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We say “Heya!” to Heahea City and the surrounding area this week, including what remains of Westworld now that HBO has decided they’re done with it; a big, mean spider who really put the hurt on us; and a disgusting/lovely little donkey (depending on which cohost you ask). We take on our third trial this week, and were promised a silly giant fish made out of silly small fish, but instead met a who...

Okay, so we’re still calibrating with the whole “no gyms” thing, so an oddly short leg this week, made to feel fuller and richer by the presence of our guest, Tony Smith, returning for his Gen Seven debut much earlier in the season than we’re accustomed to. The only thing keeping us on this little rock called Melemele Island is the Kahuna’s Grand Trial, so that’s the one and only thing on the agen...

Alola, Bug Catchers! We've made landfall on Melemele Island, and after a sort of strange interaction with a shirtless professor and his little sweetie Rockruff, we'll tell you about our new characters for this season. Although they're both Kanto transplants, their vibes couldn't be more different. One trainer is on a quest to find a like-minded flock to chill, grill, and hopefully not spill his dr...

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...

With the Primal titans put back to bed, the criminal syndicate dispatched, and Steven still as sultry as ever, Admiral Squirt thought he and his beloved Mrs. Squirt could finally enjoy their golden years; Papa Cultura had already packed his bags and hopped on his personal Concorde, Latias, back to Italia—but it turns out there's a bit of an "Armageddon"/"Deep Impact" situation and they have to sav...

“And so we’ve come, to the end of [Victory] Road.” – Boyz II Men. A jam-packed leg and a jam-packed episode this week and we see ourselves to the exit of the game via an absolutely wild number of unstoppable water routes, a totally useless town on Corsola stilts, and an equally useless city outside of Victory Road. Wattson needed a little help with a power surge under his luxury condo in Mauville...

Hot on the heels of Team Magma/Aqua, the time has come for Hoenn's endless ocean-faring leg, folks. Even in 3D with the addition of scuba divers and overworld Pokémon sprites, it's still no picnic—well, except for Admiral Squirt, whose (mostly) Water team has made it an unstoppable force on the high seas. Meanwhile, Papa Cultura is still working on finding some more A-listers for his celebrity tea...

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...

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 Institu...

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...

The extreme imbalance between the gyms continues this week, with Josh & Tanner bringing a chaotic, nearly defeated energy. The road from Mauville City to the very top of Mt. Chimney tested the limits of their podcast and partners’ unions, with the restraints of the Wedlocke preventing them from building viable teams and unable to catch Pokémon throughout most of this very, very long leg. In th...

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...

A little jaunt this week as we make our way down to Dewford Town to take on Brawly, by way of a madcap side quest to take down some Team Bad Guy grunts. But it’s not all fun and games, because Josh’s Italian “accent” persists this week, unfortunately. We’ve drunk the Devon Corp. Kool-Aid, so when Steven’s sugar daddy Mr. Stone sends us on a couple of real fetch quests, we give it 110%, but unfortu...

The boys are back in Hoenn, and this time they're playing it not just in 3D—but under the rules of their brand-new, improved, and reclaimed "Wedlocke." Josh's husband Bobby and Tanner's wife Jaime have gone through the Hoenn Pokédex and selected the Pokémon their significant others, your beloved podcast hosts, are bound to use. Till death do they part. And maybe one of those hosts already did have...

What’s that sound? Why it’s the single worst audio experience we’ve ever published! We both took to the streets this week for some live Pokémon Go-ing – Josh from vacation in Chicago (which he insists is “for work” but I’ve never heard of a company sending their employees to Coachella) and Tanner from suburban Connecticut. We head out to tackle some local gyms, catch some tasty little Pokémon, and...

It’s a new very brief interstitial season as we travel through the REDACTED region hunting Pokémon right in our own backyards. We’re getting caught up on Pokémon Go for the next couple weeks, where it’s clear you’ve all been diligently guiding away without us for the past six years. Worry not, though, because by the time we’re done, we’ll be catching up with all of you in levels, even if we have t...

A new iteration of Gringus, aka David Sims, joins us to chase waterfalls across Kalos for the Pokémon X/Y finale. Joshy takes the wheel for this one, because Tanner couldn't be bothered to do all of it. We start by cooling our heels down south for a while, checking out the sights of Kiloude City with a delightful little Friend Safari and some rounds at the Battle Maison. Then, we discover that app...

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...

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 t...

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 batt...

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 L...

As is a time-honored tradition in the Pokémon world, something has gone horribly awry at the regional power plant, and it's a child's job to fix it. But this time, you don't even get a cool electric bird out of it—you just get to fight Team Flare's Pitbull and Ke$ha. Our reward is access to all of the city of lights: Lumiose, baby! Joan of Arceus & LoveMaker69 hit the streets, and each has wil...

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...

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...

We messed up. We thought this was a quick and tidy trip up to Lumiose City where we’d take on the gym and call it a week. That was not the case. Instead, we went on a Homeric journey across what we have to assume was most of the Kalos region when all was said and done. Along the way we hunted Furfrous, took a couple grueling Rhyhorn rides, met Team Flare, grabbed a bike, battled in the sky, and su...