1-Year Anniversary Special

A special episode where we reflect on the past year for this Pokemon GO podcast. Thank you! 

Transcript

David Hernandez (2): 0:00

Hello. Welcome to the one year anniversary of As The Poke Ball Turns. My name is David Hernandez, the defacto host editor, taco Connoisseur, and any other fancy title that you can think of, because more than likely I am it for some of my new listeners or maybe more observant listeners, you may go, but wait, your first episode was in August. and you would be correct that the first episode you'll see on whatever podcast platform you're using, please, subscriber follow, by the way, if you haven't already, was in September. However, that was not my very first episode for any long time listeners, they remember when I used to cover the news on a weekly basis for any longtime OGs that maybe. heard my first episode or second or third. They remember when I used to do this two to three times a week. Yeah, those were very stressful times. and I do not recommend those for anybody. So let's go back to the days of when I had less gray hair on my head. Thank you. D f w drivers. So I used to cover the news about topics and events with Pokemon Go, it was basically a standard news podcast. Sometimes I would cover news, other times, random thoughts of things that would go on in the game, like you know, is PVP the future of Pokemon Go or even sharing facts about certain Pokemon. And honestly, I'll probably eventually go back to doing those cuz I actually kind of missed that aspect of the podcast. But what we would do is we would cover like, A community Pokemon. So say for example, I did Starley Dino, like those are actually a lot of fun But anyway, I did that from February, all the way until September with a two month break between April and May. And that's what the podcast was for, a good part of its time. It's existed so far, and to be honest, I really don't miss covering the news because there are way more podcasts to do a way better job at it than I could like purified round table chat talk lured up way lords and countless others, and they really dive into the news and events of Pokemon Go and they share their thoughts on the events. So if you want that, listen to them. it's unfortunate because I finally found my style on how like I wanted to do the news and then I just switched it to trainer's eyes. And part of me was somewhat disappointed, but then part of it was kind of a relief. the truth is, the trainer's Eyes episode, which is what it is now, they were just doing way better than my regular episodes and they had a higher ceiling with what I could do with that content, and I really wanted to explore that. and truth be told, if we go way back to when I was even planning the podcast, trainer's Eyes is actually what the podcast was always meant to be. I only did the news to be able to kind of help me get used to having a mic in front of me to get used to recording because if anybody listened to my way earlier episodes, they were rough. Like they were very hard. Like I can't even listen to them and I. But, uh, speaking of planning the podcast, let's talk about that real quick. So, when I started planning the podcast with what little planning I did do, I had this vision of people sharing their story on how they started playing Pokemon Go. Basically from beginning to now. What does that journey look like? How do they choose to play the game? Did you have experiences with Pokemon before? Go? Cause some people don't. I find stuff like that. Very interesting, which is why I ask the questions that I do each episode, and that's how I approach every episode actually. That's how I approach every. That I invite onto the podcast. I ask him the questions I just said to you. Now with a course of other things we talk about, but that's primarily the objective I have with as the poker ball turns. And this idea started honestly back when we used to do in-person raid. I always remember this topic coming up while we were tapping and attempting to catch the Pokemon, and especially when newer players found our raid group, one of the first questions we would ask is like, how long have you been playing? Or how did you start playing? You know, like some people, they got, they came in because of their kids. Some people have been playing for a while and they just never found a raid group, and that was always kind of fun, especially. For us down here in uh Dallas, we would sometimes catch meals together and that's when we really like shared our collection and we talk about that stuff. And I felt that was missing, that there really wasn't a place people could go to learn about this if anybody was interested, You know, the YouTubers, they primarily focus on talking about events with a lot of B roll. You might get some who do some fun challenges. PVP primarily focuses on gbl, most podcasts just cover the news and that was really about it, at least from what I could find. And I felt that there was an opportunity to have that, to tell a. Of how this game really has changed people and what it meant to them. Because for some Pokemon Go allowed'em to branch out of, I think of Bird Power. Bird Power's a prime example on how, if you listen to her episode, she talked about how she was very closed in, but Pokemon Go, especially the PVP scene, helped her. step forward as a person to be more social and stuff like that. For some people, it helped them introduce them into content creation. It helped them start a podcast like me and countless others. The podcast I've had like Pokemon Go has allowed'em to do that, and for others it's allowed'em to travel the world and see things like Pokemon Go has really changed people. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. I leave that up for you to. and just trying to share a story is honestly the vision for this podcast. like I said, it's what I had in mind when I first started developing the idea for as the poker ball turns, when I made the transition to full on trainer's eyes, which is what it is now. I took down all the old episodes because, I was conflicted because usually most podcasters would tell you just leave them up because it allows you to see the evolution of the podcast to back in the day to now. For me, I was conflicted because that part of the podcast isn't what it is anymore. I don't do than use anymore. I don't cover those ton of top, well, I cover the topics, but I cover'em in differently, different way, if that makes sense. So I took'em down because I wanted trainer's eyes to be the primary focus, cuz that's what the podcast was supposed to be. And it didn't make sense for me to keep the old stuff on. I still have them for my own amusement. They're like, they're not gone forever. Nothing really is to be honest. And maybe I'll revisit an episode for fun someday. You can really see how bad how cringey it was. And honestly, that chapter of the podcast was Season zero. You know, every podcast has an episode zero. I had a season zero. So now that brings us to the one year anniversary, My first episode was February 3rd, 2022. I talked about the lunar event. It was three minutes and two seconds long. I kid you not, this whole episode is already twice the length of my first episode. It was the length, the cook, a hot pocket. That's how short it was. Okay, Needless to say, I was very nervous early on. You couldn't tell that by now. Like I said here, you can't hear me to shut up. It's amazing what one year can do to a person. I've had today's date, mark for a while. I've been constantly thinking, not constantly, but you know, I've always, I've been thinking about how do I want to do the one year anniversary because I knew that I was gonna make it. I'm like, no matter what, I'm gonna make it to my one year anniversary. I mean, I haven't felt like I needed to take a breaking like that, but I always said that if I ever come to that point, I wanted to at least make it to the one. And you know, here we are. I've had it marked since probably, I think maybe Halloween at this point. And I was thinking like, what do I really wanna do? I'm one of those people who used to struggle with celebrating my birthday. Like I never look forward to my birthday cuz it's like, I feel like I should be doing something, but I could never figure out what I wanted to do. That's who I was. That's who I kind of am, although not as much anymore. but then I spoke with a friend named Beth. She's a Pokemon Go player, one who I would love to have on the show someday in the future. And she pregames her birthday. It's like a birthday month when it's her birthday. And one day we were talking, we were, I think it was probably a bingo night, and she explains on why she celebrates her birthday with such enthusiasm, cuz she really gets into it. You know, she's one of those people who like, It's her birthday. This is my time, you know, kind of thing. Which is not a bad thing. We, I think we should all strive for that. But anyway, she says, my birthday is the one day I can do what I want, and nobody can really say anything. And since then, I've celebrated my birthday with what I've wanted to do because basically it's another year that some people, they don't. I made another year. I should do something to celebrate that. I should celebrate my time to actually circle this earth for 365 or 360 6, depending off it's a leap year. And make something of, it doesn't have to be like extravagant. It could be anything. Right. And that brings us to this podcast. It's my podcast. I can do with it what I please. I could do like the way spotters and do a. but that would require a lot of editing on my part. Again, I'm only one man and I really don't want to edit three hours of content Oh, you think this is getting edited? This episode's likely going raw like my friend Lewis does. Si. So I thought about maybe inviting a special guest, but that felt like a lot of pressure. Like can you imagine like, Hey, I need you to come celebrate my one year anniversary. Me, you down it. Like, uh, like to me, that's a lot of pressure, right? It's the one. And again, I'd be editing cuz I'm the only man. I'm a one man show here. You know, I thought it'd be kind of cool to try and do this episode in the same time as my first episode, but you can look at the time right now. Not doing that obviously. But you know what I really want to do, you know what I really, really, really want to do and what I eventually decided on I wanted to say. thank you for listening. For those who have left ratings, thank you for leaving that. Thank you to all my guests who have come onto the show, who've allowed me to interrogate them with my questions. We spend hours like you don't get it, like y'all see the 20 to 40 minutes of those episodes, those are like maybe an hour and a half to two hours of actual real lifetime. and every guest has been willing to come and sit down, share this story. We have some laughs and obviously I don't include everything we talk about cause some of it is personal, and this podcast may be mine, but it wouldn't be the same without. It started with the vision, but you're carrying it to who knows where yet. And that's the fun part about the podcast and what I've enjoyed so far. I look back to where I was a year ago, where I am now, and in spite of all the shortcoming, not shortcomings, in spite of my own self sabotage, let's call it. The podcast is still thriving. It's still getting out to other people who listen, who hear people's stories. It's becoming what It's hard to explain because for me to envision this and for it to actually be happening, it's kind of surreal because I'm literally living out what I thought this podcast could become, and I'm excited to see what it's gonna become in the. I don't know what it is gonna be. That's the fun part about, that's both the fun and scary part of life. Like I'm a very naturally anxious person. I believe life has a lot of adventure. That that's the fun part. But then I'm also like, it could be anything You ever see the cartoon where Peter Griffin and I think he gets the choice between like, Money and a box and he goes, I can get a million dollars. But then the box could be anything that's life. Life could be, I could do this, but then this could happen and that this could happen. Could be both good or bad. And in the perfect world, we always want the good, but we don't live in a perfect world. But that's both the keeps me anxious. It keeps me up at night, but also the. It's a odd mixed bat if you know what I'm talking about. You know, if you know, you know but like I said, it started with the vision, but you guys are carrying it and I look forward to seeing where this podcast goes. I have some big plans for it. Beyond trainer's eyes doesn't mean the series is gonna stop anytime soon. I plan on bringing guests. That's why the whole, uh, hashtag is 52, 52 weeks. 52 guests. I did that cuz this whole year's gonna be guests. But it doesn't mean that's the only thing I'm working. I have other plans for the podcast that I look forward to sharing with you guys that I look forward to, hopefully. I mean, I've already talked with a couple other people and we've already did some things, so eventually, you know, when I get enough time to edit and get that stuff out there, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens, and that's exciting for me. We'll find out how the poker ball turns together, but until then, I'll see you next time.

David Hernandez: 13:30

Oh wow. You're still listening. You're one dedicated mother.