June 11, 2025

TRAINER'S EYE #165 - "String Shot Requiem" ft. PokeCello

TRAINER'S EYE #165 -
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Season 1 Artists & Writers Pokemon & Disability Stories Women Pokemon Trainers Youtubers

What do Pokémon, cancer recovery, and heavy metal have in common? For PokeCello, the answer is everything. 

In this heartfelt episode, musician and cancer survivor PokeCello shares how Pokémon Legends: Arceus became a lifeline during recovery and how remixing classic Pokémon music with a cello became a love letter to the community that carried them through. From childhood playground memories to emotional moments with Team Star, this story weaves nostalgia, resilience, and creativity into something unforgettable. We also dive into their viral Area Zero remix, the emotional risks of original compositions, and how a bus ride changed everything she thought she knew about music.

Artists & Writers Playlist:
🎧 Hear from creative minds bringing Pokemon to life in art and story.
Start listening to the Artists & Writers playlist today!

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

Pokemon Gold & Silver Pokemon Center Theme Cello Cover (Chill Vibes) - PokéCello

Area Zero Music from Pokemon Scarlet & Violet - Cello & Orchestra Arrangement - PokéCello

I Wrote My Own Pokémon Battle Theme

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Your next Pokemon adventure begins here!

WEBVTT

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My name is PokeCello and this is my Pokemon story.

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Welcome to As The Pokeball Turns, where every voice, every journey and every memory brings us closer to the world of Pokemon.

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I'm David Hernandez and I'm joined by a musician who doesn't just remix our favorite Pokemon themes.

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They bring them to life on a cello, PokeCello, welcome to As the Pokemon Turns.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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Absolutely.

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And Pokecello.

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Like I told you before, the podcast, I always admire the arts.

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I always love people who play music.

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I never was able to pick up an instrument and your combination of being able to put Pokemon and a cello to be able to like fuse it together was just what draw me to what you have on the podcast.

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And I wanna start with this question.

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What was the very first piece of Pokemon music you remember falling in love with the one that never left your head?

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Oh, easy Z is battle theme from Omega, Ruby Alpha.

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Stop fire.

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Easy question.

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That was the first one that I listened to.

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like, hang on, could I play this on my instrument?

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I had never really thought about, Pokemon music or even video game music, to be honest, as, kind of a discreet genre.

00:01:44.909 --> 00:01:56.909
but I remember being in school and listening to Zia's theme on like a 10 hour loop when I was cramming, trying to write a paper at the last minute.

00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.769
That was my like, strategy, was to listen to that really intense theme.

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but then of course once you listen to something over and over, it kind of attaches itself to you.

00:02:06.510 --> 00:02:11.673
So that was the first thing that maybe opened my eyes a little bit to the artistry that would possible.

00:02:11.768 --> 00:02:13.867
In something like my channel.

00:02:14.311 --> 00:02:18.691
you mentioned how you looped it for 10 hours, you know, that's a dedication for one, the same song for 10 hours straight.

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Was it just the inspiration, comfort?

00:02:21.211 --> 00:02:25.455
Like what was it about that song specifically that I guess maybe kept you engaged that you think about?

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I thought it had so much heart.

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It really felt, I mean, it, it has kind of an anime feeling anyway.

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it really connected me to the character and I had, okay.

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I only picked it to be honest.

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I'll just be honest about

00:02:38.971 --> 00:02:39.480
Sure, sure.

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read a life hack that was like, if you need to concentrate on something, do it while listening to video game music, because video game music is designed to hold your concentration but not distract you.

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So there's this interesting balance between, listening to something that would engage you and keep you energetic and motivated and, and focused.

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but unlike music that's supposed to draw your attention or keep your attention, it was kind of designed to remain in the background.

00:03:08.587 --> 00:03:12.397
and at the time I had just played Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire.

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and so I thought I would just try it when I was writing papers.

00:03:15.897 --> 00:03:16.497
It really worked.

00:03:16.497 --> 00:03:17.098
It was great.

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but that's sort of where I started with the idea to just listen to it.

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but it was very effective.

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I got those papers done.

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Well, let's talk about your history with Pokemon.

00:03:27.067 --> 00:03:29.826
Where did this whole interest in Pokemon first start?

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well I can blame it on somebody else.

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This is a great

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Oh, let's go.

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I love blaming with other people.

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when I was a kid in elementary school, one of my best friends was named Alexander.

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Shout out to Alexander.

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Alexander's family did not allow him to have a game Boy.

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Their family was like very bookish and they didn't even have a tv.

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somehow I convinced my parents to buy me a game.

00:03:51.569 --> 00:03:53.099
Boy, I don't know how that happened.

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he was like, oh my gosh, you have a game boy, you need to go get the new Pokemon game.

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That just came out.

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And I think at that time, maybe I had been interested in the cards'cause I had been collecting just casually like I was eight.

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I didn't know what I was doing.

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and I'm pretty sure I went to Circuit City.

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I hope that doesn't age me, um, with my parents.

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And we got the only Pokemon game they had in stock time, which was Pokemon Crystal.

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and then I think for like a whole school year, me and Alexander would play Pokemon Crystal on my game boy school.

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'cause both of our parents worked and we had to stay after school until they could pick us up.

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and we would just do laps around.

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The playground at school playing Crystal.

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And honestly, I don't think it stuck with me because after that I stopped playing and I didn't pick it back up until, grad school.

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So I had a big gap in between like childhood Pokemon then going to Target to buy something useful and accidentally walking past the electronics section and being like, oh yeah, I liked Pokemon when I was a kid.

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There's a new game, Pokemon X, what's that about?

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and then it's, that was, that was the downhill for me since Pokemon X and Y it has been every game on release, a hundred percent in indexes, full star trainer cards, just absolute obsession.

00:05:15.235 --> 00:05:18.026
So childhood Me was a little kind of all over the place.

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And then, just randomly as a, as a full adult, I was like, Collecting these little guys.

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I don't know.

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There's, there's something about it.

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I love that.

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Love it, love it.

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Shout out to Alex and everybody else who gives, makes us do wrong decisions.

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It's great.

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I wanted to ask a follow up question about that because you mentioned how you were just, you and Alex were doing laps around the playground, you know?

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What do you remember about those days?

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Like what made that friendship and Pokemon moment, so I guess, special?

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'cause it sounds like it's something that you really hold dearly.

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I.

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I have really, really strong memories.

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I, I think it was just, we always, you know, he and I, and like our friend group, as it was, you know, I'm not good friend.

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I was a popular child.

00:06:01.172 --> 00:06:03.961
I played Pokemon on the playground, so popularity, you know.

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Right.

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but our friend group was especially.

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Like we would make up games and stories.

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We wanted to like build a fort in the woods.

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we made up this whole meta narrative about how we were one gang and then the fifth graders were a rival.

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Like we had a

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Ooh, I love this.

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Yeah.

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'cause second, third, fourth grade, that's about the age where you do that kind of stuff.

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and so I feel like that spirit was really captured in a game like Pokemon, where you are adventuring, you're going out into the world, you're discovering new things.

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there are battles and you kind of build a friendship.

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You build a team, with your favorite little guys.

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And I think it was just that quality of.

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Going out on a journey, collecting information, collecting friends, collecting relationships, standing off against bad guys, right?

00:06:55.505 --> 00:06:59.196
the excitement of final battles, the concept of an elite four.

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I think it was just that sense of adventure that really spoke to me as a, tiny little person.

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You know, you said second, third, fourth, and I was still doing this since eighth and ninth grade, so I really, my stage kind of went a little bit longer.

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I always imagine myself saving the day coming and like nobody else can beat the bad guy, but mean it was always a rival school I made up in my head.

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But I definitely relate to that idea to where you just made up these kind of different scenarios and different way friend roles.

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But for me I was always felt like I was a star.

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So I don't know.

00:07:29.341 --> 00:07:29.831
brother.

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But I wanted to do a follow up question.

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'cause you said you came back with Pokemon X and Y and you know, after revisiting all Pokemon, like how did you revisit, like what led to you coming back to the franchise?

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I mean, it was truly an accident.

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I very much just went into Target.

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I think I was there to buy dish towels.

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Like I was not intending on doing anything that day.

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Now this is how you know it's a legit story.

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'cause who else goes for Target for the dish house?

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You always go for the furniture or the little cute gadgets you see in the front or the in the, like, you know, the little thing for the couch, the pillows.

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Like, this is a logistical.

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I'm sorry.

00:08:05.026 --> 00:08:05.447
Continue.

00:08:05.732 --> 00:08:05.951
yes.

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would I make up this detail?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I was, pretty sure I was just there to be a productive member of society.

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And then, I saw that there was like a new type of Game Boy, and I've always called my consoles game Boys,

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Mm-hmm.

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an old person.

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Like there was a Game Boy Advance, but then everything since the Game Boy has also been a Game boy.

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It's like everything's a peek at you.

00:08:26.213 --> 00:08:26.634
Yeah.

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exactly.

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Everything is a P at you.

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Everything's a game boy.

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and I think, I was just curious because I remembered liking it as a kid.

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and I was like, wait, Pokemon is still going.

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Like, how does that work?

00:08:36.025 --> 00:08:37.076
I thought that like.

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There were only certain, there's like a limited number of Pokemon, right?

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So they must have added more.

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And I was just kind of looking at the, the box art and being like, only one way to find out.

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Right?

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and I had just, think that this was my first year of, grad school actually, where I had like a really intense schedule and I was really busy and I needed something fun to do.

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And it just kind of felt like, okay, let's try this.

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See what, see what, see what, what happens.

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And I didn't recognize a single Pokemon, between if it wasn't a gen one or two, no idea.

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No idea.

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I

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Sure.

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Yeah.

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Gen two Pokemon that you don't even get, like, I didn't know Silver Cave was in Pokemon Crystal.

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I didn't

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Really.

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girl.

