hospital before it was too late.

        Miraidon soared over the heads of people, Pokémon, and robots in the park. Some scattered, Miraidon accidentally threw others forward, and a few people even ended up in the mouths of the robotic trash cans.

        Miraidon saw the hospital and rushed toward it. He landed in the parking lot and returned to his low-power mode.

        The security guards from before saw him and yelled, “Hey!” At once, they ordered their Iron Hands to close in on Miraidon.

        He stood his ground, but the Future Pokémon smacked their palms together and pointed them at him. Lightning flashed between the creatures, and they prepared themselves for battle.

        “I’m trying to protect Arven!” Miraidon roared.

        “We told you not to come back!” one of the Iron Hands warned. “If we must, we’ll battle it out.”

        “But he’s in danger!” A huge, heavy body landed a Body Slam on Miraidon, and he gasped for air. He hopped back and bent his body. He didn’t want to fight, but he had no choice.

        Luckily, before he changed back into his battle form, he heard, “Miraidon!” Penny, Nemona, Scarlet, and Celebi had found him.

        They hopped off the moving walkway Sada and Miraidon took to the hospital and rushed into the fray. They were like soldiers emerging from the trench, ready to fight for their country and individuality.

        Penny jumped between the Iron Hands and Miraidon and held her arms out to her sides. “What’s going on here?” In the meantime, her friends caught Miraidon’s shoulders and dragged him away from the security guards.

        “Is that Pokémon with you?” one of them asked.

        “He is,” Penny said. “We’re friends with his trainer. What’s the issue?”

        “That Pokémon and his trainer are forbidden to come here,” the guard explained. “They’re nothing but rogue robots. We don’t need those creatures on our property.”

        “Rogue? What are you talking about? They are not rogue! Sada is Arven’s mom!” Penny clenched her fists. “I also know that Arven wants his mom right now.”

        “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” the guard explained. “The child’s mom is dead. By law, we need to turn him over to his father.” His eyebrows narrowed. “I know—it sucks being a kid. Iron Hands.” He snapped his fingers, and the Pokémon went to him.

        The guard fixed his eyes on Penny. “You guys can come in, but that Pokémon is not allowed. Besides, I don’t see his puny, little trainer anywhere.”

        Both Miraidon and Penny glared at him. How dare the guard call Sada “puny”! Miraidon almost lunged at him, but Penny held her arm up to his chest. “You know what?” she inquired. “Screw you. Have you guys ever heard of the terms diversity and inclusion?”

        “Diversity and what?” the guard who recalled the Iron Hands questioned.

        Penny scoffed. “I didn’t think so. After all, everybody has robots in their heads in the future, so I’m not surprised those terms vanished from your vocabulary. Diversity and inclusion are another way of saying that everybody belongs, no matter their backgrounds, cultures, religions, etc. That includes people like Sada, who aren’t entirely human, and Pokémon.”

        Miraidon and Penny’s friends glimpsed at her. It looked like they all thought the same thing; they didn’t expect Penny to stand up for all of them. Then again, Miraidon knew she had a crush on Arven. Now, how did he know that? Well, Penny blushed every time she said Arven’s name. Regardless, she didn’t let her feelings get in the way of her words.

        “We may be kids,” she explained to the guards, glancing between her friends, “but we learned to be adults earlier than you. For Pete’s Sake, Scarlet lost her father when she was ten years old. Ten! Yet here she is: bright, funny, and smart. Arven is now in the same boat as her, and you’re just going to separate him from someone he never said goodbye to? That’s BS if you ask me.”

        “Penny…” Scarlet hid behind her hands. Miraidon noticed her glasses fogging up.

        Penny next dipped her head toward Nemona. “And, Nemona—she embarrassingly lost her first battle, and now she’s no longer the confident Champion she was before.”

        “Hey!” Nemona glared at her friend, but Celebi, Miraidon, and Scarlet chuckled.

        “Finally… me.” Penny brought her hands to her chest, and her friends stopped laughing. “I’ve never said this to Arven, but… and I’m embarrassed to say this… I like him, and I can’t watch him succumb to grief when he needs his mom and us more than ever. I just can’t. I never knew the meaning of love until our first trip to Area Zero.”

        “Love”? Holy smokes—that was extreme. Miraidon did not see that coming. Penny liked Arven, sure, but wasn’t she too young to be thinking about love?

        “As you can see,” she continued, more confident now, “each of us has had a life-changing experience—experiences that make us more human than ever. Even Sada and Miraidon have had their share of the blame, but what did we do? We fought and worked together for our individuality. After all, individuality makes us who we are. It is the true definition of diversity and inclusion, the very reason why you need to accept Sada and Miraidon for who they are.”