Random And so it's time to say goodbye

I've been contemplating how I should write this post, given that it's my last on an organization that I spent six years in, longer than any other. I got my start on GameFAQs, where I played for four years, then eventually found a home in the German circuit for five years, migrated to RBYK10 where I stuck around for three years, and have been here since 2013, when this place was just getting started. Many of you will surely want to know why I have decided to part ways with Pokemon Perfect, a site that gave me the chance to reinvent myself multiple times and continue to excel in gen 1.

I feel that, when a lot of people write these kinds of messages, they tend to focus on the negative. I don't want that to be the case here. I'm not here to argue or explain why I think others are wrong; rather, I want to use this time and energy to focus on all of the fun, all of the great times, and all of the fond memories that I have of Pokemon Perfect, which make it clear why I lasted here for as long as I did.

As I alluded to in the introduction of this post, I came here in May of 2013, when this site had just opened up. It had been around since 2011 or even 2009, but it was basically Lutra and his two friends fooling around and nothing more. It reopened as the central hub of gen 1, as the RBY ladder on Pokemon Online was red hot at the time and Lutra, to his credit, wisely capitalized on that opportunity by giving the ladder players a tournament arena on their own. I was one of the ladder players who heard about Pokemon Perfect, so I decided to join given that I had been dominating in gen 1 for over a decade, and wanted to prove I could excel against a new generation of players. I was already successful on the ladder, reaching #1 and staying there for quite some time, so I was open to the idea of a new challenge. Due to my blazing success on the ladder and on Pokefans, where I made a comeback and won its 4Chords Cup (an RBY OU tournament), I thought making the transition to Pokemon Perfect would be easy. I reached the semi finals in my first Master Tournament, where I faced none other than Lutra himself. While I made a thrilling comeback from 0-2 and managed to force a 5th game, I was unable to win the decisive Chansey-Chansey freezewar and lost.

There was competition here. I'd stick around, though my first few months were rough. It wasn't until October or so where I finally started to live up to my expectations, making it into the finals of my first Master Tournament and winning it, beating my rivals Velli, Crystal, and then Lutra. Things continued to look up as I won the RBY2K10 Revival tournament as well, which was essentially a gathering of the best ladder players and newcomers. There I beat Alexij (PS ladder champion), Golden Gyarados (PO ladder champion), marcoasd (newcomer who had to wait a few more months before it was time to shine), and then Isa in the finals.

I was on top again in 2014. I had the best run on the ladder, won the most tournaments, and beat the game's top players. In June I ran into marcoasd again, who had recently come off a string of two consecutive Master Tournament victories and also won the season. Some were saying that he was now one of the best, while others felt that he still had to prove himself. I was able to fight him off again and retained my spot on the top of the mountain; however, with the end of summer came the beginning of a new era, as marco beat me in two Master Tournament finals in a row in August. The torch had been passed and a new great was crowned.

Things got harder at the end of the year. New challengers, such as The Joker, Bedschibaer, Mister Tim, ALLALA, During Summer, Bomber, and SoulWind, were just as hungry as I was to reach the top. While I was largely successful against this new batch of talent with only a couple of unfortunate defeats, things felt different. It was clear that I was more vulnerable than before. I was losing more. It was becoming more difficult to win. However, 2015 seemed like it might have been my year again. Marco was losing more than usual. I had a shot to win the first season. I made a big splash in the first RBY OU Global Championship on Smogon, making it all the way into the top 8. Unfortunately, politics resulted in my unfair and illegitimate elimination, which ended up hurting my motivation and affected my performance in the finals of Master Tournament #17, where I lost to Ortheore. Then, to add insult to injury, I was disqualified in the last tournament of the season, ending my chances of winning. I had some thinking to do in the Spring, but decided to stick with Pokemon Perfect.

