May 30, 2025 • 34 mins
What if your childhood hobby could become your future? For Cameron and Noah, two high school friends turned business partners, that “what if” became Johto Jems, a heartfelt blend of Pokémon nostalgia, late-night ambition, and vending table hustle.
In this episode, we follow the duo’s journey from a 3AM business plan to their very first card show. They share what it means to grow a brand from scratch, why Pokemon X and Y will always be their favorite era, and how meaningful moments like giving a free pack to a wide-eyed kid make the vendor grind worth it. Along the way, you’ll hear stories of Ash Greninja, Shiny Charizard, and the growing bond between two friends building something they can finally call their own.
Listen now and experience the kind of connection that can only happen between Trainers and Pokemon cards.
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Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cameron (00:00):
We are Johto Jems,
Noah (00:01):
and this is our Pokemon story.
David Hernandez (00:42):
Welcome to as the Pokeball Turns, where every
voice, every journey, and everymemory brings us closer to the
world of Pokemon.
I'm David Hernandez and I'mjoined by a duo behind Johto
Jems, A team bringing heart,hustle, and humor to the Pokemon
community.
One show at a time.
Johto Jems.
Welcome to as the Pokemon BallTurns.
Cameron (01:01):
Thank you so much for having us on.
David Hernandez (01:03):
Absolutely.
And thank y'all for coming on.
I have a soft spot for vendors'cause I started doing vendor
events myself and it's such aunique world where you kind of
are like a small business in asense, but you're also with
other small businesses in a oneclosed area.
And I kind of just wanna startwith this question.
You know, a lot of greatjourneys, they start with a
simple, what if.
What was the conversation y'alltwo had or the moment where
(01:25):
Johto Jems took shape.
Cameron (01:27):
So it was actually a, a pretty funny story.
it wasn't really a conversation.
We kind of had, it just kind ofsparked.
So basically, I met him at my,around freshman year of high
school and we weren't veryclose, but recently we came back
together.
It was really good friends.
And at like three in themorning, I sent him a giant
business plan that I created outof nowhere.
And I was like, we should createa business.
And he was like.
(01:47):
He was like, nah, man, not rightnow.
And then that's where, kind ofwhere it died down.
But then we went to collect ConHouston and after we left, he
looked at me and he was justlike, I wanna do this.
I want this to happen and I wantthis to be something that we do
for the rest of our life.
And I was like, let's do it.
And that's kind of where itkinds kinda, where it all
started, honestly.
Noah (02:05):
Yeah, I Collect-a-con like just seeing everybody like.
the way the social interaction,the way the business was turning
through what I loved as well,something I was interested in.
It was, it was justinspirational to see that, and
it was something I wanted topursue.
I.
David Hernandez (02:20):
What was the bit about specifically collect I
guess maybe changed your mindfrom, ah, this is not a good
idea to, oh, let's do this.
Like do you remember?
Anything significant that stuckout?
Noah (02:29):
I think it was the seeing people our age,'cause me and
Cameron are still in highschool, right?
And seeing people around like,you know, 1918 going out there
and really, you know, trying todo something rather than just,
you know, staying at home,playing video games, going out.
But they're trying to, you know,make something out of something
that they love and it's a brandand something that they can
(02:51):
carry around.
And that's something thatinspired me to want to do this
as well because I want somethingthat I can say is me and having
Johto Jems is, it's honestlyamazing.
David Hernandez (03:02):
Now, Cam, back to you real quick.
'cause you sent this guy amessage at 3:00 AM in the
morning, a business plan, and Igotta ask like, why did you feel
the urge to send it right thenand there?
Cameron (03:11):
so we worked together at the same job at retirement
Center and basically we got backfrom a shift and we were just
both super tired, but like I.
I like was up one night becauseI had Johto Jems originally, it
was a little TikTok shop thing.
I was running by myself beforeNoah, but it wasn't the same
Johto Jems.
It was spelled differently.
It had a whole different like,demeanor to it.
It really wasn't the same.
but like I take business classesin high school and things like
(03:32):
that.
So I've still taught myselfbusiness.
I ran a, uh, a, like a cateringcookie business I used to sell
things online, like I've beenvery much into entrepreneurship
and sales, my whole, my wholelife.
So I kind of already have like awhole, the whole thing behind
business plans and, all teamslike business.
So like in the middle of thenight I was like, watching this
video.
It, this is where this struckfor me to go back in the Pokemon
(03:53):
was Coop's collection on TikTok.
I saw him and I was I wanna dothis.
So again, at like two 30 in themorning, I created a business
plan.
Took me about an hour and ahalf, two hours.
I sent it to him and I was like,bro.
Read this and tell me thisdoesn't sound fire.
And then that's where, that'skind of like where it sparked.
David Hernandez (04:09):
Now on that note, because you said you
basically kind of grew up withbusiness, like it's in your
blood basically.
And you know, you mentionedtaking classes and all that.
What was some of the earliestlessons about running something
of your own and how does thatshow up now and how you operate?
Joe, do gyms.
Cameron (04:25):
So obviously everybody wants to not have a boss.
Everybody wants to do thingsunder their own, like impression
and everything.
You know, That's kind of whereit first happened.
That's just kind of everybody'sperspective in entrepreneurship
and things like that.
But I found like a passion insales.
Like, it's funny, it's, it'sjust gonna sound stupid, but
like, as a kid, I used to, like,during like the hot summer days,
(04:45):
I'd go around my neighborhoodand sell water bottles for
obnoxiously high prices.
I was six.
Didn't know the best, but youcan say it was doing sales and
sophomore year, freshman year ofhigh school, I was baking
cookies at home with, uh,recipes that I created and I
would go around like, the localneighborhood and sell them to
people for pretty good prices,honestly.
'cause I was using high tieringredients to create like,
really good product.
(05:06):
And it worked for a while.
I was, I was bringing in areally good flow.
But the thing was, is that Iactually, um.
Things happened in life and, youknow, I, I had to step away from
that.
But then I came back.
Whenever I saw how big Pokemonwas getting, I was already
collecting it.
I had got back into it beforethe big craze, but then I saw
vending and I was like, this ismy chance to, to bring business,
my, like, my business passionback into a really good way.
(05:27):
Because I've always wanted to dosomething in business.
I've always wanted to have myown business.
If it, at first it was akitchen, I wanted to own my own
restaurant.
other things like that.
And then this is where it's kindof ended as now I wanna have
like a card shop for my own.
David Hernandez (05:39):
Now, you mentioned how you were getting
back into Pokemon.
What was your early experiencewith Pokemon and how did that,
come into you doing Johto Jemsat some point?
Cameron (05:48):
I started collecting Pokemon at the age of four.
So my mom was getting me verylate, black and white sets from
the toys Rush.
She'd go wait in lines for thembecause about that time, Pokemon
was pretty big, or the tradingparty game was pretty big.
And my time period where Icollected the most was the
Pokemon XY era, which was, IWill Stand, is the best era in
Pokemon.
(06:08):
argue with the Wall, don't care.
Anyways.
collecting, that's like where mybig collecting was.
All I remember is that I wouldlike reach in my pockets and I
would have Mega Charizard Xcards in there and they would
get run through the, the washingmachine and dryer machine
because you know, as a kid youdidn't care about condition or
worth or none of that.
'cause at the time they reallydidn't have much worth, like the
(06:30):
big investment and all thatdidn't happen until 2020.
But as a kid, collecting Pokemonwas the coolest thing I could
have done.
I used to trade them in school.
I definitely get scammed a lot,but, Trading cars in class was
always super fun and I wouldwait in lines to toys us at very
late nights or very earlymornings for the newest sets.
So yeah, I've always been aroundPokemon my whole life.
Literally one of the first showsI've ever watched was the anime,
(06:51):
I think it was the Diamond andPearl Anime.
so I've always been aroundPokemon my entire life, and I
grew out of it for a while, andthen I came back into it.
David Hernandez (06:58):
You know what's interesting is that no matter
when we started playing Pokemon,there's always that story where
somebody leaves the Charizardcard in their pocket and the
laundry.
I don't know what is aboutCharizard, but it just goes
through so much abuse.
Maybe that's why it's sovaluable.
I don't know, but I.
Noah, what about you?
What's your experience withPokemon?
Let's start there.
What's your early experience?
Noah (07:18):
Honestly, as far back as I can remember, I've always been
collecting Pokemon, whether itbe on the Ds, on the trading
card game.
I've loved Pokemon.
I don't actually remember whenit started, but I do remember
collecting the cards and I haveto agree with my business
partner on this.
One XY will always be the bestera.
(07:39):
I remember buying flash fire forfive bucks.
Seeing the prices nowadays makesme insane.
Like absolutely crazy.
But as far back as I canremember, I remember playing
Omega Ruby.
I remember playing Ruby Pearl.
All those Collecting at Toys RUs.
I remember waiting in line forthose.
(07:59):
I remember the huge boxes thatyou could get for super like
cheap nowadays, but they'resuper expensive now.
David Hernandez (08:07):
You said you played the video games.
What did you enjoy about playingthe video games at that time?
Do you remember any of them?
