Lured Up - A Pokémon GO Podcast

Lured Up Podcast 414: On That Dust

Live Streamed on: 10/22/2026

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

Huge shoutout to Lane for covering for Adam this week!

We kick things off with a recap of the last week of gameplay, including the Fall Marathon, Sandile Hatch Day, and the Minior Showers! The Fall Marathon was well received by the community for a few different reasons. The release of Bramblin was a lot of fun, and had the perfect encounter rate from Incense that kept us out there playing. This paired perfectly with the task of walking 42 kilometers to fulfil the actual marathon (26.2 miles) part of the event. Leading right into Sandile Hatch Day, the community put some distance under their feet this week.

The Minior Showers brought some excitement and immersion to the game, although it was clouded a bit by a Research debacle. With some lucky Trainers getting rewarded with 1 million Stardust, the community took issue with the release. It is very difficult to get surprised in this game, and when we do, it seems that many in the community want to be surprised in the same way. We share our takes on it, with Lane bringing up a great point that the Stardust is simply a consumable that can be earned by gameplay, and doesn’t need RNG to be delivered. In any case, it has once again proven that it is impossible to satisfy the entire Pokémon GO Community at the same time.

There is plenty of gameplay on the calendar with the Dynamax Lake Guardians coming regionally this weekend. GO Hub put together three fantastic guides making it very easy to put together two Battle Parties that can be used between the three bosses. Our Halloween events also kick off next week, leading right into Chandelure Super Mega Raid Day. There is always something to do week after week, and new Bosses are a great way to keep people motivated.

We quickly blast through the November Content Update before having a casual conversation about the State of the Game, and how the PGO and TCG Communities differ. There is an interesting juxtaposition of how the online PGO community isn’t an accurate representation of the IRL Community, whereas with the TCG, we see a more consistent vibe between on and offline communities. 

Fall Marathon - https://pokemongo.com/en/news/fall-marathon-buddy-trek-2026 

Sandile Hatch Day - https://pokemongo.com/en/news/sandile-hatch-day-2026 

Minior Meteor Showers - https://pokemongo.com/news/minior-meteor-showers-2026

Dynamax Lake Guardians - https://pokemongo.com/news/dynamax-uxie-mesprit-azelf-max-battle-day-2026 

Azelf Counters - 

https://pokemongohub.net/post/guide/how-to-beat-dynamax-azelf-complete-guide/

Uxie Counters - https://pokemongohub.net/post/guide/how-to-beat-dynamax-uxie-complete-guide/

Mesprit Counters - https://pokemongohub.net/post/guide/how-to-beat-dynamax-mesprit-complete-guide/

Pokémon Night Out - https://pokemongo.com/news/pokemon-night-out-twitch-drops2026

Halloween Part 1 - https://pokemongo.com/news/halloween-part-1-2026 

Halloween Part 2 - https://pokemongo.com/news/halloween-part-2-2026 

Chandelure Super Mega Raid Day - https://pokemongo.com/news/chandelure-super-mega-raid-day-2026 

November Content Update - https://x.com/PokemonGoApp/status/2112272635656597508 

November GO Pass - https://pokemongo.com/news/go-pass-november-2026

Into The Wild - https://pokemongo.com/news/into-the-wild-2026

Pawniard Community Day - https://pokemongo.com/news/communityday-november-2026-pawniard 

Special Guest Plugs - https://www.instagram.com/pokemonprofessornetwork/

Stay up to date by adding our Google Calendar to your account!

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

About Lured Up – A Pokémon GO Podcast Established in 2016, Lured Up is one of the longest-running Pokémon GO podcasts, surpassing more than 1 million lifetime downloads. Hosted by Ken Pescatore and Adam Tuttle of the Pokémon Professor Network, Lured Up delivers weekly Pokémon GO news, event coverage, gameplay analysis, and community discussions, including GO Fest, Community Day, Raid Battles, PvP, competitive gameplay, and the latest developments shaping the game. 

