AHH! I know I promised a lot of Drama in this chapter, but as I wrote it I was just like wow, if I write everything now this chapter will end up being over 20,000 words! So I just decided to split it up!
Brownie points to QUEENSPELLER67 and DiasterButterfly haha for knowing where Gabby and Ty came from!
I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! A lot of basketball, I tried to write it as clearly as possibly so anybody can understand if you have any issues just say so in the reviews and i'll make edits, I don't want anybody to have trouble reading this!
Don't forget to read the authors note at the bottom!
Chapter 12
May ran back into the gymnasium as Ash left her vision. She desperately tried to stop the grin that graced her face, but no matter how hard she tried it didn't seem to go away. She couldn't believe she had kissed Ash.
Just the thought made her smile even harder. She never had felt this way when she was with Drew. This was a whole new level of happy.
After a short walk May finally made it back to the gym and opened the door.
The lighting had been dimmed a bit and loud music was playing. Both teams were on the floor already sitting on their respective benches. May quickly found Ash who was looking towards the ground with his eyes closed. Clearly he was focused. May was happy that he had made it in time since he didn't seem to be in trouble.
The brown haired girl made her way back to her seat.
"Took you long enough! Did you meet with Ash?" Dawn questioned as May sat down in her seat.
May nodded as she contemplated telling Dawn everything that had happened a few minutes ago. "Yeah I did! I'm glad I managed to catch him before he went on."
Dawn smiled. "Good! Well I think they're about to start the player introductions."
"How is everybody doing tonight?!" The announcer shouted, as the music that had been playing faded away, earning a roar from the crowd of 7,500.
The announcer laughed a bit. He wasn't used to having such a large number of people listening to him. After all he was only a senior himself.
"Are you guys excited?!" He shouted in his mic.
It seemed like the entire city of Kanto had come to support the high school team. It was amazing that the city could be so supportive for a basketball team. It just showed how much the city adored Ash.
"I can't hear you guys!" The announcer shouted once again as screams filled the gymnasium. "That's what I'm talking about! Now let's start things off by introducing The Kanto Varsity starting five!"
"Standing at 6'8 and starting at center we have the powerful and charming BROCK HARRISON!" The announcer started.
On the Kanto bench only the starters were seated while the bench players were standing up in two lines forming a path for the starters to walk as they were announced.
Brock got out of his seat as he gave high fives to all of the bench players as he walked through the man made path. As he emerged he waved towards the crowd who all gave him cheers although you could distinctly hear a few females booing the tanned man.
The tall boy laughed hearing the boos as he walked towards a Kanto cheerleader and dropped down to his knees intending to profess his love for her, she quickly walked away earning laughs from the crowd as Brock stood back up and walked back to the court the smile never leaving his face.
"Ah...As charming as ever Brock.." The announcer muttered struggling to contain his own laughter. "Next up we have the 6'7 power forward making his first appearance in the starting lineup the mysterious... is this right?" The announcer started before leaning over towards a teacher who was standing next to him to confirm the name.
"The mysterious and graceful N!" The announcer finished after he confirmed the name as a tall green haired boy stood off the bench and walked through the man made path, he waved a bit towards the crowd, but didn't have as much as a presence as Brock had.
"Next up we have the 6'5 small forward, the epitome of strength and power Paul Shinji!" The announcer continued down the list.
The purple haired male stood up and made his way down the path giving his bench teammates low high fives as walked passed them before finally reaching where the other starters were standing. He gave Brock and N high fives before standing straight.
"Now we have the bad boy of the team! The 6'4 shooting guard full of passion and skill, GARY OAK!" The announcer shouted.
The gym was noticeably louder for the brown haired shooting guard who ran through the man made path before he and Brock jumped in the air banging the sides of their bodies together. He gave N and Paul handshakes before directing his attention towards the crowd.
Gary gave a wink at Dawn who was sitting in the first row causing her to cheer even louder before he began saluting to the crowd motioning with his hands for them to get even louder. It was obvious that the crowd was loving it.
May laughed a bit at Gary's actions.
"Your boyfriend definitely knows how to make a scene!" May shouted towards Dawn so that her friend could hear her over the crowd.
Dawn paid no attention however as she continued cheering as loudly as she could for her boyfriend.
May smiled happy that Dawn was so happy with Gary before returning to cheering as well.
After a few more seconds Gary finally walked towards the rest of the starters.
"Now the moment we've all been waiting for can we have a moment of silence please." The announcer stated as the crowd calmed down.
May smiled as she felt the anticipation building for Ash's introduction.
"I want everybody to stand on their feet for our varsity team captain. The number one high school player in the entire country! First team all American last year leading the nation in scoring and assists. I want everybody to scream as loud as you can for our 6'1 point guard ASH KETCHUM!" The announcer introduced screaming as loud as he could into his mic.
Ash slowly stood up off the bench as he walked through the man made path giving low fives to all of his teammates who formed the path.
