Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else
Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters
Chapter X
"K," said Trent, "You have any plans on what to do with Tesla once you catch him?"
Kissinger took a sip of his coffee, it tasted more bitter than usual, "I'm not sure."
"I know what to do to him, I'll dump him at the nearby jail and get him a lawyer. A pretty good one the matter of fact."
"Tesla's too smart for a lawyer."
"We'll ask him if he wants one."
"If he ever speaks, a clever trick for suspects to get out of jail is to not say anything until they're in court. Who's going to take the case by the way?"
"Judge McReary agreed. What makes this more interesting is that he's a Westinghouse fan, so it's going to be personal for him once he starts cracking Tesla."
"Trent, a lot of our generation around these parts are Westinghouse fans, Tesla just happened to be the most favorite of Irvin's Pokémon."
"All because he doesn't lose battles."
"Right, but now things changed. Tesla may had inspired millions into Pokémon training, even saved lives at times, but now he had became an outlaw and had killed."
"He does have a record before hand, you do realize."
"Yeah, but that was only when he was young."
Kissinger got up from the table and poured himself another cup of coffee, "I wonder what drove such a Pokémon to a life like that."
"What do you mean?" Trent asked.
"Tesla was at the top of his game, and he walked away from it all when Westinghouse died."
"He could be pressured into it Kissinger, remember that a lot of trainers showed up at Irvin's house the day after Irvin was pronounced dead, hoping to get a hold of his Pokémon. You seen the look these Pokémon had on their faces, Tesla had some of them for decades. Irvin said that they looked up to Tesla, those still around today still do."
"He managed to get along with them just fine."
"Amazing he ever did."
Kelly came walking into the cafeteria and approached Kissinger, he nearly dropped his coffee when he seemingly showed up out of nowhere, "We're going to have the raid tonight," he said, "They're going to do it with the SWAT team."
"How many officers?"
"At least 1,500."
Kissinger's eyes went big, "1,500!?"
"Yup," said Kelly, "They're not taking any chances on this one."
"Damn." said Trent.
"You wanna supervise it Kissinger, you're the one who set it in motion?"
Kissinger thought for a moment, "Sure, my son already had his try. So it's my turn."
"Well then, we best fit you into some SWAT gear."
"Sir, I'm an investigator, not a heavy-duty civilian soldier."
"That's not what you filled out in your application. Besides, this is your case now, officially. You'll see to it that we get Tesla, either dead or alive."
"Yes, sir."
"How about this K, you go take the day off and prepare for the police raid. Come back here around 10PM, if you don't show up we're doing it without you."
"Um, thanks Kelly."
"Maybe you should spend some more time with your son. How's he doing by the way?"
"He's cooking up something, maybe he's going out to nab Tesla again."
"You should have him join the raid." Trent smirked.
"No, no, no, no, that's nota good idea."
"How is his Emolga?"
"Still furry and cute. Tesla bashed him in the head with Iron Tail and gashed the top portion of his scalp, Mark managed to fix his head up and he's doing quite fine."
"One of his Pokémon got injured?" Trent asked
"Yeah, Mark was emotional about him more than his other Pokémon."
"You should go see him K," said Kelly, "Just go."
"Alright, see you tonight."
Kissinger finished his coffee and walked out of the police department. When he got into his squad car, he thought to himself what to do with Tesla if he ever got a hold of him. Tesla had killed, injure, maybe torture other Pokémon. Some humans went missing out in that forest, most never return. There's no doubt of what might had happened to them, it gave birth to a lot of stories about Tesla. Cases where people come out of the forest with 2nd to 3rd degree burns, others with parts of their limbs paralyzed, Pokémon who received a coma and later don't remember anything when they woke up. The pattern was periodically, at least once a month. Tesla mainly keeps to himself, he only comes out of that forest when he's hungry...
Hungry...
That got Officer Kissinger thinking, as he drove down the road back home he thought of all the times Tesla was reported by someone. It was always the same story, Tesla get's spotted and he runs away. Or, that person who reports him decides to try to battle him with his Pokémon. That always ends in disaster.
Only comes out when he's hungry...