With eight years of collaboration with Niantic and Scopely Explore, recognition as Pokémon GO Fest Notable Trainers for five consecutive years (2022–2026), and ongoing work with Pokémon GO Community Ambassadors on live events, Lured Up brings firsthand experience and informed perspectives to its coverage of the game and its community. 

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Lured Up Podcast 413: Pressure Is A Privilege

Live Streamed on 10/13/2026

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

IT’S ADAM’S BIRTHDAY! The sheer amount of gameplay lately is keeping everyone exceptionally busy. We wrapped up an event filled with Astronaut Pikachu which led right into Community Day Zorua. Pacing has been a consistent lately, and the event barrage isn’t slowing down at all. In fact the next two weeks of gameplay are looking particularly strong, with plenty to do across multiple events.

The Fall Marathon should get all of us off our butts and out there walking with a 42km Timed Research up for grabs. Bramblin debuting off Incense is a fantastic pairing for a walking event. Some boosted Shiny’s sweetened the deal and let’s not forget we have Sandile Hatch Day this weekend. Minior makes its debut after that with our first Meteor Shower event of the year. If that doesn’t tire you out, it will be followed up by the debut of the Dynamax Lake Guardians. For those that purchased City Safari: Boston tickets, we also have the two day make up event that same weekend.

With so much to do over a two week period, it can be tough to know where to spend your time and energy. We revisit a conversation from a few months ago about finding a solid 15 minutes of gameplay every day can help keep you driven and current with everything the game has to offer. The importance of Daily Discoveries make timing your gameplay a bit more intentional as you learn to maximize your screen time. 

Wayfarer had an interesting announcement this week in that  the violation process which previously covered a user’s Wayfarer and Pokémon GO account when it came to suspensions, would be cutting ties. That means beginning this week, if you are found to be in violation of Wayfarer, it will have no impact on your Pokémon GO account. The core Wayfinder community isn’t having it, and we should all head into this with a solid dose of cautious optimism.

We wrap things up with a Professor’s Principle that directly compliments last week’s topic. We previously talked about how being where you’re needed could also mean that you don’t have time to play the game in a way that you would like. This week we look at how there is more to it, including the pressure you can feel when people need you. Realizing that it is a privilege to be called upon by someone that trusts and needs you, which reminds us that sometimes pressure is a necessary ingredient to being your best self.

Community Day: Zorua

Fall Marathon - https://pokemongo.com/news/fall-marathon-buddy-trek-2026 

Sandile Hatch Day

Minior Showers

Dynamax Lake Guardians Max Battle Day

City Safari Boston/Global

Big Wayfarer Change

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

Established in 2016, Lured Up is one of the longest-running Pokémon GO podcasts, surpassing more than 1 million lifetime downloads. Hosted by Ken Pescatore and Adam Tuttle of the Pokémon Professor Network, Lured Up delivers weekly Pokémon GO news, event coverage, gameplay analysis, and community discussions, including GO Fest, Community Day, Raid Battles, PvP, competitive gameplay, and the latest developments shaping the game.

With eight years of collaboration with Niantic and Scopely Explore, recognition as Pokémon GO Fest Notable Trainers for five consecutive years (2022–2026), and ongoing work with Pokémon GO Community Ambassadors on live events, Lured Up brings firsthand experience and informed perspectives to its coverage of the game and its community.

About Lured Up – A Pokémon GO Podcast

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Lured Up Podcast 412: Be Where You're Needed

Live Streamed on - 10/8/2026

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

This last week was an incredible time to play the game. The Applin picking of the Harvest Festival and the flow of Team Go Rocket balloons from the takeover made for some great times. It makes you think about how we have been discussing the curation of gameplay by Scopely. There was even more pieces of the puzzle when you think how well the 30th Anniversary event set Trainers up with great rewards like Mossy Lures, which were in high demand during the festival.

