diff --git a/GlobalTerminalService/app.config b/GlobalTerminalService/app.config
index 514aa31f..16845607 100644
--- a/GlobalTerminalService/app.config
+++ b/GlobalTerminalService/app.config
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
 <startup><supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.0"/></startup>
   <connectionStrings>
-    <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString" connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;" providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient"/>
+    <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString" connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8" providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient"/>
   </connectionStrings>
 
 </configuration>
diff --git a/VeekunImport/app.config b/VeekunImport/app.config
index 7b478393..e7c65f49 100644
--- a/VeekunImport/app.config
+++ b/VeekunImport/app.config
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
 
diff --git a/bvCrawler4/App.config b/bvCrawler4/App.config
index aa0fb07e..753cfcc4 100644
--- a/bvCrawler4/App.config
+++ b/bvCrawler4/App.config
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
   <appSettings>
diff --git a/bvCrawler5/App.config b/bvCrawler5/App.config
index da39dc8b..b03b479f 100644
--- a/bvCrawler5/App.config
+++ b/bvCrawler5/App.config
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
   <appSettings>
diff --git a/bvRestorer4/App.config b/bvRestorer4/App.config
index 0c8ee4dd..388edda8 100644
--- a/bvRestorer4/App.config
+++ b/bvRestorer4/App.config
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
 </configuration>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bvRestorer5/App.config b/bvRestorer5/App.config
index be4f57f5..5b693a89 100644
--- a/bvRestorer5/App.config
+++ b/bvRestorer5/App.config
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     </startup>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
 </configuration>
diff --git a/gts/Web.config b/gts/Web.config
index 810a86e4..53a75ade 100644
--- a/gts/Web.config
+++ b/gts/Web.config
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
 
diff --git a/towerRestorer4/App.config b/towerRestorer4/App.config
index e9104aab..fecfbbfe 100644
--- a/towerRestorer4/App.config
+++ b/towerRestorer4/App.config
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 <configuration>
   <connectionStrings>
     <add name="pkmnFoundationsConnectionString"
-         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;"
+         connectionString="Server=10.211.55.2;Database=gts;User ID=gts;Password=gts;Pooling=true;charset=utf8"
          providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
   </connectionStrings>
   <startup>