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Chapter XXV
When Tesla got to the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital, the paramedics quickly got him out of the ambulance. Some protestors outside the Pokémon Center were prettified when they saw the old Pikachu on the gurney. They didn't impede the paramedics as they took him inside. Doctors quickly got Tesla off the gurney and on a stretcher, one doctor tried to talk to Tesla in an effort to keep him calm. He remained unresponsive, maybe tired from his battle.
He was taken to the X ray room where they scanned his chest, what they found was one of Tesla's lower ribs had punctured his left lung. What was horrifying about it was the rib came close to damaging his heart, had that happened then Tesla would've been in the morgue. Now with a better understanding on what they were dealing with, Tesla was wheeled to the emergency room for surgery. The surgeons washed their hands and suited up, then took a closer look at Tesla's chest X Ray. Their eyes shot wide open when they saw previous Pokémon battle injuries.
Tesla's rib cage showed distress, at least half of his ribs were broken in the past. The right side of his collarbone was so smashed that titanium rods were rooted in place to support it, it baffled the doctors that Tesla was no stranger under the knife. Then again, it was no surprise since Tesla's occupation requires him to get into harm's way. But to see how much injuries he had, it was a wonder that he still moved like the wind.
They also discovered Tesla's osteoarthritis. It was more severe than anyone previous thought, his knees, elbows, and ankles showed heavy damage. Other smaller joints showed signs of deteriorating joints, such as in the hands and feet. This wasn't a surprise, since Tesla had osteoarthritis before Irvin's death. What they found next caught the surgery team by surprise.
Small clumps of tumors were speckled all over Tesla's organs in the abdomen. The biggest tumor was a size of a coin, which was the equivalent to a baseball size for a human. There was no telling how long they had been there, most surround important organs such as the liver, stomach, and intestines. It was a mess beyond imagination.
At around 107 years old, Tesla's health had deteriorated more than he thought. Not only was he breaking down physically, but his cells struggled in vain to function. The doctors had the technology to fix this problem, but first they had to fix the broken rib. After studying the X Ray for 2 minutes, the doctors got down to work.
Tesla was prepped on the table, his goggles were removed as some of his fur was shaved off to make way for surgery. The doctors sedate Tesla with a shot, just to prevent him from waking up during surgery, then they made an incision just under the left portion of Tesla's chest. The hole made by the broken rib was stitched closed, then the rib was stapled back into place. As the doctors clean up the loose blood, several doctors said that they watched Tesla battle in the gyms in Unova decades back. They saw the injuries he taken, they never thought they would ever operate on him at all. It was an experience the doctors would never forget.
Once they stitch the incision closed, the surgeon team cleaned up shop as another team took place. This team took Tesla to another part of the hospital, where they began to treat him for old age. Beforehand they opened up Tesla's profile and found the instructions his trainer had left behind. Since Tesla had cancer, there was not a moment to loose. Two tubes were inserted into Tesla's back, each one pierced the Vena Cava, the largest vein in any animal that snakes up to the lungs and heart to return oxygen depleted blood. Once the tubes were fitted, the machine was turned on and it began extracting Tesla's blood.
It was transferred into a machine where antibodies embedded with iron particles were injected into the mix, these antibodies attached themselves to Tesla's failing and dormant cells. As the blood ran through the system, a powerful electromagnet kicks in. Thanks the the iron particles in the antibodies, they were attracted to the electromagnet and extracted out of the blood, carrying the old cells with them. Now revitalized, the blood was pumped back into Tesla's system where they can now perform their eternal duties with room to grow and replicate.
20 minutes went by and a loud buzz sounded, signaling the process was complete. The machine was turned off and doctors removed the tubes. After closing the holes made by the thick tubes, doctors insert a much thinner tube into a vein in Tesla's arm. Blue liquid was injected into Tesla's system, this blue liquid are nanobots. These tiny artificial bugs are programmed to scan the body for threats and anomalies and destroy them, it took decades to prefect them and now Tesla was getting the final product.
