Oct. 11, 2023

TRAINER'S EYE #59 - "Harvey Pekar Meets The Cinccino" ft. xlilpoundcake

TRAINER'S EYE #59 -
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Season 1 Pokemon Community Leaders Women Pokemon Trainers

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by xlilpoundcake, a Pokemon Trainer from Cleveland, Ohio and self-proclaimed "Wayfarer Neckbeard."

Prepare to be inspired as we explore her journey through the world of Pokémon and the story it has woven. xlilpoundcake shares the enchanting tale of how she met her partner, a story that intertwines with the adventures of Pokémon GO. Discover how the game served as a catalyst for their connection, turning chance encounters into lasting bonds.

However, the Pokemon love doesn't stop there! xlilpoundcake reveals how Pokemon GO led her to adopting two adorable cats. Learn how these furry friends have become an integral part of her Pokémon journey, adding an extra layer of joy to her adventures.

As a professor, xlilpoundcake immersed in the vibrant Pokémon GO community through Raiding and Community Day, forging friendships that transcended the digital realm. She offers a unique perspective on how the game can unite people from diverse backgrounds and create a sense of belonging, even in the bustling city of Cleveland.

Finally, xlilpoundcake delves into the cultural tapestry of Cleveland, Ohio and how she learned about it through Wayfarer. Hear about the local gems, traditions, and hidden treasures that make this city a unique and captivating place for Pokémon Trainers and residents alike.

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

Connect with xlilpoundcake: Twitter

Send us a text

Support the show

Connect with David Hernandez: Linktree
E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com

Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.580
My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:00:44.042 --> 00:00:49.682
Welcome to as the Pokeball Turns, where the stories are real and people still play this game.

00:00:50.021 --> 00:00:51.761
Every city has its own identity.

00:00:52.064 --> 00:00:56.676
It can range from food, iconic architecture and scenery, or even famous people.

00:00:56.979 --> 00:01:06.700
When it comes to the city of Cleveland, it is known as the Forest City due to 18 Nature Preserves, which were dubbed Emerald's Necklace because they encompassed the city of Cleveland.

00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:13.570
You also have famous people from Cleveland, such as Steve Harvey, Halle Berry, Drew Carey, and LeBron James.

00:01:13.881 --> 00:01:23.061
The city of Cleveland has a lot of history behind it that predates the Civil War, and my guest is here to share how the history and art located in Cleveland drew her to Wayfair.

00:01:23.375 --> 00:01:28.713
Furthermore, she shares how she met her significant other and adopted two cats because of Pokemon Go.

00:01:29.037 --> 00:01:33.028
From Cleveland, Ohio, here is her origin story into the world of Pokemon Go.

00:01:33.364 --> 00:01:35.225
This is xlilpoundcake.

00:01:36.554 --> 00:01:41.087
today I'm joined by a self proclaimed"Wayfarer Neckbeard", Little Poundcake.

00:01:41.391 --> 00:01:42.430
Welcome to the show.

00:01:43.027 --> 00:01:44.697
Hello! Thank you for having me!.

00:01:45.293 --> 00:01:51.694
Without a doubt, and I appreciate you coming on because I always like to highlight guests who have interesting stories, and I know we met through Twitter.

00:01:52.254 --> 00:01:55.743
And you shared a lot about how Pokemon Go has changed your life.

00:01:56.043 --> 00:01:58.614
I'm not going to give anything away, but I'm excited to dive into it with you.

00:01:59.649 --> 00:02:00.108
Great.

00:02:00.409 --> 00:02:01.608
I'm excited to talk about it.

00:02:01.912 --> 00:02:11.771
the nice thing about this is I get to talk about something that I do every single day and I'm extremely passionate about and don't really get a chance to talk about like in the rest of my life.

00:02:12.447 --> 00:02:12.826
Right.

00:02:12.856 --> 00:02:13.907
Welcome to my podcast.

00:02:13.907 --> 00:02:16.526
That's why I started this podcast for this very reason.

00:02:16.701 --> 00:02:18.092
you're like, that's the whole point.

00:02:18.637 --> 00:02:19.247
Yes.

00:02:19.247 --> 00:02:19.697
Yes.

00:02:19.993 --> 00:02:24.074
Now, one question I want to ask first is where does the nickname Wayfarer neckbeard come from?

00:02:24.924 --> 00:02:43.197
So that is, apparently it's a thing in the community, which I wasn't totally aware of, basically a few years ago, a few people in my community and I were making fun of me for being so into Wayfarer and I referred to myself as a neckbeard because it just felt right.

00:02:43.336 --> 00:02:45.157
And apparently that's a thing.

00:02:45.753 --> 00:02:49.824
So, because you're so dedicated to Wayfarer, you decided just to call yourself neckbeard because of that reason.

00:02:50.054 --> 00:02:51.183
Is it like that meme, right?

00:02:51.481 --> 00:02:52.762
Oh, yeah, absolutely.

00:02:54.102 --> 00:02:57.312
and even in my local group chat, my name is Dr.

00:02:57.312 --> 00:02:59.592
Poundcake, Wayfarerer Neckbeard.

00:03:00.276 --> 00:03:01.637
Ooh, okay.

00:03:01.937 --> 00:03:04.356
what is it about Wayfarer that you enjoy doing?

00:03:04.653 --> 00:03:07.683
what is it that, immediately drew you in to be so committed to it?

00:03:08.283 --> 00:03:10.593
Honestly, I was not that committed at first.

00:03:10.794 --> 00:03:14.503
I found it really off putting and really intimidating.

00:03:14.503 --> 00:03:20.866
but then once I started nominating things and figuring out how the system worked And why my first few things were getting rejected.

00:03:21.170 --> 00:03:39.145
Then my researcher brain kicked in and I think a lot of people who do Wayfarer will say this, but I literally started seeing the world differently like when you're playing Pogo, you're looking at your phone all the time and Wayfarer requires you to actually look up and look for things in the world that you pass by every day and maybe don't notice, and they're, they're eligible.

00:03:39.449 --> 00:03:44.308
as I started noticing more things and doing more and more research, which is part of, Who I am.

00:03:44.308 --> 00:03:45.135
I'm an academic.

00:03:45.429 --> 00:03:56.709
I used to do a lot of archival research, so I just slid into doing that again, but this time with public art and local history and trying to find out basically everything I could about where I lived.

00:03:57.032 --> 00:04:00.762
it really made me fall in love with Cleveland in a different way.

00:04:01.066 --> 00:04:02.866
I'm really grateful to Wayfarer for that.

00:04:03.467 --> 00:04:06.606
In what ways has Wayfarer enhanced your experience with Pokemon Go?

00:04:07.211 --> 00:04:09.871
We have completely transformed the game board here.

00:04:10.167 --> 00:04:11.736
So I'm also very lucky.

00:04:11.736 --> 00:04:15.971
I live, in a part of Cleveland that's around the cultural sort of center of Cleveland.

00:04:16.303 --> 00:04:26.581
We have two art museums here, the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Natural History Museum, and it's all in one area on a university campus where I got my PhD.

00:04:26.894 --> 00:04:27.553
And so...

00:04:27.576 --> 00:04:50.572
We're spoiled here, that being said, there were a lot of empty cells and now there really aren't so, honestly, we've, my boyfriend and I went to go fest in New York this year and we went to New York a few years ago too, and even with the increased pokestops for GoFest, we still maintain that University Circle Ohio in Cleveland is better than New York City for playing Pokemon Go.

00:04:50.682 --> 00:04:53.461
So, next time anyone is in Cleveland, come on down.

00:04:53.831 --> 00:04:54.971
Hit us up on Campfire.

00:04:55.596 --> 00:04:58.016
so Cleveland's kind of, a secret known spot,

00:04:58.072 --> 00:04:58.541
Yeah.

00:04:58.797 --> 00:05:00.237
compared to, that's crazy.

00:05:00.237 --> 00:05:05.887
New York City's so huge and you, you saying that Cleveland's even better than New York City is just mind boggling for

00:05:05.992 --> 00:05:06.281
Right?

00:05:06.401 --> 00:05:07.562
The east side of Cleveland.

00:05:08.141 --> 00:05:09.651
The east side, specifically, the east side of

00:05:09.937 --> 00:05:15.456
The West side is a cultural wasteland, and if anyone is listening from the West side of Cleveland, I stand by that.

00:05:16.322 --> 00:05:20.781
Well, if I lost on my, Cleveland, any Clevelanders I lost on the west side, I already lost.

00:05:20.781 --> 00:05:21.682
But, anyway.

