As The Pokeball Turns
As The Pokéball Turns is a Pokémon interview podcast that shares real stories from Trainers around the world. From personal journeys to lasting friendships, we explore how Pokémon shapes lives and builds community across the games, the TCG, and beyond. Join creators, community leaders, and everyday fans as they share what makes Pokémon more than just a game. New episodes drop every Wednesday and Friday. One voice, one journey, one memory at a time. Your next Pokémon adventure begins here!
As The Pokeball Turns
TRAINER'S EYE #163 - "Chasing Deoxys with a Psycho Boost" ft. ShadowlessRed
It started with one card but became a daily ritual, a time capsule, and a community of people healing, laughing, and remembering how it felt to chase something just for the joy of it.
ShadowlessRed shares how a 500+ day journey to pull a Crown Zenith Deoxys VMAX turned into something far more meaningful. What began as a single Pokémon card chase grew into a tradition that helped viewers through heart attacks, breakups, and burnout. From nostalgic memories of playing Pokémon Crystal with a white Game Boy Advance to building his channel and vending presence from scratch, ShadowlessRed reflects on how this “one card” connected him with thousands. And why despite the cost, the odds, and the temptation to give up, he still won’t take a free Deoxys.
Listen now and discover why some cards are more than just collectibles, they’re connection points.
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Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay
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Your next Pokemon adventure begins here!
My name is Shadowless Red and this is my Pokemon story.
David Hernandez:Welcome to As The Pokeball Turns where every voice, every journey, and Every memory brings us closer to the world of Pokemon. I'm David Hernandez and I'm joined by Shadowless Red, a Deoxys diehard whose hunt for one card turned into something much more ShadowlessRed Welcome to As The Pokeball Turns. Thank you for coming on the podcast.
ShadowlessRed:I I, if you could see how big of a smile I have right now, I am so happy. Like this is, this is something I, I've thought about, like, I like driving to work and I'm like, man, I'm really looking forward to this. I know we planned it a couple weeks ago and, this is probably the best day that I've had in the last couple weeks, so thank you so much.
David Hernandez:Absolutely. And I always look forward to hearing that because making fun. We're talking about Pokemon, we're gonna talk about your crazy obsession for Deoxy. So
ShadowlessRed:It's a lot.
David Hernandez:you taking time, man. It's feeling is mutual.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. it's crazy to think about, uh, one Pokemon being this big of an obsession and now we are just in too deep to, to go back.
David Hernandez:Now, speaking of which, you know, you've been chasing a Crown Zenith Deoxys VMAX longer than some people have kept up with their new use resolutions. So let's be honest. Was there ever a point where you thought, am I cursed?
ShadowlessRed:I think I.
David Hernandez:series of points?
ShadowlessRed:You know what, actually, there is one point that I can think of, that I felt cursed and I'll, I'll tell you how this happened. I went to Target after work one day, and I usually do this check where I'm like, oh, there are Pokemon cards on the shelf and this is before the craze. I walked into Target. I saw these, Pokemon, uh, I can't remember what they're called, but they have two packs. One fusion starke, one evolving Skies. I put a couple of them in my carts and I, I went home and I didn't know they had evolving skies in them. I went home, I, I opened, I sat on my kitchen table and I opened'em. I was like, oh, there's evolving skies in here. And mind you, I've probably opened like 30 Evolving Skies packs up at, up to that point. Just'cause it's not a set I really care too much about with pull rates. And on the first pack, I hit the, the Umbreon VMAX Alt Art, the Moon Brion. And, immediately put on my story and just the, the outcry of people saying, dude, you are cursed. I realized that maybe this, this is not meant to be.
David Hernandez:did you realize that Ys has become this kind of, I guess people are very invested in this. Did you expect it to get to this point to where you're already 500 plus days in, you're still trying to chase it?
ShadowlessRed:No, not, not at all, actually. Not at all. And the the funny thing is when I started this channel, I don't really think there was such a thing as like a chase a day. so I, I came up with, with this idea of doing a chase a day, and I'm not gonna lie to you, for the first a hundred days, I don't think it really had any effect on, on anybody. There was maybe a couple people watching here and there something changed and I don't know what it was, where I would wake up and there were just like hundreds of comments and I was like. Oh, okay. This is, this is, this is something I was not prepared for and the funny thing about it is. I can't explain it. You know, I have people who, who are like, you know, I pulled two Deoxys and, in like in 50 packs, and I'm like, well, have you also pulled six Arceus gold cards? Like I have, because that's the trade off. The tradeoff is no Deoxys, but I've pulled like a ton of gold cards and like all these Mewtwo, all these great looking cards, and everybody's like, man, I, I, I wish, I wish I had that kinda luck. I'm like, you have no idea. The kinda luck I wish I had.
David Hernandez:Now just with Deoxy is just, did you love the card so much when you first saw it, or is Deoxy like a favorite Pokemon? What's the, what's the reason why that became your Chase card?
ShadowlessRed:So I think this goes back to. When I first started collecting again before Crown Zenith came out, I would kind of lurk on the sets. I'd be like, yeah, that's a cool art. That Lugia looks cool from. From Silver Tempest. Yeah. Giratina from Lost Origin. It was cool, but I don't know if I really want to get into collecting. And then when Crown Zenith came out, I saw the glaring gallery subset and I saw the Deoxys card. I thought. That is so ambitious for, you know, TPCI to do, because I don't know how much they've, well, first of all, you know, the, the gallery cards, you know, going back to the trainer gallery and before that cosmic eclipse, the character, rare kind of a new concept. And so, you know, the full art cards really captured my attention. Not just that, but the fact that they could incorporate extraterrestrial elements into a card. Really, to me, Pushes the envelope from what I expect to see from, TPCI, just because if you ever look at some of, like their manuals and stuff, they, they like try to avoid these like taboo or risk case subjects. And I actually think like extraterrestrial subjects are something that I would think they would stay away from. but like you literally see a fricking Deoxys getting abducted by another Pokemon. to me that was something I'd never expect to see on a card. And I just thought. That's a cool card. And the worst thing you can do, by the way, is tell people your Chase card. As soon as you tell the world your Chase card, it's all over. You're never gonna pull it.
