TRAINER'S EYE #53 - "A Silver Wind From Chicago" ft. Chris from GOCast

Chris from the GOCast podcast reveals his passion for Bug-type Pokémon, egg hatching, and the nostalgic world of Pokémon Crystal. He takes us through the origin of the GOCast podcast, sharing the story of how his creative partnership with co-host Kyle began at Starbucks, leading to a platform that celebrates all things Pokémon. Dive into this episode to learn more about how their shared love for the franchise sparked a podcast that continues to entertain Pokémon GO fans worldwide.

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay
"Opening (Pokemon Red & Blue Remix)" by Mewmore
"Cloudy" by KODOMOi

Transcript

David Hernandez: 1:42

Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where the stories are real and people still play this game. This is part two of the GoCast podcast, which debuted back on July 1st, 2018. One thing we can't overlook is where it started, which was in Chicago, Illinois, right after GoFest 2018. Going into 2018, Pokemon Go was coming off the horrific 2017 GoFest that took place in Chicago where thousands of Pokemon trainers, myself included, arrived in Chicago for the very first GoFest only to be greeted by loading screens, heat, And angry chants of"we can't play!" This didn't stop my guests from going back to Go Fest in 2018 and eventually starting what we know now as the Go Cast podcast. In part 2, my guest dives into his experience of starting the podcast after GoFest, his favorite Pokemon in Johto, and what he loves about the podcast format and his motivation for being Go oriented when producing the podcast. From Chicago, Illinois, here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon Go. This is GoCastChris. today I'm joined by one half of the GoCast podcast, Chris, Chris, welcome to the show.

GO Cast Chris: 2:53

Hey, thanks so much for having me. Really appreciate it.

David Hernandez: 2:55

Absolutely, and I gotta ask the first question that you've not been asked on a podcast yet. Which deep dish pizza reigns supreme in your opinion? Is it Gordiano's or is it Louboutin's? Or is there a third one that I'm forgetting?

GO Cast Chris: 3:08

is it Giordano's or

David Hernandez: 3:11

Well, I lost my Chicago audience, so.

GO Cast Chris: 3:15

That's fine. Well, I'm, I'm a captive audience here, so we're going to, we're going to fix this issue. I'm kidding. You know, it's, uh, it kind of is a weird question to answer. This might be the most Chicago way to answer it. It really depends on what mood you're in. sometimes I want a chunkier sauce. Sometimes I want a spicier sausage and sometimes I want a flakier crust and you kind of just go to different spots. The reason I say that is because there are like a bunch of like local places too like we have a place called Giorgio's in town here, that is not really a chain and they have excellent deep dish. So like, I don't ever want to leave those places out of the conversation, you know?

David Hernandez: 3:51

That's fair enough. I remember when I went to Chicago, I'm a little Spanish. So y'alls Portillos, I just went over there calling it Portillos because, you know, in Spanish we combine the L's going around to everybody in Chicago saying like, where's your Portillos at? And they're all looking at me sideways like, what the hell are you talking about?

GO Cast Chris: 4:09

I would love that. I actually, cause I love mispronouncing words for fun and so I think I'm going to take that. I think I'd like that a lot.

David Hernandez: 4:17

Okay. Well, they may look at you more weird. Cause you're actually from there for me. They, well, they looked at me weird too anyway. So I guess it works out.

GO Cast Chris: 4:22

Yeah. We have a tendency to do that in this area. Just look at people very strangely.

David Hernandez: 4:26

So, what is it like in Chicago? what's the area like?

GO Cast Chris: 4:28

Yeah. So I'm actually in the Northwest suburbs. So it's about an hour trip in for me to the city, depending on traffic, of course, it could go up to two depending. Chicago is great. I feel like it kind of gets on like a national level and even a global level, it gets sort of a bad rap for, you know, some unfortunate statistics. But if you are staying around the more touristy downtown areas, and you're not really going out at night and things like that, you're really not going to have any more trouble than you would like at a Seattle or New York. Right? it's really is a, an awareness sort of thing. I really enjoy Chicago. Not fun to drive in, but very walkable and you know, the L is great, which is our elevated train system, in lieu of a subway and Lots of great bars, lots of good food.

David Hernandez: 5:13

I will say y'all's drivers are more expressive with their horns. Cause here in Texas, we just try to, we're very passive aggressive. But over here, y'all just let it rip. Like, if somebody cuts somebody off, y'all, you know for sure. Like, you hear the brrrr and goes off.

GO Cast Chris: 5:28

That's right. That's right. And to me, I think maybe it's because I live here, maybe not. Whenever I hear a horn, I always take it the worst way possible because sometimes people just beep, you know, just to say hi or like, Hey, I'm behind you. I'm waiting to move or whatever. Nothing too aggressive. But every time I hear a horn, I whip around. I'm like kind of problem in my head first before any other response. Right.

David Hernandez: 5:49

is there a dark side of you that we are not aware of?

GO Cast Chris: 5:51

Oh, I mean, I, I can't stand people that don't know how to drive like if you don't use your turn signal, you are the scum of the earth to me, same people that don't return their cards to the cart corral.

David Hernandez: 6:01

Oh, my gosh.

GO Cast Chris: 6:02

We can't handle it.

David Hernandez: 6:03

I can't handle the turn signals. I can't handle people. I can't drivers in general.

GO Cast Chris: 6:07

It's true. I'm with you.

David Hernandez: 6:09

what is it like to play Pokemon Go in Chicago? Like, where do people go for raids? Where do people go for community days?

GO Cast Chris: 6:15

So in Chicago, there's two major sections by Millennium Park, which is more central that includes like the museum campus, grant park, a bunch of different areas too, and Michigan Avenue is on the west side of that, like plane area, and there's some good stuff, a few blocks into the city as well, lots of gyms, tons of stops, more spawns, you know what to do with. And then the other part to play is more like north up in Lincoln park, which is where one of the go fests was at. And it's very playable, there's a free zoo, and then you can even scoot over to Navy pier, if you want.

David Hernandez: 6:47

Now when Pokemon Go debuted in 2016, was that where everybody head to? Was it just downtown Chicago was the place to be at?

GO Cast Chris: 6:53

Downtown Chicago was good to play, but we were actually rather blessed out here in the suburbs. there's a city near here called Algonquin and downtown Algonquin was the hotspot for most Northwest suburbanites, I suppose, like myself. I will never forget the first Dragonite that spawned there in the wild like everybody's comms were lighting up. People were texting each other. It was crazy. And then he got out there and the service was bad. So it's having a heck of a time trying to catch it, you know, but I mean, yeah, you can't really argue that any metropolitan city, right. It's going to be a hotspot to play, but I think we were pretty lucky to also have some relatively built up suburban areas with nice downtowns out here that served just as well.

David Hernandez: 7:34

Now, were you a day one player and if so, like were people with you, like, did you go with some friends or

GO Cast Chris: 7:39

Yeah. I was a day one player. I did that thing where I changed my shop to Australia to get it earlier than everybody else could as soon as possible. it. Was me and a few other people that I worked with at Starbucks at the time. we just sort of walked around downtown area in the city that I live in and caught some Pokemon and people were calling out, Oh, there's a Poliwag down here, you know, stuff like that, it was a wild time, but day one player for sure.

David Hernandez: 8:04

what was it about Pokemon go that you were excited about? you said you couldn't wait that you had to just do the Australia to be able to access it. What was it about Pokemon go that excited you?

GO Cast Chris: 8:14

you know, I was kind of on a little bit of a break from Pokemon, other than keeping up with the main series games, mostly just to keep up. The passion for Pokemon was probably the lowest it's been ever for me, right before that, like during college, right. And then after college, this sort of came out a couple of years later for me. Pokemon go seemed like the dream come true. The concept was incredible, the trailers are really good, and I love video games. I was never really much of a mobile game player, so this was also kind of like a new foray for me personally, but the tech was cool, the idea was great, pokemon was familiar, and I love the franchise. And so I just threw myself into it and now. I'm back into Pokemon 1,000,000%.

David Hernandez: 8:56

Now, you said earlier how it was at your lowest for Pokemon, your passion for Pokemon. Why was that?

GO Cast Chris: 9:02

I think the combination of time spent in high school and in college trying to focus on things I was studying, which anybody who was actually in school, if people laugh at the fact that I just said that. But I was really focusing on social stuff too, and trying to figure out what I was going to be doing, I changed my major a million times, like most people do now. it just wasn't a focal point for me, I, I often do say though, that I'm very happy that Pokemon go was not out while I was in college because the college that I was at was a, it was an Arboretum. now if you go there, it's just littered with stops and it was from the get go, I would have not graduated on time, that's what I'm trying to say. There's no way.

David Hernandez: 9:37

That's what I always say. Like, I'm grateful it didn't come in college because I probably would have flunked out.

GO Cast Chris: 9:41

Right? Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's just too compelling. You know, and getting out and walking, it's just so easy to justify too. He's like, no, I'm, I'm exercising. This is fine.

David Hernandez: 9:51

And the college campuses are usually the best places to go play most of the time because they're always filled with stops, always filled with gyms. And you have that community right then and there, which is what being in college in general compared to, how we are nowadays.

GO Cast Chris: 10:02

That's true. And I really believe heavily that college students are very motivated to do literally anything other than what they're supposed to do. So you can get people to install a free app on their phone and even if they don't care about Pokemon, they're like, oh yeah, I'd rather do this than go to bed on time or study tonight.

David Hernandez: 10:19

Clearly you have history with Pokemon. What was your first experience with the Pokemon franchise?

