Hi, all you amazing readers!
Wow, it's been so long since I updated this. When was the last time? I think it's been over a month. The reason for my lack of updating is partly because school likes to steal my free time and partly because a lot of my inspiration is being directed towards the new fanfic I started. I feel kind of guilty for not updating this for so long, but, well, when the inspiration part of my mind wanders elsewhere, I can't really help it. Sorry for taking so long, though.
All right, chapter time! Today's chapter is the combo of suggestions from RB123 and a guest reviewer.
Disclaimer: I do no own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
Sports Day Bets
Grade Four
May (10), Drew (10), Gary (10), Leaf (10), Misty (10), Ash (10), Dawn (9), Paul (10)
Sports Day always took place at the end of the school year, and this year was no exception. Everyone came to school, feeling competitive with a thirst for victory.
May and her friends always enjoyed taking part in the many sports and activities, but, as usual, it sparked quite the rivalry in their little friend group. The eight of them were standing together, waiting for their gym teacher, Mr. Brawly, to start making teams for the first event—soccer. And, as expected, Gary had made some arrogant remark about how he would leave all of them in the dust, leading to a squabble with a certain green-eyed, brown-haired girl.
"Not a chance," Gary said. "There is no way you can make more goals than me, Leafy!"
"And why is that?" Leaf tossed her head and planted her hands on her hips. "You always think you're better than me at everything, and every time, I beat you."
"Yeah, well, sports are different," Gary said, shrugging. "You can't beat me. You're a girl."
"And what's wrong with that?" Misty interjected hotly. "Girls are just as good—no, even better! Girls are even better than boys at sports!"
"No, they're not," Gary argued arrogantly.
"We'll see about that," Leaf said, eyes narrowed. "How about we turn this into a challenge?"
"Yeah?" Gary smirked, riveted. "What kind of challenge?"
"A bet. If all of us girls play better than you boys, then we win. And if not, you guys do."
"I like the sound of that." Gary's eyes glistened mischievously. "How about we make it more interesting? If we boys win, you girls have to, um… buy us all ice cream for a week!"
"Yeah, I like that idea!" Ash cheered. He, Drew, Paul, May and Dawn had just been watching them bicker without wanting to get involved, but the word 'ice cream' had gotten Ash on board immediately.
Leaf crossed her arms. "Fine," she said with a glare. "And if we win…" She stopped, thinking for a moment and then turning to Misty, May and Dawn. "Any ideas?"
May was about to suggest the boys buying them ice cream for a week, but Dawn excitedly spoke up first. "I know!" she exclaimed, turning to the boys with an evil glint in her eyes. "If we win, you all have to dress up in pink!"
"Good one, Dawn," Leaf said, smirking.
"Hold on," Paul spoke up suddenly. "I never agreed to this."
"It's a deal," Gary said, shaking Leaf's hand and ignoring Paul.
"I said I don't agree to this," Paul repeated.
"Just go with it," Drew said to him with a shrug. "Chances are, we'll win and won't have to wear pink, if that's what you're afraid of."
Paul scoffed. "I'm not afraid. I just am not a part of this bet."
"Too bad!" Gary said, throwing an arm around his purple-haired friend's shoulders (to Paul's annoyance). "Hey, don't worry about it!"
"Yeah, we'll win for sure!" Ash said, his eyes dreamy. "Week of ice cream, here I come!"
"Keep dreaming, Ash Ketchum," Dawn said confidently. "I have the perfect pink hat for you!"
"All right!" Mr. Brawly said, coming up to them suddenly, oblivious to the eight's bargaining. "Let's see, I still need to divide you guys into teams, right? Hm, Ash and May, you two can be on the red team. Dawn and Gary, the blue team. Drew and Leaf, green team, and Paul and Misty, the yellow team. Okay, then!"
Mr. Brawly headed to the front of all the students and turned to face them. "First, we'll have the green team against the blue team, and the yellow team against the red team. Then, the green team will play against yellow, while the blue will play against red. Finally, the red team will be against green, and the yellow against blue. Whichever team wins the most matches wins. Okay, everyone, divide into your teams!"
"Hey, this is great!" Leaf said to the other seven. "The way the teams are divided up, Ash and May can keep an eye on each other, and Dawn and Gary on each other, and Drew and I, and Misty and Paul. And then, we can report back on how many goals each of us made. If the girls make more goals, we win, but if the boys do, then we don't. And then the winners will get a point. And we can do this all day, and see whoever does better on all the games!"
The others nodded in agreement.
And so, the soccer games began.
Ash played well with May (they were on the same team, after all) but he made sure to take note of her clumsiness and how much she fumbled with the ball, all the while succeeding in making a couple of goals for the team himself. Gary (to the rest of the team's puzzlement) refused to pass the ball to Dawn whenever he should have, and succeeded in scoring some goals himself. On Team Green, Leaf took the liberty to laugh at Drew whenever he struggled to keep up, to the latter's irritation. On the yellow team, though, Misty stayed focused on making as many goals as she could while Paul stood in front of the net as goalie.