Once they were inside Tesla's system, they got straight down to work. They traveled to his heart where they began to clear the arteries and veins from plague buildup. Tesla had a ton of plague built up around his heart, forming a bit every time he ate. It can take decades to clog an artery, but thanks to Tesla's "exercise program" the walls were kept mostly clear. But only for so long. Doctors watch on a special camera and watched the plague completely dissolve, every bit on the walls were cleared out and more blood was able to pump through again.
With the heart disease cured, the nanobots were carried across the rest of the circulatory system where they found their way through the capillaries of Tesla's internal organs and reach the cancer cells. They went inside each and every cell and scrambled the DNA, then the deformed cell walls were shredded by the nanobots' teeth. The natural immune system took over by sending in macrophages, cells that clean up debris in the system. The macrophages took their time in devouring the destroyed cancer cells, bit by bit.
With their job done, the nanobots flow through other parts of the body to assist Tesla's immune system on its daily business. The irony about the macrophages was that they are often responsible for causing cancer and worsening heart disease, so the nanobots kept a close eye on the macrophages just in case one of them became defective. Impressed by the results, the doctors turned off the monitor and wheeled Tesla to the recovery room.
They placed the old Pikachu on the bed and hooked him up to life support. With Tesla's life saved in both the short and long term, the doctor's called it a day as hospital security moves in. Two guards stood outside his hospital door, armed with only pistols. Due to Tesla's influence, the guards were tasked to make sure that the room doesn't get invaded either by adoring fans or potential enemies. If Tesla was awake, he would surely agree to the protection.
. . .
A week passed by, and it was fast. The Tesla Protests mostly died down, the opponents simply gave up and went home as the supporters flocked together to raise money for the old Pikachu. As the authorities regain control over the city, Ash and his Pikachu spent a bit of time exploring the city for what it was. Once or twice a day, he was stopped by a Tesla fan who gave him money. They all said to give it to Tesla, in hopes in paying off the medical bills he had. If they were giving it to Ash, he would've declined the offer. But since they were both helping a friend, that friend will need all the support he can get.
Mark took Ash to the most interesting spots in the city, even taking him to Faraday City Westinghouse Museum. The brush up on Tesla's past was interesting, even getting a look at some of Irvin's possessions. The most priced possession just so happened to be Tesla's Poké ball, displayed neatly on a pedestal surround with thick plexiglass. The Poké ball was yellow and black, looking closely Ash noticed it was a Poké ball designed to capture super heavyweight Pokémon. According to the info at the pedestal's base, the Poké ball was designed to keep Tesla inside since he was a genius at breaking out of enclosures. What made it more interesting was that Irvin never used it and it was kept in his underwear drawer until it was discovered by family members.
The museum even had Tesla's first pair of eye goggles, which was displayed not far away from his Poké ball. The pair of goggles, the same ones Matt had handcrafted, was smashed. The lens were broken and cracked, the leather worn down. Not a surprise since it was at least a century old. According to the info on the pedestal, it was destroyed when Tesla finished his first Pokémon battle. Destroyed by his Quick Attack on an Onix.
Ash went on and saw the Tesla coil that inspired Tesla's name, Irvin's first cybernetic arm, and many photos and videos of Tesla and Irvin in their past time. One of the famous videos was Tesla shooting 30 bottles with a Thompson gun with 30 shots, before unloading the entire clip into a wall to write his name. The way Tesla did it made sure he finished in less than 2 minutes, which awe inspired the viewers.
He's such a cowboy. Ash smiled.
By the time Ash and Mark got back to the Kissinger house, Matt was there waiting for them, "You wanna go see Tesla?" he asked.
"He's awake?" Ash asked.
The news that Tesla was alive made the world cheer, pulling them from a state of depression to celebration. No one, not even the mayor, had ever went up to check up on him. Until now.
"No," said Matt, "But still, we should go see him."
"We didn't even know what the doctors did to him," said Mark, "I'm wanting to find out for a week now!"
"Well," said Ash, "Let's go and see him!"
"Pika Pika!" agreed Pikachu.
Ash and Mark climbed into the back of Matt's station wagon as Pikachu and Emolga sat in their laps, Matt started up the engine and they drove straight towards the Pokémon Center. They saw it mostly cleared up now, though there was still a few groups of Tesla fans holding up their signs in support for him. When the group walked into the Faraday City Pokémon Hospital, Nurse Joy was there to greet them, "I was there," she said, "I saw him taken away to the Pokémon Center, I didn't know what to think."
"We're here to see him Nurse Joy," said Ash, "Where is he?"
"Right this way."
Nurse Joy led the group up several floors and down a hallway where they entered one of the rooms. Tesla had his own room, he laid on the hospital bed hooked up to life support. It was a grizzly sight, but he was alive. The group was surprised to find Kissinger sitting on a chair, listening to the beeps and breathing machine of the life support system as he watched Tesla slept, "I'm surprised to see you here." said Matt.
"Hey Dad," said Kissinger, "Hey guys."
"Hey Dad." said Mark.
"Emolga." Emolga said hi.
"So what's been happening Officer Kissinger?" Ash asked.
"I managed to take a few days off from work," he said, "I just been promoted."
"You got promoted?" Mark asked.
"The Chief of Police decided to retire, I'm now getting his job."
"How did you become Chief of Police?" Matt asked.
"Tesla's been a thorn in the side of the FCPD for 20 years, since you guys got him I managed to get 10 million pokédollars dumped into the family bank account."
"The reward money?" Mark asked in surprised.
"Emolga!?" Emolga added.
"Mayor Dixon gave me the reward in the end," said Kissinger, "Now a lot of police officers in the FCPD are being laid off because the budget had been greatly reduced, no need for a large police force now since Tesla's now pardoned."
"Had he woken up?"
"No," said Kissinger, "He hadn't yet, I've been sitting here since this morning and-"
. . .
Tesla felt tired, yet he felt good. He moaned as his eyes fluttered open, barely able to make out the figures in the room. He tried to speak, but discovered he can't. Tesla began to struggle a little bit but felt a hand touch his wrist, "He's awake," announced Mark's voice, "Hey Tesla, can you hear me?"
Within seconds, his hearing became clear. But not his vision, Tesla struggled to reach for the tube that was down his throat with his other hand but couldn't lift it, "Someone get a doctor in here!" said Matt.
A moment later, Tesla saw a blurry white figure approach him. The constant beeping over his head ceased and a breathing noise shut off, then the breathing tube was removed. Tesla took a deep breath, almost in panic, "I hate life support." he managed to say.
Matt started laughing, then everyone began laughing. Tesla laid their in utter confusion, trying to make sense of the blurry world, "I can't see," said Tesla, "Where's my goggles?"
He felt his precious goggles been placed around his head, once the lens covered his eyes he saw it was Ash who put them on. The world was so clear that Tesla cross-eyed for a split second, "Oh thank you," said Tesla, "I would've panicked if they were gone."
"What happened to that box of eye goggles you stole from my house several years back?" Mark asked.
"Same place where I kept your Pokémon," said Tesla, "We'll worry about that later."
"How you're feeling Tesla?" asked the doctor.
Tesla didn't noticed him until he spoke, the doctor's hair was white yet it was a familiar face. He knew who he was.
"I feel like someone literally stabbed me in the back and rearranged my insides, everything either hurts or doesn't feel like moving," Tesla then let out a smile, "It's good to see you again Dr. Rosenberg, it's been years."
Dr. Rosenberg chuckled, "Great to see you too Tesla."
"You two know each other?" Mark asked.
"Dr. Rosenberg has been Irvin's personal doctor during the later years of his life," said Matt, "He's also have experience treating Pokémon."
"You wanna go over what we found when we fixed you up?" Dr. Rosenberg asked.
"Sure." Tesla muttered.
