EXP. Share
Josh Fjelstad, Tanner Greenring
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Two longtime friends and Pokémon fans play every generation of Pokémon game, gym by gym. Now playing: Pokémon Sword & Shield.
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Sep 12, 2023
The New Pokémon Snap (#183)
Hi, it’s us, Todd Snap. (Not the hunk, a different one.) We didn’t want to leave you all high and dry for three weeks so we met up to play through the new Pokémon Snap! Then we had a few too many and went back to the studio to complain about it, mostly. Enjoy!
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Sep 5, 2023
Crown Tundra: Legendary Clue #2, Legendary Clue #3, Galarian Star Tournament (#182)
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 in the archipelago.
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Aug 29, 2023
The Crown Tundra: Dynamax Adventures and Legendary Clue #1 (#181)
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.
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Aug 22, 2023
Isle of Armor: Three Trials, Tower of Darkness, Tower of Waters (#180)
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.
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Aug 15, 2023
Chasing Waterfalls in the Galar Region (#179)
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. I 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
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Aug 8, 2023
Wyndon Stadium, Rose Tower, Postwick, Slumbering Weald, Hammerlocke, Energy Plant, Championship (#178)
30+ hours into the game, it appears that Pokémon Company finally remembered that they needed to have some bad guys in this game. So they crammed both the criminal syndicate and corporate overlord into one big, confusing plot that involves a bunch of guys in Oakleys, an underground power plant, and a non-Euclidean pile of poison bones. Oh, and Drew England meets someone(s) new from the Great State of Vermont.
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Aug 1, 2023
Hammerlocke, Hammerlocke Gym, Route 10, Wyndon (#177)
A brief leg this week that we’ve bulked up with plenty of Wild Area shenanigans and by playing ahead to Wyndon JUST A LITTLE BIT. But you’ll be glad we did, because there was PLENTY to take care of this week, especially for Josh who toiled for hours to catch Tanner a Stonjourner that he doesn’t even like. Special apology to anyone from New Hampshire this week.
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Jul 25, 2023
Route 9, Spikemuth, Spikemuth Gym (#176)
It's been a generation or two, but eventually the water routes come for us all. Fortunately, this time we have the aid of a beleaguered doctor who mysteriously controls all of the bike technology in Galar, and he's upgraded our Bikes into Water Bikes. Hope our indentured Rotom like to swim! On the far shore, we discover that Marnie is yet another nepo baby, who takes us to her family's private entrance to the giant garage that is Spikemuth—and away from the riot of challengers who she decided weren't worthy. Turns out her brother Piers isn't either, because his team is a joke.
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Jul 18, 2023
Route 7, Route 8, Circhester, Circhester Gym(s) (#175)
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? I am surprised as you are by that last one. Anyway, the other game has someone called Gordie. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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Jul 11, 2023
Glimwood Tangle, Ballonlea, Ballonlea Gym (#174)
Tough week for Drew England as we check in on all the various Wild Area competitions, but can he redeem himself in a head-to-head battle with Smithsmith’s team of titans? To find out, you'll have to follow us through the unsavory, drug-addled Glimwood Tangle, into Ballonlea (pronounced baloney-ah)—where we’re invited to battle in an opium den—and through a sidequest to secure a representative for the great state of Vermont. It’s quite a journey.
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Jun 27, 2023
Hammerlocke, Route 6, Stow-on-Side, Stow-on-Side Gym (#173)
Drew England spends some time chilling in the Wild Area, and Wellington Smithsmith recruits a new entrepreneur there after learning about another one of Chairman Rose's sham companies while touring Hammerlocke. Josh reveals a provocative new theory about Galar's Two Princes, and Tanner has some provocative thoughts about Gigantamax Gengar as well as Ball Guy (as usual). They also unveil a couple of new competitions—both of which Josh didn't know about—both for themselves as well as you, Bug Catchers. Check out the Rotom Circuit #1 on our socials @expsharepod, and send us your high score after YOU do the math!
*We'll be taking next week off for the Fourth of July, and back with your regularly scheduled episode on Tuesday, July 11th.*
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Jun 21, 2023
Galar Mine 2, Motostoke Outskirts, Motostoke Gym, Return to Wild Area (#172)
Drew & Wellington push on this week into new ventures and new areas as they finish what they now know was essentially the opening tutorial sequence. With just Kabu left to stop them, a pitiful Fire-type gym leader, it’s only a matter of time before their sick machinations are unleashes upon the Galar region. (We’re talking mostly about Wellington Smithsmith here, obviously.) It was a pretty breezy visit for both gents, to be honest. But at least they got the chance to stop by and see Motostoke’s famous Fireman Octillery!
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Jun 13, 2023
Route 5, Hulbury, Hulbury Gym (#171)
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.
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Jun 6, 2023
Route 3, Galar Mine 1, Route 4, Turffield, Turffield Gym (Ft. Greg Leatherman) #170
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.
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May 30, 2023
[Pokémon Sword/Shield] Postwick, Slumbering Weald, Route 1, Wedgehurst, Route 2, Wild Area, Motostoke (#169)
‘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!
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May 9, 2023
Route 23, Victory Road, Indigo Plateau, Elite Four, Cerulean Cave (Ft. David Sims) #168
Season 7B/C draws to a close, even if maybe everyone participating in it didn't quite make it to the finish line. We've cleared the runway for David Sims, aka GringusD, to join us again after a brief hiatus to talk about Let's Go, the first time he played versus returning to it. Aside from traversing the surprisingly devastating Victory Road and taking on the Elite Four, we cover what we like and don't like both about the game and our own EXPLocke—with which one of our hosts once again struggles to keep a firm grasp on the rules of his own damn playstyle variant. You might as well call Josh & Tanner Pete & Chasten at this point because they're a family of Mayors Cheat.
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May 2, 2023
Route 21, Pallet Town, Viridian Gym (#167)
This long and storied saga is finally drawing to a close. It was months in the making, but we’ve finally pushed through and all it took was some light penis trauma along the way. We are, of course, referring to Tanner’s kidney stone, but while we’re on the topic of penis trauma, we’ve got a HOT new segment for you this week and the best part is that we want to hear from you—so make sure to tag us when you take to Twitter and TikTok to tell us about your most #MountablePokemon. We also played a little Pokémon this week, but really, it was a VERY little amount. Yet somehow Josh managed to cheat for about half of it.
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Apr 25, 2023
Route 19, Seafoam Islands, Route 20, Cinnabar Island, Pokémon Mansion, Cinnabar Gym (Ft. Daniel Golson) #166
Apparently seeking to clean up a Saffron City that's rotten to the core, Dorito Doug decides to burn it to the ground. After making such a move that's clearly not on-brand for Doritos, he's forced to cool his heels down south for a while. On the journey to Cinnabar Island, he and Caprica-Six are joined by "Daniel" aka Daniel Golson, whose team is like a delicious bowl full of pasta and named thusly. The trio debates saving the many struggling Swimmers on Routes 19-20 but ultimately decides that's the Kanto Coast Guard's problem, which may or may not exist. On Cinnabar, Caprica-Six is finally able to replace Golbat the Golbat after tapping into the Cinnabar Lab's resurrection technology. Then, they try to continue their gym challenge but are forced to scour the depths of the Pokémon Mansion in search of a key that lets them into Blaine's Gym, which is also a wildly fun trivia show. After those fun and games though, it's time to determine who will retain or take over EXP. Share's IP in…
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Apr 18, 2023
Power Plant, Saffron City, Fighting Dojo, Silph Co., Saffron Gym (#165)
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!
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Apr 11, 2023
Pokémon Tower, Routes 12-15, Fuchsia City, GO Park, Fuchsia Gym (#164)
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 s…
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Apr 5, 2023
Route 11, Diglett’s Cave, Route 9, Rock Tunnel, Route 10, Lavender Town, Routes 7-8, Team Rocket Hideout, Celedon Gym (#163)
The leg was long and our legs are tired. Yours must be too, traveler. Take a seat and rest your weary body. We’ll get you a warm meal and a cold drink. Just sit back and enjoy a wonderful evening of music we have planned for you, because we’re more or less a house of blues this episode with all the damned eulogies we need to get through for all those tragically lost on Route 8. That was AFTER the grueling trip through Rock Tunnel, and BEFORE the monotonous grind through the Team Rocket Hideout, of course. It’s not all bad though! Sometimes you get a great trade, or a digital Pokémon duck will just swoop down and essentially crawl into one of your Poké Balls for you. Win some and lose some.
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Mar 28, 2023
Route 5, Underground Path, Route 6, Vermilion City, Route 11, S.S. Anne, Vermilion Gym (#162)
After a frankly disturbing experience on the Cerulean Cape, our trainers needed the kind of mind-clearing reprieve only the open sea can offer. Or, at least being on a nice big boat that's adjacent to it. But from a fan club with a chairman who's a little too enamored of his Rapidash to another devastating encounter with a Machop, their troubles only seem to multiply before climbing aboard the S.S. Anne—where they will be once again denied the reprieve they so desperately long for. Caprica-Six & Dorito Doug might be the ones holding the tickets, but you, Bug Catchers, are the ones in for the real show this week.
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Mar 22, 2023
Route 3, Mt. Moon, Route 4, Cerulean City, Route 24, Route 25, Cerulean Gym (#161)
Here's what you're looking for: https://giphy.com/gifs/YTa2CNIsZZP9x4Zb74
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Mar 14, 2023
[Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee] Announcing EXPLocke: Our Ruleset & Characters, Pallet Town, Route 1, Viridian City, Route 2, Viridian Forest, Pewter City, Pewter Gym (#160)
We might somehow still be in Gen VII, but we're finally on the Switch, baby! And we're doing it big. We've put together our own Nuzlocke variation we're calling "EXPLocke," and in this episode we go over the rules in detail—perhaps too much detail—issue some rulings on some vagaries, explain our characters, and then let them loose on the road to Viridian City.
If you want to join in on the fun, we've posted the EXPLocke rules on our Twitter & Instagram @expsharepod as well as the text-only (and absolutist yet updating) version on Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/bugcatchers. May Arceus be with us all.
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Mar 7, 2023
[Detective Pikachu, Pt. III] Chapter Seven: Ryme Wharf, Chapter Eight: Where R Goes, Chapter Nine: Pokémon Carnival (#159)
The week starts with a little light teen murder and only somehow gets more explicitly illegal as Detective Tanner Greenring and his trusty “concierge” Fjillish manage to sneak themselves aboard a luxury yacht anchored in international waters where an “Eyes Wide Shut”-style bacchanal can take place without any government oversight. Detective Pikachu and Trusty Tim fuck around and find out with a cool 90 million and secure a few bags along the way before securing the biggest bag of the all… the friendships we made along the way. Oh, and Keith. They caught Keith. But he wasn’t even the main baddie. It’s a whole thing, you’ll have to listen. It’s wild. Anyways, that’s it for Detective Pikachu. Case closed on a great game. See you back in Kanto for the first ever EXPLocke!
