Hey guys, I'm kinda back hehe. It's been like a year since I wrote a Pokemon story, but I'm ready to pull off another high school full of drama and excitement! It's going to be different from my previous one and a little more school centered. It still will have sports in it but not as heavily as the last one. I hope you all will enjoy!
Ash's car came to a halt as he pulled into his normal parking spot, powering down as he pulled the keys out of the ignition. The raven-haired boy then let out a long sigh as he looked at his high school campus from the seat of his car.
"One more year of this garbage," he assured himself as he threw over a red and tan "Kanto Warriors Football" hoodie and backwards cap. Being a senior, Ash Ketchum was one of the more popular kids at the school despite his quiet personality. The fact that he could sling a football 70 yards without blowing out his elbow definitely didn't help keep his low-profile. He was the starting varsity quarterback at his school, and multiple colleges would like to give him that title in a year's time as well. As good as he was, he didn't gloat about it, which definitely was a rarity where he came from.
He then opened his car door and a cold breeze rushed in. While their area did occasionally get snow in the winter, it was rarely this cold during September. It was a crisp 45 degrees in the waning months of summer, which gave Ash the idea that they would be playing a game in the snow this year, which he really had no problem with.
Slinging his backpack around, he shut his door and locked up his car. At the same time, an all too familiar car pulled up next to his blasting music real loud. Ash rolled his eyes as the car stopped vibrating from the music and the door opened.
"Hey Ash!" the boy said.
"Hey Gary. I see you got a new sound system in that hunk of junk," Ash teased him as always. His spiky brown hair appeared along with his blue eyes and sharp smile as he shut his own door.
"Oh hell yeah. Girls love to turn up and you know it!" Gary said as he locked his car. The two then made their way towards the campus entrance.
"Do they now? Last time I remember they were running from your car complaining about the horrible music was," Ash reminded him.
Gary shook his head. "I'm sorry they had no taste in music," Ash rolled his eyes. Gary always had a slick clapback up his sleeve. They approached the gate and headed in to find the school sparsely populated for now since there was still a good half hour until school got started.
"Let's head to the cafeteria and chill. Maybe we can find some good-lookin babes," Gary suggested.
Ash scoffed. "You're such a hoe. It's the first day of school why don't you give it a rest for a bit." Gary shook his head.
"Fine." He replied. They still headed to the cafeteria in the middle of the campus to escape the cold. The place was lit with minimal lighting due to the cloudy sky outside. Almost instantly they recognized one of their friends sitting alone at one of the tables. His blue hair peeked out from under his red hat with his blue hoodie over his body.
"Look who it is! The man who penetrates the defensive line with his speed," Gary shouted while Ash cringed.
The blue-haired boy looked at Gary shaking his head as he stood up. "Ohhhh I'm gonna beat your bitch ass one day." The two laughed as they shook hands and hugged each other. They broke up and the boy turned to Ash.
"Ash Ketchum, how have you been?" he asked as he shook hands with him.
"Lucas Berlitz, the fastest man alive," Ash complimented. Lucas had transferred from Sinnoh High to Kanto High last year to start at running back. He had an amazing year and broke the school record for all-purpose yardage in a single season. Not only was he fast, but big enough to shake tackles and truck if necessary. Ash remembered how Lucas was almost a for sure first down on 3rd and short.
Lucas sat down with them, smart phone in hand. "You guys want to take a guess whose number one on the Maxpreps power rankings? The Kanto Warriors."
Ash and Gary both replied with a "ayyyeee" obviously excited. Lucas continued, "Yeah I talked to coach this morning and he said we got that cornerback from Twinleaf High to transfer here. You know, the one who held Gary to one reception all game."
Gary pointed a finger at Lucas defensively. "It was a 60-yard reception mind you!"
"It was also at the beginning of the game, and he had you locked up the rest of the game trust me I know," Ash reminded him. "No one does that to you Gary."
He sighed and shook his head. "Barry Norman was his name. I'll never forget. He talked so much shit I was about to throw up hands."
Time had gone by and more people were starting to fill into the cafeteria, escaping the cold. Gary looked up to notice that another one of their friends was approaching. "What's up lettuce?"
A green haired boy sat down next to Lucas. "What's up pretty boy?" he replied to Gary's comment. The two had very similar personalities Ash remembered, and they often traded slick comebacks without end. His name was Drew and he was the kickoff and punt returner for their team. He was the only one to give Lucas a run for his money for fastest man on the team, but definitely had an affinity for putting defenders on their rear.
He shook hands with the rest of the guys and got settled in. "So what's new?"
