GatoDelFuego
The Antimonymph of the Internet
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Areas of Expertise: Contributions & Corrections, The Smog
Background: I began getting into competitive Pokemon sometime around 2009, going from watching youtube battles to Purplesurge (serebii) IRC, where I stayed talking with people I knew for a couple years. It wasn't until early 2011 that I got a Smogon account, and my newness showed. If I recall correctly, one of the first posts I made (and the first thread I ever made) was in The Smog forum, and it was something like "Why aren't there any more of this one article?????". I didn't really do much until early 2012, when I stumbled over into Contributions & Corrections and thought I'd try my hand at some grammar editing. Ironically enough, I was sniped by a placeholder by Shame That (but it didn't matter considering my check was pretty bad).
I'd have to consider the subsequent VMs from him (":/" followed by him explaining what had actually happened) one of the luckiest things that has ever happened to me on Smogon. With a bit of guidance from him and some other GP members, I slowly improved. I'd sent in multiple applications to the GP team leaders, but they eventually stopped contacting me (one of them actually retired from Smogon, haha) and I kind of lost interest in GP. Around that time I took a bit of a break from Smogon and didn't return until that fall. I started fiercely GP checking again, and with some help from sandshrewz and especially Jellicent I was finally on the GP team. It probably seems silly to most people, but I'm really proud of what I've been able to contribute, considering GP checking was the first (and likely the only significant) positive contribution I've done with this site. I got my Ladybug badge after some time GP checking, quickly followed by Contributor. To this day I'm sure only a select few old users top my number of GP checks, which I've never bothered to count but should be somewhere in the hundreds. I also got into grammar checking for The Smog, which gave me a ton of new people to interact with and recently got me my Smogon Media badge. Everyone in Smogon's contribution's areas is such a tight-knit group :)
Hobbies: Outside of Smogon I attend the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!), currently a sophomore majoring in aerospace engineering. I play the sting bass with the university orchestra, which I've been playing for almost 12 years. I'm currently second chair out of all the basses, and I'm poised to lead the bass section next semester :) I'm also the president of my school's small engineering theatre group, which is a small group that was put together by engineers and other non-theatre majors that have been involved in drama. In my free time I basically play video games nonstop, which include Team Fortress 2, Borderlands, Pokemon, and basically anything else I enjoy on steam. I just really love college and studying my field and doing homework, as silly as that sounds!
Favorite Pokemon: Galvantula
Good Questions to Ask Me: Anything about Contributions & Corrections, I can probably answer. Reading and checking literally hundreds of analyses has given me a pretty good overview of nearly every tier and C&C area! I can also give any advice on how to get involved with The Smog. I can help anybody get involved with Grammar/Prose, and answer any questions anybody has on the subject! Also, completely un-Pokemon related, you can also ask me anything about my extensive knowledge of military aircraft n_n
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