Approved by RUTLs, stolen from Feliburn and Flareblitzkreig
Player Interview #23 — Rarelyme
Favorite Pokémon: Elgyem
Most used Pokémon: Gardevoir
Most known for: being the RU Forum Leader, drinking and knowing things, making team France get through Round 1 in World Cups.
===
"You have been invested of a great mission"...
I can't remember where I heard that, but such were those words.
I woke up one day in June 2026 with no messages, no sound, nothing, completely alone, as I've always been. Details are not necessary for such depressing days.
I'm waiting on a delivery, waiting for my 5th copy of Pokemon Black 2, the Spanish version this time. The mailman comes in, but his mail is small and thin. He then asks me "this is for you, right?", which leaves me confused. For some reason, I still replied with an unconfident "yessir".
When I saw this letter... everything changed. Apparently, it was co-written by two very influent men of their time. This is what it said:
"Quinquiera que seas, esto es para ti. Yo te dejo mi legado. Tienes que buscarlo en lugares secretos de este mundo. Buscales por ti mismo.
— Don Feliburn"
"I was once called up as the heir of Don Feliburn, but his legacy is too heavy to bear. Thus, I hereby entrust it to you.
— Raja FBK"
I took a flight for Dublin, Ireland the very same day. No reason in particular, I just had a feeling.
And one night, at a bar down the street, I saw a familiar face...
Chapter 1 — Long time no see, where have you been?
Player Interview #23 — Rarelyme
Favorite Pokémon: Elgyem
Most used Pokémon: Gardevoir
Most known for: being the RU Forum Leader, drinking and knowing things, making team France get through Round 1 in World Cups.
===
"You have been invested of a great mission"...
I can't remember where I heard that, but such were those words.
I woke up one day in June 2026 with no messages, no sound, nothing, completely alone, as I've always been. Details are not necessary for such depressing days.
I'm waiting on a delivery, waiting for my 5th copy of Pokemon Black 2, the Spanish version this time. The mailman comes in, but his mail is small and thin. He then asks me "this is for you, right?", which leaves me confused. For some reason, I still replied with an unconfident "yessir".
When I saw this letter... everything changed. Apparently, it was co-written by two very influent men of their time. This is what it said:
"Quinquiera que seas, esto es para ti. Yo te dejo mi legado. Tienes que buscarlo en lugares secretos de este mundo. Buscales por ti mismo.
— Don Feliburn"
"I was once called up as the heir of Don Feliburn, but his legacy is too heavy to bear. Thus, I hereby entrust it to you.
— Raja FBK"
I took a flight for Dublin, Ireland the very same day. No reason in particular, I just had a feeling.
And one night, at a bar down the street, I saw a familiar face...
Chapter 1 — Long time no see, where have you been?
— Hi Rare, how are you doing?
— hey man, I'm doing fine what about you? — I'm doing good man, just woke up and having breakfast while doing this interview — 5pm btw — Alright let's move onCan you introduce yourself to the fans and readers and everything?
— Sure, my name is Rarelyme! I'm 23 and living in France, I mainly play RU but also some NU and NFE here and there — Not me thinking you were way older than me while in reality you're just smarter — The leader banner makes me look smarter than I actually am don't worry — We are already a bit familiar with your activity on Smogon, but what do you do outside of mons? — IRL I'm studying to become an English teacher, right now I'm in my final year so hopefully I get my degree in a few weeks. As for my hobbies, I climb a lot, usually bouldering indoors but I also like to lead climb outdoors whenever I can find the time. I work in a theater on the side so I spend a good amount of time watching shows there and otherwise I enjoy going out and spending time with friends — That's neat, even I didnt know about your theater job. Do you compete in climbing? — I joined a few competitions but it was just for fun, the climbing community is super friendly and comps are just big gathering of cool people who are addicted to rocks so my friends and I like to participate from time to time yeah — Do you ever plan to join actual tryhard competitions to assert authority towards your students? — LOL you know what I've never thought about the possibility that I could run into some of my students in the climbing gym hmm honestly that could be quite fun I wouldn't mind itmy students are like 11 to 15 years old though so I don't know about tryharding lmao
— Kids these days, they need to learn the hard way - I mean okay fair!Ironically (or "it was fate", some would say), you are the RarelyUsed forum leader and your name is "Rarelyme", which is perfectly accurate (i could go on with my conspiracy theories but I'll leave it there)
Can you explain the name Rarelyme and where it comes from?