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I did not know that you could battle red and no, I, it was a disaster as a child.

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idea.

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Absolutely no idea.

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but thankfully as an adult with better, you know, reading comprehension, I really, you just got right back into it and felt just getting right back into the swing of things.

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It was very fun.

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It must have been kind of fun though to come back and you see all the new Pokemon, and I think that's also a mega evolution.

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So you kinda saw

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Yes,

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Canto, and I think it was just canto at the time, be able to be made into mega Pokemon.

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You got to kind of pick the star and everything, so it was a very good generation for you to come back, especially being gone for the franchise for so long.

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was.

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And it was.

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So I think X and y was especially fun because like, that was the first gimmick generation.

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I, I think there was not like I

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Yeah.

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four or five didn't really have like a new mechanic or anything.

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so it was actually really exciting for me'cause it was not just route, gym route, gym route, battle.

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Whatever.

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I had a lot of fun.

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Probably too much fun because, that's where all my, money has gone in the past 10 years.

00:10:23.457 --> 00:10:24.643
Damn poke.

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My X and Y restarted the habit.

00:10:26.653 --> 00:10:26.982
Yes.

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Oh my God.

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And then, oh, but I also got into the TCG, but

00:10:30.253 --> 00:10:31.003
Oh, do tell.

00:10:31.003 --> 00:10:31.363
Let's start.

00:10:31.363 --> 00:10:31.663
Yeah.

00:10:31.692 --> 00:10:33.133
Uh, that's even more of a money pit.

00:10:34.452 --> 00:10:38.730
Well, so I found, gosh, how long ago is this now?

00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:41.490
I found my childhood collection and I

00:10:41.585 --> 00:10:41.804
Oh,

00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:42.809
Yeah, I know.

00:10:42.809 --> 00:10:43.259
I was real

00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:44.070
she's rich.

00:10:44.250 --> 00:10:49.289
girl, I found, um, sorry, I call it, I'm sorry, I,

00:10:49.649 --> 00:10:49.860
Hey.

00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:50.220
No, no.

00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:50.909
Don't apologize.

00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:51.365
This is great.

00:10:51.629 --> 00:10:51.929
mode.

00:10:51.990 --> 00:10:58.230
Um, no, I found my, collection of like beset, fossil.

00:10:58.230 --> 00:10:59.490
It was not a real collection.

00:10:59.490 --> 00:11:05.177
I did not have anything where I didn't have a Charizard, so, you know, but I was like, oh yeah, I had so much fun.

00:11:05.548 --> 00:11:11.248
you know, ev every weekend I would go to the bookstore and they had a little thing, a little thing next to the counter.

00:11:11.248 --> 00:11:14.128
I'd be like, mom, please, please, I want one.

00:11:14.465 --> 00:11:17.615
and maybe if I like got good grades, they would get me one.

00:11:17.615 --> 00:11:17.825
I don't

00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:18.408
Mm-hmm.

00:11:18.408 --> 00:11:25.705
and then I was like, oh, well of course they've still continued and I found cards in Target and I think this is so, oh, brother.

00:11:25.705 --> 00:11:32.904
Since the beginning of X and Y in the TCG I've been collecting master sets very casually, very casually.

00:11:32.995 --> 00:11:35.304
Not like intense.

00:11:35.304 --> 00:11:40.375
but I have a ton of, binders full of, the TCGI really, really like collecting the TCG.

00:11:40.375 --> 00:11:41.095
It's one of my favorites.

00:11:41.095 --> 00:11:42.504
I don't like it right now.

00:11:42.970 --> 00:11:43.480
Hmm.

00:11:43.615 --> 00:11:44.245
Scalpers.

00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:44.980
Unfortunately.

00:11:44.985 --> 00:11:45.184
Yeah.

00:11:45.414 --> 00:11:45.865
right.

00:11:46.105 --> 00:11:50.008
But, I think it just, all of Pokemon in general just really appeals to.

00:11:50.863 --> 00:11:52.663
Whatever neuro type I happen to have.

00:11:52.663 --> 00:11:54.283
I really like collecting things.

00:11:54.283 --> 00:11:55.572
I like organizing things.

00:11:55.572 --> 00:11:57.373
I love to sort things,

00:11:57.467 --> 00:11:57.888
Mm-hmm.

00:11:58.123 --> 00:11:59.952
sorter, love to sort things.

00:12:00.232 --> 00:12:04.432
so I feel like it just really speaks to whatever quality that is of mine.

00:12:04.582 --> 00:12:07.732
I just really like to, to collect and organize and sort.

00:12:07.913 --> 00:12:08.998
Pokemon is really good for that.

00:12:09.398 --> 00:12:14.258
When it came to you finding the jungle and fossil set, was there, kinda like something that brought back memories, like cards that you found?

00:12:14.258 --> 00:12:16.148
Like was there anything specifically that kind of stuck out?

00:12:16.393 --> 00:12:33.847
Well, so this is interesting because when I found those cards, I remembered every single one and I had a feeling like, I don't necessarily have a memory of this, but I had a feeling like I probably sat on my bed and like stared at each of these cards and like went through them one by one.

00:12:34.658 --> 00:12:37.268
memorized the art and the words.

00:12:37.268 --> 00:12:39.337
I don't think I ever really played the game.

00:12:39.662 --> 00:12:46.981
this really solidified when I started looking at other cards that I didn't have from my original childhood collection that I recognized.

00:12:46.981 --> 00:12:49.292
I was like, oh my gosh, I must have had those.

00:12:49.381 --> 00:12:58.177
So I recognized all this old suga Maori art, suddenly I was flooded with like, oh, I recognize the, this art, I recognize this text.

00:12:58.254 --> 00:13:10.422
and recently I went back and got some of the, not the expense of cards, but like, you know, the comments and uncommons, um, started filling in my, my base set and my jungle and fossil and some of those cards.

00:13:10.422 --> 00:13:12.312
I was like, oh, I definitely had one of these.

00:13:12.312 --> 00:13:14.861
I know I did because I recognize it so strongly.

00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:20.879
Now as we continue, like since, you know, came back from Pokemon X and Y, we'll dive into more in your latter, games in mid.

00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:22.589
But I want to ask, what's your favorite Pokemon?

00:13:23.029 --> 00:13:23.990
Oh man.

00:13:23.990 --> 00:13:26.330
I knew that this was gonna be a question.

00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:26.811
okay.

00:13:26.811 --> 00:13:28.490
My favorite Pokemon is Vol Corona.

00:13:29.091 --> 00:13:29.870
Ooh.

00:13:29.961 --> 00:13:30.471
know why.

00:13:30.951 --> 00:13:32.421
Don't ask me any follow up questions.

00:13:32.421 --> 00:13:33.801
I have no idea.

00:13:34.610 --> 00:13:37.130
something that, like I didn't play black and white.

00:13:37.130 --> 00:13:37.250
I

00:13:37.341 --> 00:13:37.760
Yeah.

00:13:37.760 --> 00:13:38.451
TY two.

00:13:38.780 --> 00:13:39.441
I don't even know.

00:13:39.530 --> 00:13:42.140
Was Una in and y?

00:13:42.140 --> 00:13:42.860
It might have been.

00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:43.520
I'm not sure.

00:13:43.826 --> 00:13:45.687
I don't even know, I don't have a good story.

00:13:45.687 --> 00:13:52.633
I don't have like a key memory, but something about that fire butterfly just, gets me.

00:13:53.383 --> 00:13:54.222
I don't know.

00:13:54.222 --> 00:13:55.513
I don't have a good story.

00:13:55.513 --> 00:13:55.722
It's

00:13:55.753 --> 00:13:57.493
Well, do you have a trading card of it?

00:13:58.092 --> 00:13:59.592
Oh, absolutely.

00:13:59.592 --> 00:14:03.253
I think I have, well, except for like whatever the newest ones are, but I

00:14:03.283 --> 00:14:03.913
Of course, yeah.

00:14:04.482 --> 00:14:04.602
Yeah.

00:14:04.602 --> 00:14:04.842
Thank you.

00:14:04.842 --> 00:14:05.352
Scalpers.

00:14:05.743 --> 00:14:06.913
yeah, exactly.

00:14:07.287 --> 00:14:16.164
I would love, I was so happy when Volcorona got two paradoxes and Scarlet Violet and like, I would love a life-size slither wing flush,

00:14:16.254 --> 00:14:16.855
yes.

00:14:17.004 --> 00:14:17.304
tall.

00:14:17.304 --> 00:14:19.195
I would put it like next to my window.

00:14:19.975 --> 00:14:26.725
that people would think I was home and then maybe have like a shadowy effect.

00:14:26.725 --> 00:14:28.434
So people are like, what is that?

00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:28.890
Okay.

00:14:29.370 --> 00:14:32.965
you talked about how they had both runner had two paradox, forms come out.

00:14:32.965 --> 00:14:33.715
Scarlet Violet.

00:14:33.955 --> 00:14:37.195
Did you have a particular favorite between those two, or did you just like them both equally?

00:14:37.615 --> 00:14:38.634
I like slither wing.

00:14:39.264 --> 00:14:39.774
Mm.

00:14:39.865 --> 00:14:45.024
iron moth too because it's kind of cooler, but Slither wing is just a little guy.

00:14:47.184 --> 00:14:49.674
I always felt like Scarlet got the better paradox.

00:14:49.674 --> 00:14:49.884
Pokemon?

00:14:50.304 --> 00:14:58.735
They definitely had I feel like a going with future as a broad concept can like limit you a little bit more than.

00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:00.370
Ancient as a concept.

00:15:00.370 --> 00:15:01.120
I don't know.

00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.879
I don't have very, um, you'll learn this about me.

00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.629
I do not have very many sophisticated opinions Pokemon.

00:15:08.644 --> 00:15:08.865
I'm

00:15:08.889 --> 00:15:10.164
No, this is great so far.

00:15:10.164 --> 00:15:11.754
Yeah, you're under mating yourself.

00:15:12.009 --> 00:15:14.950
Um, it's my favorite and I just like it.

00:15:16.105 --> 00:15:17.455
A, that's all that matters, man.

00:15:17.455 --> 00:15:21.294
Sometimes you just look at it and like, that's my Pokemon and that's all it needs to be.

00:15:21.294 --> 00:15:23.245
It doesn't always have to have a deep story sometimes.

00:15:23.259 --> 00:15:23.649
that's true.

00:15:23.649 --> 00:15:24.039
That's true.

00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:24.424
That's fair.

00:15:24.445 --> 00:15:24.595
Yep.

00:15:25.201 --> 00:15:27.451
Now last thing I wanna talk about is course Pokemon Scarlet Vibe.

00:15:27.451 --> 00:15:28.650
That's the most recent games.

00:15:28.921 --> 00:15:31.110
And, you know, you started more recent with X and y.

00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:35.311
What are your thoughts on playing that game and, experiencing compared to your old school games?

00:15:35.311 --> 00:15:37.650
Like what did you like about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet?

00:15:38.092 --> 00:15:46.509
I mean, I'll be honest, the like I tried to explain the story to my mother recently and

00:15:46.614 --> 00:15:47.033
Ooh.

00:15:47.349 --> 00:15:47.859
like I.

00:15:48.548 --> 00:15:51.639
all over the place, because the story was so complex.

00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:53.528
There was so many things going on.

00:15:53.918 --> 00:15:59.318
but I was really drawn to the Team Star and like classic, backstory here.

00:15:59.318 --> 00:16:00.969
Like I was bullied in school.

00:16:00.969 --> 00:16:02.619
I had that experience.

00:16:02.928 --> 00:16:08.538
but it was really fascinating to see how that story unfolded, that Team Star wasn't the bad guys.

00:16:08.845 --> 00:16:11.004
it just started out as a kids who were being bullied.

00:16:11.274 --> 00:16:13.345
And I loved the leaders.

00:16:13.404 --> 00:16:15.294
I loved how different they all were.

00:16:15.605 --> 00:16:20.764
and they, each one of'em honestly kind of reminded me of a person I would've known in high school.

00:16:21.065 --> 00:16:25.719
it was kind of nice to just see something that really resonated with like reality for me.

00:16:25.965 --> 00:16:31.182
and the conclusion of that storyline really got me when Clavell was, oh my gosh.

00:16:31.182 --> 00:16:34.152
I don't remember exactly what he said, but like, he apologized.

00:16:34.152 --> 00:16:36.162
He was like, the school was wrong.

00:16:36.912 --> 00:16:38.772
not help the kids who are being bullied.

00:16:38.772 --> 00:16:40.152
We wanna bring you back.

00:16:40.601 --> 00:16:44.802
We want you to teach our, teach our students about your star barrage system.

00:16:45.162 --> 00:16:48.251
Like as someone who's bullied in school, that blew my mind.

00:16:48.432 --> 00:17:06.612
And I thought like, okay, cheese time, if there are kids watching this or watching this, playing this, who are being bullied, that might be that might be powerful to them to know It's not their fault to know that the adults around them do have some responsibility to step in, that they deserve to be safe.

00:17:06.919 --> 00:17:10.308
and I was so engrossed, so engrossed in the story.

00:17:10.711 --> 00:17:14.402
so my, my main experience was just like, I need the lore.

00:17:14.432 --> 00:17:15.301
Give me the lore.

00:17:15.301 --> 00:17:16.442
I need the story.

00:17:16.622 --> 00:17:19.172
I need to advance the plot as fast as possible.

00:17:19.201 --> 00:17:21.211
'cause I just, I have no idea what's gonna happen.

00:17:21.211 --> 00:17:24.152
I had no idea how they were gonna get the three story paths together.

00:17:24.362 --> 00:17:31.321
I thought the whole area zero sequence was I never thought in my child's video game.

00:17:31.924 --> 00:17:38.914
That you would be fighting a robot with an AI replication of the professor who's been dead for 10.

00:17:38.944 --> 00:17:46.775
Like I, I, I see, I, I sound like I'm all over the place trying to explain it, but I, I loved, loved, loved the story.

00:17:46.924 --> 00:17:47.525
Really Got me,

00:17:48.545 --> 00:17:54.065
I think you brought up such a very powerful highlight that maybe people overlook is clavell is actually apologizing.

00:17:54.394 --> 00:18:05.375
Because if you've been bullied growing up, or maybe if you had maybe been a victim of some kind of, you know, vicious attack or something like that, how many times did you wish that somebody had stepped in and just gave you that kind of comfort?

00:18:05.615 --> 00:18:13.565
And I think that maybe you kind of resonated with the idea of clavell provided comfort and had wished maybe you had received that when you were growing up being bullied.

00:18:13.565 --> 00:18:14.224
Is that fair to say?

00:18:14.285 --> 00:18:15.575
Oh, I mean, absolutely.

00:18:15.575 --> 00:18:22.095
I feel like too many times you feel like the people around you don't care.

00:18:22.125 --> 00:18:24.045
Maybe they don't notice.

00:18:24.172 --> 00:18:27.321
but it was so nice to just be like, yeah, actually.

00:18:27.961 --> 00:18:30.872
when people, when people are making fun of me in high school.

00:18:32.432 --> 00:18:34.531
So silly to think about now, but like,

00:18:34.777 --> 00:18:34.977
Yeah.

00:18:35.221 --> 00:18:38.432
actually it would've been great if someone had stepped in.

00:18:38.432 --> 00:18:39.182
It would've been great.

00:18:39.182 --> 00:18:43.769
Even, you know, if I had told the teacher and the teacher was like, wow, that sucks.

00:18:43.798 --> 00:18:48.419
Like, just that level of connection being like, this was wrong, this shouldn't be happening.

00:18:48.781 --> 00:18:54.031
really gave me a little bit of a almost resolution to that whole side of my story.

00:18:54.031 --> 00:18:58.771
I was like, yeah, actually that was kind of, horrible and that shouldn't have happened.

00:18:58.801 --> 00:18:59.731
And it's not my fault.

00:19:00.001 --> 00:19:00.422
I mean,

00:19:00.936 --> 00:19:01.017
Hmm.

00:19:01.446 --> 00:19:01.737
Yeah.

00:19:01.801 --> 00:19:02.342
awkward.

00:19:02.402 --> 00:19:05.102
You know, I played the, it was a big cello.

00:19:05.162 --> 00:19:08.582
Uh, I was very artsy, we'll say artsy is a nice word of saying in high school.

00:19:08.582 --> 00:19:09.781
So I won't say it wasn't

00:19:09.961 --> 00:19:10.021
Yeah.

00:19:10.112 --> 00:19:10.352
fault.

00:19:10.352 --> 00:19:13.576
I was bullied, but, you know, a bully.

00:19:14.326 --> 00:19:16.696
I mean for me, I'm not gonna, uh, maybe I'll include this.

00:19:16.787 --> 00:19:18.527
For me, I was bullied growing up'cause I was fat.

00:19:18.886 --> 00:19:23.176
Um, I wasn't athletic and you know, I was in the Pokemon longer than I should have been.

00:19:23.416 --> 00:19:27.376
So those reasons were enough for people to kind of bully me or pick on me.

00:19:27.376 --> 00:19:28.757
And it sucks at the time.

00:19:28.757 --> 00:19:31.547
'cause you know, that's kind of why I was always, imagining saving the world.

00:19:31.547 --> 00:19:37.650
'cause I wanted to go back and gain retribution or get that kind of closure from my bullies growing up.

00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:39.569
And that's what I always imagined in my head, growing.

00:19:39.569 --> 00:19:40.980
That's why maybe it stuck with me longer.

00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:43.829
But you know, you just always want that kind of closure.

00:19:43.829 --> 00:19:45.119
And sometimes that's the hardest part.

00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:49.529
Whenever you are bullied or if you're ever a victim, sometimes you're never gonna get that closure.

00:19:49.650 --> 00:19:53.369
You're never gonna get somebody to apologize or somebody to say, I'm sorry this kind of happened.

00:19:53.369 --> 00:19:57.960
Sometimes you have to kind of find your own door and it's one of the hardest challenges.

00:19:58.065 --> 00:19:58.785
absolutely.

00:19:58.785 --> 00:20:13.549
I think that my favorite part about the Pokemon community in general, there's so many people in the Pokemon community who this kind of history, where just for whatever reason, something in their life wasn't quite right, and it's so nice.

00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:16.519
To just have that be normal.

00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:21.829
Like, it's not weird that I was bullied, like it's just like, oh yeah, that's a thing that happens.

00:20:21.829 --> 00:20:26.936
It's not weird to be, you know, excluded because of, your gender,

00:20:27.247 --> 00:20:27.666
Mm-hmm.

00:20:27.807 --> 00:20:29.967
Or, a disability, a chronic illness.

00:20:29.967 --> 00:20:32.696
Like that's not a weird thing in this community.

00:20:32.696 --> 00:20:34.317
It's just like, oh, everyone's got something like that.

00:20:34.634 --> 00:20:37.903
And it really makes me feel like I can relax here.

00:20:38.564 --> 00:20:43.814
I don't have to have all of this, um, you know, facade the professional.

00:20:44.067 --> 00:20:47.817
hello I am here and professional and legitimate.

00:20:48.146 --> 00:20:51.446
Um, I don't have to do that because yeah, I can be a little bit messy.

00:20:51.777 --> 00:20:56.636
I just really like Pokemon and all these other people who I don't really have much in common with.

00:20:56.666 --> 00:20:58.076
They also really like Pokemon.

00:20:58.386 --> 00:21:02.317
and it's just kind of a nice place to be where this stuff happens to people.

00:21:02.317 --> 00:21:02.977
It's real.

00:21:03.269 --> 00:21:04.619
but what brings us together is.

00:21:04.940 --> 00:21:06.140
The out, the what?

00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:07.910
1025 little guys

00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:09.829
And counting.

00:21:10.454 --> 00:21:11.035
and counting.

00:21:48.338 --> 00:21:51.308
I want to switch gears to your music side now.

00:21:51.594 --> 00:22:03.713
And before we dive into, you know, your YouTube channel and how you made in Pokemon, or how you started doing Pokemon music remixes, you know, when you started playing the cello, how did you first find that instrument and what was I guess the steps of your early introduction to music?

00:22:05.913 --> 00:22:06.134
Wow.

00:22:06.354 --> 00:22:12.385
Um, I mean, I have like the, the conventional story, which is my parents forced me to do it.

00:22:12.385 --> 00:22:14.155
They were like, you have to play an instrument.

00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:15.161
Hey, this is great.

00:22:15.161 --> 00:22:17.111
I think that will relate to everybody who's an instrument person.

00:22:17.395 --> 00:22:19.766
I, I can't believe that that worked.

00:22:19.826 --> 00:22:20.905
I look back at that and I'm like.

00:22:21.346 --> 00:22:22.635
Oh, I see what you did.

00:22:22.935 --> 00:22:24.556
Oh, that's not nice at all.

00:22:24.826 --> 00:22:29.655
Like, but to be, to be fair, I, hi parents.

00:22:29.655 --> 00:22:30.076
I love you.

00:22:30.195 --> 00:22:31.066
To be fair to my parents.

00:22:31.111 --> 00:22:31.590
Hi mom.

00:22:31.935 --> 00:22:32.746
yeah, exactly.

00:22:33.165 --> 00:22:38.566
I really lived in music as a little kid.

00:22:38.566 --> 00:22:42.496
you know, my dad would put on, he's a big classical music fan.

00:22:42.801 --> 00:22:48.628
and he would put on symphonies with, enormous speakers I would just go nuts.

00:22:48.778 --> 00:22:51.449
Like I really, I would dance, I would move.

00:22:51.685 --> 00:22:54.115
if it was really high energy, I would like roll around on the ground.

00:22:54.115 --> 00:22:57.205
Like I as a really, really little person, really, really little.

00:22:57.469 --> 00:23:00.828
there was just something up being enveloped in music.

00:23:01.098 --> 00:23:03.155
so playing an instrument made a lot of sense.

00:23:03.425 --> 00:23:08.162
And, I started on the violin cause I was like, oh, violin is so pretty.

00:23:08.471 --> 00:23:11.656
and then I got to my lessons and they made me stand up the whole time.

00:23:11.971 --> 00:23:14.701
And I was like, no, I don't wanna do that.

00:23:15.152 --> 00:23:16.156
I wanna sit down.

00:23:16.321 --> 00:23:17.132
yeah, exactly.

00:23:17.132 --> 00:23:21.632
And lucky for me, there's an instrument exactly like the violin, but you get to sit down.

00:23:21.933 --> 00:23:24.124
and my parents were like, sure, go nuts.

00:23:24.124 --> 00:23:32.253
And then I learned any, any people listening to this who think it's easier because you get to sit down, you don't get to sit down, you have to sit down very specifically.

00:23:32.253 --> 00:23:33.874
You have to have good posture.

00:23:34.144 --> 00:23:35.104
It was such a racket.

00:23:35.344 --> 00:23:36.394
It was such a bait switch.

00:23:36.544 --> 00:23:38.223
I thought this was gonna be easy.

00:23:38.398 --> 00:23:38.818
Mm-hmm.

00:23:38.878 --> 00:23:39.298
Mm-hmm.

00:23:39.298 --> 00:23:39.299
Mm-hmm.

00:23:40.384 --> 00:23:41.523
I ended up on cello.

00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:44.494
and I just never wanted to put it down.

00:23:44.494 --> 00:23:46.295
I didn't think I wanted to be good at it, really.

00:23:46.295 --> 00:23:48.964
I didn't think I wanted to make it my career as a, as a kid.

00:23:49.269 --> 00:23:51.775
but it just became this part of me.

00:23:52.164 --> 00:23:55.328
It was really just like, oh, this is my other half.

00:23:55.358 --> 00:23:55.598
Right.

00:23:55.598 --> 00:24:01.148
People say that about their romantic partners, but for me it was like, oh, I'm not really a complete person unless I have my instrument.

00:24:02.083 --> 00:24:03.222
no idea how that happened.

00:24:03.544 --> 00:24:08.824
I mean, maybe it goes back to like the neuro type thing where it was just something that for whatever reason really appealed to me.

00:24:08.858 --> 00:24:22.669
cause I'll be honest, pretty sure that the only reason I'm a musician is because, I learned that in music school you have to practice and practicing and being locked alone in a small room for hours and nobody is allowed to bother you.

00:24:22.958 --> 00:24:24.367
Like, hello,

00:24:24.738 --> 00:24:26.218
everybody's introverted dream right there.

00:24:26.498 --> 00:24:27.188
Exactly.

00:24:27.188 --> 00:24:28.028
Dream come true.

00:24:28.178 --> 00:24:30.817
And like it's all repetitive action.

00:24:31.087 --> 00:24:33.968
It's all just like doing the same things over and over and over.

00:24:34.298 --> 00:24:38.678
And for me, I was like, oh, sign me up, this is perfect.

00:24:39.127 --> 00:24:43.928
Um, so like there is that element that like, yeah, oh, music is beautiful.

00:24:43.928 --> 00:24:44.617
I was lost in it.

00:24:44.617 --> 00:24:53.579
But also like, yeah, I just really like the idea of, shedding passages in music and practicing and a big practice nerd, so.

00:24:53.901 --> 00:24:55.431
Did I mention I was bullied in school?

00:24:58.131 --> 00:24:59.391
But you came out ahead though.

00:24:59.391 --> 00:25:01.131
You came out very good in your life, I think.

00:25:01.310 --> 00:25:02.391
I think I tried.

00:25:03.111 --> 00:25:07.401
Now I do love the image that you gave me to where like I was rolling around the ground.

00:25:07.401 --> 00:25:09.020
I feel like a mosh pit would be your scene.

00:25:09.020 --> 00:25:10.101
Was that kind of the case at all?

00:25:10.101 --> 00:25:10.971
Like did, were you like,

00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:12.980
Oh, let's, well,

00:25:13.310 --> 00:25:13.790
oh,

00:25:14.121 --> 00:25:16.461
the seventh grade when I discovered heavy metal.

00:25:17.169 --> 00:25:19.328
I discovered having, I mean, that was, it was all over for me.

00:25:19.574 --> 00:25:28.193
there was no turning back from a music career once my friend, gave me a burned copy of system of a down, on the, on the bus.

00:25:28.498 --> 00:25:29.817
And I never heard it before.

00:25:29.907 --> 00:25:32.067
No one in my life had ever listened to that kind of music.

00:25:32.377 --> 00:25:35.137
it was like, oh my God, where, where has this been my whole life?

00:25:35.137 --> 00:25:36.758
This just felt like me.

00:25:36.968 --> 00:25:37.478
And if you.

00:25:37.883 --> 00:25:39.833
Turn up the volume and put on your headphones.

00:25:40.138 --> 00:25:42.358
metal can be so soothing.

00:25:42.808 --> 00:25:47.759
It can, it can just completely isolate you from whatever else is going on.

00:25:48.083 --> 00:25:49.976
and I was like, okay, I gotta know more.

00:25:49.976 --> 00:25:50.605
I gotta know more.

00:25:50.605 --> 00:25:51.326
I gotta know more.

00:25:51.563 --> 00:25:56.782
and I went back to, to my seventh grade class and another one of my friends was like, Hey, you play the cello right?

00:25:57.068 --> 00:26:00.459
Did you know that there's a heavy metal band where they only play cello?

00:26:00.669 --> 00:26:04.868
And I was like, um, no, but can you, can, can you show me?

00:26:05.288 --> 00:26:08.153
Um, that band is apocalyptica, lots of metal heads.

00:26:08.153 --> 00:26:08.333
No.

00:26:08.333 --> 00:26:14.022
Apocalyptica Apocalyptica, became famous by doing Metallica covers on four cellos.

00:26:14.336 --> 00:26:18.915
and once those two lines kind of crossed for me, right?

00:26:18.915 --> 00:26:21.046
So I like playing the cello.

00:26:21.046 --> 00:26:23.272
I like everything that kind of comes along with it.

00:26:23.272 --> 00:26:26.476
Technically, when I realized I could play heavy metal on the cello.

00:26:27.114 --> 00:26:29.273
done, I don't wanna do anything else.

00:26:29.570 --> 00:26:35.090
in my non-PokeCello life, in my, in my somewhat more professional real name life, that is primarily what I do.

00:26:35.090 --> 00:26:41.250
I primarily play, heavy metal rock, symphonic metal, type stuff on the electric cello.

00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:46.201
So of, a lot of paths kind of crossed for me and I'm very glad.

00:26:46.411 --> 00:26:50.401
I don't think I want, would wanna be anywhere else to be honest.

00:26:50.625 --> 00:26:53.955
into your angsty side of getting bullied and now you're just getting those feelings outta you.

00:26:54.361 --> 00:26:55.260
yes.

00:26:55.530 --> 00:26:58.830
And like, it was so, it was such a relief.

00:26:58.830 --> 00:27:04.381
I mean, I remember going into high school being like, no, it is too early for this.

00:27:04.681 --> 00:27:07.590
I am not interested in anything anyone else has to say.

00:27:07.590 --> 00:27:10.988
And I would put in my headphones and then, then it was fine.

00:27:11.077 --> 00:27:14.978
It was so much easier to deal with because I mean, that's such a common music thing.

00:27:15.188 --> 00:27:17.347
Every, I think lots of people have that experience.

00:27:17.907 --> 00:27:22.257
So you are basically doing remixes of classic Pokemon game musics.