"Nothing just talking about the coming season," Lucas informed him. "Did you hear we got Norman from Twinleaf?"
Drew nodded with a smirk on his face. "Rest in peace for any wide receiver against us now." Ash nodded. He was already getting excited for season and it was only a short two weeks away. Drew continued on, "Right now I think we just have to worry about the Viridian Hornets." Viridian was the cross-town rival of Kanto High and the rivalry had burst into multiple brawls and intense trash-talk fests previously.
"Yeah they're number 7 on the power rankings right now. Lance Miller is going to have a feast on Ash if we're not ready," Lucas confirmed and joked, getting a laugh from the rest. It was then that someone came up from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. Ash quickly noticed that it was a girl, but not one he had seen before. She also looked a little bit like Lucas…almost like his girl version of himself.
"What's going on?" he asked her, standing up. Ash couldn't hear what she told him since she said it so quietly.
"Ooooo, who's this Lucas?" Gary teased. "Your girl?"
The blue-haired girl gave him a funny look and Lucas shook his head. "She's my sister you dip-shit," he replied loudly. Gary fixed his hair and tried to look away. Lucas then ushered her away, seemingly going to show her around.
Drew laughed when they were out of sight. "You know Gary if your intelligence was as powerful as your lust you'd be the smartest man alive."
As Drew continued to laugh and Gary rub his eyes in embarrassment, Ash couldn't help but keep thinking about the blue-haired girl. Lucas's sister or not, he felt like he needed to get to know her.
"You alright Ash?" Drew asked.
Ash shook himself out of his trance and nodded. "Yeah I'm fine." It was then that the bell rang and it was time for their first class.
One thing Ash noticed through his first three periods was that his classes were much more senior-centered with less mix of other classes. He actually didn't mind it too much since he found himself with more of his friends in his classes. Calculus was with Lucas, English was with Gary and Drew, who were both just funny to watch slack off, and Physics was with Lucas and Drew.
Ash found himself walking through the halls to his 4th period, which was Economics, but he didn't find any of his friends waiting outside the classroom like usual. Taking it as a sign that he would be alone this time he entered without waiting. The class was normal-sized with a smaller number of desks than normal. He had to guess that it was a smaller class.
After a good look around he couldn't help but recognize Lucas' sister sitting alone in the back corner. She seemed to be extremely focused on her phone, texting or surfing social media he guessed.
He felt like he needed to talk to her…but he questioned the awkwardness of it especially with what had happened with Gary. She must already have an opinion of him.
It was at that point that he was just going to leave her alone, but as he thought about it more, he found himself reconsidering. You know what…fuck it, he thought. The raven-haired boy then approached her.
At first she didn't notice him, still occupied by whatever she was doing on her phone. Ash then cleared his throat to get her attention, and she slowly looked up to him.
"Is it alright if I sit here?" he asked, pointing his finger down at the desk next to her. The girl flashed her eyes down at the desk and then back up to him, seemingly trying to process what he was saying.
"Oh! Y-yes that's fine I don't mind," she replied, seemingly brought back into the real world. Ash nodded and slowly took a seat. The girl didn't seem to have anything else to say after this, so he figured that he would have to spark the conversation.
"Are uh," Ash started, and the girl looked over to him, phone still in hand. "Are you new here?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah…yeah I transferred this year," she then finally put her phone away to his relief. "Wait…aren't you Ash?"
Ash was taken a bit back, since he was shocked that she knew his name. "Y-yeah I am. I'm the Varsity Football quarterback here."
"That's right…I remember my brother talking about you a little. I saw you sitting with him this morning," she recalled. "I'm Dawn by the way."
"Dawn? Alright cool," he acknowledged. "Your brother never really talked much about you last year if at all."
"I don't blame him. There wasn't much to say about me. I used to be the cheer captain for the Sinnoh Flames. I was supposed to come here last year but my parents messed up the paperwork so only my brother made it through," she laughed, Ash made sure to join in. They then had a little moment of silence where they both looked around at who was entering the classroom.
Ash then looked back to her. "I apologize for what my friend said earlier. He isn't exactly known for using his brain."
Dawn shook her head and chuckled. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time it has happened trust me. You have no idea the drawback for being male and female twins."
Ash shrugged. "I can imagine," they both laughed again. "Still I was worried about what you would think of me."
Dawn waved her hand in the air. "You seem pretty cool and nothing like him. You're fine," she assured him. It was at this time that the teacher entered the classroom and the bell rang for the start of class.
Once class had finally ended to Ash's relief it was time for lunch, and Dawn went with him to the cafeteria. The sun still had not peaked out of the clouds but the day had reached 65 degrees or so, which was much more tolerable for everyone. Nonetheless they still headed inside to grab their food.
They had finally made it out of the line and headed towards the tables, but Dawn tapped Ash on the shoulder as he headed towards his football friends.
"I'm going to go sit with the cheerleaders over there. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she told him.
Ash nodded. "Tomorrow it is then, see you," he waved as she headed over and she waved back with a smile. As she left he couldn't shake the feeling of accomplishment, but he didn't know what for.
He then took a seat next to Drew across from Gary and Lucas, who had his eyes narrowed. "That was quick he said."
Ash shook his head. "It's not even like that."
"Sure Ashy, sure thing," Gary teased.
Lucas laughed. "You know I don't care if you want to date her. She's a minute older than me anyway she makes her own decisions." Lucas said as he took a bite out of a chip.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Why do you guys always go there when I'm talking to a girl? You know they're normal people like us."
"Speak for yourself," Drew retorted. "Girls are way different. I was talking to this one girl in my fourth period…I think May was her name…she didn't think any of my pickup lines were good."
"That's because your pickup lines suck Drew," Lucas replied, munching on his chips. "If you talked to them normally you might actually get them to like you."
"Nonsense," Gary said. "A guy with a slick pickup line can get any girl."
"Oh yeah and you're just swimming in them aren't you?" Ash shook his head. Lucas laughed at his joke.
"Go get Dawn's number already," Gary said trying to get Ash off of him. The table just laughed at his obvious frustration.
Once school had concluded it was time for their first football practice of the school year. Ash, Gary, Drew and Lucas all went onto the field without their pads or helmets since their coach told them to just wear cleats and running clothes. Since they were usually the last ones there, they ran to the huddle were the rest of the team stood around the coach.
The coach spoke up as they arrived. "Now that you're all here you must be wondering why none of you have pads on," the entire team nodded. "Well, today is conditioning to see what kind of shape all of you are in, so get your asses to the goal line, hustle!"
Most of the team made soft groans so the coach didn't hear but they all quickly made their way there. During their run down, Gary got a hit in the back.
"Ha! Look who it is! Oak!" a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"Barry Norman…oh I've been waiting for you," Gary responded. "Still swatting balls?"
The blonde haired corner back laughed. "Swatting yours for sure!" The two then seemed to race each other to the goal line and Ash shook his head. At least they had a reason to compete. He remembered what Barry had done for Twinleaf last year, and he was definitely happy to have his pass defensive abilities on their team.
The team lined up at the line, and Ash noticed Drew and Lucas preparing to compete since they jockeyed for the fastest man on the team. He just made sure he was close behind them. The coach then blew the whistle and they were off for a 100-yard sprint. Lucas pulled ahead early on, but Drew was right on his tail. Ash cruised ahead to the point that he could look left and right to see that only Gary and Barry were the only ones close behind him.
Drew ended up crossing the other line right before Lucas, and the rest of the team followed. Ash slowed down as he crossed it himself, not feeling the least bit tired. Gary and Barry exchanged a few insults as they still competed.
Once everyone caught their breath, the coach yelled, "Again!" and they were off.
Practice seemed long, but when it was over Ash noticed that it was only 5:00 to his luck. The last thing he wanted to do was head home and prepare for the next day already. He couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Gary and Barry were laughing with each other as they left the field. It seemed that good rivals made good friends after all.
As Ash made his way to the parking lot he noticed that Dawn was sitting alone in front of the school on her phone. "Hey Dawn!" he called as he approached.
"Oh! Hi Ash! How did your practice go?" she asked as he sat down next to her.
"Well we had to run the entire time because our coach hates us," he joked. "My legs are about to fall off."
Dawn laughed. "You definitely look spent. I just came out of cheer practice and I'm just waiting for Lucas to get here so he can drive me home."
Ash nodded. "He wasn't far behind me so-," he was interrupted by loud shouting across the lot.
"Dawn! Let's go!" it was Lucas waving his hands in front of his car.
"Coming!" Dawn replied with a hint of annoyance. "See you tomorrow Ash."
Ash nodded. "See you," he then watched her go. A part of him wanted to chase after her for some reason, but he stayed put. He couldn't describe it but he felt like he wanted to spend way more time with her.
But why? They were just friends…right?
Lemme just say how good it feels to finally be back to Fanfiction. I've been waiting to put this story together for a good month now and I finally got it kick-started. Let me what you guys thought! Please follow/fav and leave a review! Thanks for reading!