The resounding "KLANK" of the ball hitting the goal post echoed throughout the field, as the entire atmosphere at Kanto High went quite. Everyone was holding their breaths as Gary took the kick, preparing to either go crazy or go home empty-handed.
It seemed as if the ball flew in slow motion through Gary Oak's eyes, he watched as it bounced off the right goal post, and flew straight towards the goalie, who was caught off guard by the ball's sudden change its direction. The goalie tried to coral the ball with his hands, but the ball slipped right through and rolled into the net on the other side of the goal.
The Kanto High bench and fans went ballistic, while Gary just sighed a breath of relief; he had just kept his team alive. While every goal was critical at this point in the game, Gary knew that it was far from over, and kept his cool as his teammates celebrated and congratulated him for scoring a clutch goal.
"Since we tied in the first shootout 3-3, we will go to a 2nd, sudden death shootout. The first team to score with the other team missing wins the championship!" The announcer said.
The Dragons had never gone to a sudden-death shootout before, so they didn't have a lineup predetermined before the match, as those who participated in the first shootout could not kick again.
After choosing five more players to take the penalty kicks the process started once again.
Vermillion City's first shooter took the kick, a fast shot towards the left. The Kanto High goalie reacted and swatted it away, causing the Kanto High fans anticipation to build. Since the Voltorb's had missed, Kanto High could win it with a goal on this kick. A boy named Barry stepped nervously out onto the field. He fidgeted as he walked over to the ball, with streaks of sweat running down his face. Not once in his life did he think he'd be the one with a chance to win Kanto High its first ever championship, if he even made it that is.
Barry wasn't even a starter in fact but now was finally his chance to prove himself.
With a scream he charged and closed eyes, kicking the ball as hard as he could.
Barry heard a loud Gasp from the stands followed by pure eruption. He opened his eyes to see the goalie lying down in the goal, the ball just out of his reach. As a smile came to his face, the rest of his teammates who had piled on top of him flattened him.
"The Dragons have won the regional championship match in a game for the ages!" The announcer said, though barely anyone could hear him as the Kanto High fans stormed onto the field to celebrate with the team.
The next several minutes were a total mosh pit of happiness and celebration. Dawn located Gary and jumped right into his arms, showering him with kisses. Spirits were high as the celebration continued, even more so after the team was handed the championship trophy.
Gary, with the trophy in hand, and a huge grin on his face, as everyone cheered his name, as he'd led them to a championship. It took another 30 min for the celebrations to die down and the crowd to disband.
Gary met with Ash and the girls and asked if they wanted to go with him to Brock Harrison's house for an after party. They all jumped into Dawn's car and headed to Pewter City, which is where Brock's house was.
"That was some game, Gary!" May said, who wasn't usually into sports but had taken a liking to soccer after watching so many games.
"Thanks, May, somehow we pulled it off!" Gary replied, relieved that they finally brought a championship to Kanto High.
"So what are you going to do now that soccer's over Gary?" Ash asked, knowing that soccer was a big part of Gary's life.
"Hmm… Not sure yet, I'm sure ill find something to do eventually." Gary said, waiting to put off that issue for another day.
Once they had reached Pewter City Gary directed Dawn the rest of the way to Brock's house. The house was just outside the town in the countryside and was already packed with people, the party obviously already starting. They pulled into the driveway and hopped out. As they entered the house they saw many familiar faces, and the blaring music, only made things louder. Thanks to being out in the country, they could be as loud as they wanted.
As the time passed, Ash, May, and Dawn all found themselves on a couch in one of the rooms, where they continued to chat about various things. As midnight approached, someone had brought a ton of alcohol, and since Brock's parents were gone for the week, they could get away with it. Soon enough, many people at the party started taking shots, including Dawn, who drank with Gary several times in the past.
As Dawn kept drinking an idea popped into her head. She ran over and pulled Ash and May off of the couch. Ash had never really drank before and usually stayed away from parties, but he figured that it'd be ok to do it just this once, it was a special occasion after all. May thought the same as she gave in and started drinking whatever Dawn had handed her.
Dawn, in her already drunken state, figured that if she got Ash and May drunk enough they might finally get together, so she sent shot after shot their way. The two of them had never gotten drunk before, so it wasn't long before they started feeling the effects of the alcohol entering their system.
Dawn made sure that they always stayed close to each other, as she didn't want them separating and running off with someone else. As the night went on they got much more talkative with each other, immersed in their drunken states.
It wasn't till Dawn started talking to May that things started going in the direction that she wanted. Ash and May started to get cozier with each other before ultimately heading out to the backyard. Dawn watched with a grin on her face as she realized what was about to happen.
Ash and May stumbled their way out the door, before sitting down on the grass in the backyard. They were all alone. At this point they were too drunk to even understand what was going on, even more, they just knew they were supposed to be celebrating. They both turned and looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. They slide closer to each other, their lips just mere inches from each other.
As they were about to touch, the door flew open and a group of people came running out, interrupting their moment. After deciding that it was getting too loud outside, they walked back into the house and went to back the couch, where they both passed out.
The Next Morning
Ash, May, and Dawn all woke up the following morning, all of them having no recollection whatsoever of the previous night's events.
"Uh, what happened last night?" Ash groaned as rolled off the couch onto the floor.
"Where are we?" May asked as she opened her eyes, feeling the aftereffects of last nights party.
"We're still at Brock's house duh," Dawn said, who was already awake.
"How about we go back to my place?" Dawn asked the two of them, who both nodded, each wanting to get more sleep.
After dragging each other back to Dawn's car she drove them back to her house, where they all crashed for the next few hours.
Eventually, they all woke up, finally feeling like moving.
"Oh man, I forgot to today is Friday," May said, realizing that they'd all skipped school.
"What, I thought it was Saturday?" Said Ash.
"Well, what did they expect? Maybe they shouldn't have had the game on a Thursday?" Said Dawn, guessing that a lot of people were skipping school that day for one reason or another.
"Not sure if I'd ever want to do that again," Ash said, referencing the excessive drinking which they took part in.
"Oh ya, I only do that once in a while. Only for certain occasions." Dawn told them.
"So now what do we want to do?"
"I think I'll go home, I haven't trained with my Pokémon in forever it feels like." Said Ash.
"Same, I better go check how Torchic is doing," May replied.
Ash simply walked home, despite it being a long trek, he figured he needed it with how lazy he'd been the last few weeks. Ash had been in a slump for some time now when it came to training. He trained with his Pokémon only once or twice a week and was really disconnected with them. Ash was determined to change this, calling out all his Pokémon for a training session when he got back to Pallet Town.
Staraptor, Aipom, Charizard, Froakie, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu, this was Ash's current team, with Cyndaquil standing in for Pikachu while he was hurt.
While training for a while was satisfying, Ash was still craving an intense battle, figuring that a gym battle would be the perfect way to do that. It was decided, the next chance he got he would visit the Cerulean City gym again, and finally get his gym battle that he'd been waiting so long for.
Monday
Ash and Gary were driving to Cerulean City, Ash looking to get his 2nd gym badge. Even Gary was going to challenge the gym leader, just cause he had nothing better to do now that soccer was finished for the year. That and to make sure he stayed in tip-top shape so that he could beat Ash again at any moments notice. Gary had brought his Bulbasaur and other Pokémon that he borrowed from Professor Oak.
Once they arrived at the gym they entered through the front doors. The inside looked so foreign to Ash, as it felt so empty without the crowds of people that had filled the building last time he was there. In fact, there was only one person there aside from themselves. The receptionist at the desk noticed them walk in and asked:
"Here for a gym battle?"
"Yup," The boys said.
"Just go down that hallway to the left then." The receptionist directed them as she pointed which way to go.
Ash and Gary walked down the hallway, which was unusually dark, after reaching a door at the end of the hall they walked through it into a much brighter room, which happened to be underneath the stage on the main floor of the gym, which the water shows took place on.
Inside that room stood the gym leader of the Cerulean gym.
"Oh, Hello!" The gym leader said, taking a couple seconds to realize that someone had walked into the room.
"We're here for a gym battle!" Ash said enthusiastically.