David Hernandez:It is like a, if you speak it, it means it'll start running away or something like that. Like, uh, you kind of curse it like, well, I guess in the way it is kind of cursed.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. And if you like, look at like a lot of Pokemon content creators, like, they'll say the same thing. They're like, man, I should not have started chasing this card because now I'm like 200 packs steep, 300 packs deep and I'll never pull it. And uh, there's, there's something really poetic about that.
David Hernandez:Now, you said you weren't certain about diving into collecting before you saw the Deoxys card. At that time, why weren't you wanting be collector? I,
ShadowlessRed:It's really weird because I'm the kind of person that I love the games. I've pre-ordered every game probably as far back as I can remember. Maybe playing, crystal on the Game Boy Advance. I was always like the first one to line up and buy a game on release day or pre-order it. But There was something about the cards that, you know, when I turned a certain day, I was probably 10 years old and I, I just lost interest in it. And it's one of those snowball effects is they come out with so many sets every year that you're like, you know, I'm so far behind now to start collecting again. I'm just, I'm just not really, I'm not really gonna do this. And then life takes over, you know, school, career, family, and then that all, all that just kind of takes a back burner. But I can recall specifically, I, I'm pretty sure I can recall specifically what, what caused me to get back into it.
David Hernandez:Now you talked about how you always pre-ordered all the Pokemon games, and that's pretty impressive though. Like the fact that you've pre-ordered all single Pokemon games from going, wait, I guess you said Pokemon Crystal. What started your initial launch? Like why did you want to get into Pokemon? Starting just from the game side.
ShadowlessRed:I wish I knew. my memory does not go back that far, but I can piece it together based on the historical artifacts that remain. So, I've moved a few times in my life and every time I've moved and by the way, nobody can hold this against me because I didn't know how valuable Pokemon cards would, would become in the future. I would take my Ziploc bag full of base set cards with me everywhere that I moved. Ziploc bag, no, no sleeves, no top loader, no binder, nothing like that Again. You gotta remember, these cards are not back then. They were not worth what they are now. we would play in the mud with them. I'd take'em on field trips with me. I would bite them. There was one card I thought was a sticker. It was a Charmander reverse from, legendary collection. I thought it was a sticker, so I peeled the foil off of it. big mistake now, but like, you know, I was five, I was five fucking years old. Nobody, nobody knew at the time. So I would take this bag and I'd move everywhere with it. And, now it's all in a binder, of course, but I can remember collecting, you know, when I was 7, 8, 9, when the ex era had just begun. but that's about all I remember. And you know, you gotta remember 2005, I was 10 years old. Pokemon, uh, was not something you openly told people that you liked as a, as a 10-year-old. So I think eventually just became less cool. and you just kind of, you just kind of put on the back burner.
David Hernandez:That's crazy though. Like I remember like I always had my cards in Spot Tip Pop bag too. It was my way of kind of carrying'em.'cause you know, you didn't have these fancy card packs and the binders were always those big ones. You didn't wanna carry them. So I always remember like I would just, if I wanted to take cards with me, whether it be Pokemon, even Yu Gyo, I would like to group'em together. I have literally, like I said, a Ziploc bag, zip'em up, usually. Ideally, you know, you wouldn't have the little slider. You'd have to actually have the one, you have to press it. And then I remember just carrying the cards that way. You know, I didn't really have like card products or, um, the hard ones, the, I forget what they're called. The, um, thick, you know, the ones that are supposed to protect. That's why a lot of my cards from back in those days are either warped because of the climate or they're bent. Like there's
ShadowlessRed:Exactly.
David Hernandez:not that protected. And I guess that's why, you know, people like those old cards and they're so expensive now.
ShadowlessRed:That's exactly right. These cars will not be worth what they're worth if we didn't do what we did when we were kids.
David Hernandez:So next time y'all claim us, uh, blame us for the market, it's because we just didn't know any better. That's really the excuse.
ShadowlessRed:And, and you know, the funny thing about it is nobody believed that Pokemon cards were gonna be some crazy valuable thing in the future. And, you know, obviously you saw it in COVID when people started to go crazy with it again. You know, nobody believed when I was 8, 9, 10 years old how, how crazy. of, of a, not a fad. It was so my parents they were the kind of people that were like, I'm not buying you Pokemon cards, because it's a giant waste of money. You know? And, and, and remind, you know, mind you, This is a 2 99 pack of XD access, which is now worth what,$1,200. They didn't believe in that.
David Hernandez:fool. Still do they know that you could probably, that's probably actually the next Apple stock really.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. What other, I mean, what other item in, in 20 years goes from$2 99 cents to over 1200? I mean, last time I checked$1,200 for a pack of XD access. It's, it's crazy. I mean, go figure. And, and you know, my mom watches my videos. She's probably listening to this. Hi mom. Um,
David Hernandez:mom.
ShadowlessRed:you know, she says it every day. She's like, you were right. And by the way, she doesn't say that often, but this is one instance where she's like, yep, you were right.
David Hernandez:See, I remember the, I think it was the ex sandstorm, you know, the Hoen era.
ShadowlessRed:Oh yeah.
David Hernandez:like stepped away from Pokemon. I couldn't buy Pokemon cards, so I just remember watching'em through magazine and now those cards are worth so much because they weren't really released that much. It was one of the more less known sets because people weren't into Pokemon. And you know, I remember I was like, man, I wish I had bought more of those sets, unfortunately. But I don't have any of them from that era.
