Chapter 3: Miraidon and Celebi

    "Are you okay, Mabosstiff?" Arven peered under the lab's kitchen table at him.

    "Woof," Mabosstiff whined. He glanced at the open window above the dishwasher and examined the flowing curtains.

    "I know. That was weird," Arven said. One minute, he and Mabosstiff were eating their sandwiches, and the next, the lab's interior glowed infrared due to some strange phenomenon outside.

    Arven began to close the window, but he stopped when he heard a jingle next to him. It sounded like a tintinnabulation—a pleasant sound—that eased the pain in his chest. Before he knew it, a light green light flashed in his face, and a figure appeared deep in it.

    The Pokémon looked like both a fairy and an insect. Its bulb-shaped head was almost half the size of its body, and it flapped its tiny, white wings. Its large, sky-blue eyes met Arven's.

    "What in the world—?" he inquired. "It's a Celebi. What's a Celebi doing in Paldea?" He remembered reading about Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon, in his Biology class. It was Mr. Jacq's favorite non-Paldean Pokémon. Arven could see why, but that didn't mean he trusted his unexpected visitor.

    "Bi, bi," Celebi said. It tapped Arven's hand and gestured for him to follow it.

    "Look, I don't know what kind of Pokémon you are, and I sure as heck ain't going to let those big, blue eyes fool me," he snapped. He crossed his arms and turned away from Celebi.

    "Bi, bi!" Celebi waved its little hands and flew in front of Arven's face. It pointed at his chest and soared over to a box of old photos mixed in with all the lab supplies.

    Arven watched it.

    Celebi dug through the box and pulled out a dusty picture of him and Professor Sada.

    Arven was five. The picture showed him carrying a Maschiff, the pre-evolution of Mabosstiff, and Sada smiling at him in the background.

    Celebi took the photo to Arven, grunting, but its weight caused it to lose altitude.

    Luckily, Arven caught the picture before Celebi dropped it. "Wait a minute," he said while he studied the photo. "Are you saying that I can see my mom again?"

    "Bi, bi!" Celebi replied with a quick nod. It again motioned for Arven to follow it.

    For a second, he didn't move. He merely stared at the photo, lost in thought, and brushed his finger across Sada's face. He then yelled and chucked it at the table Mabosstiff hid under.

    The dog Pokémon moved off to the side and narrowly avoided the frame.

    Arven collected himself by inhaling and exhaling a few times. "I'm sorry, Mabosstiff," he finally said.

    "Arf." Mabosstiff wagged his tail. He crawled out from the table and jogged to his partner.

    Arven faced Celebi. "Can I trust you?" After what his mom did to him when he was a child, did he want to see her again? She never cared for him. She forced Arven to grow up all by himself soon after she got him Maschiff. It had been eleven long years. Eleven! Yet, Arven still couldn't help but feel needy, especially when AI Sada's words echoed in his brain:

    "Your mother truly loved you."

    "Okay," he eventually told Celebi. "What do you want me to do?"

    From where it hovered, Celebi held its hands up to its mouth and giggled, "Bi, bi, bi!"

    At its command, the wall behind the lab's research materials cut into two halves, revealing a single, small room with a Gimmighoul-like chest. It was red with gold trimming and the size of a college textbook.

    "What the—?" Arven said. In the eleven years he lived alone, he never found this secret room. Bewilderment held him back like a father's hands, but he broke free and approached the wall. He kneeled and removed the chest from it, placing it on his thighs. Arven found that it was relatively smooth to the touch.

    Celebi landed on his shoulder and pointed at the chest. "Bi," it ordered.

    Arven peeked over his shoulder at it. Celebi's blue eyes mesmerized him, and he cracked a weak smile. Was this excitement he felt? He nearly choked on his words. "I can see my mom."

    Celebi popped up on its perch and bounced a little. "Ribabi!" it said a little louder.

    Slowly and carefully, Arven opened the chest's top. As soon as he did, a new kind of infrared—a violet one—blinded him. He found no Gimmighoul coins in the chest but a violet book that resembled his Scarlet one. Instead of Koraidon on the cover, though, it was something else. It was a creature that looked like Koraidon but at the same time, different.

    Something huffed behind Arven, and he gasped. He dropped the book and whirled around. What he saw was a Pokémon he had never seen before—a Pokémon that appeared out of nowhere.

    The creature's slick, violet body shimmered like a brand-new machine. It rolled the futuristic-looking wheel on its chest forward and said, "Agia."

    Arven almost screamed, but Celebi held one of its fingers to his lips. It gestured at the Pokémon.

    "This is Miraidon," a wise, mystical voice spoke in Arven's head. "I brought him from the future, and he's going to help you."

    "Hold on!" Arven glanced at Celebi. "Did you just...?"

    "I certainly did," Celebi answered telepathically. "Don't you just love us Psychic Pokémon? But enough of that. It's time, Arven, for you to return to Area Zero."