As The Pokeball Turns

TRAINER'S EYE #147 - "Gible After the Sandstorm" ft. DragonTamerTom

• David Hernandez • Season 1 • Episode 151

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We sit down with DragonTamerTom, a Pokémon Trainer and Twitch streamer known for his passion for Dragon-type Pokémon and shiny hunting. 

DragonTamerTom opens up about growing up fascinated by dragons, the evolution of his creative interests, and how Pokémon has remained a meaningful thread through it all. He shares heartfelt stories of friendship, especially the lasting influence of his late friend TheTrueTurbo, and reflects on the highs and lows of being a content creator.

Tune in to hear how one Pokémon Trainer’s story is powered by passion, community, and the legacy of those who lift us up.

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

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DragonTamerTom:

I am Dragon Tamer Tom, and this is my Pokemon story.

David Hernandez:

Welcome to As The Pokeball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon. My name is David Hernandez. I'm here with Dragon Teamer. Tom, you may know him as maybe a dragon teamer. Other of y'all may know him as twist streamer. Tom, thank you for coming on. As the poker ball turns, what do, how do people know you? Maybe let's start there.

DragonTamerTom:

J mostly just chaos. I'll be honest, there is just so much Just like you said, mentioned in for Twitch. There's so much chaos in regards to that. So mostly my community and I love it. yeah, I just, shiny hunter, open up Pokemon cards, build models as well, but mostly just shiny hunting.

David Hernandez:

Ooh, hold on. I want to know what these models are like. what kinda models do you like? build, I'm kind interested in this.

DragonTamerTom:

So, you know, gunplay, right? Or Gundam,

David Hernandez:

Oh, of course. Yes.

DragonTamerTom:

they all like, Bandi also makes Pokemon models one piece. Digimon Yugi. I go for everything but the actual gunplay because I am not that insane. Yeah.

David Hernandez:

I think I did a yuchi one and I've done a one piece one, but unfortunately it was like to the point where you have to paint it and I'm like, I don't want to deal with all that. So it just stuck as. The non-colored louy one piece, I think it was the Go Mary, I believe is what was named if

DragonTamerTom:

yeah, the going Mary

David Hernandez:

the Go Mary. There we go. There we go.

DragonTamerTom:

YI think I have that one I'm looking back at on my shelf behind me. Yeah.'cause I have the going merry model, or the model kit. But the thousand Sunny actual like.

David Hernandez:

What made you want to do, what makes you wanna do those? Like, do you just like doing building stuff, puzzles.

DragonTamerTom:

I like building things and they're just relaxing. Like, I'll put a anime on. I'll just build, just go to town.

David Hernandez:

It's like, those who like color in their spare time or, some people like to do, make puzzles, like they'll get like one of them a thousand piece puzzles and just like start, just lose track of time, you know?

DragonTamerTom:

And just shut their brain off.

David Hernandez:

Well, you know, we got a lot to talk about, but I wanna start like, where's the beginning? Because you were named Drag Dragon Tamer, so I'm guessing you have some affinity for Dragon Pokemon. Where does that start?

DragonTamerTom:

So it all started back even when I was a kid. I've always loved dragons. I've just had always a fondness of dragons. There's figures, dragon figures all around my room I've had a lot more, but I've packed some away so I could put models up. but I've always loved dragons. Then I started creating content I looked at it, I'm like, I want to. have something that is Pokemon related, but also at the same time generic enough. So if I go to do Variety, I don't have to worry about any issues there. And ironically enough, a Dragon Tamer is actually a trainer class in generation three,

David Hernandez:

And then lo and behold, you got Dragon Team Tom, and I think the Dragon team. It was like a, I always, I think if I remember correctly, the model back in gen three was like a superhero. It reminded me of,'cause I think it had a cape and then it was like in a little weird, something like that.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep. I should really do a cosplay of that one time.

David Hernandez:

You should do that. You should do that for Stream.

DragonTamerTom:

maybe for the, my fifth year, remember five year anniversary,

David Hernandez:

Mmm. Is it coming up?

DragonTamerTom:

2026.

David Hernandez:

chat if, for anybody listening, if you want Dragon Teamer or Tom to ju up as the, cosplay, as the dragon teamer, you need to tag him incessantly and just remind him nonstop and chat and go to his house, dial his phone number, send him letters if you know how to do that.

DragonTamerTom:

I ironically, some people that have won giveaways and stuff like that actually do have my cell number or a way to get ahold of me personally. Also, my, all my mods do as well.

David Hernandez:

Ooh. Hey, mod, make sure to bug this guy. I extensively. Okay. We, we gotta make it happen in 2026.

DragonTamerTom:

Oh no.

David Hernandez:

you said you love like Dragon, so does it also come to the Dragon Pokemon as well? And if so, what Dragon Pokemon interests you,

DragonTamerTom:

Dragon Pokemon are a big fascination of mine as well. honestly, my favorite is probably the Gibble line, not because of Guard Chomp, but because of Gibble.

David Hernandez:

Hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

my love for it fell in the anime just how I just loved to eat everything and how it was so obnoxious and just chaotic, and I loved that

David Hernandez:

Just like you stream.

DragonTamerTom:

pretty much. Yeah,

David Hernandez:

I'm trying to remember, wasn't that the one where, I guess Ash was trying to rescue it and then they had to transport it or something like that? I can't remember.

DragonTamerTom:

I can't remember that far

David Hernandez:

Or was it actually Ash's Pokemon,

DragonTamerTom:

I think it,

David Hernandez:

I think?

