[Route/VR] Voicemail / General IC Contact

[tearsofademon]

Might as well set this up, I guess...

Um... well, I guess I'm not around right now, for some reason. So if you want to talk or something, leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can.

[And this would be where the beep goes.]

Comments

Text so Ryner can respond at his leisured and yes he's totally send this to everyone

[schachmeister]

Ryner, I hope I am not catching you at a bad time.

I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about running an Aurora League gym. I'm familiar with the application process and getting the construction started (my own application was recently accepted) but I was wondering if you have any advice for a gym leader to be? Things you may have underestimated when you started off yourself, or things to keep in mind. Anything would be appreciated.

Yours in gratitude,
Armin

The response comes... not as late as this (oops) but still after a couple hours or so

[tearsofademon]

Sure, you can ask me stuff. I'm not really the best at giving advice, but I'll try to answer what I can.

As for stuff to keep in mind, I'm not sure how much travel you're used to doing, but once you have a gym, you're expected to be available there pretty regularly, so it's still doable, but something that you'll want to plan in advance a bit more. Knowing some of the stuff that happens here sometimes, though, you might want to consider what you want to happen if you get whisked halfway across the continent and can't get back right away. Especially if you want to open your gym to more than just battles, or if you have any set ups that need daily maintenance.

[schachmeister]

That is a good point, actually. I'll be moving my Lapras breeding pod into the bay next to the gym, and I was planning on using the extra space in my gym to help wild aquatic pokemon that need recover from an injury or illness. So I will need to make sure there are people there who can take over my duties if I am called away.

Does the Collegiate gym employ anyone? Or do you and Sion take care of all of it on your own?

[tearsofademon]

Helping injured aquatic Pokemon, huh. That's a great idea. You're going to make a big difference for a lot of Pokemon.

We've hired a few people as staff. There's the maintenance crew, they do amazing work. And then there are a couple of trainers who came to learn stuff and were impressive enough that we've hired them as teachers. There's no way we can teach all of the classes we want to eventually have avaliable by ourselves and still be available for challenges, even if we trade off who does what.

Which I guess kind of leads into, it's a lot of work and responsibility, running a gym. It's a lot for two people, let alone just one. So don't force yourself to handle everything alone. Hire staff to help you. Even if you just find someone to make sure the water stays clean, that's one less thing you personally have to worry about.

[schachmeister]

I hope so. There are pokecentres on the islands too, obviously, but most of these aren't really equipped to take care of aquatic pokemon long term. Nothing against them, of course. They have a limited amount of space, and a lot of pokemon to treat.

When I start looking at hiring people, is there anything I should look out for? I've never had any reason to hire anyone. How will I know what people work best?