June 26, 2024

TRAINER'S EYE #96 - "The Return of the Nidoking" ft. Mongoose Gaming Burrow from Off The Wall Nerds

TRAINER'S EYE #96 -
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Youtube Music podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Youtube Music podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon
Season 1 Podcasters

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by Mongoose Gaming Burrow, a Pokemon Trainer from New Mexico.

Mongoose Gaming Burrow shares his early experience with Pokemon starting with Pokemon Red and his interest in the games over the generations, but stopping with Pokemon Sun and Moon. He shares his thoughts on the games and even shares what brought him back with Sword and Shield.

Mongoose Gaming Burrow transitions to talking about his interest in Pokemon GO and how he has played the game consistently. He shares his interest in Raiding and how it brings the community together. He shares his future goals to do events for his local Pokemon GO Community and passing his passion for Pokemon to future Pokemon GO trainers.

Finally, Mongoose Gaming Burrow shares a unique story involving an Aquapolis Nidoking. You don't want to miss this one!

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

Connect With Mongoose Gaming Burrow: Linktree

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

00:00:00.003 --> 00:00:03.052
my name is Greg with Mongoose Gaming and this is my Pokemon story.

00:00:43.008 --> 00:00:47.847
Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon.

00:00:48.145 --> 00:00:49.645
My name is David Hernandez.

00:00:50.185 --> 00:00:55.454
Today, I'm joined by the co host for off the wall nerds podcast, Mongoose Gaming.

00:00:55.674 --> 00:00:56.884
Welcome to the show.

00:00:57.487 --> 00:00:57.948
Thank you, sir.

00:00:57.948 --> 00:00:58.637
Appreciate it.

00:00:59.225 --> 00:01:05.084
Anytime, and you know, we were talking about it before the show, you're the second non Pokemon focused podcaster I've had.

00:01:05.424 --> 00:01:10.105
And in the same breath, You cover nerding and gaming and stuff like that with your podcast.

00:01:10.105 --> 00:01:13.344
And I told you, Pokemon's kind of that branch of nerdom.

00:01:13.355 --> 00:01:14.635
So we kind of are like distant cousins.

00:01:14.635 --> 00:01:15.314
Wouldn't you say that?

00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:16.579
Yeah, I agree with that one.

00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:16.900
Totally.

00:01:17.334 --> 00:01:19.465
What made you want to start doing podcasting real briefly?

00:01:19.465 --> 00:01:21.135
Like what made you want to dive into it?

00:01:21.530 --> 00:01:28.370
So, about five, six years ago when I started doing this, generally my in game names of Pokemon and like stuff in general has always been like Mongoose.

00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:33.129
And I kind of got it to a point where I was heavily involved in the community of Pokemon Go and Pokemon in general.

00:01:33.430 --> 00:01:40.561
and then I met a couple of friends online who had their own podcast and when they actually, they decided to split up, they kind of like did their whole out, ran our course.

00:01:40.864 --> 00:01:46.344
I met this guy, Justin, and he and I decided to start our own podcast, which was, as you introduced it, Off The Wall Nerds.

00:01:46.659 --> 00:01:49.120
And we've been doing that for now for the last couple of years.

00:01:49.349 --> 00:01:52.379
So, yeah, it was just something we popped in our head, like, Hey, let's do it for fun.

00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:53.530
And that's basically what we do.

00:01:54.138 --> 00:01:57.677
And you know, when it comes to the Pokemon specifically, like how much of a dedicated fan are you?

00:01:57.677 --> 00:01:59.317
Like, what does the fandom look like on your end?

00:01:59.870 --> 00:02:02.920
on my end, so me, I'm a hardcore fan.

00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:09.360
So the communities I was in, so in California, growing up, a lot of my friends, we were at the time early two thousands, it was collecting the cards.

00:02:09.389 --> 00:02:11.629
It was still on game boys, link cables.

00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:14.460
There was still a lot of fun getting in trouble at school for having the game boys.

00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:24.556
So, that, that's where it kind of started up here though, with, like Pokemon Go just as how it exploded because being one of the OG fans, you know, we're like, Oh, when Pokemon Go came out, we lost our minds.

00:02:24.586 --> 00:02:26.062
Like, Oh man, we're going to get red, blue, yellow.

00:02:26.062 --> 00:02:28.752
We're getting all, you know, all the generations and stuff like that.

00:02:28.802 --> 00:02:31.152
So it was really, it was more of a dream come true for us,

00:02:31.750 --> 00:02:38.979
you mentioned how, you know, for, it was a dream come true and I heard that a lot, you know, when Pokemon Go first launched that, you know, we finally get Pokemon in the real world.

00:02:38.979 --> 00:02:42.449
We get to kind of go and travel just like Ash Ketchum at 10 years old.

00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:45.680
You know, it sounds like that was kind of what you were expecting.

00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:49.650
What was it like in those early days to play Pokemon Go to kind of live up to that dream?

00:02:50.090 --> 00:02:50.539
Oh man.

00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:51.860
I was running into stop signs.

00:02:51.889 --> 00:02:55.810
I was having to look, I was having to look three ways and a crosswalk.

00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.349
Cause I'm like, Oh, I'm about to cross the street and not paying attention.

00:02:58.656 --> 00:03:00.256
it was a lot of fun when it first came out.

00:03:00.256 --> 00:03:07.782
Cause while the tracking system is way better today, it was probably a bit more fun then, cause then you really had to explore like, you're like, okay, I don't know where this, Growlithe is.

00:03:07.782 --> 00:03:09.223
I'm gonna have to go down this street.

00:03:09.233 --> 00:03:10.573
I'm gonna have to turn left here.

00:03:10.913 --> 00:03:12.223
So you had the, you know, the footprint.

00:03:12.242 --> 00:03:13.943
So it was a lot of walking around.

00:03:13.953 --> 00:03:15.353
It was, it was quite a bit.

00:03:16.013 --> 00:03:21.693
you say running the stop signs, I'm assuming walking to them, or are you actually in a car or just like, Oh, ran over the stop sign.

00:03:22.332 --> 00:03:23.462
Oh, it was walking into them.

00:03:23.462 --> 00:03:24.622
Just like, you know, walking around.

00:03:24.883 --> 00:03:26.193
You go to catch that Pokemon.

00:03:26.203 --> 00:03:28.342
All of a sudden I look up and I, you know, kind of stop myself.

00:03:28.342 --> 00:03:29.752
Oh man, I was right in the stop sign.

00:03:29.782 --> 00:03:32.062
And I just kind of go around it like nothing happened.

00:03:33.212 --> 00:03:38.212
I always called myself to where, you know, I was the same way where I was glued to my phone, trying to see what Pokemon would pop up.

00:03:38.473 --> 00:03:43.643
And I would always hit myself on like, we have like these stone benches here in my area where the bus stops are.

00:03:43.893 --> 00:03:45.652
And I'd be like, where did that bus stop come from?

00:03:45.652 --> 00:03:47.923
It's always been there, but you never noticed it.

00:03:47.943 --> 00:03:51.043
Cause you always saw it when you were always, I was always looking at my phone.

00:03:51.043 --> 00:03:52.543
So that's when I started learning about those.

00:03:52.836 --> 00:03:53.086
Yeah.

00:03:53.086 --> 00:03:53.265
Same.

00:03:53.265 --> 00:03:57.556
There were street, there were street signs on my, I've never seen these street names up on this particular corner.

00:03:57.556 --> 00:03:59.295
I'm like, Oh yeah, well at this corner now.

00:03:59.586 --> 00:04:01.526
it helped explore the area a lot more.

00:04:01.828 --> 00:04:04.048
Oh, did you become more familiar with the area thanks to the game?

00:04:04.233 --> 00:04:05.022
Oh, definitely.

00:04:05.092 --> 00:04:06.793
that, that helped me come way more familiar.

00:04:06.793 --> 00:04:08.543
Like, and so I lived on the street called moon gate.

00:04:08.562 --> 00:04:10.522
That's the only street I knew to take my exit.

00:04:10.661 --> 00:04:17.704
Get on my street playing Pokemon go now all of a sudden I knew like the 30 other streets that were around there So yeah, it helped out a lot.

00:04:18.035 --> 00:04:21.475
You know, that helped me too, because I worked in downtown at the time.

00:04:21.875 --> 00:04:29.925
And because downtown's always usually the better areas for around the world generally to play Pokemon Go, I knew my downtown like the back of my hand.

00:04:30.394 --> 00:04:34.115
But whenever people would come in who weren't familiar, I'd be like, how do you not know this?

00:04:34.305 --> 00:04:36.985
And I'm thinking like, oh, the only reason why I know this is because of Pokemon Go.

00:04:37.350 --> 00:04:52.358
Yeah that that same thing was so I lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico for a while That's how it was like it helped me explore the city and then all of a sudden after about two three years I knew that city extremely well somebody say oh, where's this like I could point it to it on a map immediately because the game Oh, I don't know where this is.

00:04:52.358 --> 00:04:52.877
I'm like, don't worry.

00:04:52.877 --> 00:04:53.427
I got you.

00:04:53.528 --> 00:04:58.177
I'm like, and I would literally would actually from memory, create a map of like, okay, this Pokestop leads here.

00:04:58.177 --> 00:05:00.168
This Pokestop leads to this gym.

00:05:00.447 --> 00:05:02.427
So it was, it became easier to do it that way.

00:05:02.750 --> 00:05:06.220
Do you still like, see the gyms and the pokestops in your mind whenever you drive through?

00:05:06.420 --> 00:05:10.290
I don't know if you're still in La Cruces, but even in your current area where you're at now, do you still like, see them in your head?

00:05:10.524 --> 00:05:11.394
Oh yeah, of course.

00:05:11.394 --> 00:05:14.845
I'm like, because that's how we tell, that's how we tell directions to each other.

00:05:14.845 --> 00:05:21.954
Now, basically if I know it's, in the Pokemon go community up here where I live now in Albuquerque, it's just like, Hey, I'm at this park.

00:05:21.954 --> 00:05:22.735
Like what park am I?

00:05:22.774 --> 00:05:23.064
Okay.

00:05:23.064 --> 00:05:23.375
Hold on.

00:05:23.375 --> 00:05:24.204
It's called the.

00:05:24.654 --> 00:05:26.425
It's called the meme gym or something like that.

00:05:26.444 --> 00:05:27.404
Like, Oh, I know where that's at.

00:05:27.404 --> 00:05:28.134
And then they had there.

00:05:28.134 --> 00:05:32.404
So it's, it went from streets and addresses to, Oh, I know where that gym is at.

00:05:33.007 --> 00:05:37.858
Now, you said you're from New Mexico, and me, I'm from Texas, so we're kind of distant cousins, you'll relate to this question.

00:05:38.108 --> 00:05:41.478
How do you play when it gets a little more, warmer in the summer months?

00:05:41.478 --> 00:05:43.718
Hahaha!

00:05:45.103 --> 00:05:45.642
so,

00:05:45.898 --> 00:05:47.788
Just get a water hose and just spray yourself down?

00:05:47.892 --> 00:05:48.642
exactly.

00:05:48.692 --> 00:05:49.822
yeah, just walk around with that.

00:05:49.833 --> 00:05:51.132
Walk around with water was the key.

00:05:51.132 --> 00:05:54.372
Like it's one thing in the winter, cause you're moving around, dress a little warm.

00:05:54.512 --> 00:05:56.853
You can keep warm like that, but when it's hot out, it's hot out.

00:05:57.182 --> 00:06:03.322
So yeah, you just walk around with a, you know, a water backpack with on your back and douse yourself and walk around and find some shade when you can.

00:06:03.322 --> 00:06:03.387
Yeah.

00:06:03.718 --> 00:06:06.377
Wow, so you still walk around even in the hot summers for this game.

00:06:06.737 --> 00:06:07.228
Oh, yeah.

00:06:07.267 --> 00:06:07.908
Oh, definitely.

00:06:07.908 --> 00:06:11.117
Especially with the, especially with GoFest coming out in the middle of summer.

00:06:11.117 --> 00:06:13.588
Yeah, I'm going to be out and about walking around on that one.

00:06:13.903 --> 00:06:16.103
Dude, you must wear a lot of sunscreen to

00:06:16.127 --> 00:06:17.408
I don't, thankfully I don't need it.

00:06:17.427 --> 00:06:21.687
I've got a dark complexion, so, I'm like, I sit there, I'm like, I don't, I don't burn, I just get darker.

00:06:21.990 --> 00:06:25.620
So real quick, before we dive further into Pokemon Go, let's talk about your history with Pokemon.

00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:31.769
So you said like how you started with the original games, I'm assuming red, blue, and yellow, which game did you start with out of the three?

00:06:31.944 --> 00:06:34.685
when I was younger with my brother, our mom bought us both Pokemon.

00:06:34.685 --> 00:06:35.855
She goes, what do you guys want?

00:06:36.177 --> 00:06:38.487
And without even me and him didn't even look at each other.

00:06:38.487 --> 00:06:39.757
I just said red, he said blue.

00:06:39.757 --> 00:06:41.418
So that made it easier for her.

00:06:41.918 --> 00:06:48.468
so she got us red and blue, each, one game, a GameBoy pocket, not the GameBoy color, the big GameBoy, but the GameBoy pocket,

00:06:48.903 --> 00:06:50.132
That's the black and white one, right?

00:06:50.704 --> 00:06:53.064
but I got the blue game boy and he got the red one.

00:06:53.064 --> 00:06:54.625
So just a little fun in color.

00:06:54.930 --> 00:06:55.629
What the hell really?

00:06:57.694 --> 00:06:59.295
I think the blue game was red version.

00:06:59.295 --> 00:07:00.875
He took the red game boy, the blue version.

00:07:01.290 --> 00:07:02.649
Ooh, what about the starters?

00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:04.649
Did y'all choose the same starters, different starters?

00:07:04.745 --> 00:07:07.365
so I was actually a little unorthodox in my starters.

00:07:07.375 --> 00:07:07.824
Now, don't get me wrong.

00:07:07.824 --> 00:07:09.504
I love Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle.

00:07:09.504 --> 00:07:18.225
Those will always be my OG favorites, but when I did play, I actually relegated Charmander, which I did pick originally, but my, my, my go to.

00:07:18.654 --> 00:07:22.894
Through any playthrough of Pokemon I've ever done in my life has always been Nidoran and Nidoking.

00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:24.529
Really?

00:07:25.004 --> 00:07:30.654
cause Nidoking is an absolute monster that's so underrated cause it can learn most of the HMs.

00:07:30.958 --> 00:07:34.637
It can learn ground moves, poison moves, it can learn ice, all that.

00:07:34.658 --> 00:07:36.307
It has such a huge movepool.

00:07:37.997 --> 00:07:42.038
when I got that and made it to Brock, I'm like, oh, you know, it had double kick.

00:07:42.038 --> 00:07:43.507
I'm like, cool, it'll take out Brock.

00:07:43.968 --> 00:08:01.237
And we got to Misty and all that, but then I had like a, I think I had like Bellsprout at the time, you know, moving your way through Moon Cave and all that, but yeah, Nidoking was just an absolute monster at that point, but yeah, I always relegated Charizard to number two, so like, if you look at my levels, my Nidoking was always a higher level than my original starter.

00:08:01.812 --> 00:08:07.312
So, you still kept the starter in your party, you just always focused more on Nidoran whenever you could catch it.

00:08:07.387 --> 00:08:08.408
Exactly, yes.

00:08:08.663 --> 00:08:10.062
Oh, okay, I thought you benched your starter.

00:08:10.062 --> 00:08:12.093
I'm like, dude, this is mind blowing.

00:08:12.093 --> 00:08:14.973
I've never heard anybody say they benched their starter before in my life.

00:08:15.237 --> 00:08:21.567
okay, I have benched the starter, it was actually when I started playing, Gen 3, Hoenn, with Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire.

00:08:21.937 --> 00:08:25.377
I got to about, I want to say, sail port, I believe.

00:08:25.377 --> 00:08:26.997
And that's actually when I started benching my starters.

00:08:27.007 --> 00:08:29.327
Cause I did at that point, I had Flygon.

00:08:29.327 --> 00:08:31.877
I could get other stronger type Pokemon.

00:08:31.918 --> 00:08:33.107
So I was doing that.

00:08:33.107 --> 00:08:35.148
I actually benched my gen three starters.

00:08:35.538 --> 00:08:37.508
well that's more understandable if you did Gen 1 though.

00:08:37.748 --> 00:08:39.498
Dude, you would be a renegade right now.

00:08:39.498 --> 00:08:44.148
Like, Gen 1, it's like, I would say it's almost a sin if you did bench your starter.

00:08:44.177 --> 00:08:46.067
Like, that's why I was more prepared for that.

00:08:46.067 --> 00:08:47.187
Later gens, I can understand.

00:08:47.187 --> 00:08:52.447
Gen 1, ooooh, if somebody says you benched your Bulbasaur, Charmander Squirtle, you'd be on your own.

00:08:52.538 --> 00:08:52.878
Yeah.

00:08:52.898 --> 00:08:54.878
You would be, you'd be alienated from your friends.

00:08:55.643 --> 00:08:59.769
Now I will say though, I actually agree with you on Nidoking cause I used Nidoking myself.

00:08:59.769 --> 00:09:02.558
I always used it in conjunction, oddly enough, with Charmander.

00:09:02.979 --> 00:09:07.668
Because they kind of both, the only downside they were both weak against water, which helped, which sucked against Misty.

