TRAINER'S EYE #159 - "The Sheer Force Behind Druddigon" ft. Juddigon

Juddigon shares his unlikely journey from wine sommelier to full-time shiny hunting Twitch streamer. Known for his high-energy reactions and deeply heartfelt content, Juddigon reflects on reconnecting with Pokémon during college, grieving the loss of his father and friend, and building a community that offers comfort, laughter, and belonging.

He opens up about the impact of growing up in the Philippines during the height and fall of the Pokémon craze, navigating childhood without his father, and ultimately finding healing through shiny Pokémon and livestreaming. From surviving bootleg Pokémon Green saves to being featured in PM7’s Shiny World Record event and partnering with McDonald’s Philippines, Juddigon’s story blends nostalgia, grief, self-discovery, and joy.

Whether you’re a longtime shiny hunter, a struggling creative, or just someone who’s ever felt out of place, this episode will remind you what it means to be seen.

 🔗 Asian American Episodes:
Explore how Pokémon shaped the lives of Asian American Trainers across generations and communities.

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

Transcript

TRAINER'S EYE #159 - Juddigon

Juddigon: [00:00:00] Hi, it's me, Judd, a.k.a, Juddigon, and this is my Pokemon story.

David Hernandez: Welcome to As the Pokemon Ball Turns, where every voice, every journey, and every memory brings us closer to the world of Pokemon. I'm David Hernandez and I'm joined by a Twitch streamer who's turned shining hunting into an emotional art form. From pouring wine to sharing high energy [00:01:00] reactions live on Twitch, he's built a space full of heart hype and hard-earned shiny Pokemon Juddigon, welcome to as the Pokemon Turns.

Juddigon: Hi David. Thank you so much for having me over.

David Hernandez: Absolutely. And thank you for coming on the podcast. And as my intro said, you went from pouring wine to pulling shiny Pokemon, I kind of wanna know, 'cause that's such a unique transition. was there ever like a moment to where you felt like you were ready for that transition from going to like, I'll say stable employment to becoming, I guess a live streamer?

Juddigon: Oh, well that's, that's a very good place to start with because you know, you know how Ash in the anime just goes from region to region every time he has like those setbacks at tournaments and stuff, he just starts fresh. That was, that was kind of me. That was kind of me.

David Hernandez: detail.

Juddigon: I, I, I went from being a high school teacher to being a gym instructor to then becoming a wine guy slash sommelier and then, uh, here as a, as a Twitch [00:02:00] streamer

Juddigon: So that, that's been, uh, that's been my journey so far.

David Hernandez: so you said you compare yourself to kind of ash or you resonate with him. So it sounds like when you were a teacher, you didn't feel, connected or you felt like that was kind of not the right fit, and then you went to wine tasting. Is that kind of how it worked out?

Juddigon: It's kind of how it worked out. It was more, more so the, the lifestyle of being a teacher just was not the right fit for me. I hold teachers in such a high regard because they make so many sacrifices. And at that point in my life, I was very young. I was like in my early twenties when I officially became a teacher.

Juddigon: And in your twenties you make a lot of mistakes.

David Hernandez: That's true.

Juddigon: Your twenties are from making mistakes. Yeah. So yeah, I, I was at that point in my life where I wasn't ready to put other people's lives first, before my own. And, that's how I ended up focusing on my, physical health. And that's how I got into like, becoming a personal trainer.

David Hernandez: Wow. So you're just a man of many talents. You just do the world. You, [00:03:00] you're trying to teach students. Then you go to wine tasting and now. You know you're a weight trainer, plus also now a Twitch streamer. You just like to have everything.

Juddigon: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Um, so me, me getting into Twitch streaming, I, owe it largely to a friend who sadly is not with us anymore. He actually, passed away, fairly recently. he was a massive part of the Philippine Pokemon community. the funny thing about him was he was featured, I believe, in a, in a newspaper as the biggest Pikachu collector in the country.

Juddigon: Yeah, he had like a massive room full of just Pikachu, plushies, Pikachu, just anything Pikachu. His, uh, his name was Pika. I had met him at the Scarlet and Violet, launch party here in the Philippines. it was an unofficial, get together, put together by the, the fan base here. But it was so much fun.

Juddigon: I met him there and I, I talked to him about, me wanting to create content. 'cause at that time I [00:04:00] had posted a lot of clips of me finding shiny Pokemon on Legends. Arceus, like, no mic, no camera, just purely finding shiny Pokemon. And I posted it in like the Facebook group there. And he, he was the first person who told me I should look into live streaming.

Juddigon: And he actually offered for me to, take his mic and his old camera. And start my journey from there. I never got to inherit those from him, but he was largely the reason why I got into Twitch streaming.

David Hernandez: That's amazing to hear. Unfortunately, you know, of course they passed, but it's

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: just how those small little details of somebody just believing in you can change the trajectory of your life in a way. You felt like you were trying to bounce back from loss to loss between the jobs from, you know, teacher to wine taster, But now you're trying to be a Twitch streamer. you still, honor that from what they do? Do you try to do that through your twist streams or,

Juddigon: it's something that I haven't really worked on just yet, but I, I'm, I'm making big plans to actually go through with it. I've had it in the books [00:05:00] for such a long time, but because of everything that's happened to me over the past year and last year as well, because last year I had lost both my dad and my grandfather in the same like, time span.

Juddigon: So it was a lot to take in, but it's no worries. Um, I've been able to bounce back from that. And this year I really just want to go through with all my plans that I've had since last year in their honor as well.

Juddigon: even now, so when my dad passed, it was on the same day as my flight to Australia.

Juddigon: I was headed out to, Pax in Australia to meet the Pokemon community there. 'cause, uh, like I mentioned earlier, uh, we, we, the Philippines is an Archipelago. I don't usually get to meet, other Pokemon fans here often.

Juddigon: So whenever I get the chance to travel, whenever, whenever, you know, I get the funding to travel outside the Philippines, to meet the friends that I've met on Twitch, especially the, the OC community. My gosh, I have to take the opportunity so. that's why I have such a weird relationship with airports now.