"Of course you are! I'm Misty the gym leader!" She said, noticing Ash's obvious excitement.
After Ash introduced himself and Gary, Misty led them to two separate elevators, where each took separate ones. After going into their separate elevators, they were taken up to the battlefield, which was the water pool where the shows were performed on. The battlefield was simply the large tank of water, along with several circular platforms spaced out across the surface of the water.
"As you can probably guess I specialize in water type Pokémon!" Said, Misty.
"So who's first?"
Gary stepped ahead of Ash. He would battle Misty first.
"I'll show you how it's done Ashy!" Gary said with the same cocky smirk that was always on his face during a Pokémon battle.
"3 on 3 sound good to you?" Misty asked, with Gary nodding in response.
"Alright, I'll start things off with Goldeen then!" She said as her first Pokémon, a Goldeen appeared out her pokeball and hopped straight into the water.
Gary responded by bringing out his Bulbasaur, a grass type having the advantage over a water type like Goldeen. However, you could say that Goldeen had the advantage since it could use the water, while Bulbasaur was stuck on small floating platforms.
"Let's get this started with Horn Drill!" In an instant, Goldeen jumped out of the water from behind Bulbasaur and sent it flying with a direct hit. Bulbasaur struggled back up to its feet, searching for Goldeen, who had disappeared back underneath the water.
"Do it again, Goldeen!" Said Misty, as Goldeen came in for another attack, hitting its horn full force into Bulbasaur, knocking it unconscious. Gary returned his Bulbasaur with a sour look on his face. After taking a moment to decide, he sent out his next Pokémon.
The small blue turtle appeared in the water, Gary had borrowed a Squirtle from Professor Oak. This would be much more effective, now that he could use the water to his advantage.
"Alright Squirtle use Rapid Spin!" Gary called, as Squirtle tucked itself inside its shell and spun itself around in circles. It propelled its way through the water, slamming Goldeen into the side of the tank. The force of the hit was enough to finish Goldeen in one hit, causing it to float back to the surface completely knocked out.
"Thanks, Goldeen!" Misty said.
"2 More Pokémon each, this should be a good one!" She said as she used her next Pokémon, a Staryu
"Staryu and I have been partners for a long time, so don't expect to win this battle so easily!"
"We'll just see about that," Gary said, telling Squirtle to use Water Gun. Misty's Staryu spun out of the way and went down into the water. As Gary planned his next move, Staryu continued to move under the water, returning on the other side of the platform. It flew like a Frisbee, sailing right into Squirtle, sending it flying. Squirtle responded with Skull Bash, giving Staryu a bit of damage.
"Use Swift"
"Dodge it Squirtle, then use Rapid Spin!"
"You use Rapid Spin too!" Misty said as both Pokémon were flying around in the water, trying to hit the other. Staryu was the first to make contact, but instead of hurting Squirtle, it only propelled it faster, until it looked like a pinball bouncing around the tank. Staryu tried to keep track of it but Squirtle was just moving too fast. Out of nowhere, Squirtle rammed right into Staryu sending it straight out of the water and into the side of the tank, where it slid down the wall and fell onto a platform. After a hit like that Staryu was certainly unable to battle any further.
As Ash watched from the sideline, he had realized that there was no referee at this gym, which he found odd, as every other gym he'd ever been to had had one. Ash tried to pick up on any techniques that Misty had been using but eventually gave up on the idea, figuring that she'd use different Pokémon then those she was using now, as that's what happened at the Pewter City gym with him and Richie. In the meantime Ash took his mind off of Gary's battle and studied the tank and floating platforms, trying to think of ways that he could use it to his advantage, both for attacking and defending.
"Your up Politoed!" Misty said. Ash had never seen a Politoed in person before, so his attention turned back to the battle, as he wanted to see what Politoed could do.
"Ok Politoed, us Bubble Beam!" A stream of bubbles shot out of its mouth, forcing Squirtle to defend itself with Water Gun.
"Use Hyper Voice!"
In an instant, the room was filled with a horrible noise, making Squirtle, as well as Gary and Ash, cover their ears at the terrible sound.
"Now finish it with double slap!" Misty called. Politoed leaped over to Squirtle who was still dazed from the hyper voice and started slapping it. It was only a matter of seconds before Squirtle collapsed onto the floor unconscious, leaving the battle up to Gary's final Pokémon.
Gary threw his final pokeball, revealing his Marshtomp, which was actually Gary's own Pokémon.
"Let's rap this up, use tackle Marshtomp!" Gary said. Marshtomp charged straight at Politoed, preparing to deliver a powerful hit.
"Block it Politoed!" Misty yelled. Politoed held up against Marshtomp as the two pushed against each other.
"Marshtomp use water gun!" Politoed was knocked back towards Misty as it couldn't withstand the point-blank range attack.
"Get up Politoed!" Misty said, as Politoed struggled to its feet.
"Use Hyper Voice!"
"Quick get into the water Marshtomp!" Gary said, realizing that if Marshtomp went underwater that Politoed's hyper voice wouldn't be as effective. Gary's idea worked, as Marshtomp dove into the water, it realized that the attack had little effect on it, allowing it to move around freely.
Misty took too long in deciding what to do next, and Gary took advantage of her indecisiveness.
"Jump out and use mud shot!" Marshtomp flew out of the water and sent its attack flying straight into Politoed.
"Hang in there Politoed!" Misty yelled, taking note of the obvious struggles that Politoed was having with standing back up.
"Let's finish this up Marshtomp, use water gun!" A stream of water shot out of Marshtomp's mouth and collided with Politoed, who was too exhausted to evade the attack. After tumbling backwards, Politoed tried it's best to regain its footing, but the damage it had taken was too much, as it finally collapsed onto the floor.
"Well, that's that," Gary said with a smirk of confidence appearing on his face. Misty hopped across the floating platforms to where Gary and Ash were standing.
"Here's your badge Gary, that was a really fun battle!" She said as Gary took the badge from her.
"Give me a few minutes to grab some of my other Pokémon, then I can battle with you, Ash." She told them before walking back and out of the arena. It was several minutes before Misty returned, that time being filled with Gary flashing his new badge in Ash's face.
Ash had waited a long time for this battle, so he was feeling the adrenaline rush through his body as he was finally going to have a chance to earn another gym badge.
"Ready to go Ash?"
"You bet, I've waited a long time for this battle and I'm going to win it!" Ash said with confidence.
"We'll just have to see about that," Misty said with a chuckle. She then grabbed the first of her three new pokeballs and threw it out over the water.
"A Corsola, hmm…" Ash said, deciding which Pokémon he would use first.
'Ok then, Staraptor your up!" The flying type Pokémon emerged from its pokeball and flew up into the air.
"Interesting Strategy Ash, Corsola can use the water but not the air, while Staraptor can use the air but not the water. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. You can take the first move." Misty said, curious as to what Ash would do in this situation.
"Alright, use quick attack!" Staraptor sped down towards Corsola, flying along the surface of the water. Corsola ducked right under the water as Staraptor got close, causing it to miss and fly straight into the side of the tank.
"Ugh, come on Staraptor you can do it!" Ash said, trying to encourage his Pokémon after its embarrassing miss.
"Use bubble beam Corsola!" Misty said. Corsola hopped out of the water and sent a barrage of bubbles Staraptor's way, knocking it right back to the floor.
"Get back in the air!" Ash yelled, as Staraptor fought through the attack and managed to get back in the air.
"Use double team to confuse it Staraptor!" Soon the air was filled with fake clones of Staraptor.
"Now use close combat!" Staraptor rushed in before Corsola and Misty could react and started delivering powerful blows, after sustaining several hits, Corsola managed to get out of Staraptor's reach, only to be hit by a quick attack. Corsola look to be defeated, only for it to begin to glow.
"What's it doing?" Ash asked, not sure of what was happening.
"That's Corsola's recover, it restores some of its energy, now let's go! Use beam again!" Corsola attack made direct contact with Staraptor and pushed it back into the wall of the arena. Ash was having a tough time, only made worse when his Pokémon landed motionless in front of him.
