One afternoon, the Mon 4 were at the library. Michael was supervising them and reading some magazines. Machoke was looking at Supermankey comic books. Magikarp was reading a novelization of Prinplup & Grotle. Plusle was reading a fantasy novel. Minun, however, hadn't chosen a book yet. He was browsing the scientific section. A rather heavy-looking book labeled The History of Artificial Intelligence caught his attention. Raising an eyebrow, he walked over and opened it.
"Throughout the years, Pokémon have attempted to make artificial intelligence, or computer systems that are capable of things that would require sapient intelligence. One rather early example of such was when speech recognition programs were built."
Minun heard a voice from behind him. "Hey, Minun?"
Minun turned around. "Hmm?"
It was Michael. "Did you pick something yet? We gotta go."
Minun nodded. Since he wanted to read more of what he found, he went to check it out, only to accidentally drop it on his foot. He yelped.
"SHHH!" hissed all the patrons.
Minun chuckled sheepishly and made his way to the checkout table. After that, the Mon 4 and Michael headed out.
Machoke looked at the cover of Minun's book. "A book about AI's? You're kinda young for that adulty stuff."
"Says the one who likes The Texcadrill Chainsaw Massacre," Magikarp snarked.
"Whatever," Michael shrugged. "If it's his area, it's no big deal."
"I know, I'm just sayin'," Machoke said.
"Ay-aye?" Plusle cocked her head. "Sounds like a mangled pirate phrase."
"I'll explain it later," Minun said. He couldn't wait to get home and learn more about the content.
By the time night had arrived, Minun was still reading the book. He was curled up in the bottom of the bunk bed.
Plusle came in and climbed to the top of the bunk bed. "How's the book coming along?"
"Amazing," Minun said, looking up from it. "I've learned a lot about technology that can perform tasks like remembering faces." He took another look at a page. "It also says here that there haven't been many robots programmed with personality."
Plusle got under the covers. "Ooh, nice."
Minun decided he'd read more tomorrow. He put a bookmark in his current spot and snuggled under the blankets. He tried to sleep, but he was thinking about the last thing he read. He found it rather disappointing that not much machinery had real character traits.
"What if there was a robot that could learn from others?" he thought.
Then he had a great idea. Perhaps he could try to build something like that himself. He was getting excited, but he knew he wouldn't have the energy to do anything the next day if he stayed up too late. He got up and got himself some warm milk, which relaxed him. Soon enough, he dozed off.
The next morning, Minun got up at 6:00. The rest of his family members were still asleep. He looked through his bookshelf to get ideas for what it would look like. There was a book about the biology of canine Pokémon, and he opened it up. There were several pictures, including one of Vulpix, Electrike, and Poochyena. He mulled over them for a while until he found a picture of a baby Snubbull. When he saw her puppy-dog eyes, his heart positively melted. He then decided that he would build a Snubbull robot. He took out some blueprints and began to plan the design and functions.
A couple of hours later, Plusle woke up. She sat up and saw Minun writing down some proposals.
"Nice drawings, little bro," Plusle yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"These aren't just drawings, these are the parts for my new robot," Minun explained.
Plusle was intrigued. "Ooh! Can it do the hokey pokey?"
Minun gave her a weird look. "Well, she might be able to if we teach her. She's going to learn a lot from us."
Plusle climbed down from the top bunk. "How long will it take?"
"I'm not sure," Minun said. "I'll need metal from the junkyard." His stomach emitted a loud growl, he was especially hungry since he'd been at work for a few hours. "But we should get breakfast first."
They went to get some cereal. At the breakfast table, Phyllis was taking a sip of her root beer and she let out a belch.
"Could one of you take us to the junkyard to get scrap metal?" Minun questioned. "I need it for something I'm working on."
"Sure," Michael shrugged. "I don't have any plans."
Phyllis looked up. "Oh, my boy's so talented." Minun beamed.
A few hours later, Michael and the twins got home. They had all collected the parts they needed. They carried the pieces to the garage and carefully organized them.
Minun brought out the blueprints and his eyes sparkled with glee. "Thanks for your help, guys. I think I'll start now."
Michael and Plusle nodded and gave him some space so he could work without any disruptions. Minun took out his toolbox and began the construction process.
