TRAINER'S EYE #143 - "Umbreon Empowered By Wooper's Earthquake" ft. lilredwooper

TRAINER'S EYE #143 - LilRedWooper
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LilRedWooper: [00:00:00] Whoop, whoop. I'm Little Red Whooper and this is Mya Pokemon story.


David Hernandez: Welcome to as the Pokemon Ball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon. My name is David Hernandez. I'm joined by Little Red Whooper here to whoop the crowd and here to share her Pokemon story. Wooer, welcome to the podcast.

LilRedWooper: [00:01:00] Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

David Hernandez: Likewise. And you know, we were talking a little bit just even before the show talking about, you know, what difference between podcasting and Twitch streaming, which we'll dive into later. But what I loved about, I guess, tuning into your stream, I love how authentic you are as a person. I love how real you kind of get with your audience.

one question I wanna ask, like, is that something that's intentional? Was it something that you kind of built into? Or is, have you always been that person?

LilRedWooper: I think I've always kind of had a sense of care for people and my streaming platform isn't necessarily meant to. Get real, but I essentially really enjoy just, you know, learning about my, my chat and my audience and really getting down to earth with them. And so some of these things, these topics kind of just happen.

And honestly, I think they're for the better because it's helped me build a lot of new friendships and meet a lot of people and [00:02:00] really connect more with, Pokemon fans.

David Hernandez: I think you bring such an interesting point because some people would shy away from topics do you find that the fact that you are willing to kind of dive into these topics helps you, maybe relate to your audience better, or that maybe they feel they can relate to you more?

LilRedWooper: Yeah. You know, I, I think over the, it's been about a year and a half of doing streaming and I think I've gotten to really know people more on a personal level or friendship level. I've had a lot of people even, you know, just like personally chat with me and really connect with me and get down, you know, knowing them.

And I think it's really cool that over the year or so here, the progress and. my viewers really feel like they can, you know, trust me and be open with me as well. And you know, we all have a very mutual respect for one another. There's never been like a conflict with that. Um, and even if there is like disagreeance, I've always made it. Clear that my place is a place that you can be yourself and I'm not gonna hold it against you or [00:03:00] judge you. So it's, it's been really cool. and we have a lot of good laughs.

David Hernandez: You spoke on how you know you streamed Pokemon on Twitch. Did you ever foresee just, I guess, your interest in Pokemon, leading to this kind of connection with people you may not, you haven't even met or know, even know who they look like and stuff like that? Did you ever see Pokemon even leading to this?

LilRedWooper: Honestly, I never thought I'd see myself on Twitch, to be honest. I actually did not like the platform

David Hernandez: Oh,

LilRedWooper: itself,

David Hernandez: okay.

LilRedWooper: um, just because like nothing wrong with it, nothing in that way. I just didn't have an interest. but it was. have to say when I started playing Scarlett and Violet, made it a goal to play a little bit more competitive, with that it led me to finding some really cool, YouTubers and trying to, learn some tips and tricks from them. so from there, I actually started a YouTube channel way before Twitch. I was [00:04:00] inspired to kind of follow some of my, personal like fanboying YouTubers, kind of follow them in their steps

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: then it led me to realizing, okay, I need to. Find a way to expand, and meet new people and actually like, get involved in this community more.

And Twitch was where I found that, with a little bit of help, I gotta say with my, my fiance here, he definitely really encouraged me to try other platforms like Twitch because he thought that I could really connect with people. I was like, well, I'll give it a go. And uh, funny enough, Pokemon wasn't the first thing I actually streamed. I, I streamed Zelda for if out of everything. I streamed that first and then I got into Pokemon, and now Pokemon has just taken over my platform.

David Hernandez: It is kind of cool because competitive Pokemon's, just such a different side of Pokemon compared to the casual fan. You've got the Ivys, you've got the EVs, you've got the natures, [00:05:00] all the moves that come into it. What was it about the Scarlet Violet specifically that made you want to dive into the competitive side of Pokemon?

LilRedWooper: I think with this game in particular, I fell in love with their. Usually, you know, Pokemon gimmicks that they have in their games. And I specifically really drew to, this particular one with and how, how it just brought a whole new different outlook and competitive level. I personally have never, I, I actually haven't been playing competitive for up until Scarlet and Violet. Just typically used to playing Pokemon with, you know, my fiance playing here and there just for my own, you know, happiness and joy. But yeah, I think I started playing Scarlet and Violet and I started trying out online more, and I found I was actually really good at it and I was really enjoying it.

