Interview with Vacate

Interview and flavor by Spydreigon. Art by Andrew and faxxifer.

The airplane ride to the UK was bumpy, especially considering how I was stuffed into luggage at the last minute and snuck by security somehow so that Scene wouldn't have to pay for my travels. Regardless, I knew nothing about London, so I got a taxi and and showed the driver the text I had from Antemortem with directions to the local space station. It was raining outside, and there were a few lightning strikes. I chuckled to myself; the weather seemed appropriate for the person I'm about to interview.

Once we got there, I handed the taxi driver an "I owe you" slip, as I was flat broke, and ran as quickly as I could. I got to the space station and made a deal with the manager by trading him an Adaptability Skrelp for free admittance. I made a mental note to myself to demand a raise once I got home and then entered the area that said "Do Not Enter." Inside, I found a man furiously coding away on his computer. I realized this was the person I was here for, and I had to drag him away from his computer, unplug it, and take away his coffee before he realized who I was. He composed himself, and we began.

Hey, Vacate! Glad to be here.

The pleasure is all mine.

Let's start off broadly. What kind of person would you consider yourself to be outside of PS? What non Pokémon-related things do you do in real life?

I'm currently a student living just outside London, and I'm pretty much a nerd. I'm interested in philosophy, computing, and politics.

Haha, aren't we all nerds in our own way? Those are some interesting skills you've got, and seeing as you're a student, what do you plan on doing in the future?

I have no idea. I've been considering lots of areas—maybe getting into programming, pursuing something in philosophy, or even teaching. No plans, really.

I could tell he spent a lot of time thinking about it, and it's no surprise.

Yeah, choosing your path in life can be very difficult. Changing gears here, let's talk about Pokémon Showdown. How did you first get involved with PS?

I started out at the end of 2012, just battling and watching Lobby chat go by. I started getting involved in October in a few places (thanks to SteelEdges), got global Voice in November, then went from there.

You've gone far since then, as you were recently promoted to Leader, a rank only a select few outstanding users ever achieve. How has being a PS staff member been for you throughout all these months?

It's been fun. Managing rooms and modding the chat has been good on the whole. I've been getting more involved with PS and its policy until recently, as my terrible computer has got the better of me. I hope to be back soon, though!

We'll be waiting for that day then. However, I'm sure many new users want to know how to get involved here in our large community. What piece of advice would you give them?

I'd say: Don't be afraid to go out there and chat! If you follow the server and room rules, it's hard to go wrong, and you might even make some new friends. Pokémon Showdown can be a really fun place if you go for it.

Yeah, we were all regular users at one point, and the best thing to do is to go out there and just be yourself. Anyways, as we all know, you're a co-leader of this e-zine, The Player, along with Scene. How did you two come up with this idea in the first place?

Well, back in May I casually mentioned the idea of a webzine specifically about PS. We fleshed out the details, and Scene made a thread about it in the Upper Staff forum. Needless to say, it got approved, and we went from there. It's nice to see that it's still going strong!

It's funny how such big projects start off with a simple idea; The Player has really evolved into something else.

We've got tons of great contributors here. Do you have any future plans for The Player? I'm sure people will want to know what's being prepared for them.

We have a few series ideas that we might be trying out soon. An idea we've been throwing around is whether to turn The Player into some sort of rolling blog format, but I think we'll be sticking with the current format for the time being.

It's nice to know that we are prepared for whatever the future hits us with. Combining PS and Smogon, what's been your favorite experience in your time with us so far?

As for Smogon, I particularly enjoyed getting the first issue of The Player off the ground. On PS, my favorite time has to be December 2013, when I spent most of my time in the Pop Culture and Tournaments rooms. Those were really fun times.

It's great to see a community like ours make for some great times for any user. I know my life would be very different if I never got involved here, and it's the same with anyone else.

PS and Smogon can definitely make for some really great memories. Now, to wrap this up, I might as well ask the question that's been asked since January to end it all off. What's the meaning behind the name Vacate? Does it hold anything special to you?

I switched to Vacate pretty much because I wanted a one syllable name; in addition my old name sucked and Vacate was a really pretty purple. Of course, I switched to this even prettier red within two weeks.

While I was pondering how "Vacate" was a one syllable name (he probably meant one word), a security officer showed up. Apparently, the "Do Not Enter" sign was actually there for a reason. I don't think the space station will appreciate my company after this.

Regardless, the name makes for some great puns, so it seems like it's time for me to vacate the premises. It was great talking with you!

Same here!

The security officer kicked me out of the space station and demanded I pay because I broke the rules. Fortunately, I bred some egg moves onto the manager's Skrelp, so he dismissed the security officer and let me go. Now, I was faced with the unfortunate issue of how I would return to the USA... It seems like I'll need shaymin to bail me out again.

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