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Feb 28, 2023
[Detective Pikachu, Pt. II] Chapter Four: Cappucci Island, Chapter Five: Fine Park, Chapter Six: GNN (#158)
After closing a slew of successful cases and nursing their celebratory hangovers, Detectives Tanner and Feebosh find their next lead: one Dr. Waals, who a tortured scientist reveals is the real brains behind the creation of R. He's living on the tropical island community called Cappucci, and everyone there is a suspect. The sleuths make landfall and immediately hit the ground running, interviewing a failing Pokémon Ranger, a scheming girlboss, a gross old man, a crooked cop, and then the notorious doctor himself. Of course, all was not what it seemed, and closing that case only leads to an even more disturbing discovery—it turns out that nearly a year ago to the day, there was a horrific incident at Fine Park during Pokémon Carnival. After chilling interview after chilling interview with the traumatized Pokémon who still reside at the abandoned theme park, they need to see just what triggered a Charizard to go on on a murderous rampage, leading them to Ryme City's local news outf…
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Feb 21, 2023
[Detective Pikachu, Pt. I] Chapter One: Tahnti Park, Chapter Two: Litwick Cave, Chapter Three: PCL (#157)
The gleaming neon streets of Ryme City were buzzing with excitement as the detective duo of Tanner Greenring and his loyal Pokemon companion, Fjeloette, took the case in an exciting new episode of EXP. Share. Tanner's rugged exterior and sharp wit, coupled with Fjeloette's unwavering loyalty and fierce determination, make for a formidable team as the duo tracks down their elusive gumshoe Tim, who was on a mission to avenge the assault on an innocent Aipom. Along the way, Tanner and Fjeloette would face danger at every turn, including a harrowing ride on a Drifblim as they narrowly escaped the blasts of a crazed Glalie. But the real intrigue began when Tanner and Fjeloette stumbled upon a conspiracy that would shake the city to its core. With their wits and their Pokemon by their side, the hard-bitten detectives set out to ruin the career of a corrupt scientist who would stop at nothing to protect his secrets. In the seedy underbelly of Ryme City, Detective Greenring and Fjeloette will…
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Feb 14, 2023
Melemele Island, Akala Island, Ula'ula Island, Poni Island, Battle Tree, Tapu Hunting, Ultra Wormholes, Pokémon League Champion Title Defense (#156)
In our final Alolan episode, we might not be able to go chasing waterfalls, but we do chase just about every dang other thing. We go island-hopping and check in on all our old friends and foes; collecting Totem Stickers and Zygarde Cells; Charizard Gliding and Mantine Surfing to see if Skull Lord can retain his title as King of the Waves. We go hunting for Tapus—one of us in a literal sense—and hunting for Ultra Beasts to see if there's anything good in those Ultra Wormholes (spoiler: there wasn't). Instead, we rank those beasties in the hottest and probably most controversial new segment: "Fur Affinity, Sweetie, or Barf." Then, we defend our titles in the Pokémon League before determining who the real Kahuna of EXP. Share is in this season's final battle between Skull Lord and Parrothead.
Notes: Get your carts and cups of coffee ready because the next game up is Detective Pikachu!
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Feb 7, 2023
Hau'oli Outskirts, Ancient Poni Path, Poni Grove, Episode RR (Ft. Greg Leatherman) #155
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.
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Jan 31, 2023
Mount Lanakila, Pokémon League, The “Elite” Four, Credits (#154)
Skull Lord has crushed the Alolan Region under his boot at last and Parrothead has kept the good vibes and good GOOD Pinap Berry juice flowing from sea to shred-worthy sea. There’s just one last obstacle to overcome for the disjointed duo. No, like, literally—they had to climb a mountain this week. And honestly? They both felt pretty ishy about it since it was apparently SACRED GROUND to the Tapus. (By the way, Tapu-hunting season is OPEN!) When we finally overcame every challenge and crested every summit, our hard work was rewarded with the shabbiest Elite Four we’ve ever gone up against. After dodging some thrown keys and cold approaches, we battled. Let’s just say it went VERY well for the guy writing this description. (Incidentally, Tanner has been called an inspiration and is considered a mentor and role model to many successful people.)
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Jan 24, 2023
Altar of the Sunne/Moone, Ultra Warp Ride, Ultra Megalopolis, Megalo Tower, Mina's Trial, Hapu's Grand Trial (#153)
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.
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Jan 17, 2023
Mantine Surf’s Up!, Ancient Poni Path, Vast Poni Canyon, Kommo-o's Trial (#152)
Welcome to Mantine Surf's Up! An honest-to-goodness quarter hour dedicated to the greatest Pokémon mini-game athlete(s) this side of Wela Volcano: Skull Grunt. And Parrothead was there too, and he was doing his best and we’re all going to cheer him on too, guys, c’mon! Emmy committee, you can send our podcasting Emmys to our agents’ offices and our prize money directly to Atlantic City because we’re celebrating tonight! And there’s no better place to soak in the victory over that poor, sweet, Yoshi-like Kommo-o than Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville! Conveniently located right on the boardwalk steps away from Wet Willie's Casino. This is not an endorsement of either, but a hearty recommendation of both.
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Jan 10, 2023
Seafolk Village, Poni Beach, Poni Wilds, Ancient Poni Path, Poni Breaker Coast, Ruins of Hope, Exeggutor Island (#151)
The Aether Foundation is in ruins, Team Skull is under new management, Guzma is trapped in the Hell dimension, and little Nebby the Cosmog– er... Cosmoem is in the wind, but that’s not going to stop Skull Grunt and Parrothead from having a good time at the quaint little seaside resort of Seafolk Village. We picked up a few new villains and questionably chill teammates this week, as well as a couple of really sick flutes that may or may not influence the destiny of the entire Alolan region. Until then though, Skull Grunt likes his flute jazz like he likes the curves on his giantess Salazzle: smooth.
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Jan 3, 2023
Aether Paradise (#150)
Join us for "#150—the Mewtwo Episode" as we spend the entirety of our journey this week inside of the kind of place that Mewtwo hates—a big, sterile, human-controlled lab! Where we are dragged into some serious family drama between the Aether royalty, its founder and President Lusamine and her two (apparently) spoiled brats, Gladion & Lillie, plus executive Faba and also Team Skull's Guzma who is caught under Lusamine's thrall. Eventually, freshly anointed Team Skull Admin Skull Grunt & Parrothead have to fight pretty much everyone they've met in Alola so far just to get out of the place.
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Dec 27, 2022
Haina Desert, Ula'ula Meadow, Po Town, Malie City, and Kahuna Nanu's Grand Trial (Ft. Greg Leatherman) #149
We’ve added another host from PKMNcast to our collection with Greg Leatherman (also of vre.show and Glitter Hearts fame) joining us for a fun chat about the Alola region this week. Actually, “fun chat” is a generous term because it’s mostly just Greg taking Tanner to task for technical, character, AND personal decisions he’s made this season. Actually, “taking-to-task” is a generous term because Greg tears Tanner to absolute shreds. Like, scorched earth stuff. We also played some Pokémon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Dec 20, 2022
Routes 11-12, Blush Mountain, Ula'ula Beach, Route 13, Tapu Village, Route 15, Aether House, Route 14, Abandoned Thrifty Megamart, Acerola's Trial (#148)
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.
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Dec 13, 2022
Malie City, Malie Garden, Route 10, Mount Hokulani, Hokulani Observatory, Sophocles’ Trial (Ft. Fionnuala Jones) #147
We’re joined by Fionnuala Jones again this week, and she’s brought a whole island’s worth of trashy Pokémon with her. (And, weirdly, we’re not talking about the islands of Ireland, Cork, or Bainbridge.) Meanwhile, the boys have found their way to a new island themselves—Ula'ula Island—where they face an ass-backward “Kantonian-style” gym, dodge golf balls on the side of a mountain, and encounter the most punchable face this side of the Festival Plaza. And what do they have to show for it? Well, a lovely home in Dublin and a budding romance with Jude Law, hopefully.
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Dec 6, 2022
Hano Beach, Hano Grand Resort, Aether Paradise, Our First Ultra Beast (#146)
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.
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Nov 29, 2022
Route 5, Dimensional Research Lab, Diglett's Tunnel, Route 9, Konikoni City, Memorial Hill, Ruins of Life, Kahuna Olivia’s Grand Trial (#145)
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.)
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Nov 22, 2022
Melemele Sea, Seaward Cave, Kala'e Bay, Dividing Peak Tunnel, Route 8, Lush Jungle, Mallow's Trial (#144)
Parrothead & Skull Grunt go their own way this week, with Parrothead keeping himself and his flock roosted on Akala while Skull Grunt takes to the sky with Charizard Glide and goes off on some misadventures back on Melemele. Then they explore the newly unlocked northern half of Akala, encountering a string of strange characters, past and present—from the robots to Colress's confounding hair, to Kukui's wife and some mysterious golfers who practice their swings in a parking lot outside of a jungle. Eventually they make their way into that jungle and go on a hunt for some soup ingredients, which somehow means you're a talented enough trainer to pass Mallow's Trial.
Notes: Features "Welcome to the Jungle (8 Bit Remix Cover Version)" by 8 Bit Universe.
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Nov 15, 2022
Route 6, Royal Avenue, Route 7, Wela Volcano Park, Kiawe's Trial (Ft. Daniel Dockery) #143
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!
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Nov 8, 2022
Heahea Beach Surf Spot, Heahea City, Route 4, Pikachu Valley, Paniola Town & Ranch, Route 5, Lana's Trial at Brooklet Hill (#142)
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 whole army of Barfy (and notably NOT bad-guy) Pokémon. Here’s a pitch: what if there was a Pokémon that was a sea cucumber, didn’t evolve into anything cooler, and primarily interacted with the world via barf. No brainer, right? Game Freak thought so too.
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Nov 1, 2022
Route 3, Melemele Meadow, Seaward Cave, Kahuna Kala’s Grand Trial, Ten Carat Hill (Ft. Tony Smith) #141
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 agenda this week, but first we have to get caught up on Tony’s journey, learn about the new and improved Ultra Skull Grunt, and look on in horror as Vullaby messes its little skull diaper AGAIN. Being a villain has its downsides, I guess.
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Oct 25, 2022
[Pokémon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon] Hau'oli Outskirts, Iki Town, Route 1, Trainers’ School, Hau'oli City, Route 2, Hau’oli Cemetery, Big Wave Beach, Verdant Cavern, Ilima’s Trial (#140)
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 drinks with; the other is looking to make his name in Alola's seedy underbellies. Join us for the SEASON SEVEN premiere, as we set off into a vibrant, tropical paradise to seek fame and fortune, or maybe just wherever the next round of Pinap Juices are coming from.