And that's when I came to discover how much, I've always really [00:06:00] enjoyed. team building, just like I actually, if anything, I prefer that more than anything is the, the aspects of team building and putting a team together is just something that some kind of spot on me, man.

I don't know. But, um, for sure Scarlet and Violet opened up a I didn't think I would ever explore further.

David Hernandez: I compare it to like putting a puzzle together. Sometimes it's more fun just to put the puzzle together than the actual end result and. Sometimes like you just wanna see, does this work? Or maybe is my crazy idea feasible? Like would it like shake things up? And sometimes that's kinda the fun part when it comes to do something competitive is maybe it's brain head crazy, but sometimes you wanna see the crazy idea.

Just see what it happens just for the, see the results of it.

LilRedWooper: Oh yeah, I love seeing the different unique strategies that are out there, and. growing up with Pokemon, you're always kind of like choose your favorite Pokemon and you [00:07:00] know, any Pokemon can work kind of thing. So I've learned over competitive. That's not always the case, but I like to challenge that I love the level of challenge and you know, one of my favorite things is doing mono typing, is being able to make one. Team with the, you know, that shares the same typing and

David Hernandez: Hmm.

Now we'll say this, I'm gonna miss ization when it leaves. Forget mega evolution. Z move is okay, but I am going to mourn when finally we don't have ization anymore. 'cause I love the mechanics so much. I love the visual crystallization. Do you have particular like memory when it came to see Interation for the first time when you played Scarlet Violet?

LilRedWooper: Funny enough, it kind of seemed a little funny to me when I first saw it. Some of them are just so, you know, exaggerated

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: like the crystallization. You got these massive chandeliers and massive light bulbs popping on Pokemon's heads. Right. And I thought it was kind of

David Hernandez: Right.

LilRedWooper: [00:08:00] but I got more into the BGC aspect of it, I was like, wait, okay, my, you know. Pokemon, that's weak to like times four to grasp. Now I can actually change that, and I think that's where, I saw you can make your favorite Pokemon work other formats, it may have been a little bit trickier, but

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: you can make any Pokemon, any typing you want. your advantage.

And I thought that was so cool and it led for so many more possibilities. like, I love mega evolutions. They were super cool too, but I'm going to definitely miss nationalization for sure.

David Hernandez: Well, I gotta ask though, like, what is your favorite Pokemon? How did you try to make it work?

LilRedWooper: Um, that's a good question. It's, it's hard to, to really narrow down, but I will definitely have to say my favorite Pokemon is OMB Brion, ever since I laid eyes upon it in gen two and I've just fallen in love with [00:09:00] dark types. I am a big fan of dark type Pokemon, and just the design and of Omon I think is just so captivating and. Following the Pokemon Anime as a kid. Ha. Seeing Gary, you know, facing Ash

David Hernandez: Yeah.

LilRedWooper: on was just like beautiful in in my little kid eyes. I was just drawn to it. 

David Hernandez: Yeah, it was, I remember that was, I think that was the first ever appearance of Ryon. Right? If I'm not mistaken. 'cause that's when Ash was going to Jodo. Right.

LilRedWooper: Yep, that's correct. I believe it was he had an EV for the longest time and then once they revealed that, they evolved it, that's when it was a game changer. And I just was like, Ooh, what on earth is this? This looks awesome. Um. So fell in with like in love with Ambon since then. but since my streaming, I have to say that like it's really hard because now I've got such a special place for [00:10:00] Looper.

David Hernandez: I was gonna say, like people are like, wait, hold on. She's known the little red ruper, but it's not whooper.

LilRedWooper: I know, I know. I feel like I have to explain justify this, but yeah, no, funny enough, um, little Red Whooper actually. He's definitely grown on me and he's pretty much out there too. I use him enough in competitive VGC more than I have OMB Brion.

David Hernandez: Okay.

LilRedWooper: I know it's all over the place, but, yeah, he's definitely a special place in my, my, my heart whoopers, my little lucky charm. My little go-to mascot I take everywhere I go.

David Hernandez: Now obviously a little red whoopers, uh, homage to the shiny whooper, which is pink, but it's kind of reddish too. What made you want to come up with a name Little Red Whooper? Where did that come from?

LilRedWooper: so this is gonna sound so cheesy, uh, so it's not this crazy [00:11:00] story, but essentially when I was putting together my YouTube channel and my streamer platform, I wanted to have something pretty catchy and I. I took influence to Cybertron for one, his whole like, you know, Cybertron Ang here. I wanted to have something that flew, like, just had a nice flow to it, right?

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: I went on to name generator and I literally just typed in Little Red is a nickname. A lot of people in my personal life just called me already.

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: it's something I've always just been called for my red hair and I'm short and, um, so. There's that. So I've put that in thinking, okay, I wanna have like something to go with Little Reds.

Everybody calls me that. And then I just typed in Pokemon and it, you know, name generators. They tend to like spew out a tons of different names. some of them kind of stood out to me, some of them [00:12:00] didn't. it was when I found Whooper added in with Little Red. And when I. Said it a couple times to myself out loud.

I was like, okay, I think I can see this. The little red is perfect because it kind of indicates I'm a shiny whooper. It's kind of pinkish red, it

David Hernandez: Yeah.

LilRedWooper: right? So from there, I really, I really liked the name. It Guam me and then I proceeded to tackle on getting my shiny whooper mascot in the game to start this whole journey. and that's kind of where the cheesy little whoop, whoop line came in. And yeah, no, he's, he's the best. 



David Hernandez: Now, you said, you know, you grew up Pokemon or you have some early experience. What was your first, I guess, initial start into Pokemon? Was it the anime, the games, the cards, or was something completely different? I.

LilRedWooper: It was the Pokemon cards actually. so I didn't really grow up like rich or anything. I had two who worked. [00:13:00] Uh, two to three different jobs individually,

David Hernandez: Oh wow.

LilRedWooper: just to kind of, yeah, they, they really, they really spoiled me and they really hard to, to help, you know, give me the, you know, a pretty good childhood.

I used to go to this daycare that my mom, she was friends with this woman, and she got like, you know. Not like a discount, but like, she knew her so it was like, it worked well. She knew my scheduling. Anyways, this woman had two older kids, uh, one older son and a daughter, relatively like, say, six years older than me, seven years older than me. And they actually got me into Pokemon mom. one day I remember just being so like. Awe as a kid and they were showing me their Pokemon cards and their first, you know, first gen, first like GOs. And I don't, I don't recall seeing a char art, but [00:14:00] I was just so drawn to it. So from there, they basically, their influence of their obsession with Pokemon really, uh. Took a liking to me and I was probably two years old, I wanna say

David Hernandez: Oh wow, so you, you're very young. Yeah.

LilRedWooper: I was pretty young and I loved it. And my father being the only child, was really trying to find ways to connect with her daughter that didn't resort to trying to implement boy things or. You know,

David Hernandez: Yeah.

LilRedWooper: right? He was into the comics and Marvel and Star Wars and he was trying to find something to, you know, bond with his daughter with.

And once he found out I liked Pokemon, he is like, this seems like a good fit. I can bond with this with my daughter. And, yeah. So from there I had my first taste of video games. From the Nintendo 64. first Pokemon game was [00:15:00] Pokemon. I think it Hey, you, Pikachu, I think was the first one.

David Hernandez: Oh wow. Is this still when you were two or three?

LilRedWooper: Yeah, I think I was at least three years old when this happened.

David Hernandez: Okay, so still okay.

LilRedWooper: yeah, so I think it was maybe. My brain's a little fuzzy on it. I was either two or three, but I remember my mom explicitly saying it was a birthday party. And my grandmother, I guess all of them chipped in to put together and buy me a Nintendo 64. And that's when I got, uh, Hey, you peek, you the little like Mike that you're supposed to like attach to the controller.

it didn't work very well, to say the least. Uh, but Pokemon Stadium was the, the next Pokemon game I had, and I loved it. That was my favorite game. I always insisted my, my dad needs to play with me and I always bugged him.

'cause I always picked nine tails and I always chose to confuse all his Pokemon, but, [00:16:00] you know,

David Hernandez: You are, were that kind of person. I see. Okay.

LilRedWooper: Yeah. Uh, Squirtle was my favorite starter. I never actually played the game Boys up until probably later, but like I said, you know, I, I didn't have money exactly growing up, so the Nintendo 64 was my hero

Yeah.

David Hernandez: you're the first person I've ever not only acknowledge, but say that, Hey, you, Pikachu was their first Pokemon game. And I mean, I don't say that as an insult. I say that as a Pokemon fan. It shows how some of the most out there. Unknown Pokemon games, maybe those who are not look folly.

