Extra Archive

Community Spotlight: Blue Moon Falls

The Blue Moon Falls header, featuring Entei, Raikou, and Suicune sprites and the anime location the site is named after

Blue Moon Falls is a Pokémon fansite which opened in 2021, with an emphasis on the first and second generations of Pokémon and their associated spin-off titles. It contains in-depth guides on topics that aren't commonly explored. Back in June 2023, Ayano, the creator of the community, gave us a good insight into what the website is all about. You can check out the interview right here, and be sure to visit the website for yourself on the link below!

Visit: Blue Moon Falls

Community Spotlight: PokéCommunity

PokéCommunity is a message board for Pokémon fans, which launched in October 2002 (screenshot from July 2025)

Forums in the late 90s and early 2000s were more than just a place to hang out; many of them were our online homes, where we made friends and shared our thoughts and feelings, creativity, and love for our favourite franchise. In the case of Pokémon, one of the largest and longest-running forums is still active! PokéCommunity launched in October 2002 and continues to provide a space for Pokémon fans to express themselves. We are so thankful that it is still around and urge you to check it out for yourselves!

Visit: PokéCommunity

Community Spotlight: Pokémon Aaah!

An example of Pokémon Aaah's layout from October 2023

Pokémon Aaah! is a community which specialises in the creation of fake cards, providing its members with the tools and resources to create their own cards and express their creativity. In addition to this, the site researches obscure Pokémon information. It was first created in April 1999.

I used to visit a community which spun off from Pokémon Aaah! back in the day, called Pokémon Zeo!, but in recent years I have discovered PokéAaah!, and love it. I admire how dedicated Nick15 has been to his website and his motivation to provide resources for his community all these years later. It has a friendly community, and I think anyone who has an interest in creating their own cards, or anyone with an interest in the Pokémon TCG, should check it out.

If you want to learn more about Pokémon Aaah!, you can read our interview with Nick15, the webmaster of the website, which we published back in November 2023!

Visit: Pokémon Aaah!

Community Spotlight: The PokéMasters

A collection of banners featured on The PokéMasters between 1998 and 2025

First founded in 1998, The PokéMasters is one of the longest-running Pokémon fansites. During the late 90s it was one of the largest and most popular of them all, featuring tons of great resources, an active community, and a place to discover the very latest Pokémon news and announcements. Many years have passed since then, and while the community is not as active as it once was, it still exists online, including its forum! Lady Vulpix and other members of the community are doing their best to keep it alive, and as someone who used to visit the website often as a kid, I am thankful this is the case!

It is definitely worth checking out, and perhaps you may want to visit the forum for yourself. It’s filled with tons of great memories and culture, dating back over twenty years! If you ever wanted to see what it was like for fans from that generation, this is a great resource!

Visit: The PokéMasters

Community Spotlight: The PokéGym

A selection of logos used during the history of The PokéGym

Fans of the Pokémon TCG should absolutely check out this long-running community dedicated to the game: The PokéGym. Originally founded in 1999, the site offers help and support to players, as well as boards dedicated to deck help, trading, and a space to share fan-created Pokémon cards! One cool fact is that it used to be the official community for the Pokémon TCG during the Wizards of the Coast era, during the final couple of years it held the license for the game. These days, the community is run by Team Compendium — a group of volunteers who manage the Pokémon TCG Game Rulings Compendium.

It is so rare to see a Pokémon community from the late 90s which still exists, and The PokéGym is absolutely worth checking out and supporting if you love the Pokémon Trading Card Game and care about its history.

Visit: The PokéGym

Community Spotlight: PocketMonsters.net

A selection of logos and banner images from PocketMonsters.net history

This week, we are recommending another great Pokémon fansite called PocketMonsters.net, which dates back to 2005. This database-driven site features a huge resource of information about Pokémon and covers news about the Pokémon anime, TCG, and more. One of its founders, Sunain, has been supporting the editing of Johto Times since January 2025. But even before then I have used it to keep up-to-date with the latest Pokémon news and have always appreciated its attention to detail and accuracy. Johto Times did an interview with the site last year, if you’d like to learn more about it for yourself. It's highly recommended, and I hope you’ll consider checking it out!

Visit: PocketMonsters.net

Community Spotlight: The Cave of Dragonflies

The Cave of Dragonflies logo

One website I often hear being sourced as an inspiration to other fansites is The Cave of Dragonflies, a project with a variety of useful information, opinion pieces, theories, and more. Its webmistress Dragonfree created the website back in 2002, and it remains active today! Dragonfree is also one of the valued members of Johto Times who proofreads our newsletter, offering help and suggestions to improve each issue before it goes out to subscribers each week.

Some highlights from the website include the "What Pokémon Are You?" quiz, and The Quest for the Legends, a long-running Pokémon fanfiction which began in June 2002. It also has an active community, with over 3300 members and over 560,000 messages at the time of writing! If you want to learn more, you can check out our interview with Dragonfree. Be sure to visit the website and join the forums!

Visit: The Cave of Dragonflies

Community Spotlight: Bulbagarden

A selection of banners and logos from Bulbagarden's history, between 1999–2025

It makes sense this week to focus our Community Spotlight on the excellent Bulbagarden, and Bulbapedia, two great projects which are a pillar of the Pokémon fan community.

If you want to get the very latest Pokémon news, engage with other Pokémon fans in their forums, or chill with a fun stream on the Bulbagarden Twitch channel, you will not be disappointed with what this community offers. If you’re seeking information on a particular game or event, you'll find no better resource than Bulbapedia, with other 56,000 articles at the time of writing. If you see something that isn’t quite right, or know something that hasn’t been shared, you can even contribute to it yourself, and help to support the fan base with the knowledge you possess!

Visit: Bulbagarden, Bulbapedia

Johto Times Favourite Starter Pokémon Poll 2024

From November 22nd, 2024, until December 31st, 2024, we conducted a poll via Google Polls to discover the most loved starter Pokémon (also known as First Partner Pokémon) from the mainline Pokémon games. We asked our readers and the wider Pokémon fan community to rate each Pokémon between 1 (dislike) and 5 (loved). In total, we received 819 responses, and today we would like to share those results!

The results of the Johto Times Favourite Starter Pokémon Poll 2024. How well did your favourites fare?

1st - Cyndaquil (4.10)
2nd - Rowlet (4.08)
3rd - Bulbasaur (4.03)
4th - Mudkip (4.00)
5th - Totodile (3.90)
6th - Sprigatito (3.88)
7th - Fuecoco (3.85)
8th - Squirtle (3.80)
9th - Eevee (3.80)
10th - Piplup (3.74)
11th - Litten (3.66)
12th - Charmander (3.59)
13th - Torchic (3.58)
14th - Turtwig (3.52)
15th - Oshawott (3.49)
16th - Fennekin (3.48)
17th - Treecko (3.47)
18th - Snivy (3.43)
19th - Pikachu (3.38)
20th - Froakie (3.38)
21st - Popplio (3.34)
22nd - Chikorita (3.26)
23rd - Scorbunny (3.25)
24th - Quaxly (3.11)
25th - Sobble (3.09)
26th - Chimchar (2.92)
27th - Grookey (2.92)
28th - Tepig (2.89)
29th - Chespin (2.72)

Please note that while some of these results display the same average score, some Pokémon appear lower or higher due to their overall results, as determined via Google Polls. A huge thanks to everyone who voted; it was a lot of fun to see these results come through! Please remember that every Pokémon is someone’s favourite, and this poll doesn’t determine a Pokémon’s worth. A full breakdown of these results will be shared in a future issue of Johto Times.