00:05:21.985 --> 00:05:23.696
what is it like to play Pokemon Go in Cleveland?

00:05:23.696 --> 00:05:26.336
Like, where do people go for like, say, uh, community day?

00:05:26.336 --> 00:05:27.526
Or say, for raids?

00:05:28.440 --> 00:05:38.600
I know in my community, we're the university circle Pokemon group, and so it's actually a really interesting community because it's on a university campus, so it's by nature sort of transient.

00:05:39.204 --> 00:05:50.781
You know, like, summer, everybody clears out every fall, we have new players, people leave, and, after a few years and they're just kind of gone then, but we tend to meet up on the Case Western Reserve University quad.

00:05:51.151 --> 00:06:02.791
And for community days, we have a grind loop that is now a route in Pokemon Go that basically just goes through all the best cluster spawns on campus, which, my boyfriend meticulously mapped out.

00:06:05.096 --> 00:06:06.086
it's a three mile loop.

00:06:06.382 --> 00:06:09.541
And so we just do that and there's also a cemetery down the road.

00:06:09.552 --> 00:06:17.266
It's an extremely famous cemetery where like Elliot Ness is buried, Grover Cleveland's tomb is there, former president, Harvey Pekar is buried there.

00:06:17.567 --> 00:06:20.937
Very cool stuff in there, and that's a place where people like to play as well.

00:06:21.533 --> 00:06:23.403
Does your boyfriend also dabble in the Wayfarer?

00:06:23.754 --> 00:06:24.283
Like, do y'all do things

00:06:24.288 --> 00:06:25.889
Yeah, I make him.

00:06:28.988 --> 00:06:31.278
Like, come on! You gotta get those upgrades!

00:06:32.353 --> 00:06:34.074
Oh, so y'all review together as well?

00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:34.579
Yeah.

00:06:35.204 --> 00:06:36.204
Oh, he hates it.

00:06:36.244 --> 00:06:36.884
He hates it.

00:06:37.293 --> 00:06:38.314
Oh, he hates reviewing.

00:06:38.954 --> 00:06:39.357
Yeah.

00:06:39.661 --> 00:06:47.935
I wanted to bring his first ever nomination to the Wayspotters podcast when I was on there because he said I could, I love reading.

00:06:47.966 --> 00:06:48.766
I love words.

00:06:48.899 --> 00:06:49.629
it's my life.

00:06:49.689 --> 00:07:00.706
And my boyfriend is an engineer and he Self proclaimed, he says he's illiterate, he's not, but his first Pokemon Go nomination would give you the impression that that might be true.

00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.980
Was it like a lot of, typos, a lot of misspellings kind of thing?

00:07:08.435 --> 00:07:10.115
no punctuation, just

00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:11.050
Oh, run on sentences.

00:07:11.050 --> 00:07:11.461
I see.

00:07:11.630 --> 00:07:15.031
Yeah, uh, no punctuation, no clear purpose.

00:07:15.271 --> 00:07:21.961
he was trying to nominate, he used to live above an art studio, which to me, I was like, Oh my God, you live above this art studio?

00:07:21.961 --> 00:07:23.250
He was like, I've never been there.

00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:25.350
Oh, wow.

00:07:25.511 --> 00:07:36.120
he was trying to get a homestop, as everyone was back then when you could first nominate and he basically just submitted the art studio and he was like, there's some cool art in here.

00:07:38.855 --> 00:07:49.788
It had got rejected as a duplicate, and that's how we found out what a duplicate was, and that that basically there are things in, well now I know it's the light ship map, that are not in Pokemon Go, even if they're in other games.

00:07:50.298 --> 00:07:54.149
So his, he would have had a house stop if he was playing a different game.

00:07:54.903 --> 00:07:55.593
Wow.

00:07:55.634 --> 00:07:55.863
Dang.

00:07:55.863 --> 00:07:56.954
Just the luck of the draw.

00:07:57.098 --> 00:07:57.369
Yep.

00:07:57.973 --> 00:07:59.353
did y'all meet through Pokemon Go?

00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:00.788
We absolutely did.

00:08:01.223 --> 00:08:01.694
yeah.

00:08:02.113 --> 00:08:03.473
It's so weird.

00:08:03.994 --> 00:08:06.994
we were in the same group and we kind of knew of each other for a few years.

00:08:07.163 --> 00:08:11.173
I thought of him as that guy who got a little too intense about the Halloween event every year.

00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:19.809
We were both students at the time and I was in grad school and so I was very sad just like my head down.

00:08:20.019 --> 00:08:23.249
I was like, Pokemon go is my weird dissertation hobby.

00:08:23.358 --> 00:08:24.488
everyone has one.

00:08:24.788 --> 00:08:26.468
Mine was much cooler than everyone else's.

00:08:28.028 --> 00:08:33.438
So at the time, like we knew of each other, but we didn't know each other really.

00:08:33.489 --> 00:08:34.469
So he really.

00:08:34.948 --> 00:08:38.489
He's a catch grinder and he still is and he mostly played by himself.

00:08:38.589 --> 00:08:43.778
he would just like speed walk everywhere he went and would try to get as many catches as he possibly could every single day.

00:08:44.076 --> 00:08:45.046
I was a Raider.

00:08:45.046 --> 00:08:54.072
So one of the things I love the most about Pokemon Go is I'm an extremely social person and when raiding came out, I was like, this is amazing.

00:08:54.662 --> 00:08:59.249
and so I was at the time I led the raid train every week in our group.

00:08:59.548 --> 00:09:00.278
that was my thing.

00:09:00.278 --> 00:09:04.438
Every Wednesday night, we would literally run from one gym to the next and the next and the next.

00:09:04.438 --> 00:09:08.729
And we were always trying to beat our records on raid days, when they had the three hour raid days.

00:09:09.229 --> 00:09:15.469
I have these really aggressively planned lists that are like, if it's in bold, that means you have to run to the next gym.

00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.711
If it's indented, that means you can use a remote pass.

00:09:19.312 --> 00:09:21.761
If it's underlined, that means get in the car, we're going.

00:09:22.317 --> 00:09:23.076
That's pretty, that's pretty detailed.

00:09:24.302 --> 00:09:27.491
Yeah, we got 56 raids on Entei raid day.

00:09:27.981 --> 00:09:30.001
So that was before remote passes came out.

00:09:30.322 --> 00:09:33.601
We had rented a giant van and someone made a banner for the site.

00:09:35.591 --> 00:09:36.682
So like we were...

00:09:37.142 --> 00:09:38.812
This was a really close knit group.

00:09:38.991 --> 00:09:44.101
I used to say just me and 800 of my friends, because our group chat had like 800 people in it.

00:09:44.469 --> 00:09:47.769
Not that many are active, but, it was a really close knit community.

00:09:47.769 --> 00:09:56.048
After every community day, we would go to this place called the Jolly Scholar on campus, and we would all trade until we trade caps and have dinner together.

00:09:56.346 --> 00:10:01.025
we had weekly trading parties at each other's houses, and Ben, my boyfriend, did none of that.

00:10:01.426 --> 00:10:02.466
He was never there.

00:10:02.910 --> 00:10:04.610
He's very introverted, it sounds like.

00:10:04.655 --> 00:10:05.206
Yeah.

00:10:05.426 --> 00:10:10.485
and then I moved away for about six months to go teach in Pennsylvania at the University of Pennsylvania.

00:10:10.495 --> 00:10:13.755
And then I hated that and decided I needed to come back to Cleveland.

00:10:15.010 --> 00:10:15.211
Ha

00:10:15.655 --> 00:10:16.446
and I did.

00:10:16.456 --> 00:10:19.255
And that's when I met him for the first time.

00:10:19.255 --> 00:10:22.186
Like, apparently when I left, he was like, there was no rail train.

00:10:22.186 --> 00:10:23.096
It was really weird.

00:10:23.105 --> 00:10:25.316
And he just kind of started hanging around.

00:10:25.719 --> 00:10:33.755
then a few months later, the pandemic happened and we ended up just walking together every day and we would just grind for like an hour or two every day after work.

00:10:34.068 --> 00:10:37.239
And then like six months later, we were like, is this a thing?

00:10:37.469 --> 00:10:38.918
I think this might be a thing.

00:10:39.793 --> 00:10:41.193
Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:44.548
and it's changed my entire life.

00:10:45.474 --> 00:10:46.793
It's like, are we a couple?

00:10:46.793 --> 00:10:47.813
And it's like, I think we're a couple.

