Tag: about the author

Hey bill, were you ever a Pokémon trainer? If so, what was your starter?

I was indeed! For about a year, anyway. I thought it would be a great way to get out of going to school at the time, but the longer I’d spent on that journey, the closer I grew to my pokémon until I realized they could be much more than just pets or things you caught for the sake of battling. In fact, when my ivysaur evolved into venusaur, it opened my eyes to the idea that pokémon are beautiful, mysterious creatures, and that is what inspired me to become a researcher. I don’t think I would have ended up where I am now had I not decided to try my hand at being a trainer (even if I was absolutely terrible at it).

As for my starter, it was that very same bulbasaur that eventually inspired me to become a researcher instead. You may be wondering how I’d managed to get a hold of a bulbasaur in the middle of the largest city in Johto, of all places, but that’s a very long and complicated story.

You took him from a street vendor. It’s not that complicated. —LH

I rescued him from a neglectful and highly unethical pokémon seller. Besides, is it really pokémon theft if the pokémon goes with you perfectly willingly? —Bill

Right, so, remember, readers: don’t be like Bill. He started off with playing hooky and “rescuing” pokémon, and now he completely ignores lab and field research safety protocols. Following either example will end with you either dead or arrested; how my partner has managed to evade both of these fates is a cosmic mystery. —LH

….

—Bill

What’s your favorite legendary Pokemon of Sinnoh Bill?

I quite like all of them on one level or another; they’re all greatly fascinating to me. However, if I had to choose, I might pick Shaymin. Who can argue with its story? It speaks so eloquently about the power of pokémon and how important it is for us humans to respect them as well as the natural world itself. We may be a clever species, but Shaymin’s story reminds us that we aren’t much without nature and that we should always give thanks to nature because of it.

That and, well, it’s cute.

Bill, do you subscribe to the theory that humans originally came to this world from another planet or dimension, or do you believe that we descended from pokemon?

While I’m open to practically any theory, I actually subscribe to the idea that we were descended from members of Kingdom Animalia right here on Earth, not, well, pokémon or aliens. There’s actual fossil evidence that strongly suggests this.

Granted, I fully understand why there are theories to the contrary. Our intelligence, resilience, and occasional gifts (that is, Aura channeling, psychic ability, and so forth) do indeed present strong arguments that we’re collectively a lot more special than, say, a house cat or a goldfish. However, it’s really more likely that we simply adapted to possess the traits we do because we interact directly with pokémon. Of course we would adapt to survive a Thunderbolt from a mischief of angry pikachu; our ancestors had to deal with much worse.

On the other hand, this all is only a theory. Where we actually come from and how we came to be what we are is still a bit of a mystery to scientists, and it’s one of the greatest mysteries we have yet to definitively solve.

i’m suing, bill

Oh, please do. For whatever reason, both the Pokémon Cutting-Edge Technology Research Center and the Pokémon Association have teams of lawyers they’ve hired to cover the things I do and say, so I might as well get their money’s worth.

Bill, they’re not your personal lawyers… —LH

Let’s be honest with each other, Lanette. There is literally no difference between my private and professional lives at this point, so close enough. —Bill

Hey Bill? Do you follow any sport teams? like the Electabuzz baseball team?

To the surprise of perhaps absolutely no one, I don’t consider myself much of a sports fan. I like some sports (or at least the ones whose rules I can actually understand, such as baseball and soccer), but I don’t avidly follow any particular sports teams.

If anything, I generally root for Goldenrod-based teams, if only because I feel obligated to do so. So that would mean the Goldenrod Tauros, not the New Bark Electabuzz. This also means the Moltres basketball team and, if I absolutely must root for someone when it comes to soccer … the Cerulean Kingdra. Because Goldenrod Meganium fans are unsettlingly aggressive, and I refuse to associate with them.

Hi Bill! Do you answer EVERY ask that you get or will even YOU get stumped sometimes?

Well, answering and being stumped are two different things, anonymous. It’s true I don’t answer every ask: some asks cover questions I’ve already answered or are perhaps accidental duplications.

However, yes, there are some questions I can’t answer because I don’t entirely know what the question is going on about. For example, I don’t know how some of you obtained the information you did on Mewtwo, and I admit I don’t fully understand when some of you talk about “levels.” The latter is especially intriguing and disconcerting. Hopefully those of you who ask don’t actually think of pokémon battling as a video game!

So do the devs ever get together to play Dungeons and Dragonites?

We do it over Discord, actually.

Bill’s created so many intentionally terrible characters it’s become a competition among the rest of us to see how quickly we can kill him off when it’s our turn to DM. The record-holder is currently Bebe, who killed off his bidoof bard within five minutes of the campaign’s start. —LH

You, on the other hand, consistently play fighters prone to bouts of violence so ornately detailed that it worries me a little. —Bill