Tesla was no picky eater, back before Irvin died he recalled Tesla eating people food. Irvin never feeds him Pokémon food, just like Mark with his Emolga. He can eat anything up to freshly cook food to rotten cold food, somehow not getting sick in the process. It took a moment to realize that Kissinger made a big mistake, the smartest thing to do was to open a new front on Tesla. Instead of coming after him directly, like everybody was doing for the past 20 years, he can always clamp down on Tesla's food supply. Wild fruits and vegetables are few and far between out in Faraday Island, Kissinger wondered why he hadn't thought of this before.
When Kissinger pulled up on his driveway, he fished out his cell phone and dialed the mayor's office number, "Mayor Dixon here."
"Hey Dix, this is Kissinger."
"Oh hey Kissinger, what can I do for you?"
"We were on the wrong track the whole time about going after Tesla, I just realize we're looking it at the wrong angle for the past 20 years."
"Sounds like you struck gold, what is it?"
"Tesla only comes out of the forest and pops up randomly in Faraday City when he's hungry, among the majority of the Tesla sightings is always around places where people throw out their unfinished food."
"Explain."
"There's little to no fruits and vegetables out there in the wild Dixon, if you can get a city-wide campaign on cleaning up the used food in a faster rate we may be able to make an impact on Tesla."
"I'll get a couple laws passed right away, I'll even try to beef up the sanitation department. Faraday City had thrown out a lot of food in recent decades, even more food than it ever consumes. Cutting out a huge portion of the waste will also might force Tesla to seek greener pastures."
"He has nowhere to go Dix, he's just not leaving anytime soon."
"And the bounty will be claimed eventually, looks like Tesla's reign is finally coming to a close."
"Yes, it is."
"Maybe you'll get a promotion out of this Kissinger, I'll pass the proposal up to your boss."
"Thanks, I call you back if I find anything on Tesla."
"Okay Kissinger, thanks for calling."
"Bye."
Kissinger pocketed the phone and stepped out of his squad car, when he entered the house he saw that Mark had brought a few friends over. They all sat in the sofas, but it didn't appear to be that they were watching TV. Ash didn't appear to happy, Mark seemed to be flipping through the channels, Emolga just slept on Mark's lap, and Mark's friends Henry and Carley appeared just as bummed out as Ash. Sitting on the coffee table was Mark's varmint rifle, unloaded with the safety turned on. The magazine clips were nowhere in sight, but it was already clear that he used it recently.
"Hey son." said Kissinger.
"You're home early," said Mark, "You caught us at a bad time."
"What happened?"
"We've encountered Tesla again," said Ash, "This time we brought in more people, and packed a bit of heat."
"You lost any Pokémon?"
"We lost 4," said Mark, "Tesla kidnapped two awhile they're in their Poke balls, one fell into one of his traps, and the last one blundered into an electric fence. They all survived, but are now in Tesla's custody."
Not what Emmett wanted to hear, he tried his best to contain his emotions. He couldn't work up much anger anyway, cause this was more of a family problem than a city problem, "Did you use that rifle?" he asked sternly.
"Yes," said Mark, "I shot Tesla in the arm, he just shrugged it off."
Kissinger went silent for a moment, then turned to Ash, "Did Tesla took your Pikachu?"
"Yes," said Ash, "Zapped another Pokémon of mine when I ask it to help him."
"Tesla took my Raichu," said Henry, "Maybe that's what got him angry."
"Despite the loss," said Mark, "It was a mild success. Ash managed to get through Tesla by telling what we're there for, he clearly understands what we're doing. But he's still playing the game."
"You sure about that?" Kissinger asked.
Mark looked at his Dad, "The expression he showed on his face wasn't seen in 20 years."
"Well son. Normally I would scold you for going back there, again. But this time you came prepared and accomplished something despite the losses. To top it off, it's been a family thing for 3 generations. Now to something else just as important and related, the police raid's a go."
Mark's ears perked, "It is?"
"They want me to supervise it tonight, they even ask if you and your friends want to join in."
"We already did our part, it's your turn dad."
"I also discovered one of Tesla's weaknesses."
All heads turned towards Kissinger, "You did?" Mark asked.
"Tesla's heavily dependent on the food waste Faraday City throws out everyday. The island doesn't have much wild fruits and vegetables, they don't grow well in the soil. I ask the mayor to take advantage of this weakness and he agreed, we're now fighting Tesla on two independent fronts."
"When will the mayor act on it?"
"Immediately, but it will take a while to get it all underway. Mark, if there's any food scraps in the recycling bins in or around our house, you take it out in the backyard and burn it all. Burn it down until there's nothing left but ash and activated carbon."