I signed up in season 7, where I once again reached the semi finals of another Master Tournament, facing yet another hot prospect, Alexander. It was one of the wildest roller coasters I had ever played; for example, game 4 was decided by whether or not my Zapdos could go four turns without getting fully paralyzed. I got paralyzed on the fourth turn, forcing a 5th game that came down to my Slowbro and his Tauros. Tauros powered through, and another Italian knocked me down. After a sour year in which I could taste the top but didn't get to experience more than the sample size, I tried to get things back on track in 2016. For the first time ever, I failed to make the semi finals in two Master Tournaments, losing in the earlier rounds in two very difficult five-game sets. Nonetheless, I was playing well, and was "rewarded" by "winning" the Supreme RBY OU Tournament on SmogonJr, where I beat Alexander in the second round, but was DQ'd once again, resulting in another unfair and illegitimate elimination. Still, beating Alex, who went on to win the tournament after it was restarted gave me some inspiration, something to lean on. I made the semi finals of the last Master Tournament of the season, where I lost to marco, though I played very well and was happy with my performance.

My momentum got stronger in the infamous season 9, where I reached the semi finals of the first two Master Tournaments and was one of the many players in contention for first place. I also played in the first International League (precursor to the World Cup), which was a lot of fun. I played for team Russia because I used to live there and lived in another former communist country at the time, and scored victories against Peasounay, Golden Gyarados, and Ortheore, and helping our team nearly reach the finals. Going back to season 9, which was probably the most competitive season in the organization's history, I had made the final four before being eliminated in the second round thanks to yet another DQ. I had already won a Master Tournament. I had multiple top 3 finishes in the Player Rankings. Winning a season was the one thing I really wanted to accomplish. This was the closest I ever came, and in the eyes of my critics, I would never get that close again.

The summer of 2016 had ended and fall began, which was also nearly when my fallout with Pokemon Perfect took place. After a horrible start in season 10 when I lost in the first round, I made it back to familiar territory, the semi finals, in the second tournament. I was up against Ortheore, and all I needed to do to win the pivotal fifth game was land Sing with my Lapras. I had three chances to do so, and struck out all three times. While I did manage to beat him in the first World Championship and made the top 6, I wanted the Master Tournament victory more. My frustration peaked in the last tournament of the season, where I lost to Enigami thanks to horrible occurrences such as a 1/256 Explosion miss and a critical hit Hyper Beam from Tauros that did the full 100% to my own. It was such a mock of a set that Enigami gave me the win, but once more, it was not meant to be and the loss remained intact. I was not happy with administration for these numerous bouts of controversy, but I don't want to go any further than that. All I'll say here is that I came very close to leaving Pokemon Perfect at the end of 2016, but decided to stay I wanted to leave on a good note given how much time I had already invested here.

In the beginning of 2017 I was on the Pokemon Perfect server and was challenged by Disaster Area and Diegolh. Disaster Area asked, "When was the last time you even finished in the top 3 of a season?" while Diegolh said that Lusch was better than me. When I look back at 2016, I thought it was a solid year. I had a few top 4 finishes, made top 6 of the World Championship, and had a very respectable performance in the International League. Nonetheless, this challenge showed me that I was starting to become seen as a veteran stepping stone that others wanted to play in order to prove themselves rather than one of the very top players. I wanted to be seen as the best one more time. I knew I had the ability to do so; unfortunately, I just wasn't getting lucky at times, and I had also run into some problems with administration in certain previous tournaments. I wanted 2017 to be my year.

And so I played in the 2017 edition of the Vermilion Cup, one of the three "tournaments of champions." I had a very solid performance here, scoring wins against Ortheore, Bedschibaer, and Diegolh, and rallied back from 0-2 against Alexander in the semi finals to force a 5th game, though was ultimately unsuccessful. Although I didn't win, I finished in the top 3 and was determined to keep playing, but I felt that I needed more practice, so I decided to start playing on the Pokemon Showdown ladder. I tinkered with some new ideas for a change, such as Persian teams and more aggressive teams that didn't have Exeggutor. For the first time in four years I reached top 3 of the ladder, peaking at 3rd place with a 93% GXE and 1643 score. It wasn't a roudolf level of dominance, but I was satisfied with it, and more importantly, all those competitive ladder games made me more comfortable in tournament play. My success on the ladder transitioned well into success in other tiers: I won the first 2U World Championship, only losing one game and beating Golden Gyarados, Peasounay, linekeoubeur, and marco along the way to finish with an overall record of 14-1. I know lower tiers aren't seen in the same vein as OU, but I'm still proud of having the best mindset in regard to team building and nearly pulling off the undefeated record. Sadly, my luck turned for the worse in the second Pokemon Perfect League, in which I was a member of Team Poison, I was running into unfortunate strings of bad luck and did not end up with the record I felt I deserved. Still, I was being picked every week to win by Lusch, and things started to turn around in the last two weeks, so I knew that others saw I was playing well, and the unlucky losses did not stymie my confidence. Instead, I made my first final round of a Master Tournament in two years, beating Poek, Linkin Karp, Metalgross, and Idiot Ninja to get there, only losing two games along the way. My opponent was Peasounay, who had been putting on a clinic all year round and seemed unbeatable. Sure, I beat him the year before in the International League, but things were certainly different this time around. He was more experienced, smarter, more calculating. What ensued was a two-hour set of very well played, very intense Pokemon that went the full five games with Peasounay coming out on top.

While I wanted that win badly--not just because Peasounay was having the year of his life and I was motivated to be seen as #1--but moreso from my burning desire to finally win a season. Now, here I was, about a year after season 9, and I was in 2nd place. I kept playing well in the second tournament, reaching the quarterfinals where I met ladder sensation EvanRBY, who played over 1,000 games on the ladder and beat me in five games, with the fourth being one of the more ridiculous losses I ever suffered. I missed Blizzard three times in a row and his Gengar woke up with one turn left to spare, then Sing failed to connect. As disappointed as I was with the loss, he did show me some techniques that I liked, such as the way he played Explosion, and his teams also piqued my interest. So, while I did lose that set, I learned from it and gained some new tools to use, which I made good use of in the final tournament of the season, which was probably the most competitive since season 9. It was a three-way between me, Peasounay, and Troller: we were all within 1 or 2 points of each other, making it clear that the winner wouldn't be decided until the very end. My first real challenge in the tour was Ortheore, with whom I had a great deal of history and had beaten me in two Master Tournaments before. I swept him to even the score and keep my hopes of winning the season alive. Peasounay was up against Metalgross and ended up losing in a close, five-game set, which meant that it came down to me and Troller. Troller went up first, also losing to Metalgross in four games. I had to play Disaster Area and needed to win two games to seal the season victory, but it wasn't going to be easy considering he was definitely no slouch. After losing the first game, I bounced back and won the next one, then won the second game in what was one of the best feelings I ever experienced here. Not only did I finally win a season after so many politically motivated setbacks, but it was almost exactly a year after season 9. Moreover, what really made it feel like a culmination was that I had to beat Disaster Area twice to win the season, the person who asked, "When was the last time you even finished in the top 3 of a season?" and who was also the tournament host during season 9.

To be honest, I stopped caring after the third game, and eventually lost the set thanks primarily to two consecutive turns of full paralysis. Hats off to him for winning the battle, but I won the war. The season was mine, which also meant that I qualified for the Fuchsia Cup at the last second, the third tournament of champions in which only season winners and winners of certain events were allowed to participate. I finished in 3rd place of the Vermilion Cup and went positive in the Indigo Cup, so I was one of only two players who had the chance of having a winning record in all three events, which was something I really wanted to pull off. Lusch was the other participant who had that opportunity, and he coasted into the finals without dropping a single game. My road was a challenging one in which I defeated my rival of yesteryear, Alexander, in the first round. I lost to another rival, marco, in the second round, falling into the snake pit against Bedschibaer but crawled out with some bites. I then fell into the shark tank where I met Idiot Ninja, winning a close encounter and earning an all-expenses paid trip to the lion's den, where I awaited marcoasd again. This time I managed to win, making the finals where I awaited Lusch. As awesome as it would have been to have won this tournament after what it took to qualify and who I had to beat to get into the finals, I was beaten handily in two games. Although disappointing, it was a fun run and I was very happy with my performance overall. I also accomplished my goal of going positive, accumulating an overall win/loss record of 24-18 across all three events. When one considers the names I faced, I'd say that's a record to be content with.

I was really motivated to win the second World Championship after coming so close in Fuchsia and not having a winning record last year. I put on arguably one of my best performances ever, winning six sets in a row against the likes of Sceptross, Texas Cloverleaf, stunner047, and hclat to reach the semi finals, only dropping one game. I met Peasounay in the final four, who was now my best rival since marco from three years prior. In fact, if you look at our body of work (the MT finals, the World Championship, WCOPP, and SPL), they might be some of the greatest sets of all time. Peasounay had a strong desire to win after falling short last year and wanted one more feather in his already ostentatious cap, while I wanted a high-profile victory against him. After losing the first game, it was do or die in the second, which I thankfully won. Unfortunately, Peasounay was relentless and took the third game, putting my back against the wall in an elimination game. In what was an odd outcome, I won by PP wasting his Victreebel of all things and barely won to force yet another dramatic fifth game. I didn't want this to be deja vu all over again. My team matched up well against his. I played as best as I could, but so did he, and he got the break he needed to defeat me once again in one of the greatest sets of all time, one that went two hours and was fought between two symbols of their respective eras who wanted to win more than anything.

"won 3-2 in one of the most memorable series i've ever had

[Gen 1] OU replay: Peasounay vs. GGFan 7102 - Pokémon Showdown
[Gen 1] OU replay: Peasounay vs. GGFan 7102 - Pokémon Showdown
[Gen 1] OU replay: GGFan 7102 vs. Peasounay - Pokémon Showdown
[Gen 1] OU replay: Peasounay vs. GGFan 7102 - Pokémon Showdown
[Gen 1] OU replay: Peasounay vs. GGFan 7102 - Pokémon Showdown

had most of the rng throughout the series but choked g2 like a retard which i was punished for like i should be. i got away with some gambles i made in g3. g5 was a complete rollercoaster

ggs ggfan, we have our differences at times but i def have respect for you as a player, i'll acknowledge i'm not sure i'm the most deserving one here, hope to meet you in mt finals to give a better showing"

"Lost 2-3 to Peasounay in an insanely close set and by far the best one I've had against him (which is saying something). I was down 0-1 and 1-2, so fighting back to stay alive each time was a small victory in itself against somebody the caliber of Peasounay. To be honest not much was going my way until the end of game 2, when he made a misplay that pretty much cost him the game. In game 3 I got a million paraslams, but he still managed to fight back and barely win thanks to making an incredible hustle play at the very end. Game 4 was really frustrating for me in that his Victreebel missed Wrap twice and my Exeggutor got fp'd twice on the same turns. That one came down to said Pokemon, and I won thanks to stalling out Wrap's PP.

Game 5 was simply an incredible game. I needed Sing to connect on Slowbro to win it, but sadly it was not meant to be. The early wake-up broke my heart a little too. Well, thems the breaks.

ggs as always. Really happy with my run in this tournament, since my goal was to make top 4 and I did that in pretty dominant fashion, not losing a single set until this one. I would have liked to have faced stunner, as we have some history and it would have been an interesting "coming of age" matchup for him, but oh well.

P.S. yes, every set we have always comes down to the wire. You are one my toughest opponent, and I believe you feel the same way about me at this point."

As much as I wanted 2017 to be my year, I just didn't have the same level of success that Peasounay did. I had a couple of more great performances in me, most notably in the first WCOPP as the assistant captain of team North America. Thanks to the chemistry I had with the captain, the notorious Konzern, as well as my uncanny ability to constantly reinvent myself, I found a new, profound way of communicating as well as a humorous catchphrase that aided me in earning the enmity of members on opposing teams as we fought our way into the top 4. Along the way I scored key victories against my rival, Peasounay, in what was yet another incredible encounter that went the full amount of games and a big win against Troller near the end of the regular season. In the playoffs I went on my infamous last stand, railing against the newfound sympathy the humanoids gained for the lying and cheating Russians. Meanwhile, I overcame a tough bracket to make it into the semi finals of my last Master Tournament. I defeated Mysterious M, Idiot Ninja, and Golden Gyarados to face Troller, who swept me in what would be my last chance of playing in a final round. I decided to have Golden Gyarados face Troller in WCOPP tiebreak, and have to give credit to Konzern for all the prep work he did. He spent hours getting Golden Gyarados ready, and I tried my best to help as well. The whole event was a circus and a lot of fun to be a part of.