00:09:07.668 --> 00:09:11.719
But I like Nidoking as well because Nidoran always learned Horn Attack at level 8.

00:09:12.015 --> 00:09:14.216
but then it evolved into Nidorino at level 16.

00:09:14.576 --> 00:09:17.275
And it was just a very strong attacker for the early game.

00:09:17.275 --> 00:09:22.135
And even late game it wasn't too bad cause like you said it learns serve, it learned strength, and the stuff you kind of need.

00:09:22.541 --> 00:09:41.857
and that's, and that's, I'm glad you brought up with Misty again, even though it was weak to water, if you didn't get the Moonstone right away, like you didn't use it right away, Nidorino was actually very strong against Misty, because it was just pure poison, so water was doing neutral damage against it, so I evolved my Nidoking after Misty, so then when you go to Lieutenant Surge, it has the ground typing, and his electric moves won't do anything to you at that point.

00:09:42.445 --> 00:09:46.162
so we talked about, you know, the first generation, it sounds like you at least played till gen three.

00:09:46.162 --> 00:09:49.511
Did you continue to play throughout the entire team or did you take a break at some point with Pokemon?

00:09:49.626 --> 00:09:51.866
I took a little bit of a break about, I want to say sun and moon.

00:09:51.917 --> 00:09:53.767
I did like, and I did like gen three a lot.

00:09:53.767 --> 00:09:56.586
Holbein was, I was like a really a breath of fresh air.

00:09:56.586 --> 00:10:00.096
Cause, gold, silver crystal are my favorites, but like you got to rehash Canto.

00:10:00.096 --> 00:10:06.187
So it was a lot of fun when gen three came out and kind of had the same graphics from, Emerald till about.

00:10:06.187 --> 00:10:34.220
Sudden Moon on the 3DS, it was like, okay, it was a breath of fresh air, but Sudden Moon is kind of where I took a break and I kind of came back after Black and White 2 with, Sword and Shield and Sword and Shield was absolutely, I had a blast with Sword and Shield, with the connectivity from Pokemon Go, so I kind of, you know, I cheated a little bit, sent over a couple of Shinies, you know, that I could pick up and then train, so, I will say this, in Sword, I benched my starter, I did not like the starters, So when I got to the point where I could, I dumped Cinderace like a, like a sack of coal.

00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:35.340
Oh, wow.

00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:37.600
He just didn't like any of the starters from sword and shield.

00:10:37.809 --> 00:10:42.120
yeah, no, none of, I, I, I just picked Scorbunny just because you had to, I had to pick one of them.

00:10:42.413 --> 00:10:49.400
After that though, when I got, further in the game, I was able to transfer, you know, my Nidoking, one of my Eeveelutions and all that, I, I dumped Cinderace.

00:10:50.951 --> 00:10:53.431
Now you said like, you know, you were cheating with the Chinese.

00:10:53.431 --> 00:10:54.681
I'm like, you're not really cheating.

00:10:54.681 --> 00:10:57.951
You actually did still catch a shiny Pokemon just in Pokemon go though.

00:10:58.186 --> 00:10:58.676
Exactly.

00:10:58.676 --> 00:11:00.905
I don't have to put in all the work into sword.

00:11:01.467 --> 00:11:09.498
I know there's kind of a, I don't wanna say debate, but some people consider getting Shinies in Pokemon Go and transferring them over as kind of like you quote unquote cheating because it's easier.

00:11:10.048 --> 00:11:16.368
Are you kind of to that level where it sounds like you're more laid back to where like, as Shinies are Shiny, I'd rather go ahead and get it over with and get it on my decks.

00:11:16.437 --> 00:11:16.758
Yeah.

00:11:16.988 --> 00:11:17.668
A shiny is a shiny.

00:11:17.677 --> 00:11:18.357
That's how I looked at it.

00:11:18.418 --> 00:11:24.212
and in sword, honestly, with, I've logged about, I want to say a little over 200 hours in sword and shield combined.

00:11:24.243 --> 00:11:26.783
I've never actually caught a shiny in sword and shield.

00:11:27.143 --> 00:11:33.312
The only shinies I have are, oh yeah, the only shinies I have are the result of from Pokemon Go to home and then into sword and shield.

00:11:33.692 --> 00:11:36.013
Wow, so you wouldn't have any Shinies if it wasn't for Pokemon Go.

00:11:37.043 --> 00:11:38.062
Not even with the Raid Dens?

00:11:38.062 --> 00:11:40.332
I know a lot of people would do the Shiny hunting in Raid Dens.

00:11:40.442 --> 00:11:41.513
I did raid dens a lot.

00:11:41.523 --> 00:11:42.533
I never got a shiny.

00:11:42.533 --> 00:11:43.602
I did quite a few of them.

00:11:43.602 --> 00:11:46.222
And when those things were like first came on, we're first really popular.

00:11:46.673 --> 00:11:47.462
I didn't get a shiny.

00:11:47.462 --> 00:11:49.682
I got a lot of strong, Evie Pokemon.

00:11:49.682 --> 00:11:52.251
Like the Evie's were great, but no shinies.

00:11:52.251 --> 00:11:57.091
Now, at the time, you know, we're recording this, you know, Sword and Shield, the Pokemon, they aren't really in the game yet.

00:11:57.471 --> 00:12:02.432
And there's looming rumors of Gigantamaxes and all the different raids that were introduced from that generation.

00:12:02.782 --> 00:12:08.261
You know, what are your hopes for whenever Pokemon Go does bring the Pokemon from that generation into the game?

00:12:08.841 --> 00:12:10.111
it should have been sooner than later.

00:12:10.437 --> 00:12:15.996
I don't want to say Pierce, but I was a little more on like, they should release each generation in order with the exception of legendaries and megas.

00:12:16.366 --> 00:12:19.586
I get the concept of like, okay, hold back mega Mewtwo for a little bit.

00:12:19.893 --> 00:12:23.138
you know, don't release Lugia when you release gen two, that kind of thing.

00:12:23.138 --> 00:12:23.177
Okay.

00:12:23.602 --> 00:12:28.653
But the fact that we have over 40 Paldean Pokemon and still only I think what 15 from Galar.

00:12:28.653 --> 00:12:31.413
It's like come on We're we essentially skipped a generation

00:12:32.038 --> 00:12:33.498
don't even know if we have 15, do we?

00:12:33.577 --> 00:12:34.368
I feel like it's less than

00:12:34.582 --> 00:12:36.913
It's something like that, but it's it's not many from Galar.

00:12:36.913 --> 00:12:42.320
I just know it's Zashu, Zamazenta, and a couple others But yeah, I'm really looking forward Galar because I did like that.

00:12:42.630 --> 00:12:46.298
I'd have to say from Galar sword and shield like Drednaw was one of my favorites.

00:12:46.298 --> 00:12:51.046
I really liked that one really strong physical attacker and just an absolute goofy looking Pokemon.

00:12:51.340 --> 00:12:52.720
but yeah, I'm looking forward to that one.

00:12:53.335 --> 00:12:55.164
So, you know, let's come back to Pokemon Go.

00:12:55.184 --> 00:12:57.245
You know, Pokemon Go, we're back to 2016.

00:12:57.585 --> 00:12:59.774
Did you stick with the game throughout, or did you take a break as well?

00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:01.340
I am not even kidding.

00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:03.840
My, my then friend, who's not my fiance.

00:13:04.254 --> 00:13:05.294
but she can vouch for it.

00:13:05.315 --> 00:13:07.658
I have not taken a day off from playing the game.

00:13:07.668 --> 00:13:13.548
Like I can, if there was a way to track how many days in a row I've played the game, I'd probably no joke, be up there in the top of the world.

00:13:13.548 --> 00:13:14.568
Who's never missed a day.

00:13:14.979 --> 00:13:18.609
Do we really want to know, like, the in game time of how much we've really spent in Pokemon Go?

00:13:18.788 --> 00:13:20.318
Part of me is kind of grateful that I don't.

00:13:20.458 --> 00:13:25.379
I honestly, I kind of do, but I can kind of put interest into perspective.

00:13:25.719 --> 00:13:29.499
my gym defending hours is over 300, 000 hours defended in a gym.

00:13:29.802 --> 00:13:37.745
and, I'm trying to think here, there's not really another way to determine it, like how long you've played the game, just, just the, just You know, July 6th, 2016.

00:13:38.345 --> 00:13:51.585
Yeah, well, you know, like a lot of people say, like, if you look at the medals, the higher the medals are, the more you play this game, that's kind of usually the best way to kind of gauge how much time you really put into this game, you know, like 300, 000 hours for Jim is pretty high up there.

00:13:51.585 --> 00:13:58.264
There's, of course, people with higher, but that takes a lot of dedication, takes a lot of putting Pokemon and Jim's being intentional with playing Pokemon Go.

00:13:58.434 --> 00:13:59.658
And a good chunk of that.

00:13:59.698 --> 00:14:00.769
So it's 300, 000 hours.

00:14:00.818 --> 00:14:01.239
So yeah, you're right.

00:14:01.239 --> 00:14:03.668
It's a lot of dedication, but there's actually no joke.

00:14:03.999 --> 00:14:07.567
I had a Pokemon traveling one day and came across this gym.

00:14:07.868 --> 00:14:08.768
It was gray.

00:14:09.128 --> 00:14:12.057
And I'm like, okay, maybe somebody, I wasn't kind of that nuisance.

00:14:12.057 --> 00:14:18.038
I would knock somebody out of a gym, but I would leave it gray just to be that person, but I came across this gym.

00:14:18.038 --> 00:14:22.398
That was great Driving through Texas, actually West Texas, coming from East to West.

00:14:22.508 --> 00:14:25.128
And there was this gym I came across and again, it was gray.

00:14:25.518 --> 00:14:26.217
I dropped in.

00:14:26.317 --> 00:14:26.748
Okay.

00:14:27.076 --> 00:14:27.865
I'm not even kidding.

00:14:27.865 --> 00:14:29.206
I'm actually opening my game now.

00:14:29.511 --> 00:14:33.192
I was in that gym for no joke 1340 days straight.

00:14:33.878 --> 00:14:35.427
1300 days would be four years,

00:14:35.528 --> 00:14:37.778
Yeah, it was in that gym for over four years

00:14:38.227 --> 00:14:39.097
Jeez.

00:14:39.118 --> 00:14:40.707
It was in the middle of West Texas.

00:14:40.817 --> 00:14:40.947
I'm

00:14:41.097 --> 00:14:45.888
it's just I just noticed this the gym is like Southern Texas between El Paso and Dallas.

00:14:46.484 --> 00:14:48.543
So what's your way to kind of play Pokemon Go?

00:14:48.543 --> 00:14:50.134
Do you like to like shiny hunt?

00:14:50.134 --> 00:14:51.573
Are you into gyms?

00:14:52.139 --> 00:14:55.188
So, I'm actually more along the lines of a hardcore Raider.

00:14:55.188 --> 00:15:00.278
So of course, you know, the first couple of years, everybody was just catching shiny, no shinies weren't available yet.

00:15:00.288 --> 00:15:01.298
So it was just a lot of catching.

00:15:01.615 --> 00:15:03.515
but when raids came out, I was a fiend.

00:15:03.525 --> 00:15:05.966
Like I was like, I was doing raids as much as I could.

00:15:06.260 --> 00:15:08.740
you know, at the time you were, everyone was level 40.

00:15:09.250 --> 00:15:28.041
Alright, well, most people level 40, but like, I didn't hit level 40 until about, I want to say, end of 2017, I'd have to go back and look at my Facebook post, but we would just do raids, like, get four or five of us together, and we actually did some massive raid trains, but I was, like I said, I just had to do the raids, like, when the raids came out, that was absolutely crazy, we did that a lot.

00:15:28.642 --> 00:15:31.682
What was it about the raids that kind of got you hooked into that part of the game?

00:15:31.802 --> 00:15:35.162
At that time, if you remember the raids, it was exclusivity.

00:15:35.182 --> 00:15:39.432
So the first raids were Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, and Lugia, Ho Oh.

00:15:39.730 --> 00:15:41.649
And so Lugia is my all time favorite legendary.

00:15:41.649 --> 00:15:45.289
So we would do the birds and the first time these raids came out.

00:15:45.289 --> 00:15:45.889
I'm not even kidding.

00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:49.345
We had in the city of Las Cruces, there's less than a hundred thousand people.

00:15:49.648 --> 00:15:56.378
We go to the first Lugia raid and it was, I swear, in this little church parking lot that could fit maybe 50 cars.

00:15:56.696 --> 00:15:59.586
We had 400 plus people show up for the raid.

00:15:59.966 --> 00:16:01.926
And so I was team Valor.

00:16:01.926 --> 00:16:02.816
I led all the Valor.

00:16:02.826 --> 00:16:04.596
My fiance was instinct.

00:16:04.605 --> 00:16:05.576
She led all the instinct.

00:16:05.885 --> 00:16:07.426
We found a random mystic player.

00:16:07.426 --> 00:16:08.855
We were like, Hey, we need you to help out.

00:16:08.855 --> 00:16:09.985
So they took all the mystic players.

00:16:09.985 --> 00:16:14.871
So we had literally had, three separate groups of Valor mystic instinct jump into these raids at 20 people at a time.

00:16:14.922 --> 00:16:18.052
And just to do the one Lugia, because we were all like, we wanted to make sure we all got it.

00:16:18.062 --> 00:16:19.282
So we were just there as a group.

00:16:19.615 --> 00:16:25.644
And so, to do all those raids, like those 400 people, it took us about an hour just to do the one raid, and then we moved on.

00:16:26.245 --> 00:16:27.446
Just to add some context real quick.

00:16:27.446 --> 00:16:33.855
So back in the day when raids first started, the reason why you had to divide into teams like he did is that there was actually a team bonus.

00:16:34.046 --> 00:16:38.916
So if you didn't divide into the teams like he did, you would actually not get as many premier balls.

00:16:38.916 --> 00:16:48.525
Cause I think usually the problem we had here, I'm pretty sure you probably did here using instinct would only get like six or seven balls while this sticker ballot, we get like, I think 13 or 14.

00:16:48.525 --> 00:16:52.605
We lived in luxury while instinct lived in poverty, basically, but that's why it was so important to do that.

00:16:52.903 --> 00:16:57.982
it's funny you brought that up, because I watched the original, Honest trailer for Pokemon Go on Fandom Games.

00:16:58.528 --> 00:17:03.788
And they said the assholes of team Valor, the emos of team Mystic and the paint eaters of team Instinct.

00:17:04.442 --> 00:17:06.242
Oh my god, that, that, that me?

00:17:07.367 --> 00:17:08.337
That was, that was great.

00:17:08.337 --> 00:17:10.867
When I heard that, I am so just going to go with that.

00:17:10.928 --> 00:17:13.798
And every Instinct player I meet, they're like, you're like, yeah, we eat paint.

00:17:13.837 --> 00:17:14.268
We play.

00:17:14.809 --> 00:17:17.650
So, with the raids, you know, you have 400 people.

00:17:17.650 --> 00:17:18.500
That's gotta be crazy.

00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:19.740
How do you lead that many people?

00:17:19.740 --> 00:17:23.759
You just kind of filter them in, like, Did y'all go to the next raid afterwards?

00:17:23.875 --> 00:17:24.164
Yeah.

00:17:24.164 --> 00:17:27.404
So the way we let them, as you did, we did a dead poet society.

00:17:27.404 --> 00:17:29.734
Oh, captain, my captain, I jumped up on the ledge.

00:17:29.734 --> 00:17:31.840
Like if you are Valor, come over here.

00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:33.411
If you're Instinct, go over there.

00:17:33.411 --> 00:17:35.181
And then so that people were just like, okay, cool.

00:17:35.530 --> 00:17:36.310
And so we did that.

00:17:36.310 --> 00:17:38.701
And this is when the, this is like, again, OG raids.

00:17:38.996 --> 00:17:43.236
The egg still had the timer on it, so it was an hour timer, so we had enough time to divide everybody.

00:17:43.556 --> 00:17:45.935
The raid was an hour at the time, so like, okay, cool.

00:17:46.365 --> 00:17:52.476
And that's how we did it, and yeah, after we did that, People actually, a lot of people were able to park away from the church, so it wasn't too bad traffic wise.

00:17:52.826 --> 00:18:00.200
But yeah, we went to the next raid, which was like an Articuno about 10 minutes down the road, did that, and then we went to, New Mexico City University.

00:18:00.532 --> 00:18:03.323
And just basically dominated the campus.

00:18:03.343 --> 00:18:06.906
we just like, you had hundreds of people walking up and down the campus doing raids at that point.

00:18:07.499 --> 00:18:12.540
Now, something that people will notice if they check out your content, you actually started getting into short man raids.

00:18:12.730 --> 00:18:15.329
Like you would try to do raids with the least amount of, people as possible.

00:18:15.369 --> 00:18:16.380
Can you tell me a little bit about that?

00:18:16.944 --> 00:18:22.118
So that started, when I met my friend Nico in El Paso, Texas about, 2018.

00:18:22.451 --> 00:18:28.872
he was the top player in El Paso and this guy in 2018 already had 5, 000 raids.

00:18:29.199 --> 00:18:33.459
so he had Pokemon built to take these raids out with a minimal team.

00:18:33.469 --> 00:18:35.999
Like he was, he, he had his own little group of about six people.

00:18:35.999 --> 00:18:38.778
They would just go around El Paso taking out these raids, just like that.

00:18:38.808 --> 00:18:41.229
So met them, you know, headed off.

00:18:41.229 --> 00:18:42.128
We were friends and yeah.

00:18:42.128 --> 00:18:43.729
So I became a part of that little raid group.

00:18:44.061 --> 00:18:45.892
he would show me, he goes, here's, here's what I do.

00:18:45.922 --> 00:18:47.291
Here's how I divide my Pokemon.

00:18:47.291 --> 00:18:47.682
Okay.

00:18:48.142 --> 00:18:52.872
And so now actually he and I ended up dominating the El Paso area leaderboard in a district.

00:18:52.892 --> 00:18:55.321
They had a raid leaderboard and he and I are one and two.

00:18:55.781 --> 00:18:59.271
In terms of total solo raids and total group raids for fastest time.

00:18:59.832 --> 00:19:05.382
And at this point, except for Megalatius, Megalatius, and I believe Lugia.

00:19:05.852 --> 00:19:08.862
There's no raid I can't duo with my fiance.

00:19:09.092 --> 00:19:11.862
Or with anybody else that's on my friends list as far as best friends go.

00:19:12.439 --> 00:19:14.469
do you also include that with party play as well?

00:19:14.864 --> 00:19:20.223
No, like we didn't, so at party play we did, we do like when there's a bigger group, just to get the raid done quicker.

00:19:20.493 --> 00:19:25.753
But like when my fiance and I have duo to raid, I actually, we don't, we don't, we forget to jump into a party, so we just go and do the raid.

00:19:25.753 --> 00:19:27.314
So we actually don't have party power.

00:19:27.634 --> 00:19:35.574
So if we did, obviously we'd get it a little bit quicker, but, yeah, no, I actually, we, she and I don't use, my friend, his name is Wicked Deebo is another one that I've raided with.

00:19:35.574 --> 00:19:37.334
And, yeah, we just forget to do party play.

00:19:38.321 --> 00:19:41.281
You've been listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:19:41.871 --> 00:19:43.270
We're going to take a quick break.

00:19:43.681 --> 00:19:44.760
We'll be right back.

00:20:45.270 --> 00:20:46.421
You talk about your fiance.

00:20:46.421 --> 00:20:48.661
So did y'all met through Pokemon by chance?

00:20:49.105 --> 00:20:49.776
we did.

00:20:50.161 --> 00:20:50.990
Oh, you got to tell me this.

00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.451
I love a good love story with Pokemon.

00:20:52.566 --> 00:20:53.346
Oh man.

00:20:53.655 --> 00:20:58.326
the game came out and put about the first few months, I was, I wasn't a loner since I had where I was working a lot.

00:20:58.326 --> 00:20:59.996
So I'd actually started going back to college.

00:21:00.431 --> 00:21:03.691
I was working, so I would play in between classes or on my way to work.

00:21:04.013 --> 00:21:09.253
And so finally, during that, my first, break in school, I just walked around NMSU one weekend and I saw the group.

00:21:09.253 --> 00:21:14.074
So that's where I met her, my now best friend Josh, who I was actually his best man.

00:21:14.084 --> 00:21:15.213
He used to be my best man.

00:21:15.614 --> 00:21:28.513
So yeah, we, we all met as like a single group and, Yeah, she and I met through Pokemon, about a year later we started dating, so that was about 2016, so yeah, about 2017, halfway through, we've been together, it'll be 7 years in August.

00:21:28.913 --> 00:21:29.493
Wow.

00:21:29.513 --> 00:21:32.433
And y'all play Pokemon go together and y'all go out and do these raids and everything.

00:21:32.624 --> 00:21:40.144
religiously, we have a 4 year old son, he has his own account, he plays with us, so, yeah, he also, he can also throw a curveball too, so.

00:21:40.673 --> 00:21:42.044
Hey, howdy.

00:21:42.044 --> 00:21:43.773
So he's four years old and he's already throwing curve balls.

00:21:43.773 --> 00:21:44.413
That's crazy.

00:21:44.469 --> 00:21:46.798
Yeah, and he does have bragging rights over me.

00:21:46.808 --> 00:21:51.229
His, he's got a shadow shiny Mewtwo while my fiance and I have done so many shadow Mewtwo raids.

00:21:51.538 --> 00:21:53.088
He's got a shadow shiny on us.

00:21:53.709 --> 00:21:55.798
Now, I gotta ask, so your wife is Instinct.

00:21:55.798 --> 00:21:57.618
You're, you're Team Valor, right?

00:21:58.578 --> 00:21:59.679
What did your son choose?

00:21:59.804 --> 00:22:01.013
He chose, we let him choose.

00:22:01.013 --> 00:22:03.364
We just pulled up the screen and he chose Valor.

00:22:03.384 --> 00:22:05.344
I didn't, we, neither one of us influenced him.

00:22:05.433 --> 00:22:05.663
Yeah.

00:22:05.663 --> 00:22:07.794
We just put, we just said, this is red, blue, and yellow.

00:22:07.794 --> 00:22:08.394
He's like, okay.

00:22:08.394 --> 00:22:09.584
He sat there and no joke.

00:22:09.594 --> 00:22:13.173
He sat there a couple, like about 10, 15 seconds and he picked Valor.

00:22:13.173 --> 00:22:15.384
We're like, are you're like, you're sure you want the red one?

00:22:15.384 --> 00:22:15.993
He's all, yes.

00:22:16.338 --> 00:22:17.009
It's like, okay,

00:22:17.858 --> 00:22:18.278
Wow.

00:22:18.398 --> 00:22:20.868
You know, it's funny how me, you, we grew up with Pokemon.

00:22:20.868 --> 00:22:23.148
Our biggest challenge is trying to figure out which Kanto starter.

00:22:23.348 --> 00:22:25.038
Your son is trying to figure out which team to join.

00:22:25.568 --> 00:22:26.269
exactly.

00:22:26.986 --> 00:22:27.885
What do y'all do as family?

00:22:27.976 --> 00:22:30.286
Like, do y'all like, go to parks and play at times?

00:22:30.286 --> 00:22:32.826
Like, what does that kind of dynamic look like with Pokemon Go?

00:22:33.066 --> 00:22:36.986
So we actually, conveniently, live a five minute walk from a pretty large park.

00:22:36.986 --> 00:22:39.965
So we'll, just go walk over there, play for a little bit.

00:22:40.205 --> 00:22:42.145
He'll play for, I'm not, he's a four year old.

00:22:42.165 --> 00:22:47.026
He's attention spans are that large, but he'll play for about 10 minutes and then he'll go play in the playground.

00:22:47.286 --> 00:22:49.586
But then the playground he plays on has like five stops around it.

00:22:49.625 --> 00:22:54.076
So we can just watch him and we'll walk around the park and walk around the playground and spend stops and catch the stuff.

00:22:54.665 --> 00:22:55.665
So he plays on his own though.

00:22:55.665 --> 00:22:55.806
Yeah.

00:22:55.806 --> 00:22:57.066
Y'all don't really help him at all.

00:22:57.401 --> 00:23:10.500
Oh no, we only help him get set up, but yeah, we put the iPad with him, and he'll sit there, he'll catch, he's picked his own outfit, he has, you know, he knows what Pokemon to transfer, sometimes he evolves too many, so he doesn't have any candy left, but yeah,

00:23:11.201 --> 00:23:12.412
Do you also watch the anime together?

00:23:12.412 --> 00:23:12.781
I assume.

00:23:13.326 --> 00:23:15.866
oh yeah, he, he loved, He loved the original animes.

00:23:16.156 --> 00:23:25.467
So what we could find for our stream, it's hard to find a real lot of the original Pokemon anime, but we did get, and Netflix does have the original, Pokemon, so he watched that.

00:23:25.757 --> 00:23:26.596
He loved it.

00:23:26.646 --> 00:23:31.760
his favorite character actually is not Ash, it's actually Go from the new Master's series, the Master's Journeys.

00:23:32.076 --> 00:23:32.855
Oh, really?

00:23:32.921 --> 00:23:36.611
he loves Go, but we started him first with Pokemon, you know, Indigo series.

00:23:36.881 --> 00:23:45.641
We found a couple more like Amazon where Ash is in Johto or Hoenn, but, yeah, his favorite so far has been, watching Master's Journeys and his favorite is Go.

00:23:46.230 --> 00:23:49.980
You know, we talked about how both you and me, we grew up with Pokemon.

00:23:50.030 --> 00:23:52.141
We grew up with, you know, hysteria back in the nineties.

00:23:52.141 --> 00:23:55.961
We grew up, you grew up throughout Pokemon and now you got your son experiencing Pokemon.

00:23:56.250 --> 00:23:57.951
What is it like to kind of see that?

00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:00.040
Interested in Pokemon come out of your son

00:24:00.626 --> 00:24:05.866
it's interesting because it's hard for me to gauge it because he's experiencing this at four years old.

00:24:05.866 --> 00:24:07.636
When we were four, we were eating paste.