DragonTamerTom:

Ash hatched it. one thing I always remember

David Hernandez:

remember.

DragonTamerTom:

it trying to either eat constantly, didn't matter what it was eating, or it was trying to use Draco meteor and it kept hitting PIplup. Poor

David Hernandez:

Piplup....

DragonTamerTom:

Piplup would be running and you see the little Draco Meteor ball of energy to slowly fall down and just hit the Piplup. up.

David Hernandez:

I think there was a, that was the whole gimmick ride.'cause I think there was one scene that where Piplup was just tr saw it powering up and it tried to run away and it just wind spiral in the air and still hit hip hop, even though despite it trying to run away.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep, a hundred percent.

David Hernandez:

You said you love the Gibble line, so is that your favorite Pokemon or like what is it about the Gibble line, I guess specifically Gibble, that you really enjoy?

DragonTamerTom:

Honestly, a lot of my favorite Pokemon come from the anime, like how they're portrayed in the anime. So like Gibble was one of those. I've seen a lot of other Pokemon that I'm like, okay, these are cool. I've also seen a lot of other PE creators that they're like, Ooh, guard, jump. They always want these big, powerful Pokemon, and I'm just like, gibble

David Hernandez:

This ple. Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

But Gibble is not my original favorite. My original favorite is actually Alakazam, so OG Alakazam. So Alakazam is my second favorite because Gibble,

David Hernandez:

Gibb's kind of hard to, I, I can't blame you. Gibb's actually pretty cute. I ain't gonna lie. And actually even its Middle Evolution. Goodbye. It's not that bad either. It's actually a very solid kind of middle evolution, appearance wise, you know?

DragonTamerTom:

oh yeah, for sure. even the shiny is not bad too.

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm. Until in terms of guard chomp, then it just, I know, I forget, exist.

DragonTamerTom:

other Pokemon, they got saturated or desaturated or whatever when they switched over the 3D models. Guard, chomp has just been terrible since gen four.

David Hernandez:

Yeah. And a lot of them, especially with the newer ones, I felt bad when scarry, they really did scarry wrong. It used to be such a very nice green color on the Sprites, and then all of a sudden it just, you can't even tell it's green anymore. It's kind of sad.

DragonTamerTom:

I have yet to see a wild or Shiny Skarmory in, Scarlet Violet. So,

David Hernandez:

You probably have. You just wouldn't know it actually. Hell us.

DragonTamerTom:

uh,

David Hernandez:

Oh

DragonTamerTom:

yeah,

David Hernandez:

yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

up images. Yeah.

David Hernandez:

Yep.

DragonTamerTom:

that's a.

David Hernandez:

The reason why I know that one of my friends, he was shining hunting and I was watching his stream and the only reason why we knew it was the Shining was because I think he happened to see the inside of the wing. If it wasn't for that, never would've seen it.

DragonTamerTom:

Oh yeah, that's what I've heard is you have to look at the inside of the wings, just like, Sandy shocks. You have to look at its feet.

David Hernandez:

you said your relation to Gibble was through the anime, so was that kind of a big part of your experience through Pokemon?

DragonTamerTom:

Growing up. Yeah,

David Hernandez:

Oh,

DragonTamerTom:

percent. Growing up was a lot through the anime. I remember to date myself a little bit. I remember watching the very first episode on TV as it aired,

David Hernandez:

so it goes back to what? 19 0 6, 18 47, something like that.

DragonTamerTom:

1643

David Hernandez:

Oh, okay. Man, man, or way back in the day. Yeah,

DragonTamerTom:

it's okay. My, my community calls me old and ancient all the time, so,

David Hernandez:

I call everybody old names all the time, so don't worry. I don't discriminate. But you know, think about the anime though. Like that's such a very key part.'cause you know, you go, for me, I remember growing, going and running and trying to get home to see what adventure Ashe is on. Right.

DragonTamerTom:

yep.

David Hernandez:

But did you stick with the anime, like through all four generations? Because clearly you have connection with Gibble. So did you watch like Jodo, the Hoen and stuff like that?

DragonTamerTom:

Hoen not so much because at that time that's when we were switching from satellite to cable

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

and we didn't have it here, but at my grandma's we did. So I'd only watch it a little bit, because my love for Pokemon was already deep seated in generation one and two, I still love Gen three games. I still played them. I didn't collect too much of the cards, but yeah, it was just deep seated, mostly'cause of gen one and two, so I'm glad that that stuck.

David Hernandez:

What was it about the game specifically compared to the anime that's really kept you hooked? Like what got you engaged into playing the games?

DragonTamerTom:

at the time it was mostly just a escape, like yes, it was only elementary school, but it was still an escape away from just everything and it still is for me.

David Hernandez:

so it'll let you kind of just go into your own world kind of thing or just.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep. That's all it is. Just get away from basically life, which was at the time I was just like, Ooh, I'm playing a video game now. It's okay. Stress, no Pokemon childhood memory. Nostalgia. Yes, please.

David Hernandez:

Especially during, you know, you got responsibilities and all this other stuff. It's like, you know, I kind of need to escape the world a little bit so I can kind of see that.

DragonTamerTom:

Eh, don't remind me what responsibilities.

David Hernandez:

Oh yeah. I try not to as well, but it's hard.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

when it came to the playing the Pokemon Games, what was your first game and what do you remember about playing it? Uh

DragonTamerTom:

was Pokemon Red. And I remember having my friends overplaying it cause at the time I had Pokemon Red, but I didn't have a way to play it, so I was boring. My cousin's game boy, the original Game Boy. And then I think that falling Christmas, I got a yellow game boy color with the golden worm light too.

David Hernandez:

Ooh, aren't you fancy?

DragonTamerTom:

I know, right? I don't have to depend on the streetlights.

David Hernandez:

you know, it's kind of crazy to think of that. There was a time where we played these games and we didn't have LED backgrounds. It's kind of wild, you know, when you think about it. Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

I got a paper out just for, just so I could get this game, and as soon as the light turns on in the background, I was just like, oh wow. This is so cool because I got Sapphire and my one friend got Ruby and we're just like, this is so cool.

David Hernandez:

It was life changing in those days. Right?'cause you know, the struggle was, you know, that there was no light at all. You were reliant on either an actual light or you were threatening your eyes, which I'm sure a lot of us did.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep. Yep.

David Hernandez:

there was one time I was coming back from a road trip. And you know, I'm bored. I'm like, it's like a four or five hour road trip. I don't remember where we were and I'm trying, it's like seven, eight o'clock at night. The sun's already out or it's dark, fully dark, or I'm in the back of the seat of the car and I'm trying to like use the streetlights as we're driving to see what's going on. Like looking so closely, he's like, I think that's an attack. I think that's a eradicate. Or it's either eradicate or a Zac. Obviously I'm facing Team Rocket and I'm trying to make sure I'm not using an attack that actually works. I don't know, but it is just so difficult and there's a little fondness when it comes to thinking about, you know, those time periods.

DragonTamerTom:

yeah, the good old days and then it's like, oh, why can't I have those days back?

David Hernandez:

you know, you said you played Pokemon Ruby, you played gen two. What were like your favorite generation like that you enjoyed playing the most and why?

DragonTamerTom:

Honestly, I, I, yes, generation one was my first game, I have a huge fondness for generation two because at Gen one I didn't really know what was going on. Gen two, I knew more what was going on. I was a little bit more coherent. but also it was the fact that you could go back to canto and face everybody back in canto as well that so generation two, like gold, silver. I didn't play Crystal growing up, but I it recently. and then Hart Gold Soul Silver, I'm a huge advocate of can we get, let's go Jodo.'cause I would absolutely love to go there.

David Hernandez:

I know right? What to Pokemon. Do you think they would use outta curiosity? Because I've thought of this too.

DragonTamerTom:

Probably peach chew and toga pee.

David Hernandez:

Yep. That's, that's my leaning too. Although I've always, I've heard people say that, that that would be too weak. But I'm like, it's either that or it would be Let's go on Brianna or Ion.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, I could see that. I could definitely

David Hernandez:

Yeah. I know you said that you and your friends played, the Pokemon games. Like what was that experience like? Would y'all like go to each other's houses and play battle? Like what was that connection during that time?

DragonTamerTom:

It was a lot of, either we would take turns or we would try to see who could have the strongest teams or who could have the most get to completing the polka deck as fast as possible.

David Hernandez:

Oh, wow.

DragonTamerTom:

'cause at the time also, there was no, shiny charm, right. So it was try to complete the decks, get that little certificate in the game, and then start it all over again. So, yeah, and just use different Pokemon the entire time and just be like, okay, this is fun.

David Hernandez:

So it sounds like y'all were, I guess, very competitive at the time to where y'all would either battle each other or y'all would try to race to the polka decks and y'all just do it over and over.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep. We also kind of did, we did sort of nuz locks as well by making sure we didn't do use the same team as well.

David Hernandez:

How did that work? the fact that y'all were nose lock rules, or did you like to a draft?

DragonTamerTom:

so it was more like a, okay, so this time, I used, ah, my starter. So I, I chose Squirtle to start off with the very first time. So it was, I chose Squirtle. we go p we go this Pikachu thing. and then we just chose those. Okay, next time we can't use these, we

David Hernandez:

Oh,

DragonTamerTom:

that way.

David Hernandez:

okay. I guess to make sure I understand, so say for example, you did one play through, I did a team of Pikachu. Nita ran six Pokemon. Right. And then after that, I can't use that the following time.

DragonTamerTom:

correct.

David Hernandez:

That's interesting.

DragonTamerTom:

It was a lot of fun, especially for how slow red and blue were compared to now, where you can run.

David Hernandez:

Oh God, I forgot about, yeah, you forget that you can't run.

DragonTamerTom:

But yeah, it was just something that we could, we the game fresh with. Right.

David Hernandez:

Did you and your friends stick with Pokemon throughout the entire time? Like how deep did this fandom keep going with you?

DragonTamerTom:

For me, I've played Pokemon ever since I was a kid, like, ever since Red and blue. but my other friends, they did fade away a little bit. elementary school was like, Ooh, Pokemon. Junior high, high school. Ooh, Pokemon. Then AF after high school. Oh, Pokemon this. This is a really cool thing. I'm just like, yeah, I already have the game done. Like, shut up.

David Hernandez:

You're late.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, exactly.

