Chapter 12

And I broke out laughing.

Andy was Andy, and will always be Andy. There was something about him that I liked since the day he was born. I wasn't as hard on babies and children as I was on adults. They don't know any better, for Andy he didn't know anything better than whatever situation he was in. He didn't live at the farm, it was already crowded and there were already too many mouths to feed. Once a week he comes riding along on his casual cruising bicycle, whistling the de facto Faraday Island anthem of that time. I think he was there to see me, but he never said so outright. The more times I thought back at Andy's past, the greater I realized he played reverse psychology on me. Westinghouses were always manipulative, and Andy knew how to push my buttons. Not to piss me off like Irvin and his children always do, but to befriend me. He would show up on any given day, his eyes would roll over me while doing business with his grandfather. Jack Stucky, the then janitor at Irvin's pokémon arena, told me they would go out into the wilderness to smuggle maple syrup or brew moonshine at that secret still of theirs.

Maple syrup, there was something about maple syrup that drives the culture of the island. People don't always use maple syrup for pancakes, they use it for all occasions, especially non-food ones. Fetishes, cravings, those odd stuff. I did a bit of research and discovered that Faraday Island is famous for its maple syrup, so famous that it has a syrup cartel spread out across the world to make sure the price remains stable. "Without the syrup cartels," wrote a long ago author inside a textbook whose name I cannot recall. "Prices would skyrocket in the summer, since maple syrup can only be produced in the dead of winter."

Andy would sometimes take a bottle of syrup home with him and return with a jar of moonshine. Irvin's first-born son operated a moonshine still since high school. He sells the moonshine illegally, often keeping several jars around the farmhouse. Andy would always bring moonshine with him. Not for Irvin to drink, but for his pokémon. I think moonshine may have contributed to speeding up Nobark's mental decline, I do recall that the old moonshine of the day used lead acid from car batteries to "spruce" up the flavor. I never had a taste for moonshine, I prefer the maple syrup more, and sometimes I would mix it into peanut butter in for my own desire.

Between the syrup runs and the laundering of untaxed pokédollars, Andy would come in and casually slip by me. Not directly. No, never directly. I would be sitting by on the couch and he would sit down next to me, then reach out and scratch my back. I couldn't resist, no pikachu could resist a good old back scratching. I think I liked him because he never puts me in the center of attention like Irvin does, and he had this enthusiasm that Matt didn't have. Sometimes he would slip some peanut butter by, just sit it in the pantry between daily visits. I would quickly take notice and gobble them up before nightfall. The more he made indirect contact, the more I opened my heart to him. And when he started talking directly to me, he had me reeled in.

I guess he earned my affection and respect just for hitting the right notes. Irvin's pokémon took notice, Irvin himself would comment it and say nothing more. It was when Andy came in and save the day from my nair embarrassment that exposed his feelings toward me.

"Andy?" Emmett asked as the doctor stepped through the door. "Doc, you alright?"

Andy sat the vodka bottle on the coffee stand by the couch. "Never better, Emmett. It was quite a party."

I got down and charged for Andy, he saw me and opened his arms. "Andy!"

Andy blinked, "Tes? Holy crap, you're back! I wondered where you were."

"In as much trouble as you are, because of Nobark."

"What happened to him?"

"He finally lost it."

Andy placed his hand on my head and rubbed it. "Ah, damn. How bad was it?"

"An entire city is burning down as we speak, you heard what happened in Soho?"

"No, didn't watch the news. I was busy trying to get all the Dixierats over here, it turned out better than I thought it would be."

Emmett sprang on his feet. "Better?! You crippled an entire city with those pests! You could be charged for treason for this!"

"This is Tesla's own family you're talking about, this is Irvin's plan."

Emmett blinked, "What?"

I was just as confused, Irvin planned this? "Irvin's been dead for twenty years," I said. "How could he have planned this?"

Andy sat down beside Matt. "He told me his plans when I was ten years old, so this conspiracy has been going on for generations. He has been tracking the children you had with Polly and I was cataloging them in secret. Only a mere handful of people know this. Some of them are dead now, but not the people in charge to executing the plan."

I sat there for a moment, gave it some thought. "So this is Irvin's idea. The real reason why he took me to the pokémon breeder and meet up with Polly is because he wanted to build up an army of mice pokémon?"

