Nov. 15, 2023

"Cowboy Hat Caterpie, Please?" ft. MikeNerdLaw | TRAINER'S EYE #64

MikeNerdLaw, a committed Pokémon GO Trainer, has one request for Niantic: "Cowboy Hat Caterpie, please!" In this Pokémon interview, he shares the story of how his journey with Pokémon GO began, tracing his first encounter with Caterpie and the moment he fell in love with the game. Dive into his dedication and the fascinating world of Pokémon GO, where even the smallest details, like a Cowboy Hat Caterpie, become unforgettable moments for passionate fans. Sources Opening Song: "Forget You" b...

Show Notes
Transcript

MikeNerdLaw, a committed Pokémon GO Trainer, has one request for Niantic: "Cowboy Hat Caterpie, please!" In this Pokémon interview, he shares the story of how his journey with Pokémon GO began, tracing his first encounter with Caterpie and the moment he fell in love with the game. Dive into his dedication and the fascinating world of Pokémon GO, where even the smallest details, like a Cowboy Hat Caterpie, become unforgettable moments for passionate fans.

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

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Your next Pokemon adventure begins here!

WEBVTT

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My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

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Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where the stories are real and people still play this game.

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costume Pokemon are nothing new within Pokemon Go.

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The very first costume Pokemon was a Santa hat Pikachu back in December of 2016.

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Over the years, more costume Pokemon have been introduced into Pokemon Go, ranging from hats, sunglasses, to even armor.

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It begs the question.

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If you could create your own costume Pokemon, what would it be?

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would it be an Unown wearing a monocle?

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Maybe a Rayquaza with a top hat?

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Maybe you need a Pikachu wearing the jersey of your favorite sports team.

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My guest in this episode is on a mission to have one particular Pokemon wearing a cowboy hat introduced into Pokemon Go.

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On social media, he consistently contacts Niantic using only four words, Cowboy Hat Caterpie, please.

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From Viridian Forest, here is his origin story into the world of Pokemon Go.

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This is Mike Nerdlaw.

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Today, I'm joined by the manned under the cowboy hat and the number one Caterpie fan, MIkeNerdLaw! Mike, welcome to the show.

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Hey, hey! Thank you for having me! Hello, everybody!

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Definitely Mike, and I'm happy you came on the show.

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I remember we got to meet in New York City and you were dressed up in the Caterpie costume.

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One thing I was wondering is like, where did you get that costume from?

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that is actually the third version of the costume.

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I lost one in Seattle and one in, Philly.

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They didn't survive the entire festival.

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So yeah, I just ordered them, from Amazon, actually.

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from China, they take like six months, but I got them and, yeah, it's pretty crazy.

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I have, another one on the way to replace the one that, didn't survive NYC, so it should be ready for, festivals come next year, so.

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that was the one that was ripped, right?

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Cause it, I think it ripped, like, on the shoulder blade.

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Yeah, that one ripped almost immediately, little duct tape was able to at least get me through the event.

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But, you get what you pay for, so.

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Well, that's fair, that's fair.

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before we dive into, like, how this all started with CowboyHatCaterpie, Cause I'm interested, cause you were one of the first people I ran into when I joined Twitter.

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And I'm like, what's CowboyHatCaterpie?

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what was your first experience with Pokemon Go?

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my first experience with Pokemon Go, Which kind of ties into how Cowboy Hat Caterpie came to be, so, to preface, I had never played any of the games growing up, never watched any of the shows, didn't know anything about Pokemon.

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until shortly before Pokemon Go came out, I was at my best friend's apartment, and sitting on our coffee table was a Game Boy and had a Pokemon game in there.

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I'd never, you know, never played it before.

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We're just sitting there chilling, watching baseball or something, and I picked it up and...

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Oh, okay, Pokemon.

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Never played this before.

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Whatever.

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You know, let's give it a try.

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So, fired the game up and I was walking around with the guy and...

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Ran into something and all of a sudden, you know, a wild Caterpie appears.

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Well, I didn't know how to pronounce the thing.

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So she tells me immediately, no, it's Caterpie.

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I'm like, I don't know, it looks like Caterpie to me.

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But anyway, I caught it.

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that was my first Pokemon was a Caterpie.

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So I've always called them Terpies since then.

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just because that's how I learned it.

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I didn't know any better.

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So I did that for a little while, and like a week or two, literally a week or two later, Pokemon Go came out, and I didn't really have any desire to play, but my friend was gonna play, and I'm like, well, you know, I'll do anything once.

