Dec. 18, 2024

TRAINER'S EYE #120 - "Arcanine Zoomies For Pokemon TCG" ft. Justin Keller from Special Conditions & Sleep It Off

TRAINER'S EYE #120 -
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Season 1 Podcasters

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by Justin Keller, A Pokemon Trainer who specializes in the TCG, and is the co-host of both Special Conditions and Sleep it Off.

Justin Keller starts his Pokemon journey from both watching the Pokemon anime and purchasing Pokemon cards. Justin Keller shares his interest in dogs and how that led to his favorite Pokemon, Arcanine.

Justin Keller dives into his experience with Pokemon GO, starting with his time in Kansas. Thank to Pokemon GO, Justin Keller finds his interest in the Pokemon TCG, starting initially as a collector before transitioning to attending locals and regionals for Pokemon TCG.

Finally, Justin Keller talks about why he wanted to become a podcaster. He started his podcast journey by becoming the new co-host for Special Conditions, a Pokemon TCG podcast where they talk about Pokemon cards and how the cards affect the new meta. Justin Keller next dives into his interest in Pokemon Sleep and becoming a co-host with PureLighter, where they talk about events, updates, and their experience with Pokemon Sleep.

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

Connect with Justin Keller: Website

Send us a text

Support the show

Connect with David Hernandez: Linktree
E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com

Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:05.652
I'm Justin Keller, host of Special Conditions and Sleep It Off, and this is my Pokemon story.

00:00:44.975 --> 00:00:50.155
Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon.

00:00:50.674 --> 00:00:52.405
My name is David Hernandez.

00:00:52.844 --> 00:01:01.631
Today, I'm joined by Justin Keller, co host of both the Special Conditions podcast, a TCG podcast, and Sleep It Off, a Pokemon Sleep podcast.

00:01:01.975 --> 00:01:03.615
Justin, welcome to the podcast!

00:01:04.066 --> 00:01:06.087
Hey, long time coming.

00:01:06.637 --> 00:01:07.856
It has been, Justin.

00:01:07.867 --> 00:01:12.447
What we were talking about before, I said, I've known you haven't been on the show for a while, but you've had a lot of life experience.

00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:15.319
activities go on, you know, for example, you just got married.

00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:16.900
So congratulations on that.

00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:17.739
you, thank you.

00:01:18.811 --> 00:01:25.570
Booked the venue in August of last year, if that tells you anything, this is now December of the following year.

00:01:25.811 --> 00:01:28.911
And so, you know, it was like over a year of planning and all that stuff.

00:01:28.911 --> 00:01:30.881
So it was quite a long endeavor.

00:01:31.096 --> 00:01:31.775
Absolutely.

00:01:31.775 --> 00:01:40.575
And you know, weddings are important, you know, they're, you know, very necessary, but it's also the anniversary of when you started on special conditions, it's going on two years.

00:01:40.575 --> 00:01:46.555
And I got to ask, how has that journey been just going into talking about TCG with Adam to even now?

00:01:47.152 --> 00:01:50.371
You know, it's kind of wild to think that it's been two years.

00:01:50.382 --> 00:01:57.117
It, I learned about the TCG really through listening to special conditions with Adam and Josh Brown as the hosts.

00:01:57.424 --> 00:02:00.194
and then I was like, you know, this is kind of fun, you know, listening to it.

00:02:00.213 --> 00:02:05.433
I already liked Adam through listening to him from Lure It Up and the Pokemon Go podcast.

00:02:05.733 --> 00:02:06.129
And.

00:02:06.129 --> 00:02:08.189
it kind of like spoke to me like, all right, this could be fun.

00:02:08.189 --> 00:02:10.490
And this was also a formative year for a lot of people.

00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:11.460
It was 2020.

00:02:11.530 --> 00:02:12.969
We didn't have a lot of things to do.

00:02:13.262 --> 00:02:14.401
I was currently unemployed.

00:02:14.412 --> 00:02:18.455
So like, Hmm, let me see what I can do about these cards.

00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.581
And so like, you know, I'm starting on TCG online.

00:02:21.592 --> 00:02:27.122
I'm trying to like learn the things and listening to Adam talk about the stuff, getting excited about the cards.

00:02:27.181 --> 00:02:30.844
And this was like right before the whole crash of Logan Paul.

00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:35.569
That's kinda like, how I got started into like, learning about it, learning about the card game.

00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.370
And then like I caught the bug.

00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:38.840
I was buying the cardboard.

00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:40.389
I was wanting to play the game.

00:02:40.409 --> 00:02:41.759
I was getting all the codes.

00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.657
This was back in the day when you had to pretty much buy codes.

00:02:44.657 --> 00:02:58.110
You had to pay money for these code cards just so you could redeem them for individual cards So like, if you wanted a, Giratina V for example, you might have to redeem 20 code cards worth just to trade for it.

00:02:58.569 --> 00:03:02.016
Or you can try your luck at like opening the packs manually.

00:03:02.366 --> 00:03:03.836
yeah, so I was learning that way.

00:03:03.977 --> 00:03:06.977
And then I was like, come on, locals open up now.

00:03:06.986 --> 00:03:09.606
We're getting into like the 2021 timeframe.

00:03:10.326 --> 00:03:13.046
There's not really like people aren't really like playing in person yet.

00:03:13.046 --> 00:03:17.206
But I finally did find a store near one of my friend's house that had locals.

00:03:17.556 --> 00:03:20.776
So I was able to start building decks and going and playing in person.

00:03:21.296 --> 00:03:26.046
And that's when I really like started to appreciate the game and what it was about.

00:03:26.486 --> 00:03:37.125
Fast forward I noticed that special conditions is getting like fewer episodes and farther between, and all of a sudden it hadn't like, they hadn't posted in, say a month and a half, two months.

00:03:37.625 --> 00:03:40.105
And so I talked to Adam like, Hey.

00:03:40.150 --> 00:03:43.151
I'd hate for you to have to quit this podcast.

00:03:43.191 --> 00:03:45.881
I will help you host if that's something you're interested in.

00:03:46.188 --> 00:03:47.729
And then he was me like, yes.

00:03:47.758 --> 00:03:52.186
And it's like, you know, we talked to Ken cause he's like grandfather of the Pokemon professor network.

00:03:52.568 --> 00:03:53.658
and then that's how we started.

00:03:54.218 --> 00:03:58.609
So basically special conditions started your interest in the trading card game of Pokemon.

00:03:59.149 --> 00:04:02.248
And at that time you didn't play the card game or you didn't collect at all.

00:04:02.689 --> 00:04:03.240
I didn't.

00:04:03.750 --> 00:04:07.270
I hadn't touched cards since I was in elementary school.

00:04:07.414 --> 00:04:08.275
That's crazy.

00:04:08.525 --> 00:04:12.094
So at the time when you were listening to the podcast, you were just collecting.

00:04:12.094 --> 00:04:13.564
Cause of course things were closed down.

00:04:14.064 --> 00:04:14.844
What were you trying to do?

00:04:14.844 --> 00:04:17.305
Were you trying to get like the whole collection completed?

00:04:17.345 --> 00:04:19.495
Were you trying to just get specific ones you were going after?

00:04:20.290 --> 00:04:24.720
I mean, at the early days, I was just learning, like, what even the different rarities were.

00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.228
Within the first, let's say, 15 packs I opened.

00:04:28.567 --> 00:04:30.108
I got this rainbow card.

00:04:30.267 --> 00:04:32.288
It was a rainbow Eternatus VMAX.

00:04:32.317 --> 00:04:35.728
I'm like, I don't even know what the heck this thing is.

00:04:36.168 --> 00:04:37.858
I've never seen a rainbow card.

00:04:37.858 --> 00:04:40.978
I had never, I don't even, I barely knew what a VMAX was.

00:04:40.978 --> 00:04:42.827
I just knew it was a bigger version of something.

00:04:43.267 --> 00:04:45.338
I didn't know about secret rares.

00:04:45.747 --> 00:04:47.658
I knew about the main set.

00:04:47.697 --> 00:04:49.307
I didn't know about TCG player.

00:04:49.307 --> 00:04:54.043
I didn't know about so many things and I was just like, let's get the cardboard.

00:04:54.454 --> 00:05:02.033
Let's watch Leonhardt and all of his opening videos and all the nostalgic videos of like, Team Rocket, Base Set, all that stuff.

00:05:02.625 --> 00:05:14.495
And, you know, before you became the co host of Special Conditions, while you were just listening and you were collecting the cards during the pandemic, what was it about Special Conditions that played a role into you getting involved with Pokemon?

00:05:14.495 --> 00:05:16.165
Like, what was it about that show specifically?

00:05:16.749 --> 00:05:23.983
So, at the time, I wasn't familiar with a lot of TCG podcasts, and they just weren't, they didn't seem as prevalent at the time.

00:05:23.983 --> 00:05:26.572
And, podcasts are my thing.

00:05:26.622 --> 00:05:28.422
That's how I consume a lot of my media.

00:05:28.752 --> 00:05:43.213
for work I'm a mechanical engineer and, at the time I was designing air conditioning systems for school districts and they, while can be technical at times, can also be very mundane tasks doing a bunch of drafting on the computer.

00:05:43.512 --> 00:05:49.182
And so I consume a lot of media through podcast form because I can listen to it while at work.

00:05:49.663 --> 00:05:51.322
And, that was one of the things.

00:05:51.651 --> 00:06:02.098
Pokemon specifically as well as sports and other things, but I really just enjoyed the podcast format because you really feel like Friends you feel like you're part of the group.

00:06:02.098 --> 00:06:05.088
You feel like you know them even if you don't know them.

00:06:05.656 --> 00:06:15.975
you know, that's such a good way to say it because, you know, it's always been said, you know, we get to develop a deeper connection compared to visual formats and you actually remind me of when I was working because I was essential.

00:06:15.975 --> 00:06:17.545
I was a caseworker.

00:06:17.891 --> 00:06:25.387
So I'd have to drive around everywhere, all over Dallas for those, you know, shout out to you guys, cause we don't get paid enough, but you know, basically lived in my car.

00:06:25.637 --> 00:06:28.048
I got tired of just listening to the same music.

00:06:28.267 --> 00:06:34.968
I love the songs, but they would just become repetitive and that's how I got introduced to podcast because it allowed you to kind of consume different topics.

00:06:34.968 --> 00:06:38.257
It you got to hear different subjects being talked about, you know,

00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:47.500
yeah, At one time podcast seemed like a dying art, but you know in the last couple years especially from the Pandemic podcasts have made this huge resurgence.

00:06:47.511 --> 00:06:48.081
It's crazy.

00:06:48.091 --> 00:06:51.221
Everyone has their own podcast now, which I'm all for

00:06:51.591 --> 00:06:53.740
Yeah, it's a new rap album of 2020.

00:06:53.761 --> 00:06:54.451
That's what I call it.

00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:04.701
But on that note, so, you know, we fast forward to when you asked to be the co host of special conditions.

00:07:05.043 --> 00:07:07.692
It's one thing to be just somebody who consumes the podcast.

00:07:07.713 --> 00:07:09.072
Meaning it's another to actually.

00:07:09.072 --> 00:07:17.180
be part of the whole Format of having to develop a show of if you decide to do editing and all that What made you want to step up to become the co host special conditions?

00:07:17.783 --> 00:07:19.084
I just felt like it was time.

00:07:19.423 --> 00:07:24.074
A, I wanted to return the favor for like, what that show specifically had done for me.

00:07:24.418 --> 00:07:28.199
B, I also just wanted to give back to the podcast space at large.

00:07:28.228 --> 00:07:30.858
I enjoy them so much, and I enjoy so much about them.

00:07:31.228 --> 00:07:33.052
I just wanted to give back.

00:07:33.052 --> 00:07:38.822
It felt just like I consumed so many, so ferociously, if you will.

00:07:39.041 --> 00:07:40.951
I just wanted to give back.

00:07:41.497 --> 00:07:43.257
And so I was like, this is my way to give back.

00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:44.689
it was the thing.

00:07:45.214 --> 00:07:50.415
It's not necessarily that I knew the most about, but I had the desire to talk about it.

00:07:50.415 --> 00:07:52.134
And, you know, if people want to listen, they want to listen.

00:07:52.533 --> 00:07:58.812
now when you came to record your first episode, what was it like, you know for me I recorded I had no idea what was going on.

00:07:58.992 --> 00:08:00.473
Were you still kind of scared?

00:08:00.502 --> 00:08:01.663
Were you kind of comfortable?

00:08:02.357 --> 00:08:11.610
Definitely anxious, kind of intimidated, but you know, it's pretty easy when, I'm joining a longtime co host.

00:08:11.610 --> 00:08:14.642
Adam's been doing podcasts for years and years now.

00:08:15.192 --> 00:08:17.189
Even though he would say he's no expert.

00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.709
He was an expert compared to me.

00:08:18.709 --> 00:08:20.910
So it made it like smooth sailing.

00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:26.971
So having Adam as a co host made it really easy for you to transition into that podcast role, it sounds like.

00:08:27.302 --> 00:08:29.173
Yeah, I wasn't paralyzed, huh?

00:08:29.233 --> 00:08:30.312
Special conditions pun.

00:08:32.023 --> 00:08:32.283
Or

00:08:32.298 --> 00:08:32.528
flip a

00:08:33.283 --> 00:08:33.822
another one.

00:08:34.187 --> 00:08:34.518
Yep.

00:08:34.587 --> 00:08:34.947
Yep.

00:08:35.258 --> 00:08:36.378
and he didn't get burned either.

00:08:36.452 --> 00:08:41.143
Oh, I'm trying to

00:08:41.298 --> 00:08:41.488
right.

00:08:41.508 --> 00:08:43.197
Now, now I think the joke is poisoned.

00:08:43.263 --> 00:08:47.682
Yeah, I can't think of he found he found one guys.

00:08:48.513 --> 00:08:49.253
I couldn't think of one.

00:08:50.582 --> 00:08:50.763
Now

00:08:51.138 --> 00:08:52.268
He's just confused.

00:08:54.697 --> 00:08:55.567
See, we got there.

00:08:55.572 --> 00:08:56.062
we got it.

00:08:56.082 --> 00:08:56.482
We got it.

00:08:56.482 --> 00:08:57.302
Yeah, we got them all.

00:08:57.923 --> 00:09:02.426
But you know, it's great that you know, you came into the podcast space and you know, started with TCG.

00:09:02.900 --> 00:09:06.341
And now that you've done the podcast, I know you got a chance to 10 regionals.

00:09:06.341 --> 00:09:09.461
And you actually go into like locals playing the TCG.

00:09:09.671 --> 00:09:14.835
how did you transition from being a collector to becoming like an active player and trying to go out to these tournaments?

00:09:15.280 --> 00:09:17.900
First, to help seeing a friendly face there, wink.

00:09:18.721 --> 00:09:20.780
That was the first time we had met in person, right?

00:09:21.130 --> 00:09:21.740
Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:22.321
I forgot about that.

00:09:22.321 --> 00:09:22.921
Yeah, that's true,

00:09:23.431 --> 00:09:25.471
Yeah, Arlington 2022.

00:09:26.451 --> 00:09:27.660
In December, right?

00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:28.650
December 22.

00:09:28.671 --> 00:09:31.260
Man, something about that month and year was just special, I guess.

00:09:31.260 --> 00:09:33.181
Mm

00:09:34.115 --> 00:09:43.482
no, I just like, a, it was convenient because it was really close by B, since I was pretty involved in my locals at the time, I knew a bunch of people going.

00:09:43.482 --> 00:09:44.432
So it made it easy.

00:09:44.816 --> 00:09:49.750
see, I really just wanted to experience what a huge tournament was like.

00:09:49.750 --> 00:10:01.514
Now, I had been in some like box tournaments or local star tournaments that pushed like, 60-80 people, but you know, this tournament was pushing, 1500 and that's masters in TCG specifically.

00:10:01.524 --> 00:10:07.554
It doesn't even include, you know, all the VGC or the, the juniors and seniors or any of that stuff.

00:10:08.176 --> 00:10:13.806
Now, you're competitive in TCG, and you know, the other ones people are familiar with are with VGC and specifically also Go.

00:10:14.196 --> 00:10:17.676
Why did you lean towards being more competitive in just the trading card?

00:10:17.676 --> 00:10:22.115
Is it just your experience because of the podcast, or is it just more of you like the card game more?

00:10:22.722 --> 00:10:24.572
So like, I like Pokemon Go.

00:10:24.875 --> 00:10:26.395
I like VGC.

00:10:26.696 --> 00:10:30.072
But their play styles are more remote oriented.

00:10:30.370 --> 00:10:33.096
You're not really going in person to these things.

00:10:33.155 --> 00:10:35.446
I enjoy the in person experience.

00:10:35.846 --> 00:10:36.495
So.

