EXP. Share (Josh Fjelstad, Tanner Greenring)

We decided to get out ahead of some pretty labored metaphors while we’re paying our quarterly taxes and getting out ahead of our waterfalls this season, you know, like a Basculin swimming upstream. Okay, now that I’m seeing it written out I see Josh’s point. We went to Canalave City and took on Byron in Canalave Gym. We crushed him.

Mr. Right and Slaanesh have finally made it to the mainland, but to be honest, with all the clowns, undercover bosses, sewer dwellers, and stressed clerks, they probably wish they have stayed over in Western Unova. The bright lights of the big city are beckoning the boys in, but first, they’ll need to wade nipple-deep in human waste to track down the gym leader of Castelia Gym, because of course they would.

Joshua & Mr. Squirt's prequel continues. We learn about their favorite cards, new decks, discuss the viability of Tanner's "all Tangela" deck idea, and analyze the decks of this week's vanquished Club Members. Namely, Fire Club Member Jonathan's "Reshuffle Deck," Science Club Member Joseph's "Flyin' Pokémon Deck," and the audacity of the "Powerful Ronald Deck." Also, Josh hurls an explosive Mayor Cheat allegation against Tanner, but they bond over how sexy they find Imposter Professor Oak.

It’s that time of the season once more are we set aside our goals and ambitions and finally just wander around the Galar region aimlessly just trying to find stuff we missed during our playthrough. We promise, it’s much more exciting than it sounds. If you’re expecting a battle, you’ll be sorely disappointed though, because Josh doesn’t have the chutzpah to take on Tanner’s All-Connecticut All-Stars.

Music: TLC - Waterfalls (SNES Remix), used with permission from Meme Music.

Our heroes enjoy a well-deserved respite after an extremely long leg last week, as well as (always) the company of Anthony "Bud Light" Smith, who joins us to take on Kalos's Elite Four. They learn about his "low concept" character who launched into her journey to become Champion all to get revenge on the owner of a poorly managed Airbnb she once stayed at. Other than that, she's had a good time in Kalos, especially taking to how hot everyone in it is—aside from a couple of hideous mon we encounter at the Pokémon League. Finally, the three trainers battle in the penultimate showdown before the season finale. Will Josh or Tony dare to take on LoveMaker69's "Secret Society"? Only by daring to listen will you find out.

Notes: Make sure you never miss Tony's Top Tooterinos (sp?) by following @AnthonyBLSmith on Twitter and @anthonybriansmith on Instagram.

Having vanquished Miror B, Bad Josh & Mr. Anime look to find out more about purifying Shadow Pokémon from their companion’s grandfather in Agate Village. Of course, upon arriving, Team Cipher rolls into town and prevents them from properly investigating until they’ve been defeated. Then, they learn about the Relic Stone, the Time Flute, Celebi, and a whole bunch of other stuff, like that there’s secretly another city underneath Pyrite Town and they need to clean it up. It’s also funny because we talk about Australians a lot in this episode, and the bulk of it takes place in The Under, aka the Land Down Under. Get it?

SEASON TWO PREMIERE: IN FULL COLOR NOW, BABY! Josh & Tanner introduce their Johto avatars and starters before being asked to run an errand for Professor Elm—visiting a "Mr. Pokémon." Upon receiving his mysterious egg, they return to Professor Elm, get in a fight with a street tough, and finally make their way to Violet City where they take on Falkner's gym full of birds to receive their first badge.

Notes: Features "California" by Phantom Planet and "The Rat" by The Walkmen.

We're back from our travels and travails, chasing waterfalls and mostly finding big, bad battles at the top of all of them. Don Joey's knights-errant couldn't resist the call to put down the Kitakami Ogre Clan, seek the riches of the Glitterati, and the glory of the Academy Ace Tournament. Meanwhile, Esteban Humano and his totally human friends spent the time learning how to scuba dive? But it turns out they have a ferry service or something to the Blueberry Academy, so six months' training was pointless. Once there, we meet our new Clavell, Nemona, Carmine, and Kiki—well those last two are there, but the latter has NOT taken our breakup well.

It's a, a guy hunt! Our heroes find themselves caught in a Challengers type of situation, caught between Kieran & Ogerpon, and in order to resolve that tension we must take on the "Loyal"/"Lousy" Three. Traversing Kitakami leads Don Joey to meet some rather aggressive locals, while Esteban Humano is confronted by a goo-loving freak deep in the mountains. Will this love/hate triangle reach its matchpoint this week? Or will there be one more volley left in this story? Either way, we hope you "love" it (that's a tennis joke).

Our styler wands are starting to look a little worn down (as are the lower screens on our 3DS machines) but we're not done yet! For part three of our journey through the Almia region, we meet the hottest new corporate post-industrial-pop-punk quartet with three members to ever be featured in a Pokémon game. We also head north to take on the personification of Sonic the Hedgehog before going back to Boyleland Volcano for another tumble in the hot magma. Finally, we reject everything we've learned so far to return to the sea to get gobbled up by a big, beautiful Wailord on our quest to take down Team Dim Sun once and for all.

With the Cut HM in hand, Joshua & Mr. Keepsies take down the Team Plasma grunts who were beating up a Munna for its sweet, sweet dream juice. So much for "liberating" Pokémon. From there, they head north and encounter a bunch of little pukes who challenge them to battle, shortly before they once again get accosted by Plasma grunts who've made off with one of Bianca's Pokémon. In hot pursuit, they venture into Wellspring Cave and are bombarded by an astoundingly lazy and ugly new 'mon, many of which must be dispatched before they can head west to Nacrene City to face off against Gym Leader Lenora.

SEASON 3GC: BEGIN. In the first of four episodes covering 2004's Pokémon Colosseum, Josh & Tanner dive into their first impressions of the GameCube sleeper hit, differences from the main games, backstory of the characters in the game, as well as who they'll be playing as in this miniseries. Then, they get into the gritty details in this shadowy, post-apocalyptic land that is Orre. For the first leg, they learn a bit about the game's criminal syndicate (as Pokémon games are wont to do) and what they'll have to do to put them out of business: capture and purify a bunch of corrupted sweeties.

Before beginning their journey through Johto next week, Josh & Tanner go on an expedition into Pokémon Island. Instead of capturing Pokémon, they capture some sweet pics of all 63 types in 1999's Pokémon Snap. Traveling across its Beach, Tunnel, Volcano, River, Cave, Valley, and the mysterious Rainbow Cloud, they ultimately find out who is the greatest Pokémon photographer.

The journey across Unova continues to be filled with familiar sights, lovable characters, and the return of some former enemies seeking redemption, but it’s far from a stroll down memory lane thanks to some interesting card pulls for the Kingslocke rules this week. Mr. Right and Slaanesh meet a sexy werewolf, take on a sexy heartbreaker, cross a sexy bridge, see some sexy Team Plasma holdouts, battle a sexy sage, visit some sexy hotels, and finally delve into the gym to vanquish the business cowpoke Clay. And all of that happens BEFORE they finally face off against one another.

We hope you missed our segments because this episode's chock full of 'em—and a couple of Seinfjeld "zingers," too. After all, this week our aspiring comedian and aspiring trash collector reach the Big Applin: Castelia City. Will Joshua catch his big break? Will Mr. Keepsies finally pick up enough garbage to fill out his team? Is Burgh a gay icon? And why is the Ranger trainer type so sexy? (Or is that just us?)

Some of us tried our best but we STILL didn’t succeed this week, but that’s okay, because we’re taking the long view as we look ahead to, well, a very easy gym in Eterna City. The road was a little rocky along the way, and not like ice cream, like difficulties. it wasn’t nice. We didn’t have a nice week. #GrimSeason

Notes: Featuring "Longview (Green Day)" and "Fix You (Coldplay)" by CC Karaoke.

In the season 8A (that's right, we're calling it now) finale, our podcast titans recount their trials and travails conquering the Crown Tundra; attempts to land that hot date with Miss Honey; the hideous Legendaries they fought in Dynamax Adventures; the Galarian Star Tournament and Ball Guy's bogus grand prize; and finally throw Drew England's Connecticut champions up against Wellington Smithsmith's wealthy industrialists to determine who has the most powerful team on the archipelago.

Josh & Tanner are joined by actual Pokémon Lore Master, Daniel Dockery, author of the book "Monster Kids"! They chat about their own Pokémon origin stories; some of the most interesting anecdotes Daniel learned while writing the book about the series' beginnings; whether or not the anime is good; and of course learn his Sweetie and Barfy. Plus, he gives a vibe check on if Parrothead & Skull Grunt's teams actually fit the themes they're trying to embody. From there, we head down Route 6 for this week's journey "route by route." We encounter seemingly haunted doll Hapu, learn and quickly forget about Battle Royals, and then meet a lot of bad and or sexy guys in Wela Volcano Park. That's right, say "Alola!" to this season's first Fur Affinity Check.

Notes: Follow @dandock on Twitter for great Pokémon (and non-Pokémon) tweets alike, and buy his book detailing the first several years of the Pokémon and monster-catching frenzy, Monster Kids, wherever books are sold!

A Bug Pioneer joins us on the journey through HI-SU-IIIII, hailing from another strange, exotic, and faraway shore: Jersey. You can probably figure out where she wormholed in from. Fortunately, she's here just in time to take down the Frenzied Lord Electrode, and more importantly, support Josh in preventing Tanner from ramming through some pretty outlandish new "slugs" for Doug Farmer's team.

Notes: Thanks for joining us, Erica, whose handsome dog you can find on Instagram @erica_h!

We're joined once again by Tony "Brian with an 'I'" Smith (@AnthonyBLSmith) and all of the rampant audio issues he brought with him this week. We journey to Victory Road and make our way to the Elite Four. Only two of the E4 seemed to give any of us any trouble before we took on N in his mighty underground castle. Then we talk about which villainous crime syndicate is the best so far. Spoiler: It ain't Team Plasma.

The 9-1-Huns return—vindicated—to Pokémon Square. Gengar tries to spew his fake news but Pelipper swoops in and clears Archonis's good name. He then embarks on a quest to solve the latest natural disaster: earthquakes caused by Groudon. After volunteering to take it on, Lombre says the team isn't high ranked enough (would love to see this ugly chinned idiot's Rank Check), and Team ACT goes instead. Nights pass without a word, and the 9-1-Huns have to save everyone again. Which, apparently, also means stopping a giant meteor from crashing into the Pokéarth and killing everyone because this game's story doesn't know when to quit. But we certainly do, because this is the last ep of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon miniseries and we're never playing again!

Notes: Features "Jesus Take the Wheel (Instrumental)" by Carrie Underwood / InstrumentalPraise (YouTube).

Although it's a short leg this week as we cruise down Mt. Chimney en route to Petalburg Gym to take on Daddy, we first make a quick detour through the desert wasteland of Route 111. Unfortunately, things go south after that, so if you haven’t listened yet, prepare yourself both emotionally and sexually for not once, but TWO stirring eulogies this week. Eventually, we do take on Daddy and his suite of Slakoth evolutions, who are such a joke that we tack on a little extra to our journey. We join Steven Stone on a ride to Southern Island in what can only be described as “Atreyu screaming and fist-pumping on the back of Falcor”-like. We had to take our fun where we could find it on this leg. Oh, and we finally get to the bottom of where Tanner's Gulpin came from. You won't be surprised.

Bree van Durr and Steve Human encounter Alanna “Professor Okun,” legendary trainer and Pokémon authority, while at Canalave Library. First, the trio cleans up Iron Island while getting riley with Riley's Lucario, before things take a turn and a huge explosion at Lake Valor turns everyone's attention south. At Lake Valor, they're confronted with a Magikarp genocide and are quickly forced to deal with a series of Team Galactic Commanders—including their old arch-nemesis Mars and a couple of freaks who look like characters from Zoolander. Ultimately, they dispense of them before heading north through Mt. Coronet toward Snowpoint City and encounter nightmare after nightmare along the way. Basically, it’s a long episode and it's full of perils.

Notes: Thanks to Alanna Okun for joining us! Give her a follow @alanna (respete) and check out her work at http://www.vox.com/the-goods

Stanner & Will N. Testament make their way east from Pewter City to witness the Clefairy blood ritual or whatever over on Mt. Moon before heading south to complete their Kanto gym badge collection. In Pallet Town, they pay tribute to the legendary Captain Mr. Squirt and Joshua, whose absence leads them to search for them on the destroyed Cinnabar Island. There, they find nothing other than a Pokémon Center and Joshua, who is uh, "training deep in the mountains." He won't fight them until they get Blaine's badge, so they head east to Seafoam where they crush him as well as the beautiful Articuno—now deceased. Finally, Joshua agrees to take them on, which they do in Viridian City (after narrowly escaping being slaughtered, once again, by a random trainer in the vein of Ace Trainer Kevin).

I guess, uh… I guess we’re done here, folks. Honestly, kinda came out of nowhere but seasons over and show is over and our souls are locked in old Hisui forever thanks to the actions of Doug Farmer and Soren. Let’s at least get one last Fur Affinity Check in for old time’s sake, right? Please tell our families we loved them. And tell Melli we hated him.

Welcome to the Grim Season. Not only have we dragged ourselves back to Sinnoh for 2021's kawaii/chibi/uwu overhaul, but we've decided to doubly punish ourselves with another take on the Nuzlocke: SOUL LINK! Meet our twisted new avatars for the season, our first impressions of Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, and find out if one (aka both because our souls are intwined) of us happened to suffer any dearly departed 'mon on the first leg.

