The GGFan Experience
Part six: name dropping
GGFan: Yeah, it was very toxic and elitist back then.
Lance: 2006 was kind of when I started to lose interest in Pokémon.
GGFan: It would make the elitism now seem like nothing.
Well, I encountered the clique of idiots when I came back.
You know them: Blackthorne, Flameout, etc.
Lance: Yeah.
I also saw you posting in a bunch of threads in the HeartGold board in 2009.
And you were constantly arguing with Pl2iDe/Borat, etc.
GGFan: Yeah, I remember some of those topics.
Ah, yes, Borat, the "Donald Trump of competitive Pokemon," as someone once described him. An idiot that somehow managed to influence people.
Lance: Yeah.
GGFan: But let's focus on the mid 2000s.
Lance: I don't think some of his ideas about competitive Pokémon are bad though.
Like in that guide he wrote.
GGFan: We coexisted for the first time in maybe 2007.
You also made an account on THE Alternative.
I remember that user named "sotoakech" or something like that, who couldn't stand you.
I found your posts and ability to piss him off so effortlessly rather humorous.
Lance: Heh, glad to hear that.
Yeah, back then, my mind was very different.
I did not take anything on the internet seriously, at all, because I didn't see value in anyone who was around me, since everyone hated me at the time anyway.
100% of my interactions with others were me trolling.
So I just posted random stuff for fun, regardless of how others looked at me.
Remember how I said that, in 2006, I was starting to move away from Pokémon?
I was beginning to move towards writing a Pokémon fanfiction, titled "Heaven and Chaos Planet," on a website known as Neoseeker at the time.
GGFan: Yeah, I remember Neoseeker.
Neoseeker and Angelfire.
Lance: And a lot of the stuff I posted on THE Alternative was taken from my fanfiction.
Including the Ten Holy Elites, with Jesus as one of them, Ryuumaru being the highest god, etc.
In fact, in Purity Before Existence, I even recycled many of my ideas from my old fanfiction.
Minus the Pokémon aspects, of course.
GGFan: So, in a way, your novel was a culmination of all of your previous works. It must have given you a sense of closure.
Lance: I actually haven't finished the entire story yet.
There's a sequel, which is like 90% written, but I haven't published it yet.
Haven't had much motivation to write it though, since as I said, I'm not depending on it for money anymore.
I just thought that the easiest way for me to make a good story was to take ideas, characters, etc from my previous works.
Since I was desperate to become rich back then.
GGFan: Then it will be unfiltered and the best possible piece of writing we can expect from you.
Lance: Yeah.
GGFan: Let me drop some names and see what you think of them.
1. BKC
2. chaos
3. Lutra
4. GGFan
5. XDevo
6. Professor Oak
7. GameFAQs moderators
8. Rage
9. Zarel
10. Hikari
Lance: Also, another thing I'll admit: In late 2016, when I first published my book, it was bad, because I trusted my editor too much, and he changed so much stuff, did a really poor job in general, etc. The good version of my book wasn't released until mid-2018, when I edited it thoroughly myself, put all the scenes that my editor had cut out back in, etc.
Lance: 1. I don't know much about BKC, other than that he's an OU player and many people think highly of him. But I don't judge people by their reputation, and I was inactive in OU between the XY era (2014) and very recently, when I started playing Gen8 National Dex OU, so yeah.
Lance: 2. I don't think you need to even ask about this one. He's the creator of a cancerous community, and I just explained what he did in December 2004.
Lance: 3. I quite like Lutra. He's friends with my fellow Dragon Rush/Heavenly Dragon Gods Leader, aLiEn Mw, and he used to be in my Dragon Rush clan. He was a big part of the Brazilian NetBattle community, and I had some nice battles with him on NetBattle Supremacy in 2009.
4. I've always mostly held a positive opinion about you, up until I saw the stuff you said about me when you were unbanned from Smogon in late 2017. But since you explained that stuff now, I'm cool with you again.
Actually, let me link you something: (link concealed)
Almost a year ago, on the 26th of November, 2018, I, CHAMPION LANCE, the single Greatest Pokémon Master to have ever walked under the heavens, celebrated the 1
This is my latest RMT, for USUM Ubers.
In this RMT, I gave a shoutout to every single person I could remember ever meeting in the Pokémon battling community at the time when I wrote it.
And some of those shoutouts were for some of the people you're asking about right now.
Although, I did forget some people, like BKC and Lutra.
I gave you this negative shoutout when I wrote the RMT:
GGFan: For a long time, I respected your ability to stand up for yourself... until I observed your behavior around the time when you were unbanned from Smogon in late 2017. It was then that I realized that ultimately, you are nothing more than a pathetic manchild who kneels before Smogon, begging for them to acknowledge you as a good player. In fact, even before Smogon was created, you have been desperately seeking the approval of the very people who eventually made the aforementioned website, which explains why you were angered so much when you were not chosen to represent GameFAQs in the InterBoard Tournament. At the end of the day, you do not seek to stand above Smogon. Rather, you merely seek to be accepted by them. You seek to be skilled at Pokémon battling not for the sake of Pokémon Mastery, but rather, to make others - including those you call your enemies, notice you. And that is why I can no longer respect you.
However, I take it back now.
Because you explained your stuff now.
GGFan: I deserved it, so I understand.
Lance: Still though, I think I owe you an apology.
So I'm sorry.
chaos: I've said it for many years: Smogon sucks. But hey, as pathetic as you are, I must also say that, had you never created Smogon, I would probably have been deprived of a lot of entertainment.
This was my shoutout to chaos.
GGFan: Concise and effective.
Lance: 5. I hate XDevo. He was one of the people who continued to hate me even while my reputation was at its height in 2016-2017, and he was also one of the people who was flaming me when I wasn't on good terms with the Pokémon Online community in 2012.
xDevo: Every single piece of art that I have ever created is a masterpiece. However, I don't blame you for the fact that you are unable to agree. After all, you can't ever expect a dog or a monkey to possess the intelligence necessary to appreciate the beauty of a painting, or even differentiate it from the wall on which it hangs.
He hated on my book too, even though I'm sure that he's never read it.
Many people who know nothing about my book insult it for the sake of insulting me.
It's pathetic.
6. Professor Oak, same deal. Let me show you a thread.
GGFan: If it makes you feel better, most people I talk to also think XDevo is, for a lack of a better term, a piece of shit.
Lance: I see.
Not surprising.
http://pokemon-online.eu/threads/13837/page-2#post-176275
Pokémon Online
Not to be unkind with u Lance, but all the people first of me are right: Using Ohko moves is sort of totally noobish and show lack of skill. 1. Using...
Pokémon Online was honestly just as bad as Smogon as a community.
In that thread, so many people were dogpiling on me, even though I was just posting and explaining some movesets.
I regard many of the Pokémon Online auths in a similar way.
My shoutout to him in my RMT:
Professor Oak: There's a time and place for everything, including giving out infractions on the Pokémon Online forums. If you misuse your ability to infract people, they aren't going to become a "better user" of your forums. Instead, they're just going to get worse, as they realize that they have no need to respect your forums and its pathetic "rules."
GGFan: Well, Pokemon Online is often referred to as "SmogonJr" for a reason.
Lance: 7. I actually don't know any of the GameFAQs Moderators on any level as people, even though I've been punished by them countless times. I think it's funny how their rules operate though, as GameFAQs is notorious for having rules and punishments that defy common sense.
To be honest, I'm not sure if it's accurate to say that, for the following reason:
GGFan: Actually there was a point where I used call it "Diet Smogon:" half the size, all of the stupidity.
Similarly, I called Nugget Bridge "Smogon Zero."
Lance: Smogon spawned from GameFAQs and Pokémon NetBattle. Then, Smogon was one with Pokémon NetBattle until Shoddy Battle was made in 2007. So, after Shoddy Battle was made, NetBattle was no longer Smogon. Now, NetBattle Supremacy spawned from the NetBattle that remained after Smogon abandoned it, and Pokémon Online spawned from NetBattle Supremacy.
Smogon and NetBattle Supremacy were always mutually exclusive.
NetBattle Supremacy was a 2009 simulator, and it was dominated by Brazilians.
That's where Pokémon Online came from.
Smogon was with Shoddy Battle at the time.
And in 2010, when Smogon used Pokémon Online, they made their own Smogon server,
which was always #2 in terms of popularity,
with the Pokémon Online server being #1.
GGFan: Yes, I remember that.
PO's own server was always #1.
Lance: Yeah.
GGFan: But then Showdown came out and PO failed to innovate itself, instead acquiescing to Smogon and becoming the first SmogonJr since PokeRealm.
Lance: Yeah, Pokémon Online took too long to become browser-based.
That was its main downfall.
GGFan: What could have been.
Lance: By the way, did you ever use Shoddy Battle or Pokémon NetBattle Supremacy (which was a different simulator from the original NetBattle. NetBattle Supremacy supported DPP).
Part seven: final questions
GGFan: Well, what do you consider your most impressive victory in a tournament?
Yes, I used Shoddy quite a bit to play DPP.
I used Netbattle Supremacy as well.
RBY2K10's tour games were often played on the Global Casino server.
Lance: I see.
Well, you know my views on Pokémon battling now. I really don't consider a victory in any single battle to be impressive in any way, since Pokémon is a game that's about consistency and luck evening out in the long run. But if I had to choose one tournament victory that I feel best about, then it would be this one:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-99184692
Ubers replay: Yuwen Yong vs. DracoMasterArsenal - Pokémon Showdown
Watch a replay of a Pokémon battle between Yuwen Yong and DracoMasterArsenal (Ubers)
This was me VS. Arsenal (also known as Astounded) in the finals of the Dragon Masters League Tournament.
GGFan: Could you give us the background information?
Lance: It would be quicker if I copy from my Ubers Player of the Week interview, since I explained the exact same thing there:
Favourite game from any tour and who was the toughest opponent that you've faced? Out of any tournament battle in which I have ever participated in history, my favorite one would be my battle against Arsenal/Astounded in the finals of an XY Ubers tournament known as the Dragon Masters League Tournament, a tournament which took place on the old Dragon Masters clan forums. It is a battle I will never forget. Arsenal is one of my greatest rivals ever in the entire history of my Pokémon battling career. He was the single person I battled the highest number of times in XY Ubers, and I was also the single person he battled the highest number of times in that metagame. According to him at one point in 2014, the only person to hold a positive record against him in that metagame is myself. Looking at the Team Preview, I was almost certain that I was going to lose. However, I did not allow this drop in morale to prevent me from sticking to one of my numerous philosophies of Pokémon Mastery - that no matter how badly I may be losing or how hopeless the situation may seem, I will always battle to the very end, depending on hax or attempting to outplay my opponent via a long series of god-like predictions if need be - something I repeatedly emphasized to my own players when I managed The Burning Red White Kyurems in Ubers Premier League V.
Arsenal and I fought against each other in a short exchange of mostly intuitive plays... until the fifth turn of the battle, at the beginning of which my Scizor stood face-to-face before his Heatran, a Pokémon which could easily incinerate its opposition with a single Lava Plume in a heartbeat. In that situation, I knew that staying in with Scizor would be an incredibly risky decision, but I also knew that I had no choice. I knew that had my Scizor taken a Lava Plume on that turn, then that would have meant instant defeat for me. But I also knew that had I switched out... I would have also eventually lost anyway, as the team matchups were extremely heavily in Arsenal's favor. To me, cowardice was not an option in that situation. Had I retreated, I would have aged, and had I hesitated, I would have lost. Faced with an all-or-nothing scenario, I bravely, with the heart of a lion, clicked the "Mega Evolution" button, followed by "Superpower," to the shock of both my opponent as well as even the Living Legend Sasha the Master, who spectated that battle live. And my decision paid off. Within a single turn, Arsenal's Heatran, which would have otherwise completely walled my entire team barring Groudon (which was completely walled by Gliscor) and Mega Scizor (which no one would ever expect to stay in on a Heatran), lost 88.7% of its health in exchange for setting up Stealth Rock. Now that his Heatran was weakened, it could no longer take a Brave Bird from my Ho-Oh, a Spacial Rend or Thunder from my Choice Scarf Palkia, or a Judgment from my Arceus-Rock, at least without several turns of Leftovers recovery.
The battle went on. Since his primary switch-in to my Ho-Oh was crippled, he had to fall back on his Gliscor and Zekrom for the purpose of checking my Rainbow Pokémon. This resulted in the fall of both his Zekrom as well as his Mega Mewtwo Y, the second of which made an unsuccessful attempt to knock out my Ho-Oh with its signature Psystrike technique, before being disintegrated to ashes by a catastrophic, Life Orb-boosted and harsh sunlight-fueled Sacred Fire.
After a while, I managed to eliminate my opponent's Stealth Rock-setting Heatran, before getting a Defog off with Arceus-Rock, sacrificing it in the process. At that point in time, I still did not think that the battle was mine, simply because my opponent's Gliscor had not revealed its entire moveset, and it would have been troublesome for me if it knew Taunt. But to my relief, it was eventually revealed that it did not. At this point, I knew that I had won. While his Gliscor completely walled my team, it could not threaten anything else, as its only attack, Earthquake, was easily walled by my Mega Scizor, which recovered the damage easily with Roost. Ho-Oh was immune to the attack, while Toxic failed to deal any net damage to my phoenix thanks to its Regenerator Ability, and Mega Scizor was also immune to the move. Basically, all I had to do was use Mega Scizor to stall the Gliscor out of PPs, and then his remaining team is easily massacred by my Ho-Oh. However, he forfeited before the battle even came close to ending. The only thing more I could have asked for from this battle would be that he played to the very end, as a Pokémon Master would in my opinion. But overall, this battle was an unparalleled experience in my entire Pokémon battling career.