"Much more than that. The scientists here wanted to create another you, so we're giving it to them. We'll let them cherry-pick the Dixierats, but more importantly, it so that you have a family to come back to when you're losing hope."

I said nothing.

"And as a cherry on top, he realized how screwed over you felt over the mess. He dug up your history, lied to you about some of it, so you can be in a position where you can finally get payback."

Emmett asked, "Crippling Faraday City and the rest of the Island?"

Andy shook his head. "No, taking it over. They've already made Tesla their mascot, even put in a flag. They made the roads to connect the towns on the Island and there's enough food scrap produced here to keep the Dixierats fed indefinitely. The people had already given their citizenship to him, now we're merely moving in the troops."

"How is it we, Doc? How is it we?"

"The URP is going to daisy-chain all of my contacts, and since Tesla and Mark had gotten into something in Soho, you'll be a suspect. You have access to the police database and all the records in Faraday Island and Unova. Mark's a computer scientist, you put the pieces together."

Emmett sat there for a moment. "So he hacked the police database for his own personal use."

"Yes. But I think after Soho, I'll be expecting him to use the database more than just personal use."

Emmett placed his hands on his head and groaned. "I'm so going to kill him."

"Don't you think he knows that?"

"Know it?! He expects it! He's brought home former pokémon terrorists into our house, what he is going to do with them is beyond me." Emmett sat there for a moment, thought about it some more. "Crap, this is going to destroy my career for sure."

"Unless the Dixierats take control of the provincial government, simply march them into Electron and take over the Capitol Building, then sit on the politicians until somebody figures out what to do."

Matt shook his head. "Faraday Island has enough of Unova, they're demanding independence. There's already mass protests at Electron, even civil unrest." He turned to Andy. "This Dixierat invasion of yours, Andy, is going to split the old sores way open. Whenever we are involved or not, everybody here is in on it now. The World Government is going to take notice, Interpol will be sent in and they're going to be met by angry citizens. Police, military, civilians, everybody will fight back. I never thought I would live to see the day our homeland is being invaded, and I never expected my best-friend to instigate a war."

Everybody held their silence, I glanced at Ray and Bruiser. They just stared at me with mixed feelings. So is Volta, they all wondered what I was going to do.

I broke the silence. "The Island knows I'm here, especially the FPD. Several faces saw me come riding on Ray's back through the streets and recognized me. Rumors are going to spread, they're going to wonder if I'm responsible." I looked up at Andy. "Does Mark know about Irvin's plan, know anything about it at all?"

"I was trying to get a hold of him for a while, and when I finally got a hold of him on the phone days ago he was in no mood to talk. He told me he just had a rough ride in Unova and has to watch over some pokémon. But when I told him Irvin's plan, his face changed."

"What did he said?" I asked.

"He said he owes you a few favors, mainly because of Dixie and Soho. He views this whole debacle of you as a generational thing. To him, you're contract with Irvin means he shares the burden of handling you. In other words, he's taking Matt's place like how I took Irvin's place."

"You and Mark can't replace your grandfathers, you're all a load of shit."

Andy laughed. "We can't replace them, but we did inherit you. Duty's important to Mark, he recognized you as the linchpin to hold Faraday Island together. I've been disconnected from Faraday Island for far too long. If you want to know the whole picture, ask him."

Emmett said, "The Faraday Island General Assembly activated the selective service, signed with Governor Norman's blessings. Mark's been drafted, he's going to be deployed in a matter of days."

Andy said, "Way ahead of you. I bribed a few security officers and paid several hackers to come up with ways to jam all communications around Faraday Island. These are people Irvin knew in person for most of his life, they're well trusted and are hardcore fans of Tesla's battling days."

I asked, "And they're going along with this why?"

"They too, seek independence from Unova. And through you, Tes, you can make it happen."

I rested my head against Andy's chest, his stinking lab coat violating my nose. Andy rubbed that sweet spot on the back of my head, I rested my eyes. "He cared about me more than I thought he did."

"Pretty much."

"Andy, how come he didn't tell me? Didn't tell me how he really felt, and why he didn't tell me about his mad plan of his? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"He didn't want to give you any ideas. He knew all too well that you might outlive him, but he isn't sure."

