Interview with Blue Kirby

No problem. I've just recently turned 21, and I'm from Perth in Western Australia. When I don't answer to Blue Kirby, usually Michael is a pretty safe bet.

I'm in my final semester of Computer Science at the moment, so things are getting very interesting on that front. When I'm not studying or doing something Pokemon-related, I'm a fan of soccer and have been known to play a bit of Halo from time to time too.

A lot of people around here have assumed I'm a fair bit older than I actually am, I wonder if there's something to that...

Only when I have to be! See: our CAP ASB thread. (editor's note: Smogon Gold Members only)

The plan seems to have changed a few times already, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I've planned on doing postgraduate study for a while now, but I'm also currently interviewing for a full-time job in information security at an accounting firm. It's actually more interesting than it sounds, I swear!

If all goes well, I'll end up doing both, with a healthy dose of Pokemon to keep me sane as well.

I have pretty high expectations for Smogon's development in the near future and beyond. Articuno64 and I are stepping into chaos' shoes, and we'll be making sure the site stays on track both in terms of its direction and technically too. We've got a lot of new and exciting changes on the horizon.

For example, the first project I'll be leading will be in relation to Smogon's media presence. I'll be doing some coding on-site to allow users to interact with videos and podcasts, as well as making sure we're on top of our game with the quality we're pumping out. And that's just the start of things to come, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled!

My addiction to Pokemon began many years ago. My very first game was Pokemon Yellow! My brother had already been playing Blue version for a while, and we eventually helped each other fill out our Pokedexes. Imagine that, two real life Pokemon masters...

When Gold and Silver came out, we began playing competitively with our neighbours too. Back then, my Jolteon with four Electric-moves really was where it was at. Thunder for power, Thunderbolt for accuracy, ThunderShock to finish off weakened opponents, and Thunder Wave to slow them down. The whole package, really.

This continued with the release of Ruby and Sapphire, when I looked up my first competitive battling guide to gain the edge. I found a GameFAQs guide, where to my horror, I learned having moves of different types was actually the way to go. Imagine the surprise of my opponents when my Sceptile busted out an Earthquake! From this guide, I eventually found Netbattle, and not long after that, Smogon.

I never really paid much attention to Smogon until Diamond and Pearl, where I hopped on the wifi board to net myself some cool Pokemon. The plan was never to end up where I am now. I guess life's strange like that. HOO HAH!

Some of the best times I've had on Smogon were with the Oceania crew during the World Cup series. The primary reason I've found myself always drawn back to this site one way or another is the people, both from Oceania and elsewhere.

From the word go, we've had some amazing players step up to represent us. I think my favourite thing about our team is that amongst the big names, we have plenty of hard hitting players that aren't as well known for whatever reason. The World Cup is really a time for those guys to show everybody else what they're made of, and they certainly haven't disappointed so far!

This year, we're in for another nail-biting finish against West as you said. I've got faith in Earthworm to pull this one out (again), but everybody has played amazingly to get us this far.

I can't really say there's any World Cup that stands out as my favourite -- our team dynamic has always been strong, as has our competition. I can only hope this will continue in World Cups to come.

I'd like to give US West a shoutout too for being great competition this year. No matter what happens, we'll be back next year too!

Without a doubt it's the team chemistry. From day one each year, our IRC channel has always had both players and supporters helping each other improve and generally just hanging out. We also set up a forum each year to make sure we're as prepared as possible going into each round. If we all jumped in and played as lone wolves instead, I doubt we'd have put up the performances we have each year so far.

Back then, it was definitely a novel idea, and I wasn't sure how it'd be received. I remember we were scrambling to get ourselves together for our first release, and luckily it went down nicely.

Since then, The Smog has attracted a whole range of talented users, which has lead to more of a rhythm and hence polished product. It's taken a good direction and is in good hands now, and I hope it continues to go from strength to strength in the future!

I've always had a soft spot for Battling 101, as it was really where my Smogon "career" began back when it was under the guidance of Aeolus.

Eventually, I took over leadership as you mentioned. That lasted for about a year, and I've kept an eye on it ever since. Each time a group of leaders has stepped up, they've brought with them their own unique ideas and views, and the project has clearly benefited from this.

Battling 101 continues to develop, and I can't wait to see what you guys have in store for it. There are few things I'd like to give the project in terms of technical features, and I'd love to work with the current crew to sort them out. I can see at the very least that we could improve the signing up process both for the tutees and the poor guys that have to manually assign tutors.

Like I said before, we've got a whole range of improvements in store for Smogon, and odds are that everybody will be able to take advantage of this regardless of what their interests are. Stay tuned!

I would've thought as a cave man, you'd have more experience with Zubat yourself Mekkah.

In times gone by, my answer would've been the faithful Jolteon that I mentioned a little earlier on. Since Ruby and Sapphire though, Metagross has taken the cake. I loved the fact that Metagross turned out to be such a great finisher in Diamond and Pearl; if only it got some more toys to play with in Black and White...

Part of me knew that you didn't care about the rest...

I'd also like to remind Smogon Gold members about our upcoming Sumo Volleyball tournament, make sure you're around for that if you haven't signed up already!