As The Pokeball Turns
A Pokemon interview podcast where Pokemon Trainers share their experiences from the world of Pokemon! Each journey started with a choice and are as different as the number of Pokemon. Listen to the different ways Pokemon Trainer's interact with the Pokemon franchise ranging from Pokemon GO, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon TCG, and much more!
As The Pokeball Turns
TRAINER'S EYE #120 - "Arcanine Zoomies From Pokemon TCG" ft. Justin Keller from Special Conditions & Sleep It Off
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
Connect with David Hernandez: Linktree
E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com
Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt
I'm Justin Keller, host of Special Conditions and Sleep It Off, and this is my Pokemon story.
David Hernandez:Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon. My name is David Hernandez. 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. Justin, welcome to the podcast!
Justin Keller:Hey, long time coming.
David Hernandez:It has been, Justin. 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. activities go on, you know, for example, you just got married. So congratulations on that.
Justin Keller:you, thank you. Booked the venue in August of last year, if that tells you anything, this is now December of the following year. And so, you know, it was like over a year of planning and all that stuff. So it was quite a long endeavor.
David Hernandez:Absolutely. 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. And I got to ask, how has that journey been just going into talking about TCG with Adam to even now?
Justin Keller:You know, it's kind of wild to think that it's been two years. It, I learned about the TCG really through listening to special conditions with Adam and Josh Brown as the hosts. and then I was like, you know, this is kind of fun, you know, listening to it. I already liked Adam through listening to him from Lure It Up and the Pokemon Go podcast. And. it kind of like spoke to me like, all right, this could be fun. And this was also a formative year for a lot of people. It was 2020. We didn't have a lot of things to do. I was currently unemployed. So like, Hmm, let me see what I can do about these cards. And so like, you know, I'm starting on TCG online. I'm trying to like learn the things and listening to Adam talk about the stuff, getting excited about the cards. And this was like right before the whole crash of Logan Paul. That's kinda like, how I got started into like, learning about it, learning about the card game. And then like I caught the bug. I was buying the cardboard. I was wanting to play the game. I was getting all the codes. This was back in the day when you had to pretty much buy codes. 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. Or you can try your luck at like opening the packs manually. yeah, so I was learning that way. And then I was like, come on, locals open up now. We're getting into like the 2021 timeframe. There's not really like people aren't really like playing in person yet. But I finally did find a store near one of my friend's house that had locals. So I was able to start building decks and going and playing in person. And that's when I really like started to appreciate the game and what it was about. 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. And so I talked to Adam like, Hey. I'd hate for you to have to quit this podcast. I will help you host if that's something you're interested in. And then he was me like, yes. And it's like, you know, we talked to Ken cause he's like grandfather of the Pokemon professor network. and then that's how we started.
David Hernandez:So basically special conditions started your interest in the trading card game of Pokemon. And at that time you didn't play the card game or you didn't collect at all.
Justin Keller:I didn't. I hadn't touched cards since I was in elementary school.
David Hernandez:That's crazy. So at the time when you were listening to the podcast, you were just collecting. Cause of course things were closed down. What were you trying to do? Were you trying to get like the whole collection completed? Were you trying to just get specific ones you were going after?
Justin Keller:I mean, at the early days, I was just learning, like, what even the different rarities were. Within the first, let's say, 15 packs I opened. I got this rainbow card. It was a rainbow Eternatus VMAX. I'm like, I don't even know what the heck this thing is. I've never seen a rainbow card. I had never, I don't even, I barely knew what a VMAX was. I just knew it was a bigger version of something. I didn't know about secret rares. I knew about the main set. I didn't know about TCG player. I didn't know about so many things and I was just like, let's get the cardboard. Let's watch Leonhardt and all of his opening videos and all the nostalgic videos of like, Team Rocket, Base Set, all that stuff.
David Hernandez: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? Like, what was it about that show specifically?
Justin Keller: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. And, podcasts are my thing. That's how I consume a lot of my media. 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. And so I consume a lot of media through podcast form because I can listen to it while at work. And, that was one of the things. 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. You feel like you know them even if you don't know them.