00:27:22.586 --> 00:27:28.436
And I wanna touch on the first one that you did, which is back in August of 2022, you did the Pokemon Center theme of gold and silver.

00:27:28.803 --> 00:27:32.823
You know, when you first uploaded it, why did you choose that song to start off?

00:27:33.425 --> 00:27:37.401
at the very beginning, know,'cause a full-time freelance musician.

00:27:37.760 --> 00:27:40.503
and part of that is you're always looking for work.

00:27:40.503 --> 00:27:43.953
you know, you're never really settled into one thing for that long.

00:27:44.250 --> 00:27:49.201
I had kind of had this, this vague interest in maybe doing some kind of Pokemon music on cello.

00:27:49.510 --> 00:27:56.570
and then I found a transcription of the entire Pokemon Red and Loose soundtrack, by Mark Bennis.

00:27:56.570 --> 00:27:57.590
Shout out to Mark.

00:27:57.951 --> 00:28:00.800
this was a really, really incredible piece of work.

00:28:01.221 --> 00:28:08.506
I'm in awe of what he was able to do, but basically he transcribed the three, chip tune tracks.

00:28:08.506 --> 00:28:13.635
For every piece of the soundtrack from Pokemon Red plus the percussion, uh, track.

00:28:14.806 --> 00:28:24.519
when I saw that, when I looked at that, this idea popped into my head that would it sound like if a cello played all of those parts?

00:28:24.828 --> 00:28:28.169
And I started with a Pokemon Center because it was easy.

00:28:28.502 --> 00:28:31.083
That's just to be being honest.

00:28:31.083 --> 00:28:32.883
I picked the easiest one.

00:28:33.108 --> 00:28:39.762
but that was kind of like, okay, well maybe I'll try this, I'll try doing this and see if, see if it works for me.

00:28:40.078 --> 00:28:42.058
but I really just liked this idea.

00:28:42.118 --> 00:28:42.659
Okay.

00:28:42.749 --> 00:28:44.068
Early game stuff.

00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:48.388
It's written for the, the Game Boys chip tune.

00:28:48.808 --> 00:28:52.019
I'm sure there's a, a more name for it.

00:28:52.665 --> 00:28:56.806
I could play each of those lines on the cello, I could lay them over each other and see what it sounds like.

00:28:56.806 --> 00:28:58.965
It was really just a matter of exploration.

00:28:58.965 --> 00:29:06.002
But, the gold and silver Pokemon Center theme was just so like, ah, it's relaxing.

00:29:06.117 --> 00:29:06.538
Mm-hmm.

00:29:06.692 --> 00:29:08.823
the, it's the quintessential Pokemon song.

00:29:34.253 --> 00:29:35.993
Did you remember like what it felt like to hit upload?

00:29:36.023 --> 00:29:37.794
'cause that was your first, I guess, official video.

00:29:37.794 --> 00:29:38.604
I know you had the teaser.

00:29:39.084 --> 00:29:45.713
Were you confident of like what would happen or were you kind of nervous or did, were you just kind of numb to it, like you were just getting a try and see what happens?

00:29:46.499 --> 00:29:48.269
no, no confidence whatsoever.

00:29:48.528 --> 00:29:59.875
so I think this was like kind of a, rocky time in my career and my thinking was I saw so many really successful.

00:29:59.875 --> 00:30:02.214
video game music, remixer channels,

00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:02.740
Mm-hmm.

00:30:02.755 --> 00:30:04.978
like, well, I can't like do that.

00:30:05.038 --> 00:30:08.403
Like, I'm not that good at, you know, whatever Glitch does right?

00:30:08.403 --> 00:30:12.333
Like her, her tracks are so, so in depth, they're so well crafted.

00:30:12.333 --> 00:30:16.852
And I was like, I can never do that, but I play the cello so I could try this.

00:30:16.852 --> 00:30:20.241
I can see if there's any interest in it.

00:30:20.537 --> 00:30:26.607
and my, goal starting out was I was just gonna work through the Pokemon Red soundtrack.

00:30:26.758 --> 00:30:29.097
I was just going to kind of go through each one.

00:30:29.288 --> 00:30:35.019
and when I was uploading it was really quite, um, I do not like it.

00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:36.398
I still do not like it.

00:30:36.398 --> 00:30:39.368
I still do not like hitting the upload button, to be honest.

00:30:39.398 --> 00:30:40.419
Really don't like it.

00:30:40.721 --> 00:30:44.741
but it was really just, let's see, let's see what happens.

00:30:45.071 --> 00:30:47.622
yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't super concerned about anything else.

00:30:47.622 --> 00:30:47.771
So,

00:30:48.217 --> 00:30:55.926
you said how you know you were in a rocky starter career, it almost sounds like that song kind of resonated, something you needed to feel at the time, because we said it's relaxing.

00:30:55.926 --> 00:30:58.626
The Pokemon said is where you go for healing your personal life.

00:30:58.626 --> 00:30:59.557
You know, it's rocky.

00:30:59.557 --> 00:31:04.386
But then you turn to this, it seems like that's a song that you identified at the time that you needed.

00:31:04.761 --> 00:31:10.432
Well, I mean the, my PokeCello origin story, is really quite simple.

00:31:10.729 --> 00:31:16.971
at the end of 2021, the very few last few weeks, few days of 2021, I was diagnosed with cancer.

00:31:17.342 --> 00:31:22.592
and 22, 20 22, the whole year was like dealing with that.

00:31:22.801 --> 00:31:23.221
Right?

00:31:23.484 --> 00:31:33.277
but what was interesting, and the reason that I can, laugh about and talk about it now, is that Pokemon Legends Arceus came out.

00:31:33.858 --> 00:31:36.769
Days before I had surgery.

00:31:37.221 --> 00:31:51.442
And so every part of that whole ordeal, the surgery, the treatment, the doctor's appointments, the, imaging, all of it, all of it supported by playing through this new game.

00:31:51.888 --> 00:31:53.571
And I really felt awful.

00:31:53.571 --> 00:31:55.162
I couldn't, I couldn't work.

00:31:55.162 --> 00:31:56.152
I lost my job.

00:31:56.152 --> 00:32:02.182
I was trying to do, personal, original compositions and those just were not coming, like, just wasn't working.

00:32:02.578 --> 00:32:08.999
But, I came home from surgery, in my switch, and I was playing Legends Arceus when I was tired and I felt sick.

00:32:08.999 --> 00:32:10.598
I was playing Legends Arceus.

00:32:10.618 --> 00:32:14.259
When I was stressed out, I was playing Legends Arceus.

00:32:14.278 --> 00:32:16.558
And it just really became.

00:32:16.939 --> 00:32:18.739
I mean, this was like the best few months of my life.

00:32:19.608 --> 00:32:21.048
It was so fun.

00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:26.209
Like, it's so weird to talk about like a cancer situation like that, but it was really quite special.

00:32:26.209 --> 00:32:32.778
I feel really, really lucky that I got to have this gift of cancer is awful.

00:32:32.778 --> 00:32:34.398
It's like, don't, it's bad.

00:32:34.608 --> 00:32:37.729
However, it didn't really matter to me.

00:32:37.729 --> 00:32:45.078
It didn't really resonate or, or hit me hard as a horrible thing that was happening because like, I gotta go to the doctor.

00:32:45.078 --> 00:32:46.848
Yeah, go get, gotta get some shots.

00:32:46.848 --> 00:32:50.388
I gotta sit in the imaging machine, whatever.

00:32:51.528 --> 00:32:54.255
when I get home, I'm going right back to his sui.

00:32:55.065 --> 00:32:59.625
so after the cancer thing kind of resolved and I'm fine, it was fine.

00:32:59.625 --> 00:33:00.585
It was not that bad.

00:33:00.585 --> 00:33:07.261
But like once that resolved and I was ready to kind of get back into it, I felt I had a real debt to pay.

00:33:08.132 --> 00:33:11.491
I had gotten into this franchise in a new way.

00:33:11.582 --> 00:33:17.582
Like it really, really was a supportive, it was integral to this whole experience.

00:33:17.582 --> 00:33:21.545
And I had to be honest, didn't really know much about, Pokemon YouTube.

00:33:21.545 --> 00:33:23.674
I didn't know much about Pokemon content creation.

00:33:23.944 --> 00:33:27.219
I discovered content creators, that I didn't know about before.

00:33:27.669 --> 00:33:36.669
And I mean, shout out to, to them because like, gosh, when I was, when I couldn't sleep, I would put on, what was it?

00:33:36.669 --> 00:33:43.021
I would put on, I'd put on John Stone's, professor Oak Challenge, video playlist when I couldn't sleep.

00:33:43.051 --> 00:33:44.402
That was like my go-to.

00:33:44.709 --> 00:33:46.148
And I, and it was just great.

00:33:46.239 --> 00:33:51.189
I had all of this support from a community I didn't know from Perfect strangers.

00:33:51.501 --> 00:33:57.501
you know, no one's making Professor Oak Challenge videos to help a complete stranger who's going through cancer treatment.

00:33:57.501 --> 00:33:59.122
Like, that's not a situation.

00:33:59.409 --> 00:34:00.483
but it still happened for me.

00:34:01.463 --> 00:34:02.003
to Johnstone.

00:34:02.003 --> 00:34:02.693
That's very cool.

00:34:02.967 --> 00:34:09.956
but when that, you know, when I got my, my Clean Bill of Health and I was ready to celebrate whatever, I felt like I just had to do something.

00:34:09.987 --> 00:34:16.916
I had to do something thank the community, to thank the franchise to contribute.

00:34:17.289 --> 00:34:18.730
and that's where PokeCello came from.

00:34:18.730 --> 00:34:22.349
That was my way of, saying thank you to this awesome community.

00:34:22.780 --> 00:34:31.269
You know, when you were playing Legends Arceus in such a vulnerable time, you know, lost your job cancer oh nine yards, I can't even imagine what you were going through or what that would feel like.

