Chapter 14

Something interesting happened that night. The familiar skyline of Faraday City's glass skyscrapers always glowed in a blueish-white light, which had a light frequency similar to that of the sun. I remembered a time when Faraday City was at near darkness when I first arrived here at the age of twenty-two. By the time I was forty, Faraday Island grew brighter. By the time I was fifty, the first primitive skyscrapers went up. The first blackout of Faraday City revealed the stars for the first time in ages. Faraday Island was famous for its clean air and environment, so we had no problems seeing the Galatical plain. For just one night, the whole city just stopped, only to resume its natural daily business the following morning. I watched the first glass skyscrapers go up by the end of my Westinghouse years and the whole sky got brighter. It was so bright, I couldn't tell if it was day or night.

The second blackout of Faraday City wasn't really a blackout, more like a brownout, partial loss of power. Every building in the city installed a trickle-charge battery power and renewable energy infrastructure, so blackouts never happen. Each building powers itself, everything inside and only inside. All the buildings though were still connected to a grid, if one building produced too much energy, the excess is sold out to the public grid and that building receives a nice sum of money from the Faradian Department of Energy. I sat there in Mark's backyard, watching the skyline with the others. It used to be that every building in the city was lit up like a Christmas tree, now skyscrapers were going dark and black. For the first time in their twenty years of life, most of these skyscrapers have gone to sleep. The only skyscrapers that still had light in them were the vertical farms. Their lights come from thousands of ultraviolet lightbulbs that are hooked up to a different circuit. The cylindrical buildings glowed a soft purple within the darkened skyline.

It was a curiosity to non-residential pokémon. Volta, Bruiser, and Ray knew it wasn't supposed to be like this, but the city still had enough beauty to be mesmerizing. The PRA troops with us didn't have much of an opinion. Smugleaf didn't show much expression, the pansear didn't really care. Woody found it odd, as he himself was a utilitarian, but didn't give much of his opinion. Wotter didn't bother coming outside, he stayed on the couch, assuming he had went to bed for the night.

Only Andy, Mark, and Mark's pokémon found it unsettling. They had lived in Faraday City long enough to be used to the light pollution. Despite Andy's age, he was too young to remember the blackout. Save for the brief stint in Fort Wernher's own darkness, Mark had never experienced a blackout. He looked out toward the city, his own home, the look on his face told me he felt disturbed.

"The Dixierats are draining the city's energy systems," he said.

Andy said, "They're mice pokémon, they're pests, they're attracted to electricity."

We found out after the mess had ended that the people who operate those buildings had deliberately shut down the power. The Faradians quickly figured out that the Dixierats were draining any source of electricity they sensed. The Dixierats were smart enough to realize that the whole energy system was independent. Being the little pests they are, some de facto Dixierat leaders led their little bands of Dixierats into these buildings and cut the power off themselves. Not so they can drain the batteries without causing a surge in the circuits, but for "shock" value. Just to show who is in charge. For the towns that could see Faraday City, if they hadn't figured out what was happening before, they do now.

I had no doubt the whole rock had figured it out when the substation exploded. I knew what it was when the blast ripped across the sky, because I had blown up transformers before. When the transformers started to blow, only Smugleaf was merely startled as she had seen a transformer blown up by my own hand. Everyone else was caught off-guard. Volta let out a squeal and grabbed my arm when the shockwave plowed above us. Bruiser and Ray yelped. Ray's eyes started rapidly blinking, the explosion may had triggered another schizophrenic episode. Bruiser rubbed his chest, his heart wasn't as hardy as it used to be. Andy and Mark stepped back as Mark's pokémon screamed. The next thing we knew was bright blue plasma flashed into the sky, then all the street lights went out.

"What happened!?" Volta cried.

Mark said, "Faraday Island got more electricity than it needed. Due to the communications jam and the cyber-attack, the central computer at Faraday Island's Hydrogen Power Plant didn't detect the anomaly. So one of Faraday City's transformers couldn't take the surplus. Normally they would automatically shutdown to avoid catastrophe, the cyber-attack crippled its safety protocol and caused it to explode."

Then another transformer exploded, this one was farther away so the blast wasn't as strong, but it had enough force to kill more lights. I wasn't sure what to make of the transformer explosions, my mind was on other things at this point.