David Hernandez: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. I was a caseworker. 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. I got tired of just listening to the same music. 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. It you got to hear different subjects being talked about, you know,
Justin Keller: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. It's crazy. Everyone has their own podcast now, which I'm all for
David Hernandez:Yeah, it's a new rap album of 2020. That's what I call it. But on that note, so, you know, we fast forward to when you asked to be the co host of special conditions. It's one thing to be just somebody who consumes the podcast. Meaning it's another to actually. 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?
Justin Keller:I just felt like it was time. A, I wanted to return the favor for like, what that show specifically had done for me. B, I also just wanted to give back to the podcast space at large. I enjoy them so much, and I enjoy so much about them. I just wanted to give back. It felt just like I consumed so many, so ferociously, if you will. I just wanted to give back. And so I was like, this is my way to give back. it was the thing. It's not necessarily that I knew the most about, but I had the desire to talk about it. And, you know, if people want to listen, they want to listen.
David Hernandez: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. Were you still kind of scared? Were you kind of comfortable?
Justin Keller:Definitely anxious, kind of intimidated, but you know, it's pretty easy when, I'm joining a longtime co host. Adam's been doing podcasts for years and years now. Even though he would say he's no expert. He was an expert compared to me. So it made it like smooth sailing.
David Hernandez:So having Adam as a co host made it really easy for you to transition into that podcast role, it sounds like.
Justin Keller:Yeah, I wasn't paralyzed, huh? Special conditions pun. Or
David Hernandez:flip a
Justin Keller:another one.
David Hernandez:Yep. Yep. and he didn't get burned either. Oh, I'm trying to
Justin Keller:right. Now, now I think the joke is poisoned.
David Hernandez:Yeah, I can't think of he found he found one guys. I couldn't think of one. Now
Justin Keller:He's just confused. See, we got there.
David Hernandez:we got it. We got it. Yeah, we got them all. But you know, it's great that you know, you came into the podcast space and you know, started with TCG. And now that you've done the podcast, I know you got a chance to 10 regionals. And you actually go into like locals playing the TCG. how did you transition from being a collector to becoming like an active player and trying to go out to these tournaments?
Justin Keller:First, to help seeing a friendly face there, wink. That was the first time we had met in person, right?
David Hernandez:Oh, yeah, yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah, that's true,
Justin Keller:Yeah, Arlington 2022. In December, right? December 22.
David Hernandez:Man, something about that month and year was just special, I guess. Mm
Justin Keller: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. So it made it easy. see, I really just wanted to experience what a huge tournament was like. 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. It doesn't even include, you know, all the VGC or the, the juniors and seniors or any of that stuff.
David Hernandez:Now, you're competitive in TCG, and you know, the other ones people are familiar with are with VGC and specifically also Go. Why did you lean towards being more competitive in just the trading card? Is it just your experience because of the podcast, or is it just more of you like the card game more?
Justin Keller:So like, I like Pokemon Go. I like VGC. But their play styles are more remote oriented. You're not really going in person to these things. I enjoy the in person experience. So. TCG is largely in person. Granted, when I started learning, it was TCGO and a lot of online only. But it's largely people dedicating their time during the week to travel to their local store to play. And there's just something different about the in person experience. I'm sure, like, you experience when you go to the Pokémon GO events in the summertime. 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. It's just that in person personal connection. It's just can't be beat.
David Hernandez:So if you're going to like play a fun deck, what would you play? Like what's a fun deck for Justin?
Justin Keller:hmm. everyone enjoys what's called like a beat stick deck. I do big damage. So like Roaring Moon, fun deck. You can hit big damage. 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. I knocked you out, so
David Hernandez:think of Charizard base set. Basically.
Justin Keller:yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Do the most damage possible. 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. It had a special ability where instead of putting 5 Pokemon on your bench, you could put up to 8 Pokemon on your bench. And you just got to play more cards than the other person. And you just played faster and it just was so much fun. And then you could also, there was a Galarian wheezing that turned off their abilities. So you could basically stall while you set up everything and they like, can't use their abilities. So it was fun. The other people didn't enjoy playing against it, I certainly enjoyed it.
David Hernandez:You enjoy being on the, uh, giving it, but not the receiving.
Justin Keller:Yes,
David Hernandez:what they say. Yeah. Do you ever try to play a deck based around your favorite Pokemon at all?