— that's a question I get soooo oftenso Rarelyme (with a much cringier spelling) was one of my first nicknames on Minecraft when I was like 14 or so and well classic middle schooler story I felt like I had trouble fitting in so I came up with this name
— This makes me realize middle school names arent always that bad — I guess I can't complain yeah I've never really felt like I needed to change it despite being quite different from my middle school self — Off topic before we actually get into the boring stuff (pokemon): do you still play Minecraft? — sadly I don't, my PC had a stroke the last time I tried to load the game and overall my friends and I have a busier life so it's quite difficult to find a time to play together now — Too bad I was going to say we should've hosted a minecraft party if we won RUGL... whatever — I'll buy a new computer for the inevitable Meloetta Division win next year — VAMOS, RU read it first!Interlude — Childhood Memories
— So let's get into mons!!!Just kidding, what is your favorite pokemon game? and I mean the mainline ones
Additionnally, did you play a lot of them? or just a few
— I started with the remake of Gold and Silver and played every mainline game ever since yeahMy favorite is definitely XY. The graphics were insane at the time, it introduced a lot of new Pokemon which was incredibly hype, the story is also one of the best in the franchise in my opinion and well mega evolutions are awesome
I used to play it a lot with my sister when it came out so it'll always hold a special place in my heart
— That's SO true, God I wish they didnt send the B team into the development and put an actual post game, biggest frustration of my whole childhoodi recently watched a playthrough and even in the big 2026 this is still peak
— I'm definitely biased but I actually enjoyed the Detective Agency post game a lot LOL — I never liked Beladonis ngl... — awkward dude I'll give you that, but 10 years old me was very on board with the idea to help a detective — Understandable, maybe if we become actual detectives in our 20s we will have The VisionChapter 2 — Where it all started
— Anyway we must get on the topic that people actually came for (I hope). How did you get into Smogon and just competitive Pokémon as a whole? — I was introduced to competitive Pokemon through French Poketubers at the end of Sun and Moon and I stayed in the French community for a few years playing OU. I later branched out to RU and NFE during Sword and Shield and I played on and off during my highschool years. I made my Smogon account around that time if I remember correctly. When Scarlett and Violet launched I was quite hyped and had a lot of time on my hands so I decided to get involved a bit more and RU was the most appealing tier at the time so that's when I got to know most people in the community — Let me guess, those youtubers were Fildrong, RedEmption, Sorcier Malgache and maybe CykoMore? — mainly the first two — I was closeI didnt know you had gotten into NFE so early though, I thought it was very recent
— NFE is probably the first smogon community I interacted with, the NFE room used to be super chill and fun to hang out in. I played and chatted a lot with the regulars there it was awesome — Oh wow okay, may get to it later if you don't mind but I'll get into my main focus.What motivated you to get involved in RarelyUsed? And did you have any "models" or people you looked up to that inspired you to be invested in the tier?
— Honestly the community is so welcoming that my involvement increased very naturally as I got more and more comfortable with the people here. I have a bunch of players I still look up to like Pepeduce and Yggdrasil who were just so good at the game. I was lucky enough to draw Pepe's attention during our ladder games, we started chatting and then played friendlies a lot during the first year of SV which made me want to try my hand at actual tournaments. Part from the french guys, I also quickly interacted with sol and same as Pepe we played a lof of friendlies whenever we were online at the same time which was always super fun. — Another target of the pepe training huh? — exactly lol this guy carried the french RU community so hard it's crazy — So you basically started to get involved in RU in 2023, this time I can actually talk from memory because I remember meeting you in your first steps in, and here we are in 2026, where you're leading the whole forum 3 years later while also co-leading a living, national community focused on the tier with yours truly (this is irrelevant but I needed to mention this to please my little ego).As we "approach" the end of SV, my question is, what would you say changed during these years? And more importantly, what did you learn going from a newbie to a very important figure in a lowkey short amount of time?
