章 45: Chapter 41: Captured!
"I don't need a wheelchair." Arven pushed the clear, floating chair away from him. He climbed out of bed, but his legs jiggled, and he fell into his ride.
His nurse and the doctor grasped his arms and straightened him.
Turo didn't help. When the others weren't looking, he slammed his shoe into Mabosstiff's furry body.
"Arf!" Arven's partner barked, flinching.
Arven turned to him. "Mabosstiff, what's wrong?"
His Pokémon trotted toward him, away from Turo, and wagged his tail once he reached him.
Turo responded by sticking his nose up. He kept his distance while the nurse rolled Arven forward. However, he maintained a fake smile and leaned into him. "I can't wait for you to see your old room, son."
"Yeah... me either." Arven pointed his own nose at the ceiling. "I'm super excited to be here, Dad."
Miraidon came between him and Turo and bumped Turo with his rump.
"I'm fine, Miraidon. Don't worry." Arven smiled feebly. "We're going to be okay."
"I like your optimism, kid," the doctor said. "I would have never guessed you were Professor Turo's son."
"Yeah," Turo said, nodding. "Arven took more after his mom than me." Strangely, he shut down a bit after that.
Celebi poked out from behind Arven's head and flew toward Turo, but Arven pulled it back and set it down on his lap. He stroked the Pokémon's scalp.
Celebi's antennae dropped, and it closed its eyes, seeming to purr.
"Celebi seems to have taken quite a liking to you," the doctor observed. With the others following, he approached the elevator at the end of the glass hallway and pressed the down button.
Arven hugged Celebi close. "Well, we've been through a lot together. Right, little guy?"
Celebi responded with more purrs.
***
"Eh, eh!"
Arven's eyes widened, hearing the doctors and nurses. A group of them stood at the hospital's entrance, playing music and clapping with a couple of Hologram Pokémon.
A young nurse twirled to Arven and offered him her open palm.
It took a second, but Arven high-fived her.
"Yeah!" the nurse cheered. She snapped her fingers, rolled her shoulders, and shuffled back to her colleagues.
They waved and said, "Get well soon," while Turo rolled Arven out the doors. After that, he changed his personality again.
Turo drove a black and white, three-wheeled car that resembled a spaceship. It floated a few feet off the ground and was big enough to fit Miraidon but not Mabosstiff. Therefore, Arven recalled him.
He stayed far away from Turo and refused to talk to him for the first half of the trip through the city. He occasionally held up his hands in case he tried to hit him.
"Why are you so pissed off?" Turo eventually said. "You're finally going to be like your dear, old mother. Your friends are waiting for you as well. You should be celebrating."
"I swear, if you hurt them—" Arven grabbed Celebi again, who tried to fly to Turo a second time.
"Oh, I didn't hurt them per se. I'm not that mean. I merely gave them a nice little Sleep Powder. Speaking of which..." Turo kept his eyes on the road and reached into the car's glove compartment.
"What are you doing, Dad?" Arven suspiciously asked before Turo could get too far.
"Yes, what are you doing?" Celebi added, and Miraidon showed his fangs.
Turo seized up. He waited for a bit before he removed his hand from the compartment.
He grabbed Arven's shirt collar and jiggled it. "Let me make myself clear, you little brat," Turo growled. "I'm not your dad. I would've just left you on the doorstep if Sada gave you to me, understand? I came to the future to start a new life, and that AI ruined everything!" With those words, he shoved Arven's chest, and he and Celebi crashed into the passenger window.
"I would advise you to keep your trap shut if you want to see your mom before your experiment." Turo held his hand up to Arven and Celebi. "Got it, you three musketeers?"
Celebi clicked its tongue. "What happened to you, Master? You used to be so kind." It shook out its head and checked on Arven.
He clutched his chest and slightly wheezed.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Celebi tapped his cheek.
"I'll be fine, Celebi." Though weak, Arven's voice was strong, and he lugged himself off the window. "He can't take me down that easily."
Turo scoffed. "Is that so? We'll see how tough you are once you see your mom." Smiling maliciously, he rubbed his teeth together.
Arven gulped and looked out the window to the glass skyscrapers. They hovered over the road and moving walkways like bowling pins preparing to fall. Arven knew that in a matter of time, they would.
***
Sada was running out of time. Her arm—she could barely move it now. It hurt so much that she wondered if her baby could feel it, too.
She lay on her front in her cell and reached for the sandwich Kenji gave her. She dropped it when she toppled over, and it was exhausting trying to retrieve it.
Sada had to hold on. She could make it through the second half of her pregnancy; she merely needed Turo to snap out of it and help her. He knew how to prolong her lifespan until the baby was born.
Someone knocked on the cell next to hers. "Sada, Sada, are you still there?" Penny questioned from the other side of the wall.
"I am, Penny, but just barely," Sada replied. She recalled how Turo dragged Arven's friends to her "home away from home". They were limp, unconscious, and she feared he murdered them. Luckily, they woke up and shook the Sleep Powder specks off their bedheads.
Turo tossed them into the cell parallel to Sada's. He left them with four words: "We're only missing Arven."
"Oh, Kenji, where are you?" Sada asked out loud. She couldn't help but blush every time she thought or said his name, as embarrassing as that was.
Penny's voice came to her rescue. "Have you eaten your sandwich? That will make you feel better."
Sada pushed herself to her knees and crawled to the wall. "Penny, I can't. I can't eat real food." Unless what Kenji told her was true: she was constantly becoming more human. She didn't want to put her baby in danger, though.
Penny read Sada's mind. "What are you talking about?" She banged the wall. "Of course, you can. Don't give up hope, Sada. Think about Arven and your baby."
She shouldn't have said that because that was now the only thing Sada could think about. She dragged herself to the sandwich and picked it up. She only saw this once or twice with humans. Eating a sandwich was just like eating metal, right?
Sada closed one eye and carefully studied the sandwich with her other. She rotated it a few times and sniffed it.
Just before she took a bite, she suddenly heard Penny yell, "Arven!" and dropped the sandwich again.
Sure enough, it was Arven.
Turo dragged him and Miraidon by the backs of their necks and called, "Yoo-hoo!" to Sada. "I brought you a gift, my dear AI!" A few of his AI and Hologram Pokémon followed him in battle formation.
Celebi flew around Turo's head, chanting, "Bi, bi!" It finally got so annoying that Turo smacked the Pokémon away. It ended up smashing into a Holographic Iron Bundle.
Both Pokémon toppled over and were almost trampled by the others.
Sada puffed out her cheeks and struggled to her feet. She placed her hand on the wall to maintain her balance.
Turo reached her cell and deactivated it slightly so that a door-like hole appeared. He chucked Arven and Miraidon inside and instantly shut the frame.
Arven crash-landed on his front and yelled. He did not get up from where he rested.
Sada fell over soon after she removed her hand, but she still crawled to Arven and clutched his shoulder. "You hurt him!" she shouted at Turo.
"Oh, boo-hoo," he said, double-locking the cell. "Suck it up, buttercup. You got your son and Pokémon back, so celebrate a little. Arven's experiment will begin tonight, and you can be extra happy." He snarled at Miraidon. "And don't even think about trying to escape. I will know. Besides, these cells are made to withstand Pokémon attacks, so cheers! It's a win-win situation. Have a good day."
"Can you at least give us some water?" Penny inquired from the next cell over.
"Oh, sure." Turo snorted and hacked and spat in her direction. "There you go. Happy? Now, ¡cho!" He left the prison and scooped up Celebi and the Holographic Iron Bundle. "As for you, my wonderful partner, you get to join that crybaby's Meowscarada."
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