Avis Cyrus, otherwise known as Poke Pokey and Xenia, was a member of prominence at Pokémon Solstice Forums. Along with Hollow Abyss, Avis Cyrus was the head admin of the forums, and many of its incarnations. These include Pokémon Destiny (in 2010), PokéLight Forums, and briefly on Pokéstory.
While many believed that Avis Cyrus was too immature to hold a candle to his counterpart, Hollow Abyss, his long stability and exercise of power reflects an honorable and worthy admin. He also was very active in Solstice's community during its heyday, and moderated the forum itself, the IRC, the Pokémon Online, and the Wikia.
Beginnings and PokeLight
Introduced to Pokelight (PLF) around 2008 through an advertisement on Serebii Forums, Avis Cyrus (then Poke Pokey) was able to climb the ranks of PLF, eventually attaining Elite and Moderator. It was on Pokelight forums that Avis came into contact with various future Solstice members (such as Oske) and future close friend, Hollow Abyss. When PLF gained access to vBulletin forum software, which was an improvement to the ZetaBoards forum software being used previously, he was promoted to Global Moderator. However, this vBulletin was short-lived (a seeming trend in Solstice related forums?) and PLF had to return to Zetaboards once more, banishing Avis to the Moderator position. In between this, Avis' interpersonal connections between key PLF members became strained. Notably, tensions arose between Oske and Avis, which were never resolved and were often to the detriment of Avis. Additionally, Hollow and Avis experienced much tensions of their own, with Hollow on Avis' case to increase Avis' activity. With his excuses of midterms and other exams failing to appease Hollow Abyss, the animosity between them peaked. This lead to Avis quitting the PLF staff team. Nevertheless, when approached by Hollow Abyss about the upcoming merger between Pokelight and Nightmare, Avis resolved to return to the forum scene.
(6/6/2010) 7:43:32 PM Hollow: I know you probably don't care, but Pokelight will be vBulletin again very soon. (6/6/2010) 7:43:33 PM Hollow: See ya~ (6/6/2010) 7:44:20 PM Poke Pokey: cool (6/6/2010) 7:51:38 PM Hollow: If you want to be there for the opening, it will be on June 14th. Just access it through the current PLF URL. (6/6/2010) 7:51:52 PM Poke Pokey: kay (6/6/2010) 7:52:16 PM Poke Pokey: Are u trying to persuade me using vb? (6/6/2010) 7:54:02 PM Hollow: Not at all. I just feel that since you are a veteran, you should at least see where the forum is heading. (6/6/2010) 7:54:16 PM Poke Pokey: Sure, doesent seem like a problem
Early Solstice v1
When "Project Solstice" was complete, and the merge finished, Avis Cyrus arrived to Pokémon Solstice forums with the Moderator rank. He was able to climb back to the position of Global Moderator, and following a particularly vicious Neo attack, was given the rank of Administrator by (ironically enough) Skyler. This was due to the depature of respected admin, Tobi. This was much to Hollow's chagrin, seeing his dear friend retired, and someone he deemed "undeserving" in their place. Prior to the July 15th Incident, Avis' career as an Administrator was predominately successful. In particular, he was able to successfully ban numerous Neo duplicates and helped Xiao Dre become Moderator.
Avis was a starch adherent of a policy of moving on and not dwelling in the past, which emerged amisdt the Banner Riot, and consequently the July 15th Incident. Perhaps the most volatile catalyst in the aforementioned incidents, he firmly declared that he felt that the residual Nightmare (still stating Pokémon Nightmare) should be substituted with banners that read "Pokémon Solstice" instead. At the opposite side of the spectrum, Skyler and Rucario felt that the banners should reflect their history, as Solstice v1 was based upon Nightmare's vBulletin. Combined with feelings of resentment, fueled by Rucario's background instigation, Skyler launched the July 15th Incident. Utilizing Robyn (a covert account with Administrator powers), both Hollow Abyss and Avis were demoted by Skyler, but later repromoted. This was the first occurance of Avis being demoted. Furthermore, the "Banner Riot" left both Avis and Rucario at odds with each other.
Later Solstice v1
Following the July 15th Incident, Solstice was relatively peaceful, from the outsiders' perspective. Unbeknownst to regular users, Skyler and Avis were locked in a tight conflict. This contention being result of Avis' opinion that Skyler should not have been repromoted after his lapse of judgement on July 15th. Such an opinion was an outlier within the staff group, leading Skyler to single Avis out in future events. Sustained by his own position of power, Avis boldly stood up to Skyler's attitude, which ended up contributing to Avis' eventual demotion. Skyler, threatened by Avis' dauntless stance, made a secret subforum to slander Avis and eventually have him demoted. At the same time, the #pokemonsolstice IRC was gaining popularity due to a notice on the forums, with Avis amassing an eccentric group of friends within.
