Team Assistance and Secrecy

The admission in yesterday's post is one thing, and now it's time for another. A lively discussion had unfolded among my Pokémon colleagues recently, and it concerns VGC, something that I have a stake in as a player of the Pokémon main series games. The more specific concern was why some players have not gotten into the VGC spirit, or in other words what is holding them back. My colleagues responded, and their reasons were varied. There were technical reasons such as not having a working 3DS, as well as restrictive reasons due to other things in life. However, many also cited that they have hassles in team-building in general, which is admittedly a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, especially when resources are scant or starting from scratch. It is this that spurred a few others to offer their assistance in the process.

This offering of assistance is certainly noble and should be appreciated, regardless of what state the team is in. And I'm not one to shy away from such assistance, based on my own experience. Two years ago, after going through the team-building process on my own, I was told by a colleague, who was more of an expert in VGC, that there were still a few glaring errors in my team; together we were able to come up with a solution, and although my team still fizzled out, I very much appreciate the assistance. So I'll admit VGC is challenging, and I sense I'm not the only one with a similar experience based on my colleagues' responses. It is at this point that assistance becomes vital, when things are not at their best.

Yet perhaps the one thing that has dogged me about assistance is the concern of secrecy - keeping my team under wraps until it's actually time for battle. Based on my experience and where I am with VGC, this is one concern I'm just going to have to let go. If I were a total expert like some of my colleagues at this point, then it could be fine, and in fact I would be the one providing assistance. I'll have to get a lot better if I want a greater amount of secrets kept, and even then I might still share some. At the least some of my own efforts can alleviate this concern, but that is probably not the point. Based on the discussion and the considerations here, I'm becoming convinced it may not be valid anyway.

If the discussion that took place is an indication, it is that not every Pokémon player is an expert in VGC, and neither am I, at least not at this point in time. Yet from this discussion as well, there is a spirit of cooperation that can be achieved, putting aside our differences and concerns like the one I have - or technically had, after considering it. Given this, I can and most likely will cooperate for VGC assistance this time around. It won't be the first time, and it might not be the last, at least until I make massive strides of improvement.

One year ago: "They can imitate you, but they can't duplicate you..."