Justin Keller:you I try but like man, so my favorite Pokemon is arcanine. 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. 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. But, as far as a trading card game goes, not really.
David Hernandez:Now you said Arcanine is your favorite. How did it become your favorite Pokemon?
Justin Keller:So like many things, Foundation from Childhood. the year is 1998. We're in a blockbuster. I'm like, come on, parents, please let me get a pack of Pokemon cards. I think I'm in the first grade. 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. And just like a little piece of cardboard for three or 4. Why? And so in that first pack that we open, there's an Arcanine card in there, which I had never seen before. I didn't know about this Arcanine. And At the time, I really wanted a pet dog. I was trying to convince my parents that we should get a dog. And so I immediately gravitated like, Oh, this Arcanine is a dog. It is now my favorite. So
David Hernandez:was the card out of curiosity? What set was it from?
Justin Keller:The good old Base Set Arcanine.
David Hernandez:Oh my gosh, the legendary Pokemon.
Justin Keller:Heh heh, I think that's what it says on the card. The Legendary Pokemon.
David Hernandez:So I want to close off this section with something that y'all do on special conditions. It's called art of the week. Well, how about you explain what is art of the week real quick.
Justin Keller: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. 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. And some of these Gen 1 Pokemon have an obscene number of cards. Like I'm trying to complete my Arcanine set and there's like 60 cards or something crazy. I don't even know the number anymore. 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.
David Hernandez:So for the sake of time, I didn't prepare that much, but we're going to just do one card.
Justin Keller:Ah, this is Blaine's Arcanine. So, this is from back in the day when there were Gym Leader Pokémon. So it's an Arcanine and he's opening his mouth like he's about to breathe a fire blast. And the background is a holographic, you know, with a Cosmo holo pattern. And it looks like the fire blast is just directly behind him. It's a first edition. He's a legendary Pokemon it's just very classic late nineties Pokemon card.
David Hernandez:It is. So the reason why I brought this up is this was actually when the gym sets basically came out. this is the first set that I ever got. I got the Blaine's deck'cause I saw this Aine and I saw it. So for those who don't know, it has an attack called Firestorm. It deals a hundred think big damage 120 damage. And I'm like, dude, that's stronger than jars are. And that's the only, it was, but that's the only reason why I got it. I think it was a blockbuster as well. And so I card. Yeah.
Justin Keller:Hold on, hold on one second. I'll be back
David Hernandez:All right. 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. Give me five stars.
Justin Keller:Dang, I must have put it away. But what I was gonna do is I have a sealed box of that deck
David Hernandez:Oh, wow. Dang.
Justin Keller: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
David Hernandez:Oh my gosh, that's crazy.
Justin Keller:as you were saying
David Hernandez:so I have my car. I still have that car. It's a little bent, unfortunately, but I still have it. And the fact that, you know, Heim was your favorite, I had to bring it onto the show. It's like, I haven't had a chance to talk about Now it's not first edition guys. It's not first edition. Trust me.
Justin Keller:Yeah.
David Hernandez:arc and I
Justin Keller:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Luckily you can like get a replacement for like 20 bucks now or something.
David Hernandez:Yeah, I don't wanna replace it. It has, uh, nostalgia
Justin Keller:Well I meant like a better one like, you know, think about now that you wouldn't, you would never replace the original. I finally, after like, I don't know, 15 years found my original Arcanine card. It was buried behind another Arcanine card in my childhood binder that I didn't know about. It was buried, it was in my parents basement.
David Hernandez:really? You didn't even know about it?
Justin Keller:Well like I knew, there, but I don't live in Kansas anymore. 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. So,
David Hernandez:So that's the first card. The second one is my favorite Pokemon. And I decided to pick this one. for those who don't know, it's actually the promo Articuno, which came out during the power of one. It had three legendary birds. And what you see here is Articuno shooting like a ice mist. It's only probably an ice beam, but it's ice mist kind of attack. It's called
Justin Keller:ray or something.
