PokéBeach

PokéBeach is a Pokémon fan site run by Jon Sahagian, better known as "Water Pokémon Master". The site primarily focuses on the Pokémon Trading Card Game, posting news, strategy articles, and hosting discussions about competitive play. The website also covers the larger aspects of the Pokémon franchise. It is one of the oldest consistently-running Pokémon fan sites.
==History==
The site was launched on July 15, 2003, when Sahagian was 14 years old, although he drafted earlier iterations of the site going back to 1999.http://web.archive.org/web/20040803015658/http://www.pokebeach.com:80/about.shtml Since then, it has become one of the most popular Pokémon fan sites on the Internet. Sahagian continues to write news articles on a daily basis and manages the website's staff.
In July 2008, Sahagian held an interview with Masamitsu Hidaka, a director and storyboard artist for . In it, he revealed previously unknown information about the series, including discussion about the intended purpose of the GS Ball and the reasons behind Brock's replacement in the second season of the .https://www.pokebeach.com/2008/07/interview-with-masamitsu-hidaka-at-anime-expohttps://www.pokebeach.com/2008/07/second-pokemon-interview-with-masamitsu-hidaka-many-interesting-points The following year, Sahagian was able to see an early screening of the twelfth movie in Japan, the only known foreigner to ever do so.https://www.pokebeach.com/2009/07/arceus-movie-summary-heartgold-soulsilver-commercial-13th-pokemon-movie
Upon the release of in September 2010, PokéBeach was among a few Pokémon fan sites to receive a cease and desist order from Nintendo for posting early images of Pokémon Black and White. The site then temporarily changed all pictures from the games to pictures of and changed their name to PokerBeach as a joke to protest Nintendo's actions.https://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Fansites_served_with_copyright_infringement_notices
On November 12, 2012, the site's forums revamped its rules and changed its content policy to PG-13 to better cater to older fans. Prior to this, moderation policies went through a strict review and were revamped.
On May 11, 2013, PokéBeach disclosed information from a supposed "insider" about . A lot of this information was later revealed to be true, such as the new type, 's evolution, and more.https://www.pokebeach.com/2013/05/supposed-pokemon-x-and-y-insider-informationhttps://www.pokebeach.com/2013/05/last-of-the-pokemon-x-y-insider-information
The website went through a massive redesign in May 2015, introducing a new layout with forum integration, as well as a premium subscription service where players could subscribe to read TCG strategy articles from competitive players.https://www.pokebeach.com/2015/05/welcome-to-the-new-pokebeach The site also began a partnership with "TCGplayer," an online TCG store. The partnership allowed PokéBeach to host large online tournaments with free prizes, shipping several booster boxes a month to players around the world.https://www.pokebeach.com/2018/04/pokebeachs-may-2018-ptcgo-tournament-sponsored-by-tcgplayer-com
Following the site relaunch, in June 2015, The Pokémon Company International sued PokéBeach over its short-lived partnership with "TCGOne", an unofficial Pokémon TCG simulator that TPCi claimed was "an unauthorized version of PTCGO". PokéBeach quickly removed all references to the simulator from its website as well as all of its Pokémon card scans. TPCi then granted PokéBeach a special license to display its card images on the website; the website now states at the bottom: "English card images appearing on this website are the property of The Pokémon Company International, Inc." https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/8377892/Pokemon_Company_Intenational,_Inc_v_Sahagian
In April 2017, PokéBeach launched a Discord server to replace their old Skype chat.https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokebeach-is-now-on-discord.139392/
Upon the release of in May 2019, Sahagian revealed he was invited to a private screening of the film a year prior where he was able to provide feedback to the filmmakers. He revealed a few changes that were made to the film along the way.https://www.pokebeach.com/2019/05/detective-pikachu-exceeds-all-expectations-a-full-review-very-minor-spoilers
On June 28, 2021, PokéBeach was hacked by a professional team in order to hold the site hostage to make money, resulting in the deletion of all files on the website. Three days later, the website was back up in a limited form so Sahagian could continue to post news stories, and he is currently working to bring back the forums.https://www.pokebeach.com/2021/07/pokebeach-hacked-next-steps-for-the-site
==Staff==
Many of PokéBeach's staff members have been working on the website since as early as 2003.https://www.pokebeach.com/staff
* Water Pokémon Master - Editor-in-Chief, Webmaster
* peer - Programmer
* Shining Raikou - Social Media
===Forums===
* Administrator - Shining Raikou
====Super Moderators====
* Asclepius24 – Pokémon TCG Head
* Athena – Beach Life Head
* Brave Vesperia – Marketplace Head
* Equinox – Pokémon VG Head
* Ice Arceus – Creative Works Head
====Moderators====
* bbninjas
* Bolt the Cat
* bonus41
* Camoclone
* Celever
* homeofmew
* Jabberwock
* Kecleon-X
* Luispipe8
* Machamp the Champion
* Materious17
* Mora
* MtheW
* Robin Aisaga
* SaiScott95
* scattered mind
* SilverSilent
* Siren
* steffenka
* Tails
* Yakkov
===News===
* Water Pokémon Master - News Head
* Athena
* bbocwerdna
* Celever
* Machamp the Champion
* My Little Keldeo
* Rusty Sticks
* steffenka
===Articles===
* Water Pokémon Master - Articles Head
* Brandon Nguyen
* Camoclone
* DogStar
* Grimsashi
* Machamp the Champion
* Phototoxin
* SaliosGnome
===Activities===
* Shining Raikou - General Activity Head
====General Activity Organizers====
* Athena
* bbninjas
* Celever
* Ice Arceus
* Luispipe8
* Machamp the Champion
* Materious17
* SilverSilent
====Video Game Organizers====
* Bolt the Cat
* Brave Vesperia
* Camoclone
* Celever
* Equinox
* homeofmew
* Mora
* Yakkov
====Video Game Tutors====
* Equinox - Video Game Tutor Head
* iSharingan
* Keeper of Night
* PG24
* Yakkov
===Chat Room===
* Shining Raikou - Chat Room Head
====Moderators====
* Brave Vesperia
* Celever
* Equinox
* Machamp The Champion
* One Approved
* peer
* PikaMasterJesi
* SilverSilent
===Badges===
* Shining Raikou - Badges Head
* Brave Vesperia
* homeofmew
* Machamp the Champion
* PG24
==References==
==External links==
* PokéBeach
Category:Fan sites
it:PokéBeach