"The Dixie plague, Faraday's sovereignty, all this bundled up in one big package for me to represent its people and pokémon."

"His way of doing things, his bundles are a lot better than most product warranties."

"Right, it's a lifetime guarantee." Then I asked, "You have any evidence of Irvin's original plan? Surely you were doubtful at first on how it would all work."

"It's in the thumb-drives Irvin kept in his old trunk. Everything is there, and from what I was told Mark had gotten a hold of it."

Matt said, "He made several copies of them. Gave one to me and to his friends, I never got the chance to look at my copy. I know some of the things in those thumb drives are personal and secret but not the official documents, such as tax records."

I sat up and said, "Then we better go find Mark and ask him what he's up to."

. . .

Dixierats started showing up at our doorstep, they homed in to our scents like hounds. We didn't know they were here until they started knocking on the broken front door. They sounded like raichus and were calling for Andy. He got up and answered the door. Five raichus, three females and two males, all stood before him.

"Can you watch Matt's place while we're away?" he asked.

"Sure, Doc," the raichu in the middle replied.

"I'll go out and pick out some food for you later, so right now we got some things to do. Make sure that this place doesn't get swamped, either by looters or other Dixierats."

"We got it covered," said another raichu.

Andy turned to Matt. "They'll keep an eye on your place for you until we get your door fixed, just how did it break?"

I answered that question. "Ray thought it would be appropriate to break down the fucking door, like we need more fucking drama in this fucking movie of ours."

Ray said, "It stood no chance, I think I ripped out the wall around it as well."

Andy inspected the door frame. "Good thing you pointed that out, this dry wall is rotting and the wood around the frames has turned to mulch. A well-placed kick to the strike plate could break it in anyway."

Matt said, "This house is almost a century old, I guess it's time to get it gutted and rebuilt again."

I turned to Emmett, his eyes were overflowing with rage and confusion. "I'm sorry about Nova, Emmett. About your divorce and everything."

He shook his head. "She was born in Unova, not here. She always complained on how we have strict policies and laws, like it was telling us how to live and work."

"Even though it is the most inclusive government in the world."

"The license to marry, the license to have a child. The testing for genetic anomalies drove her nuts. It isn't you who cause our relationship to end, you were just the final straw."

"You ever talk to her?"

Emmett shook her head. "No, she put a restraining order on me. Faraday Island's government made it clear that if I were to even send her a letter or make a simple phone call, I would be arrested and charged for stalking. The punishment is severe enough to make my career terminal."

"Ouch."

Then Emmett added, "However, she cannot disown or put a restraining order on Mark. Under Faraday Island's copyright laws, you cannot disown any child you bore. He has the sole right to contact her because she is his parent and she brought him into the world. Unova may say differently but Faraday Island will happily give him information about her. I can relay any messages I want to him and he can pass it on to Nova without penalty."

"Does she still have Faradian citizenship?"

"No, she renounced it, but that won't stop Mark one bit."

I said, "I'll make it up to you, I'll give her a call and talk to her myself. If Mark can get her address and phone number, I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem."

"I don't know what she's been up to after twenty years, hopefully she still has feelings for you. She always liked you."

"I hope she has the same for you, I remembered how well your first date together went."

He smiled, "That suit always made my neck itch."

I stood up on the couch and said, "Knowing Mark, he would eventually take things to the next level. I bet you a hundred pokédollars that he's going to go straight to her house and knock on her door. How well it would go is anyone's guess."

"Judging by the fact that she left Mark with me weeks after he was born, I'm guessing there's going to be conflict."

I touched Volta's shoulder and turned to Bruiser and Ray. "Come on, guys. We better get this done"

Ray got off the couch. "Alright, lead the way."

I turned to Volta. "And Volta, I have somebody for you to meet once we get there. So keep your cool and let her do all the talking, I made sure she will."

"Yes, Tes."

Emmett got up from his kitchen chair. "I better get to City Hall and meet up with the mayor, I better let him know we are all in this together. Him and I, nothing about you."

I said, "Give him my best regards."

"Yes, I'll be sure I will when the rumors reach his desk."