Notes: Featuring "(Free) Horror Ambiance - Ominous Background Music" by ESN Productions.

It was a short leg this week, made even shorter by the fact that Tanner has come down with something resembling Pokérus—an ailment that while debilitating, has somehow managed to turn him into an elite Pokémon podcasting beast. Honestly, his EV values are through the roof this week. It’s just a quick shot up the very scary Route 14, with its bombed out playground and spooky houses. Then we’re in Laverre City, where Valerie honey-I-shrunk-the-kids-ed us down and invited us into her pretty uneventful dollhouse gym where we absolutely trounced her and her creepy black eyes and incongruous bug wings. Also tell Tanner he’s a hero for podcasting with COVID.

We take a quick moment to address the controversy spread 'round the internet last week, and finally give into popular demand for our official comment on Gholdengo's appointment as National Dex Pokémon #1000. Then, we set our watches back to Island Time and ascend the Altars of the Sunne/Moone to determine whether Solgaleo & Lunala and their alt formes Dawn Wings Necrozma & Dusk Mane Necrozma are as ugly as we originally thought. From there, Parrothead & Skull Grunt are sucked into an Ultra Wormhole and have to grind it (or cheese it) out to beat one of the toughest wild Pokémon encounters there is. Finally, Fairly High Mina unleashes her Fairy types, before unveiling the final trial: the fetchiest-fetch quest where the two trialgoers must visit every previous captain and fight 'em again—before battling each other.

Look forward to some, frankly, phoned-in eulogies because Dorito Doug lost a ‘mon none of you had even MET yet and Caprica-Six can’t manage to keep the ‘mon she lost this week alive even if the fate of the entire human—sorry, Cylon—race depended on it. Otherwise, we pulverized the Power Plant. Destroyed the Dojo. Saved Silph. Sacked Sabrina’s gym. And Tanner managed to do all of that while only cheating just a little!

They call Sinnoh the "land of myths," and not just because at this point listeners thought Josh & Tanner would never reach it. But here we are, baby: season four, Gen IV, and a whole new cast of characters. In the premiere episode, we learn about who will be taking on the Sinnoh League, and how we'll be covering the differences between Pokémon Diamond/Pearl, and Platinum—as for the first time ever we're playing the third game of the main releases. Then, we get to the g-d story, including initial thoughts on Professor Rowan, our rivals, this obviously evil "Cyrus" guy, and of course—the region's first Pokémon that make Josh swoon and Tanner barf. We're si'noh glad to have you along for the journey. (We're still workshopping that one.)

Notes: Thanks to our composer, Matt Shilts, who will be providing us with some hot new tracks to keep us warm on our ascent to Mt. Coronet!

We’ve been tirelessly catching, training, battling, and in some cases even falling in love with Pokémon Go behind the scenes for the past 12 weeks, and we’ve brought our friend and Pokémon Go lifer David Sims on to discuss the ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, and bursting sticker books from our summer with the game. Have we enjoyed Pokémon Go? Yes! Very much so! Will we keep playing Pokémon Go daily as David has for the past six years? Almost certainly not! We got a lot of truly disgusting Barfies spoiled for us, but we also got some very enticing previews of the kind of Sweetie talent we can expect to see over the next couple of generations. But for now, the Yellow Wave subsides and order is restored to our quiet, sleepy Brooklyn and Connecticut neighborhoods.

Parrothead & Skull Grunt head back down one mountain and up another this week, where while Skull Grunt is spreading disinformation about how dirty geothermal power plants are, he also finally manages to evolve his Charjabug. Then, one trainer takes the lead in the Totem Tally count, and another ascends to the top of the Mantine Surf competition. But both have a variety of disturbing interactions with Swimmers, Veterans, and their ghostly companions—and that's before they even make it to Acerola's Trial that takes place inside of an derelict Walmart Supercenter? This isn't the kind of "island time" that we signed up for.

This week, Josh is joined by his friend Michael LeVine. Though he's a competitive Magic: The Gathering player, for the last two weeks he and Josh have been playing the online version of the Pokémon TCG. They talk through their history with trading card games and their explosion in the '90s. Then they explain the cards and gameplay mechanics as Mike outlines the differences between Pokémon and Magic. Finally, Josh sees if he can best Mike in the arena.

Notes: For more of his antics, give Mike a follow on Twitter (@MichaelVLeVine) and if you are—or are about to be—into Korean-Jewish food fusions, check out @kimchijewce_ny on Instagram.

Josh & Tanner are joined by their friend Anthony Smith to take on the Elite Four. But first, they get in another scuffle with their rivals and suffer a loss along the way. Once upon the Indigo Plateau, will the Elite Four be the only ones who suffer losses? Or will the Kill Count continue to pile up? Also, check out Tony's perfect tweets @AnthonyBLSmith!

Notes: Midway through the episode we decided to save the rest of the Sevii Islands for next week's finale. The Nuzlocke "catchable areas" doc has been updated on the Twitter (@expsharepod) and subreddit (/r/bugcatchers).

Joshua & Mr. Keepsies leave the big, lush city for the sprawling desert hellscape that begins as soon as you head north. They encounter a variety of inexplicably placed trainers, like Fishermen, who seem like Basculin out of water, if you know what we mean. In the Desert Resort, they unite over a particularly barf-worthy 'mon, triggering the first "Our Ew Make Me Barf Pokémon of the Week," as well as one obvious sweetie in the Relic Castle. Once they finally emerge from the sandstorm, they find themselves in Nimbasa City... and you know what they say: "What happens in Nimbasa City, stays in Nimbasa City." So we won't tell you who wins in the season's first showdown, but like the Battle Subway, it's a wild ride.

Notes: Sorry about Josh's kinda janky audio! It was the sandstorm from Route 4 interfering.

With the Lillipup days of summer now well behind them, the podcast titans are finally back with a whole new season, a new region, and brand spanking new ‘mon. Find out whose journeys you’ll be following through Unova as Josh & Tanner introduce their new characters, set forth from Nuvema Town, give their first (well, Josh’s second) impressions of the New York-themed landscape, and take on Striaton City’s Gym Leaders: three battling brother-chefs, of course.

Doug Farmer and Soren may not know how they got to old Hisui, but they certainly know what they're doing now that they're there, and what they're doing isn't very nice. Members of the Survey Corps live by the 3 C's: Catalogue, Capture, and Kill (It's a dialect thing, it doesn't translate well.) – and these two do so with such ruthless efficiency that they're accidentally wiping out whole evolutionary lines. Next in their sites: A lovely, frenzied ballerina Lilligant that can't be allowed to see the light of modern Sinnoh.

The Pokémon Masters of Kanto & Johto dust off their Game Boy Advances and step foot into a new region: Hoenn. With both Josh & Tanner running themed teams this season, it's bound to be one wild ride. That journey begins with an overview of all the saucy new changes added into Gen III, the return of Level Check and what we're working with this season, and then we move into Littleroot Town.