Juddigon: 'cause whenever I travel, ever since my dad [00:06:00] passed, I would always just think about him while waiting to board the plane. 'cause my dad never got to ride a plane in his entire life.

David Hernandez: Dang. So you got to kind of see the more of the world than he did.

Juddigon: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I, I like to think that I'm bringing him with me whenever I go. I go, I go to see, you know, friends from all over the world.

David Hernandez: I know that you mentioned how, you didn't have as much support from your dad growing up to towards his

Juddigon: no. Yeah.

David Hernandez: and I remember you had a post to where you said your dad was proud of you for being a streamer,

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: I wanted to know like, how did that kind of change your outlook or feelings towards your dad, if you don't mind sharing.

Juddigon: Oh yeah. 'cause I've actually, I, I don't know if I'm being a bad influence to any kids listening in, but I kind of ran away from home when I was 17.

David Hernandez: Hey, I mean, all the Pokemon World does it at 10, so you're okay.

Juddigon: That's fair. I was, I was seven years too late. Um, yeah, I ran away from home

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm.

Juddigon: and I, I look for my dad, and I [00:07:00] was 17. Uh, I'm, I'm 31 now, so I've had that many years to spend getting to know him after I met him. So I'm very grateful for the relationship that I was able to find with him. it was pretty rough getting to know him 'cause I had expectations of what he could have been.

Juddigon: because I think I met him when he was in his thirties and I was in my, I was in my teen years, so I was pretty young. And I'm like in my thirties right now, so I'm kind of learning, stuff about him as I grow older myself. 'cause I'm like, yeah, this must have been how my dad felt.

Juddigon: Like, like, I still don't have, I still don't have my life together. And I had all these expectations of him while he was in his thirties. And I didn't totally get him, but now I do. And, one of the last messages he had for me, it was a, uh, voice message on my birthday July 6th Just a couple of months before he passed. cause I was doing a like 24 hour, like stream Aon on Twitch on my birthday, like I [00:08:00] normally do every year. And, he, he likes calling me sometimes either a day ahead or a day after my birthday. But this year he, he called me on my birthday, so I wasn't able to pick up the call, but he sent me like a, a video message of saying how proud he was and, just greeting me a happy birthday.

Juddigon: And I always have that on my phone whenever I feel like the imposter syndrome is coming on. And I, I, I'd say I look to my dad for, for strength because if he believes in me, I should believe in myself more.

David Hernandez: Hmm, that's good. It's tough because, you know, I grew up the same way to where I had these expectations from my mom and my dad to where I wish they were this kind of ideal image of them.

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: you know, when you're young, you, with that 'cause you just don't have the life experience. But then as you said, I've gotten older, understood my mom a lot more now than I did back when I was even maybe in my twenties because my mom, she's always been distant, she's always been very reserved.

David Hernandez: She didn't want nothing to do with the family. then [00:09:00] I pieced it together. It's like, oh, she's lesbian. religious. Yeah. why she

Juddigon: oh,

David Hernandez: say, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's why

Juddigon: oh.

David Hernandez: be nowhere near. And then I talked to another guy and he says, yeah, if you, you know, even back during her time, There was some kind of real culture within the LGBT community at the

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: that made even more protective. And once I understood

Juddigon: that.

David Hernandez: dynamic I kind of gained a lot more insight, I'm like, I get why she is the way she is now. It's

Juddigon: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: malice, it's out of protection. And it took me so much time to get there.

David Hernandez: But like you said, as I've gotten older, I've understood her point of view more. It's kind of weird. Like, I feel like I'm living,

Juddigon: Right.

David Hernandez: she's living through me in a way. It's, it's such an odd feeling.

Juddigon: I get that.

David Hernandez: Anyway, sorry. I know this went way off topic.

Juddigon: No, I, I love when, I love when we go off topic like that. I feel like we, we can, we can touch on a lot more. And honestly from, from talking about that I, you know, like our perception of our parents changing as we grow older. I feel like that's how my perception of Pokemon as a [00:10:00] franchise has changed, from me growing alongside it.

Juddigon: the first time I, I ever touched on Pokemon, I was like, I think I was in kindergarten, I think, and I was so bad at making friends because my mom, she was a, she was a single mom, right? and she was very protective of me. 'cause I feel like she put on so much pressure on herself to be able to raise me and my sister, perfectly.

Juddigon: So she did not want my grandparents judging her for making mistakes as a parent. But honestly, I feel like, 'cause I feel like most parents make mistakes, every parent makes, makes, makes mistakes.

David Hernandez: part of the living, it's

Juddigon: So. Yeah. And, and so I feel like that pressure poured onto me as well. So I was not able to make many friends growing up as a kid.

Juddigon: even now as an adult, I have trouble making friends and that's kind of why I relied on the Pokemon hype back in the nineties and the early two thousands. 'cause it, it was, it was my way of sort of making connections with other kids that I normally wouldn't have been able to talk with.

David Hernandez: Now you said, you know, you were part of the Pokemon hype [00:11:00] back in those days. Like how involved did you get, were you playing the games, the cards? Like what was that early experience of Pokemon for you? Um,

Juddigon: we didn't have the money for the trading cards, but I did get into, 'cause Okay, so we, we had, we had like knockoff Pokemon cards that were being sold near like the church yards.

David Hernandez: the one where like Charger has

Juddigon: I. Uh,

David Hernandez: HP in like those

Juddigon: yes.

David Hernandez: those. Yeah.

Juddigon: Yeah.

David Hernandez: it's the key

Juddigon: we could, we collected those,

David Hernandez: Yeah. Yeah.

Juddigon: right? So that we collected those as kids, and that's how I sort of connected with, with other kids my age.

Juddigon: and the, the movies as well. Whenever we'd have movie days at school, we always got to vote on, what movies we'd be able to watch. And normally Pokemon would, would be voted as the pick. And we only had like, what, two movies at the time,

David Hernandez: Took Pokemon, the

Juddigon: like

David Hernandez: in 2000, I assume.

Juddigon: Yeah, that one. And the one that, I forget, the one that came, the one with Lu.

David Hernandez: That's 2000, yeah.

Juddigon: [00:12:00] 2000. Yeah, that one. That one. Yeah. We, we had those movies that we could pick from and we rewatched the heck out of those movies growing up. But the sad part was at a certain point, I don't know when it started, but I think I was in like my, my second grade, third grade, like fewer, fewer kids would vote for like the Pokemon movies during movie days.

Juddigon: Fewer kids would bring their cartridges to, you know, when, when we'd be allowed to bring toys and gadgets to, to school back in the day. And fewer, fewer kids collected the, the TCG, even the fake ones. I feel that's when I, I started to disconnect from my surroundings.

Juddigon: 'cause I wasn't able to really connect with anyone else. cause no one would be into Pokemon. And like, whenever I'd bring up Pokemon, they like no, Yugioh was cooler.

David Hernandez: So you were still

Juddigon: Our ditching mine.

David Hernandez: still into Pokemon, but everybody else wasn't. It sounds like.

Juddigon: Yeah. Yeah. And I, I had so much trouble making friends after that. That was, I think from my third grade to like, all the way to high school.

Juddigon: I don't [00:13:00] think anyone touched Pokemon apart from like one or two people in high school.

David Hernandez: wow. Yeah, that sounds about right. I think, uh, for me, even growing up, a lot of people were more into Yugioh

Juddigon: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: Pokemon was kind of always secondary. the popularity wasn't as big as it is now, I would say. 

Juddigon: Yeah. And I think I got back into to Pokemon, oddly enough, when I was like, in my third year of college, like knee deep into my thesis, that's when I got back into Pokemon.

David Hernandez: Wow. So did you take a break from Pokemon because you said you were still into Pokemon for a bit. So did you take a break at some point before coming back to college?

Juddigon: Oh yeah. ' so the last, the last handheld console I was able to play on was the Game Boy Advanced. Then I wasn't able to get, DS or any of the consoles in the family. ' cause I, think my mom just really wanted me to focus on academics at the time. 'cause it was really hard to get into good colleges here.

Juddigon: it's difficult to get into good colleges anywhere, but like, it was difficult for us 'cause she had the income of a single mom and colleges are not cheap anywhere. So I had to make sure I could get into like a [00:14:00] good state university and I did.

David Hernandez: Now, I was

Juddigon: it's all good.

David Hernandez: those early days, 'cause you know, you said you played primarily within the Game Boy color to the Game Boy Vance. Did you have a particular

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: of games you enjoyed playing out of those?

Juddigon: Oh my gosh. Yeah. Absolutely. So for me it was, well, my first Pokemon game on the Game Boy was this, uh, it was a bootleg Vietnamese Pokemon Green.

Juddigon: It was, you knew it was bootleg because every time I tried to save it wouldn't actually save, it'd say it's saved in like the weird translated Vietnamese text. But every time I turned the game back on, I'd be back in Palate Town.

David Hernandez: It's like a

Juddigon: I think the,

David Hernandez: Yeah.

Juddigon: yeah, I think the farthest I ever got on that cartridge was to like Misty,

Juddigon: and I'd have to start all over again.

David Hernandez: pretty, uh, pretty far for that game, I guess if you don't use the glitches and stuff like that. So

Juddigon: No. Yeah, Mt. Moon, Mt. Moon was such a struggle for [00:15:00] me to get through as a kid.

David Hernandez: how come? Just 'cause you got lost or just.

Juddigon: I got lost and I kept picking Bulbasaur, so

David Hernandez: no.

Juddigon: I kept picking Bulbasaur and Bulbasaur would just get bodied by like Zubat and stuff. 

David Hernandez: Especially 'cause Leech Life was super effective against poison type for some reason at that time. So

Juddigon: yes. Yeah. It was four times super effective against Bulbasaur. Well, Ivysaur, so, and I never picked up a Pikachu in Veridian Forest for some reason.

David Hernandez: Oh, 'cause you had Bulbasaur. That was the better starter.

Juddigon: Yeah, right.

David Hernandez: let me ask you this, since you know you couldn't save the game, what made you wanna keep going back? 'cause some people would just be like, eh, I can't save it. What's the point? But you kept trying to replay it.

Juddigon: Because it was so relaxing. It was just, I, I feel like that's what I feel like. It's the same reason I got back into Pokemon in my college days. it's because in my college days I started doing masuda hunting on like the three DS on Omega Ruby alpha sapphire. And I feel like it was a way, just a way for me to empty my [00:16:00] mind in a way.

Juddigon: Like it's very repetitive, like doing the game over and over and over again and hatching egg after egg after egg. it was repetitive and I feel like it helped my brain, my spicy, spicy brain to just, cope with all the things that were happening around me. cause I got into Pokemon. in my childhood in a very turbulent time.

Juddigon: 'cause I did not get over my dad leaving until I was like, oddly enough, 10 years old.

David Hernandez: Hmm. I mean, that's pretty traumatic though. Yeah.

Juddigon: Yeah. So, like, literally I would, I would spend days and days just waiting, like near the window hoping he would pass by. I remember like spending Christmases and like birthdays, just hoping he would, like, he would just be around the corner ready to drop off, I dunno, like a gift or just, uh, spend time at my parties and stuff.

David Hernandez: I'm sure that didn't help, probably towards the relationship you had, you know, the, I don't wanna say bitterness, but, the negative, I guess, outlook on him. I guess that probably didn't help that.

Juddigon: Yeah. But, you know, with these things I've, I've been [00:17:00] able to sort, sort of forgive over the years.

David Hernandez: it takes time and you know, like I said, you're young at that point, you don't really understand,

Juddigon: Yeah.

David Hernandez: you said 10, I believe. Right.

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: you know, trying to even comprehend that is hard to

Juddigon: It is

David Hernandez: I mean, even in,

Juddigon: even for most adults.

David Hernandez: today, like even when you're in the

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: you gotta take some real deep insight to really understand like it wasn't your fault and. He had his reasons or he was flawed or whatever. Whatever that final destination leads to you, I guess.

Juddigon: Yeah. Yeah.

David Hernandez: but at least you're in a better place though, man.

