Pokemon has a way of pulling people back in.

Every so often, it releases something that, quite effectively, taps into that nostalgia. Pokémon GO. Pokopia. FireRed and LeafGreen on Nintendo Switch.

For me, it was the Scarlet & Violet 151 TCG set. Every original Kanto Pokémon in their original numbered order. Kadabra, returning after a 20-year hiatus in the TCG. Insanely iconic Special Illustration Rares. It was an exciting opportunity to tap into that feeling of collecting the original Base Set back when I was 10 years old.

But the more I got back into the hobby, the more obvious something felt missing: there still wasn’t a great social app built specifically for Pokemon TCG collectors.

There are plenty of places online where pockets of collectors hang out, of course. But everything felt fragmented. Nothing felt like a true home for collectors where posting, trading, tracking your collection, and just generally being a Pokemon card nerd all lived together in one place.

That’s the gap that led me to build Route 25.

I Wanted Something Collectors Would Enjoy

Most social apps are general-purpose first, and collector-friendly second.

I wanted the opposite.

I wanted an app where the feed made sense for pulls, slabs, binder flexes, and daily activity. I wanted a place where your profile wasn’t just a username and avatar, but a reflection of what you actually collect. I wanted online trading to feel safer and more thoughtful. And I wanted collection tracking to be part of the social experience instead of living in some completely separate app.

That mindset shaped every part of Route 25.

More Than a Feed

At its core, Route 25 is a social app for Pokemon TCG collectors, but I never wanted it to stop at just “post some of your cards.”

I wanted it to support the full collector experience:

• A social feed for pulls, pickups, slabs, and activity
• A Binder for tracking your collection and browsing sets
• A Trade Hub designed to make trading feel safer and secure
• Daily community prompts like Trainer Talk
• Mini games and XP so participation feels a little more playful

Collecting isn’t just inventory management, and it isn’t just social media either. The hobby is part showcase, part organization, part trading, part nostalgia, and part community.

I wanted Route 25 to reflect that.

Why Safety Matters So Much

One of the biggest things I kept coming back to was trust.

Trading cards with people on the internet can feel sketchy fast. Collectors are often dealing with expensive cards, personal shipping details, and the uncertainty of whether the other person is legit.

That is a big reason Route 25 includes a trading experience designed around privacy and safety. I wanted trading to feel less like rolling the dice in DMs and more like something built with real guardrails.

I’m sure there is still plenty to improve over time, but that principle was there from the beginning: if trading is going to be part of the app, it has to feel worthy of the community using it.

I Also Wanted It to Feel Like a Great iPhone App

Another big motivation for me was craft.

I love building native Apple-platform apps, and I wanted Route 25 to feel modern on iPhone instead of like a generic wrapper around a website. That meant leaning into native design, fast interactions, and platform features that make the app feel more at home on iOS.

That probably won’t matter to everyone equally, but it matters to me. If I am going to spend the time building something ambitious, I want the experience to feel polished, intentional, and fun to use.

Why This App Exists

At the simplest level, I built Route 25 because I wanted this app to exist.

I wanted a place where collectors could show off a new pull, organize their binder, make trades more confidently, and feel part of a larger community. I wanted to make something fun.

Pokemon should be fun. Collecting should feel social. Sharing cards should feel natural. That’s the entire spirit behind Route 25.

Still Early, Still Building

Like any app worth making, Route 25 is still evolving.

Some of the best parts of building an app like this are seeing how people actually use it, what features they gravitate toward, what they ignore, and what they wish existed next. That feedback loop is where the product gets better and where the original idea becomes something more real.

This is only the beginning of what I want Route 25 to become.

If you want to check it out, visit route25.app.

And if you’re already using it, thanks for being a part of the journey.