On the road outside Cascarrafa, Don Joey & Esteban Humano encounter Lysander Lux, a traveling merchant with exquisite taste in fashion, Pokémon, and ruthless capitalism. The trio descends upon the Water and Normal gyms, in particular finding a kindred spirit (aka disenchanted drinker) in Medali's Larry, who's just trying to make it through the day. Tell us about it, buddy. Tanner comes down pretty hard on the gay duck Pokémon, and Greg forwards that as well as Josh's lack of Britney Spears discography knowledge to the Council—just in time for Pride Month. Also, they battle to determine if EXP. Share can, for once, retain its own IP.

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

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