David Hernandez:

But that must have been kind of odd though, to see your friends. I don't. Well, it's an odd period right to where your friends just leave and you're kind of just stuck with your own passion kind of to drive it through. And this is like during the time where I'm assuming if you're the same age I am that. We didn't have social media. We didn't have like that many big online communities. It was all just scatterbrained, you know? Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep. that's a hundred percent what it was. And then that's why like when BDSP came out, like brilliant diamond shining pearl, people were just like, Ooh, it's just a cheapy reco, like reskin of the same game. To me, BDSP is a great game. For the simple fact that when I was growing up, of my friends played Diamond Pearl, so I was playing by myself. So that was, that kind of ruined it for me in that aspect. But I still loved the games. When Brilliant or BDSP came out, I had a community, I was part of a bunch of different communities. I had friends again to play it with. So for me, that's why I absolutely love BDSP.

David Hernandez:

and I would say that I think a lot of people really take for granted how easy it is to now do a lot of the features that you can do together. Because you know, you talk about Gen four, I even think about just one generation before that with generation three. You had secret bases where if you did mixed records, you could see that unless you had some friends, you really not get, you never really had a chance to experience that. And then of course you had the battle tower where you could battle, and then there was a lot of interconnectivity that was really kind of never explored because Pokemon was at a point to where not everybody played it. To compare it is now and, but then, like you said, you know, now we bring it to Pokemon Diamond Pearl and bring it fast forward. You have the underground, you have all these other extra. things that weren't really explored back in those days. And yeah, and then I think by the time those, those games came, I think the online, I know there's a way around it, but I think at the time the online was already shut down at that point.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah. So when like Diamond and Pearl came out, you had to get an extra dongle to connect to the internet, so then your

David Hernandez:

Yes.

DragonTamerTom:

could connect to that and then go through the internet. I got sort of a flex. I got one of the, honey trees that I got a Munch LA in.

David Hernandez:

Oh damn. Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

And I exploited the crap outta the fact that I had a munch laks, and I filled my entire decks with legendaries because nobody wanted to hunt, munch, munch, laks. So I'm just like, okay. Hey.

David Hernandez:

That, that honey tree was horrible.'cause that was, it was Munch lax, and I think she, Ruby, were the ones I never really got from those generations because of how difficult, and I did not wanna deal with those. I just, no, I'm good. I,

DragonTamerTom:

Yep. So I exploited people in that case.

David Hernandez:

He's basically the tax collector. It's like, Hey, if you want this Munch X, I'll trade you an RCS for you. I don't care if I have 30 of them already. I want 31.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, exactly.

David Hernandez:

I'm trying think what was on the GTS at the time. It was dark, right? RCS You saw Muse. Obviously

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

those was just all those, you know, hard to get. They would boo, they would be willing to trade that for Munch la.

DragonTamerTom:

Oh yeah, a hundred percent.

David Hernandez:

Mm.

DragonTamerTom:

People are trading their mu, their legendaries, their mythical, all this other stuff for a munch lax.

David Hernandez:

Now I was curious because you know, obviously you're a Dragon teamer Tom. Now, did you already have interest in dragons at that time when you were playing Pokemon before gen four, or did that come later?

DragonTamerTom:

A little bit yeah, like when I was playing, Red and blue. I, I used to dragonite mostly'cause A, it was very powerful and B,'cause it was a dragon, And then generation two came along and we met, Claire and I was like, okay, this is really cool. And I, we met and I found out about Kingdra and I was like, this is really cool. A sea dragon or a seahorse that is actually a water dragon type.

David Hernandez:

They only had one weakness technically at the time. Yeah. Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

And I was just like, this is sick. So it was a little bit of gen one, but mostly gen two and then, yeah, it just blossomed from there.

David Hernandez:

I was wondering, was it kind of frustrating at the time to have so little choices between dragons?'cause I don't think we really got a lot of dragons until, I would say maybe Gen four to five, honestly.'cause gen three you had Alta Solomons and Flagon Plus of course the legendaries, but.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, no, it was, it was, I made sure that I had a fly gone on my team when I played, gen three, when I played through Sapphire. But other than that, it was just your typical Gen three team.'cause that age, I didn't know any different.

David Hernandez:

You make it sound like it's a bad thing, like, I mean.

DragonTamerTom:

Ooh, this damage does no attack. Ooh, that's a useless move. We were all there. I don't care what anybody says.

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

all at that one stage at one point.

David Hernandez:

Yep. We all did the for attacks, one elemental type, you know, resistance be damned.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah. Resistance. What's that?

David Hernandez:

Yeah. I just saw Ashley to try to use thunder shock on a peek at you. I'm trying it right now.

DragonTamerTom:

Mm-hmm. Yep.

David Hernandez:

You know, obviously since those generations you've had more Dragon Pokemon come into the game. You know, what do you think about all the dragon type Pokemon? Like, do you enjoy seeing them or do you kind of feel like the mystique is kind of missing at all?

DragonTamerTom:

A little bit of both, honestly. I like the, like for example, Aplin, I like the lo behind it

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

is a worm. It's not a typical, like when you think when most people think Dragon, it's either two or four wing or two or four legs with wings or the typical, like, Sheron kind of thing. Do you know what I mean?

David Hernandez:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like Yeah. Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

similar, like those, kind of like a serpent dragon, that's the word I was looking for. Serpent

David Hernandez:

Okay.

DragonTamerTom:

or on all fours or on two legs with wings. Like they're coming out with different designs and it's amazing. But then you get things, honestly like Alolan Exeggutor. Why is that a dragon?

David Hernandez:

I would think'cause of its head, I guess, or I'm sorry, it's neck. You know,

DragonTamerTom:

But that doesn't make any sense.

David Hernandez:

I never said it made sense. That's the best reason I got so.

