Pokemon - The Apex of Time

Chapter 4 - Love From The Heart

A small number of our 'supporters' were already gathered at this time in the morning, and they seemed pleased with Darragh's new acquisitions to the team. “Another goalkeeper...” I half growled and half sighed.

“If you were to get injured, we'd need someone to come in anyway.” Skyra pointed out.

“I suppose so, but... I want to play every time to show what I can do...”

“Toby, we don't know how good this guy is yet.” Nelly rubbed my shoulder.

Our new team mates trotted down the stairs and onto the pitch, introducing themselves to us. Ryan, the shorter of the two came up to us first. “Hey, I'm Ryan. Nice to meet you.”

We told him who we were and shook hands. “What position do you play?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I'm a midfielder. Usually left midfield, but I can play central or as a striker.” He replied.

“Huh, you're a versatile guy.” Nick commented.

“Hi, I'm Scott.” The tall boy looked down at me. I put my anger behind me for a second to shake his hand. Our gloved fingers were harder to separate because we had latex covers on, but I could tell that his were the stronger brand. They even looked more professional, and his wrist straps had the initials 'S.D' on them. “Good luck, Toby.” He said, turning back towards Darragh.

“You too...” I said, before recoiling slightly. I hadn't even told him my name yet.

“All right, everybody, let's get warmed up and then we'll start with today's routine!” Darragh called out so everyone could hear. We separated off into small groups and warmed up, but I made it so I wasn't too near the new boys – I needed to get used to what they were like before I could trust them.

The day before, Darragh had made it clear that we were going to be practising things as a team. And there was no better time than now, really, what with two new members coming in. We split into two large groups of attackers and defenders. Me and my defenders plus Nick and Etienne were set up to try and stop everyone else from getting through. The aim was for the midfielders to practise playing key passes to each other and through the defence to put Nelly and co through to be able to shoot. Our aim was to stop them from doing this at all costs. Scott and I were given a choice of who was to go in goal first, and I made it apparent that I was up for it. He simply agreed and stood behind the net, watching.

Things got under way with Holly playing the ball forward to Xene, who laid a short pass to Skyra. The former Champion then raced past Nick as he ran at him, and looked up to play the ball into Nelly's path. “Got you!” Etienne cried, lunging in with a slide tackle. Without looking down, Nelly flicked the ball over his incoming leg and ran back on to it. Ethan ran straight forward, having spotted a gap between Gray and Jamie. All Nelly needed was to see his signal and she lifted the ball over their heads with a perfect lofted pass. Thankfully, at least Harry was awake, as he leapt in to head the ball away before Ethan could bring it under control. Ryan picked up the loose clearance smacked it through Jake's legs, bringing a roar from the gathered crowd. His pass curled along the ground and into the 'danger area', which is the area between my six-yard box and the defenders. The ball slipped straight into the 'corridor of uncertainty' where nobody could be sure what was going to happen, and Max's last-second sliding attempt saw him fall just short, leaving Sam in acres of space to smash a shot with the inside of his foot.

I threw myself as far as I could go, but I got nowhere near the shot, and everyone cheered as the ball hit the back of the net. I crashed into the ground and pushed myself onto my knees, groaning.

“Kids, that was brilliant!” Darragh clapped with the crowd. “Skyra, good feint! Nelly, great vision, and Ethan, great run! Ryan, that was a clever pass! And Sam, textbook finish, taking it away from Toby – Excellent!” He praised.