(request) DELETE SMOGON NOW [decision pending]

I was not intending to update so soon, but the mods just dropped a very interesting stealth change to badge sorting that just happened today: they appear to prioritize point value in each category again like they did initially, rather than showing the lowest value badges. This makes it slightly easier to flex the number of reacts you have at a glance. The selection of four still seems random though, so you can get a redundant 500 comments badge when the number of posts is always displayed, though I did find out that it specifically only counts replies and not new threads as "comments" for the purposes of that badge. Having a numbered birthday badge is also pretty respectable.

Compare some example screenshots to the last post above, mainly the numbered versions of the badges:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13071/gen-1-bracket-semifinals-2#latest
1726016054183.png
1726016067937.png


1726016126411.png
1726016135577.png
1726016144175.png


EDIT: clasingla noticed this earlier today.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...ething-i-noticed-about-the-badge-icons#latest
1726017584004.png

I think clasingla might be right in that the previous badges shown were the same 4, but I don't think they are always the most recent. You can see badge order in the badges section on profiles, and in TheJeffers' case the agrees were after the messages.
1726017887796.png


Last night there was a very generic cryptocurrency spam thread posted that I partly saved.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13064/cryptocurrency-converter#latest
1726016769866.png

It got deleted before I could see any of these later notifications, but I found out that KeliosFR from the twitter is on this site with a custom avatar of all things. They have a very early user ID of 84 and a joindate of September 23 2021 yet this was their first post ever. Also the search brings the same user up twice with an invalid register date even though it displays properly on their profile .
1726017024798.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/profile/84/KeliosFR
1726017064556.png

1726016714022.png

1726016685576.png


Speaking of spam, the redeeming codes thread has continued to receive the same "how to redeem" spam from fresh accounts since the last time I mentioned it, up to 7 pages now, though it has mostly subsided since Octowen put together a guide for redeeming codes. Also someone flagged everyone in the thread recently.

1726017446981.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/1694/redeeming-codes/p7
1726016201240.png

1726017102589.png

1726016168237.png


Here is a live example of "bulbapedia" being censored in the wild for reference, with the unsafe link marker and being unclickable.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13065/lets-sing-151-for-my-151st-post#latest
1726016271687.png


Lastly I think the response to this thread sums up the official forums nicely, though I feel like some replies kind of defeat the point being made.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13054/hello-people-im-new-here#latest
1726016329293.png

1726016355331.png
1726016319731.png

1726016367200.png
1726016383228.png


EDIT: FlyPupKai has just returned. Watch this space.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13082/trash-players#latest
1726017514217.png
 
Last edited:
The Pokemon social media posts on twitter and youtube have linked to the forums announcement thread when advertising the latest Incineroar event raid.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1834668377861730484
https://twitter.com/x/status/1831846640925167897
https://pkmn.news/4easNeP -> https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/12983/prepare-to-face-a-mighty-incineroar
1726426056522.png

1726426098846.png


This is a new occurrence compared to the last event posts just linking to the official website.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1826797563514945803
https://pkmn.news/3WYv2ux -> https://scarletviolet.pokemon.com/en-us/events/summer-events-part-4/
1726426069392.png


Other misc notes:
doipy hooves said:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13039/x#latest
This discussion url is just named x which I guess is different.
1725913394673.png
Click to expand...
I actually checked evanricafort.com and he does call himself a security consultant, so I assume it is the same security guy who claimed he was authorized to test from back then and got banned repeatedly. Maybe he could go on any other vanilla forum to report these issues instead of just scaring kids on the pokemon forums.

I feel like TechHog got some undeserved aggression today for just pointing out someone was mistaken about a mechanic and should have posted logs.

