Song: "Area Zero Theme" (Pokémon: Scarlet & Violet) - Gamefreak
 

In truth, she really didn't want them to learn this new information that she just learned, yet.

If they do meet the professor again, aside from her since it'll be her very first time, after traveling into the past with Arven, she'd rather let Sada do the talking and explaining instead.

To Sara, in her mind, adults are better at explaining things very well, than she is...Especially when it comes to certain things that don't seem to make any sense at all, in the minds of a small group involving five young teens and five pokémon like themselves.

"Finding your mother..." Arven began as he looks at her.

"...I had no idea Celebi wanted your involvement with us. In general terms, I mean."

"Well, psychic types are predictable and unpredictable in any either way." Sara nods as she looks over at Celebi, while Arven returned Mabosstiff to his pokéball, after seeing he fell asleep not too long ago.

Looking back, Celebi nodded before hiding a smile with its hands and lightly giggled in return for a moment.

"Yes, she's right. But, for now...It's time, for you four to return to Area Zero." It telepathically says to Scarlet, Nemona, Penny, and Arven.

Knowing what was coming, Sara returned Selene to her pokéball and clipped it to her belt.

With that, Celebi enveloped everyone in soft green light and lifted them into the air before they all disappeared.

-  -  -

When everyone reappeared in a blast of green light and found themselves within Area Zero, while unintentionally scaring the living daylights out of a small pack of Scream Tails (ancient ancestors of Jigglypuff) , they all tumbled down a little from the air to the grass they were hovering over, before Celebi reappeared and muttered something to itself.

"Since it's Sara's first time coming here, however, I want her to look around in all four Research Stations as we make our descent to Zero Lab.

We'll be meeting back up with her at Research Station No. 4, before continuing the rest of our way to Zero Lab." Celebi says, as it hovers down to them, once it was sure everyone was okay and didn't get hurt, after they all stood up.

"But, it'll be dangerous for her to be by herself!" Arven retorts.

Hearing this made Sara smile to herself a little.

Was Arven, the son of a genius, really that worried about her?

"So even boys like you have a soft side when it comes to their friends, huh? How sweet..." She asked him, while folding her arms across her chest and silently chuckled to herself.

In return, Arven's face turned red a little out of embarrassment, while Penny and Scarlet giggled silently too.

"She needs to learn more about her mother and your mother's pasts, Arven. That's the first step for her right now.

And no worries. She'll be using the teleporters on the floor, in the research stations, to travel safely to the next one, until she reaches Research Station No. 4..." Celebi replies, once the girls stopped giggling silently.

"She won't need to step out, until you four arrive at the last Research Station."

"Sounds like a plan, onion fairy..." Sara chuckles.

"O-Onion fairy?" Celebi went in disbelief, as it looked at her in surprise for a moment, over such a goofy nickname.

"My name is Celebi, not Onion fairy..."

In return, Sara just snickered a little at Celebi's reaction.

"Nevermind...You all should know what to do." It sighs.

"Right. I'll be visiting the Research Stations, while you four travel all the way down to the bottom of Area Zero, with Koraidon, Miraidon and Celebi accompanying you." Sara replies after clearing her throat a little.

"I will keep tabs on you, Sara, to know which Research Station you're in. Just be aware and ready for anything when you enter them...It's no joke." Celebi nods.

"Thanks." She went.

Without anything else being said, the group of five started heading their way to Research Station No. 1 to drop Sara off there first, before proceeding anymore further.

-  -  -

As the group walked, Sara looked around in amazement, never expecting Area Zero to be so beautiful but mysterious all at once.

Tera crystals glistening on some of the trees as it appeared to be consuming them like parasites infecting a living species, to the pokémon frolicking and playing around like little kids, both ancient paradox and modern ones all alike.

And if some of them didn't feel like playing, the wild pokémon were usually seen taking a nap under the trees, eating berries or interacting with other pokémon, whether they're the same species as the other or not.

While passing by and minding their own business, she happened to notice that everything here in Area Zero is strangely unusual and completely abnormal, aside from the combination of ancient paradox and modern pokémon mixed in together.