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So, grabbed Pokemon Go and started playing it, right on release day, which, what, July 7th of 2016?

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I think that's what it was.

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And, lo and behold, I've been playing it ever since.

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so yeah, I had a little, brief experience with, Pokemon red or blue, whatever it was, that day and then Pokemon go from the beginning.

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And then, um, to connect to the cowboy had Caterpie aspect of things, I grew up on a farm.

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So I've always loved farming, always that kind of thing.

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That's where the cowboy hat came from.

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So that part of the story is not crazy.

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It's not nothing special about that.

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The crazy part of the story is, at that same friend's apartment, there's a couple of kids, probably six or seven years old, maybe eight, they're playing Pokemon cards, again, I didn't play the game.

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I don't know anything.

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And they're, playing cards at our apartment and I'm walking by and I asked this kid.

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Hey! That's what you guys are playing Pokemon.

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Do you have any Katerpies?

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And the kid looked at me like I had just like...

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You know, insulted his mother or something.

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He just looks at me, just glares at me.

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It's Caterpie, dummy! This, this eight year old called me a dummy.

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So like, it was like war at this point.

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From that point forward, I swore to catch all the terpies.

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And just like, nope, I gotta catch them all, cause I can't let this kid have, you know, all these terpies.

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And I'd originally, funny enough, wanted to catch...

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One of every CP, Caterpie all the way from, 10 all the way up.

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And I was like 5 or 6 away from having like the entire set, like every number.

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But then they redid the CP calculations after like 6, 7, 8 months of the game before I could ever complete that quest.

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But yeah, at one point I had like a thousand something, Terpies in my storage.

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I still have probably a thousand in my storage, but, the combination of, Caterpie being the first pokemon I ever experienced as well as that kid.

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It just got me always hooked on Caterpie and then the cowboy hat was just a natural thing.

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So that's how Cowboy Hat Caterpie was born.

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Wow, so it came from you playing your friend's game, and that was the first Pokemon you experienced, or the Pokemon you caught on that game, and then the Cowboy Hat Caterpie is because you grew up on a farm.

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Yep.

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So when did the, costume and you starting asking Niantic to have Cowboy Hat Caterpie come to play?

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Was that right away?

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Or was that coming later on?

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It was not right away.

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there was some event with a hat or something fairly early on.

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It might have been prior to Party Hat Wurmple.

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It was probably like a Pikachu hat, something.

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Cause, Pikachu has 12, 000 different costumes and hats at this point.

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But I just randomly one day on Twitter, so my original, my Twitter account originally had nothing to do with Pokemon, and then just one day I thought it would be funny to, tweet CowboyHatCaterpie, please, and then I just started doing that over and over and over, and it just became a thing, so.

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And it's been, four years now since, the first time I asked for it.

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So, my quest continues!

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What is it like for you to think about how many people have grasped on to, like, the idea of asking for a cowboy hat Caterpie in game now?

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Because when you go to these live events, a lot of people come up and say hello to you.

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It's cool, like, in real life, I'm like the most shy, introverted person ever.

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Like, I...

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Don't talk to people.

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I'm just, I'm terrified of people like people are scary.

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Like, I don't want to talk to anybody.

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For whatever reason, like when I put on that costume or, even like at this point, a lot of people know what I look like outside of the costume now too, from, you know, Twitter and whatnot, but it's just crazy.

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I put on that costume and suddenly like everybody wants to see me and talk to me.

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It's like, it's almost like my shield.

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Like I can just talk to people while I have the costume on.

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It's wild.

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I've never been like the most popular person ever been like, you know, I'm not really a people person.

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So to have people want to meet me and like want to see me or want to meet up with me, it's just wild to me.

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And I love it.

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It's so crazy.

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You mentioned how you're usually shy.

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the first event you went to in costume, were you still shy at that point?

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Were you still nervous, or were, like, the nerves completely taken away once you were in the costume?

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my first time in costume, I was nervous, not because I was so much in costume, but because I was, at that point, I was streaming full time as well, and a lot of my regulars were gonna be there, and I was just nervous to meet all my regulars.

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I'm like, oh man, what if my regulars hate me?

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Like, what if my, Twitch mods hate me?

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or, whatever.

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So I was more nervous for that, turns out.

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I have the greatest mods ever.

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I have the greatest, regulars ever.

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So I shouldn't have been nervous, but I was, but that was just a great introduction to the costume.

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Then the feedback I got from the costume, made things just, it was just so great.

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I'm like, all right, I just gotta, costume up for every event.

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It's like tradition.

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So I love it.

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Like I will never go to events without the costume now, basically.

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And I assume you, like, take pictures, and do you trade Pokemon?

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Do people trade you Caterpies whenever they meet you?

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Yep.

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I, I, I, I get, I do a lot of Caterpie trades, a lot of, trades in general.

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the very first go fast I was at, I traded a Caterpie, or sorry, I traded a Shadowball Mewtwo for a Caterpie from Mexico, because I didn't have a Mexican Caterpie at that point.

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The dude was so confused why I would trade a Mewtwo for a Caterpie.

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I'm like, don't ask questions, just give me your Caterpie.

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Is basically what it boiled down So like, and there was actually like a Niantic representative or something right there too, just like...

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Why would you trade it?

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Like, don't ask questions like, I only care about Caterpie.

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that was pretty wild.

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That was the first, like, real thing when I realized that, wait a minute, like, Caterpie is my thing.

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number 10 is always number one in my heart, you know?

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Well, I mean just to put into context, Shadow Ball Mewtwo back in 2018 I'm guessing.

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That was ridiculously rare because we didn't have elite TMs back in those days.

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So you were reliant on getting them from elite raids, or EX raids is what they were called.

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The x rays, yeah, yeah.

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So is that like one of your goals?

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Do you like to try and collect caterpillars from all over the world now?

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You save a thousand of them, like how do you know which ones to keep or do you keep them all?

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I've honestly scaled back on the, the Caterpie collection, just because I feel like I've...

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Kind of achieved everything I want collection wise from the Caterpie.

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I have a couple maxed out to level 50.

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I have a couple perfects, I have four or five best buddy, level 50 Caterpie.

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So I'm kind of done specifically with the Caterpie collection.

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Now it's more so, getting them from certain people.

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Like, oh, yeah, I got a Caterpie from such and such, got one from such and such, So now it's just more so making the trade with people to remember it by, so.

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What were some of your goals for Caterpie?

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My big goal was just trying to get one of every CP.

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That was the biggest goal.

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And then at one point I wanted to get one, a Caterpie from all seven continents.

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So, the Antarctica Caterpie.

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I still don't have, but, that's kind of the last one I want to get.

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I want to go to the, South Pole or something to get a Caterpie, which would be pretty crazy, but, you know, they only spawn a few months a year now, too, so, the darn season changes and whatnot, really cut into some of the spawns,

00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:36.081
So if you listen to this podcast and you're from Antarctica hit up Mike Nerdlock because he's looking for Caterpie.

00:10:36.417 --> 00:10:42.082
Yes, thank you, yes, shout out to all you Antarctican, Antarcticanites, please.

00:10:43.628 --> 00:10:46.658
For sure, and give me a free ride because I didn't want to check out Antarctica myself.

00:10:46.687 --> 00:10:47.577
I'm a big fan.

00:10:47.902 --> 00:10:53.317
Well, I'm in, I'm in Minnesota, which is awfully close to Antarctica weather wise sometimes maybe that counts, I don't know.

00:10:54.138 --> 00:10:57.217
Well, do you still try to play Pokemon Go in the winter, like when it gets cold up there?

00:10:57.217 --> 00:10:58.477
Or do you stay indoors?

00:10:58.817 --> 00:11:04.008
we have the Mall of America here, so during the winter time, that's pretty much where I'll play.

00:11:04.225 --> 00:11:11.164
Always zipping around there on community days, staying warm, but, yeah, I grew up here so the winter, doesn't really bother me anyway.

00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:12.903
It's not a frozen song.

00:11:13.052 --> 00:11:14.523
The cold never bothered me anyway.

00:11:15.403 --> 00:11:15.423
So.

00:11:15.611 --> 00:11:17.121
Are we about to sing Frozen here in a minute?

00:11:17.346 --> 00:11:18.647
We could do a duet later.

00:11:18.647 --> 00:11:20.256
We'll save that for the after hours.

00:11:21.692 --> 00:11:23.381
Let it go, let it go.

00:11:23.572 --> 00:11:23.792
Yes.

00:11:24.423 --> 00:11:27.273
so you said you never played any of the main series games.

00:11:27.582 --> 00:11:29.942
why did you never get into Pokemon when it initially launched?

00:11:30.543 --> 00:11:36.373
You know, it honestly just never, caught my interest and I played a lot of sports too growing up.

00:11:36.682 --> 00:11:41.322
hockey was a good chunk of my time growing up, so games or cards, growing up.

00:11:41.322 --> 00:11:42.187
it just never happened.

