A/N: Yes indeed, a new chapter has been posted for Carry On. Now, you must be asking; why the long wait? To be honest, I lost my drive for a bit. coupled with school and work, I just didn't make time to write. Hell, this chapter didn't even get finished until the end of last month. But, Now, I've got a system set up! Chapters will be posted based on what chapter I'm currently writing. If I'm at least two chapters ahead of the next chapter, then it will be posted. Now, on to reviews.
: Thanks for the compliment. and yes, there will be sequels. They will follow the same path as the games, starting with Kanto and ending with whatever region Pokemon comes up with.
Mr. 001: When I first read your review, I had no idea who Booker DeWitt was, as I hadn't played Bioshock infinite. Now I see why you think that. In fact, it's inspired one of chapters later in the story.
Soooo, rambling over. ON WITH THE SHOW!
Disclaimer: John Marros does not, nor will he ever own Pokemon. the franchise and characters belong to the Pokemon Company, Game Freak and Nintendo.
When I saw the sign for Pallet town, I was expecting a rural town where the only important buildings were Samuel's research lab and a post office. Boy, was I wrong. As soon as we passed the welcome sign, I got an eye-full of that idyllic 50's main street you saw in the movies. Going down the right side of the street, I saw a drug store, a barber shop and a diner. I swear, if I didn't know I was on Earth P, I would have thought I was in frickin' Twilight Zone. Fortunately, the Riolu sitting in my lap confirmed it was the former, rather than the latter.
"So, this is Pallet town," I started. I saw Samuel nod his head. "Wasn't what I was expecting."
"What were you expecting lad?" Samuel asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but was immediately shut up. I didn't know what I was expecting. My basis for Pallet Town and the rest of the Pokemon world was based on the games.
"I don't really know," I replied. "I guess I'd say more rural town than suburbia." Samuel chuckled at my guess.
"If you had come here three years ago, you would have been correct." he said.
"So, what turned it from Smallville to Pleasantville?" I asked. Samuel's smile turned upside down at that question.
"It was already planned about five years ago," he started, solemnly. "But, what actually prompted the town's kick-start to what it is now, was the need for a police force." I could tell from his voice that something bad had happened, so I left it at that. The pain killers Dr. Foley gave me were starting to kick in. How did I know? One minute everything was clear and the next the colors were blurring. I took this as a sign to get a little sleep before getting to Samuel's lab.
After a few moments, I drifted off to a nap. Unfortunately, it wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped it would have. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep, but out of nowhere, I was treated to a headache so massive that it felt like Godzilla was stomping on my skull. What added a touch of weird were these vision I was having. They weren't visions of things to come, more things that had come to pass. They looked like someone had put on a video cassette and set it on high speed, so it was all a blur. Eventually, it slowed down enough for me to see what was going on. What I saw definitely shocked me.
The vision slowed down to a scene in what looked like a play room. I had no idea where it was, but I had a feeling it was supposed to be familiar. Out of nowhere, I hear a banging sound. I turned around and saw, well... me. It was me at age four, maybe five. He was beating on a drum in an erratic rhythm. By the look on his little face, he didn't really have a care in the world.
"Daniel?" I turned around again and saw a young woman in her mid-20's standing in the doorway. "You have people who want to see you." I turned back to the younger version of me, who had stopped beating on the drum.
"Okay, Leona," he said. He got up from where he was sitting and ran to Leona. The room around me faded away and revealed a living room. Judging by the crown molding and paint scheme, it was the same building. In the middle of the room was a small coffee table. On one side of the table, the younger me was sitting on a couch staring at a young couple sitting on the other side of the table.
"Hey there, little one," the woman said. She seemed to be in her mid to late twenties. By her attire, she was a business woman of some sort. The man next to her, not so much. He was nicely dressed, but there was something about him that shouted 'I don't wear this on a daily basis'. The younger me kind of shied away from the couple. The man got off the couch and knelt down to get to eye level of the young me.
"Can you look at me for a moment?" the man asked. Hesitantly, the younger me looked at the man's face. His was young, but there was no malice in his features. This pulled younger me out of his shell enough to not shy away from them. "My name is Nathan. The woman next to me is my wife, Marni." the young me looked at Nathan and then to Marni, then back to Nathan. "We're the Kellen's. It's nice to meet you Daniel." Nathan said this as he held out his hand.
"Daniel, Wake up!" I was brought back to reality by Samuel shaking me awake.
"Huh, what?" I said as my eyes opened up. The jeep had stopped and we were parked in a garage. "Oh. We're here?" Samuel nodded. After that, he exited the jeep and walked to a side door in the garage. I took that as my cue to get out of the jeep as well. I reached down to wake up Riolu, who was a little irritated at me for waking him up. I smiled a bit.
"We're here buddy," I said to him. He looked up at me with groggy eyes and nodded. I then reached back and felt for my backpack. After a few seconds, I got a hold of the top handle and pulled it up to the front. Using my broken arm, I carefully opened the passenger door. Stepping out of the jeep, I left the door open for Riolu, who jumped out as well. Strapping the pack to my good shoulder, I walked towards the door Samuel went through. I stopped right in front of it, thinking things over for a second. This was a second chance in a way. A way to get my life in order. My only fear was that I was going to fuck it up like my last life. I shook my head of those thoughts and reached for the door handle. As I grabbed it, I thought about those vision I had on the jeep. While doing so, it quoted a Stone Sour song.
"Tell me who I am," After I said that, I dropped all my thoughts at the moment and entered the building.
The inside wasn't much, at least the living area wasn't. The door in the garage lead to the kitchen, like most garage doors did. Beyond the kitchen was a decently sized living area. It had a black leather couch, coffee table in front of it and a 70' LED flat screen mounted on the wall across from the couch. Like I said, it wasn't much. Then again, Samuel probably had it for any guests he had over. Of course, my doped out mind wasn't thinking about that at the time. It saw the couch and that was all she wrote.
"Thank you, Jesus!" I exclaimed. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and jumped onto it like I would my bed. Unfortunately, I completely forgot about my ribs and that's when I felt the pain. "Ah, fuck! Hey Samuel?"
"What is it lad?" Samuel asked back.
"Where are the pain killers Dr. Foley prescribed?" I asked. There was a silence as Samuel was probably thinking about what I asked.
"Did you check you left pocket?" he asked. I set my hand over my pocket and felt an unnatural bulge. I dug into the pocket and found an orange bottle labeled with my name and the name of the medicine. The name of the medicine was some undecipherable word that had too many syllables to pronounce. I scanned the instructions.
"May cause drowsiness," I muttered. "Take two every eight hours if needed." I shrugged and put it in my bag for later. After a moment, the pain subsided and was able to relax. I rest my head on the arm rest and closed my eyes. I didn't have any vision for this nap, just darkness. I didn't think much of it, other than the fact that Giratina could come from anywhere and scare the living bejesus out of me.
'Damn right, son,' I heard a voice say. It made my subconscious-self jump a little when I heard it. I look behind me and see Giratina in her origin forme. I couldn't tell because of the face mask, but I think she was smiling.
"Jesus, woman!" I exclaimed. "Did you have to do that?" When I said that, a bright light engulfed the Renegade Pokemon. When it died down, a pale blonde girl, roughly the same age as me stood in front of me. She was wearing a red and black striped dress that hugged her body, six inch stiletto shoes, and elbow length gloves. Around her neck, there was a gold micro-chain with what I believe was a piece of the Griseous Orb hanging a cross her chest. She then smirked at me, her hand on her hip.
"I couldn't resist," She replied. "You are so easy to mess with." I just scowled at her.
"Uh huh," I started. "Well, that's all fine and dandy, but could you please get out of my dreams?" Giratina shook her head.
"No can do," She replied. "I'm hear as an escort." Me being… well, me, I knew there were two definitions of the word 'escort'. Guess which one I was thinking of?
"Geez, you don't need to sell your body, 'Tina," I said. "You're a legendary, and should be be-." I was cut off by Giratina grabbing a hold of my neck and lifting me off the ground. I could feel her glare digging into me like daggers. Seriously, I could feel something digging into my skin.
"I'm here to escort you to the sacred Hall of Origins," She said. She then released my neck and let me fall to the floor, gasping for air. "And if you ever call me 'Tina again, I'll ensure you fall into a ten-year coma." I really didn't care what she said after her escort explanation, cause, in all honesty, have been through worse. I had just died not too long ago, so anything she could come up with would probably pale in comparison. I cleared my throat the best I could, but having your windpipe compressed makes it pretty difficult.
"So, what are you gonna do?" I wheezed. "Transport me from Oak's lab. I'd need to explain that one later." Giratina rolled her eyes at me, as if I had said something stupid.
"Actually, it'll be a transport of consciousness," She said. "In actuality, you're still napping on that couch." I nodded, as if I understood.
"Well, lead the way." I said, finally able to talk after my choke out. Giratina nodded and then a bright light surrounded us. When it died down, we were standing in the middle of a great hall, similar to that in Harry Potter. Except the pillars were made of gold, rather than stone and the floor was tiled glass over nothingness. Next to me, Giratina walked away, leaving me in awe of the hall. I was so entranced that I didn't notice someone tugging on the tail of my shirt.
