The new term had started at the PokeCombat Academy and so far it had gone well for several of the students; not so much for some of the others. One student who’d found himself traipsing down the middle path was Vincent Tellamapolou, former combat student and current member of the Coaching Major. This was a new feeling for Vince as he was coming in not with a class schedule full of tactics and fight application but instead with classes based in theory and more general education. In his three years at the school he’d loaded himself down heavily with battle classes as well as what coaching courses he could make his way into. Now he faced a term in which to balance things out, and because he wasn’t allowed into many of the application classes due to his heart, with other courses he’d tried to avoid. His day had been half full of a writing course, history and even a math class. Boring subjects all but being in the top ten of his class academically he knew he had to take them and do well. Now, though, was his chance to have some fun because it was seventh period.

Vince walked into the side gym that’d been given to him in order to teach his Battle Basics class. The Poli had been allowed to take on a more active role as a student assistant due to his exemplary service teaching under Coach Marceau. That wasn’t to say he was full staff and he was still barred from the faculty lounge, but it did mean that all he had to do was report to Marceau on the progress and plans he’d make rather than having to take them from the Coach. Vince was nervous to say the least as this was a great deal of trust being given to him. Despite the jokes he’d been picked because he was the only one who didn’t said no to training freshmen, he none the less walked in and steeled himself for the coming period.

He took a moment to look at the students as they filtered into the gym. Some chatted happily with one another as teammates met up for the first time during the course of the day or old friends were reunited as the summer break had come to an end. Vince did frown a bit as he noticed a potential issue as two young ‘morphs stared at one another from across the gym. Both Xander and Aaron had been teammates on a team that broke up at the end of the previous term after a battle that ended very poorly. He knew that the two were going to snip at one another, but that was part of being a coach he reminded himself. His gaze moved further along the students as he spotted two he was very happy to see; his girlfriend Eddie Nochtmon and his sister Tamara chatted with one another quietly as they waited for more students to arrive. Eventually the bell rang as a few kids that remained quickly dashed in and most of them took a seat on the small grandstands that were set up there. Vince took in a deep breath and walked in further.

“Afternoon everyone!” most of the students stopped their talking as he addressed them, “I’m your coach for the class, Vincent. Some of you may remember me from last term and some of you are new to me,” The Poli stopped in front of them all and looked them over. His gaze was even as he gave little acknowledgement to those in the stands, something his former students were used to. There was one thing that he prided himself on in that he didn’t give anyone a break, regardless of who knew him.

“One question that I know some of you probably have is why me? Why a student coaching you instead of a professional,” Vince started to pace in front of the twenty some odd students, “And that’s because I do know what I’m doing. One team I’m coaching is top ten in the junior class. I have another junior team that’s jumped fifteen spots in their ranking since I started coaching them,” He stopped to look at one group of young ‘mon, “I’m seventh in my class academically and I’d like to point out that my students did exceptionally well last term in their battles,” Xander, the Elekid that Vince knew was going to be trouble, gave a snort as he looked to Aaron the Aron derisively. The big Poli stopped and snapped his gaze over at Xander to silence him.

“That being said, I’m not one to toot my own horn,” He continued, “By the end of this term you’ll either be thankful for the condition you’re in or hate me for making you run so much,” A few of the newer students groaned at the sound of that, “This class is Battle Basics, that means I’m here to help make sure your fundamentals are sound before you go onto more advanced stuff. I know some of you have been training to battle for a very long time and think you know what you’re doing. I’m not saying you don’t, I’m just saying I’m going to make sure you’re grounded before you get to far ahead of yourself,” He pulled a clipboard out from under his arm and looked over the list of students, “Any questions?” Only a single hand rose as he looked up to see a rather enthusiastic looking Flareon start to wave her hand in the air as if to be called on. Vince checked with himself for a moment and confirmed it was a girl as he nodded towards her.

“Yes…” He looked over his list to find her name.

“Cinnamon!” The Flare enthusiastically answered, “But most people call me Cinny for some reason,”

“Okay, Cinny,” He couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, “What’s your question?”