Noah (08:12):
Honestly, the one thing that stuck out to me about
Pokemon was there was so manyhidden secrets that you would
just stumble onto instead ofwanting to find, or, you know,
looking up a YouTube video abouthow to find something.
'cause maybe back then wedidn't, you know, know to look
it up or want to find it in thatway.
We would just stumble across itand, you know.
(08:33):
Finding a secret path or cuttinga tree.
You weren't supposed to.
Finding a secret path and itleading on to something amazing
that you tell your friends aboutthe next day.
There was just something somagical about that in Pokemon
for me.
David Hernandez (08:46):
I can see that.
I always enjoy.
That's why I always try to.
Click everything whenever Iwould go to town, because I
always never knew what wouldlead to something.
Like if I click, if I talked tothis lady or this guy, like
where they gave me on adventure,where they gave me a Pokemon,
then that's what always kind ofI enjoyed the most about the
games.
'cause you never knew where thatconversation could lead to
something else, you know?
Noah (09:06):
As somebody who hated reading, growing up, ever since
I started playing Pokemon andlike Dark Souls, you gotta pay
attention now.
And very important to checkevery corner, every nook and
cranny.
There could always be somethingI.
David Hernandez (09:20):
Now, y'all both said something the same.
Y'all both agreed on this onepoint that Pokemon X and Y was
the best out of anything, and Iwant to get y'all's opinions on
from both of y'all.
What is it about that set thatMBS makes it stand out compared
to some of the others?
Noah (09:35):
Honestly, I would have to say the gimmick for X and y like
it.
It's the greatest for what wehave right now.
Like between VMAXs,Gigantamaxing, Terrastilization.
it doesn't get any better thanMegas like Mega Charizard, Mega
Aerodactyl, Mega Aggron,.
Mega rayquaza.
Don't forget about PrimalKyogre, Primal Groudon these new
(09:58):
forms.
They were, they were crazy.
And seeing them in the cardvariance with, with the Japanese
text, it was just, it wassomething so new and magical.
It was captivating.
Cameron (10:10):
So I have to agree with them is that it's got the best
gimmick.
Uh, I understand.
Maybe competitive wise.
Competitive wise, it wasn't thebest gimmick, the newest
gimmick, Tara, is actually VBAsgimmick, I guess, or it's the
most balanced one, but nobody.
Cares as someone who mainlywatched the anime more than
competitively playing the games,because when I play the games or
I don't put do like that, butwhen I was a kid and I would
(10:30):
play the games, it's over levelyour starter and then go and see
how far you go.
That's how it goes.
But, mega evolution was thecoolest thing for me.
Specifically, my favorite megaevolution wasn't mega, it was
the Ash Greninja.
I am the craziest Ash fan orlike Greninja fan ever.
So seeing the anime, likewatching him hit battle bond for
(10:50):
the first time was probably thecoolest thing ever.
I have a Greninja pop figuresigned by that Ashes voice
actor.
I collect all the cards.
I'm on the mission to collectevery printed greninja card
that's ever released.
I have the Ash Greninja card,all of these super cool cards,
and I'm sad that they're recconning ash greninja completely,
but.
Hopefully they do him justice,what his mega evolution.
(11:11):
I understand the game is super,super easy and you can pretty
much just fly by with likeGreninja and Charizard and you
know,'cause it basically, andLucario'cause it hands you a
free Lucario.
But it was probably the easiestgame that had put people into
the game and the hobby and allthat because a lot of people
grew up like.
Me, Noah's age, demographic Xand Y was their first
introduction, or black and whitetoo, and x and y.
(11:34):
Making it the easiest game wasprobably the smartest decision
because then it kept people forthe long run, you know?
And I started personally withblack and white too.
That was my first game.
I'm a Tepig lover, by the way.
Emboar is my goat.
But yeah, like X and Y woulddefinitely be my favorite.
And I still rewatch X and Y whenI get the chance.
'cause that anime was the mostmature version of Ash and was
(11:55):
just the most well-writtenanime.
David Hernandez (11:57):
I had a follow up question'cause you mentioned
how you love Ash Greninja, thatthat's your, it sounds like
that's your favorite Pokemonpotentially.
Cameron (12:03):
definitely.
David Hernandez (12:04):
Oh it is.
Okay.
What is it about, I guess, AshGreninja that you enjoy?
compared to maybe some of hisother Pokemon or other Pokemon
that are out there?
Cameron (12:12):
See, if it wasn't for the XY anime, Greninja wouldn't
be as popular.
To me, it's the anime thatreally ride like rose the.
Pokemon up for me because havingFroakie's backstory, being that
he chose the starter, thatstarter didn't choose him, is
the coolest thing ever.
His first screen time was,blocking an attack for Ash after
not even being Ash's Pokemon.
And every evolution that he hadwas so cool.
(12:34):
When he first involved intoFrogadier, it was the coolest
thing ever.
He was stuck under the rubbleand he went crazy.
and I think it was the eighthGym battle.
It was a seventh.
It was a seventh gen battle.
they redid the father son Kamihaw thing, but with ash and
Frogadier, and he thought it wasthe coolest thing ever.
When he finally evolved in theGreninja'cause in the animate,
Frogadier or like Greninja rivalwas another greninja from like
(12:56):
Ash's Greninja, greninja type ofthing.
I don't know how to explain it,but that greninja became fodder
so fast the second thatFrogadier evolved because he
went battle bond instantly andjust wiped every single evil
Pokemon that was there withinlike five seconds.
And he should have won the Kalosfinals.
I'll stand on that.
That was, that was robbed.
He got robbed Charizard wasfodder.
(13:17):
I don't care, But the wholepoint is that the anime is what
made Greninja be my favoritePokemon.
And without the anime, it woulddefinitely, it probably would've
been Infernape because of hisbackstory.
David Hernandez (13:27):
Since we're on favorite Pokemon Noah, what's
your favorite Pokemon?
Noah (13:30):
I am amazed that you brought this up.
Right now my favorite Pokemon isCharizard, actually, and
specifically Mega Charziard X,actually, so that is even more
hilarious.
Is, and that
David Hernandez (13:44):
Charizard X like that's your favorite.
Noah (13:47):
I would have to say specifically Shiny Charziard.
David Hernandez (13:50):
Fair
Noah (13:50):
have a thing for like, you know, black dragons, like shiny
rayquaza, shiny Charizard, MegaCharizard X.
Those have to be top three.
David Hernandez (13:59):
Wow.
How did it feel when he wassaying like, oh, uh, Greninja
should have won against
Noah (14:04):
was
David Hernandez (14:04):
feel a little Yeah.
Noah (14:05):
amazing.
Oh my gosh.
The euphoria I feel right now.
But that one kick that AshGreninja did to Bro's Dome that
one time that was tough.
I can't lie.
David Hernandez (14:17):
Do you have like a Charizard collection?
I assume, like since you're acard collector, do you try to
dive into that or you kind
Noah (14:22):
I actually, I actually did, I had the ones from
Champions Path.
I had the Aldean Fates one.
I had pretty much every shinyCharizard card, the char, the
shiny VM Max one.
But I put my binder on top ofCameron's car and I forgot to
grab it.
I'm pretty I we sped off and itmight have fallen off, but.
(14:45):
To New beginnings and we'regonna rebuild it, and it's just
gonna be a part of the journeynow.
David Hernandez (14:50):
Now Cam, I wanna go back to you'cause you
mentioned how you hadcollectibles of your favorite
Pokemon.
I want to ask like what's one Iguess that means the most to
you, and what's the story behindit?
Cameron (14:59):
The Greninja SIR CK illustration layer from Twilight
Masquerade.
That one specifically has a lotof.
Sentimental value behind itbecause of what I had to go
through.
the set that it's from, TwilightMasquerade has ridiculous pull
rates, meaning it's stupid, hardto pull it.
And I maybe invested 700 plusdollars for the card.
By the way, the card's likethree 50 raw.
and I never pulled it, so I hadto swallow my pride and buy the
(15:23):
card because.
David Hernandez (15:24):
You never pulled it.
You just bought it individually.
Cameron (15:27):
I wanted to pull it, like I, I made it my mission.
Every time I went to ourfavorite card shop, we'd, I
would always buy like a threepack blister or a ETB and try to
open it, but I just never couldpull it.
So I had to swallow my pride andbuy it.
But, my second, like mostvaluable, or like the card that
means the most to me is probablymy Ash Greninja's card, because
I was at Collect Con, the onewhere we decided that Johto Jems
(15:47):
should become a thing.
I went to like 40 plus vendortables asking for the card.
after like the 50th table, Ifound it and it was, it was such
a euphoric feeling.
David Hernandez (15:57):
Now going back to the first one, you know, it's
a tough decision to be able tobuy the card individually.
A lot of people who collect theTCG, they prefer to pull it.
They love that feeling tofinally get what they're
chasing.
What was the conversation youhad with yourself to where it
went from?
I'd rather try to pull it towhere I'd rather just go ahead
and close this chapter and goahead and just buy the car
individually.
Was it difficult for you to kindof do that?