David Hernandez:Yeah, exactly. 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. And I feel like this one is so underrated. Because it just has Articuno with movement. It's not hollow. 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. And it's actually has a whitish color, which I really, really enjoy. So,
Justin Keller:yeah, it's like the Articuno is like the Articuno is charging up for that blast. That's why he's whiter. And, uh, another reason I think it's cool is it it can paralyze the other Pokemon, a special condition. Oh
David Hernandez:but
Justin Keller:but very cool. I had not actually seen this card. I familiar with this Bromo. Yeah. I've seen a lot of the older Articunos, but I don't remember this one specifically.
David Hernandez: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. I don't think, I don't think you got all three and they had Articuno Moltres. I think they had one other. So I've always appreciated this one. They all have pretty cool art, but this one, I just always felt like it was the most underrated because it's not holographic. It's not EX or it doesn't have those fancy big numbers that, you know, all the other current ones have. So, Justin, we dived into, you know, your experience with TCG back in 2020. And you talked to briefly about how you got a Pokemon cards in blockbuster. Was that kind your first experience with a franchise? Did you dive into the games at all?
Justin Keller:so I Would say a typical for Pokemon people. experience was the anime. 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. Come on. 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. You know, we get some of the cards. 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. My brother had Blue. Even though my brother was younger, we both got the games at the same year. He got Blue, I got Gold. I enjoyed Gold because you got to experience Game 1 in quote unquote better graphics. And you got the second gen, right, to go along with it. I didn't have to switch, my account. I didn't have to start over. I didn't have to do a lot of these things. Sometimes I forget that, Johto was not the first generation. Like, I know the Pokémon are different, but, like, it was the first game for me.
David Hernandez:So did you keep, collecting over time? Did you keep watching anime? Like how
Justin Keller:No, so
David Hernandez:Mm
Justin Keller:like, you know, hot and heavy for a bit. I still continued with the anime up through the Orange League and then through Johto. but then it kind of died off. I really kind of got out of the Pokemon space. It was all about Lego. It was all about Star Wars. I kind of got out of Pokemon for a really long time. Now what do you think brought me back?
David Hernandez:Oh, I, uh, is it something, I think something big happened in 2016. It's to sunrise. That's gonna.
Justin Keller:Yeah, yeah,
David Hernandez:Is it? Okay.
Justin Keller:that's what it was, Pokemon Go in 2016. Now, like, I am not a jump on the bandwagon person. I'm a, we'll hold off. And then, okay, fine. If enough people are doing it, I'll do it. And so that's what happened. I didn't want to play. I was like, I don't want all these people playing this game. Fine. I'll do it. And at that point I was, I wanted to be an instinct player. I wanted to be yellow. I liked Zapdos better, but all my friends who now no longer play were Mystic. So I joined team Mystic. And so, and so that's how, that's how it was. And I played it. Oh man. You know, you remember the 2016. It was crazy. Everyone and their uncle was out. It was crazy. It's crazy how many old people played the game people was like gray and white hair old people.
David Hernandez:Hey, I'm, I'm, open in an age, my friend. So I can't really say anything anymore, but
Justin Keller: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. I'm like I'm freezing my butt off out here. There's not even really that many spawns, even though I'm in a park. I'm just gonna quit.
David Hernandez:Now, was this while you were in Fort Worth or was this while you were in Kansas?
Justin Keller:This was when I was in Kansas. when I say it was cold, there was frost on the ground. And like, my hands are like freezing as I'm like this, as I'm taking the dog for a walk. 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. And I kind of stopped playing. So I stopped playing from January of 2017 up through June, 2018 is when I joined back again. one of my favorite memories though of a community day that I played was Totodile community day. I'm out, I'm out there with my, it was a January community day. 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
David Hernandez:Dude, I'm in Texas. No, I don't.
Justin Keller:ones. Okay, the ones you see in movies, ones that you see in
David Hernandez:the white Christmas movies.
Justin Keller:yeah, yeah, the really big obnoxious ones. 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. 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. And so, it was, it was pretty good.
David Hernandez:Oh my gosh. I must been young has been frozen playing in that
Justin Keller:it was so cold. I mean, I think we lasted like an hour and a half, more like an hour and we're done. don't, I don't need any more.
David Hernandez:Last an hour and a half, dude. I wouldn't last even half an hour.
