LiamTheYoshi

Yeah! Alex may be five years old, but there is potential in him.

mariobroultimate

You're right. Anybody can do the impossible even if he or she doesn't feel the nerve in the first place.

MarioMan314

Alex is not ready to learn the truth about Mario's injury. He'll probably have to wait until he's a teenager.

StarlitDuck

It won't be too much practice because you wouldn't want to push a little kid to the limit. And Mario's advice to Luigi, who passed it on to Alex, is a lesson all of us will never forget.

8B - That's the Spirit!

"Here we are, Alex. The Lake Shroom Country Club," Luigi said before pulling up in the country club's parking lot. "Me and Mario practiced for the tennis game at this very spot."

"How often did you practice?" Alex asked.

"We did it seven days a week for a couple hours per session."

"That's a lot of work," Alex pointed out before both got out of the kart.

"Before we go to the court, I have something special for you," Luigi said.

"What is it?"

"One second. Let me get my things out of the trunk." Luigi approached his kart's trunk and opened it to reveal not only Luigi's racket but also Mario's racket. Alex gasped with surprise, knowing that Luigi was going to give Mario's racket to him.

"Are you giving me Mario's bat?!" Alex exclaimed, not knowing what a racket is.

"It's all yours." Luigi handed the racket to Alex, who jumped for joy.

"Yes! Thank you, Luigi!"

"You're welcome, Alex. Are you ready?"

"Let's-a go!" Alex declared while imitating Mario's voice. Luigi chuckled at Alex's impression.

Alex and Luigi boarded one of the country club's golf carts and drove to the same tennis hard courts the Mario Bros trained in previously.

"Uh, Luigi?" Alex asked.

"What is it?"

"What time each day are we practicing?"

Luigi checked his watch; it was 2:16 PM. "How about from 2:15 to 2:50?"

"I can't do that time," Alex replied. "I have school from 8:00 to 3:00 on Monday through Friday."

"That's okay, Alex. I'll work out a new time for both of us." Eventually, Alex and Luigi arrived at the left-side court walked inside with their rackets.

"How about 3:50 to 4:25? Does that work?" Luigi asked.

"I like that time." After walking to the area between the two courts, Alex and Luigi sat on the bench.

"What you're holding is called a 'racket'," Luigi started while pointing to Alex's racket. "It's a special kind of bat made for tennis players. You want the ball to hit the net in the middle at all times."

"Okay." Alex saw the tennis ball basket stationed to Luigi's right. "Are those the balls?"

"Yes, they are. Tennis balls kind of look like baseballs, but with different colors. Instead of white and red, the tennis balls are colored yellow and gray," Luigi said before standing up and taking one of the balls. "One of the important parts is how you should swing the racket."

"The first is called the 'forehand'," Luigi explained while gripping the bottom part of the handle with his right hand. "You only hold the racket with one hand and point it forward. Because I'm right-handed, this is my forehand position." Luigi stood in front of Alex and turned to his right-hand side before holding his racket forward.

"I'm right-handed too," Alex said.

"Good. Then you're in the same position as I am." Luigi moved his racket slightly behind his back. "When swinging your racket, it's similar to when you're swinging a baseball bat, but you're holding it with one hand and you don't swing it very fast." Luigi proceeded to finish his forehand swing at a moderate speed.

"That's easy for me," Alex said.

"As long as you keep your racket straight and don't point it too upward or too downward, it'll be easy as pie. Why don't you give it a try?"

"Okay." Alex stood up before Luigi helped him grip his racket with his right hand.

"All right-y. Let's see your forehand."

Alex practiced at least four forehand swings, all of which met Luigi's expectations.

"Excellent! You're doing great!" Luigi praised Alex before getting the tennis ball basket. "Now, let's try the forehands on the court. This time, you'll be hitting the balls." Luigi led Alex to the bottom end's service line.

"Before we go any further, this next shot is called a 'serve'," Luigi said before taking one of the tennis balls. "It's important to keep the ball high in the air while you're still able to reach it. That way, it'll soar over the net at the start of each play."

"Okay."

"Here's what a serve would look like." Luigi held his ball slightly forward and threw it above him before hitting it over the net. Alex paid close attention to Luigi's serve. "It's as simple at that: throw the ball up before reaching for it with your racket and hitting it forward."

Luigi handed Alex a tennis ball and watched him attempt a serve. Alex accidentally angled his racket upward a small bit, causing the ball to land just short of the net.

"Good try," Luigi said. "You pointed your racket a little upward, but that's okay. Just turn the racket to the left until it's straight again." Alex followed Luigi's instruction before trying another serve; this time, the ball flew forward and landed just behind the top end's service line.

"That's much better! Try a few more serves and I'll pick the balls up before I teach you the second swing." Luigi stood by while Alex did four more serves; all of which were performed properly.

"Great job, buddy!" Luigi exclaimed before rushing to the balls on the other end and taking them back to the basket. "You're learning fast even though we still have a lot of work to do."

"Thanks, Luigi," Alex thanked Luigi.

"Now, the second swing is called a 'backhand'. It's basically the reverse version of the forehand with the difference being holding the racket with both hands. It would be hard to do the backhand with just your right hand since it won't provide enough power for the ball."

Luigi positioned himself so his right-hand side was pointed to the net.

"The way you hold the racket is by placing your left hand on top and your right hand below it." Luigi gripped his racket like so and pointed it forward. Alex gave Luigi a tennis ball for his backhand demonstration.

"Watch carefully." Alex stepped back until he was a safe distance away from Luigi, who executed the backhand. "Your turn now."

Again, Luigi helped Alex grip his racket properly before holding another tennis ball in front of the racket. He then threw it up a small bit before Alex tried the backhand; his racket was angled upward again, letting the ball fall short of the net again.

"Why does my racket keep pointing upward?" Alex asked.

"You're probably turning your wrist while following through. You need to keep your racket straight when swinging." Alex tried four more backhands; the last two were done perfectly.

"All right-y. Your backhands are getting a bit better, but that's something you need to work on more."

"Okay."

"Now that I taught you the different swings, let's do some practice plays," Luigi said before taking three tennis balls for himself; he then stood on the top end's service line with Alex on the other end.

Luigi served first before Alex started rallying the ball with him. Each play went on for an average of ten seconds. For every other play, Alex served the ball; he did accidentally angle his racket slightly upward a couple times, but still did good. At the very end of the 35-minute session, Luigi was so happy with Alex's progress thus far.

"That was a great practice round, Alex!" Luigi said while he and Alex high-fived each other. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you, Luigi."

After cleaning the court up, Luigi and Alex returned to the clubhouse before driving back to Mario's Pad. By the time they arrived at the pad, it was 3:47 PM.

"I'll hold on to Mario's racket until we begin our next practice round," Luigi told Alex before leading him to the front door. "Remember to be here at 3:05 PM, okay?"

"Okay," Alex replied.

"Good. Well, have a nice afternoon, buddy," Luigi bid Alex goodbye, waving with his fingers while Alex entered the pad. Alex then used the Faraway Warp Zone to go back to Dallas. Upon reentering his house, he saw Terry wiping the kitchen countertops.

"Hi, Mom." Terry turned to see Alex standing next to her.

"Hi, Alex. How did it go with Luigi?"

"It was fun. Luigi and I are practicing for a big tennis game in a week and a half. We're playing at the country club after school from 3:50 to 4:25," Alex said. "I have to meet Luigi at 3:05 and I'll be back home at..." Alex tried to remember when Luigi will drop Alex off after each session. "5:10. Is it too long?"

"Not too long," Terry replied. "But please be back in time for dinner. You don't want to worry me and your dad."

"Okay."

For the next four days, Alex and Luigi practiced at the country club for the 35-minute sessions they made a deal on. Alex packed a couple snacks before he left at 3:05 PM each day. Alex was struggling mostly with his backhand, but slowly improved over time.

Luigi was getting excited more and more at the end of each session, as he saw Alex's skills start to equal Mario's skills. He was surprised about the fact that a five year old boy like Alex can play tennis like a professional, but at the same time, he knew that anything was possible in the Mushroom Kingdom.

At the end of the fifth day, Luigi made Alex an offer, "Starting tomorrow, how about we team up and play against two other players?"

"Is it Yoshi and Donkey Kong?" Alex asked.

"No. I've talked to Daisy and Aqua, and they've agreed to play with us just for your training," Luigi said.

"Yay! I can't wait to see Aqua again!" Alex squealed.

"Me too, buddy. Even better, I've got a special gift that I'll give to you when we meet up tomorrow," Luigi said with a smile.

"What's the gift?"

"It's a surprise, so you'll have to be patient."

"Okay," Alex responded before he and Luigi made their way back to Mario's Pad.