Cameron (16:19):
Yeah, it took me a really long time because I was
saying that to Noah for a couplemonths that I was just gonna out
ride by.
The card and then I would keepbuying the packs.
But it was the fact that Ibought a whole booster box and
countless ETBs three packblisters, and I never even
pulled a top 10 card from theset it was my time that I was
like, I can't do this anymore.
Like I financially cannot investthis into the set anymore.
(16:39):
So it was time to just outrightbuy the card and just move on
and see what else I can get.
'cause I had a whole, I had notime to just be chasing for one
card when there's 80 4K Ninjacards that I need to go after.
David Hernandez (16:51):
Uh, I mean, it could be worse.
Could be chasing after Eevee.
There's like 500 of those.
Cameron (16:57):
Are like, bro, over
David Hernandez (16:58):
he, he's got the expensive property between
all of us.
Noah (17:00):
And I gotta restart them
David Hernandez (17:02):
yeah, you gotta restart them all.
Oh my gosh, dude.
poor guy.
My last question just in regardsto that, because even after you
decided to make the decision tobuy it individually, you still
had to go to 50 vendor tablesjust to find the card.
Like was it difficult just to goand ask like over and over the
same question and kind of feelthe feel like, how'd you stay
motivated through that?
Cameron (17:19):
It was just, I knew somebody there had to have it.
It was the biggest, it's one ofthe biggest events in the states
and no, somebody had to have hadit.
And the amount of people thatbrought out the wrong card, I
was like, do y'all have the AshGreninja promo card?
And they would think, I'mtalking about another promo
card.
And I'd be like, I already havethis one man.
And that would keep, I would'veto like speed, walk through
people and move and basicallyhaul ass to get there.
(17:42):
And.
When I finally found it, it wasa great feeling because he had
actually like two copies ofthem, which I was shocked.
I was like, everybody here haszero copies and you had two.
David Hernandez (17:51):
Noah, for you, you know, you're starting a
collection from scratch and forCharizard no less.
I don't even know what to sayabout that, but I guess, what's
the first card you wanna startyour collection?
What's a Charizard card that youenjoy?
Out of all the ones that areavailable, I.
Noah (18:06):
I think honestly, I'm just gonna start off with a wham and
just purchase a PS A 10 SIR ARDfrom Paldean Fates, just to
reward myself because you know,I lost the binder and.
I guess I deserve it in a way.
I feel like I do.
So I'm gonna, I'm gonna splurgea little and I think I'm gonna,
I think I'm gonna restart itwith, with a PSA 10, just, but
(18:27):
it'll be my first ever slab.
So it'll be, it'll be a real setpiece and I'll get one of those
cases that I've seen, it's cardshows.
I've seen a lot of people withreally cool, like 3D printed
ones and a lot of the cool likegradient cases.
So I, I might go a little crazywith that.
Maybe even get a necklace andwear it around like see.
David Hernandez (18:48):
Okay.
(20:18):
So eventually, you know, y'allcome together, y'all start Johto
Jems, which is what y'all arenow, and my first question would
be like, what is Johto Jems andhow did that name come about?
Cameron (20:28):
So Johto Gems was first a thing before Noah.
It was just me.
It was a TikTok shop I wasrunning where I was selling
packs and things I had, and itwas spelled completely
different.
we kind of want it to bedifferent and more unique
compared to other vendors.
'cause when you look in otherPokemon content creators, they
always have the same thing intheir names.
Pokey, insert name, somethingTCG something collects, you
know, everything always has tohave something Poke in it.
(20:51):
So we were like.
Let's put in one of the regionsfrom the game and let's, let's
try to rhyme it with something.
So our three options before wehad it fully, it was Kanto
collectibles, I think it wasKalos Collectibles, I think it
was one of the two.
And then Johto Jems.
But we asked around and JohtoJems.
Slid off the tongue perfectly.
We all, we still ask forpeople's opinions to this day,
(21:12):
even though we're basicallyfully committed to the name,
everybody loves the name.
When they look at our table,they love the name and they're
like, this name is so cool.
It, it just fits so perfect andwe, it feels super, it's super
nice to know
David Hernandez (21:24):
I feel called out'cause I'm As The Pokeball
Turns, so it's like I'm fit astereotypical.
Cameron (21:29):
No, I guess it's kind of different whenever you're
like podcasting, like obviouslyyou need to put Pokemon in the
name, but like all vendors thatkind of have the same names, and
I'm not judging, I'm not hating.
I'm just
David Hernandez (21:39):
No, let's judge, let's hate, let's do a
rating of all the pokey stuffout there.
I would love to do stuff likethat.
All y'all mean poke, Mars, pokeycollectibles, pokey cards.
Y'all gotta be more creative outthere.
Okay.
Noah (21:51):
Called out Pokey Rev.
Jeez.
Cameron (21:53):
Yeah, one of the top Pokemon YouTubers voters got
called out.
David Hernandez (21:57):
my podcast.
Come on.
So, Oh, anyway, on that note, soyou know you got Johto Jems, and
you know, y'all are finallycoming together.
Y'all decide, you know, to comeback after collect account, I
believe is when your businesspartner comes in.
Y'all's first vendor experiencewas actually called Houston
Cards and Collectibles, and Iwanna know, what was your first
experience as vendors like
Noah (22:15):
Honestly, the the first experience.
that show probably had to be,maybe not financially, but just
experience wise, like our bestshow yet, like being there in
person behind the table ratherthan in front of it, trying to
buy something.
It was just an amazing feeling,being able to talk to so many
people, especially for.
(22:36):
People like me and Cameron, youknow, our, our generation,
whenever we went through COVID,we were out of school for a
while.
We didn't, you know, have a lotof social interactions.
So to be able to like constantlyjust be talking and talking and
talking and talking, I I had areally big social battery saved
up and it was, it's really niceto be able to just talk and talk
and talk and talk and meet newpeople and just, constantly be
(22:58):
in a cycle of over and over andover again with people and just
seeing how everybody can be anew person and everybody can be
in a different mood, same mood.
And it was just super unique andI, I just, I loved the
experience.
Cameron (23:13):
I'd probably say it was our second best card show.
fin or like, experience wise,our second one takes it for me,
So yeah, eTown car show was, wasexactly what I wanted vening to
be.
Sunday was definitely a slowerday, mainly because it rained,
so it had a good reason to beslow.
But day one, Saturday was trulyremarkable.
(23:34):
Like.
The people we met was, wasawesome.
like our first couple deals, thepeople were super cool and they
were, they were loving our table'cause we got two tables'cause
they was on deal.
It was like on, on sale orsomething.
So we had, not much product, butwe had a lot of space to be able
to move around and just honestlythe vendors were the best thing
about it.
all our neighbor was super cool.
(23:54):
Everybody around us was justsuper awesome.
And at that show I met.
One of, now one of my best likevendor buddies, uh, the pokey
twin shop.
Those guys are like the goatsand they were super helpful for
our vendor journey, have beenhelping us throughout the way
and they're always, goingtalking to them at shows'cause
they're always at every showthat we're at and just always
chopping it up with them andthey're super cool.
David Hernandez (24:16):
So you said like the vendors were the best
experience about your firstshow, you know, what advice did
they give to y'all when y'allwere attending your first show
that left an impression ony'all?
I.
Cameron (24:25):
So the difference between all of us, or between me
and Noah and the vendors are ourage gap.
Most of these people havestarted vending after they've
made their money.
I.
So they've worked full-timejobs, full-time careers and have
made money so they'd be able tosplurge and invest in high tier
cards.
Unlike me and Noah, where wework part-time jobs, for not
much an hour type of type ofthing.
(24:47):
so we have less to work with.
So when we go to these events,we make sure that networking and
making people's day is our best,like work because I know that we
can do that.
Better than anybody else atthese shows.
Maybe we can't sell the highestcards, but we damn well could
make someone's day and makesomeone's whole week, actually.
So I'd say that the advice thevendors gave us is to just don't
(25:08):
get jealous.
Don't get unmotivated because wehave higher tier cards than you.
It'll come in time.
Just keep working at it and withhow y'all are going.
If y'all just keep promotingyourselves, eventually it'll go
big and it'll be so worth it.
David Hernandez (25:23):
Now you said you, you enjoyed the second
vending show y'all attended.
Tell me about it and what was itabout that you preferred The
second one over?
The first one.
Cameron (25:29):
So when we went into the show, we were a little bit
concerned because these guys runshows at the W.
So like every weekend they runshows.
Our second car show again, they,they run shows like every
weekend.
They had like 14 K followers, sowe were a little bit concerned
'cause they weren't reallymarketing the show.
the game changer behind the showwas that it was free entry, no
cost all weekend.
(25:50):
It was$0.
and it was also in a smallervenue, a really nice hotel that
me and Noah were contemplatingstaying in.
But, we got there and man,Saturday was, the greatest thing
because the game changer for uswas changing our gimmick.
So the thing is about vendors isthat you gotta have a gimmick to
succeed.
And our gimmick was to spin thewheel, which our H Town card
show we, we went about it wrong.
(26:12):
So instead of what we do now, wewere charging people five bucks
to spin the wheel and it wasvery okay.
