I hope I haven't made Brendan too much of a "Gary-Stu", since I haven't fully addressed any of his flaws. I will attempt to do so in this chapter, please tell me what you think.
SSBM is owned by Nintendo. I own Yoshi's uncle Brendan.
Italics means the flashback sequence.
"Ouch! That was a totally mean thing to say," Samus commented. The other Smashers all nodded their heads in agreement. It was obvious that Brendan got severely burned by Hank's remark.
Brendan shrugged again. "There wasn't much to do about it. He was on the team and I wasn't. I seriously considered punching him after he said that, but Trevor and Mandy did a pretty good job of restraining me. I was bitter about it the entire week, but thanks to advice from my brother, I managed to live through it."
"Wait, my dad gave you advice? He never told me he knew how to play baseball!" Yoshi exclaimed.
"It wasn't baseball advice, Yoshi," Brendan assured his young nephew, "Yoshi Sr. gave me some life advice, something that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Do you guys want to hear it?"
"His comment was totally uncalled for, and you know it!" Brendan shouted.
"Look, just clam down and listen to me," Yoshi Sr. said to his younger brother. They were in Brendan's room at the time, and Brendan was involved in another temper tantrum as a result of a discussion involving school sports, especially baseball. In recent day, anytime Hank or baseball was mentioned, Brendan's mood would go foul.
But this time, Yoshi Sr. would end this trend once and for all. "I know you're not happy about being cut, and Hank's taunting didn't really help, but just listen for a sec." Brendan fumed, glaring at his brother. It was unsure who Brendan was truly angry with, Hank for making unnecessary remarks or Yoshi Sr. for interfering.
Sensing a need for calm, Yoshi Sr. took a deep breath and began, "I know what I'm about to say will probably make you hate me, but it's for your own good in the long term. Whatever decision the coach made with regards to the team is totally his call, and there's nothing you can do about it. Although I don't condone Hank's words, and I do find them hurtful, that's no excuse for you to get all worked up." Older brother stared into little brother's eyes, making sure Brendan accepted every word he said.
Brendan was about to protest, but Yoshi Sr. raised a hand to stop him. "That's been your biggest flaw so far, not being able to get back up after being knocked down. So with all due respect, Brendan, my advice for you is to focus on your own efforts. That is the only thing you have control over. Improve on your own skills so much that when you try out next year, the coach will have no choice but to put you on the team. We have another summer ahead of us, right? I'll be willing to help you with your hitting."
Brendan looked up at his brother. "You're right, bro. I should prove it with my actions on the field, not getting upset over what some lunatic says," he agreed, "But it doesn't mean I'll let Hank off the hook, because I'll still try to challenge him next year."
True to his word, Brendan worked extra hard in the summer with his brother to improve his hitting skills. It started with a simple underhand toss, where Yoshi Sr. would loft a ball in Brendan's direction and had Brendan time the pitch to make a perfect hit at the right time. Brendan's patience paid off, as he slowly built his abilities up so that he could hit any type of pitch, and knew what pitch to not swing at. Later, Brendan even gained the ability to hit balls in every direction, giving him more chances to potentially get on base. Before long, his skills were much improved, to the point where Yoshi Sr. declared that he could no longer coach him. "The student's now the master," he said.
His efforts were not unnoticed by the baseball team, as he managed to earn a spot as a back-up outfielder the next season. Unfortunately, it was the back-up center fielder to the starting center fielder Hank. "Just because you made the team doesn't mean you get to play," the all-star taunted, "but you should still be grateful to specifically play as my back-up, since I don't let some no-name back me up."
Brendan did not let this comment get to him. Instead, he focused on improving his own skills. Soon, he got starts in the other two outfield positions, and periodically replaced the original left-handed lead-off hitter in his starts. Other teams were beginning to notice his skills, and were being more careful when pitching to him.
"Playing in a platoon situation in right field and left field gave me more playing time, but Hank still had a strangle-hold on the starting center field job," Brendan told everyone as he showed a picture of his high school baseball uniform, "that is, until we met a left-handed pitcher that the team struggled against last year."
"Wait," Ness interrupted, "this is during your freshman year in high school, right? How can your team struggle against him when this is most of the people's first time playing at this level?" he asked.
"I play on the junior team of the school, which meant freshmen and sophomore," Brendan replied, "most people that played this southpaw remembered him from junior high, and some of those who didn't played him on varsity. He was especially tough on left-handed hitters, and had good technique to pick off base stealers. Again, I was asked to lead off due to my great speed, but we wanted to stack the team with as many righties as possible. That gave me an idea that, if successful, would make me a starter for good."
"Coach, can I try something new?" Brendan asked as he was taking some hitting practice. The starting line-up has yet to be written, but Brendan was convinced that he could do something to improve his team's chances for this game.
The coach nodded, moving towards the batting cage to see what his lead-off hitter had to offer. Suddenly, Brendan turned around and began to hit right-handed, raising the coach's eyebrows. "Uh, Brendan, that's usually not preferable for newcomers."
"It's alright, I've been practicing this for the last little while now," Brendan assured his coach, "I know our opposing pitcher isn't as tough on right-handed hitters, so if it works, it may give us a chance to win." He tried to hit at another pitch, this time making contact and sending a line drive into left-center field.
The coach watched for a couple more minutes, watching Brendan send pitch after pitch into the outfield. The elegant curves and rainbow arches formed by the balls being hit were not as smooth as that of a natural righty, but it still suggested that Brendan had some skills with being right-handed. The coach truly felt that Brendan, despite being a natural lefty, might have the potential to be a switch hitter. Since this would give him one more right-handed hitter on the team, the risk might be worth taking. Quietly, he picked up his line-up sheet and scribbled down some names. By the time the game was to start, he announced the starters to the team. Oddly, one name not mentioned was Hank's.
"Coach, why am I not starting in center field?" Hank asked in the dug-out, "you gave the job to Brendan today."
"You may throw right-handed, but you're a left-handed hitter, and I want more right-handed hitting today," he replied, "besides, you were struggling with the bat last week, so I thought you need to take a seat. The best players play, remember?"
Hank was about to protest when the first batter was asked to take the plate. It was Brendan, and to the team's surprise, he batted right-handed. Some players, Hank included, were sceptical of this move by their teammate. "Brendan has never hit right-handed before," Hank protested, "and you let him bat lead-off?"
Before there was even a response, Brendan took a swing at a waist-high fastball and belted it over the left field fence. BLAM! It was a lead-off home run and a 1-0 lead, causing the entire team to jump up and celebrate.
By the time the game was over, Brendan had collected three hits, one of which was a double, and a stolen base. Although their team still lost 5-7, Brendan had gained valuable experience hitting right-handed, and his performance impressed most players, even some from the other team. Now he felt ready to get tips on becoming a switch hitter. "You had a slight uppercut in your right swing, which may make you pop balls up if you're not careful," the coach advised as Brendan listened closely, learning the skills. Soon, Brendan was a full-time switch hitter, and earning himself a starting outfield job.
"Unfortunately, me starting meant someone must be benched, and that happened to be Hank," Brendan recalled, "basically, his hitting was mediocre for most of the year, which led to less playing time. He wasn't happy with the decision, and did some whining about it. He took my old spot, being the utility outfielder and platoon with others."
"I'm pretty sure that wasn't the end of him, since he still had some skills," Mewtwo raised the point, "did he hold a grudge against you, and picked on you whenever he had the chance? Or did you two manage to work things out amongst yourselves?"
"We didn't exactly become friends, as there was still that rivalry between us," Brendan answered, "but by our senior year, it pretty much fizzled out and we just played as teammates. That would lead us to my days in college, where I further pursued my baseball career, as well as work on getting a degree."
Brendan put the photo album away and reached for another one. The first few pages showed his final days in high school, where he went through his graduation ceremony with most of his friends. According to Brendan, it was also the last he had heard of Trevor and Mandy. "They had places to go, and ended up moving away from the Bay Area. I kind of regret not getting their contacts, but I had pursued university as well, so it wasn't long before I had to be on the move," Brendan explained.
"I assume you didn't stay in San Francisco during those years?" Link asked.
"Both my brother and I left San Francisco during this time. He left two years before me, and went to University of California Berkeley, right across the bay, while I went to UCLA. Both of us went on full scholarship, and both of us studied business." Brendan leaned back. "You know, that was also the time when I met Ashley."
Everyone in the room had their eyes alternate between Brendan and Ashley, the eyeballs shifting back and forth like a metronome. They knew from Yoshi that the two had been a long love story in the making, but nobody realized just how it started exactly. Only a slight clearing of the throat by Yoshi did everybody snap back to attention.
Husband and wife chuckled as they stared at the crowd. "Believe me, it's more embarrassing for me than it is for you, the way I first met her," he described.
"Wow, I don't think I'll ever get this done," Brendan groaned to himself in the library. Apart from baseball practice, he also had multiple assignments from his courses to focus on. He had to admit that at first, it was hard to convert his focus from hitting a fastball to understanding supply and demand. "Looks like it'll be an all-nighter again," he mumbled as he opened another book.
It was nearing closing time at the library as Brendan glanced up at the clock. It seemed like he may have to finish his assignment back in the dorm, or at least wake up extra early the next morning. He looked around to see if there was anybody left in the library, when suddenly an unusual sight caught his eye. Two tables before him was another reptilian-like figure, turning around to leave. "There's another genetically-mutated Yoshi in UCLA? I thought I was the only one." Brendan muttered to himself. He got up to follow the figure, but soon lost track as that person exited the library.
Undaunted, Brendan tried again the next day, entering the library at around the same time and taking the same seat. He looked around, hoping to see the mysterious stranger again. Every time he sat at his seat, he positioned his books and bag on the table like a fortress, making it possible to hide his face while taking quick peeks over it. It felt like trench warfare for him, as he wanted to shoot glances at all those around him, but in turn preventing others from realizing what he was doing.
A week had passed, and still he had no luck. "Even odder," Brendan mumbled to himself, "was I seeing things that day? I mean, it was rather dark…" He picked up some books from his locker and hurried off the class. By the time he made it to the lecture hall, he still had a couple of minutes left, so he took a seat in the center rows and opened his notebook. He was about to take a pencil out when he saw the person he was looking for: the Yoshi from the library, sitting a few seats to the right and about five rows forward.
He took a closer look and figured that it was a female Yoshi, with a blue back and golden-orange underbelly. He was about to approach her and maybe talk to her, but the professor entered the lecture hall and was about to start class, so he decided to wait. There has got to be a chance for me to talk to her, he thought.
Brendan did not really have his attention set to the professor or the lecture material, as he was more focused on the female Yoshi sitting a few rows in front of him. After class, he even followed her into the student center and food court, and stayed around watching her until it was time to go to his next class.
"So how long did this last for?" Peach asked, as the Smashers tried to hide their snickers, finding Brendan's story of meeting his wife comical beyond belief.
"It lasted a week or two, I couldn't keep my eyes off her," Brendan confessed, "I mean, there wasn't really any female Yoshi's around where I lived, let alone one that had a condition similar to mine, so I couldn't help but feel a bit attracted to her."
"Question for Ashley," Zelda asked as she raised her hand, "did you notice that he was spying or stalking you the entire time?"
Ashley laughed at the question. "Genetic mutations meant all individuals affected by the change have the same symptoms, and that means I have the enhanced abilities just like he has," she explained, "so to answer your question, yes, I noticed him. But since he seemed to be quite harmless at the time, I didn't push the issue. I had to admit that it was a bit irritating, though." Ashley gave her now-husband a playful shot to the shoulder.
"So when did you finally had enough and decided to approach him on this issue?" Luigi demanded, "The story has got to continue from here, right?"
"Actually, I finally confronted him in probably the worst time ever," Ashley recalled, "it was one of those times when we were in the library again, and he was on the phone. It was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of his life."
"I don't know, bro, I think I'm falling for her," Brendan said into the phone. Taking a break from another late-night work session, he went to the nearest pay phone and gave his brother in Berkeley a call. He always confided in his brother whenever he had a difficult issue to deal with, so maybe he could give him some advice on love.
Unfortunately, Yoshi Sr. had no good advice for Brendan, except to ask him to talk to her directly. "She's your love interest, so the best way to deal with it is probably to approach her," he explained, "even if she says no, at least your mind's at ease."
"How? Go up and say, 'Hey! I was stalking you for the last two weeks. Want to go on a date with me?' I'll probably get my teeth knocked out!" Brendan exclaimed, waving his arms in desperation. He was probably loud enough that those within a short distance from him could hear very clearly what he conveyed on the phone.
At this time, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped his head around, and received the shock of his life. It was the very Yoshi that he mentioned on the phone, standing right before him! "A word with you please?" she requested.
Brendan was so surprised that he drop the phone, making the receiver land on the platform with a loud clang. He stammered and sweated, trying to get himself out of this jam as he felt like a suspect being put in an interrogation room.
However, the female Yoshi did not relent. Staring him straight in the eye, she spoke to him in a clear voice, "Don't think I haven't noticed, but you were following me around the last two weeks. Since you're going to stare at me, and I'm interested in meeting some new people in my classes, we might as well skip to the introductions." She extended her hand. "My name's Ashley, what's yours?"
Brendan was stunned for a minute, while his brother was shouting on the other side of the line. When Brendan finally snapped out of it, he pulled the phone back to his face. "Can I call you back?" he asked his brother.