A/N: Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and everything in between. Sorry I've been gone so long, but work and writer's block tag-teamed me and beat me into submission. I'll bounce back, but it will take some time.
NOTICE: TIMES ARE CHANGING!
sorry. Don't mean to scare anyone, but after some contemplation, I've decided that Unfinished will begin after DK's vacation to the Kalos Region. please note that time stamps will change, not the events inside.
Ok, rambling over, time to unwrap presents.
Disclaimer: John Marros does not own Pokemon in anyway, but does admit it would be the greatest Christmas gift of all time
So, the last month hasn't been all bad. By the end of my week of arrival, I had helped Delia clear out the guest room, which happens to be the basement. Go figure. Afterwards, She was able to set me up with a job at the bar and grill she owned and ran. She set me up as the bartender, because her last one up and left. It wasn't bad, I got paid… which all went to Delia for rent. Was I broke? Nope. As the song goes 'I get by with a little help of my friends.' On one of the lighter days, I brought Gabriel with me. Delia didn't mind, as long as he didn't bother the customers in any way. Seeing as the Lucario family is pretty smart, all I had to say to Gabriel was to behave himself. A couple of hours in, I could see he was getting bored, so I gave him my Pokedex to play with. Due to the aural link, Gabriel gained my affinity for music. How did I find out? Well, let's just say that Delia wasn't very happy that I turned her house upside down looking for my Pokedex, when Gabriel had it while he was in the back yard, listening to the music I had imported from my old phone. After learning this, I decided to show him my iTunes collection, which I found out that this is where that one dude from Apple came to after he died. After getting him addicted to my music, I started letting Gabriel use my Pokedex when he got bored.
It wasn't long after I had given Gabriel my Pokedex that he had gotten bored again. His boredom ended up disappearing, when he saw an old Grand Piano sitting in the back of the shop. Being the curious Pokémon he was, he went and inspected the grand instrument. I really didn't think much of it. And even if I did, I couldn't do much about it. I was stuck behind a bar and couldn't leave until break. Seeing as he was my responsibility, I watched him from the bar as he lifted the cover of the piano keys. At first, I could hear him play a few random keys, trying to find something that sounded good. An hour passed and a familiar tune caught me ear. I looked over to the piano and saw Gabriel playing Let it Be, by The Beatles, or in this world The Cricketunes. I was pouring someone's drink, and I got so lost in the music, that I didn't notice that I was still pouring. The customer got my attention before the drink over-flowed, allowing me to save the drink. After the song was over, I was put on break, where I questioned Gabriel on where he learned to play piano, and more importantly, that song. He just shrugged. But then a customer came up to the piano and left a five dollar bill on the lid of the piano. He asked if Gabriel could play Piano Man, by Billy Joel. At first, I was going to say no, but then Gabriel started playing the requested song. It was safe to say that Gabriel had a job after that night, which helped me with rent.
During my month living with Delia, my counterpart's memories successfully mixed with mine, allowing me to access his memories. From what I could tell, DKP was a spoiled rich kid. He wasn't very well liked in Nimbasa City, especially when it came to Elesa, the city's Gym Leader. God, he had a rap sheet as high as the Chrysler building. The only reason he hadn't seen any jail time was because he was a minor at the time and his parents made sure that the charges he obtained never stuck. Seeing as I was a bit of a pariah in the southern parts of Unova, I was hesitant about calling up my former roommate. Eventually, I grew the spine I needed to call him. It turns out, 'She' was worried about me. When I told her where I was, she was relieved that I was alright. She then told me that we were over. Since I didn't know her that well, I feigned sadness and asked her if my belongings were still there. She had taken them to an air-conditioned storage. She gave me the number to the storage and the unit number. Within a few hours, I had arranged for my stuff to be sent over to Samuel's lab.