May laughed a bit as she screamed at the top of her lungs for the boy who was responsible for the strong feelings building inside of her. She couldn't even describe how loud the gymnasium was. She could barely hear herself think.
"Ash!"
"Ash!"
"Ash!"
"Ash!"
The crowd chanted as Ash waved towards the crowd as he emerged from the man made path. Gary quickly approached his best friend as he wrapped his arm around his neck.
"Come on dude! Bring some excitement!" Gary urged knowing the effect Ash would have on the crowd if he engaged them.
Ash smiled as he waved towards the crowd causing them to get even louder.
"This is your Varsity starting five folks! Let's give them a round of applause!" The announcer shouted at the top of his lungs although he was sure not to have the mic to close.
"Kanto!"
"Kanto!"
"Kanto!"
The crowd changed their chant.
~xxxxxx~
"This is amazing! Our high school basketball team has this much support?" Dawn questioned, regardless of how many times she thought about it, it really was amazing how one player could produce so many fans.
May nodded vigorously excited for Ash. "That's how basketball is May! When you have an amazing player people will support you."
"Wow.." Dawn muttered as she continued to listen to the crowd chant.
Drew who was sitting a few rows above the girls also was amazed by the crowd's intensity. This was his first time attending a school basketball game, so he hadn't known what to expect, but he certainly didn't expect that the guy May was spending so much time with was so popular. Drew couldn't help, but frown a little, it was rare that he actually lost confidence, but as he listened to the crowd it was incredibly obvious that Ash was well liked and clearly he had already made a strong impression on his ex girlfriend.
~xxxxxx~
After a few more minutes of chanting the crowd finally began to settle as the lights in the gymnasium dimmed even more and a spotlight came on the middle of the floor.
The other team stepped onto the court and both teams lined up on their side of the court near the half court line staring at each other. Both teams still had their warm ups on, but you could tell that they were ready to play.
Ash quickly found the boy who had unintentionally injured him in their previous meeting. Ash's eyes were serious as he looked at the boy before directing his eyes to the other members of the team to try to assess their talent.
"Now we will have Brendan Emerald singing the national anthem." The announcer stated as the brown haired boy walked in between both teams with his mic.
The gymnasium grew silent as Brendan began singing with everybody showing their respect for the anthem. The players held their hands against their heart and closed their eyes as Brendan's vocals filled the gym.
Brendan soon finished as he bowed earning an applause from the crowd causing him to smile. He wasn't particularly a huge fan of basketball, so he was surprised when he was approached to sing for the game, but in the end he would do anything to help advertise himself.
"Well let's get this game on the road!" The announcer shouted as both teams went to their bench stripping their warm ups off before the starters walked back on the court.
The lights finally returned to normal lighting up the entire gymnasium.
It didn't take long for both team's starting five to get on the court ready to play. Brock and the opposing team's center met at the half court line. The referee who was responsible for throwing the tip walked to his position as he prepared to throw the ball into the air.
Ash put his hands on his knees as he readied himself waiting to see whether they would win the tip or not. He wasn't nervous, despite all of the people watching he was calm. It was the complete opposite of how he had been at the start of the Gabby and Ty show. Maybe it was because this was were he thrived the most at.
Finally the ref threw the ball in the air signaling the start of the game.
The point guard was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Brock win the tip. N quickly caught the ball and passed it to Ash.
The crowd cheered as Ash touched the ball for the first time. It was clear that they wanted to see something amazing, after all that's why they had came.
Ash slowly walked the ball up court with his defender giving him a lot of space. It didn't take long for Ash to reach the three point line as he stopped in order to decide what to do. As the point guard it was his duty to decipher the defense and call the right play.
The 6'1 guard glanced over at Gary who was standing to the left of him who quickly directed his eyes towards the basket. Ash automatically knew what Gary wanted him to do. Ash turned his head right to look towards Paul who was positioned on the opposite side of Gary, at the same moment Gary spun off his defender.
Gary didn't even have to call for the pass. He smirked as Ash while looking at Paul smoothly passed the ball under his left arm towards the streaking shooting guard.
Gary caught the ball with little difficulty as he drove to the basket. Ash hadn't even needed to look at his best friend a second time, he knew where he would be. He had deliberately allowed the defense to believe that he was going to try something with Paul in order to free up Gary.
The opposing team's center grunted as he ran to protect the rim, he had moved towards the right once he saw Ash dedicate more of his attention to that side. The tall man jumped in order to contest the shot. Gary nimbly avoided the man's hand as he ducked under the rim and completed a reverse layup.
Gary landed on the ground unable to catch himself, but quickly got up. He looked towards the ref to see if a foul had been called, but it hadn't been.
"OH! A no look pass from Ash Ketchum to Gary Oak! It seems like their connection hasn't diminished over the summer as Gary completes the layup!" The announcer shouted engaging the already excited crowd.
~xxxxxx~
"Wow! How did Ash know Gary would be there!?" Dawn questioned amazed by the play.
May laughed at her friend. "I don't know, but if those two play like that, we're going to be hard to beat!"
The green haired boy also watched the game with interest, maybe it wasn't as boring and stupid as he had previously thought. When Ash had made the pass even Drew couldn't deny that he had felt his heart skip in anticipation over what would happen.
~xxxxxx~
"Get back Gary!" Ash shouted towards the brown haired boy who looked like he was prepared to argue with the referee for not calling a foul.
Gary gave an annoyed look towards the ref before running back down the court as fast as he could in order to stop the other team from having an unfair advantage.
The opposing team ran a simple play, but was unable to convert the shot as N grabbed the rebound and passed it to Ash who quickly pushed the ball up the court. Being an athletic guard made it extremely hard for people to guard him if he sped up the offense. The other team quickly rushed back as they noticed Ash's plan, but only two managed to get in front of him.
Ash glanced behind him to see how many members of his team had made it back as well and frowned when he saw only Paul and Gary were close although they were still behind him. He couldn't be mad though, he knew that N and Brock were taller which made it a lot harder for them to move at his speed.
The point guard had to think quickly, should he slow down the offense or should he try to score by himself.
Ash didn't have enough time to think as he crossed the half court line. The look on the boy's face hardened as he made his decision.
He sped up to his top speed as he prepared to have to get pass two defenders in order to score. Both defenders were in the paint although one was in the middle closer to the basket while the other was more towards the left side by the free throw line.
Ash picked up his dribble and took a hard step to the right in order to avoid the first defender before taking another hard step to the left. As he finished the Euro step he gathered all of the strength he could muster to his legs as he pushed off on his non dominate foot.
The last defender was surprised not expecting Ash to attempt to dunk. The defender was the same player who had unintentionally injured Ash during their last game. He bravely jumped up in order to contest the shot the best he could, but quickly learned that he had made a bad decision as he felt his body collide with Ash's as the point guard slammed the ball into the hoop with his right hand. The defender grunted as he came down, his momentum causing him to slide into the sidelines from the dunk.
The ref blew a whistle signaling the foul on Ash as the point guard allowed himself to drop from the rim before putting both of his arms up flexing his muscles to show that he was to strong to be stopped on a fast break like that. Ash was known for trash talking while playing street ball, but he always tended to not do it when playing organized basketball, but he knew the crowd would enjoy it and he owed it to them to give them the best show he could.
As Ash predicted the audience ate it up as you could hear the "Ooohs" coming from the stands causing Ash to smile.
Unfortunately the smile left Ash's face as he heard a second whistle causing his attention to divert to the ref. Ash's face became one of irritation as the ref formed a T with his hands.
"An amazing 3 point play opportunity for Ash Ketchum, but it seems like his celebration has earned him a technical foul from the refs!" The announcer stated causing Boos to ring down from the stands towards the ref.
Ash grunted in annoyance, but knew better then to argue with the ref especially after getting one technical foul. If he got another they would eject him from the game.
~xxxxxx~
May had screamed extremely loud as Ash completed his dunk, but she was taken back down to earth as she watched the technical being called.
"May, what is a technical foul?" Dawn questioned not as educated on basketball rules as May.
The brown haired girl had no qualms about showing her irritation at the call as she ignored Dawn's question to occupied with screaming "Boo!" towards the ref.
Dawn gave an awkward laugh before she repeated her question a bit louder finally gaining May's attention.
May blushed, she had gotten to engrossed with the game and hadn't even noticed Dawn. "Umm.. It's hard to explain, but in this case Ash got a technical foul probably because the ref felt that he was taunting that player by flaunting his muscles after the play."
Dawn nodded understanding a bit. "That's the same guy who injured Ash last year right?" She questioned.
May turned her attention to the court to see if Dawn was right before looking back at Dawn. "Now that you mention it..It is, that probably influenced the ref to call that foul as well. He probably believed Ash was paying that player back from their previous meeting."
~xxxxxx~
Gary was about to confront the ref for Ash, but quickly was stopped by the black haired captain who just laughed it off causing Gary to sigh. "Come on Ash! It's not even a minute into the game and that ref missed a call when I was fouled and gave you a bogus technical!"
"It's fine Gary, come on. It's still early in the game, we can't get hot headed." Ash answered before pushing Gary to where the shooting guard was suppose to stand while Ash attempted his free throw.
Of course Ash drained the free throw with little difficulty, but since he had gotten the technical foul the other team also received a free throw along with possession of the ball. They also hit the shot.
The score was 5-1.
In the NON student section of the stands
"Dude isn't that Ash from Pallet?" A thuggish looking male questioned as he squinted his eyes towards the basketball court.
Harley, Drew's brother, squinted his eyes as well trying to confirm it. He was a tad bit surprised as he noticed that it really was Ash. Despite the fact that Harley was from a very well off family he enjoyed hanging around Pallet, often getting involved in activities that his parents would never approve of. To him it was a lot better then being a rich kid.