We followed Andy outside, passing the raichu guards that are lounging on the front lawn. Andy's car, a navy blue Crown Victoria, was parked next to the street. I'm guessing it was rental. Emmett's borrowed cruiser was parked on the driveway. It was a new police interceptor model, more bulk and shine to it than the last model. He got in and started the engine, he flipped on the red and blue flashing lights and pulled out. Before he drove off, he rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Andy," he said. "If I get the order to arrest you, I'll find you and personally kick your ass."

Andy laughed, "You better make sure you have sturdy shoes because my ass is made of steel!"

Emmett smiled, "You haven't changed at all. Oh, and Tesla?"

"Yes, Emmy?"

"It's nice to see you again."

"I love you too, Emmy."

And like that, he drove off. We waited till he was out of sight before we got into our car and drive over to his house. Ray got the front passenger seat because he's tall enough to reach the back floorboard. Everyone else got the back seat. I'm telling you that even with seatbelts, Volta and I are required by law to have booster seats since we both weigh below 20 kilograms. Except Bruiser, he's big enough to go without it. I don't think that is anyone's concern at this point, since the Dixierat invasion had put law and order on the sidelines.

We started seeing people returning home in shit-covered cars, feces and rub marks smeared all over the windows. Typical Dixierat behavior. Some people were washing their cars off on the driveway or were just leaving it outside. Some cars managed to escape the carnage, probably protected within their garages. However some people couldn't escape the Dixie Plague. I saw one pedestrian, a man wearing a jacket and blue jeans, was covered in piss and urine. He walked with his arms held out, his face showing disgust and grief.

Ray asked, "Why did the Dixierats swamp that car back at the HQ? How did you know they would do that?"

"I have no idea at all," I said. "Just a hunch I thought of."

Andy said, "Dixierats like to mark their territory or potential range, just like any other pokémon in the world. I suppose they caught a whiff of your scent and thought you own it. Say, what happened really?"

I told him.

"Damn, Tesla. The Dixierats really like you."

I smiled, "They just couldn't contain themselves."

Mark and Emmett's house was at the edge of the neighborhood, literally at the point where civilization meets the wilderness. When we approached the house, I saw no change whatsoever to its appearance. Mark's rust-bucket of a pickup wasn't on the driveway, must be in the garage. We parked on the driveway and approached the front door. Andy knocked three times, loud and hard. Mark probably realized that was a distinct knock, because he was at the door within seconds.

Mark Kissinger stood there by the doorway, wearing his National Guard uniform. His skin was less pale than I had last seen him but he still looked ten years older than I last saw him. He had a shotgun in his hands, a Mossberg, loaded. He took a moment to realize who we are, then he smiled, "Andy, great to see you again."

The two grandsons of Irvin and Matt shook hands. "I tried getting a hold of you," Andy said, "didn't know you had business with Tesla."

"Got some money and pokémon out of it, and an argument from my dad." Mark look down and saw me, his smile dropped. I just stared at him for a moment with tired, sad eyes. He said, "Despite all that danger to my life and well-being, and how my pokémon were almost violated, it is still great to see you, Tesla."

I said, "Good to be with you again."

Mark glanced at Ray and Bruiser, then at Volta. "Guess you brought home the family that is probably why my TV signal died."

"My fault," said Andy.

"Of course it's your fault, how can Tesla handle the workload in putting the pieces together." Mark turned around. "You best come inside, the place is crowded so please mind the smell."

Andy shut the door behind him as we walked inside. Mark's pokémon were sitting on the couch, nibbling on fiber bars. Their appearance hadn't changed much despite being just as fat as Volta. On the other couch was Wotter and Smugleaf Stucky. Wotter was a far cry from the bully he once was. The dewott sat at the end of his part of the couch, resting, his eyes lacking energy and vigor. Smugleaf sat at the other end. She looked like she had lost some weight, her eyes were just as depressed. The grass snake pokémon's signature knife and sheath were nowhere in sight. I'm guessing it was confiscated by Mark and probably crammed in storage somewhere. Woody sat at the corner of the room. The timburr hadn't changed much, his face was cool as he sat on the floor in a half-meditating trance-like state. He looked up, saw me and cracked a smile, but said nothing.

The pansear I met in the URP-occupied Fort Wernher was here. He sat on the floor against Smugleaf and Wotter's couch. His eyes stared straight ahead to the blue HDTV screen, watching the No Signal words bounce around the screen. When he saw me he stood up. "Sir, nice to see you made it in once piece."

