Aporias sat on the sidelines, drawing shapes in the dirt while the other pets from his class threw the Yooyuball back and forth. Nobody sat near him, and he couldn't really blame them.

He stank. Literally.

Nobody wants to smell sweating garlic, especially when the big game was on the line. "Besides," Aporias sighed. "It's not like I can do anything besides bounce. I'm too small and I have no legs." His big green eyes welled up with tears. He hid his eyes behind his arms, sniffling loudly, "Everyone knows Kikos aren't good at anything, anyways. Especially sports. We can't run. We can't trip the other players. People mistake us for the ball. WE STINK!"

A towel fell onto his head as someone plopped down on the ground next to him. "Really?" a friendly voice remarked.

Aporias froze, petrified to be found like this. He rubbed the towel against his face, smearing away all evidence of his sobbing. "Yeah. Only fools don't know that." He glared over the towel, and felt all the blood drain out of his face.

Poke Cellars sat next to him, arms crossed in front of her as she scowled at him. "Guess I'm a fool then."

"P-P-Poke Cellars!" Aporias stuttered, eyes wide.

She rubbed the back of her head. "Yup, that's me. And you know what, kid?"

"What?"

"I used to be you."

Aporias's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious."

She chuckled. "Nobody would let me play, for all those reasons you said and more. And I believed them. I let them convince me I was worthless."

"But you're the best player in Yooyuball!" Aporias burst out. "Who wouldn't let you play?"

"Well, I wasn't always the best. I had to practice. I had to prove to them all I could do it, but you know who I had to show first?"

"Who?"

She smiled at him. "Myself. And that was the hardest part." She bounced up. "Believe in yourself, and you can do anything."

"Even if I'm just a Garlic Kiko who smells bad?"

She laughed. "You don't smell bad, kid. You smell like pizza! And who doesn't like pizza?" She ruffled the shoots at the top of his head and repeated herself, "Believe in yourself, and you can do anything." She turned and started bouncing towards the locker room.

Aporias watched her, considering what she said. Before she disappeared he called after her, "Hey, Poke!"

She turned. "Yeah, kid?"

"I'm Kiko Lake's biggest fan, and someday I'm going to be on the team," he said, standing tall.

She raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down. "You really believe that?"

He looked down at the towel in his hand, brown and green striped, and looked back up at her. A big grin broke across his face. "Of course I do. I am Aporias the Garlic Kiko, and I can do anything I put my mind to!"