Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The professor vanished in a flash of light and as the machine whirred down and the room fell silent and dark. The four friends were left staring upwards in shock and awe. Arven lowered his arm slowly from where he had been reaching out in an attempt to get his parent back. It fell limp as he swallowed and looked over to the person standing next to him that had helped him through this entire journey, even when he had been less than kind. Who fought pokemon that had nearly killed him and had killed his parent. Taka.

He couldn't lose it now. He had to be strong. He had to get out of area zero.

Taka wasn’t not moving. It was odd to see them so still. They usually couldn't stop rushing around everywhere. Even getting down here had taken less time then he'd ever heard of a researcher doing. “Little buddy?” He was able to keep his voice from cracking, but it was still rough. At first he called them that almost to make fun of them and their height despite being the same age, but it had turned into a genuine term of endearment.

They were shaking now. Understandable, with everything that just happened. He felt like he was shaking too. Then they lurched and turned to him and their face was twisted, trying not to sob, but not succeeding. “I’m s-ah-rry Ar-va-n.” The trainer said through uncontrollable breaths.

Why were they apologizing? It wasn't their fault. He'd see them fall down entire cliff faces and brush it off. Arven was stunned and it shot through the calmness he was trying to maintain. “I- '' He looked at their face and everything came rushing in.

His parent was dead. The only thing left of them was gone. They had cared about this project more than him. They has all almost died. His eye glazed over and he inhaled sharply like he'd been punched in the chest. He finally let out a sob and then he couldn't stop. He didn't know who initiated it, but then they were both hugging each other and sobbing. Arven was burying his face into Taka’s shoulder while they just leaned onto his and let out louder sounds of distress as they cried, not saying anything but needing to vocalize against the pressure in their chest.

“Oh geez.” Penny said somewhat uncomfortably.

“Awe guys.” Nemona said, her own eyes started to water.

Neither of them felt embarrassment, just raw sadness as they sank down onto the hard floor. Taka had an errant thought wondering if this was how Professor Hassel felt all the time. How did he stand it?

“Op, and there on the floor.” Penny noted evenly.

Nemona knelt down next to them and put a hand on Taka’s back. “Just let it out. Breath.”

Penny looked back towards the entrance. “At least I’m pretty sure no pokemon can get in here. A rest might be good.” She walked over and sat down next to them. She hesitated a moment before gently patting Arven on the back. “There there. It sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but I am genuinely trying to comfort you.”

Arven snorted into Taka's shoulder and came up for air. “Thanks Penny. ‘Preciate it.” He said wetly.

She nodded. “Any time.”

Mabosstiff lumbered over and let out a low borf as he laid his head on Arvens leg. They both stopped hugging so tightly to smile at the pokemon and pet its fur.

Taka sniffed. “You always know what to say mabosstiff.”

The pokemon borfed again. Arven snickered. “Stop making me laugh, I'm sad.” He pulled back fully and rubbed at his eyes. They were red, but he had stopped crying as heavily.

Taka did the same, rubbing their face on their sleeve. Their lizard gently nudged their face. “Agia?”

Taka gave them an affectionate snout rub. “Tha-hanks buddy. You did great.”

“Gia.” They sat next to them, half curled around them.

Taka sighed with a hitched breath and leaned back against Nemona. “You guys okay? Penny?”

Nemona wiped her eyes and patted their shoulders gently. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

They looked at Penny who pointed at herself. “Oh, me?” As if surprised she was included. “Yeah, I'm alright. Legs are a little tired.”

Taka nodded with a sniff. “Same! Running down an entire cave system and then sobbing violently really takes it out of you.”

Arven took a deep shaking breath as he continued to card his hands through mabosstiffs fur. He bent over and buried his face in the fluff before yelling muffled into the pokemon.
After a pause, he sat back up, his hair flying around and sticking to the wet parts of his face. “Water.” He croaked out before digging into his bag and pulling out a few bottles. He tossed one to Taka, who fumbled it. “Drink up. Or else you'll get a headache from losing all that water.”

