TRAINER'S EYE #72 - "Embers From Charizard's Tail" ft. Dinho from Beginner to Winner PvP

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by Dinho, a Pokemon Trainer from Florida and the co-host of the Beginner to Winner PvP podcast.

Dinho shares his experience with Pokemon GO, starting with his passion for Pokemon Battles, which he originally catered to by participating in Pokemon GO Raids. Once Pokemon GO PVP was launched, Dinho shares how he fully dived into the Pokemon GO PVP and desired to help others become better. Dinho also shares his love for Charizard and how it helped him dive into Pokemon TCG and collecting Pokemon cards.

Dinho also shares insight into his involvement with the Beginner to Winner PvP podcast with his other co-hosts. He shares how the show originated and his initial thoughts joining the podcast and how it has evolved over the years.

Community Fundraiser
A core Pokemon community member, Garren a.k.a HoosierDada13, has lost his home in a fire. Listed below are the three ways that you are able to help.

1) Associate Crisis Fund Donations through the Hancock Health Foundation - Anyone from the community can donate, tax free, and 100% of the donations will go to support Garren (HoosierDada13) and Jessica and their family via the Hancock Health Foundation.

Here's how to donate:

• Follow this link: https://www.hancockhealth.org/about/foundation/
• Click the button "Make a Donation Today"
• You'll be taken to the "Foundation Donations" form
• Fill out the form with your information and desired donation
• PLEASE NOTE in order for the funds to be earmarked for the Harter Family, make sure to choose the following:
• Select "Associate Crisis Fund" under the "Designate Your Gift" field
• Please add the verbiage "Harter Family" under the "My Gift is in Honor of:" field

2) Garren’s Venmo

3) Amazon Wishlist

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

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

Connect with Dinho: Twitter | Website

Transcript

David Hernandez: 0:00

My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns. Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns. Before we dive into this episode, a core member of the Pokemon GO community lost their home due to a house fire. Thankfully, the family survived and are still recovering at the time of this episode. If you're able to help, consider leaving a small donation for the family. Instructions and links will be available in the description of this episode. our journey takes us to Florida, where we meet one of the founders of the Beginner to Winner podcast. Initially starting with two people, the community and the podcast has grown over the years to be central to many people's journeys when it comes to PVP. The interesting aspect when it comes to this podcast, his journey is how small insignificant decisions created ripple effects that are felt today to the point where there is a world where beginner to winner wouldn't even exist today. Here's his journey into the world of Pokemon Go. He is the co host of the Beginner Winner Podcast. This is Dino. Today I'm joined by the co host of the BTW beginner to winner podcast, Dinho. Dinho, welcome to the show.

Dinho: 1:45

Hello. How are you guys?

David Hernandez: 1:47

I'm doing pretty good, man. It's an honor to have you on the show. I've been really excited to have you guys on.

Dinho: 1:52

Yeah, I was very excited once you reached out, like, I like to get interviewed. I don't know why, it's just like a thing I like. So anytime, like, any podcast, like yourself and other ones have asked, like, hey, we want to interview you. I'm like, yo, let's go.

David Hernandez: 2:04

Also, it's perfect fit, like, because I like to interview people and you like to be interviewed.

Dinho: 2:08

Exactly. I don't like to interview people, to be honest. So it's like a perfect fit. I don't want to do it. I usually leave that to like maybe like Wildcat or, or Astro to do that stuff. But I like to get asked questions. I don't like to ask myself the questions to people.

David Hernandez: 2:23

we're like the beans and rice. I don't

Dinho: 2:25

Exactly. love raisin beans.

David Hernandez: 2:26

Yeah, Okay. That's perfect. The perfect connection.

Dinho: 2:29

Exactly.

David Hernandez: 2:30

I'll be the beans. You'll be the rice. It works

Dinho: 2:32

There you go. Yeah, exactly. Dude, that's perfect. I don't know about you, but I like to eat rice and beans in almost everything. So,

David Hernandez: 2:38

Oh yeah. It's part of, it's part of the Hispanic culture, at least for me. Like we grew up on rice and beans. Like rice and beans would be breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Dinho: 2:45

that is very true. Honestly, even if you're like Central or South American, like rice and beans are fairly like, I mean, not so much South America, but more Central, but, rice and beans are definitely like something like a go to. Here in Florida, there is a, restaurant, like a fast food restaurant, called Pollo Tropical. I don't know if you've ever heard of it or not, but essentially they have like rice and beans, chicken, and their rice and beans are like my go to all the time.

David Hernandez: 3:07

Are they like refried beans or do y'all do black beans

Dinho: 3:09

just black beans. I, have a preference, to be honest, like I do like regular black beans over the refried, obviously if I go into a Mexican restaurant, I like to try their refried because I like tasting different type of like Mexican food, because everyone does it differently.

David Hernandez: 3:21

and I think that's interesting because for me I always look at the sides whenever I try a place out and people think like oh, it's just refried beans How you know how difficult it is? It's really easy to screw up

Dinho: 3:32

Oh, a hundred percent. Like, I've made it before myself and I still don't know how to cook that well, but regardless, like, whenever I did try to make it for the first time, I was like, dude, this is like way too dry, and then, like, the next time it was just way too much, like, it being, like, oily, and I'm just like, dude, I can't get it right..

David Hernandez: 3:49

Well, before we dive into anything, Dinho, I want to say congratulations on three years of running the BTW podcast.

Dinho: 3:56

yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you so much. It's, it does not seem like it's been that long, honestly.

David Hernandez: 4:00

I bet. Cause this time fly by since y'all run the podcast.

Dinho: 4:04

Yeah, it's, it's just, it just goes in like insanely quick. Like looking back, I literally remember the, first time Asher goes like, yeah, dude, like we're going on one year. I'm like, wait, what? Now I'm like, What are we on now? man, we're like a hundred, like almost a hundred and fifty episodes

David Hernandez: 4:17

Well, then what's also interesting is that your podcast has also been able to see the growth of PvP a little bit because you guys started in the end towards the end of 2020 and PvP was still kind of, I mean, GBL was still barely released, but y'all seen it grown so much, with the regionals and in the world's competition. What has it been like to create content alongside seeing PvP grow?

Dinho: 4:37

it's been nice, like, having to like, start when there wasn't that much, content out there where, like, it helps people, Get good, right? I remember when I first started doing PvP This is like before I even like started the podcast before I met Astro like there was literally no resource or nothing where it could help you get better or understand like what to look for for PvP Pokemon. It's just like night and day type of difference of how much resource people actually have now versus before. Like I had nobody to go ask questions in regards to how to get good. so, for me, like, I like to help people so they don't have to go through that struggle that I had to go through. I like how much growth, in terms of, like, the regionals. Like, now, Pokemon Go actually has a regional, in the Play Pokemon circuit. So, that's just amazing to me because it's, like, something that I enjoy doing. It's something different. It's not, like, TCG, VGC. so seeing it grow as much as it has now, it just feels great because it's something that we've been, for myself, been playing this game since 2016, so, for us, like, it's great, it's a great feeling, to see people like, hey, thank you so much for your help, I've actually hit my new, ELO in GBL this season. it's just an amazing feeling. it feels great to help out, people

David Hernandez: 5:52

You mentioned how you like to help people and it's pretty evident that you really mean that because I remember when I heard some of your earlier episodes Like I remember the guys saying they had to kind of like drag you to participate in the Silph tournaments back in the day That you were more interested in just trying to coach people when it comes to Pokemon Go is coaching like more your thing compared to trying to participate in tournaments?

Dinho: 6:12

I wouldn't necessarily say that because i'm a very competitive guy Uh, yeah, so like for me like when GBL started, like, I, I wanted to get better and I, during like, COVID era, like I would be working from home, but I would also be watching Twitch, like seeing how people get better or how like good, streamers, like how they play their style and understanding and making my own style. so putting the time in, like is just like what I like to do. I'm like in between both of them. I don't like one more than the other because I definitely like to play. I definitely like to help out people any way I can. seeing people reach their goal is just like very satisfying to me as a person. I'm in the same way, like even at my job, like I'm the same way, like I try to help any way I can. so, when it comes down to it, it's just like my personality. I like to play as well as coach, so I really don't have any preference in regards to either or.

David Hernandez: 7:04

You mentioned how you started playing Pokemon Go in 2016, what was it like in those early days? Like, where would you go to play? Like, what was it like for y'all?

Dinho: 7:11

Yeah, so, funnily enough, how I actually ironically found out, which is the same person that hasn't even played this game in like 5 years, is the person that told me about the game. I got home one night and my friend goes like, yo, have you heard about the new Pokemon game? I'm like, what is it on the switch? Or I forget what it was at a time He's like, no, it's, an app on the phone. And I was like, wait like, what do you, like, what do you do? And he was explaining to me, I was literally sitting at my bed for like an hour, just like putting incense on, just catching Pokemon, waiting for things to pop up. so how I would play, like, it was insane. Cause like there was, we have like a pier, in the beach, there's like a strip. it's in Deerfield, for anybody that's lived in South Florida, they might know where Deerfield is. and literally, you would see people there at night, with like their phones lit up. It would just be like so many people there. you would just hear the noise of the music from the game. And you'd know everyone there was playing. And like anytime anything popped up, like, people would run to it. But at that time, it was just mainly about just like catching Pokemon, what you don't have, what's cool, like, oh, I got a Charizard, you don't, or, things like that. Back in the day when, taking over a gym was like Cause for a fight sometimes because you took over the gym like"why you stalking this gym" and all that, you know, all those things. obviously there was no PVP. so I think it was nice to see a lot of people, you know, that's when the time where like that game made the news saying like, Oh, this game is taking, the world by storm and stuff like that. I also don't miss those days because I do recall those are the times where, like, the game would crash a lot. so I kind of enjoy how it is now. Funny enough. me and astro both live in south florida But we never met ever in like terms of playing until like he asked me to be on the podcast

David Hernandez: 8:51

Really? So, y'all both live in the same vicinity, but y'all never met each other until, PvP came out?

