"Warning! Warning!"
"Paradise Guardian Dragon—unable to battle—"
After Koraidon fell, the Arven AI, which had been motionless for some time, suddenly spoke up, repeating the same words over and over.
The interior of the Time Machine also began flashing red lights.
It wasn't until Aiden was getting somewhat annoyed that it finally quieted down for a few seconds.
Then, it returned to its appearance when first "possessed," suddenly standing ramrod straight, its pair of crimson laser eyes locking onto Aiden.
"Paradise Protection Protocol Final Form—breached!"
"Program operation encountering obstacles. Searching for other repair methods—"
"Paradise—is indestructible!"
"Annihilation mode automatically activated. Locking onto key target—"
???
Originally, Aiden had been somewhat lacking in interest, thinking that even Koraidon had been defeated by him—what else could this AI robot possibly do?
But when it spoke that final sentence and its gaze remained completely unwavering, locking directly onto him, Aiden was genuinely startled by it.
Wait, what do you mean by "annihilation mode"?
And stop staring at me, hey! You couldn't win the Pokémon battle so now you want to eliminate the trainer directly?
That's not playing by the rules!
"Uwaaah, so scary! You really can't trust robots!"
Even Nemona was startled by the Arven AI, subconsciously wanting to take out her Poké Ball to protect the world's best Teacher Azure.
However, after taking out the ball, she suddenly remembered—
Oh right, that robot had used some kind of special electromagnetic wave earlier to temporarily seal everyone's Poké Balls.
So she couldn't help at all?
Nemona subconsciously looked behind her. Penny was frantically tapping away at her tablet, while countless red pop-up windows continuously flashed on the screen.
"No good, this guy's program has completely gone out of control. It's basically a mess of garbled code—how is it even still running?"
"You Paldeans and your technology, don't suddenly malfunction at a time like this!"
"Give me some time, can you stall as much as possible?"
Even Penny couldn't handle the situation?
Just as Nemona's eyes widened, Arven behind her shouted with all his might: "That guy is going to send out more Paradox Pokémon!"
"Brother Aiden, be careful!"
Just as Arven said, the Arven AI, completely controlled by the out of control program, had already begun trembling, its arm slowly reaching toward its pocket.
"No, stop—"
"Execute Paradise Protection Protocol!"
"Do not continue fighting—"
"Time Machine safety is essential—"
"There is no meaning in continuing to fight. Cease immediately—"
"Obstacles must be eliminated!"
It seemed the AI's own will was resisting the program, but to little effect.
"Graaah?!"
Even Miraidon, who was sprawled on the ground, was stunned, then quickly stood up, immediately assuming a battle stance.
Although the previous battle had left it somewhat exhausted, as the only Pokémon on the team currently able to fight, it had to protect Aide—
Click——
Just as Miraidon finished its mental preparation with difficulty, it suddenly heard the sound of a Poké Ball popping open from behind.
Turning around, Miraidon's entire body stiffened.
It saw two Poké Balls in Aiden's hands simultaneously glowing red, and then the figures of Mewtwo and Ogerpon appeared before him.
Miraidon: ?
At first it was stunned, but it quickly understood what was going on, and immediately looked at Aiden with a resentful gaze.
Fine, fine, so that's how you're playing it—turns out it was all an act!
"Well, it couldn't be helped~"
Since he wasn't pretending anymore, Aiden could finally relax his facial expression management. After smiling and recalling the Poké Balls, he waved at Miraidon.
"The emotional momentum was already there earlier—if I didn't let you fight, it would be hard to see you performing at full strength in the future, right?"
"Besides, defeating Koraidon was a breakthrough of your inner demon for you, so don't worry about these details!"
"Pon~"
After putting on the Hearthflame Mask to make itself look more fierce, Ogerpon immediately nodded in agreement.
It even trotted forward and patted Miraidon on the shoulder.
Miraidon speechlessly rolled its eyes, then directly sat down in resignation.
If it had known earlier that there was backup, it wouldn't have tried so hard back then.
However, the reasoning was indeed correct—
It had no strength left to fight now, so it would leave everything to them!
Understanding the meaning in Miraidon's eyes, Mewtwo looked at Aiden and asked in a low voice: "Shall I use psychic powers to control it?"
"If it's just using Psychic to break one of its arms, it can be easily done."
"Then—"
As he spoke, Aiden turned to look in the direction of the Arven AI.
Then, as expected, he froze.
Noticing Red, who had somehow concealed his presence until appearing behind the Arven AI without being detected, Aiden swallowed back what he was originally going to say.
"No need, it's already over."
Wait, Red, although you're from Kanto, no one told me you were also a ninja?
How did you do that? Did you learn some tricks from Master Koga at the Fuchsia Gym?
"Paradise—does not allow failure—"
"Deploy all Paradox species, stop them at all costs—"
After finally overpowering the original AI's control, the robot with still-crimson eyes took out several special Poké Balls from its pocket.
Each one contained a Paradox species with top-tier strength among their kind.
Even if Aiden had somehow suddenly been able to release the seal and send out two new Pokémon—
In terms of numbers and strength, it would absolutely be meaningless!
Just as the Arven AI was about to throw all the Poké Balls in its hands, a whistling gust of wind suddenly passed by its ear.
Then, its neck seemed to suffer an impact, instantly losing almost all control over its limbs.
It subconsciously turned its head and discovered that the red-and-white capped youth who had been rather unnoticeable had somehow appeared behind it.
Judging from the hand chop he hadn't yet retracted, that heavy blow just now had clearly been delivered by him.
But—it was clearly a robot, the product of top-tier technology, completely forged from a steel body with hardness rivaling any Paradox species.
How could it be taken down by a mere human—
"Sorry for interrupting your battle with Teacher Azure."
Red raised the brim of his cap, revealing an extremely determined gaze.
Although his words were sincere, his expression suggested he wasn't finished speaking.
"But you broke the rules first."
"So"
Boom——
Another zero-frame startup punch straight to the face.
Red was very angry now.
The reason was that his opponent had violated the sacred rules of battle.
Pokémon battles must have Pokémon!
Even in Kanto's wild battles, the protagonist of the battle must be Pokémon.
But in the battle just now, this AI robot had unilaterally locked their other Pokémon.
Fortunately, its opponent was Teacher Azure—even with Poké Balls sealed, it wouldn't affect him.
But Red was still very displeased.
You—what do you take Pokémon battles for?!
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Another punch!
With just a few random punches, Red left the Arven AI completely stunned.
Fortunately, he still had some restraint. After temporarily stopping the Arven AI's movements, he waited for news from Penny's side.
"Done! Got it!"
About five minutes later, the previously frantic Penny had returned to her genius hacker persona, her finger pressing heavily on the screen.
And with her action, the Time Machine interior, which had been flashing red, quickly returned to its original appearance when they first entered.
"Everything—should be over now?"
Arven also breathed a sigh of relief.
If anyone here was the most nervous, it had to be him.
After all, he had watched up close as Red punched "himself" in the face punch by punch.
Although it was just an AI robot borrowing his childhood appearance, the immersion was still somewhat—in any case, Arven didn't want to see such a scene again.
Hurry up and end all this, rescue the investigation team that went deep into Area Zero back then, and his own parents!
"—Well done."
The red in the Arven AI's eyes beneath Red gradually faded. Its face was now battered and bruised, even giving off a bit of uncanny valley effect.
However, it still tried to smile, and then—
It became even more terrifying!
"..."
Red subconsciously wanted to throw another punch, but after discovering it had regained its sanity, he somewhat regretfully withdrew his fist.
"It's back?"
Aiden walked forward, curiously examining this robot.
Honestly, the professors had indeed been generous with materials—even the "Iron Fist Red" that several future species couldn't withstand, this robot endured without making a sound.
In a sense, it truly was the crystallization of scientific power.
You have to admit it's tough!
"Mmm—thank you all very much for actually defeating the king of the Paradox species."
The Arven AI stood up with difficulty, looked at the fallen Koraidon, then sighed.
"Thanks to you, the Paradise Protection Protocol has completely collapsed."
