Feb. 15, 2023

TRAINER'S EYE #25 - "Meowth Bringing Back Community" ft. StarFire24

In this Pokemon interview, Starfire24, a Pokemon GO trainer and community builder, shares his experience with Pokemon GO and how it has brought his community together. He talks about how he has been able to build and re-build a community with Pokemon GO and shares a personal story on how his community united together for one cause.

Starfire24 discusses how the game has changed since its launch and how it has affected the community. He also shares his perspective on how to build and maintain a strong community with Pokemon GO.

Throughout the episode, Starfire24 emphasizes the importance of teamwork and how it can lead to success in the game and building a community. If you're a Pokemon GO player looking to build a strong community or looking for tips to improve your gameplay, you won't want to miss this episode with Starfire24.

Trainer's Eye is a series where the stories are real and people still play this game. From PVP to Shiny Hunting, each person's Pokemon GO journey is unique and we dive into each journey here on As The Pokeball Turns!

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

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Chapters

00:44 - Introduction

02:12 - Interview with StarFire24

30:14 - Thank You For Listening! :)

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:00.012 --> 00:00:53.054
My name is David Hernandez and you're listening to As The Pokeball Turns! Welcome to As The Pokeball Turns, where we interview people around the community on how their Pokemon Go journey started, where it has been, and where it is currently going.

00:00:53.356 --> 00:00:58.396
The word community is thrown around a lot in everyday discussion, but what is community?

00:00:58.701 --> 00:01:01.331
If someone ask you to define it, how would you?

00:01:01.627 --> 00:01:05.307
What emotions, if any, stir up inside you with that word?

00:01:05.606 --> 00:01:08.846
One of the best ways I've heard it defined was said by Toby Lowe.

00:01:08.846 --> 00:01:12.927
A community is a group of people who share an identity forming narrative.

00:01:13.233 --> 00:01:23.493
In other words, we bond with people who share similar stories to us, but the parts of the story we form bonds with are so important that it defines who we are as an individual.

00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:32.010
These identities come in many forms from geographic location, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and even a game like Pokemon Go.

00:01:32.307 --> 00:01:40.186
People who play Pokemon go find their identity in game mechanics like Shiny Hunting, grinding, PVP, Wayfarer, and even spoofing.

00:01:40.483 --> 00:01:50.397
Regardless of your approach to the game, we are all part of the Pokemon Go community due to how much value we place on this game as our stories intertwine on the bigger stage we call life.

00:01:50.697 --> 00:02:02.260
In this episode, my guest shares his experience with the Pokemon Go community from barely knowing anyone to eventually becoming Raid leader and how he approached building back up his community post 2020.

00:02:02.566 --> 00:02:07.787
From Carrollton, Texas, here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon Go.

00:02:08.092 --> 00:02:10.731
This is Star Fire 24.

00:02:12.031 --> 00:02:16.729
Today I'm joined by one of the Raid leaders from Carrollton, Texas, Starfire24.

00:02:16.753 --> 00:02:17.829
Welcome to the show.

00:02:18.132 --> 00:02:18.882
Thanks for having me.

00:02:19.187 --> 00:02:21.461
Definitely And you know, let's just go ahead and dive right into it.

00:02:21.764 --> 00:02:23.443
When did you first start playing Pokemon Go?

00:02:24.040 --> 00:02:26.471
All right, so it came out on Friday.

00:02:26.768 --> 00:02:32.524
At the time, I didn't have to work and the wife was about 36 weeks pregnant, give or take.

00:02:32.828 --> 00:02:36.877
So you can imagine that she had like a little soccer ball essentially stuffed underneath her shirt.

00:02:37.174 --> 00:02:41.251
So she got up to go to work that day and the kid was about two weeks from being born.

00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:50.318
So that morning I wake up and while she's getting ready for work, I'm grabbing my shoes, I'm downloading the app, I'm grabbing some Poke snacks, some water, my bag, and out I go.

00:02:50.614 --> 00:02:52.723
So you know, I walked around Carrollton for a while.

00:02:53.024 --> 00:02:56.621
I didn't know, nobody knew what was going on, I mean, there was just you go out and catch Pokemon, right?

00:02:56.626 --> 00:02:57.205
Isn't that how it work?.

00:02:57.205 --> 00:02:58.605
Yeah, everybody was everywhere.

00:02:58.902 --> 00:03:00.538
Did you go to a specific spot?

00:03:00.836 --> 00:03:10.860
All right, so that morning, I really didn't, I just kind of walked around the neighborhood, but that evening I went down to, Jimmy Porter with my brother, and there were a lot of people running around Jimmy Porter Disc Park.

00:03:11.157 --> 00:03:18.044
And everybody would just go running over there to try to catch the Meowth to running over there to try to catch the Bulbasaur, running over there to try to catch the Pikachu.

00:03:18.341 --> 00:03:19.031
All that stuff.

00:03:19.328 --> 00:03:20.888
It was crazy that first night or two.

00:03:21.484 --> 00:03:21.813
Definitely.

00:03:21.813 --> 00:03:22.593
It sounds like it.

00:03:22.897 --> 00:03:26.497
So you said that you played right when your wife was pregnant, correct?

00:03:26.497 --> 00:03:36.383
Yes! So that weekend we take my brother and the wife and we go on down to the arboretum cuz our thought is there's gotta be a lot of Pokemon at the arboretum, that's just, that's just a place to go.