We all went back inside, I was getting tired. It was time for bed. Smugleaf kept rubbing her good arm, I noticed she had been shivering after five minutes of being outside. Of course, she was a reptile. Reptiles are cold-blooded. I glanced at Ray and he returned the attention. I nodded my head toward Smugleaf. He turned to her and saw how cold she was, Ray scooped Smugleaf up with his good arm. Smugleaf was still shaking in fright, but soon calmed down when she was within Ray's grasp. I guess she was building trust with Ray despite his huge appearance.

Emolga got down from Mark's shoulder as he headed for the utility closet. "I'm going to cut the power off to my house in case those transformers try to muck up the electronics in the house. Don't worry, the house has an UPS built into the breaker box. We have all the energy we need to get us through the night."

He opened up the breaker box and flipped a switch, the lights flickered to signify the house was now on its own power. "Any idea where you want to sleep, Andy? The guest bedroom is already taken, I think my dad may not come home tonight since he's busy, so his bed may be unoccupied."

Andy said, "You have a sleeping mat?"

"A cot, actually."

"I'll sleep on that. Ray and Bruiser are getting old, they need the bed more than I do."

I said, "Andy, you're older than them and I had spent nights sleeping in holes for the past twenty years. Ask them if they want to sleep in a bed or not."

Bruiser shrugged. "I'm used to sleeping on the couch, it's kinda my thing."

Ray said, "Age hasn't really caught up with me yet, but my muscles are tired from carrying my girth."

I asked, "You're feeling occasional pain, Ray?"

"More so than usual since Dixie, I don't really complain about it since the fireworks are more of a concern."

Mark said, "There's pain killers in the upstairs bathroom medicine cabinet if you need it, Ray. If you want, I can give you a massage."

"How strong are you?"

Mark held up his arms. "I may be scrawny but strength is more about will power than actual force."

Andy said, "Heard of one case from a colleague back in the university, there was this one woman who was mentally ill who ripped out a pole out of solid concrete. Took four big guys, plus a fifth to bring her down."

Ray carried Smugleaf up the stairs. "Well, I better catch some shuteye. Night guys."

I can already picture what would happen in that bedroom. I was a bit surprised that nobody noticed Smugleaf in his arms. She didn't said anything, I guess she was so tired from her panic earlier that she had fallen asleep in Ray's arms. I watched Ray walk up the stairs and disappeared into the darkness above. Mark followed suit, his pikachu and cheering pokémon duo following right behind him. Andy followed him up the stairs and joined him in his bedroom. Bruiser and Volta gathered up on the couch. Wotter and the pansear claimed a spot on the other couch. Woody simply slept on the floor, looking quite comfortable to himself.

None of them slept right away, they continued on in their conversations, using basic pokémon speech. I looked around me and I found only Mark's emolga remained. She stood rather close to me, as if my presence gave her comfort. "Tes," she said, "I need to talk to you."

She seemed uneasy, I wondered what was wrong. "Okay, you have a spot where we could chat?"

The sky squirrel pokémon nodded, she climbed up the stairs and I followed her. The guest bedroom closed when we got up to the second floor. Mark's bedroom door was open a crack, I could hear Mark and Andy talking about casual things. Emolga motioned me toward Emmett's bedroom, we were about to walk in when my hyper-sensitive ears twitched. "You shouldn't have played that card on Tesla like that," I heard Andy say. "That poor thing has suffered enough."

I touched Emolga's arm, we both held our breath and listened.

"There isn't any better way I could have told him," said Mark. "He could have heard it from you and he would still break down."

"Tesla is not a softie like your average pokémon, but he has a sensitive nerve. He will give you a bad shock like he would always do to my grandfather when he pisses him off."

"Andy, that already happened. I felt his power when I challenged him in that forest just down that valley. Emolga got hurt, I got scarred. So I came back with firepower and reinforcements. I just wasn't thinking straight at the time, but I knew one thing. He may defeat any pokémon in the world because he has no equal, but he can be only defeated by man. I challenged him and I won. Now he won't dare shock me because his great-granddaughter is under my care. He can't harm me without harming his own family. More importantly, my pokémon have grown attached to him, which gives me more elbow room to get under his skin."

"Mark, hear me out. Tesla is a sensitive pikachu who had his childhood destroyed. I made a mistake by merely teasing him for his inability to swim. That almost destroyed our relationship to each other, you cannot believe what I saw in his eyes. Your pokémon may act as a buffer to his rage, but you push him too far, he's going to snap."

There was a short pause. "I care about Tesla as much as you do. Tesla just does not like me, period. The big reason is not because I am a nuisance to him, not because I get under his skin. It's because I had invaded his privacy, when he wanted to be left alone. I penetrated his comfort zone and destroyed it. After Tesla left the Island, the mayor deemed that forest unsafe from all the traps he had set up. So he put together a team to burn it all down. I was called upon to lead the burn squad. We all took our zippo lighters and burned down every tree and shrub out there. If Tesla has any idea of going back to that place, he will find it replaced by grass and newly planted trees."

Andy said, "So what makes you think that bringing Polly into the fold is going to change anything?"

"Simple, the Dixierats have their alpha male. Now they need their mother. If Tesla's going to have control, he's going to need his mate. Otherwise he has half the authority over the Dixierats. We bring Polly into the fold, Tesla will have the power to release the floodgates." Then he added, "Andy, I don't want to be hard on Tesla. He's just hard on all of us, we just need to soften him up so he can really be our friend. He had said once that his own mother wouldn't recognize him for who he is now, which makes me wonder if he is worthy of getting his Polly back."

I felt my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.

"Mark," said Andy. "How would your mother react if you were to meet her face to face?"

Mark simply said, "She would simply slam the door in my face because I look just like my father. I'm guessing that's one reason why Tesla hates me, because I didn't grew up with a loving and caring mother like he did. To come to think of it, my dad said that even if she was here with us it wouldn't make a difference on me. I am a Faradian and she is a Unovan. We both grew up under different systems, there was no way we could establish a bond between us."

"How so?"

"Tesla's right, my childhood is all about self-preservation of our country. No love, just brotherhood and patriotism. I don't have a picture on how my mom is raised, all I know is that she cannot take me out of the country because ALL children are part of the Faradian military. So she cut her losses, convincing herself my dad and I were a waste of her time. She went back to Unova and that was that."

Then Andy added something that I didn't know, something that was kept a secret from me for so damn long. "You know," he said. "To come to think of it, my grandmother was born in Unova. She was born in the same town your mother was."

"It's a small world, anyone could see the similarities."

Andy laughed, "Now Irvin would agree to that, he couldn't stand looking at his own mom because of how she threw Tesla out that window. He saw for who she really was, and in order to not be her, he too had to forfeit his love for her for Tesla's sake."

"Did Irvin ever admit this?"

"No, he never admitted it. We Faradians are well known for our respect, no way would Irvin say or feel something like that. But I'm not sure though, since he had hinted it occasionally every time he talks about it."

I heard enough, I placed an arm around Emolga's shoulders and we both walked into Emmett's bedroom. His bedroom was clean, very clean. So clean in fact that it had that hotel smell. Emolga and I got on top of his bed, and in the near darkness I asked, "So what's on your mind?"

It took a while to wait before she got started. "The breeder I grew up with were very subtle. He was caring to his pokémon, bathed and fed them regularly enough. Smugleaf and I were friends since our hatchings, I always had feelings for her and she had feelings for me. We both had our little moments, then one day Alice came in and took her away."

"You know Smugleaf's trainer?"

Emolga nodded. "I even saw her, she wore a green bandanna and vest and pants. Grass-type trainer. Since she can only take one pokémon, I was left behind. Smugleaf and I said our goodbyes and we haven't seen each other in a long time."

"So what happened after that?"

"Three years went by, I was shipped around a lot. I had a lot of genetic testing done. I didn't understand the term at the time, all I know was the scientists were looking into my blood."

"And what did they find?"

Emolga shifted her legs on the bed. "They didn't like what they found, I didn't understand what was wrong. I was perfectly healthy. What they found was my genes were too well used, in fact my father was also my own half-brother, and my mom was my own first cousin. So I was sent out to Faraday Island to see if my genes were still useful."

"So what happened?" I asked.

Emolga shook her head. "If I tell you, can you please wait till this is all over before you tell Mark? It scares me to see him angry at you, I may have forgave you that day but he didn't, possibly never will."

"Whatever it is, I think he can handle it. He already knows your true age."

Emolga said, "I was rejected for pokémon battling. I didn't have the stamina or competence to battle. As you can already tell, I'm just good at sleeping and eating. I also carry some traits that could give my offspring mental disabilities, they didn't say what kind though."

"Their conclusion?"

She frowned, her eyes started to twinkle in the faint mood lighting. "They wanted to put me down, I didn't have the best genes for much of anything. If I were to breed, I could risk spreading a hotbed of bad ailments to my children and their descendants. I was lucky when Mark came into the back room and chose me, I was scheduled to be euthanized the very next day. They don't do that anymore by the way, thanks to you."

