AN: Hey everyone! Chapter four of the story is here! Hope you weren't waiting too long. If you're new, please follow and favorite the story so you don't miss a chapter when it drops. If you enjoy my usually inconsistent writing, follow and favorite me to show your support! And now, let's talk, as per usual!
Are you enjoying this story? Do you want me to make shorter chapters so that I upload more often? I've been considering writing chapter from 3,000-4,000 words instead of 8,000-10,000 to make posting much easier. That's your choice. Let me know in reviews or through PM if you have an opinion, because your opinion matters to me. Also, I'll be heavily reducing the "Last Chapter" mantra because it takes up words that I could be using for other useful things. I'll be cutting it out entirely if I choose to cut down to 3-4k words per chapter.
This chapter will start with a Skyla and Elesa excerpt. I'll be looking for a way to connect it to Ash and company as well. If you didn't read last chapter, go do so now so you don't have a spoiler alert! That's it everyone! Got any questions? PM's are always open to me. Enjoy the chapter!
LegionZ Presents… Chapter 4
Last Chapter…
"Why are you coming out now?"
Ash blinked. "I-I'm sorry?"
Coach Welsh repeated. "Why are you coming out, trying out for the football team now? When it's your senior year? Most kids want to try and relax senior year unless they've got something to prove, either academically or athletically. I've seen your grades. You're a fine student. I know you're a track star. Why come out for football now and endanger your future as a runner?"
Silence. Then, a response. "I don't think my future is in track sir. As a hybrid, I can't guarantee anything for my future. I have no scholarships on the table for me right now, even though I was hoping with my stats and records, I would've been fine. If for nothing else, sir, I wanted to do this just so that twenty years from now, I'm not regretting not trying out. This is my last chance, I figured I should give it my all."
Coach Edmond spoke for the first time with a laugh. "I'm just happy you weren't recruited by Viridian. They would kill for talent like you at Wide Receiver." Coach Welsh sent a stern look to Edmond, but then let out a sigh followed by a chuckle. "Well, guess that cat's out of the bag now eh?"
Ash stared. "What?"
"Ketchum, I'm glad Stamkos here bumped into you. You've never played a down of organized football, yet you've got all the route running down, and you don't sacrifice any of your incredible speed when you do it. You've got the softest hands on this team yet they're by far the rustiest of any of our pass catchers. You're mature, you're intelligent, you're quick-thinking and you're not afraid to lay out for a pass. That's all the traits of a dynamic wide receiver, and not just at this level."
Coach Welsh stood up and held out his hand. "Consider yourself a member of the Pallet Flames Ketchum, official roster."
Present… Enjoy Everyone!
From that moment on, Ash had been thrown into a whirlwind of new things to experience. He had found out that Jarrod, his friend from tryouts, had been selected as a reserve member. He had done an admirable job, and was rewarded for it with a chance to play at a young age. Christopher McMannon had also been given a spot, insurance for Gary and the sophomore quarterback in front of him. A handful of other guys Ash knew made the reserves, including Pritchard Stevens the running back, and Piora Frederick the safety.
The other player who was deemed worthy of taking an immediate spot on the roster of 53 was the black teen who had broken three of Joey's ribs. Joey was another kid trying out, but had been ridiculously undersized and underweight. The kid's name who broke his ribs, entirely on accident by the way, was named Victor Stone. He was an absolute unit, standing at 6'2" for only a sophomore and looked like a freight train.
He was a loud, happy guy though. Ash had seen him lining up against some of the linemen trying out and watched Victor level them. He had been very solid at defensive tackle, which he confirmed was his position. So Coach Edmond and Coach Baxter had each snagged one walk-on to bolster their respective units, and it came not a moment too soon. Practices rapidly begun to take place, and Ash found himself busy as could be.
He also found out that he needed a roommate for the year, and had no room either. However, a guardian angel came to his assistance, in the form of the team captain. John explained that he was originally rooming with Matias, but when they heard that Ash and Victor needed rooming, they chose to swap.
Matias, also a defensive lineman, loved Victor's loud and proud style of play and personality. They may not have been assigned same spots on the defensive line, but they both played on the same front four. Because of that, Surge wanted to take Stone under his wing. Though Surge was acquainted with Ash, it wasn't on the same level of acquaintance that he had with John. So, Ash and John took a new suite while Surge stayed in the same spot and moved Victor. That counted moving John out too.
Ash began to live on the athletic branch of campus, and it was really weird. It was still a couple weeks before their first game, so nobody was on campus other than athletes. It made the whole place seem a lot more empty, because… well, it was. During the time they weren't on the practice field, in the gym or exploring campus, John was teaching Ash the lifestyle of an athlete. More specifically, a football athlete.
The raven-haired teen hadn't begun to realize all the perks of being a football player. They had separate areas that were closed off to eat, closed off areas to relax, etc. Football was so popular that the schools across the world feared the students would harass the players, and all agreed to these areas in secrecy.
