Vincent Tellamapolou approached the small auxiliary gym with some apprehension. Lately his mind had been full of questions, and now that he was seeking out some answers to them, he was afraid that they would only lead to more questions. Hearing the sounds of battle coming from within the gym he slowly and quietly opened the door and slipped inside.

His stealthy entrance was noticed by a pachirisu girl sitting on the sidelines in a wheelchair. Turning her head and nodding at him she quickly returned her attention to the action on the gym floor, making a few quick notes on a clipboard as an errant fire blast bounced off of one of the walls. "Sup Vince," she said with a slight smile as he approached.

"Hey Tessa," he replied. The fact that he didn't refer to her by one of the many nicknames he usually called her by caught her attention immediately. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Nah, just runnin' through some accuracy drills," she said as another ball of fire bounced across the floor. "We're makin' progress believe it or not," she laughed as she watched the ball of flame go out in a small puff of smoke.

The poliwrath chuckled slightly as he watched the fireball go out. "I'll take your word for it," he said. After some hesitation he spoke up again. "Tess, do you remember at my welcome home party when you said that if I needed to talk, you'd be there?"

The pachirisu nodded her head but didn't take her eyes off of the action on the gym floor. "Yeah," she finally answered. "I take it you're ready?"

Vincent slowly nodded his head in response. "When you have some time, if that's alright."

"Well, no time like the present," shrugged Tessa. "Ok guys, that's enough for today, let's pack it in," she yelled to a short sneasel girl and a vulpix in a bluish-green long coat. "Hey Neve, can I talk to you for a minute?" she called to the sneasel. With a sigh the sneasel held up to have a short conversation with the vulpix before slowly making her way to the sidelines.

"Whassup Tess?" asked Neve with a suspicious look on her face. "Hey Vince," she nodded to the poliwrath before returning her attention to the pachirisu.

"I noticed you squinting a bit out there, and you had some near misses that you should have hit," said Tessa, looking down at the notes on her clipboard.

"Yeah, the smoke was gettin' in my eyes," shrugged Neve.

Tessa narrowed her eyes and leaned back in her chair as she regarded the sneasel. "Neve, the only smoke here is the kind that you're blowin' outta your ass," she said in a firm tone. The sneasel regarded her coolly but held her tongue. "Look, we both know what I'm gonna say, and we both know you don't wanna hear it. But your eyesight has been getting worse, I know because I've been keepin' track."

"There's nothin' wrong with my eyesight," protested Neve.

Without hesitation Tessa took the pen that she had been writing with and flicked it at Neve. The sneasel blinked and made a quick grab for it but missed, swatting the pen aside but not catching it as she had intended. "My mom's an eye doctor Neve, I know the signs. Look, I know you don't wanna get glasses, but the problem isn't gonna get better if you ignore it. Or deny it."

Neve sighed deeply, an irate expression on her face. "I don't wanna get my eyes checked, I don't like doctors," she growled.

"Neither do I," shrugged Tessa. "But my mom's nice, she's good with stubborn cases. I mean look at Dominic and me. Look if I get you an appointment with her, will you go? I'll talk to her, she won't charge or anything. I'll even take you if I need to."

"Fine, I'll go," sighed Neve dejectedly, folding her arms across her chest in protest. "But that don't mean I'm gettin' any dorky-lookin' glasses, like chica over there," she muttered, pointing towards the vulpix.

"Well, one step at a time," snickered Tessa, looking past the sneasel towards the vulpix and nodding her head slightly. The vulpix knowingly nodded back to her as he brushed the remnants of some frost off of his coat. "I'll even try to schedule the appointment so it conflicts with Mr. Meditow's class, so you get a day off from it."

"Thanks chica," said Neve through a weak smile. "You alright I guess. Hey say hi to Tabi for me, willya?" she said to Vince as she turned to leave.

"Will do," answered the poliwrath with a grin. "Coaching in motion, eh?" he asked Tessa once Neve had left.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'm here for," she answered. "So what's on your mind?"

"Where to start," sighed the poliwrath as he leaned over to pick up her pen and hand it back to her. "I talked to a lot of people while I was in the hospital, and since I got out of it, but nobody has really told me what I really need to know. Which is, how do you handle it?"

"Handle what, the whole being a cripple thing?" she asked with a slight smirk.

Vincent blanched a bit. He had plenty of experience with Tessa's rather blunt way of putting things but it still caught him off guard sometimes, particularly now. "Well that's not quite what I meant," he started.

"It's what you meant even if it's not how you would have said it," she interrupted. "First bit of advice, changing the words used to describe a condition doesn't change the condition. It doesn't matter how many nice and polite ways we come up with to describe the facts that I can't walk and you have a bad heart, it's not going to change anything. Sensitivity is one thing, but you gotta be real careful not to let it go overboard," she continued. "That's why I'm as blunt as I am sometimes."

"Understandable," nodded Vince. "I confess I'm already getting tired of being treated like I'm made out of glass."

"Which is a good thing," smiled Tessa. "Second bit of advice, you're still the same Vince you were before this happened, where it counts anyway. And I'm still the same girl I was before I got stuck in this thing," she said, patting her wheelchair. "Except that my boobs are bigger. Point is, you can't ever let your condition define who you are. It's a part of you, don't get me wrong, but a small part. Unless you let it become otherwise."

"Right," nodded the poliwrath. "It's not easy right now, but I guess that's something that will just come with time."

"It will," nodded Tessa. "I'll confess you're handling this a lot better than I did."

"Well, I don't think we can quite compare," said Vince through a weak smile.

"Nah, if we go comparing battle scars, I'll win," laughed Tessa. "But we don't need to go there. Point is you're taking everything pretty well, so far."

"So far?" asked Vince quizzically.

"Yeah," answered the pachirisu. "Come on, let's go for a walk," she said as she turned her chair towards the doors of the gym and started off in that direction. Vincent chuckled a bit to himself at her choice of words before following her. "Right now you're still in a state of shock. Mentally at least. Everything's happening so fast that you feel overwhelmed, so you're just sittin' back and accepting things as they come," she said as she exited the gym and made her way to the quad.

"Spoken like the voice of experience," said Vince with a smirk. "So what can I expect in the future?"

Tessa sighed before answering. "Nothing for a while. You'll adjust, you'll slowly fall into a new routine. But I'll go ahead and warn you, the time will come when you get angry. Very angry," she said, looking back at him. "You'll rant and rave and look up to the sky and ask, 'Why me?' and nobody will answer you. You'll grab whatever's close to you and throw it across the room, you'll flat-out go insane with rage over what's happened."

Vincent held up a bit and looked down at her in disbelief. "I don't really think-"

"Neither did I," interrupted Tessa as she spun her chair around to look up at the poliwrath. "I'm not trying to be judgmental or anything, I'm just tellin' it like it is. Face it, the world flew over and took a big, steaming dump on you. And you can walk around like that for a while, accepting it, but eventually you'll snap," she said. "But that's alright. Don't feel bad about it when it happens, the world owes you one. But once you've washed all of it off, don't go back in and wallow in it, know what I'm sayin'?"

Vincent nodded solemnly in response to her words, though he still didn't entirely believe them. Rather he was afraid to believe them. "Yeah, I understand," he said. "I can't see myself losing control like that, but I can't see you doing it either."

"Oh mine was a beauty," she laughed. "But I trust you to take it out on inanimate objects. If it happens. You might not ever have that moment, but if you do, don't hold back. Just let it all out, kick the world in the balls, and be done with it. But don't let me get all gloom and doom, it's not all bad news. You get to use the really cool parking spots now."

Vincent laughed a bit in response. "Yeah, that's true. That's something else I wanted to ask you about, how you manage to stay so positive about everything. I mean I've been trying to keep a good outlook, but I'll confess, it's been a bit depressing so far."

"Yeah, it will be," said Tessa. "But give it time. The trick is to not obsess over the things you can't do, and focus on the things that you can do. There are walls in front of you now that weren't there before, sure. But you don't need to find a way over or through them if you can just, you know, go around," she said as she approached the doors to the school's main administrative building.

"Yeah," answered Vince. "That's what I'm hoping to do. And that's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," he said as he picked up his pace to get ahead of her and open the door for her. "Sorry for putting it this way, but what exactly do you do here? I know you're studying to be a coach full-time, I'm just not sure how that works. I haven't been able to get a straight answer from the administration. They're letting me stay in school, even though I can't battle anymore, but I'd like to think I'm going here for more than just academics."

"Well there are a lot of students here who don't ever battle," she said as she entered the building. "The school has programs in coaching, pre-med, management, and other aspects of battles. A champion needs a good team of skilled specialists behind him after all, and they train students in those skills as well," she explained. "Now admittedly most students study those programs as a minor, to give them something to fall back on when their arena career is done, but there are a few who basically major in them. There's one skiploom guy in the pre-med program who wants to specialize in nutrition, he wants to make energy bars and drinks that actually... taste good," she laughed.

"Well I wish him luck with that," laughed Vince, scrunching his face up in an exaggerated fashion. "I knew they had programs like that, coaching was always my final goal. I was just going the battle route to have the experience in the ring. I thought the battle experience would help me relate to those I was trying to coach. I've already taken some coaching courses and I've been working with Coach Marceau, but like you said, I was taking them as a minor. I hadn't quite gotten to the point where I was ready to do it full-time, but my schedule seems to have been ramped up. So I guess the question is, how does that work? I mean a large part of our grades come from our battle exams, so where do your grades come from?"

"From those same battle exams," she shrugged as she rolled her chair up to the base of a flight of stairs. Vince moved over to help her but she waved him off. "I got it, but thanks. You shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting anyway," she snickered.

"You aren't that heavy," laughed Vince. "For a poli girl, you're barely a twig." Tessa smirked at the poliwrath as she backed her chair up to the base of the stairs. Reaching out to her sides she grabbed hold of the handrails and lifted herself up, small arcs of electricity flashing between her and her chair as it lifted up off the ground with her. Moving backwards and hand over hand she ascended the stairs quickly, setting her chair back down at the top of the stairs. "Damn," said Vince in a low voice. "Remind me never to get in an arm-wrestling match with you."

"You'd lose," teased Tessa. "Anyway, part of the program that I'm in requires me to take on other students as charges. When they battle, I get graded based on their results. I'm working with my brother's team, and Rene, and a few other underclassmen that have some potential."

"So you get graded based on how well Rene does in battle?" asked Vincent, trying not to sound amused by the prospect but failing miserably.

"Not exactly," replied the pachirisu. "I get graded based on how much he improves. If he goes into a battle and makes a mistake, no big deal. It happens. But if he makes the same mistake twice, that counts against me. For some of his matches I'm there on the sidelines, calling the shots live, so to speak. It's the same with Team Krimson, I'm even listed on their roster as their official coach."

"Wow," said Vince, his mind rapidly wandering. "So you're saying that if I enrolled full-time in the coaching program I could get sponsored by other teams or individuals? That I could get on as Team Generations' official coach as part of my education?"

"That's how it works," nodded Tessa as she rolled her way through the upstairs hallway. "There's a lot of trust on both sides, but that's what coaching is all about. You could probably take on Team Generations as charges, but I hear they're a pretty ambitious team. I'm not sure they'd want some broken-down lug like you telling 'em what to do," she teased.

"Oh very funny," groaned Vince. "You know the stairs aren't that far away, I could probably get you down 'em with one good shove from here," he laughed. "Seriously though, that's great news! One of the things that had me so bummed was that I had to leave the team. But acting as their official coach and having my name back on the roster, that would mean a lot to everyone."

"Oh definitely go for it, I know it's something you had an interest in even before all of this happened," she said. "You should just cut through the red tape and go straight to Coach Marceau, he'll set you up. I know he doesn't exactly have a lot of patience for administrative bureaucracy either."

"There's an understatement," laughed Vincent. He took a few moments to gather his thoughts before continuing. "You know on the one hand I want the guys to be independent and go on to success on their own, but on the other hand I want to be there to give them a hand when needed. But if I'm having to split my coaching duties between them and other charges, that should strike the perfect balance."

"So everybody wins," smiled Tessa. "Except you, if one of your teams end up taking on one of mine," she grinned.

Vince chuckled in response. "We may have to see about that sometime," he said. "Thanks a ton Tess, you've given me some much-needed advice," he said with a smile, taking her hand in his. "I guess I'll go have a talk with Coach Marceau about changing my major."

"Hey, sure thing. What are friends fore?" she said with a smile. "But as long as you're goin' by Coach Marceau's office, could you drop this off for me?" she asked, holding out the clipboard full of papers she had been carrying.

"Sure thing," smiled the poliwrath. "It's nothing he's gonna hit me for when he reads it is it?"

"Not if you leave quickly after handing it over," laughed Tessa. "But Vince, there's one more thing I want you to keep in mind," she said, her tone suddenly growing much more serious. "When I woke up in the hospital after breaking my back the doctors told me I'd never walk again," she said. "Give me a pull," she ordered with a nod of her head, her hand still clutched in Vince's. The poliwrath looked puzzled but did as she asked, pulling her up out of the chair towards him. Tessa rested her other hand on his shoulder to steady herself for a moment before letting go of his hand.

Vince stared in disbelief as she stood in front of him on her own two legs, albeit slightly unsteady with a strained look on her face. "Tessa, I-" he stammered, not sure what to say. Waving her hand to silence him a look of strained concentration shot across her face. Slowly she moved her right leg forwards at a slightly off angle, but when she tried to move her left leg it went out from under her and she started to fall. Vince reacted swiftly to catch her. "Whoa, careful," he said as he lifted her back up, her body having gone to dead weight in his arms as her legs returned to their normal unresponsive state.

"The hell with doctors," she said after a deep breath, wrapping an arm around his neck for support. "If they can figure out how to fix this big gap in my spine, maybe someday they can figure out how to fix what's wrong with your ticker. So you never give up, you hear me?"

"I promise," he said softly, hugging the pachirisu tightly. "And that goes double for you."

Some 'mon take the lemons life gives them and turn it into lemonade. Others...slice them up for the vodka and open up a bar. Which can probably be said for Tess.

Very true....[Rene] 'I'll take your word for it?' That's just mean Vince.

Vince: You kidding? She were a bartender she'd have more tips and marriage proposals then she'd know what to do with.

Some take them in their martinis shaken, not stirred.

Wow. Really amazing and really inspirational stuff there C. Thanks for having Rene involved, even in so minor a way!

Rene: Wow. You mean your job hinges on my ability to improve myself? *Gulps* Well...that gives me one more reason to get it together.

....DORKY?! Hey, WAITAMINUTE HERE! I RESENT THAT!

I love Tessa SO MUCH, you have no idea.

Face it Vince, girl has you PWN'd No worries big guy. You got a whole school to keep you sane.

Nice! Truer words were never spoken.

Kimo: Vince, you ever need anythin', Kimo's got your back. We islanders godda stick togedda, brah.

Hey! Get back in there, I haven't introduced you yet!