A week later, Machoke, Magikarp, and Plusle were hanging out in the living room. Minun was still in the garage. He had only come out to eat, go to school, and use the bathroom.
"He sure has been obsessed with that project," Magikarp noted.
"Kinda impressive that he can juggle both that and homework at the same time," Machoke commented.
"Easy, he just does his school stuff first and then goes back to his new project," Plusle said.
"Hey, do you think we could teach his new robot bad words?" Machoke snickered.
Magikarp shook his head. "Don't even think about it, Machoke."
Inside the garage, Minun was almost finished. He wiped sweat off his brow and looked proudly at the Snubbull robot, who had a nice pink paint job. He knew there was one last thing he had to do, and that was activating her. He used Spark, and this electricity caused the robot's eyes to glow blue. She blinked and stretched.
Minun cleared his throat and spoke a bit slowly to make sure the Snubbull robot could understand him. "Hello, I'm Minun. It's nice to meet you."
The Snubbull robot looked at him. Because he was the first person she had ever laid her eyes on, her face lit up and she happily exclaimed, "Dad!" She ran over and gave him a hug.
Minun was surprised, he hadn't expected her to come to that conclusion. Still, the hug felt nice, and he felt touched that she didn't just consider him a teacher. Now he realized she was more than just a student, and this reinforced his plan to teach her about the world. He hugged her back.
"That's right," he whispered. "How about I show you around?"
"Sure," she said, curious.
He took her inside the house, where the other members of the Mon 4 were watching TV. Plusle turned her head over and noticed Minun and the Snubbull robot. With a delighted gasp, she tapped on the boys' shoulders and gestured for them to look. When they did, they were amazed. Even Machoke was astonished.
"She's so cute!" squealed Plusle.
"I'd like you all to meet…" Minun began, and then he paused. "You know, I haven't given her a name yet."
"Destructo?" Machoke proposed. "It sounds all tough."
Minun turned that down. "She's not meant for destruction specifically."
"Oh, I know!" Plusle waved her hand. "Snubbot!"
"Hmm, it's a nice portmanteau, and it's short and to the point," Minun mused. "I like it, but let's see what she thinks."
The robot considered this, and a grin came to her face. "Snubbot…I love it!"
"Great idea, sis," Minun complimented Plusle.
"Sis?" Snubbot's ears perked up. "You're my auntie?"
Plusle thought that was adorable. "Aww, I sure am! You can call me Auntie Plusle if you'd like!"
"Dang, this is sugary-sweet," Machoke muttered under his breath. "Anyway, uh, I'm Machoke, and this is Magikarp."
"Can I call you both my uncles?" Snubbot asked.
"Yeah, I guess so," Machoke shrugged.
"That's nice of you, Snubbot," said Magikarp.
Michael and Phyllis came in. Phyllis was sipping a can of root beer. When she saw Snubbot, she spat out her drink in surprise. Michael's eyes widened slightly, and he dropped his plastic cup of water, leaving a puddle on the ground. When Snubbot saw the puddle, she yelped in panic and jumped on a chair to get away from the wet spot.
Michael looked confused. "What? It's not that big of a mess. No big deal."
"But, dad, it is a big deal to Snubbot," Minun said, stepping forward. "See, she isn't waterproof, so if she gets wet, she will short-circuit."
"Oh, I didn't know, I'm really sorry," Michael said, approaching her. "I'm Michael."
As Phyllis put a washcloth on the floor to soak up the water, Snubbot looked up at Michael. "He called you dad. Are you my grandpa?"
Michael was still rather befuddled, but he decided to go with it. "Uh, sure, I suppose so."
Plusle gestured to Phyllis. "And this is your grandma!" Phyllis waved at her cheerfully.
Snubbot ran over and clung to her leg. "My family's so big!"
"Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet," Plusle chuckled. "We're gonna have a family reunion real soon!"
"Really?!" Snubbot was so excited that she barked and howled in triumph.
Minun grinned. He was looking forward to the family reunion more than ever. He was sure that the rest of his relatives would like Snubbot, and he was grateful that his family had grown.
Author's note: I had actually come up with the concept of a Snubbull robot a while before Scarlet and Violet (the latter of which had robotic versions of various Pokémon) came out. A bit funny in hindsight, huh?