"What were his friends' response?" I asked.

Emolga smiled, "They adore me, really adore me. I never felt so loved. They pet me and scratch my back and everything, but Mark is my person. He's not my trainer in a sense, he's more of my handler, my owner. He trained me for gun, knife, and fire safety, but that's it. Nothing else."

"He ever tell you stories?"

"Not really, no."

I asked, "He said he didn't know you were a girl."

Emolga nodded. "A lot of the rejects were usually male, and since I was tossed out of the breeding program and eligibility for pokémon battling, nobody thought about checking my gender. So when I was misidentified as a male, I merely slipped myself into the role."

"And you carried that ploy for all these years?"

"I can't read and write, I had no way of telling Mark. In fact I didn't really mind being mistaken as a boy. Not that it matters for pokémon, but I almost believed in it myself."

"Those cheering pokémon, Plusle and Minun, what did they think of this?"

Emolga said, "They knew who I really was, in fact they had more contact with me than Mark. I don't think they cared, I am an emolga to them either way."

"How about that magnetite?"

"I never really like him and I didn't think he likes me, he was smarter than me and the cheering pokémon. Mark just merely used him to charge his portable electronics. That magnetite doesn't seem to mind, I don't think affection is at the top of his priority list." Emolga paused for a moment. "Honestly, I was kind of glad that you pulled him out of our lives, but I just wish it was for another reason."

I asked, "Tell me, Emolga. How did he react to you being a girl? In fact how did he react when he found out your age?"

Emolga said, "I guess I have to thank you for telling him."

"I didn't really tell him, I just hinted it and told him to check your blood sample. It's almost like he thought you had cancer."

Emolga said, "Right after you left Faraday Island, he wanted to be extra sure, so he put on plastic gloves and . . . Well, since I was raised by a pokémon breeder, I was used to being handled like that. Wild pokémon would not like to be handled like that, but I liked it."

"Why do you like it?"

"Think of it like it was a thorough method of grooming, in fact there was so much I didn't know about myself, so I let him did his thing while the cheering pokémon watched."

"Just what did he really do?"

Emolga thought for a moment. "You might not wanna tell anybody about this, Mark and I may get in trouble."

"Emolga, I told Mark that my own mama gave me blow jobs after bed." I shrugged, "That's what happens if you get weaned too early."

Emolga said, "Well, okay. So practically he stuck his fingers around my vagina, half-hoping it was a mere pouch to hold a penis."

"And what did he find?"

Emolga smiled, "Whatever he found, I think he called it the cervix. It was in the very back. He pulled his fingers out and pulled off his gloves, and then he said, 'I should have checked the day I got you, damn I'm so stupid!'"

I just chuckled, not really funny, but the way Emolga said it earns a laugh. I got serious again and asked, "You didn't mind him probing you like that?"

Emolga pressed her tiny hands against her chest. "Hey, I wasn't brought up to have manners and a sense of privacy. It's not a violation, mainly because it was very common from where I grew up."

I frowned, "What about my great-granddaughter, how did she react to Mark?"

Emolga said, "She views him as a mate, not a potential mate, an actual mate. Much like you and Polly."

"That I already know, she told me."

Emolga nodded. "When she first arrived, she kind of gotten upset every time Mark adores me. It wasn't jealousy, she thought she was being rejected. It took a while for her to realize we were all getting the same kind of love, but I could tell she wanted more."

"Pikachus are greedy fucks, how could she not want more?"

"Didn't last long though, she begged Mark for some time and Mark complied. That part, I'm afraid, she herself will have to tell you."

I said, "I think I knew what may had happened and I'm not surprised, but I'm not going to press her over it. She had hinted something between her and Mark while we were at Fort Wernher, but she didn't say what." I lowered my head and sighed, "Andy claimed he had found my first born son. His name is Wheels. I don't know if I should trust him or not about it, but the Dixierats don't need me for their initial infestation."

"Wheels, why is he called Wheels?"

"I don't know, something have to do with race cars. It sounded like he had a well-lived life." I sat there for a moment, then stood up on the bed. "My heart is set, I have to know for sure even if I had to navigate so closed to my old ancestral home."

"You're going to Kanto?" Emolga asked.

I shrugged, "If my son had children of his own and they're somewhere on this island, I'm sure they would want to hear from him."

Emolga got up and touched my hand. "But what about your family here? They need you?"