GGFan: I respect the passion you have.
Lance: Thanks.
GGFan: How many tournament games do you think you've won throughout your 16-year run?
Lance: Is this including server tournaments as well?
GGFan: Sure, why not.
Lance: If we're including them, then I've won literally hundreds of them.
The vast majority of them were on NetBattle servers, or on Pokémon Online.
GGFan: And how about if we don't include them?
Just tournaments held on forums.
Lance: In terms of forum tournaments, maybe about 50 or so?
I don't join forum tournaments much.
And after the disaster that was BH Snake Draft, I completely stopped joining them.
Because I think that they go against all of my beliefs regarding how Pokémon battling should be.
It doesn't help that counter-teaming has become such a big thing in recent years too, compared to back in the NetBattle days.
GGFan: That's true. It's a lot easier to scout now.
Lance: Yeah.
GGFan: Which gen do you feel is the most competitive?
Lance: OK, I'll need time to think about that one.
I'll get a drink in the meantime.
I'll be back very soon.
Back.
By "competitive," are you referring strictly to playerbases? Or does this include game mechanics as well?
GGFan: Mostly in regard to skill/luck balance.
Lance: So let's say there's one generation that I think was filled with many skilled players, but battles were also often decided by hax, matchup, etc.
Ah.
I'd say the most competitive was Gen7, before Marshadow was released (talking about Ubers and Anything Goes here).
Historically, my main tiers have been Ubers, Anything Goes, and Balanced Hackmons.
I think that pre-Marshadow Gen7 Ubers and Anything Goes were the best and most competitive tiers I've ever played.
Anything Goes more than Ubers in that regard.
A close runner-up would be XY Ubers.
As I said, I haven't played most generations of OU, but if you're asking about OU, then I feel that GSC probably had the best skill/luck balance.
Because Speed ties didn't matter as much there, since Pokémon could rarely OHKO one another, long-term planning was very important, and the longer battles resulted in variance evening out more.
It wasn't like DPP OU where there were Infernape Speed ties, battles being easily decided by one crucial prediction, crit or Speed tie, etc.
GGFan: No, I mean in the tiers you've played actively, not OU.
I know you don't play OU.
Lance: Yeah, then I answered.
GGFan: What keeps you around today in such an overwhelmingly negative environment?
Lance: Hmm...
A couple of factors.
Firstly, I am very attached to my childhood, and as I child, I always found the idea of being a Pokémon Master, "I wanna be the very best," etc, to be extremely awesome and awe-inspiring.
That's the very reason why I named myself after an in-game Pokémon League Champion as well.
As I grew older, I began to question what it actually means to be a Pokémon Master.
So, since anyone can beat anyone in this game due to luck and variance, I concluded that being a Pokémon Master means being more consistent than anyone else over a large number of battles. However, this requires maintenance.
Let's say someone becomes a Pokémon Master now, due to having unparalleled consistency.
If he becomes a Pokémon Master and stops playing, and then newer generations get introduced, then he will eventually lose his position.
Because he hasn't adapted to the new generation, and therefore, he's no longer good at the most recent metagame.
If this person stays inactive in Pokémon battling, then the ratio of number of metagames and generations that exist:the number of metagames and generations he has mastered increases, and then he's left behind.
So part of my reason for continuing to play is because of my desire to appeal to the me of my childhood, and continue to stand as a Pokémon Master.
Another reason is because of my attachment to the identity that I have created as CHAMPION LANCE.
I've done a lot in the Pokémon battling community over the past 16 years, peaked countless ladders across many tiers and generations, hold a GXE record in Anything Goes, and I'm also proud of the fact that I probably caused more damage to Smogon than any other person in existence.
Between me trolling and flaming on the forums in 2005-2006, me leading my Dragon Masters clan in a conflict with the Ubers auths in 2013-2014, and my doxxing conflict that took place in 2018, etc.
I'm proud of the way I've always (except for when I was trying to promote my book) stood up for my own beliefs, and participated in many conflicts against the various evil people I have encountered in the community across history.
It's like I've been carving a huge, epic story with my life as a Pokémon Trainer.