DragonTamerTom:

I think there was a, some sort of, what was it, like a origin story kind of thing for it Because in Hawaii there's the type of trees that they're based off of, like, they look like dragons and they made it a palm tree and it,

David Hernandez:

Hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

something like that. I was like, okay. I don't understand. I'm, I'm smooth

David Hernandez:

Okay.

DragonTamerTom:

but Okay.

David Hernandez:

Yeah, so you kind of don't accept a little executor. The drag, you're kind of like, you're, you're gonna be over there, kind of rejection kind of thing.

DragonTamerTom:

I think it's a great Pokemon. Is it a drag to me? Is it like a traditional dragon? No. Is there probably a lure behind it? Maybe. Do I care to go into it? because effort.

David Hernandez:

It reminds me kind of, back in, during gen three, I tried to get my friend a dragon team, and as we said, there's not many dragon Pokemon. So I also went into the dragon egg group and the one that always threw me off was ARB Bach, because I, at the time, at the age, I didn't understand what arb buck was, a dragon type. I was like, why is it a dragon? Why is it in a dragon egg group? But then, like you said, it's surfing. So, but yeah,

DragonTamerTom:

I

David Hernandez:

I think some,

DragonTamerTom:

I didn't

David Hernandez:

I think. Mm-hmm. It was a dragon egg group.'cause we had to do arb a, I had to do char art obviously. I think Errol DTA was also in it. I wanna say C Viper as well. I could be wrong on that one, but I had to get very creative to get him a Dragon team. And it was kind of cool to, I'd never used an Arbaugh before, but it was still kind of cool just to see the different Pokemon that were, I guess not officially dragon type, but still kind of, I guess a dragon egg group. I guess. I don't know what the difference would be.

DragonTamerTom:

Now that makes me question. So people always criticize because he didn't have a lot of dragons char's in the Dragon Egg group.

David Hernandez:

Yes. All mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

no Aridol, but.

David Hernandez:

Yeah. I think Eric Axle's a monster and. I forgot what the other one was.

DragonTamerTom:

I am on BP Pdia, so I am looking, oh, it's not even a monster.

David Hernandez:

Oh, is it okay. It could be in.

DragonTamerTom:

Now I'm curious. now that is big question. flying. That's the only one that's in is flying,

David Hernandez:

Only flying. Really?

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

I would think he at least be something else. That's wild. I think he at least be mineral maybe, but just flying. That's crazy.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah. You would think it would be in some of those other ones, like, like you said, like mineral or dragon, It fits both, but no, just flying.

David Hernandez:

Yeah, because here's what we had. We had Charizard family Arbok. Gyarados was included. This is bus by the way. I'm just listing the non dragon types. they're also the Dragon egg group. Sceptile was one. Milotic. It's a viper. There we go. And that was it. Everything else. That's what we had. That's what I had to add to his team to just get him a Dragon team, because I was trying to do, I was trying to avoid doing Legendaries, obviously.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.'cause it kind of tough as well, right?

David Hernandez:

Yeah, I mean, that's all that you had is, za and, Ladia. And Ladia. So It's fun, but it gets old after a while, beating people easily, so,

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

Scragg, he's in the Dragon Egg group.

David Hernandez:

Oh, is it now?

DragonTamerTom:

I don't even wanna know, I, I don't want to know.

David Hernandez:

I kind of wanna do, let's see, let's see what else we got. I haven't looked at the dragon group since gen three, so let's see what else we got.

DragonTamerTom:

Oh, it, it is in the Dragon Egg Group, but it just makes me question like, why,

David Hernandez:

it's tough to say. I, IBE makes me wonder if they do like a regional form to where Scragg is a dragon type in Pokemon Zi. You got Helios. Helios is a dragon type two or dragon egg group. Sole

DragonTamerTom:

So as all I can see honestly,

David Hernandez:

Santa Conda, of course. And that's all the surprises. Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

hmm.

David Hernandez:

I, I, uh, we're all learning today. I haven't looked at the egg groups since the, that, those generations after that, I just always use ditto. So I've, like the egg groups are kind of something people forget about nowadays.

DragonTamerTom:

I honestly have never looked into them.

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

thing I've really looked into for breeding wise is, oh, what natures breed well together, like, which ones produce the most amount of eggs, and that's really about it.

David Hernandez:

Okay, so you don't get into the whole iiv EVs like

DragonTamerTom:

No,

David Hernandez:

side of Pokemon at all.

DragonTamerTom:

no.

David Hernandez:

Hmm

DragonTamerTom:

closest I've come to that is, going to the Toronto regionals. And watching competitive, or, I was part, I did take part in a gym leader circuit at one point where we all specialized in one type

David Hernandez:

Oh, that must have been fun.

DragonTamerTom:

and then, it just started to fizzle out'cause people were losing interest after a while. But it, it was a lot of fun. It definitely was.

David Hernandez:

Do you just not have the time for it, or is it just more you prefer a different way to play Pokemon?

DragonTamerTom:

I just like shine, shiny hunting, honestly,

David Hernandez:

What do you like about Shinies in general? Like what do you, what, what does, what does it appeals to you?

DragonTamerTom:

The

David Hernandez:

Dopamine. The dopamine.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep.

David Hernandez:

Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah. Getting going that hunt for that whole time and then all of a sudden, Ooh, different colored pixels. Let's go.

David Hernandez:

what's the, I guess first time that you ever, I guess, tried to shiny hunt or when did you discover that you enjoyed shiny hunting over anything else?

