RoA Interview #39: HSOWA
Joyverse: Hello there, fellow readers! I'm currently with HSOWA, who's a tournament host for RoA, ORAS seasonal host for both the RoA and PP (Pokémon Perfect) forums, as well as being one of the more senior users in PS. So how're you, HSOWA?
HSOWA: Hi, Joyverse! I'm in a good mood, thanks!
Joyverse: Let's get straight to the most important question first! What made you choose HSOWA (Hot Skitty on Wailord Action) as your alias online? What's the story behind this choice?
HSOWA: The year was 2007, I was in Serebii's IRC chat, and someone mentioned the HotSkittyOnWailordAction meme. 11 year old me thought it was funny as hell, so I changed my name to it, and it stuck. Eventually, I shortened it to just HSOWA, mostly because it was too long a name to use on Pokemon Online
Joyverse: So that's the story behind it, huh? Cool! How were you introduced to Pokémon? How did you end up into competitive Pokémon, especially Smogon?
HSOWA: When I was like 5 or 6, Pokemon was really big here, so I had to get into it. I think the first game I played was Yellow, although I watched my brother play Blue. Whilst the hype for Pokémon died down around when gen 3 came out, I still loved the games.
I first found out about Smogon in my IRC days in the D/P era, because a lot of my friends played it; although I didn't get into competitive mons seriously until I first found out about Pokemon Online in 2010. I made a Smogon account in late 2010, but didn't become active on the site until 2016.
Joyverse: Interesting. Let's talk about tiers. I've always considered you as one of my go-to people for LC. But what are your favorite gens and what other tiers do you specialize/like?
HSOWA: Gens 3-5 are my favorite to play, with my favorite tiers, in particular, being ADV NU, DPP NU, and DPP LC — mostly because I loved playing these tiers back in the PO days with my friends :) I used to be really good at BW NU as well, but the meta's probs a lot different than when I played last.
Joyverse: I see. What's your favorite Pokémon? Why?
HSOWA: Porygon-Z. I've always liked the idea of its design, too bad it's mostly sucked in competitive play.
Joyverse: I like P-Z as well, man. Sad how it's been powercrept so much. So, where are you from? Let's talk about what you do irl.
HSOWA: I'm from the UK and work with IT, other than that I'm a pretty boring person :(
Joyverse: Oi, not really. You're a pretty chill dude. Don't sweat it! :D
HSOWA: yea I'm more exciting online than irl at least.
Joyverse: Extending on the last question, what other hobbies do you have aside from mons? What other games do you play? Do you listen to music or read books? Anything of that sort?
HSOWA: I like watching football and wasting time on youtube. I don't actually play that many games nowadays, but I am loving Smash Ultimate at the moment. There's a massive backlog of games I gotta finish or play. heh
Joyverse: Oh, I see. What are your favorite football (soccer) clubs? Which players do you generally look out for?
HSOWA: I'm unfortunately a Stoke City fan, and my favorite player is Bojan, who barely plays for us anymore b/c our manager is dumb. He left us, but I'm also a big fan of Xherdan Shaqiri. I'm happy he's regularly playing for Liverpool.
Joyverse: Now, then. Back to PS! Who are the users you generally follow and/or tend to look out for? Why?
HSOWA: Mostly people I'm friends with from PO or PP: Mikaav, Hurricane69 (xd), Hassin, Flare/SkyPhoenix, tjdaas, Sceptross and Eseque. oh and you :D
Joyverse: TFW you're interviewing a good friend and it's just wholesome chit-chat, huh?
HSOWA: Indeed.
Joyverse: Let's try to wrap this up fast. What are some of the best battles you've had? You can also share what you consider to be your favorite battles of other people. It'll be even better if you could share replays! :D
HSOWA: Sadly most of the good battles I've had are from the PO days. I used to love playing against Luck>Skill and The Real Elmo in NU tiers tho, they were always fun.
Joyverse: Time for the final question. What are your plans for the future in terms of Pokémon?
HSOWA: Just to keep on doing what I am now, hosting tours for people, helping out with projects, etc.
Joyverse: Thanks for the interview, HSOWA! Anything else to say to our readers?
HSOWA: Chiaki best girl.
Joyverse: :jebaited: