TRAINER'S EYE #66 - "The Shiny Taillow Chronicles" ft. LordDrew360

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by LordDrew360, a Pokemon Trainer from Canada and a streamer on Twitch. He opens up about his enthralling journey with Pokemon and the immersive world of Pokemon GO.

LordDrew360 recounts his thrilling experiences at GO Fest Chicago, where the electric atmosphere and vibrant community ignited a spark within him. The magic of the event not only deepened his love for Pokemon but also served as a catalyst for his interest into content creation.

LordDrew360 shares the joys and challenges of transitioning from a dedicated Pokemon GO player to a content creator. Staring out with Youtube, he eventually transitioned over to Twitch where he was able to engage an audience through both Pokemon and entertainment. Tune in as he sheds light on his engaging Twitch channel, where he passionately connects with people through live Pokemon content. From virtual battles to lively discussions, his Twitch journey is a testament to the power of Pokemon in fostering connections and building a supportive community.

Join us for a conversation that captures the essence of Pokemon as more than just a game but a medium that brings people together.

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

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

Connect with LordDrew360: Linktree

Transcript

David Hernandez: 0:00

My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns. Welcome to as the Pokemon Ball turns where the stories are real and people still play this game. Our journey takes us to Canada, where a Pokemon trainer started his content creation journey in 2019. He hoped to engage people through his love for gaming, specifically Pokemon. Initially starting with YouTube, he eventually transferred over to Twitch, where he primarily shiny hunts with the main series games Or plays Go Battle League in Pokemon Go. Just as with any Twitch streamer, he has built his own community, his own experience with the platform that includes dancing to random songs chosen by himself or his audience. Outside of Twitch, he engages with the community whether it's during community days or when he would heavily grind Pokemon Go, at one point consistently hitting the daily catch limit. Finally, he shares his experience attending live events for Pokemon Go, particularly GoFest in Chicago, and shares how that influenced his journey today. Here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon Go. This is Lord Drew 360. today I'm joined by the Lord of Canada and the most passionate person you will ever meet about the floss. And no, I'm not talking about what you use to clean your teeth. Lord drew. Welcome to the show.

LordDrew360: 1:56

Thanks for having me on here.

David Hernandez: 1:58

For those who may be not familiar with the floss, like what is the floss? Like how can it benefit people's lives?

LordDrew360: 2:04

Oh my goodness. This is a great question. I was just talking about this the other day with some of my viewers as well. It's so much fun. It's a dance move just in case people are curious what it is. And essentially all you're doing is you're just swaying your head back and forth and you're alternating your arms. So it's, it's like a big motion where like, you're just having fun moving your body and you know, it's a good exercise. a lot of people don't know how to do it. It's very easy though. If you take the time to learn it.

David Hernandez: 2:31

What is it about the floss that you like doing? Because you not only dance it to just one particular song, you do multiple different types of music that you dance to and you really adjust the dance to it specifically. Like what got you into doing the floss?

LordDrew360: 2:43

So when I was doing some of the streaming here, I was thinking what's the way to entertain people. And I thought dancing, but my problem was I really don't know how to dance. So I had to really think about moves that I could do. And then I'm like, Oh, the floss is an easy dance move. So I decided to do that out of a whim and then it caught all people and people were like, Ooh, I like this. So I let them choose the song that I floss to and we just try and floss it to the beats. That's simple.

David Hernandez: 3:10

Now, you've done many songs, you've done different kinds of songs. What's one song that you really enjoyed dancing the floss to?

LordDrew360: 3:17

Oh my gosh, there's so many of them. I think the one that sticks to me the most is probably Cruel Sorrow by Taylor Swift because there's so many different beats in that one. I love songs that have different beats because then I can kind of stop and I could change the pace to it Like I had one where I kid you not there were so many places where they stopped the beat. I'm like, oh my goodness Just keep going. I want to keep flossing.

David Hernandez: 3:42

It stopped too soon?

LordDrew360: 3:43

Yeah,

David Hernandez: 3:44

Aww, poor guy, he just wants to floss and the song just stops.

LordDrew360: 3:47

that's all I want to do. Yeah.

David Hernandez: 3:49

Well, speaking of Twitch, what led you to want to start doing Twitch? Because you have such a good, engaging personality. I've watched you for a little bit and you really know how to interact with your audience, but a lot of people really struggle with. So what was it about Twitch that really made you want to start streaming there?

LordDrew360: 4:03

So the one thing I really liked about Twitch was the interaction with others because I used to do YouTube back in the day where I make like Pokemon Go vlogs and they were great I had fun doing them because I really showed like a lot of my locals what my grinds look like like I love like I'm a hardcore grinder I love going out playing Pokemon Go and getting the cash grind, getting the shine, and getting the hundos. But something about Twitch is just you are really able to interact with people who enjoy the game yourself and with other people who stream it as well. And you get that engagement with the community. Whereas with YouTube, it's like the people have to really go and search for you. There's no really engagement when it comes to, Being with others and on that platform. So Twitch is a really nice place where you can actually like see people, meet people, and then eventually like have just some, a lot of fun with them. It's a lot more versatile.

David Hernandez: 4:53

And you use Twitch to, I know you do many games, but you primarily also use Pokemon to connect with people, correct?

LordDrew360: 4:58

Yes, like Pokemon Go. I do Scarlet and Violet as well. I've been, I've been really doing the shiny decks and I like, before I actually started streaming, I was really into, uh, Sword and Shield as well. Like, I went on a grind to get every single Galarian Pokemon and Galarian form in the game, which I managed to do, but I didn't, I didn't stream at the time, so no one saw me do any of that.

David Hernandez: 5:17

So you actually get to enjoy celebrating your accomplishments within the game with their community.

LordDrew360: 5:23

Exactly! Like, the one thing I think is, is really fun with shiny hunting is the fact that You just go on the grind and then you just chat with people like it's a very casual very like easy going activity if you want to say where you're literally just looking at the screen And you're just you're just relaxed and listens to music with friends, that's all it has to be.

David Hernandez: 5:41

Yeah, it's almost like a web call, right? To where your friends, they watch you kind of play the game, and you know, it's, people get invested in what you're doing, right? Because you're trying to go for, in your case, you're trying to go for a shiny Pokemon. And you know, it takes, sometimes it's not as quick as it is in Pokemon Go. Say like you're doing the main series games, it can kind of take a bit of a drive, but once you get it, and you're excited, your community can kind of share that experience with you.

LordDrew360: 6:03

Oh, yeah for sure I know some of those like reset hunts like I still have to go back and do them as well But like for example the Swords of Justice in Sword and Shiled, oh my gosh those take so So long, and then it gets so boring. You're like, you're sitting there, one second to appear, and then you're there for like five hours, sitting there, just resetting, and you're like, I gotta get up and have some food. Like, I'm up here too long.

David Hernandez: 6:29

I've been sitting down for 12 hours and I haven't eaten breakfast yet.

LordDrew360: 6:32

Honestly, that could happen if you just get so focused on just resetting, and you get so just like, emotionally attached to that screen. It's like, Okay, I know I gotta get up eventually, but when am I gonna get up? I started playing Pokemon when I was young. So like, when I was in like 8 or 9. I actually started off with Pokemon, FireRed and LeafGreen. So that was my first ever game. I also had Pokemon Emerald. And then eventually when, Diamond and Pearl came out, I played those as well. And then funny enough, you're gonna probably laugh at me when I tell you this, but when I was a kid, I actually thought that FireRed and LeafGreen were like the original Generation 1 games. I didn't know as a kid, that, Red and Blue existed, and Yellow and Crystal. And then I was told about this when I got older, like when I was in my teenage years. And I'm like... I'd never heard of them. People are like, what? I'm like, yeah, I just didn't know they existed.

David Hernandez: 7:24

It's interesting because you started with the Game Boy Advance era games, and that's something I've always been curious about. So you didn't know that the games before RBY, GSC. You didn't know those existed, right?

LordDrew360: 7:35

Yeah. No clue.

David Hernandez: 7:37

Did you ever try to go play them once you did find out about them?

LordDrew360: 7:40

I was always thinking about it, but my, my main issue was like, how am I ever going to access them? And I know now they had the, remastered ones on the switch, I believe, where you could buy them with the online accounts, but I don't know. It just didn't really spark me. I, I, I always thought maybe one day I'll go back and play them, but I've been more fun with the newer games that I've just stuck to those.

David Hernandez: 8:00

Yeah, I could feel that because a lot of the older games, the Game Boy Color games, a lot of it's held in nostalgia. we remember those games because that's what we grew up with, but for you, you grew up with Hoenn, you grew up with the Fire Red Leaf Green game, so you may not have as much attachment as we would.

LordDrew360: 8:15

yeah, like I'd go back any day and play Emerald. Like, I love that game. remember going, going and finding Peeko, the Wingull, at the one part of the game.

David Hernandez: 8:24

Yes, I believe that was Mr. Briney,

LordDrew360: 8:27

Mmm. Yes, I believe so.

David Hernandez: 8:30

Did you ever touch on the Battle Frontier at all?

LordDrew360: 8:32

I tried it. So I actually went back in my later teenage years, and then I went back and I beat the Elite Four, and I tried Frontier Brain. And some of those towers are just impossible. Like I remember the one you have to use rental Pokemon and I'm like, am I going to win if you're giving me a Dunsparce to use? This is just impossible. And you're going to face what? A Miltank or something? Like, there's just no way!

David Hernandez: 8:55

Yeah, that was one of the more complicated ones for me. That one and the Battle Pyramid I always had problems with. I just could never beat those. I never beat the Battle Frontier myself. It's just, that's really for the hardcore Pokemon fans for sure.

LordDrew360: 9:07

Oh, yeah. But let me tell you the music for those brains. Oh, beautiful.

David Hernandez: 9:14

Oh my gosh, I don't remember the music.

LordDrew360: 9:16

No. Oh, my

David Hernandez: 9:17

I don't remember him. I'm trying to, I'm drawing blank. It's been that long. I can't remember him right now.

LordDrew360: 9:21

they're really good music. It's really good music. I'll mention another person, uh, GlitchxCity. She makes a bunch of remixes. legitimately that frontier brain remix is stuck in my brain. It's that good.

David Hernandez: 9:33

Oh my gosh. I'm at the, I got some YouTubing to do after this.

LordDrew360: 9:36

Yes.

David Hernandez: 9:37

So you kept playing Pokemon, right? Throughout the generations.

LordDrew360: 9:41

Yes, so I, I went on to play, Diamond and Pearl. I never played Platinum properly, like I tried playing it, again later on, like when I was playing like Sun and Moon and whatnot. But I felt like there was too many similarities, Diamond and Pearl, that I never really got to the end of it, At the end of the day, I didn't really finish Platinum ever, but I took a breather when Black and White came out because that's when I was going to high school, and I was like, I can't play with my favorite Pokemon, so why do I want to play this game that has just all new Pokemon? Like, that was the weirdest part of Pokemon, the weirdest era in my opinion, where they decided they were going to try and change it up and not bring back the old Pokemon. It was a weird time. So I stopped playing then. And then flash forward to when like Pokemon Go comes out and they're in gen six. I'm like, Whoa, there's things called mega evolutions. That's so cool. They literally made the older Pokemon have another evolution. So I, came back then. And since Pokemon Go, I've been playing, you know, the main series games like sun and moon. I've played ultra sun and moon. I play sword and shield, Scarlet, Violet. I've liked them all. They've all had unique takes to the franchise, with all the different mechanics, and I've loved it.

David Hernandez: 10:47

What's interesting is you said you took a break right at gen five because you couldn't play with the older Pokemon. Correct.

LordDrew360: 10:52

Yeah,

David Hernandez: 10:54

it's just too weird for you. You

LordDrew360: 10:56

didn't like it. I always loved picking Pokemon. Like, like, when I was young, I always liked picking Pokemon for the older generation because they had memories with me. But now, it's funny, I like picking a team with all the newer Pokemon because I want to try and test them out on my first playthrough and see what they have to bring to the table. So it's kind of a shift of my mindset as got older, but like, you know, young me said, I want to play my own Pokemon. I love like Blaziken, you know, give me a nice like, Swellow. I love these Pokemon.

David Hernandez: 11:25

You don't want to be forced into it, right? You want to have the option that, hey, if I actually want to use the old Pokemon, I'd like to have the option, even though I'm going to use the new ones.

LordDrew360: 11:32

Yeah, exactly. Like, if you're not gonna give me the option, then, you know, it sucks.

David Hernandez: 11:38

What's interesting though, is that that's the same reason why a lot of people left after Gold, Silver, and Crystal, because Gen 3, I don't know if you knew this, you couldn't back trade the Gen 1 and 2 games to Gen 3. So Gen 3 was actually kind of a reset at the time, to where you kind of had to start all over again with the brand new Pokemon as well.

LordDrew360: 11:57

No, I didn't know about that. That's, that's interesting.

David Hernandez: 12:01

Yeah, it's not interesting how history repeats itself despite of no matter where we start.

LordDrew360: 12:05

Yeah, but then eventually they let you keep bringing them over, like, I know there's probably some person out there that somehow got a Pokemon all the way from, like, Fire Red Leaf Green, all the way to Scarlet and Violet. It's like, this is my Pokemon from, 20 years ago.

David Hernandez: 12:19

So do you have a favorite Pokemon at all?

LordDrew360: 12:21

Ooh. I always, I always love when people ask me this question. So I never really had a favorite Pokemon until generation nine. There was just something about this Pokemon that just sparked joy in me. I'm like, oh my goodness. I love it. So my favorite Pokemon is Tinkaton.

David Hernandez: 12:38

Oh, yes.

LordDrew360: 12:39

There's just something about it. I just love the, the cute little ears on it. The big hammer, which I was told after a few months of being out that that's apparently Corviknight armor that it uses to build that hammer. I'm like... The lore, it's so cool.

David Hernandez: 12:53

Without a doubt. And then plus how it hits rocks towards Corviknight and that's why they can't have that expressway up in, uh, Scarlet and Violet. Like I love Tinkertown Story. I love its design. It's great.

LordDrew360: 13:02

I always think with Tinkaton as well. It's like, the big band hammer. It's just gonna like, smack you in your face with it.

David Hernandez: 13:09

Exactly. It reminds me of, uh, King Dedede almost.

LordDrew360: 13:13

Oh, yes, yes, yes, I know what you're talking about.

David Hernandez: 13:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For those who don't know, look him up.

LordDrew360: 13:18

Haha, yeah. From the Kirby franchise.

David Hernandez: 13:20

So Pokemon Go comes out in 2016. I'm assuming you played day one as well.

LordDrew360: 13:25

so interesting enough, I didn't play day one. I was like, after the first week it came out. I was not a day one person.

David Hernandez: 13:33

You're a week two player. Okay.

LordDrew360: 13:36

out, people were like, Oh my gosh, Pokemon Go is so much fun. And I'm like, Okay, you know what? I'll give it a shot. We'll see how this goes. People were going out, grinding in the parks, and we were trying to still figure out where to play because everyone's like, You know, in the grapevine, you hear people say, If this place is good, this place is good. So you go and try out different places, see how the game goes, And then you try and find your own places, and you're like, Wow, there's literally nothing spawning here. This sucks. So you play for a half hour, and you find absolutely nothing. Maybe like, find one or two Pokemon. And then... You realize, okay, we should maybe see about other players where they're going. And interesting enough, it got to a point where the one place that, people always want to play, people who lived in the high rises over there complained about all the noise and they got the Pokestops removed.

David Hernandez: 14:19

Really? So it was like park or anything like that?

LordDrew360: 14:22

It was, like the city hall area in Mississauga, near like square one. They took down the Pokestop, because there's a lot of high rises there people live, and people were complaining about it, so they got rid of them. But, now, because the game's a lot smaller, people rebuilt the stops with Wayfarer, and it's still a great place to play, and you can go there and they're not being taken down, because nobody's making a big commotion like, oh my gosh, there's a Gyarados or Dratini over there!

David Hernandez: 14:46

Yes, we're not trespassing in the park at two o'clock in the morning trying to catch a Dratini.

LordDrew360: 14:50

Oh, there's still, there's still the occasional player that'll go out at two in the morning and grind.

David Hernandez: 14:55

Is that player you?

LordDrew360: 14:56

No, no, nighttime comes I'm like, let me stay in my nice comfortable house. I'll go out during the day.

David Hernandez: 15:03

So, was that primarily the place people went to in those early days?

LordDrew360: 15:06

So, the main park that I play at now, it was not the greatest place to play when the game first started. we had to build it up because there were so many potential places that you could put PokéStops, but the initial, like, placement of the PokéStops was really bad. You know, it was such a, big park, but it, it didn't feel like it was a full, immersed park with stops. we didn't usually go play there, we usually had to go, like, drive to like the downtown area, for my city in order to play. And then, yeah, sometimes we go out of the city to like Mississauga and we play over there because we knew that was a great place to play. But again, you're going out for a mobile game. You're thinking to yourself, is it worth driving all the way here just to play the game? But obviously that mindset's changed over time.

David Hernandez: 15:46

Well, you said that you were a hardcore grinder, and I'm guessing you kind of still are? Or have you kind of slowed down a bit?

LordDrew360: 15:51

I'm on and off like during the pandemic, I really did like crazy crash cash grinds where I was doing like a thousand catches a day. 2021, I got like 150, 000 catches in the year and I was going nonstop like I had to time on my hands as well cause I was doing a master's degree. So in between my studies, I would go out and I get some exercise and do like a good catch grind. my main way of actually playing the game. I'll tell you, this is biking. I'll tell anybody if you have a good bike and you have a good route, you can bike around, you can get easy, like 200 catches in an hour. Easy.

David Hernandez: 16:24

Really?

LordDrew360: 16:25

Yeah.

David Hernandez: 16:25

You know, one of the other guests who I've had who's been a biker, and he does the same thing. He would go, I don't remember his route, but he would, that's how he played Pokemon Go. He would have his, auto catcher on, and he said he'd catch a lot of Pokemon and get a lot of distance that way.

LordDrew360: 16:36

Oh, actually do it a different way. I don't actually let the auto catcher go when I'm biking. I actually hand catch them. I have my phone. I have my, I know it might look funny when I do it, but I have like a phone holder on the top of the bike there. it took me some time to do it because I didn't initially start this wave. So I'll give you like a little bit of the progression of it. So I started off biking and then I'm holding the phone and then I have to stop to catch the spawns and then bike to the area. But then I thought it'd be more efficient if I just had the phone sitting there and while I'm biking, I can just catch. So I kid you not, I'll fast catch on that phone while I'm biking as long as I'm aware of my surroundings, people don't usually mind.

David Hernandez: 17:13

See, key word there, be aware of your surroundings. So if you can't do that, don't do what he's doing.

LordDrew360: 17:18

Yeah, it takes a lot of practice to do what I'm doing. I wasn't an expert when I first started. I kid you not, sometimes I would have to actually stop because I'm like, there's too much here and I'm going to speed by it. But then you get used to like the rotation of like, click, okay, like throw. Or if I don't want to catch that, I'll just like back on and go to the next one. But like, most times I'm already clicking on it. The two seconds it takes to fast catch. I'm like, let's just catch it. Go on.

David Hernandez: 17:40

What is it about Pokemon Go that keeps you engaged compared to the main series, or that the main series doesn't have? Hm.

LordDrew360: 17:46

Oh, definitely the community aspect. I love when I go out there sometimes, and then I see my locals, and they're like, oh, it's Lord Drew, like, how you doing? And then, I literally have gotten to a point where people are like, they're not shocked when I get something really rare, cause they're like, oh, that's just LordDrew360 luck, like, we, we're not surprised. So it's the community. Like that's what this game is built on. It's the social aspect of getting out there, meeting people, talking to them, catching up like even when I'm just playing with them, sometimes on calm days, I'll just walk with them. I'll have the bike, I'll walk the bike. I'll walk and talk with them and we'll just chat about our lives. Just see what we're all doing. Cause half the fun of the game is catching, but half the fun is just meeting the people that are out there playing. And it's always so cool when you're like. Oh, I'm like doing this job. Like, I kid you not. I know somebody who's like a librarian playing the game. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, that's so cool.

David Hernandez: 18:34

Do they bring you sacrifices saying like please spare us from your wrath whenever they meet with you?

LordDrew360: 18:39

Oh no, I haven't got that. Thankfully. I've got a lot of people who would be like, can you bless it with your shiny luck? And I'm like, sure, here you go. I touched the phone

David Hernandez: 18:47

Oh, wow, you bless them

LordDrew360: 18:48

yes, we do that sometimes. And then I get, you know, I've had people, they want me to check it and see if they're like shiny, for example, like a raid or a task. It's worth a couple of times where I click on it. I'm like, Oh, it's a shiny. There you go. You're welcome. But not always.

David Hernandez: 19:01

So if you want to get a Sharni you're really trying to get one you got to get a Lord Drew's touch or

LordDrew360: 19:06

me at one of the

David Hernandez: 19:07

get his blessing. That's probably a better way to say

LordDrew360: 19:09

My blessing. Oh my goodness. And now, oh my goodness, if we go back to things, now I had a viewer who's like, Oh, I'm a Lord Truth360 disciple. I'm like, what is this? You guys are bringing it to my stream.

David Hernandez: 19:21

I Found the name of this podcast can be the Church of Lord drew Yeah Yet

LordDrew360: 19:32

Oh my god.

David Hernandez: 19:32

I'm just joking.

LordDrew360: 19:33

I know. I know. It's funny though. I love the jokes. I love it.

David Hernandez: 19:38

one thing about Pokemon Go that you also started getting involved with was the PvP aspect. Was it something that you really gravitated towards right away or is it something that you kind of took some time to get used to?

LordDrew360: 19:47

I wasn't really interested. I gave it a little shot. I said, you know what, I'm not really interested in this. I didn't really play it. I still tried to hit Legend the first couple seasons, and obviously I wasn't successful. But I found the reason I was was because I was resisting the urge to really try and play it because one thing I'll tell you, I don't like games that are really competitive. if there's a game where there's winners or losers, if you win too much, you're gonna have people who will get frustrated, and same goes for you, if you lose too much... Then you're gonna get fresh with people who keep beating you. So, I try to stay away from that sort of stuff, but I eventually just, submitted myself to it in that sense, like I said, You know what? I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna grab the PVP IV mons, I'm gonna go and learn, you know, the moves of the Pokemon, memorize them. The one thing I still don't do is people hate about me is that I don't count the moves like people know the counts for fast moves to charge moves. I still don't do that because I want us to have some sort of like element of fun of trying to catch not knowing when they're going to throw. But I have like a general idea with it. So like with PVP, I started off not really liking it, but then as time went on, I said, you know what, I'm going to emotionally devote myself into it. I want to be part of the community. I want to have fun with it. And. I just kept growing with it. Like as time went on, I kept learning more with the moves, keeping current with the updates because every season usually has updates minus the interlude season, that was, that was a very sad time for PVP, but you know, end of the day, they always are trying to improve it. I know when it comes to PvP, you always want to be the best of the best, but I'm, there to have fun. I tell people, if you're not having fun with the game, maybe it's not the right game for you. Take a step back, maybe revise what you want to do, and maybe come back like, some people, like, Get drained or like burned out of a game and I know for a fact that happens. And I'm not gonna tell you that I haven't gotten burned out at times with this game Like at one point took like a couple weeks off cuz I was like super drained a bit and I'm like There's nothing really interesting happening. But when it comes to PvP I want everyone to know that if you're gonna play it, It doesn't matter if you hit legend or not because at the end of the day You should be having fun with it, right? Obviously, I say the more fun you have, the better you get because you're learning, and you're not taking it to heart.

David Hernandez: 21:49

That's fair. Now, if somebody wanted to come battle you and try to dethrone you, what sixth Pokemon would you bring?

LordDrew360: 21:54

So obviously then I'm gonna bring Tink a ton, because it's my favorite Pokemon. I'll limit it to one legendary. I'll bring Dialga, because I love that boy. Um,

David Hernandez: 22:03

can just rewind time anyway.

LordDrew360: 22:05

Oh, true. Yeah. I didn't realize I'm

David Hernandez: 22:09

you! I got you! I got you!

LordDrew360: 22:12

mindedly, just like, Oh, what a typings I want to have coverage for. I'm thinking of the strategic, not like the logistics of it. Like what these Pokemon do. Cause I'll just bring Arceus. I'll bring the God, you know, he just does everything. He'll just, he'll just control everything. He's good to go.

David Hernandez: 22:26

Right.

LordDrew360: 22:27

But yeah, I'll bring those. I'll bring those two Dialga. I'll bring Tinkertan. I'm actually a really big fan as well of Blaziken and Venusaur. Those ones are a lot of fun. My starters. I need a water type. Hmm. I feel like everyone would laugh if I brought a Bruxish, because that's my least favorite Pokemon. So you know what, I'll bring the Bruxish for people. And then, I'll bring Lucario, because that's a fan favorite.

David Hernandez: 22:51

Nice. That's a very good, solid team of six. And I don't think we'll ever hear anybody say they're gonna bring a Bruxish on their team ever again.

LordDrew360: 22:57

Oh, believe me, you're going to have a lot of people laughing at that one, because they've even put an emote of me kissing the Bruxish.

David Hernandez: 23:03

Really?

LordDrew360: 23:04

Mm

David Hernandez: 23:05

Like, it's an emote in your Twitch chat? Or is it just an emote

LordDrew360: 23:08

Yeah, it's an emote in my Twitch chat. People can spam it if they want. It's of me kissing a Bruxish. it's a meme.

David Hernandez: 23:16

You've been listening to as the Pokeball turns. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. I know you've had a chance to attend a few live Niantic events with Pokemon Go. What was your first one that you ever attended?

LordDrew360: 24:26

My first one that I ever attended was Chicago for GoFest 2019. I went with a bunch of local friends. I actually didn't do any content creation then, and it was actually the summer, That inspired me to start my content creation journey. I came out, and I was just a regular old guy. Played Pokemon Go with my friends. met Zoe 2Dots when she was there. Actually met Reversal when he was still doing Pokemon Go. After that, I know you asked for my first one, but then I also went to Montreal cause it was, literally right after, like, that was the first Safari Zone right after the GoFest. And I'm like, this is literally like a, four or five hour drive. Like, I'm just going to go to it because I'm like, this is, this is so easy to get to. So I kind of got lucky. I'm sitting right in the middle of like Chicago and Montreal. So I'm like, Oh, I could just drive to both. So, you know, I go to, I go to one in the summer, go to one in the fall. I can honestly say, I love the experience with them, minus the errors that were happening in Chicago. There was like one area where there were like a couple of errors, where people were like glitching out. And I think it was the garden one. it was bad. Oh my goodness, I'm thinking, I came all the way out here and I can't even play the game and catch the shinies I want. This is sad. But it's okay because then when I went to safaris out of Montreal, it was a lot better. It was a lot spaced out. There weren't any issues. And then like for me, in terms of erroring out, cause my next event I went to was like New York I haven't had any issues with, with cellular when I went to an event. So I had a pretty good time.

David Hernandez: 25:52

So you said that when you went to Chicago you were inspired to do content creation. What was it about that go fest that sparked your interest to try to do content creation?

LordDrew360: 26:00

It was a lot of just the people that I met there that it was really exciting. I thought, what if I'm one of the people that was actually there and people have had an idea of what was, I thought it'd be cool to like connect with people from around the world. And then when I actually go to events, they're like, Oh, I know who you are. I thought that'd be a cool moment to have. And I actually did have that in, in New York, I call people. They're like, I know who you are. I'm like, what, you don't know who I am. This is wild, but it was, it was that. And the fact that a lot of my locals as well. Knew that I played the game pretty well and I had a good amount of shiny luck. So like, I would love to see you do like you have such a character like this before I streamed as well. And before I did YouTube that they were like, you know, you're such a fun guy. I think you'd be great at doing content creation. And me with like very little to nothing at the time, I'm like, do I really want to do this? And I said to myself, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability. I know I'm going to start off terribly. But that's half the fun. You got to build it up and you got to get better as time goes on. You know, it starts as an expert. If you go and check the first ever YouTube video I made, it was the most awkward thing I ever made, but I learned from it and I made them better.

David Hernandez: 27:05

I can testify to that because I actually watched it.

LordDrew360: 27:07

No, you Oh my god, guy's doing his research. Oh my gosh. I'm like, oh, yeah, let's go do this Shinx raid. Oh, it's not sh because I was scared of people around me, like, listening in my conversation, because I don't want to be that awkward with the camera on my face. And I'm in this big park where no one else is playing Pokemon Go. And they're like, who's this weirdo recording himself? That that was my mindset back then, but I got used to it because, you know, I'm like, I don't care what other people are doing. I want to care what I'm doing.

David Hernandez: 27:37

I mean, I think that's where we all start somewhere, because I always, say this whenever I talk about my podcast. My first episode was four minutes long. So, I mean, I was just not used to being recorded. It's very, you become very self conscious, which is what you sound like you struggle with as well. And until you kind of get over yourself and kind of learn to just enjoy it, it takes some time.

LordDrew360: 27:55

Yeah, like you're only going to find people who are going to like, try and hate on you for it, but at the end of the day, if you have a community that loves it, own it, right? Like I've even had like, you know, sometimes I do like the IRL streams and I'm biking with the headphones on and I'm catching, I've had random people being like, Oh, are you streaming? And I'm like, yeah, that they want to follow me. So they go right ahead. Like I had a kid who then would recognize me when I'm biking. You're like, Oh, Hey, how's it going? I'm like, good. You and I'm just live biking around.

David Hernandez: 28:19

wait, wait, wait, wait. You are biking while playing Pokemon Go and streaming?

LordDrew360: 28:25

I've done that a couple of times. Yeah. Mostly in the summer. Okay. The, the, the secret is a second phone. So you have the second phone on the other side of the bike with the chat. And then you have the main phone with the game. So that way, when you're biking, you can catch, you're aware of your surroundings, and then you have to show this side. So I checked the chat every couple of minutes, see what people are doing. And then I just keep grinding.

David Hernandez: 28:49

You're good at multitasking. I couldn't do that.

LordDrew360: 28:52

Hey,

David Hernandez: 28:53

the heck?

LordDrew360: 28:53

me, it takes, it took me some time to figure it out because when I first did it, it, my, my main issue was, okay, how am I going to get the audio to work? Because I tried to use like little AirPods and that most upstream ever because the wind was getting on them and you couldn't hear me at all.

David Hernandez: 29:08

That's your worst concern? I'd be worried about crashing the bike.

LordDrew360: 29:11

No, cause I've, I've had this, I've, I've been biking for years now.. oh, and I could actually tell you a funny story as well. Well, not funny, but a really bad one, really sad one. Um, when I was, when I was, um, was 13 years old in grade eight, uh, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, uh, weekend in Canada here for anybody who is American, cause I know they celebrate Thanksgiving a different time from us. me and my friends were playing a game called, like, bike tag, dumbest thing ever, you can already imagine, you have to try and tag the person while you're biking, and I kid you not, I got my front tire, called my friend's back tire, and we both fell over. I ended up breaking my, wrist, my arm and had to, had to go to the hospital for surgery because we were playing such a silly game. So for like a few years, I didn't even touch a bike cause I was afraid to go and bike after that. I'm like, what has happened again? But then eventually got a better bike and I said to myself, I'm going to try and ride my bike again. And I found a new way to enjoy it. And it kind of distracted me from the fact that, you know, I did get hurt riding a bike one point in my life. wHat I love about the bike is that you're so mobile with it and, and obviously you bring a lock in case you want to be less mobile and you want to walk around with friends. I love the fact that with the bike, that you could just go at your own pace and you can like zoom through the spawns.

David Hernandez: 30:25

So just going to New York City, you know, this was this past year. What was it like for you to go to New York City for GO Fest?

LordDrew360: 30:31

It was honestly very exciting. When I went there, I went with a couple of my local friends that I used to work with. like, my expectation was, I'm gonna meet a couple of people that I stream with, that I play, like, Scarlet and Violet with. We're gonna hang out at the park, and go hunt the city a little bit. And... I can honestly tell you was like one of the most exciting things I've done. Like it technically was like my first ever, like real trip, into the States on my own, because I went with my friends to Chicago, but, you know, it was such a short trip. Like we literally just went for the couple of days and came back. I got to go for the full weekend here, like explore New York with my friends. we took like a whole Sunday. to go like, lurk around the entirety of like Manhattan, New York. and I think the most exciting thing I did, which I love telling people was I walked the entirety of, Central Park. So I walked all the way from the bottom to the top of it. We walked the entire

David Hernandez: 31:19

Oh my gosh. I tried making it and I could only make it about three fourths of the way.

LordDrew360: 31:25

Oh, it's a long park, believe me, by the end of it, we're, glad we had water, but it was, hot. Like we took a couple of breaks in between because we're like getting super exhausted, I think half the fun of going to a go fest isn't just meeting the people cause that's part of it. The other half is actually exploring the city and seeing what is there because if you don't do that and you're just really invested in the Pokemon part of it, I feel like you're missing out on the whole point of a trip, which is to explore and to see what this city has to offer.

David Hernandez: 31:52

That's true, because that's one thing I struggle with, because I went to 2017 GoFest, which was a trainwreck on its own. But, I always regretted not spending time with Chicago at the time. I was like, I wish I had just at least got a trip out of it, you know, because I just went for GoFest and that was it. So I said to myself, the following year, I was like, I'm gonna go for the city. I took like... I want to say four or five days off and I to Chicago. I played GoFest, of course, but I also got to see the city. And ever since then, every time I try to go, I try to go for both the GoFest, but as well as to explore the city as much as I can.

LordDrew360: 32:23

you gotta give yourself a day to really explore the city because when you're, like, I'll be honest, when you're playing your park day or you're playing that one day that you really want to grind, you're not really paying attention to the rest of the city, you're just like going out there, you're grinding. I know that feeling, because I am a very hardcore shiny hunter, so I love to try and go for the hunt. But, after the amount of time I've played the game, I say to myself, You know, everything's gonna come back eventually, you only get one chance to really explore a city like that. So, make the most of it and have your fun!

David Hernandez: 32:51

Oh, very cool, Lord Jew. You've been a wonderful guest. I do have one last question before we close this taco stand.

LordDrew360: 32:57

Okay.

David Hernandez: 32:58

So, one thing that I've identified, just talking with you and just observing your streams. You're not afraid to be yourself. You're very authentic of who you are. What advice would you give to people who maybe struggle trying to be themselves?

LordDrew360: 33:11

Ooh, this question. Ask me now. Cause if you asked me this question like five years ago, I would not have known how to answer it. I was one of those kids where I didn't really socialize much like I didn't have really any friends back in like high school. I really bursted out of my shell when I started university because people were more accepting then. You got to meet people who were being themselves as well and just generally wanted to get to know who you were. And I think something a lot of people struggle with, is just trying to be themselves because they're afraid of being judged. It's, it's crazy sometimes when people, go out there and then, you know, you say one thing and then someone gets so offended by it and you're like, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to, like, tell you how I felt. Right. So I think one of the hardest things people about being themselves is like, they don't want to upset people. and I tell people, if you're going to be yourself, come from a genuine place Don't go out there and be like, really like rude to people, but come out there with some kind of kindness and say, look, this is who I am. And if you don't like me then, you know, like.

David Hernandez: 34:10

That's what you tell them just to kind of accept who they are, kind of thing?

LordDrew360: 34:13

Yeah, like you, you gotta, you gotta be yourself because if you're trying to be someone you're not, Eventually, you're gonna get burned out. So be yourself, honestly, and have fun with things because if you're not having fun, then I don't know what you're doing.

David Hernandez: 34:25

Well, Lord Drew, that is the podcast. That is an episode. Thank you for coming on the show. Before you do go, if people want to connect with you, if they want to check out your content, where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

LordDrew360: 34:36

The main places you'll find me is on Twitch and Twitter, it's@LordDrew360. So if you wanna ever find me, and child me, feel free. I always tell people I, I make myself available whenever possible, but best places is Twitter. Cause I always put my shinies on there. People love that. And then on Twitch where you'll find me doing the flossing. And I'll also tell ya, I've sometimes drink the prune juice on stream.

David Hernandez: 35:00

I'll make sure to include links to everything he 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.