With WCOPP finished, so was 2017. Despite only playing on Pokemon Perfect I managed to win about 130 tournament matches, which was more than anybody except Peasounay. I didn't achieve my goal of being the undisputed king of RBY, but I was among the top 2 or 3 players, an achievement that I'm proud of given my longevity and how common it is for players who have been around for a similar amount of time that I have to be considered washed up. My hard work was rewarded at the beginning of 2018, when I was bought in SPL by the Stark Sharks over Troller. I've already written my thoughts on SPL, which one can find in my thread, "Review your year III." Anyways, I shifted my focus on SPL and neglected the Master Tournament scene, ostensibly because SPL consumed a lot of time but moreso because I felt like there wasn't much else to prove in this organization. I won a Master Tournament, won a season, had more top 3 finishes in the player rankings than any other player except marcoasd, was among the top 3 in final-round appearances and in the top 2 of semi-final appearances. I was the #2 ranked player for three years. I was starting to get tired of doing the same old thing. As much as I hate Smogon, it was something different. It was fresh. It was a new challenge.

Managing was something I wanted to try for a while thanks in great part to WCOPP and SPL. I gained an appreciation for managers and it was something new to sink my teeth into, so I applied, got selected (like we all expected), and gave my team the fitting name "Gregarious Garbodors," which ended up consisting of a rag-tag group of underdogs who needed a passionate manager with the gift of gab. To say I'm proud of what I pulled off as manager in PPL 3 would be an understatement--no, I can say with confidence that it was one of the greatest managerial performances of all time. Whether it was finding holes in the opposition's arguments, actively communicating with my players, the role I played in Konzern and Ninjax's removal, or my perfectly articulated round of persuasion in the tense final week of the regular season against Team Ice, my performance as manager will go down as a textbook example of how a manager can save a team's season. If not for what I did in week 3, we wouldn't have made the playoffs, for example, when I argued vehemently on behalf of my player and got the council to examine the situation more carefully. We made it into the playoffs in what was one of the most exciting weeks of all time, which would be my 25th and final top 4 appearance in a tournament on Pokemon Perfect, and then got the better of Team Poison to make it into the finals. Unfortunately, we weren't able to overcome the superteam in the finals, but it was a wild ride and a lot of fun regardless.

In the summer of 2018, my ridiculous and illogical ban from SmogonJr was lifted, which allowed me to sign up for POCL. Well, the rest is history, as they say. I was bought by the Milan Bisharps, beat up a troll in the semi finals, and then beat the Troller himself in the finals much to the umbrage of CALLOUS, who recently announced his return and did so with a 40-minute video of self-aggrandizing hatred and vitriol towards those who did nothing to deserve it. I actually had no problems with him calling me insane--of course I am. How would I have made it this far if I weren't? What I had a qualm with, though, was his baseless attacks on Pokemon Perfect, a site that I (at the time) believed in and wanted to fight for. I didn't want to win POCL just for me; rather, I felt that I was fighting on behalf of the organization. We won and I wrote what may be my magnum opus (please go to the thread for the full post):

"Now in the finals, I had yet another opportunity to shut up a manager who enjoys opening his filthy mouth more than a prostitute in the city. CALLOUS, also known as egghead, unleashed 40 minutes of self-aggrandizing, pathetic, bewildering nonsense about his supposed prowess and how terrible the Pokemon Perfect realm is. And how funny that he lumped me into his criticisms of said realm, the person who actually reached out to him shortly before he was humiliated in SPL and wished him luck, the person who he issued an apology to after committing similar transgressions last year, the person who had no qualms with his presence unlike many others. Yet, egghead, after laughably denigrating some of the greatest ADV warriors of all time in a ridiculous attempt to bolster his own lowly position, still found it suitable to call me a "troll" and somebody "as toxic as Ninjax and Konzern." Yes, there was once a time when I did defend lord of morons, as I am against others being ostracized so easily, but everybody witnessed how vocal I was and how much of a role I played in getting Ninjax removed from Pokemon Perfect. As for Konzern, it was largely because of me that he met a similar fate, all because I wanted the Pokemon Perfect League to reach its full potential, something I knew would not be achieved with his presence. In fact, I openly criticized administration for being so lax and lenient, and demanded punishment. I am happy to say that both are no longer a part of Pokemon Perfect.