"Damn..It is." Harley said before the earlier conversation he had with his younger brother came to his mind.
*Flashback*
Harley looked at his brother. He had also heard the male voice answer, he could only imagine what Drew had to be thinking right now.
"Who the fuck was that?!" Drew suddenly screamed surprising Harley.
The purple haired 21 year old had expected Drew to get sad, but clearly the voice had only pissed him off.
"No...That voice sounded familiar..." Drew continued talking to himself.
"Drew..This is clearly your hint to move on..Clearly she has." Harley said trying to calm his younger brother down as he put a hand on Drew's shoulder.
The green haired boy pushed his brother's hand off his shoulder. "I'm sure that was that asshole Ash's voice!" Drew concluded his voice full of fury.
The name Ash quickly made Harley think..He had heard that name before...He just couldn't remember where.
*Flashback End*
"So that's where I recognized the name Ash." Harley said to himself.
But that didn't make sense Ash lived in Pallet town he knew that for a fact, he had only met Ash once a while ago while visiting a friend in Pallet, but he wouldn't consider Ash a friend, hell he was sure Ash didn't even remember him. But that wasn't the point, If Ash lived in Pallet Town there was no way he could be in the district for Kanto High.
"Dude, did Ash move from Pallet?" Harley questioned his friend who was also a resident of Pallet Town.
The thuggish young adult shrugged. "Hell if I know."
Harley didn't bother replying to his friend to caught up in his thoughts. People from Pallet Town probably would never even question where Ash attended school after all they had their own problems to worry about so it wouldn't be impossible for Ash to get away with lying about his home address in order to attend Kanto.
The purple haired young adult sighed as he continued thinking. Of course it was always possible that Ash had just moved to the Kanto district. What if he hadn't though what if Ash was lying.
Harley hadn't really spoken to Drew about what he intended to do about May's relationship with the boy who had answered her phone that day, but he knew for a fact his little brother had definitely not gotten over it.
"Maybe Drew would want to hear this.." Harley whispered to himself, he didn't especially care personally about the situation, but he was growing a bit tired of Drew always being in the house depressed it put him in a bad mood as well.
Harley chuckled. "I'm probably thinking way to much into this." The purple haired young adult laughed to himself before pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind as he continued to focus on the game.
The game continued for another 24 minutes before finally the buzzer rang signaling the end of the second quarter.
Both teams looked a bit worn out as they headed towards their locker rooms for halftime.
The score was 54-50
Kanto was leading.
"What an amazing first half from Kanto shooting almost 60 percent from the field." The announcer spoke as another student came and sat next to him. They were told to give somewhat of a halftime report in order to entertain the incredible amount of viewers. Both students wanted to be sports analyst when they graduated so they were feeling extremely privileged to get the opportunity.
"Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak are playing especially well tonight. Ash already scoring 16 points along with 5 assists. Gary added 12 points of his own along with 1 steal." The other student spoke.
The announcer nodded. "It's amazing that the opposing team has been able to keep up with our two best players playing so great, but I guess that's why they are the defending champions."
~xxxxxx~
Many people were taking halftime as a chance to use the bathroom and get food.
Drew glanced down towards the bottom of the stands and was a bit surprised to see May talking to Dawn. The green haired boy had a mental battle to face. Should he go talk to her? More than likely she would give him the cold shoulder. Drew sighed as he stood up, he hadn't talked to her in a few weeks so maybe she had calmed down a bit more.
May and Dawn didn't notice the green haired boy approach them until Dawn felt a tap on her shoulder.
"That behind the back pass Ash did to Brock was so amazing!" May was telling Dawn before she saw the green haired boy.
Dawn turned around a bit surprised before her expression became an annoyed one as she saw the boy who had interrupted her and May's conversation.
"Drew I'm surprised your here." May said before Dawn could snap at Drew.
The blue haired girl looked at May a bit surprised that she spoke to Drew in such a friendly tone.
Drew also seemed a bit caught off guard, but he quickly shook it off. "Well yeah...There was so much hype around this game I had to come at least see what it is about. I gotta say your new...boyfriend is playing pretty well." The green haired boy answered. He intentionally called Ash her boyfriend in order to see if she would deny it or accept it. That would tell him where their relationship was.
"He's amazing right!" May smiled towards Drew.
The green haired boy hid the pain that the three words had caused him extremely well.
Dawn glanced at May a bit surprised by the brown haired girls actions. It wasn't like she had confirmed that she and Ash were dating, but she definitely seemed to accept the idea and she knew Drew understood that.
May also knew the effect of her words. Her and Ash kissing hardly meant they were dating, but she wanted Drew to understand that Ash really was the only guy she was worried about now. It wasn't trying her trying to be mean or spiteful, but she just wanted to be clear to avoid misunderstandings.
"I see.." Drew muttered before smiling. "Well I'm happy for you May..You know how I feel so I won't waste my time repeating it, but I hope we can at least be friends in the future..You know maybe talk about basketball sometime." Drew offered hiding the pain he was feeling behind a smile.