Like if you think, Hey, you Peaky two is the top three best Pokemon game of all time. Tag me on Twitter, tag me on Facebook. I want to meet you. Nobody in their right mind who's a Pokemon fan who's grew up will put, Hey, you Peaky two as a significant [00:17:00] portion of a Pokemon's legacy. And I say that because it shows to how some of the most minuscule games can have the greatest impact.

Because I know you, you know, said it didn't work, but that was the ones your parents were able to get for you that allowed you to continue to engage with this franchise. And I find that just so inspiring and eye-opening, at least for me.

LilRedWooper: Yeah, no, I like that. it definitely wasn't the best game out there, but just the combination of, you know, going to this babysitter and associating with her, her kids who were always, you know, either watching the Pokemon Anime or they were, Showing the latest Pokemon cars that they, they had, and, you know, teaching me how to battle that aspect of it.

Really, I loved it. Um, something about it, I've always loved animals

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: I think that part, oh yeah, no, it just grew onto me and it, it hasn't gone anywhere anytime soon.

David Hernandez: Well, [00:18:00] I kind of wanted to know, 'cause you said, you know, your dad was looking for a way for you to bond and she parents had you, he didn't feel the comic books would've connected well. Was your dad also into Pokemon or was that something that he had to kind of learn as well?

LilRedWooper: I think he kind of learned it as well. but. It was really something we definitely bonded over. growing up I certainly was a daddy's girl. More, you know, from there I also took interest eventually into some of the things he liked and, you know, star Wars and, having those little plastic, little light SAS

David Hernandez: Yeah.

LilRedWooper: as Jedi. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Uh, watching the movies, but there was definitely this really special bond with, with Pokemon. he always used to try and make me laugh with the simplest things such as, you know, trying his best to impersonate some of my, my favorite Pokemon, or, you know, trying to just gimme a little laugh.


It's always [00:19:00] gonna have these really good childhood memories with that. and just, you know, love for Pokemon, I remember how much it just brightened my day showing my, you know, my dad, look, I got my gym badge. I got this stach and, you know, just wanting to be the best and gotta catch them all.

So that concept, it just grew and grew. Like I, I remember getting. My first, Pokemon Pikachu Motion. Sensored Plushy,

David Hernandez: Oh wow. I've never.

LilRedWooper: to this day. I know it, it likes to work sometimes. Um, it kind works in the most weirded, weirdest like moments. it does still have batteries. It takes your traditional double, double As and. It's got like these little buttons on the little hands on the Pikachu and the, the cheeks will light up. And so it has like these different motion sensored, little noises it makes. [00:20:00] and that was like my best friend growing up. That thing went everywhere. Wherever I went, it went with me. 

David Hernandez: I wanted to touch on something because you said back in the day your first game was, hey, you peak at you and eventually Pokemon Stadium, but you touched on how your entire family, not just your mom and dad, but your entire family put the money together to get you an N 64.

When you think about that and how much they invested their own money from everybody, just to get you an CT four back in the day, what does that, I guess, mean to you and how important was that for you to kind of see that self-sacrifice to where, yes, it's an CT four, but they're willing to put the money that they may not have fully together to try to get you this thing or get you this experience?

LilRedWooper: Yeah, no, I honestly think I have to thank them for that. and just looking back of how blessed I was. Not, you know, really probably aware of that at, the age I was. it's really a blessing to, to know that that's how much they cared about me and that's how much [00:21:00] they, they, you know, did their, their darn best to, to give their little girl, you know, games and the, and the thing that she really loves the best, like the most. I wasn't into Barbies, I wasn't into your typical girl stuff. Funny enough. I don't know if that's. Because of my dad's influence. But yeah, no, I think it means a great deal to me that like did that for me because without some of those experiences, I don't think Pokemon would've had such a strong connection, with it. So I definitely have to thank them for that and Without that, I don't think I would have any like Pokemon stop to begin with as a kid. So, 


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[00:22:00] 


David Hernandez: so I know at the time when you were playing the N 64, you said you hadn't had your own game yet, or I'm sorry, your own main series game. What was your first main series game?

LilRedWooper: so my main one, was certainly a lot later.

again, like I didn't have a game boy growing up. I didn't have those things. I think the next game I had, funny enough, is one of my all time favorite Pokemon games On the Game Cube. Uh, shadow Xd. Lugia

you know, I did touch base with stadium [00:23:00] games and here and there, like at some point I did play Pokemon and Silver

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: Heart hearts. No. Heart flame. Oh my gosh, I

David Hernandez: Harold,

LilRedWooper: what it's called. Yeah, there you go. Heart gold. I was like, dang it. I shouldn't know that.

