Tag: about the editor

#AMA. Bill and Lanette what pokemon do you think best represents yourself and which one best represents your partner? Please don’t share with each other until you post them.

BILL
When it comes to myself, I’d like to think I’m an eevee. Eevee work hard to win the trust and love of their trainers, and they have so much potential within them that they eventually realize by choosing their own destinies and deciding for themselves what they wish to be. I’d also like to think I’m about as adaptable as an eevee.

As for Lanette … hmm. A pokémon that represents Lanette. Well, let’s see. She’s brilliant, sweet, fiercely loyal, not afraid to speak her mind, patient (somehow, given … the rest of us), but tough when she needs to be. Not only that, but she’s a perfectionist in her work, yet also delightfully human in certain other aspects I’ve sworn never to talk about in public. Feminine but not overly so. Motherly to Amanita and some of our rougher administrators but not exactly matronly. Friendly but not entirely one who actively seeks socialization. Down-to-earth and reliable above all else, but still one of the most passionate people I know.

Considering all of that, I’m inclined to say something like venusaur, nidoqueen, blissey, or kangaskhan—all stable, sturdy pokémon who are one way or another dedicated to helping others of their kind or their trainers. Perhaps even Cresselia, the elegant guardian of dreams.

No, actually, come to think of it, Lanette strikes me as more of a nidoqueen.

LH
I consider myself a combee. I’m a hard worker, but ultimately, I’m just part of a greater whole that is our team. It’s true that I might be able to stand on my own—even excel in the right circumstances—but I’m really at my best when working in tandem with others.

As for Bill, he’s a clefairy, and he knows why.

Hey, Bill and Lanette, I was wondering what is your guys’ favorite desserts are?

BILL
I’m not entirely fond of desserts, I admit. Quite a few of them contain milk in some form or another, and in any case, I don’t care for sweet things in general. I suppose if I had to choose, fruit with a bit of honey—particularly rawst berries.

LH
Flaugnarde. Especially warm spiced aspear berry flaugnarde with fresh cream. You would think that the sourness of an aspear berry would make the dish inedible, but adding sugar and cooking it dulls the tartness to the point where it’s wonderfully delicious. The fresh cream makes it even better. And the best part is you can have it for breakfast, too!

I will never understand why you would want a dessert for breakfast. —Bill

Bill, your definition of “breakfast” is a cup of coffee as you run down to the lab, so you’re the least qualified person among all of us to judge me. —LH

how do i become a pokemon researcher like you or oak or any of the other professors?

Well, regarding the specific details of it, generally speaking, becoming a researcher requires years of academic work, sometimes in conjunction with an internship or an abundance of lab work under a professor. From there, it really depends on the specific type of pokémon researcher you wish to be. For example, Professor Oak is strictly an academic researcher, meaning he’s associated with Celadon University and thus the world of academia, not with the industry. By contrast, my partner and the editor of this blog, Lanette Hamilton, works strictly as an industry researcher, meaning she’s employed by commercial laboratories (the Pokémon Cutting-Edge Technology Research Center and Devon Co., specifically) to come up with new ideas that can be marketed and sold to trainers. I work as a bit of both: my behavior research is done in a more academic realm (through Celadon University, specifically), but my technological research is supported through the PCETRC. (No, there is not an easier acronym … much to our dismay.)

And as one can expect, each of these paths were vastly different, as the specific way academic research works is different compared to working in the industry. Think of it as the difference between becoming a novelist and a journalist. Both are essentially jobs that require many of the same skills and the same academic foundations, but where those paths end are entirely different. As such, whereas journalists tend to have steady work and structure to their daily lives (and thus security to pursue their work), novelists may have the freedom to write what they want, when they wish to write it. In a similar fashion, being an industry researcher means you’re employed by a lab, and thus, you may use your skills on very specific projects. On the other hand, you also get all the funding and equipment you need (generally speaking) to pursue that work. By contrast, academic pokémon researchers have their own personal labs where they may carry out whatever research they wish when they wish to do so; they simply need to report to the university every so often (or, well, teach) in order to maintain their sources of funding.

Then, of course, it depends on the specific field you wish to research. Pokémon researchers who focus on pokémon medicine may find themselves doing quite a bit of lab work. Those who focus on paleontology or ethology, meanwhile, may find themselves doing quite a bit of supervised fieldwork.

At its root, though, the path to becoming a pokémon researcher starts with self-reflection and finding the right mentor. Once you’ve decided that you wish to become a researcher, pay attention to what about pokémon catches your interest the most. Follow your heart, not your skills. I know that seems a bit unusual considering the fact that pokémon research requires more intellect than any other pokémon-centered field, but a good researcher is nothing without passion.

Also, forge a relationship with your professors, especially those who specialize in the fields you wish to pursue. Find a mentor and let them help you decide what path to take. (Never be afraid to ask for guidance! A good mentor will be eager to help you on your path.)

Most importantly, be prepared to work hard. Every step of the way, especially if you work in academia, you will always be asked to show your work, as it were. In the world of academia, if you don’t have tenure (as Professor Oak has with Celadon University), it may be tricky to secure funding and equipment for your work. Industry researchers, meanwhile, are required to provide results according to a schedule. Either way, it’s not easy to be a researcher, but of course, if it was easy, it wouldn’t nearly be fun, would it?

Hey Bill, do you think you could make a list of the most psychoactive pokemon produced substances? I require this for, uh, research purposes for my, uh friend……

You know, I could actually respond to this, seeing as my answer would be purely for academic purposes, and in any case, it’s not as if I haven’t already made a few suggestions. Purely for science, of course.

On the other hand, my sensible, highly intelligent conscience tells me that perhaps in this particular case, offering any further information would be considered “enabling” and therefore “an ill-advised idea that could very well result in me being kicked out of the Symposium.”

Or investigated by law enforcement, which is what I actually said? —LH

Yes, thank you, conscience. —Bill

Yo Lanette, you should totally make a robotic version of Bill. You never know when this companion will come in handy, like when Unova needs to be saved… again.

Hmm. That’s not a terrible idea. Or better yet: a robotic version of Bill specially programmed to be my butler and personal assistant. I wouldn’t mind being waited on hand and foot by Bill for once. You know. As opposed to being teased for … certain less organized habits of mine. —LH

He would add a touch of class to this place. —Brigette

what. —Bill

How did you meet/hire the various other region administrators?

Editor’s Note: Bill and I felt it was appropriate to respond to this question together, and in order to present our response, we thought it would be easiest to give you the transcript of our conversation, rather than simply have Bill speak with my comments interjected now and then. —LH

BILL
Well, if we count everyone, Brigette was fairly easy to recruit. As Lanette’s sister, one of us already knew her and what she could do. The tricky part was convincing her that the storage system was a viable idea, as she was one of the few individuals privy to its development.

LH
She was also not very fond of you.

BILL
Yes, true. To explain, I had … a reputation back then.

LH
Most of our fellow students at Celadon University thought he was rather … difficult to approach. He didn’t bother me, but Brigette was a different matter. It took my active involvement and several attempts at forming a study group to get the two to meet properly.

BILL
[laughs] Yes, I remember that.

LH
And then there was Bebe.

BILL
Oh yes. Bebe. We didn’t so much meet her as she met us.

LH
After the establishment of the system, we started a message board as a means of connecting with people interested in working with our software. It seemed logical, as we both wanted the system to be as open-source as possible. Bebe joined fairly early on with other users from Johto.

BILL
We first noticed her not only because she was an active user but also because she would frequently reach out to new members and help us answer their questions.

LH
Of course, the fact that she was from Goldenrod City might have helped her case in Bill’s eyes too.

BILL
Well, it certainly didn’t hurt! In any case, when we were establishing a new branch of the storage system in Sinnoh, we knew we wouldn’t be able to handle it ourselves, so instead, we decided to collect applications from the most helpful users on our board. Bebe and the Sunyshore City gym leader, Volkner, were among the topmost promising candidates, but in the end, we felt Bebe was the stronger of the two in terms of system knowledge and interpersonal communication.

LH
Also, you had that disagreement with Volkner that led to—

BILL
Amanita. Her story was similar to Brigette’s, actually. We met Dr. Fennel through college, so when we decided to extend the system into Unova, she was naturally our first choice to run it. Unfortunately, she had just started on her own research into the Dream World and thus wanted to devote her energies to that instead of establishing the system. Perfectly understandable, if you ask me.