Dinho: 8:56

yeah, essentially like the way we actually met, was funny because here in South Florida, there was something kind of like, factions, but essentially you get a team of people, but they were doing it by sections of, counties here in Florida. And then I got paired up with him in the same team. And I was basically coaching everybody in the team. And then Astro approached me after we finished the battles for that tournament. He's like, Hey, I know this is random, but I've been considering running a podcast. Would you want to, jump in with me? Cause I know that you're really good players, so I would like to have you, cause like, I'm in like a beginner and then you're a more experienced player and that's like how it led up to the whole beginner to winner. I kind of was like leaning towards no, cause I was a very shy person. not very shy. I was like shyish because, I don't know, it's just like I've always been shy my whole life until like I, got older, but essentially I was going to say no because I also at the time I was with my ex and she hated me doing anything Pokemon related. So, yeah, and the good thing is that obviously that's not the case anymore. So, um, so, Yeah, they're next for a reason. There you go. but essentially, I wasn't saying no for obviously like not having time to do it and stuff like that and also like just being like scared of like, oh my god, it's a whole podcast I have to talk to people people are gonna listen to my voice. So Definitely hesitated and at one point while we started I was like I was I don't know if anybody please do not go back to our first episode We had an episode zero I believe that was the most nerve wracking thing because I had my whole intro or my everything that I need to say written down I'm like dude, I don't know what to say now, of course, it's like different like I can talk in the fly, but I just had everything ran just because like as a person that's never done it as a shy person, like it's very, it was very hard. So it was very funny looking back at it. so there was a point, there was a moment where I was going to tell him like, Hey, I can't do this anymore, but then somebody in episode zero, left they're like, Oh, I can't do this anymore. I'm like, shit, they beat me to the punch. And then I'm like, shit, I can't leave him now and then later on, he ended up telling me, like, if I ended up leaving, he would have just ended the podcast. So looking back, I'm like, I'm so glad I didn't actually like left because there would have been no beginner to winner. but, that was interesting. And he knows that too, so he's also mentioned that before. I think he's actually also said himself, like he was in a position where like he was going to probably just cut it off and didn't have time to do it. So looking back, it's really great to see us just kind of like stick with it and we're glad that we did cause like, we have a great community.

David Hernandez: 11:23

in regards to just how, you changed your mind. What made you say yes? Was it just the fact the guy backed out? Or was there just more to it?

Dinho: 11:29

I was very intrigued because like I have mentioned before and mentioned earlier that I like to Help people so I like the idea of that and I kind of like that's kind of like what pushed me to like sure Like the fact that he told me like hey, you're very knowledgeable Like I want you here for the knowledge that you know to help out people, it kind of felt good. So I'm like, oh, okay that's how you see me. that's nice. So that's like where I was just like, okay Yeah, I think I'll help you out.

David Hernandez: 11:56

and then since then, lo behold, you build a community and everything. That's gotta be it's crazy to see how the details kind of

Dinho: 12:01

Yeah a lot of people don't know like the things behind the scene because like I just mentioned like there was gonna be a chance like BTW actually wouldn't have been a thing but because certain little things ended up working out the way they did it ended up just working out.

David Hernandez: 12:15

So before Pokemon Go, did you have any experience with the Pokemon franchise at all?

Dinho: 12:19

yeah, not in regards to like anything competitive. So, I arrived to Florida, so like from my country to Florida, when I was maybe like eight or nine. I think at the time where I was introduced to, like, Pokemon, like, watching the show, the anime, and because everyone in elementary school was talking about it. Since we're fairly new to the country, like, I didn't really have a chance to, like, buy the games, like, the yellow version, the red version, or any of the Game Boy games. so I didn't have, a chance to ever play it. And then my uncle, one time for my birthday, he took me to Kmart, which is not really like around anymore. and for my birthday, he just told me like, pick anything I want. And I ended up getting the yellow version. And that's basically where my Pokemon journey, like in terms of like games started. obviously I loved the yellow version because I could get all three starters versus the other ones, unless you cheated, I guess. Uh, yeah, so I basically started that and there was like some people that I would see in elementary like bring Pokemon cards and I was like, dude, I just fell in love with like Pokemon cards and I used to have a base set Charizard, from, obviously like 1996, I believe it was, I don't

David Hernandez: 13:29

OG. Yeah, the

Dinho: 13:29

It wasn't, I'm so glad it wasn't the shadowless, first edition because. Back in the day when I was trading people, I spilled my drink on my Charizard.

David Hernandez: 13:39

Oh, no.

Dinho: 13:41

I still have it. I still have it with me. It's all wrinkled up. obviously I have other like, near mint Charizards now. But, I just like to keep that one just for memory. I had a pause of Pokemon because, the older you got, you're kind of like, yo, you like Pokemon? That's hella lame. so I fell off Pokemon, like, during, middle school, high school.

David Hernandez: 13:59

remember what generation?

Dinho: 14:00

I definitely know it was black and white. That's usually what a lot of people were saying, like black and white, where there was a time where like Pokemon cards had like eight or nine cards in the pack because no one was really interested in the cards at the moment. So definitely missed a few generations, but obviously now with Pokemon Go I was able to like catch up in every generation that I missed. so yeah, I basically had a pause and I think honestly I picked it up back again with Pokemon Go in 2016, and I picked up the cards itself during COVID because I think during COVID, like, no one had nothing to do, so they were opening cards, right? So, everyone just was like going crazy over Pokemon cards, you wouldn't find any product. that's when I started collecting again.

David Hernandez: 14:42

so, it sounds like you played at least the first four generations of Pokemon before falling off, right?

Dinho: 14:47

in terms of like, having the games, I definitely had the yellow, I think I Got the silver version, and maybe the next one after that, and then I just fell off after that.

David Hernandez: 14:56

Oh, so Gen 4 was mostly the trading card game, it sounds like?

Dinho: 15:00

Yeah!

David Hernandez: 15:00

What was your favorite generation out of the three that you played?