Taka nodded. “Nothing else about this trip has given me a headache.” They said sarcastically.

Nemona caught her bottle. “Thanks.” He handed one to Penny who was about to say she hadn't been crying before realizing the trip down here in a hoodie had probably dehydrated her too.

They all sat in silence drinking and thinking. Occasionally more tears would fall, but it wasn't full on sobbing anymore.

Penny put the rest of her water in her eevee bag before hugging it for comfort. “I know that what just happened was really traumatizing, but can we talk about the fact that time travels real?”
Taka whistled. “I mean. I guess that makes sense with dialga and celebi.”

Penny scrunched up her face. “But we never actually had any proof they traveled in time, just stories.”

“Like stories about monsters living in area zero?” Nemona said as she finished the last of her water.

Penny looked away. “Point taken.”

Taka chimed in. “What are we going to tell Clavell?”

Penny hugged her eevee pack closer. “I would lie, but I don't wanna risk violating my parol by not reporting a…disappearance?” She wasn't sure what this would be classified as.

Arven laughed, spilling some of his water. He looked around and Taka and Penny weren't laughing. His eyes widened. “Wait, seriously?” He wiped his mouth. “What did you do?”

Penny shrugged. “Counterfeiting and theft.”

Arven looked at her waiting for her to crack. She did not. “Arceus…” He turned to Taka. “You hang around with criminals? You gotta be careful little buddy!”

Penny rolled her eyes. “It was a victimless crime.”

“For now!” He looked serious before finally losing it with a smile. “It's always the quiet ones…”

Taka cleared their throat. “Sorry for breaking down there, I just cried really easily. Are we ready to head back? Should be easier with the teleporter.”

Nemona frowned exaggeratedly. “How dare you both cry when something sad happens.” She said sarcastically as she stood up and dusted off her leggings. Arven hoisted himself up and then put his pack back on. Nemona pulled Taka up as they rubbed their faces with some crumbled up napkins. “Ugh, haven't bawled like that in a while. Forgot how gross crying is.”

Penny slung her pack back on and got up inelegantly before Arven could offer a hand. “It is a very poorly thought out feature.”

Taka scoffed. “I know, right?”

And so they started walking back towards the elevator, all staying a little closer together than before. They quickly figured out how to work it and started back. Silence set as they all stared off into the distance thinking their own serious thoughts. Taka looked over at Arven who was staring off into nothing and starting to cry again silently. One arm hung limply as he absentmindedly petted mabosstiff with the other.

Taka hesitated a moment before grabbing it gently. Arven started out of his thoughts and looked at them and they responded with a small smile and a squeeze to his hand. Arven let some tension fall from his shoulders and squeezed back with a responding smile. “I'm sorry you lost your book.” Taka offered softly. It had been pretty much eaten by the machine.

He shrugged. “I read it so many times, I know what it says. And there are other copies.” None with his parents notes, but still. “And now that I've seen it for myself, I think I’m just going to make my own.”

Nemona looked excited. “Oh, writing a book? That's so cool! Can I help?”

He seemed surprised at her enthusiasm before responding. “You could catch some of the paradox pokemon so I could study them better?”

Nemona grit her teeth. “Yeah, maybe Taka would be better for that. I'm always knocking them out or, uh, missing my throws.” Her cheeks reddened a bit in embarrassment.

Arven looked shocked. “You mean you're not great at everything related to pokemon?”

She hit his arm gently. “Shut up! I have bad depth perception!”

“Then get glasses?” Penny offered helpfully with confusion. “Also I would be able to organize and edit the text as well as deal with the logistics of getting it printed. And I could probably spin it as community service.”

Arven scratched the back of his neck. “Oh I wasn't…thinking of publishing it. Just kind of as a personal thing.”

Taka gasped. “But it would be so cool if you did! There's not much other info about it around that's not locked down in science papers or has no evidence. You could be a legend.”

Arven grimaced. “I don't really want to be a legend. I’ve had enough excitement for a while.”

Taka smiled slyly. “You could put recipes in it. How to cook herba mystica and other rare ingredients, maybe finding more common substitutes for them.”

