Hey guys I'm not dead. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the long wait. It's been since the beginning of June since my last update. After my service trip, I started a summer job which left me tired everyday. I also went on vacation for a week and had summer baseball, which ended a few weeks ago. But most of it was laziness because I watched so much YouTube and Netflix. This is also my longest chapter by far with over 4,400 words.
I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart again. I will tell you more about my summer and my future plans for this fanfic. But for now, the wait is over. (Also, italics means the announcer is talking).
Dawn yawned and fluttered her eyes open as she checked her phone to see the time, which was 11:45. She then felt an arm around her and slowly turned her head to see Ash, who was still sound asleep.
She sighed and muttered to herself, "Why does this keep happening to me?"
She carefully lifted Ash's arm off her and sat up in the nest of couches and chairs. She saw a few students who had this free period as well talking, and eating, but the place pretty peaceful since mostly everyone was in class.
She then, out of nowhere, heard a few chuckles and immediately turned to Ash, but he was still asleep. She then kept looking around until a few voices rang out. "Having fun there?" the mysteriously girly voices said as they were giggling and on the verge of breaking out into laughter. She looked behind the pool table and saw orange hair sticking out along with the top of a hat, and that could mean only one thing.
"Misty! Leaf! I know you're there!" Dawn yelled. As expected Misty and Leaf came out from behind the pool table laughing like banshees.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?! Don't you have class?" Dawn inquired angrily.
Misty responded while still giggling, "We had a Pre-calc test and we finished early so we got to leave."
"Wait, you had a test the second day?" Dawn retorted still with anger, but also with curiosity now.
"It was just one of those tests to see what you know at first," Leaf answered nonchalantly.
"But that doesn't excuse the real question here," Leaf and Misty said with a mischievous grin on their faces.
"And what might that be?" Dawn said, even though she knew what it was.
"Oh you know," Misty said, "You were cuddling with that beautiful body," she said as she pointed to a still sleeping Ash.
"Oh," Dawn said with a nervous look and a tomato red face. "I swear it's not what it looks like. There's nothing funny going on here."
"Oh Dawn, we know you love him, just admit it," Leaf said
"I do not love him," Dawn insisted, "we're just friends."
"Yeah, with benefits," Leaf said with a grin and a teasing tone.
"Oh you know nothing like that ever happened," Dawn annoyingly.
"Relax," Misty said, "we're just messing with you."
Dawn sighed and closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in annoyance. She then looked at a sleeping Ash and smiled.
"You know you need to slow things down with this guy," Misty said breaking the silence.
"What do you mean by that?" Dawn inquired.
"I mean, you've known him for only two days and you guys are cuddling. You might be giving him and other people the wrong idea. You know rumors spread fast in this school."
"I know, but it's weird. I feel this attachment to him and feel like I don't want to be away from him."
"But you guys have only known each other for two days," Leaf said.
"Yeah," Misty added, "don't you think your relationship with him is going too fast? This is something that happens in a story or fanfiction. I urge you to keep this at a more friend-to-friend level." Misty was concerned for her friend because rumors do spread quickly in this school. Dawn could easily be thought of as "easy to get with."
Dawn thought real hard and figured that Misty and Leaf were right. She sighed and said, "I'll try guys."
Time Skip: 2 Weeks and 2 Days
"Alright, I want the first team offense to run all the plays!" the coach demanded.
Today was Thursday and tomorrow night is the first game of the season. Pallet Town High is going to play on their home turf against Pewter High. The team has been hard at work to prepare for this game. Since the coach doesn't want to tire out players the day before the game, practice is shorter than usual and is at a lighter pace, with the players running plays to make sure they know them. The first team offense has been running play after play to make sure they are explosive right out of the gate.
Coach yelled to Ash, "Run PA Middle Ins!" Ash nodded and lined up under center.