Dinho: 15:03

Oh, I mean, easily,. Anybody that listens to the podcast knows my love for Kanto. the Kanto region is just always the best and everyone knows my love for, running any of Ash's Pokemon. So, I, I, I tend to always, like, whenever we do any tournaments, I try to be like, alright, wear Ash's Pokemon and just make a team out of that. Unless I'm trying to be competitive about it. Like I usually just try and do that. Funny enough, I actually got a little bit into VGC and I'm like looking into running a competitive, Ash team in VGC. So

David Hernandez: 15:37

Would it be just Pokemon that he's used, or just

Dinho: 15:40

Pokemon that he's had, there was actually an argument. I'm actually curious to see what you think about this. I'm like. Telling myself I don't like to ask questions, but here I'm gonna ask a question real quick. What do you, do you, you know about Mr. Mime, right? When, when, with Ash. Would you consider that one of Ash's Pokemon?

David Hernandez: 15:56

No.

Dinho: 15:57

So, I seen him use it in a battle.

David Hernandez: 16:00

Right.

Dinho: 16:00

So, I go based off like whatever he's used in battle is eligible for me to use. that's normally how I see it. I think he's also used Buzzwole, if I'm not mistaken, in a battle. I don't know if you've seen that. I haven't really seen that thing. I just

David Hernandez: 16:15

I haven't seen it either, yeah.

Dinho: 16:17

so apparently he's used in the battle So anytime I'm like, all right, he's using the battle eligible because if you actually play Pokemon go you would know like some of the Pokemon he has are very very like frail Like it's very like glass cannon Pokemon I picked the wrong trainer to like I'm like, they look cool, but they're really frail, but they hit like a, truck, but they get destroyed like, paper, like, it's a like loose wind situation.

David Hernandez: 16:43

when his biggest strategy for Pikachu to avoid an earthquake is to have him lift up his tail off the ground, it's usually a pretty good sign that most of his Pokemon can't take a hit, so.

Dinho: 16:51

yeah, can't do that in the game. So

David Hernandez: 16:54

Nah.

Dinho: 16:56

what would you get hit by that?

David Hernandez: 16:57

you watched the anime early on, right?

Dinho: 16:59

Yes.

David Hernandez: 17:00

You remember the part to where, Ash is facing Blaine, and he had Pikachu go against a Rhydon? And by anime logic, if Pikachu uses a Thunderbolt on the drill, it apparently works.

Dinho: 17:10

I mean, there was times where like, by anime logic they still threw a move but because they were trained to resist, like, be strong against like their resistant type, it still hurts them. I'm like, what? How does that? And then whenever, it's funny though because I translated some of the stuff from anime to Pokemon Go, I'm like, but it did well in the anime! I don't get this. This is a lie.

David Hernandez: 17:35

What was it about the Ash that you kind of want to emulate? Cause you seem to be taking some inspiration from him.

Dinho: 17:40

funny enough. Yeah, actually I I never really like labeled it as that But I guess you could say yeah He would be kind of a role model a lot of people like tried to troll me saying like oh he's lost so many times and stuff like that. But the fact that he just like never gave up. He always tried to get better he just always wanted to be the very best. I mean, that's basically the song right the first song that ever came out, so Given the fact that like he just always continued to get up and continue to try is my whole thing Like I like that and I don't know I guess cuz like he had Charizard I love Charizard and he was a trainer for Charizard, that's how I was introduced to everything. I have everything Charizard in terms of like cards

David Hernandez: 18:22

Is that your Pokemon?

Dinho: 18:24

Yes, Charizard is definitely my favorite Pokemon. I mean, I may be basic, but hey, and a horrible, horrible decision in terms of, like, financially picking the wrong Pokemon to, to like, because does anybody that collects cards know that Charizard is typically the most expensive card out there in any set that you normally go after, and especially in PSA 10. so yeah, that's, that's usually how I, I see Ash, and like No matter what anybody says I've always like stayed loyal to him, even though like people told me like oh You should have picked Gary. He has Umbreon. He has, Alakazam, even though Alakazam's not great. He just has more different type of like Pokemon to pick from.

David Hernandez: 19:01

Are you sad that he's left anime? Did you see the final episodes at all or no?

Dinho: 19:05

I watched it in, Japanese, I was heartbroken, so,

David Hernandez: 19:08

but you saw how he won the championship and

Dinho: 19:10

yes, I saw, yeah, I saw all that. I, I, I swear to God, I did not cry, it, it, it definitely brought some tears to, to me. So, if you think about it, he's, he's been there 20 plus years, maybe 25, I think.

David Hernandez: 19:23

25. Yeah.

Dinho: 19:24

Yeah, so, like. I know it was time, it was bound to happen at some point. what can you do? definitely was sad about it, but I'm still definitely gonna stick to, being loyal. I haven't seen the newer episodes. without him. I think there was like rumors saying that that might be his daughter. I have no idea. So we'll see

David Hernandez: 19:40

Last question in regards to just the Pokemon video games. If you were playing Pokemon Yellow, and you had to do a playthrough, which six Pokemon would you choose?

Dinho: 19:48

I would probably end up building a team around like Pokemon that Ash had in the Kanto region Obviously is even better because in the yellow version he already has Pikachu there So that's also why I picked the yellow version because of Ash. He had the Pikachu following him and it was just amazing. I would probably say Pikachu, Charizard, Snorlax, right? Muk, Tauros would be one of them. And then another one, as much as I want to, I probably wouldn't want to do, like, Bulbasaur or Squirtle, cause I don't want them to be, like, level, 100 Bulbasaur or Squirtle. probably Krabby, cause I need a water type.