That's why my 15th anniversary RMT, which includes my entire story between December 2003 and November 2018, is titled "The Legend of the Greatest Pokémon Master."
And I guess the final reason is because quitting is like being defeated by my enemies.
GGFan: That was very profound. The pathos is palpable.
Lance: As you said yourself, you spite your enemies by outlasting them.
I think the same.
And thanks.
GGFan: That is indeed true.
You've accomplished far more than many of your detractors.
Do you speak any other languages besides English?
Lance: Yes, Cantonese.
And I know bits and pieces of Japanese, as I showed on THE Alternative in 2007.
But I guess that doesn't count.
Also, I haven't addressed these yet:
GGFanYesterday at 11:41 PM 8. Rage 9. Zarel 10. Hikari
8. I don't know/remember Rage.
9. Zarel is really bad/lazy, because of how bad Pokémon Showdown! is as a simulator. He also does not care about justice, since he refused to punish Kris after the nigger incident, since Kris is friends with him. Ironically, that made Kris suffer a far worse punishment than Zarel could possibly give him himself.
My shoutout to Zarel in my RMT:
Zarel: I don't remember exactly when it was that Pokémon NetBattle was created, but the aforementioned simulator definitely existed in December 2003, and it died in around 2006. Shoddy Battle was made in 2007, and it died in 2009. Pokémon NetBattle Supremacy was made in early 2009, and it died before 2009 ended. Pokémon Online was made in 2010, and I'd say it was active until around 2016? PokeBattle was made in 2014, and it lasted a few months, at best. Pokémon Showdown! was made in 2011. I wonder when it, too, will meet its end?
10. Hikari is another Pokémon Online auth, same deal with XDevo and Professor Oak.
My shoutout to him:
Hikari: Since when were you under the impression that your opinions actually matter?
Although, that was a call-back to what I said to him here in 2012:
http://pokemon-online.eu/threads/13837/page-2#post-176262
Pokémon Online
Not to be unkind with u Lance, but all the people first of me are right: Using Ohko moves is sort of totally noobish and show lack of skill. 1. Using...
GGFan: Finally, how much longer do you intend on playing?
Lance: This is inherently a very difficult question to answer, because there are too many factors that I don't know about.
Typically, one of the biggest factors that make me want to quit Pokémon, or at least take a very long break, is when I don't like the way a metagame is.
The best example in the past was when Marshadow was first introduced in mid-2017.
In pre-Marshadow SM, I had god-like consistency in Anything Goes, with me being 130-3 on the ladder at one point.
When Marshadow came, the entire metagame changed,
and I couldn't build a team that could even go like 100-30, no matter how hard I tried.
Basically, the metagame was reshaped in such a way that whatever the most consistent team was was far less consistent than the most consistent team in pre-Marshadow.
Now, I can't predict how the metagame will change in the future, or how long the metagame will stay bad for if it does become bad.
Like, say, a year from now, the Diamond and Pearl remakes get released.
Then the metagame changes, so my current level of consistency becomes impossible.
Then I'll most likely quit.
And if the metagame remains bad for a long time, then that might turn out to be the end of my career.
But for the time being, what I do is this:
I play one game on the ladder each day with each of the two alts with which I'm currently #1 and #2 in National Dex Anything Goes, in order to negate the daily decay, and I also do the same thing on the Gen7 Ubers ladder, on which I'm currently also #1.
But I don't really do much else in this game at the moment.
I intend to keep this up until I get bored though.
So at the moment, I have no intentions of quitting.
And when I'll quit, if ever, is something that just depends on too many factors that I can't really predict.
GGFan: Yes, that's true. You might get married and forget about all of this. Who knows.
Lance: True.
GGFan: I think this was a fascinating and scintillating discussion. I'll ask one final question.
Lance: Sure.
GGFan: Are there any writers you emulate or at least enjoy?
Lance: On Neoseeker, there was a guy called ChaosLord, who often wrote Pokémon fanfictions alongside me, and he and I often participated in a forum game known as an "Add-on Story," in which one person would write a part of a story, then the next poster would continue the story, and so on.
I think he and I largely influenced each other in the way we write.
A lot of my expressions, such as "he widened his eyes and gasped at the sight he saw," etc, came from him.
And he, in turn, took a lot of stuff from me.
So yeah.
GGFan: What about contemporary or classical writers?
Lance: Not really.
There's no one I really look up to or try to emulate in that regard.
GGFan: Very well then.
Well, thank you for your time. I'll show you the interview as soon as it's on my website.
Lance: No problem at all.
And sure.
Interview date: 12/14/2019