ShadowlessRed:Oh yeah. And, and you know, back then you didn't see like the crazy box sets. There were no elite trainer boxes. It's not like they were stocking booster boxes on shelves. You know, your choice was to buy like, like individual or maybe if you're lucky, two pack blisters and that that's all they put on the shelves. And. You know, they, they print billions and billions of cards in now in 2025 was not the case 20 years ago. So, yeah, I mean, the scarcity effect is, is definitely a real reason why, these cards are just so valuable. And then of course, nobody has any of'em in good condition.
David Hernandez:Now, you know, we go from biting Pokemon cards to engagement with the video games. You said you don't remember much of the early stuff, but are there any Pokemon games or regions that you remember playing specifically that kind of left a mark on you or an impression on you?
ShadowlessRed:Yeah, I, I think that, oh, I had the White Game Boy Advance. Um, not, it was not my first console. I had like a yellow Game boy color as well, but the White Game Boy Advance, I probably played that and, and actually, you know what, if I were to find it today, I bet you it still works. But, Pokemon Crystal was, just that game for me. I remember playing it. until the battery ran dry. You know, I don't know where it's now, but you know, when we would go on vacations, you would take it wasn't like what it is now. You would take the Game Boy advance and probably like 30 pounds of AA batteries with you because that, that would die like halfway through your road trip.
David Hernandez:Right.
ShadowlessRed:But I got, I think it's gotta be crystal the one thing that stands out to me about that game is that was the first game where the sprites were like animated and they would move. And I was like, this is next gen technology.
David Hernandez:That's true. I remember just seeing that and I was like, so awestruck, you know, they were moving. I'm like, they can move now. Like I'm just used to just seeing them slide on my screen and that's about it, you know, it's very revolutionary.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah, and, and of course like, just the difference in like game mechanics and storyline storytelling and going to color literally, you know, from gens one to gen two, I think is a big reason why Pokemon had had sticking value when gen two came out. Uh, because they just, they just improved so much and, go back and play like Pokemon red and blue right now, they're, they're not really fun to play, but like, but they improve every game. And, and Crystal to me was like a huge improvement in playability. And, you know, chasing roaming legendaries was super fun. there's a reason that they are what they are now.
David Hernandez:Now, I remember earlier you said that eventually you came back to Pokemon. So what do you remember first coming back? Was it the cards that you were kind of getting back into Pokemon, or was it the games? Like what brought you back into the franchise?
ShadowlessRed:as I got older, you know, you, take more of a focus on school and, you know, trying to, trying to get good grades and then you graduate high school, you get a job, you go to college and you're working your job and go to college as well. And, you know, things eventually just, you lose, the fun in your life. But one thing I never lost, time for was playing the games. So I, you know, I'd go to school, I'd work nine hours at a coffee shop and I'd go home and play. XY sun and moon until the sun would go up. Yeah. I always made time for the games, but I think the cards, it's actually kind of an embarrassing story. I'll, I'll admit it's actually an embarrassing story, but it's a, it's a good one.
David Hernandez:don't worry, we won't judge you too much. Okay.
ShadowlessRed:So, this, this is something that not a lot of people know, but I, I don't think, actually, I don't think anybody really knows this except for a few of my close colleagues. I was, I was working, this was many, many years ago. I was working my first job at a law firm and, my buddy came in from lunch and he sat outside my window. And he had packs of Pokemon cards. I was like, what? They still make, I mean, what you're, you're opening Pokemon cards? And he was like, yeah, dude. You know, a new set came out. I don't remember what it was, some something in the Sword and Shield era. And I was like, man, that's cool, but you know, I actually think I wanna learn to play the game. So the next day he came in with like, like seven decks and a, and a game board. And he goes, let's go into the break room at lunch and play. And I was like. Dude, I'm gonna be so bad at this, but let me make a deck too. So I get home, I make a deck, and I actually found my Pokemon cards. And the first thing that I put in my deck, I'm not even joking, is, and I don't know how I got this to this day, is the Zara Aura altar from chilling Rain.
David Hernandez:Oh.
ShadowlessRed:And I don't know where I found that card. I don't, it just showed up one day. I, I must have bought a pack when I was, you know, 20 20, 20 21. And I somehow pulled that, which is pretty remarkable knowing if you know anything about chilling, rain. so. I put that in my deck. I show up to work and I go, all right, I'm ready to play. He takes one look at my deck. He starts laughing at me. He goes, dude, this is a$75 card. You do not wanna play with this. And I was like, oh, okay. And so, we would play every day at lunch and eventually we would get other people in on it too. So my marketing manager would come in, and, you know, our, our tax account would come in and eventually we had this big giant, we'd fill up the room and then, you know, one day, um. It, somebody else in marketing comes in with a pizza and uh, some adult beverages and I was like, this is a full blown party now, isn't it, at lunchtime. we would literally have decks and we would play at lunchtime and then get back to work.
David Hernandez:makes me back to like the old school yard days to where y'all would just play card games over lunch and it's like, oh, it comes back to work. It seems like school never really ended right.
ShadowlessRed:We are for, we were full blown adults, man doing this. Like some of us in our twenties and thirties and forties and even some of us in our fifties playing Pokemon TCG and just having the time of our lives. You know, sometimes when you, like, when you, when you think about it, you're like, I don't know where my life's gonna take me. That is absolutely not something I ever thought in a million years I would be doing with my life and my professional career.
David Hernandez:I mean, did it feel kind of awkward or I guess what was going through your mind when they, you know, people were starting to watch you over just Pokemon cards? Like was that kind of different, unique, or.
