Dramatic Melody
mud?
Catch up time with Brendan! Again, italics are me / the questions (which I’ll label) while everything else is him.
For Dave: There seems to be a lot that you don’t want to talk about with regards to your research, so I won’t get into that. I guess I do wanna know what a typical day is like for a scientist like you? It’s not often I hear about scientists that deal with that kind of research, so I was hoping to see how a day in the shoes of one goes!
You’re back! Guess that means you have more questions for me?
Yeah, turns out you aren’t the only one around here who loves interviewing people.
That’s great to hear! But before anything else, did that Pokémon ever answer my question? Its name was Deoxys, right?
Well, uhh, yeah, but… *shows answer*
...Huh, well, you can’t expect all of them to be nice!
But hey, another Pokémon by the name of Hysan answered the question, too! And it’s a lot more, uhh, forgiving.
Whoa, that’s two Pokémon I’ve interviewed. Neat! And Hysan had a really interesting answer, too. Makes me want to interview way more Pokémon…
Well, you’ll have your chance later. But I wanna go back to how you reacted to Deoxys’s question. (Q11) You mentioned that you sometimes encounter people who try to ruin your interviews. How do you handle difficult interview situations? Who have you found to be the most challenging to interview thus far?
Ah, great question. I can usually gauge if an interview would be great or would fall apart early on, and if it would go the latter way, I find it best to just let them do the talking instead of having a two-way conversation. Sometimes, the reason why they don’t like the interviewing is because they aren’t set out to be listening to all my questions or thoughts in relation to theirs, and all they want is for someone to listen to what they have to say and nothing else. If I’m lucky, those lead to really great conversations for my project, and it would make the difficulty in getting those thoughts out of them so worth it.
That’s why one of my favorite interviews, and at the same time the one that I’ve found most challenging, was when I got the chance to interview Maxie, the leader of Team Magma. At first, he was very much against the idea of this ‘mere child’ daring to ask him questions. But when I stopped asking and let him do all the talking—which started with all this self-praise—it eventually led to this amazing breaking down of what being Team Magma’s boss meant to him. It was a very insightful conversation, and I didn’t say a word. Here’s hoping I get a chance to talk to Archie someday, but he’s much more elusive.
Well, I hope you find Archie soon, then! But next question: (Q12) You interview a lot of trainers, and even mention that some ask to battle you, but you never talk about your own experience training or your relationship with Pokémon. What Pokémon do you have? Do they ever help out with your interviews?
Hah, didn’t expect a question like that at all! But yes, I do travel with the three most amazing Pokémon a trainer could ask for: Axle, my Swampert; Trap, my Flygon; and Melody, my Exploud. elody acts as a sort-of recorder if ever I want to listen to my conversations again, and she’s always a great ice breaker since she’s Shiny. Trap makes it much easier to travel around Hoenn, especially when a Match Call tells me that they were with someone who wanted to be interviewed for the project. Axle is my go-to Pokémon for battling, partly because I can Mega Evolve him and partly because he could never sleep at night if he didn’t battle. A benefit of the project is that we get to battle a really diverse pool of trainers, and while I don’t see myself ever going for the League, I’d like to think that we’ve become a really solid team from all the battling.
That’s really great. Say hi to your team for me later! (Q13) I imagine that your interviews consume a lot of the time you spend out traveling, but you can’t possibly be working on them 24/7! What are some of your other favorite things to do while on the road? Are there particular things you have to check out in each new place you visit?
Well, like I said before, I do make it a point to visit as many local restaurants as possible to try out their house specials! But other than that, I usually check out places that interviewees recommend me. When I met up with Wally in Verdanturf, he told me that he always wanted to try out the Trick House near Slateport. So we went there, and not only did I get a lot of interviews, I even got to interview the Trick Master!
It seems like the project still comes up even when you aren’t interviewing.
Haha, I guess you can say that. It’s always at the back of my mind, of course, so even if I’m just in a Pokémon Center to heal my team, I’m on alert of anyone around who looks like they want to talk.
All right, let’s shift the subject a bit. (Q14) How did you handle the move from Johto? Could you see yourself carrying out a similar project in your old home region?
I would love to make a “Humans of Johto” if I get the chance! Learning more about Hoenn made me realize that there was so much of Johto that I didn’t even get the chance to know about before I moved, so I would definitely jump on the chance to extend the project there. As for how I handled it, well, I was nervous, seeing as Dad becoming a gym leader and our eventual move was so sudden, but at the same time I was excited because my journey was going to happen in a brand new region I knew next to nothing about, and that would make all the exploration twice as interesting!
But on that note—and you’re gonna love this next question, since it came from a Pokémon, and—
Wh-wha...a Pokémon interviewing me? Holy crap, that’s amazing!
Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, this one’s coming from a Matron Blissey: (Q15) What do you miss most about living in Johto?
First, thank you so much for the question, Matron Blissey. It’s amazing to know that I’m being interviewed by a Pokémon! But anyway, I really miss going to National Park with Mom on Saturday mornings. We’d walk around with Dad’s Slakoth and watch the Bug Catching Contest. One time, Mom and I entered, too, and even if we didn’t win, it was really fun seeing all those bugs! We caught a Kakuna that time, but Mom gave it to the daughter of her friend who loved bug Pokémon but was still too young to catch her own. It’s moments like that that made our trips to National Park so special!
That sounds awesome. And here’s a last question, from yet another Pokémon who seems to be as excited asking you a question as you are from getting it from him.
What, really? Why?
Well, this Derek Avery, who’s a human who turned into a Monferno, thinks you’re the—
Wait a second. You’re telling me that there’s a human out there who got turned into a Pokémon, and he’s the one doing the asking?
That’s the rule of the game. And it doesn’t look like he’s taking any more questions because he’s gotten quite a lot! But as for his question, he thinks you’re the league champion, and he wants to know (Q16) how you deal with your fame both as a champion and as a gym leader’s son.
...Huh. Well, sorry, Mr. Avery, but I think you have the wrong Brendan. Steven’s still the champion here. I did get the chance to interview him, and he did say that being a champion only magnified that he has so much left to learn about the world. I hope that’s a good enough answer for you!
But I can answer the second question. I talked about it a bit before, but being a gym leader’s son does come up more often than usual when I present myself to interviewees. Most of the time I use it to my advantage to segueway into the interview, but sometimes I have to let them express their admiration for my dad before I get anywhere. It’s all good, though, as it does make me proud of being Norman’s son seeing how so many trainers look up to him.
Great answer. And, well, I’m sorry you won’t have the chance to ask Derek Avery a question, but I think you’ll find this person really interesting, too.
Hm? How so?
Well, Dave Ambrose is a scientist who’s researching creatures who are half-human and half-Pokémon.
Wait, what? How is that possible?
Is that your question for him?
No, no, I’m sure he’s been asked that loads of times. Let’s see...
Yeah, turns out you aren’t the only one around here who loves interviewing people.
That’s great to hear! But before anything else, did that Pokémon ever answer my question? Its name was Deoxys, right?
Well, uhh, yeah, but… *shows answer*
...Huh, well, you can’t expect all of them to be nice!
But hey, another Pokémon by the name of Hysan answered the question, too! And it’s a lot more, uhh, forgiving.
Whoa, that’s two Pokémon I’ve interviewed. Neat! And Hysan had a really interesting answer, too. Makes me want to interview way more Pokémon…
Well, you’ll have your chance later. But I wanna go back to how you reacted to Deoxys’s question. (Q11) You mentioned that you sometimes encounter people who try to ruin your interviews. How do you handle difficult interview situations? Who have you found to be the most challenging to interview thus far?
Ah, great question. I can usually gauge if an interview would be great or would fall apart early on, and if it would go the latter way, I find it best to just let them do the talking instead of having a two-way conversation. Sometimes, the reason why they don’t like the interviewing is because they aren’t set out to be listening to all my questions or thoughts in relation to theirs, and all they want is for someone to listen to what they have to say and nothing else. If I’m lucky, those lead to really great conversations for my project, and it would make the difficulty in getting those thoughts out of them so worth it.
That’s why one of my favorite interviews, and at the same time the one that I’ve found most challenging, was when I got the chance to interview Maxie, the leader of Team Magma. At first, he was very much against the idea of this ‘mere child’ daring to ask him questions. But when I stopped asking and let him do all the talking—which started with all this self-praise—it eventually led to this amazing breaking down of what being Team Magma’s boss meant to him. It was a very insightful conversation, and I didn’t say a word. Here’s hoping I get a chance to talk to Archie someday, but he’s much more elusive.
Well, I hope you find Archie soon, then! But next question: (Q12) You interview a lot of trainers, and even mention that some ask to battle you, but you never talk about your own experience training or your relationship with Pokémon. What Pokémon do you have? Do they ever help out with your interviews?
Hah, didn’t expect a question like that at all! But yes, I do travel with the three most amazing Pokémon a trainer could ask for: Axle, my Swampert; Trap, my Flygon; and Melody, my Exploud. elody acts as a sort-of recorder if ever I want to listen to my conversations again, and she’s always a great ice breaker since she’s Shiny. Trap makes it much easier to travel around Hoenn, especially when a Match Call tells me that they were with someone who wanted to be interviewed for the project. Axle is my go-to Pokémon for battling, partly because I can Mega Evolve him and partly because he could never sleep at night if he didn’t battle. A benefit of the project is that we get to battle a really diverse pool of trainers, and while I don’t see myself ever going for the League, I’d like to think that we’ve become a really solid team from all the battling.
That’s really great. Say hi to your team for me later! (Q13) I imagine that your interviews consume a lot of the time you spend out traveling, but you can’t possibly be working on them 24/7! What are some of your other favorite things to do while on the road? Are there particular things you have to check out in each new place you visit?
Well, like I said before, I do make it a point to visit as many local restaurants as possible to try out their house specials! But other than that, I usually check out places that interviewees recommend me. When I met up with Wally in Verdanturf, he told me that he always wanted to try out the Trick House near Slateport. So we went there, and not only did I get a lot of interviews, I even got to interview the Trick Master!
It seems like the project still comes up even when you aren’t interviewing.
Haha, I guess you can say that. It’s always at the back of my mind, of course, so even if I’m just in a Pokémon Center to heal my team, I’m on alert of anyone around who looks like they want to talk.
All right, let’s shift the subject a bit. (Q14) How did you handle the move from Johto? Could you see yourself carrying out a similar project in your old home region?
I would love to make a “Humans of Johto” if I get the chance! Learning more about Hoenn made me realize that there was so much of Johto that I didn’t even get the chance to know about before I moved, so I would definitely jump on the chance to extend the project there. As for how I handled it, well, I was nervous, seeing as Dad becoming a gym leader and our eventual move was so sudden, but at the same time I was excited because my journey was going to happen in a brand new region I knew next to nothing about, and that would make all the exploration twice as interesting!
But on that note—and you’re gonna love this next question, since it came from a Pokémon, and—
Wh-wha...a Pokémon interviewing me? Holy crap, that’s amazing!
Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, this one’s coming from a Matron Blissey: (Q15) What do you miss most about living in Johto?
First, thank you so much for the question, Matron Blissey. It’s amazing to know that I’m being interviewed by a Pokémon! But anyway, I really miss going to National Park with Mom on Saturday mornings. We’d walk around with Dad’s Slakoth and watch the Bug Catching Contest. One time, Mom and I entered, too, and even if we didn’t win, it was really fun seeing all those bugs! We caught a Kakuna that time, but Mom gave it to the daughter of her friend who loved bug Pokémon but was still too young to catch her own. It’s moments like that that made our trips to National Park so special!
That sounds awesome. And here’s a last question, from yet another Pokémon who seems to be as excited asking you a question as you are from getting it from him.
What, really? Why?
Well, this Derek Avery, who’s a human who turned into a Monferno, thinks you’re the—
Wait a second. You’re telling me that there’s a human out there who got turned into a Pokémon, and he’s the one doing the asking?
That’s the rule of the game. And it doesn’t look like he’s taking any more questions because he’s gotten quite a lot! But as for his question, he thinks you’re the league champion, and he wants to know (Q16) how you deal with your fame both as a champion and as a gym leader’s son.
...Huh. Well, sorry, Mr. Avery, but I think you have the wrong Brendan. Steven’s still the champion here. I did get the chance to interview him, and he did say that being a champion only magnified that he has so much left to learn about the world. I hope that’s a good enough answer for you!
But I can answer the second question. I talked about it a bit before, but being a gym leader’s son does come up more often than usual when I present myself to interviewees. Most of the time I use it to my advantage to segueway into the interview, but sometimes I have to let them express their admiration for my dad before I get anywhere. It’s all good, though, as it does make me proud of being Norman’s son seeing how so many trainers look up to him.
Great answer. And, well, I’m sorry you won’t have the chance to ask Derek Avery a question, but I think you’ll find this person really interesting, too.
Hm? How so?
Well, Dave Ambrose is a scientist who’s researching creatures who are half-human and half-Pokémon.
Wait, what? How is that possible?
Is that your question for him?
No, no, I’m sure he’s been asked that loads of times. Let’s see...
For Dave: There seems to be a lot that you don’t want to talk about with regards to your research, so I won’t get into that. I guess I do wanna know what a typical day is like for a scientist like you? It’s not often I hear about scientists that deal with that kind of research, so I was hoping to see how a day in the shoes of one goes!