00:24:08.396 --> 00:24:09.047
were team instinct

00:24:09.211 --> 00:24:10.892
yeah, exactly.

00:24:11.987 --> 00:24:14.727
But he's four years old and he's understanding this.

00:24:14.727 --> 00:24:17.304
So he's able to sit there on an iPad and play Pokemon go.

00:24:17.304 --> 00:24:18.993
And I can say he's not an iPad kid.

00:24:18.993 --> 00:24:20.894
We just, that's the device we let him use.

00:24:20.894 --> 00:24:22.963
And so he's an experience of the four years old.

00:24:22.963 --> 00:24:25.173
I get to experience, you know, like eight, nine years old.

00:24:25.173 --> 00:24:28.203
So it's fun to see him just react the way he's reacting.

00:24:28.203 --> 00:24:33.173
When we're sitting on a game boy with one, not even 151, but like 148 Pokemon.

00:24:33.491 --> 00:24:36.882
And just grinding our way to beating the elite four for the hundredth time.

00:24:36.882 --> 00:24:40.961
And he's sitting here, like got Pokemon that would decimate our team from back in the day.

00:24:41.548 --> 00:24:46.917
Now any plans for when he turns 10 years old that you're gonna send him on his own and try to become become a Pokemon master

00:24:47.333 --> 00:24:48.522
no, yeah, actually.

00:24:48.803 --> 00:24:48.883
Yeah.

00:24:48.883 --> 00:24:52.732
So he's, he does want to be a Pokemon master at the moment.

00:24:52.742 --> 00:24:54.182
Like he's got Pokemon stuff.

00:24:54.182 --> 00:24:59.502
He's like, he loves his stuff, Charles or stuff Venusaur, but he will be picking his own starter at 10.

00:24:59.502 --> 00:25:08.842
So what we're going to do is kind of get like a few generations worth of starters and kind of narrow it down, but you pick your favorite from here, here, here, And then, but he will eventually pick his overall starter at 10.

00:25:09.541 --> 00:25:10.372
Oh, that'd be awesome.

00:25:10.372 --> 00:25:11.741
That's kind of a cool family tradition.

00:25:11.741 --> 00:25:12.432
I like it.

00:25:12.732 --> 00:25:13.333
Who thought of that?

00:25:13.343 --> 00:25:14.313
Did you think of it, or?

00:25:14.333 --> 00:25:16.623
Oh, my both my fiance and I, she loves Pokemon.

00:25:17.093 --> 00:25:18.742
Her favorite Pokemon is Eevee.

00:25:18.782 --> 00:25:22.813
I swear to God, you could give her a shiny Eevee, a regular Eevee for trade.

00:25:23.063 --> 00:25:27.057
She will trade you a shiny Mewtwo or anything just to get an Eevee.

00:25:27.367 --> 00:25:27.988
Oh, really?

00:25:28.018 --> 00:25:28.307
Thanks.

00:25:28.327 --> 00:25:29.377
She loves Evie that much.

00:25:29.627 --> 00:25:30.678
her love for Eevee's deep

00:25:31.028 --> 00:25:32.288
It is hardcore.

00:25:32.577 --> 00:25:35.778
and of course it's almost like my love for Nittle King, but I'm like, I'm cool.

00:25:35.778 --> 00:25:37.518
Like my ni king, like Pokemon cards.

00:25:37.518 --> 00:25:42.063
I have her just having Nito King, like she will take Evie any which way she can get Evie It

00:25:43.988 --> 00:25:44.557
What about you?

00:25:44.557 --> 00:25:45.657
What's your favorite Pokemon?

00:25:46.048 --> 00:25:47.317
is Nittle king, hardcore

00:25:47.438 --> 00:25:48.347
Oh, so it is Needleking.

00:25:48.367 --> 00:25:49.117
It is Nittle King.

00:25:49.117 --> 00:25:49.417
Yeah.

00:25:49.417 --> 00:25:53.768
So I have, a friend of mine, 3D printed, a ni king, a shiny new king for me.

00:25:53.768 --> 00:25:55.778
I had a custom ni king card made.

00:25:56.218 --> 00:25:59.268
I have a couple old school Nidoking cards from back in the 90s.

00:25:59.278 --> 00:26:02.678
one's a crystal Nidoking, one's a Giovanni's Nidoking, first edition.

00:26:03.218 --> 00:26:07.525
So yeah, those are ones that are like graded and I keep those, those are like my keepsakes.

00:26:07.813 --> 00:26:14.903
It's unfortunate, you know, when you talk about just the trading card game, I don't really remember much Nidoking good card art, you know?

00:26:15.103 --> 00:26:18.403
Like the first one, which is base set, it's just a standard, image.

00:26:18.403 --> 00:26:19.623
There's nothing really too special to it.

00:26:19.853 --> 00:26:23.343
I think Giovanni has it like just standing forward in a different angle.

00:26:23.343 --> 00:26:25.863
It's not really, there's nothing really different from what I can remember.

00:26:26.228 --> 00:26:28.337
So that's generally, that's pretty much true.

00:26:28.337 --> 00:26:32.478
Like the, like, and I have the cards just because again, Nidoking is my favorite, but I see where you're going on that one.

00:26:32.718 --> 00:26:38.897
My, I have to say like the most unique Nidoking design is definitely the crystal one from the Aquapolis series.

00:26:38.923 --> 00:26:45.472
Because, A, it's, it's got different typings, it's not, it's, it's showing like the colorless versus like the plant or poison.

00:26:45.792 --> 00:26:49.573
but it just looks way more hardcore with the aqua polis series than it does any other card.

00:26:49.888 --> 00:26:53.778
And actually I have a great, I have a great story regarding this Nidoking.

00:26:53.788 --> 00:26:55.378
So I bought this Nidoking off of eBay.

00:26:55.419 --> 00:27:02.921
I asked my fiance at the time for permission because it was like a little splurge buy, but it's just, it's a, it's a PSA five Aquapolis Nidoking.

00:27:03.256 --> 00:27:06.016
And it was one of, it's one of my two favorite Nidoking cards ever.

00:27:06.016 --> 00:27:07.726
So I was like, okay, she's like, yeah, go ahead and get it.

00:27:08.086 --> 00:27:08.526
I'm like, great.

00:27:08.526 --> 00:27:10.675
So I bought it and I've had it.

00:27:11.145 --> 00:27:14.445
so when the, when I bought it, we were actually in the process of, I got promoted my job.

00:27:14.445 --> 00:27:15.415
So we're moving up to Albuquerque.

00:27:16.131 --> 00:27:20.641
And one night I'm at work and my truck actually got broken into, got a good old Albuquerque.

00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:27.830
So they actually stole Nidoking because the Nidoking was in there because I was going to send it off the next morning to CGC for re encapsulation through their system.

00:27:28.181 --> 00:27:30.151
Just to re emphasize, this is a good story, right?

00:27:30.161 --> 00:27:31.070
It's not a bad story.

00:27:31.300 --> 00:27:31.590
Okay.

00:27:31.651 --> 00:27:33.230
this is a good story.

00:27:33.641 --> 00:27:35.431
so they did, unfortunately broke into the truck.

00:27:35.431 --> 00:27:39.510
I, as this is where I didn't notice because like they punched the lockout, I didn't notice.

00:27:39.621 --> 00:27:41.280
So like I literally drove home that night.

00:27:41.626 --> 00:27:48.686
well, drove to my friend's house, so I was staying with it, and then I was like, just went to sleep, wake up, and all of a sudden, I'm like, wait, I gotta unlock the truck, I'm like, wait, why is it not clicking?

00:27:48.836 --> 00:28:01.563
So I go over there, I see the lock is punched out, I'm like, oh crap, so that's when I realized in the morning, it was broken into, they stole basically everything minus the stereo, which, I'll be honest, there wasn't much to steal in the truck anyway, but.

00:28:01.763 --> 00:28:03.626
They obviously got the valuable thing.

00:28:03.686 --> 00:28:05.386
So, I was, I was devastated.

00:28:05.787 --> 00:28:09.323
my wife got the idea to ask the Albuquerque community for help.

00:28:09.333 --> 00:28:13.153
So, Albuquerque obviously has a Pokemon card page, as well as a Pokemon Go page.

00:28:13.461 --> 00:28:15.332
And we asked, like, hey, here's a picture of the card.

00:28:15.652 --> 00:28:22.892
We're like, we know it's a long shot, but if anybody comes across this card, you know, we have proof it's mine, through the PSA, it's been re registered, through all that.

00:28:23.311 --> 00:28:24.862
And people are like, you know, we'll keep an eye out.

00:28:25.195 --> 00:28:31.775
I'm not kidding that two weeks later, there was a hit, this guy was trying to sell it on Facebook and he didn't even break it out of the case.

00:28:31.775 --> 00:28:33.714
Like, so this guy hits me on Facebook.

00:28:33.734 --> 00:28:34.694
Hey, is this your card?

00:28:34.724 --> 00:28:38.704
And I'm like, I looked at it and he sent me the post straight off the serial numbers matched.

00:28:38.724 --> 00:28:39.815
I'm like, there's no way.

00:28:40.444 --> 00:28:40.944
And.

00:28:41.375 --> 00:28:42.815
Yeah, so I messaged the guy.

00:28:42.815 --> 00:28:44.414
I was like, Hey, I messaged all nonchalant.

00:28:44.414 --> 00:28:48.095
I'm like, Hey, you know, I mentioned this card, you know, could we meet up so I could take a look at it?

00:28:48.105 --> 00:28:51.075
He's like, yeah, and he was like, he was lowballing it.

00:28:51.085 --> 00:28:52.914
Cause this car is like a four or 500 card.

00:28:52.914 --> 00:28:54.464
He's like, yeah, I'm only asking 250 for it.

00:28:54.464 --> 00:28:56.275
I'm like, Oh, you poor sad soul.

00:28:56.586 --> 00:28:57.136
so.

00:28:57.185 --> 00:29:05.506
I had actually filed a police report and, I had actually called the cops and told them I want a meeting with the guy and the APD dispatched because she goes, okay, she goes, let us know where you're meeting.

00:29:05.506 --> 00:29:06.586
We'll send an officer out.

00:29:06.605 --> 00:29:09.766
She goes, if you feel in danger at all, she goes, leave the sale.

00:29:09.776 --> 00:29:14.226
But I'm like, okay, but she's like, if you can get the card back, get the card and a cop, you know, officer will meet you.

00:29:14.226 --> 00:29:14.945
I'm like, okay, great.

00:29:15.249 --> 00:29:21.749
So I go and meet the guy and I parked my truck like half a mile down the road, so he wouldn't see it in case it was the same person.

00:29:22.064 --> 00:29:24.374
I mean, I'm at this gas station and like, Hey, how's it going?

00:29:24.374 --> 00:29:24.913
Shake hands.

00:29:24.913 --> 00:29:26.304
So again, doesn't recognize you.

00:29:26.304 --> 00:29:27.144
Didn't nothing.

00:29:27.144 --> 00:29:30.057
So it's just like a typical sale and he made the mistake.

00:29:30.057 --> 00:29:31.478
He had, I was like, yeah, I can take a look at the card.

00:29:31.478 --> 00:29:32.758
He hands me the card.

00:29:33.053 --> 00:29:34.653
And at that point, I'm like, I'm not giving it back.

00:29:35.222 --> 00:29:37.942
So I'm like, there's no way I'm looking at it.

00:29:37.942 --> 00:29:39.502
And this and that, and he's all tell me about it.

00:29:39.893 --> 00:29:41.153
I'm like, man, this is so great.

00:29:41.153 --> 00:29:42.673
I'm like, this card looks so familiar.

00:29:42.673 --> 00:29:43.143
He goes, really?

00:29:43.143 --> 00:29:45.393
I was like, yeah, cause it's the one that was stolen from my truck.

00:29:45.721 --> 00:29:47.412
And he paused deer in the headlights.

00:29:48.096 --> 00:29:49.926
he goes, he goes, this card wasn't stolen.

00:29:49.926 --> 00:29:50.797
I'm like, oh, it was.

00:29:50.797 --> 00:29:51.727
I'm like, I've got proof.

00:29:51.747 --> 00:29:52.477
This card is mine.

00:29:52.487 --> 00:29:53.537
And he goes, oh yeah, show me.

00:29:53.537 --> 00:29:56.061
So I pulled up my eBay account, PSA and all that.

00:29:56.061 --> 00:29:57.481
I was like, serial number is matching.

00:29:58.031 --> 00:29:59.971
And hell man, it was.

00:30:00.356 --> 00:30:00.856
Great.

00:30:00.866 --> 00:30:03.457
Because he sat there trying to deny the whole thing.

00:30:03.457 --> 00:30:05.317
Oh, well, some kind of casino sold me this.

00:30:05.317 --> 00:30:06.257
I'm like, yeah, sure.

00:30:09.767 --> 00:30:14.686
And it was funny because I, what he didn't see is that I had dispatch on the phone on speaker.

00:30:15.636 --> 00:30:17.596
So they were actually listening to the whole conversation.

00:30:17.596 --> 00:30:19.817
This guy gave me his first and last name even.

00:30:20.122 --> 00:30:25.551
And so I was like, they were, they were kind of like, so he had a buddy with him and they were kind of like, still giving me a stink.

00:30:25.551 --> 00:30:26.531
Like, there's no way this is your car.

00:30:26.531 --> 00:30:27.682
I'm like, dude, I have the proof.

00:30:28.257 --> 00:30:31.096
And I'm like, by the way, I have Albuquerque dispatch on the phone.

00:30:31.096 --> 00:30:31.987
Is there anything you want to say?

00:30:31.987 --> 00:30:39.699
And the dispatch was like, she goes, if I were you guys, you'd probably want to stay there because if you really did get in front of a casino, we'll need your information for the report.

00:30:40.409 --> 00:30:40.808
So

00:30:40.834 --> 00:30:41.574
What?

00:30:41.604 --> 00:30:42.513
Do they stick around?

00:30:42.548 --> 00:30:43.138
no, hell no.

00:30:43.138 --> 00:30:43.759
They took off.

00:30:44.534 --> 00:30:45.344
Dang!

00:30:46.012 --> 00:30:50.732
So I was actually, I got my card back and yeah, now I'm not, I'm not sending it back in anywhere.

00:30:50.732 --> 00:30:52.553
It's going to stay in this PSA case.

00:30:52.882 --> 00:30:54.592
And that's my story for that card.

00:30:54.622 --> 00:30:56.067
Like that's what, that's what happened with

00:30:56.656 --> 00:30:58.247
Have you been to any live events by chance

00:30:58.559 --> 00:30:59.214
like Okay.

00:30:59.214 --> 00:31:01.875
As far as like when I had six hosted, no, I haven't been to any of those.

00:31:02.531 --> 00:31:05.862
So I never got a chance to go to Chicago or go to New York or anything like that.

00:31:06.352 --> 00:31:16.061
But there was one, that my fiance and I, and our best friend, we actually held a go fest on our own for the city of Las Cruces back in 2017.

00:31:17.362 --> 00:31:17.731
Yeah.

00:31:17.731 --> 00:31:19.821
So this one was actually, kind of like a special one.

00:31:19.821 --> 00:31:21.332
So we were like, we got kind of.

00:31:21.751 --> 00:31:22.682
We couldn't go to Chicago.

00:31:22.682 --> 00:31:29.392
We heard, you know, of course that happened in July of 2017, the first go fast, we saw, you know, saw like, you know, what happened, the bad, the good, the bad, and the ugly there.

00:31:30.112 --> 00:31:31.102
So we kind of got in our heads.

00:31:31.102 --> 00:31:32.682
Like, what if we do something for the city of Las Cruces?

00:31:32.701 --> 00:31:33.692
Cause nobody went.

00:31:34.301 --> 00:31:35.412
So I'm not even kidding.

00:31:35.412 --> 00:31:36.662
We took months of planning.

00:31:36.862 --> 00:31:42.342
We rented out a park, we got permits and everything, and we were advertising for this, like what we did.

00:31:42.342 --> 00:31:47.092
Like we had prizes, we were giving out, we had sponsors locally that were helping us out.

00:31:47.529 --> 00:31:49.940
And so we were expecting about 300 people.

00:31:50.246 --> 00:31:51.476
and it was a 5 entry.

00:31:51.476 --> 00:31:54.566
The 5 was used to like basically help recoup costs.

00:31:54.566 --> 00:31:56.355
But then it was also like, you know, pay 5.

00:31:56.365 --> 00:31:58.715
You're entered into the raffle now for all these prizes.

00:31:59.026 --> 00:32:03.666
And, like I said, about 300 people and We had over 2000 show up.

00:32:03.787 --> 00:32:04.176
We had

00:32:04.267 --> 00:32:04.916
What?

00:32:04.926 --> 00:32:09.307
2, 000 people showed up for a GoFest in La Cruces?

00:32:09.646 --> 00:32:13.646
For GoFest, that wasn't like, that wasn't like Niantic approved per se.

00:32:13.656 --> 00:32:15.426
It was just, that was just something we set up.

00:32:15.426 --> 00:32:21.676
So like I said, we had 2000 people show up because we had a line for the ticket booth and we're like, damn, that's a lot of people.

00:32:21.967 --> 00:32:25.457
So I'm on the mic on, on the stage of the park directing everybody.

00:32:25.457 --> 00:32:28.866
My fiance is up helping with tickets and helping the vendors.

00:32:29.217 --> 00:32:31.967
my best friend was at the ticket booth doing all the tickets and stuff.