00:10:36.582 --> 00:10:39.043
TCG is largely in person.

00:10:39.273 --> 00:10:44.289
Granted, when I started learning, it was TCGO and a lot of online only.

00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:50.049
But it's largely people dedicating their time during the week to travel to their local store to play.

00:10:50.363 --> 00:10:53.503
And there's just something different about the in person experience.

00:10:53.503 --> 00:10:58.623
I'm sure, like, you experience when you go to the Pokémon GO events in the summertime.

00:10:58.936 --> 00:11:05.416
the reason why people go to in person GoFest, it's, or just like even remote GoFest, but you meet up with a bunch of people.

00:11:05.446 --> 00:11:07.696
It's just that in person personal connection.

00:11:07.706 --> 00:11:08.676
It's just can't be beat.

00:11:09.265 --> 00:11:11.995
So if you're going to like play a fun deck, what would you play?

00:11:12.436 --> 00:11:14.355
Like what's a fun deck for Justin?

00:11:17.056 --> 00:11:17.846
hmm.

00:11:18.167 --> 00:11:21.057
everyone enjoys what's called like a beat stick deck.

00:11:21.336 --> 00:11:22.687
I do big damage.

00:11:23.657 --> 00:11:25.486
So like Roaring Moon, fun deck.

00:11:25.486 --> 00:11:26.076
You can hit big damage.

00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:34.691
Any HP you want, it has a, it has a move called, frenzied gouging where you just like, I knock you out and then it then does 200 damage to itself, but it doesn't matter.

00:11:34.691 --> 00:11:36.191
I knocked you out, so

00:11:36.520 --> 00:11:38.000
think of Charizard base set.

00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:38.671
Basically.

00:11:38.831 --> 00:11:39.701
yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:11:39.730 --> 00:11:40.270
Exactly.

00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.020
Exactly.

00:11:41.681 --> 00:11:43.510
Do the most damage possible.

00:11:43.870 --> 00:11:50.701
Another one that was really fun there was an Eternatus deck that I really enjoyed because, you didn't need a lot of energy to power it up.

00:11:51.010 --> 00:11:56.110
It had a special ability where instead of putting 5 Pokemon on your bench, you could put up to 8 Pokemon on your bench.

00:11:56.509 --> 00:11:59.623
And you just got to play more cards than the other person.

00:11:59.623 --> 00:12:02.413
And you just played faster and it just was so much fun.

00:12:02.413 --> 00:12:06.033
And then you could also, there was a Galarian wheezing that turned off their abilities.

00:12:06.413 --> 00:12:11.548
So you could basically stall while you set up everything and they like, can't use their abilities.

00:12:11.558 --> 00:12:12.359
So it was fun.

00:12:12.359 --> 00:12:16.739
The other people didn't enjoy playing against it, I certainly enjoyed it.

00:12:17.354 --> 00:12:20.163
You enjoy being on the, uh, giving it, but not the receiving.

00:12:20.403 --> 00:12:20.864
Yes,

00:12:20.894 --> 00:12:21.264
what they say.

00:12:21.264 --> 00:12:21.394
Yeah.

00:12:22.398 --> 00:12:25.380
Do you ever try to play a deck based around your favorite Pokemon at all?

00:12:26.004 --> 00:12:30.663
you I try but like man, so my favorite Pokemon is arcanine.

00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:43.220
He doesn't have a lot of competitively viable cards now the Hasuian Arcanine Did see a small amount of rogue deck play but really He just doesn't see a lot of play right now.

00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:52.667
Now, we did just in TCG Pocket, there was like an event, and you can play the Arcanine in like regular PvP in TCG Pocket and do okay.

00:12:52.886 --> 00:12:55.407
But, as far as a trading card game goes, not really.

00:12:55.984 --> 00:12:57.313
Now you said Arcanine is your favorite.

00:12:57.614 --> 00:12:59.114
How did it become your favorite Pokemon?

00:12:59.423 --> 00:13:02.903
So like many things, Foundation from Childhood.

00:13:03.419 --> 00:13:04.710
the year is 1998.

00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:06.269
We're in a blockbuster.

00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:10.537
I'm like, come on, parents, please let me get a pack of Pokemon cards.

00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:11.870
I think I'm in the first grade.

00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.110
they're like, okay, if you share with your brother, cause they didn't know what it was, they don't know what they're buying.

00:13:16.110 --> 00:13:18.899
And just like a little piece of cardboard for three or 4.

00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:19.120
Why?

00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:26.844
And so in that first pack that we open, there's an Arcanine card in there, which I had never seen before.

00:13:26.844 --> 00:13:28.293
I didn't know about this Arcanine.

00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:31.259
And At the time, I really wanted a pet dog.

00:13:31.269 --> 00:13:33.330
I was trying to convince my parents that we should get a dog.

00:13:33.700 --> 00:13:37.279
And so I immediately gravitated like, Oh, this Arcanine is a dog.

00:13:37.614 --> 00:13:38.663
It is now my favorite.

00:13:38.663 --> 00:13:41.063
So

00:13:41.163 --> 00:13:42.364
was the card out of curiosity?

00:13:42.514 --> 00:13:43.494
What set was it from?

00:13:43.797 --> 00:13:45.626
The good old Base Set Arcanine.

00:13:46.226 --> 00:13:48.197
Oh my gosh, the legendary Pokemon.

00:13:48.986 --> 00:13:50.777
Heh heh, I think that's what it says on the card.

00:13:50.777 --> 00:13:52.326
The Legendary Pokemon.

00:13:52.876 --> 00:13:56.509
So I want to close off this section with something that y'all do on special conditions.

00:13:56.830 --> 00:13:58.182
It's called art of the week.

00:13:58.476 --> 00:14:00.796
Well, how about you explain what is art of the week real quick.

00:14:01.375 --> 00:14:12.703
Art of the Week is something we do from time to time where we focus on a certain Pokémon and it could be a Machop, it could be a Articuno, it could be whatever.

00:14:12.703 --> 00:14:28.241
A lot of times it's like randomly generated and then we go through, before the show, we go through all the art and we go through some honorable mentions and we rate like our top three and we just visually talk about the art and some of these crazy cards you may have never seen.

00:14:28.591 --> 00:14:33.381
And some of these Gen 1 Pokemon have an obscene number of cards.

00:14:33.461 --> 00:14:39.177
Like I'm trying to complete my Arcanine set and there's like 60 cards or something crazy.

00:14:39.177 --> 00:14:40.817
I don't even know the number anymore.

00:14:41.298 --> 00:14:50.028
There's, there's like variants of cards and some of these cards are like 200 and I'm just like, I'll get it eventually, but it's not high on the list.

00:14:50.682 --> 00:14:54.743
So for the sake of time, I didn't prepare that much, but we're going to just do one card.

00:14:55.787 --> 00:15:00.011
Ah, this is Blaine's Arcanine.

00:15:00.652 --> 00:15:04.788
So, this is from back in the day when there were Gym Leader Pokémon.

00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:09.331
So it's an Arcanine and he's opening his mouth like he's about to breathe a fire blast.

00:15:09.711 --> 00:15:13.721
And the background is a holographic, you know, with a Cosmo holo pattern.

00:15:14.160 --> 00:15:18.041
And it looks like the fire blast is just directly behind him.

00:15:18.980 --> 00:15:20.140
It's a first edition.

00:15:20.321 --> 00:15:26.125
He's a legendary Pokemon it's just very classic late nineties Pokemon card.

00:15:26.696 --> 00:15:27.235
It is.

00:15:27.296 --> 00:15:31.645
So the reason why I brought this up is this was actually when the gym sets basically came out.

00:15:31.974 --> 00:15:33.533
this is the first set that I ever got.

00:15:33.533 --> 00:15:37.403
I got the Blaine's deck'cause I saw this Aine and I saw it.

00:15:37.553 --> 00:15:40.313
So for those who don't know, it has an attack called Firestorm.

00:15:40.524 --> 00:15:43.644
It deals a hundred think big damage 120 damage.

00:15:44.124 --> 00:15:46.313
And I'm like, dude, that's stronger than jars are.

00:15:47.469 --> 00:15:50.649
And that's the only, it was, but that's the only reason why I got it.

00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:52.028
I think it was a blockbuster as well.

00:15:52.339 --> 00:15:53.678
And so I card.

00:15:53.678 --> 00:15:53.928
Yeah.

00:15:55.153 --> 00:15:56.793
Hold on, hold on one second.

