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Chapter XXVI

For the next 11 days, Ash and Pikachu visited Tesla at the hospital. Most of the time Tesla was sleeping, but that didn't really matter. Nurse Joy told him that Tesla was the most unusual Pokémon she ever met. When provided Pokémon food, he flatly rejected it. He insisted on some fruits and a bit of meat, saying that he needed the protein. Even though he speaks human language, he still rarely spoke to anyone. Not even Dr. Rosenberg. He never watched the TV, but only read some books and newspapers. This kind of behavior, yet complex and unusual for Pokémon, was not a surprise, since Tesla was an intellectual.

Nurse Joy went on and said that on some days he's grumpy, and other days he let's out a smile but says nothing. She asked him one occasion why he doesn't talk, "Old habits" was all he said. The other doctors and nurses often tease him, like when Nurse Joy helped him go to the bathroom they sneak over to his bed and removed the small peanut butter jars Ash brings him from underneath the pillow or bed. When he comes back, he quickly discovered right away they were missing. They were hoping in getting him to talk, maybe even rage, but they only managed to get him to groan. His eyes said it all though, which was good enough.

Around one morning, Mark managed to get the call that Tesla was going to be checked out of the hospital, and was asked if he can pick him up. He agreed, so he and Ash hopped into the old pickup truck and drove to the hospital and walked over to Tesla's room, they saw the old Pikachu sitting on his bed waiting for them. A few layers of gauze was wrapped around Tesla to cover the surgical stitches around, some fur on his hands and chest were shaved off to make way for the surgery. The old Pikachu didn't seemed to notice, "About time." Tesla said with a smile.

"You're excited?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika?" added Pikachu.

"Not really, but I'm eager to get out of here."

"I hope you do okay Tesla." said Nurse Joy.

"I will if a thousand people doesn't say that statement. By the way, how much does the medical bills cost?"

"The money Irvin left you for the procedures covered most of it, and fellow fans managed to cover the rest. They're so generous that they'll continue to donate money to you for the next few years."

"Ahh, a good pension is what I need."

"You're ready to go?" Mark asked.

"I'm pretty much ready, just please don't announce it on the way out."

Ash reached out to pick up Tesla, but he hesitated a bit, "I don't bite Ash," said Tesla, "But I do shock, I don't think rubber gloves will help you as much as they did for your Pikachu."

Ash forgotten that Tesla knew a lot about him, holding that thought he picked up Tesla off the bed and carried him in his arms, "There we go, that's the spirit. Please hold on tight, I do not wish to fall."

"I won't drop you." said Ash.

He increased his grip around Tesla and followed Mark out of the hospital, they slipped out a side entrance just to avoid the major crowds. With the coast clear, the group got into Mark's pick up truck and they drove back to the house. Ash looked out the window and saw the city was calm again. No more large crowds, no more protests. Everyone went back to their daily tasks and things went back to normal, as if it never happened. The large medical tents were still around though, but they're clearing up as they send treated Pokémon home.

"When are you going to leave Faraday Island, Ash?" Tesla asked.

"Soon," said Ash, "Really soon."

"Okay, this is what I wanna do. I want to come with you, I stirred up enough trouble on this island already. Even though it's my long time home, it harbors a lot of memories from the Westinghouse days. I wanna move on, and I need your help with that Ash."

"Sure, I'll take you with me."

"Pikachu!" said Pikachu.

"Thanks," said Tesla, "But there's a few things we need to be clear on, either when I travel with you or brush by on occasion."

"What would that be, Tesla?"

"I wanna be treated as a person and not just a Pokémon, I've reached a mental level where I can speak my mind with other human beings. Second, I'm not your Pokémon and your not my trainer. I will not fight your battles in either skirmish or major ones, that's a life dead and buried. Third, by the time we get to wherever you're going, we depart. But I'll stay close behind and be somewhere, since I owe you one."

"Can you teach my Pikachu some of your moves?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"Sure, I'll might teach your Pikachu some moves of mine. Though the energy demand might drain your Pikachu's strength, it took a lot of energy to shock you through the ground since the earth likes to resist."

"My Pikachu's strong, he defeated a Raichu and some legendary Pokémon."

"Had he ever defeated an opponent in one blow?"

"A few times."

"Pikachu." Pikachu bragged.

Tesla chuckled, "I've defeated a few dozen legendary Pokémon during my time, and even knock Raichus out cold. You know how?"

"What?"