“A combination informational journal and cook book?” Penny asked with skepticism.

“Oooo!” Nemona said in excitement. “Unique.”

Arven seemed a bit more intrigued by that idea. “I have been wanting to try and find more ways to use cooking to help people and pokemon. If I was able to share what I found in a book that draws people in with area zero info, it could spread a lot farther.”

“Come for the monsters, stay for the tasty sandwiches.” Taka chimed in happily.

“Oh, oh, I know what I can do!” Nemona waved her hand around. “Battle strategies! Ways people can battle against paradox pokemon effectively and protect themselves.”

Arvens eyes lit up as this hit close to his heart. “Yes. That would be perfect.” He nodded in determination. “Alright. I’ll do it.” He let go of Taka's hand and put it in the middle of them. “Team?”

Nemon put her hand in the middle on top of his immediate understanding. “Yeah! We should have a team name!”

Taka slapped their hand down loudly. “Team Paradox!”

They all looked expectantly at Penny. She smiled and put her hand down. “I don't know how many teams I can be a part of, but why not one more?”

“1, 2, 3!” Taka pushed down.

“TEAM PARADOX!”

His parents were gone, but Arven was not alone.

Chapter Text

Professor Raifort pulled Taka aside one day after class with a crazed look in her eye. “They found another one! They found another locked vault. Like those holding the cursed treasures!” She bared her teeth happily. “I've been trying to look and see what could possibly be in there and there was some mention of a hero who sealed them away in the first place. That they would come back if the treasures were ever to be freed again. But I didn't think that meant they also had a tomb. I thought it was the typical legend or curse warning against freeing the pokemon.” She shook her head. “This one doesn't have any stakes that I could find, so I'm unsure how to open it. It glows orange in color, though I don't know if that means anything. Maybe try bringing the treasures close?”

Taka found it funny she didn't even ask if they would do it, just assuming they would. She was right, but it was still rude. Taka didn't mind and just gave a thumbs up and set on their way.

They invited all of Team Paradox to join but Nemona was battling in a tournament and Penny was doing Team Star duties, so it was just them and Arven.

They elected to walk from the nearest pokemon center rather than ride Koraidon as it was a very pleasant day out and Arven has been spending the last few days organizing notes and needed to stretch his legs. Even now, he was looking down at the scarlet notebook he carried with him everywhere. “I'm still not sure I should include anything about the treasure pokemon. There's not alot known about them, but it's not really related to Area Zero.” He grimaced and snapped his book shut. “I'm also worried Professor Raifort might kill me if I publish anything about them before her.”

Taka barked out a laugh around a berry they were eating. “Yeah, she is really intense. Might put you in one of these tombs.”

Arven shivered. “Don't even joke about that. I am not going into that vault. I'm staying outside where I can’t be trapped under pounds of rock.”

“Wimp.” Taka said without any bite before finishing off the berry.

“Stupid.” He responded as he put his journal away, stopping as he looked ahead of them. “Oh, whoa.” Taka stopped as well and they both looked at the giant round orange glowing door wrapped in chains in front of them.

Taka laughed loudly and started running closer. “Oh yeah!”

“Hey, wait up!” Arven called and was soon running after them along with Mabosstiff, who had launched himself out of his pokeball and was borfing wildly.

They all stopped in front of the glowing door. It seemed to glow brighter as they approached. “What's up, pal?” Arven questioned his pokemon as the dog sniffed at the door before barking a few more times and sitting down to stare at it. He looked over his shoulder as if expecting Arven to do something. Arven fretted. “Hey, be careful. Could be something weird in there.” Mabosstiff wagged his tail and barked again before starting to excitedly bound around Arven, but now at a safe distance. “That's weird. He doesn't usually get this excited for no reason.”

Taka got their pokeballs out as the treasure pokemon were vibrating within them. “If there's a giant skwovet in there, I am going to laugh so hard.”

Arven ruffled his hair. “Why did you have to make me think about what kind of monster a paradox primal skwovet would be! I have enough problem with the regular ones picking fights with him!”