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Oct 18, 2022
Pokémon Go Interstitial Finale (Ft. David Sims) #139
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.
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Oct 11, 2022
Delta Episode, S.S. Tidal, Battle Resort, & Elite Four Rematch (#138)
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 save the Pokéarth once again. While not as compelling as either of those films, the Delta Episode does take the trainers on one last ride from the edges of Hoenn to the edge of space. Will their Pokémon survive the journey? Will Josh's Mayor Cheat allegations against Tanner be vindicated? And who will win the final battle to determine the season's champion? Bug Catchers, we'll answer all those questions and more, other than whether either of us won the Contest Spectacular because honestly we forgot about that whole thing.
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Oct 4, 2022
Mauville Hills, New Mauville, Routes 129-134, Pacifidlog Town, Ever Grande City, Victory Road, Pokémon League, & Elite Four (#137)
“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 Hills, Sidney needed help figuring out how to sit in his chair, and May needed some help building a usable Pokémon team for once in her life. We were less accommodating of that last one. Oh, and we finally took on Bug Catcher Jonny of Anime Territory fame! Go check out his show but also join /r/bugcatchers for a chance to go head-to-head with us at the end of next season.
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Sep 27, 2022
Shoal Cave, Routes 127-128, Seafloor Cavern, Sootopolis City, Cave of Origin, Sootopolis Gym (#136)
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 team. They get the job done thanks for Team Magma/Aqua's evil admins having a change of heart and realizing they've gone too far with the whole unleashing primal energies upon the Pokéarth and turning the whole thing into one continent or one ocean... who would have thought. After, our heroes finally gain entrance to Wallace's gym and leave him sleeping with the fishes. And then, in their own battle, one trainer's entire team joins him down there.
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Sep 20, 2022
Routes 120-121, Safari Zone, Mt. Pyre, Slateport Harbor, Lilycove City, Team Magma/Aqua Hideout, Route 124, Mossdeep City, Mossdeep Gym (#135)
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.
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Sep 13, 2022
Route 123, Route 119, Weather Institute, Fortree City, Fortree Gym (#134)
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.
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Sep 6, 2022
Route 111, Petalburg Gym, Route 118, Southern Island (#133)
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.
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Aug 30, 2022
Verdanturf Town, Routes 111-113, Fiery Path, Fallarbor Town, Route 114, Meteor Falls, Route 115, Mt. Chimney, Jagged Pass, Lavaridge Town, Lavaridge Gym (#132)
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 the end, can they take the Heat Badge, and who will prevail when Admiral Squirt and Papa Cultura battle?
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Aug 23, 2022
Routes 107-109, Slateport City, Route 110, Trick House, Mauville City, Mauville Gym (#131)
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.
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Aug 16, 2022
Rustboro City, Route 116, Rusturf Tunnel, Devon Corp, Dewford Town, Dewford Gym (#130)
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 unfortunately for Tanner, 110% is more than, well, a plurality of teammates can handle this week. Admiral Squirt’s menagerie continues to swell regardless, as does Papa Culture’s autograph book, as we carefully wind our way across Hoenn once again.
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Aug 9, 2022
[Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire] Littleroot Town, Route 101, Oldale Town, Route 103, Route 102, Petalburg City, Route 104, Petalburg Woods, Rustboro City, Rustboro Gym (#129)
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 to part with one of those Pokémon, and had to sing a haunting song about it in memoriam. Find out which tune, as well as who we're playing as, in these underappreciated remakes. It's season 6B... 6C... or something, baby!
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Aug 2, 2022
[Pokémon Go, Pt. II] Live from Chicago and the Park by Tanner’s House (#128)
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 find some local riff-raff to take on as our rivals. And of course, we have to go head-to-head in a couple of battles which, despite having a team stacked with legendary Pokémon, Tanner still can’t manage to run away with.
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Jul 26, 2022
[Pokémon Go, Pt. I] New Characters(ish), Catching Up with Go, Rants, Lore, and More (#127)
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 to take out a new mortgage or two to do it. This week we’ll reminisce on the early days of the game and our rocky onboarding’s. We’ll introduce “our guys” even though Josh doesn’t really have one, and we’ll rant like a couple of old men who don’t understand all this new goddamned technology.
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Jul 19, 2022
Chasing Waterfalls: Kiloude City, Looker Bureau, Sea Spirit's Den, Unknown Dungeon, Terminus Cave (Ft. David Sims of Blank Check) #126
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 apparently Lumiose is a crime-ridden cesspool of a town and Looker's taken up residence to clean it up. In a spirited bout of fetch quests and mashing A, we help him out and earn entrance to Sushi High Roller. With full bellies, we venture into various caves to find the region's sweetiest and barfiest 'mon before battling to determine the fate of EXP. Share's IP.
Notes: Follow David @davidlsims and listen to more of his classic rants (but about movies) on his podcast Blank Check @blankcheckpod wherever you catch 'em!
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Jul 12, 2022
Route 21, Route 22, Victory Road, Kalos Pokémon League (Ft. Anthony Smith) #125
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.
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Jul 5, 2022
Lysandre Labs, Geosenge Town, Team Flare Secret HQ, Route 18, Couriway Town, Route 19, Snowbelle City, Route 20, Pokémon Village, Snowbelle Gym (Ft. Steve Sarumi of It’s Super Effective) #124
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!
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Jun 28, 2022
Poké Ball Factory, Route 15, Lost Hotel, Route 16, Dendemille Town, Frost Cavern, Route 17, Anistar City, Anistar Gym (Ft. Alex Bugg of Gotta Snatch 'Em All) #123
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.
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Jun 21, 2022
Lumiose City, Route 14, Laverre City, Laverre Gym (#122)
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.
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Jun 14, 2022
Route 13, Kalos Power Plant, Lumiose City, Lumiose Gym (#121)
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 wildly different experiences. LoveMaker69 hobnobs with the city's elite, entitled nouveau riches, while Joan of Arceus struggles to find her way into any of the city's most exclusive venues and instead witnesses a Furfrou treating Hotel Richissime like a giant fire hydrant.
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Jun 7, 2022
Tower of Mastery, Route 12, Azure Bay, Coumarine City, Coumarine Gym (#120)
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.
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May 31, 2022
Route 10, Geosenge Town, Route 11, Reflection Cave, Shalour City, Shalour Gym (#119)
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.
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May 24, 2022
Route 4, Lumiose City, Route 5, Camphrier Town, Route 6, Parfum Palace, Route 7, Connecting Cave, Route 8, Ambrette Town, Route 9, Glittering Cave, Cyllage City, Cyllage Gym (#118)
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 summited the Super Aggro Crag before we could finally call it a leg and hang up our DS systems for the week.
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May 17, 2022
[Pokémon X/Y] Vaniville Town, Route 1, Aquacorde Town, Route 2, Santalune Forest, Route 3, Santalune City, Santalune Gym (#117)
SALLY FORTH, BUG CATCHERS! Into season six, in Kalos, the noble land of beauty. We shall honor its simple elegance with our own, by having a season with no restrictions, baby! In Vaniville Town, meet Josh & Tanner’s new avatars for Pokémon X/Y—and their wildly successful mothers and supportive fathers (at least monetarily). Then, follow their journey to the first gym, during which they swoon over man and 'mon alike, and give both their (good) first impressions of the region and (bad) impressions of French. Te sentir plus tard!
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May 10, 2022
Nixtorm Nation, Dragnor Nation, Infinity Tower, & Side Stories (#116)
What is likely our longest season to date has finally drawn to a close, and what did we learn along the way? For one thing, nobody really likes it when you don’t like what is clearly everyone’s favorite Pokémon game for some reason. You learned that some of the side games are some of the most engaging Pokémon experiences out there. Maybe you learned that rereading complex and confusing rules for six weeks doesn’t make for super dynamic audio? Or maybe you learned how to craft a team worthy of taking on Nobunaga, even if it took you 26 in-game years to do it. Thanks for the hard lessons, season five.
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May 3, 2022
Avia Nation, Spectra Nation, Valora Nation (#115)
King Boo’s immense vassalage is ascending! All praise The God-Emperor KING BOO! His glory be known from the lawless wastelands of his upbringing in the south, where only the transient warriors reside—whose fates shift with the tides of every battle. They cry his name in the midlands, where hopeful champions vie for a shot at an esteemed Perfect Link Pokémon partner. His name is heard as a pleading whisper echoing through the vaunted halls of the Hallowed North, the elysian lands where warlords and Perfect Match warriors battle in beautiful martial praise to the man atop the immense, gleaming throne towering above the newly claimed Valora Kingdom—KING BOO! ALL FALL ON THEIR KNEES AND PRAISE HIS NAME! Josh was there too.
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Apr 26, 2022
Cragspur Nation, Yaksha Nation, Viperia Nation (#114)
It only took King Boo and Joshua four weeks to finally figure out the game’s key mechanic and begin hunting down Perfect Links across the Ransei region, but please don’t let cancel culture get us for this glaring oversight. King Boo has definitely earned the Largest Army card this week, not that his army of weak-link-warriors can do him much good. But neither Joshua nor King Boo really struggled much this week, so it looks like smooth sailing to Nobunaga.
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Apr 19, 2022
Chrysalia (Chrysalis?) Nation, Terrera Nation, Illusio Nation (#113)
King Boo: So anyways, I was standing there waiting to use the payphone.
Joshua: Yeah, he was, seriously.
King Boo: And this guy who was on the phone, turns around and tips his hat like this. And who do you think that guy was? Kenshin from Illusio kingdom.
Joshua: The Mighty Gallade man himself, I swear to God, I was there.
King Boo: Of course you were, you were the one who yelled the Psychic Typer's kingdom name.
Joshua: I was like, “ILLUSIO!”
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Apr 12, 2022
Fontaine Nation, Violight Nation, Pugilis Nation (#112)
King Boo and Joshua’s bloody conquest of the Ransei region continues this week, as they lay siege to Fortress Fontaine, known for its lovely fountains, which run red with the blood of the slain. That is where two roads diverged and Joshua took the one every walkthrough explicitly insisted you travel by, and that has made all the difference. Seriously, we had totally different experiences this week. What a game.
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Apr 5, 2022
[Pokémon Conquest] Aurora Nation, Ignis Nation, Greenleaf Nation (#111)
Welcome to a new interstitial season where the boys will be donning their traditional samurai armor and taking on the Ransei region in some pitched tactical RPG battles. But where to start? How about a deep exploration of the history and conception of Pokémon Conquest which, despite its appearances, is actually a spin-off game of a game mode in the popular hack-and-slash series Samurai Warriors. You’ll meet the new player characters, the proto-Joshua—progenitor to all Joshuas to follow—and King Boo, who is canonically the same King Boo from the Mario games, since everything we’ll come to know and love over the next six weeks has tragically and inevitably died. Rest in Petals.