Notes: Thanks to our friend Michael LeVine, we have a Reddit now! Hang out with Bug Catchers at http://www.reddit.com/r/bugcatchers.

This week we downloaded some content from the eShop to continue our journeys for the hefty sum of $29.99 American, but you know what they say: do it for the Vine. And we’re glad we did, because we love this dang place. Some of us more than others.

First, the Rules Court convenes once again to look at the eligibility of our request for rerolls last week. To resolve the issues with Josh's Favorite Pokémon Is Mewtwo clause, we're joined by @asteroidera, aka Kel, who was the first Bug Catcher to volunteer and benevolently offer up their Mewtwo. They do EXP. Share's first-ever live trade on-air, and then after some fawning by Josh, we begin our journey in earnest. Although one of us whose name rhymes with Burrito Chug is a Mayor Cheat who had already gotten the Poké Flute and released Marowak's soul, we quickly recount our ascent up the Pokémon Tower and then move onto greener pastures—the endless sea of green and literal sea that is the southerly Routes 12-15. After we've wound our way down to Fuchsia City, we find a place that's both never looked better and also decidedly worse without its iconic Safari Zone, which has been replaced with the non-functioning (at least for these two grown adult men) GO Park. What's left but to see what kind of traps Koga and his gang of Jugglers and Tamers have laid... and whether we'll finally make it to our first episode this season without a eulogy.

The final Lake Guardian, Uxie, falls into the hands of Commander Jupiter, leaving Bree van Durr & Steve Human with no choice but to storm the Team Galactic HQ. They arrive while Cyrus is giving a whole Hitler-style speech and have to crush him like the Spinarak he is; also allowing them to free the Lake Trio who heads to Mt. Coronet. After summiting it themselves, Steve Human and his rowdy crew goes on an absolutely wild bender and wakes up in a world that's much like our own, except way way worse. An overwhelmed Bree van Durr turns to her old vices—Slowpoke Tails and Crystal Muk—and joins them shortly after. Then a whole bunch of convoluted story happens and basically they meet Satan before finally escaping the nightmare that is Distortion World and go onto the "sunny" shores of Sunyshore City to take on the eighth and final Gym Leader, Volkner.

Notes: Featuring "Pop the Glock" by Uffie, "I'm Poppy" by Poppy, and "I Got A Man" by Positive K.

With Surf and their HM Friends in tow, Papa Cultura & Admiral Squirt head over into eastern Hoenn and begin to settle into what could be their endgame teams... if no-one dies, that is. (Spoiler alert: someone does.) They head into the jungles of Route 119 and get inspired by its triumphant score and a variety of totally bangin' trainers, which the Team Aqua/Magma stooges at the Weather Institute certainly are not. Finally, blocked from accessing Winona's gym in Fortree, they are treated to a delightful little hike and a gift of a Devon Scope from the charming Steven Stone. Visors on, they send Winona's flock to the great birdcage in the sky and then battle each other.

The journey begins. Josh & Tanner name their characters, rivals, and starter Pokémon before exploring Route 1, Viridian City, Viridian Forest, and take on Brock in Pewter City.

Don Joey & Esteban Humano return from their gap year to return their dragon motorcycles to their former glory, and rid Paldea of (most of) the notorious Team Star. They find that the land has been overrun with discordantly leveled trainers and Pokémon, but they are also sweet as hell. (Except for maybe one on Esteban's team, who gets herself into a PR crisis.) We also mash our 'mon together for the first battle of the season... to not-so-surprising results.

We're trying out the "route by route" versus "gym by gym" thing this season, and maybe we got it wrong this episode. The leg is short. We spend a lot of time discussing whether or not Pokémon like Hypno and Bewear are bad or chill guys, and encounter our first official (aka non-Pokémon Go) Ultra Beast, the least-hideous one Nihilego. Then, Parrothead & Skull Grunt have a rematch.

Miraculously, Josh & Tanner and their counterparts BADJOSH(JR) and AnimeJr manage to make it two-thirds of the way through Gale of Darkness in just another week. In this jam-packed episode, they chase down a lead on Cipher's latest tricks that leads them to a Titanic-looking ship stuck out in the middle of the desert. No big deal. Along the way, Duking announces that wild Pokémon actually can live in Orre—and he's the only one who's got the snacks that'll bring all the 'mon to the yard. They encounter the Hexagon Bros again, who've taken on stunning new disguises in Phenac City, and play some games at the newly not evil Realgam Tower. Also they fight Kaminko's latest crazy invention wielded by the inept Chobin. It's a lot.

The boys—who are now the Unova region champs, by the way—bumped into Bad Josh/Mr. Wrong/Hugh in Undella Bay and picked up a little HM called Waterfall, so you know what’s going to happen in this episode. Loose ends are tied up, legendary Pokémon are hunted down and captured, and an entire quarter of the map is unlocked for our Pokémonning pleasure. Over on Mr. Right’s team, things are smooth sailing, but Slaanesh is coming stacked this week with an all-new team, including one former ally from seasons past that finally finds its spot on an elite-level team. And stick around for the battle between the boys. The outcome might surprise you.

To partially quote Rob Thomas feat. Santana: man, this is a hot one. Like, hot as in stolen because there’s a bit of a stir this week when it’s uncovered that Tanner is playing on non-regulation equipment. But as Skull Grunt always says, "you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few Exeggcutes and you can’t catch a presumably neon pink or green Poliwrath without playing the game at 2x speed." Or was that an Elon Musk quote? We meet a handsome old friend along Route 9, some not-so-handsome old friends in Diglett tunnel, and five new friends who can be whatever you want them to be... even bad guys. Then we cap it all off with a roll in the mud with Kahuna Olivia. (Not a euphemism.)

Now with the ability to Surf, Joshua & Mr. Mime take a trip up to an abandoned Power Plant to try grabbing some exotic Electric Pokémon. They also decide whether to spare or end the lives of the Legendary Birds, as the next stop is the Seafoam Islands, where Articuno lurks its depths. After pushing boulders down a bunch of holes, they ride the waves to Cinnabar where they must explore the mysterious Pokémon Mansion to find a Secret Key that will allow them to battle the seventh Gym Leader, Blaine. Will they defeat him without losing any more of their precious 'mon? Or will Josh's prediction that someone will die in every episode hold true?

The boys strike out west from Celadon toward Cycling Road, and it's all downhill from there. Tanner's sirens go off right out of the gate, when he encounters a vacationing man with a disturbing message, while Josh faces an identity crisis after meeting Pokéfan Joshua. Oh yeah, and they take on the invisible walls in Janine's gym in Fuchsia City, which were honestly tougher than her and Brock over in Pewter City. Then, Josh & Tanner decide to battle just for the hell of it.