00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:38.530
Did you kind of see a connection with Legend Arceus, with your own story, with discovery, resilience, and even isolation at times?

00:34:38.650 --> 00:34:48.463
mean, I, there was a lot of that, but to me, the, fundamental image of that was just Jubilee Village.

00:34:48.764 --> 00:34:50.414
And the Juba Life Village music.

00:34:50.414 --> 00:34:54.043
And your little house that you have is the character in Juba Life Village.

00:34:54.344 --> 00:34:55.753
It's really small.

00:34:56.110 --> 00:35:10.264
you've got your little bed roll and like, I would just imagine myself in that little house, and I would imagine myself, like with my Pokemon and like going out and doing this grand adventure, that was scary.

00:35:10.474 --> 00:35:13.173
Like that was the first Pokemon game where Pokemon were scary.

00:35:13.293 --> 00:35:14.853
Like they would attack you.

00:35:15.543 --> 00:35:15.693
That

00:35:15.768 --> 00:35:15.949
Yeah,

00:35:16.804 --> 00:35:17.373
Um,

00:35:17.449 --> 00:35:18.199
they come at you.

00:35:18.273 --> 00:35:20.253
yeah, so it was scary.

00:35:20.253 --> 00:35:21.483
There was danger.

00:35:21.693 --> 00:35:27.514
Not, we won't even talk about Valo, but there was a lot of tension.

00:35:28.264 --> 00:35:33.784
And so I really, really liked getting to, oh, I'm just imagining myself in my little quarters.

00:35:33.784 --> 00:35:42.092
And then if I have to go out and go do stupid doctor's appointments, well I could just come back and, and go out to the obsidian field once and have this kind of like.

00:35:42.496 --> 00:35:45.496
Release of that release of all of that tension.

00:35:45.925 --> 00:35:55.405
Well, let's keep moving forward'cause I want to move to your most popular one, which is how I found You, which is the aerial Zero, and you did a shallow slash orchestra mix and it exploded.

00:35:55.409 --> 00:35:57.175
It's still your popular video today.

00:35:57.739 --> 00:35:59.929
did you anticipate it to get that kind of response?

00:35:59.929 --> 00:36:04.699
Or what was the moment when you saw like, whoa, this is getting so many attention compared to my other stuff?

00:36:05.134 --> 00:36:08.570
So when I kind of started, I was like, well, let's see.

00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:10.130
Let's see what happens with the channel.

00:36:10.449 --> 00:36:17.800
and when I started doing Scarlet and Violet music, I was like, oh, well maybe people will be more interested in this'cause it's from the new games.

00:36:18.110 --> 00:36:21.320
and I was really excited when my first video hit a thousand views.

00:36:21.380 --> 00:36:24.170
I texted everyone, I was like, oh, it's happening, you know?

00:36:24.443 --> 00:36:30.713
but one of the things that I had read about, like becoming a content creators specifically was, can't wait.

00:36:31.059 --> 00:36:31.778
To go viral.

00:36:31.869 --> 00:36:34.028
Like you can't expect that to happen.

00:36:34.179 --> 00:36:35.438
You just have to be consistent.

00:36:35.528 --> 00:36:42.849
You have to keep putting out your content and you have to kind of just roll with the punches that not all gonna be popular.

00:36:42.998 --> 00:36:46.418
There are gonna be lots of videos that you put out and nobody cares, nobody watches.

00:36:46.735 --> 00:36:50.672
so at that point, you know, I hadn't had a, a super successful video.

00:36:50.672 --> 00:36:53.461
None of my videos had passed 10,000 views at that point.

00:36:53.795 --> 00:36:58.585
And my mindset at the time was like, it doesn't have to be perfect.

00:36:58.704 --> 00:36:59.994
It doesn't have to be amazing.

00:36:59.994 --> 00:37:01.224
It just has to be real.

00:37:01.855 --> 00:37:05.605
It has to have integrity, it has to speak to something.

00:37:05.905 --> 00:37:06.804
area Zero.

00:37:06.925 --> 00:37:11.184
The theme is just unlike anything we've ever heard in a Pokemon game.

00:37:11.724 --> 00:37:13.885
I was a little nervous about doing it justice.

00:37:13.885 --> 00:37:17.304
The first time I heard it playing through the game, I was like, oh, I'm never gonna be able to cover this.

00:37:17.304 --> 00:37:17.965
Are you kidding?

00:37:18.114 --> 00:37:18.385
Like, it

00:37:18.514 --> 00:37:18.735
Mm.

00:37:19.164 --> 00:37:20.394
rich and complex.

00:37:20.692 --> 00:37:23.972
but I had kind of shut off the like, Emotional side of it.

00:37:24.061 --> 00:37:24.931
I was like, you know what?

00:37:24.931 --> 00:37:29.402
I'm going to, I'm making these videos, I'm putting'em out, and I'm not waiting for the reaction.

00:37:29.762 --> 00:37:37.625
I don't, I'm gonna kind of not, uh, incorporate that into my experience of making content for the channel because I can't control it.

00:37:37.625 --> 00:37:40.864
I, I am the mercy of the algorithm.

00:37:41.164 --> 00:37:48.065
so when Area Zero started taking off, first I was like, oh, well it's area zero, so of course that's what, of course that makes sense.

00:37:48.065 --> 00:37:50.824
but I was like, okay, don't care about this.

00:37:50.855 --> 00:37:51.815
You can't care about it.

00:37:52.054 --> 00:37:54.965
It's, you can't use it as like, oh, I'm doing it.

00:37:54.965 --> 00:38:01.114
Oh, I'm winning the next video is not gonna do that, and the video after that probably isn't gonna do it either.

00:38:01.355 --> 00:38:09.362
So I had this mindset of every video I put out, every track that I make has to be worth a hundred thousand views.

00:38:10.172 --> 00:38:10.592
single one

00:38:10.666 --> 00:38:10.786
Hmm.

00:38:11.012 --> 00:38:12.811
to be worth that.

00:38:13.161 --> 00:38:13.822
You like that?

00:38:13.891 --> 00:38:14.641
out a track.

00:38:15.032 --> 00:38:17.192
If I don't think it's really there yet.

00:38:17.534 --> 00:38:40.501
so when Area Zero started getting, you know, not just thousands of views, but tens of thousands of views, I was like, okay, One, I'm glad I wasn't attached to it, but two, like I'm glad that I was just focused on about putting out something that someone would wanna listen to and ideally to more than once, listen to over and over.

00:38:40.811 --> 00:38:45.458
I think that's like the, the real thing about music content creation is you wanna have longevity.

00:38:45.782 --> 00:38:49.501
but I try to keep it just very chill, very mellow.

00:38:50.192 --> 00:38:55.021
try not to react to, um, YouTube analytics.

00:38:55.501 --> 00:38:58.322
Um, I try to just kind of not care about that.

00:38:58.501 --> 00:38:59.342
I care about it.

00:38:59.342 --> 00:39:01.532
I really, really care about it, but I try not to care about it.

00:39:01.831 --> 00:39:02.461
Um,

00:39:02.746 --> 00:39:04.246
I do too, but I try not to look either.

00:39:04.726 --> 00:39:05.416
Exactly right.

00:39:05.476 --> 00:39:06.706
Like, oh no.

00:39:06.737 --> 00:39:07.637
Oh, I'm so cool.

00:39:07.637 --> 00:39:08.237
I'm so calm.

00:39:08.237 --> 00:39:09.166
I don't care about anything.

00:39:09.347 --> 00:39:09.978
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:39:10.217 --> 00:39:11.416
reload, reload, reload.

00:39:11.447 --> 00:39:16.967
Um, with Area Zero, I was, I was glad it was that track because I was quite happy with it.

00:39:17.487 --> 00:39:27.300
every video before, well, I mean every video, but every video before, definitely every video since I think, would I be okay if a hundred thousand people listen to this?

00:39:27.329 --> 00:39:29.340
And if the answer is no, I don't put it out.

00:39:29.750 --> 00:39:41.239
You know, that's such for, I guess, not refreshing, but it's so keen because I think a lot of people just put stuff out for the sake of putting stuff out to where the quality goes down and they kind of lose that, I'll say soul to the content.

00:39:41.536 --> 00:39:48.889
cause I'm kind of the same way in the sense to where for me, I see a more sight on the editing to where if something doesn't sound right.

00:39:49.474 --> 00:39:50.405
I'm not gonna put it out.

00:39:50.434 --> 00:39:53.824
I'm going to, if I need to take some extra time, I'll delay my upload time.

00:39:53.824 --> 00:39:55.264
'cause I wanna make sure the episode comes out

00:39:55.264 --> 00:39:55.655
Yep.

00:39:55.684 --> 00:39:56.614
the way I want to.

00:39:56.614 --> 00:40:00.875
'cause maybe that's just the side of the work ethic or maybe our content creation, whatever you wanna call it.

00:40:01.204 --> 00:40:06.335
But for me, I feel like I owe the people who listen to my show, you know, a quality content, a quality interview.

00:40:06.335 --> 00:40:10.684
That's why whenever I go to interview, I come prepared with the answers that I need to ask most of the time.

00:40:10.835 --> 00:40:12.065
Now, do I have my down moments?

00:40:12.065 --> 00:40:12.664
Of course.

00:40:12.784 --> 00:40:17.824
But my down moments I think is not as noticeable to them as it is to me.

00:40:17.885 --> 00:40:19.594
And maybe that's kind of what you're talking to.

00:40:19.775 --> 00:40:22.655
Oh, it is not as noticeable whatsoever.

00:40:22.684 --> 00:40:28.291
And that's a key part of my particular tapestry of perfectionism

00:40:28.521 --> 00:40:28.922
Yeah.

00:40:29.612 --> 00:40:34.125
But like I absolutely, I wanna have everything via the absolute top level.

00:40:34.275 --> 00:40:36.344
At the same times I have to be realistic.

00:40:36.735 --> 00:40:40.184
for example, no training in audio engineering.

00:40:40.664 --> 00:40:41.505
I have

00:40:41.684 --> 00:40:42.284
Really.

00:40:42.344 --> 00:40:43.184
I'm surprised.

00:40:43.184 --> 00:40:43.574
Yeah.

00:40:43.605 --> 00:40:47.804
no, uh, it is all YouTube tutorials.

00:40:48.101 --> 00:40:54.581
I met someone recently who is an audio engineer, and I did a video call with her and I was like, can you explain what EQ means?

00:40:56.637 --> 00:40:57.266
Oh wow.

00:40:57.297 --> 00:40:58.677
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:40:59.291 --> 00:40:59.382
Cell,

00:40:59.592 --> 00:40:59.711
I,

00:40:59.742 --> 00:41:01.481
I, oh my God, so embarrassing.

00:41:01.541 --> 00:41:04.302
And it's, it's evident eventually if you listen to my old stuff, you'll hear it.

00:41:04.481 --> 00:41:04.782
Um,

00:41:04.827 --> 00:41:04.887
yeah.

00:41:04.992 --> 00:41:10.724
I didn't know what I was doing, but I knew that if I waited, PokeCello would not happen.

00:41:11.025 --> 00:41:12.344
It would not exist.

00:41:12.614 --> 00:41:18.704
So at the same time, to have every, I really wanted everything really quality, something that really speaks to people.

00:41:19.125 --> 00:41:24.324
At the same time, I wait until I think it's ready, I'll be dead.

00:41:24.324 --> 00:41:25.224
No one will ever hear it.

00:41:25.809 --> 00:41:26.764
You will be a dying artist.

00:41:26.965 --> 00:41:27.264
Yeah.

00:41:27.295 --> 00:41:27.565
Really.

00:41:27.565 --> 00:41:30.715
Like, you just, it won't, it will never, ever come out.

00:42:05.510 --> 00:42:07.380
Last question, just in regards to Area Zero.

00:42:07.815 --> 00:42:20.076
And even some of your responses kind of showed how much care you put into the song, because if you described it as a way of blending ancient and future sound, it shows kind of the real intent, the real care you brought to such a very Honestly gonna be me memorable song.

00:42:20.076 --> 00:42:24.018
I think it's actually, if not the popular, at least not top five popular Pokemon songs.

00:42:24.047 --> 00:42:24.768
I would say that.

00:42:25.277 --> 00:42:33.677
How did you kind of approach trying to reinterpret that song that was already emotionally layered, like area Zero to add kind of your own emotional fingerprint, your own interpretation to it?

00:42:34.148 --> 00:42:37.237
I knew I was gonna do kind of two repeats, right?

00:42:37.237 --> 00:42:37.657
Two loops.

00:42:38.092 --> 00:42:39.443
And I was like, okay.

00:42:39.443 --> 00:42:45.900
So although the first one with like orchestral instruments, so a lot of brass, instruments that are, not software instruments.

00:42:45.900 --> 00:42:46.320
Oh my gosh.

00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:47.190
I'm sure there's a word.

00:42:47.190 --> 00:42:48.360
I'm a professional musician.

00:42:48.360 --> 00:42:49.260
I don't know what the word is.

00:42:49.500 --> 00:42:49.739
It's okay.

00:42:49.739 --> 00:42:51.719
I'm a professional podcast and I forget words, so it's okay.

00:42:54.510 --> 00:42:57.719
I said shallow and shallow, like I can't get shallow, whatever it is.

00:42:58.380 --> 00:42:58.710
So.

00:42:59.039 --> 00:42:59.369
Okay.

00:43:00.065 --> 00:43:00.335
Okay.

00:43:00.340 --> 00:43:01.170
Okay, good.

00:43:01.230 --> 00:43:01.679
Excellent.

00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:17.070
So, um, I was, I was looking at the thing and I was like, okay, so I'll do the first half with of straight ahead acoustic orchestral sound, and then I'll do the second time with, software instruments and have more synths, more electric keyboard type sounds.

00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:24.349
and then when I went and did the recording, so my process basically is, I, I take the arrangement, usually there's some transcription involved.

00:43:24.380 --> 00:43:26.000
Very rarely for the new stuff.

00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:27.949
There'll be a transcription someone's put online somewhere.

00:43:27.949 --> 00:43:30.050
But usually I do the, the transcription myself.

00:43:30.358 --> 00:43:35.967
I do the arrangement, I try to get things kind of or less where they need to be, and then I record over it.

00:43:36.447 --> 00:43:42.327
And that of transition between working on the arrangement and recording is the worst.

00:43:42.327 --> 00:43:43.527
That is the worst part of it.

00:43:43.527 --> 00:43:48.175
because that's where the medal, that's road, that's where you gotta, like, that's where you gotta, that's where you gotta perform.

00:43:48.204 --> 00:43:49.974
That's when you gotta show up and get it right.

00:43:50.237 --> 00:44:00.985
and so with Area Zero, I really was attached to, after the vocal section, there's a solo, it kind of sounds like it's on a r who, but it's very vocal.

00:44:01.585 --> 00:44:04.824
And that was the section that I was like, okay, I know I can do that.

00:44:04.824 --> 00:44:06.715
I know I can do a vocal sound.

00:44:06.715 --> 00:44:14.557
I know I can bring out the longing, the keening almost, I can bring out the soaring quality of that line.

00:44:14.557 --> 00:44:15.907
And once I got that.

00:44:16.568 --> 00:44:19.927
was like, okay, this, this, this might work out.

00:44:20.248 --> 00:44:26.668
and I was very nervous because this is a track that had vocals and very unusual for Pokemon.

00:44:26.938 --> 00:44:33.538
I didn't really know if it would make any sense on the cello,'cause some, some music just doesn't make sense on the cello.

00:44:33.851 --> 00:44:37.572
but I really tried to, to hone in on just one quality.

00:44:38.014 --> 00:44:43.025
And once I felt like I got that, that's where the rest of it kind of came out of.

00:44:44.052 --> 00:44:46.242
Now I wanna transition to your original composition.

00:44:46.242 --> 00:44:50.021
It was when you made your first original Pokemon Battle theme in February of 2025.

00:44:50.621 --> 00:44:55.061
It's a huge risk making your own music when you're so used to tied to Pokemon.

00:44:55.192 --> 00:44:55.612
Yeah.

00:44:55.782 --> 00:45:01.054
What made you kind of wanna step into that creative side, even vulnerable and What made you wanna take that leap?

00:45:01.512 --> 00:45:02.472
A while ago.

00:45:02.771 --> 00:45:04.722
I mean, this is the, this is just the honest answer

00:45:04.967 --> 00:45:05.206
Sure.

00:45:05.322 --> 00:45:06.072
saw.

00:45:06.461 --> 00:45:12.972
A video by Glitch who, and the video was called something like, here's How I Wrote My Own Pokemon Battle Feed.

00:45:12.972 --> 00:45:13.632
Something like that.

00:45:13.811 --> 00:45:17.561
And to be honest, thought had never occurred to me.

00:45:17.802 --> 00:45:23.532
I never considered trying to write something in this very iconic style.

00:45:23.681 --> 00:45:26.711
And I watched her video and I was like, oh, hang on though.

00:45:28.242 --> 00:45:34.094
I watched it and I was like, I'm gonna just put that on the back burner because that I might be able to do that.

00:45:34.315 --> 00:45:35.184
so shout out to Glitch.

00:45:35.184 --> 00:45:35.425
Thank you.

00:45:35.425 --> 00:45:35.844
Glitch.

00:45:36.264 --> 00:45:40.061
And I realized that it would just be fun.

00:45:40.751 --> 00:45:51.461
would just be fun to take the building blocks, the kind of, essential pieces of a Pokemon theme, I could kind of identify what those were.

00:45:51.461 --> 00:45:56.501
I can kind of, kind of build almost modularly, because you start with the, the chromatic.

00:45:58.061 --> 00:45:58.197
Okay.

00:45:58.197 --> 00:45:59.021
So we start with that.

00:45:59.362 --> 00:46:00.981
And then there's kind of a hook.

00:46:01.012 --> 00:46:08.018
Usually there's like a, a, a loop where you, you build up the energy, and the melodies, the classic, have specific harmonic content.

00:46:08.262 --> 00:46:10.422
there's specific chord progressions that kind of come up a lot.

00:46:10.422 --> 00:46:11.771
And I was like, okay, I'll plug those in.

00:46:12.061 --> 00:46:14.492
and I'll just noodle around and see what a melody comes out.

00:46:14.768 --> 00:46:16.831
it was just kind of fun.

00:46:17.012 --> 00:46:19.771
It was just like a fun experiment.

00:46:19.802 --> 00:46:22.322
I never really thought about releasing it necessarily.

00:46:22.322 --> 00:46:26.762
I wasn't thinking like, oh, I'm gonna write this for Pokemon Day.

00:46:27.032 --> 00:46:27.452
Right.

00:46:27.722 --> 00:46:34.592
but then once it got started I was like, hang on, maybe I should release this for Pokemon Day because I really liked it.

00:46:34.592 --> 00:46:35.612
I had fun writing it.

00:46:35.612 --> 00:46:36.842
The biggest risk.

00:46:37.411 --> 00:46:40.652
Ah, I call it the eurovision section.

00:46:40.952 --> 00:46:45.181
There's a part of it where I have no self-restraint.

00:46:45.181 --> 00:46:46.681
I love cheesiness.

00:46:46.681 --> 00:46:48.001
I love corniness.

00:46:48.061 --> 00:46:50.911
I love sentimentality in music.

00:46:50.911 --> 00:46:52.952
I just, I don't, I don't hold back.

00:46:53.222 --> 00:46:53.512
Sure.

00:46:53.612 --> 00:46:55.842
the whole ethos of PokeCello.