"Might as well go to the store now and buy some butane," Mark turned to Ash, "Oh Ash, I think your Oshawott is awake now. We can stop by the Pokémon Center and check up on them."
"Sure." said Ash with little excitement.
Mark picked up his rifle and headed upstairs, Ash remained seated and scratch Emolga's back. He smiled and turned so Ash can get the spots he needed to get scratch, "Emo." he muttered.
"What's wrong Ash?" Kissinger asked.
"Pikachu," said Ash, "He nearly died. Tesla resuscitated him then carried him off. We couldn't do anything because of the electric fence, I had my Pikachu taken from me before but no one had ever walked away with him in that manner. Pikachu's my first Pokémon, sir. He's been with me in almost every corner of the globe during my journey."
"I'm sorry about that. Hold on, you guys said about an electric fence?"
"Tesla had an electric fence up, a well built one in fact. Pikachu ran into it, the high voltage stopped his heart as he shot through the other side. Scared all of us senseless."
"He's relating to you Ash, he could be trying to figure you out for who you really are. Whatever you're doing, you're doing the right thing. But it's now completely out of your control and on the edge of the knife, if Tesla still has him I'll try to have the police get him back."
Ash straightened his back as a surge of confidence returned, "Then I might be able to see Pikachu soon, I just hope Tesla isn't doing anything harsh to him."
"It's good talking to you Ash, I hope you reunite with him soon."
"And my Raichu," said Henry, "It's not easy getting a hold of one you know."
Kissinger walked upstairs and went into his bedroom. He laid on his bed and rubbed his temples, he doesn't feel like punishing Mark for his disobedience. No, he's too old to be punished. He's almost an adult now, and the fact that he came prepared for such a foolish act shows he's responsible. Mark always had a knack for doing the right things for stupid reasons. And his Emolga, that Pokémon who stuffs himself with junk food before sleeping it off, he always shown his loyalty to Mark.
Mark was only 10 when he first received Emolga. He was late at the Pokémon Lab because of a poor alarm clock, eventually most of the starter Pokémon was taken. But not one, that lonely Emolga with the brown and white fur sleeping in the back of the pen. The professor explained that all the kids that came in first picked Emolga because of his cuteness, but soon realized how lazy he when they tried to cuddle him. Emolga didn't even react much, he just took one good look at the kids before falling back asleep. When Mark saw Emolga sleeping there, he instantly wanted it. Once Emolga was in his arms, the Pokémon stirred and cooed as Mark scratched the back of Emolga's head. They became best friends before they left the lab.
Kissinger recalled how Mark often fed Emolga. Sometimes simple foods, other times its just junk food. Emolga's couch potato personality seemed to suit Mark well in most situations, as he enjoyed carrying him. Not only Emolga was lazy, he was also, how to put it: Unintelligent. "Dumber than a bag of hammers" was the best way Mark can describe him. There was that one occasion where Emolga was playing in the sink and accidentally caught his tail in the garbage disposal, it took off most of the fur off his tail as he scrambled out of the sink and flopped to the floor. Even though Mark couldn't stop laughing from Emolga's embarrassment, he showed he took it seriously by letting Emolga cry on his shoulder to ease the pain of humiliation.
But that doesn't mean he learned his lesson, he never does. Insulting him doesn't seem to faze him one bit. Call him whatever name you can think of, and you'll only get stares in response. No wonder Emolga doesn't cry every time Mark calls him names, though he does shed tears when Mark teases him a bit.
All this had been going on for years now, and Emolga spent most of his life with Mark, sitting on the couch eating potato chips and drinking soda pop. One of these days, Emolga might get a run for his money. No, not a case like the incident with Tesla. A real situation where he's in a heap load of chaos. Kissinger sat up on the bed and looked at a photo of Emolga, which sat on his dresser. It showed Emolga laying on the couch, snoring loudly with empty chip bags surrounding him. That was the most interesting picture Mark had taken of Emolga, Kissinger wondered why it now sat on his dresser.
I wonder if Mark will ever get out there and experience the real world, Kissinger thought, If he ever does, he better take Emolga with him. That Pokémon is just a heap of trouble.
To come to think of it, Tesla, indirectly, got them out of the house. Emolga finally got a taste of battle with him, and of course, was defeated. Mark hadn't really trained Emolga much, but maybe that will change as time pass... If time pass.
TO BE CONTINUED...