Tag: AMA Month

#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.

#AMA for the mun? (What does that mean lol) Is it just one person who works on this or do you have help from anyone else? And at the risk of sounding like a pokemon professor, are you a boy or a girl?

{Just one, admittedly! (This should probably explain why there might only be one or two asks answered a day and then a sudden flood of them on weekends, haha. Entries are in a queue, so that’s how they come out on a more consistent basis.)

I’m also a girl. 🙂 I’d like the water-type starter, please, Professor Anon!}

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

#AMA. Hey Bill, I found an internet conspiracy theory that involves you and the PC System. Basically, there is a somewhat popular theory that you are trying to get the PC System in all of the regions for nefarious reasons. According to the internet once you have the PC System in all regions you’ll be able to perform a ceremony to summon MissingNO. or something that will when summoned destroy the world. What do you think of this theory and if you could summon a unique pokemon like that would you?

In all honesty, that’s the mildest I-am-secretly-evil theory I’ve heard. Many of the other theories involve me working for Team Rocket, attempting to dominate the planet, or working for an evil elder god who happens to be a fossilized kabuto. They’re all rather silly, if you ask me. 

I suppose part of that is my fault, though, because I’m so passionate about pokémon and my work that many people insist that I’m hiding something, but the truth of the matter is that the only reason why I want the system to be present in every region is because it’s my hope that the entire world will be connected through pokémon. The system makes training accessible, so wherever the system is, trainers are. In turn, if there are trainers, there are humans bonding with pokémon and with each other through battle, so we’re that much closer to a truly unified world. 

Johtonian history is full of stories of wars, so I was raised with an intimate understanding of just what humans can do to one another. What’s worse, war isn’t entirely a thing of our distant past yet either way, and the most recent wars (from what I understand, having spoken for more than five minutes with Lt. Surge) are far more evolved than the wars fought in feudal Johto. I hope that through the system, we can ensure that we don’t go back to that state of being by strengthening our bonds with each other through training. Simply put, what I want from the system is actually the exact opposite of what many of these rumors say.

Besides, why would I want to destroy the planet? I live here, after all. Taking it over might be a bit more reasonable, but having seen how governments work thanks to the Pokémon Association, I would rather not, to be honest.

Still, if I could summon a unique pokémon, I would jump at the chance but certainly not for any nefarious purposes. I would give anything for the chance to meet and study a real legendary pokémon. Just think of how the scientific community would react to a paper dedicated to Ho-oh!

#AMA Bill (and company), do you guys ever do Developer Game Night?

Yes indeed! At least once a year, we’re able to meet in person for a proper game night, but otherwise, we hold a weekly session over video chat. Not everyone attends, but many of us make it a point. It’s a fantastic way to relieve stress, bond with one another, and talk about something other than business (or talk about business but in a relaxed setting).

For those curious, we play something different every night. Some nights, it’s a tabletop game; others, we play board games. It really depends on who’s in attendance and what everyone feels like playing.

On that note, I’d like to add that Bill is our reigning champion of Cards Against Humanity. Make of that what you will. —LH

Wait… If you never gave clearance on the creation of this book, and you’ve never heard of it’s existence before Lillie showed it to you, then how does it have so much information on your life? Did you see the author’s name on the title? If not, well, you should probably figure that out. For all you know, you could have an evil stalker that sneaks into your house at night, uses your toothbrush, steals your research notes, and takes photos of you while you sleep! Or whatever stalkers do, IDK.

Fortunately, my fans understand that my work is highly sensitive, and I encrypt practically everything anyway. Unfortunately, however, enthusiastic fans are nothing new, and the reason why they respect the secrecy of my work is because they’re often more interested in the intimate and personal details of my life. For example, there was a gentleman—Brent, I believe his name was—who often lurked about my home until he went off to Johto. I only know that he left because a good friend of mine informed me that he would often call her to share random but highly mundane information about my personal life and family. I don’t entirely know how he found out that my younger sister can’t wink, but apparently, half of Johto knows that now. (She doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, my little sister is pleased one of my fans paid attention to her.) Also luckily, the rest of my family consists of extremely talented trainers, so I’m not particularly worried about whether or not they can look after themselves.

As for the book, I do indeed know who wrote it, and he, as I’ve recently found out, is the president of my fan club. He’s also the one in charge of the Sevii Islands system, which is why I’m quite torn between being flustered over the fact that the Clefairy Incident is apparently not a secret and saying this is absolutely not a problem, no.

…especially considering the fact that I gave him permission to write and publish the book without actually reading what he was putting into it.

And congratulations on losing your privilege to complain about it. —LH

I’m not complaining! I just find it baffling that people know about that! —Bill

You wrote a paper on it. Also, you tried and failed to bribe one of the champions of Kanto into secrecy with a ticket to the SS Anne. —LH

How was I supposed to know “selectively mute” means “will tell Professor Oak’s highly talkative grandson literally everything”? —Bill

Follow up question about the sexy custom since I feel like some rewording is needed now. Have you ever brought a sexy pokemon custom on purpose? Or has anyone that you know bought one for you? And if so what custom was it? #AMA

No, of course not.

Edit: My editor has reminded me that for this month, I’m obligated to answer these sorts of questions honestly, so for that reason, allow me to give you the full answer:

It was a “sexy magikarp” costume. I was young, stupid, and under the impression that it would be the best way to get Bebe to stop inviting me to her Halloween parties.

It didn’t work.

Hey, Bill. A bit of an odd question but its something I was wondering about. You know how every Halloween there are those weird why is there a sexy custom of this? I was wondering if you ever accidentally bought one when trying to dress up as a Pokemon to get into their head and didn’t realize until it was too late? #AMA

Goodness no! All of my costumes for research are handmade. Accuracy is essential to my methods. Even the texture of simulated chitin needs to be exact, as otherwise, it wouldn’t be very effective.

Besides, the fishnet stockings for many of those costumes are ill-fitting and ride up in a most uncomfortable fashion.

And you would know this because…? —LH

…science? —Bill