Papa Cultura & Admiral Squirt traverse the ocean to arrive in Slateport City, and the rest of their journey is a bloodbath. They beat up a bunch of beachgoers, get beat up by grunts in the Oceanic Museum, make their big debuts on the contest circuit, and manage to escape the Trick House—but not without sacrifice. And Gym Leader Wattson up in Mauville isn't finished with them yet. Papa Cultura is only at the start of his adventure through Hoenn, but he's beginning to long for his old Mediterranean lifestyle already. And Admiral Squirt? The loving embrace of Mrs. Squirt might be the only way to cure what ails him.

Don Joey & Esteban Humano head west (young man) and find a land full of soaring wind turbines and very upsetting birds. Then, they swing east to critique an artist's life work (terrible) before taking him on in the gym, and discovering his battling is even worse than his sculptures—meeting many new 'mon and humans along the way.

Traversing like a fifth of the map this early on in a Nuzlocke is no small feat, and regrettably some small feet on someone's team didn't make it through the other side of Mt. Coronet pass. But, we didn't let that stop us from enjoying the jaunty music and wind in our hair careening down Cycling Road—at least that buoyed our spirits enough to weather fighting some dad impersonating a Pichu's mom or the freak with three Mr. Mimes. Oh, and Maylene's fearsome Lucario. The #GrimSeason continues down a dark path.

Notes: Featuring "Sea of Love (Cat Power)" by FakeyOke.

Outside Vermilion City, the trainers make an unfortunate discovery: of all the people to still be in Kanto, it's the Shorts Guys. Then, when a Snorlax blocks their path forward, Fjelstan struggles to get his Pokégear to work. Joshua plays a bop to wake up the Snorlax, and then captures it. After flooding Diglett's Cave, the trainers arrive in Pewter City, where they have nothing else to do but smash Brock to bits. They take a brief detour, see some freaky stuff on and along the way to Mt. Moon, and decide a sea breeze should set them straight. But, Blaine isn't on Cinnabar and they have to find him before they can get the seventh badge.

Notes: Features "Once in A Lifetime" by Talking Heads.

Another long leg stretches out before our podcast heroes, but fortunately they are joined by Alex Bugg from Gotta Snatch ‘Em All once again, to help lighten the load. They take on a classic criminal syndicate hideout, discuss how exactly a Klefki works, whether or not Magnetons are a weapon of mass destruction, and both Josh & Tanner experience a pretty devastating Matchup Mayhem in their battles. Check out Alex’s podcast @gottasnatchemal, and his new genderless manicure services @put.it.in.nudetral on Instagram!

Notes: For US listeners, to learn more about how you can support the right to access safe and legal abortion, including resources and ways to organize and donate to local funds, please visit https://choice.crd.co.

Lock up your Hot-Mom-loving spouses and loved ones this week—at least, if you’re playing Shield, because Circhester (pronounced see-sir-shrrr-sr) Gym has plenty to go around! You ever just start writing a sentence just to see where it goes? We're as surprised as you are by that last one. Anyway, the other game has someone called Gordie. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Sauntering out of Professor Oak's Lab, Stanner & Will N. Testament run into a figure of legend, Gringus. David Sims joins to wrap up HeartGold/SoulSilver in a nice bow (and a battle). They chase waterfalls, aka in this gen, climb rocks; rematch against the Elite Four; catch or kill Mewtwo; fight Red/Gary/Bad Josh/Mr. Squirt; and see what happens in the final battle of season four. Who will retain (or obtain) EXP. Share's IP?

Notes: Follow Gringus—sorry, we mean—David Sims sharing his experiences @davidlsims and on his podcast, @blankcheckpod!

Bree van Durr and Steve Human's journey leads them to the Hearthome of Darkness. From the pitch black depths of Wayward Cave to the discriminatory Pokémon practices of Amity Square, the trainers face tough questions about the kind of champions they want to be. They learn about Team Galactic's scheme, and debate its validity along with the merits of Pokétch Company versus Devon Corp. and Silph Co. Then, they try contests again before throwing away the Fashion Case and taking on Gym Leader Fantina.

Season 4A's finale covers all the post-Elite Four content in Pokémon Platinum, from the mainland to Battle Zone. Bree van Durr & Steve Human complete their National Pokédexes, though the latter does it by slaughtering every legendary in Sinnoh—and also welcomes a couple of new... additions to his crew. Meanwhile, Bree atones for her Pokémon-trafficking-related sins in Snowpoint Temple. Then, they try out their DS Lite's dual-slot capability in Pal Park before hopping on Snowpoint's icebreaker ship over to Battle Zone for the franchise's most robust postgame yet.

Notes: Featuring "Number One Spot" by Ludacris.

We didn’t have to look very hard to find Team Aqua/Magma’s secret headquarters outside of Lilycove City and we didn’t have to work very hard to unravel their entire criminal syndicate, but it wasn’t all a walk in the Safari Zone this week. Papa Cultura had to say a tearful arrivederci to a beloved friend, Admiral Squirt really took to Hoenn’s controversial “stand your ground” laws, and Kid Nation was disappointedly under-recognized as a brilliant and subversive piece of art cinema and I can’t believe it only got 13 episodes before it was canceled. Real swing and miss canceling that one, Moonves.

The boys are joined by Drew Scheid (Halloween, Fear Street Part Two: 1978), who mercifully spared himself from the wrath of Kingslocke, and believe us, it was WRATHFUL this week. We head to Virbank City, our final destination in Western Unova and home to Pokéstar Studios and the punk rock gym leader Roxie. On the way, we’ll learn about a new friend named Dr. Ew then well face off in a three-way trainer battle to see which well-regarded young actor has what it takes to wrestle control of the podcast out of the hands of the two established hosts. (Spoilers.)

Welcome to the Cobalt Coastlands, Bug Pioneers. There's plenty of East Sea Shellos to go around, so grab a Leaden Ball, hop on your Basculegion, and enter bullet time—we've got some slugs to hunt. Our problematic faves, the Miss Fortune Sisters, are back and up to more mischief this week, stealing beautiful little 'mon and turning them into frenzied, raging monsters that we'll have to put down, Survey Corps-style.

Josh ("Joshua") & Tanner ("Mr. Squirt") leave Pewter City behind. They venture forth down Route 3, fight through Mt. Moon and Route 4, blow up Nugget Bridge, have a disturbing encounter at Bill's place, and clean up Cerulean City before defeating Gym Leader Misty.

Mr. Briney takes Minnie Max & RHCP to Slateport City, where they find a whole lot of nothing to do. The flea market or whatever offers nothing. The Contest Hall says they're unqualified. The Oceanic Museum is packed to the gills. They finally get a dockworker to talk at the harbor, and find "Captain" Stern, who isn't really even a captain. Looking for a gym leader to crush, they head north and run into a bunch of neer-do-wells on Route 110, but are rewarded with some wheels and a real good fight with Gym Leader Wattson. Josh struggles with the current members of RHCP and considers changing the lineup.