Justin Keller:Well, you know, the dogs loved it and we were there for the dogs. They were both huskies enjoying the snow. But yeah, so, when I came back in June of 2018, that's when it stuck. I haven't put Pokémon down since then. So, like, that led up into Sword and Shield releasing. If it wasn't that year, it was the next year.
David Hernandez:What made you come back specifically at that point in 2018?
Justin Keller:Like one of my best friends still played the game. He played it during all that time. it would just be like, we would meet up for D and D at a different friend's house. And he was like, Oh, there's a Pidgey outside. And like, they would just like say this every week about the stuff, the Pokemon that he's catching. And I'm just like, fine, I'll download it again. And then I download it, you know, with a year and a half off, obviously things have changed. community days now happen. Shiny Pokemon are in the game. Raid bosses are a thing. I'm like, what the heck is this thing? I sent him a screenshot of a, Omastar three star raid. I'm like, what is this thing? It's like says 17, 000 CP. What, how am I supposed to beat this?
David Hernandez:And so what's your kind of way to play? Do you just play to kind of walk your dogs casually? Or do you like try to complete stuff? hunts?
Justin Keller:so, we'll start off with my hot take.
David Hernandez:Let's go. I love
Justin Keller:I, uh,
David Hernandez:Let's not get
Justin Keller:I'm, you know, like, I like shiny Pokemon and everything, but I do not care for 100 percent Pokemon. know a lot of people, that's their thing. They love a hundred percent Pokemon. Adam might shoot me if he hears this, but, I just like it. I like people are like, Oh, I gotta get a hundred percent. Cause it means they had the max stats for this. No, it means the max stats. If you're doing a raid and you're trying to get max damage output. Sure. But if you're not doing that, then. The 100 percent doesn't mean anything. It's a waste of time. You'd be better off suited using your 96 percent that you got forever ago. 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. I, Oh God,
David Hernandez:Justin, being so toxic right
Justin Keller:Pokemon.
David Hernandez:just poisoned this podcast.
Justin Keller:Oh, yeah, I tell Adam all the time. I tell Adam all the time. He should just stop looking for the hundred percents. Like you could save so much time. So much time. If you, that you could dedicate towards playing the, the trading card game instead of hunting for these hundred percents. Really? I'm just trying
David Hernandez:right now, man.
Justin Keller:yeah, I'm really just trying to get him to play more trading card game, less research tasks for a hundred percent Pokemon. I mean, that's, that's the real thing. Because I need him to bring the spice and the decklist to the show. So yeah, so my actual way to play. 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. I'm pretty much a solo player. 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. Is there an event that's like really fun? 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. I don't really care at that time. I still follow the news, and I see what's happening.
David Hernandez:because I know you've had a chance to go to some live events for Pokemon Go. I know you also, you know, we talked about Regis Arrington. you remember what your first, live event you titted for Pokemon Go?
Justin Keller:It was Philadelphia Safari Zone. I met up with the Pokemon professor community. You know, this was a make up event from the Safari Zone that was supposed to happen in May of 2020. So, it was a very limited attended event. I would say maybe 3, 000 trainers. Maybe. Most people, a lot of people had asked for like their refunds and whatever and they didn't sell new event tickets. They were just carrying out ones from the previous event. And so, you know, I met up with Adam and Ken. I met up with Mythical Hitch, Jamal, CasadeCubone A.K.A Raber. Yeah, and that's when I met a lot of them for the first time. also met JTValor there, pretty much just like a bro hangout session the entire weekend. even though I had never met any of these people in person. It was like we had been friends for years and years. Cause you know, on the network, we do the zoom calls on Monday nights. So we had like that face to face interaction,
David Hernandez:Now, you also said you went to Seattle the following year.
Justin Keller:Uh huh.
David Hernandez:What was like, to go to Seattle for your first GoFest?
Justin Keller:So we had so much fun. 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. And you know, we kept talking about it, like, Oh, we're going to do a house. We're going to have like all the people there and everything. And then like this list just kept growing and growing. I think at one time the list grew to 30 people.
David Hernandez:30 people, my god! Well, I guess
Justin Keller:And so,
David Hernandez:yeah.
