Couple days late, but I needed to take a step back and just enjoy the moment before thinking about what I wanted to say here... I never expected to still be playing Pokemon for this long, especially after several extremely long breaks. Coming back early into 2023, I wanted to see what the community was like and see who was hanging around still. Last time I played was 2020 and it didn't go so well, got carried to a LCPL final after a midseason pickup and under performed in the chances I got. So I was in with a casual mindset, just play some games, and find out what the new gen is like. I had completely forgotten I swore off BW LC post the misdreavus debacle so came into that with a fresh mind thanks to
Fille inviting me to test for BW cup with a few other people.
Things really didn't click, SV seemed awkward and uninteresting with the strange Winter league format/meta, and BW I was basically relearning how to build in this now gastly dominated meta. Going into last LCPL, I was pretty unsure on whether or not I'd be drafted or deserved it, but
tazz and
gali trusted me enough to start me in BW. During that season things really started to ramp up for me. I was involved with prepping nearly every SV slot week in week out, and my own games/prep were going well. Took a low rating on the PRs in stride, and while we didn't make playoffs I felt like it was a success. Managed to keep the momentum going by making a last second run for circuit playoffs and finishing 4th there.
LCWC I kind of fell off, there was a mix of IRL issues keeping me away from PC access, and some rough variance, but largely because I really felt like I wasn't getting the credit I deserved. People were way more quiet about my tour wins than I expected, and wanted to receive some of the hype other players were getting around the same time. Instead of just playing for the team and sticking to BW for another team tour, I requested
Coconut slot me into SV, and variance aside I unfortunately did not play to my level. The team overall did well compared to the competition, and eventually I went to where I should have been from the start, but I was frustrated. The plan was to quit Mons again after that tour, but my participation in adv lc, smth that the incredible
grape tylenol had recently revived basically kept me around for advpl smth which I eventually won supporting the goat
HSOWA.
Classic was next on the bucket list, and it delivered me my first indiv win in so many years w/ Oras cup. I made playoffs, but had some unplayable games due to variance that sent me home early. This is where
Kingler ended up hitting me up to help him with teams, honestly a shocking surprise to me. I've known him longer than any other active player at this point, and it was nice working together to make finals.
Going into this LCPL I was so intent on being a manager, having made playoffs as one back to back in LPL. The players I drafted having had nothing but praise to speak when I've asked for honest criticism. It ofc didn't pan out as we know, and it rolls back to the character flaw I mentioned earlier. I got jealous, I got upset and I reacted in a way that made my point just get lost behind emotion. Now from this point on I had 0 clue what would be happening. I wanted to SV for SCL apps, but I knew due to Fatty and Iss retiring teams would want me in BW. Ended up not tier locking and wasn't sure if I'd even be too active, wanting to not expend a ton of effort after having that previous effort ignored in manager apps. But to my surprise Kingler, having been added as a drafter for Piplup Patrol nommed me. After the draft to say I had concerns with the roster would be an understatement.
We had some people who prior to this tour and truly getting to know them, I would not have willingly talked to them. But once I understood what they were about, all the concerns melted away and we just got to work.
Always Edgy and I were butting heads pretty heavily in our first interactions prior to this tour. But we clicked super quickly and cooked this entire season, getting some pretty massive upsets and shifting the narrative on his last place SV rating in the PRs. Perfect example of don't assume you know a guy based off one rough moment. Largely stuck to SV, BW as usual because we had dominant players like Fille, Ace, Kingler and Jox/Philip handling old gens, but chimed into DPP often to keep
Brammi from loading turtwig so he could prove how good he was

. Genuinely not much to say about my games this tour, I clearly proved I was the strongest in a small BW pool and teams should have maybe prioritized getting BWers instead of throwing people who don't play the tier in there.
My game in finals with
Mister Magnus and my later reaction was the result of people seemingly making us the villains of the tour for no reason other than pettiness, we never shittalked other teams or made screenshots of people getting lucky. When you win with a +30 diff people just gotta find reasons to hate that don't make sense. Especially when you were a bench warmer on a team not even in the finals starting arguments. Really showed how some people in this community will find any reason to discredit or bash people they dislike instead of using their eyes. The people I respect know who they are.
Still hold to this day I was unfairly snubbed, and the last second change to managers was extremely unfair. But, the people picked over me going -18 diff into last place says enough, but whats done is done and I understand that sometimes people will never give you the props you deserve. I will accept that and move on.