More Verlisify drama? Surely not!

If you were to ask participants – “What is your favourite aspect of VGC tournaments?” The overwhelming majority would answer “the community” or “the social aspect”. Pokémon, competitive or otherwise, has always been designed to bring people together; whether it be simply the person next to you, via a link cable/local wireless, or – in the modern day – people from across the globe, with different backgrounds, creeds and cultures. The Pokémon community as a whole has a great togetherness, a togetherness which is sadly being disrupted by recent ‘drama’ videos.

Since his arrival on YouTube, Verlisify has cut a somewhat controversial figure, gaining followers and attracting disdain on an even level. For the most part, his channel isn’t nearly as bad as people make out; his tutorial on breeding in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire as well as other tutorials on in game mechanics are among the best you can find on the popular video sharing site.

However, this is not where Verlisify splits opinion. Recently, he has been calling out “cheaters” who participate in the official VGC circuit with “hacked” Pokémon; truth be told, Verlisify DOES raise some valid points and despite myself in no way condoning hacking Pokémon into your games, I do take some issue with his mentality and methods in voicing his opinions.

Verlisify’s videos on hacked Pokémon are – after all – just opinion. He disagrees with the use of hacked Pokémon, fair enough. The official VGC ruleset disagrees with the use of hacked Pokémon, fair enough. However, what Verlisify lacks is a basic understanding and acceptance into WHY people use exterior programmes/devices to hack Pokémon into their games. As much as this argument is ridiculed on his channel, some people simply do not have the time to sit through the process of IV breeding for perfect Pokémon; in the VGC 16 ruleset, the tediousness is heightened significantly by the need to soft reset for usable legendary Pokémon. For example, to legally obtain the Jolly 6IV Rayquaza I use on my current Pokémon Showdown VGC 16 team I have to first obtain a Jolly natured Pokémon with the synchronise ability and set it at the front of my party. I then have to go through the Zinnia battle and cut scenes to encounter Rayquaza in the first place. We then have to weaken Rayquaza and throw countless Pokéballs – unless you have your master ball saved up – until you manage to capture it. After all that, you then have to sit through more cut scenes and enter a battle with Deoxys before you can even check whether the Rayquaza you just caught is actually usable in the competitive circuit. This process takes time, time which anyone with a full time job, university commitments etc. would much rather be spending on practising or doing something else.

As a competitive player, I have no issue with facing hacked Pokémon. A legal, hacked Pokémon, offers the user absolutely NO competitive advantage, simply saving the player hours of time. Whilst I don’t use genned Pokémon myself, and don’t encourage anyone to do so, I at least understand why players do. If Verlisify had come out, saying “hey, I don’t hack Pokémon, it’s against the rules, you shouldn’t do it, but I understand why you would” I’m sure nobody would have a real issue with his videos. But instead, he allows no space for alternate opinions and – after a civil interaction with Wolfe Glick – decided to begin throwing accusations whilst slyly beginning a witch hunt against a successful and respected VGC competitor.

I’m actually a little confused as to why Verlisify has decided to create content on this “issue” in the first place. After all, he hasn’t ever shown that he respects VGC’s official ruleset, indeed criticising the timer rule whilst attacking VGC commentator Scott Glaza for implementing the rule against him in a VGC tournament. Seriously, if you thought the Pokémon company was “corrupt” why would you be trying so ‘passionately’ to defend the rules they try to implement?

Another issue I find with Verlisify is the hypocrisy. There is proof on HIS OWN CHANNEL that he has used an exterior programme to make hatching shiny Pokémon quicker and easier through the use of the Programme “instacheck”.

To anyone capable of looking at this situation with an unbiased view, the reason for the recent Verlisify drama videos is apparent. He wants views. Simple as. He attacked Smogon to gain views, faced a backlash, played the victim card and even eventually apologised for the way in which he went about it. Fast forward to 2016 and he’s targeting the VGC community, creating unnecessary drama for easy views.

It’s genuinely disappointing. He produces decent content without the drama videos. His battle and “how to use (…)” content is a great watch for the more casual player, whilst his tutorials on breeding, Pokémon locations etc. can appeal to both casual and competitive players.

Use the large platform you have built to entertain instead of creating drama; maybe then the split reputation you have amongst Pokémon players and other  YouTubers could change for the better.