ShadowlessRed:well, you know, it's nosal the first time you get back into it, and I think a lot of people felt this in like 2020 with COVID. because like, you know, as, as a, as a, as a millennial, I. You know, uh, opening Pokemon cards now, I think we're all, just, all, all of us millennials are just secretly like, living the life that our parents never gave us when we were kids. So we're just like, you know, back when we were kids, we just, we just wanted to open packs and packs and packs and packs. But it was like a, it was like a, on a rare occasion kind of thing, but now it's like. We open it because it's nostalgic and because we have adult money and fun money to do that with. So when I open a pack, it, it feels very nostalgic to me, still to this day where I'm like, I feel like I'm a kid just looking for, you know, whatever, whatever card looked cool. And, uh, I'm not really about the value.
David Hernandez:I mean I can see that.'cause I still try to open cards and you'll laugh whenever people see me. I literally tear with my teeth.'cause that's how I did
ShadowlessRed:I see it all the time.
David Hernandez:And
ShadowlessRed:hilarious.
David Hernandez:like y'all do it so professionally. I don't know how y'all do it, but I just tear with my teeth'cause that's all I know about. And I just look at the cards and that's just how I did it growing up. And that's how I still do it now. Unless I have a pack of scissors, I'm using my teeth for it.
ShadowlessRed:That's hilarious. I, you know, when I do the card show, people open packs in front of me and I, I don't judge, man. I don't judge. Hey man, that's some people, how people do it. And, uh, some people it's, uh, it's with their teeth and some people have the scissors. I actually, I think I judge a little bit on the scissors, but the teeth, I, I understand.
David Hernandez:Okay.
ShadowlessRed:it. I mean, the scissors, the scissors. I'm always like, please don't cut a card. Please don't cut a card.
David Hernandez:yeah, yeah. At least with teeth, you know, we know, we know what we're hitting, so don't worry. We're not gonna eat a card. Hopefully.
ShadowlessRed:Exactly.
David Hernandez:Now here's the important question though.'cause you said you brought, you made a deck, your friend did stop you because you had a$75 card. Did that deck actually win when you tried to battle your friend?
ShadowlessRed:I got my ass beat. He beat me on the first turn. So it was like, we would play, we put our decks down and you know, he, we'd flip our cards and he would go first He would just, to me at least now I know how to play.'cause I love TCG Pocket, the app I played all the time.
David Hernandez:Yes.
ShadowlessRed:he would, he would just do a bunch of things with his hands and be like, I won. I'm like, how did, how did you just win? I didn't even, I didn't even get to do anything. And so, yeah, that was my hard lesson to like actually learning how to play the game, which is still fun. Like I said, TCG pockets amazing.
David Hernandez:I agree. I, I play TC GPAC on the spare time and I'll open the packs again, it's a pack simulator, but still it's just fun to open it. And thankfully I don't have to have scissors and
ShadowlessRed:Or your teeth.
David Hernandez:nor teeth. And so it's kind of fun that even though I get only five cards, I get to kinda see what I got for the day. And, you know, if you get the extra packages or the extra, if you buy the extra items, you can kind of open more cards. And it's just still a very unique experience, but just digitalized, you know.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. It's, it's a really successful idea and I think they, they launched it at the right time, right before things started to get crazy. It felt like it was filling a gap that the Pokemon card live, you know, when you get those code cards, whatever, it felt like it was really filling a gap that, that, that app leaves. I've never really been interested in doing that, so I always toss the code cards or somebody wants one whenever I sell it. But, that app actually makes it feel like a, like a fun mobile game. Like kind of gives a 2016 Pokemon Go vibes.
David Hernandez:Now, you know, you talked about how at that point you probably started diving into collecting. Do you remember trying to see, do you remember the first set or first amount of cards that kind of left it imprint on you or what set you're trying to complete when you first started collecting Again?
ShadowlessRed:this is the fun part. well, in retrospect, you know, I was just starting my career, didn't really have a lot of extra money, and so something about spending money on Pokemon cards to me felt really. irresponsible. So I didn't really buy that much. I think I looked at them and I was like, you know what, you know, maybe one of, maybe one of these days, I'll, I'll have, the strength, the courage to go buy a pack, but right now I don't think I'm going to. And then I saw, just going back to that Crown Zenith story, I saw that glaring gallery subset, and I was like, I think this is the time that I actually start to collect again because Money aside, monetary value aside, I don't really care about that. I, I just care about great artworks, as you know. It's why I'm not chasing the best card in the set. the first thing that I bought was a Crown Zenith, ETB. From my local card shop. I mean now they're going for a hundred dollars plus, but I think they probably had them for like 30 bucks. And I was like, are you kidding me? 30 bucks for cardboard, maybe I don't wanna collect this. You know, it's always funny to look back on that and be like, wow. Remember when that set was 30 bucks? And we all thought it was a giant fucking rip
David Hernandez:Now, you mentioned earlier how you know, you felt weird or irresponsible, especially'cause you're early on in your career, you weren't really making a lot. everybody who started their career maybe even now, knows what it's like. When did you, I guess, embrace, you know, your collection side as a millennial and what helped you kinda move past the guilt?
ShadowlessRed:It was probably the channel, and I'm being completely honest with you, when I started. Collecting a lot. I was watching a lot of those guys that, that open packs for a living, you know, pokey Rev, Coltran, Orion. And I was like, man, they have the dream job. And of course, you know, don't get me wrong, for them it's, it's, it's very labor intensive. There's a lot of work that goes into making a successful channel and it's, it's not just, you know, sunshine and rainbows all day. Like, they like, like they make it seem, you know, behind the camera. And at the time I was like. I could do that, that's easy. I could do it. And, and, and here's the best part. I can make it a tax write that I would feel in my, you know, this, this is like, this is like guy math, right? Like, in my mind, that's not being irresponsible.
