A Day With Team Altador

     “Wow! Look! It’s Altador! Altador!” he cheered. I chuckled and lightly scratched his head. I knew the last time we came here was when the Altador Cup V was going on. We both love Team Altador and rooted for them with every ounce we could.

     “Yeah. Calm down, buddy. It’s not our first time here, you know,” I said.

     “I know. But I always feel so ecstatic whenever we come here,” my Xweetok said. I chuckled some more as we strolled casually into town. We arrived at the Arena District and could see the giant arena from where we stood. Every time I looked at that arena, all I could think of was the roar of the crowd and the sight of Yooyus flying everywhere.

     “Just wait until next year. I bet it's going to be a great year too,” my Xweetok said. I nodded without a word, knowing he was right. As we continued on, we were just browsing around and looking at the other Neopians wandering across town.

     “All seems quiet today. Guess nothing big is going on here,” I said. Suddenly, we could hear some girls crying in the distance. We both hurried to see what was the matter. But when we got there, we saw we were wrong. The girls weren’t crying, they were crying with excitement over having crossed paths with some of Altador’s famous Neopians: the members of Team Altador.

     “No way! It’s... It’s Team Altador!” I exclaimed. Ultra couldn’t believe his eyes either. But soon enough, I felt him tugging at my shirt.

     “Come on! Let’s go say 'Hi' or something!” he shouted. I stopped him and nodded, reminding him to behave as these were celebrities. As we walked over, the girls were just leaving after obtaining autographs from the players. That’s when we were suddenly noticed by Timu, the team’s Right Defender.

     “Huh? Oh. Hi there. Who are you?” Timu asked. Lyvon sighed.

     “Don’t tell me we have to sign MORE autographs,” he said. The two of us looked at each other and shook our heads.

     “No. We weren’t going to ask for an autograph. But, we’re such huge fans of you guys. We’re always at each Altador Cup rooting you guys on,” I said. Remis glanced at the two of us. He noticed I was wearing my favorite Altador themed shirt, a gold shirt with the Team Altador logo on it with a gold stripe.

     “Hmm. Oh yeah. I remember seeing you too,” Remis said. Everyone gasped, including me and Ultra.

     “What? Are you sure, Remis? The stands are flooded with Neopets and you’re saying you’ve seen them before?” Salayne asked. Remis nodded.

     “Of course I have, Salayne. Maybe only for a brief moment, but I get short glimpses of the fans in the crowd when we play. And I’ve seen these guys a lot,” Remis said. Ultra and I smiled, happy to know Remis always looked for his fans.

     “Well, if that’s true, I think we might have found two of our biggest fans after all,” Lyvon said. I quickly nodded.

     “Yeah. I know all of your names too. Let’s see. I see Timu, Captain Remis, Salayne Ritad, Lyvon Cibaire and.... huh? Wait. Where is Winberto?” I said, quickly seeing the black furred Wocky was not among the others.

     “Oh. Winberto? He’ll be back. We were waiting for him to get us some drinks,” Timu said. Just then, we heard someone scurrying over. I turned around and saw a black blur approaching us. When it stopped, it was Winberto himself. He held a tray with five soda cups in the holes.

     “Phew. Sorry I’m late, guys. You would NOT believe the line they had for slushies today,” Winberto said. He then suddenly noticed me and Ultra.

     “Huh? Hey. Who these guys? Fans?” Winberto asked, turning to the others. Remis nodded, calling us two “True Altador Fans”. Winberto looked at us again before quickly eyeing Remis.

     “Really? Well then, I think I know what that grin on your face is for, Captain,” Winberto said. He turned to us and asked if we would like the pleasure of joining Team Altador for a fun trip around Altador. We both gasped.

     “Really? You wouldn’t mind?” I asked. Timu giggled.

     “I don’t see why not. It’s the least we can do for two of our biggest fans,” Timu said. We both cheered loudly, extending our arms into the air. The team chuckled and we started to move on. As our day began, we headed for the Coliseum and looked at the vast empty seats.

     “We sometimes like to come here just to get a good look at the old place. We had some pretty exciting times on that field,” Lyvon said. I nodded, mentioning about the first game of Altador Cup V, when Altador sweeped Moltara.

     “Yeah. But you want to know something? We don’t worry about winning or losing. It’s all in how much we enjoy playing the game,” Remis said. Ultra and I looked at the captain in silence. In a flash, I felt Salayne pat my back.

     “Hey. Want to see a little Yooyu action? We often come here to train too. So how about it?” Salayne asked. Ultra suddenly started lighting up with excitement in his eyes.

     “You bet!” he exclaimed. I chuckled and soon, we were sitting court side as Remis and Salayne were playing Timu and Winberto in a quick Yooyuball game. Timu joined us in cheering and rooting for each side as the Yooyus were flying across the field.

     “Looking good, guys!” Timu laughed. Suddenly, as Winberto was about to throw the Yooyu at the goal, Remis accidentally bumped into him and the Yooyu ricocheted off the goal post and went flying for me. I yelped from shock and caught it as it knocked me over, chair and all.

     “Whoa. You okay there?” Winberto called. Timu helped me back up as I held the Yooyu, a Normal Yooyu, in my hands.

     “Yeah! Look! I caught a foul ball!” I exclaimed. Everyone started to laugh, finding my joke pretty funny. The others had a funny idea and, with permission from Remis, the two of us were given a special souvenir. It was a Yooyuball catcher, autographed by the members of the team.

     “Wow. Thanks, you guys,” we said. Lyvon smirked.

     “Hey. Now you can catch Yooyuballs the 'right' way,” Lyvon teased. We all started to laugh again before hearing someone clapping in the stands. We all looked up and saw a yellow Draik in a toga looking down at us.

     “Aren’t you guys lively today?” he said. Remis chuckled.

     “Well, well. If it isn’t old Cawley! How you doing pal?” Remis shouted. Ultra and I couldn’t believe our eyes, seeing the only member of Team Altador to leave the team. He flew down into the field and approached us.

     “I had a feeling I find you guys here. So what’s up?” he asked. Winberto smirked and told him all about us.

     “Hmm. That’s neat. You don’t mind if I tag along too, do you?” Cawley asked. We both gasped and looked at each other with big wide grins, nodding to Cawley.

     “All right then. Thanks for including me.” Cawley chuckled. After we enjoyed our time at the arena, we headed over to the Park District and saw the statues of the team in the center of town.

     “Yep. Here it is. Probably one of the oldest statues in town,” Winberto said. I looked at my shoulder and saw Ultra was looking up at the statue with wonder in his eyes.

     “Hey. Would... you guys mind if we got our picture taken with the statue?” I asked. They all nodded, asking if we had a camera. Ultra fished around in my backpack and found the camera inside. But as we went to pose by the statue, another Neopian was coming by and Remis called to him.

     “Excuse me. Would you hold this please?” Remis asked, handing him the camera. He nodded and faced the statue. Suddenly, we both saw Team Altador standing besides us and posing too. Not wanting to ruin the moment, we both grinned and the picture was taken.

     “Oh man. I blinked, didn’t I?” Lyvon asked. Timu looked at him and shrugged.

     “I don’t know. Did you?” she asked. Lyvon groaned and asked for a another try. We had our picture taken again, but Lyvon swore he blinked again.

     “Lyvon....” Winberto groaned. It took us about three more tries until Lyvon felt it was “good enough” for him. Afterwards, we went to the Altadorian Archives in the Money District and sat down to read some of their history books.

     “Wow. I didn’t know you guys like to read about your history,” I whispered. Remis nodded, adding that it is sometimes fun to look back on what happened in the past. Timu could see the book I was reading was all about the legends of Altador, the Twelve Protectors.

     “That’s one of my favorite books too. Who’s your favorite Altador legend?” she asked. I paused for a moment before mentioning my two favorites, Siyana the Light Faerie and King Altador.

     “Hmm. Well, we were going to pay our respects at the Hall of Heroes. Want to come along?” Remis asked. We both gasped.

     “Sure!” Ultra exclaimed, getting a loud shush from other Neopians nearby. We left the archives and headed straight for the center of Altador, the Hall of Heroes. As we entered the hall, we all could see the eleven statues standing proudly in the center. We also saw a grumpy Yurble janitor sweeping up the last of the Darkest Faerie’s statue.

     “Ugh. Finally. It’s done,” he groaned, walking off with dust pan in hand. After he left, we walked in the center of the eleven statues and kneeled down.

     “Legends of Altador, mighty ones of our great land, we thank you for always watching over us and bringing great wealth and prosperity to Altador,” Remis muttered.

     “And we hope you will continue to in years to come. For we, the members of Team Altador, shall always work our hardest in our Yooyuball games to come,” Winberto finished. Just then, we all heard someone clapping. I looked up as I soon saw a pair of metal boots nearby. When I saw who it was, I was breathless. I was looking up at King Altador himself.

     “Thank you, Team Altador. And I hope you always do your best as well,” he said. Ultra and I chuckled, standing back up with others, facing King Altador.

     “Hey there, your Highness. Are we on time again?” Winberto asked. The king nodded with a chuckle.

     “Of course. Come. Won’t you join us for dinner? We’re about to start,” King Altador said. As the team followed behind the king, Timu stopped and looked back.

     “What? Aren’t you coming? I think the king was inviting you guys too,” Timu said. The two of us gasped, shocked really, to think that King Altador would invite us to dine with the other Altador protectors.

     “S.... Sure!” we both exclaimed. With Ultra on my shoulder, I hurried after the others as we entered the Council Chamber for a feast with the others. And as the sun began to set, we made our departure.

     And that was the end of the greatest day our lives, the day we got to spend with Team Altador.

The End