Bookends

[Anti]

Please don't lock or delete this thread.

Hello friends. I used to pop on the server periodically to check back in on everyone, but I haven't seen a single one of you there in months. Maybe I just don't check often enough, I don't know. As it has become tiresome trying to track down everyone and I don't want to send a bunch of VMs, I figured I'd just consolidate the effort here.

I was hoping for a no bullshit, more sincere version of this than I've done in the past. It seems this community has died, and that's fine, but if that's the case I do worry there won't be many more chances to do this. So I'm going to do it now.

If you know who I am, you've been here a long time. Three years, ten years, doesn't matter really, that's a lot. I'm 26 now, so I spent something like a quarter or a third of my life as an active user here, which usually meant hours a day talking with strangers. Maybe there's an exception or two I'm missing, but I think this is true of most everyone I regularly interacted with who is (or appears to be) still around. I hope it doesn't sound too weighty--and I don't think it is at all--to say PC and its various social offshoots have been a significant part of our lives, and really our development as people. For many of us, we grew up here. A lot of us met significant others or lovers here and at least made a friend or two we still keep in touch with somehow. My siblings have met PC users I knew in my time here. My real-life friends know about many of you, by both username and name. PC doesn't bleed into my real life like it used to, but isn't it something that it ever did?

I'm sure everyone has their little pockets where vestiges of this community exist, maybe on Discord or whatever people might be using now, but as I am not aware of them and was only scarcely part of them when I was here, I am going to pry and ask everyone some things to fill in that gap for myself.

How is everyone? How are your lives going? What are you doing now? Do you feel happy and fulfilled? What are your struggles? How has this community affected your lives? How are things here? What feels relevant to share that doesn't address any of these questions?

While I want to withhold much of what I want to say to spare myself the potential embarrassment of posting this to an indifferent or dead community, I still want to share something myself. I left PC after returning for my senior year of college, and the two years that followed graduating were very unsettled for me. It's hard to achieve material security, especially when you spent your free time here and not developing marketable skills. But I did begin to self-teach Python a couple years ago at the recommendation of a friend, which eventually branched out into other programming skills. This eventually became a job. I appreciate the irony, though, that after years of deriding excessive CSS in RMTs or battle logs or wherever else it might have popped up, it suddenly...became my career? I don't know how that happened. Two years ago, I wrote a command line Pokemon battle sim--basically some poverty-ass Pokemon Showdown, to still be much too charitable to what I produced--and looking back on that I realize how bizarrely instrumental my time here was in letting me do "adult things" like developing skills and getting a job, moving into my own apartment, and spending embarrassing sums of money reliving the original spark for this hobby in the first place: the original WOTC Pokemon cards. Base, Jungle, Fossil, and parts of a few other sets, all displayed in my home. So in some sense I guess my time here is there for everyone to see, maybe hidden in plain sight for some, but most people important to me know that I was raised here, too.

I'm doing well. I hope you are too.

I'd like to hear from everyone, as the time between when I remember to check in here keeps getting longer, and I would really like to know how everyone is doing. And even if you have no idea who the hell I am but are or were affiliated with competitive battling on PC in a way that feels significant to you, I'd like it if you posted too.

And finally, to circle back on my plea at the start of this post, if I must justify the existence of this (definitely against the rules) thread, here, in "Strategies and Movesets", maybe we collectively earned an off-topic thread in our own community to process what the experience meant and continues to mean to us as individuals and as a community. PokeCommunity.

 

[Nah]

Heya Anti.

I suppose nothing much is really different with me, although I don't really battle anymore.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I don't mind threads like this actually. I think stuff like this serves more of a purpose than general feedback threads. Personally wouldn't mind bringing back the DCC here for everyone just to keep in touch more and chat about things that we feel could better the community.

You are right though, the community feels more or less dead. Not so much because of lack of effort, we've done a lot behind the scenes and had a lot planned, but I think people genuinely are exhausted with this generation. I know I am. When gen 7 was released I was having more fun than I have had in a long time but it quickly grew stale. We've had some decent activity with tournaments as of late but just no consistent activity.

I am very hopeful though that the upcoming gen is a huge breath of fresh air. We already have some events planned and a meta with a good portion of the Pokemon potentially not surviving dexit(please kill off Landorus), I think this could genuinely be the first time competitive Pokemon is revitalized for us.

On a personal note though, I am great. A bit too busy right now to contribute as much as I would like but things should change soon.

 

[Dark Azelf]

I am very hopeful though that the upcoming gen is a huge breath of fresh air. We already have some events planned and a meta with a good portion of the Pokemon potentially not surviving dexit(please kill off Landorus), I think this could genuinely be the first time competitive Pokemon is revitalized for us.

Needed doing along time ago. Some of the mechanics are weird, more weird than me. When i think something is weird, thats a problem. :P

On a serious note this community needs a kick up the bottomous. :(

Please don't lock or delete this thread.

Even with an obnoxious "thread deleted by Dark Azelf <reason>" for old times sake? :(


I was hoping for a no bullshit, more sincere version of this than I've done in the past. It seems this community has died, and that's fine, but if that's the case I do worry there won't be many more chances to do this. So I'm going to do it now.

If you know who I am, you've been here a long time. Three years, ten years, doesn't matter really, that's a lot. I'm 26 now, so I spent something like a quarter or a third of my life as an active user here, which usually meant hours a day talking with strangers. Maybe there's an exception or two I'm missing, but I think this is true of most everyone I regularly interacted with who is (or appears to be) still around. I hope it doesn't sound too weighty--and I don't think it is at all--to say PC and its various social offshoots have been a significant part of our lives, and really our development as people. For many of us, we grew up here. A lot of us met significant others or lovers here and at least made a friend or two we still keep in touch with somehow. My siblings have met PC users I knew in my time here. My real-life friends know about many of you, by both username and name. PC doesn't bleed into my real life like it used to, but isn't it something that it ever did?

This hurts my feels. :(

While I want to withhold much of what I want to say to spare myself the potential embarrassment of posting this to an indifferent or dead community, I still want to share something myself. I left PC after returning for my senior year of college, and the two years that followed graduating were very unsettled for me. It's hard to achieve material security, especially when you spent your free time here and not developing marketable skills. But I did begin to self-teach Python a couple years ago at the recommendation of a friend, which eventually branched out into other programming skills. This eventually became a job. I appreciate the irony, though, that after years of deriding excessive CSS in RMTs or battle logs or wherever else it might have popped up, it suddenly...became my career? I don't know how that happened. Two years ago, I wrote a command line Pokemon battle sim--basically some poverty-ass Pokemon Showdown, to still be much too charitable to what I produced--and looking back on that I realize how bizarrely instrumental my time here was in letting me do "adult things" like developing skills and getting a job, moving into my own apartment, and spending embarrassing sums of money reliving the original spark for this hobby in the first place: the original WOTC Pokemon cards. Base, Jungle, Fossil, and parts of a few other sets, all displayed in my home. So in some sense I guess my time here is there for everyone to see, maybe hidden in plain sight for some, but most people important to me know that I was raised here, too.

I'm doing well. I hope you are too.

;-;

I'd like to hear from everyone, as the time between when I remember to check in here keeps getting longer, and I would really like to know how everyone is doing. And even if you have no idea who the hell I am but are or were affiliated with competitive battling on PC in a way that feels significant to you, I'd like it if you posted too.

And finally, to circle back on my plea at the start of this post, if I must justify the existence of this (definitely against the rules) thread, here, in "Strategies and Movesets", maybe we collectively earned an off-topic thread in our own community to process what the experience meant and continues to mean to us as individuals and as a community. PokeCommunity.

Make S+M great again? :(

Honestly i dont like this post. It hurts. I miss friends. I miss going on the server. I miss the community here. And i find myself despite wherever i am in life, coming back sporadically, hoping it will be like it was for so long back then. Im actually surprisingly upset because usually i flat out refuse, abhor and hate displaying any emotion because i struggle doing so probably because of how fucked up i am lol, so for me do this takes alot because of this bloody post. PC has gotten me through some really dark days irl and i hate that the community/close friends have gone and i find myself some days simply searching through past threads, from 5, 10 years or even longer ago..... i really should be long gone by now but memories of people i suppose i was once so close to arent here to chat to anymore.