Juddigon: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I, I, I try to, as much as possible use what I have, like, I, I like to say whenever my cup is full, I like to pour a bit into other people's. 'cause I know people have those like really, really tough days where even just a compliment or even just saying how awesome they are.

Juddigon: You know, it, it changes their outlook for that day, and then it just domino effects throughout the rest of their week, their [00:18:00] month, their life. And that, that's what happened to me when I, when I met my friend Pika, the, the Pikachu collector, uh, he just him saying that I should give live streaming a shot, you know, that's massively changed the, the trajectory of where I was at that point in my life.

Juddigon: I, totally would not be where I am now having this conversation with you had it not been for him.

David Hernandez: Now you said, you know, you came back from Pokemon through ORAS. What was it about those

Juddigon: Yeah.

David Hernandez: that I guess made 'em more comforting or made you wanna return at that point?

Juddigon: I think it was just the familiarity of, of the map. I know everyone complains about the water in, in Hoenn, but

David Hernandez: learn to swim.

Juddigon: I, I, right, I, I, I never had any complaints about the water.

David Hernandez: I.

Juddigon: My only complaint was they never did the battle facilities there in ORAS. But I'm not much of a competitor myself. I try to get into VGC to connect with more of the local scene here because I feel like in the Philippines, we have such a [00:19:00] focus on competition tournaments because, it puts you on stage.

Juddigon: It. Sort of highlights the strength of our local community and scene. So I tried to get into VGC, but my brain just could not, with all, with all the speed tears, the moves. I just could not, but I, I did try, I did try to get into VGC and it's something that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

David Hernandez: I wanted to ask, so, you came back from ORAS, but your favorite Pokemon is Druddigon. How did that happen? Like what made Druddigon your favorite?

Juddigon: Ooh,

David Hernandez: So

Juddigon: so it's a, it's a funny thing. So before Druddigon, my favorite Pokemon was actually Mega Swampert, and I think it's, it's largely due to the fact that I really enjoyed Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire. But I struggled with like finding ways to create my Twitch username from Marshtomp. I just could not figure out a name.

Juddigon: So I was, I was, I was looking through my Pokedex, which Pokemon [00:20:00] does like my name Judd, sort of match with,

David Hernandez: I?

Juddigon: I had Mudkip cause at least Mudkip evolves into Marshtomp, but like, it just, it just didn't roll off the tongue. I also looked at Dunsparce at the time. Just still, not just, it still did not work.

Juddigon: But then I was like, oh, Druddigon? Druddigon pretty cool. Okay. Like I, I had never paid any attention to Druddigon back in like gen five, whenever I got to play, on the 3DS at the time. But then I was like, oh, Druddigon, Juddigon,. Okay, let's, let's go with this and that. That's, he's been my favorite Pokemon ever since.

David Hernandez: Wow. So just because you saw it when you were grounded with the Pokedex, just, something drew it to you and now

Juddigon: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And it, it's really funny too, 'cause like everyone, 'cause okay, so my name Judd is not very common in the Philippines. I know it's a bit more common in North America and maybe is even common there. Wow. Okay.

David Hernandez: I'll say this, it's an old school name that's [00:21:00] dying out. It's,

Juddigon: Uh

David Hernandez: it's a, 'cause my, that's my dad's era. That's, uh, old school,

Juddigon: oh no.

David Hernandez: Yeah.

Juddigon: Oh gosh.

David Hernandez: you about that, but go ahead.

Juddigon: Yeah, because I, I know of like three Judds in like Hollywood. That's it. And not everyone was an actor.

David Hernandez: the only

Juddigon: Um, yeah, it was probably the only people are there. Yeah, I know. But so whenever, uh, whenever I'd have to introduce myself in front of class, people would always like get my name wrong. 'cause I would try to enunciate my name Judd.

Juddigon: Like Judd, but like Filipinos don't pronounce those letters that way. So, they would often mishear John. And I'm like, no, Judd. And they're like, JJ John. And I'm like, I have to spell it out. I'm like, JUDD. And they're like, oh, Jude. And I'm like, no.

David Hernandez: Oh, so that's how they sound, Jude. Okay.

Juddigon: Yeah, I've, I've met other people whose names were [00:22:00] like JUDD as well here, but they pronounced their name as Jude.

Juddigon: And I feel like I'm the only Judd I know here in the Philippines.

David Hernandez: makes you unique, I mean, yeah.

Juddigon: And that's sort of why I gravitated towards the name Juddigon. 'cause it's not one of those Pokemon that pop out at you. I mean, before TCG Pocket made it like a staple in most decks. Right. I.

David Hernandez: I haven't played much of the meta, so I don't really know about that, unfortunately.

Juddigon: I mean either. I just like looking at the pretty pictures.

David Hernandez: too. That's why I play the game. I just like looking at the different arts and the, uh, immersions. I started diving into it a little bit and I still like it. It's just, I don't know. I just enjoy collecting the

Juddigon: It hurts my brain.

David Hernandez: Really? You seem pretty good at it. I watched you on stream practicing.

Juddigon: Ugh.

David Hernandez: got to third place.

Juddigon: My, my, my, my single brain cell was like working overdrive on it. Yeah.

David Hernandez: Well, let me ask you this, 'cause this is gonna be a fun question that will unite two worlds. If, Druddigon was a wine, what do you imagine it would be?[00:23:00]

Juddigon: ooh. If Druddigon was a wine, so, Druddigon like a cave Pokemon, right? So they have these like, well, they weren't really, they weren't really. aged in like caves and stuff, but there's this really cool like wine making technique where they age the wine in Clay Emra, which is basically like a, a clay vase and it ages a lot more differently than it would had it been, stored in say, stainless steel or barrels.

Juddigon: So I think that's probably what I would equate Druddigon And oftentimes those wines can be very hit or miss because most traditional wine makers would never, ever use clay. Fra A and Druddigon is just one of those Pokemon that it takes a a, a person who has looked over the Pokedex to even acknowledge Druddigon.

David Hernandez: Now for those listening, you think I'm gonna have a follow up question. I have no idea about wines. I [00:24:00] just wanted to see what he would say. So if you understand what he just said, tag us on socials. Let me know if you agree or disagree. I'm gonna leave it at that.

Juddigon: Oh my gosh.

Commercial Break

David Hernandez: So you

Juddigon: it's,

David Hernandez: so som a sommelier. A

Juddigon: yes.

David Hernandez: to a full [00:25:00] time streamer. you know, why did you start going into twist streaming? What was the catalyst that led you into it?

Juddigon: it was really my friend Zay. cause at that time, I, touched on this earlier. I said that it was, it was very difficult for me to connect with people. Pokemon was my way of connecting with others. And so, in the back of my head, I, I always had the idea of like, maybe I go into Facebook streaming or TikTok streaming and, and make friends that way.

Juddigon: And it wasn't until ZE told me to go into live streaming that I got that extra push to actually like, look into it. And, I tried. For a bit Facebook streaming, but you, it's difficult to get into Facebook streaming 'cause you have to have like a certain number of like, followers already before you can even start streaming on there.

Juddigon: And with TikTok, the just, just the algorithm is kind of off as well for where I am. 'cause you're kind of geotagged and the algorithm pushes more of your stuff to the people around [00:26:00] you. Whereas I wanted to meet people from everywhere across the world. I didn't wanna just, I wanted to be closer to my local community, but I also did not want to miss out on meeting amazing people all across the world, you know?

Juddigon: And that's, that's kind of why I got into Twitch. And initially I was a masuda hunter 'cause I really loved my experience with it on Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire. So I thought. Let's start with this. At, at the time they had just done the Greninja terror raids and you couldn't find any of the starters in the biomes yet.

Juddigon: 'cause they hadn't released a DOC at the time. So I, I, I think I spent three days trying to hatch for a shiny Froakie until it finally happened. And that's where I got started. That was like my first week of streaming. I knew absolutely no people on Twitch at the time. I was, a guy from the Philippines trying to like, similar to what you do with, with the podcast.

Juddigon: I just, I just wanted [00:27:00] to leave something behind and show that I actually enjoyed Pokemon something for me to like look back on in the future and say, Hey, I had fun hunting for this Froakie that took 1,200 eggs fun. but yeah, so that's where I started. And then. It wasn't until I hit affiliate that I upgraded to like a, a more decent capture card, a better mic, a better camera, and then it, it just sort of started to pick up from that, I went from like, three average viewers to suddenly 20, 30 people per stream. And I think that was around the ti and, and then more, and then more people started to support, like with, with, you know, subs, bits, donuts.

Juddigon: And I'm like, why is this happening? Why are, why are people wanting to support in this way? And at the time, the food and beverage industry had still not recovered as much from the pandemic. And so I [00:28:00] didn't have, uh, I didn't have a lot to do at the restaurants that I was working for at the time.

Juddigon: In fact, it was, so difficult because for as fancy as being the wine guy sounds, it just did not pay all the bills unfortunately for me. And I was in a place where, in my streaming journey where I was, able to pay my bills more consistently and be able to eat three square meals a day more consistently than, than we'd staying with wine.

Juddigon: Ironically. so that was when I was like, okay, let's, let's see if I can quit my, my wine job and just, you know, fully devote my time and attention into streaming. And I took the gamble and it's been, it's been, it's been good so far. I've, I've been able to provide for not just myself, my, my cats as well.

Juddigon: I'm able to help out my mom, and be able to support other creators locally [00:29:00] as well. And it, feels amazing to be able to share what I have with others whenever, whenever I'm able to.

David Hernandez: It had to be very nerve wracking to make that leap because you're, You know, you're only eating like maybe one to two square meals a day because of what you were doing, but

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: to potentially not being able to do anything at all if this doesn't work out. How did you, I guess, ground yourself and kind of believed in you could do this?

David Hernandez: Was there like a conversation or what did that mindset take for you?

Juddigon: I think it was my partner of, of six years, I think it was when he said, you should do this. you should take the leap. That's when I was like, okay, I can, I can actually kind of do this. I think that was, that was the light switch in my head that told me that.

Juddigon: Yes, it's a massive gamble. It's like massive risks. I could probably go from being able to eat three square meals a day to not being able to eat at all. But, it was that, it was the fact that he believed that keeps me trying to push forward and trying [00:30:00] to keep doing what I do every single day.

David Hernandez: Now you mentioned how you started streaming to not only connect with Pokemon fans, but to also leave a mark for you to remember back. Has that purpose changed since that first stream to now?

Juddigon: It has, it has grown. so initially I just want to do it for myself to personally enjoy my journey with Pokemon. And now I kind, I'm kind of in a place where I want to use what I have to not just meet more people, but to also support other people whose values I, I agree with, not just agree with, but like also want to support and just spread.

Juddigon: 'cause I feel like, the people that I want to hang out with, I feel like there's so much positivity, there's so much good to be spread across the community. And I just wanna bring that to more and more people. And I, I want to continue to see more people, not just.

Juddigon: Like on Twitch, but just the online spaces, my local community especially, to be able to spread the joy of Pokemon.

David Hernandez: you know, you're from the Philippines and [00:31:00] you sort of makes you a creator from there. how does it feel to be kind of a, I'll say, representative your home country as a Pokemon or Twitch streamer? Do you feel kind of any pride in that or you don't resonate with it, I guess? 

Juddigon: I used to, I actually, I used to take so much pride in it, but, mostly because I feel like when I was starting out with my, my journey as a streamer, I introduced myself as a Filipino Pokemon Con content creator, a Filipino Pokemon streamer. I, I took so much pride it, and I still do. It's just at this point in, in my journey, I tend not to, make that my whole thing.

Juddigon: it's just more so that I see myself as part of a larger community now, rather than a representative of, the Philippines as a streamer, if that kind of makes sense.

David Hernandez: It is, it's an interesting perspective because you know, you got a lot of people who kind of claim on whatever, I don't wanna say labels,

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: they claim on You know, like a lot of people try to, I guess, [00:32:00] too heavily on whatever label they decide to put themselves on. for

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: you still take pride in being from the Philippines, but you don't let that be your whole

David Hernandez: meaning as a content creator, so there was a rapper, he went by Big pun. It's always been kind of how it resonated with me. 'cause you know, I've never embraced my Hispanic side at all.