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Mar 29, 2022
Chasing Waterfalls: Southwestern Unova Revisited, Southeastern Unova Explored, & Elite Four Rematch (#110)
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.
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Mar 22, 2022
Route 22, Route 21, Seaside Cave, Plasma Frigate, Giant Chasm, Route 23, Victory Road, Elite Four (#109)
Our time in the Unova region is drawing to a close, but there’s still plenty of time to get some truly punishing Kingslocke draws before we summit Victory Road and take on the Elite Four once again. Some of us even had to build and train entirely new teams on this, the final leg of the main game, which is just insulting frankly. And once we’re done taking on the Elite Four and the Champion of Unova, there’s still one more epic battle: between Mr. Right and Slaanesh to decide once and for all who mastered the Kingslocke ruleset.
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Mar 15, 2022
Marine Tube, Humilau City, Route 21, Seaside Cave, Route 22, Giant Chasm, Humilau Gym (Ft. Alex Bugg from Gotta Snatch 'Em All) #108
Alex Bugg (@gottasnatchemal) is back for the penultimate leg of our second journey through the Unova region this week and his character Kindy has a whole gaggle of school-aged Pokémon ready to take on Marlon, Mr. Right, and Slaanesh. It’s a breezy trip through the Marine Tube before we all arrive in Humilau City where Marlon leads trainers on a not-so-wild goose chase around the docks. It didn’t take a lot to finally vanquish him, unless you’re Josh, of course, and you’re only working with four Pokémon on your team. The boys also battled, which you can probably predict the outcome of. (Did I mention Josh only has four active Pokémon?)
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Mar 8, 2022
Lentimas Town, Strange House, Reversal Mountain, Undella Town, Route 13, Lacunosa Town, Route 12, Village Bridge, Route 11, Opelucid City, Route 9, Opelucid Gym (#107)
This week Mr. Right and Slaanesh catch a ride to Eastern Unova where they revisit sights from postgames' past. The first thing on their agenda? A spooky haunted house, of course. After that, the only scary thing about this leg is all the routes where they were required to draw cards for the Kingslocke ruleset they’re playing with, but despite Josh’s shockingly low levels this week, they both managed to just pull through by the skin of their yellow country teeth.
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Mar 1, 2022
Pokémon World Tournament, Plasma Frigate, Route 6, Mistralton Cave, Chargestone Cave, Route 7, Celestial Tower, Mistralton City, Mistralton Gym (Ft. Pokémaniacal Chris) #106
The boys slid into Pokémaniacal Chris’s DMs this week to call him out on his punishing Kingslocke rules, but he ended up being a really nice guy so they asked him to come on the show instead. Much like Philip LeMarchand created the Lament Configuration, a puzzle box that—when solved—plunges you into an experience beyond limits. Pain and pleasure, indivisible….
… our guest this week is also the creator of a puzzle box of pain and pleasure known as the Kingslocke rules. Chris tagged along as Slaanesh and Mr. Right spelunked some caves, fought some bad guys, and took on Skyla in the Mistralton Gym. Follow his adventures here: https://pokemaniacal.com/
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Feb 22, 2022
Route 16, Lostlorn Forest, Route 5, Driftveil Drawbridge, Driftveil City, Driftveil Gym (#105)
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.
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Feb 15, 2022
Route 4, Desert Resort, Relic Castle, Join Avenue, Nimbasa City, Nimbasa Gym (#104)
This week, Mr. Right’s path diverged from The Dark Prince of Pleasure’s path as they journeyed into Route 4. Mr. Right was met with crumbling ruins, tomb raiders, and villains who scavenged what they could under the oppressive heat of the bright desert sun. Slaanesh, on the other hand, found the accommodations on Route 4 quite lovely—in fact, with plenty of amenities and a vibrant community, they could almost see themselves settling down and managing a mall in a place like this. Really find true happiness from an honest, clean living. Oh, and Josh still can’t get the Kingslocke rules right.
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Feb 8, 2022
Pokéstar Studios, Castelia City, Royal Unova, Castelia Sewers, Castelia Gym (#103)
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.
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Feb 1, 2022
Routes 19-20, Floccesy Ranch, Virbank City, Virbank Complex, Virbank Gym, Pokéstar Studios (Ft. Drew Scheid) #102
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.)
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Jan 25, 2022
[Pokémon Black 2/White 2] Aspertia City, Route 19, Floccesy Town, Route 20, Floccesy Ranch, Aspertia Gym (#101)
It’s a new game, a new season, some new characters, and a new ruleset—KINGSLOCKE—that’s so confusing that one of your two lovable hosts struggled to even understand them on this first leg. Welcome back to Unova! You may notice some new faces and places at the start of your journey, including Mr. Right and his band of elitist chosen ones and Slaanesh the Prince of Pleasure and her plague lords. It’s going to be a wet and wild one, so load up your carts, draw your cards, and let’s get catching.
Notes: Want to punish yourself along with us? Check out Pokémaniacal's official Kingslocke rules here: https://pokemaniacal.com/2021/11/19/kingslocke-rules-second-revised-edition/
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Jan 11, 2022
Reveal the Hideout's Secrets, Get the Yellow Gem, Protect Ranger Union HQ, Execute Operation Brighton (#100!)
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.
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Jan 4, 2022
Support Sven at the Ruins, Get the Blue Gem, Get the Red Gem, Rescue Wailord (#099)
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.
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Dec 28, 2021
Out in the Puel Sea, Altru Park, Ranger Union, Peril Cliffs, Outdoor Class, Your First Big Mission (#098)
Gallass & Tokio Hotel keep the hits coming when they set out from Pueltown to find out what nefarious character made off with Barlow. They also take in the “beautiful” Drifloon migration, which aid them in traversing Boyleland’s volcano. In its deepest depths, they learn something surprising about one of their former teachers, and get summoned by the (definitely very healthy) Chairperson Erma, to take another test before they can be certified as Top Rangers.
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Dec 21, 2021
[Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia] Ranger School, Deliver the Vien Tribune, Investigate Marine Cave, Fight the Vien Forest Fire, Destroy the Strange Machines (#097)
We're back with a new interstitial season, playing through the second Pokémon Ranger game, Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. Limber up, bugcatchers, cause you're gonna be drawing a lot of little circles if you're playing along. In a truly surprising bit of news, it turns out that there are people in the Pokémon universe who are NOT trainers. In fact, you can be anything you want to be on PokéEarth, as long as it's a trainer, ranger, or operator. For the next four episodes, we'll have our Stylers charged, our PokéAssists prepped, and our Partner Pokémon hot on our tails as we travel across the Almia region helping out people and Pokémon alike.
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Dec 14, 2021
Chasing Waterfalls, Pt. II: Village Bridge, Lacunosa Town, Giant Chasm, Undella Town, Abyssal Ruins, Black City/White Forest, Marvelous Bridge, Lostlorn Forest (Ft. David Sims) #096
One of our longest journeys ever ends this week with part two of our Chasing Waterfalls season finale. David Sims of Blank Check (@blankcheckpod) joins us as we tie up all our loose ends in the Unova region before moving on to the next game, where we'll journey through... *checks notes* the Unova region. We tackle the East part of the region where we meet dancing Patrats, terrified villagers, and the Riches from FX's hit series, The Riches. We've got one last challenging match left with an old friend from a previous game, then it's on to battling! Which podcast will reign supreme?
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Dec 7, 2021
Chasing Waterfalls, Pt. I: The Hunt for the Seven Sages, Challenger's Cave, Elite Four Rematch (#095)
The postgame in Black & White is so dang robust that we're doing our first-ever Chasing Waterfalls two-parter. First up, we say hi to mom, and also mom's strange new friend, that old rascal Looker. He's hot on the trail of Team Plasma's Seven Sages, and he—as a member of Interpol, the international police, not the band—naturally needs a young child to do most of the hard work of hunting them down. Joshua & Mr. Keepsies embark on a world tour, revisiting all the sights in West Unova before setting their sights on becoming the proper champions of all of it. Will they finally dethrone Alder? And who will win in yet another battle before the finale next week? What's going on in East Unova? And just who will join us to chase the rest of those waterfalls?!
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Nov 30, 2021
Route 10, Victory Road, Elite Four, N's Castle (Ft. Anthony Smith) #094
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.
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Nov 23, 2021
Dragonspiral Tower, Relic Castle, Route 8, Moor of Icirrus, Tubeline Bridge, Route 9, Opelucid City, Opelucid Gym (#093)
With the Elder Juniper's blessing and the Freeze Badge in hand, Joshua & Mr. Keepsies ascend Dragonspiral Tower so that—surprise, surprise—they can hear Team Plasma explain all their plans again. The A-slamming doesn't stop there, though. From throwing new Sages (Giallo, the Italian one) at us to Opelucid City hosting a rally for Ghetsis to give an unhinged rant for hours, this leg is full of exposition. It's also full of legendaries, trainer dangers, and a reveal of Tanner's first-ever designation of Pokéarth's Ugliest Route. Opelucid Style.
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Nov 16, 2021
Route 7, Twist Mountain, Icirrus City, Icirrus Gym (#092)
Round and round and round we go around Twist Mountain, and where we'll stop? Nobody knows! That's not true. We know. We stopped in Icirrus City where we took in the local culture including some playground games, a fun(?) quiz show, the least impressive Pokémon Fan Club to date, and a huge puddle full of gross Pokémon.
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Nov 9, 2021
Route 6, Chargestone Cave, Mistralton City, Route 7, Celestial Tower, Mistralton Gym (#091)
This week is spent almost entirely underground, in the dark depths of Chargestone Cave. But perhaps the darkest aspect of this leg is just how many ugly little Pokémon were in it. It's an onslaught of barf. It's like the River Styx but full of puke. And who is their guide on this journey down that disgusting river? Well, of course, it's none other than a bunch more Team Plasma Grunts... and The Nugget Brothers. After finally breaching the sunlight again days later, Joshua & Mr. Keepsies arrive in Mistralton City, which is basically just an airport. Again, they slam A through a relentless number of cutscenes and learn they have to go to the Celestial Tower to find Skyla the Gym Leader, because she's tending to some sick 'mon there. It's a spiraling tower of barf, but once they scale it, they're able to challenge Skyla, whose team isn't challenging to fight—but one of its member's looks do pose some challenging, thought-provoking questions.
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Nov 2, 2021
Route 5, Driftveil Drawbridge, Driftveil City, Cold Storage, Driftveil Gym (#090)
Joshua and Mr. Keepsies take a big bite out of a relatively short leg of Pokemon this week, starting with the Route 5, which is teeming with one of the ew-make-me-barfiest little toads the boys have ever seen. Then—of course—it wouldn't be Gen 5 without a big, pointless set-piece that seems to solely exist to show off the new Nintendo 3DS technology. After that, we run the risk of hypothermia in Team Plasma's cold storage facility, because that ol' rascal Ghetsis makes us sit through what feels like hours of cut scene dialogue before we finally take on a rootin' tootin' Gym Leader named Clay in Driftveil Gym.