"What can I do? I am fucking one hundred and seven years old, you expect an old rat like me to handle all their problems?"

"I thought you were a mouse."

I gently squeezed Emolga's hand. "I don't think it makes a difference. Emolga, even though they're my blood. They're not my family. I have to earn that. So to really establish a family, I need to give it some history. I just know where to find it."

"Where?"

Good question, just where can I find it?

. . .

I talked with Emolga for the next ten minutes, I guess you could say we had some form of father/ daughter relationship. I guess that was a reputation I had earned. I led Emolga out of Emmett's room and sent her to Mark's. I stood by and watched as Emolga pushed the door open and stepped inside. She's a sweet little thing, I guess she picked up some of Mark's intellect. Not surprising, she may be a mindless extension of Mark's personality but they have almost nothing in common. Mark's an athletic minuteman ready to spring into action while Emolga's just a fat furry slob. Good at sleeping and eating, she had said. But there was one need the two can provide for each other. Mark's quite a social son of a bitch, he needs someone to be there in this empty house of his. Emolga needed a father figure, someone who could serve as a big brother and caretaker. With that one and only need, the two had bonded to each other and they were merry.

I walked up to the guest room and pressed my ear against the door. All I heard were soft snores and Ray's bumbling. I didn't know why I decided to eavesdrop on him. I couldn't help on not trusting that Smugleaf, I guess Ray saw that soft spot in her and exploited it. I leaned against the door and thought for a moment, if Ray keeps a watchful eye on Smugleaf I don't have to worry about her trying to violate anyone. Then again, I made it quite clear by breaking her arm that such an act was a big no-no. Wrong of me to throw her like that, but all she wanted was to help herself, because the person who can help her has departed.

I stepped away from the door when I heard someone crawling up the steps. It was Volta, she crawled right up to me when she reached the top of the stairs. "What did Emolga want?" she asked.

"She told me her history, and some things between her and Mark."

"You noticed she smelled like chocolate?"

I thought for a moment, Emolga's scent to me didn't smell like chocolate, more like shit. "No," I said. "I didn't noticed."

Volta pressed her head against my side and sniffed my armpit, I merely gave her a hug. "You just couldn't get enough of my scent, could you?"

"You smell like leather mixed in peanut butter."

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, I held Volta up and said, "Here, I gotta take another Valium pill before I go to bed. You go wait in Emmett's room, I'll be right back."

"Where's Emmett's room?"

I pointed toward the open door. "Right there. Now go, Volta."

I walked up to Mark's door and pushed it open. A cot was stretched out across the wooden floor, Andy sat on it as he looked through a small DOD handbook that talks about what to do during an invasion. I doubt he was taking it seriously, but the fact that he was reading it made me wonder if he was considering something unintended. "Andy," I said. "You have any more of that Valium?"

Andy shut the book and sat up. "Yeah, I do. Feeling better?"

"Better than I was two weeks ago."

Andy fished into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle, he opened up the bottle, poured out a small tablet, and handed it to me. "Just don't take it with alcohol, unless you want get completely shitfaced."

"Got it. Night, Andy."

I walked out of the room and stepped into the bathroom, I stuck the pill into my mouth and climbed up on the sink. I turned on the faucet and washed down the pill, I wiped my mouth and, after checking to see if anyone was watching, urinated in the sink. I washed it out by running hot water down the drain before climbing down and returning to Volta.

She was underneath the bed sheets, moving around, seeing what's underneath. I closed the door and climbed up on top of the bed, she poked her head out of the sheets and smiled. "This bed is way softer than the ones at the hotels."

"Yup."

I laid down on my back and Volta brushed up beside me, she settled down in a fixed position. Now I waited for the Valium to take hold before I fall asleep.

Volta wrapped an arm around me and asked, "You really don't like me being fat?"

I simply asked, "Is there something you want from me, but just aren't too sure about it?"

She didn't answer, so I traced a hand over her belly and grabbed the most fur I could. Volta yelped and pressed her forehead against my shoulder. "Volta," I said. "Just why do you keep asking me this? You could get as fat to the point where you can't walk and I would still not turn against you. I put so much investment into raising you that I am not denying my love for you no matter what."

As if that was a green light telling her to go, she gently bit down on my side and rubbed my fur and skin between her teeth. Oedipus complex, figures. "There there, Volta," I said. "I love you."

Volta lets go and pressed her head against my armpit, and we slept like that for the night.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .