Shortly after Zack had turned around, it happened. An object appeared to come blazing into The Sandlot from the alleyway he had just turned away from. It was... a ball? No ordinary ball, though, this one appeared to be a combination of blue and white and bore the insignia of a particular sport. The sport in question was one that was normally big in the summer, since it was a game that was played in the water. So why anyone would be playing with a blitzball at this time of year was anyone's guess. But there it was, a blitzball screaming in from beyond the alley and appearing to be on a curveball trajectory leading right to the back of Zack's head.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Watch out, man!?" cried a particular voice. Unfortunately only one of two things would happen. One, the ball would bean Zack right in the head and then ricochet back into the waiting hands of the guy it belonged to. Or two, the ball would manage to miss Zack's head and instead hit a nearby lamp post only to ricochet back to the waiting hands of the ball's owner.

Speaking of which, the [url=https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/5c83e5e7-e51f-4a66-99d6-8070e173b038/d1c8p59-83605fb2-97c7-4b91-993d-9acb8a4e09d9.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzVjODNlNWU3LWU1MWYtNGE2Ni05OWQ2LTgwNzBlMTczYjAzOFwvZDFjOHA1OS04MzYwNWZiMi05N2M3LTRiOTEtOTkzZC05YWNiOGE0ZTA5ZDkuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.JGfvAXCi6Ax6AhowAL92EZkHVHQzyoZQ3Efe60pU2EY]owner of the bitzball[/url] had come bounding up and seemed to effortlessly catch the ball when it ricocheted back in his direction. He had a whincing, apologetic expression on his face as he walked up closer to the group, "Hehe, uh... sorry about that, man." he said with an apologetic grin, "The ball just kinda... got away from me for a second there, yeah?" he scratched the back of his head with his free hand before reaching it out.

"I'm Wakka, but uh... maybe you knew that already, yeah?" he wasn't a complete stranger. Wakka was known around town as the captain of the blitzball team, the Twilight Town Aurochs. Just as the Struggle was the big time sport during the fall and winter months, Blitzball was the rising popular sport played during the warmer spring and summer months. Though it seemed a little odd for someone to apparently be practicing this far into the off-season. Then again, maybe Wakka was the team captain for a good reason? "Oh! Right! Almost forgot about why I came up here! Ha ha! I'm trying to set up my own game booth for the Festival this year! I call it... Blitzball Shootout! A competitor gets a limited number shots to try and get the ball past me into the goal. If they do, they win! If not, well, better luck next time, yeah?" he chuckled, "And the prize you win depends on how many shots it takes for you to score the goal. Cool, yeah? Problem is... the festival committee won't give me a booth slot until I've tested the game out to make sure it's safe and fair and stuff. Tried to get my buddy to help me out, but he's so wrapped up in his Struggle trainin'. Been at the beach all morning since before sunrise. Anyway, I was hopin' I could find someone that could help me with this..." he gave the four a suggestive look, hoping they'd take the hint and maybe offer a hand?

"And uh, hey, I know how to turn the game into a way to help your Struggle training, too! So if ya help me, there'd be that in it for ya, yeah? Might be a good idea, the champ's been using my idea as part of his training regiment, ya know!" he said with a wink. He wasn't lying either. His buddy, otherwise known as [url=https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/1726a4e5-35fa-447b-96b9-1d9ac5034a55/d6e8j3x-cd41dd66-5112-4ee7-82fb-e688c2c7a39f.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzE3MjZhNGU1LTM1ZmEtNDQ3Yi05NmI5LTFkOWFjNTAzNGE1NVwvZDZlOGozeC1jZDQxZGQ2Ni01MTEyLTRlZTctODJmYi1lNjg4YzJjN2EzOWYucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.yClN8IEPmvb9QX5yWnd6XXK67E4HBkExweUfyF5eaVE]last year's Struggle Champion[/url], had indeed used his Blitzball Shootout idea to help his training.

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