Prizes.
But our second card show, wechanged it to you.
Give us a follow on Instagramand you can spin the wheel and
oh my goodness.
That was a game changer.
We jumped like two to 300followers that weekend and
people were having so much funat our table.
(26:32):
the word got passed around thatwe were giving out free packs
'cause that's what one of therewards was on the wheel.
And people were coming line upto spin this.
We had one guy follow us on fivedifferent alt accounts to spin
our wheel.
We were all ripping packs andhaving packed battles at the
table.
It was, it was truly thegreatest event, and I think the
best thing about it was.
say actually for Noah, I kind oflike walked in on this was a
(26:54):
little kid came by our table,his name's Trevor and he's like
a big Charizard fan.
And him and Noah were talkingabout Charizards and the little
kid asked us for a picture andit was like the most wholesome
thing ever.
'cause we have like a reallylike high quality picture of all
three of us together.
And it was just a great, it wasa great experience.
Really good, really good.
it, it almost had me tearing upbecause like.
(27:14):
He ended up being like, now he'slike one of our biggest
supporters ever and we're sograteful for that guy and his
dad is also super, super cool tous.
But now the cards and Mor tourevent was really good.
Financially and experience wiseit was, it was the best event.
Noah (27:29):
From the second card show, honestly, whenever Trevor came
to our, table with his fatherand he met us and he asked us
for a picture, it was somethingthat, like, growing up, I've
always watched, you know,YouTubers like Unlisted Leaf was
one of my favorite YouTubersever growing up.
Like his videos.
Inspire me to do the pack trickand the way I open my cards
(27:51):
today.
Like he's the one who set thestones for me.
So whenever somebody comes up tome and they're asking me for a
picture, like it honestly mademe take a step back and it, it
made me appreciate everythinglike so much more.
And honestly, I have to agreewith Cameron on, on the, the
whole networking side, talkingto everybody and you know,
getting, getting point of views.
(28:13):
But the question you asked him,where you said what was the best
piece of advice, I honestlythink it would, it would have to
be, Honestly a, a rude remarkwhat somebody made whenever they
said everybody starts somewhereand it goes back to Cameron's
point where it's just gonna comein time and naturally it'll
build up.
And looking back at ourInstagram and seeing our first
card show compared to our secondone, compared to our third one,
(28:34):
and seeing how it is all comingin time and it is all building
up.
It, it's pushing me forward tocontinue.
David Hernandez (28:40):
you know, y'all talked about how you're just not
selling cards, you're alsobuilding moments, you know, what
kind of, experience do you wantpeople to have when they go to
your tables at any vendingevent?
Noah (28:49):
Honestly, we want it to be like, you're coming up to some
old people that you've known forlike a while.
Like, Hey, these guys are peoplethat we've known, like these are
our friends, right?
Like.
Whenever people come up to us,we want it to be like an
experience where like it's notalways all about money.
Like whenever we want just afollow on Instagram or
something.
It's not, I don't wanna saywe're not asking a lot, but it's
(29:11):
less of a exchange, more of asocial interaction.
And in the meantime, wheneverthey're typing in the username,
that's the time where we'reasking'em how their day is
going.
If they're enjoying the show,we're catching up and we're
building the.
friendship level, I guess youwould say, and whenever you get
them to a certain point wherethey're comfortable and just the
social interaction betweenpeople, that's the moments I'm
(29:34):
personally looking for is justhaving the bond between humans,
I guess, and experiencingfriendly social interaction, I
guess, and just truly connectingwith people.
Cameron (29:44):
Since we're, again, obviously we're just behind
financially when it comes tocards, and that's okay.
There's no, there's nothingwrong with that, you know, but
it's definitely just like wewant people to leave knowing who
we are because with the spin thewheel thing, people can just
follow us on Instagram and theninstantly unfollow us directly
after spin the wheel.
But if you talk to them, you,you build connection with them.
(30:04):
You figure out like what theirfavorite Pokemon is.
Maybe they're looking for acard.
You can guide them to anothertable that might have that card.
They'll wanna stay followed andkeep updated in case that you
get those cards that they want,because.
you wanna earn their follow.
you're not begging for it.
You want to earn it basically.
Right.
And I want people to be able tolike, come up to our table and
be like, what's going on guys?
Like, they know us already.
Like, that's starting to happen.
(30:24):
Like every time we, like,whenever we, we tell people
about the spin the wheel thingabout giving us a follow,
they're like, we already haveyou follow.
And it's like, it's becoming abig thing locally where a lot of
people here already have afollow up, but so.
We end up just giving'em a freepack.
'cause if you come to our table,you know, it's to get a free
pack.
That's kind of how it works withus.
and we wanna see people pull thebest things.
Like if people pull like fromthese free packs, sirs and
(30:44):
things like that, we want themto keep it like people, the
amount of times people havepulled really good cards and
they'll like, y'all want toback?
No.
You know, we, you, it's yourpack, open get keep it, you
know?
David Hernandez (30:53):
It sounds like they might be used to somebody
saying like, oh, you gotta rearcar.
Let me have it back, kind ofthing.
Otherwise they wouldn't ask forit, you know?
Cameron (30:59):
yeah, that looks terrible on you, you know?
Noah (31:02):
Exactly.
Cameron (31:03):
But like, it's, it's just building a memories for
these people and like buildingmemories for us that we wanna
keep and, and guide along forour journey.
Because I don't wanna forgetabout any of the locals in case
things happen and we go big orthings like that.
But like the, the people aroundus are the reason why, where
we're at.
You know?
Like we wouldn't be at 800followers nearly without these
people.
Like, we wouldn't beconsistently posting without
(31:23):
them.
We wouldn't be on this podcastwithout them.
Things like that, you know?
Noah (31:26):
The smile on people's faces whenever you see them for
the second time and youimmediately recognize each
other, like that feeling is justirreplaceable.
David Hernandez (31:36):
Well, very cool guys.
I want to finish this interviewon this last question and I want
an answer from both of you,obviously.
At the end of the day, y'all'sorigin story was because of
friendship.
You know, it was, it startedwith 3:00 AM message about, Hey,
let's do this.
What's something y'all learnedabout each other through
building Johto Gems that y'alldidn't expect?
Noah (31:53):
I'll let
Cameron (31:54):
can start with,
Noah (31:54):
first on one.
No, no, no, no.
You go first.
Cameron (31:58):
okay.
So while building it, I'velearned that I can't pressure
him to do things that he doesn'twanna do necessarily.
Like if I need him to dosomething it.
It'll make him feel like he'sunmotivated.
It'll make him feel like he'sunmotivated, kind of.
And I don't want him to havethat feeling.
So, for the most part is Ilearned is that he's really good
with sales and whenever we're atthese shows, he can really talk
(32:21):
to people about getting reallygood deals.
So we ha we each, we each haveour own strong parts.
And I would say that his strongsuit when it comes to vending
and doing Johto Jems is his, hisability to sell cards and sell
packs to people.
'cause he does it better than
David Hernandez (32:35):
Ooh.
That's a lot.
That's a huge compliment comingfrom the salesman
Noah (32:38):
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's, that's almost crazierthan the Min
David Hernandez (32:42):
Noah, you've got some big shoes to fill.
I'm gonna have to, you have tostart doing some sales.
What about you, Noah?
It's your turn.
I.
Noah (32:49):
Honestly, I'm gonna have to say I've learned that Cameron
is a, is a drill sergeant andwhenever he, he wants something
done and he needs it done andit, he's, he's very big on, if
it's not here now, it's nevergonna be there.
So it's weird trying to cope andlike help somebody like realize
like, yo, it's not that deep.
Like we could get this done alittle later or.
(33:12):
Something like that.
Trying to like managecommunication among business
partners, especially at a youngage.
We're still trying to figureeverything out, but the biggest
thing that I've learned fromCameron is that I need to like,
put stuff in gear a lot fasterthan what it is.
Like if there's a deadline thatwe need to meet by Friday.
There's no way that I should bedoing it on Thursday if I have
time to do it on Wednesday,Tuesday, or Monday.
(33:33):
Right?
Like, if, if there's time, likedo it, there's no point in
pushing things off.
And if there's time, just makeit happen.
I.
David Hernandez (33:42):
on that note, if people want to check out what
you guys are selling or if theywanna find out where you're
heading to, where can they findyou guys?
Please, by all means, plug away.
Cameron (33:50):
On Instagram, you can find us posting pretty commonly
every single day.
TikTok and YouTube are very slowon at this moment because we're
trying to build consistency withYouTube videos and um, TikTok
videos specifically, we'reworking on that at the moment.
I.
But Instagram, we usually postwhat card shows we're going to
pretty commonly on our stories.
And then we'll post a, about aweek before the show happens, or
(34:12):
like two weeks before the showhappens, I'll post a graphic
saying, Hey, we're gonna be atthe show.
And then post, Hey, this is whattable we're gonna be at.
Come see us, type of thing.
And then we'll be posting likepretty commonly about what cards
we have at the moment.
like card spotlights to teachyou what they're called.