David Hernandez: there's something, I just can't remember what it is. Yeah.

LilRedWooper: yeah, yeah. No, I definitely started playing gen two at some point. It's a little bit of a fuzzier

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: But one other one that I was very distinct was, was, uh, XD lugia was next big thing for me.

And then after that. I had tried to work or help my mom with her job

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: up for my first Ds, and I was in grade five I think, at that time. But in that whole time, I was also collecting Pokemon cards. Definitely.

it was hard to say. I had a bit of a balance. It was certainly easier to get Pokemon cards because of saving up for my allowance, you know, being told I got $5 every week.

David Hernandez: [00:24:00] Yeah. That gave you what I think a pack. A pack or two a week. A week, right? Or something like that.

LilRedWooper: yeah, right. Yeah, I think so. Or had enough to like, save up I'd, I'd sometimes like save up a little bit more just so I could get like two packs, but, but yeah. Um, Xia. Being like an off franchise still was like one of my favorite games, and then, yeah, I think I, I, for the Ds got, I never actually touched Hoen, which is shocking because I do like that game,

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: on I touched it, but yeah, grade five, I think I started like actually saving up for. Um, Cino and like Diamond and Pearl, and then I got later on, I think it was a remake of Jodo and then it was black and white.


And then, you know, just kind of continued, but certainly helps now being an adult, I can actually afford, you know, to keep up with all the games.

David Hernandez: Right. It seemed more easier to make it, I guess, follow the main [00:25:00] series games than compared to when you were younger.

LilRedWooper: Yeah, exactly, exactly. I couldn't always, uh, you know, ask my parents for the latest console or ask them for the latest game because you know what I had, I was, I was grateful for, so.

David Hernandez: I mean, the struggle is real because, you know, now I can kind of indulge myself and get all the games and back then you kinda had to make choices because you know, the game systems were expensive if unless you had the money for it and the. Games were even an add-on cost, and that's kind of what kept some people out from Pokemon.

And the only way you could really connect with a franchise was through the training cards. 'cause it's easier to justify $4 than it is to justify 150 to 200.

LilRedWooper: Exactly. Yeah, no, my parents, They did the best they could

David Hernandez: Oh yeah.

LilRedWooper: thankful for that. But I think it's that now being an adult, I've definitely dipped into more of, you know, some of the things I may have missed being a child and some of the older games. And having that accessible now, has been pretty cool [00:26:00] too.

David Hernandez: I want to ask like your experience with XT GL Darkness, 'cause you said that's your favorite game. What did you love about the game? What do you remember about when you first played it?

LilRedWooper: When I first played it for one, the chat Luga was very appealing

David Hernandez: Yes.

LilRedWooper: the endless showcasing of how, you know, badass this de luga looks and the mystery behind, you know, this big, massive ship going missing. Yeah, I definitely, and that was a, that was a request on my birthday. That was a, I want one of these,

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: I want this thing.

And they did, they all, you know, chipped in and however they could, and they got me the game cube with the, uh. but the one that, it was like an exclusive with the Chato XDE game. So it came with the game, then it had the whole Game Cube itself deckled

David Hernandez: wow. Yeah.

LilRedWooper: that was pretty sweet.

It had like the whole logo and it had all the like designs on the side. as well [00:27:00] as actually, no, the controller wasn't decked out from my, what I remember,

That all was just the best. And especially seeing when I started the game, I think also what drew me to it was the fact that you start with an EV as your starter.

David Hernandez: Of course. Yeah.

LilRedWooper: I was like, with Omon being my favorite, this was just a match made in heaven. So, yeah, no, that's what drew me and I was just completely absorbed in that. There's definitely days. I remember my childhood, my mom was, you know. Bugging me to make sure I do my homework or, you know, had my blanket over me at night in my bedroom, trying to like quietly play this game at night. Like I, uh, know, turning down the volume or even muting it and just like, oh yeah, no, it was, uh, oh man. It's got some good memories for sure.

David Hernandez: It does, especially with all the Pokemon, you could catch the new shadow moves [00:28:00] and I used, I used Ion. I was always the one I went with, but it was just a fun world to be in. I,

LilRedWooper: that was my best friend's favorite, Pokemon. Funny enough.