00:11:42.778 --> 00:11:46.238
But then Pokemon Go comes out and it sounds like, I know you've played more of the games since, right?

00:11:46.841 --> 00:11:47.131
Yup.

00:11:47.427 --> 00:11:48.855
a lot of, Pokemon Sword.

00:11:48.865 --> 00:11:50.475
Those Dynamax adventures, man.

00:11:50.495 --> 00:11:55.345
I, I could sit in those Dynamax dens for hours trying to get those shinies.

00:11:55.711 --> 00:11:56.432
a blast.

00:11:56.432 --> 00:11:58.642
I loved, Let's Go Eevee, whatever that was.

00:11:58.892 --> 00:12:06.857
Loved that one as well, Brilliant Diamond, I played a little bit of that too, but, yeah, Pogo and Sword are my main, games by far.

00:12:07.154 --> 00:12:10.217
I still play Sword almost every day, I just love that game.

00:12:10.388 --> 00:12:11.857
Just because of the Raidens or for other

00:12:12.207 --> 00:12:15.977
The Raid, the Raid Dens, I just love those Dens, I love the challenge of those Dens,

00:12:16.868 --> 00:12:21.697
Well, let me ask you this, so if you were going to have a team for Pokemon Sword of six Pokemon, who would you have on there?

00:12:22.292 --> 00:12:24.981
Oh boy, Tough question, love it.

00:12:25.498 --> 00:12:37.995
I mean you gotta have the cryogonal for the shield thing, the trying to blink on the, the mass reflect or whatever that, wide guard! You gotta have cryogonal for the wide guard and then really everybody else doesn't matter as long as you got that to carry you through.

00:12:38.014 --> 00:12:40.705
But, yeah, I always like to have Butterfree on my team as well

00:12:41.008 --> 00:12:42.827
it's a distant cousin from Caterpie.

00:12:42.913 --> 00:12:44.352
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

00:12:44.413 --> 00:12:50.283
So, specifically, yeah, aside from the, the wide guard and the, butterfree, it doesn't really matter too much to me, honestly.

00:12:50.894 --> 00:12:54.154
And Butterfree got like some kind of form, right, Gigantamax or something like that?

00:12:54.462 --> 00:12:57.386
Yeah, yeah, it's got that, that form, which is pretty cool.

00:12:57.682 --> 00:13:00.283
it's always fun to see it, like, super giant sized, too.

00:13:00.293 --> 00:13:01.163
Like, oh, yeah.

00:13:01.373 --> 00:13:03.732
It's too bad there's not a Gigantamax, Caterpie, though.

00:13:03.743 --> 00:13:04.625
That would be, fun.

00:13:05.275 --> 00:13:06.306
Hey, not yet.

00:13:06.316 --> 00:13:06.985
It could come.

00:13:07.061 --> 00:13:08.530
Not yet, yeah, exactly.

00:13:08.807 --> 00:13:12.557
It'll be the next thing I tweet every day is Gigantamax Caterpie, please.

00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:15.289
You have to tweet that to the Pokemon Company, probably.

00:13:16.394 --> 00:13:18.754
If they don't have me on mute or block by now.

00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:21.549
Do you also tweet them as well?

00:13:22.153 --> 00:13:35.633
I tweet them sometimes, I like to just keep it to, Niantic and, Pokemon Go app as much as possible, but, occasionally I will, escape my little Pokemon Go app bubble and, tweet Pokemon Company, but, I don't like to do it too much.

00:13:36.493 --> 00:13:37.442
No, that's fair.

00:13:37.692 --> 00:13:37.883
That's

00:13:37.962 --> 00:13:40.903
I wouldn't want to be annoying, you know, I wouldn't want that at all.

00:13:42.235 --> 00:13:46.416
So you talked about how you went to the first Niantic Live event, which is 2018 GO Fest.

00:13:46.735 --> 00:13:48.196
have you been to any other Niantic event?

00:13:48.794 --> 00:13:51.585
I did all three Chicago GoFests.

00:13:51.715 --> 00:13:56.870
I did the Philadelphia Safari Zone, the New York, GoFest, Seattle GoFest.

00:13:58.034 --> 00:13:59.029
I Was going to go to Vegas.

00:13:59.490 --> 00:14:02.529
I had some stuff come up there, didn't make that, but,

00:14:02.934 --> 00:14:04.375
Maybe a good thing with how it went down.

00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:07.460
yeah, yeah, true, true, true.

00:14:07.710 --> 00:14:12.577
So, and then yeah, I plan on going international here eventually, but that just hasn't happened yet.

