Yes, the forums were deleted in Q42005. I remember reading an ancient new story (you can't view it now thanks to the 2008 deletion) asking the people if they wanted the forums back. That clearly means that had been here beforehand, possibly even dating back to the site's creation on July 15th, 2003. I believe he meant Charizard, considering he did join back in January of 2006 (the first month of the forums) and he has been a moderator since I came here, which was nearly 2 years ago....he seemed heavily active in 2006 and the first half of 2007, but gradually he became inactive, and he finally lost his powers last week.
Anyway, I'm betting Phoenix to be chosen.