GO Cast Chris: 10:24

As soon as it was available, to watch, I started watching indigo league when it was airing here from the get go, got red and blue, picked up Pokemon stadium. I was really into the cards, collected as many of the toys as possible. I really, got the, the Pokemon fever big time when it first came around. It was at 97, 96. 97, I think 98, even somewhere in

David Hernandez: 10:45

around, somewhere around

GO Cast Chris: 10:46

in Yeah. But as soon as it was there, I was first in line more or less. And, it's been a, a pillar of my life since even when I wasn't really interacting with it, I endeavored to keep up. the anime got a little much for me to keep up with, to be honest with you, as I am a big media guy, I'm a big media consumer. and so I just didn't have a lot of room for the show, but I kept up with the games. and it kind of just turned into that for a while.

David Hernandez: 11:10

Do you have a particular set of games or a particular region that you enjoyed playing?

GO Cast Chris: 11:14

Oh yeah. Johto is my favorite region by far, cyndaquil is my favorite Pokemon, well, it's tied with Scyther, that's a complicated thing. but Crystal was my favorite game of all time and I still think it might be one of my favorite, at least Pokemon titles of all time. I think that's an incredible game.

David Hernandez: 11:29

compared to Gold and Silver, what was it about Crystal that keeps imprinted on your mind?

GO Cast Chris: 11:33

it was very much like the, cause you know how yellow tried to emulate more of the classic Ash experience rather than the multiversal other dimensional, who is red and who is blue, right. Situation and, and yellow seemed to sort of like bridge the gap, right. It had Jesse and James and all that sort of stuff. And Crystal did that to much of the same degree, but because of that time, I was unfamiliar with the anime and because they didn't try to emulate the anime all too much, but they made it its own complete unique story with interesting things that focus on my favorite legendary Pokemon, Suicune. it was, just an experience I've never forgotten. I think it was one of the first times I played a game and I was just like, Oh, the storytelling in this is good. It's gripping. I care.

David Hernandez: 12:15

Now if you're doing a playthrough of Pokemon Crystal, what would be your six Pokemon?

GO Cast Chris: 12:18

Oh, man. Oh, that's a great question. Typhlosion for sure, right? I would probably try to snag a Suicune if I could, but if we're doing a no legendary run, Scizor, Sneasel. I really love Lugia, but again, no legendary run is usually the way to go. I always avoid grabbing Sudowoodo, which is a weird thing because Sudowoodo is strong and you get it very early. I think I'm actually going to pull those legendaries back in. So I'm up to five and then let's just round it out with like sunflora or something interesting.

David Hernandez: 12:49

Really a Sunflora of all things.

GO Cast Chris: 12:51

Yeah. You know, it's like one of those new evolutions that's really unique and I almost always forget to bring a grass type.

David Hernandez: 12:57

So, let's go to future real quick. What are your thoughts on Hisuian Typhlosion?

GO Cast Chris: 13:01

Oh, Hisuian Typhlosion was a welcome design in my view because I've been the belief and actually I don't even think it is a belief, it's more like a fact that Typhlosion has been put on the, for lack of a better phrase, back burner for a long time. It got passed over for megas, they get passed over for gigantic max, it's almost never featured. And so for it to get a new regional form, I was over the moon and I, I love it.

David Hernandez: 13:24

I can't blame you for feeling that way, because you think about Blaziken, it had a mega evolution and I feel like Blaziken kind of took over the spot for Typhlosion because let's be honest, nobody's going to ever replace Charizard, unfortunately.

GO Cast Chris: 13:35

it's true. And I mean, the same can be said for Meganium and Feraligatr too. I feel like the Johto starters just really missed out. You know, in the new Pokemon snap Meganium had that, uh, that Illumina thing right away. It was like the first Illumina Pokemon that you saw. And so that was really cool, but Feraligatr hasn't gotten anything, no bone throne.

David Hernandez: 13:55

Surprisingly, too because Totodile was such a fan favorite back in the day.

GO Cast Chris: 13:58

Yeah, in the anime in the game all over. Yeah, that's surprising.

David Hernandez: 14:02

So we go back to Pokemon Go. So what's your approach to play the game? Like, how do you like to play Pokemon Go?

GO Cast Chris: 14:07

I'm kind of an all rounder. Honestly, I think my weakest point is PvP Although I do try to make a point of playing a few matches every other day or so. But I really am an egg hatcher at heart. I adore hatching eggs for some reason I do love it. And then just catching you know after having played this for so long and hundreds of thousands of catches, right? I think for most players that have been playing that long It's just sort of a therapeutic safe space sort of thing. It's hard to not love it.

David Hernandez: 14:35

What is it about the egg hatching that you like so much?

GO Cast Chris: 14:38

Uh, I kind of like it because Kyle doesn't like it. That's a, that's a selling for me

David Hernandez: 14:42

Are you just trolling him, basically?

GO Cast Chris: 14:44

every day, as much as possible. Let's, let's be honest. Uh, and, and the feeling is mutual in some ways, right? Of course. but I also just. like it because the only way to do it is to walk. And so there's a sense of like, Oh, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I'm doing something beneficial for myself because I had to walk in order to get these to hatch unless I'm doing something untoward, but I am not by principle.

David Hernandez: 15:07

I'm not gonna judge you, don't worry.

GO Cast Chris: 15:09

No, no, no, no. I would judge myself. So, so I make a point of not doing that.

David Hernandez: 15:13

What's your best hatch that you've had?

GO Cast Chris: 15:16

oh gosh, Probably this Galarian Meowth that I've now evolved to a Perrserker, and I've nicknamed Mugs.

David Hernandez: 15:24

Oh, I like it.

GO Cast Chris: 15:24

Yeah, I do like that. I went in a Nidoran that I evolved to a Nidoking and his name is Hemlock. For some reason, I really love Nidoking and Nidoqueen, they're like some of my favorite Pokemon. that'll about do it. I got some pretty obvious ones in here like a Machamp and a Venusaur and stuff, but I think those two,

David Hernandez: 15:41

No Shundo.

GO Cast Chris: 15:42

no, no Shundo that's ever been hatched. The only Shundo that I have is a shiny Espeon that I had caught from the first, day of the first Eevee community day.

David Hernandez: 15:53

Oh, wow. That must have been amazing to catch that.

GO Cast Chris: 15:55

was incredible. I'm very happy. I checked those IVs.

David Hernandez: 15:58

So eventually your passion for Pokemon Go led you to start a podcast that everybody knows as GoatCast, but before GoatCast, you actually used to be a part of LeagueCast, which is League of Legends back in 2010.

GO Cast Chris: 16:09

Yeah.

David Hernandez: 16:10

My first question is this, what are your thoughts on Pokemon Unite?

GO Cast Chris: 16:13

I really like Pokemon Unite. I'm very bad at consistently playing Pokemon Unite, but I do love watching it. I have a soft spot for MOBAs because I basically grew up on League of legends and Dota before that. but I think MOBAs are just a little bit beyond me and my brain comfort level wise, because of the time it would require to get good at it. I think, I think my time in league has basically made it like, if I can't be the best at this, I shouldn't put my time into it, which is a very toxic way of putting my mindset about myself in, but, toxicity in league of legends, you don't say?

David Hernandez: 16:48

Who could believe anything's toxic?

GO Cast Chris: 16:50

Exactly.

David Hernandez: 16:51

No, I can relate to that, because sometimes you want to put your very best, and if you can't do your best in it, why do it at all? It's kind of like the all or nothing, really.

GO Cast Chris: 16:58

Right. Yeah. And it's like, maybe I'm just like subconsciously afraid I got flamed by Pokemon fans, which is like not going to happen, but you know, Hey,

David Hernandez: 17:07

Well, my second question is, this podcast started in 2010. That were the one, the founders of it. you know, I think about 2010, that's maybe right when YouTube was starting to get popular, people were just trying to be, try to be content creators. Why would you choose podcast over YouTube?

GO Cast Chris: 17:22

Yeah. So video is really difficult because we also had so many people and such a variety of things like, webcam quality and audio quality. It was much easier to sort of bring it down to just one variable instead of two. also I was familiar with how to audio edit, cause I was messing around with a bunch of other things, there was actually a couple of other shows that came out around and before League Cast I did with. Like one or two of those same, the same group of guys. the reason I love podcasts is because when I was in high school, end of middle school, I was really into World of Warcraft. And it was, I have parents that rightfully think that, you know, video games are largely a waste of time and they, they certainly were much more, it was like, it was hard to argue the whole art form thing, back in the day. Right. Uh, now it's like, Oh, you show somebody and you know, a cut scene and everybody's crying and you're like, okay, I get it. But you know, back in 2010, maybe not so much. and I was a little obsessed and a little addicted to world of Warcraft. I love the world, love the music, love everything about it. But outside of a couple of friends at school that did not have the same level of love and obsession with it than I did. I didn't have anybody to talk to. And so I found out about podcasts and like, I wonder if there's any world of Warcraft podcasts and lo and behold, there was a few that I listened to, but the one that I stuck with was called The Instance by Scott Johnson of frog pants. and that show is still going to this day. And the format from that show is largely the format that I've used for, I used for League Cast and some of it is still in GOCast today. But because of that, I understand the importance of podcasts, cause it made me feel less alone, that parasocial thing was very helpful for me and my mental health when I was in that spot. And, I just wanted to do that, you know, I wanted to be that person for somebody else or be that person for myself. Sometimes go back and listen to the same stuff. I've done that before. I listened to old recordings if I'm in a way. Right. but yeah, so that was why that over YouTube.

David Hernandez: 19:18

So it sounds like obviously you're pretty passionate about the podcast format you just wanted to be able to not only consume, not to only not feel alone, because 2010 I'm with you, people thinking you can make a future off video games would have looked at you sideways and be like, what are you talking about? It's a video game. You should grow up or whatnot, like not as acceptable compared to his nowadays. And then not only that, once you kind of found your niche or found your place within the podcast to listen to, you wanted to pass it along so other people can Not feel as alone, or maybe if they did, you know, you're actually there.

GO Cast Chris: 19:48

Yeah. And I feel like there's just, so many opportunities for people to be, and especially in like league of legends. It was so toxic. I mean, I don't mean to rag on league of legends, but especially back then it had quite the reputation for being a rather hostile environment to learn in. so, I mean, we brought sort of that rambunctious sort of high school boys that were all friends forever, vibe to it, and of course some of the toxicity would be in there, but largely we had sections to like help people. We had tips. We talked about lore. We did all those sorts of things. I think people just having like a, like a pseudo or parasocial group of friends to hang out with was beneficial. We used to get emails from, listeners that were younger, kind of like we do on go cast. They're just like, Hey, like. Thanks, it's great to hear people talk about this or you answered my question without me even asking stuff like that.

David Hernandez: 20:33

That must have warmed your heart whenever you get those kind of letters, right?

GO Cast Chris: 20:35

Oh yeah. And then you sort of like realize, Oh yeah, that's just, this is why I do this.

David Hernandez: 20:40

So eventually you start the GoCast podcast. the first episode starts with three people. It starts with you, Kyle, and Ness. How was it for y'all three at the time to start the podcast? Was it kind of weird? Did y'all kind of fit like a glove?

GO Cast Chris: 20:53

there was some growing pains and some learning that was going on for Ness and for Kyle, for sure cause they had never done podcast before and I had had like, four and a half, five years of experience prior to that point. So I knew what I was getting myself into and I knew what I was asking of them to do. So it did take some faith on the two of their part to sort of be like, Hey, let's humor Chris and let's do this Kyle. Most of all, because I was living with Ness at the time, right? So that was kind of easy to sort of wrangle.

David Hernandez: 21:18

Right.

GO Cast Chris: 21:18

But once we got Kyle on board and once we got sort of into the groove of it, like 20, 25 episodes in, and we went to the second go fast after our first episode was released and we got to talk to other podcasters. It really put it all sort of in perspective and made it very clear what we were aiming for. and then, you know, geez, it was our five year anniversary on the first of this month and you know, we're just, it is what it is today now.

David Hernandez: 21:43

One thing that I noticed about y'all's early days, and even to this day, y'all still do this. Y'all were very goal focused early on and still are. What was it about just having goals that motivate y'all? Like, why would y'all include goals for y'allselves?

GO Cast Chris: 21:57

That's a great question. I was really sort of, super into the idea that we needed to have something to make us unique and lo and behold, there was quite a gap in Pokemon go content for the hardcore players. I noticed that whenever we went out to raid or things like that, or, meet people to play. What they were looking for to do with the game because they had to invent something to do which turned into like, how much XP can I get, how much stardust can I hoard, how many shinies can I get in this one event, things like that. And it just sort of dawned on me that like, that's sort of the lifeblood of this game is that they gave us a rough framework that allows for different styles of play and people are identifying what they want to do for themselves. it really helped when there were some dry periods of content, which is hard to imagine now, right? With an event every week or weekend, there used to be weeks at a time with nothing but vanilla spawns, more or less, and the promise of an event in a few weeks from then and so you kind of had to figure it out for yourself. what am I choosing to care about now? Do I want to figure out what's actually in five kilometer eggs? Do I just want to trust what Sylph has to say? Sometimes there are surprises, you know, because the game was so understated, more or less.

David Hernandez: 23:05

that's very true because I remember. People would always say the real game starts when you hit level 40, because, you know, up to 40, you had the goal of getting to that level, but once you got to 40. What do you do next? You know, what are you going to go for? Cause at that point, the world's your oyster, right? Like do whatever you want. You can be a hundo collector. You can collect stardust. What do you choose? And that's the best part about this game is that people have some of the wackiest goals that possible sometimes.

GO Cast Chris: 23:29

Definitely. And now there's all these different medals for all sorts of things and, it makes it a little bit easier now to be more specific or to be... more inspired in a, in a specific way to set a goal. And so that thing has been perfect since the beginning, still applies to this day, and we're happy to have it as our thing that we do, you know,

David Hernandez: 23:48

Do you have a goal within Pokemon Go?

GO Cast Chris: 23:50

like one grand goal or like one that I'm working on right now.

David Hernandez: 23:54

Let's do both.

GO Cast Chris: 23:55

Okay. You got it. My grand goal is to have maxed out hundos of everything. I mean,

David Hernandez: 24:02

All right, man. After my own heart,

GO Cast Chris: 24:04

Yeah, I, I really, if it's 98%, I'm sorry. I just, I just don't, I wait for the hundo. I can't do it unless I need the raids, the raid counters, and then I'll make a team and then I'll replace them over time.

David Hernandez: 24:14

talk to them, Chris, talk to these people, man.

GO Cast Chris: 24:17

Well, that's right. That's right. You know, why settle for second best when you know that hundo is out there just waiting for you.

David Hernandez: 24:22

Exactly.

GO Cast Chris: 24:23

Yeah, so, uh, Oh, a good story for that is I hadn't had a hundo squirtle And went hard every time I could for it because it was the only hundo of the Kanto trio that I was missing, but hundo sunglass squirtle came to me. Finally.

David Hernandez: 24:39

That's awesome, dude.

GO Cast Chris: 24:40

Yeah. So don't give up hope listeners that hundo is out there for you. Don't settle for that 93%. Don't do it.

David Hernandez: 24:46

it could be right there if you just open your game.

GO Cast Chris: 24:48

It could. And then you'll have no candy. You'll have no stardust and you'll have to start all over goodness.

David Hernandez: 24:55

so that was your right now goal?

GO Cast Chris: 24:57

No, That's my overall goal. My, my right now goal is I'm hatching at least 50 eggs a week. That's kind of the consistent thing that I'm doing, but it's really just to make myself walk more. it seems like a no brainer to me, but you know, you do have to buy incubators. So I, not everybody is there mentally with me. Like I have no problem budgeting for incubators more than the average bear. but it's because I get some joy from it, you know?

David Hernandez: 25:19

You've been listening to As the Pokeball Turns. We're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back.

Commercial Break: 25:27

Going back to GoCast, Chris and Kyle, were you kind of shocked that they actually, I guess, called your bluff to let y'all do like 15 minutes here for their podcast to do the PPP Corner? I was astounded. I didn't think it was real. I thought it was just gonna maybe be like a one off thing, but when we presented it, we were like, Hey, we could do this, you know, every week. I'm still so thankful and honored that they were able to give us that space and that trust. This is a Niantic partnered podcast, like, recognized by Niantic. You're official. Like, yeah, this was a big deal to us that they let us have that space, and I will be forever grateful for that opportunity. To hear the rest of this story, Listen to Trainer's Eye number 43, Casting Pass for Sisterhood featuring DefyE250. Now let's get back to the episode.

David Hernandez: 26:17

Now with go cast podcast, you're not the only one who runs a show. Obviously, there's also your friend Kyle or your co host Kyle. How did y'all two meet?

GO Cast Chris: 26:24

We actually worked at the same Starbucks store. one day we were behind the line and, you know, I knew that he was a massive nerd like myself and we're just talking about Pokemon. And I was like, Hey man, I used to do, he also liked League of Legends. So we talked about League of Legends. We talked about League cast, I was like, Hey man, you know, remember, I told you about that League of Legends show I did? He's like, yeah, I think I want to do it about Pokemon go. You know, he's like, really? You think we'll have enough to talk about? And lo and behold, we definitely did, you know, five years later too. And so that was pretty much it. He just took a chance and we're still doing it.

David Hernandez: 26:56

Did he have any hesitancy? Like, was there ever a point to refill? Like, Oh, he's going to back out because some people they're on board, but then all of a sudden they kind of back out the last minute.

GO Cast Chris: 27:03

Kyle is a rather dedicated sort of guy. And when he says he's going to do something, he follows through. I have a lot of respect for him as a person for things, things like that, that's just, that's just an example of something that makes him a good person. I think there was some hesitancy, there definitely was before he agreed to it, right. In the first place. I think he was more because he likes podcasts. I don't think there was a lot of self confidence, but I knew that he had a unique voice and always had a unique take. And those two things for me are like huge when I'm listening to a podcast, right? The worst thing is when you have three or four hosts that all sound the same and you get lost. And I think one important thing about that too, is that while Kyle and I would disagree, we never fought. We would just talk it through and then we were able to, at the end of it, just put it down like, Oh, well, I guess we just agree to disagree and I think that was to our benefit in the long run.

David Hernandez: 27:55

Did you ever imagine yourself to be here five years later, still doing the podcast?

GO Cast Chris: 27:59

Oh, certainly not. No, no, no. I, you know, I, I wanted to start this podcast because, I felt lost without a side project. You know, senior year of high school, I started League Cast and then I had a break after college and all I was doing was working and stuff and I was like, I need something else. I need a motivator. I need an outlet. I feel like I'm stagnating. And so this was just the topic that popped up. And I was, I thought it would just be a fun thing to do. And now it's just such a big part of our lives, it's really, gotten away from my original expectations in a good way, in a good way.

David Hernandez: 28:33

you know, obviously there's been a lot of change within Pokemon Go, especially within the podcast sphere. think of the Pokemon Go podcast, they decide to shift direction. Now, y'all become the second oldest podcast for Pokemon Go behind Lured Up.

GO Cast Chris: 28:45

Yeah,

David Hernandez: 28:46

Do y'all ever have a feeling of when the show would end or what would you look for where it's like, it's time to end the show?

GO Cast Chris: 28:52

I think this is going to come off as a little egotistical, but I think if Kyle lost interest in the game, I would flounder for a while, but I think I might be able to find somebody else to fill in. There's no replacing Kyle, but I probably the show might still go on. Right. But I feel like if I lost interest, I think it would be dead in the water because I don't think Kyle wants to edit and things like that. I edit, I publish, I do all of, he shows up to record and I do pretty much everything else. Now he, he has the one section of the show where he actually has to put thought into it every single week. So, credit, right? But I don't think he would want to pick it up, so I really think that just losing interest in the game would be sort of the last nail in the coffin there now, what would cause that? Right? That's a good question in and of itself. there was a part there where I was very disappointed and frustrated with Niantic and, you know, parts of that is still true. but it's never gotten to a point where I was like, I can't play this game anymore. It just makes me sad. It's been, it really has been a mental third place for me when I needed it. And, I don't see that going away anytime soon. Something drastic would have to happen.

David Hernandez: 29:56

I could see that because Pokemon Go has been such an important part of your life. The podcast has definitely been even more of a bigger part for both you and Kyle. And as long as that love for Pokemon Go still is there, in spite of what Niantic does and what they do basically, sometimes it can get kind of frustrating, but it sounds like you're not letting that affect what you do for the podcast.

GO Cast Chris: 30:16

No. I mean, other than, you know, we talk about it, right, but we have certain parameters on ourselves like we try to be family friendly and we look for the silver lining in things and if there isn't one, then we just say, this is just the way it is and it kind of stinks and move on. Right.

David Hernandez: 30:30

So have you been to every GoFest that was in Chicago?

GO Cast Chris: 30:33

Yes. I've been to every Chicago go fest.

David Hernandez: 30:36

What was it like to go to the first one? 2017.

GO Cast Chris: 30:39

Oh boy. Um, regret, man. I'm just kidding. I mean, I'm not though. It was not a good time, but I had a great time being miserable. Does that make sense? Like, I got, I got severe son poisoning. I was there with one of my fraternity brothers and one of my, one of my best friends and fellow Pokemon go players. Right. I believe he was on the second episode of the podcast. He's been on like once. It was rough waiting in that line. The heat was insane. The gate, they had gates around the park. They had security checks for bags, stuff that if you go to an event now, you're like, there's no way that would work. why do they think it would? And it's because it was their first time, of course, but you know, going out there and then them asking us all to leave and then them releasing Lugia and raids right away was incredible because Lugia is one of my favorite legendaries. Right. It's from Johto. It was an incredible experience. And like I said, as time goes on and it becomes more and more of an anomaly to have been, especially to that first go fast. I do have a growing sense of nostalgia for what was hands down my worst live event experience of my entire life.

David Hernandez: 31:43

No, I was right there with you, because I was actually at the 2017 as well. And, yeah, I was right there with you, and it was muddy. The heat didn't affect me as much, because I'm in Texas, so that didn't bug me as much. But, like you said, we had a long line, I think it was, I think I didn't get into the park until like 4 hours afterwards. Something like that. But, like you said, once we got out of the park and they had that first egg spawn, Everybody run into it. I still have chills whenever I think about that moment because what we hoped GO Fest would have became and, the post after party for GO Fest was decent if you were able to stick around.

GO Cast Chris: 32:17

I had to catch a train. So unfortunately I could not.

David Hernandez: 32:20

Okay, well, it just sucked for you instead.

GO Cast Chris: 32:22

Yeah, no, but I think I, I'm sure you were there if you had left the park around the same time that everybody else did, but in front of the art Institute on Michigan Avenue was the first Lugia that like me and the large group of people that we were with, came across and people, there were Pokemon go trainers in the middle of the street, stopping traffic for 25 minutes doing that raid. And that was probably one of the best Pokemon go experiences I've ever had that moment. I agree with you for sure.

David Hernandez: 32:50

Pokémon GO comes back to Chicago to make things right, rightfully so, in 2018. How is that different for you since you just barely started your podcast and had redemption with the go fest,

GO Cast Chris: 33:01

it was a sigh of relief. Um, physically manifest, you know, it was wonderful and it was more than I had expected because I definitely had understood what the technical problems were because they were rather transparent about what had happened in the first go fast and they were very clear about the sort of things they were doing to make it better the second time. And those things worked, they did, of course, there were some connection issues, but there's still some in events today. So cell service and mobile service is just kind of hard sometimes. People think it's a done deal. It's not, it's not, it can be tricky. I just was so happy that that event went off with relatively went off without a hitch. We were actually able to play the game and talk about it. And because we had just started the show, I think I was even more excited because we were like. We were there, we were doing the thing, we were gonna go back to the room and record right away, like, just jazzed to the maximum.

David Hernandez: 33:54

Now, last question about GoFest. If somebody was on the fence about going, what would you tell them?

GO Cast Chris: 33:59

Go. If you, if you like Pokemon go and even if you don't like live events, I don't like live events, I don't like live music. I don't like going to concerts and stuff like that. I adored Pokemon go fast, even when it was at its worst, I loved it. And I think it has a lot to do with you hanging out with people that you really feel like in your soul or like your tribe, because I've been in large groups before I ran the Chicago marathon, and while I felt like a runner, I wasn't like part of the community was just me. Right. So I felt a little out of place. Same with whenever I'd go to like an open air music festival. Like I like listening to this band, but I'm not a festival goer. But going to go fast, rather all those people around you are coming from the same situation that you are. Local community or plain alone, it really doesn't matter all that much. You're all there doing the same tasks, having the same experience, same spawns. And that level of connectedness and as the game is sort of like a mediator for what could be gaps in social awareness, social skills, makes all of that stuff so much less stressful for everybody, and therefore more comfortable.