"Same for you," I said in pokémon speech. "At ease, bud."

Mark's emolga, pikachu, and plusle and minun leaped off their couch and crowd around me, screaming with joy. "Tesla," the sky squirrel pokémon chirped. "You're here!"

Mark's pikachu, who was also my great-granddaughter, gave me a tight hug and licked my cheek. "Tesla, I missed you!"

I said, "I missed you too sweet-heart."

The only one here who wasn't happy to see me was Smugleaf. When she was aware enough to realize my presence, her eyes shot open. She tucked her braced arm by her side and leaped off the couch and over the coffee table. Kicking over empty pop cans and snack bags. Smugleaf tumbled to the floor, landed with a hard thud, then got back up on her skinny legs and made a beeline for the back door. "No!" she squealed. "No! No! Please, no!"

Ray went after her, the massive oaf dart across the room and used his massive frame to block Smugleaf's escape. He then Smugleaf down on the ground with his good arm, then peer into her eyes like the villain in a spy movie. "Ooh, a snivy." Ray sniffed Smugleaf's belly. "She's so minty!"

Smugleaf didn't squirm, just laid there, her eyes tearing up. "Please let me go!"

I took Volta's hand and walked up to Ray. "Ray, let her go! She's not a sex toy, you sick fuck!"

Ray chuckled and got off Smugleaf. "Sorry, it's hard to resist her eyes."

The snivy got back onto her feet and turned to face me. I reached out and touched her shoulder. "Smugleaf Stucky, this is Volta Westinghouse, Cabot Richardson's last pokémon. Do you have anything to say to her?"

Smugleaf blinked, she glanced at Volta, then back at me. Ray towered behind her, his eyes still marveling at the snivy's back. After a few seconds, Smugleaf broke into tears and wrapped her scrawny arms around Volta. "I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'm sorry, I didn't know! I swear, I didn't know! We didn't know! We were just following orders!"

Volta, being the gentle flower she was, hugged Smugleaf back. "There there," she said. "It's alright, I hear yeah."

The mouse pokémon sniffed snivy's neck and smiled. "You're right, Ray, she does smell minty."

When they let go, Ray reached out and scooped Smugleaf back up. This time he was gentle, not that Smugleaf cared. "There there," he said as he cradled her with his one arm. "I can keep you warm."

She looked at me and asked, "Who is he? What is he?"

I said, "That's Rayovac Westinghouse, or Ray for short. He's a rikachu, the mutant mouse pokémon. If you ever wondered what is the limit to how many generations you can cross-breed. It ends with this."

Ray carried her back to the living room and sat down next to Wotter. The dewott craned his neck, curious of Ray. I walked up to him and asked, "How are you doing, Wotter?"

The dewott's tired eyes glanced at me. "I feel tired, I can't move like I used to."

I glanced at Wotter's legs. Bandages covered much of his groin and thighs, covering the damage Smugleaf had done to him back in Fort Wernher. "Is it healing?"

"Healing well, not that it mattered." He rested he head on the arm of the couch and sighed. "I miss Nobark, wish I had the chance to say goodbye."

"You were there when he was buried?"

He nodded. "I cried when the dirt was shoveled over his small casket."

"Wish I was there to bury him myself."

"Nobark would trust you to bury him alive, he spoke so highly of you that I didn't realize how close you too were until I saw your friend's resting place."

Smugleaf said in pokémon speech. "All those tombstones with pokémon under them, were they your friends?"

I said, "From another time, seen them hatched and die. Now it feels like I'm the last one left."

Volta and Bruiser walked up to the cooler beside the coffee table. They opened and found Mark's soft drinks. Without asking, they pulled out several cans and popped them open. Mark didn't say anything, he just stood there by the window with Andy, watching for trouble.

The pansear turned to me and said, "I had trouble at first coming here, but I managed to hide onboard a yacht in a storage cabinet. When I got here I head straight to this Mark guy just as you said. It took a bit of convincing, but he wasn't happy about it."

"Was he ready to shoot you?"

"I think he wanted to, just how can I blame him?"

"Sad to hear what's become of Fort Wernher," said Woody. "I really wanted to see how those computers work."