In the end, Team Yellow won for winning the most times: once against each of the other teams. The green team came in second since it won once against the red team and once against the blue team, while Team Blue won once against the red team. To Team Red's dismay, they didn't win any of their matches, but they put up a tough game, losing only by one or two goals each time.
"So who played better?" Leaf asked once the eight friends got back together.
"I made a total of four goals in all of the games," Ash said proudly.
"Oh yeah? I made five!" Gary said smugly, causing Ash to scowl.
"I didn't make any," Drew admitted. "Almost, but it got blocked by the goalie every time."
"Aw, too bad," said May, smirking.
"Yeah? Well how many did you make, April?" Drew shot back coolly.
May flushed. "Zero," she mumbled.
"Thought so." Drew flipped his hair.
"It wasn't my fault!" May said defensively. "The ball kept making my feet all tangled up!"
"It's okay, May," Misty assured her. "I made enough goals for the both of us. Six in total."
"All right!" May cheered.
"I only made three," Leaf said.
"I didn't get to make any, because Gary kept hogging the ball!" Dawn said, scowling in her spiky-haired friend's direction.
"Hey, not my fault you were too slow to get to the ball first," Gary said, shrugging.
"What about you, Paul?" Leaf said, and everyone turned to him. He was going to be the tiebreaker.
"None. I was the goalie."
The others groaned.
"So, is it a tie?" Dawn asked uncertainly.
"No," Gary said. "Since Paul was the goalie, we should count how many goals he saved, and that'll be like how many goals he made! How many did you save, Paul?"
"I don't know. A lot."
"Well, you still saved some, so that gives the boys a point!" Gary boasted. "Boys win at soccer!"
"Hey, that's not fair!" Misty protested. "Saving the ball isn't the same as scoring a goal!"
"Fine, then. But he saved a lot, so in the end, it all adds up to be like a few goals, so the boys win anyways!"
"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed. "Ice cream time!"
"Not yet!" Leaf said quickly. "The boys win at soccer, but the girls can win at other sports, right? Sports Day isn't over yet!"
And indeed, it was not.
They all played floor hockey next, and the boys came out on top once again. But for capture the flag, the girls emerged victorious. And they even proved to be superior at dodge ball, thanks to Misty's skill and aim. It was tied: the boys had gained a point for soccer and a point for floor hockey (during which some of them had acted unreasonably rough), but the girls had reached the top in racing and dodge ball. And now, it was time for the tie-breaking final event: the relay race.
"This one's going to be tougher," Gary said, mostly to himself. "But we'll be able to do it all perfectly! Right, guys?"
"Yeah!" Ash cheered. "Victory will be ours! And ice cream too!"
"Don't be so sure," Drew warned, looking at all the things they would have to do. "Misty, Leaf and Dawn are pretty good at this sort of stuff. Not sure about May, though, but three out of four's going to be tough competition."
"Stop being a worrywart," Gary drawled. "We've got this!"
All of the students were divided into six teams, and one from each team was positioned at different obstacles. Each time one of them completed one obstacle, he or she had to hand the team flag to the next team member, who had to complete the next obstacle. The first team to reach the finish line was the winner. May was on Team 1, Dawn and Ash were on Team 2, Gary and Drew were on Team 3, Leaf was on Team 4, Paul on Team 5, and Misty on Team 6.
The competition began.
Gary was the starting member of Team 3. He ran as speedily as he could, arriving at the next obstacle in no time and handing the next person the flag.
On Team 2, Leaf was the second person. She had to run to the next person, but was only allowed to step in the centre of some tires that were laid out as she did. Being as agile as she was, this was no problem at all. Paul had to do the same as Leaf on Team 5, but even though he and Leaf started at about the same time, Leaf managed to pass her flag seconds before him.
May was the third member of Team Three. Her task was to cross some Aipom-bars. At first, everyone expected her to slip and fall, and then have to restart, but surprisingly, her grasp didn't fail even once, and she made it to the other side without problem.
Fourth members had to do the balance beam. Dawn, the fourth member on Team 2, practically ran across the balance beam. Her balance was so incredibly perfect, the task was effortless. Drew, however, who had the same challenge as Dawn, was not as successful. He moved carefully and cautiously on the beam, and once or twice, nearly slipped and fell.
Finally, the fifth member of Team 2, Ash, and the fifth member of Team 6, Misty, retrieved their flags, and their job was to simply sprint across what was like an uneven bridge and head for the finish line. Truth be told, Ash had actually received his flag first, thanks to Dawn's quickness on the balance beam, but he had waited until Misty got hers (to the rest of his team's annoyance) so the two of them could start at the same time and see who was faster.
"You're going to regret waiting for me, Ash Ketchum!" Misty called out to him as the two began.
It became clear that compared to Misty, Ash was finding the bridge a lot more troublesome to cross, and once he did succeed in doing so, Misty had already made it partway to the finish line. Ash ran at his maximum speed, nearly catching up to her. Their friends held their breath in anticipation. The outcome of their bet depended on these two….
Both Ash and Misty were panting, the end within reach, and just when it looked like Ash might catch up, Misty stepped over the finish line, granting her team victory.
"Noooooo!" Gary howled.
"Let's see now," Misty said smugly, walking up to the rest of her friends. "All the girls clearly did better than the boys for the relay race."
"Yup!" Leaf agreed cheerfully. "You guys may have done better at soccer and floor hockey, but we did better at capture the flag, dodge ball, and the relay race. We win the bet!"
And no one could argue that they hadn't.
They all found themselves at Dawn's house after school, as she had offered to let them borrow her big box of pink dress-up clothes. After all, it had been a part of their bet that the boys would have to dress up in pink if they lost.
"I never agreed to this," Paul protested bitterly.
"But Paul," Ash whined. "We all have to do it, so you do too!"
"No. I'm not wearing pink."
"Okay, let's see!" Dawn said brightly, opening her neat, walk-in closet. "The dress-up trunk is over there, so feel free to pick out anything pink and wear it."
"What are we supposed to wear?" Gary said gloomily.
"Don't worry!" May assured them mischievously. "We'll pick for you!"
And that was exactly what they did. Ash ended up wearing a bright pink baseball cap, a light pink sweater, and a pink skirt over his pants. Gary had to slip on a frilly pink dress over his shirt and pants, and Dawn did his hair in multiple Ponyta-tails. As for Drew, he was forced into a pale pink sweater with many little pink flowers on it, and his hair was decorated with multiple pink clips.
The girls admired their work on the boys and then went into a fit of laughs and giggles, clutching their stomachs.
"I'll never be able to look at myself in the mirror again," Ash groaned.
"Goodbye, world of dignity," Drew muttered.
"Okay, okay, you had your fun!" Gary hissed, his face as pink as his dress. "Can we get rid of this dreaded colour now?"
"Well, I gues— WAIT!" Dawn's eyes suddenly landed on Paul accusingly. "You still haven't worn any pink yet!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot!" May said.
"Did you think if you were quiet, we wouldn't notice?" Leaf said, smirking. "Nuh-uh, not a chance!"
"I wasn't a part of this bet," Paul snarled.
"Yes you were, so you have to!" May said. "Come on, what's the fun if you don't agree to the bets you make?"
"I always agree to the bets I make, but not this one because I was never a part of it."
"You were whether you like it or not, so go pink-ify yourself already!" Gary snapped sourly, thinking it unfair that he wasn't doing the same thing as the rest of them.
"Oh, don't worry, Paul!" Dawn assured him cheerfully. "I'll make sure it's nothing too girly. Come on!"
With that, she dragged him into the walk in closet with her against his will. Everyone waited to see the result, and the minute Paul was shoved out, the girls went into another fit of laughter while the boys looked on with sympathy. Like Dawn had promised, it wasn't like a dress or anything, but he had been made to wear a dark pink hoodie with a large sunhat with three pink flowers. Paul pulled down the tip of his hat to hide his face.
"It goes great with your purple hair!" Leaf choked out through her laughter.
Suddenly, there were a few flashes, and the boys looked up in surprise. Dawn was standing there, holding a camera. "Just for the happy memories," she said innocently.
"WHAT? Pictures weren't a part of the deal!" Gary yelled. "Give me that camera!"
"No!" Dawn shrieked playfully, running out of the room.
"Get back here!" Gary attempted to go after her, but ended up tripped over the hem of his dress. He furiously ripped it off him and chased after her, while the girls hollered in laughter behind him.
And that's that!
Okay, I have something to tell you. I know you guys like this fanfic—and I love writing it too—but I think I've reached a point where I should decide on when I will mark this as complete. I was never planning to make this an infinitely ongoing fanfic, even though it could very well be. Actually, when I first started this that one summer, I had only planned on make it a summer thing and ending it when school began, but it was just too fun to stop.
So I wanted to say that I have decided on when I'm going to officially mark it as complete. And that would be at chapter 101. I already have thought out how I want the last few chapters to be, so those ones aren't going to be based on suggestions. And chapter 100 is going to be more like an epilogue, while 101 isn't even going to be a one-shot; it'll be a poem which I have already written out (I was originally planning to post it as chapter 50, but it'll fit more at the very end).
Also, because now I've set when the final chapter would be, I only have a limited number of chapters I can write (though they still are quite a lot) and because of that, I can't promise every suggestion I have received/will receive will be written out, especially since I still have some of my own ideas I want to work on too.
So yeah, I thought I'd let you guys know about my plans for this story's future. It'll be kind of sad ending it, as it was the first fanfic I started here and I've been working on it for so long, but the experience has been magnificent! But we're only at chapter 56 right now, so there's still a lot of time before then.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)