Behind the Scenes with the Yooyu Keeper

[Lydia Trebond]

[Lydia is in a dimly lit area, with heavy machinery above her head, though everything is currently still. She beckons the cameraman forward, and it focuses on a pen, in which sleeping Yooyus can be spotted. She speaks in a whisper to the camera.]

We're here below the Colosseum, at the Yooyu pen. This one appears to be the painted Yooyus. From what I can tell they keep them in separate pens, alternating between the two during matches.

[Lydia unlatches the pen door and lets herself in, the cameraman not far behind. There are easily close to a hundred Yooyus in this large pen, most of whom are asleep, while others are playing in the corner. She cautiously approaches the awake ones, who stop playing to look at her. She crouches down and holds out a Yooyu treat she had stashed in her pocket. A brave faerie Yooyu comes forward to sniff it, and then takes it from her, rolling up into a ball and flying back to the others. The rest surge forward a group of about ten sniffing at her pockets and chittering at her. A few crawl on her, curling up in her arms or sitting at her shoulder to talk directly into her ear.]

What's all this racket? [A man carrying a lantern enters the pen, a fire Yooyu perched on his shoulder.]

[The Yooyus in the group that hadn't made new best friends with Lydia rolled over to him, weaving in and out of his legs.]

I'm sorry, we were down here to get some footage of the Yooyu pens for later segments.

[He bends down to pick up a mutant Yooyu that was pawing at his leg, hanging the lantern off one of the bars of the pen.] That's fine, they really don't get enough attention. I think sometimes the fans forget that without the Yooyus, there wouldn't be a Cup.

You're completely right. I presume you're their caretaker? Do you have time for an interview?

I am, in fact. I would love to do an interview. I wish I saw more people down here, maybe you can bring people down to see the Yooyus. Despite what the bigwigs say, I'll let just about anyone in to see them.


What's the job like?

Oh, well, you have your good days and your bad. I have a few apprentices that keep me on my feet. The off-season is always nice. Team members typically each adopt a group of Yooyus, one of each type. It lets them practice and the Yooyus have fun exploring the other lands.

I never thought about that. So, can you tell us what really happens with the Clockwork Yooyus?

[He laughs.] Those sneaky little things. They get bored very quickly and so throw up a smoke screen with a loud bang and disappear back into the pen to play with their friends. It gave the players quite the fright the first few times. They escape unharmed though.

Presumably you're not supposed to have favorites, but I think you might. [she nods at the fire Yooyu on his shoulder.]

This little guy? He was the first fire Yooyu, dating back to the first Cup in Year 8. We only had one of each then, with only a few matches a day. All of the originals retired some years ago. It's rumored that the faerie one lives with Queen Fyora, but that's not true. They're all in Altador, and they still meet up regularly. They mostly stay out of the public eye, but you'll see their owners about. Even the famed Angry Yurble has one of them. He's got a soft spot for Yooyus... but you didn't hear that from me!

Definitely not. How often do the Yooyus retire? What happens to them?

Ah, well, different Yooyus like to stay different lengths of time. Rarely we'll retire them due to an injury, though we try not to do more than bench them. They're really resilient, I've only seen two forced into retirement due to injuries - and neither due to a match. Fans come and adopt them after the Cup, typically. Many of them get adopted by players and former players. I can't think of a single player who doesn't have at least one Yooyu as a pet, to be honest.

So why only these colors? Yooyus come in so many different colors. What about the reds, the Christmas

Two main reasons. The biggest is to cut down on confusion. Imagine being mid-game in the big match against your rival. A red Yooyu pops up. Is it fire or is it red? You have a split second to formulate your strategy based on that. Maybe it's easy if you're on the front line, but what about those on defense, or the goalies? They won't know. The other part is that the Yooyus come to us. In Year 8, it was the small band of fire, ice, faerie and mutant Yooyus that approached King Altador when he proposed re-opening the games. The clockwork, darigan and brown Yooyus followed later.

That makes sense. Thank you so much for taking this time for an impromptu interview. I need to head back to the studio, who knows what trouble Austin and Matt have already gotten themselves into. We'll see you around again later this year, hopefully!

Obligatory disclaimer: This news report is largely fictional, composed from various fan comments and the whims of our imagination in an attempt to inspire a sense of realism through our reporting. While we do our best to keep things reasonably neutral, this report is in no way intended to be a completely bias-free representation of the parties involved, nor does it claim to provide critical analysis of past and potential outcomes from qualified Altador Cup experts. If professional analysis is what tickles your fancy, take a look at our predictions (global/daily).

[Novelista]

...suddenly I want a yooyu! (That picture is so adorable!)

[xblade356]

I'm innocent! It's Austin's fault! (Awesome interview Lydia! Always love reading your work! :D)

[voteforpedro333]

And the pre-signups blurb for LD says the team went out camping together, so now I'm imagining that they brought a bunch of yooyus with them and omg so adorable. :wub_anim: