The Royal Tennis Academy

Ace along with her fellow tennis players were absolutely struck with awe as the bus containing them pulled into the massive arching driveway of the Royal Tennis Academy.

"Whoa! This is where we'll be playing?"

"Awesome…"

"Academy is great! Good thing we picked here instead of Factory!"

A tall gate made of gold was propped open in a welcoming fashion and blue towering walls helped conceal tennis courts behind it. The main office loomed over it all and in front of its gaping entrance were 3 figures standing.

"Look! Is that Alex!?"

"It is! Is he giving us a tour?"

"And that big guy must be Harry! He's huge compared to Alex!"

Alex and Harry. Anybody who kept up with tennis news knew who they were and Ace was no exception. They were highly skilled players who took the tennis world by storm and rose to the pinnacle of any teenage tennis player's dream.

They were winners of the Island Open Tournament.

Alex had participated in two of the tournaments in separate years. One in Singles and one in Doubles with his partner Harry. His skill was unquestionable as he entered his first tournament in Singles as an unseeded and rookie player who went on to defeat one of his own coaches in the Semifinals. Anybody who doubted him as a player with no experience changed their tune when fans around the world including Ace and obviously the people on the bus, saw him win the finals against an opponent who defeated Academy's best player at the time. The media covered the arduous and intense 5-set final that had the young player on the ropes, but he had achieved victory with a tiebreaker that ended at 19-17 in his favor.

The following year, he had shown his talent once again by competing in the Island Open Doubles Tournament with Harry. It was a spectacle that nobody could forget. Players and fans interviewed were still skeptical of Alex's first victory and believed that it could simply be a fluke or just plain luck. That was quickly tossed aside when the two Academy players seized another gold trophy.

They were rising superstars who tennis players looked up to and awed at. There were even rumors that the two of them had taken on the legendary Mario who was undoubtedly one of the best players in existence. It was never confirmed from them however and there were supporters on each side that debated whether or not it was true. Only a year later when the next Island Open Tournament took place, Alex had declared that he would not be participating and was retiring from the tennis world as a player. Harry had done the same.

Everybody was outraged at the sudden decision and was only mildly comforted when they became coaches at the very school they had enhanced his tennis at. In fact, the same went for another famous duo that had coincidentally ended the very same way.

Nina and Kate, two female tennis players had also brought home two more golden trophies for the Royal Academy of Tennis, but had retired in a similar fashion as their two male counterparts. Due to their success however, Academy had an overflow of applicants to their tennis program the following year after their fourth year in a row winning the trophy that brought the highest prestige to their facilities.

Who didn't want to learn the secret to Academy's success? Who didn't want to be hailed as a champion of the same caliber as the four retired players of Academy?

The door of the bus opened and the new applicants rushed out in a hurry to the dynamic duo of Alex and Harry along with the Headmaster of the Academy. Ace was the last to exit, standing in the back of the crowd while the Headmaster stepped forward.

"Welcome to the Royal Tennis Academy!" He greeted warmly, hands behind his back politely. "I hope you have enjoyed your ride here!"

There was a murmur of agreement from the young crowd.

"I am the Headmaster! Over to my left is Alex, one of the coaches here at the Academy." The man gestured in the direction of the young man dressed in athletic gear. "Over to my right is Harry, another coach at this fine Academy."

Amazement settled in on the new recruits as the former superstars politely smiled at them. The gathering whispered among themselves in awe as they gazed at the former pros.

Alex stepped forward from his spot.

"Hey everyone. Like the Headmaster said, welcome to the Academy. Before we do anything else, we'll be giving you guys a tour."

Harry, the colossal man compared to Alex stepped forward from his spot.

"Right. We'll split into two groups so I want half of you to follow Alex and the other half with me. We'll stop for dinner halfway through and we'll end at the dormitories. Now, line up please."

…

Ace sighed in relief as she set her luggage and hot pink tennis bag onto the floor of her dorm room. The tour of the Academy had stunned her in astonishment and she was sure the rest of her fellow newbies had felt the same way.

The Academy was massive for a facility that emphasized tennis. There was an enormous lodge that housed every single one of the staff. The cafeteria in the Academy Lodge served three square meals to staff and student alike with enough tables to seat everybody. On top of that, there were several different areas with their own numerous sets of courts. However, it was the central court had definitely stood out the most. Not only was it styled like an outside arena match, seats surrounded the composite court and only Varsity level players could play there. Two of the Varsity players, one with blue hair and glasses and a burly boy with blond hair had even shown a bit of their skills as requested by Alex to demonstrate what a Varsity level tennis player could do.

Ace and every other new resident at Academy was left with a gaping jaw and wonders on how it was even possible to play at that high of a level.

There was also a large training center that housed several tennis machines, treadmills, weights, and even a special tennis wall to practice against.

There were several other buildings as well , but they slipped the fourteen year old girl's mind as she laid sprawled on her back on her pre-prepared bed.

"Soft…" She murmured as the tension slowly eased out of her tired bones. "I should unpack all my stuff and get to sleep. The coaches said something about a Welcome Workout or something."

She had a hunch that it was anything but pleasant from the grins the two legend turned coaches had when they mentioned it.

…

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Alex called out as all of the new players snapped to attention and cut their chattering to look at him from the other side of the Varsity court. "Welcome! As I mentioned yesterday, you'll be doing something of a school tradition called the Welcome Workout today."

He took a moment to look at the various reactions that he received. Most of it was confusion, but there were a few such as doubt, anxiety, eagerness and caution from this particular group.

"Here with me are several other coaches who'll help me with the Welcome Workout." He gestured behind them and all five of them waved at the students. "All thirty six of you look like a tenacious group. However, the Royal Tennis Academy can only take so much students because of all the recent publicity we've been getting. No matter how much we'd like to, we can't accept everybody. Therefore, each of us will be testing you in a Singles match individually in a six-game set."

That caused a collective gasp from the new recruits. The audience mostly consisting of students already enrolled that had come to watch from the stands and seats looked at them sympathetically. Many of the recently enrolled still appeared fearless however, despite having to take on tennis coaches.

Whether it was due to bravado or foolishness however, the seniors found it hard to discern.

"We won't tell you what we're looking for. All we ask is that you do your best to win. When we call out your name, step onto the court and play. Everybody else, wait until you're called." Alex commanded as the group remained silent. "Before the matches begin though, we're giving you all ten minutes to stretch and think about any strategies you have or what plays you'll try. Good luck everyone."

Almost immediately, excited whisperings came from the new students while interested looks came from the spectators in the seats.

"Wow! We get to play with the coaches on the Varsity court!"

"Academy is the best!"

"I get to say I played with Alex or maybe even Kate!"

Ace was of the complete opposite thought.

'W-We're playing against the coaches!? There's no way we'll win!' Her eyes widened in horror as she almost saw her chances of entering Academy go down the drain. How were they supposed to win against players and coaches who obviously had much more tennis experience than everybody currently on the court? And why was no one else as flustered as she was? The odds were clearly against them!

Ace shook the negativity surrounding her away.

No, now wasn't the time to panic she thought. She had to think this through.

'Maybe we're not meant to win? They said they were looking for something in our matches. What would it be though?'

Criteria rushed through her mind as she began thinking of everything that could perhaps be the factor the coaches were judging primarily.

'Obviously we won't ever be able to beat Alex, let alone the coaches. It wouldn't make sense if we failed just because we couldn't win. Therefore, they'll test us on different things like power or speed. The question is what are they looking for mostly?' Ace analyzed, thoroughly thinking on what the Academy coaches and legendary players would be on the lookout for.

'I'll just have to show them everything. I'll show what I'm best at first and then what I'm bad at last.'

She nodded internally, taking deep breaths and calming herself as a strategy began forming in her mind.

Yes. This was definitely the best course of action.

"Five minute warning until the first match starts!"

Ace squeaked in surprise and panic. "Eek! Oh no! I have to hurry and stretch!"

She rushed through her exercises such as sitting upright and reaching towards her feet with her hands. Ace performed her stretches with practiced ease. Her arms were pulled, her hips were twisted, her legs were stretched and although it was faster than she was used to, her exercises were complete.

"Time's up!" Alex announced and the students quickly stopped or finished up before standing up into attention. "First up is Leo. You'll be playing against Coach Kevin. Everybody else, move up to the stands until your name is called."

A young boy, not much older than Ace she noticed, stepped forward from the group. With dark brown hair and a white polo along with a yellow racquet in his hand, he looked every bit as confident as the rest of the student body that had arrived only yesterday.

Ace seated herself on the stand as she watched a man with brown hair groomed rather nicely with handsome hair also stepped forward with a racquet in hand.

"Wait… he looks familiar." Ace muttered between two other players who also stared at the opposing coach to their comrade.

"That's the Varsity coach! He used to play in the Island Opens!" A girl next to her cried out as both people on the court shook hands with each other and walked to their spots. "There's no way Leo's going to win!"

The girl was very much right. Leo had been allowed to serve first and did so with a smug grin from the singles line. It was quickly wiped away when Kevin returned it with his forehand masterfully straight to the opposite side of Leo. The young boy hadn't even had time to make it back to the center of the baseline before it had counted as Kevin's point.

"Love-Fifteen!" Alex announced from his referee seat while Leo looked stunned at the sheer speed and placement of the return.

The enthusiasm of the students playing against famous coaches slowly died away as the first point was only a harbinger of what was waiting for them. Fear gradually replaced the ecstatic energy they had as Leo attempted several different serves to position himself much better to prevent return aces from the Varsity coach.

None of them worked.

The down the line serve only had Kevin backhand it into the far corner completely out of the boy's reach as he dived futilely to return it.

"Love-Thirty!"

A serve from the Singles line placed near the center line next to the service box had promptly been sent back.

"Love-Forty! Break Point!"

An aggressive serve with a fair amount of power was sent straight to Kevin. Leo caught the older opponent's eyes widening for a split second and believed he had finally caught him off guard.

He had never been more wrong as it was dealt with the same way as all the other easy serves for the coach.

"Game! 0-1!"

Those words had shattered the excitement everybody had at playing against the former tennis pros. Even Ace could feel the plan in her mind developed to show all her skills to cater to them fall apart.

'I-If every coach plays like that… I-I don't stand a chance…" She thought silently to herself as Kevin viciously began serving aces against the first competitor. Leo had managed to return one ball which had only ended in a lob. Kevin quickly responded to the high ball with a smash that the other player had absolutely no chance of returning. In a matter of only three minutes at least, the second game had been given to the Varsity coach.

Her eyes scanned the ball speed that Kevin consistently had. Mentally apologizing to Kevin's opponent for using him as a dummy to gather data, she began judging the coach. Based on how he was playing so far, she heavily doubted she would be able to return the majority of his balls. Already she could determine that any serves he performed would instantly be an ace against her.

They were all too fast for her to reach and rally back properly.

That left her own serves. They weren't very powerful, but she had good control of it at least. Kevin's was obviously superior to hers though and given the sheer speed of his swings and the ball, she wouldn't last most than three rallies at best. That was most certainly not enough to even show off any of her strengths. They would just appear as weaknesses or inadequate compared to Kevin so far.

She glanced at all the other varied expressions of her possible future tennis companions. Most of them had abject hopelessness which she was beginning to feel herself. Others had nervousness and bravado to try and shake off the fear that already had settled into the atmosphere. A small few had determination written on their faces with an unspoken message of a vow to fight on no matter what was thrown at them.

Now Ace understood why the Academy students already here gave empathetic looks.

"I give up. I can't win." Leo depressingly stated to which Kevin gave a neutral nod.

"Leo forfeits the match. Coach Kevin wins by default." Alex proclaimed and looking at the clipboard in his possession. "Will Holly please come onto the court for her match?"

A girl with short black hair framed around her face stood up with tennis bag in hand and nervously strode down from the stands and onto the field.

This time, instead of Kevin, a lady with light blonde hair tied in a ponytail stepped forward.

"Coach Emily will be your opponent. Good luck to the both of you." Alex said gesturing towards the older woman.

Ace had a feeling the luck was honestly just meant for Holly. She already had a defeated posture as she walked into her serving spot dejectedly. From here on, it turned into a cycle. She would mentally apologize for using the poor victims for analysis on the coaches as they each played. Coach Emily was just as brutal as Coach Mark. While her balls weren't as fast as Kevin's, they had nasty spins that left Holly stumbling onto the ground as it twisted just out of her reach.

Even her drop shots had a spin that rolled it towards the net which was almost unimaginable. The underhand slice on the ball would have to be massive for it to even be able perform such a thing. Emily had clearly demonstrated that her mastery of sidespins allowed her such a skillful move.

Coach Mark was next and whether or not it was intentional, Ace could sum him up with just one word.

Troll.

He gave the player he fought against hope. His serves and strokes actually seemed returnable. They struggled to do so but in comparison to Emily or Kevin thus far, it was a rope of life that players clung onto. Many of them had even prayed that they would hopefully play against Mark to not look as terrible as Leo or Holly so far. After all, it was the first match the newbies had won a game against and they cheered for the brave player courageously taking on an undoubtedly superior opponent.

That ray of light was promptly diminished when a serious glint flashed in Mark's eyes and all of a sudden, players could no longer rally against him. His opponent began panicking at his sudden inability to even counterattack against the red haired coach as his shots became sharper, stronger, and faster. They had been fooled and lulled into a false sense of optimism.

Mark even smiled at the sudden change and commented cheerfully once after a point.

"This isn't even my final form."

From there on, it was a complete victory for him with the final score being six to one and the defeated student walked back to the stands in tears.

Mark at least had the decency to apologize and give a sheepish smile.

Ace hoped she wouldn't be called next and her wish had been granted only once. The person before her faced off against Coach Kate. She was much kinder than the previous coaches thus far, but still practically dominated the entire match.

"Ace! Please enter the court! Your opponent is Coach Harry!"

Her eyes enlarged from shock and panic before quickly running down the stairs. She almost tripped down the steps, but she managed to get onto the court rather quickly.

She set her bag down onto the sides, grabbed a racquet and rushed timidly to the hulking coach awaited her on the other side of the net.

"Hey Kid! You ready?" Harry gave a bright smile as he outstretched his hand for a shake.

"Y-yeah." She quietly said as she shook his hand nervously.

"Hey, don't look so nervous. Just play your best like Alex said." He tried to ease her uneasiness.

Ace only nodded as Harry gave her a nod and handed her a set of neon green tennis balls. She moved into the corner and prepared to serve, looking at Harry's position.

'Ok. I-I think I can do this.' She thought to herself as she began to turn her focus at the opposing coach. 'He's huge so he must be a power hitter. It can't be easy moving around with those muscles. If I serve from here to the center line as close as I can, he might not make it.'

It sounded like a good plan to start off of.

Ace tossed the ball into the air with her left hand, focusing on it like a hawk before smashing her racquet held in her right hand onto the ball in a downwards fashion and sending it into Harry's side of the court. The ball landed in the service box corner closest to the center line and it seemed as if it would pass him easily.

'I was right!'

Not even a second later, she was dead wrong.

Harry pushed off both of his legs and positioned himself just in time to backhand the ball back to Ace.

Pushing aside her surprise momentarily, she struck it back into the corner only for Harry to effortlessly forehand it back straight at her.

However, as she returned the seemingly easy ball with a backhand, her wrist strained under the unexpected weight of it.

'H-Heavy!'

She managed to send it back deep into Harry's court, but he had already situated himself in preparation. The sound of the ball hitting a tennis racquet reverberated louder than normal as he sent straight back at Ace.

Once again, she backstroked it only for her racquet to be knocked right out of her hand. It clattered onto the floor behind her and she looked at the now dead ball on her side in shock.

'It got even heavier!'

"Love-Fifteen!"

Ace walked to retrieve her racquet from the ground as already, she began contemplating over the abruptly powerful shot that looked nothing more than a regular stroke from Harry.

'I was right about him being a power hitter, but I didn't think he would be THAT strong OR fast!'

Already, she could feel her wrist aching ever so slightly. It would be minor now she felt, but if she continued then her wrist and eventually her arm would numb.

'I have to try again! I can't give up just yet! There's no such thing as an unreturnable ball!'

She served again, placing the ball away from Harry and just as before, he guided it right back to her court. As she struck it back, she noticed it wasn't as powerful as the previous shots.

'He needs time to hit any of his much stronger strokes. If I keep hitting it away from him, he won't be able to do that.'

Ace continued her rally with Harry, sending the neon green ball into the corners as best as possible to prevent the coach from hitting another power ball and to keep him running.

It was working!

Harry was incredibly quick and had an amazing amount of control; more so than the average power hitter. It was a common flaw of power players to sacrifice control or speed in order to boost the strength of their hits into incredible levels. By keeping those types of players, Ace learned from a previous tennis experience, running and unable to use their strength, they would eventually get frustrated and miss balls.

Coach Harry was not that kind of player and Ace quickly learned that in the second rally thus far. She wasn't losing, but she wasn't gaining any sort of ground against Harry either. His excellent ball placements forced her to run as well and gave him time to reposition himself into a more easily defendable spot.

Once again, Harry performed the unexpected. He lowered his racquet lower than normal and struck the ball just barely over the net.

'A drop shot! Oh no!'

She sprinted for the low ball, diving for it and barely bouncing it over the net. Harry leaped into the air and smashed the ball down to the ground behind her. Her eyes barely caught the ball path as it left a small indent on the ground and flew into the stands with amazing force.

'H-He's so strong! Can I even get a point off of him!?' Ace internally agonized as Harry's overwhelming strength netted him another point against him.

From there on, it all went downhill for her. Ace's strategy began falling apart as Harry became used to her movements and attacks. Her curved placements were slowly becoming pointless as Harry started predicting her shots and reacted quick enough to still gather enough time to send consecutive two-handed power shots that blew away her racquet. She had resorted to using two hands herself to try and hit the ball back properly, sacrificing her extreme control.

That didn't work either.

All of her power returns back were promptly met with another power shot from Harry until she finally had her racquet blown out of her hands from his sheer strength. When it became Harry's turn to serve, she couldn't even react as the ball reached speeds of one-hundred and ninety kilometers an hour. They were all service aces.

"Game! 0-4! Change Courts!"

Ace's dominant right arm was shaking uncontrollably and just as she predicted, it felt numb. Her left arm was already progressing towards that state. The both of them felt like noodles and her grip on her racquet was slipping. Her vision was starting to get blurry.

Returning any powerful shot always drained more energy than normal and she had done it repeatedly now. Sweat poured down her face and she gasped from total fatigue while Harry appeared to be no different from when he started the match. This was the worst situation possible for a technical player like her going up against a power hitter.

'I can't give up though! No matter what, I'll play until the end! I won't go back home!'

She tossed the ball into the air to serve and bent her legs. The moment she did though, she felt like collapsing.

"N-no… Can't stop." She whispered, struggling to recompose herself and strike the ball. She was successful and Harry struck back, directing it right back to her.

Ace grasped her racquet with two hands and tried to return it, but even that had failed her as it was blown away and the point was given for the return ace.

"Love-Fifteen!"

Another weak attempt ended in the same result as before.

"Love-Thirty!"

Even raising her limp serving arm to hit the ball was now becoming too much for her deadweight body to handle. Ace could vaguely hear someone shouting for her to stop playing as they noticed her exhaustion. Even Harry on the other side looked skeptical to continue playing although he was forced to hit back the ball when she finally managed to successfully serve.

She didn't listen.

She would play until the end.

Ace's vision started growing dark as the ball was sent flying back to her and she raised her arm to return it. She swung her racquet which collided against the ball with all the strength she had left, but she could feel the weight of it pressing harshly against her racquet and her grip slipping.

Whether through a miracle or because Harry didn't put as much power into it, a successful return was managed with a forehand. Her tennis racquet flew towards the net and she collapsed onto her knees.

She could barely see the ball dip to the ground deep on the other side of the court. Coach Harry looked absolutely stunned as the bounce he expected from the ball never came. A small amount of elation overtook her exhaustion momentarily as the tennis ball rolled across the court rapidly without a bounce.

Harry wasn't able to hit it back at all.

"Fifteen-Thirty!"

"I-I did it… I got a point…" She whispered as she finally fainted. She could barely hear the concerned cries shouts as sweet unconsciousness took her away.

A/N: While it's not a perfect game, Mario Tennis will always have a soft spot in my heart. Disregarding that, I haven't actually seen that many Mario Tennis stories which sort of surprises me. Especially ones involving the characters you play in the 'Story Mode.' There was only one completed Mario Tennis: Power Tour story that I found. The rest I found were dead. I honestly thought that if you changed it up a bit, added new things, and gave it a few new twists, then it would have a lot of potential for a sort-of novelization. I will state now that out of all the Power Shots that Clay/Ace (Tina/Max on European Versions I think) can use, only two or three will be used later. The rest are either inspired from other areas or completely unique. A couple, I think two are tennis shots that can be done in real life and may have another name here. In fact, one of them is even used here. I had a lot trading ideas and scratching my head on creating these shots with my long time friend and beta'er Makoto. An infinitesimal amount of thanks goes to him for doing all this with and for me.

If you've actually read through this, then I appreciate it. I'm desperate for constructive review admittedly as well so if you have any, please list it. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this!