"My electric attacks have more amperage to them, what's very interesting is that electric attacks from an electric-type Pokémon may be as powerful as 100,000 Volts yet have little to no Amps. My electric attacks have amperage to them, you can tell by the nature of my electricity. It only takes either 200 or 300 milli amps to kill a human being, a regular or even a legendary electric-type Pokémon can only unleash 50 milliamps. I, if I choose to, can unleash 500 milli amps at around 1 million Volts. Enough to obliterate most matter, its quite powerful."

"Like the tree you destroyed."

"You're still scared of that?"

"No."

"It usually takes a considerable amount of effort for an electric-type Pokémon to control the amount of electricity they put out, and I mean a lot of effort. There's always a delay if a Thunderbolt is unleashed for example. I managed to master my own powers that I can unleash a Thunderbolt effortlessly, absolutely no warning. Irvin didn't taught me that, I taught myself."

Ash remembered how Tesla unleashed his electric attacks in a split second, he didn't even move at times when unleashing them. Tesla's strength was enormous, Ash wondered if he can get Pikachu in a similar level as Tesla.

"Just thinking back over the years," continued Tesla, "I'd become so strong that it wasn't about battling anymore. I've learned some things that a Pokémon should never learn, since it scars them for life?"

"Learn what?"

Tesla looked up at Ash, "That you can kill another living being."

That sent a shiver up Ash's spine.

"Not surprised there," muttered Mark, "When's the first time you ever killed someone?"

"Me and Irvin were being chased by some guy 60 years ago," said Tesla, "It got to a point where the guy cornered us to some sort of basin at a mountain range, me and Irvin had no idea what the guy wanted but I can tell you that I saw evil in his eyes. Just as he was going to shoot us with his gun, I unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt my body can ever produce. The attack caused the guy to explode in a brilliant shower of gore confetti."

"Pika." muttered Pikachu, sounding a bit scared.

"As I stared at the puddle of fried red and brown globs that was once a man, I felt no emotion. No empathy, no sympathy, no remorse. Just nothing, but satisfaction. Believe me, I have no regrets. Irvin wasn't surprised at my power, since he sampled it himself. He gave me a big hug and praised me for my strength, I'm surprised Irvin didn't have any nightmares or anything.

"I occasionally think back to that day and questioned my own aura. I saved lives, yet I ended others. Their alignment to either good or evil didn't matter, what matters is that they're simply people or Pokémon. The best answer I managed to come up with was that my aura sits in the middle, I'm neither good nor evil, but both.

"It made sense, since I at times look on and see someone either in trouble or in need of help. I just walked away, I had no urge to help or to make the situation worse. As I struggle to make sense of my morality, I lost it when Westinghouse died and I was drove into this mess. I can't believe I'm a 107 years old and I lost all sense on what's right and wrong, because I've seen so many cultures that just deteriorated my common sense. Not a good situation to be in.

Ash placed a hand on Tesla's head, "Maybe I can help you find that again."

"That takes time Ash," said Tesla, "It'll start once I get off this island. Oh, since you have your hand there, can you scratch that area."

Ash agreed and started scratching the back of Tesla's head, he closed his eyes and shown a smile as Ash scratched around the back of his neck with his fingernails, "That's good," said Tesla, "Oh yeah, yeah, that's the spot. Ooh, yes."

Tesla laid down on his belly as Ash scratched the top portion of the old Pikachu's back, "That's the spot," said Tesla, "That's the spot! You do it better than my foot, way better!"

"Pikachu." Pikachu sounded irritated.

"Your Pikachu sounds like he's getting jealous, Ash." said Mark.

"Emolga." Emolga added.

"Trust me," said Tesla, "The older you get, the better it feels."

That made Pikachu raised an eyebrow, Ash tried his best not to laugh but wound up letting out a chuckle, "Had it been a while?" Ash asked.

"A long while." the old Pikachu answered.

Mark pulled up on the driveway of his house and into the garage, he then killed the engine and the group heads inside the living room. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder as he sat Tesla on the couch, Emolga also climbed on the couch and sat next to him, "Now what do we do?" Mark asked.

"Nothing," said Tesla as he grabbed the remote, "We do nothing at all."

Tesla turned on the TV and kicked back to relax, "I see you watch the news like your Grandpa," he said, "What a family tradition."

Without warning, one of Ash's Poké balls burst open and Oshawott materialized on the couch. Before Ash could react, he was stopped when he saw Oshawott approaching Emolga, "Oshawott." he said softly, with hearts in his eyes.

Oh not again! Ash thought.

Emolga watched in curiosity as Oshawott did a little dance, which was quite good. Ash noticed that Emolga was taking interest, which was unusual since all the Pokémon Oshawott fell in love with backs away with an uneasy smirk, "Oh this might be interesting." said Mark.

