I have asked a few Valkyries players this season who their favorite Pokemon is, partially because I just love Pokemon but mostly because I spoke with Gabby Williams in June about her Spirited Away tattoo. On her hand she has a tattoo of No Face, one of my favorite Studio Ghibli characters. She mentioned she had noticed my Haunter tattoo and we got talking about Pokemon.

After that, I wanted to know who else on the team knows (Poke)ball? So I asked a few and collected their answers.

Gabby Williams: Mewtwo

“I’m a big Pokemon person. I love Mewtwo. He’s misunderstood but just so cool.”

Mewtwo is the 151st Pokemon and a pure psychic type and one of the original legendaries. He has his own movie where he is a clone of Mew, which contains the DNA of all Pokemon, and fights back against the people who tried to control him. He is also like objectively one of the coolest ones, this is pure taste from Gabby.

Kaila Charles: Pikachu

“Ugh I know that’s the basic one. I used to play one of the games, I can’t remember, but I never got past a certain level. But I liked Pikachu.”

Pikachu, Pokemon No. 25, the unofficial mascot of the franchise. Even if you don’t pay attention to Pokemon you know who Pikachu is. But he is super cute and a great answer.

Miela Sowah: Cinccino

“It’s a white grayish one with little ears. Kind of a snail body? He’s cute.”

*I searched on my phone and showed Cinccino to Miela*

“Oh not really a snail body haha. But really cute and I like how it sits.”

This was the first one where I was like oh! A deep cut. Cinccino is a normal type from Generation 5 and based off a chinchilla. I can’t say I have ever used one in any playthrough but Miela’s love inspired me to try to get one in Pokemon Go, at least.

Kiah Stokes: Charizard

“I played a lot when I was little. I like Charizard, I like the fire ones, maybe because I’m an Aries.”

Kiah kind of lit up talking about Charizard which was fun, and then we got talking about astrology after. This was in Indiana and became one of my favorite interviews all season. I can also see Kiah running a team of just absolute beast offensive Pokemon to counter her defensive presence IRL.

Veronica Burton, Kaitlyn Chen: None

Burton: “I’m not very familiar with Pokemon.”

Chen: “Nah I don’t have one.”

I also asked Chen in Indiana and she had no idea. Burton tried to come up with something after a shootaround at Chase Center but legitimately couldn’t name one. The point guards are not Pokemon people!

Kayla Thornton: Pikachu

“He’s just awesome, I like Pikachu.”

Another Pikachu lover, and KT was unapologetic about it. She said she appreciated that is “reliable,” which makes sense because so is KT.