After last week's sprawling journey, Joan of Arceus & LoveMaker69 cool their heels in Cyllage City for a while before sauntering back out. Heading north, they are immediately confronted with yet another pile of mysterious rocks that everyone is losing their minds about, which is the main theme of this whole episode as we get closer to finally knowing the truth about Mega Evolution. Also, Josh proposes a new conspiracy theory (that is probably not actually new at all) that results in the hot new "Mouse Hunter" segment.

Notes: Featuring "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne/KaraokeOnVEVO and "Dog the Bounty Hunter Theme (Chipmunk Version)" by GamingTheNinja. We don't apologize for the use of either.

Josh & Tanner are joined by their friend and former colleague Ryan Broderick. After delving into his past experience with the Pokémon franchise, the trio chronicles their journey from Goldenrod to Ecruteak. Along the way, they get a little sidetracked and end up looking into how Incineroar is uh, "appreciated" by the Pokémon artist community, and whether or not Smogon is an authority to be trusted when it comes to Pokémon pronunciations. Eventually, they liberate a Kimono Girl, see what's up at the Burned Tower, and take on Gym Leader Morty before throwing down against each other.

Notes: You can find Ryan on Twitter @broderick, his newsletter Garbage Day at garbageday.email, or follow his podcast The Content Mines @thecontentmines or wherever you catch your podcasts!

Joshua & Mr. Squirt head south from Cerulean City. Finding nothing worthwhile on Routes 5 or 6, they visit Vermilion City and explore Diglett's Cave before using Bill's ticket to board the S.S. Anne. They then throw their rivals overboard, rid the captain of his "sea sickness," and debate installing Mr. Squirt as his replacement. Finally, they Cut their way to Lt. Surge—and it's lights out for the third Gym Leader.

The valiant knight Don Joey and fun-loving guy Esteban Humano enter the Blueberry Academy's Terarium and it's THUNDERDOME! These are some of the toughest fights we've taken on in all our years, even if not all Elite Four members were pulling their weight (and certainly not in terms of the Elite Tests). Also, it's our penultimate episode of the season, so clear the runway for some rants!

SEASON ONE FINALE! Joshua & Mr. Squirt take on the Elite Four and take issue with their Pokémon theming and strategies. After defeating their rivals for the final time, they become the Champions and then return to Cerulean City to explore the Unknown Dungeon/Cerulean Cave. Then, Joshua & Mr. Squirt finally throw down and see who is truly Kanto's Pokémon Master.

SEASON TWO FINALE finds our heroes at the foot of Mt. Silver. But first, they must defeat the final Gym Leader: Blue/Bad Josh/Greg, still rude as hell even after all these years. After condemning him to the footnotes of Pokémon history, they visit Professor Oak in Pallet Town, who gives them a pass to scale Mt. Silver. En route, Joshua meets a celebrity recluse who shoos him away with a TM, while Fjelstan makes a case for Tangela's sweetieness. At the summit, worlds collide as they face Gen I's champions. Will they defeat his high-level 'mon? And... when Joshua & Fjelstan face off, who will be the season two champion?

Notes: Features "Freak on A Leash (8 Bit Tribute to Korn)" by 8 Bit Universe.

Wellington Smithsmith & Drew England make landfall on the Armor of Isle—sorry, that is, the Isle of Armor. They're immediately accosted by a couple of escaped circus freaks, who inadvertently introduce them to the locals' warriors path. Along with several children who have seemingly never wielded a Poké Ball before, they must complete three trials in order to ultimately take on the island's defender, Master Mustard. (And, in Drew England's case, win the affections of Miss Honey.) But it doesn't end there. They must also fall in love with a kung-fu bear and then climb a couple of scary towers so that it can finally become its truest self, or something poetic like that. Plus! Even more Wild Area antics.

WE DO IT ALL. (We think.) From unearthing the apparently controversial sweetie that lies in the depths of Area Zero; to a final confusing encounter with Arven's parents; seeing what our friends in Team Star are up to; and the latest dance craze sweeping Kitakami—started by a twisted little monster called Pecharunt. And, Josh finally watches Thir13en Ghosts. Because we did it, Bug Catchers. We did it all. We shared our experience playing every Pokémon game... at least for now. Thank you for joining us on this nearly five-year journey through countless regions and nine generations. We couldn't have done it without you.

Podcast titans Josh & Tanner watch one of two holiday specials from the original Pokémon anime. Part one examines "Holiday Hi-Jynx," aired in the US on December 11, 1999 before soon after being banned in the US. They discuss the controversies surrounding the episode, recount the plot, and agree the one thing that's NOT controversial about the episode is how totally bizarre it is.

Notes: Featuring "Together Forever" from the album "Pokémon 2.B.A. Master," and one of Josh's favorite Twitter accounts: "Perfectly Cut Screams" or @AAAAAGGHHHH.

We finally learn everything there is to know about Mega Evolutions this week, but to be honest with you, we have more questions than answers at this point. Key among them: why is there a giant Lucario statue inside this giant building off the coast of Route 12? We’ll just have to compartmentalize instead and move onto more important matters, like this very important Skiddo ranch on Azure Bay. All that’s left is skillfully navigating an entire SEALs team ropes course before we can take on the gym this week, but all that Kalos-defending and lovemaking has given Joan and L.M. pretty strong cores.

The boys are back in [Pallet] Town! But they quickly discover their that mom and Professor Oak aren't impressed. They head north to discover Giovanni, of Team Rocket, is the eighth Gym Leader—and, of course, defeat him for the last time. With the Earth Badge, they then head west and humiliate their rivals before heading up Routes 22 & 23 and venture into Victory Road on their way to the Elite Four.

Notes: Check out "Dr. Lava's Lost Pokémon" on Twitter @DrLavaYT, whose tweets helped inform the lore in this episode.

Hola—or rather, konnichiwa! Don Joey & Esteban Humano are taking the next semester (aka two episodes) to complete a study abroad program over on Kitakami. As soon as they make landfall, they meet their home stay frenemy Carmine, and boyfriend, Kieran, and learn a bit about this land's strange ways. Or at least, the denizens of Mossui Town think these two are the strange, inept city slickers from Paldea, and boy are they wrong. We mop the floor with pretty much everyone here on the quest to *Brooke Valentine voice* hunt a guy.

The route was short and yet, it was still full of terrors. Or maybe that's just the bit when we tried to figure out how to battle each other online for the first time. You be the judge, but please don't make fun of us too much. We're two grown adult men after all, how were we supposed to know that a hidden menu is what you use to fight each other, rather than the one on the main menu THAT SAYS "VS" ON IT. Please excuse us. We also have a controversial pick for Trainer Danger, but Joshy's Sweetie and Tanner's Ew Make Me Barf Pokémon of the Week certainly are not.