00:14:13.177 --> 00:14:16.067
Well, besides New York City, what's one that stuck out to you?

00:14:16.669 --> 00:14:22.039
the Philadelphia Safari Zone, I thought was probably went the smoothest through all of them.

00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:27.113
I just felt like everything worked and the park was very, it worked well.

00:14:27.416 --> 00:14:29.235
Chicago obviously had its issues.

00:14:29.546 --> 00:14:33.625
I did not think the park or I didn't have the event ticket for New York.

00:14:33.625 --> 00:14:34.735
I just went to hang out.

00:14:35.125 --> 00:14:38.615
But I don't think that park was very conducive for, the event.

00:14:38.745 --> 00:14:40.554
which I guess we'll probably get to New York eventually.

00:14:40.735 --> 00:14:45.225
But yeah, I think Philadelphia was probably the high point for me as far as in person events.

00:14:45.899 --> 00:14:49.519
Just because it actually worked and the gameplay wise was decent, you didn't have any problems.

00:14:50.095 --> 00:14:57.654
Yeah, I feel everything just for the most part went smoothly, which sadly doesn't happen as much as it should with some of these events,

00:14:58.559 --> 00:14:59.340
It's frustrating, right?

00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:01.629
Because, you pay this money to go to these events.

00:15:01.950 --> 00:15:07.230
You pay the ticket, you pay the flight, you play all this, and then just to go there and it's like, ah, there's glitches, right?

00:15:07.289 --> 00:15:08.600
It's frustrating sometimes.

00:15:08.900 --> 00:15:32.591
it is super frustrating, and, at some point, in my opinion anyway, the benefit of the doubt wears off with me, and, the putter honors of the event, Niantic, you can't get it wrong every single time, like at some point you gotta have one go off smoothly, because you can't have the same old excuse every time, it's, if you're the common denominator when something goes wrong every single time, it's a you problem, not just stuff going wrong.

00:15:32.780 --> 00:15:38.264
I don't know if that made sense, but I just feel like Philadelphia was the closest to a perfect launch they had for an event.

00:15:38.325 --> 00:15:44.115
And, it sure would be nice for these paid events if they went smoothly, or even close to smooth.

00:15:44.961 --> 00:15:48.258
No, that makes sense, because it's like, you hear it like in a relationship kind of thing, right?

00:15:48.408 --> 00:15:54.548
If you always, have some problem with a relationship, usually sometimes it's eventually you're the common denominator why it's not working at some point.

00:15:55.168 --> 00:16:05.280
Yeah, yeah, I know, that's exactly it, sorry, one second, Pokemon Go app just tweeted, so I have to do my traditional cowboy hat caterpie please response, alright, we're good, sorry about that.

00:16:05.355 --> 00:16:05.956
Ha ha, it's okay.

00:16:05.956 --> 00:16:10.226
Ha ha You've been listening to as the Pokeball turns.

00:16:10.591 --> 00:16:11.990
We're going to take a quick break.

00:16:12.298 --> 00:16:13.379
We'll be right back.

00:17:06.005 --> 00:17:10.934
Can't miss one of those, rain, snow, sleet, or shine, I always gotta get my tweet back at them.

00:17:11.241 --> 00:17:22.249
sorry for that, but for real, like, at some point niantic is the problem and they gotta get their stuff right because it's so frustrating as a consumer and as somebody, paying for the product to have stuff go wrong every time.

00:17:22.528 --> 00:17:27.749
I don't want to bash Niantic, all day long, but just would be nice to have something work that is paid for.

00:17:28.346 --> 00:17:34.326
eventually you head to New York this past year, that's where I got to meet you for the first time, but you didn't pay for the ticket.

00:17:34.624 --> 00:17:36.743
You went there just to meet people, correct?

00:17:37.038 --> 00:17:37.558
Correct.

00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:39.900
Why did you go there without paying the ticket?

00:17:40.489 --> 00:17:49.500
I made the promise to myself and everybody that I was not going to give Niantic another dime out of my wallet.

00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:51.289
And, I've stuck to that.

00:17:51.900 --> 00:17:54.849
I just feel like they don't deserve my hard earned...

00:17:55.369 --> 00:17:56.799
Again, I don't want to bash Niantic again.

00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:58.980
I just feel like they don't deserve my money anymore.

00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.287
I'm not purposely, actively, like, against giving them any money anymore.

00:18:03.594 --> 00:18:06.284
They just haven't given me a good reason to give them money.

00:18:06.294 --> 00:18:08.410
And, the people in New York...

00:18:08.410 --> 00:18:10.789
I wanted to see the people and that's all I cared about.

00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:16.769
So I'm like, nope, I'm going to fly out there, hang out, have a blast with everybody and not even play the game.

00:18:16.789 --> 00:18:18.670
And that's exactly what I did.

00:18:18.700 --> 00:18:22.829
I had fun with the people and, yeah, I didn't even play the game.

00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.997
No regrets, no regrets, not playing the game.

00:18:26.652 --> 00:18:29.981
That's actually something I was wondering because, you know, a lot of people, they would think you're crazy, right?

00:18:29.981 --> 00:18:31.701
To go, you know, spend money, right?

00:18:31.999 --> 00:18:33.788
To go to an event you can't even participate.

00:18:34.102 --> 00:18:39.311
But you went there clearly for the people and you stuck to your guns because you were showing your screen there in New York City.

00:18:39.618 --> 00:18:43.709
Was it a different experience for you just to go there just for the people and not have to play Pokemon Go?

00:18:44.317 --> 00:18:46.846
I think it was a hundred percent positive experience.

00:18:46.906 --> 00:18:47.457
It was nice.

00:18:47.784 --> 00:18:55.904
it was like everybody I wanted to see was there and because that park was very divided in two halves, it was very hard to get around.

00:18:56.403 --> 00:18:57.233
It's like, that's okay.

00:18:57.273 --> 00:19:00.384
Everybody's got to swing back to this half anyway and see me.

00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:01.854
So it's like, that's fine.

00:19:01.854 --> 00:19:04.413
I'll stick in one spot because I'm not playing the game.

00:19:04.413 --> 00:19:06.814
I don't have to go back and forth between the two halves.

00:19:07.153 --> 00:19:08.683
I don't have to go into the city.

00:19:08.683 --> 00:19:10.124
I can just stay in the park.

00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:32.067
And just everybody, everybody I want to see will eventually come to me and yeah there was a lot of people I would've loved to see that I didn't but by staying stationary in one spot, I was able to see a great majority of people I wanted to see, so I would do it over again and actually for future events, that's exactly what I plan on doing is not paying for the event ticket, but just going to the event and hanging out.

00:19:32.672 --> 00:19:39.041
To get off topic real quick, one thing I love that you did is you actually did a video collage of everybody saying Cowboy Hat Caterpie of all the people.

00:19:39.082 --> 00:19:43.122
I don't know if they were all the people, but a lot of people you met, you kind of got on the video and you put a collage together.

00:19:43.420 --> 00:19:44.470
Yeah, I love that.

00:19:44.509 --> 00:19:49.299
That was so much fun and like, even looking back, it made me realize you know what?

00:19:49.615 --> 00:20:10.365
This game is so much about the people and it was just the whole video the little 10 minute video I made was just like a time capsule like a recap of the entire event of everybody I saw and it was great and I actually future events I plan on doing a video for every go fest I go to from here on out, in that same style getting everybody to say cowboy at Caterpie, please because that was fun.

00:20:10.724 --> 00:20:17.424
It was a lot of fun Of all the videos I've made and like all the streams I've done that video is by far The favorite one I've ever done.

00:20:17.424 --> 00:20:18.674
I just I'd love I love it.

00:20:18.984 --> 00:20:22.576
I've watched it a dozen times that it puts a smile on my face every time

00:20:22.981 --> 00:20:24.882
Oh, that's so, man, it's so

00:20:25.182 --> 00:20:27.999
So many good people, so many good people in there, so.

00:20:28.602 --> 00:20:31.241
there's other people who maybe feel jaded by Niantic.

00:20:31.241 --> 00:20:35.892
Like you said, they've done some things that the community may not have agreed with, that has rubbed people the wrong way.

00:20:36.193 --> 00:20:42.104
what would you advise people who maybe feel the same way you do, that they don't feel comfortable giving Niantic money, but want to be there for the people,

00:20:42.702 --> 00:20:44.633
I look at it this way, is...

00:20:44.856 --> 00:20:49.877
Don't feel guilty spending money, but also don't feel guilty not spending money.

00:20:49.877 --> 00:20:54.750
Like, you'll know, you'll know what feels right for me, I have no regrets, like...

00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:58.220
I didn't spend the money and probably had more fun than I would have.

00:20:58.534 --> 00:21:02.933
I wouldn't have met those hundred people if I had my nose to the phone the entire time.

00:21:03.233 --> 00:21:04.413
like, great example.

00:21:04.433 --> 00:21:08.094
I met the person that made my Twitter banner.

