Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Infrared

Chapter 48: To Be Brave Is Something You Learn Over Time (The Mastermind)

Song: "When She Loved Me" - Sarah McLachlan

Turo recalled when he met Professor Sada. It was the first day of school at Naranja, before class, and he had just placed a whoopee cushion on his homeroom teacher's chair. Turo cleverly tucked it between the chair's cushions like a sandwich. Only thirteen years old at the time, he thought the prank was the coolest thing ever.

"Ah-ha! Caught red-handed!" a voice sounded behind him, fast and loud like an air horn.

The girl's beauty stopped Turo's scream. Her cyan eyes and braided, curly hair mesmerized him to the point he sat on the whoopee cushion himself. It went off, and Turo yelled, dropping to the floor. He took the chair with him.

"OMG, I can't believe it worked." The girl picked up the lone whoopee cushion (it fell when Turo did), grinning. "I got you! I pranked the best prankster in the whole school!" She clapped and started to tap dance. Her hair swayed like a fluttering skirt. "Wait until my friends and Pokémon hear about this."

"No, no, please don't do that." No one had to know a girl outsmarted Turo. He pushed the chair off and stood. "Who are you supposed to be?" he asked, brushing himself down. He hoped the girl didn't notice him blushing.

She curtsied. "I'm Sada. I think I know your name. Um..." She turned on a thoughtful face. "Ted, Todd... Am I getting close?"

"It's Turo." Turo's cheeks burned. He just met her, and already, he loved her. "You're very pretty." Oh no! He said that out loud, didn't he? Embarrassing!

"Aw, thank you."

Was Sada blushing, too? Perhaps Turo scored something? He shuddered when she tapped her chin.

"Now, how should I describe you? Oh!" Sada snapped her fingers—a talent Turo still failed to possess at thirteen. "You're not ugly, per se, but you're definitely not my type."

Well, ouch. Turo didn't expect that.

"I'm kidding!" Sada laughed. She playfully punched his shoulder. "So serious! Maybe I should be the Mastermind of Deception instead of you. You're a cool guy, Turo. What do you say?" Sada hid behind her hands. "Why don't we blow this joint and have a Pokémon battle?"

Gosh, even hiding, she was breathtaking. Why did Sada have to change? Why didn't she remain the kind-hearted teen Turo knew in school?

The memory distracted him from his task. Arven looked like Sada, but he was still Turo's son. Turo had gone down the same dark path as her: obsessing over his research and betraying his whole family, including his unborn child. It killed him, but he had to do it. He had to. Arven ruined him. Turo lost Sada because of him, so why did he feel so conflicted?

"I hate him, Mabosstiff," Turo told Arven's irate partner. "That woman became a beast when she got pregnant with him. Arven took her from me, and when I tried to get her back, that Pokémon murdered her. It's time I take something that belonged to her."

"Turo, stop!" Speak of the devil, there she was. AI Sada hustled into the control room.

At first glance, Turo couldn't tell if she was alone or if Infrared still had control over her. She was there, though. Sada made it past Turo's AI army.