Justin Keller:And we keep talking about booking the place. And I'm like, you know, someone's got, we got to do this if we're going to do it. And, uh, no one was set me up to play. 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. so that's what we did. We ended up having, we had so many people. the max people you could book at an Airbnb that I could find in all of Seattle was 16. So we just said we had 16, even though we had like
David Hernandez:Twice as
Justin Keller:23.
David Hernandez:okay.
Justin Keller:And then I added a second house. So that way the other house didn't get too crazy. And then we only had eight allotted for that one. were within walking distance between each other.
David Hernandez:Oh my gosh, that must have been wild to have all the people in there.
Justin Keller:Oh, it was, it was so much fun. It was so good. And I really liked Seattle cause it felt like more small town. I mean, Seattle's not a small town, but it felt more like...
David Hernandez:interconnected.
Justin Keller:Go. Yeah. It felt like connected and Pokemon Go was the big thing to do. I enjoy New York city, but Pokemon Go is not the thing to do. Pokemon Go is like the thing you do on the side of the actual thing that you do in New York city.
David Hernandez:Like, I feel like Pokemon Go is actually a huge celebration coming in Seattle compared York. It was just like another event that they're used to
Justin Keller:Yeah, yeah. And you know, and they embrace it more because there's all the ties to Seattle. the Pokemon International Headquarters is there. there's also like Nintendo that's there. And so like I remember we would, like as groups, we would rent the scooters and ride the scooters around town the different
David Hernandez:fun. Yeah. Those scooters were a blast. Especially because you had to deal with the heels a lot. It made it so more easier.
Justin Keller: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. I was like, well, we'll see you there. Bye
David Hernandez:So the last thing I want to talk about is actually the other podcast. And it's my first time ever talking about it on this podcast is Pokemon sleep. Pokemon sleep for those who don't know, it's a mobile game to where you actually put it down. You kind of plan it. And I guess you catch stuff after you wake up. Is that kind of how it works?
Justin Keller: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. Pokemon Sleep is to help you focus on healthy sleep habits. Like it offers tips and everything, but really you get better scores by practicing better sleep hygiene. And so You can track Your sleep either with the phone, with a go plus plus, or with a smartwatch, like an Apple watch. And you track it. And then when you wake up in the morning, you connect it to your phone and it'll give you a score. 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. And so it'll give you a type. So, like, dozing, snoozing, or slumbering, after that, based off your score, you encounter certain Pokémon that come to your place like a picnic. Think of like a picnic in, the main series games, where you, make a sandwich and all the people come. Or you make a curry and all the Pokémon come. 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. 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. It's you building a relationship with the individual Pokemon that you catch, and you keep using them time over time. 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. the average person is really only going to catch one or two a day. 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. And this is like, no, let me choose what I want to focus on. And let me really experience the game and the collecting and building the relationship with the Pokemon on your team.
David Hernandez:I could see that because, like I said, you only get two Pokemon a day. 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. Right. So you can't really like be competitive, I guess, in a way outside, unless you pay for the
Justin Keller:I mean, the competitive is all like self imposed, right? So the other portion of the game is your, cooking. Pokemon gather berries. So like think of all the berries, from the regular games. The different types of Pokemon, so like a Water Pokemon gets an Oran Berry. a Ghost type Pokemon gets a Bluckberry. Uh, a Fighting type gets the Cherry Berry, and so on. So, you have berry specialists that can gather two berries at a time. And they have ingredient Pokemon that can gather two of an ingredient at a time. And then you have skill based Pokemon that have like a special skill that triggers more often. 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. And then you feed Snormax three meals a day. And that's kind of the game play.
David Hernandez:And, you know, you love this game so much that you and your co host Louis sleep together. On a
Justin Keller:Yes, exactly. We sleep together and we tell other people about how great it is.
David Hernandez:And what made y'all want to do a podcast? Like just because Pokemon sleep was just so entertaining for y'all or just
Justin Keller:So. Luis and I, we got the bug. We, we, we knew we were suckered into this game. We're paying for the premium track and there's just so much information that is not out there. Remember like the early days of Pokemon Go where there just was not a lot of information out there? It's like that. and even though there's a lot of people that play Pokemon Sleep, there's not a lot of content out there for Sleep. You can find some YouTubers, but I could not Find a dedicated Pokemon sleep podcast. So I was like, why don't we be the first ones? And so that's how it was born.