David Hernandez: oh, really? Okay. Shout out to the best friend.

LilRedWooper: That's right. We always had, uh, differences on that. We always had our, you know, little debates who was better, but, I love the concept and the gimmick of like shadow Pokemon and just this like. It had this like dark element to it, but also if you think of it, it's just also this, like you're taking animals essentially that have been kidnapped in my childhood. Mine. I was thinking and you're freeing them. So that like was kind of satisfying.

To think of too, but also the catching method. every time I saw, like the little thing being like identifying as a shadow Pokemon, I'm like, dang, okay. Who am I adding to my team now?

David Hernandez: Who am I saving now?

LilRedWooper: Yeah, yeah, it was, uh, definitely a, favorite one of my favorites.

David Hernandez: When it came to the trading [00:29:00] side of Pokemon specifically, were you like a collector or were you just trying to get the cards or certain Pokemon, like how did you approach collecting cards at the time? I.

LilRedWooper: I really liked just collecting to begin with. I've always been, A collector at heart,

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: there's home videos of me, little three year olds collecting as many leaves in the park as she possibly could handle.

David Hernandez: What?

LilRedWooper: her

David Hernandez: Oh, wow.

LilRedWooper: I have to drop some because I can't take them all with me. And uh, I remember this distinct home video of me kind of whimpering about it, but I finally was like, okay mom, I'm gonna bring this. Big one, massive leaf Part of my collection at home then crying because this old lady decided to walk all over my heaping pile of leaves on the side that I. Carefully [00:30:00] put down.

David Hernandez: Damn. Damn that old lady hope you're dead. But um.

LilRedWooper: it in her crate, her walking cane. Anyways, no, I've always loved collecting things and I had one of those like old nineties, like sticker holding books where like you, it had like this. Plastic to it that you rip off and then you can put things underneath and then you put it back on and it kind of like keeps it in place.

I don't, I don't know the proper name for it now,

David Hernandez: Yeah.

LilRedWooper: like, I collected stickers. I collected, like Pokemon obviously was a big thing. yeah, I collected leaves. I don't know what my obsession was over them, but I love them too. So,

David Hernandez: Wow. I'm, I'm assuming that collection's probably stopped, or do you still collect leaves in your spare time?

LilRedWooper: I don't collect leaves anymore,

David Hernandez: Okay. You sure you don't, you don't have like a little maybe huge room of just leaves on the walls like that?

LilRedWooper: Framed. Yeah, this is the one when I picked such and such date.

David Hernandez: Yeah.

LilRedWooper: No, actually, funny enough, no. But I do have [00:31:00] a very, big, massive Pokemon collection that is started to take over my living room.

David Hernandez: Ooh, do tell.

LilRedWooper: Oh yes. I have behind my computer set up here, a massive wall that has slowly grown over the year or so. Of just like controllers, Pokemon little icons, Pokemon posters, Pokemon cards, flushes, like you, you name it.

It's all just tacked on these, like wall shelves that I have like slowly added more and more to that. It's just taken over this entire corner of my living room now, as well as my couch. Keeps finding new Pokemon squish melow.

David Hernandez: You've got a magical couch if it's filing swills. I'm very impressed right now.

LilRedWooper: it's pretty nice. I liked my, pile of squish melow. I have stacked sometimes on my couch. My partner sometimes doesn't [00:32:00] like them because they have taken over the couch for which he can't sit on, but you know.

David Hernandez: He could sit on the floor. The the wish medals take priority here.

LilRedWooper: You know, he's actually grown fond of Snorlax. He really likes Snorlax. 'cause he sometimes, after a long day, likes to take a couch nap. And Snorlax is apparently really nice to sleep with. So, other than that,

David Hernandez: It is the mascot for Pokemon sleep though, so it does make sense.

LilRedWooper: you know, that is so true. Now that you point that out, that didn't even occur to me. my Pokemon merch is kind of obsessive now and kind of a problem.

David Hernandez: Do you, do you like sit in Pokemon or do you just find whatever you can find? Like what kind, what do you collect when it comes to just Pokemon merch?

LilRedWooper: I collect pretty much every assortment of Pokemon you can find. I am a big fan of Pokemon Center ever since they finally allowed Canada to have some fun with it. [00:33:00] and actually ship out to Canada. Have found a new problem in my life of, you know, all of my money going to that.

David Hernandez: Right.

