"There it is, what a stunning turnaround! Teysa Harlow's Heracross snatches a comeback victory from the jaws of defeat, what an upset!"
"That's right Harvey, it looked like Caiden Andrews had this one in the bag but nothing he could muster could stand in the way of that bad bug's rampage!"
"We'll be back after a word from our sponsors, stay tuned!"
Daytime television really was the worst. I couldn't complain too much though, I did get paid by the hour after all. I clicked the mute button on the remote, cutting the audio from a stream of ads trying to sell sports drinks and men's hygienic razors.
I sighed, picking up the clipboard and running down the checklist I'd made up awhile ago. Ice, cooler, glasses, floor swept and mopped. I checked the back inventory for the third time in the past hour, and again we needed one case of Fuego Stout and nothing else.
Lucky Andy's Taphouse was nearly empty but most bars probably weren't packed at 3:38 PM on a Friday. The only patron was a nervous looking man in his forties nursing the same tumbler he'd ordered half an hour ago, but he was paying more attention to his phone and crossword puzzle than his drink. He didn't even glance at the television. It had been a really interesting battle for an off-season tournament. Teysa's team had been cut off at every avenue of attack, backed into a corner after every switch until her Heracross took down four members of the opponent's team one after the other.
I looked around the bar again. The room was cool, a benefit of being lower to the ground, lights being dimmed and the AC pumping in cold relief from the summer heat. I wiped down the bar again and looked up when I heard the jingle of the front door bells, but it was only Ned, one of our regulars and a foreman for a local construction company in Jubilife. He was flanked by a group of exhausted looking men in their twenties and thirties that looked happy to just be out of the sun. They took seats at the bar and at scattered tables. I would be missing the next battle on TV, but at least there was something happening.
"Titus, a round of beers for my boys and I here, we gotta celebrate! New contract just came through and Letty and I just closed on our first house, can ya believe it?!"
I gave my best smile and congratulated him with all of the warmth I could conjure. Letty was Ned's wife of five years, and after years of apartment living they finally had enough to buy a home of their own. I set to work immediately, getting a head count in the bar and pouring draft mugs. I was a one-man show at the moment, and Glen only worked Sunday and Wednesday anyway, despite being the owner. You'd think he would show up more than twice a week but sadly no.
Assorted thanks were muttered as everyone settled into their drinks and I flicked the mute button on the bar's television, the mid-match commentary settling in nicely with the flow of conversation that burbled to life in the small bar. I'd come to appreciate serving blue-collar workers just a bit more over the past year, but that may have been because a group of office workers fresh out of college had left me their lousy tips at the bottom of several wine glasses. One of them had been nice enough to leave their tip in coins. Who the hell even used coins anymore?
As the bar stirred to life, the nervous man with the unfinished whiskey shuffled between tables and approached the bar, set a few bills down worth way more than his tab then hurried out the door before I could even give him change. Odd, but I certainly wasn't going to chase him down over it.
" 'Ey Titus, why the hell are you here slinging drinks anyway? Shouldn't you be in college or taking on the Circuit?"
Ned again. This was a topic we'd gone over more than once, and though most people would call it rude to forget, I knew he meant well and was just making conversation.
"Life had other plans for me, Ned. I had to be more focused on working instead of college or Pokemon training. There wasn't enough time."
"Ahh that's bullshit and you know it. You could'a figured it out, you watch those battles on TV like a fuckin' Staraptor and this place is much better with you runnin' it then Glen could ever manage. You gotta get the fuck outta here man, I'm tellin' you."
That stung a little, because being called out like that is never comfortable. Part of it might've been projecting on Ned's part, but there was some truth in there even if I didn't want to admit to it. I had given up on starting my attempt at the Sinnoh Circuit three years ago. A bad car accident had left my mother with a pile of medical debt she wasn't getting out from under anytime soon. Though she protested, I threw myself into work at fifteen in order to help her. It was mostly part-time and under the table work while I finished high school but I got some full-time work once I turned 18. At that point, I'd watched friends and classmates of mine leave to start lives of their own, some of them made it really far as Trainers, some crashed and burned in their first year of the Circuit and others went on to college. A few had even died.