“Psh.” They released all of the treasure pokemon who landed between them and the door. “I think if the savior of Paldea was a giant skwovet, it would have been written about more.”

The door began to glow so bright it almost hurt and Arven held a hand up to shield his eyes. The chains vibrated violently, clashing around.

“That normal?” Arven yelled over the clatter.

“Dunno, never actually been here when it opened before.” Taka yelled back before commanding the treasure pokemon. “Alright guys, if you know how to open it, have at it!”

The beasts readied themselves before they each attacked one of the chains, them snapping after being touched at all, before the beasts let out loud roars. The last chain burst and the door shook from the violence before starting to fall forward. “Whoa, back up!” Taka recalled their pokemon quickly to get them away from the door as the rest of them scrambled out of the way.
Taka covered their head and knelt down as Arven knelt over to try and shield mabosstiff. The door hit the ground with an earth shaking thud sending wind and dust everywhere.

It settled and the cloud of dust started to clear. Both of them coughed a few times. “You alright?” Taka asked.

Arven cleared his throat and stood up. “Yep.” The dog borfed and then sneezed at all the dust before promptly running into the vault.

“Hey!”

“Mabosstif, no!”

They both blindly chased after him into the still clearing dust. Thankfully, the vault wasn't that deep and their rotom phones came out to illuminate the space. It was a shallow circular chamber embedded into the cliffside much like the rest of them. The only difference was instead of containing an angry pokemon, it contained what looked to be a statue laying on top of a box.

Luckily, mabosstiff wasn't able to jump the tall lip into the vault and just clawed at the side.

Arven huffed. “Mabosstif, what has-” His eyes took in the inside of the room. He pointed at it limply. “Is that a coffin?”

Taka swallowed nervously. “I think that might be qualified as a sarcophagus.”

Arven threw his hands up. “That doesn't matter, they both have dead bodies inside them!”

“Hold on, there's usually some kind of inscription on these things. It might tell us.” Taka leaned closer to the outside lip of the vault and ran their fingers across it to try and find the etched words.

Arven pulled Mabosstiff back. “Is that why you want to get at it? Bones? Pal, no!” The pokemon cocked his head in confusion.

Taka finally used their sleeve to wipe the edge of the vault and reveal the words beneath the dust. “Ah, found it!”

‘ALL ENERGY EXHAUSTED, THE HERO WENT INTO A GREAT SLUMBER, BUT SHE PROMISED TO AWAKEN ONCE MORE WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT.’

Taka furrowed their brow. “Weird they would say sleep and not dead.” They then hoisted themself up into the round chamber.

Arven reached a hand after them. “What are you doing? Don't go near it!”

Taka continued to go near it. “I’m not going to open it, I just want a closer look.” Their rotom floated after them, light bobbing around erratically.

Arven looked behind them as if wondering if something was going to show up and attack. “Tak- TAKA!” He huffed exasperatedly before hoisting himself up after them clumsily. He didn't want to go in here, but he also didn't want his little buddy to set off some kind of booby trap.

Taka knelt down and tried to find if the seam on the box was broken or if there was any writing on it. But they noticed something was glowing in their bag. “Eh?”

Arven came up next to them and put a hand on their shoulder to stop them from going any farther. “What's-” He startled as he noticed something was glowing in his own bag as well. “Huh?”

They both reached into their bags and pulled out their tera orbs that were glowing and shaking violently. “Why are they reacting like this?” Arven struggled to hold the orb steady as some force seemed to push and pull it around like a magnet.

Taka looked around. “I don't know, I don't see any other area zero crystals.”

Suddenly the energy burst from both of the orbs in a sparkling flurry around them. They shielded their eyes from the bright light. “Ah!” It was like a sun was exploding in front of them.

The light slowly faded and they blinked the stars out of their eyes. “Ow.” Taka said plainly.

“Hm. That stings.” Arven grit out. “What was that about?”

Their vision cleared and the vortex of sparkling energy swirled around and funneled into an orb embedded into the statue's chest. The wind also revealed that the statue was actually not one color, but just covered in dust and colored underneath.

