On Friday, July 31, 1998, I found Angelfire. A previous attempt at making a website on Geocities resulted in failure, and although I figured Angelfire would end the same way, I figured I'd give it a try. It worked.
I found out about Pikachu and Pokémon through Nintendo Power's mini-magazine, Pokémon Power. I thought Pikachu was the cutest little thing, so I made a Pikachu-focused Pokémon website titled Pikachu's House. It featured "Pikachu's Friends," (a Pokémon list) "Pikachu's Bookshelf," (a story by me located on my site here.) and "Pikachu's Phone Book." (links.) There were no pictures, a weird red background, and everything was crammed on one page. ^_^;;
I gradually learned HTML. I put pictures on my site, and gave everything its own section. One day, a fellow Pokéfan named SCHNEIDAM asked if he could post a story he wrote on my site, titled Pikachu V.S. Charmeleon. I agreed, and allowed Pokéwriters to submit to my site, paving the way for you other obsessed (hee hee) writers, like Mew471/Ash-Gar-Allan-Poe and Mewshura.
My site had become much better, so I decided ol' Pikachu needed an upgrade. I renamed my site Pikachu's Fort, and gave it a gray, castle-like background, although many complained about it making the text too hard to read. ;) In keeping with the fort theme, I renamed Pikachu's Bookshelf "Library," Pikachu's Phone Book "Charizard Stables," got rid of Pikachu's Friends, moved my one award to a section called "Trophy Room," and my guestbook to "Castle Wall." Later, I added "Lobby" and "Voting Booth," wanting to give intelligent Pokémon fans something special, and let visitors express their opinions.
The more my site grew in popularity, the more my ego boosted. ;) I renamed my site Pikachu's Castle, and a few days later, King Pikachu's Castle. What's next, Universally-Loved and Extremely Wealthy Emperor Pikachu's Golden Palace? Actually, I doubt I'll be changing the name at this stage. Inspired by those "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" books, I began working on King Pikachu's Maze. It was up practically half a year later. ;) I later became obsessed with Pokémon icons, which is why they have taken over this site. ;)
Another obsession of mine was Internet pets. They were taking over my page, so I moved them to "Courtyard." Inspired by the success of the Library, I added another fan participation section: "Gallery." After running into Yahoo! Clubs, I decided this site deserved its own, so "King Pikachu's Battle Fort" was born! I also changed the layout to a pathetic lineup of 3-D Pokémon buttons with Paint letters. None were the same size. (It seemed like a cool idea at the time...) Listening to my fans "this background sucks!" pleas, I changed the background to the current one.
And now here I am on our second birthday. I made a new layout, and all you see here, to celebrate. I wonder what we'll be like two years from now!
Pika pika!
-King Pikachu
THANKS
To Pika and Pokecenter, for your endless support.
To Melissa and all the other BBUC members, for showing me Angelfire.
To the ORIGINAL Angelfire, for giving me an excellent space.
To SCHNEIDAM, for showing me the light of my most popular section.
To everyone who has ever submitted something to my site, especially Mew471 and Mewshura.
To all the members of King Pikachu's Battle Fort, especially SailorFlareon.
To everyone who has ever signed my guestbook or e-mailed me with a compliment.
To everyone who has ever linked me or sent me an award.
And lastly, to everyone who has ever been to this site and enjoyed it.
And if I didn't mention you, well, you know who you are. Thanks.