00:03:36.682 --> 00:03:44.103
So you have to imagine she's sort of waddling behind us while we are running around like a bunch of idiots looking for Squirtles at the arboretum.

00:03:44.406 --> 00:03:45.575
Was she playing as well?

00:03:45.575 --> 00:03:46.536
Not at the time, no.

00:03:46.832 --> 00:03:49.622
What did she think of the game at the time when you first started playing it?

00:03:50.225 --> 00:03:53.528
She just sort of rolled her eyes and boys will be boys.

00:03:55.212 --> 00:04:00.536
I mean, she's like two weeks from giving birth to our son, so she kind of has other things on her mind if you will.

00:04:00.536 --> 00:04:00.955
Definitely.

00:04:00.955 --> 00:04:05.716
I think Pokemon Go would probably be the furthest thing from her mind if I happened to be carrying a kid about to be birthed.

00:04:05.716 --> 00:04:06.256
Exactly.

00:04:06.406 --> 00:04:12.103
But I had to get as much in as I could cuz I knew once the little man was out, I mean, it's gonna be hard to get out there and get some Pokemon in.

00:04:12.699 --> 00:04:18.838
When the child was born, how did your playing for Pokemon Go change from before your wife gave birth to after?

00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:28.355
So obviously the first, several months to, I'd say at least six months, I mean, I got a little bit in here and there, but I certainly wasn't a player, if you will, in the local community.

00:04:28.656 --> 00:04:33.918
You know, every now and then I would try to sneak over there to some of the local gyms, see if somebody was doing a raid.

00:04:34.218 --> 00:04:40.434
But obviously the main focus was the kid and the family and the wife and doing everything we needed to do.

00:04:40.737 --> 00:04:43.958
I would say play was definitely a minimum, that's for sure.

00:04:43.958 --> 00:04:44.298
Right.

00:04:44.593 --> 00:04:46.004
And what team did you end up choosing?

00:04:46.004 --> 00:04:47.411
Valor! I went with the red.

00:04:47.411 --> 00:04:48.461
Any particular reason why?

00:04:48.764 --> 00:04:50.233
Charmander, baby, Charmander,

00:04:50.937 --> 00:04:52.468
It was just because of the Charmander

00:04:52.468 --> 00:04:54.918
Pretty much that everybody knows he's the best starter.

00:04:54.918 --> 00:04:58.788
Uh, you might get some disagreements there, but that's another podcast for another day.

00:04:59.007 --> 00:04:59.687
Fair enough.

00:04:59.687 --> 00:05:03.244
So it sounds like you were familiar with the Pokemon franchise before Pokemon Go.

00:05:03.543 --> 00:05:06.634
How familiar were you with Pokemon in general?

00:05:07.230 --> 00:05:10.800
So I was playing back in like 96, when it came out.

00:05:11.100 --> 00:05:13.350
My buddy had blue, I had red.

00:05:13.651 --> 00:05:18.000
We were there from day one when it happened; in fact, I'll tell you a quick story about that.

00:05:18.298 --> 00:05:24.817
In 2000, they had the Pokemon Stadium World Tour and they actually showed up at, Arlington in Arlington Mall.

00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:31.144
And my buddy, my brother and myself and my cousin all packed it up to go down to check out Pokemon Stadium.

00:05:31.447 --> 00:05:39.673
And while we were there, we got to, do some, battling against other trainers and we also got an official Mew for Pokemon.

00:05:39.978 --> 00:05:43.158
And I personally got an official Boulder badge from Nintendo.

00:05:43.158 --> 00:05:43.697
Really?

00:05:43.697 --> 00:05:44.168
Definitely.

00:05:44.168 --> 00:05:46.208
It was just the world tour, they were showing it off.

00:05:46.507 --> 00:05:49.997
They were traveling literally across the country, and they just happened to stop Arlington.

00:05:50.295 --> 00:05:53.225
It felt good to have an official one at the time.

00:05:53.528 --> 00:05:56.677
That's really the key there, because they even gave you like a certificate and everything.

00:05:56.677 --> 00:05:57.817
Do you still have it by chance?

00:05:57.817 --> 00:05:59.077
Yeah, I'd have to dig it around.

00:05:59.083 --> 00:05:59.918
I really don't know.

00:05:59.918 --> 00:06:03.064
I know I have the Boulder badge, but I don't think I have that certificate anymore.

00:06:03.064 --> 00:06:03.745
I have to look.

00:06:04.345 --> 00:06:11.865
That's awesome, dude, like you got to go there, you got to get an official Mew while all of us were looking under trucks, trying to figure out all these weird glitches at the time.

00:06:11.865 --> 00:06:12.105
Yep.

00:06:12.225 --> 00:06:16.365
I remember all the little glitches and the missing, no glitch around the shore, I think it was.

00:06:16.365 --> 00:06:21.855
Yeah, that's what it was, yeah, you would have to go to Cinnibar Island, I believe and do some weird, convoluted stuff

00:06:22.151 --> 00:06:22.781
I remember it.

00:06:22.781 --> 00:06:23.471
I was there too.

00:06:23.774 --> 00:06:26.403
I remember the missing, no glitch was a pretty big thing.

00:06:26.702 --> 00:06:30.963
I don't think I ever actually heard the rumor until later on about the under the truck thing.

00:06:30.963 --> 00:06:32.072
I don't think I ever heard that rumor.