David Hernandez:And so you just started like your own channel to where you started making your own content. I guess you would pick out car packs that you were chasing. Like how in those earliest days when you were starting up your channel, how did you decide what cards to go after? Were they monetarily or were you just going after ones you loved?
ShadowlessRed:I had, I had no idea. I just thought, I'll, I'll, I'll come up with the content later. I just want to do this. And, I, I don't think I was really reckless about starting to channel because it's always funny. Uh. You hear those stories about MR. And all these really successful channels and what do they have in common? They all. Do like a, like an initial marketing research. They, they figure out what they need to do to make a successful channel. They figure out what, what the successful channels are already doing. Well, maybe what, what the, the gap in the marketplace is. you, you do a little deep dive onto maybe some of the psychological elements of viewership and. If you get that part down, you know, more often than not you're gonna be successful with building a channel. And I thought, okay, so if I'm gonna make a channel, it can't be half-assed. I have to have the right, hardware, I have to have the right software, I have to have the rights, attitude, charisma, mindset, and I'll just come up with some ideas later.'cause if I get those things right, it's gonna be successful. I didn't really go that way.
David Hernandez:What was the biggest surprise, I guess, out of that? What did, what didn't go correctly as you envisioned? Um.
ShadowlessRed:I, I started filming my first video on, on YouTube, and it ended up being this just really, really, really long 45 minute clip of me opening, like those Pikachu Vmax boxes of Crown Zenith. it was a real pain because, first of all, you know, you decorate the set, you get the lighting, you, you, you try to figure out how you're gonna record it you know, you start recording and you get behind, you stare the camera on their face and they're like. I look stupid. I look really, really stupid. Like what 20 something year old does this shit. Right.
David Hernandez:Right. Um,
ShadowlessRed:and so I'm looking at the camera and I'm, I'm, I'm flubbing, I'm messing up. I'm getting, I, I feel like there's a hundred thousand people watching me. And I'm like, this is just not going well at all. By the way, that video is still up on my YouTube channel. Um.
David Hernandez:oh.
ShadowlessRed:And, and it just, it's really awkward. I still watch it'cause it's funny to see. It's, it's really awkward. The editing is terrible. And so I get these raw clips I load them onto my computer. I download Adobe, whatever the, whatever the editing software as. I don't use it anymore.
David Hernandez:Mm-hmm.
ShadowlessRed:And I shit you not, I get a minute into editing and my motherboard fries.
David Hernandez:Oh.
ShadowlessRed:I was like, well, if this isn't a sign that the channel is not meant to be, that's, uh, I don't know what is.
David Hernandez:you know, it reminds me so much of, you know, me starting out this podcasting.'cause you know, having that thought of people watching you is real. Like even for me, I'm, I'm a faceless podcast, well not faceless, but I don't record video. But I still felt like people were watching me as I was recording even before I did the interviews. And it's such a weird feeling to have when you're first starting out and you kind of had to overcome that. And it's not people actually watching you, it's your own self-conscious thinking. Like, oh, what are they gonna think once you release that? And I think that stops a lot of people.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah, exactly. I think it's like learning to drive. You have to get your wheels and the first time you get behind the wheel when you're 15, 16 years old, you know, you're like, this, this is going really terribly. I could crash and, and, and, and end this all in a second, you know, crash my car, whatever it is. And you're like, I never wanna get behind the wheel ever again. But then like after six months to a year, you know, you're like, oh, driving, I can do this. You know, I can do this. Like, uh, you know, like, like it's nothing. Now, I gotta tell you, filming for me now is like, it's literally just another chore that I have to do during the week. Uh, it's a great chore, don't get me wrong, but it's, it's a chore. Like, oh God, Monday is filming day. And then, I film, I do what I gotta do, and then I, I, I take my signature black shirt off and, uh, hit the shower, and then I start editing. That's, that's literally what it's become. Just, just a routine.
David Hernandez:Now, you know, you mentioned how early on you started your mother bordered fried, and you said This is a sign. What made you see that not as a sign, but continue going at that point? What changed it to where you felt like you could still do this?
ShadowlessRed:Copious amounts of credit card debt.
David Hernandez:I'm sorry.
ShadowlessRed:You know, uh, it takes money to make money. now it's a full blown business. And I'm, I'm, I'm happy it is what it is now. But, you know how it is, right? Like you can't start a business without having the risk. That's inherent. I mean, you know, some businesses are cheaper to start than others this one was not.
David Hernandez:Of course.
ShadowlessRed:Uh, but, uh, yeah, you know, Hey, here's the thing. I got the new laptops, the one I'm using right now still. I got the video edited. Yeah, video obviously didn't, didn't do. Anything, it's, it, it's a slow burn to get to the channel, to get to channel where it is now. but, I'm glad I didn't give up. You know, the credit card thing is just, uh, it just became a part of like managing a business just like you would do any other business if you were to get a personal loan or if you were to get a small business loan. as long as you have the right motivation and the drive and maybe a little bit of luck, That kind of stuff takes care of itself.
David Hernandez:I think you said it Pointly.'cause you know, it's like I'm still trying to improve it. You know, you keep putting money down because you believe in the idea so much and sometimes you know it works out and you gotta keep going with it. That's why I laughed so hard.'cause I was like that hit two post a home.
ShadowlessRed:That's, it's true, it's true. Uh, you know, uh, first of all, it's not a, it's not a cheap hobby, you know? So, but, but here's the funny thing. You know, I would watch these pokey rev videos, and by the way, pokey Rev, uh, you know, uh, 2 million plus subscriber, maybe he's at 3 million subscribers on YouTube. you know, you could say a lot about him, but what you can say for sure is that he's, he's doing it right. He's, he's doing, he's running the business in a really, successful way. And so I said, what is he doing right? How did, how did he get to be what he is now? I say, okay, you know what? He's, he's got really good lighting. Uh, what's a couple hundred bucks on good lights? Okay. Uh, he's probably got some good, uh, a good microphone. What's a couple hundred bucks on a good microphone? He is got a good backdrop. he's got the, the signature white table that I, that I was like, I, I gotta find that same white table. and I was like, you know what? Like that kind of, that kind of, if you do it right the first time, I feel like you're just much more prone to success, even if that does cost a little bit of money. I think that's okay. If you build it, they will come and, I think I'm lucky that it happened that way.
David Hernandez:I mean, I do the same way to where some point for editing, I could have done Audacity, which is free, or I could have
ShadowlessRed:Oh yeah.
David Hernandez:our software and I'm like, this paid software, yes, is an investment. Absolutely. But it saves so much time compared to when I had to do Audacity, the Mike thing. I'm probably due for an upgrade at this point, honestly, but I try to, I didn't wanna be cheap, so I didn't buy like a 20 or$15 mic. I bought a decent 100,$110 mic. like I said, it's due for an upgrade at this point, but you kind of have to put those investments because you're gonna pay it at some point. It's gonna either be outta your time or it's gonna
ShadowlessRed:Oh yeah.
David Hernandez:of the length of the whatever you're, uh, deciding to do. And
ShadowlessRed:Right,
David Hernandez:always been very stern with as far as as the Pokemon ball turns is concerned.
ShadowlessRed:right.
David Hernandez:do things cheaply just to get it done. I want it to be done well at this point. I want it to be done well and enough to where people recognize that, oh, this is something that's more professional based at this point, I'm not an amateur trying to figure his way. I kind of know what I am. It's more of,
ShadowlessRed:Absolutely.
David Hernandez:I figured it out, I want it to be done perfection.'cause I want it to something that's last best example is, you know, I'm currently working on trying to get my logo updated. You know, I did something that was basically slapped on together on paint. That's really all it was. I talked to a friend of mine and I told him my ideas and I told him like, yeah, some people just come here just thinking like it's gonna be like 50 or$60, but it's like a couple hundred dollars. And I'm like, I get that investment, this logo. I want it to be something that lasts. Beyond just what I could do that lasts for years and years and years that people can
ShadowlessRed:Exactly
David Hernandez:And it's that kind of mindset you have to shift to. And a lot of people it struggles with. You know, you gotta get there at some point.
ShadowlessRed:it. It's if you think about cost per use.
David Hernandez:Yes.
ShadowlessRed:it's a no brainer. A$50 logo, how long are you gonna use that logo for?
David Hernandez:Right, right.
ShadowlessRed:a year, maybe two years. And, and it's brand recognition, right? Like, it's one of those things where I think you put in the time and money in the, in, in the beginning. In people's minds, you know, they, they're going to equate that with quality. And, you know, it comes down to are you running a hobby or are you running a business? If you're running a hobby, it's gonna look like a hobby. If you're running a business, you should probably make it look like you're running a business.
David Hernandez:Now for you, at what point did you realize this is no longer a hobby, but now that what you're doing on your channel is now a full on business, did you kind of gradually come to that? Or was it just something that happened overnight? Not overnight, but you know what I mean? Like did you just make a decision
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. Yeah, I, I can tell you exactly what it was. I went to the February 20, 23 front row card show back when it was at the Tuscany. And if, and if you're listening to this, you've been to the front row card show, you know, now it's at the Rio where it's 550 tables. It's a huge ballroom. But when it was at the Tuscany was a very small show, maybe 200 tables, and it was nothing like what it is now. And I went there as a, as a, as a guest, as a spectator, whatever. I thought, you know what? I could do this. I don't know what I would sell. I have no freaking clue what, I have nothing to sell. But I think it would be really fun to just get out there and meet a bunch of people and sell. And so the first thing I did, I got home. And by the way, Pokemon, it's, it's nowhere back then what it is now. You could buy a vendor table up to like a week before the show. So I bought a vendor table and I was like, alright, I'm credit card. You, you're coming in handy again. I started making these mystery packs and they, these mystery packs, by the way, they're, they're nothing like what they, what I sell now. They were a couple of loose cards and I would put like, you know, like maybe a, maybe a, I think a$2 card in them and one out of every 10 would have like a, like an alternate artwork card from the Sword Shield era. And I thought, alright, I'll do that. And then I went into, I went into Walmart while I was traveling to California visiting my hometown, and I saw. All of these evolving Skyes ETBs on the shelves. And I thought, oh, you know what? I bet you somebody would want those. So I bought like, eight or nine ETBs, thank you again. Credit card for coming in handy. I, I, I was like, all right, I have something to sell. So I show up at this show with like nine ETBs and like 20 mystery packs. I sell everything immediately. By the way, these evolving guys, ETBs sold at like$70, which, uh, they go for about two 80 right now.
David Hernandez:Wow. Yeah.
ShadowlessRed:And, and I was like, I was like, man, I just, I just made a, I just, I just made money off of this. And the best part about it was I got to, I got to tell everybody about my channel. You know, I, I made, I made a few bucks, not nothing great, but I got to tell a bunch of people about my channel and I got to meet a bunch of people I was like, alright, this is, this is no longer a hobby. I am fully fledged into this as a business.
David Hernandez:And what is it like to go to those card shows now to where now you're just not going as just a random hobbyist vendor, but you're actually going to kind of, of course, you know, sell some stuff, but also try to build your brand to the community as a whole.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah, it's a weird feeling because I've done like nine or 10 of these card shows with front row, and it always feels like, at least to me, the having the product is just, the means to an end. And that's, you know, promoting the brand and, and just communicating with people, talking to people. And I, at my first ever card show, I had one person come up to me and said, I watch your videos. And I was like, you watch my videos? How, how the hell did you find me?
