Part 14: Episode XI: Join My Team
Following Tidus' future time narration spot/present time zoning out session, Wakka has headed north away from the beach. I suppose we ought to follow him.
New Music: Besaid Island (Recommended Listening!)
Yeah. Yeah. I got it. Just got turned around, is all...
Tidus continues following after Wakka...
"Ugh. Don't tell me you're actually fish people that live in the sea or something now." 
"I mean I like to play blitzball as much as the next guy. But I've been soaking wet for the last two days and a bit of dry time would be wel-"
"Wooooooooooooah!" 
Tidus has got to be sick of falling off shit at this point. It's getting to be like Fei Fong Wong and exploding. Wait, no...
Wakka dives down...
So we're now told to go vaguely in the northeastern direction by the mini-map as our new destination. Of course, looking at the actual map, the only direction we can go is southeast. This is kind of an annoying aspect of the mini-map, since often the goal and the actual layout are in totally opposite directions that loop all over before finally popping out at the right spot. God help you if there is a multi-layer map.
Anyway, shoving a new friend into the water might qualify as a "playful" thing to do (if you ignore the fact that he JUST nearly drowned.) You know what is NOT playful?
Shoving a new friend into a frickin' piranha infested lake. That is not playful. That is just straight up being a dick. However, I suppose it could be payback for Tidus attempting to take Wakka's head off with that blitzball kick.
In any case, Wakka has unceremoniously joined the party and serves as the third and final character in the game with the ability to battle underwater. Wakka's weapon of choice is... a blitzball. Yup. Guy is just going to launch a ball at monsters SO HARD, it straight up kills them.
One thing I didn't mention about the whole Sphere Grid thing is everyone pretty much starts with higher and lower base stats that will pretty much stay consistent for the duration of the base game. Wakka has high Strength and really great Accuracy (given he's winging balls at people's heads and all), but average Evasion and HP, with shitty Agility and MP. So you know, you could in theory go off to teach Wakka to be a mage pretty early on. He's just going to be a shitty mage compared to characters starting off with good magic stats. That said, Wakka is pretty good for the offensive side of things overall.
To start out, Wakka also comes equipped with Dark Attack, which will inflict the Darkness status effect (read: accuracy goes to shit) for three turns. This could be useful down the line. Not here, considering sneezing on Piranhas will 1-shot 'em. But status effects in Final Fantasy X are a bit more useful than they were in previous titles (read: almost never outside of rare bosses with weird weaknesses.) It's no Shin Megami Tensei level of live or die by buffs and debuffs or anything. But they're still worth remembering at least.
Speaking of piranhas, it isn't a bad idea to swim around for a bit and farm 'em for spheres. They shit out pretty much all the basic spheres. In particular, it's an easy source of Ability Spheres, which seem to really dry up later on in the game. Just a thought...
All in all, outside the man-eating demon fish, we are just treated to a pleasant swim through tropical Besaid with some chill tunes in the air.
It can happen to anyone... anywhere...
...When you least expect it...
Bromance. What may just come off as innocent horseplay to the average person will be twisted and corrupt into something horrid by those with overly active imaginations, far too few friends, and way too much time. Don't become a victim of unrequited bromance.
"You want me on your team, right?"Wakka lets go of Tidus...
"It's so huge, I'm sure someone there will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right? It'll be fun! What do ya say, huh? Come on, COME ON!" 
<You know thinking about it... even if I did go back to Zanarkand I... think... my team all got splattered when Sin attacked... Man that blows...> "...Sure thing."Tidus swims off by himself...
"I wasn't too far off, either." "I mean the only other things were the language being mostly the same and strangely... Gil was still the standard currency. I'm not sure how that worked..."Some time later...
"I joined the Aurochs at thirteen...ten years ago." "You're 23? Sheesh. About time for the retirement home soon, huh?"
"...What? Like in the play-offs or...?" "Nah, brudda. Ever." "...Ever? You have been playing blitzball for a decade and NEVER won a game...?" "Ya." "..." "Well, after last year's tournament, I quit. Time seemed right." "Getting into the double digits of years failing could do that, I guess... Little bit demoralizing.” "So, after quitting, I got this new job, ya? But every time my mind wandered, I thought about the game." "...Did you say you're the coach and team captain still?" "Ya." "But how does that work if you quit? I mean you JUST asked me to be on your team." "I don't follow." "...Nevermind."
"But something else was on my mind. I couldn't focus." "Nice excuse." "Hey, hey!" "So you want to win the next tournament -- go out with a bang." "...Again. Since I guess you retired and immediately unretired and NOW you're serious about retiring... Right...?" "That's right." "Confusing is more like it."
*rubs neck* "I don't care how we do. Long as we play our best. If we give it our all, I can walk away happy." "Neeeeeeeh! Wrong! Totally freakin' wrong! That's what the coach of the sucky team in little league stuck with the fat kid, and the one with the gimpy leg, and the girl says!"
"When you play in a blitzball tournament, you play to win!" "Victory? ...You serious?" *nods* "Damn straight I am! We're in this to win. We're in this to smash the other team, cripple their team captain, THEN bang his girlfriend after the game. And his sister! If she's not fat. You stick with me and we're going places, guy!"
The first step to victory is a well-balanced breakfast. So let's get on to the village proper to sort that out.
A few yards later...
"Yeah. Dude that almost drowned. Thanks for reminding me.... Name's Tidus."
"Be on guard. There're fiends on the road today!"
"After surviving your run-in with Sin, 'twould be a shame if something happened now." "Neat."The pair runs off toward town...
"Luzzu and Gatta -- Crusaders." "Crews of what?" "What, you forgot that, too?" "Come on, now. That's just a proper noun title of a common word, ya know?"Tidus sighs and looks dejected...
*perks up* "Cool. In return, come tournament time, I'll make sure we take the cup!" "Cool." "Now I'm gonna pretty much need EVERYTHING explained to me. The toxins like erased it all. Other than blitzball. So don't hold back. The audie--I mean I am counting on you!" "About the Crusaders, you can ask them yourself. They've got a lodge in the village."
Good to know. Well, we've heard enough about that joint. Might as well get there already. Despite what the Crusaders said,
New Music: The Sight of Spira (Recommended Listening!)
"They got any food there?" "Naw. We all like do photosynthesis to get by. Didn't they do that in 'Zanarkand'...?" *bewildered stare* "Ahahaha. I just messin' with you."
"Let's see..." "It's a big place. We just built our eighth hut last month. Don't wantcha gettin' lost."
"You want some exposition about Spira, look no further." 
Wakka begins wandering off. But stops short and heads back to Tidus.
"Huh? What's up?" 
We're given the option as to how Tidus should respond here. If you think those two choices look remarkably similar, you're right. Recalling that we clearly saw the prayer back on the beach is sadly not in Tidus' cards.
Yup. It's still the same invisible ball cradling to bow motion we've seen a couple times now.
"Hey, not bad. Okay, now go present yourself to the temple summoner." "Umm... Alright. The heck is a 'summoner'? And where is the tem--" "Gotta go! Catch you later, ya?"Wakka walks off...
"I... didn't remember that having much to do with religion... I really had wished I'd paid more attention in school. You know, before I dropped out to go pro blitzing..." 
Welp, time to have our ignorant ass hero hit the town next. Should be fun...
Video: Episode 10 Highlight Reel
Besaid Ruins Concept Art
Besaid Village Concept Art