How is everyone? How are your lives going? What are you doing now? Do you feel happy and fulfilled? What are your struggles? How has this community affected your lives? How are things here? What feels relevant to share that doesn't address any of these questions?

Personal life "lol" if things had gone as planned id have been married way back in 2010 which you know so as for how its affected my life.....yeah lol. Yay for ghosts from the past. Met some really great people here over the years, wish i could have met more in person tho. Other than that im alive i suppose kind of sort of ish.

Im seeing someone at the moment and its going ok.

Job wise, i have my dream job as a strength and conditioning coach/personal trainer (i have the highest qualification in this field) and its going amazingly, best decision ive ever made and ive really made some bad ones lol. I want to get into physiotherapy at some point too. Im also looking to compete at (Olympic style for you infidels) weightlifting and looking at nationals in the future.

Post what you were/are withholding.

Also visit me again.

Also ive grown my hair out and have piercings.

Also you are ginger.

Also screw you for your feels post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vJ__T1QGmY

Also join me on a crusade to retake Constantinople.

 

[Cid]

I'm doing well. I hope you are too.

Hey there, Anti. I only lurked this part of the forum in your guys's heyday, but I do remember you. I hung out at the battle server around late 2012, shortly before I left PC altogether to focus on life. Our experiences of this community may have been at different times, but I did enjoy the time that I had with everyone.

Right now, I'm doing alright. My life has been up and down. In my time away I experienced a few heartbreaks, took remedial courses, got a degree, taught university students, left that job for a year, and came back. I am now working on finishing grad school, and for the most part, I am happy. Maybe I felt a bit more fulfilled when I was teaching, but doing just one thing full-time is helping me cope a bit better. I envisioned myself being married at this point, but I haven't had the luck. Even just finding a stable job is proving to be difficult.

I admit a small part of why I came back to PC is because I missed everyone from the battle server. The server felt like a place I could always go to back then. It's a shame it isn't like that now. But I am glad that I still see some of the people I met there, either in other parts of PC or in PC's Discord.

I am hopeful that PC users can breathe life into this place again someday. If the Sword and Shield meta ends up being that one spark that we needed, I'd be more than happy to be here with everyone again.

It's good to hear that you are doing well. Your post made me feel for what you've been through.

 

[wolf]

I really miss you all.

It would be cool if we made a Discord group to keep in touch! I suggested that to you a while back, Anti, but you didn't want to learn how to use Discord. 😩 And maybe sticky this w/ the invite link in case any old regulars come back to check on things.

I'm glad all of you are doing well for the most part. As for me, I'm fine. I was at community college for a few years up until this year when I got accepted into UVA. Still working towards that CS degree. While I'm enjoying my time here, it's exhausting with all the coursework. The more time I spend in college, the more eager I am for it to be over... I have to stop myself and appreciate it for what it is though. On an unrelated note, just this past weekend I went to Busch Gardens, Yorktown, and VA Beach, because I'm on a short fall break. It was a pretty big deal to me since I hadn't been on vacation in forever! Now I'm cramming for a probability midterm lol.

 

[Dragon]

I've quit BSS sometime ago, but I still do wanna keep in touch with you guys if at all possible. I do miss those times.

 

[Megan]

It has been a while, hasn't it?

As much as I was engaged into trying to learn competitive during gen 6, I kind of hit rock bottom in gen 7 early on. In general my interest in the series kinda dwindled from then on onward and hasn't really gotten better. I also had to move and focus on rl, three years trade school and currently a job to work in. Doesn't help that I can only spend a limited amount of time on the internet these days.

 

[Anti]

It's great to hear from everyone. I meant to reply to this last weekend, but unfortunately I ended up spending Saturday sick and it got away from me.

post

I appreciate the candor with which you spoke. I don't share the longing that you feel, but I used to. PC is great; PC can also be an emotional crutch. It was really positive for me when I realized I was using it as that and wasn't creating new experiences, which is what really contributes to positive experiences not just here but with anything. It started to feel like when your favorite TV show starts "keeping up with your favorite characters" instead of doing anything new and it jumps the shark for it. If you still have Facebook, you should add me again. We should talk about it and catch up.

post

I write CSS now. Anything is possible.

