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Chapter 1
"Can you please let me do this, Mom?" Andy asked
"It isn't that hard," said Catty, "All you have to do is twist the knob-"
"Okay, okay, I think I got it."
Andy Richardson adjusted his glasses and wrapped the wire around the electrode of the switch. Seeing that he got it right, Andy screwed the switch back into its socket and tightened the screws, "Turn the power on."
"Catty walked out of the room, within minutes Andy could hear the clicks and beeps of several electronic appliances coming back online. He flipped the newly installed switch, a single LED lightbulb fixed into the center of the ceiling flickered on without difficulty.
"Yes," Andy punched both fists into the air, "It works!"
He took the broken old light switch and tossed it in the trash bin, good riddance with that. Now he would no longer have to deal with an annoying flickering light anymore.
Catty came back into the room, she looked at the lightbulb and saw how finely lit it was, "Looks like its working fine."
"Never better." Andy shrugs.
"Okay, Andy. I'm going shopping, you want anything?"
"A pack of diet cola, and vanilla ice cream."
"Okay, baby."
When Catty left, Andy closed the door behind her and relaxed, "Whew, I thought she would never leave."
23 year old Andrew Richardson was a frail individual, standing around 186cm and weight around 68kg he was more bone than muscle. Andy was a pro at utilities, ironically he hated fixing things. There was always so much to figure out, the wiring and stuff . . . it was all too complicated.
Nonetheless he was getting relief from the 30 minutes of troubleshooting, slumping down behind his custom-built computer he threw together. It had the state of the art equipment: An HDMI 2500x pixel computer monitor, specialized stereophones that provide perfect sound sensitivity, a desktop microphone sensitive enough to pick up the sound of a pin dropping on a hard surface, a thin keyboard packed with several features – including a LED light feature, a laser mouse, and an HD professional scanner / printer / and fax machine, all hooked up to a 5,000 joule smart strip surge protector.
The greatest feature of this computer was the CPU itself. Not that it had the best sound and video cards installed. Not that it had a motherboard equivalent to a supercomputer. Not that it had it had a 1 terabyte memory chip installed into it. The most facinating feature was that the computer uses "mineral oil" to cool itself instead of air. The beauty of mineral oil was that it doesn't conduct electricity like water. Drop a calculator in a jar of mineral oil, and it would still perform its functions without difficulty. Of course, the two disc drives were removed from the case and moved elsewhere since the mineral oil would ruin their sensitive lasers.
It took 5 years for Andy to gather up all the money to put his "supercomputer" together. Every single penny he earned from his job at Best Buy went to this computer. Every single penny. For Andy it was worth it, he had the best experience everytime he logs onto the internet. Videos on YouTube completely buffers almost instantly.
"Okay," he said to himself as he woke the computer up from standby mode, "Time to play some Minecraft."
. . .
The old Pikachu rubbed his belly, trying to lessen the pain of hunger as his stomach growled, "Ah frig," the Mouse Pokémon muttered, "Why am I always hungry?"
Tesla Westinghouse readjusted his eye goggles and tried to get his bearings. The road he was taking had ended at a major traffic highway, he couldn't recall what the route number was but he was sure it could lead him to where he was going. Somewhere nearby there was a suburb or ex-urb, whatever they call those neighborhoods that were far away from the cities. It was at least one o' clock, people should be at work and the kids at school, or they maybe training their Pokémon.
Tesla rushed over to the wooden privacy fence and stared at it, "3 meters tall, no problem at all."
He stepped back to distance himself, then made the jump, barely catching the top of the fence. Tesla pulled his weight up on the edge and sat down, "Should I still be doing this free running?" he asked himself, "I'm not as young as I used to be."
He peered into the backyard of a neighboring house, his knowledge of what people in Unova eat escapes him. But he had a few ideas. Just before Tesla could make a move, his belly growled again. The hunger pains were getting more demanding, "Ugh," he groaned as he laid a hand on his stomach, "I hadn't eaten anything in two days. Can't stand pellets and berries, must find the stuff."
The type of food Tesla crave the most were meats and Pokémon byproducts, along with the combination of other food groups. The thought of eating sometimes triggered nasty emotions. He remember back in his Pokémon battling days where other Pokémon caretakers, besides his trainer, tried to feed him electric-type Pokémon food. Every one of them – well most of them – ended with Tesla going on a hissy fit, since being served Pokémon food in a pet bowl was the only thing that offends him the most.
I want something new to eat every time I get a meal, a stray thought fires across Tesla's mind, Not that Pokémon food cr-
"Don't think about that, Tesla," the old Pikachu told himself, "Think of something else, like getting something to actually eat."
Tesla jumped down into the yard and crept towards a trash can, he pried open the lid and peaked inside. He was disappointed, "Glass," he muttered to himself, "This bin is full of glass, "For f*ck sake!"
He slammed the lid back on and jumped down, "If I can't find any food in the bins, then I-"
Tesla stopped short when he noticed the Scraggy blocking his way, it stared into the old Pikachu's eyes with a cold nerve. The look it had, it was using Leer. That only mean one thing.
"Pika." Tesla muttered in his Pokémon language. Uh-oh.
"Scraggy!" the Shedding Pokémon barked. Hey!
The Scraggy pulled back its oval-shaped head and unleashed a powerful headbutt, Tesla was too fast for it and so dodged it at the last minute. The Scraggy lost its balance and fell flat on its face in a humorous thud. Tesla managed to catch the odor of the Scraggy, he recognized the smell of Estrogen, "Pikachu Pika Pika, Pika Pika Pika." Tesla said with a smirk. So you're a girl, not that it matters at all.
"Scrag!" Damn it!
Scraggy got back on her legs and charged again, but Tesla dodged again. The Shedding Pokémon couldn't stop herself in time when she slammed her head into the side of the house, she staggered backwards in a daze before falling flat on her back.
"Ughohh." Scraggy moaned with spiral in her eyes, "Scraggy." Ouch.
Tesla couldn't help but laugh, but kept his voice to a minimum, "Oh I love it when the ladies go crazy over me." he teased.
"Pika Pika Pika, Pikachu!" Tesla finished in the Pokémon language with a smile and a friendly wave. I gotta go, see you later!
"Scrag." Scraggy muttered, too dazed to say anything else. Bye.
Tesla left the Scraggy to tend to her thoughts, if she still had any. The old Pikachu moved on to the other houses and checked their trash bins. He couldn't find a single scrap of food in either bin, Tesla grumbled as he looked down the street. Maybe somewhere there was an untapped gold mine of food, maybe even fresh.
"If I can't find food in the trash cans," Tesla thought out loud, "I'll probably find them in the houses."
He ran up to a nearby window and peaked inside. It was a kitchen, it had sunshine yellow wallpaper and a wooden floor. There were food on the island counter, fruit mostly. For Tesla it was good enough. He tried to muscle the window open, but it wouldn't budge, "Locked," he grumped, "I'll probably try the-"
Tesla stopped short when he saw a Snivy walked into the room, the Grass Snake Pokémon was carrying a laptop computer and a 762 mL disposable coffee cup with Starbucks decals. The old Pikachu got down and watched with curiousity as the Snivy sat down the laptop and cofee mug on the table.
The Snivy sat down with its tail pointed forward, then opened up the laptop. After making a few keystrokes, the Grass Snake Pokémon began drinking the coffee mug and . . .
"What is he doing with his feet," Tesla asked himself, "What is it looking at that got it . . . so interested? Wait a second, it's a male. He's got his feet rubbing against . . . What is that? . . . A, some sort of claw? In that area of his body?"
Tesla continued watching for a few more minutes, "He's moving his feet faster now on that thing, his eyes are getting big. He's hammering down that coffee even faster. Damn, what is this Snivy trying to do? Hang on, he's reaching the height of . . .
The Snivy peaked in his effort and successfully reached his "climax", and Tesla figured out what the Snivy was doing too late.
"Ugh," said Tesla in disgust, "I can't believe I saw all that, I . . . I . . ."
Tesla stepped away from the window, his stomach knotted up and caved into itself. He felt the organ ripple its contents, preparing for an immediate ejection. He moaned and pressed his hand on his belly, quickly his throat knotted up and swell with sudden sickness. As tough as he was, Tesla couldn't fight this one back, not this time.
He hunched over and vomit in front of his feet, spilling fluids over the freshly cut grass like a loose garden hose. Tesla kept puking for half a minute, until no more bodily fluids came out. He slumped on his rear and pant for some fresh air, already he was feeling much better, "I guess regurgitation was necessary," he thought out loud, "It killed my appetite, for now."
The aftertaste was horrible, his mouth felt bitter like he just drank dish soap. Tesla licked his lips and sat there for a moment, trying to sort out the images of what he saw before his eyes. Tesla smirked and chuckled, he shook his head and laid back on the grass to relax, "Why do I feel like an idiot?" he asked the bright blue sky above him.
Tesla laid there for a few seconds until his muscles feel like moving again, he sat up and stretched his legs to get the blood flowing again, "Okay, moving on now."