DragonTamerTom:

Probably generation six. So like X and Y,

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

chain fishing with my cousin, he was racing to get a clocher. I was trying to get a scalp and he ended up winning. And I gave up, but it was still a lot of fun. I ended up getting a horsey eventually. It's, disc. There's another one that I got as well, all from chain fishing.

David Hernandez:

And then that whole experience is what led you to become the madman you are today.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep.

David Hernandez:

Do you have particular, any favorite shiny Pokemon that you enjoy color-wise

DragonTamerTom:

the two that caused me the most in dynamax adventures were Reza and Garina, those are probably my two favorite.

David Hernandez:

you can't go wrong with the black dragon. I think your Tina turned silver, I think.

DragonTamerTom:

silver and

David Hernandez:

Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

beige.

David Hernandez:

What's the, I guess, most heartbreaking, shiny, experience you've had so far? You know, I'm sure you've had some,

DragonTamerTom:

the fact that I did 672 Dynamax checks, not even the, not even the counting the fails for Reza. That's a lot.

David Hernandez:

That is your over odds. Big time.

DragonTamerTom:

seven times odds just last year.

David Hernandez:

do you ever think about going for a thousand? That would've been kind of cool.

DragonTamerTom:

I was hunting Reza since the beginning of das

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

and I probably would've, I probably have done a thousand if I had been counting,

David Hernandez:

Oh, geez. See, I don't know how y'all do it'cause that's just a lot of dedication to keep trying and I applaud y'all for it.'cause like I said, it's just a different skillset or I guess different mentality. I mean, it's just the hope that you eventually is like it's gonna be the next one that you're gonna get that. Can I keep you, keep going.

DragonTamerTom:

that and the fact that I have my commu, that's such an amazing community around me as well to help with that.

David Hernandez:

tell me about the community that you've built, like, when we haven't talked, we haven't talked about your Twitch yet, but like, what is it about the community that you've built that motivates you to keep playing Pokemon.

DragonTamerTom:

They're just amazing individuals. Like my MOD team, it started off with a couple of us that I, I knew from other individuals that I'm like, Hey, you're a good mod for this person. do you want mod for me? Like, okay. then just slowly building up from there and it's just. All been amazing.

David Hernandez:

Hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

is just amazing themselves. I don't know how else to describe it. Other than that,

David Hernandez:

And then they've seen you grown into the streamer that you are today. Did you ever see yourself streaming this long?

DragonTamerTom:

I will be a hundred percent honest. No, I, um, when I'm caught my sub badges, made, my friend commissioned them for me for free. she was just starting out as an artist, so she's like, okay, here you go. Here's some free ones. I'm like, okay. I broke them up, so it only went up to a year and I was like, okay. And, I haven't updated them since.

David Hernandez:

what got you into streaming? Like what made you wanna start recording and be making an audience?

DragonTamerTom:

So my very first YouTube video was actually of a PSA submission that I'd sent in, and that was unboxing that if you wanna watch some cringe, watch that video, it is very, very bad.

David Hernandez:

Ooh, I love cringe.

DragonTamerTom:

I had no idea what the hell I was doing. But it shows how far I've come from. Then same thing with my very first stream. I put that as a highlight just so I can see I came from to where I am now. but I did that, I did that first YouTube video, then once a week typically I was uploading like me opening up a pack.'cause this was before tick, this was before I discovered TikTok and YouTube shorts and all that stuff. But yeah, it was opening up one or two packs every week. Then it got to the point that it was getting very expensive to do that. And at that point I was already in a bunch of different communities of amazing individuals. three of which for sure, two of them no longer stream very much, if at all, and one is no longer with us. All three of them. Huge shout out to them. But they are like, Tom, go stream. It's not much, it's not hard. just build a pc, get everything together. We can help you set things up. I was like,

David Hernandez:

Okay. Wow. So they believed in you.

DragonTamerTom:

Oh yeah.

David Hernandez:

It must have been, I guess, kind of motivating to see that, right? Because. it sounds like you were resistant to even doing it, but then you hear these three guys wanting to see you do it, they see something in you, I guess you didn't see in yourself at the time.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, and at that point, as far as I know, none of them had heard, well, maybe one or two had heard my voice. Other than that, it was just all through text, through, Twitch chats.

David Hernandez:

what was your resistance to it? Was it just the fact that you were gonna go live? Was it the fact that you were gonna have Perform. Like what is it about, you know, were you resistant at the time?

DragonTamerTom:

I think it was just'cause it was something new, something different than the traditional like, and I'm using air quotes, but the traditional eight till five kind of thing, and it was different and I just had no idea what I was doing. I still don't, but I know how to hit that. Go live button and then I'm good

David Hernandez:

Yeah.

DragonTamerTom:

make sure everything works beforehand.

David Hernandez:

I think that's kind of everybody who does some type form of a creation, right? Because you know, we're our heart, we're our harshest critics. And you know, you mentioned how you have your first stream up. I still have my first episode still unedited. I've always wanted, I can edit whenever, but it's just like something about just keeping it raw. Lets me kind of remind myself of how far I've come to just doing a podcast to now the change is noticeable, but. It's just hard for me to kind of want to take that away, you know?

DragonTamerTom:

Oh yeah, it shows you it. It is very humbling too. It shows you where you came from. It shows you, okay, this is how far I've come. This shows how I've grown as an individual, as a creator, whatever. my mannerisms have changed as well just because of that. if you go if you actually watch it. I was in a voice call with probably, what, half a dozen people. I didn't have that audio source going through my stream,

David Hernandez:

Oh, no.