Finding friendship within users like Adam and Bill Gates, he was inspired to make his own IRC channel on the purplesurge network entitled "#avisism." One day prior to this, Skyler's goal was reached, and Avis was demoted. Poor timing led to the staff believing that #avisism was a direct rebellion towards the staff on Avis' behalf, when in reality, it was just a channel for his friends to chat. The channel was able to amass quite an amount of users, such as Machu Pichu, Felly, Tendo, and Xiao Dre. In addition to its usual residents, #avisism was plagued by a sundry amount of staff members either spying or scoping the place out, which explained Skyler's involvement with the group. In order to distance itself from the forum, #avisism declared "#avisism=/=PSF" in its title. After posting the "WE MADE A MOVIE" thread in the Spam Section, #avisism began to form its own distinct personality and place on the forum, becoming what some considered an exclusive clique. It was also in this thread that Rucario disagreed with the group, which ended up growing into a forumwide feud. #avisism's presence on the forums was clear - they dominated the Spam Section, members would proudly display their membership in their signatures, and had select Social Groups in which only #avisism members were invited.
Due to being the namesake of the channel, Avis' position within #avisism was that of value. Objectively the most vocal and proud of being an "Avisist," Avis Cyrus was respected within his own community of self-proclaimed "Avisists." The group was able to perpetuate an environment of utter loyalty to one another, which was kept for quite a long time, until disturbed by staff actions. The more defined #avisism became, the more drama was attracted to the group itself. Just as #avisism members would display their loyalty to the group, naysayers would make their position clear. Whether it be in the form of user titles, dissent in #avisism led spam threads, or even MSN statuses, the backlash against the group was obvious. Consistent clashes with members like Rucario, and an ultra present culture forming within Solstice resulted in all Avisism members to be put on strict watch in a list known as "The Naughty List." Even slight affiliation with the group caused one to be monitored by the staff team.
Between habitual friction between #avisism and Rucario, and dissent towards the staff team, the IRC group began to garner ideas of a so-called "revolution," in which the current staff team of Solstice would be overthrown, with #avisism members replacing them. Fueled by Skyler's meddling and leaked information from the staff team, the ideas of a revolution were no longer a want; but a need for the #avisism community. Members would brazenly proclaim "VIVA LA REVOLUTION" when discussing their intentions for Solstice. Once ~ Midnight Mewtwo ~ posted "Pokémon Solstice: Pack of Lies or Dumbfounded Cliques?" on his blog, Hollow Abyss was prompted to write an anonymous comment which purpose was to essentially slander #avisism. After inciting #avisism's umbrage, Bill Gates responded to the comment on the blog post itself, while Felly decided to post the "Well..here we go again thread," which publicly decried Hollow Abyss on his hypocrisy. As #avisism was distracted with the aforementioned thread, Skyler revealed his ulterior motives and began to delete the channel's members off the forums, one-by-one. Enraged and betrayed, #avisism members were then locked out of the forums that had fostered them since its conception.
Lavender and Destiny
Seeking refuge in Adam and Xiao Dre's forum, Pokémon Destiny, Avis and his group were left to follow their dream of administering a forum they saw "just" and "fit." At the same time, Solstice's replacement, Lavender, was created by Skyler, unbeknownst to #avisism members until they were informed by an insider. Finding that all #avisism members were IP banned from this replacement forum, Avis and his group were further irritated. After getting head admin Sableye's permission, and their IPs allowed back again, #avisism eventually penetrated Lavender. It took only a terse amount of time for astriction to once more appear between #avisism and Rucario, along with their newfound enemy Skyler. During a series of threads spawned by Neo and Machu Pichu concerning the right to declare your opinion, Avis released his inner bull on his enemies. In what could be considered the penultimate battle between #avisism and Skyler, as well as his cronies, Avis let it be known his true feelings about Rucario, Skyler, and other Solstice-related dilemmas that had bothered him. With Skyler and Rucario fighting full force, the fracas that was the "Freedom of Speech?" thread was almost unbelievable. Seeing as the forums were once again engulfed in drama, Lavender led a fledgling life, and was shut down shortly therafter.
