It started with a trip to Japan.
I’d thought about getting back into Pokémon for some years, but Japan gave me the real push. The sick card shops, The Pokémon Center, gacha machines and friendly people made me want to keep discovering new things.
Naturally, “some” packs and a few cool cards came home with me. Rediscovering your childhood hobby is a lot of fun. Rediscovering it with adult money? Even more!
Back home, the curiosity kept growing. I started researching, collecting and eventually found Whatnot. I spent more there than I’d care to admit, but the best thing I found wasn’t a card. It was the people.
Soon, I was joining streams just to hang out, chat and crack jokes. I even started streaming myself, with some wins and some losses but a lot of fun. That community became a big part of what I loved about the hobby.