The energy stilled along with the wind, but there was only silence for a moment. Arven’s eyes widened. “Wait, the statue-”

The statue's eyes opened and she sat upwards quickly, sending dust everywhere as the orb in her chest glowed faintly.

Both of the humans shrieked and stumbled backwards, grabbing onto each other in fear. They both froze and held their breath as they watched the statue blink a few times before looking around.

Arvens eyes widened. “Mom…?” He said quietly.

The woman's eyes locked onto him and glowed faintly along with the orb. “Arven. Finally.”

His mouth opened and shut before he closed his eyes and shook his head. He took a deep breath and opened them. “It's-…you're the AI.”

The robot moved and stood up from the table, dusting herself off slightly. She looked different, covered in armor and decorations made from primal pokemon rather than her usual lab coat. Her hair was slightly shorter, but no less wild and had some tears in her skin revealing her crystalline interior. She nodded. “Correct. I know you may not feel the same, but it is nice to see you again.”

Arven tensed before slowly releasing his hold on Taka as his lips thinned. “I…don't know how to feel. I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I was just starting to…” He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to start crying again in front of this machine who didn't even care. But he couldn't help but think of what she'd said when she last saw him.

‘You've grown so big. I'm sorry you were alone for so long.’

He shook his head again. “How are you even here? I thought you couldn't exist outside area zero.”

And then she smiled. It was odd to see. He wasn't sure he had seen the robot do that before. “I couldn't. But. I had a lot of time to work on improving myself. In lots of ways.” She tapped on the orb in her chest. “How to contain and transport terastallized energy in a portable battery so I could roam farther afield.” She put a hand on her hip. “And with that many years for my AI to learn and develop, I believe my core being has changed a lot. I think I understand more. Emotions. Humanity.” She looked softly at them both. It was obviously artificial and a calculated expression, too symmetrical, but she seemed as genuine as she could be. “I tried to keep my meddling to a minimum so I wouldn't create any paradoxes, but it is clearly a bit late, or early I suppose, for that. I managed well until I saw an entire kingdom being destroyed. Something inside me just couldn't stop myself from attempting to help. Maybe it's one of the new quirks my programming has picked up. I was able to seal them away, but knew I was too far away from area zero to get back before my battery ran out so I made a last ditch effort to preserve myself until I was hopefully one day discovered and brought in proximity to enough energy to reactivate.”

“Whoa…” Taka exhaled in awe.

She turned her attention more fully on Arven and stepped closer. He didn't step back, but he did tense. “I am not your mother, Arven. And I am sorry I cannot be. Seeing you in pain pulls at something deep in my programming. I still want to help and support you if you'll allow it. The closest analogy I can think of is being your Aunt. Your mothers twin, in a sense.”

“I…” Arven couldn't look at her, looking at the ground instead. “I…need some time to process this.”

She nodded. “Take as long as you need.” She looked past him. “I think I’m going to enjoy the sunshine.”

She walked past him, vague shimmering sparkles following in her steps. Arven stared into the darkness for a few moments before Taka carefully touched his arm to get his attention. He didn't respond. “You okay?” They felt a little stupid asking that, but they don't know what else to say.

Arven took a deep breath. “I dont know. It's not my mom, but it's…part of her. Something she made. Something of her that's left behind. And I don't know if that's good or bad anymore.”

Taka didn't have an answer to that. “Whatever you want me to do, just let me know. I can bring her to Clavell and you don't have to see her again if you don't want to.”

His fists clenched. “No! No, I-...running away and ignoring this won't solve anything.”

“Taking time to gather your thoughts isn't running away.” Taka reassured him.

He finally turned to look at them and smiled, eyes tired. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

He turned around to the sound of Mabosstiff barking wildly. The dog was running around the android and going nuts. The robot knelt down and offered a hand. The dog sniffed before sneezing once more. The robot gave a small stilted laugh. Too regular to be human, but a laugh nonetheless. “Yes, I suppose I don't smell quite right, do I? Logically, I shouldn't smell like anything you've smelled regularly before. Do tera crystals have a scent to you?” She asked like the pokemon would respond. The dog just wagged his tale before bumping under her hand for pets.

