Jan. 24, 2024
TRAINER'S EYE #74 - "The Executive Edition" ft. MatthewBraeker from Beginner to Winner PvP
In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by MatthewBraeker, the Executive Producer from the Beginner to Winner PvP podcast.
MatthewBraeker shares his experience with Pokemon GO and getting into Pokemon GO PVP. He gives insight to how he always saw the purpose of Pokemon was to battle and his experience playing Pokemon GO PvP when it was launched. He also gives his experience shifting from Pokemon GO to Pokemon TCG and what he enjoys about playing the Pokemon TCG.
MatthewBraeker gives insight into his experience with Pokemon ranging from the Pokemon TCG at a younger to watching the anime. He also shares how him and his friend would develop strategies to compete in the Battle Tower in the Pokemon games.
Finally, MatthewBarker shares how he got involved with the Beginner to Winner PvP podcast as the Executive Producer and gives some insights to how the podcast approaches building a PvP community and what he hopes it becomes in the future.
Community Fundraiser
A core Pokemon community member, Garren a.k.a HoosierDada13, has lost his home in a fire. Listed below are the three ways that you are able to help.
1) Associate Crisis Fund Donations through the Hancock Health Foundation - Anyone from the community can donate, tax free, and 100% of the donations will go to support Garren (HoosierDada13) and Jessica and their family via the Hancock Health Foundation.
Here's how to donate:
- Follow this link: https://www.hancockhealth.org/about/foundation/
- Click the button "Make a Donation Today"
- You'll be taken to the "Foundation Donations" form
- Fill out the form with your information and desired donation
- PLEASE NOTE in order for the funds to be earmarked for the Harter Family, make sure to choose the following:
- Select "Associate Crisis Fund" under the "Designate Your Gift" field
- Please add the verbiage "Harter Family" under the "My Gift is in Honor of:" field
2) Garren’s Venmo
3) Amazon Wishlist
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 MatthewBraeker: Website
Connect with David Hernandez: Linktree
E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com
Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.003 --> 00:00:03.503
My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns.
00:00:44.009 --> 00:00:46.310
Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns.
00:00:46.609 --> 00:00:51.103
before we dive into this episode, a core member of the community lost their home due to a house fire.
00:00:51.432 --> 00:00:54.893
Thankfully, their family survived and are all still recovering at the time of this episode.
00:00:55.198 --> 00:00:58.182
If you're able to help, consider leaving a small donation for the family.
00:00:58.482 --> 00:01:01.743
Instructions and links will be available in the description of this episode.
00:01:02.048 --> 00:01:13.328
For the past three weeks, we have heard from each host of the Beginner to Winner podcast about how their stories interconnected in a way to create both a podcast and thriving PvP community within Pokemon Go.
00:01:13.626 --> 00:01:15.936
But what if I told you that there was one more?
00:01:16.245 --> 00:01:23.259
One person who works in the background to help the podcast run Or what the other co hosts call, the glue that holds the show together.
00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:27.899
My podcast is always about highlighting people, and it's time to bring him center stage.
00:01:28.206 --> 00:01:35.486
From podcast editing to his involvement in starting the Getting Good series on YouTube, and the Executive Edition interviews on the B.T.W Podcast.
00:01:35.858 --> 00:01:38.588
Here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon Go.
00:01:38.899 --> 00:01:42.319
He is the executive producer of the Beginner to Winner podcast.
00:01:42.632 --> 00:01:44.373
This is Matthew Breaker.
00:01:45.606 --> 00:01:51.257
Today, I'm joined by the executive producer of the BTW podcast, Matthew Breaker.
00:01:51.307 --> 00:01:52.746
Matthew, welcome to the show.
00:01:53.066 --> 00:01:54.197
Hey, thank you for having me.
00:01:54.787 --> 00:01:55.617
Definitely, Matthew.
00:01:55.617 --> 00:01:57.587
And what's the BTW without you?
00:01:57.617 --> 00:02:01.137
Because I've heard that you're a lot of the behind the scenes kind of guy, is that true?
00:02:01.356 --> 00:02:03.427
Yes, yes, I'm very much behind the scenes.
00:02:03.427 --> 00:02:05.893
You, you will hear me, like, throughout the episode.
00:02:05.893 --> 00:02:16.794
I have been a little more vocally active, as like a side host, but in terms of like the front facing, people, that's, the big three, Astro, Dino and WildcatDad17.
00:02:17.390 --> 00:02:21.150
And what's your role with the podcast, for those who may not know what an executive producer is?
00:02:21.471 --> 00:02:21.770
Yeah.
00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:27.491
So, being an executive producer of the podcast, it's like a over glorious title for everything.
00:02:27.961 --> 00:02:35.100
Um, essentially what, I do for the podcast is, I'm one of the primary writers of the show notes.
00:02:35.540 --> 00:02:39.717
Which we've like simplified over the, years as well.
00:02:39.977 --> 00:02:43.336
so it's less arduous when, all the news drops that come in.
00:02:43.747 --> 00:02:51.084
the main thing that I do for the podcast though, is editing and publishing what you, the listener would hear.
00:02:51.093 --> 00:02:53.663
So, we have a pretty quick turnaround.