00:15:56.793 --> 00:15:57.274
I'll be back

00:15:57.479 --> 00:15:57.828
All right.

00:16:00.047 --> 00:16:11.760
While he's looking for stuff, follow the podcast, Spotify, Apple music, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast, follow as the pokeball turns, do it now.

00:16:12.374 --> 00:16:13.553
Give me five stars.

00:16:14.177 --> 00:16:15.317
Dang, I must have put it away.

00:16:15.537 --> 00:16:19.417
But what I was gonna do is I have a sealed box of that deck

00:16:19.601 --> 00:16:20.501
Oh, wow.

00:16:20.777 --> 00:16:21.067
Dang.

00:16:21.197 --> 00:16:28.017
Yeah, a friend of mine had it from their childhood and they knew how much I loved Arcanine so they gave it to me There's sealed collection

00:16:28.261 --> 00:16:29.971
Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

00:16:30.326 --> 00:16:31.265
as you were saying

00:16:31.551 --> 00:16:32.331
so I have my car.

00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:33.831
I still have that car.

00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:36.831
It's a little bent, unfortunately, but I still have it.

00:16:36.831 --> 00:16:40.280
And the fact that, you know, Heim was your favorite, I had to bring it onto the show.

00:16:40.280 --> 00:16:43.431
It's like, I haven't had a chance to talk about Now it's not first edition guys.

00:16:43.431 --> 00:16:44.451
It's not first edition.

00:16:44.451 --> 00:16:44.780
Trust me.

00:16:44.875 --> 00:16:46.316
Yeah.

00:16:46.400 --> 00:16:46.850
arc and I

00:16:47.196 --> 00:16:47.505
Yeah.

00:16:47.576 --> 00:16:47.796
Yeah.

00:16:47.796 --> 00:16:48.025
Yeah.

00:16:48.296 --> 00:16:51.655
Luckily you can like get a replacement for like 20 bucks now or something.

00:16:51.951 --> 00:16:53.166
Yeah, I don't wanna replace it.

00:16:53.171 --> 00:16:54.140
It has, uh, nostalgia

00:16:54.235 --> 00:17:01.135
Well I meant like a better one like, you know, think about now that you wouldn't, you would never replace the original.

00:17:01.155 --> 00:17:07.569
I finally, after like, I don't know, 15 years found my original Arcanine card.

00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:12.809
It was buried behind another Arcanine card in my childhood binder that I didn't know about.

00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:14.750
It was buried, it was in my parents basement.

00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:16.039
really?

00:17:16.089 --> 00:17:17.160
You didn't even know about it?

00:17:17.829 --> 00:17:23.130
Well like I knew, there, but I don't live in Kansas anymore.

00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:30.349
And so my chances to, like, when I go back to remember to go find the, I mean, put the binder in the basement was like slim to none.

00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:30.730
So,

00:17:31.769 --> 00:17:33.150
So that's the first card.

00:17:33.453 --> 00:17:35.233
The second one is my favorite Pokemon.

00:17:35.443 --> 00:17:37.003
And I decided to pick this one.

00:17:37.290 --> 00:17:42.230
for those who don't know, it's actually the promo Articuno, which came out during the power of one.

00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.030
It had three legendary birds.

00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.924
And what you see here is Articuno shooting like a ice mist.

00:17:47.924 --> 00:17:50.384
It's only probably an ice beam, but it's ice mist kind of attack.

00:17:50.663 --> 00:17:51.163
It's called

00:17:51.828 --> 00:17:52.618
ray or something.

00:17:52.644 --> 00:17:53.544
Yeah, exactly.

00:17:53.834 --> 00:18:00.231
And the reason why I chose this is I feel like this is Articuno is my favorite and I'm trying to have a binder full of Articuno cards for those who don't know.

00:18:01.102 --> 00:18:03.842
And I feel like this one is so underrated.

00:18:04.162 --> 00:18:06.701
Because it just has Articuno with movement.

00:18:06.701 --> 00:18:07.582
It's not hollow.

00:18:07.582 --> 00:18:14.451
I know I get it, you know, it's not shiny, I guess, but I've always just appreciated just kind of how they get Articuno in a very serious pose.

00:18:14.761 --> 00:18:18.442
And it's actually has a whitish color, which I really, really enjoy.

00:18:18.882 --> 00:18:19.201
So,

00:18:19.587 --> 00:18:23.462
yeah, it's like the Articuno is like the Articuno is charging up for that blast.

00:18:23.472 --> 00:18:24.762
That's why he's whiter.

00:18:25.192 --> 00:18:31.373
And, uh, another reason I think it's cool is it it can paralyze the other Pokemon, a special condition.

00:18:31.373 --> 00:18:35.643
Oh

00:18:36.971 --> 00:18:37.402
but

00:18:37.406 --> 00:18:38.051
but very cool.

00:18:38.051 --> 00:18:39.626
I had not actually seen this card.

00:18:39.717 --> 00:18:41.567
I familiar with this Bromo.

00:18:41.636 --> 00:18:42.017
Yeah.

00:18:42.027 --> 00:18:46.186
I've seen a lot of the older Articunos, but I don't remember this one specifically.

00:18:46.402 --> 00:18:51.771
no, this one's came out during the, it was a given out when the power one was in theaters, you would get a random one.

00:18:51.771 --> 00:18:56.392
I don't think, I don't think you got all three and they had Articuno Moltres.

00:18:56.392 --> 00:18:57.382
I think they had one other.

00:18:57.731 --> 00:18:59.271
So I've always appreciated this one.

00:18:59.271 --> 00:19:03.422
They all have pretty cool art, but this one, I just always felt like it was the most underrated because it's not holographic.

00:19:03.422 --> 00:19:08.211
It's not EX or it doesn't have those fancy big numbers that, you know, all the other current ones have.

00:19:55.781 --> 00:19:59.791
So, Justin, we dived into, you know, your experience with TCG back in 2020.

00:19:59.791 --> 00:20:03.001
And you talked to briefly about how you got a Pokemon cards in blockbuster.

00:20:03.372 --> 00:20:05.392
Was that kind your first experience with a franchise?

00:20:05.402 --> 00:20:06.751
Did you dive into the games at all?

00:20:07.348 --> 00:20:10.108
so I Would say a typical for Pokemon people.

00:20:11.308 --> 00:20:13.219
experience was the anime.

00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:27.968
I was all about the anime I I loved it, you know every day after school gotta watch it gotta see what Ash and Pikachu were up to now I thought Pikachu was a little a hole back then I Was like no you gotta raise the Charmander.

00:20:27.988 --> 00:20:28.367
Come on.

00:20:28.367 --> 00:20:40.679
Keep the Charmander But yeah, so that's like that's what started the interest and everything and then you know it evolved from there There was you know, we're going into blockbuster because I wanted to rent Pokemon snap.

00:20:41.078 --> 00:20:42.679
You know, we get some of the cards.

00:20:42.679 --> 00:20:55.897
I collect some of the cards, you know for like base set up through I Kind of dabble in like gym heroes gym challenge, but really like team rocket and like fossil and jungle or my sets My first video game was Gold.

00:20:56.307 --> 00:20:57.907
My brother had Blue.

00:20:58.417 --> 00:21:01.117
Even though my brother was younger, we both got the games at the same year.

00:21:01.407 --> 00:21:02.478
He got Blue, I got Gold.

00:21:02.814 --> 00:21:08.223
I enjoyed Gold because you got to experience Game 1 in quote unquote better graphics.

00:21:08.634 --> 00:21:11.020
And you got the second gen, right, to go along with it.

00:21:11.020 --> 00:21:13.131
I didn't have to switch, my account.

00:21:13.131 --> 00:21:14.471
I didn't have to start over.

00:21:14.471 --> 00:21:15.961
I didn't have to do a lot of these things.

00:21:16.253 --> 00:21:19.423
Sometimes I forget that, Johto was not the first generation.

00:21:19.423 --> 00:21:23.453
Like, I know the Pokémon are different, but, like, it was the first game for me.

00:21:24.001 --> 00:21:25.949
So did you keep, collecting over time?

00:21:25.949 --> 00:21:27.219
Did you keep watching anime?

00:21:27.229 --> 00:21:27.528
Like how

00:21:27.548 --> 00:21:28.778
No, so

00:21:29.157 --> 00:21:30.108
Mm

00:21:30.203 --> 00:21:32.413
like, you know, hot and heavy for a bit.

00:21:32.463 --> 00:21:37.164
I still continued with the anime up through the Orange League and then through Johto.

00:21:37.506 --> 00:21:38.746
but then it kind of died off.

00:21:38.746 --> 00:21:41.026
I really kind of got out of the Pokemon space.

00:21:41.026 --> 00:21:42.036
It was all about Lego.

00:21:42.036 --> 00:21:43.395
It was all about Star Wars.

00:21:43.675 --> 00:21:46.096
I kind of got out of Pokemon for a really long time.

00:21:46.645 --> 00:21:48.037
Now what do you think brought me back?

00:21:48.271 --> 00:21:51.521
Oh, I, uh, is it something, I think something big happened in 2016.

00:21:52.451 --> 00:21:54.021
It's to sunrise.

00:21:54.021 --> 00:21:54.731
That's gonna.

00:21:55.356 --> 00:21:55.926
Yeah, yeah,

00:21:56.132 --> 00:21:56.672
Is it?

00:21:56.711 --> 00:21:57.172
Okay.

00:21:58.406 --> 00:22:00.787
that's what it was, Pokemon Go in 2016.

00:22:01.156 --> 00:22:04.807
Now, like, I am not a jump on the bandwagon person.

00:22:05.237 --> 00:22:07.191
I'm a, we'll hold off.

00:22:07.675 --> 00:22:08.546
And then, okay, fine.

00:22:08.546 --> 00:22:10.016
If enough people are doing it, I'll do it.

00:22:10.346 --> 00:22:11.155
And so that's what happened.

00:22:11.165 --> 00:22:12.175
I didn't want to play.

00:22:12.306 --> 00:22:14.355
I was like, I don't want all these people playing this game.

00:22:14.816 --> 00:22:15.135
Fine.

00:22:15.135 --> 00:22:15.846
I'll do it.

00:22:16.145 --> 00:22:19.226
And at that point I was, I wanted to be an instinct player.

00:22:19.226 --> 00:22:20.105
I wanted to be yellow.

00:22:20.165 --> 00:22:24.766
I liked Zapdos better, but all my friends who now no longer play were Mystic.

00:22:24.766 --> 00:22:25.836
So I joined team Mystic.

00:22:26.465 --> 00:22:30.046
And so, and so that's how, that's how it was.

00:22:30.046 --> 00:22:30.796
And I played it.

00:22:31.226 --> 00:22:31.705
Oh man.

00:22:31.705 --> 00:22:33.955
You know, you remember the 2016.

00:22:34.317 --> 00:22:35.116
It was crazy.

00:22:35.126 --> 00:22:36.477
Everyone and their uncle was out.

00:22:36.477 --> 00:22:36.717
It was crazy.

00:22:37.017 --> 00:22:42.507
It's crazy how many old people played the game people was like gray and white hair old people.

00:22:43.106 --> 00:22:44.946
Hey, I'm, I'm, open in an age, my friend.

00:22:44.946 --> 00:22:46.686
So I can't really say anything anymore, but

00:22:48.713 --> 00:22:58.530
and then this like went on through like the november time frame We just still would see like hundreds of people at the park and then like one day in january of 2017.

00:22:58.530 --> 00:23:01.171
I'm like I'm freezing my butt off out here.

00:23:01.441 --> 00:23:04.131
There's not even really that many spawns, even though I'm in a park.

00:23:04.391 --> 00:23:05.221
I'm just gonna quit.

00:23:05.651 --> 00:23:08.550
Now, was this while you were in Fort Worth or was this while you were in Kansas?

00:23:08.550 --> 00:23:09.871
This was when I was in Kansas.

00:23:10.121 --> 00:23:12.691
when I say it was cold, there was frost on the ground.

00:23:13.040 --> 00:23:16.401
And like, my hands are like freezing as I'm like this, as I'm taking the dog for a walk.

00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:24.780
But you know, I have a husky, so he loves being outside in the cold and we would still take daily walks, but it just, it wasn't worth it anymore.

00:23:24.790 --> 00:23:26.060
And I kind of stopped playing.

00:23:26.070 --> 00:23:33.510
So I stopped playing from January of 2017 up through June, 2018 is when I joined back again.

00:23:33.750 --> 00:23:39.351
one of my favorite memories though of a community day that I played was Totodile community day.

00:23:39.401 --> 00:23:42.530
I'm out, I'm out there with my, it was a January community day.

00:23:43.070 --> 00:23:51.171
I'm out there with my friend who also has a Husky and it's just snowing these big fat snowflakes, you know, like the snowflakes that are like about the size of a quarter

00:23:51.365 --> 00:23:52.346
Dude, I'm in Texas.

00:23:52.346 --> 00:23:52.836
No, I don't.

00:23:52.990 --> 00:23:53.391
ones.

00:23:54.230 --> 00:23:58.131
Okay, the ones you see in movies, ones that you see in

00:23:58.395 --> 00:23:59.556
the white Christmas movies.

00:23:59.820 --> 00:24:02.171
yeah, yeah, the really big obnoxious ones.

00:24:02.530 --> 00:24:08.612
And so, like, my friend out there would like, our phone, our phone screens keep getting wet, so it's like really hard to throw balls, but it's still fun.

00:24:08.612 --> 00:24:16.622
It's just like, really just me and my friend out there playing, and like maybe two other people in this entire park that's known for having tons of people to play.

00:24:17.071 --> 00:24:19.521
And so, it was, it was pretty good.

00:24:19.527 --> 00:24:20.186
Oh my gosh.

00:24:20.186 --> 00:24:22.896
I must been young has been frozen playing in that

00:24:22.981 --> 00:24:23.801
it was so cold.

00:24:23.832 --> 00:24:28.137
I mean, I think we lasted like an hour and a half, more like an hour and we're done.

00:24:28.356 --> 00:24:29.811
don't, I don't need any more.

00:24:29.826 --> 00:24:30.866
Last an hour and a half, dude.

00:24:30.866 --> 00:24:32.277
I wouldn't last even half an hour.

00:24:34.406 --> 00:24:37.047
Well, you know, the dogs loved it and we were there for the dogs.

00:24:37.217 --> 00:24:39.737
They were both huskies enjoying the snow.

00:24:40.087 --> 00:24:43.587
But yeah, so, when I came back in June of 2018, that's when it stuck.

00:24:43.637 --> 00:24:46.347
I haven't put Pokémon down since then.

00:24:46.729 --> 00:24:50.333
So, like, that led up into Sword and Shield releasing.

00:24:50.333 --> 00:24:52.113
If it wasn't that year, it was the next year.

00:24:52.387 --> 00:24:55.577
What made you come back specifically at that point in 2018?

00:24:56.082 --> 00:24:58.392
Like one of my best friends still played the game.

00:24:58.392 --> 00:24:59.892
He played it during all that time.

00:25:00.291 --> 00:25:03.241
it would just be like, we would meet up for D and D at a different friend's house.

00:25:03.241 --> 00:25:04.721
And he was like, Oh, there's a Pidgey outside.

00:25:04.721 --> 00:25:08.471
And like, they would just like say this every week about the stuff, the Pokemon that he's catching.

00:25:08.862 --> 00:25:11.001
And I'm just like, fine, I'll download it again.

00:25:11.011 --> 00:25:14.852
And then I download it, you know, with a year and a half off, obviously things have changed.

00:25:15.190 --> 00:25:16.529
community days now happen.

00:25:16.866 --> 00:25:18.366
Shiny Pokemon are in the game.

00:25:19.067 --> 00:25:20.527
Raid bosses are a thing.

00:25:20.576 --> 00:25:22.426
I'm like, what the heck is this thing?

00:25:22.426 --> 00:25:25.747
I sent him a screenshot of a, Omastar three star raid.

00:25:25.747 --> 00:25:27.227
I'm like, what is this thing?

00:25:27.227 --> 00:25:29.696
It's like says 17, 000 CP.

00:25:29.717 --> 00:25:31.707
What, how am I supposed to beat this?

00:25:33.198 --> 00:25:34.800
And so what's your kind of way to play?

00:25:34.800 --> 00:25:36.760
Do you just play to kind of walk your dogs casually?

00:25:36.760 --> 00:25:38.701
Or do you like try to complete stuff?

00:25:39.010 --> 00:25:39.510
hunts?

00:25:40.111 --> 00:25:42.101
so, we'll start off with my hot take.

00:25:42.570 --> 00:25:43.090
Let's go.

00:25:43.151 --> 00:25:43.401
I love

00:25:43.530 --> 00:25:44.320
I, uh,

00:25:47.286 --> 00:25:47.736
Let's not get

00:25:47.810 --> 00:25:53.248
I'm, you know, like, I like shiny Pokemon and everything, but I do not care for 100 percent Pokemon.