Through Destiny, #avisism led their antecedently mentioned aspirations out. The first version of Destiny, led by Xiao, officially running on vBulletin software was most of #avisism's chance to shine, with the lion's share having a staff position. Avis Cyrus, then adopting the name "Aloe Cyrus" from the Gen V gym leader, held the position of Admin Assisstant. However, due to software difficulties and administration issues, this incarnation never made it past its few weeks of life. With Xiao pulling out of the Destiny administration team, the Destiny staff line-up shifted slightly, with most members going up a rank. Now funded by Broken Cup, Avis was a fellow administrator with Adam and Broken Cup on Destiny.
At the new Destiny, run on vBulletin 4 software, while the atmosphere was pratically drama-free due to the scarity of members, agitation still happened. When Broken Cup had an avatar featuring marijuana, Adam and Avis suggested that he changed it. Broken Cup refused, bringing unneeded tensions to the forum, and when technical issues brought down Destiny once more, it was not recovered.
Early Solstice v2
A few weeks after Destiny shut down for good, Hollow noticed MSN statuses acknowledging this. Suddenly inspired, he decided to reopen Pokélight. Many old members, including Avis, flocked back, indulging themselves with nostalgia and old friends. With most of #avisism seemingly reunited, he was overjoyed. However, lingering tensions between Adam and Avis left an awkward taste in his mouth. Shortly after Pokélight was revived, the idea of returning to Solstice came up. With an overwhelmingly positive reaction, Avis and Hollow elected to become the head admins of the reincarnated forum.
In the primordial stages of Solstice v2, there was much elation at the thought of returning to the forum that many had missed so dearly. Despite this, Solstice, as always, attracted drama once more. As Neo made his return to Solstice, he and what it suspected to be one of his alts, Vulpes, began to critique the fledgling forum and its staff harshly. After his reign of terror ended, Bill Gates and Machu Pichu had left the staff team. Avis standing tall and not giving into Neo's facetious catcalls and treachery shows how much of a diligent administrator he could be.
Returning back to the time where Pokélight was the "main base of operations" (so to speak), in compensation for the dying IRC/Chatango channels, a Skype chat was established in Decemeber 2011 originally composed of Avis, Adam, Bill Gates, Xiao, and Felly. Eventually, Hollow Abyss, Palcks, and, briefly, octopodeable found their way into this group. This group could be considered #avisism's successor in the respect that it sustained the conditions similar to the aforementioned channel itself. Such qualities include the "tightness" of the friendships between members of the Skype Chat, the secrecy between members, and the seemingly exclusiveness of the group (which came into play shortly after Solstice v2 was put online). In contrast to #avisism, however, the Skype chat featured users which held much authority within the newly re-established forum. Many decisions pertaining to forum relevant activity were held here, initially. Much like #avisism, though, the Skype chat was used to gossip about forum members. The much heralded "clique-mentality" was once more seen in Avis' group, but now with the responsibility of running a forum, the severity of the drama was considered higher.
While the Skype chat was able to further connect or, rather, reconnect members of the staff team together, it was also host to numerous bouts of tumultous nature. While the first incident of drama revolving around the Skype was pertinent to Machu, the following drama was centric to Avis. As more controversial decisions were made on Solstice, disagreements became personal and were held against one another. When Skyler became of concern to staff once more, Avis' draconian opinion of Skyler led him into a major disagreement with the people he thought to be his confidants. Combined with this and the gossip that was gaining negative conotations among staff, Avis felt victimized by the group, and decided to cut off all ties with the group.
Despite his claim, Avis eventually forgave his friends, and after a brief hiatus, the Skype group came together once more. In the following weeks, while Avis was at a party, a friend was able to obtain his phone and chat to the Skype chat, adding playful gibberish and banter. Seemingly offended by this, Hollow Abyss reacted rather negatively to said friend, being rude to them. Avis had also introduced the Skype group to one of his friend's Formspring.me accounts, and what was originally tongue-in-cheek entertainment quickly turned into malicious comments sent to his friend. When Avis heard about how his friends were treated, he became upset at Hollow, and gathered residual disdain for members of the group.
With aforementioned disdain, Avis lashed out on his friends, through various forms such as blog posts, MSN statuses, profile edits, signatures, etc. By making his profile "im trash" (and other variations), he caused Hollow to edit it into a profile more befitting for an admin, removing all references to trash. Riled by this, Avis went on to change his signature to a picture of Regina George from Mean Girls with her eyes obscured that read "TRUST NO BITCH." When his antipathy and tolerance for his friends reached its apex, he asked to be demoted down to Global Moderator, with Bill Gates as his temporary replacement.
Mid-Solstice v2
Drama was still present on Solstice, despite the thoughts of those who thought that a forum sans-Avis would be a forum sans-tension. Having to contend with threats and general irritating behavior from Skyler, Hollow and Bill did not have the utopian forum that some users thought would come from Avis's departure. When Avis was in a better mental condition, and decided to return to Solstice, he naturally wanted his position back as administrator of the forums. However, the aforementioned users who were pleased by Avis leaving worked hard to prevent such outcomes. Adam, someone notably against Avis regaining his position, gathered Hollow and Bill together in a Skype chat in an effort to stall Avis's return to administrator. While his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, the negativity that Adam held for him would factor into Solstice happenings later down the line. Thus, with a slight negative rebuff, Avis was able to reclaim his position.
The following months were rather peaceful for Solstice, the only thing that coud be of note would be Bill Gates' departure from the forum due to school and personal issues. Tensions between the staff began to simmer down during this period, and by the time of Bill's return, the staff could be considered slightly more functional. Upon their return, there was talk of Bill Gates returning to the administration, as they had stepped down when they left the forums. While Hollow and Avis were mostly supportive of this change, users Adam and Palcks felt that it was unfair; and that they deserved the position more as resident global moderators. Their continuing actions led to a giant rift between two opposing parties - Hollow, Avis, and Bill vs. Adam and Brad. Despite nothing concrete being said, this arc of time began to be known as the "AA Incident" and led to major divisions on the forum staff. Through a private Skype chat, Avis and his copatriots bonded over their worry for their friends. An "us vs. them" (them being Brad and Adam) mentality rose up and though it was not completely clear to the members of the forums, perhaps outside the Solstice group Skype chat held by Brad that there was tensions. Becoming irritated with Brad and Adam's behaviors, Avis, accompanied by Bill Gates and occasionally Hollow, would spam Brad's Skype chat, the Tetris highscores, and the Spam
Section with poop jokes and harsh humor. Considered tacky and rude, Avis and Bill became infamous in the eyes of users such as Palcks, Adam, and Moogles' eyes as low quality posters who brought down Solstice as a whole. This came to a head in August 5, 2011 in the ":rolleyes: poop" thread where Avis copied and pasted a Vistor Message left by Adam on Moogles' Serebii.net profile. With the intent of rousing Moogles and Adam, the thread turned into an almost flame-war between Moogles, Adam, and Avis. This was never properly resolved until sometime around Ever Grande City's opening, with Moogles and Adam having some remaining disdain for Avis.
Late Solstice v2
When Hollow decided to leave Solstice for personal and educational reasons, Avis was selected as one of his two replacements. With Hollow gone as public administrator, the power vacuum left by him was filled by Avis. The forums' responsibility (excluding its payment) was then on handled by Avis and Bill Gates. This administration led the forums in a relatively more lax way than Hollow Abyss had previously. Despite the initial struggle to have people respect him in the same way that Hollow had been as an administrator, Avis was able to solidify his position as new head administrator. As a head administrator, Avis Cyrus was, as mentioned previously, fairly lax in his jurisdiction. Notably as admins, Avis and Bill promoted friends Scarlet and Metta to Moderator despite Hollow's feelings otherwise, made numerous spam section threads that were just injokes of theirs, and started the movement to resurge this wikia. Despite having the forums to themselves though, however, Avis and Bill were partly bitter at Hollow for leaving them with the responsibility of Solstice, and eventually outright stopped caring the forums. With low morale and a struggle to keep members and posts consistent, Avis (now known as Xenia) became further disillusioned with Solstice and made little attempt to help the forum out of its slump. Even with the enactment of the "Ten Posts Per Day Rule" for the staff team, Solstice was, in essence, dying.
Solstice was kept up for as long as possible before tensions between Bill, Avis, and Hollow boiled over in the "explosions?" thread, a thread making fun of an old post of Hollow's. Eventually, Hollow returned in December to say that Solstice would be closed by the end of month, and demoted Avis and Bill from administrator.
Ever Grande City to Present
As one of the first members of Ever Grande City, Avis was given the title of "EGC President," as well as for his contributions to the forums itself (in terms of skins and posting). However, this position lasted only a brief time, as Avis' aggressive personality led to numerous conflicts on EGC. Eventually, the EGC staff ended up banning Avis in early 2012 for attempting to undermine the community and generally bothering the EGC staff. In the summer of 2013, Avis was unbanned and remains mostly quiet on EGC, only posting occasionally.