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Oct 26, 2021
Route 4, Desert Resort, Relic Castle, Nimbasa City, Anville Town, Nimbasa Gym (#089)
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.
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Oct 19, 2021
Pinwheel Forest, Skyarrow Bridge, Castelia City, Castelia Gym (#088)
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?)
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Oct 12, 2021
The Dreamyard, Route 3, Wellspring Cave, Nacrene City, Nacrene Gym (#087)
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.
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Oct 5, 2021
[Pokémon Black/White] Nuvema Town, Route 1, Accumula Town, Route 2, Striaton City, Striaton Gym (#086)
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.
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Jul 13, 2021
Chasing Waterfalls/Climbing Rocks: Elite Four Rematch, Cerulean Cave, Mt. Silver, &c. (Ft. David Sims) #085
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!
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Jul 6, 2021
Mt. Moon, Viridian City, Pallet Town, Route 21, Cinnabar Island, Route 20, Seafoam Islands, Cinnabar Gym, Route 19, Viridian Gym (#084)
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).
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Jun 29, 2021
Cycling Road, Fuchsia City, Fuchsia Gym, Routes 12-15, Diglett's Cave, Route 2, Viridian Forest, Pewter City, Pewter Gym (#083)
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.
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Jun 22, 2021
Lavender Town, Route 10, Rock Tunnel, Power Plant, Route 9, Cerulean City, Cerulean Gym, Route 7, Celadon City, Celadon Gym (Ft. Anthony Smith) #082
The recently defeated by Ace Trainer Kevin League Champions finally figure out how to traverse Kanto in the proper order, certainly thanks in part to their friend Anthony Smith coming back on the pod for guidance. The trio takes a bit of a roundabout route to find the Power Plant's Machine Part, along the way discovering that Kanto is maybe a police state and also anti-immigrant. Then, Josh & Tony bumble their way through the Rock Tunnel, while Tanner (smartly) skips it entirely, ending up in Lavender Town on the other side. It's a short jaunt before they head west to find out if that creepy old man is still leering at Celadon City Gym's women trainers, where they get lost for a [redacted] amount of time before defeating Erika and swiftly heading back to Cerulean to crush Misty as well. Finally, we find out if EXP. Share will retain its IP or have to hand it over to Anthony "Bud Light" Smith.
Notes: As always, thanks Tony for joining us. You can, and should, follow him on Twitter @Ant…
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Jun 15, 2021
S.S. Aqua, Vermilion City, Vermilion Gym, Route 6, Saffron City, Saffron Gym, Route 5, Routes 24-25 (#081)
"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.
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Jun 8, 2021
Route 45, Dark Cave, Route 46, Whirl Islands/Bell Tower, Route 27, Tohjo Falls, Route 26, Victory Road, Elite Four (Ft. Alex Bugg) #080
The boys are back in town—literally, in Josh's case being back on the air, and figuratively as Stanner & Will N. Testament roll into New Bark Town after taking on the slopes south of Blackthorn City. They're joined by Alex Bugg, a Bugg Catcher and host of Gotta Snatch 'Em All, whose character Vino adds some sophisticated commentary on worldly wines, and wine moms. The trio could use a bottle or two after this long leg. They discover a disturbing new fact about Dunsparce; take on the Legendary Birds and serve them to the Kimono Girls; find a surprising hidden room in Tohjo Falls; grind it out in Victory Road; and fight the Elite Four (well, it's Elite Five really). And finally, of course, the boys battle for ownership of their respective podcast IPs.
Notes: Do yourselves a favor and check out Alex's show Gotta Snatch 'Em All wherever you catch your podcasts, as well as @gottasnatchemal on Twitter and @gottasnatchemall.pod on Instagram! Every episode is wonderful, but especially the o…
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Jun 1, 2021
The Baby-Sitters EXP. #003 - Pokémon: Journey to the Orange Islands
This week, Josh couldn’t be bothered to show up for the record because he said he had to “carefully” move his “babies” which I think is what he calls his collection of pewter dragons. Instead, Tanner is joined by his OTHER, more reliable co-host, Jack Shepherd, for a discussion of the first Pokémon young readers book, “Pokémon: Journey to the Orange Islands.” Assuming all goes well with Josh’s babies, we’ll be back next week to take on the Elite Four in Pokémon SoulSilver and HeartGold.
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May 25, 2021
Goldenrod Tunnel, Radio Tower, Route 44, Ice Path, Blackthorn City, Blackthorn Gym, Dragon's Den (#079)
After Josh & Tanner admit they had quite a bit of trouble figuring out exactly where to go next after being deflected by the Rage Candy Bar salesman in Mahogany Town, finally return to Goldenrod to shut down Team Rocket's pirate radio once and for all. They go up down and around all over the city, taking on their rival who now also wants to kiss Lance; a series of well-dressed Rocket Executives; and a man who gets off by bossing Machokes around in a basement. That's all before they skate across the Ice Path—where Tanner announces a reversal of an Ew Make Me Barf—and deal with a petulant Dragon Tamer named Clair.
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May 18, 2021
Routes 42-43, Mt. Mortar, Mahogany Town, Lake of Rage, Team Rocket HQ, Mahogany Gym (Ft. Fionnuala Jones) #078
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.
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May 11, 2021
Route 47, Cliff Cave, Route 48, Safari Zone, Olivine Gym (#077)
Stanner & Will N. Testament go all the way back to Olivine City to resurrect Amphy the Ampharos, only to find that their next trip will be going all the way back to Cianwood because some game warden won’t stop harassing them until they check out Johto’s new Safari Zone. Both grown men struggle immensely with its mechanics, but ultimately catch some sweet new ‘mon. Oh yeah, and then they go all the hell back to Olivine City to finally take on Gym Leader Jasmine.
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May 4, 2021
Routes 38-39, Olivine City, Glitter Lighthouse, Routes 40-41, Cianwood City, Cianwood Gym (#076)
Stanner & Will N. Testament contend with the mystery of Moomoo Farm and its Miltanks and Tauros, before entering Olivine City where it's apparently fleet week and is stuffed to the gills with hot sailors—but no gym leader in sight. Turns out they have to save "what's her face" Jasmine's Amphy aka Ampharos, and to do so they must heave-ho and head over to Cianwood to find a SECRETPOTION at ye olde pharmacy shoppe. Although they're supposed to be enjoying island time, the pair instead run into a number of problems up to and including Gym Leader Chuck.
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Apr 27, 2021
Routes 36-37, Ecruteak City, Burned Tower, Ecruteak Gym (Ft. Ryan Broderick) #075
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!
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Apr 20, 2021
Ilex Forest, Route 34, Goldenrod City, Route 35, National Park, Goldenrod Gym (#074)
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.
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Apr 13, 2021
Route 32, Ruins of Alph, Union Cave, Route 33, Azalea Town, Slowpoke Well, Azalea Gym (#073)
Josh & Tanner own up to their own inadequacies and announce a Nuzlocke rules change. Meanwhile their avatars, Stanner & Attorney Will N. Testament, continue their journeys by heading south toward Azalea Town. Along the way, they investigate and litigate the purpose of the Ruins of Alph; pick up Fisherman (and negligent father) Ralph's number who proceeds to call incessantly and talk about his unhealthy relationship with his Goldeen; and finally trudge through Union Cave to come upon Azalea Town. After seeing how it's been run ragged by Slowpoke Tail addiction, they dive into the Slowpoke Well and meet their nemesis, Team Rocket, who they dispatch—but not without the Rockets dispatching one of the trainer's Pokémon first. Finally, they head to the gym and crush Bugsy like the Spinarak he is.
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Apr 6, 2021
[Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver] New Bark Town, Routes 29-30, Cherrygrove City, Route 31, Violet City, Sprout Tower, Violet Gym (#072)
In the season 4B premiere, Josh & Tanner introduce the extra spicy rules to this Nuzlocke Run, and then introduce their similarly saucy characters for their return to Johto. Who are their starters? Will they live to see the second gym? And just what IS Mr. Pokémon's deal? It's gonna be one long, wild ride.
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Mar 30, 2021
The Lost Pokémon Episode (Ft. Dr. Lava)
Josh & Tanner sit down with the famous real-life Pokémon researcher, Dr. Lava, who is also a long-time listener and sometimes benefactor (aka with Season 2's "Professor Magma"). We have a late-night/early morning session and talk about his history with Pokémon and the show (00:58); the Pokémon he thinks is "coolest" (09:50); all the Pokémon games he's played (11:30); our thoughts on Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl, & Pokémon Legends (14:16); his experiences playing the games again along with us (24:14); stories about working with Pokémon series translators (33:20); his favorite Pokémon game (38:20); and of course the Pokémon that makes him barf (41:54); Dr. Lavy's Sweetie (45:35); as well as his favorite "lost Pokémon" and feature that he wishes they'd bring into a future game (51:36). It's one hell of a 'sode.
Notes: Thanks again to Dr. Lava for joining us and helping us navigate this wild and crazy Pokéarth. Check out his Twitter @DrLavaYT or on YouTube at DidYouKnowGamin…
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Mar 23, 2021
Trophy Garden, Pal Park, Fullmoon Island, Snowpoint Temple, Fight Area, Survival Area, Resort Area, Stark Mountain (#071)
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.
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Mar 16, 2021
Route 223, Victory Road, Pokémon League, Elite Four (Ft. Anthony Smith) #070
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).
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Mar 9, 2021
Lake Acuity, Team Galactic HQ, Mt. Coronet, Spear Pillar, Distortion World, Sendoff Spring, Sunyshore City, Sunyshore Gym (#069)
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.
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Mar 2, 2021
Iron Island, Lake Valor, Lake Verity, Routes 216-217, Acuity Lakefront, Snowpoint City, Snowpoint Gym (Ft. Alanna Okun) #068
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
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Feb 23, 2021
Pokémon Mansion, Route 210, Celestic Town, Fuego Ironworks, Canalave City, Canalave Gym (#067)
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.
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Feb 16, 2021
Route 214, Maniac Tunnel, Valor Lakefront, Route 213, Pastoria City, Great Marsh, Pastoria Gym (Ft. Eric Silver) #066
This week Bree van Durr and Steve Human are joined by EGGS, aka Eric Silver. Together, they deal with a maniac who disgustingly loves Unown, and another who "analyzes" Pokémon feet. They have a delicious dinner and battles at the speed-dating hot spot, Seven Stars Restaurant, before finally making it to Pastoria City and its Great Marsh. Steve Human meets up with a good buddy of his in the swamp, and Bree struggles to acquire a rare new specimen. Finally, they meet Crasher Wake and take him on, before each other. Will the EXP. Share boys wrest control of their podcast back?