David Hernandez: 20:24

Wow, so you,

Dinho: 20:25

sorry, Kingler, Kingler, cause he evolved.

David Hernandez: 20:27

Showing some love to Ash's reserves. I like it.

Dinho: 20:30

Yeaaah. I gotta, I gotta do it, man. any way I can, any way I can. I typically, try to choose anything related to him. Even like, in GBL, I try to make his team work picking Greninja, Muk, and Charizard in Ultra League. Heh heh heh. Yeah,

David Hernandez: 20:46

Dang, you're really dedicated to trying to be like Ash

Dinho: 20:48

yeah, exactly. Yeah,

David Hernandez: 20:51

so, of course, Pokemon Go came out in 2016. Before the PVP came. How was your way to play? Like, would you do shiny hunting? Would you do raids?

Dinho: 20:59

before that, so I would feel like I would have like FOMO So anytime I raid like a new raid would come out like, you know How like Lapras four star raid was so hard to do So I would take lunch time to go to a raid To go help out friends and get the Pokemon because I didn't want to feel like I missed out on Lapras Because obviously Ash's Pokemon, right? And actually I probably should have put Lapras there too in my team, but hey, it's alright Um, yeah, so like things like that, like I would literally like use my lunch, my breaks to go raid, or get to work late because I needed to go do a raid or catch a Pokemon, or leave early because I needed to like, do that, like it was just like a bad habit I had, but in terms of that, like I would normally like do a lot of raiding because that's literally all you could do outside of like catching Pokemon. so raiding was definitely like my thing at the time because I was like the closest thing I guess to battling. I saw it as that like I was always always for battling as you can tell like raiding was the closest thing to battling at the time that was my thing I was never ever a shiny hunter and I never want to be because that's just like too much dedication.

David Hernandez: 22:08

Would you like participate in like a raid community in your area or you were just a solo raider? Ha

Dinho: 22:13

had a, a community where I would raid, we would do like, what is it like, a raid train or whatever it's called, where people would go and like, I remember, when Articuno, one of the first legendary birds came out, I would get up early, early in the morning and go, I think it was like 7. 30 in the morning and I went to go start raiding. obviously I would not do that now, but.

David Hernandez: 22:35

ha ha ha.

Dinho: 22:36

so yeah, I was more of a raider because like I mentioned, like, anything close to PVP. Now, once CBL came, it was rating was done for me, like it was dead.

David Hernandez: 22:46

Real quick, regards to the raiding, so was it just the act of just trying to beat the boss or were you trying to like I know it's battling, but like what was it about raiding that kept you engaged during that time?

Dinho: 22:54

just the fact that it was the closest thing to p like battling like I'm in the stadium fighting, like, a big boss, like it's cool, that's the only thing that really like kept me entertained. There was a moment where it was just very repetitive with the whole rating system, it was just the same over and over again, so it got boring, I honestly, I think the, the PvP once that came into the game, that's basically what caught me back into it because I did have a, two, three months or four months where I did stop at a certain point before PvP came out. So, PvP did save the game, for me at least.

David Hernandez: 23:24

Well, you spoke about how PvP is of interest to you, and it sounds like probably from your comparative sides, because you've always been a battler from day one. as time has grown on, the big thing that really spiked the interest of PvP was the regionals aspect of it, and seeing worlds. why do you think that is?

Dinho: 23:38

I think exposing like because a lot of people thought that Pokemon Go was just tapping. You know when it comes to PvP or GBL or Pokemon Go VGC, TCG, they all have strategy and a lot of people didn't think that Pokemon Go had strategy and it's actually crazy because I play all three now and I, think that all three of them have strategy but the thing is that Pokemon Go, you have to think on the fly, like you have like less than five seconds to think of strategies, if not, you can do misplays. The regionals, play Pokemon, Circuit has shown with the casters, saying like how they're playing, like if they did this slight little mistake, if they, throw an extra fast move, that would have given you a different outcome. I think them showing, that it's not just a tapping game, it engaged a lot of interest for a lot of people because I think after like the first, world championship of Pokemon Go, like the first season in PlayPokemon, the amount of people in GBL. Increased in terms of like, skill and how many more people it felt like there was there like there started to play they caught interest because they were showing it's not just a tapping game. It's more than that. And the fact is like if you're good on your toes that you can think of things like super quick. This is the game for you like it's like I said, TCG, you have a lot of time to think about your strategy. VGC, you have, not as much as TCG, but you do have, you still have time. Pokemon Go, you have to literally think about your strategy as soon as you see the 3, 2, 1, what's in the lead. that's why I think the casters did an amazing job to get people to, start getting into PvP. And that's why I feel like the regionals, for Pokemon Go have skyrocketed since.

David Hernandez: 25:18

I know you've been to a couple of regionals, obviously, since they've started. What is it like for somebody to attend there? Like, what has it been like for you to be able to be in a place where all the competition's taking place? Hahahahahahaha!

Dinho: 25:31

cold. Bring a sweater people. I mean, I'm also from Florida, so I don't know. that's the first thing I'm like, as soon as I walked in, I need a sweater. maybe some people can relate, but like whenever you're like, Nervous about something the cold makes it worse. So for me, like my first regional was very nerve wracking because it was a NAIC. So it was like an international championship one versus like a regular one. So it was like a huge, the big one out of all the regionals. So I was like, great way to start, Dinho. I would say it's a great atmosphere. It's amazing. like anytime, like anybody thinks like, oh, I should, I'm just going to go by the, spectator, just to like see how things are. I'm like, no, go ahead and try it like, I think it's, it's a nice experience. most of the people that you play against are very nice. they're very understanding. My big thing, and Wildcat has said this in the pod a few times, definitely try out to attend, to play, get it out of the way, so in case you are a little bit nervous in regards to playing. it doesn't hurt, like it's, I think it's the same price as a regular ticket. So might as well just, play in the tournament.

David Hernandez: 26:32

You talked about how, you know, you've played all three. It sounds like you might have more of a leaning towards doing TCG outside of Go. Is that fair to say?

Dinho: 26:41

so the only thing is I would say yes, normally I would say yes. But the fact is that, Astro has mentioned he's gone to a regional for TCG already And he mentioned that the people there are not patient for new players. So, I'm just like, yeah, let me just play locally first, see how I get a feel for that. but I definitely think in terms, I may get some hate on this, but I always speak my mind. I think TCG is the easiest to learn and, the most accessible in terms of like practicing, for free essentially like the deck that you have online because you have TCG live, right? TCG, TCG is definitely the easiest in terms of learning. Then you got BGC, even though it has a lot of things to come with. And then Pokemon Go, because Pokemon Go, like I said, if you're not good and thinking like on your feet, like super quick about strategies, If you don't think of win cons as soon as the game starts, you're already behind.

David Hernandez: 27:38

So what is it about the TCG that kind of interests you? Is it just card collecting more so, or do you actually enjoy doing the TCG battles?

Dinho: 27:44

so, obviously it was collecting at first, and then Astro got into it, And, it caught my interest, cause, they started doing tournaments, and the discord, and I'm like, I'm not good, I don't know what I'm doing, and then Obsidian Flames came out, and I'm like, Charizard is in that, that set. They're like, Charizard is actually a meta deck, and I'm like, fuck, like, now I have to play, and then I started watching videos, caught my attention, and like, strategies came up, understanding a little bit more, and I'm like, blasting everything and hitting for like, you know, 300 damage or something like that, with the Charizard deck. The thing is that with the Charizard deck that was being used was also with a Pidgeot, so, you know, that's another Ash's Pokemon, which I should have said that one also my team was six. I think just having like my favorite Pokemon being used in TCG, like it kind of like helped me like get into it. also because I had like people helping me out in terms of like what to do and like understanding cards, that also helped, I have fun playing the game itself and it's very enjoyable.

David Hernandez: 28:47

Now, you entered the TCG game when Charizard was a meta deck.

Dinho: 28:51

Yeah,

David Hernandez: 28:51

try to stick to the meta even as it evolves, or do you try to stick to your favorite Charizard, try to make the deck work sometimes?

Dinho: 28:58

yeah, I mean it's still I think it's still meta now people still run it in regionals. They probably switch out some cards not every deck is the same So for me, like I see that it's still meta so I still can use it I tweak some cards around as well. I do encourage anybody that is trying TCG, Try now other decks because it helps you understand how that deck runs. So when you play against it, then you'll be like, okay, if I was them, I would do this because I know how the deck works. So, if you have a favorite deck, like I do, I feel like it's good to still understand how other decks work. I'm still sticking to my Charizard deck. I have a actual physical Charizard deck right now that I still have yet to go to a tournament with because Astro's like always asking me are you gonna go, are you gonna go? And I'm like, oh, sorry, I got plans. Actually, dude, I am actually busy. But he's like, dude, you're always pushing, you're always pushing me off. And I'm like, yeah, I know. I'll go one time.

David Hernandez: 29:53

Last question in regards to TCG. You say you have a prized Charizard collection. What does that consist of? If you're willing to share some of the cards. Ha ha

Dinho: 30:00

like, as long as you don't know where I live. Well, I have about, like, maybe, like, 8 to 10 PSA 10 Charizards. anybody that knows the I guess, specifics of, like, what set they're from. Two of them are from Champion's Path. The Rainbow Charizard VMAX. The Rainbow, or the Shiny Charizard V from Champion's Path. these are all PSA 10, by the way. Shiny Fates Charizard, PSA 10 then I also have the alternate art, I believe, from Brilliant Stars. The Charizard with the Venusaur in the artwork. where they're like battling. that was also PSA 10. I also have the Charizard celebration, that looks exactly like the, the base set one, but just has the stamp of the celebration set. And then I have a full art, Charizard from Brilliant Stars as well. that's PSA 10. And then I have like a few other ones. I forget what set they're from, but there's like a tag team, Charizard with the Braxien, I believe it's called. the second evolution of, the Psychic, Fire Starter. There's a couple of them and there's a few of them that have pending that I want to get graded as well. so there's a bunch of stuff for sure in terms of Charizards and at one day, hopefully, you know, we'll see, maybe we get a hands on, a Shadowless, first edition Charizard. Yeah. Yeah.

David Hernandez: 31:18

and if you want to check out Dinho's collection, he's located at You've been listening to as the Pokeball turns. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. so you and Astro were the first quote unquote, founders of the BTW Podcast. And there was supposed to be a third person. I was wondering, like, who is Brian? Because I don't think he ever really showed up on the show.

Dinho: 32:17

No, he was an episode zero. I believe that's still up.

David Hernandez: 32:20

Oh, okay.

Dinho: 32:21

he is Uncle Beastud. He's actually in the Discord. he's actually a supporter, ironically enough, of the Discord

David Hernandez: 32:29

Oh, so he came back full around.

Dinho: 32:30

Yeah, he just came as a listener now, but he was actually one of the people that was on the team that I mentioned earlier when Astro had asked me, to join after we finished that tournament, he was one of the people there. He was more of a beginner, kind of like Astro as well. I guess Astro just always had the, idea of having three people. We actually went through three people ironically enough, to get a third, person, it was Uncle B. Sudbryan, he didn't have time, and then we had another person, John, he was in one of the episodes, he was there for a little bit, and then he also fell through, and then we actually had Pogo Doms, which maybe some of you guys know him. He actually started out in one of the episodes too, and then he actually ended up saying like he had too much going on with work,

David Hernandez: 33:11

Man, so many people leaving you all at the altar,

Dinho: 33:14

Yeah, exactly. So that's more of a reason why I couldn't leave. And so I'm like, I have to stay now. so at one point, like, it was just me and him. We're like, alright, let's just leave it with us two. You know, we're not going to try anymore because people just keep flaking. And I'm like, yeah, life happens. So that's cool. No worries. And then, like, I just got busy myself. And I'm like, dude, I have this huge exam. I have to take the week off. And he didn't want to take the week off, so he like, asked a person that has been helping in the Discord a lot, and his name was Wildcat. And then he actually, if you guys hear back to when Wildcat first started, he recorded in something that sounded like he was talking into a can. so we always make fun of it. Every time we bring that up, he actually has it on his desk. I think he still uses it for work. but yeah, so that, that's basically how he actually ended up, on the show. And then after, words, I asked, Astro, how do you think he did? Like, do you think he's like, he did a good job? He's like, yeah, I like his, I like the chemistry that we have and stuff like that. So I'm gonna try him with you on the show. And then sure enough, we did. And we liked the chemistry and, that's how he actually ended up popping into the show and staying on. I think mentioned a few times where like, he's like, I thought I was just going for one, one show, but they just told me that I'm staying and he's like, okay,

David Hernandez: 34:28

You're a lifer now.

Dinho: 34:29

yeah, you're not going anywhere, bro.

David Hernandez: 34:32

Real quick, because you had to take a break because of schooling, if I remember correctly. And Wildcat jumps on the episode. He jumps on for a couple because you were pretty busy during that time. Do you think, had you not taken that break, that Wildcat would not be in a part of BTW? Or was he kind of on the radar?

Dinho: 34:47

I don't think he was on the radar at all. We definitely seen that he was active with us, we made him an admin. We weren't really thinking, like I mentioned to you, we're like always like hesitant of bringing a third, so it wasn't really a thought, maybe down the road we would have thought about it just because we would have seen it. But it definitely wasn't a thought, before I went on the small break. we won't know anymore, but, I think, I think it was definitely a possibility. but yeah, to answer the question though, at the time, like now we weren't thinking about like bringing anybody in just cause we had trust issues.

David Hernandez: 35:18

Hey, we all do. Trust me, this is the reason why I'm running this podcast solo.

Dinho: 35:22

think this is why I'm here. So, uh,

David Hernandez: 35:25

Well, no, what's interesting about just what you've said so far, it's amazing how just small little choices brought BTW to what it is now. You talk about how originally you were about to back out before, the other guy did and had you backed out. according to you, from Astro, he wouldn't have continued the podcast and Lord knows, there wouldn't be a BTW and then now you're talking about how Wildcat, if you had not been, for lack of better terms, if you had not been so busy, you couldn't do the podcast. Wildcat would have never been part of the show. It's kind of cool.

Dinho: 35:55

yeah, it's, it's crazy to look back. And like, every time we have like these interviews, like it makes us reflect on like the smaller decisions that were made that led up to the point. actually, it's funny that that's exactly how life works. I find it interesting and very intriguing to like, whenever people ask questions, we ourselves probably look back at it and we're like, holy shit, like. This, this is exactly, how we got to this point. And like, we sometimes forget, just because, we're busy with stuff. It helps us reflect and look back and like, like cherish and, appreciate one another a little bit more and appreciate just the discord itself like, there's a great community and stuff like that. And as a podcast, like, you really don't really get paid too well, so it's nice. Like, I'm enjoying this. I like talking about Pokemon, like even if it's an interview, it's about Pokemon. Like I, I don't mind. Yo, two hours. Sure. Let's talk about Pokemon.

David Hernandez: 36:45

hours is a short show for y'all. It's usually three.

Dinho: 36:48

Easy, easy stuff there.

David Hernandez: 36:51

Now, speaking of, Wildcat, you and Astro, and of course, Matthew Breger joins on later as the executive producer. Had y'all ever all four met each other at this point?

Dinho: 36:59

Oh yes. first, the funny thing is, was this year, in GoFest was the first time we were all together in the same place.

David Hernandez: 37:05

Really? So this past GoFest in New York City is when y'all first all met? Did y'all room together and stuff like that too?

Dinho: 37:10

Yeah, yeah, we all roomed together. I mean, we've met, like, each other, like, separately. before like I've obviously I've seen Asher, obviously, but Wildcat was the first time I saw him was in Ohio for the NAIC. obviously I already had known, Asher. I've seen him and stuff like that. Matthew, first time I met him was in Orlando, for the regional, But the first time we've all been together was in August, in the same place. so, that was definitely fun, to see.

David Hernandez: 37:38

And y'all hosted an event, I think, right with the Battle cats, didn't y'all?

Dinho: 37:41

Yes, we did a, like a tournament, with, them. The winner got a hundred dollars, I believe. We got to see some of the people like seeing somebody wear the BTW shirt without knowing who they are. I was just like, yo, thank you so much for the support. I don't know who you are. What's your name? Uh, it feels weird, but it feels nice to also be like, yo, like. I don't know who that is, but they're wearing their shirt. that's awesome.

David Hernandez: 38:03

Did people go up to you because they recognized your face and just say, Hey, thank you for what you do and stuff like that?

Dinho: 38:08

Yeah, I mean, funny thing is in Charlotte or Orlando, I forget which one it was from. Someone came up to me and then I had my shirt obviously, but I didn't say my name. and someone came up to me and they're walking by and they pointed at me, he's like, I'm like, Yeah, what's up? and they just started talking to me the whole time I have no idea who they are. Later on like they told me their name I'm like dude, like I don't know who this is and they were just a listener But then I'm like, how does he know my face? I mean, we streamed, but like, that was just crazy to me. So like, we definitely have had a couple, people come up to us and like, thank you for, what you guys do, what you guys bring to the community and stuff like that. So it's nice. It's nice to definitely hear that.

David Hernandez: 38:46

What was it like for you to just attend GoFest up there?

Dinho: 38:49

Oh, so that was my first GoFest ever. like, going to a city. So, like, I was asking a wildcat, like, hey, how is GoFest, what should I expect, like, what is it like, and stuff like that. So he was just telling us, so, I would say It was a great experience. My, feet hated me, afterwards, but, I enjoyed it. It was an amazing, atmosphere, everything Pokemon, like, what else can you ask for?

David Hernandez: 39:13

A couple million dollars would be nice.

Dinho: 39:15

Right? That is, that is very true. That would help a little bit with the card collection in my Shadowless First Edition Charizard.

David Hernandez: 39:21

Yeah, that's right. I'd probably make it a little bit more cheaper to be able to afford that.

Dinho: 39:24

Yeah.

David Hernandez: 39:25

Gosh. Did you and the BTW, crew, did y'all get to do anything like, Go to see sights and stuff like that or restaurants?

Dinho: 39:31

so we try to like, see people like other content creators, like our, RTC, Roundtable Chat(ot), as well as like, Chris from GoCast. I think we met up with them. But yeah, there was other people out there like content creators that do streaming and stuff like that, that they're like saying, Oh, yeah, I was in the picture. I'm like, dude, we didn't get to say hi to you. outside of that, we some like restaurants. We walked around a lot, did a lot of rating a lot of just Pokemon Go.

David Hernandez: 39:57

With BTW, the one thing I love about what y'all have done is y'all really learned how to kind of branch out in different ways. What I mean by that is, you guys do stuff on Twitch and it's easy to just record a podcast and then just re release it to the podcast app. But what y'all do is y'all do live coaching or y'all do y'all sets lives. And I just love that because it just shows BTW in a different light compared to like being behind the mic. What is it about the Twitch? Like why'd y'all want to start streaming on Twitch?

Dinho: 40:24

I want to say because we wanted to offer, I guess we've seen people do it as well. We've seen streamers do it. kind of like it would help people like kind of reel them into the podcast if like, if you need help. and that's why we do coaching to show people like, Hey, we offered this in the discord showing like what we offer. whenever I stream, I typically like to do play by play on like what I am doing on my battles as much as I can, because it helps people, because, you know, people learn differently, right? Some people learn by looking or watching, some people learn by actually doing it. I want to help people any way I can, and if I can help them by them learning from me, That's kind of where, where it kind of like started, I'm like, hey guys, I actually don't remember who the idea was brought up by, but I definitely do recall saying like, it'd be cool if we kind of like would stream and stuff like that. Keep in mind, like, I was one of those people that was like, I don't like to give presentations. So like people looking at me. what people are doing in streaming, they're just like watching you, right? It's like, you don't know how many people, you do know how many people it is, it could be, 20, it could be a hundred sometimes. so that was definitely nerve wracking for me, like the first time I started streaming, but. Definitely the, the idea of Twitch was brought up, because again, it goes back to like, helping people, like with us, like, we get like, this kind of good feeling, helping people any way we can, because especially when I first started doing PvP, like, again, like I mentioned earlier, I didn't have anything to really like, refer back to, like I had to do everything on my own, and I'm trying to avoid other people having to go through that because it took me four seasons to hit legend Versus other people are like hitting it within like six months. I think feedback is a huge thing to help for improvement. A lot of people don't understand or don't know how much energy management really helps you whenever you're battling. doing that extra fast move before they get to their charge move could have won you the game because like towards the end, you're like, Oh my God, it was so close. I was just one move away. I'm like, yes, you would have been able to win that matchup, but now you know, you learn, and then you just try to maximize your energy as much as possible.

David Hernandez: 42:25

Well Daniel, that is a podcast. Thank you for coming on the show. Before you do go, if people wanna connect with you, if they wanna connect with the btw podcast community, Where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

Dinho: 42:36

Of course, it's, funny because a lot of people, like, start plugging, the different stuff, but all you have to do is just go to www. btwpvp. com and every single link for Patreon, Twitter, our podcast, everything you'll find on that website.

David Hernandez: 42:51

Wait. So all I have to do is type in www.btwppp.com and just be able to join that easy.

Dinho: 42:57

Yeah, it's that easy. Everything is there.

David Hernandez: 44:10

now here's a sneak peek for the next episode of As the Pokeball Turns.