So like right now our newestpost is like a char I have
posted, I have a pack openingcoming soon, things like that.
(34:32):
So.
David Hernandez (34:33):
Thank you for listening to As the Poke Ball
Turns, if this story resonatedwith you, share the podcast with
a fellow trainer and don'tforget to follow us.
For more voices, more journeys,and more memories.
I'm David Hernandez, andremember, I.
Your next Pokemon adventurebegins here.
We are Johto Jems,
Noah (00:01):
and this is our Pokemon story.
David Hernandez (00:42):
Welcome to as the Pokeball Turns, where every
voice, every journey, and everymemory brings us closer to the
world of Pokemon.
I'm David Hernandez and I'mjoined by a duo behind Johto
Jems, A team bringing heart,hustle, and humor to the Pokemon
community.
One show at a time.
Johto Jems.
Welcome to as the Pokemon BallTurns.
Cameron (01:01):
Thank you so much for having us on.
David Hernandez (01:03):
Absolutely.
And thank y'all for coming on.
I have a soft spot for vendors'cause I started doing vendor
events myself and it's such aunique world where you kind of
are like a small business in asense, but you're also with
other small businesses in a oneclosed area.
And I kind of just wanna startwith this question.
You know, a lot of greatjourneys, they start with a
simple, what if.
What was the conversation y'alltwo had or the moment where
(01:25):
Johto Jems took shape.
Cameron (01:27):
So it was actually a, a pretty funny story.
it wasn't really a conversation.
We kind of had, it just kind ofsparked.
So basically, I met him at my,around freshman year of high
school and we weren't veryclose, but recently we came back
together.
It was really good friends.
And at like three in themorning, I sent him a giant
business plan that I created outof nowhere.
And I was like, we should createa business.
And he was like.
(01:47):
He was like, nah, man, not rightnow.
And then that's where, kind ofwhere it died down.
But then we went to collect ConHouston and after we left, he
looked at me and he was justlike, I wanna do this.
I want this to happen and I wantthis to be something that we do
for the rest of our life.
And I was like, let's do it.
And that's kind of where itkinds kinda, where it all
started, honestly.
Noah (02:05):
Yeah, I Collect-a-con like just seeing everybody like.
the way the social interaction,the way the business was turning
through what I loved as well,something I was interested in.
It was, it was justinspirational to see that, and
it was something I wanted topursue.
I.
David Hernandez (02:20):
What was the bit about specifically collect I
guess maybe changed your mindfrom, ah, this is not a good
idea to, oh, let's do this.
Like do you remember?
Anything significant that stuckout?
Noah (02:29):
I think it was the seeing people our age,'cause me and
Cameron are still in highschool, right?
And seeing people around like,you know, 1918 going out there
and really, you know, trying todo something rather than just,
you know, staying at home,playing video games, going out.
But they're trying to, you know,make something out of something
that they love and it's a brandand something that they can
(02:51):
carry around.
And that's something thatinspired me to want to do this
as well because I want somethingthat I can say is me and having
Johto Jems is, it's honestlyamazing.
David Hernandez (03:02):
Now, Cam, back to you real quick.
'cause you sent this guy amessage at 3:00 AM in the
morning, a business plan, and Igotta ask like, why did you feel
the urge to send it right thenand there?
Cameron (03:11):
so we worked together at the same job at retirement
Center and basically we got backfrom a shift and we were just
both super tired, but like I.
I like was up one night becauseI had Johto Jems originally, it
was a little TikTok shop thing.
I was running by myself beforeNoah, but it wasn't the same
Johto Jems.
It was spelled differently.
It had a whole different like,demeanor to it.
It really wasn't the same.
but like I take business classesin high school and things like
(03:32):
that.
So I've still taught myselfbusiness.
I ran a, uh, a, like a cateringcookie business I used to sell
things online, like I've beenvery much into entrepreneurship
and sales, my whole, my wholelife.
So I kind of already have like awhole, the whole thing behind
business plans and, all teamslike business.
So like in the middle of thenight I was like, watching this
video.
It, this is where this struckfor me to go back in the Pokemon
(03:53):
was Coop's collection on TikTok.
I saw him and I was I wanna dothis.
So again, at like two 30 in themorning, I created a business
plan.
Took me about an hour and ahalf, two hours.
I sent it to him and I was like,bro.
Read this and tell me thisdoesn't sound fire.
And then that's where, that'skind of like where it sparked.
David Hernandez (04:09):
Now on that note, because you said you
basically kind of grew up withbusiness, like it's in your
blood basically.
And you know, you mentionedtaking classes and all that.
What was some of the earliestlessons about running something
of your own and how does thatshow up now and how you operate?
Joe, do gyms.
Cameron (04:25):
So obviously everybody wants to not have a boss.
Everybody wants to do thingsunder their own, like impression
and everything.
You know, That's kind of whereit first happened.
That's just kind of everybody'sperspective in entrepreneurship
and things like that.
But I found like a passion insales.
Like, it's funny, it's, it'sjust gonna sound stupid, but
like, as a kid, I used to, like,during like the hot summer days,
(04:45):
I'd go around my neighborhoodand sell water bottles for
obnoxiously high prices.
I was six.
Didn't know the best, but youcan say it was doing sales and
sophomore year, freshman year ofhigh school, I was baking
cookies at home with, uh,recipes that I created and I
would go around like, the localneighborhood and sell them to
people for pretty good prices,honestly.
'cause I was using high tieringredients to create like,
really good product.
(05:06):
And it worked for a while.
I was, I was bringing in areally good flow.
But the thing was, is that Iactually, um.
Things happened in life and, youknow, I, I had to step away from
that.
But then I came back.
Whenever I saw how big Pokemonwas getting, I was already
collecting it.
I had got back into it beforethe big craze, but then I saw
vending and I was like, this ismy chance to, to bring business,
my, like, my business passionback into a really good way.
(05:27):
Because I've always wanted to dosomething in business.
I've always wanted to have myown business.
If it, at first it was akitchen, I wanted to own my own
restaurant.
other things like that.
And then this is where it's kindof ended as now I wanna have
like a card shop for my own.
David Hernandez (05:39):
Now, you mentioned how you were getting
back into Pokemon.
What was your early experiencewith Pokemon and how did that,
come into you doing Johto Jemsat some point?
Cameron (05:48):
I started collecting Pokemon at the age of four.
So my mom was getting me verylate, black and white sets from
the toys Rush.
She'd go wait in lines for thembecause about that time, Pokemon
was pretty big, or the tradingparty game was pretty big.
And my time period where Icollected the most was the
Pokemon XY era, which was, IWill Stand, is the best era in
Pokemon.
(06:08):
argue with the Wall, don't care.
Anyways.
collecting, that's like where mybig collecting was.
All I remember is that I wouldlike reach in my pockets and I
would have Mega Charizard Xcards in there and they would
get run through the, the washingmachine and dryer machine
because you know, as a kid youdidn't care about condition or
worth or none of that.
'cause at the time they reallydidn't have much worth, like the
(06:30):
big investment and all thatdidn't happen until 2020.
But as a kid, collecting Pokemonwas the coolest thing I could
have done.
I used to trade them in school.
I definitely get scammed a lot,but, Trading cars in class was
always super fun and I wouldwait in lines to toys us at very
late nights or very earlymornings for the newest sets.
So yeah, I've always been aroundPokemon my whole life.
Literally one of the first showsI've ever watched was the anime,
(06:51):
I think it was the Diamond andPearl Anime.
so I've always been aroundPokemon my entire life, and I
grew out of it for a while, andthen I came back into it.
David Hernandez (06:58):
You know what's interesting is that no matter
when we started playing Pokemon,there's always that story where
somebody leaves the Charizardcard in their pocket and the
laundry.
I don't know what is aboutCharizard, but it just goes
through so much abuse.
Maybe that's why it's sovaluable.
I don't know, but I.
Noah, what about you?
What's your experience withPokemon?
Let's start there.
What's your early experience?
Noah (07:18):
Honestly, as far back as I can remember, I've always been
collecting Pokemon, whether itbe on the Ds, on the trading
card game.
I've loved Pokemon.
I don't actually remember whenit started, but I do remember
collecting the cards and I haveto agree with my business
partner on this.
One XY will always be the bestera.
(07:39):
I remember buying flash fire forfive bucks.
Seeing the prices nowadays makesme insane.
Like absolutely crazy.
But as far back as I canremember, I remember playing
Omega Ruby.
I remember playing Ruby Pearl.
All those Collecting at Toys RUs.
I remember waiting in line forthose.
(07:59):
I remember the huge boxes thatyou could get for super like
cheap nowadays, but they'resuper expensive now.
David Hernandez (08:07):
You said you played the video games.
What did you enjoy about playingthe video games at that time?
Do you remember any of them?
Noah (08:12):
Honestly, the one thing that stuck out to me about
Pokemon was there was so manyhidden secrets that you would
just stumble onto instead ofwanting to find, or, you know,
looking up a YouTube video abouthow to find something.
'cause maybe back then wedidn't, you know, know to look
it up or want to find it in thatway.
We would just stumble across itand, you know.
(08:33):
Finding a secret path or cuttinga tree.