Smugleaf said, "I just wish Bubbles was here with us."

I said, "It wouldn't even be much of a happy ending if she's here, you know. Most of us here have one thing in common, we lost our trainers. Either they were killed, betrayed us, or ran their natural course in life. Now we're under the mercy of the world, and it's changing."

Mark said, "I've heard about the riots in Soho, I also heard you were caught in it."

I realized the question was directed to me. "Yes, I was. How did you know?"

"Some old army buddies were there, they saw you get shot with a bean-bag round in your ass when you tried to escape from police custody. I was worried, I wish I was there to bail you out."

"I appreciate the help, but your pokémon need you more than me."

Mark turned to me and said, "The Island found out that you've been arrested by the URP, someone leaked and now everyone is raging hell. The independence movement is now underway. Unova-based bureaucracies were attacked, raided. Police didn't intervene, they just stood by and watch the protesters carted boxes of documents and equipment away. Unova politicians were hounded, some were exiled, others weren't so fortunate. Unova's prime minister is warning the Island about sanctions, Governor Norman responded by going on national television by saying, 'Come and stop us.'"

"What's your role in all this?"

Mark pressed his hand against his embroidered surname on his uniform. "I've been drafted, now I'm expecting to be deployed at any time. Now I can't get that call because comms are down."

"You're ready to fight for Faraday's revolution?"

"I was trained for this since I was a kid, and since I'm fresh from the second invasion of Soho I've never been ready for war."

I said, "Mark, I'm not going to lie to you. Once you go out in the field, there's a chance you may never come home. The bond between you and your pokémon is too great. They're not going to adjust to a life without you, I know this because I've seen what happens first-hand when a trainer suddenly departs. In fact, you've seen what happens to pokémon when they had lost their trainers. They go mad, Mark. They aren't as adaptable as humans are."

Mark said, "I don't have a choice in this, somebody has to defend their home. The brass has zero tolerance for deserters, they're lucky they aren't branded as traitors."

"I didn't hear much about treason in the Faradian military."

"That's because it's classified."

Mark walked up to the couch and reached underneath and pulled out a laptop. It was a thin technician's notepad, very battery-efficient and very powerful. He opened up the lid and woke it up. "While I was getting ready to leave Soho, I stopped by at the police station to see what was left. The whole place was trashed and abandoned. Feeling entitled, I walked right in and downloaded whatever I could from one of their servers that escaped damage. I just downloaded and decrypted the files onto my computer to see what's inside."

"What did you find?"

"Pretty much every reason to back up your word on not to go to war."

Mark changed the channel on his TV and got up. "Here, might as well show what I have on the TV here. With the comms down, I don't have to worry about being discovered by government surveillance."

"Is there any chance at all?"

"No, of course not. I'm just paranoid, Tes."

I nodded. "I can understand."

Mark grabbed a HD cable from behind the TV, which was already connected to the back. He plugged it into his laptop and pressed a few buttons. The computer's desktop appeared on the TV, revealing . . . a purple background showing my outline.

"Fuck you, Mark."

Mark chuckled, "Tesla, for everyone's sake keep your temper cool. You already got people and pokémon alike having trust issues with you, how would Polly react if she catches you breaking Smugleaf's arm?"

I feel several nerves in my fertile brain overload and pop. Not from anger, no, for some reason that didn't flare. Hearing Polly's name caught my attention, pushed my personal prejudices aside and unearthed the pichu within me. The world, time, the universe, and all my history that was weaved in between, had stopped for a few seconds. "What?"

Mark smiled, "You know, I've been holding this card days after you left Faraday Island. Irvin didn't have the resources I have to track Polly down, to track your parents and siblings down. No wonder he lied to you, he didn't want you to know that he failed."

I said nothing.

"I know what had happened to Polly. I know where Polly went, and I know where Polly is. Not only am I going to explain how I pinpointed her location, have I had some intel on her days since she last saw you?"

Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. "This was taken around the time after Irvin had passed away. This isn't her current picture, but there's no doubt she has served her purpose."

He showed me the picture. My eyes bulged. That was her alright, her fur was whiter and her body was puffy from age but her snout and ears hadn't changed. Her eyes were soft as I remembered them, and she was smiling.

But that smile wasn't from joy.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .