Prologue
Authoress's Notes: Hi everyone! I thought this year would be as good as any to actually write this, especially because of the World Cup occurring in Brazil. (That and the fact that the first Altador Cup took place on the site in 2006 to coincide with it) Also, I have tweaked the rules of Yooyuball to fit the story better and seem more like an actual sport, which are explained later on in the Prologue.
The ancient sport of Yooyuball! Originating from the Neopian land of Altador, this legendary test of skill, speed and teamwork has been played in the kingdom for over a millennium. With the recent revival of this Greco-Roman kingdom, its famed annual sporting event, the Altador Cup, has been revived along with it.
For almost 8 years the lands of Neopia have competed against one another in hopes of taking the coveted trophy to their respective homelands, bringing fame along with them. The many teams of Neopets that have entered the Coliseum hoping to win this tournament have varied in size, age and species but only a small few have been able to claim the title as champion.
As of late the sport of Yooyuball has expanded beyond the borders of Altador and Neopia and has gained popularity with Toons both old and young alike. Even some video game characters! Taking note of this, King Altador, ruler of the land in which this sport came to be, has decided to open his kingdom to those beyond and have them participate in an Altador Cup of their own. With some help from his council, the king has selected 16 different lands to have the honor of competing in a Yooyuball tournament the likes of which Altador has never seen.
"How is Yooyuball played?" you might ask. In essence, Yooyuball is played a bit similar to Soccer/Football with a little bit of lacrosse with a Petpet called a Yooyu in place of the ball. Don't worry about the Yooyu though, as their incredibly thick hides protect them while they are being thrown about and caught by the players. However, only Yooyus of the highest physical condition are used in official tournament play. As for each team, they consist of five players with one goalie, one to three defenders and one to three forwards, depending on formation, with 2+2 being the most common.
The main object of the game is for both teams to try and score as many points as they can by tossing the Yooyu into the opponent's goal within the game's time limit. During gameplay, the Yooyu can only be controlled by the hands of a non-goalkeeper when being stopped and/or placed into the player's sling and cannot be carried any father than 2 steps when not in the sling, defenders cannot pass the center boundary unless all of their team's forwards are located on their side of the field, the goalkeeper cannot hold onto the Yooyu after a save any longer than 6 seconds and players cannot grab an opposing player's face, hair, uniform or sling when trying to steal the Yooyu. Breaking any of these rules results in a foul and a consequence ranging from a warning, to a free shot to the opposing team to ejection of the player, depending on how many offences the player has committed during gameplay.
As for the Yooyu, there are seven different types of them used during gameplay, each with a different trait: Normal, Fire, Snow, Faerie, Darigan, Mutant and Clockwork. While the normal Yooyu has no unique attributes, Fire Yooyus travel father and faster than their regular counterparts and Snow ones do the opposite. Faerie Yooyus when thrown travel in an arc rather than in a straight line, Darigan travel in a random direction when thrown and Mutant randomly shuffles to another Yooyu's traits every five to ten seconds. The Clockwork Yooyus, which technically are robots instead of Petpets, are treated like Snow Yooyus but once they are thrown, a timer activates and both teams are given 10 seconds to score a goal with it before the Clockwork Yooyu explodes.
As soon as a goal is scored or the Clockwork Yooyu explodes, the game clock is stopped, a new Yooyu is randomly selected and put in the center of the field and all players reset to their original positions until the referee signals to begin the game clock and the match once more. If the score it tied by the end of regulation, a Shootout Showdown will occur. In a Shootout Showdown, both teams select one forward and take turns throwing the Yooyu into the goal being blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper. The first team to score a goal while the other team does not in a round of Shootout Showdown will be declared the winner.
The invitations have been sent out and preparations are being made. Who will be competing in this history-making tournament and who will be victorious?
