It's about time I got off my butt and updated with this news, but better late than never! To start I wanted give a big thank you to everyone who entered our Pokécharms Day 2012 raffle. It was also great reading through the answers some of you provided to my three optional questions, all of which that have been shared within this news article.

But first, the raffle results. I randomly mixed up the names of all of our entrants in a hat to choose our winner. And the winner of this year's raffle is...

Shocari!

Shocari was given the choice of one of six Ty Pokémon Beanie Baby Plushes and chose Snivy as his prize. Lord Smugleaf would be proud. Congrats, Sho!

I want one for myself...

Now let's jump to our next topic. If you all recall from two weeks back, these are the three questions I asked the community:

• 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?

The various answers that were sent to me were pretty fun to read. Note that I've left these comments virtually untouched and unedited from how I originally received them.

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Let's start with Shocari's reply:

"How did you originally find Pokécharms.com?
I found Pokecharms when searching for a place to meet like-minded Pokemon fans. I wanted to find a website that I could join and contribute to, as well as have a place on the Internet that I could call "home."

How long have you been a follower of the website?
October 15, 2012 will mark my four-year anniversary here on 'Charms :'D

What's your favourite aspect of the Pokécharms.com website and/or its community?
I don't really have one favorite, but it's a pretty close tie between Chat and the P/RP boards. Even though I don't do a lot of P/RPing, I've always loved the idea of making your own little world with individual characters and literally having them do ANYTHING. I like that they can be as small or as large as one wants, too.

As for Chat, I find that it's the best way to get to know everyone on a site, and it doesn't take long to feel like you're a part of the community. There's almost a guarantee that not a day will go by in chat without something worthy of a chatlog, and it's also a great way to have a rather large blend of all the boards in one little package."

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The next reply came from Mr.RMA:

"How did I originally find Pokecharms? Well, from what I recall, it was right in the middle of the summer of 2010, and I was getting myself acquainted with a bunch of web forums of varying topics, very much intrigued by this side of the internet I had never dared to cross over to before up to that point. Upon looking through the posts of one of these websites, I noticed someone had a small, apparently custom made Pokemon trainer sprite within their signature and, curiosity piqued, I checked to see the source of the sprite, getting a link that directed me over to this fine little corner of the internet.

At the time, the site was still being renovated, and the trainer card maker wasn't finished yet, so I left and decided to wait for a little while, coming back weeks later to no avail. I did this for a while, showing up, checking, leaving, until one particular day on the fourth of December. I decided, after once again seeing the maker had yet to have been completed, that I would sign up for an account in order to bide my time, perhaps see what else the website had to offer. Of course, I was pretty quick to realize, not long after I had made my first post in the welcome section that this site was gonna be much more than just a simple card making program.

So, that's the story. Most riveting thing you've ever heard by a long shot, right?"

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Diamond Dude originally found his way to 'Charms via the TCM:

"I originally found Pokecharms through the Trainer Card Maker. I used it a couple of times but never joined the forums. I then became a member a while ago after hearing a lot about it from Demelza.

I suppose I've kind of been a follower of the forum since I used the Trainer Card Maker, but a proper member for maybe a month or so if I remember correctly.

My favorite aspect of Pokecharms is the community. Its probably the only Pokemon forum, or forum of any kind that isn't full of trolls and bullies. I like how everyone gets on here and I hope it stays like that."

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Shiny Eevee, one of our long time members, had this to say:

"How did you originally find Pokécharms.com?
A lot of link-hopping, and then I somehow landed here. XD

How long have you been a follower of the website?
Almost 5 years now, actually! I pretty much signed up a month or so after I found this place... eheh, I was such a n00b back then.

What's your favourite aspect of the Pokécharms.com website and/or its community?
The role players, if I'm completely honest with myself. And the writers. I love reading everything people write, and I always aspire to be better after I read things written by Carmen, RX, Sem, Chad, El, Data, Katie... so on and so forth. Outside of that, the various inside jokes and puns and whatnot~ :3"

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Rileyixx, who only joined the forums last year, has actually been a Pokécharms.com follower for quite some time:

"I found Pokecharms via the trainer card maker

I've actually been following the site for about 4 years but only joined up last august.

Signing was a great decision as I was welcomed by the wonderful community which is easily the best part of the site as we are like one big happy family."

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And the final response came from Dark Soul, who said this:

"How did you originally find Pokécharms.com?

If I remember correctly, I came across a video featuring a bunch of Trainer Cards on YouTube and decided to follow the link. Looked around, liked it, became a member, got into RP'ing and made some friends~

How long have you been a follower of the website?

I'm not sure- Two-and-a-half, three years now?

What's your favourite aspect of the Pokécharms.com website and/or its community?

How amazingly friendly yet peculiarly crazy, and mostly very talented, the community is."

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Thanks again for the answers guys, and a shout out to everyone who celebrated Pokécharms Day 2012 with us. See you all again for 'Charms Day 2013!