00:21:08.391 --> 00:21:09.161
Oh, really?

00:21:09.165 --> 00:21:11.266
had never met this person before.

00:21:11.568 --> 00:21:12.628
And they just came up to me.

00:21:12.628 --> 00:21:14.509
Hey, I made your Twi like, I'm such and such.

00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:15.659
I made your Twitter banner.

00:21:15.669 --> 00:21:15.808
I'm like...

00:21:15.952 --> 00:21:21.702
Oh my goodness, like, had I not been in costume, had I not been just there, I would have never met this person.

00:21:22.153 --> 00:21:27.202
And it was just, just one of many examples of, had I been playing the game, I might've missed out on this.

00:21:27.622 --> 00:21:39.970
and I would actually encourage people that, you know, Niantic's probably gonna hate me for saying this, going back to what happened in Vegas, but I would encourage people if you don't have a ticket, go hang out in the park anyway with the people because the people make this game worth it.

00:21:40.296 --> 00:21:41.695
to me, this game...

00:21:41.695 --> 00:21:44.996
I've kind of came 180 on the whole matter.

00:21:45.086 --> 00:21:51.434
And to me the game actually is about the community and about the people, that's where I have the fun Will I buy an event ticket in the future?

00:21:51.434 --> 00:21:52.255
Probably not.

00:21:53.031 --> 00:21:54.867
But, you'll know what you want to do.

00:21:54.907 --> 00:21:56.548
Sorry, it's a very roundabout answer.

00:21:56.557 --> 00:21:58.298
But, uh, go with your gut, you know.

00:21:59.032 --> 00:21:59.593
No, that's fair.

00:21:59.593 --> 00:22:00.482
I mean, just be honest.

00:22:00.482 --> 00:22:01.212
That's all you can be.

00:22:01.522 --> 00:22:05.118
yeah, exactly like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna guilt trip people.

00:22:05.128 --> 00:22:07.671
Like, I'm not gonna be like, oh, You bought the ticket?

00:22:07.671 --> 00:22:08.421
What the heck?

00:22:08.451 --> 00:22:10.500
Like, no, that's not, that's not what I'm about.

00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:12.010
Like, it's your hard earned money.

00:22:12.010 --> 00:22:13.851
It's your, thought processes.

00:22:13.851 --> 00:22:15.080
Buy the ticket if you want.

00:22:15.401 --> 00:22:16.451
I chose not to.

00:22:16.891 --> 00:22:19.181
No, and that's what I was going to say, like, a lot of us work for a living.

00:22:19.476 --> 00:22:24.853
however you decide to use the money, it's your call, people can judge you, but unless they're paying your rent, it doesn't really matter.

00:22:25.161 --> 00:22:25.820
Well said.

00:22:26.483 --> 00:22:30.375
So are the people kind of what keeps you motivated to keep playing Pokemon Go at this point?

00:22:30.978 --> 00:22:37.500
Yeah, it's, it's 90 percent people and it's 10 percent I'm not going to give up on my little bug.

00:22:38.270 --> 00:22:40.770
Like until that little bugger is in the game.

00:22:40.770 --> 00:22:42.131
I didn't even say bugger on purpose.

00:22:42.131 --> 00:22:44.451
I just kind of came up until the little bug is in the game.

00:22:44.451 --> 00:23:00.544
I'm not giving up, but, yeah, there's just so many wonderful people that play this game, but it really hurts me, sorry this is going to be a little side tangent, I hate it when us as a community, ourselves as a community, fight amongst ourselves, and get in these little silly battles amongst ourselves.

00:23:00.993 --> 00:23:08.117
This game is so much a part of our lives, we have so much in common with each other, by playing this game, why can't we just get along?

00:23:08.498 --> 00:23:18.682
You know, we have, something in common that we spend as much time on should be a thing that brings us together not tears us apart And I hate it when I see people fighting over this game like guys.

00:23:18.742 --> 00:23:20.542
It's a game sorry.

00:23:20.603 --> 00:23:24.262
I just I need to get that off my chest me to get it, can't can't we all just get along

00:23:25.367 --> 00:23:28.978
you think of the jokes people had, like, 2016 was world peace, right?

00:23:28.978 --> 00:23:32.788
That's always the joke that we go to, but that's really what it was like, playing Pokemon Go.

00:23:33.087 --> 00:23:38.248
Everybody got along for the sake of playing Pokemon and I think what you're asking is not unreasonable, because we've done it before.

00:23:38.853 --> 00:23:46.327
yeah we all have this enemy in common, Niantic, honestly, like Niantic's like the living, breathing Team Rocket, right?