You weren't supposed to.
Finding a secret path and itleading on to something amazing
that you tell your friends aboutthe next day.
There was just something somagical about that in Pokemon
for me.
David Hernandez (08:46):
I can see that.
I always enjoy.
That's why I always try to.
Click everything whenever Iwould go to town, because I
always never knew what wouldlead to something.
Like if I click, if I talked tothis lady or this guy, like
where they gave me on adventure,where they gave me a Pokemon,
then that's what always kind ofI enjoyed the most about the
games.
'cause you never knew where thatconversation could lead to
something else, you know?
Noah (09:06):
As somebody who hated reading, growing up, ever since
I started playing Pokemon andlike Dark Souls, you gotta pay
attention now.
And very important to checkevery corner, every nook and
cranny.
There could always be somethingI.
David Hernandez (09:20):
Now, y'all both said something the same.
Y'all both agreed on this onepoint that Pokemon X and Y was
the best out of anything, and Iwant to get y'all's opinions on
from both of y'all.
What is it about that set thatMBS makes it stand out compared
to some of the others?
Noah (09:35):
Honestly, I would have to say the gimmick for X and y like
it.
It's the greatest for what wehave right now.
Like between VMAXs,Gigantamaxing, Terrastilization.
it doesn't get any better thanMegas like Mega Charizard, Mega
Aerodactyl, Mega Aggron,.
Mega rayquaza.
Don't forget about PrimalKyogre, Primal Groudon these new
(09:58):
forms.
They were, they were crazy.
And seeing them in the cardvariance with, with the Japanese
text, it was just, it wassomething so new and magical.
It was captivating.
Cameron (10:10):
So I have to agree with them is that it's got the best
gimmick.
Uh, I understand.
Maybe competitive wise.
Competitive wise, it wasn't thebest gimmick, the newest
gimmick, Tara, is actually VBAsgimmick, I guess, or it's the
most balanced one, but nobody.
Cares as someone who mainlywatched the anime more than
competitively playing the games,because when I play the games or
I don't put do like that, butwhen I was a kid and I would
(10:30):
play the games, it's over levelyour starter and then go and see
how far you go.
That's how it goes.
But, mega evolution was thecoolest thing for me.
Specifically, my favorite megaevolution wasn't mega, it was
the Ash Greninja.
I am the craziest Ash fan orlike Greninja fan ever.
So seeing the anime, likewatching him hit battle bond for
(10:50):
the first time was probably thecoolest thing ever.
I have a Greninja pop figuresigned by that Ashes voice
actor.
I collect all the cards.
I'm on the mission to collectevery printed greninja card
that's ever released.
I have the Ash Greninja card,all of these super cool cards,
and I'm sad that they're recconning ash greninja completely,
but.
Hopefully they do him justice,what his mega evolution.
(11:11):
I understand the game is super,super easy and you can pretty
much just fly by with likeGreninja and Charizard and you
know,'cause it basically, andLucario'cause it hands you a
free Lucario.
But it was probably the easiestgame that had put people into
the game and the hobby and allthat because a lot of people
grew up like.
Me, Noah's age, demographic Xand Y was their first
introduction, or black and whitetoo, and x and y.
(11:34):
Making it the easiest game wasprobably the smartest decision
because then it kept people forthe long run, you know?
And I started personally withblack and white too.
That was my first game.
I'm a Tepig lover, by the way.
Emboar is my goat.
But yeah, like X and Y woulddefinitely be my favorite.
And I still rewatch X and Y whenI get the chance.
'cause that anime was the mostmature version of Ash and was
(11:55):
just the most well-writtenanime.
David Hernandez (11:57):
I had a follow up question'cause you mentioned
how you love Ash Greninja, thatthat's your, it sounds like
that's your favorite Pokemonpotentially.
Cameron (12:03):
definitely.
David Hernandez (12:04):
Oh it is.
Okay.
What is it about, I guess, AshGreninja that you enjoy?
compared to maybe some of hisother Pokemon or other Pokemon
that are out there?
Cameron (12:12):
See, if it wasn't for the XY anime, Greninja wouldn't
be as popular.
To me, it's the anime thatreally ride like rose the.
Pokemon up for me because havingFroakie's backstory, being that
he chose the starter, thatstarter didn't choose him, is
the coolest thing ever.
His first screen time was,blocking an attack for Ash after
not even being Ash's Pokemon.
And every evolution that he hadwas so cool.
(12:34):
When he first involved intoFrogadier, it was the coolest
thing ever.
He was stuck under the rubbleand he went crazy.
and I think it was the eighthGym battle.
It was a seventh.
It was a seventh gen battle.
they redid the father son Kamihaw thing, but with ash and
Frogadier, and he thought it wasthe coolest thing ever.
When he finally evolved in theGreninja'cause in the animate,
Frogadier or like Greninja rivalwas another greninja from like
(12:56):
Ash's Greninja, greninja type ofthing.
I don't know how to explain it,but that greninja became fodder
so fast the second thatFrogadier evolved because he
went battle bond instantly andjust wiped every single evil
Pokemon that was there withinlike five seconds.
And he should have won the Kalosfinals.
I'll stand on that.
That was, that was robbed.
He got robbed Charizard wasfodder.
(13:17):
I don't care, But the wholepoint is that the anime is what
made Greninja be my favoritePokemon.
And without the anime, it woulddefinitely, it probably would've
been Infernape because of hisbackstory.
David Hernandez (13:27):
Since we're on favorite Pokemon Noah, what's
your favorite Pokemon?
Noah (13:30):
I am amazed that you brought this up.
Right now my favorite Pokemon isCharizard, actually, and
specifically Mega Charziard X,actually, so that is even more
hilarious.
Is, and that
David Hernandez (13:44):
Charizard X like that's your favorite.
Noah (13:47):
I would have to say specifically Shiny Charziard.
David Hernandez (13:50):
Fair
Noah (13:50):
have a thing for like, you know, black dragons, like shiny
rayquaza, shiny Charizard, MegaCharizard X.
Those have to be top three.
David Hernandez (13:59):
Wow.
How did it feel when he wassaying like, oh, uh, Greninja
should have won against
Noah (14:04):
was
David Hernandez (14:04):
feel a little Yeah.
Noah (14:05):
amazing.
Oh my gosh.
The euphoria I feel right now.
But that one kick that AshGreninja did to Bro's Dome that
one time that was tough.
I can't lie.
David Hernandez (14:17):
Do you have like a Charizard collection?
I assume, like since you're acard collector, do you try to
dive into that or you kind
Noah (14:22):
I actually, I actually did, I had the ones from
Champions Path.
I had the Aldean Fates one.
I had pretty much every shinyCharizard card, the char, the
shiny VM Max one.
But I put my binder on top ofCameron's car and I forgot to
grab it.
I'm pretty I we sped off and itmight have fallen off, but.
(14:45):
To New beginnings and we'regonna rebuild it, and it's just
gonna be a part of the journeynow.
David Hernandez (14:50):
Now Cam, I wanna go back to you'cause you
mentioned how you hadcollectibles of your favorite
Pokemon.
I want to ask like what's one Iguess that means the most to
you, and what's the story behindit?
Cameron (14:59):
The Greninja SIR CK illustration layer from Twilight
Masquerade.
That one specifically has a lotof.
Sentimental value behind itbecause of what I had to go
through.
the set that it's from, TwilightMasquerade has ridiculous pull
rates, meaning it's stupid, hardto pull it.
And I maybe invested 700 plusdollars for the card.
By the way, the card's likethree 50 raw.
and I never pulled it, so I hadto swallow my pride and buy the
(15:23):
card because.
David Hernandez (15:24):
You never pulled it.
You just bought it individually.
Cameron (15:27):
I wanted to pull it, like I, I made it my mission.
Every time I went to ourfavorite card shop, we'd, I
would always buy like a threepack blister or a ETB and try to
open it, but I just never couldpull it.
So I had to swallow my pride andbuy it.
But, my second, like mostvaluable, or like the card that
means the most to me is probablymy Ash Greninja's card, because
I was at Collect Con, the onewhere we decided that Johto Jems
(15:47):
should become a thing.
I went to like 40 plus vendortables asking for the card.
after like the 50th table, Ifound it and it was, it was such
a euphoric feeling.
David Hernandez (15:57):
Now going back to the first one, you know, it's
a tough decision to be able tobuy the card individually.
A lot of people who collect theTCG, they prefer to pull it.
They love that feeling tofinally get what they're
chasing.
What was the conversation youhad with yourself to where it
went from?
I'd rather try to pull it towhere I'd rather just go ahead
and close this chapter and goahead and just buy the car
individually.
Was it difficult for you to kindof do that?
Cameron (16:19):
Yeah, it took me a really long time because I was
saying that to Noah for a couplemonths that I was just gonna out
ride by.
The card and then I would keepbuying the packs.
But it was the fact that Ibought a whole booster box and
countless ETBs three packblisters, and I never even
pulled a top 10 card from theset it was my time that I was
like, I can't do this anymore.
Like I financially cannot investthis into the set anymore.