LilRedWooper: But yeah, no, I collect anything from Funko pops to Pokemon cards still to, uh, little figurines.

And I'm a big fan of Pokemon controllers. I really like finding unique ones and having them kind of showcased on my wall.

David Hernandez: Oh, that's always fun. 'cause I used to do, I try to do the DSS 'cause they did a lot of supposed Pokemon specific ones, particularly like with X and Y and I'm putting three DSS. And I just always loved seeing those. I was like, I really wanna buy a couple of 'em. I've only gotten like two or three. I don't really have that much of an impressive collection, but I've always just loved the designs of just whenever they released them.

They're more harder to find nowadays, but they're just such a very, yeah, they're such a nice little homage to keep

LilRedWooper: You know, I've actually, funny enough, have not been great at fi, like keeping consoles. [00:34:00] I don't have my Game Cube anymore. I don't have my n Nintendo 64,

David Hernandez: now.

LilRedWooper: I might have my DS still

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: Funny enough, I've not been great at keeping those, either I give them away to like a sibling of mine or they're just kind of like in storage, more or less.

Somewhere

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: at my, you know, my mom's house still.

David Hernandez: Hey, the mom's got your other collections in your mom's, uh, basement.

LilRedWooper: Probably, she's probably gonna one of these days be like, Kay, you need to take this box with you. It's, you know, taken up a bit of storage, but other than that, yeah, no, that's, that's pretty cool. I, and that's what I really like about Pokemon is like the community and knowing it more and more. over the years here, especially the last couple years, it's been really eyeopening to see. How there's so many different aspects of Pokemon people love I didn't [00:35:00] even like kind of consider or was aware of. Like for one, shiny hunting wasn't, that's still pretty new to me actually.

that's something my, my viewers really introduced to me more and really got me the. Embrace more. I, I love it.

I didn't appreciate nearly as much in the other games, but definitely now I, I see why, you know, it's quite a appeal to some. 

David Hernandez: you know you started your Twitch journey trying to shiny hunt to shiny Uber. What was that like trying to get your first shiny for your channel?

LilRedWooper: That was challenging actually because the Jodo Whooper wasn't available in Scarlet and Violet for one. so had to kind of like do some research and find out soon that there is one particular MPC. In the game that you have to find that you can trade. first off, it was, yeah, snagging [00:36:00] h Jodo Hooper by trading it with the Ian one that was available in the game.

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: I had to do it kind of like the hard way of, uh, I can't remember what it's called, but essentially hatching a bunch of eggs. I think it's the moose Mus, uh, it starts with an

David Hernandez: Meda method. Yeah,

LilRedWooper: yes, yes, yes. was a challenge and I don't have a lot of patience, so. Trying to sit there and breed a bunch of eggs a Jodo whooper, and I think I, you couldn't even breed it if I'm correct, with a Paul Dian Whooper, because it would still come out as a Paul Dian Whooper. So you had to have it with, I think, I can't remember if you had to have it hold something like a, a certain item or if it was you had to breed it with a ditto to like actually get. A Joe Whooper to come out of the eggs. So that in itself also took a bit of, we'll say a learning curve. 'cause I only found that out after [00:37:00] like hatching a bunch of

David Hernandez: Oh no. So you found out after, oh, okay.

LilRedWooper: Yeah. No, I, I am pretty new at this stuff, so it was like a whole challenge in itself. And I think at some point I was like, why did I have to pick Whooper? Like out of every Pokemon in this, I had to pick the one that was very unique and difficult to find right now in this game.

David Hernandez: You know, in another Warner, another universe, it could have been a little red. Well, it would've made sense. Let's get a little red Umbr young, but no.

LilRedWooper: Little red OMB Brion? No. Yeah, see that's what I was like, and I know there's like a couple YouTubers out there with like some kind of OMB Brion essence to their name, and, and I thought it was like, so kind of like. It's typical in a way, like a lot of, there was a lot out there, so I was like, okay, I gotta stand out more.