Notes: Give Eric Silver's fun DND podcast Join the Party a listen, and give him a follow @El_Silvero on Twitter!
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Feb 9, 2021
Route 209, Solaceon Town, Solaceon Ruins, Lost Tower, Route 215, Veilstone City, Veilstone Gym (Ft. David Sims) #065
Bree van Durr & Steve Human encounter the legendary Gringus D. while on their way out east from Hearthome City. Gringus D., aka David Sims, opens up with some rants about everything from the Pokétch Company's value to the perennially disgusting Unown. The trio fall in love with the down-to-Pokéarth folks of Solaceon, and after sharing several rounds of Moomoo Milk with them, they venture into the Ruins and the Lost Tower. Then, they head north to Veilstone City via Route 215—Sinnoh's most robust yet. Finally arriving in Veilstone, they find most of it off-limits to anyone but Team Galactic peons, other than the Game Corner, Dept. Store, and Gym. (Obviously, they have a lot to say about all three.) You'll also find out if Gringus D. can regain his crown as champion of EXP. Share when he battles one of the hosts.
Notes: If you somehow haven't already, listen to more of David on his podcast Blank Check @blankcheckpod!
Features "Cowboy" by Kid Rock.
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Feb 2, 2021
Old Chateau, Route 206, Wayward Cave, Routes 207-208, Hearthome City, Amity Square, Hearthome Gym (#064)
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.
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Jan 26, 2021
Route 204, Ravaged Path, Floaroma Town, Valley Windworks, Route 205, Eterna Forest, Eterna City, Eterna Gym (#063)
Bree van Durr and Steve Human continue on their journeys to become the world’s most admired Pokémon breeder, and to have a wild road trip around Sinnoh with his best buddies (respectively). They have their first encounter with Team Galactic, download a couple more hot Pokétch apps, and get into the honey trade in Floaroma Town. En route to Eterna City, they run into the mysterious Cheryl, who stalks the forest, before making it safely into the city limits—and then underneath it—and back up to take on Gardenia for the second badge.
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Jan 19, 2021
[Pokémon Platinum] Twinleaf Town, Route 201, Lake Verity, Sandgem Town, Route 202, Jubilife City, Route 203, Oreburgh City, Oreburgh Gym (#062)
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!
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Jan 12, 2021
Outskirt Stand, Snagem Hideout, Cipher Key Lair, Citadark Isle (#061)
BADJOSH(JR) and AnimeJr's journey through Orre comes to a close, after another like, 12 hours of gameplay since last week. As the boys search for a rogue Bonsly and their stolen Snag Machine, Miror B makes his last (Outskirt) stand. They upbraid his Lombres and stuff his hideous Nosepass, and then get a call from ONBS whose PIs and illegal database concluded the Snag Machine is, surprisingly, at the Snagem Hideout in some other part of the desert. There, they do what they'll also do at both the Cipher Key Lair and Citadark Isle: fight a metric ton of grunts and peons and some big baddies too. It's a lot, and it culminates in a fight with the mysterious Grand Master Greevil, the most obviously named evil villain residing in the most obvious evil lair of all time. Tune in, and then cart up: because next week we're finally headed to Sinnoh!
Notes: Features "Doomsday" by MF DOOM. RIP the Supervillain.
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Jan 5, 2021
Pyrite Town, ONBS, Poké Spots, Phenac City, Realgam Tower, S.S. Libra (#060)
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.
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Dec 29, 2020
[Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness] Pokémon HQ Lab, Kaminko's House, Gateon Port, Agate Village, Mt. Battle, Cipher Lab (#059)
Josh & Tanner kick off the final three episodes of the Gen III miniseries on the GameCube games. They give their first impressions of the 2005 sequel to Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, including its eccentrically named trainers, new and old environments, and just what in Arceus's name those Cipher dimwits are up to this time. Also, get your Gen IV carts ready because we're (finally) headed to Sinnoh in just three weeks!
Notes: Features "The Reason (8 Bit)" by Chiptune Planet, "I Took A Pill in Ibiza" by Mike Posner, and "I Took A Pill in Ibiza (SeeB Remix)." RIP Avicii/Evice.
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Dec 22, 2020
Phenac City, Shadow Pokémon Lab, Realgam Tower, Realgam Colosseum (#058)
This is the last ep of the Pokémon Colosseum series. Josh & Tanner (aka Bad Josh and Mr. Anime) beat the dang thing. They liberate the Shadow Pokémon Lab and steal a disk that proves crucial for the Kids' Grid to crack Cipher's code. After the code's cracked, Bad Josh & Mr. Anime head to the hottest new spot in town: Realgam Tower. Inside, they fight all their own nemeses and beat the game.
Notes: Features "Freak on a Leash (8 Bit Tribute to Korn)" by 8 Bit Universe.
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Dec 15, 2020
The Baby-Sitters EXP. #002 - Pokémon The Movie 2000 & Logan Likes Mary Anne (Ft. Jack Shepherd)
The bug babies Josh & Jack watch a cherished film with yet another messy title, "Pokémon The Movie 2000: The Power of One," and read a Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel, "Logan Likes Mary Anne." But, while attempting to record their hit new podcast, they are rudely interrupted. What ensues utter chaos, leaving them with nothing but the smoldering remains of their beloved show.
Notes: Features "Polkamon" by "Weird Al" Yankovic.
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Dec 8, 2020
Pokémon Trading Card Game Online Playthrough (Ft. Michael LeVine) #057
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.
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Dec 1, 2020
The Baby-Sitters EXP. #001 - Pokemon 3: The Movie & Stacey and the Bad Girls (Ft. Jack Shepherd)
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.
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Nov 24, 2020
Agate Village, Mt. Battle, Mystery Lab, Pyrite Town, Pyrite Building, Pyrite Cave, The Under, The Under Subway (#056)
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?
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Nov 17, 2020
[Pokémon Colosseum] Outskirt Stand, Phenac City, Construction Lot, Pyrite Town, Pyrite Colosseum, Pyrite Cave (#055)
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.
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Nov 10, 2020
Sevii Islands, Pt. II: Four Island, Five Island, Six Island, Seven Island, Cerulean Cave (#054)
SEASON 3B FINALE. The boys/whatever Mr. Mime is are back in Pallet Town to rest after becoming Kanto Champions, when Professor Oak asks that they return to the Sevii Islands because the wifi is acting up again or something. To fix it, their old pal CELIOOOO! asks them to retrieve two gems to get it working again. What ensues is an island-hopping fetch quest across most of the archipelago, and culminating in yet another trouncing of some Team Rocket thugs. Finally, upon returning to the mainland, they take on the last catchable area in this Nuzlocke run—Cerulean Cave—before reflecting on their challenge.
Notes: Next week we're starting "Season 3GC" where we'll be playing the GameCube releases Pokémon Colosseum and Gale of Darkness XD over 8-9 episodes. Grab your copies today, and join us for the ride either way!
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Nov 3, 2020
Victory Road, Indigo Plateau, Elite Four (Ft. Anthony Smith) #053
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).
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Oct 27, 2020
Sevii Islands, Pt. I: One Island, Two Island, Three Island, Viridian Gym (#052)
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?
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Oct 20, 2020
Power Plant, Routes 19-20, Seafoam Islands, Cinnabar Island, Pokémon Mansion, Cinnabar Gym (#051)
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?
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Oct 13, 2020
Routes 12-15, Cycling Road, Fuchsia City, Safari Zone, Fuchsia Gym (Ft. David Sims) #050
Josh & Tanner are joined once again by David Sims, aka Gringus, their eternal rival/friend (it's complicated), and host of Blank Check. In their longest journey together yet, they traverse the docks beneath Lavender Town, take on the menagerie of bird trainers there, get in a tussle with the Cue Balls and Bikers hanging out on Cycling Road, and find themselves in a resplendent Fuchsia City. There, they try their luck at Safari Zone—the best chance they have of catching some exotic 'mon before their final gym battles—and then flatten Koga like one of his disgusting Koffings.
Notes: As always, check out @blankcheckpod, where David and his cohost Griffin are currently running through Robert Zemeckis's filmography (that's the Back to the Future dude!).
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Oct 6, 2020
Rocket Hideout, Pokémon Tower, Saffron City, Silph Co., Saffron Gym (#049)
While out on the town, Joshua & Mr. Mime hear a rumor that the Celadon Game Corner is actually a criminal outfit. They investigate, and discover that the seedy underbelly of the city extends far beyond—to Lavender Town and Saffron City too. They set out to clean up the mean streets of Celadon, whereupon they receive the unimpressive Silph Scope. It reveals a new area where the trainers can catch a Pokémon—Pokémon Tower—in which they also confront their rival, who is apparently also on a Nuzlocke run because his Raticate died. Sad! With another arm of Team Rocket shut down, they return to Saffron to both cleanse the source of corruption at Silph Co. and face off against Gym Leader Sabrina. By the end of it, they'll need to rename Saffron City to "Crimson City" because its streets will run with Pokémon blood.
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Sep 29, 2020
Route 11, Diglett's Cave, Routes 9-10, Rock Tunnel, Lavender Town, Route 8, Route 7, Celadon City, Celadon Gym (#048)
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?
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Sep 22, 2020
Routes 24-25, Vermilion City, S.S. Anne, Vermilion Gym (#047)
After taking Misty out, Joshua & Mr. Mime try to take some time off on the Cerulean Cape and instead are faced with a rival battle, a bunch of bullies on Nugget Bridge, and that Lovecraftian freak Bill. They even have to step in to solve a crime for Officer Jenny. Once they finally make it to Vermilion City, they take a cruise on the S.S. Anne where the joy of receiving HM 01 Cut is cut short when Joshua loses a 'mon overboard. Then, the trainers chop their way into Lt. Surge's trash-filled gym and kick him to curb with the rest of it.
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Sep 15, 2020
Route 3, Mt. Moon, Route 4, Cerulean City, Cerulean Gym (#046)
Joshua & Mr. Mime set out from Pewter City and are immediately ambushed by a research aide crazy about Running Shoes, for which they are thankful because they'll need 'em to run away from those freaky Shorts Guys all over Route 3. Mr. Mime suffers a loss, and Joshua finds a new companion who accompanies him along the journey through a new and improved Mt. Moon—now with water features! On the other side, the boy and... Pokéman find themselves kicking and punching with some pseudo karate kings before dipping their toes in the pool with Misty. Will they both make it out with no drowned Pokémon? Find out in the hot new segment, Kill Count.
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Sep 8, 2020
[FireRed/LeafGreen] Pallet Town, Routes 1-2, Viridian Forest, Pewter City, Pewter Gym (#045)
Season 3B, baby! Josh & Tanner outline EXP. Share's official Nuzlocke rules we're abiding by as we go through a beautiful 16-bit Kanto. After covering the rules, we talk about the characters we're playing as this season, and then get back into the good stuff: Level Checks, Sweeties, Barfs, and more. When it's Nuzlocke, will we find ourselves in the Kanto we know and love? Or will we find ourselves in a world of hurt?