The trainers venture into Hoenn's own Safari Zone, which seems to have bought all of Kanto's Pokémon but is an inferior experience. Looking for more thrills, they stroll Lilycove and run into streets full of Aqua & Magma grunts that they trace back to Mt. Pyre. There, they—again, two children—are entrusted with a life-preserving orb, which they take to Slateport to learn about "Captain" Stern's latest discovery. During his press conference, Team Aqua/Magma makes off with the sub and they follow it to their hideout in Lilycove. After shutting down that operation, they take a trip to sunny Mossdeep, and take on its freaky brother-sister duo Gym Leaders.

Notes: Features "Someone Like You (Karaoke Version)" by EdKara (YouTube).

The fugitive Pokémon continue their run from the long spoon of the law (Alakazam, is the joke here). The Mon Men run into some trouble on the path to Mt. Blaze, while the 9-1-Huns have to scale it a few times before they finally put down its master, that dumb flaming chicken Moltres. They then stumble into the Frosty Forest, where they have a surprising revelation that takes this bonkers plot to a whole other level—only to be resolved by speaking with the 'mon himself: Ninetales.

Notes: Features "Independence Day" by KaraFun (YouTube).

Joshua & Fjelstan go on a rather Farfetch'd side quest in Ilex Forest on their way to Johto's largest city, Goldenrod. Once there, they check out the shops and then venture underground to find a Coin Case that is useless because the Game Corner's card game is total trash. As the trainers battle at the Goldenrod City Gym, Josh & Tanner make the mistake of Googling images of its leader, Whitney, and see things that no-one ever should. (Includes more-than-usual NSFW graphic descriptions of those images, so hide your children.)

Notes: Features "Freak on A Leash (8 Bit Tribute to Korn)" by 8 Bit Universe.

‘Ello guv! Welcome to a new season of EXP. Share on an all-new system, in an all-new region, and on a lovely emerald isle (close enough) FILLED with all-new Barfies and Sweeties. Join wealthy industrialist Wellington Smithsmith and New England ambassador Drew England as they make their way to Motostoke City for Galar's Pokémon League opening ceremony. Along the way they meet weird dogs with lovely voices, some rowdy and fun-lovin’ stans, and the single most dangerous stranger to date: The Ball Guy. Chip chip, cheerio!

After quelling the final Frenzied Noble, we think we'll be hailed as heroes and Doug Farmer & Soren will get statues in their honor erected across the land. Instead all hell breaks loose, the simulation breaks, and immediately Commander Kamado places all the blame for everything at our feet. Banished from Jubilife, we're forced to subsist on dwindling potato mochi supplies and a shadow network of allies. Most of our "friends" like Warden Lian and Mai offer nothing but barely kind words, until a Trainer Banger swoops in and takes us under her motherly wings.

On their way to the Pokémon League, Bree van Durr & Steve Human meet Uwu, a mysterious traveler who turns out to be a fantastically rich Pokémon-eating maniac and also one of Bree's most indulgent clients. HM Friend of the pod Anthony Smith joins us again on a sensual episode where, along with traversing Victory Road and taking on the Elite Four, the trainers also discuss the culinary delights—and best ways to prepare—the Pokémon on their teams. Then, they round out the feast with the spiciest battle royale yet heard on EXP. Share. (And they had such a fun time doing it that Josh & Tanner will be chasing waterfalls next episode!)

Notes: Thanks again to Anthony for joining us! You can check out his Twitter (and his fantastic Escape the Room game) @AnthonyBLSmith and on Instagram @anthonybriansmith (he was hacked).

Greg Leatherman, this season’s over/Guzzlord joins us again to keep Tanner in check and also tell us what exactly goes on in the Sun/Moon story versus what we’ve just experienced now that we’re in Ultra Sun/Moon's postgame. The thing is, while we do learn that the story in this game is a total mess, we also had a blast with Episode RR and facing off against the series’ very baddest criminal minds up till this point. Team Rainbow Rocket Giovanni? An icon, and an ally, or maybe even one of the other letters but we can’t figure that out without logging onto Fur Affinity dot net and it was early in the morning so we just didn’t have the stamina. Notes: Check out Greg on Twitter @whitewing, @lysander03 on Instagram, and Most of his posts are really good, other than the Ribombee (just a fly) propaganda ones.

With just one foot out the door of the Cinnabar Gym, a manic Bill whisks Joshua & Mr. Mime away to visit his friend Celio out in the Sevii Islands. Once there, they embark on the "railroadiest of railroads," a series of chained fetch quests that must be done before the islands open up and they can return to the mainland to take on the final Gym Leader.  First, the trainers must deliver a Meteorite to the islands' Game Corner, then take on a biker gang, rescue a lost child (aptly named "Lostelle"), climb a mountain, and get the islands' wifi booted up. Will all of their Pokémon survive the tropical trip, or will there be a sad sea shanty to sing? And will Giovanni finally put up a real fight?

Fionnuala and her new incarnation joins the boys once again, Stanner & Will N. Testament, on their journey to Mahogany Town. The trio gets into some trouble en route to the Red Gyarados, and Mayor Cheat allegations fly.

Notes: Check out Fionnuala's podcast Bandwagons—where they try everything, not just Pokémon—wherever you catch your podcasts, and give her excellent IG a follow @fionnualajay.

Features "We Like to Party!" by Vengaboys and "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega.

Well, we would walk 500 miles, and we would walk 500 more just to be the guys who walked 1,000 miles just to beat down Wulfric’s door. No, seriously, it was a really long leg. It took hours. We’re joined by STEVE SARUMI of IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE fame to chat about his love/hate relationships with Gorebyss, the Kalos region, and the Pokémon franchise (listed here, presumably, in order of most-hated to most-loved). Then we got into the dang chop and ground it out. Look at the title of the episode! No joke, it was a monster leg. We did like two supervillain lairs. We each essentially caught living warheads. A man’s girlfriend, who is—notably—a Floette, died in a Pokémon war 3000 years ago and he destroyed all life and has been wandering the world since seeking his lost love. He's nine feet tall, btw. It was a whopper.

Notes: Check out It's Super Effective wherever you catch your podcasts, and on Twitter and Twitch @pkmncast!

HM03 Surf's up and with that, Steve Human and his rowdy crew take to the waves to see what kind of trouble they can get themselves into. Meanwhile, Bree van Durr spends her time hobnobbing with the other elites at Pokémon Mansion, where they both try their hands at the "5-Maid Knockout Exact Turn Attack Challenge" (really) before heading north to give the suffering Psyducks some SECRETPOTION. The path cleared, they ascend to Celestic Town, taking on Ninja Boys along the way. There they learn about Sinnoh's origin, who Team Galactic's big boss is, and, thrashing him, they head to Canalave to cool their heels and get the seventh gym badge from Byron—just barely.