When they arrived, I raised my eyebrow at the 'one' cardboard box that was sitting in the lab. I opened up the box and nearly lost my shit, when I saw all of my stuff, only Barbie-doll sized. I was scared that my counterpart only collected replicas of my instruments, but Samuel set me straight. He told me that when Poke-balls became easier to carry with their minimizing function, someone reversed engineered the function to operate on other things, and thus Silph Co. hired him to design the minimizer; a device that reduced items to a smaller size. To say that it was a success was an understatement. They even sent a few prototypes to Samuel. Anyway, after sifting through the many books, games and manga I had collected, I found a minimizer. My next step would have been to restore my belongings back to their original size. But, I realized that, as spacious as the basement was, there wasn't enough room to house all of my stuff in full size. Long story short, I now keep all of my larger possessions, besides my guitars and amp, minimized for storage purposes.
Aside from gaining a home, my new memories and re-acquiring my belongings, Samuel decided to give me a sort of going-away present. But, I think he just wanted it off of his hands. The gift turned out to be a Snivy, sent by Prof. Juniper to him for an attitude adjustment and a new home. I'd agree that he needed one. The first time I met the little snake, he slapped me with his vines. When I questioned Samuel about him, Samuel explained that he was abandoned by his original trainer and was extremely hostile towards others. At first, I couldn't get through to the snivy, but Gabriel helped me out. I decided to help on my days off and get him a little more docile, which was working. He officially became mine a few days after his arrival, when I caught him humming If You Only Knew by Shinedown. Though, he was humming that song, I soon found he had an affinity for Avenged Sevenfold. Holding that in mind, I named him Synyster, after the lead guitarist. He was overjoyed to have an actual name, and to be treated as family, rather than a pet or tool.
Two weeks before my journey, Delia took me to get my supplies in Viridian city. I have to say that it was the longest three hours of my life. Delia gave me a list of shops to go to, and at the end, I left with the essentials, such as clothes, cooking supplies, non-perishable groceries, and military-style rations for the times I didn't have time to cook. Among my supplies, I bought some non-essentials, like a black trench coat, three extra pairs of construction style hiking boots, a wristwatch with GPS and small box of guitar strings.
It was the night before my starting point, and Delia had me working over-time. Usually, the shop wasn't this busy. But, tonight just happened to be the finals of the international Pokéathelon, and Kanto was facing off against Unova. The two regional teams were neck and neck in points and were only two events in. I wasn't really paying attention, because this place was as busy as a Buffalo Wild Wings during the World Series in baseball, or the Superbowl in footall, and I was getting slammed for drinks. Gabriel was under the bar, napping from his day of working. Our shift started at noon and by seven, the sports-followers were rolling to watch the game on the projector screen Delia had set up. This was Gabe's cue to stop playing and take a break. When half-time rolled around, she came in. She was wearing a red blouse, with a blue skirt. Around her neck was a red bandana and a small sapphire necklace. Her face, which was similar to an angels, was framed by her chocolate brown hair, which fell in a sort of upside down V shape. Her eyes were as blue as the ocean, if not more so. I was so caught up in her appearance, I realized that I had fallen for this woman.
I took a second to pour another drink, when she came up to the bar. With a closer look, I could see that her eyes were filled with sadness.
"I want a rum and coke," she said. I raised my eyebrow at her. She looked like she couldn't be more than seventeen.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," I replied. "I mean, could probably get in serious trouble for serving to a minor" She started laughing.
"I'm seventeen," she said. "I'm of age." Then it was my turn to start laughing.
"Last time I checked," I started. "The legal drinking age was twenty-one." She raised an eyebrow at me.
"In what region!?" She asked. I had almost blown my cover, thinking that the legal age was 21 like Earth 0. But here, the legal drinking age is sixteen.
"Uh, uh, we-well," I stammered. I eventually stopped trying to talk and just poured her the drink. She grabbed it and gingerly took a sip from it. "So, what's your name?" I asked, trying to strike up a conversation. She set the glass and looked at me.
"I'm May," She replied. I smiled.
"Nice to meet you, May." I said. She nodded. "So, what's your troubles?" She set the glass down, this time half-empty.
"My Boyfriend," She replied. "Well, ex-boyfriend."
"Bad Breakup?" I asked. She nodded.
"You could say that," she replied. By her body language, I could tell she didn't want to talk about it yet.