He ran back to the street, using whatever he can for concealment. Tesla kept searching the cans, bins, anything the humans use as a trash can or recycling bin. He still couldn't find anything worth eating, in some trash cans he found absolutely nothing at all. After checking the last trash can in the sub-division, Tesla growled and slammed the lid back on. He jumped down and swat at the empty trash can with his tail. The trash can toppled over to its side, its lid popped open and rolled until it hit the privacy fence and fell flat on the ground.
Tesla stared at it until his temper cooled, he turned away and took a deep breath, "Looks like them folks are that conservative," Tesla groaned, "Looks like I gotta do this the hard way."
The old Pikachu double-backed to his initial starting point and checked the houses to see if anyone was home. He peered through a few windows a while continuously glancing over his shoulder. Someone may be watching him, behind a pane of glass or in the shadows. The thought of a human discreetly peering around a corner to observe his moments kept the old Pikachu on edge. He felt his heart race, every second Tesla spend the greater the chance of a human to blow his cover. Tesla didn't worry about other Pokémon though, chances are they're in a similar situation as him.
Up to nothing good, and sneaking into restricted areas as they please.
Just as Tesla peered over his shoulder again, he spotted the Scraggy emerge from the backyard where he left her. He quickly jumped into the bushes and quickly peaked through the foliage, he held his breath and wondered if she saw him.
She didn't. The Shedding Pokémon was still dazed from their encounter earlier. The Scraggy wobbled on her feet as she walked onto the front porch of a house. She tripped accidentally smashed her face against the front door. The Scraggy moaned in pain, her headache probably jumped a level. She held her face there for a few minutes, making her look like she was intoxicated. Tesla tried his best not to laugh, he hadn't seen anything like this for years.
The Scraggy pulled up her face off the front door, she lost her balance and stumbled backwards. Her arms flared everywhere as she tripped off the doorstep and fell flat on her back. The Shedding Pokémon sat up and shook the dizziness out of her head, Tesla watched as both her pupils bounced around like a game of Pong.
"She must have had a concussion," Tesla thought out loud, "Scraggys may have a thick skull, but inside that solid cranium is a squishy and delicate brain."
The Scraggy wobbled side to side as she crawled back on the house's doorstep. She sat down and hunched over, blinking hard to fight off the dizziness. She held her head with both hand and let out a sickly moan, "Scrag..." the Shedding Pokémon muttered. Oww...
Tesla stepped out of the bushes and walked off. As he passed a house, he noticed the front door was cracked open a jar. The old Pikachu looked around to see if any human was watching, he didn't see anyone besides Scraggy. Without thinking twice, he charged straight towards the door and crept inside.
He closed the door behind him and listened, there weren't any human voices and footsteps echoing throughout the house. The air smelled of thick lavender, Tesla didn't really like lavender that much but it was still a nice smell. He couldn't smell any food cooking. Not a surprise, why would anyone cook food in the middle of the day? Tesla stood there and listened to the silence, making sure there wasn't actually anyone snoring or reading a book. Still he heard nothing, just nothing...
Until Tesla's stomach broke the silence, a loud growl made him grab his belly, "Shh!" he shushed his stomach.
Tesla tip-toed towards where he thinks was the kitchen. Every step he made was quieter than a feather, yet faster than it could fall. The old Pikachu felt sweat soaking his undercoat, the instinctive drive for food urged him on. Suddenly something dropped to the floor, Tesla puffed up his chest and held his breath. He pressed his back against the wall with arms spread out and listened. For a few brief seconds he heard nothing, his sensitive ears didn't even detect any of the floors creaking.
Easy there, Tesla. he thought to himself.
Tesla slid across the wall as he approached an open doorway, he peered inside and discovered it was the kitchen. He listened for a few seconds to make sure if anyone was inside before he slipped in. Tesla quietly closed the door behind him, he pressed his ear against it to see if anyone was stirring on the other side. Still silence. Hopefully it would stay that way long enough for Tesla to raid the pantry and refrigerator.
The old Pikachu's belly growled again, Tesla rubbed it as he turned around. The kitchen had a green leaf texture wallpaper and counter tops, the cabinets and ceiling were bright white, the tiles had a green and white pattern to it, and the room had a strong spearmint smell to it. The refrigerator, microwave, and the kitchen sink had a stainless steel shell – indicating that they were modern products. The stove was even modern, completely independent from the induction cook top. Tesla's old brain struggled to understand it all, he didn't expect the world to change this fast.
Well, he spent several decades in a technologically advanced city. He just didn't expect the other parts of the world to develop just as fast.
There was no time to marvel at it all though, Tesla just found a source of food. According to what he thought was wild Pokémon code, when finding food:
Eat as much as you can, while you can. the words played out in his mind.
"Let's see what they have here." he thought out loud.
TO BE CONTINUED...