Mostly because the weather seems to always be decent...No sun, rain, mist or snow. No storms of any kind.

Nothing.

Just calm, comfortable, decent weather.

Perfect for taking a nap at home, playing with your pokemon, going out on a picnic or for a walk...Things of that sort.

And from the way everything is, if you looked up at the sky...You couldn't even tell if it's morning, afternoon, or nighttime down here, despite it always looking like it's daylight every single day, within 24 hours solidly on the dot.

The only way anyone would find out, what time of the day it actually really is, is if they looked at their rotom phone.

Which is what Sara did, as she kept walking.

Looking up at the screen, she noticed the icon on there showed the sun was setting, indicating that it's around evening outside, up at the surface of the Great Crater, and that it'll be nighttime soon.

For some odd reason however, dejá vu was hitting her frequently at this point.

"This is my first time visiting such a mysterious place like this and I'm getting dejá vu again....Why?" Sara thought to herself in wonder as she continued looking around, still fascinated and in awe over Area Zero's beauty.

When they finally arrived at Research Station No. 1, she gazed up at the small building that stood in front of her, her friends and their pokémon companions.

"No matter how much or many times I look at this place and Area Zero itself, I'm getting dejá vu within every second." Sara mentions as she turns to look at the others.

"Ooh! Maybe your ancestors have visited here once!" Nemona mentions.

"If not, then maybe it was in your past life. You might've visited or lived here before, numerous times...Like my mom for example." Arven says as he nods.

"That might seem to be the case." Scarlet adds in, as she looks at Sara.

"Yeah. Seems like it." She replies.

"Alright. Go on in, Sara...You should be able to find something in there. Anything that belongs to both Professor Sada and your mother as well." Celebi instructed as it flew over to her and points at the mechanical door.

"Take your time too. If there's anything you want to keep, bring it with you. And let me know if there's anything you want sent to your dorm room...I'll teleport it there for you, without any problems."

"Thanks, Celebi. As for the rest of you...See you guys at the fourth Research Station." Sara went. "And with that...I bid you adieu."

Then she entered the research station, leaving everyone standing there in sudden stunned silence, staring at the spot where Sara was last standing before she left.

"Did...Did I just hear her last four words right?" Arven began, breaking the silence first.

"There's no doubt about it...Those were the same last four words A - I mean, Professor Sada said to us, before she sent herself into the past, to shut the time machine off." Penny replies, immediately remembering how upset he quickly got at her, back at the Poco Lighthouse.

She didn't want to cause a part 2 of Arven's outburst by accident, over her calling his mother an AI, even though it's unfortunately the harsh truth of it all, sadly.

"Now I'm really starting to wonder who Sara is myself...She carries so many similarities as her that it's not a joke." Arven only says next before he started walking away, as Celebi followed him.

In response, Scarlet and Penny stared at his retreating back intently for a few seconds before looking away from Arven and at each other, getting the same feeling about Sara as well.

Whoever or whatever she is...She not only looks oddly very similar to the professor, but even acts like her as well.

Even though both still have some differences in comparison, it still raises a lot of questions about Sara and who her mother is.

-  -  -

'I bid you adieu...'

As soon as Sara said that to her friends a few seconds ago, those words echoed through her head repeatedly a few times, as the dejá vu feeling happened to her again.

"Wait...Why did those words sound very familiar to me?" She asked herself aloud as she clutched her head lightly a little, after the mechanical door closed itself behind her.

For a few minutes, she just stood still, trying to get herself together and comprehend it all before letting go, lifting her head up to look around as she did.

When she did, another wave of dejá vu came in again, this one a lot more stronger than the previous one.

"Ngh...This is starting to become too much for me to take in...It's making me feel a little sick." She groans before clutching her head again, only with one hand this time, while she had the other on her stomach.

"I need to lay down or something...Just for a little bit."

Looking back up, Sara immediately noticed a bed over at the far corner nearby, which was perfect for her.