Dr. Rosenberg picked up some files and pulled out a couple of black sheets, then placed them on the glowing lightboard. They both revealed two scans of a Pokémon's chest and abdomen each, "This is what we found," he pointed to the chest X Ray, "You've broken this rib here, we managed to fix it as well as your punctured lung. It should be a while before they'll heal completely."
"When was this?"
"About a week ago."
That didn't faze Tesla, "I missed a week?"
"You were out cold," said Kissinger, "I come in to see you once a day, hoping that you would wake up."
"Thankfully I didn't." Tesla chuckled.
"But we found something else," continued Dr. Rosenberg, "Not the previous injuries you had, and the osteoarthritis of course."
The doctor pointed to the other X Ray, "We discovered you had cancer."
The room went silent for a moment, "Cancer?" Ash asked in shock.
"It had progressed a lot," said Dr. Rosenberg, "But it didn't spread beyond the abdominal cavity."
"I'm not surprised," said Tesla, "I knew I was a goner anyway."
"Well, we managed to cure it. We've injected nanobots into your bloodstream and it destroyed the cancer cells, right now they're patrolling your system in search for any problems to treat."
Ash breathed a sigh of relief, "That's relieving."
"We also extracted all of your failed cells out of your system," said Dr. Rosenberg, "Making you biologically young again, like Ash's Pikachu here."
"Pikachu." Pikachu had to add.
"You cured my cancer and old age?" Tesla asked.
"Yes we did." said Dr. Rosenberg.
Tesla was surprised he didn't feel thrilled or anything, he thought for a moment why until he remembered how he was made. The experience he had when he was young, it damaged him beyond repair. The thought reminded him of something, "Did you fix everything?"
"Yeah," said Dr. Rosenberg, "We got everything, we didn't miss anything at all."
"However," Tesla placed a finger on his temple, "The brain can live for so long that it will eventually degrade, sooner or later my mind will deteriorate to a point where I just lose all my memories. And even if you fix that, all the memory storage in my brain will max out. That can be a very bad situation in my case. But hey, let's be fair. I have a few hundred years before I can worry about that stuff, you did all you can for now. So when I'm ready to check out of the hospital."
"It's gonna be a while," said Dr. Rosenberg, "Probably another few days."
"So what are you going to do when you get out of the hospital Tesla?" Ash asked.
"Leave this island for good," said Tesla, "I'll probably travel around the world, see what there's to see, and do what can be done, until someone or something comes along and snuffs my life out. That's the plan at the moment."
"I do know of one of Irvin's relatives living somewhere in Unova," said Matt, "He's a professor in researching Pokémon, he well associated with Irvin and he lives near a few groups of Pikachus?"
"Pikachus in Unova?" Tesla asked
"Not ordinary Pikachus, they could be directly descended from you."
Tesla thought about that for a moment, "Well, since the family from the life stolen from me is long gone, I might investigate Irvin's relative. Where does he live?"
"Somewhere in a town that bare the family name."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Ash's Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and landed on the bed, he crawled up to Tesla and stood on his hind legs, "Hey Pikachu," said Tesla, "Come closer?"
"Pika?" Pikachu asked as he stepped within arms reach.
Tesla placed his hands on Pikachu's cheeks, they lit up in a bright white bright flash and buzzed for a few seconds. When Tesla let's go, Pikachu stumbled backwards and placed a hand on his head, "Pikachu." he said, stunned by what just happened.
The old Pikachu felt his energy returned in one go, the world just seemed better now, "Oh that feels much better!" he exclaimed.
"What did you just do?" Ash asked as he picked up Pikachu.
"I took a little bit of Pikachu's electricity," said Tesla, "Kind of a special ability of mind. Your Pikachu will be fine, but he may have some weird dreams tonight."
Pikachu shook the dizziness out of his head, then blinked a couple of times, "Pika." he said in a daze.
"That should reduce the recovery time," added Tesla, "Now I'm in the mood for some peanut butter, do you guys have any?"
TO BE CONTINUED...