Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

        Arven shoved Turo away from Sada. “Why are you crying?” he spat. “You did this!” He reached for Sada, but Turo grabbed his wrist and squeezed it until it popped.

        “Ouch!” Arven cried out.

        Turo rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “I’ve had enough of you. You’re going to become a cyborg right now!” Arven fought him, but Turo hauled him away from Sada and his friends and took him toward the back of the lab. Over his shoulder, he ordered, “Let’s go, Meowscarada and Celebi.”

        “I hate you!” Arven yelled. “I hate you! I hate you!”

        “Now, Meowscarada and Celebi!” Turo demanded, glaring at them.

        “I don’t want you as my dad!” Arven kicked him.

        “Meowscarada and Celebi!” Turo shouted, flinching under Arven’s boot.

        Celebi continued to hold Miraidon and Mabosstiff in place with its psychic powers. Regardless, it cried, “Bi!” and clutched its head.

        Meowscarada mimicked.

        “Don’t you see what you’re doing?” Penny glanced at Turo and started to search the cell. “They don’t want this.”

        “I doon’t care!” a struggling Turo repeated, reaching for his own head. Temporarily, he looked back at Sada.

        She remained unconscious and motionless. Another tear rolled down Turo’s cheek, and he sniffed. He attempted to brush the trauma away but failed, and before long, he found himself stuck in another memory.

***

Socarrat Trail

Three years earlier

 

        Socarrat Trail next to Casseroya Lake was Turo’s favorite place to go whenever he felt stressed. The peaceful, fall-like atmosphere was joyful to hike through because he knew he was free.

        Turo needed a hike after what he just witnessed: Sada throwing herself between the Koraidon and hearing every bone in her body shatter like glass. All he wanted was to bring her flowers, but what he saw was a murder. He would never forgive the Alpha Koraidon for what it did. Sada was his whole life, and Koraidon ripped her away from him.

        What would Turo do from here? Arven couldn’t know his mother was gone. Even more, Turo couldn’t be a dad without Sada.

        He pushed through Socarrat’s dry grass—it didn’t look fireproof—and sat on a bench. It overlooked Casseroya’s sparkling water. Turo tried not to cry, but how could he? He had just buried the love of his life, and now dirt and some crimson blood covered his lab coat.

        “Sada, no,” he sobbed, burying his face in his hands. “Please, no.” He didn’t want to believe it, even though he knew it was true. He should have never left her in the first place. She would still be alive if he did. What good was he in the present now?

        Behind him, Turo suddenly heard, “Bi.”

        He lifted his head, “Huh?” and flicked a few tears away. Turo turned on his bench and met eyes with—he couldn’t believe it—a Celebi.

        “How in the world—?” At first, Turo couldn’t find the right words to finish his sentence. “How in the world—it’s a Celebi!” He didn’t know what it was, but merely looking at the tiny, green Pokémon, the pain in his chest eased. “What are you doing here, little guy?”

        “Bi,” Celebi answered, offering Turo a Razz Berry. Clusters of red berries made up the entirety of the orange-red fruit. Casseroya had a lot of rain in the past week that rewarded Socarrat with a healthy harvest and juicy berries. Wild Pokémon couldn’t help but steal them, except Celebi.

        “Thank you,” Turo softly spoke, accepting its gift. He waited a minute before he popped the berry into his mouth. He cringed a little because of its sourness, but that sourness soon melted into sweetness, and he said, “Wow, that’s good.” Now Turo knew why the Razz Berry was a popular pick amongst trainers and scientists, too, now. He almost forgot why he was crying in the first place until Celebi popped the question:

        “What’s wrong?”

        Turo’s world shattered. He would’ve upset a camouflaged Sudowoodo with how hard and fast he cried… yet again. It suddenly became hard to breathe, and he whimpered, “I just wanted to bring her flowers.”

        Celebi held its arms out to its sides and floated in front of his face. “Oh, dear, I’m so sorry.”

        Sure, as if “sorry” would bring Sada back. That was the worst thing to say, dammit! That and “Are you okay?”

        “Who died?” Gee, Celebi wasn’t the best when it came to grief, but talking about Sada helped Turo, so he guessed it was a win-win situation.

        “The worst thing is, it was all her fault! Celebi, I don’t know what to do. I have a son. I can’t face him like this.” He found a smooth stone under the bench and kicked it into Casseroya.

        At once, a school of Magikarp scattered. One was so startled that it came ashore and flopped around helplessly until a Bombirdier, a stork-like Pokémon, swooped in and scooped it right up. Turo was too distraught to react.

        “I know what you need.” Celebi cuffed him on the back of his hand, unfazed, too.

        The rest of the Pokémon on Socarrat went on their merry way as if a Bombirdier didn’t just strike. They were used to seeing such violence, but Turo wasn’t.

        “What do I need?” he finally asked Celebi. “Nothing can help me now, Celebi. I can’t stay here in the present.”

        “Which is why I’m going to take you away from here.” With those words, Celebi closed its big, blue eyes, lowered its head, and outlined Turo with its magic.

        That was the last time he saw the present.

***

Location: Kenji’s Lab

Coordinates: near Spotlighted Levincia

The future

 

        Turo couldn’t think. He couldn’t focus—not with his memories plaguing him. And seeing how his grief injured AI Sada made it worse. He had to get out of there before something else happened. He continued to drag Arven but paused when he heard Scarlet.

        “Turo, I know how you feel. I saw my dad die.”

        “Shut up!” he screamed. Carrying on, he moved faster that time. “You don’t know anything! I will destroy any evidence of her!” He was going to give Arven a complete makeover so that he never again had to see Sada when he looked at him. He looked too much like her. Well, no more! It was time for Project Infrared’s next step.