"Sorry," I said. "I didn't me to pry." She shook her head at that.
"No, its fine," She said. "He was jerk, anyway." I was about say something, but was interrupted by a rather flamboyant sounding voice.
"Yoo-hoo, May?" It said. May then turned around with wide eyes.
"Oh no," She said. "Not him."
"Who?" I asked. She sighed
"Harley," She said. I looked at her and then to the crowd of customers and saw something that I didn't think I could un-see.
Wading through the crowd, was a man… or a really tall woman, I couldn't tell from the bar. He was wearing a green suit that look similar to a cactus, with a green triangular hat sitting on his head of long, curly purple hair. Being so tall, he had a hard time maneuvering around the other customers. Unfortunately, he made it to the bar.
"May, darling," He started as he pulled May into a hug. "I heard what happened with Drew. He's an idiot, I tell ya. Any man would be lucky to have you as their other half." Even though the guy creeped me out, I had to agree with him. May finally pulled away from the oddly dressed man's embrace.
"That was three days ago, Harley," She said. "No matter, I'm done wallowing in sadness and betrayal. If he wants to dump me for the blonde bimbo, the let him go right ahead. I don't care about Drew anymore. This night is dedicated to me, and me only."
"Excellent," Harley exclaimed, while clapping his hands. "And I see you've already started your night of freedom. I'll have a scotch on the rocks." I nodded and prepped his drink.
"You've never been a friend to me before," May said to Harley. "Why start now?" I saw Harley shrugged out of the corner of my eye.
"You just seemed to need a friend," he replied. "From what Solidad told me, you seemed very distraught about the break-up." By this point, he looked to go put a hand on her arm, when he accidently tipped over May's glass. I could hear it shatter, but didn't see.
"Look what you did, buddy!" I said, angry about the loss of glassware. "Do you know how much those glasses cost!?" Harley seemed a little freaked out by my outburst.
"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed. "I promise, I'll pay for it. In fact, I'll buy May a fresh drink. May dear, why don't you find us a table and we can talk more." I could tell that May was skeptical about the whole situation. But, she nodded and left the bar. Harley then turned to me.
"One rum and Coke, coming up," I said. Within a minute, I had the drink ready.
"And one more scotch, please," Harley said. I nodded and turned to grab the bottle of scotch. When I grabbed the bottle, I saw Harley drop something into May's drink. I guess it was a good thing Delia shelled out for the mirror in the bar. I turned back to Harley, who was trying to look innocent, and poured his drink. He went to grab both of the drinks, only for me to grab his arm.
"You've got a lot of spine," I said. "To pull a stunt like that is low." Harley tried to play the innocent card.
"What do you mean?" he asked. I scoffed at his question.
"Don't bullshit me," I replied. "I saw you drop something in May's drink." He started to sweat when I said that. Within seconds, he steeled himself and continued to feign innocence.
"That's a pretty strong accusation," Harley said. "What makes you think I would do such a thing?" I was about to reply, when I shut up and came up with a devious idea.
"If you think I'm lying," I started. "Why don't you have May's drink, and I'll make her a fresh one." He didn't say anything for a moment.
"Now, why would I slip May something?" he asked, dodging the situation. "I've been a friend to her, ever since I got here." I drew in closer to the creep."
"She's vulnerable," I said. "And from what I've heard, she's humiliated you on more than one occasion in the past few years. So, I'm gonna give you two options: take the drink and prove your innocence, or get the hell out of this establishment and never bother May again." I could hear the gears turning in his head. And I had a feeling that he wasn't going to back down.
"Or option three:" Harley replied. "Keep you quiet!" He lunged over the bar, attempting to attack me with a knife. I dodged and he ended up hitting a bottle of whiskey. While he was dazed, I pulled him away from the bottles and clocked him one across the face, causing him to hit the bar. I then grabbed him and pushed him back over the bar. I followed behind him, only to have my leg swept. I hit the ground hard, but wasn't dazed. I heard a chair scape on the floor. When I opened my eyes, I saw a chair hovering over me.
Harley swung the chair down, but missed me by only an inch. I rolled on my front and stood up. Harley threw a punch at me, which hit my jaw. It hurt like hell, but it was weak compared to anything else I've taken before. I looked at Harley, who had a satisfactory smirk on his face. I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and started punching him. When I was done, I threw the creep back and he landed on the projector. I went to the back and picked him up by his shirt again.
"To hell with option three," I said. "You just chose option four: I kick your ass and throw you out!" I dragged Harley to the front door, and threw him out, like yesterday's garbage. I turned to see all eyes on me. And if there's one thing I know, it's that I don't like being stared at. So, I said the only thing that came to mind.
"Wouldn't pay is tab," I said.
"Good riddance," I heard David, the local produce farmer say. "But now we can't see the game!"
"Relax Dad," David's daughter, Kira said. "I'll get it fixed." From what I heard, she was really good with electronics. Hell, she even fixed my amp when it blew out.
"That's fine and dandy," Eddie the Hobo said. "But, we need some entertainment until she gets it fixed. Get to dancing, monkey." Of course, 'Monkey' referred to me.
"One mini-concert, coming up!" I said. "Gabe, wake up! We're entertaining people." Within a minute, Gabriel was full of energy and standing at the piano.
"You got it, boss," Gabriel said. I grabbed my acoustic guitar from the bar and took a spot next to the piano.
"Alright, this is a song by Coheed and Cambria, about the evils that lurk… even among those we call friends." I kicked off the song by knocking on my guitar twice and beginning the rhythm. At the same time, Gabriel started playing the melody on the piano. After the melody and rhythm climax, the lyrics started.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I
Have a story to tell you of one's slow decline
Where a girl yanked on the strings
To break his man's heart
Oh, Lord, I think I deserve a little better that this
I think I've earned it
So I'll just keep humming this song and hope you follow
Turn me over, roll me round'
To find the truth that I don't want found
Oh, don't believe everything you hear
I'm the snake waiting for you, dear
And eventually you'll come to me
I know you will
I looked out towards the customers and saw them getting into the song.
Oh, I know you will
Your lipstick crazy, I make my pass
The drink turns over, the glass smashed
And with the kindness of my smarts, I replace you pleasure
With a friend at the bottom
Turn me over, roll me 'round
To find the truth that I don't' want found
Oh, don't believe everything you hear
I'm the snake waiting for you, dear
And eventually you'll come to me
I know you will
The chord progression changed and the bridge began.
Oh, it's my fate to be your biggest mistake
Oh, I tell you all you wanna hear
Until you sleep
The music returns to its original rhythm, with Gabriel doing a sweep on the piano.
I know you will
Oh, goodnight, oh, goodnight, Fair Lady
Oh,
Turn me over, roll me 'round
To find the truth that I don't' want' found
Oh, don't believe everything you hear
I'm snake waiting for you dear
And eventually you'll come to me
And eventually you'll come to me
Oh, we can agree to disagree
Or maybe that was you then, and now this is me
But eventually you'll come to me
Baby, I know you will
I finish off the song with an F Major Arpeggiated chord, while Gabriel literally ran across the keys. When it was over, the crowd applauded at the performance, making me and Gabriel feel like we accomplished something good. As soon as the applause died down, the projector started up again, allowing the patrons to finish the game. I returned to the bar, which was still littered with glass from the bottle of whiskey Harley busted trying to kill me. Gabriel went back to his napping spot and got some more shut eye. I, on the other hand, started cleaning up the mess, when someone came up to the bar. I didn't get a good look at them, so I treated them like any other customer.
"What can I get for you?" I asked.
"A Shot of whiskey," A familiar female voice said. "And would you mind telling me what that was about?" I turned to see Giratina sitting at one of the stools. I just shrugged at her.
"Mini-concert," I replied, making her drink. "They happen a lot more often than you think." She shook her head.
"Not that," She said. "I'm referring to the little beat-down you dished out on that customer." My expression shifted from its usual cheery look, to an annoyed look.
"Does it matter?" I asked. She took her shot as I said this. "I figured you'd have more pressing matters, than checking on me. You are a legend after all." She just smiled at me and gestured for another shot.