David Hernandez: 35:01

For sure. We are on the Last section, and can you guess what it is, Chris?

GO Cast Chris: 35:06

Is it, I already said my favorite Pokemon, so,

David Hernandez: 35:09

It's the PVP corner.

GO Cast Chris: 35:10

Oh boy! Okay!

35:26

Hi, I'm Fish on a Hater, and I'm D5E250. I'm the first Hamtaro. D5E is busy with school while Fish is trying to figure out plane tickets on attending regionals outside of Australia. But my lovely co hosts are back to take their place. Dukes, Layla, welcome back!

David Hernandez: 35:47

Now, Chris, I wish I had Fish and DeFi on the show beforehand, and we want to test your PVP knowledge.

GO Cast Chris: 35:55

no. Okay.

David Hernandez: 35:56

So I asked them to give me some questions to ask you to see how much you know about PVP. questions and we're going to see who's the best between you and Kyle regarding PVP

GO Cast Chris: 36:08

Oh no. Okay. My, my weakness laid bare before the masses

David Hernandez: 36:12

we have faith in you. We know that you'll get five for five, 100% we got to think positive thoughts. Are you ready?

GO Cast Chris: 36:18

as ready as I'm going to be.

David Hernandez: 36:19

All right. First question is what does CMP stand for?

GO Cast Chris: 36:25

Uh, it's charge move priority.

David Hernandez: 36:27

There we go, one for one. Alright, question two. For Beedrill, how many poison jabs to an X Scissor?

GO Cast Chris: 36:34

Oh, jeez. Uh, three? Is it four?

David Hernandez: 36:43

Five. though. Five.

GO Cast Chris: 36:46

jabs. I mean, I clearly have not used a

David Hernandez: 36:48

It's okay. One for two, one for two, one. The third question. Which bug fast move has the lowest energy per turn?

GO Cast Chris: 36:56

Fury cutter? Bug bite?

David Hernandez: 36:59

Nope. Struggle bug.

GO Cast Chris: 37:01

Struggle bug? I don't even know, that wasn't in the game.

David Hernandez: 37:05

alright, we're coming back, y'all. We're coming back. four. A scissor faces an Abomasnow in Great League. In a 0 versus 2 shield scenario, with each Pokemon at full health, which Pokemon wins?

GO Cast Chris: 37:16

The Scizor.

David Hernandez: 37:18

There we go, alright, 2 for we got 2 for 4, we're 50% Hahaha

GO Cast Chris: 37:21

Okay. This is already better than a lot of the grades I got.

David Hernandez: 37:25

Better than college?

GO Cast Chris: 37:26

Maybe. I'm joking. But anyway. All right.

David Hernandez: 37:29

wasn't, but anyway Hahaha Question 5 guys, this is gonna determine if he's above or below 50%

GO Cast Chris: 37:36

Okay.

David Hernandez: 37:37

Question 5 Which bug charge move has a 100% chance of decreasing the opponent's attack?

GO Cast Chris: 37:44

Um, silver wind.

David Hernandez: 37:46

No

GO Cast Chris: 37:47

Well, there you go. Blew it.

David Hernandez: 37:49

2 for 5, the answer was Lunge

GO Cast Chris: 37:53

Lunge. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah.

David Hernandez: 37:56

GoCast. Chris, thank you for coming on the show. If people want to check out your podcast, where can they check you out? By all means, please plug away.

GO Cast Chris: 38:02

Oh geez. What a note to go out on going two for five and a quiz. I'm going to have to talk with my PVP corner co hosts. My goodness. They set me up

David Hernandez: 38:12

I mean, they gave me the questions I, do you expect me to know about PVP?

GO Cast Chris: 38:16

No, no, no, no. I'm I'm not blaming. I'm not shooting the messenger today. Not today at least. No, but people can find us, uh, pretty much go cast podcast, almost anywhere we have the presence across the board, pretty much anywhere you want to find us. The only exception is the Facebook page. I think it might still exist. Well, I could have sworn that I deleted it. we're on Twitter at go cast podcast, just go to our website, gocastpodcast.Com. We're on threads now too. We're all over the place.

David Hernandez: 38:42

Cool beans. And I'll make sure to include links to everything that was said in the description of today's episode. Thank you for listening to As the Pokeball Turns. If you want to support the show, consider becoming a patron by either clicking the link in the description or going to patreon.com/asthepokeballturns. Now here's a sneak peek for the next episode of As the Pokeball Turns.

39:03

One question that I was wondering, obviously you're one person running PvP Poke, and you almost came close to stopping the site altogether. Have you ever thought about what you would do if you couldn't run PvP Poke anymore? I, uh, if that day came, I would.