00:46:55.862 --> 00:46:57.092
I do not hold back.

00:46:57.092 --> 00:46:58.322
There's no restraint happening

00:46:58.637 --> 00:46:59.746
Ooh, I love that.

00:46:59.746 --> 00:47:00.166
Yeah.

00:47:00.242 --> 00:47:03.619
bring everything to like the, the most intensity.

00:47:03.858 --> 00:47:09.679
I really want to just take whatever the, the quality of that track is, and we're gonna just turn it up to 11.

00:47:10.398 --> 00:47:10.518
Hmm.

00:47:10.608 --> 00:47:11.989
no doing it halfway.

00:47:12.329 --> 00:47:18.757
So I realized that I could do this, series of transpositions and circle of fit score changes and I kind of just set it in.

00:47:18.788 --> 00:47:24.547
I just kind of put programs into my.as a, almost like a joke because it sounded so cheesy.

00:47:24.547 --> 00:47:26.077
It was so ridiculous.

00:47:26.231 --> 00:47:31.181
and I was like, okay, well I did one of these transpositions, lemme do another one after that.

00:47:31.661 --> 00:47:33.010
Let's see what that sounds like.

00:47:33.760 --> 00:47:37.331
And then I was like, well, what if I do another one after that?

00:47:38.201 --> 00:47:39.431
what could that sound like?

00:47:39.641 --> 00:47:41.891
and that ended up being my favorite part of the song.

00:47:41.891 --> 00:47:44.891
It was definitely the riskiest because it is very cheesy.

00:47:45.791 --> 00:47:48.340
is absolutely something you would hear in Eurovision.

00:47:48.679 --> 00:47:52.608
but it also has just a lot of my personality in it.

00:47:52.938 --> 00:47:55.039
Um, I was very nervous about releasing it.

00:47:56.161 --> 00:47:58.860
didn't want, get attached to it.

00:47:58.860 --> 00:48:03.934
I really tried to, to, like I mentioned, I tried to kind of stay detached from, the audience reaction.

00:48:04.402 --> 00:48:08.541
it was just a really kind of fun, it started out as a fun puzzle.

00:48:08.898 --> 00:48:11.387
and then it turned into something really expressive.

00:48:11.777 --> 00:48:17.862
And I'll be honest with you, I am frankly shocked that it came out half as well it did.

00:48:18.367 --> 00:48:18.717
Right.

00:48:18.827 --> 00:48:20.717
could, it could have been a disaster.

00:48:20.987 --> 00:48:22.697
but yeah, that, that was my experience with it.

00:48:22.697 --> 00:48:23.418
It was really fun.

00:48:53.456 --> 00:48:56.036
I mean, it just sounds like maybe it's the vulnerable side of your own creation.

00:48:56.036 --> 00:49:07.735
'cause now you, you know, it's not, you don't have a blueprint for this, you know, this isn't based off of Pokemon gets inspired by it, but it's like, if people don't like it, it's like almost like you take it personally in a way, you know, you're try not to, but it's hard not to as an artist.

00:49:07.735 --> 00:49:08.126
Yeah.

00:49:08.621 --> 00:49:09.161
oh, it is.

00:49:09.161 --> 00:49:09.521
Yes.

00:49:09.521 --> 00:49:10.900
I read all of your comments.

00:49:12.536 --> 00:49:14.215
Every single 4,000 of'em.

00:49:15.568 --> 00:49:16.277
Well Pokecello.

00:49:16.364 --> 00:49:18.014
Thank you for coming on as the poke ball turns.

00:49:18.253 --> 00:49:26.188
I wanna finish on this last question'cause I think you have a very powerful story you know, you've turned shallow into like a vessel of storytelling, connection and healing.

00:49:26.998 --> 00:49:32.518
You know, what do you hope people carry with them hearing your music, whether it's longtime fans or someone to step into the Pokemon world for the first time?

00:49:33.108 --> 00:49:44.494
So one of the things that has always spoken to me in every version of music that I've done, um, you know, so being a freelance musician, I've done a million things.

00:49:44.494 --> 00:49:45.934
I was an orchestral musician.

00:49:45.934 --> 00:49:53.585
I've done film scores, I've done music videos, I've done dance tracks, I've written music, um, and now I'm doing video game remixes.

00:49:53.974 --> 00:50:09.577
But across all of it, I've always felt that music has this, unparalled Capacity to not only help you understand yourself, understand your own story, understand who you are, what your life is about.

00:50:10.030 --> 00:50:22.061
I've always felt very strongly about music that way, and it's always kind of helped me not necessarily achieve full self-actualization, of course, but it's always helped me just kind of settle in and say, okay, I am this kind of person.

00:50:22.061 --> 00:50:24.041
I am living this kind of life.

00:50:24.760 --> 00:50:26.170
is who I want to be.

00:50:26.606 --> 00:50:31.527
music just really helps us understand It helps us understand our own lives.

00:50:31.527 --> 00:50:33.947
It helps us understand other people, across everything.

00:50:34.336 --> 00:50:40.396
So when I'm making tracks, I want just a little bit of that for my audience.

00:50:40.427 --> 00:50:43.456
I want my audience to listen to this, whatever it is.

00:50:43.456 --> 00:50:50.284
even if it, again, just like a, the tiniest little sliver of helping them understand something, if it's.

00:50:50.338 --> 00:50:51.869
A, a chill track.

00:50:51.898 --> 00:50:59.009
It's coming home at the end of a long day, at the end of a hard day, finding a place to let it go, right?

00:50:59.009 --> 00:51:01.259
If it's an exciting track, if it's a hype track.

00:51:01.590 --> 00:51:05.632
Pokemon music is all about determination, in my pretentious dramatic view.

00:51:05.751 --> 00:51:11.362
Um, I want to give just a sliver of that to my audience.

00:51:11.362 --> 00:51:15.956
I want them to hear this, and some part of them can kind of relax.

00:51:15.985 --> 00:51:21.025
Some part of them can kind of feel centered, feel like there's some kind of understanding happening.

00:51:21.329 --> 00:51:26.159
if I get half of half of half of 1%, you know, I think I've done my job.

00:51:26.612 --> 00:51:32.523
It almost sounds like for you, Pokemon kind of reclaimed your identity because you could have given up when you lost your job.

00:51:32.523 --> 00:51:37.742
You could have given up when you were diagnosed with cancer, but you didn't, and it sounds like Pokemon thinking.

00:51:37.742 --> 00:51:40.802
This music kind of reclaimed who you were in a way.

00:51:41.251 --> 00:51:44.949
Well, I mean, my whole career has been about bouncing back,

00:51:45.400 --> 00:51:45.519
Mm-hmm.

00:51:45.820 --> 00:51:47.590
that we could, we could talk about cancer.

00:51:47.650 --> 00:51:49.090
We can also talk about the pandemic.

00:51:49.090 --> 00:51:50.440
I was in a car crash.

00:51:50.440 --> 00:51:52.239
I have a traumatic brain injury.

00:51:52.239 --> 00:51:53.889
I'm disabled, I have chronic illness.

00:51:53.889 --> 00:51:54.579
Like, there's so

00:51:54.730 --> 00:51:55.599
Wow.

00:51:55.599 --> 00:51:55.989
Yeah.

00:51:56.170 --> 00:51:57.039
am a wreck.

00:51:57.070 --> 00:51:58.539
There's so much going on with me.

00:51:58.989 --> 00:52:01.329
Do you have a podcast for people who are Rex?

00:52:01.389 --> 00:52:02.019
Um,

00:52:02.184 --> 00:52:03.295
to as the pickleball turns were.

00:52:05.349 --> 00:52:07.179
so absolutely.

00:52:07.360 --> 00:52:10.750
The, the feeling that Pokemon brings it is so frivolous.

00:52:10.750 --> 00:52:11.590
It is so silly.

00:52:11.590 --> 00:52:13.119
It is so non-important.

00:52:13.480 --> 00:52:17.110
But there is this feeling of determination, a feeling of dedication, a feeling of.

00:52:17.409 --> 00:52:18.639
You lose battles.

00:52:18.820 --> 00:52:19.809
Pokemon, faint.

00:52:20.619 --> 00:52:21.730
have rivals.

00:52:21.789 --> 00:52:25.000
There are sometimes there are, there are stakes, but it's a video game, so who cares?

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:31.389
And I think for Pokemon, really is just a place for me to reclaim that feeling of dedication.

00:52:31.876 --> 00:52:32.646
Will PokeCello.

00:52:32.956 --> 00:52:34.635
Before you go, people wanna check out your content.

00:52:34.635 --> 00:52:36.135
If they want to connect with you, where can they go?

00:52:36.135 --> 00:52:37.425
By all means, please plug away.

00:52:37.815 --> 00:52:38.505
Absolutely.

00:52:38.505 --> 00:52:40.186
You can find me on YouTube.

00:52:40.538 --> 00:52:42.907
I am primarily there to respond to comments.

00:52:42.907 --> 00:52:45.038
I actually do try to respond to every single comment I get.

00:52:45.038 --> 00:52:45.907
I love comments.

00:52:46.121 --> 00:52:48.641
all of my music is also on Spotify, apple Music.

00:52:48.971 --> 00:52:51.221
basically any streaming service you can find me there.

00:52:51.481 --> 00:52:54.840
and please just check out whatever speaks to you.

00:52:54.840 --> 00:53:04.391
I really encourage you to interact and, I love when people give me suggestions, recommendations, drop a comment, like, and subscribe, all of that good stuff.

00:53:04.838 --> 00:53:11.708
Thank you for listening to As The Pokeball Turns, if this story resonated with you, share the podcast with the fellow trainer and don't forget to follow us.

00:53:11.708 --> 00:53:14.197
For more voices, more journeys, and more memories.

00:53:14.588 --> 00:53:18.757
I'm David Hernandez, and remember, your next Pokemon adventure begins here.