LH
Of course. So, Bill and I went to Unova to choose another candidate from a list of Fennel’s personal recommendations. But then, Bill noticed little Amanita working alongside Fennel, and the aforementioned list was thrown right out the window.

BILL
When a then-five-year-old is calibrating a pokémon EEG device by herself, you simply must stop to talk to her.

LH
I can’t blame you for that. I believe we nearly forgot about Celio, by the way?

BILL
Ah yes. Well, technically, I met Celio right around the same time as Bebe. He had joined the same board, but he was always more of a quiet member. His posts were valuable, of course, but he preferred as quiet an existence as possible. It wasn’t until I’d met him when giving a talk at Celadon University years later that he introduced himself and showed me a sample of his work. I had shared the sample with Lanette, and right away, the both of us were impressed.

LH
So naturally, we set him up with an online apprenticeship. We both taught him everything we knew, although I do believe Bill always spent more time with him.

BILL
He’s certainly a promising candidate. Perhaps if the Sevii Islands ever establishes a proper league or if we ever find a suitable place for him, we can make his inclusion among us more official.

LH
Until then, I certainly appreciate his work connecting our systems.

BILL
Oh yes. So I suppose that leaves us with Cassius.

LH
Cassius hacked into the system, and rather than pressing charges, Bill thought it would be a great idea to have him do some community service, if by “community service,” one means “work for the system he was hacking into on behalf of a mysterious benefactor in Unova who almost certainly was Team Plasma.”

BILL
To be fair, it worked. Cassius turned into a completely trustworthy member of our team … although his work ethic may leave something to be desired.

LH
Bill, everyone’s work ethic leaves something to be desired compared to yours. Also, how did you even do that, anyway?

BILL
What, get Cassius to reform? Charisma, my dear Lanette. Charisma.

LH
Right. Anyway, I think that’s everyone, except for Hayley, but Hayley is Bebe’s friend and also not technically an administrator, so—

BILL
Hold on, Lanette. We haven’t talked about how we met.

LH
Ah, but don’t you think we’ve gone on long enough?

BILL
[laughs] True. It would be nice to spare some mystery in all of this, wouldn’t it?

LH
Exactly.

Lanette what was the first pokemon that you ever had? And how many PokeDolls do you own?

If we don’t count any pokémon my family collectively owned, my starter was a mudkip, which I had received at the age of ten from a newly instated Professor Birch. That mudkip eventually grew into a swampert, one of my closest friends, aside from my sister and the other administrators.

As for your second question, I own a modest collection.
— LH

She owns enough to fill a bed and several shelves. They’re quite literally everywhere in her house. —Bill

Yes. As I’ve said, a modest collection. —LH

Lanette, Bill has told us that he has never been fortunate enough to encounter a legendary, but have you? What legendary would you most hope to encounter?

Unfortunately no, anonymous, although I’ve certainly seen the effects of the Hoenn-based legendaries’ awakening. It’s rather difficult to ignore the abnormally torrential downpours or the excruciatingly bright sunlight. My poor berry plants suffered as a result of that.

Of course, it’s always been my dream to see one, but as a researcher and pokémon enthusiast myself, it’s merely logical that I would. That being said, contrary to what Bill would have you believe, I’m thoroughly convinced that the best legendaries to meet are from right here in the Hoenn region. I’m speaking, of course, of specifically Jirachi and the Lati twins. It’s hard to resist a legendary that can grant wishes or the mysteries of the guardian duo. Or perhaps a better answer might be Deoxys, whose origins as a mutated extraterrestrial virus make it particularly scientifically fascinating.

Then again, Sinnoh also hosts quite a number of interesting legendaries itself! Beings that control time and space, a dragon that occupies a completely separate dimension from our own, a fairy that gave us intelligence (although perhaps not Uxie, given that it also possess the power to erase a human’s memory…), the empress of dreams … it’s quite difficult to choose, I suppose.

On the other hand, perhaps Jirachi, when everything is said and done. After all, if it was possible to wish for anything, then it would stand to reason that one could simply wish for other legendaries to appear, wouldn’t you agree?
—LH

(…It seems I don’t have the heart to tell her this would be cheating. —Bill)