Max couldn't ask for a more perfect night to show off his new skills.
He had worked out with Ash as much as he could while not at camp and was fairly confident that Coach was going to put him in tonight. He'd get news headlines in the school paper and a lock on the starting job.
That is if his own team wasn't down by fourteen points.
The other high school, Ehrens Solrock had a dominating defense, forcing three interceptions and returning two of them for touchdowns, putting their score 21-7. The other quarterback on the team had been sacked twice and they had been putting a lot of pressure on him, keeping him from executing plays.
For a moment he was nervous about facing such a tight scheme, but Ash had told him to always play as if he was in the championship game.
"Practice like you're playing the game. Play the game like you're practicing."
May and Norman were sitting in the bleachers as the second half went underway. Max was still spotted sitting on the bench by the time the final quarter had finished.
West Petalburg High had stepped up their game; the defense had not allowed a single point to be scored while at the same time, gaining a field goal, opening up the fourth quarter with an epic punt return that brought the game down to one possession.
Once again, the defense held them off with three and a half minutes remaining. May saw their regular starting quarterback run back to the bench and the familiar shape of Max taking his place.
"Max is going out!" She cried.
"Go Max!" Norman looked over, giving a shout of encouragement.
In the center of the huddle, Max clapped his hands and all of his players took positions.
"Max Maple in his debut as a quarterback is charged with leading the drive that could potentially turn the game into West Petalburg's favor. Will Ehren's defense stop this party?"
"Not on my watch," Max muttered under his breath. Calling out an audible, he scanned left and right to make sure that his people knew what he wanted to do. He was also well aware that the defense was watching him closely.
The ball snapped and he dropped back to pass. Max struggled to locate an opening, but couldn't. The defensive backs were tight on his receivers. Time continued to tick away and the longer he held onto it, the more chances the defense could get a sack or even worse, a turnover.
He never saw the lineman lunge from behind, his arms wrapping around the young man in a hug to bring him down. Thankfully, he managed to keep hold of the ball to prevent a forced fumble.
"Keep going."
Shaking off the sack, he reassembled the team and they played again. This time, he handed it off to the running back who almost broke free of the defensive line before he was brought down, only gaining a couple yards.
Max tapped the tips of his hand with his palm to signal a timeout. He ran over to the Coach and was surprised to see Ash there too.
Coach Baldwin was impressed by Ash's quarterback skill, having been an assistant for South Hoenn during their glory days and knew that had he gone to college, he would have made a great signal caller. Many of Max's teammates liked him too, which prompted Baldwin to put him as a part time coach whenever he had the chance.
"What's going on Max?"
"They're just too tight. I try and pass, the secondary tightens their coverage on the receivers. We run it and the line's all over us."
Coach tried to say something, but Ash had beat him to it, "Max, don't think about the score, don't think about the clock winding down. Just focus on getting that ball twenty yards into the endzone."
"If we lose?"
"Then you lose. Remember this is football, you win as a team." Ash said, "But you also lose as one too. And you make the most of your loss to rectify your mistakes so they don't happen again." He slapped Max on the padded shoulder, "You know what to do. Score. Go get em."
Back in the stands, Norman narrowed his eyes at who Max was talking to and giving encouraging words. His hands balled into a fist.
"Is that Ketchum?"
"What?" May looked out and saw Ash who had found them in the stands. Seeing Norman there too, he gave her a simple nod of acknowledgement. Greeting in any other form would probably agitate him more and he did not want to create a bigger rift between father and daughter.
"Did you tell him about Max?" Norman demanded.
"I introduced him," May replied, "And before you go off on how he's badly influencing Max, stop!"
"He's poisoning not one, but both of my children!" He made a growl of annoyance, "May, from tomorrow on, I am placing a restraining order on him! He is not to come within speaking distance to either of you!"
"Dad!" May protested, although it was drowned out by the screaming of everyone else. Max had completed a pass that brought his team down to the nine yard line. The receiver ran out of bounds to stop the clock at eleven seconds. They had time to snap off one more play.
"This is not negotiable, he has poisoned enough of us already enough. I hope you said your goodbyes because after tonight, you will never see him again."
"Stop it dad!"
"I'm serious! Do you even know why Ash was sent to Hoenn in the first place? He came to head a specialist group as part of a two sided deal with the Federation. We would supply them with the new military software operating systems if they sent an advisor to lead a domestic protection unit. That was the deal! Nowhere did it say that they would send someone to try and influence my son or court my daughter away from whomever she belongs!"
Back down on the field Max was ready.
"We can run it in," His running back said, "They'd expect it, but at such a close distance we'd be able to punch it in."
"No we have to pass," Another player said, "Too much open ground and you could get stopped. It'll all be over by then."
The huddle's voices grew as the team continued to disagree with one another.
"HEY!" Max shouted, "Who's the quarterback here?"
That got the others to quiet down.
"We go out, play football, but right now I'm making the play. There will be time for a debate like this in the locker room. Got it?"
Some of the more vocal members grumbled under their breath, but nodded.
"Good." Max looked at the clock, confident that he would have enough time to pull this off. Seeing Ash giving him a nod of confidence suddenly struck an idea into his head, "So here's what we're going to do."
"The offense has lined up for the final play. This is sure to be one full of tension, as the performance on either side of the ball could be the outcome of the game!"
Max made sure all his guys were in position before he lined up just behind the center.
One of the linebackers; the guy who had sacked him earlier, pointed directly at him, "You're goin down Maple."
Max ignored him and signaled the center to snap. With the ball in hand, he spotted the defense coming at him in a blitz. His hand extended out, handing it off to the running back. Although instead of running, he held it as if poised to throw.
Meanwhile, Max himself had taken off to the right side, where only one defender was moving to cover him. Since he was bigger, the Maple's smaller size and nimbleness allowed him to evade with ease.
Finally the running back aimed towards Max and launched the football into the air. All he could think of was keep running and grab the ball before it hit the ground.
The timing was perfect. He clamped both hands around the football's smooth leathery surface and sprinted towards the endzone.
One of the defenders quickly moved to stop him, already lunging out for a tackle. Thinking quickly, Max sidestepped him, but it wasn't enough to escape. The other kid had grabbed his ankles, bringing him down. To help compensate and try to make something out of the play, he stretched both hands and lunged forward, falling at the same time.
Just a moment before his knees hit the ground, the football in his grasp passed over the edge of the endzone and the referee threw up his arms to signify a touchdown.
The entire side of the home team exploded in cheers as the clock ran down to zero when he had fallen and the final score being 24-21. Max did it, they won!
He still felt the euphoric rush in his body and couldn't help but laugh like a little kid lying in the grass.
Seconds later he was tackled by his teammates who were shouting similar praises at him.
"Way to go Max!"
"How did that work?!"
"Oh my Arceus, I don't believe it!"
"We won!"
Up in the stands, both Norman and May screamed at the top of their lungs when Max had just crossed over and the ref had declared a touchdown.
"Oh my goodness!" Her father was completely taken aback, "How in the world did that happen?"
"Max did it!" She threw her arms around her father, all the animosity towards him erased, "He scored!"
As the field began to clear of people, several of the players congratulated and greeted one another.
"Congrats man," The linebacker who had previously pointed at Max extended his fist, "That was one brilliant play. How did you come up with it?"
"I think I was just desperate," He joked, pounding the fist and causing the two of them to laugh. While they might be fighting one another with different uniforms, the competitiveness would usually die down when the game was over.
"You looked like you were in total control." His jersey name said Koch, "Anyway, congrats on the win. Good luck next week."
"Same to you," Max clanked fists with him again and parted ways. After the coach's speech in the locker room, he walked back out to the parking lot where Ash had approached.
"See what I told you? Just play the game and you won't leave the field with regrets! Regardless if you won or not!"
"Yeah!" Max threw his arms around the man in a brotherly hug, "Thanks so much Lieutenant!"
"Call me Ash, we're beyond formalities now."
"I know all your tricks now!"
Ash gave a smirk, "Not all my tricks kid! One step at a time, right?"
"Hey look who it is!" A voice rang out and Max turned away into his father's embrace, "Look at the new starting quarterback!"
"Dad!" Max breathed, "You're squeezing me a little tight!"
"Sorry," He looked over at Ash, but didn't give a sign of recognition. Turning back to his son, "Those were some final intense seconds! Where could you come up with something like that?"
"Ash taught me! He's a Lieutenant in the Commandos! Isn't that cool or what?"
At Max's praises, both Ash and May stiffened. They knew what was coming next.
"Really?" Norman looked over. For a moment, he thought he was going to get another berating, but instead the billionaire extended his hand, "Well Lieutenant, you've taught my son well. Thank you for that."
His eyes betrayed the words; they were full of contempt and resentment. Then he blinked and those feelings had vanished. "May, go and start the car. I'll be right over there. I have to talk to Ash for a moment."
"Nice job today Max." He clapped him on the shoulder before gazing at his sister, "May."
He tossed her the keys, prompting her and Max to leave. Before she was out of his view, she gave Ash a sympathetic look.
The glance they shared was not missed by her father. "I've put in an order with the police. As of tomorrow, you will be under a restraining order and not to come within talking distance to either my daughter or son. Tonight was the last night you will see either of them."
"I really wish you hadn't done that." Ash said, "You're only making it harder for both of them."
"I'm doing you a favor Lieutenant. You're not going to get anything else from my children anymore. This order is for both your sake and theirs. Focus on your career, the purpose of why you are here."
"Theirs?" Ash realized that Steven wasn't kidding when he said Norman could be stubborn, "Mister Maple, you have a very intelligent son and a very beautiful daughter. They're both wonderful people and I consider them to be great friends of mine. Why would you want to break the friendships I've made with them?"
"What do you know about friendships?" Norman spat. "Max said it himself. You're a Commando, the majority of your time is fighting! You can't spare any to socialize with the rest of the world! Why are you doing this with May and Max?"
"Because we help one another! You might not realize it, but May and I have a lot more in common than you think. She is learning all of what the world has to offer and I'm learning how to be in a relationship. They're foreign to both of us, but we'll go through it together."
"Your lack of social skills is not my problem Lieutenant, but you are interfering with May's relationship with her own boyfriend! So either you stay away from her or go back to the Federation."
Before Ash could reply, his phone began to ring.
"Ketchum." He coldly responded. Norman saw his expression change to surprise. "When?"
Another pause, "Okay. I'll be there."
He hung up and gazed at Norman. The normally warm brown eyes were icy and devoid of any compassion for him, "You wanted me to go back to the Federation? You just got your wish."
And then Ash turned and walked away.
So another chapter in the books. What is calling Ash back to his home country?
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.