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: he always said, you know, I think he was from like Costa Rica or something like that, or Puerto Rican. He was Puerto Rican and he always called him the Puerto Rican rapper.

David Hernandez: And I was like, I don't wanna be known as a Puerto Rican rapper. I wanna be known as a rapper who's Puerto Rican. you don't go to a doctor because they're black or white or Mexican. You go 'cause they're good. And he wanted to be

Juddigon: Exactly.

David Hernandez: craft. that's why I've never really grabbed hold of any, I've tried not to grab hold of any labels.

David Hernandez: I could do Christian, I could do met skin, I could do a lot of things, but I've always wanted to be. A Pokemon interviewer first. 'cause I'd rather my work speak for myself than whatever labels come with me, if that makes sense. And it

Juddigon: Absolutely. No, that

David Hernandez: what you're just

Juddigon: that's,

David Hernandez: wanna be labeled

Juddigon: mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: [00:33:00] from the Philippines, we'll talk about here in a minute.

David Hernandez: You're also from the L-G-B-T-Q community. You don't really mention

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: but you don't wanna be known as those labels. You wanna be known as this is who I am and this, I wanna be known for what I do, 

Juddigon: absolutely. Like, I take pride in being a part of the LGBT community in the, Pokemon community as well. especially proud to be a part of the Pride Unity Guild on Twitch as well. I do feel like there's, I get a sense of belonging because that's, that's how I actually placed third place in the, in the TCG tournament there.

Juddigon: It was so much fun just getting to meet other creators in the same space. It was really cool. So there's, I think there's value in being parts of those communities, but it was kind of a bit heartbreaking for me. going back to identifying as a Filipino, Pokemon streamer.

Juddigon: It was kind of heartbreaking for me because when I was fortunate enough to be invited for the 24 hour World record attempt shiny hunting event, I posted about it on my local, Facebook, [00:34:00] and there was just, there was just no reaction at all.

Juddigon: I was like, oh, okay.

David Hernandez: Oh, like nothing. No response. Yeah.

Juddigon: Yeah, there was, there was, I just felt that was, that was the most invisible I had ever felt seen. I don't know why. Maybe it was, maybe it was the algorithm, maybe. I don't know. I don't know why it was, but I just found more support for what I was doing and what I was able to do on the online spaces that weren't primarily, geared towards the Philippine community.

Juddigon: So I feel like that's one of my main takeaways from my journey so far, just learning to appreciate those who want you to be around and appreciate the, the work you're doing, the work you've done, and that's given me more space to grow, more space to think more freedom and more comfort in my spaces.

David Hernandez: And you know, that's so important 'cause it's easy to try to bend the knee, to try to get those people to make you feel like you belong, 

David Hernandez: but you never fully.

David Hernandez: belong. [00:35:00] Because they only tolerate you from my experience, you wanna find people not who I guess unconditionally accept everything you do.

David Hernandez: 'cause that's even polar opposite of what you want. You want

Juddigon: Yeah,

David Hernandez: willing to, I guess, engage both ways and care enough for you to call you out when you do make mistakes. I think it's a,

Juddigon: exactly.

David Hernandez: to where they're not like sweet talking all the time, but they're also not just ignoring you and you wanna find those people who you connect with and that it sounds like that's the way I'll say Pokemon is maybe able to help you build your

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: in a world that's constantly ind, especially from being in those communities.

Juddigon: Exactly. Exactly. And I feel like this goes back to how I grew up as well, honestly.

Juddigon: I feel like a massive part of the way I've been able to connect to more people online has been due to the fact it's, it's kind of sad,

Juddigon: but I grew up in an era in the Philippines where everyone and their parents and their grandparents were addicted to the idea of the American dream.

Juddigon: I grew up in an era where most parents found [00:36:00] value in teaching their kids how to speak English rather than how to speak, the dialects in the Philippines. 'cause we have like a, a ton of dialects in the Philippines. and through that I, I found myself kind of disconnected from my community in a way.

Juddigon: and that's why I'm so grateful for the spaces that I'm, that I'm currently in on Twitch and just the online spaces in general, because I'm happy to be around the friends that I've made on Twitch, I find value in the relationships that I've been able to make with those people.

Juddigon: not just like the onstream things, but also it's just getting to geek out about Pokemon cards and stuff.

Juddigon: there's just so much value in that for me.

David Hernandez: I know why I do this podcast. I get to geeky about Pokemon every single episode. It's great.

Juddigon: Exactly.

David Hernandez: Now, you alluded earlier how you're a part of the PM seven World Record challenge, which was, I think you was trying to break the world record of Shinies with a whole group of streamers, and you

David Hernandez: caught.

David Hernandez: 50 shinies in 24 hours you streamed

Juddigon: I did.[00:37:00]

David Hernandez: What was that experience like? Can you give us an insight in just doing that?

Juddigon: I honestly, I could not have done it without my amazing team of moderators on Twitch as well as the community who

Juddigon: Most of them,

Juddigon: of them stayed up for a majority of the 24 hour stream that I did for the PM seven event. It was, it was really wild to, to be a part of someone's day, night, and, you know, morning as well.

Juddigon: honestly it was just so much fun. I feel like leading up to the event, I wanted to sort of theme my events around like the most iconic. Philippine ish Pokemon. And it was Lechonk for me for some reason when they revealed Lach as a Pokemon in P the whole like Pokemon Philippine community was in uproar because we have this dish called Lahan in the Philippines.

Juddigon: It's not, I don't, I don't believe it's a, a native dish here. We inherited from the Spanish, 'cause we were a [00:38:00] Spanish colony for like over 300 years. before, we were like our own independent thing.

Juddigon: But I remember Lechonk was one of the Pokemon from Paldea that every Filipino was just like, oh, it's, it's a Filipino Pokemon.

