FA+
Shop
294
Views
Views
14
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120
File Size 48.5 kB
Report this content
More from vjohnson
...things can change. Vince's life has been nothing if interesting over the past school year, in some ways good and in some ways bad. Sometimes things that seem good bring bad thoughts and right resolution, it might just take some time to get there.
Sorry for the delay in stories but I finally hit one that felt right to write.
Tyrone, Boris, Ishtar, Weaver, Ruper and Ms Eddie here courtesy of the lovely
kaemantis
Mia visits via
natsukiraichu
Eddie jr is ever ready from
kdraccoon
Meghan and Barry belongs to
ceegee
Riou cameoing via
melfice
Christopher courtesy of
dark-chaos
Sid and Katie palling around via
theaubri
Ryuen, Krissy and Crys belong to
ryuentran
Cinny and Art both belong to my man SadFatDuck
And that sneaky Vulpix mentioned often belongs to
gammaeradon
Pokemon belongs to Nintendo
Sorry for the delay in stories but I finally hit one that felt right to write.
Tyrone, Boris, Ishtar, Weaver, Ruper and Ms Eddie here courtesy of the lovely
kaemantisMia visits via
natsukiraichuEddie jr is ever ready from
kdraccoonMeghan and Barry belongs to
ceegeeRiou cameoing via
melficeChristopher courtesy of
dark-chaosSid and Katie palling around via
theaubriRyuen, Krissy and Crys belong to
ryuentranCinny and Art both belong to my man SadFatDuck
And that sneaky Vulpix mentioned often belongs to
gammaeradonPokemon belongs to Nintendo
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 48.5 kB
“Thank you very much, Mr. Aubtraum,” The office of Principal Darius Aubtraum was usually a sullen place where degenerates and trouble makers would be sent after a few tries with one of the vice principals. Very little good ever came to those who walked through the office of that most powerful and feared of ‘mon at the PCA. Today was very likely one of those few exceptions as a rather animated and happy looking Grovyle came out of the Head ‘Mon’s office and into the waiting area where three students were waiting for the news.
“Well?” Eddie Bischoff Jr, sophomore leader of Team Showtime, asked the Grovyle who smiled at the younger ‘mon and gave him the thumbs up.
“He said he’d be willing to give you kids some school credit for the work,” The grovyle said, “And that you could do part of the work during school hours so you’d be prepared,” Eddie and the other two ‘mon smiled broadly had his words as they looked between one another.
“That’s great news, Mr. Popple!” Mia Wattson, the school’s intrepid video reporter, said as bits of electricity crackled over her body in excitement. The other ‘mon in the room slid away from her slightly as getting a shock would’ve been rather bad for him.
“No kidding,” Vincent Tellamapolou said as well and held a hand out towards the Grovyle, “You’re not going to regret this, Mr. Popple!” the Poliwrath added as he shook hands firmly with the older ‘mon.
“I know I won’t,” He responded, “Now I have to get going to finish off all the paperwork. You kids go out and enjoy yourself and do some celebrating. It’s not everyone that gets a chance like this,” The three students said their good-byes to the older ‘mon before he headed out. Once he was out of earshot the trio looked between each other before they all came together in a mass of hugging and jumping.
“This is going to be so awesome!” Eddie said in celebration which drew an odd look from the secretary in the office. Vince noticed the look and herded the others out the door.
“I can’t believe that we’re going to get a chance to announce for an actual promotion!” Mia practically squealed in joy.
“I’ve gotta tell everyone about this!” Eddie said as he grinned from ear to ear.
“Me too!” Mia added, “I’m going to go find my cousin and let my family know. I’ll catch up with you guys later!”
“Take care, Mia!” Vince called after her as the Voltorb ran off before he looked at Eddie, “You better get going too and spread the word. I have a feeling if she gets going to fast she’s going to let everyone in the school know,”
“And I doubt Ashleigh would be happy about that,” Eddie smirked before he gave Vince a hug and headed off himself, “Take care, Big ‘Mon!” Vince waved as the Persian left before he turned to walk down the hall as well, only to be surprised by someone he didn’t expect to see.
“Hey hey, what’s up Vincent?” Three heads asked him in stereo. Vince jumped for a moment and clutched at his chest as he’d been caught completely off guard.
“Oh, sup Tyrone?” the Poli asked as Tyrone Palmer, leader of Team TroubleBoys, came from around the corner. Vince hung out with the laid back Exeggutor every now and again, especially to trade team leader ideas. Even with the Poli’s reduced involvement with his old team he still hung out with the rather zen ‘mon whenever he needed a chance to just chill.
“Nada, but sounds like you’ve got something going on,” Tyrone’s middle faced smiled as the left one grinned only for the right one to look down the hall towards where Eddie had run off too.
“Oh that!” Vince said as his broad smile expanded, “I guess you’ll be the first person I tell but…you know how I’ve been doing color commentary for school broadcast battles along with Mia and Eddie?” Tyrone nodded two heads in acknowledgement, “Well I guess the guy who owns a couple of local promotions saw our stuff and since one of them recently lost their announcing team to a bigger promotion he figured he’d give us a shot since he’s guaranteed we’ll be in town for at least a couple years.”
“That’s great, Vincent!” All three heads exclaimed, “Congrats on that!” Vince and Tyrone clasped hands as the Exeggutor congratulated the other big ‘mon.
“Thanks,” Vince responded, “Now I just need to tell everyone,” Vince turned to start walking down the hall as Tyrone moved to walk with him.
“You could probably just tell Rene and then everyone in the school would know about it,” The Exeggutor joked. Vince barked out a laugh and nodded.
“Yeah probably,” He admitted, “but I’d rather let some people know on my own,” He smiled almost serenely as they made their way through the halls of the school. Along the way they both waved hello and greeted other students they knew or had worked with in the past.
“So does this mean you’re going into broadcasting instead of coaching?” Tyrone finally asked the question he’d been wondering since he’d heard the news. Vince walked along quietly as he took a moment to formulate an answer.
“I don’t know,” He finally admitted, “I mean, I’ve wanted to be a coach for a long time…even before I really knew what I wanted to do. But this is just such an amazing opportunity and I’m pretty good at it,”
“I know you are,” two of Tyrone’s faces grinned, “I’ve heard your work,”
“Thanks again,” Vince laughed in response, “But yeah…I guess I dunno. I at least want to give it a try,”
“Nothing wrong with trying something new,” Tyrone responded. Vince chuckled a bit and then waved as he passed by a familiar pair of Absols.
“Hey Sid, hey Katie,” The Poli waved in greeting to the siblings, “How’s it going?”
“Oh hello Vince,” Sid Catseye-Cailin responded with a quiet smile.
“Hey Vince!” Katie Lilmorie-Cailin was a little more enthusiastic, “Congrats on the announcer thing!” Vince stopped and blinked.
“How’d you already know?” He asked in surprise.
“Rene came and mentioned it on his way through doing his daily hugs,” Katie gave a bemused smile, “Said Mia mentioned something about it to him,” Vince and Tyrone looked between each other as one of the Exeggutor’s heads just snickered in response.
“Well thanks then,” Vince said, “I still need to tell my family and Eddie,”
“Good luck in getting it in before Rene tells everyone,” Sid chuckled a bit. Vince just gave him a look of amusement.
“This mean you’re not going to be coaching us anymore, Vince?” Katie finally asked. The Poli took a second to respond before he just shrugged.
“It all depends on my schedule,” He admitted, “Not that you guys need me anymore. Meg seems to have things pretty well under control anymore,”
“I have what under control?” Meghan DeCinder, leader of Team Crossroads, padded up behind Vince and the others after hearing her name said.
“Hey Meg,” Vince said with a smile, “I was just telling Katie here that you had things pretty well under control at practice and on the field,”
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the announcing job that Rene just told me about would it?” Vince just sighed.
“I swear that ‘mon is going to tell everyone before I can,” the Poli said, “And kinda. I’ve been considering whether you really need me around for coaching stuff anymore or not,”
“Oh Vince, you know I like having you around to help out!” Meg assured him.
“Not saying you don’t,” Vince said, “And it wouldn’t change me working at the gym. I just might not be able to be around as much I was before,” Meg just smiled and gave Vince a hug.
“I think we’ll manage,” She assured him, “But I’ve been grateful for all the help you have given me, and want you to still be around,” Vince smile and returned the embrace.
“Don’t worry,” He assured her, “I’m not going anywhere yet. But I do have to get going if I’m going to beat Rene to Eddie,” the others all let out a laugh and agreed. Vince said good-bye to most everyone and headed down the hallway as Tyrone still walked alongside him with a somewhat amused look. Every few yards Vince ran into someone else that recognized him and congratulated him or gave him the thumbs up on his new job. Vince thanked each of them but sighed a little more as it went along. Tyrone watched the Poli with one head quietly.