00:10:47.813 --> 00:10:48.943
I'm not too sure, kind of thing.

00:10:48.943 --> 00:10:49.234
Yeah.

00:10:49.234 --> 00:10:51.254
I think we might be, I don't know, like,

00:10:51.423 --> 00:10:51.533
ha.

00:10:52.150 --> 00:10:59.041
You mentioned how you led the raid group, so what was it about the raiding aspect for Pokemon Go that kind of engaged you when it first launched,

00:10:59.041 --> 00:11:00.750
it was definitely the social aspect.

00:11:00.931 --> 00:11:03.471
Like I think I am Niantic's dream user.

00:11:03.510 --> 00:11:04.760
I want to be outside.

00:11:04.770 --> 00:11:10.130
I want to be meeting new people and I love that the people I was meeting were really funny.

00:11:10.432 --> 00:11:18.412
There were so many different kinds of people, especially where we are, like I said, we're spoiled like we would have people who work at the art museum, doctors from the hospital.

00:11:18.412 --> 00:11:19.662
That's also right there.

00:11:19.662 --> 00:11:25.038
students, faculty, random people from the community who live right outside the university.

00:11:25.339 --> 00:11:30.239
And it was just this great mix of people that ultimately always led to a lot of drama,

00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:32.048
ha

00:11:33.339 --> 00:11:35.188
but it was just, it was really cool.

00:11:35.219 --> 00:11:36.918
And I was meeting great people.

00:11:36.928 --> 00:11:44.678
We were having a really fun time and Raiding offers this intensity, well, at the time it did remote Raiding, honestly, unpopular opinion.

00:11:44.678 --> 00:11:46.438
I think remote Raiding kind of killed Raiding.

00:11:47.062 --> 00:11:52.246
I'm alone in that and I understand that, but, Especially like running the raid train and trying to hit goals.

00:11:52.517 --> 00:11:53.517
Hey, we did this last time.

00:11:53.517 --> 00:11:54.256
Now let's beat it.

00:11:54.277 --> 00:11:55.287
How can we beat it?

00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:01.490
it was always optimizing and always very intense and having a great time with people that I genuinely liked.

00:12:01.803 --> 00:12:02.884
So it was great.

00:12:02.984 --> 00:12:04.663
and then you might get a shiny.

00:12:04.693 --> 00:12:05.663
Okay, that's cool.

00:12:07.349 --> 00:12:07.489
ha.

00:12:08.778 --> 00:12:12.729
It sounds like you approached raiding as a challenge, to how many raids could we do?

00:12:12.749 --> 00:12:15.469
You said three hour, the three hour raid window, which we had a long time ago.

00:12:15.469 --> 00:12:15.524
Mm hmm.

00:12:16.024 --> 00:12:20.094
It sounds like you approached it to where, how many raids could we do, maybe say, in a raid hour?

00:12:20.104 --> 00:12:21.583
How many raids could we do within three?

00:12:21.583 --> 00:12:24.293
what's the most we could do within that time frame?

00:12:24.543 --> 00:12:25.423
Absolutely.

00:12:25.724 --> 00:12:34.984
I'm a really goal oriented person and so that was just a fun, no pressure sort of goal, that's very different than if I don't get this degree or like,

00:12:36.443 --> 00:12:38.724
If I don't get this degree, I'm not going to have a job and be working.

00:12:38.793 --> 00:12:39.774
I'm not going to go further.

00:12:39.974 --> 00:12:40.134
That

00:12:40.153 --> 00:12:40.173
Yeah.

00:12:40.224 --> 00:12:40.724
go really bad.

00:12:41.458 --> 00:12:46.568
We're like, I'm going to get this degree in the humanities, so I might not have a job, but I'm kidding.

00:12:46.583 --> 00:12:49.173
I might get disowned by my family and end up on the streets somewhere.

00:12:50.908 --> 00:12:54.399
I joke, but if you're, if you're getting a humanities degree, keep doing it.

00:12:54.918 --> 00:12:55.938
I'm actually well paid.

00:12:58.553 --> 00:13:00.254
Well, my last question in regards to the raids.

00:13:00.551 --> 00:13:05.780
First off, were these raid trains, were they always on foot or were they by car or was it a mix of both?

00:13:05.910 --> 00:13:06.571
It was a mix!

00:13:07.244 --> 00:13:09.943
What was the highest you hit on foot and what was the highest you hit on the car?

00:13:10.104 --> 00:13:10.833
That you remember?

00:13:11.033 --> 00:13:12.754
The highest we hit on foot is 28.?

00:13:13.057 --> 00:13:13.277
Oh wow!

00:13:13.277 --> 00:13:19.307
And, but that also tells you something about our play area that we have like 36 gyms or something ridiculous.

00:13:20.006 --> 00:13:21.506
so that was 28.

00:13:21.517 --> 00:13:25.966
We could get to on foot and we would run between most of them, but not all of them.

00:13:26.277 --> 00:13:42.394
I'm not super athletic, but if it's like Reshi raid day, I'm basically an Olympian, like, I think one of my favorite things someone ever said about me, in the RAID group is I worked on campus, so I would like, I used to really like to wear heels before the pandemic.

00:13:42.433 --> 00:13:43.333
It was really fun.

00:13:43.744 --> 00:13:45.703
And now I look in my closet and just laugh.

00:13:46.283 --> 00:13:47.683
Like, where am I going to wear that?

00:13:47.984 --> 00:13:55.918
But I used to basically be running across campus in high heels and a dress and just be like, go, go, go.

00:13:55.969 --> 00:14:00.788
And someone was like, this is so confusing to see.

00:14:00.788 --> 00:14:06.308
It's just, it's such a confusing thing to see you running by with all these like people following behind you.

00:14:07.114 --> 00:14:09.413
How'd you not sprain an ankle trying to run with high heels?

00:14:09.413 --> 00:14:09.933
I can't imagine.

00:14:09.974 --> 00:14:18.073
I mean, first off, women wearing high heels blows my mind as a guy, but then just imagine you trying to run speed raid while it's just even another step.

00:14:18.339 --> 00:14:20.028
Honestly, it was only a few years ago.

00:14:20.028 --> 00:14:22.719
And I think back to it and I'm like, was I okay?

00:14:23.208 --> 00:14:25.019
Like I would never do that now.

00:14:26.573 --> 00:14:27.774
What about the ones in a car?

00:14:28.178 --> 00:14:29.058
One's in a car.

00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:36.658
Every time we would switch to cars, we would always like park around a similar spot and we would have a plan, here's what we're going to switch to a car.

00:14:36.961 --> 00:14:41.042
we would try to have people set up, like knowing exactly whose car they were getting into.

00:14:41.042 --> 00:14:42.341
So no one would get left behind.

00:14:42.672 --> 00:14:48.052
But the thing that I never liked about it is someone always got left behind or there was always someone who like.

00:14:48.052 --> 00:14:51.231
Just join the raid train, and then we'd be like, where's your car?

00:14:51.422 --> 00:14:52.741
and that always made me feel bad.

00:14:52.751 --> 00:14:54.562
I didn't want to leave anyone out.

00:14:54.642 --> 00:14:58.615
And that made me feel like we were leaving people out, which is why renting the van helped.

00:15:00.375 --> 00:15:05.336
We could, uh, pick up new people who wanted to join, but basically, we would all get in the cars.

00:15:05.456 --> 00:15:11.433
And then at one point we had walkie talkies because, I mean, it's not like it was the nineties.

00:15:11.494 --> 00:15:12.663
We all had cell phones.

00:15:12.714 --> 00:15:17.153
I don't know what we were doing, but I think we just thought walkie talkies seemed really fun.

00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:23.908
It reminds me of a scene from Twister, you know, they're all trying to chase a tornado and y'all just chasing raids instead.

00:15:24.068 --> 00:15:24.458
Right?

00:15:24.458 --> 00:15:26.999
and in retrospect, what a terrible waste of money.

00:15:27.009 --> 00:15:35.932
We would be like, as soon as you're in and, raiding, then you go and you go to the next raid and if it's not shiny or perfect, you run so you can jump in and start the next life.

00:15:36.567 --> 00:15:37.697
So, y'all would do Tap and Go?

00:15:37.922 --> 00:15:40.158
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:15:40.418 --> 00:15:44.615
And then once we learned how to wafu raid, it was terrible for the whole community.

00:15:45.821 --> 00:15:46.841
At least y'all had fun, right?

00:15:47.076 --> 00:15:47.426
Yeah.

00:15:48.961 --> 00:15:51.431
So, was Pokemon Go your first experience with Pokemon?

00:15:51.431 --> 00:15:53.091
Or did you used to play the main series games?

00:15:53.275 --> 00:15:53.725
Yeah.

00:15:53.826 --> 00:15:58.995
I used to be a huge Pokemon Stadium fan and a huge Pokemon Snap fan.

00:15:59.292 --> 00:16:01.831
I know especially with Pokemon Snap, people are like, really?

00:16:02.282 --> 00:16:03.152
Yeah, really?

00:16:03.172 --> 00:16:04.642
It was really fun for me.

00:16:05.125 --> 00:16:10.501
I did play the main series games, but, not all of them, but they never grabbed me in the same way.

00:16:10.806 --> 00:16:19.259
I've really been into Scarlet and Violet, which is confusing to me and everyone I know, because most people don't really like Scarlet and Violet, but I love it.

00:16:19.859 --> 00:16:24.869
So, did you originally play the first couple games and you just dropped Pokemon for a bit all the way until Pokemon Go?

00:16:24.869 --> 00:16:25.708
Is that kind of how it worked?

00:16:26.153 --> 00:16:27.193
Yeah, kind of.

00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:30.620
when Pokemon Go came out, I was just like, oh my god, wait, What's happening?

00:16:31.253 --> 00:16:32.883
I have to get this immediately.

00:16:33.482 --> 00:16:35.883
So, what was it about Pokemon Snap that you enjoyed the most?

00:16:35.913 --> 00:16:38.033
Because you mentioned those two games were the ones that stick out.

00:16:38.033 --> 00:16:39.133
Both that and Pokemon Stadium.

00:16:39.133 --> 00:16:41.533
What was it about Pokemon Snap specifically that you loved?

00:16:42.136 --> 00:16:47.047
I think what I loved about Pokemon Snap is it felt like I was not even at the zoo.

00:16:47.352 --> 00:16:50.740
There was an element of like, how do I describe this?

00:16:51.326 --> 00:16:57.696
Not that, like, it could be real, but it was more realistic like, oh, is that what a Bulbasaur would actually do if it was outside?

00:16:58.706 --> 00:17:01.806
not just sitting there saying its own name over and over like in the anime.

00:17:01.905 --> 00:17:04.685
oh, look, maybe Doduo would do that when it's eating.

00:17:04.736 --> 00:17:09.635
it was a way to see things that were very familiar to me in a new way, if that makes sense.

00:17:10.221 --> 00:17:12.421
It sounds like, because I remember that same feeling.

00:17:12.421 --> 00:17:20.721
It felt like you were kind of being able to observe Pokemon without needing to interact with them except for the time you had to like, say, use an apple or use a Pester Ball or the Poke Flute.

00:17:21.010 --> 00:17:22.671
You got to see them and how they would do.

00:17:22.681 --> 00:17:26.651
It answered the question to what do Pokemon do before the trainer interacts with them, basically.

00:17:27.115 --> 00:17:28.296
Yeah, exactly.

00:17:28.496 --> 00:17:33.996
And you didn't have to fight them, which I personally love because I hate fighting.

00:17:34.301 --> 00:17:37.832
even with Pokemon, I'm just like, Oh, I don't know.

00:17:37.981 --> 00:17:39.402
I don't really want to catch them.

00:17:39.402 --> 00:17:43.061
It feels kind of bad, which is ridiculous.

00:17:43.672 --> 00:17:44.132
And I know that.

00:17:44.602 --> 00:17:51.961
Well, actually they asked that question it was back in Gen 5 they had that questions like are Pokemon meant to battle You know the whole animal fighting ha ha kind

00:17:51.981 --> 00:17:52.342
Yeah.

00:17:52.342 --> 00:17:52.852
Right.

00:17:53.112 --> 00:17:56.981
brought that into their own story, which is very I'm trying to think of the word right now.

00:17:57.288 --> 00:17:57.637
I Don't know.

00:17:57.698 --> 00:17:58.397
It was just a very good.

00:17:58.397 --> 00:18:04.637
That's why I love that series I know you haven't played it But that's what it reminded me of because it asked that question to where are we really battling?

00:18:04.637 --> 00:18:06.218
Are we forcing the kind of our own thing?

00:18:06.327 --> 00:18:06.577
So

00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:11.640
Well, my favorite Pokemon, I believe, is from Gen 5, even though I never played Gen 5.

00:18:12.183 --> 00:18:13.023
What's your favorite Pokemon?

00:18:13.534 --> 00:18:14.144
Minccino.

00:18:14.604 --> 00:18:16.173
Minccino.

00:18:16.443 --> 00:18:17.334
And Cinccino.

00:18:17.334 --> 00:18:19.624
I have a Cinccino army in my Pokemon account.

00:18:20.064 --> 00:18:21.144
You have an army.

00:18:21.294 --> 00:18:23.273
An army of Cinccino.

00:18:23.294 --> 00:18:24.923
98 percent plus and above.

00:18:25.228 --> 00:18:26.478
I have 20 of them.

00:18:26.794 --> 00:18:32.403
I don't like fighting in gyms, but I do like leaving my Cinccino in gyms all over town, because it's ridiculous.

00:18:34.394 --> 00:18:36.923
So I have an army of Cinccino, just for gyms.

00:18:38.032 --> 00:18:39.673
What did you think of the new Pokemon Snap game?

00:18:40.273 --> 00:18:42.903
I didn't like it and I was shocked.

00:18:43.388 --> 00:18:43.929
Really?

00:18:43.949 --> 00:18:44.949
What was so different about it?

00:18:45.551 --> 00:18:48.192
Well, I think there was a lot more story going on.

00:18:48.192 --> 00:18:51.221
I got really distracted by the subtext going on in the story.

00:18:51.221 --> 00:18:52.852
I was like, are these people dating?

00:18:52.961 --> 00:18:54.112
Like, what's going on here?

00:18:55.273 --> 00:18:58.114
but yeah, it just didn't hold my attention in the same way.

00:18:58.144 --> 00:19:01.859
And I think part of the problem is, is that, like I do have that nostalgia for it.

00:19:02.069 --> 00:19:07.210
And so I was expecting it to like, be a certain way and make me feel a certain way.

00:19:07.230 --> 00:19:10.049
And when it didn't, I was just kind of like, well, Legends of Arceus is

00:19:12.904 --> 00:19:14.414
but you said you enjoyed Scarlet and Violet.

00:19:14.424 --> 00:19:15.305
That was your kind of game?

00:19:15.529 --> 00:19:15.900
yeah.

00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:17.599
I love Legends of Arceus.

00:19:17.650 --> 00:19:19.240
I've loved Scarlet and Violet.

00:19:19.538 --> 00:19:21.067
Well, Violet specifically.

00:19:21.648 --> 00:19:23.439
if you had to pick between the two, which one became your favorite?

00:19:24.037 --> 00:19:24.567
Oh wow.

00:19:24.867 --> 00:19:26.018
Probably Legends of Arceus.

00:19:26.597 --> 00:19:27.157
Legend of Arceus.

00:19:27.157 --> 00:19:27.178
It

00:19:27.347 --> 00:19:28.928
Yeah, it was really cool.

00:19:29.167 --> 00:19:30.788
I might play it tonight.

00:19:32.438 --> 00:19:32.948
was that good?

00:19:32.948 --> 00:19:32.998
You

00:19:33.057 --> 00:19:35.428
Yeah, now that we're talking about it, I might do some shiny hunting.

00:19:36.884 --> 00:19:41.834
Well, if you're gonna do a playthrough of Legend of Arceus, say you're getting a brand new game, what six Pokemon would you use?

00:19:42.864 --> 00:19:43.423
Oh.

00:19:43.721 --> 00:19:44.309
Rowlet.

00:19:44.613 --> 00:19:45.992
I do love my Decidueye.

00:19:46.289 --> 00:19:48.970
I would definitely use my Decidueye because that was great.

00:19:48.970 --> 00:19:49.619
Lux Ray.

00:19:49.948 --> 00:19:51.238
I always use Lux Ray.

00:19:51.538 --> 00:19:54.778
I just think it's a really great Pokemon, really useful.

00:19:55.077 --> 00:19:56.367
I love Gastrodon.

00:19:56.671 --> 00:19:58.490
I always used my Gastrodon.

00:19:58.791 --> 00:20:00.932
Gallade, but that was for shiny hunting.

00:20:01.231 --> 00:20:03.935
I love Goodra, I got a lot of use out of that.

00:20:04.538 --> 00:20:05.009
One more?

00:20:05.666 --> 00:20:07.797
I refuse to say Garchomp even though it's true.

00:20:10.053 --> 00:20:11.093
I won't say it.

00:20:11.760 --> 00:20:12.580
That's not it.

00:20:13.101 --> 00:20:15.299
Zoroark, obviously, is really good,

00:20:15.674 --> 00:20:17.005
yes, that's a good design.

00:20:17.529 --> 00:20:24.009
but if I was trying to be annoying, I would throw a Sneaseler in there, because that's really creepy.

00:20:24.457 --> 00:20:26.176
I don't like its design for that reason.

00:20:26.186 --> 00:20:27.277
It looks too weird for me.

00:20:27.767 --> 00:20:31.477
When they released it, I literally gasped, I was like, why?

00:20:33.076 --> 00:20:35.419
But obviously like, well, yeah, I guess it's perfect.

00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:37.068
Oh my god.

00:20:38.340 --> 00:20:38.941
Anyway.

00:20:39.681 --> 00:20:41.800
So, Pokemon Go comes out in 2016.

00:20:42.010 --> 00:20:43.080
Were you playing day one?

00:20:43.330 --> 00:20:45.040
No, I was a day two player.

00:20:45.344 --> 00:20:46.784
I didn't even know it happened.

00:20:47.153 --> 00:20:53.272
and then a few of my friends were like just randomly talking about it and I was like, I'm sorry, excuse me, what are you talking about?

00:20:53.574 --> 00:21:05.737
And then I downloaded it immediately, did not know how to spin PokéStops, just used all of my balls up, and then immediately, like, posted a picture of a Paras on all of my social media, and I was like, how do I get more balls?

00:21:07.951 --> 00:21:08.731
Ha ha ha ha!

00:21:09.065 --> 00:21:10.625
How do I do this?

00:21:10.625 --> 00:21:19.055
And, like, people were trying to, talk me through how to spin a PokéStop, on Facebook, which is hilarious now, because now I'm, like, The other person in my community was like, here's how you do this.

00:21:19.204 --> 00:21:19.724
Here's what this is.

00:21:20.365 --> 00:21:22.673
But then didn't even know how to spin a Pokéstop.

00:21:22.973 --> 00:21:25.913
I mostly used it kind of like glorified GPS.

00:21:26.003 --> 00:21:33.894
I was very much the average Singaporean grandma for the first year of Pokémon Go like, I would just go to the park in the morning to walk.

00:21:34.199 --> 00:21:37.068
For about an hour, I would walk around the park and catch Pokemon.

00:21:37.088 --> 00:21:46.486
And it gave me a lot more confidence that I had to go to places that I hadn't been before, because I could see like the map and know that there was a trail there or where it was going.

00:21:46.784 --> 00:21:51.990
it gave me confidence to like, Oh, if I walk down there, I know how to get back because now I have this map.

00:21:52.288 --> 00:21:55.093
Honestly, I was really super casual.

00:21:55.093 --> 00:22:03.374
I would go days without opening the game and then, one of my friends from high school came to visit me in Cleveland, and he was, like, trying to explain, like...

00:22:03.423 --> 00:22:05.203
it was around the time they reworked the gyms.

00:22:05.326 --> 00:22:07.487
and he was like, Oh, here's how the new gym system works.

00:22:07.567 --> 00:22:09.400
And I was still like, Oh, I don't like fighting.

00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:10.319
I don't care about this.

00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:11.789
I just want to catch cute Pokemon.

00:22:11.828 --> 00:22:21.409
I used to say, I don't catch Weedle because I have self respect, which really came back to bite me later, when I met my partner.

00:22:21.439 --> 00:22:26.990
Cause I forgot to tell you, we met, we really started talking to each other by racing each other to a hundred million.

00:22:27.296 --> 00:22:28.135
Wow,

00:22:28.221 --> 00:22:28.760
yeah.

00:22:29.221 --> 00:22:31.404
we were both like 30 million away.

00:22:31.704 --> 00:22:37.967
It was very hard to do that at the time and so we took two months out of the summer and it was extremely intense.

00:22:38.263 --> 00:22:39.044
I'll get back to that.

00:22:39.268 --> 00:22:45.577
To answer your question, I did fizzle out for a while, but then once Raiding came out, my entire life changed.

00:22:46.178 --> 00:22:49.577
So, the Pokestop thing, I actually had the same issue when I first started playing.

00:22:49.577 --> 00:22:49.617
Really?

00:22:50.567 --> 00:22:52.988
Because it wasn't intuitive to swipe the phone.

00:22:53.417 --> 00:22:54.377
I was just tapping it.

00:22:54.377 --> 00:22:56.117
I don't know what you did, but I just tried tapping it.

00:22:56.512 --> 00:22:57.762
And I was like, why is it not working?

00:22:57.772 --> 00:23:02.093
Cause I was like, I guess I was pressing the A button basically in Pokemon's terms.

00:23:02.633 --> 00:23:03.512
I was so confused.

00:23:03.512 --> 00:23:05.682
And then eventually I was like, Oh my gosh, it's so difficult.

00:23:05.682 --> 00:23:08.553
And then I don't know how I did, but eventually I figured out you just swipe.

00:23:08.553 --> 00:23:10.432
And I'm like, Oh, that makes way more sense.

00:23:10.597 --> 00:23:15.117
I still apparently spin them incorrectly, using scare quotes here.

00:23:15.298 --> 00:23:20.028
My boyfriend claims I spin incorrectly because I'm supposed to spin side to side and I go down to up.

00:23:21.623 --> 00:23:22.432
Oh, that's interesting.

00:23:22.623 --> 00:23:23.343
So you just swipe.

00:23:23.958 --> 00:23:24.807
Yeah, I just swipe up.

00:23:25.303 --> 00:23:25.803
Oh,

00:23:25.823 --> 00:23:27.042
He's like, that's wrong.

00:23:27.222 --> 00:23:29.262
And I'm like, well, I got resources, didn't I?

00:23:30.738 --> 00:23:31.548
I got what I needed.

00:23:31.782 --> 00:23:32.282
Right?

00:23:32.883 --> 00:23:34.542
So tell me about the race to 100 million.

00:23:34.542 --> 00:23:35.083
I'm curious.

00:23:35.083 --> 00:23:36.482
Like I want to

00:23:36.708 --> 00:23:37.867
It's so romantic.

00:23:39.508 --> 00:23:40.347
So romantic.

00:23:40.728 --> 00:23:46.137
so actually this would tell you everything you needed to know about me and Ben, whose trainer name is Ju Puisha.

00:23:46.432 --> 00:23:48.053
real quick before we continue.

00:23:48.053 --> 00:23:51.982
So just to give some context, y'all had already met, but y'all weren't dating at the time.

00:23:52.863 --> 00:23:53.123
Okay.

00:23:53.123 --> 00:23:55.212
So y'all were just still kind of in the early stages.

00:23:55.212 --> 00:23:56.923
We'll say friends kind of ish.

00:23:57.188 --> 00:23:57.557
Yeah.

00:23:57.857 --> 00:24:00.107
hanging out, raiding together, walking together.

00:24:00.407 --> 00:24:05.238
And then we realized that we were pretty close in XP and Ben was like, Oh yeah.

00:24:05.238 --> 00:24:06.664
Do do you want to race to a hundred million?

00:24:06.984 --> 00:24:15.240
He was always trying to race people and like people in our local group would be like, do whatever you got to do, Ben, but like, you can pretend I'm racing you if you want, I guess.

00:24:16.506 --> 00:24:17.875
They would just entertain it, but they really

00:24:18.111 --> 00:24:18.550
yeah.

00:24:18.881 --> 00:24:21.090
And they would just straight up tell him like, I'm not going to do that.

00:24:21.090 --> 00:24:24.691
But if you want to think that we're racing, so you're motivated, you go ahead and do that, buddy.

00:24:26.471 --> 00:24:28.711
And he said to me, Hey, do you want to race?

00:24:28.721 --> 00:24:30.240
And I was like, absolutely.

00:24:30.371 --> 00:24:31.651
And he didn't know me that well.

00:24:31.691 --> 00:24:36.830
So he found out that when I'm competing, I'll hit a point where Now we're like, Oh, my brain broke.

00:24:38.434 --> 00:24:43.434
It was, I think the first week and he asked what I was at and I posted it and he's like, How did you do that?

00:24:43.434 --> 00:24:45.684
And I was like, Oh, I just did 300 evolves.

00:24:45.884 --> 00:24:46.845
And he was like, what?