00:25:54.127 --> 00:25:55.978
know a lot of people, that's their thing.

00:25:56.306 --> 00:25:57.665
They love a hundred percent Pokemon.

00:25:57.986 --> 00:26:00.465
Adam might shoot me if he hears this, but, I just like it.

00:26:00.465 --> 00:26:02.496
I like people are like, Oh, I gotta get a hundred percent.

00:26:02.496 --> 00:26:04.135
Cause it means they had the max stats for this.

00:26:04.546 --> 00:26:06.066
No, it means the max stats.

00:26:06.346 --> 00:26:10.615
If you're doing a raid and you're trying to get max damage output.

00:26:10.635 --> 00:26:11.135
Sure.

00:26:11.175 --> 00:26:12.340
But if you're not doing that, then.

00:26:12.340 --> 00:26:14.411
The 100 percent doesn't mean anything.

00:26:14.800 --> 00:26:16.141
It's a waste of time.

00:26:16.310 --> 00:26:21.191
You'd be better off suited using your 96 percent that you got forever ago.

00:26:21.421 --> 00:26:30.250
And just powering that up instead, instead of waiting for forever for this magical 100 percent Pokemon that you're never going to get, or if you do get, it's just a complete waste.

00:26:30.381 --> 00:26:31.361
I, Oh God,

00:26:31.675 --> 00:26:33.086
Justin, being so toxic right

00:26:33.131 --> 00:26:33.861
Pokemon.

00:26:33.905 --> 00:26:35.076
just poisoned this podcast.

00:26:39.050 --> 00:26:41.090
Oh, yeah, I tell Adam all the time.

00:26:41.151 --> 00:26:42.131
I tell Adam all the time.

00:26:42.131 --> 00:26:44.740
He should just stop looking for the hundred percents.

00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:46.310
Like you could save so much time.

00:26:47.050 --> 00:26:48.240
So much time.

00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:54.330
If you, that you could dedicate towards playing the, the trading card game instead of hunting for these hundred percents.

00:26:56.090 --> 00:26:56.391
Really?

00:26:56.391 --> 00:26:57.000
I'm just trying

00:26:57.145 --> 00:26:57.836
right now, man.

00:26:58.631 --> 00:27:04.775
yeah, I'm really just trying to get him to play more trading card game, less research tasks for a hundred percent Pokemon.

00:27:05.035 --> 00:27:06.315
I mean, that's, that's the real thing.

00:27:08.144 --> 00:27:10.815
Because I need him to bring the spice and the decklist to the show.

00:27:11.103 --> 00:27:12.792
So yeah, so my actual way to play.

00:27:13.089 --> 00:27:27.073
I really love in person events, but you know, outside of in person events, you know, I'll shiny hunt, I'll still, I fast catch everything with the addition of the Go I use that, I wouldn't say daily, but multiple times a week I'll run it.

00:27:27.365 --> 00:27:29.105
I'm pretty much a solo player.

00:27:29.452 --> 00:27:38.173
I connected more with the community when I lived in Kansas, and I just haven't connected with the community here in Texas, so I kind of ebb and flow with the game on how involved I am basically.

00:27:38.303 --> 00:27:39.653
Is there an event that's like really fun?

00:27:39.653 --> 00:27:50.202
Like sometimes the Halloween events are great, and I'll play like really hard for two weeks, and then there'll shift to some other event with Pokemon that I either have a bunch of, or I just don't care, maybe I'll open it every couple days.

00:27:50.202 --> 00:27:51.739
I don't really care at that time.

00:27:52.318 --> 00:27:54.229
I still follow the news, and I see what's happening.

00:27:54.721 --> 00:27:57.520
because I know you've had a chance to go to some live events for Pokemon Go.

00:27:57.550 --> 00:27:59.461
I know you also, you know, we talked about Regis Arrington.

00:27:59.775 --> 00:28:02.835
you remember what your first, live event you titted for Pokemon Go?

00:28:03.430 --> 00:28:05.759
It was Philadelphia Safari Zone.

00:28:06.086 --> 00:28:08.726
I met up with the Pokemon professor community.

00:28:09.083 --> 00:28:15.265
You know, this was a make up event from the Safari Zone that was supposed to happen in May of 2020.

00:28:16.085 --> 00:28:18.775
So, it was a very limited attended event.

00:28:18.805 --> 00:28:21.604
I would say maybe 3, 000 trainers.

00:28:21.634 --> 00:28:22.364
Maybe.

00:28:22.913 --> 00:28:27.854
Most people, a lot of people had asked for like their refunds and whatever and they didn't sell new event tickets.

00:28:27.854 --> 00:28:30.065
They were just carrying out ones from the previous event.

00:28:30.414 --> 00:28:33.144
And so, you know, I met up with Adam and Ken.

00:28:33.540 --> 00:28:38.428
I met up with Mythical Hitch, Jamal, CasadeCubone A.K.A Raber.

00:28:38.721 --> 00:28:40.990
Yeah, and that's when I met a lot of them for the first time.

00:28:41.315 --> 00:28:47.085
also met JTValor there, pretty much just like a bro hangout session the entire weekend.

00:28:47.387 --> 00:28:50.147
even though I had never met any of these people in person.

00:28:50.506 --> 00:28:53.155
It was like we had been friends for years and years.

00:28:53.155 --> 00:28:56.746
Cause you know, on the network, we do the zoom calls on Monday nights.

00:28:56.756 --> 00:28:59.175
So we had like that face to face interaction,

00:28:59.845 --> 00:29:02.174
Now, you also said you went to Seattle the following year.

00:29:02.472 --> 00:29:02.833
Uh huh.

00:29:02.952 --> 00:29:08.272
What was like, to go to Seattle for your first GoFest?

00:29:08.883 --> 00:29:10.633
So we had so much fun.

00:29:10.945 --> 00:29:19.053
The eight of us that went to Philly, we had so much fun that we wanted to make sure we could organize a large group outing for Seattle.

00:29:19.242 --> 00:29:22.012
And you know, we kept talking about it, like, Oh, we're going to do a house.

00:29:22.012 --> 00:29:23.972
We're going to have like all the people there and everything.

00:29:24.492 --> 00:29:26.423
And then like this list just kept growing and growing.

00:29:26.462 --> 00:29:29.002
I think at one time the list grew to 30 people.

00:29:29.296 --> 00:29:31.736
30 people, my god! Well, I guess

00:29:31.816 --> 00:29:32.405
And so,

00:29:32.445 --> 00:29:32.826
yeah.

00:29:33.150 --> 00:29:34.779
And we keep talking about booking the place.

00:29:34.779 --> 00:29:37.799
And I'm like, you know, someone's got, we got to do this if we're going to do it.

00:29:38.430 --> 00:29:40.630
And, uh, no one was set me up to play.

00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:47.309
It's like, all right, if, if we found a place, I'll put forth the money, for the Airbnb and then you guys can pay me back.

00:29:47.635 --> 00:29:48.625
so that's what we did.

00:29:48.635 --> 00:29:51.393
We ended up having, we had so many people.

00:29:51.692 --> 00:29:57.252
the max people you could book at an Airbnb that I could find in all of Seattle was 16.

00:29:57.813 --> 00:30:00.232
So we just said we had 16, even though we had like

00:30:00.556 --> 00:30:00.905
Twice as

00:30:00.996 --> 00:30:01.955
23.

00:30:02.375 --> 00:30:02.806
okay.

00:30:03.155 --> 00:30:05.333
And then I added a second house.

00:30:05.383 --> 00:30:07.393
So that way the other house didn't get too crazy.

00:30:07.393 --> 00:30:09.653
And then we only had eight allotted for that one.

00:30:10.413 --> 00:30:12.393
were within walking distance between each other.

00:30:12.682 --> 00:30:15.522
Oh my gosh, that must have been wild to have all the people in there.

00:30:17.528 --> 00:30:19.057
Oh, it was, it was so much fun.

00:30:19.057 --> 00:30:19.788
It was so good.

00:30:19.798 --> 00:30:24.490
And I really liked Seattle cause it felt like more small town.

00:30:24.570 --> 00:30:27.040
I mean, Seattle's not a small town, but it felt more like...

00:30:27.355 --> 00:30:28.195
interconnected.

00:30:28.300 --> 00:30:28.691
Go.

00:30:28.721 --> 00:30:28.901
Yeah.