00:23:46.468 --> 00:23:49.147
why can't we as players just get along?

00:23:49.147 --> 00:23:54.743
And that would be, maybe this is on your question list or whatever, but if I had one goal for this game...

00:23:54.766 --> 00:23:57.365
It would be for all of us to get along with each other as players.

00:23:58.036 --> 00:24:02.588
Then I think we truly beat the game when we all get along.

00:24:02.608 --> 00:24:03.838
As cheesy as that sounds.

00:24:04.328 --> 00:24:05.328
And that's all I really want.

00:24:05.338 --> 00:24:06.459
I want everybody to get along.

00:24:07.056 --> 00:24:08.336
No, that's good words to live by.

00:24:08.365 --> 00:24:10.276
And that was one of my questions, so it saved me one.

00:24:10.564 --> 00:24:11.651
Ha ha, you're welcome.

00:24:11.961 --> 00:24:13.000
Bill's in the mail.

00:24:14.215 --> 00:24:17.363
Well, going forward, Niantic has released cowboy hat Pokemon.

00:24:17.669 --> 00:24:20.278
We had the cowboy hat Snorlax at GoFest Seattle.

00:24:20.568 --> 00:24:22.538
We had the cowboy hat Slowpoke.

00:24:22.836 --> 00:24:25.965
Do you feel like eventually cowboy hat Caterpie will come?

00:24:26.270 --> 00:24:27.131
I do.

00:24:27.443 --> 00:24:29.574
Well, okay, my short answer is I do.

00:24:30.038 --> 00:24:33.189
my long answer is I don't think it'll be a standalone.

00:24:33.298 --> 00:24:36.778
Like, I don't think there will ever be cowboy hat Caterpie spawns.

00:24:36.778 --> 00:24:39.769
Yeah, sorry to disappoint everybody, I'm disappointed myself.

00:24:40.078 --> 00:24:50.088
what I think will happen is there will be, like, a way to accessorize your buddy at some point like, you'll be able to put a hat on your buddy, put a vest on your buddy, whatever.

00:24:50.449 --> 00:24:56.153
I think that'll be how you'll be able to put a cowboy hat on your buddy, in my case, Caterpie.

00:24:56.394 --> 00:24:58.503
And I'll have a cowboy hat Caterpie that way.

00:24:58.713 --> 00:25:02.493
I don't think it'll be Snorlax or Slowpoke style, unfortunately.

00:25:02.894 --> 00:25:06.611
But, I know, it's a bummer, but I'm, I gotta be realistic too, you know?

00:25:07.086 --> 00:25:10.596
well any particular reason why you don't think that would be like how it is with Slowpoke?

00:25:11.189 --> 00:25:18.705
I just don't think in the big picture of things like, I'm just one guy with this little community, or growing community here.

00:25:19.009 --> 00:25:21.679
But in the grand scheme of the Pokemon world, you know...

00:25:21.679 --> 00:25:23.778
cowboy eyed caterpie is not a big thing.

00:25:24.078 --> 00:25:27.603
it's not like Snorlax, it's not like Slowpoke in the movie or whatever.

00:25:27.833 --> 00:25:29.823
It's just such a small piece of the puzzle.

00:25:29.823 --> 00:25:35.058
I just don't think, realistically, the Pokemon Company will ultimately probably make that decision.

00:25:35.362 --> 00:25:40.811
I don't think it's a big enough chunk of the pie, for the Pokemon Company to green light it, unfortunately.

00:25:40.813 --> 00:25:44.801
But, I'd love to be proven wrong, but that's my thoughts on it anyway.

00:25:45.172 --> 00:25:53.932
I was gonna say we did get Party Hat Wurmple and that was just based on the graphic image Niantic released, so I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that it couldn't happen.

00:25:54.224 --> 00:25:55.505
I like your thinking.

00:25:55.545 --> 00:25:57.095
I do like your thinking.

00:25:57.164 --> 00:26:00.684
Well, let's say, let's say that, Cowboy Hat Caterpie comes.

00:26:01.013 --> 00:26:02.233
What would be next for you?

00:26:02.534 --> 00:26:04.181
I would probably sleep.

00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:05.780
Oh, Um.

00:26:07.165 --> 00:26:09.806
Now, I have the notifications on, obviously, for every tweet.

00:26:09.806 --> 00:26:11.566
I'm not a bot, I've never been a bot.

00:26:11.596 --> 00:26:15.036
These have been me manually tweeting that every single time.

00:26:15.375 --> 00:26:23.221