SEASON THREE FINALE. Minnie Max & RHCP visit Ever Grande "City" and delve into the treacherous Victory Road, where weirdly the biggest threat is Wally. On the other side, they make their final preparations before taking on Hoenn's Elite Four: a festive crew with a lot of wild outfits and some fearsome 'mon. Following their enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, the new Champions once again take to the sea to visit the Battle Tower, scale the Sky Pillar—and, ultimately, to face the music and each other to determine who's the very best in the region.

Notes: Features "Californication" by CC Karaoke (YouTube).

Stanner & Will N. Testament venture into the mysterious Ilex Forest to track down a couple of rogue Farfetch-i. Upon returning them, they get HM01 Cut and proceed to hack-and-slash their way through the forest—encountering a bloody-headed Headbutt Move Tutor and a lost Kimono Girl along the way—coming out on the other side to the sights and sounds of Johto's largest city, Goldenrod. There, they visit all the hot spots: the Game Corner, Department Store, the Tunnel, the Radio Tower, and more before needing to take a reprieve in nature at the National Park, which is apparently sponsored by the Pokéwalker because everyone can't stop talking about it. After competing in the Bug-Catching Contest, they take on Whitney and her Miltank, which the two trainers certainly don't fall in love with, even though all of their Pokémon do.

We’re joined by Greg Leatherman this week, aka Madison Sinclair, who is busy, busy, busy building the most fabulous team of “Pokémon Drag Race” stars. Meanwhile, Drew England and Wellington Smithsmith are just trying to make it to Turffield so they can take on *checks notes* J.K. Rowling? Huh. Along the way we learn about hawk in Timbs, a pretty complicated conspiracy about Gigantamaxing, and a Pokémon that’s just a big wad of, well, it’d be impolite to day what it looks like. 

Notes: Thanks to Greg for joining us again! You can find him on Twitter @whitewing & Instagram @lysander03.

With Tanner out being a responsible father, his other co-host Jack Shepherd of The Baby-Sitters Club Club and Josh are forced to fend for themselves. So, they bravely banded together to create The Baby-Sitters Experience, a podcast where Bug Catchers learn about The Baby-Sitters Club and Baby Nation learns about Pokémon. This week, we're reading "The Baby-Sitter's Club #87: Stacey and the Bad Girls" and watching 2000's "Pokémon 3: The Movie."

Notes: Check out The Baby-Sitters Club Club (@BSCCPodcast) wherever you catch your podcasts, and where normally you can join Jack and Tanner as they read every BSC novel.

"We" made a mistake with the Kanto gym order and so this week, we're covering the journey over from Johto on the fast ship S.S. Aqua—where Stanner & Will N. Testament search for an errant girl and lazy sailors. Once back on dry land in Vermilion City, they survey the beautiful harbor but quickly discover that otherwise, the town hasn't changed much in three years. The Machop are still stomping around the empty lot, not building anything, and the Pokémon Fan Club Chairman is still lusting after his Rapidash. After raiding Lt. Surge's trash and short-circuiting his team, they head north to take on Sabrina in Saffron... and then take a misguided respite on the Cerulean Cape where they both bond over a shared trauma from an unexpected source.

We're joined by Greg Leatherman this week, who told us he was inspired to pick up Pokémon Unite for the first time after he heard our first episode featuring Bree van Durr and Chef Greenring. He fell in love with the game and has been playing ever since all thanks to us! Anyway, he's on to learn from an actual Expert and Veteran what it takes to go toe-to-toe in the Aeos Islands.

Notes: Give Master Greg a follow on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, @whitewing and Instagram @lysander03!

Welp, Bug Rangers... it's time to hang up the ol' styler wands, because our time in Almia is, regretfully, coming to a close. But not before we plumb the depths of a Team Dim Sun oil rig and set in motion a series of events that ultimately lead to a man's onscreen death—and that wasn't even a sanctioned mission! Then we chase after some clown called Heath who turns out to be, you guessed it, a prick. We close with an extremely long game of passing the Yellow Gem back and forth, Keith blows up, and all the bad guys get sucked into inky, black Hell. What a game.

With newly acquired HM 03 Surf, Joshua & Mr. Squirt venture up north to see what's up in the dilapidated Power Plant. They then slake the Saffron City's guard's thirst with drinks from the Celadon Department Store just to find another city riddled with crime. The trainers do what they do best and kick Giovanni out of the C-Suite and are rewarded with a Master Ball from the Silph Co. President—despite frequently ridiculing the company's (bad) products. They then take on the fake gym Fighting Dojo before defeating Erica to receive the sixth badge.

Get ready for some tear-jerking(ly off-key) power ballads. After a reprieve in the beautiful Vermilion, Joshua & Mr. Mime are forced to contend with Kanto's darkest depths in order to continue their journey forward, thanks to a blissed-out Snorlax. And given their environs, it should come as no surprise that their adventure takes a dark turn. In Diglett's Cave, Joshua loses a Pokémon he had grown unexpectedly fond of, and in the bowels of Rock Tunnel Mr. Mime experiences an unspeakable loss. When they finally emerge back into the daylight, will they knock Erika's lights out and earn their fourth badge?

Upon their return to Olivine City, Joshua & Fjelstan discover there's pretty much nothing to do in this town. They scale the Glitter Lighthouse again and bring the SECRETPOTION to Amphy, who, once healed, returns to lighting up Route 40. Jasmine invites the trainers back to Olivine Gym, where they proceed to crush her hideous Steel Pokémon into aluminum foil, and receive the Mineral Badge. Then, they kick back and watch a film.

Notes: Features "California" by Phantom Planet, "Pokémon Theme (Movie Version)" by Billy Crawford, "Brother My Brother" by Blessid Union of Souls, and "(Hey You) Free Up Your Mind" by Emma Bunton.

Welcome to the lawless Aeos Islands, where the rich come to get richer, younger, and more beautiful as the poor and destitute of the Pokéworld grind it out in the brawling pits, harvesting rare Aeos energy to power the ruling class’ abhorrent experiments with the laws of nature. Meet Bree van Durr, a lofty figure brought low, washed up on the fabricated shores with a Gothic Horror Mewtwo in tow. She’ll have a long path to travel if she ever hopes to take on undefeated Pokémon Unite champion Neon Greedent Evangelion and his thankless personal chef, Greenring.

Crystal Ball chose to take the road less traveled this week by bee-lining down the Valor Lakefront and right into the hungry battlefields of the Seven Stars Restaurant. Shadow Josh, on the other hand, stuck to the rivers and lakes that he’s used to—by taking what may or may not be the prescribed route down to Pastoria City. Either way, both… creatures made it to take on Crasher Wake, but it was pretty brutal for one of them. #GrimSeason

Featuring: "Santeria (Sublime)" by CC Karaoke.