Notes: Nuzlocke rules can be found on our @expsharepod social accounts as well as the subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/bugcatchers/comments/ik94yr/nuzlocke_run_house_rules_for_fireredleafgreen/
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Sep 4, 2020
Battle Super Special with Mike and Kevin of Pokésports, Fionnuala Jones of Bandwagons, & David Sims of Blank Check
Looking for some spicy Hoenn action today? We have quite the surprise for you: we've spent the last month battling the very best guests from Season 3A, and a certain GringusD of our past. We've got three battles for ya: first against both Mike (StillJustMike) and Kevin (xRazeOvation) of @PokesportsPod, then Fionnuala Jones of @BandwagonsPod, and finally, season two brawler David Sims of @BlankCheckPod. Oh, and Josh & Tanner fight three times to see who's the season's supreme(on).
Notes: Thanks to our guests for joining us as always, check out their shows below:
Pokésports - https://open.spotify.com/show/4af21pBgHc9YlM9ThMfstP?si=o0T_UDiERXGtQNLnRbDRcA
Bandwagons - https://open.spotify.com/show/1iRkm9c2ckj7LB5oeoJI9i?si=QJmgB2wvTPaC-3-7i5nr7w
Blank Check - https://open.spotify.com/show/4zmVd1CGeUCxAAMwGAwsFD?si=T758VxrARoORZ2F_6PUzwQ
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Sep 1, 2020
Uproar Forest, Magma Cavern, Sky Pillar, Luminous Cave (#044)
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).
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Aug 25, 2020
Mt. Blaze, Frosty Forest, Mt. Freeze (#043)
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).
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Aug 18, 2020
Silent Chasm, Mt. Thunder, Great Canyon, Lapis Cave (#042)
The 9-1-Huns and The Mon Men continue rescuing Pokémon in need until they stumble upon yet another troubling development in this convoluted plot. After the first boss fight with a Zapdos, a farseeing Xatu in the "Hill of the Ancients" reveals that Archonis and Jon Meowth definitely ARE human, and are NOT dancer (or Stantler). Unfortunately, this conversation is overheard by the dastardly Gengar, and that's not going to be good for anybody. Pokémon Square turns against the rescuers, and they grab their Oran Berries and get the hell out. But who will rescue the Rescue Team?
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Aug 11, 2020
[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team] Tiny Woods, Thunderwave Cave, Mt. Steel, Sinister Woods (#041)
Part one of our four-part miniseries playing 2006's Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, or Blue Rescue Team on DS if ya fancy. We start our adventure by waking up in a strange, small forest, and we're apparently a human who turned into a Pokémon... mysteriously. We talk about the game's history, mechanics, and our opinions of it so far, before getting into our "starters," partner Pokémon, and the plot itself. We've also got some saucy new segments tailored to PMD for you.
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Aug 4, 2020
Ever Grande City, Victory Road, Elite Four, S.S. Tidal, Battle Tower, Sky Pillar, & Minnie Max vs. RHCP (#040)
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).
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Jul 28, 2020
Abandoned Ship, Pacifidlog Town, Mirage Island, Routes 132-134, Sealed Chamber, Regice, Regirock, & Registeel (#039)
It's our first-ever "Chasing Waterfalls" episode where we use Waterfall (and the full HM slate) to take care of some unfinished business around Hoenn. First, Minnie Max & RHCP visit the tropical retirement community of Pacifidlog Town, attempt to find Mirage Island, and then Surf the rough waters of Routes 132-134. We take a Dive in a mysterious blue hole and end up in an ancient cavern and through a couple of... different processes, figure out how to access its secrets, releasing the "Legendary Titans" into the world. Then, we catch the dang things and close with a couple more sidequests.
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Jul 21, 2020
Shoal Cave, Routes 127-128, Seafloor Cavern, Sootopolis City, Cave of Origin, Sootopolis Gym (#038)
What is this, Waterworld? Minnie Max & RHCP spend days at sea and honestly neither of them knows how they end up in the Seafloor Cavern, where they duel with Team Aqua Admin Shelley & Team Magma Admin Courtney, who both have a lot of uh, fans, on the internet. That's right: Fur Affinity Check is back because we're journalists and we have to report what we see. After admiring these fine Pokémon smut artists' work, Josh & Tanner dive back in and find that the Admins have released Groudon & Kyogre, so they again swim around for lord knows how long until finding Sootopolis City and its mysterious Cave of Origin. There, they face off with the two legendaries before taking on the eighth and final Gym Leader, Wallace.
Notes: Features a lot of outdated pop culture references, as well as those to raunchy Pokémon art that your kids probably shouldn't hear. (Should they hear this podcast at all though?)
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Jul 14, 2020
Safari Zone, Route 122, Lilycove City, Mt. Pyre, Route 123, Slateport Harbor, Team Magma/Aqua Hideout, Route 124, Mossdeep City, Mossdeep Gym (#037)
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).
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Jul 7, 2020
Routes 118-119, Weather Institute, Fortree City, Fortree Gym (Ft. Fionnuala Jones) #036
Minnie Max and RHCP are joined by Bug Catcher FJ, aka Fionnuala Jones, host of the Bandwagons podcast. The trio takes to the sea: Tanner much, much more than the other two. Once on the other side of Route 118, they encounter some trainers with big cult energy, a big cutie Pokémon, and a big mess at the Weather Institute. After cleaning it up, they set out to defeat Fortree City's Winona, but run into some unforeseen barriers first. Devon Corporation's newest product saves them, and they stack it up against Silph Co.'s offerings before a fight breaks out: Will Josh reclaim the crown of EXP. Share champion? And who will prevail between EXP. Share: A Pokémon Podcast and Bandwagons: Not A Pokémon Podcast?!
Notes: Thanks to Fionnuala for joining us! Check out Bandwagons wherever you catch your podcasts, and give 'em a follow @bandwagonspod!
Features "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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Jun 30, 2020
Route 111, Rustboro City, Petalburg Gym, New Mauville (#035)
After last week's long journey and battles, Minnie Max & RHCP get a little reprieve. Using their new Go-Goggles, they traverse Route 111's desert and find some mysteries in its sands, returning with them to Rustboro City to give Devon Corp. one last chance to prove its scientists are worth their mettle. With Petalburg just down the road, they set off to prove to Norman that they don't have daddy issues at all and HE'S the one being immature, Dad! They take issue with his gym layout, but lay him out along with the rest of the Normal type trainers and receive HM 03 Surf as a reward. With that, they set off for a strange sidequest on another shore.
Notes: Features "I Believe I Can Fly (Karaoke Version)" by Let's Sing! (YouTube).
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Jun 23, 2020
Verdanturf Town, Fiery Path, Fallarbor Town, Meteor Falls, Mt. Chimney, Jagged Pass, Lavaridge Town, Lavaridge Gym (Ft. Pokésports) #034
For our longest episode and most guests ever, hosts of Pokésports Mike & Kevin join Josh & Tanner for the journey—and boy, was it one. The routes were endless, the sweeties and gross 'mons plentiful, so we have double the segments. We weigh in controversial discussions, such as Spoink & Grumpig (cuties, or best as bacon?); the credibility of Team Magma & Aqua's dastardly schemes; and how pretty much everyone hates Pokémon contests. Then, each show team goes head to head against each other and then the shows themselves... who will be the mid-game champions?
Notes: Thanks to Pokésports @PokesportsPod for joining us! Check out their coverage of the competitive Pokémon scene (including an interview with us) wherever you catch your podcasts.
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Jun 16, 2020
Routes 107-109, Slateport City, Route 110, Trick House, Mauville City, Mauville Gym (#033)
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.
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Jun 9, 2020
Route 116, Rusturf Tunnel, Routes 105-106, Dewford Town, Dewford Gym, Granite Cave (#032)
Minnie Max & RHCP attempt to head east but run into trouble in Rusturf Tunnel—and a lovers' quarrel. Fortunately they make a new friend along the way, and hitch a ride down Dewford Town way. Once there, they meet a number of hipster freaks who are starving for goss and the latest trends from the mainland. After they spill the tea, they spill Gym Leader Brawly's guts all over his gym floor. Then, they hit the floors of Granite Cave, searching for a mysterious "Steven."
Notes: Features "Suck My Kiss" by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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Jun 2, 2020
[Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire] Littleroot Town, Route 101, Oldale Town, Route 103, Petalburg Woods, Route 104, Rustboro City, Rustboro Gym (#031)
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.
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May 29, 2020
Season Two Battle Royale (Ft. David Sims)
David Sims (aka GringusD) is back for the final bonus episode before season three begins in earnest next week. Tanner, Josh, and David faced off mid-season, but now that they've each built the best teams they could, who will outwit their opponents and prove themselves to be the ultimate Pokémon Master? Will it be David? Josh? Tanner?! (Let's face it, it probably won't be Tanner.) Tune in to find out!
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May 26, 2020
Grand Masters Courtney, Steve, Jack, Rod, & Challenge Hall (#030)
Miniseries finale. Josh & Tanner reveal their deck builds going into their fight with Trading Card Game Island's four Grand Masters (aka Elite Four), as well as their favorite cards of the week, and their final card counts. One host was a little upset about his lack of cards but we won't say who. After victory at the Pokémon Dome, they talk about the postgame Challenge Cup in the Challenge Hall, say goodbye to Auntie Dr. Mason, and pack up their card binders.
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May 19, 2020
Water Club, Fighting Club, Psychic Club (#029)
The boys gear up for the final three Clubs on Trading Card Game Island by debuting two new decks each in the hot new segment "New Deck Check." They cool off in the luxurious Water Club before Joshua runs into trouble with its Club Master Amy, and Squirt feels perfectly at home. He continues onto Fighting Club, whose members have spread all across the map. After hunting them down, the card collectors face down Murray at the Psychic Club, the toughest and dumbest-looking Club Master yet. Also, Josh & Tanner talk about the absolute banger of a soundtrack.
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May 12, 2020
Fire Club, Science Club, Grass Club (#028)
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.
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May 5, 2020
[Pokémon Trading Card Game] Overview, Lightning Club, Rock Club (#027)
Josh & Tanner begin their four-part miniseries playing the 2000 release of Pokémon Trading Card Game, the game, for Game Boy Color. Yeah, good luck Googling it. With eight "Club Masters" and four "Grand Masters," and featuring most of the Base, Jungle, & Fossil sets, the game is a mix between the video games and the irl card game. And despite its age, this thing whips. Learn about the mechanics, our characters, and the first two Clubs—and then get yourself a copy on the 3DS Virtual Console for just $5.99 and play along with us!