(16:39):
So it was time to just outrightbuy the card and just move on
and see what else I can get.
'cause I had a whole, I had notime to just be chasing for one
card when there's 80 4K Ninjacards that I need to go after.
David Hernandez (16:51):
Uh, I mean, it could be worse.
Could be chasing after Eevee.
There's like 500 of those.
Cameron (16:57):
Are like, bro, over
David Hernandez (16:58):
he, he's got the expensive property between
all of us.
Noah (17:00):
And I gotta restart them
David Hernandez (17:02):
yeah, you gotta restart them all.
Oh my gosh, dude.
poor guy.
My last question just in regardsto that, because even after you
decided to make the decision tobuy it individually, you still
had to go to 50 vendor tablesjust to find the card.
Like was it difficult just to goand ask like over and over the
same question and kind of feelthe feel like, how'd you stay
motivated through that?
Cameron (17:19):
It was just, I knew somebody there had to have it.
It was the biggest, it's one ofthe biggest events in the states
and no, somebody had to have hadit.
And the amount of people thatbrought out the wrong card, I
was like, do y'all have the AshGreninja promo card?
And they would think, I'mtalking about another promo
card.
And I'd be like, I already havethis one man.
And that would keep, I would'veto like speed, walk through
people and move and basicallyhaul ass to get there.
(17:42):
And.
When I finally found it, it wasa great feeling because he had
actually like two copies ofthem, which I was shocked.
I was like, everybody here haszero copies and you had two.
David Hernandez (17:51):
Noah, for you, you know, you're starting a
collection from scratch and forCharizard no less.
I don't even know what to sayabout that, but I guess, what's
the first card you wanna startyour collection?
What's a Charizard card that youenjoy?
Out of all the ones that areavailable, I.
Noah (18:06):
I think honestly, I'm just gonna start off with a wham and
just purchase a PS A 10 SIR ARDfrom Paldean Fates, just to
reward myself because you know,I lost the binder and.
I guess I deserve it in a way.
I feel like I do.
So I'm gonna, I'm gonna splurgea little and I think I'm gonna,
I think I'm gonna restart itwith, with a PSA 10, just, but
(18:27):
it'll be my first ever slab.
So it'll be, it'll be a real setpiece and I'll get one of those
cases that I've seen, it's cardshows.
I've seen a lot of people withreally cool, like 3D printed
ones and a lot of the cool likegradient cases.
So I, I might go a little crazywith that.
Maybe even get a necklace andwear it around like see.
David Hernandez (18:48):
Okay.
(20:18):
So eventually, you know, y'allcome together, y'all start Johto
Jems, which is what y'all arenow, and my first question would
be like, what is Johto Jems andhow did that name come about?
Cameron (20:28):
So Johto Gems was first a thing before Noah.
It was just me.
It was a TikTok shop I wasrunning where I was selling
packs and things I had, and itwas spelled completely
different.
we kind of want it to bedifferent and more unique
compared to other vendors.
'cause when you look in otherPokemon content creators, they
always have the same thing intheir names.
Pokey, insert name, somethingTCG something collects, you
know, everything always has tohave something Poke in it.
(20:51):
So we were like.
Let's put in one of the regionsfrom the game and let's, let's
try to rhyme it with something.
So our three options before wehad it fully, it was Kanto
collectibles, I think it wasKalos Collectibles, I think it
was one of the two.
And then Johto Jems.
But we asked around and JohtoJems.
Slid off the tongue perfectly.
We all, we still ask forpeople's opinions to this day,
(21:12):
even though we're basicallyfully committed to the name,
everybody loves the name.
When they look at our table,they love the name and they're
like, this name is so cool.
It, it just fits so perfect andwe, it feels super, it's super
nice to know
David Hernandez (21:24):
I feel called out'cause I'm As The Pokeball
Turns, so it's like I'm fit astereotypical.
Cameron (21:29):
No, I guess it's kind of different whenever you're
like podcasting, like obviouslyyou need to put Pokemon in the
name, but like all vendors thatkind of have the same names, and
I'm not judging, I'm not hating.
I'm just
David Hernandez (21:39):
No, let's judge, let's hate, let's do a
rating of all the pokey stuffout there.
I would love to do stuff likethat.
All y'all mean poke, Mars, pokeycollectibles, pokey cards.
Y'all gotta be more creative outthere.
Okay.
Noah (21:51):
Called out Pokey Rev.
Jeez.
Cameron (21:53):
Yeah, one of the top Pokemon YouTubers voters got
called out.
David Hernandez (21:57):
my podcast.
Come on.
So, Oh, anyway, on that note, soyou know you got Johto Jems, and
you know, y'all are finallycoming together.
Y'all decide, you know, to comeback after collect account, I
believe is when your businesspartner comes in.
Y'all's first vendor experiencewas actually called Houston
Cards and Collectibles, and Iwanna know, what was your first
experience as vendors like
Noah (22:15):
Honestly, the the first experience.
that show probably had to be,maybe not financially, but just
experience wise, like our bestshow yet, like being there in
person behind the table ratherthan in front of it, trying to
buy something.
It was just an amazing feeling,being able to talk to so many
people, especially for.
(22:36):
People like me and Cameron, youknow, our, our generation,
whenever we went through COVID,we were out of school for a
while.
We didn't, you know, have a lotof social interactions.
So to be able to like constantlyjust be talking and talking and
talking and talking, I I had areally big social battery saved
up and it was, it's really niceto be able to just talk and talk
and talk and talk and meet newpeople and just, constantly be
(22:58):
in a cycle of over and over andover again with people and just
seeing how everybody can be anew person and everybody can be
in a different mood, same mood.
And it was just super unique andI, I just, I loved the
experience.
Cameron (23:13):
I'd probably say it was our second best card show.
fin or like, experience wise,our second one takes it for me,
So yeah, eTown car show was, wasexactly what I wanted vening to
be.
Sunday was definitely a slowerday, mainly because it rained,
so it had a good reason to beslow.
But day one, Saturday was trulyremarkable.
(23:34):
Like.
The people we met was, wasawesome.
like our first couple deals, thepeople were super cool and they
were, they were loving our table'cause we got two tables'cause
they was on deal.
It was like on, on sale orsomething.
So we had, not much product, butwe had a lot of space to be able
to move around and just honestlythe vendors were the best thing
about it.
all our neighbor was super cool.
(23:54):
Everybody around us was justsuper awesome.
And at that show I met.
One of, now one of my best likevendor buddies, uh, the pokey
twin shop.
Those guys are like the goatsand they were super helpful for
our vendor journey, have beenhelping us throughout the way
and they're always, goingtalking to them at shows'cause
they're always at every showthat we're at and just always
chopping it up with them andthey're super cool.
David Hernandez (24:16):
So you said like the vendors were the best
experience about your firstshow, you know, what advice did
they give to y'all when y'allwere attending your first show
that left an impression ony'all?
I.
Cameron (24:25):
So the difference between all of us, or between me
and Noah and the vendors are ourage gap.
Most of these people havestarted vending after they've
made their money.
I.
So they've worked full-timejobs, full-time careers and have
made money so they'd be able tosplurge and invest in high tier
cards.
Unlike me and Noah, where wework part-time jobs, for not
much an hour type of type ofthing.
(24:47):
so we have less to work with.
So when we go to these events,we make sure that networking and
making people's day is our best,like work because I know that we
can do that.
Better than anybody else atthese shows.
Maybe we can't sell the highestcards, but we damn well could
make someone's day and makesomeone's whole week, actually.
So I'd say that the advice thevendors gave us is to just don't
(25:08):
get jealous.
Don't get unmotivated because wehave higher tier cards than you.
It'll come in time.
Just keep working at it and withhow y'all are going.
If y'all just keep promotingyourselves, eventually it'll go
big and it'll be so worth it.
David Hernandez (25:23):
Now you said you, you enjoyed the second
vending show y'all attended.
Tell me about it and what was itabout that you preferred The
second one over?
The first one.
Cameron (25:29):
So when we went into the show, we were a little bit
concerned because these guys runshows at the W.
So like every weekend they runshows.
Our second car show again, they,they run shows like every
weekend.
They had like 14 K followers, sowe were a little bit concerned
'cause they weren't reallymarketing the show.
the game changer behind the showwas that it was free entry, no
cost all weekend.
(25:50):
It was$0.
and it was also in a smallervenue, a really nice hotel that
me and Noah were contemplatingstaying in.
But, we got there and man,Saturday was, the greatest thing
because the game changer for uswas changing our gimmick.
So the thing is about vendors isthat you gotta have a gimmick to
succeed.
And our gimmick was to spin thewheel, which our H Town card
show we, we went about it wrong.
(26:12):
So instead of what we do now, wewere charging people five bucks
to spin the wheel and it wasvery okay.
Prizes.
But our second card show, wechanged it to you.
Give us a follow on Instagramand you can spin the wheel and
oh my goodness.
That was a game changer.
We jumped like two to 300followers that weekend and
people were having so much funat our table.
(26:32):
the word got passed around thatwe were giving out free packs
'cause that's what one of therewards was on the wheel.
And people were coming line upto spin this.