1726427960328.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...know-how-the-mulligan-draws-are-calculated/p1
1726427858314.png

1726428004265.png

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1726427960328.png

I found some more ChatGPT advertising slop posts while looking in the Best Of section, both in the same thread.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...hen-all-they-need-to-do-is-attack-one-more-ti
1726426639162.png

1726426672698.png

1726426690480.png


Apparently there is another vague error showing up when editing posts, probably also related to approval.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13130/error-while-editing-a-post#latest
1726426722494.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13137/in-game-trainer#latest
1726426745757.png


The end of the Gen 1 bracket was a tie that was given to Zapdos, but Bulbasaur got 2 posthumous votes after the fact.
1726427179069.png

1726427162988.png


People are still very mad at Unite's voice chat ban system that has been and still is entirely automatic since day 1, as in if you turn on voice chat anyone can report you and you can get banned from voice chat instantly. For some reason people still do not understand this simple moderation policy.

1726427235735.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...when-youre-getting-banned-for-using-it#latest
1726427248642.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...ut-the-spanish-mod-should-be-reallly-be-fired
1726427303429.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/12470/punishments-for-misbehavior
1726427515515.png

1726427535733.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/11766/in-game-voice-chat-is-incredibly-restrictive
1726427570061.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/11098/the-worst-report-system
1726427690501.png

1726427726751.png

1726427760908.png




https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/9615/request-voice-chat-added-to-game
1726427594909.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...on-unite-should-remove-the-voice-chat-feature
1726427426528.png


Unite's response last month was to not change anything but threaten that they might actually moderate the voice chat more strictly, though so far it seems like the automatic moderation is still there and nothihng has changed.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...g-response-to-nuisance-behavior-in-voice-chat
1726427643636.png

TPCi_GarbageKing uploaded a PDF to the forums in this post which is mildly interesting.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...fficial-rules-resources-update-9-13-24#latest
1726428341390.png


Finally I want to point out the poor translations of Unite patch notes while I have this soapbox since they only use the forums to post them and they keep getting more and more unprofessional.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/12970/hyper-voltage-ver-1-16-1-2-patch-notes#latest

1726428568051.png
Capitalizing Ho-Oh incorrectly.
1726428687928.png
The patch was named "Shadow Flame".
1726428562234.png
1726428664525.png

1726428610605.png
1726428643654.png

1726428600189.png
1726428655694.png

1726428581807.png

1726429039989.png

Also Unite is increasing the battle pass prices for pretty much nothing in return and did have an inventory limit for no good reason, which not even the main games have anymore, and this was not mentioned or addressed until now.
 
So I haven't actually been following the forums that closely but quite a few meta changes have happened.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/categories/pokemon-tcg-pocket
1727464446108.png

There is a new TCG Pocket forum which seemed to drop on September 19.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13299/tcg-pocket-page-size-issues#latest
1727464524252.png

1727464537724.png

PokemiiAC successfully made a bug report eliciting a response from TPCi_GarbageKing as his first ever comment/reply.
1727464553072.png


Speaking of which most of my alerts have just been their bumping of various threads and I thought this was rather appropriate.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/11891/im-an-idiot-in-every-way-possible/p2
1727464599857.png


doipy hooves said:
EDIT: FlyPupKai has just returned. Watch this space.
Click to expand...
In the time between posts, this thread got temporarily hidden, came back but without FlyPupKai's post calling someone out by name, and now the man himself has finally been banned. I did take one last record of the thread soon after it came back though.
1727463782667.png

1727463792070.png


Note that the original reply was removed.
1727463822627.png

1727463713951.png

1727463752659.png

1727463764951.png


Josiah2580 made his triumphant return recently after spending 2 years in a time dilation.
1727465095282.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13236/sorry-guys-and-girls/p1
1727465149404.png

1727465161156.png

1727465169403.png

1727465211760.png

1727465192827.png

clasingla gets nostalgic for days that haven't even come to pass.
1727465281466.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13223/will-i-have-nastalgia-for-the-forums/p1
1727465309666.png
1727465321107.png

1727465328248.png

1727465334326.png

1727465341524.png
1727465347660.png

1727465355128.png

1727465368955.png

1727465378271.png

There was yet another recent meta discussion about the issue of flagging culture, this time getting an actual mod response.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13257/dude-can-we-do-something-about-the-flags/p1
1727465406822.png

1727465498423.png

1727465515860.png
1727465552473.png

1727465569794.png

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1727465707576.png

1727465714295.png

1727465722566.png

1727465727731.png

Due to this I have just noticed that all my Spam and most of my Abuse flags were removed, mostly from posting in the TCG Live section and/or interacting with one off posters that I do not think would have naturally retracted their flags.
1727464809513.png


I'm not sure if this was universal, but based on the new leaderboard standings, TechHog really rose up fast probably due to this.