"Personally, I'd rather be causing a little chaos," she said. "Just to ensure that the world doesn't go out of balance. Now, are you going to tell me what that was about?" I shrugged.
"Lousy customer tried to slip something into another customer's drink," I explained. "He tried to convince me he was innocent, so I called his bluff. I dared him to drink the other drink and he tried to knife me. So, out of self-defense and obligation, I kicked his ass. Simple as that" Giratina chuckled at that.
"Looks like you've changed since coming here." She said. I shook my head.
"Not really," I replied. "I just started becoming the man I can be. Now, are you gonna tell me why you're here?" she changed her expression from neutral to hurt.
"What? A girl can't come out for a drink?" She asked. I gave her a look that said 'do I look like I'm stupid,' "Fine. Dear old daddy's taken an interest in your case. I don't why, but he asked me to shadow you over the last month. I guess is to make sure you adjusted well." I poured her another shot and shrugged again.
"I guess so," I said. "This world isn't all that different from Earth 0. Just that the countries and continents are called regions, the alcohol is weak compared to the stuff back home, the government is one unified faction known as the World League and one of its priorities, apparently, is to make sure the domesticated animals and Pokémon don't breed together. Feels like home." Giratina giggled, yes giggled at that.
"It seems your wit is still intact." She said. I nodded with a smirk on my face. "That doesn't mean I want to kill you less. Anyway, I must go. Arceus has given me permission to go cause mayhem in the Orre region, as long as some ancient ruins are unearthed outside some oasis. See you around" With that, she left the money for her drinks and, surprisingly, a very generous tip. Shortly after Giratina left, May came back up to the bar.
"Is it true?" she asked.
"Was what true?" I asked back. She gave me a look that said, 'don't give me that'.
"I'm talking about the statement you said about Harley." She said. "I know for a fact that Harley wasn't here long enough to start a tab." I smirked at her.
"They don't know that," I said, gesturing to the other patrons. "Besides, if I had said 'the asshole tried to roofie another patron,' they wouldn't have given a damn about who won the Pokémon, because they would have been burning your so called friend at the stake." May's eyes widened when I said that.
"Would they really do that?" she asked.
"Would it be any worse than whatever you would've done?" I asked back. She opened her mouth to retort, but then quickly closed it.
"I guess," She said in defeat. "Can I get that drink at least?" I shook my head.
"That probably wouldn't be the best idea," I replied. "Lest, another of your 'friends' decides to pull that again." I thought she was going to gripe at me again, but she just smiled.
"Your right," May replied. "It's nice to see that someone cares. I'm May." I chuckled at that.
"You told me your name earlier," I said. She just giggled sheepishly.
"Oh right," She said. "I didn't catch your name, though."
"I never gave it," I replied.
"So, do I just keep calling you 'Bartender'?" She asked. "Or do I have the honor of knowing your name?" I chuckled and she giggled.
"It's DK," I replied. She cocked her head at me.
"DK?" She asked. "What kind of name is that?"
"It's a nickname," I said. "It's short for Daniel Kellen." She smiled at that.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Daniel," She said. I was about to reply, when her phone went off. She pulled it out of her pack and checked her phone. After a bit of scrolling, she put her phone back in her bag and looked at me. "I hate to do this, but I've gotta go."
"What's the rush?" I asked.
"I've got a hotel room back in Viridian City," She started. "But, an old friend, who lives in town, recommended that I stay with her, because of a storm that's rolling in. So, I'm gonna get going before it starts." I nodded and then looked at the clock on the wall. I my mind, it read 21:13.
"Well, I won't keep you for any longer than you need be," I said. "See you around, May." She smiled and giggled at that.
"Maybe so… DK." She left at that, but I had a weird feeling that our paths would cross again
I was pulled from my thoughts by the roaring cheer from the patrons. I turned to the screen and saw that Kanto had won the Pokéathelon 3-2 over Unova. At the same time, I served the last drinks of the night.