"I guess we'll never know, huh?"
I glanced at Ned again, who had just finished his drink and began laying out a pile of bills on the bar next to his drink. He looked around to his workers, then threw a few more on for good measure while I tried not to stare at the stack of bills enviously.
"Yeah, I guess not. Make sure the guys get another round on me though, and cheer up, it ain't all bad!"
With that, he grinned and clapped me on the shoulder in a way that should've read as playful but combined with his comment? My stomach turned sour and my jaw began to clench. Ned waved goodbye to his coworkers as he ducked out of the bar.
It ain't all bad? You earn enough to own a house you fucking asshole, what kind of-
"Hey, can we get another round here!"
My head snapped up and I remembered where I was. It was less a question, more of a bark and a demand. My jaw eased up and I took a deep breath through my nose and poured another round of mugs.
It was going to be a long night, wasn't it?
**************************************************************************************************
Several hours later, I was mopping the floor of an empty bar in Jubilife City. The TV was muted, the blinds were drawn on the windows and I was the only soul here. As I began to wring out the mop for the last time that night, my phone buzzed to life, vibrating on the bar several times in quick succession.
Mom: You need to come home!
Mom: Seriously, it's important!
Mom: It's good news and I waited until your shift was done, just get your ass home now lol
The first two messages had me panicking but I was welcoming any good news at this point. I dry mopped the floor, emptied out the bucket and cleared the tip jar. I wrote the amount in the ledger for Glen, then killed the lights and locked up for the night.
I stretched my arms as I stepped out into the late summer air, hot but soothing and wonderful when the wind picked up. Somewhere in the distance, a lone ambulance siren sounded and petered out. I passed a few convenience stores as I made my way home with my hands in my pockets. Home wasn't too far from work, so at least I only had a few blocks to walk. I passed a woman with her Snubbull on my way home, the Fairy Type glaring at me with a runny nose as I skirted. She giggled, probably thinking it was cute while I skirted around the little pink monster.
Our apartment was on the second floor, and we'd lived here for the past nine years. It was tiny, even for Jubilife but it was home. I turned the key and stepped inside to be greeted by my mother. She sat in the living room on the tired, worn out sky blue couch that desperately needed replacing. On the beat up coffee table in front of her was an empty glass of wine, a half-empty pack of cigarettes and a small pile of scratch-off lottery tickets. I think it was a coworker's birthday and they were celebrating? I couldn't remember. A lone wispy trail of smoke from an ashtray hung heavy in the air. My mother, normally tired beyond belief and in bed at this hour, clutched something in her hands, a shit-eating grin plastered to her face and a fervent light in her eyes. I kicked my shoes off, and she patted the cushion next to her.
"Come on, sit down so I can show you!"
"Mom, come on, you're being weird.."
"Okay, here, look at it and tell me what you see!"
Forced into my hands was a crumpled looking lottery ticket. There were a few assorted kinds on the table, some were simple scratch-reveal and others made you play a crossword puzzle or something. This was a larger ticket, covered in red foiled shiny paper and gold stars. My eyes nearly bulged at the price of the thing, but it was already bought and played. The matching symbols revealed, several duds and numbers that didn't line up for a prize before-
No. No fucking way-
Supposedly, the top prize from this ticket topped out at a million Poke-Dollars. But plain as day were the three revealed symbols for $500,000. A paltry amount to someone better off, but to us? It was a kingly reward, a fortune practically. I flipped the ticket over to check that it was legitimate. I scratched the QR code with the nail of my thumb and scanned it with my phone.
It took a few silent, wordless minutes, because the reception in our apartment wasn't great but soon enough, the browser connected and I was greeted with a window.
Congratulations! Your ticket was one of the top winners of the day: a 3rd place prize of $500,000! Please take the ticket to your nearest Jubilife Lottery to claim your prize.
Taxes and fees still apply. Ticket expires in 89 days, 23 hours.
I sucked in a breath and held it, biting my lip as I looked at my Mom. She was grinning like a mad woman, wrapping an arm around me and hugging me.
"Aren't you so happy?! This is a big break for us!"