1727464699680.png


Unite players still do not understand that you can't ban people for being bad at the game, but you can for using voice chat.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...-the-fixes-and-balances-coming-reports#latest
1727465857450.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13254/pokemon-code-of-conduct#latest
1727465882495.png


Finally, the recent Palworld lawsuit has brought out all the lawyers and fearmongerers on the Pokemon forums once again.

The original anti-Palworld OP came back to clarify that he does not feel the same way now about this lawsuit which is actually pretty reasonable.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/9017/whats-your-view-on-palworld/p4
1727465939020.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13274/nintendo-lawsuit-against-pocketpair/p1
1727466041649.png


Apparently I reached an attachment upload limit in this post, so I will just post this reply to sum up the whole thread and cut off this post for now. It seems like you can only have up to 50 attachments now.
1727466189034.png


EDIT: More on this mechanic in the forums mechanics research thread but it seems this limit specifically applies to unpublished attachments in posts and you can add more after editing.
 

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Literally 1984​

The community's cornerstone thread "Which Starter would you eliminate", aka. "the pokemon eating thread", has been shut down recently with the new wave of moderator intervention after a long standing 70 pages/700 posts as the longest thread on the forums, and at least one other offshoot was removed as well. Were the moderators justified in shutting down this controversial but deeply tied to canon topic, or have they gone too far in a late and misguided effort against community wishes?

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/10725/what-starter-would-you-eliminate#latest
1727561117087.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13378/where-is-the-pokemon-eating-discussion
1727561106938.png

1727561140631.png

1727561151231.png

1727561162753.png

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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...p-closing-discussions-about-eating-pokemon/p1
1727560557953.png

1727560614271.png

1727560622710.png

1727560642320.png

1727560649862.png

1727560659724.png


Meanwhile, the anime forums are discussing when Ash died.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13423/when-was-ash-ketchum-dead#latest
1727560728110.png

1727560769890.png

1727560778697.png
 
With the recent developments of slightly more enforced moderation, the official Pokemon Forums moderators have also just introduced a new technical support hotline for the forums, though "Forum Assistance Requests" is a misleading name in my opinion. I think this could be a great move in making moderators more approachable but also it feels like it's solving a problem that doesn't exist in a way. But it is a rare sticky/announcement you can post in which is neat and will keep it alive.

1727830795455.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13459/forum-assistance-requests#latest
1727829762401.png

It seems like they will be making use of the PM feature, so if I ever run into a technical issue I will be sure to report on my experiences with this service of talking directly to a moderator. They also seem to be recommending using the Report function instead of just Flag reacting with Spam or Abuse specifically, which may be more difficult to measure the effectiveness of without reporting things directly but we'll see what happens.

1727829839660.png

1727830752119.png

Already we are off to a good start with a non-issue and a game issue.
EDIT: Another reply popped up in the middle of writing this post. I have my doubts if this counts as a technical issue but I guess we can see what comes out of it. It seems like all they posted are just TCG bug reports though.

In other news I didn't officially cover, Hey_PIKMIN returned as well and evolved into Kingler.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13270/hey-guys-im-back/p1
1727830031948.png

1727830044125.png

1727830051525.png


On the other hand this Farfetch'd guy joined yesterday and already has 45 posts, a force to rival PokemiiAC and Jadite.
1727829734115.png


I checked the thread where they got flagged and it was a thread celebrating the banning of FlyPupKai, starting off with a PokemiiAC hexapost with 2 flags each.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13474/they-banned-flypupkai/p1
1727830120405.png

clasingla makes a contemplative statement on the nature of moderation.
1727830157366.png

1727830252029.png

1727830242984.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13493/my-comments-arent-showing-up#latest
1727830623149.png