DragonTamerTom:

for the four hours that I was live for the very first time, nobody heard anybody else but me, so I was talking to myself, yay.

David Hernandez:

And nothing changes'cause you still talk to yourself. You just hope people are listening or watching, so,

DragonTamerTom:

Exactly. Exactly.

David Hernandez:

yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I don't mean as an insult, I just mean that that's kind of the reality. Sometimes it's kinda easier for me'cause now I could just have people and I can kind of bounce off. But back in those days when I was doing solo, I had a little, plus she was a peach. Two plushy in front of me just to kind of get over the idea of that I'm talking, you know, just have that kind of face, you know.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, I know, I can't remember who it was, but years ago when they first started creating content, they had, at the time it was their cat, put their cat's bed on their desk

David Hernandez:

Oh,

DragonTamerTom:

So it looked like they were talking to their cat. And I was like, that's cool. And that's when, when you said about the plush, that reminded me of that

David Hernandez:

As you, kept going with Pokemon, you know, now you're streaming on Twitch, you know, you're having people share your experience. I know you've branched out of Pokemon as well. when they watch you on Twitch, what do you hope people kind of get out of your stream? Do you ever think about that? Sometimes?

DragonTamerTom:

That basically if this smooth brain can do it, anybody else can. Like,

David Hernandez:

Come on, Tom. You mean.

DragonTamerTom:

I know you said we get, we're our so. person that I was talking to, they at, like, about two years ago,

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

were a big variety streamer. they would, let's say for example, play the last of us. They the first game. They played the second game. they had the community built up around that. Then they switched to play among us, or Zelda or something else, and their community dropped. Mostly because I do mostly play Pokemon with, at the time, it was once a month playing Mario Kart because, my late friend, the true turbo he used to host every Friday a Mario Kart or every Saturday. in the later years, he used to ho hold Mario Kart with his community. I said to keep that honor alive, once a month. Because once a week is a lot for people. Like, it doesn't make it as special in my opinion, having it once a month does. and then, I hosted the mod appreciation type of stream where we just played stardew for, well, apparently four and a half hours. And I looked at my, I always like to look at the numbers after stream. Not during, but just after.

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

average viewer account was actually higher than usual, and I'm just like, okay. So that means that I'm not losing viewership because I'm playing a different game. I'm playing a variety versus traditional Pokemon, which I usually always do. So that was very amazing and very humbling as well, that they're there to see me, not just the game.

David Hernandez:

It is tough because you know you have to niche you yourself down, and then it's kind of hard to break yourself out of it.

DragonTamerTom:

Yep.

David Hernandez:

is it kind of hard to kind of figure out what kind of game your audience would like or like do you use it just like a trial and error, like, eh, let's see if they stick around for this, or if they stick around for this or,

DragonTamerTom:

Well, mostly it. I'm very lucky that Pokemon is very copy paste. It's mostly

David Hernandez:

Hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

right now, it's either playthroughs or shiny hunting. That's all it's, and I'm very lucky that it's. People still wanna come around and see me. Shiny fail, mean shiny hunt.

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

And by fail I mean not get the Chinese,

David Hernandez:

I wanted to know,'cause I know that you and Turbo were very close and that he had a very big impact on you as both as a creator, as well as a Can you like, give insight to us, like how important Turbo was for you and what he was like from your perspective?

DragonTamerTom:

Well he was the one, one of the three that it helped inspire me to begin with. Turbo was a huge inspiration to the channel. He was an amazing friend. his disability didn't hold him back from anything He. pushed, he was a fighter. He pushed everything like as much as he could to get as much as he could done. He wanted to get partner this way he could get, awareness out to people with disabilities to show that if he could do it, anybody could do it.

David Hernandez:

It sounded like that resonated with you a little bit.

DragonTamerTom:

Oh, exactly. why when we play Mario Kart night, I still have a bow tie for that. his mom is a huge mem a big member of our community as well. joins us for every Mario Kart night as well. She's in almost every stream as of mine as well, as well as all the other friends which is amazing.

David Hernandez:

What is it, like to have the moms still involved even after all this time? Because it seems like y'all are, were more than just, you know, online friends. Y'all are almost wanna say family to a degree.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah. At, at this point, like, but her, and like the Turbo, his brother, the J Scorp, or J

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

and Mama Turbo, I've never physically met them in person. Only heard their voices over a call. over a discord call like you said, yeah, they're family. I've called Turbo and Jay Brothers that I never had and that I never met it was a huge loss to the community, to my community, his to Turbo's community when he passed.

David Hernandez:

Do you remember the last thing you and Turbo talked about before he passed?

DragonTamerTom:

Honestly, not really. because

David Hernandez:

It's okay. No,

DragonTamerTom:

and outta the hospital multiple times near the end.

David Hernandez:

Was it difficult for you to see Turbo having to go in and outta the hospital?

DragonTamerTom:

Well, of course,'cause I'm, I was used to seeing him go live. Six days a week like there's even days near the end that his health, he couldn't stream because he, like, he was having a bad day, so wasn't able to. And I was like, well, I'm used to hanging out there that night. Guess what? I can't.

David Hernandez:

And it's a way, like if you play Pokemon, imagine if you couldn't play a game again, or imagine if you couldn't watch tv. And I guess from what I understand with Turbo, that was kind of his life, you know, to go stream and to both, you know, be there for an audience as well as to provide. Visibility for visibility,

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

and it's still important. And to not to be able to do something that you enjoy is one of the toughest things to ever go through in life.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah.

