An Interview With the Former Captain of Team Meridel

     A cheerful song is playing as the camera opens on a smiling reporter. The song fades away.

     Reporter: Hello, Yooyuball fans! This is Gui reporting straight from Altador, where our team of journalists have put up a booth right in from of the Colosseum for you all to be literally as close to the Altador Cup as we can get you! Today, we are interviewing Sir Pollonaire Freidl. Recent Neopians might not recognize him, but longtime fans of Neopia’s greatest sport may remember him as the first captain and goalkeeper of Team Meridell in years 8 and 9. As Altador Cup III was about to start, the Altador Cup Committee announced that Sir Freidl was leaving the team, which left Meridell fans with a whole lot of questions. All he said was he had to leave due to "health and leadership problems". Weeks later, the Altador Cup began, "Wizard" Windelle took charge of the team and no one ever spoke about that again. And that’s what we are here for! We want to hear, straight from Sir Pollonaire Freidl himself, the reasons why he decided to leave. Once again, Sir Freidl, thanks for talking to us.

     Sir Freidl: no problem at all! I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to explain myself like this for years, now.

     Reporter: first of all, what did you mean by "health problems"? Are you still struggling with that?

     Sir Freidl: fortunately, no. Back in Y10, I was training very hard for Altador Cup III. During the month of Awakening, in Y10, I was practicing with a strong Fire Yooyu that I believed I could easily handle. However, I didn’t, which caused me to burn my hand real badly. Although I managed to recover from it eventually, it didn’t happen in time for me to be 100% for the competition. I knew I couldn’t bare the idea of being responsible for bringing the whole team down, so I made the decision to leave.

     Reporter: *turns to the camera* pay attention to it, guys! Fire Yooyu burns are a real thing. We’ll get back to it later. *returns to Sir Freidl* Anyway, that’s terrible! However, we still have a feeling that that wasn’t the real reason why you left the team…

     Sir Freidl: yes, well… As you pointed at the beginning, I also had some, ahm, leadership problems, which was the REAL reason why I took that decision. Burning my hand was a serious issue, yes, but if I wanted to, the recovery could’ve happened on time.

     Reporter: care to explain to our viewers? I mean, YOU were the captain. What do you mean by ‘leadership problems’?

     Sir Freidl: well, you recall how much kids and Yooyuball fans from all over Neopia adored me, don’t you?

     Reporter: I do! In fact, we have some footage of children from Altador screaming your name at the game of Darigan versus Meridell, during Altador Cup I. Let’s take a look.

     Both of them stare at a big screen that shows a group of Neopets yelling Sir Pollonaire Freidl’s name, over and over again. His eyes are watering as he watches it.

     Sir Freidl: yeah, well *wipes a tear*, yes. That’s exactly the reason. Let’s just say… someone couldn’t stand the idea of people worshiping me instead of them.

     Reporter: and by "someone" you mean, your "leader"?

     Sir Friedl: exactly.

     Reporter: kill the suspense, already! Who is that mysterious fellow?

     Sir Friedl: can’t you think of anyone who is my supposed leader and wants nothing more than to be worshiped by literally everyone, in a way that they mustn’t have people standing in their way?

     The reporter looks confused. He stares at the floor for what seemed about ten seconds.

     And then, it hit him.

     Reporter: King Skarl.

     Sir Friedl: the King himself.

     Reporter: but how come? What did he have on you back then?

     Sir Friedl: well, I don’t want to extend myself on this, because I don’t want to get into more trouble, I mean, those were really hard times for me. All I can say is that I started seeing his "knights" around a lot, and they always, ahm, insinuated things, like, they would ban me from Meridell if I didn’t stay away from the Cup. I couldn’t leave Meridell! My heart’s in that land! My family, my friends, everyone’s there! By the time I burnt my hand, I decided it was probably a sign for me to, definitely, put an end to my career.

     Reporter: we understand. We know we have nothing to do with this, but that was probably a good choice. Dealing with royalty can be… stressful, to say the least.

     Sir Friedl: yeah, I know that now. It took me a good few years to understand that, but know I do. I have to say, though, that I’ve forgiven King Skarl for it. Now that I’m older and had time to actually study Meridell’s history, I understand how important it is for him to, well, be popular. His reign literally depends on it. King Skarl, my king, if you’re watching this: I forgive you.

     Reporter: well, isn’t that nice? And speaking of "now", what have you been up to these days? Are you still a Meridell supporter?

     Sir Friedl: absolutely! As I said, Meridell’s in my heard. And I trust that my friend "Wizard" will take that cup home one day, I know they are capable of doing so. As for me, I’ve been teaching some kids from Meri Acres how to play Yooyuball. I believe we mustn’t hold on to something that we are good at, and maybe that’s where the future of Team Meridell relies on. The kids of today are the winners of tomorrow.

     Reporter: that’s really inspiring, and I’m sure those kids are watching us right now.

     They both smile.

     Reporter: well, that’s all for today, my dear viewers! And thank you, Sir Friedl, for taking your time to talk to us.

     Sir Friedl: again, I’m the one who thanks for this opportunity.

     Reporter: that’s what we are here for! Coming up next: 10 tips to avoid burning yourself with a Fire Yooyu!

     Sir Friedl: oh, if only I had one of those back then…

     Music’s back, and the camera fades away as they both speak to each other.