Hailey Sawyer (That's Me) is the author behind the Pokemon: Johto Quest series.
Who is the girl on the home page? Is that the main character of the series?
No. The girl on the home page is basically an icon for this particular page, as she does bare a striking resemblance to me.
When did your interest in Pokemon start?
I've been a fan of the Pokemon franchise since I was around the age of four. I was first introduced to Pokemon when my brother gave me his old Pokemon cards and my interest in Pokemon had grew ever since. I participated in Pokemon Trading Card Game tournaments when I was younger and when the local card shop in my hometown closed its doors, I had stopped playing in tournaments.
My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Crystal that I got after I received a Gameboy Advanced for Christmas in the early 2000's. I grew up on a few generations of Pokemon so I got to play the generation one games (Blue and Yellow), generation two games (Crystal) and generation three games (Ruby and Emerald) back when Gameboy games were still sold in stores like GameStop (Formerly known as EB Games in America). I also played Diamond and Pearl when it came out in 2007 (U.S release year). Even today, I still have a strong interest in Pokemon.
When did you begin work on the series?
In January of 2016, I began to plan out various elements for the series such as the title, characters, and general plot of the series. Once those elements were mapped out, I started work on the plot outline for the first episode in early February. Once the outline was done, I began writing the first episode in March and didn't finish writing it until mid-September.
Where did you get the inspiration to write Pokemon Johto Quest?
A long time ago, I watched a couple of videos about a manga called Pokemon Réburst. The first video I watched on the subject was made by TheJWittz and the other video was made by Linkara. Based on these two videos, JWittz and Linkara didn't find the manga to be all that spectacular, with JWittz not caring for the Pokemon and human fusion aspect and being disappointed that it wasn't the adult Pokemon manga it was supposedly built up to be. Because I was in the same ballpark as JWittz, I decided to craft my own Pokemon story that would take on more adult topics such as divorce. I also wanted to balance dark moments with light hearted moments so that way it doesn't come off as too serious or too goofy. I also wanted to test my character development abilities with this series, as a series gives me a lot of time to let characters grow.
How did you come up with the name for the series?
Originally, the name of my Pokemon series was going to be Pokemon Garnet. However, it turns out that there was already a Pokemon ROM hack with that title (A ROM hack is modified version of an existing game like Pokemon Firered or Emerald) and I didn't want people to think that this series was related to the ROM hack so I decided to rename it Pokemon: Johto Quest. Honestly, I think this title may be more fitting given the plot and setting of the series.
Besides Jwittz's and your own disappointment with Pokemon: Réburst, what else inspired you to make this series?
Well since Johto was the very first Pokemon region I traveled through, it's very nostalgic and special to me. Because of this, the series is partly inspired by the memories I had on my journey through Johto as well as other Pokemon regions I traveled through as a child. Not only that but the series also takes inspiration from the Pokemon anime (You know, that show starring Ash, Pikachu, and their other traveling companions?) that's most prominent at the end of each Johto Quest episode where the narrator gives a short speech about what has happened in the episode and what's to come in the next one.
Although I haven't played much of Heartgold and Soulsilver for the Nintendo DS (Don't play them on an emulator unless you like lag and/or want to have a bad time), the series is also inspired by the "Walking Pokemon" mechanic. Although this mechanic was first seen in Pokemon Yellow for the GameBoy, Heartgold and Soulsilver massively expanded upon it by allowing any Pokemon (Not just Pikachu) in the first slot of your party to walk around with you in the over world.
Do you have any social media profiles I can check out?
Absolutely! I have my own Twitter account where I post updates about the Johto Quest series. I also use Twitter to post updates about my website, including links to recently completed stories that aren't related to Johto Quest and other announcements.
Who is the girl on the home page? Is that the main character of the series?
No. The girl on the home page is basically an icon for this particular page, as she does bare a striking resemblance to me.
When did your interest in Pokemon start?
I've been a fan of the Pokemon franchise since I was around the age of four. I was first introduced to Pokemon when my brother gave me his old Pokemon cards and my interest in Pokemon had grew ever since. I participated in Pokemon Trading Card Game tournaments when I was younger and when the local card shop in my hometown closed its doors, I had stopped playing in tournaments.
My first Pokemon game was Pokemon Crystal that I got after I received a Gameboy Advanced for Christmas in the early 2000's. I grew up on a few generations of Pokemon so I got to play the generation one games (Blue and Yellow), generation two games (Crystal) and generation three games (Ruby and Emerald) back when Gameboy games were still sold in stores like GameStop (Formerly known as EB Games in America). I also played Diamond and Pearl when it came out in 2007 (U.S release year). Even today, I still have a strong interest in Pokemon.
When did you begin work on the series?
In January of 2016, I began to plan out various elements for the series such as the title, characters, and general plot of the series. Once those elements were mapped out, I started work on the plot outline for the first episode in early February. Once the outline was done, I began writing the first episode in March and didn't finish writing it until mid-September.
Where did you get the inspiration to write Pokemon Johto Quest?
A long time ago, I watched a couple of videos about a manga called Pokemon Réburst. The first video I watched on the subject was made by TheJWittz and the other video was made by Linkara. Based on these two videos, JWittz and Linkara didn't find the manga to be all that spectacular, with JWittz not caring for the Pokemon and human fusion aspect and being disappointed that it wasn't the adult Pokemon manga it was supposedly built up to be. Because I was in the same ballpark as JWittz, I decided to craft my own Pokemon story that would take on more adult topics such as divorce. I also wanted to balance dark moments with light hearted moments so that way it doesn't come off as too serious or too goofy. I also wanted to test my character development abilities with this series, as a series gives me a lot of time to let characters grow.
How did you come up with the name for the series?
Originally, the name of my Pokemon series was going to be Pokemon Garnet. However, it turns out that there was already a Pokemon ROM hack with that title (A ROM hack is modified version of an existing game like Pokemon Firered or Emerald) and I didn't want people to think that this series was related to the ROM hack so I decided to rename it Pokemon: Johto Quest. Honestly, I think this title may be more fitting given the plot and setting of the series.
Besides Jwittz's and your own disappointment with Pokemon: Réburst, what else inspired you to make this series?
Well since Johto was the very first Pokemon region I traveled through, it's very nostalgic and special to me. Because of this, the series is partly inspired by the memories I had on my journey through Johto as well as other Pokemon regions I traveled through as a child. Not only that but the series also takes inspiration from the Pokemon anime (You know, that show starring Ash, Pikachu, and their other traveling companions?) that's most prominent at the end of each Johto Quest episode where the narrator gives a short speech about what has happened in the episode and what's to come in the next one.
Although I haven't played much of Heartgold and Soulsilver for the Nintendo DS (Don't play them on an emulator unless you like lag and/or want to have a bad time), the series is also inspired by the "Walking Pokemon" mechanic. Although this mechanic was first seen in Pokemon Yellow for the GameBoy, Heartgold and Soulsilver massively expanded upon it by allowing any Pokemon (Not just Pikachu) in the first slot of your party to walk around with you in the over world.
Do you have any social media profiles I can check out?
Absolutely! I have my own Twitter account where I post updates about the Johto Quest series. I also use Twitter to post updates about my website, including links to recently completed stories that aren't related to Johto Quest and other announcements.