Ash started his cadence, "Blue 17! Blue 17! Set, Hut! Hike!" The center snapped the ball to Ash and Ash faked a handoff to the running back. He dropped back three steps and scanned his receivers to see who was open. He noticed a defensive lineman who broke through the offensive line and started to scramble. Ash had natural athleticism that baffled people sometimes and Ash was a very mobile quarterback. He made the defender break his ankles with a juke-spin combo. He found Gary running across the middle and slung a bullet pass right into Gary's trustworthy hands. Gary caught the ball and secured it before being wrapped up, but not tackled, so nobody would get hurt.
"Great job Ash!" Coach yelled, "But next time try taking a hit in the pocket instead of scrambling. You might get sacked if you scramble."
"Alright Coach, I hear ya," Ash responded.
As the football team was practicing, the cheerleading team was practicing as well.
"All right girls, great job, we should be fine for the game," Dawn said. Dawn was the head cheerleader and she usually acted as the coach. Dawn watched the football team practice and kept staring at Ash. She was still amazed by his abilities as an athlete and a football player.
Dawn took Leaf and Misty's advice and slowed things down with Ash. She and he have stayed close friends, but there hasn't been any funny business. She met Ash's mother and Ash met her mother. They both seemed to get along with each other. Delia thought Dawn was so pretty and had the most amazing personality. Johanna thought Ash was suitable to be Dawn's friend, even though she had her doubts at first. Johanna most admired Ash's selflessness and praised him for it.
Through this time, Drew and May have stayed friends, but still liked to tease each other. Through this time, they have flirted a little too, and May and Drew developed feelings for each other, but both of them are unaware of each other's feelings, and both think their crush is one sided.
Gary and Leaf have become close friends as well, with Gary flirting with Leaf like he does with every other girl. Leaf hasn't developed feelings for the young Oak boy yet. Key word: yet.
Misty has become the only girl to not let Paul's dark and distant personality defeat her. She tries to talk to him, but he usually ignores her. But on occasion, he will have a conversation with her, although his side of the conversation is relatively short worded.
Soon practice for the football team was over and Dawn did what she did after every one of their practices. She waited in the Athletic Center for Ash to come out of the locker room and he drove her home. Ash walked out of the locker room and saw Dawn and caught up with her.
"Hey Dawn," Ash said as he waved.
"Sup superstar," Dawn replied as she winked at him. "So, you excited for tomorrow night?"
Ash nodded his head and smiled, "You bet I am, we're going to demolish Pewter tomorrow. And a few recruiters are coming to the game, too."
"Where from?"
"Vermilion University, the University of Cianwood, and Slateport University."
"Wow, they're coming from all over to see you."
Ash laughed a little, "Yeah who wouldn't want to see this?" Ash said as he flexed his muscles and posed.
"Okay, your ego is starting to take over," Dawn said in an annoyed tone.
Ash put his hand behind is head and sweat dropped. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Just drive me home already," Dawn said with more annoyance.
"Alright 'Miss Bossy', jeez."
It is now a half hour before game time and the football team is in the locker room all suited and preparing to run out onto the field.
"Okay boys," Coach started, "tonight's the first game, so I would like to hear from our captains a few words of encouragement. Let's start with the offensive captains, Ash and Gary."
Ash went first. "Guys, this is the very first game of the year, the one we've been training for weeks. When this game is over I want to see victory. Now, we don't know what their team is like since this is our first glimpse of them, so don't assume anything. Play as if this isn't the first game." There was a slight pause before Ash spoke again. "You're up Gary."
Gary nodded and cleared his throat, "To be honest guys, Ashy here said everything you need to hear, but I'll say something quick. When you feel like you want to give up, just remember that there are other people counting on you. Your teammates, your coach, your parents, your friends, and your fans."
"Very nice, guys. Now about our defensive and special teams captains, Paul and Drew."
Paul went first and said in an emotionless expression, "Hit them as hard as you can. Show no mercy. Don't even make them think for a minute that they have you beat."
Drew went next. "Well guys, I know I'm just the kicker and punter, and fellow my co-captains have said almost everything I wanted to say, so I'm just gonna go with the ol' 'Go get 'em' saying."
"Well, very inspiring, captains. Now let's get out there and show them what happens when you wander onto OUR TURF!" Coach boomed.
The boys huddled around and Ash chanted, "ALRIGHT BOYS, PALLET ON THREE!" Ash started to countdown, "ONE, TWO, THREE," then the whole team screamed in unison, "PALLET!"
The team then walked up to the tunnel and waited for the announcer. Meanwhile, Dawn was with the cheerleading team getting pumped up.
"Alright girls, let's dazzle the audience today. We've practiced the routines for a while now so let's do it," Dawn said in encouragement.
Misty, May, and Leaf were sitting in the stands along with a bunch of other students who were anxious for kickoff. Everyone was talking until the announcer started to speak.
Alright Pallet High, let's make some noise for your Pallet High starters. At quarterback, number 7, let's hear it for the star, Ash Ketchum!
Ash ran out on the field out of the tunnel and high fived his other teammates there. The crowd loved Ash and they were going crazy. The announcer called the running back before calling the next person.
Next up we have the ladies' man himself, wide receiver, number 88, Gary Oak!
Gary ran onto the field with swagger. He high fived his teammates and winked at some of the cheerleaders, who melted. When he got to Ash, they fist bumped each other and bumped chests. The other two starting wide receivers, the offensive lineman, and the tight end were called before the announcer got to the defense. He called the defensive line before calling the next person.
Alright people, next up we have the ruthless and stone cold player we all know. Middle linebacker, number 51, Paul Shinji!
Paul ran out onto the field with an emotionless expression and high fived his teammates. The announcer went through the outside linebackers, the cornerbacks, and safeties before finally getting to the last person.
And finally, our reliable green headed kicker and punter number 3, Drew Rose!
Drew flicked his hair as he ran out onto the field to swoon the ladies. May watched on as Drew winked at her as he ran onto the field. She blushed a little and Misty and Leaf gave her sly looks.
Then, Pewter High ran out onto the field and received boos from the crowd. The captains for each team met in the middle of the field for the coin toss. As the captains shook hands with each other, Ash shook the hand of Brock Stone, Pewter High's premier pass rusher. Ash and Brock shared glares and squeezed each other hands tighter. Since Pewter was the visitor, they got to choose heads or tails. They chose heads, but the coin landed on tails. Oddly though, Pallet chose to defer and kickoff to Pewter. Ash and Brock glared at each other one more team before returning to their respective sidelines.
Drew put the ball of the kicking tee and lined himself up. Paul was also on the kickoff team. Paul smacked his helmet to pump himself up. The crowd kept waiting in anticipation and were cheering at the top of their lungs. Drew took a deep breath and raised his arm to signal he was ready. He ran up to the ball and the crowd yell "BOOM!" as he launched it. The kick returner fielded it at the 9 yard line and ran it out to about the 32 yard line until he was stopped by a brick wall, which was actually Paul. The returner got his bell rung and slowly got up. Paul simply said to him, "Pathetic."
And Pewter High will start on their own 32 yard line. The quarterback gets under center, single back formation, two tight ends, and two receivers in the slot. The quarterback gets the snap and hands it off to the running back. He makes a move and redirects himself before he is stopped. Gain of 4 of the play.
Pewter drove down to the Pallet 48 yard line until they were stopped on third down. Pewter punted it in the end zone, which resulted in a touchback. Finally, Ash could take the field and work his magic. He looked at the wristband full of plays and decided to run one.
Ash walked up under center and started his cadence. "Yellow 23! Yellow 23! Set! Hut!" Ash received the snap and faked a handoff to the running back. He then kept dropping back as his offensive line pulled right. Ash then dumped the ball off to his running back for the screen play.
And Ketchum dumps it off to the running back, Dempsey. Dempsey runs behind the offensive line. He finds a hole and has a burst of speed! Oooh, he's met at the 40 yard line, but not before he gains 20 yards on the halfback screen!
The crowd was going crazy and the cheerleaders started their chant, "Move that ball downfield. Move that ball downfield!"
Ketchum gets in the shotgun, Dempsey to his left, no tight ends, Oak and Cruz lined up outside and Smith in the slot. Ketchum takes the snap and hands the ball off. Oooh! Ketchum keeps the ball as the d-end bites on the Read Option and Ketchum's off. Look at the amazing speed. He stiff arms a man, he breaks another tackle and he's in the open field! He's at the 30, the 20, the 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWN! Ash Ketchum scores for Pallet on a 60 yard touchdown run and gives them a 6-0 lead. Rose comes in for the extra point. It's up and it's good. With 9:57 on the game clock it's Pallet 7, Pewter 0.
The rest of the half, Pallet put up video game numbers against Pewter, who only managed six points, which came on two field goals. Ash apassed for a touchdown to Gary and Paul had seven tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack. Drew also had made a 39 yard field goal and made 3 extra points.
And at the end of the half, it's the Pallet High Charizards 24, and the Pewter High Golems 6.
Pallet was feeling pretty confident going into the locker room. Ash had racked up 147 passing yards and one passing touchdown. He also had 95 rushing yards on five carries. Gary had 69 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. The team was fired up in the locker room and was yelling and acting like barbarians. Coach came into the locker and silenced the rambunctious players.
"Dominant half boys," he started, "We executed beautifully in all three aspects. But we haven't won yet, we need to keep up this level of play until I say to take it easy. We're going to keep applying pressure to their quarterback and we're going to keep their defense on their toes with our fast paced offense. That's all boys, let's get out there. They don't have enough badges to train us."
The both teams ran out of tunnel for the second half. Since Pewter received the ball first in the previous half, Pallet will receive the kickoff for the start of this half. Pewter kicked it off to Gary, who brought it out to the 37 yard line from the 11 yard line.
Ash got under center and called his cadence. He got the snap and dropped back three steps. He was trying for Gary underneath, but he was covered too tightly. He noticed the pocket around him collapsing and he started to scramble. But before he could get back to the line of scrimmage, he was sacked from behind. When he looked at who sacked him, it was none other than Brock. Brock grinned at him and said to Ash, "Get used to being there." Ash thought none of it than trash talk, but Brock would prove to be right.
Brock himself sacked Ash four times in the third quarter and for the first half of the fourth quarter. Ash had also only thrown one touchdown to two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The defense, fortunately, held its ground and only allowed a field goal and a touchdown. But trouble struck for Pallet.
Pallet is ready to kick it to Pewter after that touchdown pass to Cruz from Ketchum. Rose kicks it off and it's taken from the 5 yard line. The returner finds a hole and he's off! Shinji is on his tail but he won't catch him. Touchdown Golems.
The crowd was in shock. Pewter High had outscored Pallet 18-7 in the second half, and now they're only a touchdown for tying the game.
It looks like they're going to go for two. And it's a QB sneak. Is he in? The refs signal that the conversion is good. So with 5:47 left in the game it's Pallet 31 and Pewter 24.
Coach was having a fit on the sideline, yelling at all his players. His face had to be a tomato by now. Ash was sitting on the bench with his helmet off thinking about his game plan. "I gotta run more running plays to burn some clock, or else we might lose."
Gary returned the ball to the 29 yard line and Ash put on his helmet and jogged onto the field. He got in the huddle and said, "Alright guys, let's burn some clock. Halfback Stretch on one. Ready? Break!"
The team broke the huddle and lined up in a single back formation with a tight end on each side of the offensive line. Ash received the snap and handed it off to Dempsey who only got 2 yards on the run. They took their time and waited until the last second before running the same play, but only to the opposite play. Dempsey only gained 3 yards and it was now 3rd & 5 on Pallet's 34 yard line.
"Shit," Ash thought, "I gotta pass it now or we'll have to punt. Let's just hope my line holds."
Ash took the snap and dropped back. He had no open receivers and started to run out of the pocket, but he was stopped by Brock for only 3 yards, which wasn't enough for a first down. Drew went out to punt and boomed it 49 yards, but Pewter returned it 12 yards.
And now with 3:27 on the clock, Pewter will start at their own at their own 26 yard line. The quarterback is under center. He snaps the ball and drops back, but he hands it off to his running back. He's stopped by Shinji for a five yard gain.
Pewter kept grinding down the field, running the ball then fooling the defense with a few play actions. Soon enough, Pewter was on the Pallet 12 yard line with 15 seconds left. The crowd was holding their breath. Misty was thinking in her head, "C'mon Paul, you can stop them, I know you can."
The Golems are on the Pallet 12 yard line and it's 2nd & 7. The QB takes the snap he drops back….
You could hear a pin drop on the field it was so silent. The crowd held their breaths while some of them prayed. Ash looked on, hoping his defense could get him outta this mess.
He throws it across the middle, and IT'S PICKED OFF! PAUL SHINJI INTERCEPTS THE BALL AND IS BROUGHT DOWN AT THE 8 YARD LINE! AND PALLET'S GOING TO WIN THIS ONE!
The whole crowd erupted in cheers. Misty, May, and Leaf were jumping up and down screaming at the highest pitch they could. Dawn and the cheerleaders did the same.
The offense went out onto the field for the final play. Ash took the snap and took a knee to end the game.
And there you have it folks! The Charizards win a nail biter 31-24!
The whole Pallet High team let out huge breaths of relief, especially Ash, who almost lost the game for them. The crowd emptied the bleachers as the all exited the stadium. The football team went to the locker room and started to change as fast as they could to avoid Coach yelling at them. But no avail, as Coach came in not as red as before.
"What was that guys?!" He bellowed. The whole locker room was silent. "We had and 18 point lead going into the second half, and you guys almost blew it! The offense was almost nonexistent in the second half, but the defense luckily held down the fort and fortunately Paul got that interception to seal the game. You guys are running 18 laps next practice, one for each point you gave up in that second half! I may reduce it if you guys run them without complaining. You are dismissed."
As soon as Coach left the room, Drew yelled out, "Well we're fucked next practice."
The rest of the team finished getting changed and was about to walk out until Gary got their attention. "Hey guys, we may have been sloppy, but a win's a win. So about we celebrate?"
One of the guys asked, "What did you have in mind?"
"I'm so glad you asked. How about some karaoke?"
The team was silent for a minute to think about the idea until they all nodded. "Yeah I guess that's okay. Let's go!"
Thank so much to you guys who were patient. My service trip to Costa Rica was awesome and I hope to go back after I graduate high school. Then I started a job at my school working on the grounds crew. I had to start at 7:00am but I ended at 3:30 so my hour were pretty good. But I worked outside most of the time and the sun can really make you tired so I slowly started writing this chapter. I did go on vacation to Seaside Park, NJ for a week and I'm going back August 22-29.
And my summer baseball team went undeafeated until the championship game, which we lost 8-6 in eight innings. But we were down 6-0 in the bottom of thr 7th and we rallied to tie it and force extras. I almost hit a walk off homerun too. Holy shit. I shit you not. We were down 6-4 with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd and I was up. I launched a pitch a good 345 feet. I missed a walk off homerun by about 10 feet. But I still got a double out of it and drove in the two runners to tie it up.
Also, I start school August 31, so I'm not sure about when I'm going to update. I'm going to be a senior in high school. Omg I can't believe where the time went. I know I take a while to update, but that is only because I'm a busy guy. I go to one of the toughest private schools in the state of Pennsylvania. It's almost college level work. But I will try to get as much done of Chapter 6 before I go back. I have college applications to start and summer reading which I procrastinated on so I have to Sparknotes three books now. Procrastination is one of my best qualities and I'm great at it. But I always get my work done, so don't worry about me. I may wait until my birthday, which is on my profile, to update. So about a month.
Also, please tell me what you thought of the football game. I was extremely excited to write it and made sure it seemed like a real football game. Leave a review and let me know how I did.
Well that's all for this very long author's note. I'm Halo Ash and I'llsee you guys later.