"...to win," says Letty.

"Fucking right that's what they'd say. No one cares about their best. No one cares about people trying very hard and then that not being enough. People care about winners. And winners try to win. When a winning team starts a day's practice, they don't go into it satisfied with doing their best."

"What can we do, then? If not our best?" challenges Botta.

"Win. Your best isn't some, some immovable goal that you reach and then go 'well here I am, at my best, guess that's all I can do'. Your best should be something that changes all the time! Because you're trying to win, because your goal is victory. Every time you pass the ball, you don't do your best; you try to win. Every time you shoot into the goal, you're not doing your best; you're trying to win. Every tackle, every movement, you should always have this in mind: you want to win. What does victory look like? Is it better to try to stop that fielder right now or save your energy for later when you're in a better position to pass your ball to your own fielders? Is it better to try to prevent the other team from scoring at all costs or to sometimes accept it as a necessary part of the game and try to make up for it later?"

"The game has a time limit. At the end of the time limit, the team that scored the most goals wins. It's not the team that did their best to not let the other team score. It's the team that scores the most. Blitzball is, fundamentally, a proactive sport. You want to always be on the offence, to always be looking at the field and thinking about what your next movement should be to win.

"And people who are trying to win just become better players. Their best will change, because they'll always be improving, do you see? They break their own limits, they push beyond what they thought they could do, they find the extra mile they can go.

"So what do we want?"

Everyone is quiet again, but Letty says, tentatively, "To win?"

"Say it louder, I can't hear you."

"To win!" he cries.

"Louder! Is it just Letty that wants to win?"

"To win!" the whole team shouts.

"Fucking right you want to win! Our goal here is victory! And what do winners do when they have an important tournament coming up and a lot of free time?"

"...practise," says Jassu with a slight grimace.

"No! Not '...practise.' The correct answer is 'practise!' You want to win? Then act like it. You think you're not good enough right now? Then become someone who is good enough. And you can only do that if you try. So, what are you going to do now?"

"Practise," the team tries.

"Can't hear you!"

"Practise!" they shout again.

"You're gonna practise and you're gonna do better and you're gonna win. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" they say in unison.

"Good. So, before practice, I want all of you to go to separate cabins downstairs and spend ten minutes by the clock thinking about things you want to do. Not just ways to improve from where you are now, I want you guys to come up with moves you always wanted to learn but never did. Go wild, list twenty of them if you want. Back here in ten minutes sharp."

The team... looks incredibly confused by this suggestion but after a couple of seconds of looking at each other awkwardly decide to obey.

"Hey, uh," starts Wakka after everyone else's gone. "That was really good."

"No kidding," says Zei, who somehow has mysteriously appeared leaning against the wall to the bridge.

Azym jumps when he hears Zei's voice. "—you could stand to be louder! Maybe wear a bell around your neck or something!"

"But this was much funnier."

"Bah."

"Say," Wakka begins, "was that... rehearsed? Or..."