Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

Ahh, Rent. A musical I have never seen in any way, shape, or form. So why does this dang song always get stuck in my head everytime I reflect on the passing of a year? If I achieve anything today, it will be to get the song "Seasons of Love" stuck in someone else's head too!

But let's skip to the point.

As hard as it is for me to believe - and I should know, as I've been haunting this joint since day 1 - today marks the 9th anniversary for Pokécharms. 9th. Where has the time gone? I don't know about you folks, but for me that's a number worth celebrating. So happy 9th birthday, Pokécharms, and happy Pokécharms Day to everyone else!

We're now headed towards our 10th year on the web with two new Pokémon RPG titles on the horizon, the release of Nintendo's next home console before the end of the year, and the potential of something even greater for the Pokémon franchise in 2013 (if not sooner). I for one can't wait to see it all, and I hope you guys stick with us for the ride.

Turtwig's ready for the day! Are you?

To celebrate this year's Pokécharms Day, I'd like to hold a raffle and give away another TY Pokémon Beanie Baby (Black and White series) - because as many will agree, they're really very cute. If you'd like to be entered into the raffle send a private message to me (Linkachu) titled "Pokecharms Day 2012" with your name and mailing address. That's it! Everyone is free to enter, but if you're one of our younger members please be sure to ask your parents first before sending off your PM.

The raffle opens today and will close on Tuesday, March 20th, at 11:59 PM GMT. Be sure to get your entries to me before time runs out!

 As an optional request, I'd like to ask you guys three questions to think about and answer for me:

• How did you originally find Pokécharms.com?
• How long have you been a follower of the website?
• What's your favourite aspect of the Pokécharms.com website and/or its community?

You can answer one or all of these questions within the private messages you mail to me when entering the raffle. Barring inappropriate comments, I'll then share some (if not all) of your messages within my next news update - as well as announce the winner of the raffle (which will be randomly chosen). Once again, answering these questions is not necessary to be entered into the drawing. It'd just be great to read what you all have to say. 

And that's it from me. Whether you're a brand new member or one of our old fogeys, thanks for being with us and have a great Pokécharms Day! :)