David Hernandez:

I, I went through that with my, dad a long time ago. he couldn't control his fingers anymore, but he loved playing the guitar. And the saddest thing he said is he couldn't play the guitar anymore. And he always found joy in that, you know, so.

DragonTamerTom:

Yeah, that's where Turbo was very lucky that his mom was there

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

for example, he couldn't physically. do the coordinations words, for Scarlet and Violet for Pokemon Legend's. Archies for Mario Kart because he was very limited with his mobility, but that's where his mom, his mom came in and she was doing that kind of stuff for him.

David Hernandez:

That must been like a very wholesome family kind of thing to do.

DragonTamerTom:

For sure. And that's why like when she's still stuck around, I was like, yes.'cause she knows what's going on. She has a knowledge of what's what to do as well. And yes, like when it comes to like Mario Kart nights for example, like, not many of us are good. There's a couple of us are that are really good. I'm not good. I'm

David Hernandez:

Right

DragonTamerTom:

the. I'm not,

David Hernandez:

chaos.

DragonTamerTom:

there like, people give me crap because I have the little, antenna on, so it doesn't allow you to go into off the course. But I'm sitting there, I'm streaming it, I'm focusing on chat. I'm focusing on the conversations and the jokes and the laughter. I'm there for the fun. I'm not there for the carts. It's, it's mostly a fluke when I win, so I'll be a hundred percent honest. is.

David Hernandez:

It is like, how did I win? I was in last place. Did y'all stop playing or something?

DragonTamerTom:

Well, usually what we've started to do the last course or last cup of the night for all four cup or all four uh, races, 200 cc blue, shell only baby

David Hernandez:

Oh God. Oh my.

DragonTamerTom:

all.

David Hernandez:

man. Not that car.

DragonTamerTom:

All you're doing is driving in a

David Hernandez:

Oh,

DragonTamerTom:

Try to stay at about fourth until the last lap, and then you want to just try to get into first.

David Hernandez:

you know, baby, Parkinson's experience that is. Utter torture.

DragonTamerTom:

It is. really is, and it's amazing.

David Hernandez:

Oh my God. This is my last question on Turbo. what was his favorite Pokemon?

DragonTamerTom:

Pikachu.

David Hernandez:

really it was speaking to you.

DragonTamerTom:

because Pokemon Yellow was his first, one of his first games other than that, it was like the typical like hound doom. Like he loved pound doom, he loved his dogs. it wasn't Hound doom after PLA came out, it was the Ian Groweth line,

David Hernandez:

Well, dragon Trainer, Tom, that's an interview. I'm gonna finish on this last question and in honor of Turbo, each Pokemon you choose is gonna have a Pikachu on top. I want you to give me your Dream Dragon Pokemon team.

DragonTamerTom:

my Dream Dragon Pokemon team.

David Hernandez:

Yep. Any dragon type.

DragonTamerTom:

Well, it might be a little stacked.

David Hernandez:

I never gave you restrictions, my friends, so take it as you will.

DragonTamerTom:

aware, but I'm just saying it might be a little stacked because Reza Garina chump. I'll be a hundred

David Hernandez:

You seem so confident. I was okay. He's got it ready and it's, oh wait, hold on.

DragonTamerTom:

options, right?

David Hernandez:

I know right. Options are the flavor of life. Why do you think I host a podcast? I get to live y'all's experience through my head. It is like the joker says, why live one life when you even have multiple choice? This is me.

DragonTamerTom:

That is fair. Yeah, definitely. Re Reza Garina chump. Ra. Thrum for sure. I'm either torn between Hydro or Raging Bolt.

David Hernandez:

Ooh,

DragonTamerTom:

People

David Hernandez:

a tough choice.

DragonTamerTom:

but I'm like, I like the design, honestly,

David Hernandez:

You like raging bolt, but you hate a little. And ator. Please explain this one to me.

DragonTamerTom:

I, I I've, so where's the end? Where's the leave session? No. outta the three beasts I've always liked Riko the most,

David Hernandez:

Okay.

DragonTamerTom:

kind of a little bit of bias there. I liked all three of the paradox beasts. Honestly.

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

I don't like them. They're ugly. They're, they're nice. I love them.

David Hernandez:

dragon tamer. Tom, thank you for coming on As the pickle ball turns, before you go, if people wanna watch you stream, if they wanna connect with you, if they wanna watch your content, where can they go? By all means, please plug away.

DragonTamerTom:

On all socials, I'm on, Instagram, Twitter, blue Sky, Twitch, YouTube, mostly Twitch. And Twitter, blue Sky are the most common ones. before I even started creating content. I even claimed all the names of Dragon Tamer Tom.

David Hernandez:

See you were smart. I feel sorry for the sad bastard you took as to pickle. Ball turns. John never gonna be able use that one.

DragonTamerTom:

I actually learned from a bigger YouTube creator that he wanted to go back and try to get a Twitter handle of just his name,

David Hernandez:

Mm-hmm.

DragonTamerTom:

new. YouTube handle, and he couldn't it was already claimed by somebody else. I'm like, okay, before I do anything else, before I upload my first video, Tamer Tom, dragon

David Hernandez:

Right?

DragonTamerTom:

Dragon, Tamer Tom, everywhere. I claimed it.

People on this episode

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David Hernandez

Host
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Dux

Co-host
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Layla

Co-host