00:06:32.670 --> 00:06:35.610
So after, uh, gen one did you continue to play Pokemon?

00:06:36.206 --> 00:06:39.971
We actually imported the, Japanese version of, silver and gold.

00:06:39.971 --> 00:06:40.427
Really?

00:06:40.427 --> 00:06:44.985
So you gotta imagine trying to play that, but it's not in English, and I don't think that, I don't say Japanese.

00:06:44.985 --> 00:06:46.329
You were just too impatient to wait?

00:06:46.627 --> 00:06:48.247
Pretty much, yeah, that was not gonna happen.

00:06:48.247 --> 00:06:48.997
That was not an option.

00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:52.264
What about, further on other generations did you keep playing?

00:06:52.865 --> 00:06:54.995
So I definitely played, God, what was after that?

00:06:54.995 --> 00:07:09.115
It was Emerald and Ruby and I did play Diamond and Pearl, I had Diamond, my buddy on Pearl, and then I kind of, petered out there and didn't really play much for black and white and x and y But then I did pick it back up for, sun and Moon.

00:07:09.115 --> 00:07:09.326
Okay.

00:07:09.326 --> 00:07:11.485
So you skipped about two generations, it sounds like?

00:07:11.485 --> 00:07:11.725
Yeah.

00:07:11.730 --> 00:07:12.865
A couple generations there.

00:07:13.163 --> 00:07:17.963
I think when those came out, I was probably finishing up college, starting to get a job.

00:07:17.963 --> 00:07:19.293
I mean, all that good stuff.

00:07:19.896 --> 00:07:21.697
Now, you talked about the buddy who played with you.

00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.855
Did he play with you throughout the entire time up until you stopped playing?

00:07:25.456 --> 00:07:30.817
Definitely! And when we picked it back or when I picked it back up, he was right there to get the opposite version that I got.

00:07:31.122 --> 00:07:41.598
I would remember going over to his place and we would have to trade some of the exclusive ones, you know, the Machamps and the Gastly and the, Alakazam and Golem, I think it was.

00:07:41.598 --> 00:07:41.928
Yes.

00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:44.449
And so he always, gets the opposite one that I get.

00:07:44.745 --> 00:07:46.709
So like I'm getting Violet and he's getting Scarlet.

00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:49.559
Is that intentional or is that just kind of y'all pick one or the other?

00:07:49.559 --> 00:07:51.329
It's intentional that we get the opposite.

00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:55.649
It's more matter of who says what they're getting first than the other person gets stuck with the other

00:07:55.949 --> 00:07:58.348
I was gonna say like there's only so many games y'all can choose between them

00:07:58.951 --> 00:07:59.581
Pretty much.

00:07:59.581 --> 00:08:02.581
So whoever is slow to the draw gets what's left over.

00:08:03.182 --> 00:08:04.771
Does your friend play Pokemon Go as well?

00:08:05.369 --> 00:08:11.939
He does, but he moved up, into Denton and there just really isn't a big community for him, so he doesn't really play as much anymore.

00:08:12.238 --> 00:08:17.309
Every now and then, I mean, he's been known to meet us in Addison and stuff like that, periodically to hang out for a little bit.

00:08:17.911 --> 00:08:20.942
Since you're familiar with the Pokemon franchise, do you have any favorite Pokemon?

00:08:21.541 --> 00:08:22.733
I was, all about Meowth.

00:08:23.033 --> 00:08:25.649
I just liked the way he was, a bit of a jerk in the cartoons.

00:08:26.249 --> 00:08:28.348
he was very sarcastic, if I remember correctly.

00:08:28.348 --> 00:08:32.818
extremely, and he let them know that he was the brains of the bunch, every chance he got.

00:08:33.416 --> 00:08:36.145
Although it was heartbreaking, I don't know if you remember this episode.

00:08:36.446 --> 00:08:40.706
Do you remember the one where he tried to get back with this female Meowth?

00:08:40.706 --> 00:08:41.035
Yeah.

00:08:41.041 --> 00:08:43.586
Where you like, it's like Go West Young Meow, or something like that.

00:08:43.645 --> 00:08:44.066
Yes.

00:08:44.066 --> 00:08:44.365
There we go.

00:08:44.365 --> 00:08:44.696
That one.

00:08:44.701 --> 00:08:47.155
And then he got beat out by a Persian and yeah,

00:08:47.160 --> 00:08:48.056
I remember that one what we said.

00:08:48.056 --> 00:08:56.778
In fact, our wife memory serves me, they had the cinematic showdown with a charge at each other, and they both swipe and they're both left standing and then the Persian topples over.

00:08:57.076 --> 00:08:58.096
I remember that episode.

00:08:58.393 --> 00:09:00.722
It's like the old west kind of style, if I remember correct.

00:09:00.722 --> 00:09:01.552
I think that's what it is, right?

00:09:01.552 --> 00:09:02.123
Definitely.

00:09:02.725 --> 00:09:07.288
So you talked about how your kid, was eventually born, you had to take some time off from Pokemon Go.

00:09:07.586 --> 00:09:08.966
When did you come back to the game?

00:09:09.566 --> 00:09:13.336
once he started getting a little bit older and it wasn't such like a rush, rush, rush.

00:09:13.633 --> 00:09:17.817
You know, because when kids are born, I mean, it's like everything's just like on a two to three hour cycle.

