EXP. Share

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.