Arven couldn't help but smile, seeing his partner pokemon happy. He'd be lying if he said mabosstiff’s approval didn't make him trust her a little more. He stepped down from the ledge onto the grass and she turned to look at him. “What should I call you then?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Yes, I suppose I do need a new name.” She nodded as if deciding something. “Rega.”

He nodded back before offering his hand. “I’m…glad you're back to the present, Professor Rega.”

She smiled wide and sharp and almost humanly. “Me too.” She took his hand and squeezed it happily.

Chapter Text

It was a quiet day with Team Paradox simply all sitting quietly on top of the light house. Taka was dozing quietly in the sun, Penny was organizing plans for Team Star training, Arven was writing in his purple journal, and Nemona was trying to get her Applin used to heights before she evolved him into a Flapple.

Nemona held the apple up above her head. “Look at how much you can see from up here Appa, isn't it cool?”

The pokemon made a small gurgling chirp before retreating fully into its apple.

Nemona pulled it back down and to her chest. “Appa…I'm not going to drop you.” The worm peaked out a moment before retreating back inside. She sighed and sat down to think. “Maybe I need to start smaller? Or maybe bigger? Maybe if I brought him up to the top of Area Zero and showed him how cool flying down was?” Her eyes sparkled. “Taka, can I borrow Miraidon?”

Taka opened an eye and the lizard laying beside them did as well. “No, but I can come with you.”

Miraidon snapped playfully at Nemona, as if it would ever hurt any of them.

Penny didn't look up from her tablet. “Maybe it doesn't want to be a Flapple?”

Nemona’s eyebrow raised as if she never considered that. “Wh- that can happen?”

Penny finally put her tablet down and looked at her like she was crazy. “Well, yeah. It's a huge physical change. Just like you would want one evolution or the other, Applin probably wants one too. Or maybe neither?”

Nemona frowned in concern before bringing the apple up to her face. “Appa?” She spoke quietly. “Do you not want to be a Flapple? Fly around and spit acid?” The worm emerged from its apple slowly before scrunching up as if tasting something sour. “Would you rather be an Appletun?” The worm perked up. “Oh, of course. You have a sweet tooth and hate heights.” She tilted her head. “But apples hang from trees?”

Taka raised their hands before sitting up on their elbows. “I actually found him on the ground by the tree instead of in it, like I normally see. And he was next to a sweet apple tree, not a sour one.”

Nemona nodded. “Ooohhh. I get it now.”

Penny set up the alarm. “Wait, what?”

Taka turned to her. “Uh, I found him by a sweet apple tree?”

She waved her hands. “No, no, not that, back up. You caught the Applin? And then gave it to Nemona?”

Taka shrugged. “Yeah. We do it all the time. I trade her pokemon that are hard to catch or find and she trades me pokemon that are hard to evolve or train. It's a pretty good system where we have most of the dex filled out actually.” They grinned with pride.

Penny stood down a little. “I mean…I guess that makes sense. Do you not know what giving someone an Applin means?”

Nemona thought for a moment. “Oh!” She said loudly before blushing when everyone looked at her. “I, uh, just remembered.”

Taka groaned. “Ugh, is it a romance thing like luvdisc?”

Arven snorted and finally gave up trying to focus on his journal. “I regret to inform you, it’s a romance thing like luvdisc.”

“No!” Taka shouted dramatically before falling back down. “Nemona! It's not what you think!” They reached out a hand in her direction.

Nemona snorted before scoffing. “How could you do this! I'll have to call off the wedding!” She held up the Applin. “Look at what you've done to our son! He is distraught!” The Applin’s eyes wobbled around with the movement before making a very non-distraught wet warble. Nemona patted the side of the Applin gently. “Shh, it's okay Appa, I'm here for you.” The Applin jumped up and nuzzled against her cheek and she couldn't keep up the facade. “Daw, thanks bud.”

