Impact Linked Collectables™

Cool Trainer Vincent's Pokemon Trade-up Journey is not just a fundraiser.

It’s a system I built as a father to create a real future for my son, Vincent Hogan-Bates.

Vincent lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy — a rare genetic condition that causes progressive muscle degeneration and over time, the body loses strength because it can’t produce dystrophin, a protein muscles need to function.

It affects mobility, heart function, breathing — and there is no cure.

But before any of that… Vincent is just a kid who loves Pokémon.

People sometimes ask, why I spend my time trading cards instead of working a traditional full-time job.

The reality is a bit more complicated than that.

With Vincent’s diagnosis in mind, it’s my responsibility to provide for my family.

That’s something I take very seriously.

But I also live with my own diagnosis, which by government standards classifies me as disabled.

When we first received Vincent’s diagnosis, I had a lot of re-evaluating to do.

Vincent’s disability is physical. Mine is mental.

And I found myself wrestling with that.

I can still move my body.

I can still think, create, speak, use my hands.

So I kept asking myself — how am I disabled?

That question stayed with me for a long time.

I tried to work. I applied to jobs, even remote positions, but I couldn’t get hired.

So as a creative person, I tried to turn my art into something that could put food on the table. I attempted to sell paintings I had made, but I ran into burnout and very little interest.

It felt like I was flailing, like a fish out of water, trying to find any path forward that would actually support my family.

During that time I began looking inward.

I spent time in meditation and spiritual practice, trying to understand what had happened to our lives and how to carry the weight of my son’s diagnosis.

That led me to start podcasting about the things I cared about — music, art, creativity, spirituality — all in pursuit of something that might eventually help keep our family afloat.

But eventually I realized that path wasn’t going to be the answer either.

I let go of most of the passions I had been chasing and found myself slipping into a pretty deep depression.

At the same time, Vincent’s mother and I were struggling.

We found ourselves in frequent conflict, and eventually we made the decision to separate relationally.

But because of our circumstances — and because Vincent deserves both parents in his life — we continue to live under the same roof.

Financial reality plays a role in that too.

All of this unfolded over the course of several years, but when you look back it feels like it happened in the blink of an eye.

From the outside, people don’t always understand what that kind of life transition feels like.

When you’re handed something like a Duchenne diagnosis, you’re never really given time to process the grief the way you might think you would.

Life keeps moving.

Vincent and I bonded over watching the old episodes of the Pokemon together.

That spark led us back into the Pokemon Trading Card Game, a hobby I had loved as a kid in 1999.

Around the same time, I was watching creators in the hobby — people like Unlisted Leaf and Coop — and seeing how collecting, trading, and storytelling could build community.

And that’s when an idea started to form.

If cards can move between collectors…

If value can grow through trades…

If community can rally around stories…

Then maybe the hobby could help build something real for Vincent.

Something practical.

Something lasting.

As a family we’ve been through our share of crisis situations over the last few years.

None of them were more frightening than the moment we almost lost our home — realizing how fragile stability can be when you don’t have the right structures in place.

That moment forced me to think about Vincent’s future in a very real way.

Accessibility. Stability. Security.

But I didn’t want to approach the world as a charity case.

I didn’t want to simply open a fundraiser and ask people to carry the weight for us.

So instead of starting a traditional crowdfunding campaign, I decided we would try something different.

Not because there’s anything wrong with that — but because I wanted Vincent to see something different.

Effort. Participation. Agency.

We would show up.

We would put in the work.

We would build something ourselves.

Through collecting. Through trading. Through storytelling.

That idea became Cool Trainer Vincent's Pokemon Trade-Up Journey — a project where we use the trading card hobby to create long-term accessibility for Vincent while raising awareness for Duchenne.

And something amazing started happening.

People in the hobby began to notice.

Collectors reached out.

Creators shared our story.

Influencers offered support.

Communities opened their doors.

Little by little, the project began to create impact.

Accessible parking was added at certain venues after conversations with organizers.

People who had never heard the word “Duchenne” before started learning about it.

Online and in person, conversations started happening that never would have happened otherwise.

And we realized something important.

The impact of this project will never be measured by how many Jolteons Vincent collects.

It won’t be measured by the value of our collection.

It will be measured by the effect it leaves behind.

On the hobby.

On the people we meet.

On the awareness we create.

What I’m building is a bridge.

A bridge between collecting and compassion.

A bridge where a hobby that usually revolves around rarity and value can also create real-world change.

A place where a kid trading cards at a show — or a collector selling a Charizard — can feel connected to something bigger than themselves.

Where passion can become purpose.

Where small actions ripple outward into real impact.

And while the journey is still unfolding, the goal remains simple:

To turn a hobby we love into a force that helps build a better, more accessible future for Vincent — and extend that impact to others who need it.

A way to bring meaning into the hobby itself — Impact-Linked Collectables.

More will be shared when the time comes.