We had one guy follow us on fivedifferent alt accounts to spin
our wheel.
We were all ripping packs andhaving packed battles at the
table.
It was, it was truly thegreatest event, and I think the
best thing about it was.
say actually for Noah, I kind oflike walked in on this was a
(26:54):
little kid came by our table,his name's Trevor and he's like
a big Charizard fan.
And him and Noah were talkingabout Charizards and the little
kid asked us for a picture andit was like the most wholesome
thing ever.
'cause we have like a reallylike high quality picture of all
three of us together.
And it was just a great, it wasa great experience.
Really good, really good.
it, it almost had me tearing upbecause like.
(27:14):
He ended up being like, now he'slike one of our biggest
supporters ever and we're sograteful for that guy and his
dad is also super, super cool tous.
But now the cards and Mor tourevent was really good.
Financially and experience wiseit was, it was the best event.
Noah (27:29):
From the second card show, honestly, whenever Trevor came
to our, table with his fatherand he met us and he asked us
for a picture, it was somethingthat, like, growing up, I've
always watched, you know,YouTubers like Unlisted Leaf was
one of my favorite YouTubersever growing up.
Like his videos.
Inspire me to do the pack trickand the way I open my cards
(27:51):
today.
Like he's the one who set thestones for me.
So whenever somebody comes up tome and they're asking me for a
picture, like it honestly mademe take a step back and it, it
made me appreciate everythinglike so much more.
And honestly, I have to agreewith Cameron on, on the, the
whole networking side, talkingto everybody and you know,
getting, getting point of views.
(28:13):
But the question you asked him,where you said what was the best
piece of advice, I honestlythink it would, it would have to
be, Honestly a, a rude remarkwhat somebody made whenever they
said everybody starts somewhereand it goes back to Cameron's
point where it's just gonna comein time and naturally it'll
build up.
And looking back at ourInstagram and seeing our first
card show compared to our secondone, compared to our third one,
(28:34):
and seeing how it is all comingin time and it is all building
up.
It, it's pushing me forward tocontinue.
David Hernandez (28:40):
you know, y'all talked about how you're just not
selling cards, you're alsobuilding moments, you know, what
kind of, experience do you wantpeople to have when they go to
your tables at any vendingevent?
Noah (28:49):
Honestly, we want it to be like, you're coming up to some
old people that you've known forlike a while.
Like, Hey, these guys are peoplethat we've known, like these are
our friends, right?
Like.
Whenever people come up to us,we want it to be like an
experience where like it's notalways all about money.
Like whenever we want just afollow on Instagram or
something.
It's not, I don't wanna saywe're not asking a lot, but it's
(29:11):
less of a exchange, more of asocial interaction.
And in the meantime, wheneverthey're typing in the username,
that's the time where we'reasking'em how their day is
going.
If they're enjoying the show,we're catching up and we're
building the.
friendship level, I guess youwould say, and whenever you get
them to a certain point wherethey're comfortable and just the
social interaction betweenpeople, that's the moments I'm
(29:34):
personally looking for is justhaving the bond between humans,
I guess, and experiencingfriendly social interaction, I
guess, and just truly connectingwith people.
Cameron (29:44):
Since we're, again, obviously we're just behind
financially when it comes tocards, and that's okay.
There's no, there's nothingwrong with that, you know, but
it's definitely just like wewant people to leave knowing who
we are because with the spin thewheel thing, people can just
follow us on Instagram and theninstantly unfollow us directly
after spin the wheel.
But if you talk to them, you,you build connection with them.
(30:04):
You figure out like what theirfavorite Pokemon is.
Maybe they're looking for acard.
You can guide them to anothertable that might have that card.
They'll wanna stay followed andkeep updated in case that you
get those cards that they want,because.
you wanna earn their follow.
you're not begging for it.
You want to earn it basically.
Right.
And I want people to be able tolike, come up to our table and
be like, what's going on guys?
Like, they know us already.
Like, that's starting to happen.
(30:24):
Like every time we, like,whenever we, we tell people
about the spin the wheel thingabout giving us a follow,
they're like, we already haveyou follow.
And it's like, it's becoming abig thing locally where a lot of
people here already have afollow up, but so.
We end up just giving'em a freepack.
'cause if you come to our table,you know, it's to get a free
pack.
That's kind of how it works withus.
and we wanna see people pull thebest things.
Like if people pull like fromthese free packs, sirs and
(30:44):
things like that, we want themto keep it like people, the
amount of times people havepulled really good cards and
they'll like, y'all want toback?
No.
You know, we, you, it's yourpack, open get keep it, you
know?
David Hernandez (30:53):
It sounds like they might be used to somebody
saying like, oh, you gotta rearcar.
Let me have it back, kind ofthing.
Otherwise they wouldn't ask forit, you know?
Cameron (30:59):
yeah, that looks terrible on you, you know?
Noah (31:02):
Exactly.
Cameron (31:03):
But like, it's, it's just building a memories for
these people and like buildingmemories for us that we wanna
keep and, and guide along forour journey.
Because I don't wanna forgetabout any of the locals in case
things happen and we go big orthings like that.
But like the, the people aroundus are the reason why, where
we're at.
You know?
Like we wouldn't be at 800followers nearly without these
people.
Like, we wouldn't beconsistently posting without
(31:23):
them.
We wouldn't be on this podcastwithout them.
Things like that, you know?
Noah (31:26):
The smile on people's faces whenever you see them for
the second time and youimmediately recognize each
other, like that feeling is justirreplaceable.
David Hernandez (31:36):
Well, very cool guys.
I want to finish this interviewon this last question and I want
an answer from both of you,obviously.
At the end of the day, y'all'sorigin story was because of
friendship.
You know, it was, it startedwith 3:00 AM message about, Hey,
let's do this.
What's something y'all learnedabout each other through
building Johto Gems that y'alldidn't expect?
Noah (31:53):
I'll let
Cameron (31:54):
can start with,
Noah (31:54):
first on one.
No, no, no, no.
You go first.
Cameron (31:58):
okay.
So while building it, I'velearned that I can't pressure
him to do things that he doesn'twanna do necessarily.
Like if I need him to dosomething it.
It'll make him feel like he'sunmotivated.
It'll make him feel like he'sunmotivated, kind of.
And I don't want him to havethat feeling.
So, for the most part is Ilearned is that he's really good
with sales and whenever we're atthese shows, he can really talk
(32:21):
to people about getting reallygood deals.
So we ha we each, we each haveour own strong parts.
And I would say that his strongsuit when it comes to vending
and doing Johto Jems is his, hisability to sell cards and sell
packs to people.
'cause he does it better than
David Hernandez (32:35):
Ooh.
That's a lot.
That's a huge compliment comingfrom the salesman
Noah (32:38):
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's, that's almost crazierthan the Min
David Hernandez (32:42):
Noah, you've got some big shoes to fill.
I'm gonna have to, you have tostart doing some sales.
What about you, Noah?
It's your turn.
I.
Noah (32:49):
Honestly, I'm gonna have to say I've learned that Cameron
is a, is a drill sergeant andwhenever he, he wants something
done and he needs it done andit, he's, he's very big on, if
it's not here now, it's nevergonna be there.
So it's weird trying to cope andlike help somebody like realize
like, yo, it's not that deep.
Like we could get this done alittle later or.
(33:12):
Something like that.
Trying to like managecommunication among business
partners, especially at a youngage.
We're still trying to figureeverything out, but the biggest
thing that I've learned fromCameron is that I need to like,
put stuff in gear a lot fasterthan what it is.
Like if there's a deadline thatwe need to meet by Friday.
There's no way that I should bedoing it on Thursday if I have
time to do it on Wednesday,Tuesday, or Monday.
(33:33):
Right?
Like, if, if there's time, likedo it, there's no point in
pushing things off.
And if there's time, just makeit happen.
I.
David Hernandez (33:42):
on that note, if people want to check out what
you guys are selling or if theywanna find out where you're
heading to, where can they findyou guys?
Please, by all means, plug away.
Cameron (33:50):
On Instagram, you can find us posting pretty commonly
every single day.
TikTok and YouTube are very slowon at this moment because we're
trying to build consistency withYouTube videos and um, TikTok
videos specifically, we'reworking on that at the moment.
I.
But Instagram, we usually postwhat card shows we're going to
pretty commonly on our stories.
And then we'll post a, about aweek before the show happens, or
(34:12):
like two weeks before the showhappens, I'll post a graphic
saying, Hey, we're gonna be atthe show.
And then post, Hey, this is whattable we're gonna be at.
Come see us, type of thing.
And then we'll be posting likepretty commonly about what cards
we have at the moment.
like card spotlights to teachyou what they're called.
So like right now our newestpost is like a char I have
posted, I have a pack openingcoming soon, things like that.
(34:32):
So.
David Hernandez (34:33):
Thank you for listening to As the Poke Ball
Turns, if this story resonatedwith you, share the podcast with
a fellow trainer and don'tforget to follow us.
For more voices, more journeys,and more memories.
I'm David Hernandez, andremember, I.
Your next Pokemon adventurebegins here.
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