00:09:18.268 --> 00:09:28.821
But once that gap really started to get wider, the wife and I were always looking for some stuff to do together and she knew I liked Pokemon, so she's like,"well, I guess I'll download it and let's go catch some Pokemon."

00:09:29.423 --> 00:09:30.321
It was just that easy.

00:09:30.321 --> 00:09:32.057
Y'all would just, go on walks and stuff like that.

00:09:32.057 --> 00:09:37.663
Definitely, I mean, sometimes granny would be over to watch a kid for a little bit and we would just slide out for a couple hours.

00:09:37.961 --> 00:09:43.150
Partly just to have some time away from the kid and just quite frankly, do something if you will, as a couple.

00:09:43.451 --> 00:09:45.880
And while we were out there, you know, we kept some Pokemon.

00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.150
how familiar is your wife with the Pokemon franchise?

00:09:49.750 --> 00:09:51.791
Not nearly as much as I am, that's for sure.

00:09:52.091 --> 00:09:59.826
I mean, she definitely watched the cartoon but in terms of being really, really into it, I'm not even sure if she can name all 1 51 from the first one.

00:10:00.123 --> 00:10:02.937
I don't think she played like gold and silver and all that stuff after it.

00:10:03.239 --> 00:10:03.719
That's fair.

00:10:04.014 --> 00:10:06.325
Do you remember the first time y'all two played together?

00:10:06.928 --> 00:10:12.178
You know, I really don't, I mean, I just remember she sort of surprised me one day like,"Hey, let's go get some Pokemon."

00:10:12.178 --> 00:10:13.619
Oh, so it was her suggestion?

00:10:13.619 --> 00:10:14.009
Well, yeah.

00:10:14.014 --> 00:10:16.528
I was like, we need to play Pokemon, same as right now, so let's go.

00:10:16.528 --> 00:10:17.428
I'm like, okay, let's do it.

00:10:18.028 --> 00:10:20.399
Did you ever ask her like why she wanted to play Pokemon?

00:10:21.001 --> 00:10:29.822
I did and part of it is, Pokemon, especially Pokemon Go is a great way to bring people together and she thought that it could be something that we could do together.

00:10:30.121 --> 00:10:30.751
And so we do.

00:10:31.054 --> 00:10:34.235
And in your opinion, do you think that's kind of brought y'all closer together?

00:10:34.831 --> 00:10:37.682
It gives us something, a little more commonality, if you will.

00:10:37.981 --> 00:10:43.355
You know, it gives us something to look forward to do together and it definitely brings us a little bit closer together.

00:10:43.904 --> 00:10:46.465
How often do y'all get together to play Pokemon Go?

00:10:47.068 --> 00:10:51.479
Her and I definitely take advantage of as many of the community days as we can.

00:10:51.774 --> 00:10:57.205
We definitely try to take advantage of as many of the, special ray days and stuff that they have.

00:10:57.504 --> 00:11:07.261
It's not uncommon for us to drop the kid off at Granny's for six or seven hours on Saturday while we do community day and then maybe catch a few more Pokemon before we're having like a nice dinner together.

00:11:07.861 --> 00:11:09.884
That sounds like a very good way to tie it all together.

00:11:09.884 --> 00:11:13.304
You drop the kid off, go play some Pokemon, go together and then have some dinner with the kid.

00:11:13.504 --> 00:11:14.585
Exactly.

00:11:14.585 --> 00:11:16.985
Do y'all have like certain goals when it comes to playing?

00:11:17.583 --> 00:11:18.854
Right now it's a race to 50.

00:11:19.153 --> 00:11:24.583
She has the experience, but she doesn't have the 999 excellent throws and she's not good at doing that.

00:11:24.886 --> 00:11:30.106
I will have the 999 excellent throws real soon, but I don't have the experience.

00:11:30.407 --> 00:11:37.427
So it's a race to see, can I get 20 million experience before she gets about 400 and some odd, more Excellent throws.

00:11:37.427 --> 00:11:39.527
Wait, so let me make sure I understand correctly.

00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:45.500
Your wife, who had very little interest in Pokemon, compared to you, she has more experience than you?

00:11:46.096 --> 00:11:51.197
You would not believe how she goes on Reddit just to find friends for the best friend bonuses.

00:11:51.494 --> 00:11:58.746
She recognizes that's one of the best ways of getting experience, in fact, when Celesteela was a thing, we did not go the Pokegenie route because I saw that line.

00:11:59.049 --> 00:12:06.909
She went to the Reddit route and there were people shuttling very regularly on Reddit and here I was getting like three or four invites a night.

00:12:06.909 --> 00:12:08.389
Really three to four a night?

00:12:08.389 --> 00:12:08.990
Definitely.

00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:20.320
I mean, we found this one lady, uh, I don't know actually know who she is, but, she was in Australia, I think it was, and she added us as a friend, sent us a couple of invites, and then like the next night, just out of the blue, she sent us a few more invites.

00:12:20.923 --> 00:12:23.443
Now I gotta ask you this, does the kid play Pokemon Go yet?

00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:31.418
Well, he's six and I'm not gonna lie, man, the thought of putting like a phone or something in his hand just to watch'em drop it and break it.

00:12:31.589 --> 00:12:33.129
I, I, I don't know if I can do that yet.

00:12:33.129 --> 00:12:33.869
I really don.

00:12:34.164 --> 00:12:37.644
But hey, you can get him, get him like a cheap foam, like just one with a bunch of cracks already.

