Update: realizing that since none of the telescope tables were in my test database however the artisan command was acting like they were, I switched to my normal db connection and did
php artisan migrate:rollback
Rolling back: 2018_08_08_100000_create_telescope_entries_table
Rolled back: 2018_08_08_100000_create_telescope_entries_table
Then I reran my migrate command on the test database and it worked!
php artisan migrate:fresh --database=mysql_testing
I am unclear why it worked and the results afterward because the telescope tables ARE still in the main database after I ran my second command but not in my testing database.
My conclusion is that considering there are no specific create_telescope_migrations files underneath the migration folder for the user, in the background on any php migrate that file gets run if it hasn't and gets created to the main database even if I am specifying a database to override. Is this a bug or expected behavior?
UPDATE: After spending some time away from my computer, the telescope tables have appeared in my testing database.