00:24:50.721 --> 00:24:54.617
So we started catch grinding separately and together.

00:24:55.127 --> 00:25:02.994
I was I was waking up at four o'clock in the morning to go do early morning raids, the town over, because that's what time they would raid.

00:25:03.290 --> 00:25:09.221
And so I would wake up at four, go do all these raids so I could get like a bunch of XP before he even got up.

00:25:09.635 --> 00:25:10.836
Wow.

00:25:11.306 --> 00:25:11.925
crazy.

00:25:12.090 --> 00:25:13.671
was extremely intense.

00:25:13.730 --> 00:25:20.641
We would, and it was the pandemic, so like, some friends from our Pokemon group, we would all get on zoom and play jackbox games or something.

00:25:20.951 --> 00:25:30.240
And we would all just be hanging out and Ben and I would both be sitting there with our phones doing evolves, just staring at each other and showing each other our phones.

00:25:31.101 --> 00:25:33.211
And it was so hilarious.

00:25:33.250 --> 00:25:38.891
And he was just like, I don't know, like no one had ever actually tried to beat me in something before.

00:25:38.911 --> 00:25:41.881
And I'm still mad I missed it by three hours.

00:25:42.349 --> 00:25:57.369
We like we hit it with like three hours of each other and then we ended up racing to 50, Well racing with each other to level 50 as well So, I think we were number two and three in Ohio to hit 50 And once again, he beat me by a few hours and I'm still mad about it.

00:25:57.553 --> 00:25:59.343
he inches you out basically every time,

00:25:59.643 --> 00:26:01.093
Every time it's not fair.

00:26:01.692 --> 00:26:04.502
Do y'all still do those kind of competitions now or is it kind of more laid

00:26:04.728 --> 00:26:05.748
Oh, no, absolutely.

00:26:05.778 --> 00:26:06.748
Now I would cry.

00:26:08.887 --> 00:26:10.607
You're like, why are you being so mean to me?

00:26:12.988 --> 00:26:18.127
No, every once in a while, like if something seems like it would be fun, we'll do something like that.

00:26:18.127 --> 00:26:20.438
But honestly, we help each other more now.

00:26:20.734 --> 00:26:22.464
our relationship has changed so much.

00:26:22.525 --> 00:26:26.414
We're like, now we don't have to like have a reason to like see each other.

00:26:26.721 --> 00:26:27.510
We don't have to like.

00:26:27.510 --> 00:26:30.040
come up with something extremely elaborate to

00:26:30.155 --> 00:26:33.365
It's not forced, it's more desire from both sides.

00:26:33.371 --> 00:26:34.000
yeah.

00:26:34.121 --> 00:26:44.000
And we're just sort of like, Oh, it'd be fun if we would go grind here or let's go try to catch this much this weekend or we do a lot of community day catch goals, which is really fun.

00:26:44.305 --> 00:26:51.265
it depends on who cares more about the community day because the other one then drives, if we do a cemetery loop, so our dog can sleep in the car.

00:26:52.489 --> 00:26:55.739
Now I was gonna say, they're actually the second couple that I've met that have that similar story.

00:26:56.138 --> 00:26:59.989
My friends here in the area, they met the same way, but they did it with gold Gyms.

00:27:00.394 --> 00:27:10.503
they were competing for gold Gyms trying to one up each other exactly and they eventually were doing Gyms together and similar to y'all story to where They just started meeting and then just happened to be together.

00:27:10.503 --> 00:27:12.703
It's just naturally happened with Pokemon Go

00:27:13.159 --> 00:27:21.378
Oh, I wonder how many children exist in the world because Pokemon Go came out.

00:27:21.923 --> 00:27:24.134
If you got a child because of Pokemon Go, hit my line up.

00:27:24.134 --> 00:27:24.763
I want to interview you

00:27:28.098 --> 00:27:28.528
I have two

00:27:28.574 --> 00:27:29.923
rush that episode that'd be hilarious

00:27:30.229 --> 00:27:30.689
right?

00:27:32.784 --> 00:27:34.574
Spare me the details, but I'll include you in the episode.

00:27:38.946 --> 00:27:41.906
You've been listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:27:42.236 --> 00:27:43.635
We're gonna take a quick break.

00:27:43.949 --> 00:27:45.028
We'll be right back.

00:29:12.567 --> 00:29:14.406
I did get my cats through Pokemon Go.

00:29:15.006 --> 00:29:15.816
How'd you get your cats?

00:29:15.816 --> 00:29:16.705
I'm curious about that.

00:29:16.941 --> 00:29:22.221
so weirdly This guy that used to be in our local group, his mom had a cat that had kittens.

00:29:22.686 --> 00:29:26.683
She'd found this mother cat who was pregnant and took her in and she had all these kittens.

00:29:26.683 --> 00:29:28.723
And he was like, we have to find homes for these kittens.

00:29:28.723 --> 00:29:34.044
And we were like, let's start a cat chat in our GroupMe and so we had cat chat.

00:29:34.614 --> 00:29:37.903
we just asked our general chat, you know, like who wants to be added to cat chat?

00:29:37.923 --> 00:29:41.646
And it turned out it was basically everyone because cats are fantastic.

00:29:41.951 --> 00:29:44.884
so we started this chat to get all these cats homes.

00:29:45.421 --> 00:29:50.106
And then there were two little black and white ones that I kept like seeing their pictures.

00:29:50.611 --> 00:29:54.270
I'd had two cats that had passed away pretty close to each other.

00:29:54.656 --> 00:29:58.153
they were my babies and so I was like, no more cats, no more cats.

00:29:58.433 --> 00:30:03.104
but then just these two little ones were left and I was like, I need these cats in my life immediately.

00:30:03.114 --> 00:30:09.074
And so I ended up adopting Benny and Sasha and they are so delightful and so sweet.

00:30:09.381 --> 00:30:12.641
And if I didn't play Pokemon Go, I wouldn't have gotten them.

00:30:13.237 --> 00:30:16.027
Now is this a segment of the university group as well?

00:30:16.386 --> 00:30:16.680
Yeah.

00:30:16.993 --> 00:30:18.699
And, Oh God, there are so many chats.

00:30:18.808 --> 00:30:23.531
There's cat chat, general chat, Raids chat, trades chat, quest chat.

00:30:23.842 --> 00:30:24.602
A lot of chats.

00:30:25.041 --> 00:30:26.192
So many secret chats.

00:30:26.602 --> 00:30:28.031
There used to be a lot of secret chats.

00:30:28.031 --> 00:30:29.092
I don't think there are anymore.

00:30:30.608 --> 00:30:31.598
I'm just not in them.

00:30:32.499 --> 00:30:34.348
Oh, not in them yet.

00:30:35.784 --> 00:30:45.926
So, going back to Wayfarer, you talked about how you added nominations to a lot of the empty cells within Cleveland and you talked about how you really liked the history, the public art and all that stuff.

00:30:46.386 --> 00:30:49.356
What are some nominations that, stick out to your mind that you submitted?

00:30:49.953 --> 00:30:55.124
right away there's a statue called Play Days by an artist named Harriet Frischmuth.

00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:57.829
and it's in the Western Reserve Historical Society.

00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:02.920
I love this one because I'd gone to the historical society one day and it's out in the courtyard.

00:31:03.237 --> 00:31:13.693
the historical society's in this old mansion, that they actually brought in to serve as part of the museum and it's one of the old mansions from Cleveland's Millionaire's Row that was like in the early 20th century.

00:31:14.007 --> 00:31:18.834
And there's a courtyard in it outside with a fountain and there's this little statue sitting there.

00:31:19.134 --> 00:31:21.913
And I asked someone who worked there, cause there was no plaque or anything.

00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:24.019
I was like, Oh, what's that statue?

00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:26.019
And he was like, honestly, we don't know it's just here.

00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:29.009
And I said, I bet I could find out.

00:31:29.376 --> 00:31:45.767
And it took me a good three weeks of just doing research, but I finally found out who made it, when she made it, who she was, she was a student of Rodin's, which is really interesting to me because we have a thinker here at the Cleveland Museum of Art, right out in front.

00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:53.299
And so it felt really cool to be able to take this information to the historical society and say like, I found out who made your statue.

00:31:53.713 --> 00:31:56.233
now it's in Pokemon Go, so that's definitely one of them.

00:31:56.618 --> 00:31:58.219
another one is probably...

00:31:58.238 --> 00:31:59.367
Harvey Picard Park.

00:31:59.698 --> 00:32:09.461
just a little urban Plaza named for this extremely famous Cleveland comic book, writer who was the most cranky old man, he hated everything.