— I definitely got a lot of responsabilities quite quickly thanks to people like Feli, Evi and xast (big s/o to them). However, I remember feeling quite out of place at first when I got that jump from driver to room owner and I wasn't sure I would live up to the expectations some people had of me. For this reason, I would say the biggest change is that I got significantly more confident in my ability to lead this community. Nevertheless, most of my convictions actually stayed more or less the same since I first got here aka I'll always strive at making this tier as welcoming as possible for newcomers partly by improving the room as much as possible and overall favoring an healthy environment for players to grow. The main thing I try to keep in mind as a leading figure is that my position doesn't mean I'm above the rest of the community so everyone's opinion matters and should be heard basically — Do you still feel like it's a really high level of pressure? or have you learned to deal with it over time? — yeah handling the pressure comes with knowing you're good at what you do so I'm definitely better now — epicYou're also co-leading a french community centered around RarelyUsed, alongside yours truly. I mentioned it above as a joke but I didnt think it would actually become relevant 15 minutes later.
Many now acknowledged players came from this community, including players like Flabeauf, Slikkles, Daharan or even Cielau, although the latter was already well established in Monotype prior to this. How much do you think leading a community at such a smaller scale actually helped getting even more people into RU as a whole?
I realized this is something I could answer myself but I'm curious to know the other point of view
— Yeah at first it was meant to be just an extension of the SchizoGuys discord (the main french lower tier community) but it quickly became much more and to this day I think RUFR might be my proudest achievement related to Pokemon. We did our best to foster a friendly environment for the beginners willing to try the tier while hosting a bunch of competitive events and well it ended up growing into a community of its own. RU has always held a special place in the French community so we managed to introduce a lot of players to SV RU in the 2.5 years the server has been running, I think right now RUFR has around 110 members which is truly insane, we never expected it to be that successful I think you would agree — I completely agree, but I'll keep that for when my interview will be released (jk) — I'm super proud of what we've done and I know I never could have done it without Haxxsel and you bro so thanks a lotChapter 3 — The Dayafter
The two friends kept talking all night, one ended up drinking too much, the other one ended up knowing things.
As the sober friend is always the hero of the situation, he had to get the other one home at a questionable hour, dropping him on the sofa and eventually falling asleep on his own floor.
Rare McElgy woke up very early, like 2 P.M.
As Gastro D. South remembered the conversation of the night prior, he then proceeded to continue the day after.
The two friends kept talking all night, one ended up drinking too much, the other one ended up knowing things.
As the sober friend is always the hero of the situation, he had to get the other one home at a questionable hour, dropping him on the sofa and eventually falling asleep on his own floor.
Rare McElgy woke up very early, like 2 P.M.
As Gastro D. South remembered the conversation of the night prior, he then proceeded to continue the day after.
— So here is what I call a "me wants to know" type of question:You're very active and involved in the tier, as stated by your projects held on the forum, you hosting RUPL, even managing RUGL recently, your activity in teambuilding and on the ladder, but we rarely (lol) see you playing actual circuit tours or even team tours (look who's talking).
Any reason to that?
— I have been on a break from individual tournaments for about a year now simply because I don't like to join a bracket without being able to really try to win the whole thing and since my IRL has become very busy, playing in individuals has gotten way less enjoyable. I really don't want to feel obligated to joins tours but I still try to be part of team tours when my schedule allows it which is why I played a few of them in tiers I like recently aka NFE, NU and RU. Team tours are a bit easier for me since I can miss a week here and there and rely on my teammates/captain to fill in for me which takes away some of the pressure. I should be way more available next year so you can expect me to be back in more tournaments then. — thats fire, maybe we'll have another RUTL with the ribbon in 2027...Speaking of which, what is your favorite RU tour? can be either solo or team
— RUPL is definitely the peak of the year for me in terms of tournaments. This is why even if I don't feel available enough to play, I still insist on being part of it through hosting alongside kab. — What do you think of the current state of RU? — I actually think RU is in a very good place right now! We suffered a few heavy losses with the shifts but we bounced back really well and the tier feels pretty balanced to me. I think unbanning Yanmega and Comfey was a great move and that we could even look at more unbans like Volcanion in the near future. Nothing feels really broken to me since the Tera Blast ban. I saw some people talk about Bisharp and I agree that it's probably the closest to unhealthy we have in the tier but also it doesn't really cross the line for me yet. — The RU discord is not gonna be happy with that one...Since RU is not just SV but also has older gens, can I ask you to give me a ranking of RU generations? You can give a reasoning or not (that includes GSC if you ever played it)
— I played some gsc but definitely not enough to feel comfortable ranking it with the others yet.I would rank the RU gens in 3 tiers. In the first tier, I got SV and ORAS ; SV because it's the only gen I really played in its entirety so it'll always be special to me + the tier is great rn, ORAS because it's the gen that fits my playstyle the most and is arguably the most balanced RU tier.