"Alright, guys," I started. "It's time to close up. And as much as I love your company, I can't clean up with people here." There was a chorus of 'boo's' and I think someone threw a tomato at me.
"Oh, come on, Danny-boy," Kira said. "How about another song. One for the road." When she said that, the entire diner exploded with a chorus of 'encore'. I was about to protest, but Gabriel tugged on my shirt-tail. Eventually, I gave in.
"Alright, alright," I said. "One more song, but then you've gotta go. I don't want y'all getting caught in this storm." Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, and then there was the sound of thunder. I grabbed my guitar for the second time that night and Gabriel took his place at the piano. I turned down the tuning a half-step. "Now I've got one question for you," I said. The all perked up, listening. "How far is Heaven?" the crowd erupted with cheers, as I started playing the song Heaven by Los Lonely Boys. Gabe did a fantastic job running the bass-line on the piano.
Vamonos!
Save me from this prison
Lord, help me get away
Cause only you can save me now from this misery
I've been lost in my own place, and I'm gettin' weary
How far is heaven?
And I know that I need to change my ways of livin'
How far is Heaven?
Lord, can you tell me
I've been locked up way too long in this crazy world
How far is heaven?
And I just keep on prayin', Lord, and just keep on livin'
How far is Heaven?
Yeah, Lord, can you tell me?
I started another solo, which was very melodic in nature, but very simple
Tu que estas en alto cielo
Echame tu bendicion
Cause I know there's a better place than this place I'm living
How far is heaven?
So I just got to have some faith and just keep on giving
How far is heaven? (Yeah, Lord, can you tell me?)
How far is heaven? (Cause I just got to know how far, yeah)
How far is heaven? (Yeah, Lord, can you tell me?)
How far is heaven? (Cause I just gotta know how far)
I just want to know how far
At the end of the song, I was surprised that the audience was singing the call in the song. Nevertheless, a deal was a deal and everyone got up and left. Well, almost everyone. In the back corner of the diner, a man with a crimson red hoodie was still sitting there, drinking coffee. I didn't bother him, as I was helping the cooks with the dishes in the back. When it became time to clean the main diner area, I saw that he was still here.
"Buddy, you've gotta go." I said. He didn't say anything, but he left a payment and a tip. He then got up and passed me, but not without bumping into my shoulder. When it happened, I felt a nervous reaction go down my spine. Like someone had set a hand buzzer on my lower back. I shook it off as an isolated incident and went on cleaning the diner.
After a couple of hours of cleaning, I shut off the lights and locked up for the night. In the sky, I saw a natural light show. This meant one thing: the storm was here and it could start pouring rain at any moment. I didn't want to risk it, so I put Gabe in his Pokéball and started running towards home. About half-way there, the downpour began and it was 'big ol' fat rain'. The rain hindered my movements only slightly, as I had started training early in the mornings with Gabriel and Synyster. I was soaked to the bone when I made it to the front door of Delia's house. I checked the doorknob and found it unlocked and entered the house. All the lights on the ground floor were off, which meant only two things: Delia was visiting Samuel, or she was asleep. I looked at my watch and saw the time was 23:47, so she was asleep.
I didn't bother with my usual midnight snack, as I was soaking wet and cold. I went to my room in the bed room and changed out of my wet clothes and slipped into a dry shirt and some sleeping shorts. When I entered the room, I saw Synyster playing Modern Warfare 3 Mission ops, which meant that he had beaten the campaign since I last left.
"Alright, Syn," I said. "Time to shut off the game for the night. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Sniv," Syn said. He quit the mission he was doing and shut off the Xbox. He then jumped up to his bed on the windowsill, since he liked to grab some sun rays in the morning. I turned on my iTunes and hit shuffle, which started with Not Meant to Be by Theory of a Dusknoir. I laid down on the futon that Delia had down here and Gabe took his usual spot at the foot of the futon and curled up like a dog. I closed my eyes and dreamt of my first journey and of the girl I just met.
A/N: So there it is, another present that wasn't under the tree. If this is your first time reading this story, favorite or follow it if you like it. If you've got anything to say about the story, anything at all, you can leave a review.
Until next round,
John Marros