00:12:37.644 --> 00:12:38.485
I could do that.

00:12:38.798 --> 00:12:40.808
I will tell you this, he's all about Pikachu.

00:12:41.109 --> 00:12:43.083
He has like a little Pikachu lamp in his room.

00:12:43.384 --> 00:12:48.856
He has like a little Pikachu, jacket, and he always likes to wear his Pikachu shirts on the weekend.

00:12:49.157 --> 00:12:49.616
Oh my gosh.

00:12:49.636 --> 00:12:52.667
You're gonna make the Pikachu fans scream in joy and cuteness.

00:12:52.667 --> 00:12:53.956
That's so adorable.

00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:54.919
Oh, he loves it.

00:12:55.224 --> 00:12:59.778
I think part of it is just, he's just so bright and colorful as well, so it really attracts his, attention.

00:13:00.375 --> 00:13:02.534
Do you and your son bond over Pokemon?

00:13:02.534 --> 00:13:03.615
Like, what do y'all do together?

00:13:04.216 --> 00:13:08.326
We haven't gotten to the point where him and I can like, play together in terms of the game.

00:13:08.624 --> 00:13:11.114
Maybe that's something I need to start actually kind of looking into.

00:13:11.409 --> 00:13:15.730
But in terms of what we do together, we don't do that much Pokemon stuff related yet.

00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:17.634
He's just not old enough to understand it?

00:13:17.953 --> 00:13:20.053
He's probably right at the cusp.

00:13:20.356 --> 00:13:23.447
Maybe it's time to start, uh, introducing him to the old school cartoons first.

00:13:23.447 --> 00:13:23.897
There you go.

00:13:23.902 --> 00:13:26.897
Give him the first episode of Pikachu, where Pikachu is a little bit of a brat.

00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:28.399
That's what I'm thinking.

00:13:28.404 --> 00:13:30.559
Maybe we need to start right there with the first episode.

00:13:31.173 --> 00:13:34.749
So you talked about how you and your, wife started playing Pokemon.

00:13:35.052 --> 00:13:37.902
How did you get involved with the Carrollton Pokemon GO community?

00:13:38.499 --> 00:13:40.389
You know, it was, dumb luck.

00:13:40.695 --> 00:13:42.027
We happened to be by the gym.

00:13:42.323 --> 00:13:48.355
I don't even remember who the raid boss was, but in my brain I thought to myself,"if I stand here long enough, they will come." And they did.

00:13:48.655 --> 00:13:51.801
So I ran into, one of the admins and he hooked me up with the Discord.

00:13:52.400 --> 00:13:55.903
And then you just started showing up to like random raids and random events?

00:13:56.051 --> 00:13:56.591
Well, yeah.

00:13:56.591 --> 00:14:00.650
so at the time, you know, the Carrollton group was pretty big and they were always out raiding.

00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:07.562
You know, I started checking the raid chat, people would be like,"Hey, you know, we're doing a raid train, come on down, let's do it." So I would start doing it.

00:14:07.865 --> 00:14:12.395
I would definitely say some of the people I met would be like, MarkyMark was always a big player.

00:14:12.698 --> 00:14:14.619
Halfwaydecent was always a big player.

00:14:14.922 --> 00:14:16.961
I did run into Rodrigo a few times.

00:14:17.264 --> 00:14:21.692
There's been a big shift in people cuz people have moved and adulting has gotten in their way too.

00:14:22.292 --> 00:14:24.991
How's the Carrollton community changed or grown over the years?

00:14:25.591 --> 00:14:27.985
Covid really shut it down hard.

00:14:28.284 --> 00:14:30.359
In fact, I think Covid shut down a lot of raids hard.

00:14:30.657 --> 00:14:33.412
Raid hour and raids in general were pretty dead.

00:14:33.711 --> 00:14:37.822
So we went from being a pretty active community to not a lot going on.

00:14:38.119 --> 00:14:43.125
But one day I was like, it's time to bring raid hour, so I dug it up from the grave and decided to revive it.

00:14:43.725 --> 00:14:47.894
Did a lot of people show up for the first time after post covid for the raid hour?

00:14:48.499 --> 00:14:50.389
It was a bit of a rollercoaster.

00:14:50.389 --> 00:15:03.259
I mean, it's been, I guess roughly two years, I guess as I revived it and we had some people turn out, and then people wouldn't, and then they would, I mean there were times when it was just like one or two of us out there, and then there were times when there were like 10 of us out there.

00:15:03.863 --> 00:15:07.403
And did y'all just stay in y'alls cars or did y'all keep the six feet still or

00:15:07.403 --> 00:15:08.263
Six foot for sure.

00:15:08.562 --> 00:15:13.543
And I always told people, I'm like, look, if you, if you wanna wear a mask and you feel comfortable wearing a mask, then do it.

00:15:13.842 --> 00:15:15.732
If you wanna stand six feet apart, do it.

00:15:15.732 --> 00:15:19.322
I mean, I, want to catch some Pokemon, but I do care about your safety and health.

00:15:19.626 --> 00:15:27.256
So I would say at least for the first six months, I would say pretty much everybody had a mask and everybody kind of stood you know, several feet from each other.

00:15:27.860 --> 00:15:29.498
Well, let's fast forward to this year.

00:15:29.794 --> 00:15:34.445
Are people still willing to come out or is it still kind of difficult to get people out for raid bosses?