"You did good Staraptor, thanks." He said as he put Staraptor back into its pokeball. Ash's strategy had totally failed and was now currently losing the battle. If only he had Pikachu to battle with, then this battle would be a breeze. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case, so Ash had to choose a different Pokémon to battle with.
"Bulba!" Ash's Bulbasaur said as it came out of Ash's pokeball. He figured using a grass type was his best bet against Misty's water type Pokémon.
"Let's start with razor leaf!" A stream of leaves flew from Bulbasaur, which Corsola subsequently dodged by diving beneath the water. Fortunately for Ash, Corsola had only gone a few feet under the water, and Ash saw an opportunity.
"Quick grab it with vine whip Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur shot its vines into the water and grabbed Corsola. It pulled it back to the surface and slammed it onto the floor.
"Finish it with tackle!"
With one last hit, Corsola was too exhausted to continue, causing it to collapse to the floor.
"Thank you Corsola," Misty said as she returned it to its pokeball.
"It's your time to shine now Azurill!" The small blue Pokémon appeared, it was so small Ash almost had to squint to see it, as it wasn't the most intimidating Pokémon.
"Use slam!"
The small Pokémon use its round tail to bounce its way over to Bulbasaur and crash into it, delivering more force in the attack then most people would think it was capable of. Bulbasaur tumbled backwards before regaining its footing.
"Bulbasaur use razor leaf!"
"Use bounce to dodge it!" Azurill used its tail to bounce itself over the razor leaf attack, and over Bulbasaur as well.
"Now use bubble!"
Bulbasaur was once again it with another attack. As the battle continued Bulbasaur was unable to land an attack, with Azurill being too agile for it to track accurately.
"Use Vine Whip!" Bulbasaur launched its vines at Azurill, causing it to jump into the air.
"Now use razor leaf!" Auzrill had nowhere to go as it was stuck in the air, and Bulbasaur was able to hit it head-on. The two continued to duel it out, each landing an attack every now and then. Finally, the two collided head to head with each other, knocking each other back to the ground.
"Bulbasaur!"
"Azurill no!"
The two Pokémon attempted to regain their footing, but neither one was able to as they both collapsed on the floor, making it a draw. With just one more Pokémon left on each side, Ash knew that he would have to choose his final Pokémon wisely. Ash finally came to a decision on his final Pokémon and grabbed his final pokeball. Just as he and Misty were about to throw their final Pokémon onto the field, they were instantly blinded, as every light in the entire building had gone completely dark.
"Uh, what's going on?" Ash asked.
"Not sure, let me see if I can figure out what's going on?" Misty said, having to climb into the stands, as the elevators they came in were no longer working. Misty made her way over towards the front desk where the receptionist was to see if she knew anything. Meanwhile, Ash and Gary waited in the dark, the only light they had was that from their cell phones.
"Well this is pretty odd don't you think?" Ash said, never expecting a battle to be delayed by a power outage.
"Ya, not sure why the powers out, it's not like its storming or anything," Gary said, using the light from his phone to look around, the lacks of light making the arena look rather spooky.
They heard something down the hall that Misty had gone down. They're ears perked up as they expected her to walk back and explain why there was no power. Instead, they heard muffled voices and then screams.
"He-lp.."
"What in the world is going on?" Gary asked. All of a sudden everything went silent, as a pair of people rounded the corner, revealing themselves. Alongside them was a small Pokémon, a Meowth to be exact. Ash and Gary sudden realized what was happening. This was a group of thieves; they were famous in the Kanto region for stealing both money as well as peoples Pokémon, yet they always eluded the police. Now Ash and Gary found themselves face to face with the notorious Team Rocket.
Authors Note:
Hey everyone, I really should've had this out sooner but I got a bit lazy with midterms last week. Anyways to answer some questions you might have: No, Ash and May don't remember a thing about trying to kiss each other but don't worry, there'll be some advanchipping moments coming up soon. Also, i'd like to point out that in my story, team rocket is actually more like real criminals, so they'll face a formidable challenge to Ash unlike in the anime. But don't worry, if your like me and hate team rockets, you won't have to deal with them much, as they got better things to do then mess with Ash all the time.