Yet I am the one who is a “troll,” I am the one who is “toxic,” when egghead continues to espouse his spurious slander towards myself and others who have done nothing to deserve it. Well, let me tell you something, you bovine lummox! Let me tell you something, Mr. Egghead! You’re cracking once again, and not just mentally! You’ve failed once again despite putting together what was undoubtedly the super team of this event! You drilled your players, shouted, threw your arms up in belligerence after you went down 0-3! However, instead of putting yourself together, you shattered, leaving nothing but a trail of eggshells, yolk, and failure everywhere. I see nothing but another “egg”-stremely “egg”-barrassing failure on your part. In SPL it was how you ran away like a beaten child instead of taking responsibility and supporting your team for doing what they felt was best. You’re not only a loser, but a coward! You’re a coward! You see, that's the difference between you and I, egghead. Whenever I deal with criticism or harassment, I always rise above the occasion and end up greater than all the insipid monkeys who besmirch me. You, on the other hand, shrivel up and cry like a little girl, rushing home so you can bury your wet head in your floral pillow. And what do you have to show for your cowardice? Nothing but hypocrisy and whoring yourself out for the same people who constantly mock and ridicule you. After deleting all of your videos—hundreds of hours of work all for nothing—you decided to start all over again, decided to give more of your own money to people who feel the same way about you as I do, decided to start this pointless endeavor all over again instead of starting over on your personality. It is only after you realize your faults and understand that you are seen as a gimmick that you can change. It’s just like therapy, isn’t it? They say you must first hit rock bottom before you can rise up. Well, let me recite an urban poem to you:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed,
but then one day we pushed him off;
we killed his stupid ass.”

And so, egghead is dead!"

Just as the main story in SPL was about my return after a long and inane ban, we heard the same narrative in POCL except this time I got to write the end of the tale. The final chapter of this epic saw egghead run off into the hills once more while I played for team Asia in the second WCOPP. It was already fall and I wanted to end the year on a high note. I had a daunting task ahead of me, as the playerbase was the most stacked we had seen since SPL. Marco, Alex, Peasounay, Lusch, Roudolf, Troller, Bernard, Metalgross, Disaster Area, Golden Gyarados, and a few others were all there. With Troller benched because reasons, it became a little easier to stand out, though my power rankings stirred some controversy and caused my week 2 matchup against Bernard to be watched by a circus that eagerly awaited the bout. I won, and then one once more in week 3 against a very game Christos to pull off the 3-0 (sets won vs lost ratio). In week 4 I got to play my rival of yesteryear, Peasounay, one more time. Both of us wanted the best record, but unfortunately, the games were terrible as I got shafted by one-sided RNG. The same occurred against Golden Gyarados, though I was OK with this. I had a lot of history with both of them and was happy to play them one more time, plus I was guaranteed a positive record once we reached week 4. I ended up among the top 3 or 4 players, tied with a couple of others, which was a great feat to pull off in response to a certain someone saying I was "washed up."

I signed up for the Vermilion Cup at the end of the year, which would have been my last tournament, but ultimately decided against it because I wanted Golden Gyarados to be my last opponent. And, with that, my chronicle comes to an abrupt end on February 26th, 2019, six years after I came here. I didn't intend to write my goodbye post in this fashion; however, all the memories came flooding back and I couldn't resist recording everything. In spite of some unfathomably frustrating experiences, I had a great time and was able to do some great things. Now, I'd like to personally give some people a mention:

Lutra: While I disagree with your grand vision and have had serious issues with you in the past, you did create this organization and, for that, I'm grateful. Thank you.

Velli: A great opponent on the PO ladder. Thanks for keeping me battle ready by giving me some tough games.

Crystal: I openly dislike you, but I can't deny that you were one of my best opponents in the beginning of the decade. I still remember the tournament bouts we had on RBY2K10 and here. I'm happy to say I won almost every time we played, but I wouldn't have reached the level I did if not for admirable adversaries such as yourself.

M Dragon: On the PO ladder you were on a mission to be #1 in every tier, including RBY. Fending you off was no easy task, and our games definitely made me sharper for my run on PP. Also, thanks for believing me in SPL, ignoring Smogon's mentally ill lore.

Conflict: I still believe that our bout in the semi finals of the 4Chords Cup is one of the greatest games ever. My FriendlyMie team was a huge success on the ladder, but I needed to prove myself that it could work in tournament play.

Isa: We had our differences in the past and something of a verbal rivalry. We never played, but we would talk trash to each other in our respective domains. As representatives of two different organizations, it was important to have a rival to belittle for the sake of promoting the one I played for. It also motivated me to give it my best. I don't know how you feel, but I don't have any negative feelings towards you any more; in fact, I'm grateful I had someone like you to compare myself to.