"Oh good...Glad to know they have something in here for anyone who wants to rest themselves temporarily for a bit." She says to herself as she walked over and laid down on it.

Not to her surprise, the bed smelled kinda....weird.

But she'd rather suck it up and deal with a bed that smells weird to her, than laying herself down on the floor, no matter how much it's not her cup of Sinistea...

Once she felt a bit better, Sara stood back up and stretched for a moment before looking around again.

Even though she recovered from the sickening feeling, she still felt strong waves of dejá vu coming in and hitting her hard at once.

Gazing at the three blue tank-like pillars that stood in the heart of the research station, Sara noticed two blue books and two red books when she looked down, making her walk over and investigate them.

When she did, she immediately realized they were either research notes or journals of some sorts.

The handwriting in the red books were easily recognizable.

That soft but scratchy, Hisuian themed handwriting style...

It was her mother's.

But, the handwriting in the blue books, Sara didn't recognize at all.

It looked a lot like her own handwriting, however, she doesn't recall writing in those two blue books before.

Which leads to only one conclusion that quickly came across her mind...

"The handwriting in those blue books...It must be Professor Sada's." She thinks to herself, as she picks it up and observes the professor's writing a bit more.

With curiosity nitpicking at her, Sara started to read the blue books the professor wrote in first, starting with the earliest date she began writing her entries in.

When she was done reading both of the blue books, she set them back down just exactly like how they were before, and began to read the red ones her mother wrote in next.

Surprisingly, the entries her mother wrote, were also dated back to the very same day as the entries started in Professor Sada's.

'I am thrilled to bits to finally be working with Professor Sada! I never thought this day would ever come, since we both graduated from the academy!! However, I must be very careful and put all of my effort into her research.' The writing says on the first red book.

Glancing over at the second red book, she started to read it as well.

'I am so happy and proud of the professor right now. To start things off, she's decided that as her first step, is to look into the strange crystals that have been emerging from the ground, and are scattered all over the region lately.

In all honesty, I'm also very curious about these mysterious crystals myself as well. Maybe Sada might tell me a bit more, from what she knows so far, if I ask...

Update: From my understanding, she still hasn't figured out the mystery behind why some of the wild pokémon are crystallized...Could these strange crystals, that are scattered across and all over the region, be the source behind this?'

"Huh. So, mom was eagerly helping Professor Sada out with the researching too...I wonder why?" Sara murmured to herself before returning the book to its rightful spot.

"Mnh...But this still hasn't answered any of my questions about myself yet. There has to be something in either one of those books, or the research stations, about me..."

With that being said, she started looking in every single nook and cranny around the research station, for an answer or any hint that might have some connections to her.

To her dismay, she couldn't access the other rooms in the lab station when she tried investigating there.

"Dang it! The doors must be jammed or something. But, it's kinda to be expected anyways, since this place was apparently built 87 years ago..." Sara sighs.

Then realization suddenly struck across her.

"Wait...Since when did that information suddenly come up and occur in my mind? How was I supposed to know when the research station was built??"

Just thinking about this sent chills down her spine.

"I...I-I should leave and go to the next research station. I'll let Celebi know that I'll be walking over to the next one, instead of using the teleporters on the floor, too." Sara nervously continued saying to herself, before grabbing the stuff from the station she wanted to take with her, and quickly left.

As she did, she immediately regretted it after encountering a wild Glimmora face to face.

"Son of a - " She cursed in spanish, under her breath.

Seeing there was no choice in the matter, and she's already aware of what one of the weaknesses of a wild Glimmora is, Sara unclipped a pokéball from her belt and threw it.

"Go Lukari! I choose you!" She shouts in sync to a female shiny Lucario coming out of the pokéball.

"Groof!"

"Now use speed and hit it with Meteor Mash!" Sara commanded, as she pointed and then moved her left arm out to the side.

Just as her Lucario landed the super effective attack on the wild Glimmora, giving it an instant KO and was returned to her ball, dejá vu was crawling up on Sara again as she clipped the ball back to her belt and picked up the pokémon materials the wild Glimmora dropped.

As she pocketed the materials in her academy bag, Sara started thinking about the pose she just did.

"That felt too weird and familiar...

Urgh...Aside from that, I should've just listened to Celebi and stuck to its recommendation instead." She thought to herself before she went back in the research station she just came out of and took the teleporter, clearly changing her mind about walking her way down to Research Station No. 2 by herself instead.

After what just happened, there's no way in the world she's gonna try stepping out of that research station again.

-  -  -

Area Zero...

There's something about this place that gives Scarlet and Penny the feeling of adventure and mystery.

But at the same time, a constant ominous feeling too, the deeper they went down in it.

To Scarlet, it felt like she was reading a book or watching a movie that seems to appear so innocent at first, but slowly grows dark and dreadful, the more she proceeds deeper into the story.

Something that would most likely fall under the category of psychological horror, but rated for teens and older teens instead.

Thinking about this made her shudder a little and wonder how many innocent lives were taken in Area Zero, either by accident or something worse than that, before Sada went down the very same rabbit hole too.

As they say, however, curiosity kills the cat.

"Scarlet...Scarlet!" Arven's voice suddenly came into her mind, before she felt her body being shaken, making Scarlet snap out of her thoughts for a moment.

"Sorry. I got lost in my thoughts for a moment..." She apologized. "What is it?"

"We're at the last research station. Sara should be out of there soon and catching up to us by now." He answered.

"But...She hasn't stepped out of there in 15 minutes."

"Wait, what do you mean she hasn't stepped out of the research station? What's going on??" Scarlet questioned in disbelief.

"I don't know...But, I just know something's not right. I asked Celebi to check in and see if she's okay, but, it told me she hasn't responded."

"Then I'm going in..."

Without any hesitation, Scarlet walked over and entered the research lab, with her friends (and Celebi) tailing after her.

The first thing Scarlet and Penny noticed when they found Sara inside, safe and sound, was the fact she was sitting on the floor with her back resting up against the bed.

"Hey, Sara! Glad to see you're alright!" Nemona began as she waved a little at her, since she had already went in the research station before Scarlet, Penny and Arven did.

In response, Sara just looked over at Nemona and didn't say anything.

"Sara?" Penny went as she noticed something was wrong. Usually, when she's being greeted, Sara would most likely respond with a greeting in return or something.

Instead, she was silent this time, and had her knees pulled close to her chest while her face was buried in them.

Glancing at the floor, she noticed her glasses were taken off and sitting right beside her.

Silence filled the air for a moment, until all of them heard her sniffle.

"Sara, what's wrong?" Scarlet asked worriedly, immediately becoming aware she had apparently been crying.

Without saying a word still, Sara sat up a bit more, revealing two books resting on her knees.

One book was small while the other one was bigger and a bit more wider than the other.

"Wait...What is that on your knees?"

Remaining silent, Sara handed the books to Scarlet and Penny, so she and the others could have a better look at it.

"I suppose it's time to tell you who my mother is..." She sniffs a little again before wiping her tears away and sighing.

"My mom is Professor Kirara...Yes. She's the very same one who has been helping your mother out with her research on both Paldea's history and lore, Arven.

Like yours, my mom chose research over me instead. I hardly got to speak with her a lot and only met her in person a few times. Except these meetings were always on my birthday and on holidays every year."

Hearing this immediately shocked everyone.

"So, your backstory is similar to Arven's?" Scarlet asked.

"Yeah. She mostly wrote letters and sent gifts to me, when she's not coming over to visit.

But...That eventually stopped 5 years ago. I was around 10 at that time, when she stopped communicating. No more letters.
No more gifts that reminded her of me... Nothing.

Eventually, I was sent to Unova to study abroad overseas by the director. And I haven't returned to Naranja since then until just recently a while back, before I met and became friends with you all." Sara answered.

"At that point, I thought she stopped caring about me, until I found those two books in Research Stations No. 3 and 4, that have my name written in them, in her own handwriting."

When she was finished, tears started to appear in her eyes before she sniffed a little and wiped them away from her face again.