00:02:53.663 --> 00:03:06.572
We typically record on Monday nights, and then our release has typically always been on a Wednesday, so I typically have a day to turn around about a two and a half to three hour podcast.
00:03:06.955 --> 00:03:10.838
I've been doing that for the past year, almost two years now.
00:03:11.443 --> 00:03:15.343
And from what I was told with Dino, he says, y'all pay six figures for you to do your services.
00:03:15.343 --> 00:03:15.903
Is that correct?
00:03:16.512 --> 00:03:18.312
I guess I'm owed a lot of money.
00:03:22.051 --> 00:03:26.042
I'm going to have to have a little chat with Astro after this, if that's what
00:03:26.757 --> 00:03:28.137
yeah, he said you were making six figures.
00:03:28.146 --> 00:03:30.326
So is it just like a running tab that they still run on you?
00:03:30.551 --> 00:03:33.192
I guess it's just like this giant IOU.
00:03:33.192 --> 00:03:37.586
So, you know, but I also can get paid in, cards now, so that's fine.
00:03:38.186 --> 00:03:41.246
What lets you becoming the executive producer of BTW?
00:03:41.826 --> 00:03:43.787
I was part of their discord.
00:03:43.787 --> 00:03:48.997
so the BTW, we have a Patreon that, our discord in order to gain access to it.
00:03:49.317 --> 00:03:50.276
It's a dollar a month.
00:03:50.456 --> 00:03:57.461
I was a part of that discord because when I was first starting out trying to learn PVP, I was a huge fan of the podcast.
00:03:57.794 --> 00:04:01.054
And I just wanted to, like help them out.
00:04:01.063 --> 00:04:02.984
So, I became a patron myself.
00:04:03.334 --> 00:04:06.193
I pledged for like one of the higher tiers.
00:04:06.533 --> 00:04:20.206
from there WildcatDad had made a message out to some people saying like, Hey, like we want help, writing the show notes Cause at the time, Dinho was in school, family life and everything, and you're trying to juggle a podcast to be released weekly.
00:04:20.524 --> 00:04:23.043
it's a team effort and they were needing some help.
00:04:23.064 --> 00:04:27.723
So that was sort of like my in where I like raised my hand and volunteered.
00:04:27.723 --> 00:04:29.024
I was like, Hey, I'll do it.
00:04:29.324 --> 00:04:31.074
And it quickly went from.
00:04:31.096 --> 00:04:34.555
Like, writing show notes to, oh, you're the executive producer.
00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:36.209
I was like, oh boy.
00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:48.002
So, but it worked out pretty well for me because my skill set previously was video editing and I was very comfortable with audio editing as well.
00:04:48.031 --> 00:04:51.052
So, it worked really well for me.
00:04:51.348 --> 00:05:03.651
it was just like learning like how they run the show and then like incorporating, my skill set, into helping Astro fulfill the vision that he had for his show.
00:05:04.242 --> 00:05:11.612
You know, it's interesting cause you're not the only person who joined from becoming like an audience listener to becoming on the podcast as other people find out.
00:05:12.072 --> 00:05:15.362
What was it about the BTW at the time that made you want to get more involved?
00:05:15.423 --> 00:05:17.923
Like, what did they have that maybe you resonated with?
00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:23.451
I really related to Astro and, Dino's like sense of humor.
00:05:23.752 --> 00:05:28.281
That was a big thing for me just listening to their podcasts, so we like, they're vulgar.
00:05:28.281 --> 00:05:31.312
Like we have an explicit tag on our podcast for a reason.
00:05:31.613 --> 00:05:35.487
I always listen to the podcast that typically just use swear words.
00:05:35.507 --> 00:05:47.244
It's just, something that for me, I enjoy humor and I enjoy unfiltered humor most of the time too, especially because I was particularly looking for PVP podcasts.
00:05:47.694 --> 00:05:50.074
At the time, there was really only two.
00:05:50.084 --> 00:05:53.843
There was Battle Cats, which Zyonik and Caleb Peng were doing.
00:05:54.173 --> 00:05:57.374
And there was the BTW PVP podcast.
00:05:57.423 --> 00:06:10.750
so I was listening to both of them in tandem, but the interaction that I was getting in the BTW discord was a lot more personal because, it was very interesting for somebody outside of that world entirely.
00:06:11.064 --> 00:06:47.598
And at that time completely new to discord and in all honesty, like social media in general, that I was talking to and greeted by wildcat dad, Dino and Astro, like the moment that I joined in the group, that was a really like eyeopening experience for me and it made the discord more personal for me and more like a home base, So having that initial interaction just made me want to engage more with the community that they were building.
00:06:48.201 --> 00:06:51.139
It sounds like they had a very hospitable way to approach the Discord.
00:06:51.168 --> 00:06:55.048
Because I remember when I joined y'all's Discord, I think y'all were one of the first ones to greet me as well.
00:06:55.278 --> 00:07:00.495
And you really resonated just feeling welcomed immediately, not just by regular people, but as well as the leader themselves.
00:07:00.795 --> 00:07:05.875
yeah, and that's something that we talk about often behind the scenes too.
00:07:06.172 --> 00:07:13.665
We Do really want everybody to feel like they can reach out and talk to us.
00:07:13.999 --> 00:07:24.144
And I know that that's not necessarily the case with a lot of other Content creator based discords, where it's really like they have their admins handling everything.
00:07:24.144 --> 00:07:28.791
And they take this like overlord, watchful view of things.
00:07:29.091 --> 00:07:33.341
Like we really want to be interacting with our community.
00:07:33.362 --> 00:07:44.019
So we are constantly either just like joking with each other in general chat or interacting with people at multiple different points and places in the discord.
00:07:44.028 --> 00:07:49.459
So that's just something we pride ourselves on and we want to continue doing.
00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:55.809
A lot of the community is very experienced in PVP, so it does make it.
00:07:55.809 --> 00:08:03.528
easier to get advice when you have a community filled with like really like top battlers and really skilled individuals.
00:08:03.889 --> 00:08:07.259
And it's also really personal and easy to talk to them.
00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.862
So it makes getting help a lot more comfortable for people.
00:08:13.473 --> 00:08:17.634
Definitely, and what's interesting is y'all both focus on both the rookie as well as the experienced player.
00:08:17.803 --> 00:08:22.838
How do y'all find that balance to be able to address opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to PvP?
00:08:23.425 --> 00:08:27.464
to be honest, I think That's a challenge that we do have in the discord.
00:08:27.464 --> 00:08:39.575
And it's something that we've talked about a lot behind the scenes just with the guys, especially with, the member coaching where we're, empowering members of our community to coach live, people playing GBL.
00:08:40.004 --> 00:08:41.985
one of the transitions that we made.
00:08:41.985 --> 00:08:55.825
that, I was really like passionate about spearheading is really defining like what kind of help people want instead of having like a more general, video chat, area where people can screen share their battles.
00:08:55.855 --> 00:08:59.565
Like I wanted different rooms that mean different things.
00:08:59.575 --> 00:09:00.304
So we have.
00:09:00.304 --> 00:09:05.434
voice chat rooms where people can get coaching and screen share their battles.
00:09:05.758 --> 00:09:13.759
Really defining what each room means really helps ground the type of coaching that people can choose to get.
00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:27.769
So I will spend most of my time in either like free play or in all honesty, like the beginner level tiers as well, just because the repetition and the coaching of like move counts is something that I still need hammered in my head.
00:09:27.769 --> 00:09:43.594
So, so it just, it's, it's helpful for the coach or whoever's like role it is to lead and guide because they know what skill level the person is, at or asking for and can tone their approach to match that.
00:09:44.168 --> 00:09:46.278
Now, let's take the people back to the beginning side.
00:09:46.278 --> 00:09:48.438
Let's take them back to Matthew Breaker in the early days.
00:09:48.719 --> 00:09:51.158
What was it like for you when you first started playing Pokemon Go?
00:09:51.783 --> 00:09:55.360
I was pretty enamored with the game.
00:09:55.703 --> 00:10:03.254
I don't think I put it down for probably a good six months, much to my partner's dismay.
00:10:03.553 --> 00:10:09.864
Honestly, I think it was the first video game in my life that I've been completely enamored.
00:10:09.864 --> 00:10:13.494
Like, I think Pokemon Go, when it first came out, was a lifestyle.
00:10:13.826 --> 00:10:18.907
Especially for, like, people my age that grew up with Pokemon.
00:10:18.907 --> 00:10:38.014
So the nostalgia hit was so visceral because now I am walking around my town every single day and night playing this game and got to see a lot of parts of my city that I wouldn't have had it not been for this game.
00:10:38.374 --> 00:10:46.458
The primary exploration side of the game, I really cherished, and I do miss that rush still.
00:10:47.749 --> 00:10:50.479
So you miss being able to see a new area when it comes to Pokemon Go?
00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:51.798
Do you just not experience that anymore?
00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:54.639
no, I really don't experience that anymore.
00:10:54.649 --> 00:11:03.506
The closest experience that I got to That, 2016 hype was GoFest, because like, New York City.
00:11:03.886 --> 00:11:21.578
It was the second time I've been to New York City, the first time Pokemon Go was not out, so this was the best experience I could have is just, I've never walked that much in my life, but it was like, like my, my, I, I wore really cushioned shoes too.
00:11:21.578 --> 00:11:30.839
So I was prepared for it, but I think I spent probably seven hours in Central Park and like, I still don't feel like I saw all of it.
00:11:31.178 --> 00:11:35.528
The day before, we were on the island and then we were doing city play.
00:11:35.528 --> 00:11:37.422
So we were all over the city.
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:44.759
and just because just like in the area that I'm in and the life that I have, I don't travel much.
00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:51.831
So Like, I've played in my city probably consistently about four years now, so nothing's really new.
00:11:51.841 --> 00:11:53.782
Like, I know all the parts of my city.
00:11:54.011 --> 00:12:01.662
Like, I'd make a phenomenal Uber driver because, like, I know where everything is now just from playing Pokemon Go, so.
00:12:02.312 --> 00:12:05.302
I definitely recommend doing Uber and playing Pokemon Go at the same time if y'all can.
00:12:06.657 --> 00:12:11.126
Now What was fun for BTW is y'all got to actually host a tournament I believe with the Battlecatz?
00:12:11.711 --> 00:12:21.562
yeah, so we partnered with, Caleb Peng and in all honesty like that was my first experience with like a live grassroots tournament.
00:12:21.813 --> 00:12:34.754
but it was just a ton of fun to get to meet Caleb Pang for the first time, but also get to meet a lot of these like top tier battlers that you can see on stage at regional tournaments.
00:12:35.336 --> 00:12:50.515
We randomly bumped into ZoetwoDots, that's how we made like the connection with her and To get her on our podcast as well, but it was just like these random really weird Scenarios that happened that like wouldn't if we hadn't done stuff like that
00:12:51.302 --> 00:12:57.743
For sure, and speaking of Zoe, like I listened to y'all's episode, it must have been surreal to finally have, I guess, a big YouTuber on y'all's podcast?
00:12:58.602 --> 00:13:12.113
Yeah, I think the interesting thing was just how like grounded and down to earth a lot of these content creators are Zoe is Definitely one of the best in the Pokemon go Creator sphere.
00:13:12.408 --> 00:13:16.696
and she's extremely generous with her time to the community.
00:13:16.696 --> 00:13:22.528
So, very easy to coordinate with, very lovely guests to have on and she's always welcome.
00:13:23.133 --> 00:13:29.655
So PvP came out, obviously that's the primary focus of the podcast, What is it about PvP that, interests you and kept you engaged?
00:13:30.288 --> 00:13:35.668
For me, the way that I see the Pokemon games is they're always battle focused.
00:13:35.974 --> 00:13:44.480
it just made sense to me that, okay, finally, Pokemon Go is having battles in it that you could battle your friends.
00:13:44.788 --> 00:13:50.677
I was able to do it with the TCG when the TCG came out, I was able to do it with all the VGC games.
00:13:51.008 --> 00:14:01.427
so for them to finally put that on their game, after initially advertising it, in 2016, probably like, what, 3 4 years later, it finally entered the game.
00:14:01.697 --> 00:14:04.933
Like, for me, I was like, okay, it's about time, guys.
00:14:04.933 --> 00:14:06.374
Like, you know.
00:14:07.193 --> 00:14:15.148
Right, so that, that brought my interest back into it, just because I Like that type of competition, it's just fun for me.
00:14:15.753 --> 00:14:18.883
were you a competitive battler within the original Pokemon games at all?
00:14:18.883 --> 00:14:21.533
Or were you just very interested in the battling mechanic within the story?
00:14:22.135 --> 00:14:34.006
for the video game series, one of like my favorite things was me and my buddy would do like double battles together and just try to see like how, like what win streak we could go or how high our win streak could get.
00:14:34.182 --> 00:14:35.932
Would y'all do like the Battle Tower stuff like that?
00:14:36.011 --> 00:14:51.432
Yeah, yeah, so there'd be times where it's like a whole bunch of friends are hanging out and him and I are playing this and my partners, they're like cheering us on, but it's like him and I are really getting into this and like trying to like talk strategy and stuff.
00:14:51.442 --> 00:14:59.477
So, that was always fun for me, so being able to sort of get back to that environment really is something that I enjoy.
00:15:00.066 --> 00:15:05.576
How would you and your friend prepare, like, would y'all like strategize teams or, like how would y'all prepare y'alls teams?
00:15:05.936 --> 00:15:10.446
Yeah, we would really like, Did the whole like EV and IV training and stuff.
00:15:10.446 --> 00:15:28.623
Like we went pretty hard and I'm to be honest, like in a competitive VGC sphere, like that's not what I was doing, but like specifically for like double battles, it was like, okay, we need Pokemon that are going to synergize really well with each other and like match our individual play styles as well.
00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:35.789
And being in the same room while we're doing it was even more fun because it's like, when we'd lose, it's like, Oh.
00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:41.710
Dammit, and like, okay, we're gonna have a, we're gonna have a beer break, you know, and like, okay, and we're, we're right back at it.
00:15:41.710 --> 00:15:47.322
Let's, let's go again, so, Those type of interactions is stuff that, that I found enjoyable.
00:15:47.965 --> 00:15:51.304
With regards to just the Pokemon main series, do you have a particular favorite region at all?
00:15:51.304 --> 00:15:51.389
I don't know.
00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:56.716
Johto is like my favorite region and in my favorite Pokemon too.
00:15:56.735 --> 00:16:05.605
So I don't know why I think well I My theory is because the first game that I got in the Pokemon series was Pokemon Gold for Game Boy Color.
00:16:05.985 --> 00:16:09.785
So, my first playthrough was in Johto.
00:16:10.275 --> 00:16:20.140
So, they always hold a special place in my heart because they were like my gateway drug into the Pokemon world.
00:16:21.013 --> 00:16:23.552
Do you have any fond memories of playing through Pokemon Gold?
00:16:24.153 --> 00:16:44.883
I remember one of the gym leaders, having a Kingdra that was really frustrating and when you're nine years old and not necessarily understanding what's super effective and what's not, that Kingdra wasn't, uh, that and the Miltank were like two gym leader obstacles that were super, super annoying to have to try to work through.
00:16:45.413 --> 00:16:47.092
Last question in regards to the main series.
00:16:47.414 --> 00:16:51.365
If you're going to do a playthrough through Pokemon Gold, Which six Pokémon did you choose.
00:16:51.947 --> 00:16:52.398
Okay.
00:16:52.418 --> 00:16:56.087
So the starter is going to be Chikorita Um, I
00:16:56.538 --> 00:16:58.727
YESS! YES! I love you right now my friend.
00:16:58.988 --> 00:17:00.510
Yes, Meganium lovers unite!
00:17:00.721 --> 00:17:08.683
Yeah for sure for sure Meganium, 100% I would make sure that I got a Tyranitar, a Steelix, a Scizor, an Umbreon.
00:17:09.013 --> 00:17:12.663
I would probably do my best to get, like, an Arcanine on there.
00:17:12.804 --> 00:17:14.213
And the team's not balanced.
00:17:14.433 --> 00:17:15.824
They're just my favorite Pokémon.
00:17:16.414 --> 00:17:19.375
You've been listening to as the Pokeball turns.
00:17:19.676 --> 00:17:21.076
We're going to take a quick break.
00:17:21.375 --> 00:17:22.454
We'll be right back.
00:18:26.223 --> 00:18:35.923
So, moving back to Pokemon Go, eventually, of course, you dive into PvP a little bit, and right when you become the executive producer for PTW, you start your own little segment called the Executive Edition.
00:18:36.233 --> 00:18:38.634
What made you want to start that, and what was the reasoning behind it?
00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:42.480
that was a conversation that Astro and I had.
00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:48.909
That was an idea that Astro had from the jump was he had wanted extra content.
00:18:49.213 --> 00:19:06.212
so when we were designing the show, it became a way for us to interview players or members of our community like, give a spotlight on the people that as a podcast wanted to back.
00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:13.278
the first One that we had was us sort of like introducing what our member coaching tier is going to be.
00:19:13.278 --> 00:19:19.657
So we had at the time, like our original two member coaches, MiamiDoc, and then Lyle's Jeff's three.
00:19:19.958 --> 00:19:23.974
Lyle is on our show semi regularly.
00:19:24.288 --> 00:19:35.867
he's always welcome, but he's extraordinarily active and very, very generous with his time in our discord like thank you does not do it justice.
00:19:36.193 --> 00:19:42.844
the devotion that this man has to helping people in his own special way is unparalleled.
00:19:43.173 --> 00:19:50.463
I've never met somebody that is able to, give that much care to the community as him.
00:19:50.493 --> 00:19:50.864
So,
00:19:51.011 --> 00:19:52.571
he's low key the fifth person at BTW.
00:19:53.537 --> 00:19:54.176
very much.
00:19:54.176 --> 00:19:55.507
So, yeah, yeah.
00:19:55.507 --> 00:19:58.606
He he's, he's, definitely part of the family for sure.
00:19:59.191 --> 00:20:02.040
Do you have any interviews that you really enjoyed, or ones that were your favorites?
00:20:02.625 --> 00:20:05.016
so like, I can't like cherry pick favorites.
00:20:05.342 --> 00:20:11.412
I would say that the opportunities that it allowed me, like I was able to interview FishonTheHeater.
00:20:11.744 --> 00:20:12.575
at that time.
00:20:12.575 --> 00:20:27.295
That was a big moment for me in my life like both like professionally and personally, getting out of my comfort zone of being behind the scenes, that was the first time that was more like, this is a pretty substantial person in the Pokemon Go community.
00:20:27.335 --> 00:20:33.934
And, I had the opportunity to interview him in the way that I wanted to talk.
00:20:34.241 --> 00:20:40.189
So, that was probably the one that stood out just because it had the most impact on myself.
00:20:40.499 --> 00:20:47.179
From there, we were able to, bring on, like the RTC guys and what a riot that is.
00:20:47.548 --> 00:20:54.278
So it's, it's just, I've never had a bad experience with that portion of the show.
00:20:54.648 --> 00:20:58.152
it's something that we want to bring back.
00:20:58.442 --> 00:21:00.521
it's not the right time for us right now.
00:21:00.842 --> 00:21:08.116
So it's just waiting in the wings until, you know, we can figure out, when we can logistically do it the justice that it deserves.
00:21:08.713 --> 00:21:14.594
Eventually, y'all transferred over to doing just exclusively Pokemon Go to adding on TCG and VGC.
00:21:14.898 --> 00:21:18.348
What was the challenges to do that, and why did y'all decide to go down that route?
00:21:18.951 --> 00:21:28.491
So, from the jump, I think what was important To note was the podcast was never specified as a Pokemon Go podcast.
00:21:28.846 --> 00:21:31.006
It was always Pokemon PVP.
00:21:31.306 --> 00:21:39.986
So that was like the caveat that we had to allow us to have this sort of like natural transition into adding more content onto it.
00:21:40.297 --> 00:21:57.000
But to be completely honest, like the main reason why we transitioned into having more PVP content available for our listeners was because of how stagnant go has become, especially during this past year.
00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:08.722
New York and our time in New York was a really enlightening moment for our podcast, primarily the episode that we did when we were in our Airbnb and drunk.
00:22:09.182 --> 00:22:17.459
So the, yeah, that recording really just like, hat was a light bulb moment for us.
00:22:17.761 --> 00:22:35.797
we had been talking previously before that and before that trip of changing the style of the show to be less rigid and what I call like bullet pointing where it's here's the news event, here's the things about the news event, here's what's PVP relevant, next event.
00:22:36.107 --> 00:22:40.824
And it's just like, for me, I like a free flow style conversation.
00:22:40.963 --> 00:22:45.467
I think bullet points are fine as a guide, but it shouldn't be the rule.
00:22:45.737 --> 00:22:55.576
So that was something that the guys and I have been talking about and not really knowing how exactly it would be implemented.
00:22:55.898 --> 00:23:06.023
So, our episode that we recorded in the Airbnb was truly, like, no notes, nothing, freeform conversation.
00:23:06.124 --> 00:23:06.844
Off the cuff.
00:23:07.153 --> 00:23:14.003
Off the cuff and it was the most fun that we've had recording a podcast honestly to date still.
00:23:14.309 --> 00:23:24.670
Since that moment we were trying to get back to like okay well it's not gonna be The same level of excitement just because when you're in person, it's just different.
00:23:25.104 --> 00:23:35.186
So how can we at least try to replicate the majority of that excitement in our digital space where we are all recording from different parts of the country.
00:23:35.487 --> 00:23:40.457
A lot of it was having to change the format of the show.
00:23:40.753 --> 00:23:42.263
to be completely candid.
00:23:42.291 --> 00:23:49.065
I don't feel we got it right for about 10 episodes after that we were trying a lot of things.
00:23:49.368 --> 00:24:09.269
it just wasn't clicking in terms of the flow that we were looking for and then when you're adding on new topics and expanding the podcast to start talking about TCG and VGC, it could get really muddied and convoluted when topics are changing in a natural free form conversation.
00:24:09.582 --> 00:24:18.531
And then bouncing back to different sections throughout the course of a two and a half, three hour podcast, it's just organizational wise, it doesn't work.
00:24:18.835 --> 00:24:30.602
It's like the most simple thing that alluded us and it took Dino just being like, well, hey, why don't we just bring everything into like a free form conversational style just within each section?
00:24:30.892 --> 00:24:39.959
And it was like one of those moments where i'm killing myself because i'm like why didn't I think about this like this was the most simple solution ever.
00:24:40.259 --> 00:25:05.078
When he said that it was like ding ding ding this Completely makes sense, and since then we've implemented that in, like, how we've done the show, and it's still like a transition of getting comfortable with that new style, but our enjoyment Doing the podcast has drastically improved because it's a breath of fresh air like you're changing up the style.
00:25:05.384 --> 00:25:13.561
You're still talking and covering the same news, but you're able to do it in the conversational like style that we want.
00:25:13.868 --> 00:25:17.085
But it just makes organizational sense as well.
00:25:17.696 --> 00:25:23.727
It sounds like from what you described earlier that the podcast had come to the point to where it was formulaic To where it was the same thing over and over.
00:25:24.029 --> 00:25:30.784
You introduced the news you talk about how it relates to PvP, You might say how Niantic's screwing stuff up and rinse and repeat, right?
00:25:31.183 --> 00:25:37.982
And it just sounds like y'all got into a rut and then now with the whole added of VGC and TCG I don't know, I guess spread your wings if so you will.
00:25:38.453 --> 00:25:49.007
Yeah, I think it's really hard to do a show week in and week out when you're not passionate about the game or as passionate about the game.
00:25:49.057 --> 00:26:00.007
and I think our excitement level of the game was showing in our conversations and it's not something that listeners want to hear.
00:26:00.304 --> 00:26:04.743
it's fine talking and being real about how like you're not having fun at the game.
00:26:04.753 --> 00:26:08.789
But when, like, week after week, you're audibly frustrated.
00:26:09.049 --> 00:26:12.680
And that's the only emotion coming across in a podcast episode.
00:26:12.930 --> 00:26:14.549
And it doesn't make for good listening.
00:26:14.869 --> 00:26:34.559
So, changing it up and having more fun in the episode, even though on the Pokemon Go side, me personally, I'm not enjoying that as much, but I can still have fun talking about that content because I also know that I'm having a lot of fun, doing the TCG and being able to talk about that as well.
00:26:34.866 --> 00:26:37.386
So it just improves the mood of everybody.
00:26:37.386 --> 00:26:43.569
throughout the recording and that shows, when people are listening to it, it just, it translates better.
00:26:44.156 --> 00:26:49.438
You said how you felt like y'all weren't passionate about Pokemon Go as y'all used to be and that's what caused kind of the repetition.
00:00:00.003 --> 00:00:03.503
00:00:44.009 --> 00:00:46.310
00:00:46.609 --> 00:00:51.103
00:00:51.432 --> 00:00:54.893
00:00:55.198 --> 00:00:58.182
00:00:58.482 --> 00:01:01.743
00:01:02.048 --> 00:01:13.328
00:01:13.626 --> 00:01:15.936
00:01:16.245 --> 00:01:23.259
00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:27.899
00:01:28.206 --> 00:01:35.486
00:01:35.858 --> 00:01:38.588
00:01:38.899 --> 00:01:42.319
00:01:42.632 --> 00:01:44.373
00:01:45.606 --> 00:01:51.257
00:01:51.307 --> 00:01:52.746
00:01:53.066 --> 00:01:54.197
00:01:54.787 --> 00:01:55.617
00:01:55.617 --> 00:01:57.587
00:01:57.617 --> 00:02:01.137
00:02:01.356 --> 00:02:03.427
00:02:03.427 --> 00:02:05.893
00:02:05.893 --> 00:02:16.794
00:02:17.390 --> 00:02:21.150
00:02:21.471 --> 00:02:21.770
00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:27.491
00:02:27.961 --> 00:02:35.100
00:02:35.540 --> 00:02:39.717
00:02:39.977 --> 00:02:43.336
00:02:43.747 --> 00:02:51.084
00:02:51.093 --> 00:02:53.663
00:02:53.663 --> 00:03:06.572
00:03:06.955 --> 00:03:10.838
00:03:11.443 --> 00:03:15.343
00:03:15.343 --> 00:03:15.903
00:03:16.512 --> 00:03:18.312
00:03:22.051 --> 00:03:26.042
00:03:26.757 --> 00:03:28.137
00:03:28.146 --> 00:03:30.326
00:03:30.551 --> 00:03:33.192
00:03:33.192 --> 00:03:37.586
00:03:38.186 --> 00:03:41.246
00:03:41.826 --> 00:03:43.787
00:03:43.787 --> 00:03:48.997
00:03:49.317 --> 00:03:50.276
00:03:50.456 --> 00:03:57.461
00:03:57.794 --> 00:04:01.054
00:04:01.063 --> 00:04:02.984
00:04:03.334 --> 00:04:06.193
00:04:06.533 --> 00:04:20.206
00:04:20.524 --> 00:04:23.043
00:04:23.064 --> 00:04:27.723
00:04:27.723 --> 00:04:29.024
00:04:29.324 --> 00:04:31.074
00:04:31.096 --> 00:04:34.555
00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:36.209
00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:48.002
00:04:48.031 --> 00:04:51.052
00:04:51.348 --> 00:05:03.651
00:05:04.242 --> 00:05:11.612
00:05:12.072 --> 00:05:15.362
00:05:15.423 --> 00:05:17.923
00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:23.451
00:05:23.752 --> 00:05:28.281
00:05:28.281 --> 00:05:31.312
00:05:31.613 --> 00:05:35.487
00:05:35.507 --> 00:05:47.244
00:05:47.694 --> 00:05:50.074
00:05:50.084 --> 00:05:53.843
00:05:54.173 --> 00:05:57.374
00:05:57.423 --> 00:06:10.750
00:06:11.064 --> 00:06:47.598
00:06:48.201 --> 00:06:51.139
00:06:51.168 --> 00:06:55.048
00:06:55.278 --> 00:07:00.495
00:07:00.795 --> 00:07:05.875
00:07:06.172 --> 00:07:13.665
00:07:13.999 --> 00:07:24.144
00:07:24.144 --> 00:07:28.791
00:07:29.091 --> 00:07:33.341
00:07:33.362 --> 00:07:44.019
00:07:44.028 --> 00:07:49.459
00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:55.809
00:07:55.809 --> 00:08:03.528
00:08:03.889 --> 00:08:07.259
00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.862
00:08:13.473 --> 00:08:17.634
00:08:17.803 --> 00:08:22.838
00:08:23.425 --> 00:08:27.464
00:08:27.464 --> 00:08:39.575
00:08:40.004 --> 00:08:41.985
00:08:41.985 --> 00:08:55.825
00:08:55.855 --> 00:08:59.565
00:08:59.575 --> 00:09:00.304
00:09:00.304 --> 00:09:05.434
00:09:05.758 --> 00:09:13.759
00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:27.769
00:09:27.769 --> 00:09:43.594
00:09:44.168 --> 00:09:46.278
00:09:46.278 --> 00:09:48.438
00:09:48.719 --> 00:09:51.158
00:09:51.783 --> 00:09:55.360
00:09:55.703 --> 00:10:03.254
00:10:03.553 --> 00:10:09.864
00:10:09.864 --> 00:10:13.494
00:10:13.826 --> 00:10:18.907
00:10:18.907 --> 00:10:38.014
00:10:38.374 --> 00:10:46.458
00:10:47.749 --> 00:10:50.479
00:10:50.509 --> 00:10:51.798
00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:54.639
00:10:54.649 --> 00:11:03.506
00:11:03.886 --> 00:11:21.578
00:11:21.578 --> 00:11:30.839
00:11:31.178 --> 00:11:35.528
00:11:35.528 --> 00:11:37.422
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:44.759
00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:51.831
00:11:51.841 --> 00:11:53.782
00:11:54.011 --> 00:12:01.662
00:12:02.312 --> 00:12:05.302
00:12:06.657 --> 00:12:11.126
00:12:11.711 --> 00:12:21.562
00:12:21.813 --> 00:12:34.754
00:12:35.336 --> 00:12:50.515
00:12:51.302 --> 00:12:57.743
00:12:58.602 --> 00:13:12.113
00:13:12.408 --> 00:13:16.696
00:13:16.696 --> 00:13:22.528
00:13:23.133 --> 00:13:29.655
00:13:30.288 --> 00:13:35.668
00:13:35.974 --> 00:13:44.480
00:13:44.788 --> 00:13:50.677
00:13:51.008 --> 00:14:01.427
00:14:01.697 --> 00:14:04.933
00:14:04.933 --> 00:14:06.374
00:14:07.193 --> 00:14:15.148
00:14:15.753 --> 00:14:18.883
00:14:18.883 --> 00:14:21.533
00:14:22.135 --> 00:14:34.006
00:14:34.182 --> 00:14:35.932
00:14:36.011 --> 00:14:51.432
00:14:51.442 --> 00:14:59.477
00:15:00.066 --> 00:15:05.576
00:15:05.936 --> 00:15:10.446
00:15:10.446 --> 00:15:28.623
00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:35.789
00:15:36.070 --> 00:15:41.710
00:15:41.710 --> 00:15:47.322
00:15:47.965 --> 00:15:51.304
00:15:51.304 --> 00:15:51.389
00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:56.716
00:15:56.735 --> 00:16:05.605
00:16:05.985 --> 00:16:09.785
00:16:10.275 --> 00:16:20.140
00:16:21.013 --> 00:16:23.552
00:16:24.153 --> 00:16:44.883
00:16:45.413 --> 00:16:47.092
00:16:47.414 --> 00:16:51.365
00:16:51.947 --> 00:16:52.398
00:16:52.418 --> 00:16:56.087
00:16:56.538 --> 00:16:58.727
00:16:58.988 --> 00:17:00.510
00:17:00.721 --> 00:17:08.683
00:17:09.013 --> 00:17:12.663
00:17:12.804 --> 00:17:14.213
00:17:14.433 --> 00:17:15.824
00:17:16.414 --> 00:17:19.375
00:17:19.676 --> 00:17:21.076
00:17:21.375 --> 00:17:22.454
00:18:26.223 --> 00:18:35.923
00:18:36.233 --> 00:18:38.634
00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:42.480
00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:48.909
00:18:49.213 --> 00:19:06.212
00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:13.278
00:19:13.278 --> 00:19:19.657
00:19:19.958 --> 00:19:23.974
00:19:24.288 --> 00:19:35.867
00:19:36.193 --> 00:19:42.844
00:19:43.173 --> 00:19:50.463
00:19:50.493 --> 00:19:50.864
00:19:51.011 --> 00:19:52.571
00:19:53.537 --> 00:19:54.176
00:19:54.176 --> 00:19:55.507
00:19:55.507 --> 00:19:58.606
00:19:59.191 --> 00:20:02.040
00:20:02.625 --> 00:20:05.016
00:20:05.342 --> 00:20:11.412
00:20:11.744 --> 00:20:12.575
00:20:12.575 --> 00:20:27.295
00:20:27.335 --> 00:20:33.934
00:20:34.241 --> 00:20:40.189
00:20:40.499 --> 00:20:47.179
00:20:47.548 --> 00:20:54.278
00:20:54.648 --> 00:20:58.152
00:20:58.442 --> 00:21:00.521
00:21:00.842 --> 00:21:08.116
00:21:08.713 --> 00:21:14.594
00:21:14.898 --> 00:21:18.348
00:21:18.951 --> 00:21:28.491
00:21:28.846 --> 00:21:31.006
00:21:31.306 --> 00:21:39.986
00:21:40.297 --> 00:21:57.000
00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:08.722
00:22:09.182 --> 00:22:17.459
00:22:17.761 --> 00:22:35.797
00:22:36.107 --> 00:22:40.824
00:22:40.963 --> 00:22:45.467
00:22:45.737 --> 00:22:55.576
00:22:55.898 --> 00:23:06.023
00:23:06.124 --> 00:23:06.844
00:23:07.153 --> 00:23:14.003
00:23:14.309 --> 00:23:24.670
00:23:25.104 --> 00:23:35.186
00:23:35.487 --> 00:23:40.457
00:23:40.753 --> 00:23:42.263
00:23:42.291 --> 00:23:49.065
00:23:49.368 --> 00:24:09.269
00:24:09.582 --> 00:24:18.531
00:24:18.835 --> 00:24:30.602
00:24:30.892 --> 00:24:39.959
00:24:40.259 --> 00:25:05.078
00:25:05.384 --> 00:25:13.561
00:25:13.868 --> 00:25:17.085
00:25:17.696 --> 00:25:23.727
00:25:24.029 --> 00:25:30.784
00:25:31.183 --> 00:25:37.982
00:25:38.453 --> 00:25:49.007
00:25:49.057 --> 00:26:00.007
00:26:00.304 --> 00:26:04.743
00:26:04.753 --> 00:26:08.789
00:26:09.049 --> 00:26:12.680
00:26:12.930 --> 00:26:14.549
00:26:14.869 --> 00:26:34.559
00:26:34.866 --> 00:26:37.386
00:26:37.386 --> 00:26:43.569
00:26:44.156 --> 00:26:49.438