"Excuse me, mister," I was snapped back to reality, or whatever in-between I was in and jumped at the sound of a child's voice. I turned around and standing behind me was a girl about the age of ten. She was wearing a bright pink Victorian child's dress, her red hair pulled back in a French braid.
"Can I help you?" I asked. She looked at me with curious eyes.
"Who are you?" She asked. I smiled at how cute she was acting.
"My name is Daniel," I replied. "And who are you?" She smiled at me.
"I'm Mew," She said. "It's nice to meet you, Daniel!" If any other person had heard what I heard, they would have been floored. Me, well, I've died, and personally talked to Arceus. So, seeing a legendary, even one in human form, wasn't new. I smiled at her.
"It's nice to meet you," I said. "Do all of you legends have human form?" Mew nodded her head excitedly.
"Yep!" She replied. "Some time after humans were created, Arceus gave us, including himself, the ability to transform into a human that matches our personality."
"Hmm," I hummed. "So, your personality closely resembled that of a girl of ten?" her sweet face then shifted into an angry glare.
"Hmph," she scoffed. "You're one to talk, you look like an adult slob." I looked down at what I was wearing and shrugged.
"Well, not all of us can be as elegant as the legendaries." I said. This got her attention fast.
"Are you not a legendary?" She asked. I shook my head… and then she started to freak. "AHHHH! There's a human in the hall, a human in the hall!" I had to cover my ears when she yelled. For a ten-year-old, she had a set of lungs on her.
"Mew!" we both turned around to see Arceus and Giratina standing at the end of the hall. "Leave our guest alone, I had him brought here to speak with him." Mew bowed her head.
"Yes, Father," She replied. She then glowed, transforming into her true form and left me in the same room as both the Alpha and Renegade Pokemon. I started chuckling.
"Well, she sure is a hyper little Pokemon," I said. "Have you thought about having her cut back on her sugar intake?" Arceus then lifted me off the ground, and psychically pulled me towards him. He was glaring at me, like I had said something wrong. I was slightly shaking in fear, praying to my God that I wouldn't die again so soon. His face then shifted to neutral.
"It took us nearly a millennia to cut her down to only four cups of sugar a day," he said with a smirk. I sighed in relief. He gently set me down on my feet. "Now, I'm sure you have some more questions, so ask way." I nodded.
"I'll start with a simple one," I said. "Was me getting the snot out off by a Mankey and its trainer just dealt into my hand called life, or am I just winging it?" Arceus lightly chuckled at my question.
"It's a little of both," he replied. "When I brought you to our universe, your destiny was rewritten. But, reaching that destiny is a path that only you can make." I nodded again.
"So, being in that spot was destiny," I started. "And the events that unfolded was just fate dealing me a lousy hand?" Arceus nodded. "You need to get a new dealer."
"Everyone has hardships, this was just one of yours." Arceus said.
"Alright, second question," I said. "What was with that weird vision I had earlier?" Arceus sighed.
"I had anticipated this question," he replied. I raised an eyebrow at his answer. "To put it bluntly, they are your memories." Remember how I said there wasn't much to floor me now? This was one of those rare moments. When he said that, I felt my face pale.
"My memories?" I asked weakly. Arceus nodded.
"When my brother and I created our protocol, which we call transference, we had to take into account the curiosity of humans, especially ones in law enforcement." He explained. "To ensure no red flags, our solution was to have a version of every person living in each universe. However, for transference to actually occur, your counterpart would have had to die within a two years of your death. As such, you took his body and now his memories are starting to meld with your true memoires" I almost bugged out after that… scratch that. I bugged waaaay out.
"Wait a minute!" I shouted. "You mean to tell me that I'm wearing the meat suit of the other dead me? Why not tell me I'm a zombie and let roam the earth, infecting everyone with my plague." Arceus then slammed the bottom of his cane onto the glass floor.
"Silence!" he shouted. That got me to shut up real quick. Arceus then regained his composure. "It's a little more complicated than that." Yes, you are using the physical body of your counterpart. No, you aren't a zombie. They aren't real. What happens is, in transference, I remove any ailments, and whatever caused their deaths. In this case, your counterpart died of a brain aneurysm. I removed it and restored it to a normal status. Afterwards, I started you on your destined path." I nodded. I understood it partially, but that wasn't my biggest concern.
"Fair enough," I said. "And now for my final question and then a request. Where's my stuff?" Arceus pointed at one of the side walls, which disappeared to reveal my stuff, neatly stacked and packaged.