00:30:28.901 --> 00:30:32.441
It felt like connected and Pokemon Go was the big thing to do.

00:30:32.788 --> 00:30:35.375
I enjoy New York city, but Pokemon Go is not the thing to do.

00:30:35.404 --> 00:30:38.765
Pokemon Go is like the thing you do on the side of the actual thing that you do in New York city.

00:30:39.086 --> 00:30:42.996
Like, I feel like Pokemon Go is actually a huge celebration coming in Seattle compared York.

00:30:42.996 --> 00:30:44.596
It was just like another event that they're used to

00:30:44.601 --> 00:30:45.240
Yeah, yeah.

00:30:45.290 --> 00:30:49.030
And you know, and they embrace it more because there's all the ties to Seattle.

00:30:49.327 --> 00:30:52.508
the Pokemon International Headquarters is there.

00:30:52.805 --> 00:30:55.025
there's also like Nintendo that's there.

00:30:55.317 --> 00:31:00.528
And so like I remember we would, like as groups, we would rent the scooters and ride the scooters around town the different

00:31:00.613 --> 00:31:00.942
fun.

00:31:00.942 --> 00:31:01.792
Yeah.

00:31:03.323 --> 00:31:04.083
Those scooters were a blast.

00:31:04.083 --> 00:31:05.752
Especially because you had to deal with the heels a lot.

00:31:05.782 --> 00:31:07.303
It made it so more easier.

00:31:07.625 --> 00:31:17.789
Yeah, and then A lot of us, like after a while, after you did enough riding, you would unlock like the top speed Instead of being locked at eight miles an hour and so but always inevitably we always had someone in the group That's locked eight miles an hour.

00:31:17.789 --> 00:31:18.920
I was like, well, we'll see you there.

00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:19.049
Bye

00:31:21.833 --> 00:31:25.002
So the last thing I want to talk about is actually the other podcast.

00:31:25.022 --> 00:31:28.333
And it's my first time ever talking about it on this podcast is Pokemon sleep.

00:31:28.645 --> 00:31:32.476
Pokemon sleep for those who don't know, it's a mobile game to where you actually put it down.

00:31:32.486 --> 00:31:33.306
You kind of plan it.

00:31:33.675 --> 00:31:36.016
And I guess you catch stuff after you wake up.

00:31:36.026 --> 00:31:36.965
Is that kind of how it works?

00:31:37.576 --> 00:31:46.258
Yeah, so, you can put as much into pokemon sleep as you want Really, it's kind of like how Pokemon Go is intended to like help you exercise and get out and explore.

00:31:46.567 --> 00:31:49.865
Pokemon Sleep is to help you focus on healthy sleep habits.

00:31:49.884 --> 00:31:55.657
Like it offers tips and everything, but really you get better scores by practicing better sleep hygiene.

00:31:55.978 --> 00:32:03.645
And so You can track Your sleep either with the phone, with a go plus plus, or with a smartwatch, like an Apple watch.

00:32:03.942 --> 00:32:05.333
And you track it.

00:32:05.643 --> 00:32:10.170
And then when you wake up in the morning, you connect it to your phone and it'll give you a score.

00:32:10.476 --> 00:32:17.329
And your score is based off of how well you slept, how long you slept, and like how much you like toss and turn in the night.

00:32:17.643 --> 00:32:19.542
And so it'll give you a type.

00:32:19.875 --> 00:32:28.516
So, like, dozing, snoozing, or slumbering, after that, based off your score, you encounter certain Pokémon that come to your place like a picnic.

00:32:28.516 --> 00:32:34.145
Think of like a picnic in, the main series games, where you, make a sandwich and all the people come.

00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:36.329
Or you make a curry and all the Pokémon come.

00:32:36.634 --> 00:32:44.327
So it's kind of like that And then you have biscuits and so you feed the Pokemon biscuits So you want to quote unquote catch but really you're just befriending them.

00:32:44.718 --> 00:32:55.667
You make them nice biscuits and they become your friends what I enjoy about that game is it's very casual and very like low stakes, if you will, compared to something like Pokemon Go.

00:32:55.998 --> 00:33:03.948
It's you building a relationship with the individual Pokemon that you catch, and you keep using them time over time.

00:33:04.258 --> 00:33:10.664
And so you're only catching one, two, maybe three Pokemon a day Not unless you're a whale and you spend a bunch of money.

00:33:11.275 --> 00:33:14.174
the average person is really only going to catch one or two a day.

00:33:14.510 --> 00:33:21.171
And so It just helps like give a nice break from like all the other games or catch everything that you can catch everything inside.

00:33:21.201 --> 00:33:24.335
And this is like, no, let me choose what I want to focus on.

00:33:24.631 --> 00:33:31.070
And let me really experience the game and the collecting and building the relationship with the Pokemon on your team.

00:33:31.667 --> 00:33:33.837
I could see that because, like I said, you only get two Pokemon a day.

00:33:33.837 --> 00:33:38.847
So it's whatever you get in the morning and after that, you kind of leave the game alone for your entire day until you come back.

00:33:38.847 --> 00:33:39.137
Right.

00:33:39.337 --> 00:33:42.798
So you can't really like be competitive, I guess, in a way outside, unless you pay for the

00:33:42.958 --> 00:33:46.688
I mean, the competitive is all like self imposed, right?

00:33:47.087 --> 00:33:49.317
So the other portion of the game is your, cooking.

00:33:49.597 --> 00:33:50.788
Pokemon gather berries.

00:33:50.798 --> 00:33:53.367
So like think of all the berries, from the regular games.

00:33:53.508 --> 00:33:57.147
The different types of Pokemon, so like a Water Pokemon gets an Oran Berry.

00:33:57.451 --> 00:33:59.050
a Ghost type Pokemon gets a Bluckberry.

00:33:59.050 --> 00:34:03.381
Uh, a Fighting type gets the Cherry Berry, and so on.

00:34:03.721 --> 00:34:08.030
So, you have berry specialists that can gather two berries at a time.

00:34:08.181 --> 00:34:11.451
And they have ingredient Pokemon that can gather two of an ingredient at a time.

00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:16.268
And then you have skill based Pokemon that have like a special skill that triggers more often.

00:34:16.568 --> 00:34:26.530
And you alternate those, and you interact with those, and they either gather a berry, an ingredient, or activate the skill based off a certain frequency throughout the day.

00:34:26.827 --> 00:34:29.108
And then you feed Snormax three meals a day.

00:34:29.414 --> 00:34:30.755
And that's kind of the game play.

00:34:31.085 --> 00:34:35.438
And, you know, you love this game so much that you and your co host Louis sleep together.

00:34:35.887 --> 00:34:36.117
On a

00:34:36.297 --> 00:34:37.458
Yes, exactly.

00:34:37.458 --> 00:34:41.188
We sleep together and we tell other people about how great it is.

00:34:41.398 --> 00:34:43.197
And what made y'all want to do a podcast?

00:34:43.228 --> 00:34:46.648
Like just because Pokemon sleep was just so entertaining for y'all or just

00:34:46.938 --> 00:34:47.478
So.

00:34:47.804 --> 00:34:49.114
Luis and I, we got the bug.

00:34:49.335 --> 00:34:53.264
We, we, we knew we were suckered into this game.

00:34:53.784 --> 00:34:59.538
We're paying for the premium track and there's just so much information that is not out there.

00:34:59.557 --> 00:35:03.288
Remember like the early days of Pokemon Go where there just was not a lot of information out there?

00:35:03.547 --> 00:35:04.318
It's like that.

00:35:04.807 --> 00:35:10.677
and even though there's a lot of people that play Pokemon Sleep, there's not a lot of content out there for Sleep.

00:35:11.117 --> 00:35:16.583
You can find some YouTubers, but I could not Find a dedicated Pokemon sleep podcast.

00:35:17.744 --> 00:35:19.653
So I was like, why don't we be the first ones?

00:35:20.224 --> 00:35:21.623
And so that's how it was born.

00:35:21.974 --> 00:35:22.534
That's awesome.

00:35:22.534 --> 00:35:24.153
How do you like trying to do podcasts?

00:35:24.193 --> 00:35:25.483
Now you got two podcasts.

00:35:25.943 --> 00:35:27.994
How's it been to kind of balance both, right?

00:35:28.014 --> 00:35:30.083
Because I do one and I'm busy enough as it is.

00:35:30.083 --> 00:35:31.693
I can't imagine trying to do two shows.

00:35:32.318 --> 00:35:37.518
you know, sometimes one takes precedence over the other, based off of like how the scheduling is going.