Arven was cackling uncontrollably with his journal hiding his face while Penny was snickering into her sleeve. Taka pointed at them. “You guys are being mean. I'm being attacked.”

Penny got a sparkle in her eye. “Fellas, is it gay to fill out the pokedex?”

Taka nodded sagely. “Extremely. If you own a pokedex you become a home of sexual. The pokedex app is part of the gay agenda.”

Penny frowned seriously and put her fist into her hand. “I knew Professor Jacq was putting on his bumbling nice guy act to catch us off guard.”

Arven looked on as his friends laughing and smiled. He didn't think he'd been this happy in a long long time. Not since Mabosstiff had been injured. He pet said pokemon that was sleeping contently in the sun next to him. He tried to think back to the last time before then he'd been content and happy deep in his soul. It must have been back when his dad-

A loud crack and flash like lightning erupted nearby suddenly and everyone clung to their respective partner pokemon. Taka was the first to jump up with Miraidon and ran to look over the railing. They stiffened and Miraidons ear anteni perked up. “Agia?”

“What is it?” Arven stood up with mabosstiff at the ready. Penny and Nemona held their pokemon close as they walked over more carefully to the edge.

Penny frowned. “Taka, do you see any…thing…” She trailed off as a being rose up on the other side of the railing.

They all stepped back except for Miraidon who just tilted its head. “Gia?”

The man landed on the railing before stepping fully down onto the top platform. He wore a purple accented jumpsuit not unlike the one they had seen him in before but this one was a lighter shade of lavender and the lights on it moved into the long coat he was wearing with the same color scheme. The lines of color pulsed regularly in a slow tempo.

The man was smiling as he reached out to Miraidon. The lizard flinched and there was a tense moment before the lizard slowly let its head be pet. “Hello, subject one. You look much better than when I last saw you.” He turned to the rest of them who stared at him tensely. He took his other hand out of his pocket and looked at them all individually before landing on Arven. His smile turned sadder. “All of you do. I know I didn't leave you in the best of circumstances, so I am glad you all made it out safely.” He retracted his hands and went to put them in his pockets but thought better of it and crossed them loosely instead. The lights on his outfit turned a darker shade. “I imagine you all have questions, but I may not be able to answer all of them.”

Arven broke out of his stunned silence to scoff. “Really? After all that, you're still keeping shit from us?”

The robot's eyes widened. He was emoting much more than when they had met him before. His suit turned even darker. “Arven, I-“ He shook his head. “There's no excuse. I should have been more transparent with my plight from the beginning. Maybe then you would have known your father had not abandoned you by choice.” Arven seemed taken aback by the response. The AI frowned. “But this time, anything I keep from you is because I truly do not have the answers.”

Penny spoke hesitantly. “You went to the future right? And now you're back?”

He turned to her and his hard gaze was a bit frightening and there was no doubt that he was still a machine. “Yes. You are correct. Luckily, there were many advancements and entities such as myself that let me develop a way to leave Area Zero and to travel back here to you all.” His gaze turned disappointed. “But before they would let me return they required that I erase anything I had learned in the future that could negatively impact the past or cause a paradox. That includes most of my time there.”

Arven grit his teeth and spread his arms slightly in annoyance. “Why did you even come back? You wanted to go to the future so bad and then you just left it?”

The robot shook his head again, but now looked more stern then disappointed, the color of his clothes and eyes returning to a more solid purple. “Your father dreamed of going to the future, not me. I only left because it was the only way I could fathom to turn the time machine off without destroying myself. I admit, I was curious, as much as a machine meant to gather and catalog data when presented with that much potential new information can be curious. But after seeing how much destruction it brought, I knew it wasn't worth it. I know I look like your father and was created to be like him, but from the moment I was created and began experiencing my own existence, that ended. Since Professor Turo’s death I have done nothing, but try to stop the damage interaction with the future has caused.” His face turned softer and sympathetic as his tone lowered in volume. “Please don't blame me for something I did not do.”