Juddigon: 'cause we've never had, we don't get a lot of attention from like, the Pokemon company in the Philippines. So everyone was just so happy that Lechonk was a Paldea Pokemon. So for me, I was excited to do that for the Philippine community. But it became its whole bigger thing because throughout the 24 hour shima got to hang out with like other creators from the online spaces that were also doing the same challenge.

Juddigon: and had it not been for the con the like, I think for many of them we were, yeah, like, I think, I think I was the only one from this time zone that was taking part in the PM seven event. Like everyone was like getting ready for like bed and stuff and I was, I was, I was like fully awake.

David Hernandez: I know you got to do a crossover promotion with McDonald's and

Juddigon: Yes,

David Hernandez: were, you hit it for, I think it sounds like a week or two, but you were very

Juddigon: did.[00:39:00]

David Hernandez: What does it mean to kind of have, what did it mean to kind of have that McDonald's swag going on? Like this is make

Juddigon: Oh my gosh. I know, uh, honestly, I was just so surprised 'cause it was just such a major pleasure to be able to do that with McDonald's.

Juddigon: 'cause I feel very disconnected from my local community, mostly due to the fact that I stream mostly on Twitch and, not a lot of people in the Philippines know about Twitch. So I was very much surprised that I was reached out to, yeah, there's a big Filipino community on Twitch as well, but I feel like those that do hang out on Twitch.

Juddigon: Spend most of their time on like bigger games, like, Valant Genin, there's not much, Filipino representation from like the Philippines itself on Twitch. most streamers, spend their time on TikTok and Facebook here, I believe. But yeah, I was, I was just so honored to have been reached out to by McDonald's.

Juddigon: And the funny thing was, so many people from the Philippines were trying to leak information out of [00:40:00] me

David Hernandez: really, so they were trying to

Juddigon: during that process. Yeah. They're like, they're like, oh, Judd, I heard McDonald's is doing this thing. Is that true? And I'm like, I, I didn't sign an NDA or anything, but like, I assumed you weren't able to, you know, freely talk about it before, like the announcement itself.

Juddigon: So, McDonald's was my first. opportunity where I was getting paid to create like a, a short film of something.

David Hernandez: I believe you were do promoting the Pokemon cards, the promos that were coming out.

Juddigon: Yeah.

David Hernandez: You moving up in the world, man.

Juddigon: We are. And that's a big thing. 'cause like, I feel like the Philippines is. as far as Pokemon, we're, we're kind of separate from our Southeast Asian brothers and sisters and siblings

David Hernandez: way?

Juddigon: because I, I've traveled to like Hong Kong and stuff, And they have their own traditional Chinese language Pokemon cards, which is really cool because, they get a whole bunch of language cards for the TCG.

Juddigon: So that's, that kind [00:41:00] of disperses and diffuses the demand of the Pokemon TCG in that country. Like, they get the English Pokemon cards, which are distributed by the Pokemon Company International, but they also get their own traditional Chinese and Japanese language Pokemon cards from the Pokemon company in Asia.

Juddigon: So they have a lot of options. Pokemon fans there have a lot of options. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, we only naturally get stock from the Pokemon Company International. And that's competing against the massive demand for it internationally.

David Hernandez: So that's why you said like it's hard to get cards over there compared to everything else.

Juddigon: It is, it is. And it doesn't help the, the whole, like culture of sculpting Pokemon cards does not help at all.

David Hernandez: so y'all still have it over there?

Juddigon: We do, unfortunately, it, it's, it's so sad because I go to some card shows and I'm not, I'm not trying to bad mouth any of the card shows here. I love the culture of card shows in the Philippines because there's so many genuinely nice people here.[00:42:00]

Juddigon: It is just every now and then I hear like these conversations at the corner of most card shows I go to, they're like, bro, I got this card for like this much and I made this much profit off of it. I'm like, no, I don't want, I don't want cardboard to be investment opportunities for people, please.

David Hernandez: the side of Pokemon. I don't really care for, 'cause I mean, I'll go

Juddigon: And

David Hernandez: car shows and I see all the slabs and that just turns me off. It's just, that's personal preference. There's nothing wrong with

Juddigon: mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: I don't care for the slabs. I kind of just care for the art. And I like just seeing like the different takes that artists make with the

Juddigon: Mm mm

David Hernandez: and especially, say even more modern stuff.

David Hernandez: They, some of it's kind of flashy just for the sake of flashy, but some of it actually tells a story if you really look deep into it. And those

Juddigon: I know. I love those.

David Hernandez: Yeah, those are the ones that gravitate toward it the most.

Juddigon: I love those. And, and another icky thing I find in not just, this is not a, a, a thing that's primarily just a, uh, a Philippine TCG community thing, but it's, it's just something I've noticed in a lot of online TCG spaces, especially on like Twitter [00:43:00] sometimes, it's just when collectors just say, I don't like this.

Juddigon: I hate this card. Like, whenever, whenever collectors are like, I hate this card. This card is ugly. This art is ugly. They, they, they really didn't cook with this card. it hurts so much because there was an artist who poured their heart and soul into that card and to just, casually say that it's an ugly piece of art.

Juddigon: It, it just hurts a lot because if you haven't. Devoted yourself to anything creative in any field, whether it's music, whether it's art, whether it's writing, whether it's films or just, just anything. it's easy to say that

Juddigon: and so as someone who has worked on things creatively, you know, it hurts to see that, that artists are talked about in, in such a way.

David Hernandez: Well, let's flip the script. Let's put the narrative real quick. Since we're on that. Let's give some positive artwork. What are

Juddigon: Right.

David Hernandez: Pokemon cards you like?

Juddigon: Who,

David Hernandez: Okay,

Juddigon: okay, so one of my favorites has to be the, you know, the Tepa ghosts from Stellar Crown. That was my [00:44:00] first ever, SIR of any set. Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: that's a

Juddigon: Because it is very special 'cause I got into TCG super duper late into the game. I. I know most people in the space today, if they didn't start, like, since the very beginning or near the very beginning, they probably started around the Sword and Shield era.

Juddigon: At least. I only started with Stellar Crown because that was the set when they first started to distribute Pokemon cards at the Seven Elevens here. And at the time, I had always seen Pokemon TCG as a luxury item because I couldn't afford them. but now in a place where I can like, maybe try to squeeze in a, a pack or two, like every couple of months, so a couple moon,

David Hernandez: couple months.

Juddigon: a couple of months, weeks, days,

David Hernandez: pretty good.

Juddigon: you know, like opening a Pokemon pack every day until I get the SIR.

Juddigon: Um, but yeah, so. For me, it's the te, it's the tepa ghost 'cause [00:45:00] um, it's made by an artist, that goes by Saari. Saari is such a master of just storytelling through cards. They were the artist responsible for the, I dunno if you know, but the Sinistra po Cha Geist line of cards.

David Hernandez: with it, but yeah,

Juddigon: They, they made that as well as the Squirtle from Stellar Crown as well.

David Hernandez: one. Yeah.

Juddigon: The, the squirrel from the, from the pool, which connects to two other cards. The Charmander, which was a promo from like the Obsidian Flames, ETB, which was made by another artist, and then the, the Bulbo. So from the same set, the La Crown. So I feel like, I feel like that's one of my favorite cards ever and a moment that I will never forget because I got the, I got my first Tarago on stream and I remember just being so hyped about it.

Juddigon: 'cause I'd never gotten a Rainbow board card ever. So I was like, I was jumping on my couch and stuff and, a couple of months ago I went to a toy store with my [00:46:00] mom and I was like, you know what, dude? Let's, let's do a pack battle with my mom. And she, she got the same freaking card

Juddigon: that's the same freaking card to wrap a ghost ex.

David Hernandez: Oh, that's like there's a little like bonding kind of card, you know? That's you and your mom right there.

Juddigon: Yeah. And I, I totally would've, you know, if, if my dad were still here, I totally would've like, picked up a box, like a booster box of, of, of, of like Pokemon cards. And I would've totally opened some with him. He probably wouldn't have understand any of it, but he still would've been on board with it.

David Hernandez: But it sounds like your mom's been the more accepting, at least, 'cause you know, she was the reason why you didn't want to, she wanted you to focus more on your grades earlier on, so.

Juddigon: Yeah. Oh, she's changed a lot over the years. because she ran such a strict household, but over the years she's really softened.

David Hernandez: Maybe 'cause she just comes with age, you know, you kind of

Juddigon: It does.

David Hernandez: and you know, you're older now, so she doesn't have to be as protective as she was when, you know you were younger and whatnot.

Juddigon: And it was, honestly, I feel [00:47:00] like it was largely in part to my mental health issues as well while I was like transitioning from college to being unemployed for the first time.

David Hernandez: It sucks. Yeah,

Juddigon: It does, it does. Uh, she, she actually. tried to assist me is the savory way of She, she, she tried to assist me into going into a psychiatric facility, for my own mental health.

Juddigon: And I, it's something that I, I had to grow into becoming more comfortable with.

David Hernandez: Mm-hmm. so

Juddigon: Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: us guys, because, you know, I don't know about for y'all over there, but for us in states, we like to hold our motions in. We like to try to think

Juddigon: Oh yeah.

David Hernandez: and at some point you gotta realize as a guy you don't, it's best to seek out therapy, seek out,

Juddigon: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

David Hernandez: yourself.

David Hernandez: Because us guys, we have a lot of issues when it comes

Juddigon: We, he,

David Hernandez: and

Juddigon: that is true. That is true. And that, that's, that's sort of why it, it helped for me to be able to find my dad because my dad was a [00:48:00] very emotional man. He was not afraid to cry in front of me. He was not afraid to talk about his feelings in front of me, and I was like. Whoa. You can be a guy like this.

Juddigon: I'm like, what? You can talk about your feelings as a man. I'm like, what? Like, it's you, you, you know, it's, it's you. You can be vulnerable as a man. Like, so that's why it was kind of, life changing for me to have been able to meet my dad at least.

David Hernandez: that's why I always try to mention it. 'cause you know, there's not, I think the guys held enough back in, but I think if more guys speak out on it, I

Juddigon: Mm mm mm.

David Hernandez: seeing some of the healing with guys. Because I wanna come to the point to where guys aren't as aggressive or where they're not, you know,

Juddigon: Absolutely.

David Hernandez: to take another life.

David Hernandez: Like, I would love to see some kind of into that kind of narrative. But I know we

Juddigon: Honestly, yeah.

David Hernandez: But

Juddigon: We, we, we have, we have a lot of work to do. Absolutely. And that's, that's sort of what I, I like to do on my streams as well. I'm like very open about talking about mental health. I'm very open about talking about what I'm going through [00:49:00] because I, I want more and more people, especially younger people, to know that it's, it's okay to be vulnerable in front of people you trust

Juddigon: when you're ready.

David Hernandez: Well, Juddigon, I'm gonna finish this interview on this last question. You've carried Pokemon, through many parts of your life. You know, it's been an escape. It's been a recovery. It's even being self-discovery. Based on what you've talked about. When someone hears your story or watches your stream, what do you kind of hope they feel or likely take away from this?

Juddigon: I feel like I would love for them to feel seen, because at the end of the day, many people who come to Twitch, they just wanna feel a sense of. Hey, I exist. My story is, is here. and that's what I would love people to take away whenever they visit my streams, is you know, we, we, we had an interaction today.

Juddigon: I'm happy to have talked to you, and if you found comfort in that, then my work is done. I'm, I'm glad you found a sense of belonging anywhere in this world.

David Hernandez: Juddigon, Thank you for coming on As The Pokeball Turns, before you go, people want to check out your streams. If they want to connect with you, [00:50:00] where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

Juddigon: Oh, absolutely. I do daily, well, nearly daily live streams, but I've been trying to create more of a healthy schedule for myself. So you'll find me streaming on Twitch around 7:30 PM GMT plus eight Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. But that's a, that's a lot of days.

David Hernandez: You just realized that. Okay.

Juddigon: I just rather, that's a lot of days that I'm streaming.

Juddigon: But yes, you'll find me on Twitch, YouTube and TikTok Instagram, where wherever there's on online platform, I'm probably there.