Game Freak being censored early on would explain some things.
1727830639099.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/activity
Last week on the recent activity page, TechHog's net gain of 385 points from the removal of flags could be directly visualized.
1727829918886.png


It seems like the activity page has stopped updating for public updates for badges and new users since about September 28th. And also people actually check this page to comment on recent profile posts and stuff.
1727829949449.png


Through this I actually found out that clasingla did get a celebration for 5 stars on their profile page among other things, and this profile post didn't show up on the activity page either.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/profile/clasingla
1727830388506.png

1727830419052.png

1727830431083.png

1727830439142.png

1727830464062.png

Finally, some more typical Unite/TCG Live threads of today:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13484/when-i-get-unmute-me-accout-voice-chat#latest
1727830885246.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13494/this-games-not-right#latest
1727830905652.png
 
Last edited:
TheFurretStar said:
I created an acc lol and I plan to rant about censorship and stuff
Click to expand...
I anticipate reading your posts eagerly. In the meantime it seems like someone already beat you to it regarding the recent Pokemon Unite gambling drama (which I have covered in the Unite thread on Smogon if you need context).

Pokemon Forums are AGAINST rights to freedom of speech​

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13497/topic-voice-feedback-deleting#latest
1727898575927.png

We will see if Nintendo support has to be called on the pokemon forum moderators. I'm right there with you taking a screenshot of this thread.
1727898623037.png

1727898632094.png

1727898665701.png


For context, I did save a screenshot of such that thread last night before it was deleted in anticipation after recent events. Honestly it wasn't even that bad aside from specifically calling out the gambling aspect.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...ing-gambling-to-kids-again-with-gotcha#latest
1727898734376.png



Meanwhile, this other thread about a similar topic with their reply is still up.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...on-unite-shutting-down-in-belgium-netherlands
1727898768686.png

It seems Unite is just losing more and more players with their recent moves as can be seen by other recent threads.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13428/do-you-like-the-lucky-ice-pops-event
1727898883883.png


continuation of the thread in the last post
1727898984661.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...ow-im-afraid-ill-be-banned-for-100-yea#latest
1727899032121.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13439/mena-region#latest
1727899059544.png
 
Honestly I've been kind of hitting a roadblock for a while in terms of interest and current events to cover, but the recent leaks blowing up the fandom and derailing the weekend was just the thing to ignite some discussion. First off I will point out a few minor updates and story arcs I wanted to follow up on.

The feedback thread from earlier did get locked with an actual acknowledgment this time.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13497/topic-voice-feedback-deleting#latest
1728934368948.png


The choose avatar menu now shows avatars in rows of 4 rather than 1 per row.
1728934325568.png


EDIT: I was inspired to check on this after hearing in Orange Islands that the Pokemon Center website has avatars of their own now.
They are very similar but not the same in terms of colors and art used in some cases, and they already have ones for all regions (except Hisui). Also they have a search bar.
1728935794059.png


Ironically it turns out PokemiiAC was the one flagging others for spam, he who is with sin casting multiple stones.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...r-flags-incorrectly-if-so-how-did-you-feel/p4
1728934478295.png


1728934282543.png

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...in-in-a-battle-nidoking-or-king-dedede#latest

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13503/let-s-misspell-gyarados/p1
1728934653565.png

1728934699219.png
1728934662859.png

1728934679563.png

1728934713302.png

1728934723768.png


https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13459/forum-assistance-requests/p1
1728934762286.png

1728934771218.png
1728934783337.png

TheFurretStar was actually prophetic of a new issue where people can't edit posts with a similarly vague error message to the last time.

I made note of a thread about debating the use of VPNs for TCG Pocket but it seems to be deleted now.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...ar-2020-voting-results-were-rigged-why#latest
1728934840870.png

1728934857908.png

A very timely thread about voter fraud.

Finally, the most topical recent events are the Pokemon leaks, and so far they are a pretty hot topic.

