"Is that you, Ash?"

A voice called out, making the raven haired boy stop in his tracks. Ash turned around and saw a familiar person standing behind him.

"Hey, isn't that the third year ace of the Kalos High basketball team?" Gary pointed out. "I think Alain was his name."

Although the mahogany haired boy kept on talking, Ash paid no attention to his explanation. "Gary, leave without me. I'll catch up later."

"Huh? What are you saying, the competition is going to start soo-" he stopped when he saw the stern look on his face. Ash always acted carefree about everything, but when he's serious it's got to be something important.

"Don't take too long." Gary said as he left the scene.

Silence stood between the two as a gusting wind began to blow, which caused the grass around them to rustle in unison.

"I didn't expect you to start playing basketball again," Alain stated.

"I'm only filling in for a sick member on the team," Ash replied curtly.

There was another awkward silence.

"Why did you decide to attend an academic high school instead of Kalos High, a sport focused school?" He decided to ask.

Ash indifferently slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "You're being quite talkative, that's not like you."

"I'm only trying to help you," Alain's deep azure eyes scanned him up and down. "I know that you truly enjoy playing basketball, that's what Red would of wanted you to do also."

At that, the heartthrob glared at him coldly. "Don't act like you know me or my brother."

Alain's eyes widened in shock at his sharp words. He looked down at the ground.

"Ash... You've changed."

"If you're done talking, I'll be leaving now." Ignoring his comment, Ash spun around and was about to head back when Alain stopped him once more.

"Just tell me this," he said and Ash stopped to listen.

"Even after three years, are you still not over Red's death?"

➖➖➖ (ノ_＜) ➖➖➖

The honey blonde stepped past the gates along with many other students. Kalos High was bigger than what she had in mind.

She looked around in wonder as many other spectators from a variety of different high schools made their way to the gym. Amongst all the people, she recognized many of them were also from Pokémon Academy.

As she was occupied with her surroundings, two girls walked past her. She realized that they were also from her school.

"Hey, haven't you heard? Apparently Ash is playing for the school team!" One exclaimed.

"I know, that's why I came to watch! I'm so excited!!" The other squealed as the two hurried to the basketball stadium.

Serena sweat dropped as the two dissipated into the crowd. It seemed like that the fact that Ash was going to sub in for the basketball team. She shrugged a smile.

"He's the heart throb after all."

From the corner of her eye, she spotted a certain raven haired boy with another person. The other boy looked a bit older than him, with black hair and dark blue eyes. The two was standing in the corner of the school.

Just as she was about to approach them, She sensed an uneasy atmosphere between the two. After Ash walked away from the other guy, the honey blonde stride towards him.

"Oh hey, Serena!" The heartthrob's face illuminated with joy once he saw her.

Serena involuntarily blushed. Although she was the one that requested it, she was still not used to being called by her actual name.

It gave her a tingling feeling in her chest.

"What are you doing here?" She cleared her throat and kept her composure. "The competition starts in less than half an hour."

"Were you worried about me?" Ash smirked, causing the colour of her face to deepen.

"O-of course I am. I'm scared that you'll do something unpredictably reckless." She cross her arms with a pout.

Ash just chuckled and patted her on the head. The honey haired girl looked at the ground as his hand slid from her head to the left side of her face.

Her heart pounded ferociously in her chest as the raven haired boy leaned closer towards her. Serena held her breath. He paused just as their faces were merely a centimetre apart, as if he was considering the consequences of what he's doing. After a moment, he pulled back.

The honey blonde felt a tinge of disappointment while she exhaled in relief, her face burning with embarrassment.

"Don't worry about me," Ash shrugged a smile as he turned around. He held on hand up in a peace sign, and Serena giggled. He looked back at her with a grin.

"Just watch me slay."

➖➖➖ ( ✌︎'ω')✌︎➖➖➖

The school's gym were packed with throngs of people. The honey haired girl spun her head from left to right in astonishment. There were even people from TV stations and camera crews.

As expected from Kalos High, theirs basketball reputation was more than just high.

She sweat dropped as she realized that in the front of the seats were Ash's fan club, who were screaming with excitement.

After everything had been set up and everyone took a seat in the bleachers, the teams entered the court. The ground shook as everyone started cheering.

Ash's team included Ash, Gary, Calem, Paul, and Trip.

From the other team, Serena noticed that the boy that Ash was talking to earlier. "Who's that?" She muttered to herself.

"That's Alain, the ace of Kalos High's basketball team!" A vivacious voice exclaimed, making the honey blonde jolt up in surprise.

"My bad, did I scare you?" Serena turned around to see a girl with hazel hair, tied in two pig tails and emerald green eyes. If she remembered correctly, this girl was recognized by the name of Shauna.

"Oh it's no problem. I haven't gotten the chance to thank you for what you did on the roof the other day. Thank you." Serena bowed in gratitude, and Shauna waved her off.

"It's no problem, I just did what I thought was right," she grinned, and Serena smiled back. "I'll explain a little about how basketball works. There are two teams, which each have five players on court. The game contains of four quarters in total, each are eight minutes. The normal shots are worth two points, while the far shots are worth three. Oh also, free shots are worth one point."

Serena nodded attentively as the hazel haired girl smiled nervously. "Do I talk too much? I'm just really enthusiastic when it comes to basketball."

"Oh no, it was very helpful since I didn't know much about basketball." She giggled.

Shauna beamed at her and the two focused their eyes on the match that was about to start.

➖➖➖ ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ ➖➖➖

Both teams lined up across from each other, at the centre of the court.

"Oya?" Ash turned to looked at his team mate with a shocked gaze. "I didn't know that Camel was in the basketball team."

"It's Calem." The navy haired boy corrected, but Ash just shrugged innocently.

"I take it that you've been practicing?" Gary asked, while the heartthrob just smirked at him. From the corner of his eye, he could see a certain honey blonde gazing intensely at the match. Ash grinned.

"You'll see."

The players chosen were Ash and another player from Kalos High for the tip off.

As the referee got ready to throw the ball, Ash and Alain stood across from each other, their eyes met for a second.

The moment the referee tossed the ball in to the air, the raven haired boy immediately grabbed on to it and started dribbling across the court.

From the side, fangirls started screaming and making incoherent sound.

As Ash made his way to the net, he could hear his teammates yelling at him. He jumped and made a three pointer, and the ball slid into the net.

Just as the heartthrob was about to cheer, he realized something was wrong. Ash spun his head to see others' reactions.

Alain stared at him blankly.

Calem didn't even bother to cover his disappointment.

"I'm not even going to bother anymore," Gary face palmed himself in defeat.

He spun his head around to see the score board, and gaped.

He had scored in the wrong net.

Everyone sweat dropped in unison as Ash just smiled sheepishly.

This time, Alain's team was on offense. As a member was dribbling the ball across the court, Ash tipped it out of his hand and started dribbling, this time to the right direction.

He made a three pointer shot, and it went in, which made the gym roared in excitement.

Ash fist pumped Gary and the two grinned at each other.

Trip had the ball, but just as he was about to pass it to Gary, it was blocked by Alain. The other side of the bleachers cheered.

"Guess it won't be as easy as I thought." Ash thought to himself as Alain shot the ball into the net.

Their team was on defence as Alain made an attempt to shoot a three-pointer. Paul jumped in front of him, which caused the aim to go diagonal and the ball bounced off the rim.

Another player was going for rebound but Ash and Calem jumped in unison to block him.

In the end, the first quarter ended with 18:25, with Pokémon Academy in the lead.

"Ash, take a break for now." Their coach, Ms Juniper said. "We'll need you for the third and last quarter."

The raven haired boy nodded in understanding. As he headed to the bench, he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Gilbert... Was it?" Ash faced the brown haired boy. He was another player on Kalos High's basketball team.

"Hilbert." Hilbert corrected, then scoffed and gave him a smug look. "You guys aren't as sucky as I thought. I never knew you had some strategies up your sleeves."

"I never knew that you couldn't differentiate jerseys and sleeves." The heartthrob stated as he jogged to the bench. His actions almost caused Hilbert to rage when Alain came and pulled him away.

Serena watched as the raven haired boy took a seat at the bench and Hilbert glared at him. She sighed as the second quarter started.

"What's with this Hilbert guy?" The honey blonde crossed her arms.

"Apparently he's known to be a player with both skills and attitude, although one bigger than the other," Shauna chuckled nervously.

As they continued to watch the game, a flash of blue caught Serena's eye. She looked around and saw no other than Dawn standing in the corner of the bleacher seats, gazing at the game that was going on.

Tapping lightly on Shauna to get her attention, the two crept towards the blue haired girl and surprised her from behind.

"I thought you said you weren't going to come?" Serena raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I-I just happened to pass by so I decided to come and take a look, alright?" Dawn blushed, obviously lying. Serena rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right." She said, smiling.

➖➖➖ (￣∀￣) ➖➖➖

Ash's hazel eyes drove from one side of the court to the other. He was starting to see the difference widen ever since the second round started.

There was a gap of both experience and teamwork between Pokémon Academy and Kalos High. He's hate to admit it, but KH was more adroit in both.

He watched apprehensively as his team started to get less coordinated and tired.

But although the other team had a better balance and more experienced in general, their team still wasn't going to let the points gap widen.

Right before the end of the second quarter, Calem was going for a three pointer shot. Just when he as about to jump, Hilbert aggressively jumped in front of him, which caused the two to crash together and fall to the ground.

The referee whistled and gave him a personal foul. The boy didn't seem to care much, however.

"Hilbert, be careful of what you're doing."
Alain warned him as he jogged by.

Ash stifled a laugh. It was quite concealed, but he could tell that Hilbert had done that on purpose.

The timer went off, signalling that the second quarter was over. He glanced at the score, which was 50:40, with Kalos High in the lead. The raven haired boy stood up and approached Calem. He held out his hand, suggesting to pull him up.

Calem hesitated for a moment, then took his hand. Ash tightened his grip and pulled the navy haired boy back on his feet. The two smiled at each other.

"We have to make a strategy." He said firmly, making his teammates turn their gazes to him.

"What type of strategy?" Paul asked.

The whole group shuddered as a dark grin appeared on the raven haired boy's face.

"The type that'll make them regret what they've done."

➖➖➖ (๑•ૅㅁ•๑) ➖➖➖

Ayy so did you enjoy this chapter?

Sorry that it's not very interesting since I don't play basket ball so I only know these things bc i watch Kuroko no Basket T^T

I know that Christmas is coming
soon so I want to ask u guys
if u want a X-mas special
or just the next chapter ^u^

Hope u all liked this chapter and don't forget to comment and vote !!

~Lori ☆〜（ゝ。∂）