00:32:09.766 --> 00:32:17.164
And he would hate that Cleveland loves him so much, but, he was very talented, he wrote comic books that were different.

00:32:17.375 --> 00:32:18.535
They weren't superheroes.

00:32:18.694 --> 00:32:20.125
It was a comic book about him.

00:32:20.423 --> 00:32:30.656
And so it's just a comic about cranky Harvey Picard, who like he's never winning, he's always sort of downtrodden and his relationships aren't going well and his job isn't going well.

00:32:30.970 --> 00:32:32.529
Everything's gritty and dirty.

00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:36.000
And I think it really speaks to the ethos of Cleveland.

00:32:36.349 --> 00:32:37.720
We're a gritty city.

00:32:38.029 --> 00:32:40.180
there's definitely an attitude here.

00:32:40.230 --> 00:32:45.153
It's a rust belt city and it's kind of infused with that, but we're also really funny.

00:32:46.784 --> 00:32:49.594
So like, I think Harvey Picard just speaks to that.

00:32:49.894 --> 00:32:57.834
Cleveland is extremely proud of everybody from Cleveland like, it does not matter what you do, if you are from Cleveland or the metro area, Cleveland loves you.

00:32:58.153 --> 00:33:04.392
And so it was really cool to see that and do the research to find all that out and then to be able to like, put it in the game.

00:33:04.688 --> 00:33:09.430
I love the idea of Wayfarer's, this is not Niantic's vision, maybe it is, I don't know.

00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:15.450
But like, I love the idea of Wayfarer being a way to literally augment your understanding of the world around you.

00:33:15.470 --> 00:33:21.895
Not just to interact with it, but also to say like, Oh, I'm literally looking at this arch, I've walked by it a hundred times.

00:33:22.046 --> 00:33:26.765
Here's where it came from, here's who built it, here's what it's supposed to be for like, that's so cool to me.

00:33:26.835 --> 00:33:29.137
It's like being on A tour all the time.

00:33:29.789 --> 00:33:31.380
Last question regards to Wayfarer.

00:33:31.579 --> 00:33:35.900
say for example somebody who's playing Pokemon Go wants to get involved with Wayfarer.

00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:37.500
What would you suggest to them?

00:33:38.104 --> 00:33:43.406
number one, I would suggest seek out the forums or try to get in the discord.

00:33:43.823 --> 00:33:45.093
there's a Wayfarer discord.

00:33:45.113 --> 00:33:46.423
It's extremely helpful.

00:33:46.753 --> 00:33:53.580
This is one thing that really irritates me is that, most people can submit PokéStops, but they don't even know that Wayfarer exists.

00:33:54.209 --> 00:33:55.348
There's no reason for them to.

00:33:55.450 --> 00:33:59.560
I mean, like when you go to submit a PokéStop, it literally says submit PokéStop.

00:33:59.611 --> 00:34:02.661
It does not say submit point of interest or waypoint.

00:34:02.964 --> 00:34:08.356
and so my advice to someone who wants to start doing that is find someone in your community who already does it.

00:34:08.885 --> 00:34:14.115
If there is no one in your community who does it, try to hit us up on Twitter, we'll send you a link to the discord.

00:34:14.431 --> 00:34:20.349
there is a very high bar for entry to Wayfarer that like, it's intimidating.

00:34:20.655 --> 00:34:28.442
and if you want to start in Wayfarer and you feel intimidated and overwhelmed, that's perfectly normal and if you didn't feel that way, I would have some questions.

00:34:29.431 --> 00:34:31.822
It's terrifying.

00:34:31.902 --> 00:34:33.061
and there's so much to learn.

00:34:33.092 --> 00:34:40.509
I remember when I first started, I had to find an Ingress player, which was insane because who plays Ingress?

00:34:40.579 --> 00:34:41.579
How do you even find them?

00:34:41.708 --> 00:34:46.449
Here we had one Ingress player who was submitting things on campus and he was like a ghost.

00:34:47.068 --> 00:34:51.688
People would be like, Oh, if you want to, you know, if something's in the wrong place and you want to get it moved, you have to find Jeremy.

00:34:51.778 --> 00:34:53.179
And I'd be like, who's Jeremy?

00:34:53.778 --> 00:34:56.548
And it'd be like, Oh, I'll hook you up with them and group me.

00:34:56.978 --> 00:35:03.148
And then like, Like be DMing a random person and be like, can you come to campus at five at this day?

00:35:03.148 --> 00:35:04.748
And he'd be like, yeah, sure.

00:35:04.798 --> 00:35:06.079
And then would he show up?

00:35:06.108 --> 00:35:06.768
I don't know.

00:35:06.849 --> 00:35:08.028
How is he moving things?

00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:09.539
How's he doing this?

00:35:09.628 --> 00:35:10.688
What even is Ingress?

00:35:11.248 --> 00:35:12.318
it's not like that anymore.

00:35:12.739 --> 00:35:22.123
So, um, but like he introduced me to like the IITC map and I was like, I'm a smart person who loves learning and I hate this.

00:35:22.123 --> 00:35:23.153
This is way too much.

00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:25.199
Wow, that's for you.

00:35:25.713 --> 00:35:28.398
yeah, I was like, this is way too much.

00:35:28.597 --> 00:35:28.918
And,

00:35:29.577 --> 00:35:30.626
Well, let me ask you this real quick.

00:35:30.936 --> 00:35:34.646
since you hated it so much, what kept you trying to learn the system?

00:35:35.246 --> 00:35:38.416
I found it difficult and for me it's a challenge.

00:35:38.733 --> 00:35:39.822
I guess it's just how I am.

00:35:39.822 --> 00:35:47.554
If I don't understand something, like I will make the time to understand it, unless we're talking about math, in which case, like I'm busy, I have stuff to do.

00:35:49.380 --> 00:35:50.440
Don't go to you for taxes.

00:35:50.619 --> 00:35:50.940
Yeah.

00:35:51.030 --> 00:35:52.099
Oh, absolutely not.

00:35:53.005 --> 00:36:00.436
But yeah, I, I found it really challenging, but there was incentive to do it like there were things on our game board that were in the wrong places.

00:36:00.976 --> 00:36:03.835
I knew that I could get more PokéStops on the board.

00:36:03.856 --> 00:36:05.925
I wanted to make more gyms for our area.

00:36:06.456 --> 00:36:10.596
I know a lot of people say Oh, Pokemon Go players just want more Pokestops.

00:36:10.876 --> 00:36:14.686
Well, yeah like, that's literally the point.

00:36:15.556 --> 00:36:22.396
Like, no one's like, Oh, I heard about this thing called Wayfarer and I would like to submit a waypoint to the, to the light ship.

00:36:22.496 --> 00:36:23.706
no one says that.

00:36:24.012 --> 00:36:32.224
and so I really just wanted to learn so that I could do these things for my community, because honestly, we used to run out of pokeballs a lot.

00:36:32.530 --> 00:36:42.335
there are way more spawn points on campus than there were pokestops and so you would do a grind loop, which is three mile loop, and you would completely run out of balls.

00:36:42.873 --> 00:36:51.623
I remember I bought pokeballs once on a community day, and I was like, I'm never doing this again, right?

00:36:51.634 --> 00:37:04.027
Yeah, I was like, I don't want to do this, but I want to catch and so now I don't think anyone's run out of balls in years, but so I really wanted to learn so that we could do that.

00:37:04.128 --> 00:37:06.867
And I wanted to be able to answer other people's questions too.

00:37:07.251 --> 00:37:12.443
We all wanted to do this in some form, and people had their own reasons for wanting to do it.

00:37:12.753 --> 00:37:32.009
but yeah, it was just, it was extremely intimidating and so I get why people get really intimidated by it, especially now with what's been going on where people are afraid they're going to get banned, like, I totally get that, I mean, you're not going to, you're not going to get banned, but I get that fear because there's a lot of mystery around Wayfarer.

00:37:32.369 --> 00:37:38.268
Niantic doesn't really confirm anything like they still haven't confirmed if they use the cell system.

00:37:38.572 --> 00:37:51.422
There's just so many unknowns, the whole thing is shrouded in mystery in a lot of ways, and I get why people are scared or wouldn't necessarily want to take the time to learn, but if you do want to take the time, hit me up on Twitter.

00:37:52.019 --> 00:37:58.860
The last thing I want to talk about for this interview is you mentioned earlier how both you and I think your boyfriend both went to New York Go Fest.

00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:01.420
Was that your first live event you attended?

00:38:02.019 --> 00:38:06.005
No, we both went to GoFest in Chicago, before the pandemic, not together,

00:38:06.623 --> 00:38:07.724
What was it like to attend?

00:38:08.043 --> 00:38:09.034
what was your expectations?

00:38:09.648 --> 00:38:12.277
honestly, I think I just expected to have fun.

00:38:13.878 --> 00:38:14.557
And I did.

00:38:14.557 --> 00:38:15.557
I had a great time.

00:38:15.577 --> 00:38:19.268
Like an entire group of us went from Cleveland and we just had a blast.

00:38:19.809 --> 00:38:22.760
we spent the whole time just grinding while we were there.

00:38:22.789 --> 00:38:26.710
I ruined shoes trying to get a Shiny Sandshrew, which I did not get.

00:38:27.190 --> 00:38:29.300
Which was so distressing.

00:38:29.820 --> 00:38:36.579
And it's because we were like running through the mud, through one of the biomes where Shiny Abra was accidentally released.

00:38:37.115 --> 00:38:45.465
we saw that someone got it, and didn't know it had been turned off, so everyone just kept circling this same area that was super muddy, and I just completely destroyed my shoes.

00:38:46.456 --> 00:38:46.505
What the?

00:38:47.282 --> 00:38:48.092
They were plaid.

00:38:48.101 --> 00:38:49.041
They were so cute.

00:38:51.190 --> 00:38:52.541
What about for New York City?

00:38:53.193 --> 00:38:55.773
So that ended up being our three year anniversary.

00:38:56.123 --> 00:38:57.954
So it was a really cool trip.

00:38:58.003 --> 00:39:05.313
We were like, so it's the first GO Fest for us since we, since the pandemic, which we were both really excited about it's our anniversary.

00:39:05.684 --> 00:39:08.833
So my expectations were every single shiny that's coming out.

00:39:08.864 --> 00:39:11.893
If I don't get them, I'm going to weep for days.

00:39:11.893 --> 00:39:14.954
Yeah.

00:39:15.539 --> 00:39:15.909
Right?

00:39:16.179 --> 00:39:17.239
Like, light a candle.

00:39:18.969 --> 00:39:20.648
I just, I wanted a ton of shinies.

00:39:20.969 --> 00:39:22.659
I wanted to hatch so many eggs.

00:39:22.659 --> 00:39:25.139
I had saved up like 50 super incubators.

00:39:25.672 --> 00:39:26.782
I was like, we're doing this.

00:39:26.842 --> 00:39:27.561
stocked up,

00:39:27.692 --> 00:39:29.141
Yeah, we're doing this.

00:39:29.391 --> 00:39:30.851
I had all these star pieces.

00:39:31.001 --> 00:39:35.976
I expected to eat incredibly good food the entire time, which did not really disappoint.

00:39:36.306 --> 00:39:41.036
I'm a planner, so I had everything meticulously planned out, like to the hour.

00:39:41.335 --> 00:39:50.329
We had like this Google calendar that it's just a mess of colors and I don't know, Ben humored me by being like, yeah, we're absolutely going to do all of that.

00:39:52.139 --> 00:39:54.438
We did not, we did not do everything,

00:39:55.409 --> 00:39:56.829
But you got pretty close, or just?

00:39:56.938 --> 00:39:57.708
we got pretty close.

00:39:58.128 --> 00:40:03.929
But we didn't get to spend as much time as museums as I usually do when I go to New York, but that's okay.

00:40:04.326 --> 00:40:10.539
I used to go to New York by myself all the time in the winter just to like go on vacation and see museums and be quiet.

00:40:10.918 --> 00:40:13.822
So if I want to go to museums, I can do that on my own time.

00:40:15.467 --> 00:40:16.737
Well actually, I just thought of a question.

00:40:17.206 --> 00:40:20.356
Do you think that maybe the city of Cleveland could host a GoFest?

00:40:20.802 --> 00:40:22.041
I honestly do.

00:40:22.338 --> 00:40:24.009
this is my#HearUsNiantic.

00:40:24.028 --> 00:40:24.509
I'm like,

00:40:24.713 --> 00:40:25.213
There you go.

00:40:25.233 --> 00:40:25.733
Go off.

00:40:26.123 --> 00:40:26.403
Right?

00:40:26.434 --> 00:40:37.427
I'm like, Cleveland is an exceptional city and I, I don't think people realize just how great it is here until they come and then they're like, wait a minute, this is amazing.

00:40:37.766 --> 00:40:40.007
we have literal world class museums.

00:40:40.407 --> 00:40:41.947
we have the rock and roll hall of fame.

00:40:41.987 --> 00:40:42.606
That's here.

00:40:43.036 --> 00:40:45.356
We have so many great places to play.

00:40:45.681 --> 00:40:47.610
It's cheap to stay here.

00:40:47.690 --> 00:40:50.971
We have amazing food like we're a food city.

00:40:51.260 --> 00:40:51.710
Um.

00:40:52.340 --> 00:40:52.940
Oh yeah.

00:40:53.190 --> 00:40:55.081
I mean, if nothing else, we're all chubby.

00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:56.670
That's not for no reason.

00:40:58.481 --> 00:40:59.641
We've got great food here.

00:41:01.371 --> 00:41:04.820
but yeah, I think Cleveland would be amazing for GoFest,

00:41:05.101 --> 00:41:06.411
What park do you think could host it?

00:41:07.003 --> 00:41:14.983
I think, honestly, I can't see it being hosted anywhere except Wade Park or the cultural gardens, which is like the extension of that.

00:41:15.300 --> 00:41:24.451
Basically Wade Park and Wade Ovals, surround the Cleveland Museum of Art and they go around the Natural History Museum, the Western Reserve Historical Society.

00:41:24.766 --> 00:41:33.940
there's a big lagoon out in front of the art museum and a fine arts garden and it's just like a giant loop that basically goes all the way through the city, all the way through University Circle.

00:41:34.291 --> 00:41:40.115
And then there's an extension of Roosevelt Park that goes all the way down Martin Luther King Drive to the lake.

00:41:40.425 --> 00:41:48.905
That is the Cleveland Cultural Gardens, which there are like 45 different gardens representing like all the different immigrant communities in Cleveland.

00:41:48.956 --> 00:41:50.626
there's an Irish Cultural Garden.

00:41:50.688 --> 00:41:55.898
an Ethiopian cultural garden, Sumerian, like, it's honestly really impressive.

00:41:56.188 --> 00:42:04.590
the first time I came here when I was interviewing for grad school, I got off I 90 in the cultural gardens and I was driving through and I was like, I'm sorry, where am I?

00:42:05.221 --> 00:42:06.521
This is beautiful.

00:42:06.521 --> 00:42:07.510
What's going on here?

00:42:07.820 --> 00:42:17.304
I'd never really thought about Cleveland in that way, but it's a really culturally rich, diverse city with great food, great people, and it's safe.

00:42:17.856 --> 00:42:19.956
I think it'd be a GoFest.

00:42:20.820 --> 00:42:21.760
There you go, Niantic.

00:42:21.871 --> 00:42:23.371
Get it set up 2023.

00:42:23.581 --> 00:42:25.650
Or 2024, Cleveland Go Fest.

00:42:26.030 --> 00:42:27.380
Safari zone, Cleveland.

00:42:28.121 --> 00:42:29.110
There you go, one of the two.

00:42:30.516 --> 00:42:31.606
Thank you for coming on the show.

00:42:31.717 --> 00:42:33.567
That is a podcast, that is an interview.

00:42:33.947 --> 00:42:38.496
If people want to connect with you to learn about Wayfarer, to maybe get in touch with you, where can they go find you?

00:42:38.987 --> 00:42:40.746
They can definitely find me on Twitter.

00:42:40.806 --> 00:42:43.617
I'm@poundcake_x.

00:42:43.617 --> 00:42:47.556
and I'm always on the discord and I am always in the Wayfarer forums.

00:42:48.317 --> 00:42:48.876
Cool beans.

00:42:48.956 --> 00:42:52.387
And I'll make sure to include links to everything she said in the description of today's episode.

00:42:53.690 --> 00:42:56.681
Thank you for listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:42:56.987 --> 00:43:02.666
If you want to support the show, consider becoming a patron by either clicking the link in the description or going to patreon.

00:43:02.666 --> 00:43:04.677
com slash as the pokeball turns.

00:43:05.016 --> 00:43:08.447
Now here's a sneak peek for the next episode of As the Pokeball Turns.