This was an old thread about Kotora that got bumped:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/5917/about-the-prototypes-of-the-pokemon-games#latest
1728934946707.png

1728934954669.png


And here is a new thread debating the ramifications of the leaks that seems to be based off some incorrect assumptions about what was actually leaked.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...ks-delays-and-consequences-for-leakers#latest
1728934985092.png

1728934996005.png

1728935036982.png

1728935045122.png

1728935079263.png


Overall these threads may or may not disappear soon, though the Pokemon Forums have kept up prototype threads before, and I feel like some additional posts were approved like UnovanZorua's since when I first looked at this thread earlier.

EDIT: Added in mention of the Pokemon Center website's new avatar system.
 
Last edited:
doipy hooves said:
Honestly I've been kind of hitting a roadblock for a while in terms of interest and current events to cover, but the recent leaks blowing up the fandom and derailing the weekend was just the thing to ignite some discussion. First off I will point out a few minor updates and story arcs I wanted to follow up on.

The feedback thread from earlier did get locked with an actual acknowledgment this time.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13497/topic-voice-feedback-deleting#latest
View attachment 678573

The choose avatar menu now shows avatars in rows of 4 rather than 1 per row.
View attachment 678572

EDIT: I was inspired to check on this after hearing in Orange Islands that the Pokemon Center website has avatars of their own now.
They are very similar but not the same in terms of colors and art used in some cases, and they already have ones for all regions (except Hisui). Also they have a search bar.
View attachment 678596

Ironically it turns out PokemiiAC was the one flagging others for spam, he who is with sin casting multiple stones.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/12965/have-you-ever-got-any-disagrees-or-flags-incorrectly-if-so-how-did-you-feel/p4
View attachment 678574

View attachment 678571
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13682/who-would-win-in-a-battle-nidoking-or-king-dedede#latest

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13503/let-s-misspell-gyarados/p1
View attachment 678576
View attachment 678581
View attachment 678577
View attachment 678578
View attachment 678582
View attachment 678583

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13459/forum-assistance-requests/p1
View attachment 678584
View attachment 678585View attachment 678586
TheFurretStar was actually prophetic of a new issue where people can't edit posts with a similarly vague error message to the last time.

I made note of a thread about debating the use of VPNs for TCG Pocket but it seems to be deleted now.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13584/do-you-think-that-the-pokemon-of-the-year-2020-voting-results-were-rigged-why#latest
View attachment 678587
View attachment 678588
A very timely thread about voter fraud.

Finally, the most topical recent events are the Pokemon leaks, and so far they are a pretty hot topic.

This was an old thread about Kotora that got bumped:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/5917/about-the-prototypes-of-the-pokemon-games#latest
View attachment 678589
View attachment 678590

And here is a new thread debating the ramifications of the leaks that seems to be based off some incorrect assumptions about what was actually leaked.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/13689/massive-leaks-delays-and-consequences-for-leakers#latest
View attachment 678591
View attachment 678592
View attachment 678593
View attachment 678594
View attachment 678595

Overall these threads may or may not disappear soon, though the Pokemon Forums have kept up prototype threads before, and I feel like some additional posts were approved like UnovanZorua's since when I first looked at this thread earlier.

EDIT: Added in mention of the Pokemon Center website's new avatar system.
Click to expand...
"that is probably illegal"
 
It's been an uncertain month. Yet the Pokemon Forums have shown resilience despite the internal turmoil within and outside.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...-leaks-delays-and-consequences-for-leakers/p5
1732080538984.png

Some have given up altogether. Hey_PIKMIN couldn't take it any longer.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14449/im-done
1732081028812.png

And just like that, the community came to an end. Hey_PIKMIN ran away from the lifeless Forums... and wandered the Internet alone. He never saw the pokemon eating thread again. TPCi_GarbageKing is an admin of their word, so he's sure they would at least remove the leaks thread as requested.

1732081747495.png

1732081615753.png

He heard the news of more leaks and morality debates a few days later. They were left up, of course. The "iconic post" never happen. Maybe it was never meant to. Because an "iconic post" is something that doesn't exist.