Marcoasd: The Pokemon realm is not a very pleasant one. People have egos. People have bad attitudes. People are toxic and abrasive. We had no issues exchanging seething remarks, and the intensity on the battlefield was commensurate with our attitude towards each other. I had to pass the torch to you back in 2014, but in retrospect it was essential to have someone who made me push myself even further and want to beat. Ever since the finals of MT12 I wasn't successful too often, but it made me infinitely better to have you as a rival. Congratulations on establishing yourself as arguably the greatest ever on PP.

Peasounay: What a rivalry we had. The chemistry we had was unparalleled, and I'm proud of our body of work. Whether it was the finals of MT34, the semi finals of the World Championship, WCOPP, or SPL, all of these sets are classics in my eyes. I'm lucky to have had a rivalry with the #1 player, and can proudly say that I went toe to toe with him every time.

Golden Gyarados: In my quest to reach #1 on the PO ladder, you were the adversary I had to overcome to get there. We must have played over two dozen times back then, and have had our fair share of games since. I loved teaming up with you in WCOPP, and I'm happy that you were my last opponent on Pokemon Perfect. Here's to five years of making each other better.

Mysterious M: From bitter rivals in WCOPP to friends in PPL, you came through big time for me. It's great to see how well you've been doing, and I hope things only go up from here.

Jarii: Never forget the Chople berry.

TSR: I'm still grateful for you playing the pivotal week 7 matchup at 3 AM when you could have said, "It's just Pokemon on the internet, no thanks." You showed great commitment to both the game and your team.

Disaster Area: A lot of people give you flack, but looking back I'd say this organization reached the peak of its credibility when you were at the helm. You cared about publicizing players, recording events, advertising the legitimacy of our events, and so on. Thanks for making Pokemon Perfect feel legitimate.

Konzern: I don't condone your actions and wish you would have changed for the better since you had the perfect opportunity to do so, but you still did an excellent job as the captain of our team. I respect the countless hours you put into preparing Golden Gyarados for that tiebreaker. You also gave me the platform to reinvent myself, for which I must express my gratitude.

Lusch: After winning the Fuchsia Cup you called me one of the four best players in the game, so I must return the favor. I saw you in the same light as Peasounay: the very best that I wanted to beat more than anybody. Thank you for playing so well and giving me a high-profile game against you, and for being one of the game's more soft-spoken, humble figures in a world filled with acerbic characters and infantile miscreants.

Everybody who dedicated and continues to dedicate time here: Thank you for allowing me to excel in this game when I, perhaps, would have not gotten that chance otherwise due to my ban on Smogon. Alternative competition has allowed me to enhance and continue my legacy. Thank you.

That's all for now. I'm sure we'll see each other again somewhere.

If you have a problem with me not giving you a personal shoutout, not explaining the exact reasons behind my decision to leave Pokemon Perfect, my chronicle of a goodbye post, or still not starting the Egghead Memorial Cup, I have but one thing to say to you:

SWIM IN GARBAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

YOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

GGGGGGAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

 

See you in a month or two! :>

 

Farewell Ggfan. I am retired myself but its always sad to see a player of your caliber leaving the game. .You tolerated this game for 15 years and more and at the same time u were always among the best. Also your persona was a glimpse of light in this pixel game.

 

Not on Pokemon Perfect.

 

It was a cool time having u around. Noone remembers the details of the game even years ago, writes massive posts, or has such a long and consistent legacy in RBY. There've been moments of drama and tough decisions at times but u were a part of making PP a fun place to be

 

I <3 you you literally made me who I am today i dont want you to leave

 

It was fun playing you, ggs dude

 

Farewell GGFan, our sets have almost always been tight and exciting. In spite of all the drama over the years, overall you've contributed greatly to the community. As far as rby goes, you're easily one of the most influential players of all time (only Raish is comparable since the PO era imo), and that's not even counting stuff that occurred prior to when I started playing, so it's not too much of a leap to say that you hold that title comfortably. That's not just some vague statement either- although the name FriendlyMie never caught on, few who were playing in the PO era will deny that you were the driving force behind the popularisation of lead Starmie, to name just one specific example.