I'm down for whatever. I don't know what group of people from my time still exists, if one does at all, but if it does I'm guessing you have a better idea of how to rally them than I do. Just post it here or somewhere where anyone willing can hop in on it.

 

[Lil MuDkiP849]

This thread hit me with both feels and nostalgia really hard...I sit here reading the words posted in this thread and the sheer amount of emotion and genuineness from it is enough to make a balloon burst. How are you guys ^.^ Anti..Its so good to see you've found your path!! Keep it up man, I'm always rooting for you! Hey Azelf, I know we never talked directly much in the Diamond and Pearl days, but reading everything you've accomplished for yourself..truly inspiring stuff.

I was never in the battle server (I always played on Wi-Fi, friend code or random Pokemon Battle Rev battles). However, the amount of times I asked for RMTs, critiques, silly little gimmicks I thought up of, were always posted to this forum for you guys to whip me into shape. You guys weren't easy on me at all, and always corrected some sort of wonky EV spread I'd made or some other. I miss those times, and I'm happy they happened. You guys helped make the team that I kept with for hundreds upon hundreds of victories online, and could've taken it even further if I applied myself and competed more.

Starmie, Snorlax, Infernape, Tangrowth, Swampert, Salamence I will never, ever forget this team. Maybe the metas changed even in gen IV since...but at the time these guys were difficult to topple in my hands...and you guys helped me create it.

As for my actual real life self? Heh..well, was still in high school when I first joined here. I'm actually working to become an RN(Registered Nurse)later planning to go into being an NP(Nurse practitioner). I'm also working to fulfill a real life dream I've always had- and thats to perform in front of an audience playing songs like "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson with my guitar playing. I'm getting there, but just like everything else in life you want to do you have to be diligent, disciplined and practice.

It wasn't always this "up" for me however...I drifted a lot and didn't always have the answer. I learnt I needed to stop depending so much on others and become dependable myself...so thats exactly what I ended up doing.

As for Pokemon, I'm looking to get back into it with Sw/Sh! Ever since the burnout I felt over Gen Vs release and later Gen 6 with how I felt megas given to pokes like Tyranitar and Garchomp were just really unneeded..Its time to go back to battling the way I always loved to. It won't be the days of Diamond and Pearl again and nor should it be, it will be different. Maybe there will be some new broken mechanic, maybe it'll be balanced. All I know? I'm just gonna have fun with the new games, win or lose. With my gimmicks and other ideas however, especially if this side of the forum is revitalized..theres only ever once place on the internet I'd prefer to go to with my team and thats right here with you guys.

 

[Yoshikkko]

Warms my heart to see people here that I spent years building friendships with online around one thing we all shared! Being part of the battling community (from PO on for me) felt like such a privilege, like I was part of a special club. I guess later on that also became one of its faults, exclusivity, but that's another discussion haha... It was a family, I really felt taken in and like I had earned my own personal spot, as everyone else. No one was expendable, we all embraced our uniqueness and left room for eachother to reach personal goals, be it team-building or battling certain styles. It was a competitive atmosphere for sure, but also a very motivating and stimulating atmosphere and I had fun all the way. I really regret that there hasn't been a follow up, and I like Wolf's suggestion of an alumni discord group. That being said, I don't think it could ever capture the specific feeling that this community gave me, but being in the same place with all the same people might be a good start.

It's odd to realize that people on the other side of the world can have a legit impact on your personal, very real life. But for me these moments we all shared are unforgettable and have shaped part of who I am. I'm doing very well currently, as you know because we talk daily which I am very grateful for. Graduated from uni which I never expected to be able to do, and trying to enjoy life day by day. When I speak of people who have had an impact on my life, I especially mean you. As you know you've helped me through a very difficult time in life and I came out so much better, and was able to replace everything that happened with some beautiful memories we made. For the rest I think you know my struggles and joys in life, but I would be delighted to be able to share it with many more members of our battling family on a discord (or whatever) server!