Like there's gotta be, but yeah, no, at some point in that shiny hunt I was, you know, having the thoughts of like, why did I, does it have to be whooper? But no, it was a, I finally got it 

after, [00:38:00] you know. Figuring it all out step by step. I hatched my first little shiny whooper I recorded it and I took pictures of this moment. I still have them on my computer, and it was like, yes, this is like the beginning journey of little row Whooper. This is the journey. This is where it all starts. And from there, yeah, it's just been honestly like. really awesome journey of the people I've met and the growth, learning things as I go. Like I said, Twitch wasn't gonna be something I really thought of doing myself, but not being, exactly tech savvy had it is definitely, um, me a lot of things and now I can say I've learned. A whole new scale on top of like Pokemon and just like learning BGC and stuff. So yeah, no, it's, it's been awesome and it's really, it's been exciting, honestly.
[00:39:00] 

David Hernandez: One thing that I loved about your streams is you talked about how you learned to self decept yourself, that you self decept what it meant to be a Pokemon fan. Can you give insight to like that journey of like accepting who you are as a person, and what was it about Pokemon that kind of helped you get to that point?

LilRedWooper: Yeah, of course. So with that conversation, we were joking about and having some laughs there and relationship stuff. And I felt it was important when we were sharing about some of those, like what it means, what's, what's important to you. And I just wanna say like, there was at some point I definitely, you know. I dropped Pokemon, there was like a, you know, no care for it kind of sense. And kind of had this idea that, okay, well I'm older, I gotta stop playing childish games, I gotta like put this away.

David Hernandez: Right.

LilRedWooper: I didn't have really a lot of friends at that time that like encouraged it or kind of made, know, kind of made fun of me for it. [00:40:00] So I kind of hid that. Side for a while kind of kept it to myself. There was always this like, you know, I always have a special place in my heart that I love Pokemon, but, I felt trapped. I felt like I couldn't express a side of me that was really me until, many years down the

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

LilRedWooper: life happens. Life things happen, and I'm in my twenties and, I met this man that, you know, really showed a side of me that, was really accepting of this nerdy side of me that I don't remember how it came about, but. We were sharing, you know, nerdy things about our past and nerdy, like getting to know each other.

And I mentioned Pokemon, it kind of came to a shock to him at first because he never thought I was into that stuff because of how much I kind of crammed down and hid that side thinking. I was kind of embarrassed to share people that with, he in fact was just like, no, tell me [00:41:00] all about it. I like. No, this is, this is a side of you. This is awesome. And I remember him just like fully being supportive about it. and there were so many date nights that we'd just like chill, have some drinks, and, then just sit down, get cozied up and play, Pokemon together. And that is fun. It was just like such an eye opportunity to me to, you know, how important it was to, be true to yourself. matter what other people think, because at the end of the day, like. I think I had experienced so much more joy finding someone that accepted me for all of me, and there wasn't any kind of, you know, thing that I thought was embarrassing to share that he wouldn't just accept and. Not only accept, but like encourage. And that, it brought such a positive side of me that was very contagious to my friends that I had. Then they, they were far different from the ones I had in high school, [00:42:00] they also found that very like, Contagious. And they would share things with me that they found that was like Pokemon related or, or they would buy some things that they saw that was like a peek at you had, or some little like trinket and they'd, you know, gift it to me and say, Hey, this made me think of you, or, so that was that side where it became clear to me. That is something so important that I never shared that side on like prior relationships I've had. Anytime I had attempted to kind of share that nerdy side of me, it was kind of shut down or it wasn't really like acknowledged. So then I have, you know, this self-conscious side of me saying, okay, no, they mention that stuff.

Don't mention it. It's childish. Don't do that. Right?

David Hernandez: Right.

LilRedWooper: Yeah, no, my, my partner now to this day, he's definitely always accepted for who I am. And I, I think that's important for anyone that's out [00:43:00] there. 

David Hernandez: Well, little Ruper, thank you for coming on the podcast. Before we close this interview, I wanna ask one last question

and so if somebody was to come battle you six on six, what Pokemon would you bring?

LilRedWooper: Oh gosh. Okay. That's a really good question. I'll try and make this quick. Well first off, Looper and Ombre are definitely on

David Hernandez: There we go. All right.

LilRedWooper: they've proven themselves to me. I think also jolty on would be another one. Nine tails. I wanna say lapis

David Hernandez: are we doing a gmax real quick or just, uh, regular lappers.

LilRedWooper: just regular. I'm old school.

David Hernandez: Okay. Well, fine. All right.

LilRedWooper: I'd be like, back in my day we had such and such. No. Uh, and then probably Atar.

David Hernandez: All right. All right, if people want to check out your Twitch channel, if they want to connect with you, where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

LilRedWooper: definitely a little rev loopers Twitch [00:44:00] channel. And I have the same thing on YouTube and you'll find that as well on Discord. It's all pretty much the same name. Type that anywhere and you'll find me.