Rustling Grass - Episode 001
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Rustling Grass Episode 001: Justin
What's Your Favorite Pokemon: At the moment, it's probably Luxray. Luxray was the first Pokemon I got really excited about using in Pearl version, since Turtwig, Starly, and Bidoof were a little underwhelming at the time. But I got over it for a while.
However, a few months ago, I was scrolling through tumblr and I started seeing a lot of Luxray fan art. Some cool gijinkas (people drawn wearing clothes that resemble a certain Pokemon), some cool battle art, etc. So there was a lot of it just floating around on the outside of my peripheral.
Then, one day, I was making some changes to my Doubles team, and I figured I might as well give Luxray a look into. Then I saw two things that instantly made me like Luxray so much more; it was slow, meaning it could abuse Trick Room, my favorite Doubles strategy, and it had access to Guts, which boosted its beautiful 120 Base Attack stat up even more.
This got me excited, and so I did some more research. Luxray is not, by any means, a popular Pokemon. I try using lesser used Pokemon that I also like, and that really made Luxray shine in my eyes. Awesome move pool, and he was such a cool looking Pokemon.
After doing all this Luxray research, he just became my favorite, overshadowing older favorites, like Swampert and Emboar. I just wanted to use him so bad, since my Eelektross was still a better fit on my Doubles team.
And that's why I love Luxray. For no definitive reason, but still unquestionably sure.
What Was Your First Pokemon Experience: I don't remember anything definitive, but the farthest back that I can think of is back when the first Pokemon movie was still just about to be released in Japan. There were posters everywhere, and commercials running on the TV for it. I was at a Japanese person's house, for reasons I cannot remember, and the Mewtwo pre-movie was on their TV (in Japanese of course.) I just remember seeing it and being so… Captivated by what I was seeing. That was the day I decided that I wanted to know what Pokemon was, and I needed to learn more. It didn't happen for another year though. :P
What's Your Favorite Pokemon Game: Definitely Pokemon White Version. Generation 5 has brought so much to the table; improved graphics, awesome Pokemon, beautiful storyline, really cool functionality, and even a really diverse metagame (aka, Competitive Battling scene). Sure, they took out the awesome menu screen and Pokemon Walking, but it made up for it in everything else.
Generation 5 was just this diamond in the rough for me; I'd hated it before it came out and was only just giving it a chance, and it was better than anything I'd ever expected from a Pokemon game. It was also my first venture into Competitive Battling, and it opened this whole new door to Pokemon for me. I now had in-game, where I could do my carefree stuff and just enjoy, and then I could shift and do some serious, intense Competitive Battling. I just got everything I wanted in White version; caught a lot of Pokemon, completed the National Dex, raised a lot of Pokemon.
I guess in short, Pokemon White Version really got me to delve deep into Pokemon, and start trying to understand all these things about Pokemon that I'd previously been oblivious and lazy toward. I think starting to listen to PKMNCast might have helped that though, like no joke. I swear I'm not just sucking up.
Name a One of a Kind Experience Involving Pokemon: I think… It would be my trips to the Pokemon Center. I've gone twice, and I know, it's such a simple thing. But like seriously, I get so excited, and so happy whenever I go there. All these people there just. Looking at Pokemon stuff, enjoying Pokemon stuff, and there are kids outside who always have their DS out and are willing to battle. And the environment; I've never been in a happier place. The workers are super excited to help out, the customers are generally very happy, and super excited about the Pokemon stuff.
It's like being a kid in the best candy store ever. Like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, except better. Everyone's even kind of short and speaks funny! (Bad joke, I know.)
Your First Pokemon: My first Pokemon was a Totodile, whom I named after myself, because I was 6 years old and I just learned what Jr. was. So he was named Justin Jr., and until I picked Tepig as my starter in White Version, Totodile was my favorite starter ever, barely beating out Mudkip.
What's Your Favorite Battle Style: I'm a big fan of the VGC Style of battling, so Doubles is pretty cool. Trick Room is my main style of battling when I'm playing Doubles. I just love that Trick Room effectively counters all other play styles when it gets set up. Drizzle+Swift Swim? Trick Room stops that. Sandstorm+Sand Rush? Nope, Trick Room curb stomp. Sun+Chlorophyll? That too. They're not ready to play last every turn, and my Pokemon are able to focus on their HP and attacking stat when EV Training.
However, when I'm playing Singles, I love Volt-Turn, or Volt Switch+U-Turn. Specifically, my Intimivolt-Turn team. Volt Turn lets me kind of send out counters to whatever Pokemon they send out to counter mine, and then the rest of the team is set up to take advantage of their lost offensive momentum.
Do You Make Poffins, or Partake in any of the Mini-Games: I actually do love making puffins. I'm not that good at it, but I still enjoyed making them. Pokeblocks were ok too, but I preferred the puffins.
Also, I do partake in the other mini-games. The Pokeathlon was the best, but I did play in the Contests and Musicals. Musicals are fun, but a little confusing, but I was actually pretty good at Contests in my time.
Pichu or Cleffa: Ok, so, I know that it's the PKMNCast standard to say Pichu, barring Kenny, but I'm with Kenny. I pick Cleffa.
Why do I pick Cleffa? Well, first of all, Cleffa's so cute. And then Pichu has to shock itself in order to attack, whereas Cleffa doesn't and can move just normally.
Now, for a longer explanation. It was during the Earthquake/Tsunami Disaster, and the American Military Bases were given the chance to evacuate Japan for a time, so that we could avoid any of the ill-effects that were supposedly going to harm us (I never believed my area was in trouble, but the area that was affected really did have to be careful).
But anyways, so I flew over to California, and I had not yet heard of It's Super Effective. Sadly. But I heard that there was a fundraiser going on over the course of 72 hours of a Let's Play by some British people. I decided that i might as well spend my free time listening to people talk about Pokemon, so I gave it a watch. It was actually really interesting, and they had this Clefable that was just a monster in their Yellow Version play through. They named it Hammy, and the fans loved it, christening it Lord Hammy. And we went on to cheering for any and all Clefairy evolutions, as they all had the chance to become Hammy. I grew fond of that Clefable as well, and so Cleffa has a special part in my heart as well.
And that's it! Thanks so much for picking me! I'm happy I got to do this! Good luck with everything, and great job with everything!