“No, I don’t blame Rene for this,” Vince answered the unasked question; “Mia and Eddie could’ve just as easily spread word about this. I know how the greppa vine around here can be so short,” Tyrone just chuckled again at the answer good naturedly before he and the Poli walked along quietly for another moment.
“It is funny how things change around here though,” the frogmon finally said.
“It is,” Tyrone agreed, “But what brings that on?”
“Just…everything,” Vince answered, “Three years ago no one knew who I was other than my father’s son. Now I’ve got several people that know me…even some I don’t know that say hi to me. It’s just…weird,” the two ‘mon stopped for a second and also watched as they saw Boris Koffinov and Riou Hotaru walked in the distance towards Boris’ dorm room. Vince gave the pair a wave who responded in kind before they disappeared into the door.
“Like Boris actually almost smiling?” Tyrone asked as all three of his heads grinned. Vince barked out a laugh and nodded.
“Like Boris actually almost smiling,” Vince echoed. He was happy for both of his friends that they’d found someone to be with that made them happy. Every now and again Vince felt pangs of regret that Riou hadn’t wound up with his sister, but he also knew they were all still pretty young and that everything moved forward with a reason. Vince blinked and looked up as he pulled from his reverie to give a wave to Ishtar and Weaver. Ishtar returned the wave with a smile though they barely pulled a nod from the tapir.
“Not everything changes around here,” Tyrone pointed out which caused Vince to laugh again.
“Yeah, I guess some things never change,” the Poli said before he continued to walk towards the parking lot. The duo didn’t get very far before they were once again cut off by a trio of freshmen running by them. Vince blinked as he recognized them as students from his class.
“Hey Vince,” Aaron grunted out.
“Howdy Vince,” Christopher said as he panted heavily. Jeffery was the next one to run by as he just grunted at his coach and breathed hard with the others. The Poli watched them all run by and then noticed who came up behind them.
“Cinny!” Vince called after the small Flareon, Cinnamon Swirl, whom was his assistant that started to run by him. The diminutive ‘mon stopped and looked up with a grin at the Poli.
“Hey, Coach!” She responded cheerfully.
“What is going on here?” Vince asked as he watched the other students continue to jog on at their deliberate pace.
“Hmm?” Cinnamon blinked, “Oh! Yeah, these three were looking for some extra help getting into shape so I offered to run them ragged,” Vince looked at Cinny in surprise for a moment before he just nodded.
“Carry on then,” the Poli told her. Cinny grinned in acknowledgement and then started to run after them again.
“Hey you slackers!” She called out, “I can see you three sandbagging it!” Vince and Tyrone watched as the trio of students started to move even faster as she called out after them, almost as if they were afraid of what she’d do. The duo just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in response before they continued on towards the parking lot.
“Looks like you’ve had some good influence on people at least, Vincent,” the Exeggutor said to the Poli. The latter chuckled again and shrugged.
“If one person can say their life is better for knowing me I guess I’ve been a success then,” the frogmon responded.
“Good way of looking at life,” Tyrone smiled and patted Vince on the shoulder, “I’m going to take off. You have fun with your lady,” the Poli nodded and shook the Exeggutor’s massive hand.
“Hang loose, Tyrone,” Vince said as he grinned, “And I’ll catch you later.” The two waved at one another and parted ways before Vince continued on towards his car. His mind trailed back towards what Tyrone had asked, about if he’d be changing his focus on his life. Part of him wanted to say that he was going to stick to coaching and that this announcing gig was only going to be something he did for a bit to build up some industry credit. Another part of him wanted the Poli to keep an open mind and that he was still young and this was an amazing opportunity.
“Hey Vince!” A familiar voice called out, “Congrats on the announcing gig!” Vince looked over and saw Ryuen hanging upside down from a tree like he was want to do from time to time. Behind him his girlfriend Krissy and adopted sister Crys were using his tail as a means of chasing one another teasingly. The Poli chuckled and waved over to them.
“Thanks guys!” He responded as he continued through the quad area, “Lemme guess…Rene?”
“He finally gave up the info after he could breathe again!” Krissy said with a giggle. Vince smirked as he knew of her enjoyment of stuffing the smaller Vulpix into her bosom in order to tease Rene by smothering him a bit.
“Yeah, I figured,” Vince said, “Sorry I can’t stop and chat but I need to find Eddie,”
“No worries, mate!” Ryuen said, still quite upside down.