"But fortunately because of this, I can now continue to execute the next step."
The Arven AI came to the still-operating Time Machine and looked up at the two spacetime wormholes above.
"Thank you, truly thank you—"
"This way, I seem to have found the meaning of my own existence."
The Arven AI's body gradually became weightless and began to slowly float upward in defiance of physical laws.
"I will integrate with and repair this precious Time Machine, completely unleashing the super AI's computing power from within, and re-anchor the spatial coordinates of the two spacetimes."
"This way, using me as a medium, one can freely travel between the past, future, and present three spacetimes."
"The following work is left to you all!"
"Goodbye, everyone!"
The Arven AI gradually ascended, showing the group a relieved smile, finally turning its gaze toward Arven.
"Sorry for using your name and appearance—"
"However, there is one thing I believe I can be certain of, and that is—"
"Your parents must both deeply love you. They have simply always lacked the opportunity to express it."
"As an AI created by them, I have integrated all the memories they provided, so I fully understand their feelings.
"Originally I wanted to say this, but—"
"Now I've changed my mind."
Before entering the wormhole, the Arven AI smiled and waved at Arven, then made an exaggerated punching motion.
"If you feel upset, punch them first."
"After venting all these years of grievances, then properly tell them how you feel."
"This is the optimal solution calculated by the super AI!"
Aiden couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Could it be that Red's punches just now provided data for the Arven AI's database?
Under everyone's gaze, the Arven AI slowly rose between the two wormholes and gradually disappeared.
And with its disappearance, the Time Machine indeed began rumbling violently.
It seemed it had already entered the interior and begun operating.
Soon, the two originally distinct spacetime wormholes began approaching each other and eventually merged into one.
"Hey—! Can anyone hear me?"
"Sada, is that you?"
A screen appeared on the Time Machine terminal, and immediately a male and female voice came through.
Clearly, it was the professor couple who had respectively entered the past and future spacetimes.
"Turo??? But I thought we weren't—"
"That's right, we did respectively lead teams into the Time Machine to stabilize the two different spacetimes! Never mind that, are you alright over there?"
"The problem has been basically solved, just temporarily can't find the way back."
"I see, it's the same situation on my end!"
Hearing his parents' voices after so long, Arven, who had been immersed in the AI's final words before disappearing, stood frozen in place, momentarily speechless.
Seeing this situation, Penny, Nemona, and Red silently came behind him, each placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong, don't know what to say at a time like this?"
Nemona asked with a smile.
"—No, just thinking about how much force to use when punching them."
Arven sniffed, although his tone deliberately tried to sound indifferent, his micro-expressions and trembling hands already proved his emotions weren't that relaxed.
Seeing this, Aiden also walked over.
Then, gently pushed him from behind.
"Alright, alright, you're not a child anymore. Who are you being tsundere for here!"
"Go greet your parents now. After you finish, I still have my turn. Don't waste time!"
Aiden smiled as he pushed Arven all the way to the Time Machine, then patted his shoulder.
"If we can successfully establish contact, that should mean the Time Machine has successfully restarted and spacetime coordinates have begun re-anchoring?"
"It should be. How much time has passed on your end? Theoretically, the time coordinates shouldn't be completely precise, there should be some error—you haven't turned into an old geezer, have you!"
"Don't talk nonsense! Only 27 days have passed on my end."
"Oh, about the same then. It's been 35 days on my end."
Since the Time Machine had just activated, the two wormholes hadn't successfully connected yet, seemingly only able to establish contact through conversation.
And on Arven's end, he had remained silent, so the professor couple naturally continued chatting.
And Arven just stood there, quietly listening to their dialogue.
For his parents, only a month had passed?
Yet for him, it was a full 476 days of confusion!
Seriously, in the end, he was the only one who went through so much trouble—
Arven wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes. After brewing for a long time, he finally took a deep breath and spoke with obvious sobs in his voice: "Dad, Mom—"
"Arven???" ×2
The surprised voices of the two professors came through.
Aiden stood behind Arven, once again smiling as he patted his shoulder.
Without them knowing, Arven had already grown into a man who could stand on his own.
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