00:15:35.044 --> 00:15:38.615
The last two months have been actually really good for turnouts.

00:15:38.914 --> 00:15:39.784
Really good.

00:15:40.081 --> 00:15:44.902
I feel like we've let people know that we're back, baby, and all you gotta do is show up and you're in.

00:15:45.201 --> 00:15:50.639
You know, we've had a couple people that have had birthdays, so I'll bring like pokey snacks for them or, or go have a drink afterwards.

00:15:50.942 --> 00:15:57.644
You know, we've had people celebrate, births of a kid or whatever, you know, we'll bring'em a Pikachu blanket or people getting a new job.

00:15:58.254 --> 00:16:00.792
Whatever it is, we try to celebrate the good and the bad.

00:16:01.392 --> 00:16:02.897
In what ways do you try to celebrate?

00:16:03.192 --> 00:16:06.072
It sounds like poke snacks, so is it like homemade desserts or

00:16:06.072 --> 00:16:10.602
It could be anything from Pokemon theme Oreos, which for the record are a thing.

00:16:11.163 --> 00:16:11.592
Um, yep.

00:16:11.623 --> 00:16:13.692
They're they are definitely a thing.

00:16:13.692 --> 00:16:14.832
Gotta eat'em all folks.

00:16:14.832 --> 00:16:15.523
Oh, definitely.

00:16:15.822 --> 00:16:18.312
Anything from that to just regular cookies.

00:16:18.312 --> 00:16:22.206
sometimes I could get, this trainer, uh, Valkerie to bring out nice fresh baked cookies.

00:16:22.533 --> 00:16:23.692
Always a crowd pleaser there.

00:16:23.996 --> 00:16:24.986
Just whatever we could bring.

00:16:25.582 --> 00:16:28.013
In your opinion, like why are things like that important?

00:16:28.013 --> 00:16:28.523
Community?

00:16:28.820 --> 00:16:30.889
I mean, Pokemon is a communal game.

00:16:31.190 --> 00:16:35.383
It's meant to be shared with people and it's meant to bring people together, I think.

00:16:35.687 --> 00:16:39.389
So when we're out there, we're not just sketching Pokemon, we're talking to each other.

00:16:39.389 --> 00:16:40.409
You know,"how are you doing?

00:16:40.409 --> 00:16:42.000
How's the work last week?

00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.179
Hey, whatever happened to that thing you were talking about a month ago?

00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:46.200
How did that work out for you?"

00:16:46.496 --> 00:16:51.836
So it sounds like y'all really invest in each other and like whatever's going on in their lives, y'all really genuinely care.

00:16:52.136 --> 00:17:08.579
I try my very best to do that cuz I know life gets in the way, I know adulting gets in the way, I know, you know, you can't make it every week, but we're always there for you if you need something and sometimes you just need to get out there for an hour, blow off some steam, relax before you go home and finish up your day.

00:17:09.182 --> 00:17:12.400
In your opinion, what does it take to have a community in Pokemon go?

00:17:12.997 --> 00:17:18.700
Well, one, you gotta have somebody who's willing to, set up events, Like, let people know we're gonna be there.

00:17:19.002 --> 00:17:20.202
All you gotta do is show up.

00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:30.397
You gotta have people who are willing to put on pants and actually show up as well, cuz with the remote raids, I saw a bit of a trend where people didn't wanna put on pants anymore.

00:17:30.692 --> 00:17:35.585
They just,"Hey, send me a remote invite." Remote raids in my opinion were both good and bad for the game.

00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:42.384
I mean, it's good from the standpoint of you're still able to continue playing, but it's really, really bad for the community aspect of it.

00:17:42.683 --> 00:17:47.633
I think that if remote rates have not ever been a thing, I think we'd have better turnouts.

00:17:47.932 --> 00:17:51.477
I understand that some days you just can't do it, life happens, I get that.

00:17:51.791 --> 00:17:56.561
But I do think some people let them do the groundwork and I'm just gonna sit here on my couch.

00:17:56.864 --> 00:18:03.554
I don't want to feel like I'm doing all the boots on the ground while you just sit on the couch and let me do all the boots on the ground.

00:18:04.159 --> 00:18:10.163
It can feel like that sometimes, especially when you're physically driving to these raids and we can't predict why people do remote rates.

00:18:10.163 --> 00:18:11.903
And some of those reasons are very legitimate.

00:18:12.199 --> 00:18:25.682
Remote Raids have definitely changed the game in some ways, both good and bad in regards to, it was good during our time to where we couldn't get together and it helps us get certain Raid bosses even helps us get regionals like Celesteela or Uxie or Mesprit.

00:18:25.682 --> 00:18:26.073
Agreed.

00:18:26.371 --> 00:18:31.080
I've always thought to myself, I wonder how much money these remote Raiders are spending, like, per month on the game.

00:18:31.080 --> 00:18:31.740
Oh my gosh.

00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:34.381
They've gotta be making millions easily.

00:18:34.381 --> 00:18:37.330
Me personally, I, I don't want to give Niantic that much money.

00:18:37.934 --> 00:18:41.295
Well, let me ask you this, this is the last one I'm gonna ask about Remote Raids and then we'll continue to move on.

00:18:41.384 --> 00:18:41.585
Okay.

00:18:41.916 --> 00:18:48.396
Do you believe that remote raids can coexist with in-person raids and still have people come out?

00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:53.980
Well, we do it every Wednesday night, so I'm gonna have to say yes because that's exactly how it works out for us.