May was honestly surprised. She knew Drew hated basketball so she found it hard to believe that he would actually want to talk about it.
"I appreciate the offer Drew, but I don't think we can be friends..Although I will agree to drop the bad blood between us." May answered causing Dawn to smile.
Dawn for a few seconds had almost believed that May would make the mistake of allowing Drew to sneak his way back into her life. Dawn didn't know if the green haired boy was being genuine or not, but she also knew that it was best for May to just leave the past where it belonged.
Drew visibly frowned this time. He had believed that at the very most May would agree to a mutual friendship.
"I see..Well I guess I'll see you around." Drew stated unsure about his next course of action.
"Yeah..." May answered feeling a bit awkward.
The green haired boy flipped a few strands of his hair out of his face before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking away.
"Well that was interesting." Dawn stated as Drew was out of ear shot.
May shrugged. "I guess."
"I was going to get annoyed, but you know Drew is actually starting to look like he's going to be mature about the whole situation." Dawn informed May.
May nodded in agreement. "I know, although I hope he doesn't change that whole acting mature thing if he hears my song tonight."
Dawn giggled a bit. "Well...He's a tough guy, I'm sure he'll handle it fine. Besides it's not like anybody will know the song is about him."
"I guess you're right, it just makes me feel a bit bad that I told him we'll drop the bad blood between us, but I'm going to sing that song later."
"It's just a song May." Dawn told her friend. "This is your future on the line, if it does hurt Drew then he'll just have to suck it up."
"Yeah.." May replied as her attention returned to the basketball court as the teams came out of their locker rooms ready for the third quarter.
Drew quickly got back to his seat and sighed as he rubbed his chest a bit. He used to laugh when people said that they were heartbroken, how they would compare it to actual pain, but now that he was actually feeling it, it wasn't so funny.
He gave a bitter laugh as the third quarter began. Drew watched with bored eyes as Ash dribbled the ball. He wanted to be mad at the basketball player. It was obvious Ash had everything. He was popular, he had a bright future, and now he even had the perfect girl.
Drew knew he couldn't be mad at the basketball player though. If he hadn't messed up May would still be his.
~xxxxxx~
"Ash!" Paul shouted as he cut towards the basket.
The captain of the team nodded as he threw a pass in the air which Paul jumped and caught as he dunked the ball completing the ally oop bringing the crowd to their feet.
Ash gave the purple haired small forward a high five as they ran back on defense. The ebony haired point guard was having the time of his life. He had missed the feeling of playing organized basketball in front of his peers, hearing the crowd cheer for him. Ash took a quick glance at the brown haired girl who was cheering for him in the stands. Ash couldn't stop the smile from coming to his face times like these really made him forget about the hard times that waited for him back at home.
"Ash! Keep your head up!" His coach shouted from the bench as he noticed Ash briefly lose focus.
Ash instantly got into a defensive stance realizing his mistake.
The game continued on through the third quarter with the Kanto team leaning on the abilities of Ash and Gary while the defending champions showed amazing teamwork and ball movement.
The opposing team didn't have a completely dominate player like Ash nor did they have an incredible scorer like Gary, but they had a strong group of men who executed their plays perfectly. It was obvious that they weren't a team to be trifled with despite their lack of a star.
Eventually there was only 2 minutes left in the fourth and the starters for both teams were put back into the game since it was close.
106 to 102.
The defending champions had captured the lead while the coach rested Ash and Gary so they could be prepared for the final minutes. Without Ash and Gary on the floor the Kanto team relied heavily on Paul to help their younger players stay in the game since Brock and N were more of defensive players.
"This is giving me a strange feeling of Déjà vu folks, and those of you who watched the last game between these two teams know exactly what I mean." The announcer muttered into his mic. His attention was clearly fully into the game.
The crowd gasped as the defending champions drilled a three pointer getting their lead to 109. A 7 point game with less than two minutes left.
~xxxxxx~
"Come on Ash!" May cheered. A few months ago she had skipped watching one of the school's plays in order to watch the championship game and she had seen the teenager spark an amazing run when they were in the exact same situation. She was sure he could do it again.
Dawn looked over at her friend before she also began cheering. "You too Gary! If you guys lose I won't forgive you!"
~xxxxxx~
Ash was keenly aware of the situation as he dribbled the ball up the court watching the clock. Ash's defender began to guard him as the teenager crossed the half court line.
"You know I've been watching tape on you all summer, there is no way I'm letting you score like you did last year." The defender stated in a serious tone. He along with the rest of his team wanted to prove that they could beat the Kanto team with Ash playing since a lot of people didn't give them credit for their previous championship.
Ash ignored the boy, as he looked towards the bench and saw the coach signaling the same exact play he had a few months earlier. The point guard resisted the urge to smirk as he made a motion once again telling the coach that he would make the correct play.
The coach nodded once again believing in Ash's judgement.
Ash was no fool, if he tried to do the same thing he had did before they would stop it with little difficulty. After looking back at the shot clock Ash decided to pass unable to think of an easy way to score, they would have to run a play.
The point guard motioned for N to come set a screen who did just that at the top of the three point line on Ash's defender causing him to get momentarily stuck. Unlike last year however help immediately came intending to stop Ash from taking a three pointer like he had before. As the help defense came Ash smirked.
Gary couldn't believe it, in order to prevent Ash from taking the shot his defender momentarily left him leaving him wide open, the brown haired boy didn't need to call for the ball as he immediately saw Ash throw a bullet pass towards him. Gary set his feet before the ball even reached his hands.
As he caught the ball Gary immediately took the shot.
"It's a four point game! Gary Oak has just drained the corner 3 off Ash Ketchum's 10th assist giving him 23 points for the night!" The announcer shouted as he saw the ball enter the net.
The crowd immediately began chanting defense as they watched the home team get in position none of them celebrating the shot.
"Full court press!" Ash shouted as he looked at the clock one more time. 1:19 left to play. More than enough time to score four points.
The home team instantly began pressuring the defending champions trying to steal the inbound pass.
The opposing player who was trying to inbound the ball shouted time out in frustration unable to find anybody to pass it to.
The Kanto team walked back to their bench.
"Good defense guys, keep it up." The coach said as they huddled up.
The team went over their defensive formation before they heard a whistle signaling the end of the time out. Once again the home team pressured the champions trying to steal the inbound pass, but unfortunately the point guard finally managed to break away from Ash long enough to get the ball.
"Get back!" Ash shouted as he began guarding the ball handler full court.
The point guard took his time obviously trying to waste time off the clock as he avoided Ash's quick hands not wanting to have turnover remembering full well what had happened in their previous meeting.
Ash looked at the clock 59 seconds left and the only 4 seconds left on the shot clock. The ball handler noticed Ash's attention shifted as he quickly ran towards the rim to attempt a layup.
"Ash stop him!" Brock shouted as he was being boxed out by the opposing team's center leaving the paint wide open.
The opposing team's point guard smirked as he prepared to release a simple layup.
His smile was quickly wiped off as a arm firmly wrapped around the ball before it hit the backboard.
The crowd along with the players on Kanto's bench immediately rose excited about the incredible defensive stop they had just witnessed.
Ash snatched the ball out of the other players hands from behind as he had attempted the layup with his right hand. Te 6'1 guard briefly looked at the boy who had just been stopped as he fell to the ground still surprised that he had been stopped.
The black haired boy soon dribbled towards his side of the court and allowed their offensive to set up. They had gotten the stop they needed, now they needed a three.
Once again Ash looked towards the clock. 40 seconds left.
"Over here!" Paul shouted as he loss his defender and sprang to the three point line.
Ash hesitated a bit to let Paul shoot the three pointer since the purple haired boy wasn't the best shooter from that range, but he couldn't afford to doubt his teammates now.
Paul caught Ash's pass and set his feet and rose to take the shot.
"Paul!" N shouted, a rare occurrence, as he saw Paul's defender jump to block the purple haired boy's shot.
Paul cringed as he watched his shot get swatted back towards him before the boy who had blocked his shot got the rebound.
"OH no! Paul Shinji is caught off guard and get's his shot sent right back to him!" The announcer muttered worried about how the home team would win.
The crowd once again went silent all eyes on the clock. 30 seconds left.
~xxxxxx~
"Oh my god! What can they do!" Dawn shrieked as she witnessed Paul's shot get blocked.
May didn't respond as she bit her lip clearly worried about how Kanto could come back, they would need a miracle.
~xxxxxx~
The boy who stopped Paul dribbled the ball back to his side of the court, he wasn't use to being the ball handler and you could tell his ball handling skills wasn't on a high level.
"Watch out! Behind you!" One of his teammates shouted as he noticed Ash come from behind, the warning came to late as Ash poked the ball out of the boy's hand and secured the steal.
"A steal by Ash Ketchum!" The announcer shouted gaining energy as he saw a way for Kanto to win.
Ash wasted no time bring the ball back up the court as he heard the crowd cheer, everybody clearly happy that their chances hadn't been completely killed.
The opposing team's coach was screaming towards his team telling everybody to make sure Ash didn't have an open look.
They weren't fast enough however as Ash made it to the three point line and immediately pulled up, not bothering to slow down the offense.
All eyes were on the ball as it sailed through the air.
"A CLUTCH 3 POINTER BY ASH KETCHUM! It's a one point game folks with 23 seconds left to play!" The announcer screamed as he almost jumped out of his seat after watching the ball enter the net.
~xxxxxx~
May grabbed Dawn as she saw the ball go in. "YES!" She shouted much to the blue haired girl's amusement.
"Come on Kanto!" Both girls began shouting as the defending champions prepared to inbound the ball.
"They have to foul now right?" Dawn questioned as she calmed down a bit.
May nodded. "If they can't get a steal right here they have to foul so that the other team can't hold the ball until the game is over since the game clock is less than 24 seconds."
Dawn was about to respond before her attention snapped back towards the court.
"A STEAL BY GARY OAK. WHAT A SLOPPY INBOUND PASS! Uncharacteristic from the champs!" The announcer shouted as Kanto called time out.
Dawn watched the opposing coach slam his clipboard on the ground clearly unable to believe that his team had made such a stupid mistake.
"Gary is amazing!" May shouted towards Dawn complimenting the blue haired girl's boyfriend.
Dawn laughed as she felt the excitement building up in her. "Don't tell him that though!"
"You are right about that, lord knows he doesn't need any thing else to inflate his ego!" May replied laughing before both girls turned their attention towards the court ready to see how the game would end.
~xxxxxx~
"GREAT STEAL GARY!" Ash shouted towards his best friend as they got to the bench.
Gary who was still excited didn't hear Ash as he gave everybody who was near him high fives.
"Good defense boys!" The coach complimented as the team settled down. "Now we have the ball for the last position of the game. Ash..We're going to you." The coach informed the black haired boy who nodded in understanding.
Everybody who was watching the game knew that the ball would probably be in Ash's hands for the final shot. The only question was would he be able to make it.
As the coach finished going over the play he looked towards Ash. "Anything you want to say Ash?" He questioned knowing this would be the last play of the game considering neither team had anymore timeouts.
Ash nodded as he stepped into the middle of huddle.
"Come on guys! This is our year! No excuses. No injuries, no dirty plays. NONE OF THAT. It's time for us to show them who should have been the champions last year!" Ash shouted at the top of his lungs. Everybody on the team nodded in agreement.
As Ash finished speaking Gary spoke up being the unofficial co-captain. "WHO ARE WE?!" He shouted as he also stepped in the middle of the huddle.
"KANTO!" Everybody on the team shouted.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! WHO ARE WE!" Gary shouted even louder this time gaining a large portion of the students who were in the crowd's attention.
"KANTO!" The students plus the team shouted.
"HE SAID WHO ARE WE?!" Ash joined in screaming at the top of his lungs, something he didn't normally do, but even he couldn't fight the excitement building in him at the moment.
By this time the entire crowd had caught on to what was happening.
"KANTO!" The gymnasium roared showing the overwhelming support for the home team.
"Let's do this!" Ash shouted as the team ended their huddle hearing the ref blowing his whistle signaling the end of their last time out.
Whoever was responsible for the music which had been playing during the entire game switched the track to a beat which matched the moment perfectly. Causing the tension of the gym to get even higher as N inbounded the ball to Ash.
Ash wasn't surprised as he scanned the court. The opposing team was playing great defense, he would have to work hard for his shot.
Ash's defender was no longer speaking as he got as close as he could to Ash not wanting the boy to have any space to create a shot.
14 seconds left.
Ash grunted as he noticed he was being forced towards the left. It was obvious that the team wanted to get him into a corner in order to trap him. They wanted to get the ball out of his hands and at this rate it was going to work.
Before Ash could make a move to get free another defender left his man in order to double team him.
10 seconds left.
"Damn it!" Ash shouted as he passed the ball towards the open man.
It was Gary who had seen Ash about to get trapped.
The opposing coach was clearly irritated as he jumped up and down yelling for his team to get Gary. He had told his team to leave N open, but clearly at some point their defensive formation had broke down thus leaving allowing Gary momentarily get open.
"Gary shoot it!" Ash shouted as he saw the ball reach Gary's hands.
6 seconds.
Gary barely caught the ball as he rose up to shoot, he frowned as he saw a defender had managed to get close in on him. Gary barely managed to release the shot over the defender.
All eyes followed the ball.
4 seconds.
~xxxxxx~
"Please god!" May and Dawn both prayed as they held their hands together their eyes following the ball.
Even Drew's thoughts had momentarily been taken off his depression as he watched the ball. Without noticing he had also found himself rooting for Kanto.
~xxxxxx~
The crowd cringed as they watched the ball bounce off the rim.
2 seconds.
The opposing team were already starting to celebrate.
"ASH! DO IT!" Gary shouted having seen Ash run towards the rim as he released the shot.
The opposing team stopped their celebration as they watched the 6'1 guard jump in the air, everybody clearly surprised. They hadn't even noticed the star player approach the rim. After he had passed it they completely forgot about him.
A stupid mistake.
Everybody on the Kanto bench stood up.
1 Second.
Ash slammed the ball back into the hoop as it bounced off the rim with authority with one hand. The 6'1 guard had jumped higher than anybody could have predicted. His head was practically above the rim.
The buzzer went off signaling the end of the game and Ash allowed himself to drop off the rim.
It was silent.
After what seemed like an eternity the announcer finally spoke.
"Kanto wins...110 to 109..." He muttered unable to believe what he had just seen.
It took a few seconds for everybody to registered the words, but soon the entire gymnasium was cheering.
May's face broke out into a smile as she watched the opposing team slowly make their way off the court, clearly disappointed that they had blew the game.
"KANTO wins! With Ash Ketchum leading the way with 32 points and 10 assists plus a buzzer beater that we surly go down in Kanto high history!" The announcer screamed this time extremely loudly as it fully hit him that Kanto had won.
The entire Kanto basketball team quickly made their way to Ash pulling the 6'1 guard to the floor piling on top of him.
"Gary Oak also had a strong performance with 23 points along with 4 steals!" The announcer continued as he watched the entire student body begin running towards the floor in excitement. "I would like to urge everybody to please re frame from coming to the floor!" He shouted although it was obvious nobody was listening to him.
Drew gave a sad smile as he saw May run towards the 6'1 guard as he finally managed to get away from the other players.
The feeling that he had earlier returned full force as he saw Ash place his hands on May's cheeks and pull her into a kiss. They clearly didn't care that basically the entire city of Kanto was watching them.
Drew closed his eyes unable to watched the scene.
Dawn smiled as she watched May accept Ash's kiss. She was so happy that her best friend had found a good man.
"Don't I get one of those?" Dawn heard a voice ask. Her eyes quickly found her boyfriend who was extremely sweaty, but he his infectious smile made the blue hair girl ignore it for the time being.
Dawn laughed a bit as she walked up towards the brown haired boy. "I don't know, you did miss that last shot." She teased.
Gary laughed a bit. "Actually me missing the shot was all apart of the play. My shot was really a pass to Ash." He joked as Dawn wrapped her arms around the sweaty player's neck.
"Oh shut up and kiss me." Dawn replied as she laughed.
The brown haired boy chuckled as he complied with Dawn's demands.
After a few seconds Ash pulled away from May.
"And what made you do that?" May questioned although she had no problem with Ash's actions.
Ash chuckled a bit. "I was comparing the feeling."
May rose an eyebrow.
"I wanted to know which was better kissing the girl of your dreams or hitting the game winning shot against the defending champions..." Ash said already knowing May would ask him to explain.
May blushed, but couldn't hide the smile that appeared on her face.
"Honestly hitting the game winning shot didn't have a chance of winning that contest." Ash continued earning a light push from May.
"You are so corny." May laughed before grabbing a small portion of Ash's wet jersey.
Ash chuckled as he let the brown haired girl pull him closer to her. It was clear that she didn't mind the fact that he was sweaty, nor did she mind that a lot of eyes were on them.
May closed the gap between them as she got on the tips of her toes in order to kiss Ash once more. Ash gave little resistance.
As the two separated for the second time May looked at Ash.
"You know...Drew was wrong..." May muttered this time causing Ash to raise an eyebrow.
May smiled a bit knowing that Ash would want to know why she brought up Drew.
"When he said nobody could ever make me as happy as he could...He was so wrong.." May said causing Ash chuckle.
"At least you know." Ash replied before looking around him. The court was completed packed with students.
"VICTORY PARTY AT THE INDIGO LEAGUE!" Ash shouted as loudly as he could causing May to giggle as she hugged the boy tightly.
Ash had his moment, now it was time for her to shine.
WHAT A GAME! IT'S ALWAYS A GREAT FEELING TO WIN THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON! Ash and May are getting along perfectly clearly on the verge of sparking a new relationship, what could possibly go wrong!
WAIT
OH NO Drew's brother has figured out Ash's secret, but what will he do with the information? Will he tell Drew? Or will he just forget about it, after all it doesn't involve him.
Since May has made it clear to Drew that she has moved on and she doesn't want anything to do with him how will he change his approach? Will he move on? I doubt it.
Drew also needs to learn the saying "never judge a book by it's cover." He doesn't know the first thing about Ash.
One thing I'll tell people now I'm not going for the whole cliche were Drew is some horrible guy so don't expect him to be. He really does have good intentions now.
A lot of questions that I know you guys want to know! You're free to keep guessing what you believe is going to happen! I don't think you guys will guess correctly, but you know! Your free to attempt!
ALSO
Continue to vote for either MISTY OR SERENA! I see a lot of people read this story, but don't review at the very least you guys should say which one you would prefer I want the opinion of a majority of my readers.
Thank you to the people who are continually reviewing my story! I really appreciate you guys and I hope you continue to leave good reviews and that my story meet your expectations.
Fans of The Empire good news! Before chapter 13 of this comes out I will be updating The Empire! Although I can't really say when that will be haha. I was going to work hard on these stories during fall break, but you know...Life lmao.
I also know there was a lot of basketball in this story and a lot of people won't like that, but like I said in the first chapter, this story will involve basketball so you have to expect it occasionally. It's extremely rare that I'm going to be so descriptive though.
Remember to review guys to speed up my typing and feel free to leave constructive criticism so I can improve!
VerifiedBreeze Signing Out.