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Apr 28, 2020
Viridian City, Route 1, Viridian Gym, Pallet Town, Route 22, Route 28, Mt. Silver, & Joshua vs. Fjelstan (#026)
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.
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Apr 21, 2020
Route 11, Diglett's Cave, Route 2, Pewter City, Pewter Gym, Route 3, Mt. Moon, Route 21, Cinnabar Island, Route 20, Cinnabar Gym (#025)
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.
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Apr 14, 2020
Mt. Mortar, Route 7, Celadon City, Celadon Gym, Cycling Road, Fuchsia City, Fuchsia Gym (#024)
Fjelstan goes on a trek through the wilds of Johto, searching for discarded items he can sell to Poké Marts to support his Pokémon's crippling happiness addiction, and also his gambling one. He and Joshua reveal shocking new final team members, and Joshua sings farewell to one of his oldest companions. Then, they explore Celadon City and discover its residents have made some progress in their problematic ways, but Erika has not made any progress on her team—which they easily crush. Rest in Petals. Finally, they hop on their bikes and head south, finding Fuchsia City has become a ghost town, other than its new Gym Leader, Janine.
Notes: Features "California" by Phantom Planet and "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap.
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Apr 7, 2020
Route 6, Saffron City, Saffron Gym, Route 8, Lavender Town, Route 10, Rock Tunnel, Route 9, Power Plant, Cerulean City, Cerulean Gym (#023)
Look at all those places! Joshua & Fjelstan go up down and around Kanto to restore power to the region. But first they get a tour of the surprisingly solvent Silph Co. and take on Sabrina in Saffron. Then, they head east because once again, two children need to solve everyone's problems and fix the Power Plant. In Lavender Town, they're disturbed to the Radio Tower is powered by the souls of dead Pokémon, and run away into the Rock Tunnel. On the other side, they accidentally ruin Misty's date, and after discovering the missing part for the Power Plant, they leave her sleeping with the fishes.
Notes: Features "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi.
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Mar 31, 2020
Return to New Bark Town, S.S. Aqua, Vermilion City, Vermilion Gym (#022)
Professor Elm invites the boys back to New Bark Town, where he is pleased to hear of their success in the Pokémon League. He gives them a ticket on the Fast Ship S.S. Aqua as a gift, and after bidding Mom farewell, they head to the port in Olivine City. Aboard the S.S. Aqua, they run into a veritable who's who of disgusting trainer types and Pokémon—especially those of one "Juggler Fritz." They also have to find some guy's granddaughter for some reason before docking in Vermilion City. After surveying how the last three years have gone for the place (read: not well), they shut down Lt. Surge and get the Thunder Badge.
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Mar 24, 2020
Route 45, Dark Cave, Route 46, Route 27, Tohjo Falls, Route 26, Victory Road, Indigo Plateau, Elite Four (#021)
With all eight Johto badges in hand, the aspirant Pokémon Masters descend from Blackthorn City en route back to New Bark Town. There, they bid farewell to Professor Elm and Mom before heading east into Tohjo Falls. In Kanto, they fight a bunch of trainers with good-looking 'mon that help buoy them through all the busted ones on Victory Road. On the Indigo Plateau, they stock up, Joshua confesses a crush, and they take on the Elite Four.
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Mar 17, 2020
Radio Tower, Tin Tower/Whirl Islands, Route 44, Ice Path, Blackthorn City, Blackthorn Gym (Ft. David Sims) #020
Joshua & Fjelstan are joined by "Gringus," aka David Sims, a Bug Catcher and co-host of the podcast Blank Check. The trainers do battle at a bar. They take on Team Rocket in Goldenrod's Radio Tower. They catch (and critique) the Legendary Birds. They take on Clair in Blackthorn City and are forced to do some kind of test in the Dragon's Den, before receiving Johto's eighth badge, the Rising Badge. And, of course, Tanner does a misguided Google search and they all end up talking about the "unspeakable" Jynx again.
Notes: Thanks to David Sims for joining us on this wild journey. Check out his excellent podcast Blank Check @blankcheckpod where he and his co-host Griffin Newman watch, rewatch, and talk about iconic director's filmographies and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
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Mar 10, 2020
Burned Tower Pt. II, Route 42, Mahogany Town, Route 43, Lake of Rage, Rocket Hideout, Mahogany Gym (#019)
Before heading east on Route 42, Joshua & Fjelstan encounter some legendary pooches in the Burned Tower. Then, after stuffing themselves with RAGECANDYBARs, they realize that something isn't quite right in Mahogany Town. Their investigation leads them to the Lake of Rage, where they discover yet another dastardly scheme by Team Rocket, who they confront in the basement of the local bodega. After putting them all on ice, they do the same to Pryce, and pry the seventh Gym Badge from his cold, dead fingers.
Notes: Features "California (Piano Cover)" by pianomusings (YouTube), "Boston - Augustana" by KaraFun Karaoke (YouTube), and "Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men.
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Mar 3, 2020
Olivine City, Olivine Gym, & Pokémon: The First Movie (#018)
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.
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Feb 25, 2020
Moomoo Farm, Routes 38-39, Glitter Lighthouse, Routes 40-41, Cianwood City, Cianwood Gym (#017)
Joshua & Fjelstan head west. They bop to great tunes on their PokéGear on Routes 38 & 39, visit the Miltank cult at Moomoo Farm, and investigate the Glitter Lighthouse in Olivine City. Its Gym Leader, Jasmine, won't fight them until the Ampharos is cured. In a quest for rare medicine, they head south through the inaccessible Whirl Islands, and arrive in Cianwood City, where they get the potion and then "Chuck" the Gym Leader into the sea.
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Feb 18, 2020
Route 35, National Park, Route 36-37, Ecruteak City, Burned Tower Pt. I, Ecruteak Gym (#016)
After finishing their business in Goldenrod, Joshua & Fjelstan head north and encounter a freakshow of trainers outside Johto's National Park. They participate in its Bug-Catching Contest to... very different results. To the park's east, they douse the wriggling tree with a (Mr.) Squirtbottle, fight a Sudowoodo, and then arrive in Ecruteak City. Joshua tangos with the Kimono Girls, and Fjelstan finally returns the dreaded stowaway Spearow, Kenya, before they fight their rivals in the Burned Tower and then shoo Gym Leader Morty's ghosts away.
Notes: Features "California" by Phantom Planet and "End of the Road (Boyz II Men)" by Sing King Karaoke.
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Feb 11, 2020
Ilex Forest, Route 34, Goldenrod City, Goldenrod Gym (#015)
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.
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Feb 4, 2020
Ruins of Alph, Route 32, Union Cave, Route 33, Azalea Town, Azalea Gym (#014)
Joshua & Fjelstan investigate the strange Ruins of Alph and head south once they discover nothing but the hideous Unown. Aside from the pointless Union Cave between them, Fjelstan finds the Sweeties abundant on Routes 32 & 33. Meanwhile, Joshua makes friends with Fisherman Ralph and gets in a fight with his mom. Once in Azalea Town, they help disband its black market Slowpoke Tail trade before crushing Bugsy... "like the Spinarak they are."
Notes: Features "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit.
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Jan 28, 2020
[Pokémon Gold/Silver] New Bark Town, Route 29, Cherrygrove City, Routes 30-31, Violet City, Violet Gym (#013)
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.
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Jan 21, 2020
Pokémon Snap Playthrough (#012)
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.
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Jan 14, 2020
Elite Four, Cerulean Cave, & Joshua vs. Mr. Squirt (#011)
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.
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Jan 7, 2020
Route 21, Pallet Town, Viridian Gym, Routes 22-23, Victory Road, Indigo Plateau, Elite Four (#010)
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.
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Dec 31, 2019
Holiday Special, Pt. II: "Snow Way Out!" (#009)
Next in the two-part holiday special, Josh & Tanner recount the story behind the "EP038 Incident" in the Pokémon anime, and then watch the episode that would have followed it. In it, Ash and the gang take a disastrous trip through the mountains that nearly kills them as well as Team Rocket. The best part of the episode is Pikachu's Jukebox. Regular episodes return next Tuesday.
Notes: Featuring "2.B.A. Master" and "Pokémon (Dance Mix)" from the album "Pokémon 2.B.A. Master."
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Dec 24, 2019
Holiday Special, Pt. I: "Holiday Hi-Jynx" (#008)
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.
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Dec 17, 2019
Routes 19-20, Seafoam Islands, Cinnabar Island, Pokémon Mansion, Cinnabar Gym (#007)
Joshua & Mr. Squirt finally acquire the item the show is named after, only to discover in Generation I it's actually the "Exp. All" and also it sucks. They then dive into Route 19, explore the Seafoam Islands, capture Articuno, and continue onto Cinnabar Island. Once there, they drop off their Fossils at Cinnabar Lab, uncover secrets in the Pokémon Mansion, and then douse Gym Leader Blaine to get the seventh badge.
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Dec 10, 2019
Route 10, Power Plant, Saffron City, Silph Co., Saffron Gym (#006)
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.
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Dec 3, 2019
Rocket Hideout, Pokémon Tower, Routes 12-15, Fuchsia City, Safari Zone, Fuchsia Gym (#005)
With the fourth badge in hand, Joshua & Mr. Squirt turn their attention to Celadon City's seedy underbelly and purge the Game Corner of Team Rocket, for which they receive the extremely niche yet "premium" product, Silph Scope. They return to Lavender Town to free Mr. Fuji and some Pokémon souls before embarking on Routes 12-15 to cool their heels down south for a while. Once in Fuchsia City, they go on safari, find some gross Gold Teeth, and defeat Koga, the fifth Gym Leader.
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Nov 26, 2019
Rock Tunnel, Route 10, Lavender Town, Route 8, Route 7, Celadon City, Celadon Gym (#004)
Joshua & Mr. Squirt reluctantly venture into the Rock Tunnel. They emerge to discover a super depressing scene in Lavender Town, scale part of the Pokémon Tower, and then head west down Route 7. After shopping till they drop in Celadon City, they make all of Erika's 'mons drop to the floor and are rewarded with the Rainbow Badge.
Notes: Scare Warning features "Lavender Town (From 'Pokémon Red and Blue')" by Qumu.
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Nov 19, 2019
Routes 5-6, Vermilion City, Diglett's Cave, S.S. Anne, Vermilion Gym (#003)
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.
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Nov 12, 2019
Route 3, Mt. Moon, Route 4, Cerulean City, Routes 24-25, Cerulean Gym (#002)
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.
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Nov 12, 2019
[Pokémon Red/Blue] "Are You A Boy or A Girl?" (#001)
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.
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Nov 3, 2019
EXP. Share Trailer: The Journey Begins
A podcast where two longtime friends and Pokémon fans play every Pokémon game, gym by gym, starting with 1996's Red & Blue. Each week, the hosts Josh & Tanner tackle a new Gym Leader and talk about the experience.
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