00:18:54.578 --> 00:19:02.759
And is it just because y'all have just such a good community that y'all can both help people who can't make it for whatever reason, and people who want to have the in person that's there?

00:19:03.358 --> 00:19:13.794
Yeah, I mean it's one of those where we've been doing it long enough to where I think we have a good core group of people who understand and quite frankly enjoy each other's company.

00:19:14.096 --> 00:19:20.426
So when we're out there every Wednesday night, I think those core people understand and appreciate that this is how you build a community.

00:19:21.029 --> 00:19:24.119
Now you said before we came on, you had some kind of crazy story.

00:19:24.423 --> 00:19:26.250
So I'm here, I'm interested to hear it.

00:19:26.847 --> 00:19:30.327
I think it's somewhat of a legend around here in Carrollton or something, I'm not really sure.

00:19:30.625 --> 00:19:31.910
At least, I think it is in my brain.

00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:35.962
There was a player and we're gonna change the names to protect the innocent, if you will.

00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:37.903
There's really nobody innocent, but still.

00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:42.184
So you have to imagine this guy, we'll call him James and his wife Jesse, so they're a team rocket.

00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:47.178
But he had this thing where he had to have the gyms be all Valor.

00:19:47.474 --> 00:19:55.545
So every night, like clockwork, he would drive around, kick everybody out that was not valor and the community was quite frankly, frustrated with it.

00:19:55.840 --> 00:19:59.205
They hated the fact that they couldn't get any coins at all.

00:19:59.506 --> 00:20:08.180
And it got to the point where if you drove around, like it'll 10 o'clock to kick a valor out after he had done it, he would get back in his car, go back to the gym and take it right back over.

00:20:08.482 --> 00:20:13.593
So a group of us, we'll call them, Ash Brock, Misty Dawn, and of course myself.

00:20:13.890 --> 00:20:16.700
We decided to take matters into our own hand, if you will.

00:20:16.996 --> 00:20:22.286
So we launched what we, referred to as: operation, make Carrollton great again.

00:20:22.583 --> 00:20:26.803
So what we did is, cuz I'm also valor, I couldn't really kick him outta gyms.

00:20:27.105 --> 00:20:30.195
But since they were not Valor, they could kick him outta gyms.

00:20:30.496 --> 00:20:36.915
So what we would do is go out at night and start clearing out all the gyms, which would of course prompt him to get up to try to take him back.

00:20:37.215 --> 00:20:43.576
And while he was over here at, the Pewter City gym, trying to take that over, we were over at the Cerulean gym kicking that one out.

00:20:43.873 --> 00:20:48.417
And then he would drive over to the Cerulean gym and by then we were over there kicking out other gyms.

00:20:48.721 --> 00:21:03.204
And then he would drive over there and we'd be back at Pewter City, I mean, it was just a giant game of us just driving around all over the place, kicking him out of all the gyms and quite frankly, trying to send a message that this is not good for the community guys, because people are not getting their coins is a bad thing.

00:21:03.505 --> 00:21:08.730
One person hogging, one team, hogging up all the gyms is not good for the game or community either.

00:21:09.029 --> 00:21:24.827
So eventually we get to the point where, I don't know if it's paranoia, I don't know if it's, um, I really don't know what to tell you what was going on or going through his mind, but he would actually sit there in his car and like physically try to guard the gym and like wait for us to show up.

00:21:25.127 --> 00:21:29.694
I remember one time I was coming home from a Mavs game and it was like, I dunno, like 10 30 a night or something like that.

00:21:29.998 --> 00:21:33.597
And we happened to be passing one of the gyms, and I look over, I'm like, is that this car?

00:21:33.897 --> 00:21:42.028
And I, as I look over there, he's like, tucked behind the gym, if you will, trying to like hide around the corner, waiting, I don't know to surprise us?

00:21:42.330 --> 00:21:49.515
I'm not really sure what his plan was, to be perfectly honest, I don't know what he would've actually done if we had actually shown up to that gym physically.

00:21:49.815 --> 00:21:53.954
I really don't quite know what he was thinking, I wish I could tell you more of that, but he was too obsessed.

00:21:54.255 --> 00:21:55.095
He was taking it too far.

00:21:55.095 --> 00:21:56.234
Bottom line, taking it too far.

00:21:56.535 --> 00:22:00.295
So one day and this is where things start getting off the reservation.

00:22:00.597 --> 00:22:04.167
He contacts one of our members who he's pretty sure is involved in it.

00:22:04.468 --> 00:22:05.333
We'll call him Ash.

00:22:05.635 --> 00:22:15.220
And he tells Ash, I know you're involved in this, and if you don't stop it right now, I am going to have the District Attorney open up an investigation into this."

00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:16.359
Oh my gosh, really?

00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:17.079
I swear to God.

00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:17.799
Couldn't make this up.

00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:20.740
And Ash was like, what are you talking about, dude, seriously?

00:22:20.769 --> 00:22:21.759
What are you talking about?

00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:26.259
I have no idea what you're talking about." He was like,"oh, well that case you, you'll have anything to worry about.

00:22:26.563 --> 00:22:40.286
But if this does not stop right now, I am going to open up an investigation, I am going to have Niantic subpoenaed for IP addresses, and I am going to have the district attorney prosecute you under Daniel's law.

00:22:40.583 --> 00:22:41.542
Now I know what you're thinking.