1732081955376.png

1732081971171.png

1732082061742.png

But... the forums refused to change.
Yet still, life goes on.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...d-like-to-ask-if-my-account-will-be-banned/p1
1732080588429.png

Sure, the old third party TCG live server advertisers may still run rampant, although the mods did remove their links and TechHog's original message calling it out.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...rum-consensus-about-recent-events-and-patches
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The Unite players have just stopped playing altogether.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14015/cartridge-versus-disk/p2
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Physical cartridges are disappearing.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14013/pokemon-yellow-artlocke#latest
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The people are resorting to emulators.

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But despite everything, people still enjoy Pokemon and try to promote the long forgotten ethics of internet safety.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14484/inclusion-of-a-blind-student-on-my-team
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Despite their individual differences and disagreements, the people can come together to support those in need against the enemies of society trying to tear us all down.


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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...0-would-be-able-to-beat-ocarina-of-time-first
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Even the mods are still making a legitimate effort to engage with the community threads, no matter how random the topic is.


I would say Hey_PIKMIN was wrong, but I can only speak for myself. I think there is still "life" in the official Pokemon forums. But you have to make the "post" happen. The posters, moderators, and Smogon readers... We have seen the "posts", and that is how we have come to know the "community". Perhaps Hey_PIKMIN was one person who has yet to see new "posts" from the "community", beyond the shadow of a lost love. Yet his final "post" may have brought about the "community" he sought once more to debate his decision in the aftermath.

Perhaps Hey_PIKMIN may return, or the forums may find new "life" once more with another "iconic thread". I know both of these seem like impossible feats at first. But if either can happen, it would truly be an "exciting community". So was Hey_PIKMIN "wrong"... or was he "right", when he "posted" his opinion and chose to leave? Those were his choices only he could make for himself then. And the answers to that "thread" speak to what still being a "member" means to the "community".

But... you have to look past all of that, to what's really important. There's something more to the feelings behind a "post" than just getting an "Agree" or a "Flag" reaction, right? It doesn't matter how many "replies" a thread has… The "discussion" will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to post with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Editing the paragraphs one by one… It's never easy… We claw and scratch for every draft. But we will always eventually press that one "post reply" button. That's the reason why "posters" exist. But I'm sure you knew that already, reading this.
 
The year is 2025. Time marches on, and the age of a new Game draws nearer. On the outside, the Pokemon Forums remain standing strong beyond the dark ages of 2023. But on the inside, the story is not as serene as it seems, as the forums are engulfed in a newer, darker age of posting...

Trust in authority has eroded as prestigious Moderators like Mod_Skrilla were found banned and disbarred.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/profile/Mod_Skrilla
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New rising stars like Mod_Fern seem to have been stripped of their identity as well, their remains being left Unconfirmed.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/profile/Fern
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As chaos engulfs society and the systems fail their people again and again, faith inevitably turns to doubt as the status quo is questioned.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14897/is-poison-heal-an-ethical-ability/p1
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(There were actually a lot more comments calling TechHog out for this that seem to have been deleted now.)
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...-for-lance-to-use-hyper-beam-on-people#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...nk-hospitals-work-in-the-pokemon-world#latest
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With no news to discuss, the urge of Posting still beckons for newer and fresher sacrifices. The world hurtles ever closer towards madness.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14675/pokemon-save-these-framed-innocents#latest

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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14822/evil-team-bracket-22#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14941/what-pokemon-is-183
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15270/which-move-is-not-useful-in-real-life#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15237/what-pokemon-are-you/p1
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Losses are mourned day after day in reminiscence of better times. But in an era where posts are forged left and right by self-promoting self-serving AI services, cynical posters began to turn on their fellow man as well, belittling the last bits of humanity they cling onto.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/12828/some-guys-i-want-back-that-leaved-the-forums/p4
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14954/do-you-think-pokemon-celebrate-christmas/p3
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15055/looking-for-new-friends#latest (deleted thread)
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Even doubt can arise from within the self, questioning one’s very identity of being a Pokemon fan at all.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15172/i-should-tell-you-something/p1
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It is clear that the Pokemon Forums have been overrun with corruption; the root of which is beyond attribution to one single poster or thread, but the entropic grip of damnation reaches out from within us all regardless.

However, all hope is not lost.