“Oi! Take care, Vince!” Krissy added before the Poli continued on with a shake of his head. As he walked along the ‘mon fell into himself once again as he pondered back to the situation he was in, and if it was even a situation to worry about. Something told him it wasn’t what he’d actually been worrying about but he wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t until he passed by someone else that it hit him.
“Vincent!” the Poli oofed as he suddenly had an Altaria hugging him, “I just heard the news! Congratulations!” Vince chuckled as he hugged Marie Allmon, his former teammate and good friend, back.
“Swear everyone’s going to find out before I can tell a single person,” He said. Vince glanced behind Marie to see Rupert Snales standing there with a smile on his face, “Hey Rupert, good to see you,”
“Good ta see you too, bud,” Rupert responded and held out a hand towards the Poli, “Grats on the job,” Vince smiled and shook the Magcargo’s massive hand.
“Thanks,” He smiled, “How’s things going with you two?”
“Good, good,” Rupert said.
“Oh! Good news, Vincent!” Marie added, “I’m not going to Hearthome for my internship,”
“That’s good news?” Vince asked curiously.
“Not when I got a job working for the Viridian Theatre Company!” Marie said with a smile. Rupert grinned as well and reached out to wrap an arm around the Altaria’s shoulder. Vince smiled widely at that.
“That’s wonderful, Marie! Congratulations yourself!” Vince said with a chuckle, “Guess that means Generations doesn’t have to find a rep either.” Marie nodded.
“I know I’m glad I’m not going, that’s for sure,” Marie said as she nestled into Rupert a little more. Vince smiled at that.
“Really good news,” Vince said, “Okay, I need to get going and track down Eddie. You two have fun,”
“We will,” Rupert said as Vince headed off. The Poli chuckled a bit as he continued on as everyone seemed to cut him off from getting to where he was going. Vince sighed as he walked and it started to come to him. For the longest time folks had showed need of him; his teammates, his friends, he’d helped guide them all through tough times and dealt with some pretty serious issues. Anymore they’d all seemed to be doing pretty well for themselves and their need of an extra hand had gone down. Meg was on her feet with her team, Rufus was doing well with his, and his friends seemed to have had their lives calmed down.
He glanced over and noticed his sister as she was talking between her boyfriend Barry Baez and her newer friend Art Horton as she too seemed to be handling herself pretty well. Even she didn’t seem to be in particular need of him at the moment. He’d helped her out early on with her time at the school adjusting, but now…now she was doing just fine. Vince let out a little sigh and wondered if he’d just go and settle into to being an average student at the school.
“Tellamapolou!” Vince pulled himself out of his reverie as his voice was called. The Poli looked up and noticed Coach Marceau was headed towards him.
“Yes, Coach?” Vince asked as he blinked in surprise.
“Tellamapolou, I…I need your help with something,” Marceau said after a moment.
“Sure, Coach, anything,” Vince said, still not quite sure what the big deal was.
“I…finally asked the womon I’ve been eyeing for a while out,” Marceau admitted after a long pause, “I…was wondering if you’d help me with the whole dating thing, and maybe we could double on a date with you and your girl,” the Frogmon stood there absolutely stunned at the request, wondering if for a moment if it were a joke or not.
“You want me…to what?” Vince hemmed a bit in surprise.
“Did I stutter, Tellamapolou?” Marceau said quickly. It was obvious he was nervous to ask this but didn’t really have any other options to go with. Vince took a step back and held up his hands.
“I’d be honored, sir!” The Poli said after a moment.
“Good!” Marceau added and then looked around carefully as though he were being watched, “Friday at seven. I’ll let you know where,” With that the Mimic quickly turned and walked back towards the gym. Vince watched him go and just nodded dumbly, still not quite sure how he’d been picked to help teach the former grand champion and well known explosive teacher how to date. Vince let out a sigh and turned to finish his trek towards the parking lot and hopefully to where his girlfriend was.
“Hey, Vincent,” he heard his name called by the voice he was hoping for. A smile crossed his face as he looked towards her before he stopped in his track. Before him stood his girlfriend, that much he was certain, but instead of the suits that he was used to seeing her in she was adorned in a rather simple but stunning blue dress. The Umbreon stood there and smiled as she tilted herself back and forth a bit to show off the piece of finery.
“Eddie you…you look very nice,” the Poli stuttered out. Eddie giggled some and walked over towards him.
“I figured that based on what news you got you’d either want to celebrate or need some consoling,” She explained. Quietly the smaller Umbreon walked up to the Poli and reached up to kiss him soundly. Vince wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace for a long moment, glad they were in the parking lot and not on campus. Eventually he pulled away to look down at her.
“I like the sentiment…and you in that dress,” He smiled in response.
“So what’s it going to be tonight?” She asked after a moment.
“You mean you haven’t heard?” He blinked a few.
“Why would I have?” She asked with a tilt of her head.
“Rene’s been going around telling everyone who’d listen,” Vince smirked as he answered.
“Nope, haven’t run into him yet,” She smiled, “He’d probably ask where I got the dress so he could get one too,” Vince snorted out a laugh.
“Well then, I guess it’s time for us to go and celebrate!” He answered which caused Eddie to hug him tightly again.
“Oh Vince! That’s great news!” She told him. Vince smiled and returned the hug tightly. He began to think that maybe he’d been to hard on himself; that maybe people still did need him but that it was a good thing that they didn’t need to have their hands held all the time. Besides, if no one needed all his time that meant he’d have more for Eddie, and that sounded like the best part of the deal all together.
“Well?” Eddie Bischoff Jr, sophomore leader of Team Showtime, asked the Grovyle who smiled at the younger ‘mon and gave him the thumbs up.
“He said he’d be willing to give you kids some school credit for the work,” The grovyle said, “And that you could do part of the work during school hours so you’d be prepared,” Eddie and the other two ‘mon smiled broadly had his words as they looked between one another.
“That’s great news, Mr. Popple!” Mia Wattson, the school’s intrepid video reporter, said as bits of electricity crackled over her body in excitement. The other ‘mon in the room slid away from her slightly as getting a shock would’ve been rather bad for him.
“No kidding,” Vincent Tellamapolou said as well and held a hand out towards the Grovyle, “You’re not going to regret this, Mr. Popple!” the Poliwrath added as he shook hands firmly with the older ‘mon.
“I know I won’t,” He responded, “Now I have to get going to finish off all the paperwork. You kids go out and enjoy yourself and do some celebrating. It’s not everyone that gets a chance like this,” The three students said their good-byes to the older ‘mon before he headed out. Once he was out of earshot the trio looked between each other before they all came together in a mass of hugging and jumping.
“This is going to be so awesome!” Eddie said in celebration which drew an odd look from the secretary in the office. Vince noticed the look and herded the others out the door.
“I can’t believe that we’re going to get a chance to announce for an actual promotion!” Mia practically squealed in joy.
“I’ve gotta tell everyone about this!” Eddie said as he grinned from ear to ear.
“Me too!” Mia added, “I’m going to go find my cousin and let my family know. I’ll catch up with you guys later!”
“Take care, Mia!” Vince called after her as the Voltorb ran off before he looked at Eddie, “You better get going too and spread the word. I have a feeling if she gets going to fast she’s going to let everyone in the school know,”
“And I doubt Ashleigh would be happy about that,” Eddie smirked before he gave Vince a hug and headed off himself, “Take care, Big ‘Mon!” Vince waved as the Persian left before he turned to walk down the hall as well, only to be surprised by someone he didn’t expect to see.
“Hey hey, what’s up Vincent?” Three heads asked him in stereo. Vince jumped for a moment and clutched at his chest as he’d been caught completely off guard.
“Oh, sup Tyrone?” the Poli asked as Tyrone Palmer, leader of Team TroubleBoys, came from around the corner. Vince hung out with the laid back Exeggutor every now and again, especially to trade team leader ideas. Even with the Poli’s reduced involvement with his old team he still hung out with the rather zen ‘mon whenever he needed a chance to just chill.
“Nada, but sounds like you’ve got something going on,” Tyrone’s middle faced smiled as the left one grinned only for the right one to look down the hall towards where Eddie had run off too.
“Oh that!” Vince said as his broad smile expanded, “I guess you’ll be the first person I tell but…you know how I’ve been doing color commentary for school broadcast battles along with Mia and Eddie?” Tyrone nodded two heads in acknowledgement, “Well I guess the guy who owns a couple of local promotions saw our stuff and since one of them recently lost their announcing team to a bigger promotion he figured he’d give us a shot since he’s guaranteed we’ll be in town for at least a couple years.”
“That’s great, Vincent!” All three heads exclaimed, “Congrats on that!” Vince and Tyrone clasped hands as the Exeggutor congratulated the other big ‘mon.
“Thanks,” Vince responded, “Now I just need to tell everyone,” Vince turned to start walking down the hall as Tyrone moved to walk with him.