So what can we learn from the last week of gameplay? That this game is starting to develop event flows and gameplay loops that connect them. That maybe a Pokémon GO Season could have some structure and trajectory as the calendar rolls on. The best part about it is that if you want to min-max your way through this game, that option is always there. But if you want a smooth, flowing run of gameplay, we think Scopely Explore may be on to something lately.

There is plenty of gameplay and event news, but a big story this week in the Northeast was that the City Safari: Boston event was rescheduled and converted into a “mostly” global event. With Boston still playing a small role in having Trainers get the special Explorer Eevee encounters, we knew that the community would have feelings. As for us, we think it is a great way to keep the event accessible to all ticket holders, and offer something exclusive to those that can return to Boston. Oh… and you have YEARS to get there.

We run through the rest of the upcoming events like Community Day: Zorua, DMAX Lake Guardians, Part 1 of the Halloween event and even some Wild Area updates. In any case we will be playing close attention to not only the cadence of events, but looking out a bit further from events to help us better plan and keep the important stuff front of mind.

Our Professor’s Principle this week is a follow up to last week’s topic about Priorities. We mentioned that priorities only take shape when they are called on, which is what Ken experienced this last week. Something as simple as shifting a priority away from the game, created a positive weekend and a positive environment. While missing the community gameplay was a real feeling, finding a way to not regret what you chose is a great challenge that is VERY rewarding.

Harvest Festival: Taken Over

City Safari: Boston 

Community Day: Zorua 

Minior Showers

TCG 30th Timed Research

DMAX Max Battle Day

Halloween Part 1

Wild Area Update

Stay up to date by adding our Google Calendar to your account!

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

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Lured Up Podcast 411: Priorities Are Hard

Live Streamed on - 9/29/2026

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

Whelp. City Safari: Boston was washed out, and the Northeastern US paid the price. The Nor’easter that took out the event was no joke, with coastal flooding, 50 mph winds, and insane amounts of rainfall. With the internet being upset that Scopely Explore doesn’t control the weather, at least Adam was able to enjoy his Friday night in Boston at Fenway Park. Unfortunately, he didn’t leave with any Shiny Pikachu with the Fenway Background.

Last weekend also had Phantump Catch Mastery, which seemed to yield way less Shiny Phantump than any other event Pokémon. Those around the world that did take part in a City Safari, were not so happy that 50% of their Research was given to the Phantump event. The rest of us made the most of the event and have been enjoying our Applin picking. With the Team GO Rocket takeover kicking off on Friday, we hope to get our fill of Balloons and we demand that you do all of them! 

There are plenty of events on the calendar over the next few weeks including Space Week, the Fall Marathon Buddy Trek, and Sandile Hatch Day. After the time of this recording, we learned that the City Safari: Boston has been made into a global event on October 24th and 25th! While the Stamp Rally is cancelled, there are still Boston Exclusive Pokéstops that will award encounters with Explorer Eevee. This month was stacked before that news, now it is just wild. We will also have Max Battle Day overlapping that Saturday, which could be better received as a global event.

Our Professor’s Principle this week is about knowing what comes first. Priorities make the balance between having the most fun playing the game and getting what you want out of it a tough sell. Does how you wish you were playing the game align with how you actually play the game? In life, it makes sense to understand how your priorities can help shape your values, and the need to understand that when you prioritize something, it means that you are deprioritizing something else.

City Safari: Boston - https://pokemongo.com/news/city-safari-boston-update 

Phantump Catch Mastery - https://pokemongo.com/news/catch-mastery-phantump-2026

Choose Your Path - https://pokemongo.com/news/choose-your-path-twilight-trails-2026 

World Space Week - https://pokemongo.com/news/world-space-week-2026

Harvest Festival - https://pokemongo.com/news/harvest-festival-2026 

Harvest Festival Taken Over - https://pokemongo.com/news/harvest-festival-tgr-2026

Fall Marathon: Buddy Trek - https://pokemongo.com/news/fall-marathon-buddy-trek-2026

Sandile Hatch Day - https://pokemongo.com/news/sandile-hatch-day-2026 

Festival of Lights - https://pokemongo.com/news/festival-of-lights-2026 

GO Tour 2027 - https://pokemongo.com/news/save-the-date-go-tour-2027

Stay up to date by adding our Google Calendar to your account!

