Tori's Training Tips

Oh, so you want to win the Pteri Flying Championships? Well, guess what, kiddo. You can't win it overnight. The Championships are a worldwide event with worldwide competitors. People--like me--have trained their whole lives for these competitions. But hey, you've gotta start somewhere!

You might know me as Bolt, the lightning flier. My real name is Tori. I participate every year in the Pteri Flying Championships and I've had so many people asking me about it that I decided to put up this page for you new kids on the block. So sit down and listen up, because my advice will help turn you from this:

into this:

Minus the girly color job, of course.

Pteri Flying Championships 101

Sometimes I'll say 'Pteri Championships' and the kid I'm talking to will think it's just a Poogle Racing match set in the sky. That's when I kick 'em in the nu--the nose for being unedumacated! Pteri racing isn't just a bunch of birdbrains squawking around a track. It's an intensive, exciting, and complicated sport that's been honed for hundreds of years to test every aspect of the Pteri physique to its limit. In order to appreciate it, you've gotta get to know it!

The Pteri Flying Championships are held in Tyrannia, birthplace of the Pteri race. The Championship isn't just one big race--it's actually split into four main events. But! In order to place in the overall Championship standings, you're gonna need to ace all of them.

The Events

Sprint: A timed, all-out mad flap to the finish line. This event is the ultimate test of speed. Each Pteri gets their own lane, and the flyer with the fastest time to the finish line wins. Simple as that. The track is only 500m long, so you don't need a lot of endurance, just pure sprinting power and quick acceleration. Some losers say that fliers in this race are only racing against themselves and their own times, but we all know that getting #1 is the real goal.

Attack Run: This is one of the oldest events, harking back to the time before fast food when Pteris had to catch all their meals by themselves. Each lane has five to ten lures set out along the track. The racers have to dive and pick up each of their lures as they fly towards the finish line. Missing or dropping the lures gets penalty time. It's a constant trade-off between trying to gain as much speed as possible while still keeping the accuracy needed to dive and grab. You really have to know how to use your talons well in order to nab the lures on the wing while still keeping ahead of the other fliers.

Dive Bomb: A breakneck jump off a cliff that requires careful precision and flying finesse to win. Contestants rocket downwards through a midair 'track' of suspended hoops and poles, flying at angles of anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees and speeds of up to 200km/h. They're graded not only on how fast they make it down, but on how well they navigate the track. They get penalties if they bump the poles or miss the hoops. This race has more injuries than any other because racers have to know when to start braking at the end of the race. If they brake too soon, they'll add seconds to their time... but if they brake too late, they'll end up as a feather pancake on the ground after crossing the finish line.

Marathon: The last, longest, and most well-known event of the championship. All the contestants start in a giant group at the starting point, and when the race begins, they set out on a long race that spans almost the entire length of Tyrannia. The track is marked by checkpoint flags that make a trail to the finish line. The only rules are that they have to touch each of the checkpoint flags in order! Between the flags, they can take just about any route they feel like. The race is insane at the beginning with everyone clustered together in a pack, especially when all the racers try to cram in at once to touch the first checkpoint flag. It's the hardest event for new contestants, since it demands so much endurance.

The Rules

Before you can get started, you've gotta know a bit about how things are run about here. I don't feel the least bit sad about young'uns like you getting disqualified in your prime for being too dumb to know the rules. If they're too hard for you to remember, get out a pen and paper!

No Contact: Yeah, you heard me right! Fliers aren't allowed to touch each other at all. Why is this? Because, in the past, racers would 'accidentally' stab their competitors in the eyes with their claws, or bludgeon wings with their tails. It wasn't a racing championship as much as a shivving championship. Unfortunately, the good 'ol days are gone, so don't give in to the urge to jostle your smug competitors!

What's the one exception to this rule? In the Marathon event, this rule is relaxed at the beginning. There are so many birds packed together that they'd have to disqualify the whole race anyway. So what does that mean? For you, it means you've gotta be careful! It's no coincidence that you see so many downed fliers at the beginning of that event. After the first checkmark, you're pretty much home free, though beware of flying too close to a competitor in any place where there aren't cameras watching unless you're willing to get into a tussle.

No Magic: So you think you're all set because you've got a friend who knows how to cast Hasty on you? No dice, kid. The Championships are all about flying under your own power. If they catch you trying to sneak any kind of magic boost into the races, you'll be disqualified faster than you can say "my career is worm food." This also applies to long-term effects of magical artifacts. If you're not sure about whether something falls under the label of 'magic,' then check the Official PFC Handbook. They have a full list in the back.

What if I trained under a Faerie? If Faeries have helped you hone your skills or increase your strength through magical means, you should still be eligible. Faerie stat boosts are okay, Speed Potions are not.

No Non-Official Foodstuffs: Once you're in the Championships, you can only eat or drink from official Championship-sponsored areas. Don't accept water bottles or jelly worms from your friends, no matter how well-intentioned. I actually fell prey to this rule once when I was starting out! I was suckered into pigging out on some Grubwiches with a 'new friend' (who turned out to be my top competitor's brother) and ended up having to sit out my race. Worst year EVER.

The Championships put this rule in place to make it easier for them to enforce their no-magic rule and to put everyone on a fair footing. Be careful of it!

Wear Your Number! You get those little numbered pieces of cloth for a reason! While they don't look very stylish, they're the way the judges know you've won. You can get disqualified if the judges can't see your number. And don't think you can go switching with someone else (though why you'd want to, I have no idea). They'll know, man.

No Outside Help: I mean, I shouldn't even have to say this one. Any kind of outside help, whether it's from a friend, a family member, or a machine, is gonna get you in trouble if you get caught. Yes, that means you're not allowed to wear those lift-booster doodads that all the kids love to play with. There's actually been a big controversy about a flier who lost his wing in an accident and got a mechanical one to replace it; judges aren't sure if it represents an unfair advantage or what. But since most of you don't have to worry about mechanical limbs, just take off your fancy customizations and you should be fine.

(If you don't, I'll take them off for you when the cameras aren't rolling, and then some. You pesky squirts, trying to bend the rules and win my trophies.)

Training: What Flies, What Dies

Ask a dozen Neopians how best to train yourself and you'll get a dozen different answers. There's a lot of hogwash out there, and a lot of people trying to take advantage of inexperienced young fliers. Here is some tested and true advice about beefing up.

If it seems too good to be true... ...then it probably is. The one authentic strategy for becoming a great flier fast is to practice every day, consistently. Does that sound too boring? Then take a whole lotta faerie quests on top of that; it makes things go faster. Don't buy into 'miracle cures', don't zap yourself silly with sketchy rays, and for heaven's sake, don't listen to those people in that creepy fairground in the woods.

Worms Before Workout: In terms of diet, you need one major thing to succeed in training, and that's lots of protein. You could go ahead and get it from expensive shakes or mixes, but I prefer the old-fashioned way: good 'ol grubs! Eating a high-protein diet will help you build muscle and stamina fast without exhausting yourself.

The Low-Down on Wing Shearing: Some idiots advocate a training method that involves deliberately clipping your wingtips. The theory is similar to high-altitude training: that you'll spend more energy flying all the time, and thus you'll gain wing strength. Granted, you will gain some brute strength, but at the cost of any dexterity you might have had. People train on this method, grow their feathers back out for the big race, and then fly right into a wall because they don't know how to control their wings normally. Avoid this training method at all costs!

Big-Name Brands: People have asked me if any of the traditional, highly advertised workout programs really do what they claim. I can confidently recommend the PTER-X program as a great way to get started. I tried it in my earlier years and it was a great way to get into the competition. I do NOT recommend trying 'universal' pet body type programs or programs targeted towards Lennies or Korbats. We're just too different!

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