More things came out… but that's for later. Across the world in Nimbassa City, two teenage girls were on an unrealistically large shopping spree.
Skyla found herself gushing with excitement. The prospect of getting new clothes, new accessories, new beauty products… new anything thrilled her. To her bubbly best friend, she was more of the same. They were unloading the bags by the armful into Elesa's house. Elesa's father, a towering man over 6'3", raised an eyebrow at the absurd amount of bags the girls had brought in.
"Is all that really necessary?"
Elesa kissed her father on the cheek. "Dad, you know it's just girls being girls… nothing to get worked up over."
The older man let out a loud humph. "I'm not so sure, I'll save my breath until a table breaks from all those bags. Oh… one more thing!" He pointed at the nearby video phone. "One of your classmates called you on the phone. I told her you weren't in, and would pass along the message to you."
"What was the message?"
Her father laughed. "Call back."
Skyla grinned as Elesa gave a slightly miffed look. It was replaced by a resigned one. "Got my work cut out for me." She tapped a few buttons on the screen. After a moment, she let out a loud squeal. "Oh my gosh! It's Candice!"
Her friend blinked. "Who?"
Elesa excitedly rambled. "Candice! She's my good friend from Snowpoint City! She's attending Pallet this year because her parents wanted her to "study abroad." She was miffed until she remembered I go there too!" Elesa pulled out her phone, and not a moment or two later she showed a picture of her friend to Skyla. The redhead had to admit, she was attractive. She had dark brown, almost black hair that went past her shoulder blades. She was sporting a light blue bikini and hugging what seemed to be her boyfriend. She had light brown eyes and Skyla could sense a positive, cheery attitude about her.
"She seems nice." The girl vaguely stated.
Elesa didn't even notice. "She's amazing. I wonder why she wanted to talk to me. Do you wanna talk with her too?" Skyla shrugged. "I'm alright. I'll stand out on your balcony and take in the sights if it's alright with you."
The blonde nodded. "Okay, I'll meet you out there in a bit, sound okay?" Skyla nodded and left the room. A few minutes passed and in a flash on a screen nearby the television, Candice's face appeared. She looked almost exactly as she did in the picture Elesa had shown to her bestie, with the exception of the attire.
"Ellie!"
"Cannie!"
The brunette made a face. "Still doesn't sound good. But… how've you been?!" Elesa gushed. "Amazing! I was a bit surprised to hear from you though, you could've just contacted me through my phone. What's the special occasion?"
"It's something big… really big. Ellie, I have insider trading."
"What?"
The girl jumped giddily. "Okay, okay okay…. I want you to hear me out before you judge me alright?" Elesa merely nodded.
"Good! So, I have this friend who's got another friend who has a connection with another friend that—" Elesa interrupted. "Get to the point Candice, or else we'll be here by the first day of school."
"Funny you should mention that…"
Elesa narrowed her eyes. "What?"
Candice smiled proudly and continued. "So, I told my connections that I was coming to Pallet, and it just so happens that one of them is pretty well off. That person put in a bid for some front row tickets and they won. Yeah, it wasn't fair considering how much they paid for them but I mean this is a once and a lifetime opportunity! For real! The "All-In-One" bundle! It doesn't get any better than this Ellie!"
Elesa just stared at the girl blankly. Elesa ran her hands through her hair, trying to figure out how on earth she was going to pick the long statement apart. And naturally, the next person to speak didn't have blonde hair.
"Ellie? What is it? Didn't that explain why I'm so happy?"
Elesa gawked at her bubbly friend now. "What did it answer? Who's the connection? Tickets to what? When? What on earth is the All-In-One bundle? You didn't give me anything Candice! I could use… I don't know… legitimate explanations?"
Candice's cheeks turned pink. "Heh… oops. Let me start over."
"I have this friend, who's got another friend, that's got a major connection with another close friend whose—"
"Not that far." Elesa sternly cut in.
"Right right." The brunette sheepishly and quickly got off. "This connection has a lot of money. I'm pretty aquatinted with them. When I told them I was attending Pallet High, they gave me an awesome gift: three front row tickets to the Pallet Flames first football game. I couldn't believe that they would do something so awesome though! I was over the moon, and I called you! Your dad said he'd relay the message and here we are!"
Elesa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Candice… we're students. You get automatic tickets in the up-close student section of the new stadium as long as you can prove you're a student at Pallet High that's under age 19 and/or haven't been held back a year."
Candice opened her mouth to comment but got sidetracked. "Wait, what? Held back?"
Elesa waved it off. "It's a system the school board recently pushed through: If you're on pace and haven't been held back, you get free admission, but if you've been held back you don't get a ticket. It's incentive for people to not bomb classes. Essentially, you can get four years of front row seats of football. After that, you pay like everyone else."
"Clever, but inconvenient. Anyway, you didn't let me finish. Have you seen the Flames schedule?"
Candice was a diehard sports fan, just like everyone else. She adored football, especially since it was so huge in Snowpoint City.
"No, I haven't."
"It just came out today! Ellie, their first game is in neutral ground. It means that—"
"The game isn't being played in Pallet, and it's not being played in the opposing teams' stadium as well, I know Candice." Elesa waited, but Candice said nothing. "Well? Where's it being played Candice?"
"… Undella Town!" She squealed happily and began to spin giddily. Elesa let out a squeal as well, thrilled by the prospect. Undella Town was in the Unova region, the far east side to be exact. It was a town on the beachfront and was constantly warm and featured beautiful weather, scenery, and naturally, sports. Their Pro Team there, the Undella Pirates, were usually a very solid team. Undella had a university, and yes, a D1 high school team there.
Elesa's mood suddenly fell. "But… that doesn't give us any place to stay. We can't just fly out there for a day and come back."
Candice nodded; a look of sheer excitement etched on her face. "The bundles! I have three of them! About two blocks from the beach and a few away from the stadium the high school team plays in, there's this awesome place that the bundle includes. The game is on Saturday, August 29th. The bundle asks us to be in our room by the 26th though." The brunette braced herself for the noise she knew was coming.
"WHAT! You expect us to take over half of the first week off from school? Why didn't you lead off with that!?" Elesa shrieked.
Candice reasoned. "Because you never would've listened to what the trip has to offer! It's an all-inclusive trip, free! The plane-trip is free, the hotel is free, the food is free… at least at the hotel anyway… and the game is free! How can you ask for any better vacation?"
"I don't know… maybe make it not during the school year?" Elesa moaned.
Candice got close up. "Come on Ellie… think about it! We're now officially upperclassmen! We're supposed to be the hot stuff, the cream of the crop! We're supposed to have hot guys eating out of our hands! Plus… don't forget, there's that extra bundle!"
Elesa lost her angry demeanor. She hadn't thought about that. She could give it to Skyla, who would most certainly love the trip. A few moments passed before the blonde sighed in resignation. "Alright then. I'll do it."
Candice's face lit up. "Excellent! Who are you going to bring with you?"
"My friend Skyla. She's super sweet, though I know you two haven't met yet. I'm sure she'll be over to moon to go. Where do we fly out from?"
Candice rubbed the back of her head. "Er… that's another thing…"
And with that, the plan was beginning to settle. It was less two weeks away from the first game, so plans were put into position as fast as they could. Meanwhile, back in Pallet, life was settling in. Ash was preparing for a photoshoot, followed by a practice right after. He was sporting his road uniform that Pallet would wear when they travelled to play other squads in their stadium.
The uniform was mostly white with orange numbers traced in noticeable silver lining. On their shoulder pads, they sported a mix of white and orange, with the orange being fire. The flames covered both their shoulders and represented their squad. Their edges of the uniform were also traced with orange. Their helmet, unlike in the home uniform, was white as well, with a mixture of orange and silver complementing everything. Pallet's logo, a "P" that was flaming was on their helmets. The team wore white pants to make a pretty much all white and orange uniform when they were on the road.
Their home uniforms were much like their road uniforms, except that the main color concept was not white, but black. The shoulders were still in flames, and instead of it being a mix of white and orange, it was a mix of black and orange. Unlike their road concept helmet, it was a black and orange helmet, the Pallet logo still one in the same on each side and a large orange stripe running right down the middle of the helmet. They sported pitch-black pants to go with the design. It was borderline the same design as their road uniform, again, just with the swap of a black and white colors. Most fans loved the designs.
Ash snapped his solo picture of him grinning and holding up a football. Then, they all gathered and took a team photo as well. Ash figured that would be the end of the shoot, but it was far from that. Nearby, Ash spotted players standing behind a green screen and celebrating for what appeared to be no reason.
Matias was nearby, so Ash was easily able to inquire, "Hey Surge! What's the deal with that?" Surge gazed at the players celebrating and let out a knowing chuckle. "Oh, that's stuff we do every year. You know when there's a big third down play or something and they need stuff to hype up the crowd? That's what it is!"
And as it turned out, he was tasked to doing some hype up moments as well. Another hour or so of promotional items that would be used at all the home games were recorded by the camera crews, and before Ash knew it, he was jogging out to the practice field some distance away.
Nearby, the official 50-man roster was hanging on a wall as you walked into the locker room.
Offense
QB:
(S) Gary Oak
Rex Ledolia
RB:
(S) Porfiro Mattos
Artie Emmanuel
Paul Shinji
Bob Swet
WR:
(S) Trex Redwood
(S) Bail Cree
Oswin Lennon
Collin O'Reilly
Reading Smith
Ash Ketchum
TE:
(S) Brock Harrison
Arch Drezdale
Freddy Svacher
OT:
(S) Gunner Raphael
(S) Frank Qalipo
Micah Logsdon
OG:
(S) Giuseppe Gillen
(S) Nestor Schulz
Sal McRine
C:
(S) Gregor Imanovitch
Wally Baller
Defense
DE:
(S) Matias Surge
(S) John Stamkos
Rook Iklatis
Garrett Hemturn
DT:
(S) Santo Lavoie
(S) Sid Yzerlock
Kris Kronwall
Victor Stone
OLB:
(S) Lance Wataru
(S) Denzel Diorgal
Bradley Trauns
Makel McMarner
MLB:
(S) Axel Fractera
Dave Dolittle
CB:
(S) Volikov Maximovich
(S) Drew Saiga
Barry Jun
TJ Aldrich
Nathan Webster
Abel Winchine
S:
(S) Xavier Blackmon
(S) Red Gilmore
DeForest Cralston
Jaylen Freeborn
Special Teams
KR: Abel Winchine
PR: Abel Winchine
K: Royce Maddox
P: Kevin Raxolst
LS: Mitch Walkin
From what Ash could gather, the "S" next to a name meant starter. It was unsurprising that his name hadn't been listed as one. After all, he'd just made it onto the team in the first place. He went to his locker and as he opened it, he slowly ran his thumb across the name that gleamed on the small piece of tape above the locker.
Ketchum
As he threw everything in his locker, Coach Edmond came by handing out cards. Ash curiously took the one handed to him. It had his name on it, and requested he wear his black jersey and black pants. Ash shrugged and tossed on the jersey as instructed. A few minutes passed, and kids were beginning to file out of the locker room. Ash saw John, who was also wearing a black jersey.
"You know why they're having us throw on different jersey's John?"
The captain glanced back, but the emotionless one he originally wore was replaced by a large grin that was swiftly covered up. Before Ash could comment on the swap of emotions, John answered.
"Yeah, I got a good feeling about it."
Ash blinked when John left it hanging. "Well? What is it?"
John just chuckled, his teeth ever so slightly showing from his now obvious grin. "Oh… don't worry… you'll see."
Ash went against that advice; he was very worried. The kids began to pile out and Ash tried to spotfamiliar faces in the uniforms of his color. Nearby, he spotted Gary in a black uniform, Porfiro Mattos, the starting running back, also in a black uniform as well. Artie Emmanuel, the sophomore back, also appeared to be on his team.
He also got a view of Bail and Frank both communicating with one another, black jersey's to accompany black pants. Trex Redwood, the starting wide receiver for the team, also wore a black jersey. On the defensive side of the ball, Matias, Xavier and Volikov all sported his jersey color. However, Victor Stone, his fellow walk-on, was wearing a white jersey. It was very odd, what was the pattern?
"Alright ya'll, gather 'round." The boys gathered around Coach Welsh, who was preparing to give a speech. "We've been working hard, and as you all could tell from the roster in the locker room, every single person who was on this team at the start of the pre-season is on the week one roster." A small round of applause hit before the Coach continued.
"Now then. We've got two weeks before we travel to Undella. If you don't know how the protocol for neutral games goes down, then here it is: While I don't exactly agree with it, this first game is considered to always be held at a point of "Preferred Destination." This is the game where the league wants to get fans out of their houses to see the dawn of a new season and travel to the games. Because of that, this is like the Friday of the week in terms of games. It's supposed to be more enjoyable than the rest of them."
He paced for a moment before continuing. "Each year, three neutral ground territories are set to host different region games. For example, in Johto, they pulled Coumarine City in Kalos as the neutral ground territory. All five games in the Johto conference for week one will be played in Coumarine's stadium. All teams in Kanto will travel to Undella, located in Unova. For Unova, they'll travel to Sunnyshore City in Sinnoh. All the squads from Kalos will gear up for Dewford Town in Hoenn. The Sinnoh Teams travel to Johto and Ollivine City, and finally, Hoenn comes to our grounds and visits Fuchsia… our week one opponent."
He sternly pushed on. "Our first game is scheduled about two weeks away, the 29th of August. It's a Saturday game, and it's slated to be the most watched one. Remember, all five games are played in a two day slot in the same stadium. The grounds crews will need time to prepare. Two games are played on Friday, one at 3, then the last at 8. The next day, the first game starts at 12, our game begins at 4, and the final game begins at 8:30. Now, that's a bit unnecessary, but this little bit of information isn't."
The players eagerly awaited their coaches next words before he continued dryly. "Our flight is scheduled the Wednesday before the game. Meaning, we have three days there until we actually play our games."
An uproar of chaos came from the players, this had never happened before.
"I know this is unexpected. However, we will unfortunately not have access to the fields on Friday, and yet I don't want to remain unprepared. So, I'll be arranging a large gym practice the day prior to the game to ensure everyone is ready to go and doesn't relax too much the day prior—"
"Does that mean we've got a day off in the gem of Unova!?" Surge said from the group in disbelief.
Silence. "Yes, yes you do."
Whooping from the crowd, slapping of hands and eager whispers of plans being made ran rampant before Coach Welsh clapped his hands three times, effectively silencing his group of warriors.
"Now, let me review a few things before I lose you all to the news. One, on Tuesday, the day before we fly out, I'll be incorporating hell-week into one singular day. That should keep you exhausted all throughout Wednesday, and hopefully into Thursday. On Friday, you'll be reporting to mandatory training, where we'll keep you all in shape and check you to make sure you're able to play. Remember, you goof up on Thursday and we'll all be able to see it on Friday. You can bet your sorry asses I'm not going to let you play if you waste an opportunity like this."
He pointed at them one by one. "You're to report to all your classes Monday and Tuesday of the first week of school. You're to get all your homework and have it all wrapped up by their designated due dates. Do not report to class on Wednesday, and meet your group at the designated time. Spend the rest of the day preparing, resting, doing homework, or what not. You're not to leave the confines of the hotel under any circumstance all of Wednesday or prior to Thursday Morning check in, is that understood?"
"Yes Coach!" The group chorused.
The balding man nodded and pushed forward. "On Thursday, after you check in, you're free to spend the day as you'd like it. Do anything illegal, benched, cut, gone. Leave the city, benched, cut, gone. You get my idea, yeah?" The kids said nothing at this bleak statement.
"I expected you back at the hotel by 10 at night… sharp. Every minute you don't check in at the hotel will be another minute you risk not playing. I encourage you to stick with your teammates. Friday is a less-down of a day, you'll have training and conditioning… and Saturday is gametime. You get it?"
"Yes Coach!" The group chorused once more.
He nodded. "Good, now, let's get into what we've got planned… scrimmage."
'What?' Ash's mind churned.
Coach Welsh jerked his head to his coordinators. "I spoke with Edmond and Baxter, and they both agreed you've been working hard, so today's all about having fun with some competition. Now then… you're going to be divided into two teams. One team is the starting offense, the next is in the reserve offense. The same applies for the defense. The drive will start on the twenty yard line. The starting offense plays against the starting defense, and the reserve offense battles the reserve defense."
The older man pointed to the goal post. "While you're not all wearing the same colors, the offense needs to score points, while the defense needs to hold them. If the offense scores more points on more drives than the defense holds them to none, the defense has to run conditioning. If the defense halts the offense and prevents points from being scored on more drives than drives the offense does score, the offense runs conditioning. It's not mutual, meaning first team and second team are entirely different. First teams offense and second teams defense may end up running."
He blew his whistle. "We're going with our starters. If you're wearing a black jersey, speak with your coordinator to discuss planning, you're up first."
'…I'm a starter? Why not any of the recruits?'
Ash found himself jogging over to Coach Edmond, black and orange helmet in hand. Bail lightly punched Ash in the shoulder. "Glad to see you in our colors Ketchum. You're gonna light it up with us."
Ash dumbly nodded, unsure of what else to say or do. Edmond clapped his hands once and all chatter cut off. "Alright boys, it's time to get to work. Gary, I'll be feeding you the plays, let's strike first and keep it rolling." He then walked to the edge of the practice field, staring at his playbook with anticipation.
Gary came over to an anxious-looking Ash. "Hey, let's huddle up."
Ash followed the rest of the offense to Gary's location. "Alright gentlemen. I for one don't want to run or do anything of the sort, so for our sakes, let's put these boys down, right?"
"Right!" The offense responded back.
"One more thing boys." The offense turned to see Coach Welsh holding up a box. Gunner Raphael, the starting offensive tackle peered into the container. "What's this—oh man." He held out a white pinnie.
The grin on Welsh's face could eat anything. "Sorry gents. You're pinnies, both offenses are. Suit up further."
Ten minutes later, both sides were prepared. Because the first team only used one Tight End, it gave them an extra wide receiver. Ergo, Ash was in the starting 11. The official 11 on 11 was Gary, Porfiro, Trex, Bail, Ash, Brock, Gunner, Frank, Giuseppe, Nestor and Gregor on offense. On the other side, the defense had Matias, John, Santo, Sid, Lance, Axel, Volikov, Drew, TJ, Xavier and Red. Usually, there would be one less wideout and another tight end on offense, with one less cornerback and one more linebacker on defense. The defense was preparing to go, and the offense got into the huddle.
"Alright boys. We're starting with Zulu Winger: Sixty-Eight." The offense clapped and lined up on the 20. Ash's helmet was strapped on, his white pinnie over his black jersey. Lined up across from him was TJ Aldrich, a freshman cornerback. The first play was a simple halfback dive.
The moment the ball was hiked, TJ immediately dropped back into coverage, unaware that it was a run play. Ash took off after him, preparing to block him. TJ did realize what to do by this point, and rushed up to try and tackle Porfiro. Ash grabbed him and practically tossed the smaller kid aside. The play never got that far though, as Porfiro was tackled by Santo Lavoie, the defensive tackle.
Second down was another run play. It had the same three-yard gain. That was when they turned to the pass. Ash's route was simple: a slant move across the middle. He stared at Aldrich for a moment and the moment he heard Gary hike the ball, he took off running. One firm cut later and he found himself wide open across the middle. Gary didn't hesitate and fired it straight into his hands.
That was when Ash went to work.
Open field-maneuvering was his specialty. He knew TJ was lagging right behind him, so he juked upfield and caused the freshman cornerback to stumble past him. Xavier was about to land a crushing blow to his ribs, but one firm press into the turf and a spin move later and there was nothing but green grass ahead of him. He took off running, Red Gilmore hot on his heels. However, the safety had nothing on Ash in terms of raw speed, and found himself ten yards behind the wideout as the offense scored in just three plays.
Ash tossed the ball to the official and was promptly mobbed by his frenzied teammates. Ash heard his quarterback yell, "That's what I'm talking about!"
This would continue back and forth for some time. After six drives, the offense was ahead 4-2, but only two of those drives ended in touchdowns. Bail Cree caught the other 6-pointer, while Royce Maddox nailed both his field goals. On the defensive side of the ball, John recorded two sacks in the six drives. One drive ended on a valiant fourth down stand, while the other stalled out following one of John Stamkos' sacks. For the most part however, the offense was doing good work.
That all changed on the seventh drive, however.
It was second and one, fourth play of the drive. It was a swing pass to Porfiro Mattos, and Ash was due up for some impact blocking. The ball was snapped and Ash was off like a cannon. He furiously battled TJ on the line before he heard something out of the ordinary. He couldn't place what it sounded like, but he heard a loud scream after the whistle blew. Ash turned to the cry and found himself attempting not to retch.
Porfiro's leg was bent in an extremely awkward angle. Santo Lavoie was seen on the ground, holding both hands on his head. He didn't appear to be injured though. In an instant, medical staff ran out onto the field, knowing very well how bad this was.
Minutes passed, and one by one, the players took a knee as their starting running back was carted off and sent to the hospital. The game would continue, and to rub salt in the wound, the defense would stop them multiple drives in a row. Their new halfback who tried to take over was sophomore Artie Emmanuel. He was struggling mightily with the front four of their defense, which was incredibly bittersweet.
The offense was forced to the conditioning, and it was clear that if it was as bad as it looked, the team was going to suffer. Bob Welsh was unmistakably absent from the conditioning, and the coordinators in charge had mercy on the offense that just lost a cornerstone of their team.
Ash walked into the locker room, expecting it to be empty. It was far from it. Not a single defensive player had left. They were all sitting together, quiet as mice. The offensive players unpacked their gear and prepared to join the defensive players.
As a runner, Ash was no stranger to injuries, or being witness to them at least. Ash was fortunate enough to stay healthy the vast majority of his running career. It was part of the reason he'd been able to remain in such good shape. Many minutes passed. Then, about half an hour after the practice had been ended, Bob Welsh walked into the locker room, an unreadable expression on his face.
The balding man walked into his office and sat down for a minute. Sometime later; Coach Welsh got up and addressed his team.
"Porfiro's out for the season."
Gary breathed out softly. "Shit…"
He shook his head. "Something obviously is busted in his leg. Going to take surgery and what not to get it fixed. By the time he's got a shot at getting back to what he was, it'll be too late. He's a senior as well, so it's likely he's not suiting up for us anymore. He's got to focus on rehab."
He sat down with his players as the coordinators grimly watched nearby. He bit his lip and shook his head before standing up abruptly. "Gentlemen, listen up and listen well." The players all watched their coached intently, ready for his next words.
"We're changing our offense strategy drastically as a result of this. I know this isn't going to be what we expected, but I'm going to make this as simple as I can. Defense, you're not changing much. I want you crisp and ready to stop whatever adjustments we make on offense."
"And as for the other guys… our boys trying to score… we're switching our offensive tactics for maximize effectiveness. Oak, you're going to be our main man all season. We're going from a balanced attack to one aiming to go more through the air. Redwood, Cree, Ketchum, you've been solid through practices thus far. Keep it up. Harrison, Drezdale, you're going to be more developed for receiving duties than blocking ones. Lennon, O'Reilly, Smith… expect increased play time to what you were told earlier."
He muttered something under his breath and then spoke again. "We've got less than ten days to try and hone our craft before Fuchsia. You've all got less than that before your first class. Time to adjust everyone."
And as such, it did. The offense rapidly began to shift to a pass-happy one, which came with positives and negatives. The most glaring negative was easily that a one-dimensional offense generally ended poorly. The most obvious positive though was that passing the ball was becoming more prominent than running the ball. Therefore, if a team had a dominant and unstoppable pass attack, it could increase their chances of victory.
For that matter, as the workloads increased, coaches got to see who was cracking under the increased pressure, who was thriving in it, and who didn't seem to care. For the wideouts, the starting four were projected to be Trex, Bail, Ash and Oswin. Bail didn't seem to be affected by the workload, and remained an extremely reliable and consistent target for one Gary Oak. Ash didn't change either, embracing his increased workload and not changing a bit of how he played the game.
Oswin was a different story. The freshman, now turned sophomore, had grown four inches of height in just a handful of months. Now standing sturdy at over 6'2", he could easily handle his own and he was set out to prove it in practice. Ash watched in awe as the taller, blue-haired boy would out-muscle cornerback after cornerback. He even beat out Volikov every so often. Oswin Lennon was clearly pushing for a better role.
On the flip side, Trex Redwood was struggling mightily, though by his attitude you wouldn't have known that. Redwood, a physical receiver who excelled at 50/50 catches, was having issues with just catching the ball. Though the coaches hadn't counted exact numbers, Redwood's drop rate was approximately one in nine, an utterly atrocious number. He was getting beaten far more times than an expected number one wideout should be. Ash would always grit his teeth in agitation whenever Trex would let an easy pass slip through his fingers. He'd always just try to blame someone or something for the drop rather than own his mistake. It wasn't a good look.
But at the end of the day, he still was the number one wideout, much to Ash and Bail's annoyance. At tight end, Brock still looked to be the surefire number one player throughout the increased workload. Gary obviously had no trouble with his challenges, and the offensive line was ready to anchor the ship. The real test continued in the test of running backs.
Porfiro had been placed on IR, to nobody's surprise. IR stood for injured reserve, a place where players would be "located" while they recovered. The team could then move a player to take their spot, at least until they were taken off the IR. Unfortunately for Pallet Town, it became abundantly clear of their situation.
Nobody in the halfback room was prepared to take over for Mattos.
Artie Emmanuel was, as eerie as it sounded, the oldest halfback on the team now that Mattos was gone. As a sophomore, the ginger boy was big and physical as a back, but had a weak motor. He failed to really push through the line and that was a power back's best asset. Because of this, the coaches were hesitant to just hand him the imaginary torch.
Next up to the also imaginary plate was freshman Paul Shinji. He was a highly-touted recruit out of Veilstone City of the Sinnoh region. The problem with his game was primarily maturity. He hadn't played a single down of high school football yet. He was shifty and speedy enough. Paul also featured some impressive ball carrier vision to boot. However, while he had the craft, he failed to put it all together on the field. Experience and time would be his best friends if they lent Paul a hand.
Bob Swet was after that. The coaches knew that Swet's odds to be named starter were borderline zip. Swet was a towering kid who would fit more as a tight end than a running back, but his hands were less than adequate for the role. He was a project piece.
And the final contestant for the starting role was none other than Pritchard Stevens, the long-haired, scar-faced boy who made it onto reserves. As a result from Mattos being moved to the Injured Reserve list, Stevens was given the green light to come to the active roster. While the boy was young, he possessed three incredible traits that had coaches raving.
His first was speed. If he could get a gap to run through, he could make any opposition pay. His raw movement speed was dynamic, and that wasn't something you could teach.
His second attribute was maturity. Though only a freshman, he seemed to get along better with a lot of the players than the rest of the halfbacks. Paul would never talk, and that made a lot of the other guys in the big eleven feel pretty uneasy.
His final, and probably most important, was his love of blocking. Pritchard, a halfback of great speed, also had some decent size, and used it to protect the quarterback as best he could. That was something the Emmanuel, Shinji and Swet all struggled with. Emmanuel wasn't fast enough to cover defensive ends that blitzed, Shinji would be overpowered by the rushers, and Swet had no blocking technique.
For days, it would seem like the Pritchard Stevens hype train was growing rapidly, but in all honesty nobody knew who would be named the starter. Nerves were at an all-time high as the first day of class rapidly approached. Ash found himself preparing for his long classes than would only be the first two days then it was time to play. The days seemed to be getting shorter. Ash's classes were split into two bursts, with lunch for the seniors smack in the middle. Classes changed from what Ash knew.
And before he knew it, the first day of school was upon the team. But the night before that the first class, Ash and the group were chatting amongst themselves in Matias' dorm. Victor Stone was out with Santo Lavoie, getting some last minute preparation.
They were watching television; HSFK. That stood for High School Football in Kanto.
'Alright Jim, we're onto our fourth team on the discussion and it's the Flames of Pallet Town, the place where Halloween Hails.'
'That's Chris, and like every other team we're gonna talk about strengths, weakness' and then record prediction'
'Alright, I'll roll with the strengths: Gary Oak and the defensive line. That's what I've got; Oak has a shot at becoming a superstar at the next level, that much is very obvious. He transferred from Snowpoint to Pallet in the hopes of getting a championship before he makes the leap to the next level. This is a blue-chip, star-studded thrower who's yet to commit. On the defensive line, there's honestly a lot to love. John Stamkos, superstar who's capable of anything you put him to, Matias Surge, one of the best run-stuffing defensive ends I've ever seen, and on the interior there's a steadfast combination of Santo Lavoie and Sid Yzerlock. Again, if there's a group that's just… complete… it's there.'
'Now to the weakness' however, and this could be a doozy. I mean… where to start? The Flames have enough holes on this squad you could consider this team to a replacement for swiss cheese. First weakness, and the most glaring hands down; Running Back. Porfiro Mattos… the key piece to help out Gary Oak? Gone. Artie Emmanuel the sophomore? Not ready. Paul Shinji? Not ready. Pritchard Stevens? You guessed it; not ready. Now, let's go to cornerbacks! Outside of Volikov Maximovich… who do they have that can actually do some decent work? Drew Saiga? The second year man? I doubt it. They've got a bunch of unproven first year players after that. It's going to be rough down the line, especially if Maximovich turns up with an injury. Finally, let's talk about our wide receivers.'
'Oh yeah, and this one is going to be bad too. Listen to this, inside their top three wideouts is a walk-on… that's right! A guy who hasn't played a single snap of football is now inside the Flames top three. Ash Ketchum is his name, but it gets better. Their current number one Trex Redwood has looked horrendous thus far through camp and has been dropping passes and causing chaos. He is looking far from steady let alone as a number one receiver. Oak's probably gotta be reconsidering his decision to transfer to Pallet right now.'
'And the moment we've been leading up to… our final predictions for the Flames?'
'4-7 at best this season. I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I really am! The Flames have a few elite players but then nothing else to show for it. Look, the division they play in is pretty rough. Viridian is constantly an elite squad to fight against, Cinnabar is a contender this season, as we've already discussed. While Pewter is considered to be nothing special this season, Vermillion is expected to be the early favorites at claiming the division.'
Matias shut off the television. "Let 'em sleep. We'll make 'em pay for it."
John chuckled. "You said it boy. Playing from behind and playing with no expectations… that's how we roll baby." He gave Matias a slap on the shoulder and then turned to Ash who looked a bit miffed that the hosts hadn't given them a second thought.
"Is that normal?"
Gary, who was sitting with crossed legs nearby, shrugged. "Even if it is, that doesn't matter. This is what the media is built for, chatter. We're built to play man, and that's why we fight."
Volikov chimed in. "As Gary zaid, 'eet does not matter what they say. We will battle on, and we will fight to win."
John cut in. "Now, since we're a week out from gametime, I want to give you some words on how to handle this first two days of classes. Trust me, you'll wanna hear this." He made a motion with his hand and began. "First thing you always do is show you're dedicated to academics. Colleges ain't gonna jump all over you if your grades are subpar. That make sense?"
Ash nodded carefully. That was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Next, try and keep a low profile. Don't go flexing your status or anything. Coaches, players, colleges, teams… you name it and they'll all tell you the same thing: before you can prove yourself and back up your trash talk, keep your mouth shut. Hype is a good weapon to utilize when you can actually use it right. Make sense?"
"Yeah, loud and clear."
John nodded. "Good, because this next one is something I think you should take to heart… just for the first game."
Ash gave him a look that asked him to continue. "For anyone, nobody into the dorms. You need to keep a fresh mind and that includes guys or girls. And at that, for any reason."
The raven-haired boy grimaced. That was a rough call. "Any reason why?"
"Coach wants us to keep fresh and the thoughts of partying, drinking or anything just makes him angry and worried as well."
The wideout frowned. "But having people over to our dorms isn't the same as all that stuff!"
"You're right homie." Frank piped up from the couch. "But Coach is hella adamant on that stuff. Good luck trying to sway him on it. That's why this neutral ground stuff is such a big deal to us; it never happens. We're gonna treasure this trip man."
Ash nodded, and the rest of the night was all about him planning out his classes, his schedule and what not. He also shared some classes with his friends. His schedule read out:
P1: English
P2: Cooking
P3: Physical Education
P4: Study Hall
P5: Lunch
P6: Calculus
P7: Forensic Science
P8: Honors Chemistry
This would be his schedule all year. He was pretty relieved that all his roughest classes were later in the day, when football would likely be. It would give him an out or two to try. And as Ash laid down in his twin sized bed, he could feel his nerves kicking in. While his job as a wideout on the Flames was secured, the feeling of uneasiness attacked him in his sleep. When he woke up, his new life… his new role would officially begin.
This was where it all started.
AN: And that's wrapped up folks! Next Chapter I'm unsure of how I'll write it up. I'm debating just skipping over the school section for next chapter simply because the main characters to Ash in school will also be the pairings, and the pairings are obviously not going to be there. So, we'll need to see what happens I suppose.
If you're new, please follow and favorite the story! It'd mean a lot to me! Thanks guys! Until next time!
LegionZ