“When do I get to start kicking butt?” Cinny grinned widely as she asked the question and drew some snickers from the other students. Vince couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm too.

“What’s your fighting background, Cinny?” He asked as he put his clipboard back under his arm.

“Mostly with my sisters,” She said as she made a face, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not ready to really get to it, coach!” Vince just chuckled.

“We’ll get to that in a bit. For now, I’m going to be testing you guys on where you’re at in your training,” Vince reached into his pocket and pulled out a whistle which he quickly gave a shrill blow, “I want five laps from everyone around the gym!” The students who’d had Vince before started to move into place to get started, used to it by now. The new students gave a few groans and mutters but otherwise fell into line and started jogging around the edge of the battle area. All the while the Poli watched on and made some notes to himself along the way. Each went at their own pace though some hoofed it faster than others. He watched in amusement as the young Flare motored around the ring in such a way that he was worried she’d tire herself out before they got to the rest of the training. Sure enough she was one of the ones bent over a bit and panting as she caught her breath.

Vincent moved into the next part of the class as he started them through a basic stretching regiment to make sure they all stayed limber. He explained that the last thing he wanted was for them to be injured along the way because of a misstep rather than being hit by someone. It struck the Poli as amusing that he always got at least a few people who complained about the stretching and warm-ups to be a waste of time. To his surprise he got fewer than he expected as the students all followed along with him. With calisthenics finished he had everyone move over to the stands for the next portion.

“Right! Next up I’m going to be pairing you all up with someone to test out where you’re at. A few moments worth of back and forth should give me a pretty good idea,” He looked over his list, “Let’s start off with…Tamara and Xander,” The Elekid smirked at the call as he hopped up in his spot. He looked over towards the Poliwhirl who also stood up as they walked towards the middle of the battle area. Xander continued to smirk at the fact that he’d not only been paired up with Vince’s sister but also someone he had an advantage on.

“I’ll go easy on you, babe,” He said across the way to her with a cocky look. Tamara just looked at him nonchalantly as she settled herself into a battle stance.

“Watch your mouth, Xander,” Vincent warned him. The Elekid fell into a battle stance as well and winked over at the Poli female.

“Maybe after this you and I can go out and I can show you what a real ‘mon’s like,” Xander’s words gave Vince pause as he was almost hesitant to blow the whistle. Tam still looked unemotional and just nodded that she was ready. Vince took in a breath and let it out through the whistle to signal the beginning of the action.

Xander lead in quickly as his fist crackled with electrical energy and swung with all his might right for Tamara’s face with a confident smirk splayed across his lips. A moment later he was standing there in disbelief as the blow not only didn’t land but that the Poliwhirl wasn’t anywhere to be seen. The Elekid gave a small blink before two solid shots to his ribs informed him that she’d gotten behind him. He quickly turned and swung another heavy blow at where she was, this time his hand shifted to the heavy power of fighting energy. Again the shot missed its mark as Tamara ducked below the wild swing and brought her fists to bare across his face as water energy flared around her arms. Xander took the hit and spun around which gave him a chance to swing low and sweep the legs out from under her.

The Elekid didn’t give himself the chance to check the cut that had opened up on his lips as he decided instead to try and press the apparent advantage. Turning to face Tamara his fist lit up with electrical energy again as he swung hard for where she was on the ground. The Poli kicked her foot out and slid herself away from the blow which barely missed her. While she pushed herself along the battle ground her cheeks puffed as a burst of pressurized water shot out at his fist. As the liquid came in contact with his still crackling hand the two combined to send a volt of electrical power through Xander’s body and caused him to quiver for a moment before he fell to one knee. Vince quickly blew the whistle at that to end the battle as he walked over to check on the partially fallen battler.

“I’m fine!” Xander protested as he pushed himself to his feet. His eyes glared at the back of Tamara who’d made her way off the battle floor and headed for the stands as soon as the battle had been called. Vince hovered over him for a moment before the Elekid just walked away to catch himself a bit of bleacher away from the others. Vince sighed quietly as he watched it and made note to be careful about those two being paired together. He started the cycle again and continued to pair students with one another as they went down the line and showed what they could do. All the while the Poli made notes to himself so he could get an idea where each of them needed work. Eventually he came down to the last two students and five minutes left in the class.

“Cinnamon and Aaron!” He called out, “You’re both up!” Cinny hopped up with a grin and dashed out onto the battle area as she prepared to show off her stuff. Aaron took a little longer to get to the line as his round form kept him from being very quick. Standing across from the Flare the affable Aron offered a smile as he settled in for a brief fight. Both battlers looked towards Vince and waited for the signal, which soon came in the form of a whistle call.

Cinny moved quickly as she took her speed advantage to the next level with a sudden and quick blow on the Aron. Aaron staggered back a step as the shot glanced off his armored hide before he turned around to track where the Flare was going and ripped up a bit of the ground to Throw at her. Cinny spun around and just managed to flatten herself against the floor before the chunk of rock nearly slammed into her head. She scrambled along the ground and reacted quickly as she started to kick at the dirt in front of her towards Aaron who suddenly found himself with a face full of Sand. He sputtered for a moment and wiped at his eyes even as his body begun to glow and thicken itself.

Seeing an opening Cinny threw herself forward then and swung her now shiny tail at her opponent even as his own hand glowed with the same energy. The two attacks met in mid air where they clashed against once another with a series of sparks. Cinny and Aaron pressed against one another in an odd form of tug-of-war. As she grit her teeth the Flare continued the push and even gained a few steps before the Aron suddenly changed up tactics and reached out to Headbutt her. Cinny fell back a few steps and blinked as her eyes crossed momentarily and then collapsed onto her backsid before Vincent suddenly blew the whistle to stop the fight. The Poli and the Aron stepped forward quickly to check up on her.

“Cinnamon? You okay?” Vince asked as he kneeled down beside her. The Flare shook her head several times as her eyes righted themselves and she grinned brightly.

“I’m good, coach!” She said cheerfully which caused Vince to blink at her resilience. Aaron smiled in relief that he hadn’t hurt her to bad as he reached out to help her up and pulled the Flare to her feet.

“Sorry about that, Cinn-FWOOSH!” Cinny stood there in shock for a moment as Aaron pulled her up when suddenly she burst into flames. The Aron caught a majority of the backlash as he stood right beside her and fell backwards suddenly as he cried out in surprise. The fire had caught him full on and it was obvious that he was in a great deal of pain at the moment. Cinny blinked at what she’d done and took several steps back as she was unsure of what to do. Vincent reacted quickly as he pulled off his shirt and threw himself on top of the kid who was still writhing on the ground. It took only a few moments with the shirt for the flames to die down as Aaron curled up on himself and shook at the shock of being blasted at such close range.

“Tamara! Andrew!” He called out to two of the students in the stands, “Help him get to Nurse Rocco’s office,” The two nodded and headed down quickly as they helped Aaron to his feet. The Aron looked worse for wear as he slowly made his way out of the gym area with the pair’s help. A moment later the bell rang as it signaled the end of class, though no one left the stands just yet.

“Okay, everyone go get changed and have a good rest of the day,” He said, “We’ll pick things up again tomorrow but Cinnamon!” He quickly called before she could get away, “If I can speak to you before you leave,” The Flare stopped as she’d tried to tip-toe away in terror that she was going to get in trouble. She sighed as she was called to before she turned and walked over to Vince with slumped shoulders.

“I’m going to get detention, ain’t I?” She asked glumly. Vince offered her a smile and shook his head before he took a seat and patted the bench next to him.

“No, not today you aren’t,” He assured her. Cinny looked at him a bit surprised before she settled down as well, “But you do need to tell me what happened out there,” She tensed again as her gaze continued to avoid his.

“I…I…” She thought about how to say it for a second, “I have issues when people touch me,” She finally said. Vince nodded slowly as he looked her over.

“So how come you didn’t react that way while battling?” He asked the obvious follow up question, though Cinny just shrugged.

“That’s different, ya know?” She said as if it was obvious, “That’s all hitting and slashing and quick stuff. It’s not someone putting their hands on me for a long time, ya know?” Vince let out a breath as he heard it and nodded.

“So the key is to just make sure that no one touches you otherwise?” He asked to make sure he had everything straight, which drew a nod from her, “Well that should be easy enough then.”

“Yeah, should be,” She finally looked up at him and offered a small grin. Vince couldn’t help but smile at her infectious nature.

“So let me ask you, Cinny. What are you hoping to do battle wise?” He asked and leaned back in the stands. Her head perked up at the question as she smiled a bit more.

“I want to kick ass like my sister does!” She said without hesitation before she threw a few shadow punches, “I want to be like this totally awesome fighter!” Vince laughed aloud at the display, unable to keep from doing so which slowed the Flare’s enthusiasm a bit.

“What’re you doing to get there?” He asked another question.

“Well…I’m taking this class!” She said excitedly and hopefully, “That helps doesn’t it! You’re going to make me into a rockin’ fighter right?” Vince’s eyes closed as he let out a breath in bemused amusement before he opened them again to look at her.

“It’s a start,” He assured her, “But it’s not the end all be all. You know that girl who battled first? Tamara?”

“Yeah, wasn’t she the girl that beat down on that jerk of an Elekid?” Cinny asked as she nodded her head. Vince gave a small cough in response.

“Well that’s my sister and she’s been training for ten years to be a battler,” He quickly continued.

“Really?” Cinny blinked in surprise, “That’s…a long time,” She found herself trying to grasp the idea of herself training since she was four years old.

“Every morning she gets up to run two miles, three on weekends,” He explained further, “She has battle training four days a week for at least an hour and more on weekends, and then does at least forty-five minutes worth of weight lifting on days she isn’t practicing,” Cinny let out a low whistle.

“That’s…a lot of training,” She finally said as the sheer amount of it boggled her mind.

“It’s what I used to train too before my heart condition came to light,” He said.

“What’s wrong with your ticker, coach?” She asked curiously and poked at his chest, though her finger never quite came in contact with him.

“I have an enlarged heart,” He said and then figured he should explain further, “Means it doesn’t work as well and has to work twice as hard to pump blood through my body. So pushing it to hard could potentially cause it to just give up and kill me,”

“That’s rough, coach,” She said as if she didn’t fully comprehend the gravity of the situation. Vince chuckled again as he still gathered that she was bummed for him.

“It is,” He admitted, “But it also means it gives me a chance to help other battlers get better. I’d be happy to help you do that too if you wanted,” Cinny’s eyes practically lit up at that.

“Ya mean it? Really?!” She jumped up onto the floor and looked him dead in the eye as sitting down he was as tall as her standing up. Vince nodded in reply.

“But you’re going to have to stay dedicated to it, and promise me you’ll follow my instructions. Even if it really sucks and you want to give up,” He warned. She just nodded enthusiastically and grinned huge.

“You can count on me, coach!” She responded and held her hand up, palm flat, “I won’t let you down!” Vince reached out to give her a high five.

“Okay, we’ll get you started tomorrow,” He told her as he stood himself and loomed over her tiny form, “For now go and get some rest. I’ll work something up that won’t kill you but will make you a lot stronger and help your endurance,”

“Rock on!” Cinny said as she started to dash for the locker room, “See you tomorrow, coach!” Vince just shook his head as she dashed off. He let out a breath as he pondered for a moment about all the students he was going to work with and how he knew they’d have various levels of enthusiasm. It was nice for him to see that he’d have a few at least that wanted to improve themselves so much. The Poli picked up his clipboard and put it under his arm before he made his way towards where he was supposed to meet Eddie. It was going to be a very interesting term to say the least.

He's got a damn good rapport with his students. :D Vincent, you are not forgotten! Now read three chapters for Wednesday!

Vincent is a people person, what can I say?