David Hernandez:Yes.
ShadowlessRed:Like, I'm, I'm, I'm curious, like, how, like, how did you find me? And I don't, I don't remember what they told me, but like, that was a shocking moment to me.'cause I'd only started my channel like three months prior
David Hernandez:Oh wow.
ShadowlessRed:and now It's this thing where people will come up to me and, and do one of, one of like a few things. They'll say, day five 18. or they'll say, can I just give you this Deoxys card? Like, no, no, thank you, but no. Or they'll hand me a pack like in their back pocket. I'm like, okay, thank you. and they're like, you gotta open this in the chase. Really grateful of that, by the way. and, or, or, or they'll say, you know, Hey, can you sign my Deoxys card? and I'm like, I cannot believe this is happening right now. Like, that is a weird, surreal feeling of like, all because of this stupid, this stupid idea or the, you know, all because of this, this, this weird idea of opening packs, looking for a car and starting this channel.
David Hernandez:You got people wanting to sign a Deoxys card, that's, that's how you know you're legit.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. Yeah. So on on Sunday, somebody came by and he brought his, it was at the Ion Deoxys tag team card, and he goes, can you sign it? I said, I'm not, I'm not, this is a really great card. I don't know if I, if I should sign this. he was like, no, seriously. I was like, how about this? I'll sign the sleeve. How about that? And he was like, all right, cool. That that works. Um, and you know, it's, it's so funny because like it catches me off guard too. I'm, I'm working with my, my buddy, my really good friend who helps me with the card show, and I'm talking to this customer and he's talking to me about Pal Day interface. He's interested in buying a mini tin I'm poking fun of my buddy and I said, you know, uh, are you looking for that Mew? And he goes, no, I've already pulled it. And I turned to my buddy'cause I know he has never pulled that bubble Mew. And I said, you stop and pulled that Mew and this guy, this customer goes and you stop and pulled that Deoxys. I was like,
David Hernandez:shots
ShadowlessRed:the, how the, I, I didn't even know you knew about this channel. And I just got, I just got roasted bro.
David Hernandez:Jeez. I'm sure people offer you the deoxy every time you go to these card shows, right?
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. it does happen a lot. I think what I get more now is people are like, I want to contribute to the chase. Here's a pack.
David Hernandez:Mm.
ShadowlessRed:always, that's, I mean now with Crown Zena being like$10 a pack, I'm like, Okay. I appreciate that. That's, uh, it's, it's, it's, it's becoming a little, a little too pricey right now to post every day, but here we go. Um, but yeah, the Deoxyss, you know, it's everybody I feel like understands. It's like, I, I, you know, I gotta pull. I'm not gonna just, what if I just showed up one day on, on the channel and I was like, good news. Somebody gave me the Deoxyss goodbye.
David Hernandez:Mm-hmm. All that investment for 500 plus days gone vanished. Yeah. I think that's what I found so interesting.'cause you know, I had put, we talked about, I had Poca Tini on, and that's one question I asked him, like, why don't you just buy it? Or why don't you just, why go
ShadowlessRed:Oh yeah.
David Hernandez:And I think a lot of people ask that, especially as the Pokemon TCG scene gets to where it's at. But you kind of, it's like an experience. You kind of wanna be able to share that moment.'cause you can't really get that again, you know?
ShadowlessRed:I don't think that there's, and this is just my opinion, I know a lot of people feel differently. I don't really think there's anything fun in buying singles personally. I, I get it, you know, it's the most cost effective way to go. You know, you, you could probably spend, I mean, look at, I mean, use my chase as an example, you know, you could probably spend, you know, uh, hundreds if not thousands of dollars looking for a particular card you want, or you can just buy it. But, there's just something that about buying it that goes against. Literally how we were, how we were raised as kids, which is you get a pack and you open it and that's, maybe you get the cards you're looking for, but like buying singles, to me it feels like, you just got like a secret cheat code to get to, to win.
David Hernandez:Now, you know, in your chase you've had some people who've I think shared some very personal stuff and you've highlighted on your, uh, channel, you know, two comments that stick to mind was one from Orion. He said, bro, I got pregnant and had a whole baby in the time you've been trying to get Deoxys. I feel for you, rooting for you. then the other one, which is more touching, this is what I wanna highlight. He said, frankly, these vents help me get through the healing process of my heart attack. And I wanna know what is it like to get those kind of comments? Like, do you feel kind of.
ShadowlessRed:Oh man.
David Hernandez:you're kind of tied into their lives in a way.
ShadowlessRed:You know what it, it reminds me, and again, this is just my perspective, I, I don't know what it's like, but it reminds me of two things. One, being a kid watching Jeopardy at seven o'clock every day. You, you, you just, you wouldn't miss it. Or, you know, my family would all eat dinner together, watch Jeopardy. That was our thing. And if it was, if Jeopardy wasn't on or was a rerun, be like, what the hell man? This is, this is our tradition. so I get it. There's something about having that tradition for the everyday people that watch that probably makes them feel a little bit of comfort. And I, and I really like that aspect of the chase and it makes me realize it's not even about the Deoxys. It could be any card. It could be, it could be something else tomorrow. And people still just really want the, the routine. And, and, and I love that because people show up every day. The other part, you know, about, you know, recovering from the heart attack, that is, that, that was, I'm, I'm glad you found that. I'm glad you remember that because that was, um, that was a pretty life changing, comment to read. I, I remember reading that and I. It reminds me of, you know, when I was like 18 years old and there was like, you know, you know, back in 2014 there's like these, these vlogs, like these people would vlog all the time.
David Hernandez:Mm-hmm.
ShadowlessRed:And that was like, that was like your go-to like binge watching content before Netflix was what it was. And I remember like going through this like weird breakup at 18 and I was like, well, at least I have the, the vlogs every day from the singer of we the Kings who does this, vlogging from Warp Tour There's something like healing about that. I don't know what it is. When you have something to watch, something to go to every day, it feels like you, you know, you feel that, that personal connection, so I guess I understand it.
David Hernandez:And I loved how you mentioned Jeopardy.'cause I think sometimes as millennials we kind of don't understand it.'cause you know, we kind of grew up with the internet, grew up with the, we were the last generation to have both the regular TV and the internet. And you know, after us as the Gen Z, they had full internet. And I think you brought such a very. Down to earth example to where it's like Jeopardy to where this is a family tradition or this is a tradition that I follow, and they kind of fill up that relationship that way. I think that's such a good way to put it.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what the equivalent would be today. I mean, do people still watch cable? I don't know. People still have family time. I don't know.
David Hernandez:ones I know of are the ones who grew up with the boomers and the older folks.
ShadowlessRed:right. Who has cable nowadays? I haven't had cable in like 10 years.
David Hernandez:haven't had regular TV in about 10 years. I just do streaming.
ShadowlessRed:Yeah, like it was just, I pull up YouTube on the TV and just like everything I would watch on my phone, I just put on the tv.
David Hernandez:And the funny part, it's not even out of not trying. I really try to have regular tv, but you have to go through so many hoops to just try to get regular basic tv. I'm like F this. I'd rather
ShadowlessRed:Yeah. Yeah.
David Hernandez:the internet on YouTube or go to the website. What's the point of me trying
ShadowlessRed:Dude. A hundred percent.
David Hernandez:Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
ShadowlessRed:I mean, here's the, I, I don't feel old, but I'll tell you when I do feel old, feel old when I'm trying to watch a show and I'm like, what dang streaming service is this on this, this TV doesn't even have this streaming service. I gotta pay for this. I thought I paid for it two months ago. And I'm like, okay, I get it. This is, this is how boomers feel. This is how, uh, this is how my grandparents felt. I, I get that man. And, and I'm just like, you know what? Screw it back to YouTube.
David Hernandez:Yep. Here's the one thing that I'll put it, uh, perspective even better. Um, I was kind of assisting a teacher with a class and she was trying to teach basic finances, and she says, how much do y'all want to, she told the class, the class is like maybe 16 to 18-year-old to keep in mind how many of y'all want to pay for cable or something like that. And they're all looking sideways like, what's cable like? Literally they have that confused, perplexed look, and I said, let me help a little bit. How many of y'all stream. they all raised their hand. They didn't know cable, but they knew streaming. And then she says, oh, I see, I see. Y'all don't know cable.
ShadowlessRed:Right, right. Yeah. That's, that's a, it's, it's, it's totally in the past now, like there, I wouldn't, I guess you're right. I wouldn't expect kids to like, understand what that, what, what, what it was like. But I'll tell you what, if you tell'em this, look, we have every channel on demand. All you gotta do is scroll through and you can get anything you want. The catch is you just have to watch two minute ads. I'd argue that's better than what we have right now.
David Hernandez:Well ShadowlessRed. I wanna finish this interview on this last question. For over 500 days, they followed your search for one card, and along the way, you know you've built something bigger than the chase At this point. We've talked about how people have connected with you and how people have kind of resonated with your chase to try to get the Deoxys card. Say from like maybe years or decades from now, people find your channel. What do you kinda hope they remember from your journey to this point?
ShadowlessRed:Oh man, that's a, that's a, that's a really good question. Um. I think that, I think that the, journey is a real product of its time and it's, almost, if you watch it in 10 years from now, it almost serves as a time capsule for how the, TCG hobby grew from early 2023 to, the time we're doing this. And you can see. maybe my mindset changed on, you know, shifting things from maybe looking for the most valuable cards to looking for the cards that I like the most. every video I talk about a current event or something that's going on in the hobby or something that's going on in, in, in the world. it's almost like if you watch the channel from day one to day five, whatever, day five 20. You almost, you almost get a sense of here's how the, here's the state of the scene for two years a time capsule. and, I think that's, uh, I think that's, that's pretty important because things tend to go out of style very quickly in Pokemon TCGI mean, They come out with five, six sets a year. it's overwhelming, right? It's, it's so overwhelming. And so it's hard to stay current with things. So on my channel, you'll, you'll probably see me talk about how evolving skies is the, is the most popular thing, all the way to, you know, to 1 51 to like the dead period from Paradox, rift and Temporal forces. when the hobby was kind of at, at a lull, you know, raging back with Twilight Masquerade and the Greninja, and I have commentary on, on, on how these trends go. and like I said, none of this has anything to do with the Deoxys. It doesn't, it's, it's just, it's, it's just about, being, present, content creator who, who maybe just posts every day and, think there's some, some valuable insight there when, when maybe you start to feel like, you didn't really get a chance to see how the TCG hobby was for, for those time periods.
David Hernandez:Speaking of content, if people want to check out your channel, if they want to maybe buy some merch or buy whatever you're selling, where can they go? By all means, please plug away. Oh.
ShadowlessRed:Oh yeah, of course. The good news is it's Shadowless Red everywhere you go. Facebook, Instagram, youtube.com/at Shadowless Red, my website is just shadowless red.com. You could probably find me on TikTok as well. Shadowless Red, that's me, that's who I am everywhere.
David Hernandez:Thank you for listening to As The Pokeball Turns, if this story resonated with you, share the podcast with a fellow trainer and don't forget to follow us. For more voices, more journeys, and more memories. I'm David Hernandez, and remember, your next Pokemon adventure begins here.
ShadowlessRed:Not happy.