“You could probably just tell Rene and then everyone in the school would know about it,” The Exeggutor joked. Vince barked out a laugh and nodded.
“Yeah probably,” He admitted, “but I’d rather let some people know on my own,” He smiled almost serenely as they made their way through the halls of the school. Along the way they both waved hello and greeted other students they knew or had worked with in the past.
“So does this mean you’re going into broadcasting instead of coaching?” Tyrone finally asked the question he’d been wondering since he’d heard the news. Vince walked along quietly as he took a moment to formulate an answer.
“I don’t know,” He finally admitted, “I mean, I’ve wanted to be a coach for a long time…even before I really knew what I wanted to do. But this is just such an amazing opportunity and I’m pretty good at it,”
“I know you are,” two of Tyrone’s faces grinned, “I’ve heard your work,”
“Thanks again,” Vince laughed in response, “But yeah…I guess I dunno. I at least want to give it a try,”
“Nothing wrong with trying something new,” Tyrone responded. Vince chuckled a bit and then waved as he passed by a familiar pair of Absols.
“Hey Sid, hey Katie,” The Poli waved in greeting to the siblings, “How’s it going?”
“Oh hello Vince,” Sid Catseye-Cailin responded with a quiet smile.
“Hey Vince!” Katie Lilmorie-Cailin was a little more enthusiastic, “Congrats on the announcer thing!” Vince stopped and blinked.
“How’d you already know?” He asked in surprise.
“Rene came and mentioned it on his way through doing his daily hugs,” Katie gave a bemused smile, “Said Mia mentioned something about it to him,” Vince and Tyrone looked between each other as one of the Exeggutor’s heads just snickered in response.
“Well thanks then,” Vince said, “I still need to tell my family and Eddie,”
“Good luck in getting it in before Rene tells everyone,” Sid chuckled a bit. Vince just gave him a look of amusement.
“This mean you’re not going to be coaching us anymore, Vince?” Katie finally asked. The Poli took a second to respond before he just shrugged.
“It all depends on my schedule,” He admitted, “Not that you guys need me anymore. Meg seems to have things pretty well under control anymore,”
“I have what under control?” Meghan DeCinder, leader of Team Crossroads, padded up behind Vince and the others after hearing her name said.
“Hey Meg,” Vince said with a smile, “I was just telling Katie here that you had things pretty well under control at practice and on the field,”
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the announcing job that Rene just told me about would it?” Vince just sighed.
“I swear that ‘mon is going to tell everyone before I can,” the Poli said, “And kinda. I’ve been considering whether you really need me around for coaching stuff anymore or not,”
“Oh Vince, you know I like having you around to help out!” Meg assured him.
“Not saying you don’t,” Vince said, “And it wouldn’t change me working at the gym. I just might not be able to be around as much I was before,” Meg just smiled and gave Vince a hug.
“I think we’ll manage,” She assured him, “But I’ve been grateful for all the help you have given me, and want you to still be around,” Vince smile and returned the embrace.
“Don’t worry,” He assured her, “I’m not going anywhere yet. But I do have to get going if I’m going to beat Rene to Eddie,” the others all let out a laugh and agreed. Vince said good-bye to most everyone and headed down the hallway as Tyrone still walked alongside him with a somewhat amused look. Every few yards Vince ran into someone else that recognized him and congratulated him or gave him the thumbs up on his new job. Vince thanked each of them but sighed a little more as it went along. Tyrone watched the Poli with one head quietly.
“No, I don’t blame Rene for this,” Vince answered the unasked question; “Mia and Eddie could’ve just as easily spread word about this. I know how the greppa vine around here can be so short,” Tyrone just chuckled again at the answer good naturedly before he and the Poli walked along quietly for another moment.
“It is funny how things change around here though,” the frogmon finally said.
“It is,” Tyrone agreed, “But what brings that on?”
“Just…everything,” Vince answered, “Three years ago no one knew who I was other than my father’s son. Now I’ve got several people that know me…even some I don’t know that say hi to me. It’s just…weird,” the two ‘mon stopped for a second and also watched as they saw Boris Koffinov and Riou Hotaru walked in the distance towards Boris’ dorm room. Vince gave the pair a wave who responded in kind before they disappeared into the door.
“Like Boris actually almost smiling?” Tyrone asked as all three of his heads grinned. Vince barked out a laugh and nodded.
“Like Boris actually almost smiling,” Vince echoed. He was happy for both of his friends that they’d found someone to be with that made them happy. Every now and again Vince felt pangs of regret that Riou hadn’t wound up with his sister, but he also knew they were all still pretty young and that everything moved forward with a reason. Vince blinked and looked up as he pulled from his reverie to give a wave to Ishtar and Weaver. Ishtar returned the wave with a smile though they barely pulled a nod from the tapir.
“Not everything changes around here,” Tyrone pointed out which caused Vince to laugh again.
“Yeah, I guess some things never change,” the Poli said before he continued to walk towards the parking lot. The duo didn’t get very far before they were once again cut off by a trio of freshmen running by them. Vince blinked as he recognized them as students from his class.
“Hey Vince,” Aaron grunted out.
“Howdy Vince,” Christopher said as he panted heavily. Jeffery was the next one to run by as he just grunted at his coach and breathed hard with the others. The Poli watched them all run by and then noticed who came up behind them.
“Cinny!” Vince called after the small Flareon, Cinnamon Swirl, whom was his assistant that started to run by him. The diminutive ‘mon stopped and looked up with a grin at the Poli.
“Hey, Coach!” She responded cheerfully.
“What is going on here?” Vince asked as he watched the other students continue to jog on at their deliberate pace.
“Hmm?” Cinnamon blinked, “Oh! Yeah, these three were looking for some extra help getting into shape so I offered to run them ragged,” Vince looked at Cinny in surprise for a moment before he just nodded.
“Carry on then,” the Poli told her. Cinny grinned in acknowledgement and then started to run after them again.
“Hey you slackers!” She called out, “I can see you three sandbagging it!” Vince and Tyrone watched as the trio of students started to move even faster as she called out after them, almost as if they were afraid of what she’d do. The duo just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in response before they continued on towards the parking lot.
“Looks like you’ve had some good influence on people at least, Vincent,” the Exeggutor said to the Poli. The latter chuckled again and shrugged.
“If one person can say their life is better for knowing me I guess I’ve been a success then,” the frogmon responded.
“Good way of looking at life,” Tyrone smiled and patted Vince on the shoulder, “I’m going to take off. You have fun with your lady,” the Poli nodded and shook the Exeggutor’s massive hand.
“Hang loose, Tyrone,” Vince said as he grinned, “And I’ll catch you later.” The two waved at one another and parted ways before Vince continued on towards his car. His mind trailed back towards what Tyrone had asked, about if he’d be changing his focus on his life. Part of him wanted to say that he was going to stick to coaching and that this announcing gig was only going to be something he did for a bit to build up some industry credit. Another part of him wanted the Poli to keep an open mind and that he was still young and this was an amazing opportunity.
“Hey Vince!” A familiar voice called out, “Congrats on the announcing gig!” Vince looked over and saw Ryuen hanging upside down from a tree like he was want to do from time to time. Behind him his girlfriend Krissy and adopted sister Crys were using his tail as a means of chasing one another teasingly. The Poli chuckled and waved over to them.
“Thanks guys!” He responded as he continued through the quad area, “Lemme guess…Rene?”
“He finally gave up the info after he could breathe again!” Krissy said with a giggle. Vince smirked as he knew of her enjoyment of stuffing the smaller Vulpix into her bosom in order to tease Rene by smothering him a bit.
“Yeah, I figured,” Vince said, “Sorry I can’t stop and chat but I need to find Eddie,”
“No worries, mate!” Ryuen said, still quite upside down.
“Oi! Take care, Vince!” Krissy added before the Poli continued on with a shake of his head. As he walked along the ‘mon fell into himself once again as he pondered back to the situation he was in, and if it was even a situation to worry about. Something told him it wasn’t what he’d actually been worrying about but he wasn’t sure what it was. It wasn’t until he passed by someone else that it hit him.
“Vincent!” the Poli oofed as he suddenly had an Altaria hugging him, “I just heard the news! Congratulations!” Vince chuckled as he hugged Marie Allmon, his former teammate and good friend, back.
“Swear everyone’s going to find out before I can tell a single person,” He said. Vince glanced behind Marie to see Rupert Snales standing there with a smile on his face, “Hey Rupert, good to see you,”
“Good ta see you too, bud,” Rupert responded and held out a hand towards the Poli, “Grats on the job,” Vince smiled and shook the Magcargo’s massive hand.
“Thanks,” He smiled, “How’s things going with you two?”
“Good, good,” Rupert said.
“Oh! Good news, Vincent!” Marie added, “I’m not going to Hearthome for my internship,”
“That’s good news?” Vince asked curiously.
“Not when I got a job working for the Viridian Theatre Company!” Marie said with a smile. Rupert grinned as well and reached out to wrap an arm around the Altaria’s shoulder. Vince smiled widely at that.
“That’s wonderful, Marie! Congratulations yourself!” Vince said with a chuckle, “Guess that means Generations doesn’t have to find a rep either.” Marie nodded.
“I know I’m glad I’m not going, that’s for sure,” Marie said as she nestled into Rupert a little more. Vince smiled at that.
“Really good news,” Vince said, “Okay, I need to get going and track down Eddie. You two have fun,”
“We will,” Rupert said as Vince headed off. The Poli chuckled a bit as he continued on as everyone seemed to cut him off from getting to where he was going. Vince sighed as he walked and it started to come to him. For the longest time folks had showed need of him; his teammates, his friends, he’d helped guide them all through tough times and dealt with some pretty serious issues. Anymore they’d all seemed to be doing pretty well for themselves and their need of an extra hand had gone down. Meg was on her feet with her team, Rufus was doing well with his, and his friends seemed to have had their lives calmed down.
He glanced over and noticed his sister as she was talking between her boyfriend Barry Baez and her newer friend Art Horton as she too seemed to be handling herself pretty well. Even she didn’t seem to be in particular need of him at the moment. He’d helped her out early on with her time at the school adjusting, but now…now she was doing just fine. Vince let out a little sigh and wondered if he’d just go and settle into to being an average student at the school.
“Tellamapolou!” Vince pulled himself out of his reverie as his voice was called. The Poli looked up and noticed Coach Marceau was headed towards him.
“Yes, Coach?” Vince asked as he blinked in surprise.
“Tellamapolou, I…I need your help with something,” Marceau said after a moment.
“Sure, Coach, anything,” Vince said, still not quite sure what the big deal was.
“I…finally asked the womon I’ve been eyeing for a while out,” Marceau admitted after a long pause, “I…was wondering if you’d help me with the whole dating thing, and maybe we could double on a date with you and your girl,” the Frogmon stood there absolutely stunned at the request, wondering if for a moment if it were a joke or not.
“You want me…to what?” Vince hemmed a bit in surprise.
“Did I stutter, Tellamapolou?” Marceau said quickly. It was obvious he was nervous to ask this but didn’t really have any other options to go with. Vince took a step back and held up his hands.
“I’d be honored, sir!” The Poli said after a moment.
“Good!” Marceau added and then looked around carefully as though he were being watched, “Friday at seven. I’ll let you know where,” With that the Mimic quickly turned and walked back towards the gym. Vince watched him go and just nodded dumbly, still not quite sure how he’d been picked to help teach the former grand champion and well known explosive teacher how to date. Vince let out a sigh and turned to finish his trek towards the parking lot and hopefully to where his girlfriend was.
“Hey, Vincent,” he heard his name called by the voice he was hoping for. A smile crossed his face as he looked towards her before he stopped in his track. Before him stood his girlfriend, that much he was certain, but instead of the suits that he was used to seeing her in she was adorned in a rather simple but stunning blue dress. The Umbreon stood there and smiled as she tilted herself back and forth a bit to show off the piece of finery.
“Eddie you…you look very nice,” the Poli stuttered out. Eddie giggled some and walked over towards him.
“I figured that based on what news you got you’d either want to celebrate or need some consoling,” She explained. Quietly the smaller Umbreon walked up to the Poli and reached up to kiss him soundly. Vince wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace for a long moment, glad they were in the parking lot and not on campus. Eventually he pulled away to look down at her.
“I like the sentiment…and you in that dress,” He smiled in response.
“So what’s it going to be tonight?” She asked after a moment.
“You mean you haven’t heard?” He blinked a few.
“Why would I have?” She asked with a tilt of her head.
“Rene’s been going around telling everyone who’d listen,” Vince smirked as he answered.
“Nope, haven’t run into him yet,” She smiled, “He’d probably ask where I got the dress so he could get one too,” Vince snorted out a laugh.
“Well then, I guess it’s time for us to go and celebrate!” He answered which caused Eddie to hug him tightly again.
“Oh Vince! That’s great news!” She told him. Vince smiled and returned the hug tightly. He began to think that maybe he’d been to hard on himself; that maybe people still did need him but that it was a good thing that they didn’t need to have their hands held all the time. Besides, if no one needed all his time that meant he’d have more for Eddie, and that sounded like the best part of the deal all together.
Comments