Then I got SM and SS. Both of them are awesome and I enjoy both for similar reasons: they are pretty balanced and reward teambuilding a lot while having fire Pokemon pools.
Finally, BW and ADV have to be last for me. I feel like these tiers are more volatile which makes them less enjoyable to me.
— I understand why you always call me when you dont want to play BW and ADV now, makes senseSpeaking of SV, is there a team you would like to share with the fans?
— 
I haven't had time to build a lot since RUGL so here is a team that worked very well then
Nothing crazy but Yanmega/Gardevoir is a great offensive core, add my most used defensive one and a good old crab and we got this masterpiece.
— What is so special about ORAS NU? — Oooh I see you made some research. So I started playing the tier over a year ago and it clicked instantly. To put it in simple terms, ORAS NU is like its RU counterpart but with mediocre removal options which makes it very centered around versatile BO structures which I really love. The tier is balanced and extremely dynamic with room for lots of skill expression and originality in teambuilding sooo what more could you want honestlyFinal Chapter — Going separate ways, or just going to work.
I don't know what to think at this point. A strange feeling navigates through my mind, between revelation and pure delusion.
Was it fate? Just a random encounter? Am I overthinking?
No, this cannot be overthinking. Stars have aligned. I cannot keep living this way.
I'm leaving this house today, I'm leaving my past life behind me. I will take over the RU Player Interviews.
I have to go to work.
I don't know what to think at this point. A strange feeling navigates through my mind, between revelation and pure delusion.
Was it fate? Just a random encounter? Am I overthinking?
No, this cannot be overthinking. Stars have aligned. I cannot keep living this way.
I'm leaving this house today, I'm leaving my past life behind me. I will take over the RU Player Interviews.
I have to go to work.
— Why Elgyem? — Because cute? If you need more reasons, BW is the first game I really tryharded and in my first playthrough I found an Elgyem and loved the design so I took it all the way to the League. Since then, it's been one of my favorite Pokemon. — ...to the league???? my guy fought ghetsis with a damn elgyem? LMAO — With a Beheeyem but yeah LOL. My guy evolves level 42 so I spent more time with Elgyem than with its evolution — Though it was just so you can explain, I absolutely love both Elgyem and Beheeyem but its the first time i see someone having them as their favorite mon, nostalgia gets me in tears... Celestial Tower... — Love to see some Elgyem appreciation! I recently tried to make Beheeyem work in ORAS NU, it didn't really work buuuut I'll keep on trying, I need to find a good tier where these guys are usable — You're gonna have to create LC ZU for this I fearWhat is your favorite non-Pokémon game?
— Tough question but I think I'll have to go Minecraft or Smash Bros, both are linked to significant parts of my life so I'll always enjoy playing these games and watch content on them, especially Smash Bros esport which is probably the best competitive scene ever I love it — Were you a Meta Knight player? — I assume you're talking about Brawl Meta Knight so no I was not LOL, broken ass character. Ultimate is the better game though, way more balanced! I main Toon Link and Wolf there. — Glad to know I'm not surrounded by degenerates, thank you (i was def a meta knight player on brawl at my big 7 years old btw)Are we winning the World Cup?
— You will hate this but I'm really not a football guy... But World Cup is hype and yeah we have a very competitive team so I'm quite optimistic — I was not going to tolerate any negative response anyway, rumors will have that it was riggedAny final word for the fans?
— Well thank you for reading this and thanks Astro for inviting me here it was fun!