Arven’s anger was thrown off a moment as he looked away from the man and crossed his own arms. His face burned with an anger he'd never be able to find closure for. At least not outside of himself. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Taka reached out a hand and gently touched his arm for support. He opened his eyes and remembered he didn't just have himself anymore. With or without his father or the AI.

“You're right.” He looked at the AI once again. Looking closer, it didn't really look like his father. He didn't know if it ever had. It’s hair was longer and tied up in the back loosely. He remembered a hazy memory of his father telling him he had to tie up his hair tightly in the lab for safety. He doubted he would ever willingly grow his hair out and subject himself to the hassle. Or have clothing that pulsed with such distracting light constantly. The wrinkles, the skin color. He couldn't tell if it was really different or if his last memories of the man were simply so old and hazy he could no longer tell. “You’re not my dad. And you never asked to be. If you were, the time machine would still be running and you would have never asked us to come and stop it.”

The robot stilled as if processing what was being said before he smiled widely and his suit turned a lighter lavender. “Thank you Arven. I never wanted to cause you pain. That's why I came back. I didn't stay in the future because there was nothing there tethering me to it. Nothing I cared about. But this time-“ Miraidon nudged his hand for more scratches breaking him out of his crossed arm stance. “I had more than I originally thought.” He patted the pokemon fondly. “As poor as I was as your father for all those years, I grew to care for you independent of professor Turos' feelings. Almost like an uncle, I suppose. I watched you grow up. I couldn't fully articulate or even understand what I was feeling, but thankfully the future scientists seem to have updated me somewhat and now I believe I can.” He stared at Arven. “I didn't know if you had anyone else and I wanted to make sure you did. I want to be here to support you as much as I am able to and as much as you'll allow me. To make up for how I failed at it as you grew up.” He put a hand to his chest in sincerity. “But that's up to you.”

The two of them looked at each other seriously, a lifetime's worth of complicated feelings passing between them in that few seconds. Arven finally looked away towards the ground and uncrossed his arms, but clenched his fists. “I can't blame you for not being a good dad. You weren't made to be. The fact that you tried at all is…” He shook his head. “I’ll need some time to think about this, but I appreciate what you've done for me. That you came back.”

The man nodded. “I won't rush you.”

Penny squinted at him and spoke up. “Um, but are you sure you wont regret not staying in the future?” Nemona elbowed her. “What? I’m not saying he should have, I'm just saying it's kinda a big part of Turos whole identity!” She defended.

The man laughed slightly. “Well as I've said, I am not just Turos brain scans any longer. Plus, the future isn't going anywhere. I’ll get there one way or another. Eventually.”

Penny crossed her arms. “Well, then who are you?”

He tilted his head in thought. “I could go by my serial number, but that would be…rather unwieldy. How about Rego? Professor Rego.” He nodded happily with his new name. He turned back to Arven. “As antithetical as it seems to everything I've just said, I'll give you space. Take your time.” His rotom phone flew out and communicated with Arvens, giving him his number. The rotom seemed to have more sharp edges and metal bits floating around a fully clear phone but it was still compatible. He nodded and went to step back on the railing.

“Wait!” Arven called out. He stopped and turned back, head tilted questioningly. He puffed his chest out and practically tackled the man into a hug. Luckily the robot was able to maintain his footing. He froze for a moment. Arven’s face burned. “I know you're not him, I know you're not him…” He kept repeating it, like a mantra to himself.

Rego returned to hug stiffly. “I'm not. But I'm still here for you.”

They hugged probably too tight to be properly comfortable before Arven let go and stepped back, eyes boring into the robot. “I still need time, but I swear to Arceus if you disappear again I'm going to find you and cook you into a soup!”

The android got a funny look on his face. “I would not taste good in the slightest. But I understand.” He turned to look off over the horizon. “I'm simply going to explore this place and time. I've only ever seen it in memories and pictures.” He turned back to Arven. “Unless, you wish me to stay?”

Arven rubbed his watering eyes. “No. Go have your adventure. I'll call you when I'm ready.”

The AI nodded and looked at the rest of them. “I'm glad you have the support you need.”

Arven smiled wide as mabosstiff circled around his legs. “Me too.”