"Oshawott!" Oshawott finished with a tune, holding an arm up in the air for a pose.

Emolga sat there for a moment and nodded, obviously impressed, "Emolga." she said.

"Oshawott?" Oshawott asked.

She got up on to her feet, grabbed Oshawott around the waist, and gave him a big kiss a while holding him in a romantic manner. The kissed lasted for a few seconds before Emolga let's go, dropping Oshawott on the couch, "Oshawott." he smiled, satisfied that his "love" was returned.

"Emolga." Emolga laughed as she sat back down.

"Looks like Emolga's figuring out the girl role quite well," laughed Tesla, "Maybe she'll date someone soon."

Emolga shook her head, "Emolga."

"Okay then. But if you're in need of company," Tesla pointed to Oshawott, "You know where to get it."

Ash pulled out Oshawott's Poké ball and recalled his Pokémon, he then sat on the couch and tried to relax. Suddenly something crossed his mind, "Are we forgetting something?"

"You know what," said Mark, "I think we did, I'm going out to fetch a few things I'll be right back."

"Emolga!" Emolga cried.

"I'll be back Emolga," said Mark, "Ash, please make sure she doesn't leave this house. Every time I leave with her here, she follows me and she's very good in tracking me down."

"I'll keep an eye on her for you." said Ash.

"Thanks, I'll be back in a few hours."

When Mark left, Ash propped his feet on the table as Pikachu crawled on his lap, staring at the TV screen before him.

. . .

Within minutes, Ash and Pikachu fell asleep on the couch. Once he was sure they were sleeping, Tesla got up and raid the kitchen pantry. He came back to the living room with a jar of peanut butter and a spoon, Tesla sat back on the couch and begin flipping through several channels. He found nothing interesting on at the moment.

He looked at Emolga and saw she was halfway between awake and sleep, her eyes were struggling to keep open as she tried to focus watching TV. Tesla tapped her on the shoulder, getting her attention, "Look."

Tesla pointed towards Ash, Emolga saw he was sleeping on the couch sitting up. His head was cocked back and rest on the couch, with his mouth slightly open. Pikachu was also out cold, cuddled right on Ash's lap snoring slightly, "Well this is getting boring," whispered Tesla, "Watch this, you might learn something."

"Emolga." Emolga whispered as she nod her head.

Tesla crawled over to Ash and picked up Pikachu with all of his strength, Emolga snickered as Tesla brought Pikachu up on top of the couch and rest him straight on Ash's forehead. He positioned Pikachu so that his groin was resting on Ash's nose, once he made sure he wouldn't fall off Tesla crawled back to his spot and sat down like nothing even happened, "I hope this form of tea bagging catches on." Tesla seriously said.

"Emolga Emo Emo Emolga." Emolga snickered, saying that was the most funniest prank she had seen yet.

"Yeah," Tesla bragged, "I'm a pro at this stuff, I may be a century old Pikachu from another time but I'm an expert on messing with people's minds. I'm still a Pokémon."

Emolga wrapped an arm around Tesla's shoulders, "Emolga."

"Don't you get cute on me," said Tesla, "Remember, I'm old enough to be your great-great grandfather. So don't you think about doing any funny business with me."

"Emolga." Emolga pouted, saying she just wants some fun. She was obviously not picky about who to date, maybe she doesn't even know what the concept was yet.

"You'll get your fun, you can be sure of that."

. . .

When Cabot returned home, he saw a few numbers on the answering machine. He pressed the play button and sat back, "Hey Cab," said his boss, "I saw everything on what happened on the news, and your performance. You did good kid, call back as soon as you get this message."

Cabot grabbed the phone and dialed his boss' number, "Hello?"

"Hey Jared, it's Cabot."

"The last trainer who ever go up against Tesla Westinghouse," Jared stated, "Or at least officially."

"You wanted me to call, what is it?"

"You've been promoted, you're getting a higher pay and some new responsibilities. People are coming here by the storm, wanting to battle you."

Cabot chuckled, "I need to get some new Pokémon before I battle anyone first."

"I'll get you some," said Jared, "Fresh from the egg maybe, that way you can add in your own expertise to these Pokémon."

"Thanks Jared, I owe you one."

"Come by tomorrow morning, we have so much to discuss."

"Bye, Jared."

"Bye."

Cabot hanged up the phone and thought for a second, "Well I'll be damned."

He had achieved some fame for the time being, now he had to hold onto that fame as long as possible. Cabot thought about all the people he would speak with, all the autographs he would have to sign. His parents might be somewhat disappointed or somewhat proud as best, he had yet to hear from them. To the looks of things, he might turn this into a win yet.

TO BE CONTINUED...