00:32:32.386 --> 00:32:34.156
We had, people provide food.

00:32:34.156 --> 00:32:39.227
We had sprint, actually the corporate sprint store helped us out bringing water and snacks.

00:32:39.717 --> 00:32:42.196
we had, dominoes at the time provide food for us.

00:32:42.676 --> 00:32:44.987
My work was, one of those, event rentals.

00:32:44.987 --> 00:32:47.553
So they gave us a bounce house for the fun for kids.

00:32:47.907 --> 00:32:49.887
And all we did was we lured up the park.

00:32:50.228 --> 00:32:52.738
We actually, we didn't intend to, but we timed it right.

00:32:52.738 --> 00:32:54.147
We had a couple of raids at the time.

00:32:54.147 --> 00:32:56.198
So we had about three or four raids in the park.

00:32:56.518 --> 00:33:04.876
And yeah, we just had people walk around, like, you know, we had concerts from our shinies, we had concerts from our catches, and it went off, like it was, it was a huge success.

00:33:04.876 --> 00:33:09.057
Like I said, we had over 2000 people show up because we counted everything the next day, how many tickets we sold.

00:33:09.057 --> 00:33:10.346
We're like, wow, that was actually crazy.

00:33:10.777 --> 00:33:13.272
So just an unsanctioned Niantic event.

00:33:13.272 --> 00:33:15.962
And that's what we ended up having happen was, yeah, that made people show up.

00:33:16.448 --> 00:33:19.748
I'm impressed you had enough pizza from Domino's to be able to feed 2, 000 people.

00:33:19.748 --> 00:33:20.438
That's crazy.

00:33:20.587 --> 00:33:22.627
Yeah, it was, it was actually really crazy.

00:33:22.657 --> 00:33:25.948
and we had a, we had a local cafe sponsor food and,

00:33:25.998 --> 00:33:27.048
Also, it wasn't just Domino's.

00:33:27.048 --> 00:33:27.678
It was different

00:33:27.978 --> 00:33:30.817
yeah, it was Domino's in this place, that, it was a cafe that put sponsor.

00:33:30.817 --> 00:33:31.518
They did great.

00:33:31.518 --> 00:33:32.327
They helped us out a lot.

00:33:32.778 --> 00:33:34.667
sprint did bring enough water for everybody.

00:33:34.667 --> 00:33:35.617
So that wasn't a problem.

00:33:35.923 --> 00:33:37.894
the level 40 badges, sprint brought those.

00:33:37.894 --> 00:33:47.503
So if you sprint with giving out those, those old level 40 badges, I don't know if you got, yeah, so everybody who was level 40, if you hit level 40 that day or whatever, they gave you one, it's obviously had to show your account.

00:33:47.973 --> 00:33:55.094
But the thing was, we had people from Albuquerque, New Mexico, from Deming, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas show up for this event and it was crazy.

00:33:56.403 --> 00:34:00.263
like, what was it like to kind of expect only a couple hundred and get 2, 000 people?

00:34:00.263 --> 00:34:00.364
Like,

00:34:00.814 --> 00:34:01.223
Oh, it was.

00:34:01.544 --> 00:34:02.294
Were you scared?

00:34:02.294 --> 00:34:02.584
Or

00:34:02.798 --> 00:34:03.939
It was total shell shock.

00:34:03.949 --> 00:34:06.308
Cause like, I'm up there and I'm, I'm okay with public speaking.

00:34:06.308 --> 00:34:12.139
So I'm up on the stage and we have the DJ behind us and yeah, my, my fiancee's just like, I mean, she's all.

00:34:12.554 --> 00:34:13.244
She's like, look at me.

00:34:13.244 --> 00:34:15.813
I'm like, we'll see the line of the ticket table and booth.

00:34:15.813 --> 00:34:18.204
And it was like, Oh God, there's a lot of people coming in.

00:34:18.974 --> 00:34:21.704
And so, yeah, we intended to start around like four o'clock.

00:34:21.713 --> 00:34:23.193
We didn't officially start till five.

00:34:23.204 --> 00:34:26.134
Cause we had to get everybody, in and then, yeah, it just took off from there.

00:34:26.193 --> 00:34:27.293
It was, it was a lot of fun.

00:34:27.653 --> 00:34:34.804
I mean, all things considered, you started faster than the one in Chicago in Niantic, so Starting an hour late compared to six or never is pretty good.

00:34:35.233 --> 00:34:37.273
It started, started late, went off without a hitch.

00:34:37.273 --> 00:34:39.753
Like there was no cell phone, there were no cell issues.

00:34:39.753 --> 00:34:40.554
There were nothing like that.

00:34:40.554 --> 00:34:42.373
People came in and were able to play without an issue.

00:34:42.903 --> 00:34:46.193
Any hopes of trying to recreate that, or is it just too time consuming?

00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:47.650
It's time consuming.

00:34:47.650 --> 00:34:49.780
I'm trying something up here in Albuquerque.

00:34:49.809 --> 00:34:51.750
we have one community ambassador up here.

00:34:51.750 --> 00:34:53.409
He's been leading his community for a while.

00:34:53.733 --> 00:34:56.432
I work at a place that's willing to sponsor food and stuff.

00:34:56.432 --> 00:34:59.213
So like when I go do an event for Pokemon.

00:34:59.742 --> 00:35:01.483
My regional director has already given the okay.

00:35:01.483 --> 00:35:02.563
She's like go take food.

00:35:02.592 --> 00:35:03.793
She goes do food drops.

00:35:03.793 --> 00:35:06.612
She goes put our name out there She goes hell tell Pokemon players.

00:35:06.612 --> 00:35:08.032
They get a discount when they come in.

00:35:08.182 --> 00:35:08.472
So

00:35:09.090 --> 00:35:11.086
Well Mongoose Gaming, you've been a wonderful guest.

00:35:11.166 --> 00:35:14.376
I gotta ask the last question I every guest I've asked lately.

00:35:15.047 --> 00:35:18.297
Say somebody's coming to New Mexico and they're going to challenge you in a Pokémon battle.

00:35:18.327 --> 00:35:19.887
What six Pokémon are you going to bring?

00:35:21.657 --> 00:35:22.387
og favorite team.

00:35:22.387 --> 00:35:24.996
I'm gonna bring in if it's a six on six like that.

00:35:24.996 --> 00:35:29.777
It's gonna be Charizard, Agron, Arcanine, Nidoking, and Lugia.

00:35:30.476 --> 00:35:31.407
There you go, guys.

00:35:31.606 --> 00:35:34.487
If you challenge Mongoose Gaming, you got those six Pokémon, so come prepared.

00:35:34.976 --> 00:35:36.376
Thank you for coming on the podcast.

00:35:36.686 --> 00:35:40.507
Before you go, if people want to connect with you, if they want to check out your podcast, where can they go?

00:35:40.507 --> 00:35:42.336
By all means, please plug away.

00:35:42.836 --> 00:35:44.177
they can find me at youtube.

00:35:44.177 --> 00:35:46.817
com forward slash at mongoose gaming burrow.

00:35:47.097 --> 00:35:50.226
That's got pretty much everything content wise I've ever produced.

00:35:50.717 --> 00:35:55.836
you'll find my podcasts, my gameplay from Pokemon go from Xbox, from Nintendo switch.

00:35:56.277 --> 00:35:57.606
anything like that is all on my YouTube.

00:35:57.677 --> 00:35:59.496
And then my Twitch is a twitch.

00:35:59.646 --> 00:36:01.777
tv slash mongoose gaming burrow is also.

00:36:02.117 --> 00:36:04.137
And yeah, that's where the magic happens.

00:36:04.824 --> 00:36:07.592
Thank you for listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:36:08.110 --> 00:36:14.090
If you want to support the show, consider becoming a Patreon by either clicking the link in the description or going to patreon.

00:36:14.090 --> 00:36:15.840
com slash asthepokeballturns.

00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:22.320
Now, I'm actually going to New York City Go Fest, and hopefully I get to meet every single one of you.

00:36:22.661 --> 00:36:26.701
If you meet me, make sure to get yourself a free Necrozma wristband.

00:36:26.701 --> 00:36:32.380
I'll be giving out those to everybody that I run into, so I definitely want to make sure I can give it to the people who listen to this show.

00:36:33.141 --> 00:36:37.630
If for some reason you can't make it to GoFest New York City, don't sweat it.

00:36:37.900 --> 00:36:45.061
Contact me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, whatever have you and let me know like, Hey, David, I can't make it to GoFest.

00:36:45.101 --> 00:36:46.320
Can I still get a wristband?

00:36:46.731 --> 00:36:52.891
And I'll make sure you get one because I want to make sure that everyone who listens to this show gets one for GoFest.

00:36:53.101 --> 00:36:55.070
So please hit me up if you can't make it.

00:36:55.681 --> 00:36:56.760
Until next time.