00:35:38.061 --> 00:35:40.239
and really it's not too bad.

00:35:40.592 --> 00:35:44.543
now that I've taken over editing for both, it gets a at times.

00:35:45.018 --> 00:35:46.358
You want to edit my podcast next?

00:35:46.358 --> 00:35:47.418
I mean, you want three.

00:35:48.012 --> 00:35:48.693
Yeah, you know what?

00:35:48.702 --> 00:35:49.063
Yeah.

00:35:49.833 --> 00:35:54.393
Uh, luckily being part of the Pokemon Professor Network, there's other people that help.

00:35:54.393 --> 00:35:58.971
So like, Ken, he really showed me the ways, showed me the ropes on how to do editing.

00:35:59.670 --> 00:36:06.936
like, when I was leading up to, my wedding, I did a, uh, Interview episode on special conditions with Lane from Good Morning Johto.

00:36:06.936 --> 00:36:11.445
And so, you know, a three person podcast, you know, that's 50 percent more editing you got to do.

00:36:11.789 --> 00:36:14.929
But, Jamal was nice enough to offer to edit that episode.

00:36:15.559 --> 00:36:17.018
So as I was doing wedding stuff.

00:36:17.523 --> 00:36:23.465
So it's kind of nice to, you know, have other people to help you out and fall back on when you need it.

00:36:24.070 --> 00:36:39.682
It's kind of crazy because you know initially just started just doing an offer with special conditions because you know You said you consume so much that you want to give back and now you're becoming more of a a really pro podcaster I know the rule is, know If you've done five or ten episodes, you're a professional at that point But you really are kind of diving into it.

00:36:39.682 --> 00:36:43.432
Like do you see yourself kind of doing this podcasting thing for a while?

00:36:44.025 --> 00:36:50.523
You know, unless like life takes over, you know, I start having children that like takes up too much time or whatever.

00:36:50.523 --> 00:36:51.673
Maybe I take a break.

00:36:51.744 --> 00:36:54.208
I don't see myself quitting like forever.

00:36:54.239 --> 00:37:00.067
If I do quote unquote quit, it would be take a break, reset my life and then come back to it.

00:37:00.577 --> 00:37:07.956
So for maybe those who are like interested, just doing content creation in general, whether it be podcasting or YouTube or whatever, what piece of advice would you give them?

00:37:08.556 --> 00:37:11.246
Hmm, you've heard it a thousand times, just start.

00:37:11.985 --> 00:37:12.436
All right.

00:37:12.596 --> 00:37:20.438
You don't need, you don't need the fancy equipment, you just need to start practicing, doing.

00:37:20.438 --> 00:37:20.945
Hmm.

00:37:21.606 --> 00:37:22.976
Yeah, don't get paralyzed.

00:37:24.646 --> 00:37:26.396
Don't get poison thoughts.

00:37:26.722 --> 00:37:28.371
Don't worry about getting burned online.

00:37:28.949 --> 00:37:39.556
and if you're, I mean, likely, if you want to start a podcast, you probably listened to several already take down some notes, write some things down from your favorite podcast about what they do that you like.

00:37:39.891 --> 00:37:52.000
Now, don't copy them verbatim what they're doing, but you know, start pontificating some ideas of what you could incorporate into a podcast and then find your niche, what gets you out of bed in the morning?

00:37:52.010 --> 00:37:53.280
What are you excited about?

00:37:53.300 --> 00:37:55.550
What could you talk about for hours on end?

00:37:55.550 --> 00:37:56.230
Cause that's what we're doing.

00:37:56.239 --> 00:37:57.500
That's what we're podcasting about.

00:37:58.190 --> 00:38:02.701
a lot of times it's like, you know, an hour a week, but we could talk about it for 10 hours a week.

00:38:02.751 --> 00:38:04.331
We just don't want to edit 10 hours a week.

00:38:05.019 --> 00:38:05.170
Nope.

00:38:05.170 --> 00:38:06.869
Unless we're getting paid for it, which we aren't.

00:38:07.539 --> 00:38:07.809
Yeah.

00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:08.139
Nope.

00:38:10.150 --> 00:38:11.340
Well, very cool, Justin.

00:38:11.389 --> 00:38:13.590
I want to finish this interview on one last question.

00:38:14.340 --> 00:38:17.110
And I'm gonna make it a little specific for you because you like dogs.

00:38:17.402 --> 00:38:20.757
I want you to give me your six Pokemon dog dream team.

00:38:21.065 --> 00:38:22.076
What six would you pick?

00:38:22.586 --> 00:38:26.936
obviously, know, we're going to throw typing up out the window.

00:38:26.936 --> 00:38:28.186
I'm not to go for a balanced scene.

00:38:28.186 --> 00:38:30.376
I'm just going to choose my favorites.

00:38:30.527 --> 00:38:31.757
Arcanine, easy.

00:38:32.327 --> 00:38:37.257
Alright, a new favorite of mine, Zacian, the legendary from Gen 8.

00:38:37.713 --> 00:38:39.594
Houndoom, another favorite of mine.

00:38:39.903 --> 00:38:42.971
if we're doing Megas, I love Mega Manetric.

00:38:42.990 --> 00:38:45.251
He's just a giant dog lightning bolt.

00:38:45.260 --> 00:38:46.141
He's incredible.

00:38:46.742 --> 00:38:50.702
Oh, Lycanroc, Duskform, the orange one from the anime.

00:38:51.463 --> 00:38:52.233
Incredible.

00:38:52.702 --> 00:38:58.748
Orange favorite color plus he's just amazing in the and then Okay.

00:38:58.759 --> 00:39:00.349
We're going to say Mightyena.

00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:02.489
Oh, I love mighty Anna.

00:39:02.489 --> 00:39:02.909
Let's go.

00:39:03.028 --> 00:39:04.458
Yeah, he's, he's great.

00:39:04.789 --> 00:39:08.349
Oh, I love using like the ice moves and like PVP on Pokemon Go.

00:39:08.349 --> 00:39:09.769
Just like the crunch, crunch, crunch.

00:39:10.840 --> 00:39:25.702
So I was excited when Poochy on a debuted in Gen 3 I'm like I'm using this Pokemon no matter what it was alongside me and Trico and I'm like, those are two boys We're gonna start we're gonna take over the lead together Justin, thank you for coming on As the Pokeball Turns.

00:39:25.702 --> 00:39:31.161
Before you go, if people want to check out your podcast, if they want to check out your content, if they just want to connect with you, where can they go?

00:39:31.161 --> 00:39:32.722
By all means, please plug away.

00:39:33.327 --> 00:39:40.034
You can follow me on on x.com, aka Twitter at special con tcg.

00:39:40.574 --> 00:39:41.594
That's the Twitter handle.

00:39:42.375 --> 00:39:46.364
And then, for Sleep It Off, it is at Sleep It Off Pod.

00:39:46.686 --> 00:39:52.764
And then we have on the Pokemon Professor website, we have a link tree that you can find all of our socials and everything.

00:39:53.134 --> 00:39:58.864
And real quick on Entei So, you know, I'm going through Gen 2, and I'm like, I had beaten the, Johto region.

00:39:59.193 --> 00:40:01.313
And for some reason, I never knew what the dogs were.

00:40:01.641 --> 00:40:03.735
I'm back in, New Bark Town.

00:40:03.762 --> 00:40:06.532
And I'm in the grass, you know, there's a bunch of like level two Pokémon and stuff.

00:40:06.552 --> 00:40:09.322
And all of a sudden this level 40 thing called an Entei appears.

00:40:09.322 --> 00:40:10.603
I'm like, what the heck is this?

00:40:11.262 --> 00:40:14.532
And then I accidentally one shot it with my Charizard.

00:40:14.889 --> 00:40:16.259
and I'm like, oh, didn't mean to do that.

00:40:16.268 --> 00:40:17.028
Huh, that's weird.

00:40:17.068 --> 00:40:18.298
And then I just go on with my day.

00:40:18.798 --> 00:40:24.108
Only later to find out it was a legendary and it doesn't respawn.

00:40:24.369 --> 00:40:26.302
I was like yeah, forever.

00:40:26.349 --> 00:40:30.338
I'm pained by myself killing Entei and, uh, could never catch it.

00:40:30.528 --> 00:40:32.349
That is pain on steroids.

00:40:32.349 --> 00:40:34.449
The only way that could have been worse is if it was a shiny.

00:40:35.846 --> 00:40:36.565
oh man.