"I've been true to my word," Arceus said. "I've kept your personal belongings safe. However, you won't be able to retrieve them until your new memories meld with your old ones and coexist in harmony."
"And we get to my request," I said. "Is there any way we can speed up the meld. I saw my life flash before my eyes once, and I really don't wanna go through it again." Arceus shook his head.
"I'm afraid not," He said. "Speeding the meld in any way would result in psychosis. The good news is, it only happens when the brain is most active." I nodded.
"So, when I sleep?" I asked.
"Correct," He replied. "I don't truly understand the brain, but I've noticed the same result in all Transference subjects."
"So, how long does it take for the meld to complete?" I asked.
"It varies," Arceus said. "But, I'm predicting less than a week for you. Did this conversation clear anything up?" I nodded.
"Let's see if I can break it down," I said. "Everyone has a set destiny, no matter what universe they're in, I'm wearing the meat suit belonging to the other me and now his memories are melding with mine. Did I forget anything?" Arceus and Giratina chuckled.
"You're about to be woken up." They both said in unison. I was about to say something, but I felt a tug on my mid-section, similar to the recoil of a bungee cord. The tug pulled me away from the Hall of Origins and back into the darkness.
"Daniel, wake up!" I awoke with a start. I saw Samuel standing over me, Riolu on his shoulder.
"How long was I out?" I drowsily asked. Samuel smiled at my sense of time.
"I'd say about three hours," Samuel replied. "Though, I don't blame you. What you've been through today, plus the side effect of your pain medicine, would be enough to put a Primeape to sleep for a week." I laughed at the comparison Samuel made, only to be met with a sharp stab of pain from my ribs. I was about to ask if he had a spare bed I could lie down on, but my stomach had other plans. Before I could utter one syllable, a not so subtle gurgling sound was heard from my gut. I laughed sheepishly.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to get something to eat," I said. "Considering I haven't eaten anything yet today." I then smelled an enticing aroma coming from the kitchen. I carefully get up from the couch and make my way to the universal food room. From the doorway, I saw an under middle-aged woman standing in front of the stove. She seemed to be wearing a pink shirt, which complimented her medium-long length reddish-brown hair, and a blue skirt. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail, most likely to keep it from getting in her face.
"Is your guest finally up, Samuel?" She asked in a pitch similar to a teenager's.
"Yeah, I am," I replied. I must have startled her, because she jumped at the sound of my voice. When she turned around, I was greeted with a cooking spoon thrown at my face. "OWW!" She then put her hand over her mouth in shock.
"I'm so sorry," She said. I didn't say anything, as the spoon had hit me square in the mouth. "You scared me, and it was just reflex." I let out a muffled chuckle.
"It's alright," I said. "I probably would have done the same thing."
"Is everything alright," `1 heard Samuel shout.
"Everything's fine," The woman said. "My reflexes got the best of me." Samuel walked into the kitchen to see me holding my mouth, and the woman standing over me. He was about to ask what happened, when he saw the spoon lying at my feet.
"May I have a glass of water?" I asked. I saw Samuel point to one of the cabinets. I walked over to it and found it full of glasses. I pulled one and walked over to the sink. After filling half way, I lifted it to my mouth and sipped some of its contents. I swished the water around in my mouth before spitting it into the sink. As it went down the drain, I saw streaks of red in the clear liquid. I turned around to the two older adults. "All better." Samuel laughed.
"I'd hope so," Samuel said. "You've been through quite a bit over the day. Anyway, this a friend of mine, Delia Ketchum." I ignored my info bank, as it was telling me I knew who this person was. Instead, I just smiled.
"It's nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Daniel Kellen."
"Well, it's nice to meet you too," Delia replied.
"Well, now that we've gotten introductions out of the way," Samuel started. "Let's get dinner underway. Tracey! Dinner's ready!" My ears were ringing slightly. I had never heard a human yell so loudly. Delia merely giggled. This was definitely going to be an interesting dinner.
A/N: So, there it is. If you like it, you can follow it or favorite it. If you don't like it, go find another story to read. If you have any criticism you wish to make known, write it in a review. I'm open to any and all criticisms (Except flames). It helps me become a better writer and makes it easier for you to read my story. This goes for all my stories. If you're waiting for an update for Unfinished, I've got some bad news. Due to my focus on Carry On, I will not be writing for Unfinshed, until I reach that point in the Carry On series. Be on the lookout for a Carry On novella in the future, as that marks when Unfinished will begin updating. I hate to disappoint, but this is my decision. I know I'll probably lose some readers for it, but oh well.
Until Next Round,
John Marros