Hello! You can call me Ayano or Mew or even Blue/BMF if you forget my name, haha. I am a woman so please refer to me with she/her. I was introduced to the Johto Times when I was reached out early on its lifespan for an interview about my RBY/GSC fansite, Blue Moon Falls, and therefore I've been reading Johto Times since very early on (though I'm a bit of a lurker, whoops... I need to comment on things more!)
As for who I am outside of my website, I'll start with my history with Pokémon. I've been into Pokémon since age four, when my babysitter brought over LeafGreen and a GBA SP to keep her occupied at my family's house. Unbeknownst to her I would start pestering her with questions about what she was doing in-game and would watch her very intently on the couch every time she brought LeafGreen over. Eventually, I begged my mom for the same exact GBA SP (it was the Pearl colored AGS 101) and a copy of LeafGreen, which I finally received on my fifth birthday, and the rest is history. Yes, my first Pokémon game was actually not from the original Game Boy generations that all of my online work is focused on! I played Crystal for the first time back in January 2021 on the recommendation of the long-time Pokémon YouTuber Tama Hero. I had been planning on playing Crystal eventually anyway, as at that point it was the third version in the only set of Pokémon games I had never played before, but Tama expedited that process and made me aware of how in-depth generation 2 could get via Stadium 2 and the like. My first Crystal playthrough was practically a religious experience for me and generation 2 has been my favorite generation ever since. I often feel like the odd one out in my social circles because it is seemingly rare to find people passionate about these games that weren't there for "PokéMania" in the 90s, of which I wish I had experienced so much haha... To this day, the games are my main interest point in Pokémon, though I actually watch the current anime, Pokémon Horizons!
It is worth acknowledging that I have dissociative identity disorder (I am always open to questions about this if there is any confusion or curiosity) and the way that I talk may change from time to time. I don't imagine it being a major issue on this forum as I plan to be the main or only alter talking on here, but uh... You never know, lol. If you see me using different names elsewhere on the internet, that also explains that!
I've been trying to use forums a little more as of late so I really appreciate the cool new forum space. Hope it does well and I'd like to support it! Thanks for having me.
