Well friends, the day has arrived. Time to finally say goodbye to our old online stomping grounds Victory Road.
It's been a pretty wild ride to say the least. I've been here since the beginning, and watching our small slice of the internet evolve into a humble little Pokémon hideaway has been a neat journey.
I hadn’t really been part of any online groups prior to being here, aside from lurking or maybe asking a random question. This was my first true experience of getting to interact with people I’ve never met over a common interest. Victory Road started around the time I was getting back into Pokémon after not having been in it since the GameBoy days. It was certainly great to have a group of Pokémon lovers to discuss with and help re-kindle my renewed interest in the series.
Were we as big like the mainstream Pokémon forums? Of course not. We were special because what we lacked in numbers we made up for in community. We weren’t just a faceless number in a crowd, we were practically a family. We knew everyone, we made connections with others just because we liked a game with cute animals. For me personally, it was nice to log onto here and see familiar names to hang out with and discuss about whatever the conversation lead to. Being with others here made me feel like I was a part of something larger. Special connections with people I’ve never even met, technology is incredible!
Of course it wasn’t all fun and games, it came with it’s share of work as well. Kicking spammers, deleting posts, issuing warnings to trouble-makers, it seemed to never end. It was worth it though in order to maintain the peace of our little hideaway. Thanks to the many moderators who have helped out over the years, your service is much appreciated. And of course, a big thanks to my good friend Cat333Pokemon for coming up with this forum and the countless hours of devotion and hard work put into this place.
Well, I'm totally rambling at this point, so I guess I'd better wrap it up... It's been a unique experience, one I'll always remember. I’m going to miss all the friends I’ve made here. I hope enough people stop by one last time to say goodbye as well. If for whatever reason you want to find me and catch up on old times, I can be found on reddit under my new handle
Yoshizard64.
Always strive to be the best, like no one ever was.
-Sincerely
Aaron / Yoshi648 - Victory Road Administrator