00:22:41.542 --> 00:22:42.442
What is Daniel's law?

00:22:42.742 --> 00:22:46.913
Daniel's law, refers to cyber bullying, and it relates to high schools.

00:22:47.215 --> 00:22:56.816
So it actually is not applicable here because he is not a high school student by any stretch of the imagination, um, and I don't think anybody would call this cyber bullying.

00:22:56.816 --> 00:22:58.316
Might be the other way around, to be honest.

00:22:58.316 --> 00:22:58.796
It could be.

00:22:58.796 --> 00:22:59.336
I don't know.

00:22:59.633 --> 00:23:02.452
So Ash was like, dude, you're crazy, I don't know what to tell you, dude.

00:23:02.843 --> 00:23:03.442
You're crazy.

00:23:03.746 --> 00:23:06.965
But if you're gonna threaten me with a lawsuit, we don't have anything to discuss at all.

00:23:07.262 --> 00:23:15.093
Obviously, we were never worried about this happening because one, you don't tell the DA to open investigation, the DA decides to open up an investigation.

00:23:15.390 --> 00:23:19.769
And two, the cops are just gonna laugh at you if you go to them and say,"Hey, I want to have this guy arrested.

00:23:20.073 --> 00:23:22.839
So, as we continue operation, make Carrollton great again.

00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:30.762
It finally starts getting to the point where it's not enough for Carrollton to be red, it has to be his accounts.

00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:36.450
So he has between him and his wife, Jesse and James, have at least six Valor accounts.

00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:41.615
Whenever there was someone that was non valor, they would go over there, kick him out, fill the gym up immediately.

00:23:41.914 --> 00:23:44.567
When I was in a gym, he would go over there.

00:23:44.865 --> 00:23:52.911
Apparently he had a secret seventh account, which was a Mystic, which to be honest, struck me as odd because he was Valor all the way.

00:23:53.211 --> 00:23:54.411
He had a tattoo.

00:23:54.708 --> 00:23:56.147
He had a sticker on his car.

00:23:56.444 --> 00:23:59.505
I mean, he was valor all the way, but he had a secret mystic account.

00:23:59.816 --> 00:24:06.127
Apparently he would kick me out, put his mystic account in, and then kick himself out and then fill the gym all the way up.

00:24:06.580 --> 00:24:10.480
And at this point it was just like, all right, dude, you're taking us way too seriously.

00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:11.381
Way too seriously.

00:24:11.681 --> 00:24:13.971
All right, so fast forward it's about 9:30.

00:24:14.288 --> 00:24:18.099
I kinda look at the clock and I'm like, yeah, it's about that time." I mean, you can set your clock to it.

00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.869
Gyms are getting ready to get flipped again.

00:24:20.170 --> 00:24:29.273
And sure enough, I opened up my app and I'm looking at the couple of gyms that I'm in, and sure enough, it starts to get kicked out and sure enough, it turns blue and sure enough it turns right back red.

00:24:29.273 --> 00:24:32.034
So it goes red, blue, red in the span of a minute.

00:24:32.329 --> 00:24:33.049
So I'm like, you know what?

00:24:33.049 --> 00:24:34.809
It's time to do something.

00:24:35.106 --> 00:24:37.836
So I go on Discord and, and I'm like, James, what are you doing?

00:24:38.135 --> 00:24:39.425
And he's like, what are you talking about?

00:24:39.729 --> 00:24:40.719
Don't be stupid with me, dude.

00:24:41.018 --> 00:24:42.127
You know what I'm talking about?

00:24:42.432 --> 00:24:45.852
You're kicking me out with your blue account so that you can fill it up with your red account.

00:24:46.155 --> 00:24:47.270
He's like, No, I'm not.

00:24:47.270 --> 00:24:47.810
No, I'm not.

00:24:47.840 --> 00:24:48.830
I'm like, what are you talking about, dude?

00:24:48.836 --> 00:24:50.361
I'm literally sitting here watching you do it.

00:24:50.361 --> 00:24:50.871
Literally.

00:24:51.167 --> 00:24:52.458
And of course he denies it.

00:24:52.762 --> 00:24:55.313
And then eventually he is like, well, I've only done this like once or twice.

00:24:55.617 --> 00:24:56.698
I'm like, no, you haven't, dude.

00:24:56.698 --> 00:24:57.238
I've counted them.

00:24:57.238 --> 00:24:58.377
You're at least up to four or five.

00:24:58.681 --> 00:25:00.000
You've done it more than once.

00:25:00.181 --> 00:25:00.661
Okay.

00:25:00.931 --> 00:25:03.361
I don't know what your problem is, but this has gotta stop.

00:25:03.662 --> 00:25:08.561
And then his wife, which I will give Jesse credit, she is 100% ride or die.

00:25:08.862 --> 00:25:12.162
Gets on Discord as well and she starts defending her man.

00:25:12.464 --> 00:25:21.704
She seems to think that Pokemon Go is like a turf war like you gotta defend your turf, if you will, from the mystic and the uh, um, um, oh God, we're the yellow people.

00:25:21.734 --> 00:25:22.214
Um...

00:25:23.259 --> 00:25:24.021
instinct.

00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:24.710
Oh yeah.

00:25:24.710 --> 00:25:25.579
Whoever those losers are.

00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:25.910
That's right.

00:25:25.910 --> 00:25:26.299
Instinct.

00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:26.720