New moderators like Mod_Nova have stepped up to the plate to break the divide and participate in threads among users alike as well as being active on their profile, coming to the terms that neither are simply just fighting separately for their own cause, but rather working together as equals within a system powered by honest effort from both sides.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/profile/57078/Mod_Nova
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(I guess this guy got the more debated TechHog posts deleted after all.)
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14954/do-you-think-pokemon-celebrate-christmas/p1
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Regular users make their return to the board as well, showing a comeback is never out of the question no matter how much or little time has passed.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15265/i-m-back
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Even in the midst of this darker age of posting, I believe that trust in our fellow posters can still be reclaimed by posters genuinely wanting to find the truth instead of posting by any means necessary, solely towards furthering a perfect streak of posting points and reactions.
The official Pokemon Community Forums are one of the few places on the Internet still in dispute, not aiming to exploit its members for capital gain-- where will you be when history is written?
 
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Rising from the ashes, the official announcement of the Switch 2 is the hot topic of the week and may be just what the forums needed to incite discussion of something new and official.

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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15556/a-topic-i-want-to-discuss/p1
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15564/switch-2-reveal-trailer#latest
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Not everyone has as much hope for the future of the Pokemon Forums for that matter, as the darker age of posting rears its head again.

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15570/im-bored/p1
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(Aside: For context, the conceding matches reference seems to be this 5-page TCG Pocket thread about arguing if forfeiting is valid or not. I haven't touched too much on TCG Pocket lately but they have been pushing the forums on that front too.)
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14577/conceding-matches/p1
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(This goes on for a while longer but the posts get too long to screenshot.)

Back to the forums meta, general sentiment has been looking bleak as Hey_PIKMIN's departure may have only been a hint of things to come:
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This dark age of posting has even driven the franchise's most loyal fans against the TCG, the Switch 2, the anime, and the mainline games, potentially maybe not even liking pokemon anymore.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15576/pokemon-what-are-they-doing#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15358/what-should-i-do#latest
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Beyond the tried and true thousand lions vs 1 pokemon debate, there is a growing trend of people contemplating their own mortality surviving against the unimaginable forces of legendary Pokemon.
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15204/would-u-survive#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15225/would-u-survive-part-2#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15410/would-you-survive-3#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15464/would-u-survive-45-myths#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15481/would-you-survive-psuedo-edition-fixed#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15512/who-would-you-bring-to-the-olympics/p1
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15510/the-hardest-challenge#latest
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15558/the-hardest-challenge-answers#latest
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Even now, people still wonder about the unsolved disappearances amidst the darker age of posting, and the hidden bigger picture behind it all.
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Everyone knows who PokemiiAC is so I don't have to explain, but if you don't know who PokemiiAC is, then the quick explanation is that they were a rising star achieving 1292 posts in less than 2 months of existence.
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No one knows what became of them, but their final profile messages received and given paint an ominous portrait.
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It all came back around to BlaziiBoi and the dream of "MEME TIME", 6 months ago.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/11997/meme-time/p1
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15375/pokemon-memes/p1
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Just what drastic measures did BlaziiBoi resort to make his meme thread a reality on January 6th? Did the ends truly justify the means?

Following this trail had only left me with more questions than answers, up to a last formal note that was beyond saying much of anything, and yet all that was left unsaid was all that was needed to speak for itself.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14868/apology-note/p1
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A great debate between kids enjoying the story and people saying children (not them) could be seriously disturbed for life.
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Ironically, the post condemning the story for being too scary to post, still contained a quote that became the only evidence of its existence today.
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Here is the story as quoted:

There was once a girl who had a best friend in Paldea. They really loved Pokémon. One day, the girl's friend gave her a Pokémon Egg. When the girl held it, it immediately hatched, and inside was a Mankey. The Mankey was a very grouchy baby, but it really loved it's new owner. The Mankey wanted to become really strong and special, so the girl trained it to fight really well, and it eventually evolved into a Primeape. The Primeape was very powerful, and it fought any opponent it came across. Eventually, the Primeape learned a new move: Rage Fist. The girl wanted to try the move out, so it found a horde of Flittle, and the Primeape used its new move to knock a bunch out, but in one battle, it ran out of PP, so the girl gave it an Ether so it can keep using it. After it ran out again, the girl decided to take a break from using it, so she encountered a Normal type Pokémon. However, when she brought out Primeape, it passed out. So she brought it to a Pokémon Center because she thought it ran out of HP. When the lady at the Pokémon Center tried healing the Primeape, it didn't work. So, they had to send it to a hospital. Two days later, the hospital came with results. The Primeape passed away from cardiac arrest and internal brain bleeding. The girl was so sad, she had to bury the Primeape into a field, and put a gravestone saying, "R.I.P Primeape, You were a great partner." One night, at 3:00 AM, the girl was sleeping in her bed, crying. Meanwhile, the gravestone in the field was shaking. A giant gray fist punched through the dirt, and the Primeape rose out of the grave, except it wasn't a Primeape anymore, it was the furious, vengeful Annihilape. It remembers where the girl lived, and when it silently phased through her door, it sneaked up to her bed, scratched her bed so the girl would wake up, and as soon as she didn't see anything, the Annihilape jumped onto her bed and Night Slashed (egg move) her face, ending her life too, as revenge for isolating it in the empty field. To this day, no one has ever heard of the girl and may have forgotten about her, meanwhile, the Annihilape is still roaming around at night, waiting impatiently for more people and Pokémon to slaughter.
Click to expand...

Personally I was growing concerned that the Annihilape might return at 3AM to Night Slash (egg move) anyone who read the letter and doesn't copy paste this letter to 10 friends or something but it doesn't seem that specific. Perhaps it's for the best it was edited out though.

To end on a more lighthearted note, people still have hope for competitive discussion, and my cross-cultural thread about the proposed DPP Machamp ban aged pretty well though I haven't made a followup yet.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...e-learn-bullet-punch-in-the-next-pokemon-game
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It seems that the darker age of posting has gone on long enough, and people are finally taking a stand against inappropriate content.

As of just yesterday, one brave poster has made a whole thread calling out those who post about strange relationships and unacceptable portrayals of Pokemon. Despite the short-lived dark age of posting in 2023, I can certainly recall some examples of such posts still remaining in 2024, as mentioned previously in this thread:

https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14675/pokemon-save-these-framed-innocents
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/12456/if-the-eeveelutions-were-human-vaporeon
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/11745/how-much-of-you-make-fan-made-pokemon/p1
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/14868/apology-note/p1

And also most recently:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15440/pokemon-fun-facts/p1
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So who is this new leader of the rebellion?
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For context, here's some of the latest spam on the forums fresh from today:
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Others have been pushing back against content in their own way:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/11023/1-billion-lions-or-one-of-every-pokemon/p5
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If you noticed that Pretsal above has 0 posts, I believe this is because when posts are approved currently, they don't actually bump the thread or update the unread marker or post count in the thread list, which I guess applies to user post count too. The behaviour has changed so much I can't say when it started but it's been like this for a while.
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...while-others-seem-to-go-up-instantaneously/p3
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Meanwhile, some draw their questions more inwards towards the value of life:
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15775/b-2-w-2-was-your-first-game#latest
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I'm sure the middle guy is AI by the way.
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https://community.pokemon.com/en-us...y-magnezone-good-for-the-hgss-battle-frontier
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Amidst the current state of the forums, people have been considering alternative social media with a prescient question:
https://community.pokemon.com/en-us/discussion/15485/why-isnt-pokemon-on-bluesky
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Finally, TCG Live drama is about the same as always, but this thread actually made me empathize in sheer confusion.

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I actually have to side with Zhula again here, after I sided with him before on the fact that people shouldn't just ping mods to lock threads they disagree with, because the idea of a progression system that just resets you from level 100 to 1 sounds like a bug. But most other TCG Live players here seem to seriously disagree and mocked Zhula for expecting otherwise, so I guess this game is just beyond saving. I don't know, does any other video game do this without explanation? I don't think this is even a battle pass or season reset type of thing, it's just account EXP.

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