David Hernandez:That's awesome. How do you like trying to do podcasts? Now you got two podcasts. How's it been to kind of balance both, right? Because I do one and I'm busy enough as it is. I can't imagine trying to do two shows.
Justin Keller:you know, sometimes one takes precedence over the other, based off of like how the scheduling is going. and really it's not too bad. now that I've taken over editing for both, it gets a at times.
David Hernandez:You want to edit my podcast next? I mean, you want three.
Justin Keller:Yeah, you know what? Yeah. Uh, luckily being part of the Pokemon Professor Network, there's other people that help. So like, Ken, he really showed me the ways, showed me the ropes on how to do editing. like, when I was leading up to, my wedding, I did a, uh, Interview episode on special conditions with Lane from Good Morning Johto. And so, you know, a three person podcast, you know, that's 50 percent more editing you got to do. But, Jamal was nice enough to offer to edit that episode. So as I was doing wedding stuff. So it's kind of nice to, you know, have other people to help you out and fall back on when you need it.
David Hernandez: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. Like do you see yourself kind of doing this podcasting thing for a while?
Justin Keller:You know, unless like life takes over, you know, I start having children that like takes up too much time or whatever. Maybe I take a break. I don't see myself quitting like forever. If I do quote unquote quit, it would be take a break, reset my life and then come back to it.
David Hernandez: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?
Justin Keller:Hmm, you've heard it a thousand times, just start.
David Hernandez:All right.
Justin Keller:You don't need, you don't need the fancy equipment, you just need to start practicing, doing. Hmm. Yeah, don't get paralyzed. Don't get poison thoughts.
David Hernandez:Don't worry about getting burned online.
Justin Keller: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. 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? What are you excited about? What could you talk about for hours on end? Cause that's what we're doing. That's what we're podcasting about. a lot of times it's like, you know, an hour a week, but we could talk about it for 10 hours a week. We just don't want to edit 10 hours a week.
David Hernandez:Nope. Unless we're getting paid for it, which we aren't.
Justin Keller:Yeah. Nope.
David Hernandez:Well, very cool, Justin. I want to finish this interview on one last question. And I'm gonna make it a little specific for you because you like dogs. I want you to give me your six Pokemon dog dream team. What six would you pick?
Justin Keller:obviously, know, we're going to throw typing up out the window. I'm not to go for a balanced scene. I'm just going to choose my favorites. Arcanine, easy. Alright, a new favorite of mine, Zacian, the legendary from Gen 8. Houndoom, another favorite of mine. if we're doing Megas, I love Mega Manetric. He's just a giant dog lightning bolt. He's incredible. Oh, Lycanroc, Duskform, the orange one from the anime. Incredible. Orange favorite color plus he's just amazing in the and then Okay. We're going to say Mightyena.
David Hernandez:Oh, I love mighty Anna. Let's go.
Justin Keller:Yeah, he's, he's great. Oh, I love using like the ice moves and like PVP on Pokemon Go. Just like the crunch, crunch, crunch.
David Hernandez: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. 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? By all means, please plug away.
Justin Keller:You can follow me on on x.com, aka Twitter at special con tcg. That's the Twitter handle. And then, for Sleep It Off, it is at Sleep It Off Pod. And then we have on the Pokemon Professor website, we have a link tree that you can find all of our socials and everything. And real quick on Entei So, you know, I'm going through Gen 2, and I'm like, I had beaten the, Johto region. And for some reason, I never knew what the dogs were. I'm back in, New Bark Town. And I'm in the grass, you know, there's a bunch of like level two Pokémon and stuff. And all of a sudden this level 40 thing called an Entei appears. I'm like, what the heck is this? And then I accidentally one shot it with my Charizard. and I'm like, oh, didn't mean to do that. Huh, that's weird. And then I just go on with my day. Only later to find out it was a legendary and it doesn't respawn. I was like yeah, forever. I'm pained by myself killing Entei and, uh, could never catch it.
David Hernandez:That is pain on steroids. The only way that could have been worse is if it was a shiny.
Justin Keller:oh man.