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

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Lured Up Podcast 410: You Have Permission

Live Streamed on - 9/22/2026

We reflect on how many different ways there are to play this game. We rattle off a bunch of different gaming disciplines and then open it up to a bigger conversation. What are your top three ways to play this game, and does your current playstyle support it. You’d be surprised how often you hear that people want to play the game in ways other than they already do on the daily. It speaks to how hard it is to change our habits in this game.

Last weekend brought us Super Mega Staraptor Raid Day, which was a blast even with it not being a Legendary or even a rare Shiny. The event train isn’t slowing down either, even with no weekly event next week. This weekend brings the City Safaris around the world as well as the overlapping Phantump Catch Mastery Day. The October Content Update brings us plenty of repeat bosses, Spotlight Hours, and Max Battles. 

Our Professor’s Principle follows up on one from a few weeks ago. We previously discussed protecting your peace, by eliminating or distancing ourselves from people, situations, or environments that rob us of our energy. This week we find places to use that recovered energy. We discuss the concept of joy as a place, and how to find that place and spend time there. We struggle with giving ourselves the permission to slow down and enjoy our time in a place of joy, because of feelings like guilt or anxiety want to pull us away. Seeking out places where we feel most like ourselves, will put you in the path of joy.

Super Mega Staraptor Raid Day

City Safari: Boston

Phantump Catch Mastery

October Content Update

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lured Up Podcast 409

Live Streamed on 9/15/2026

In a world where we only get one Team GO Rocket Balloon per day, we must push on. Gible Community Day Classic was awesome and seemed strong enough to earn being the only Community Day of the month.Mega Squads was pretty fun, with 5K eggs being a bit harder to find than many would of liked. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's revisit the Balloons now that the dust has settled a bit.

A good amount of response to the Balloons was not necessarily from rural Trainers, but Trainers that were advocating for them. Even thinking that there could be a silver lining to the Balloon reduction then you were immediately dismissing the needs of rural Trainers. It opens a discussion about how we create content with the assumption that you have access to engage with the gameboard in some meaningful way. We also understand how some rural Trainers live in such a barren area, that there may not be a PokéStop for miles. Two things can be true, meaning we shouldn’t have to put disclaimers on everything we say, just because we are speaking to the broader playerbase.

The game won’t give you much time to think about anything, as the event calendar remains packed and constantly rolling on. There are plenty of events to cover in the coming weeks, but we did have the announcement and first drop of information on GO Wild Area, coming IRL to Japan and Mexico, and Globally this November. We run through what we know so far, and plan to have a trickling out of details for the event in typical, Pokémon GO Fashion.

Our Professor’s Principal this week is Give it time before you give it meaning. In Pokémon GO, the Balloon reduction caused a lot of emotion to overflow. To make things harder, while Scopely did come out and confirm the change, they still provided no context or explanation as to why this happened. All we can do is speculate on what is to come, and need to be prepared to accept that nothing may be coming. We discuss the balance between respecting your initial reaction to something, and not taking what you think will happen down the road as the only possible outcome. Trainers want answers, but sometimes the answer presents itself when we give it some time. No matter what happens, the game will continue to roll on.

Scopely Responds to Balloons

Staraptor Super Mega Raid Day

Pokémon Horizons Celebration

GO Wild Area: Global

Give Alex Nexton a follow!

Stay up to date by adding our Google Calendar to your account!

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lured Up Podcast 408: Deflating Balloons

Live Streamed on - 9/10/2026

What a week it has been in Pokémon GO! Last weekend we had the GO Fest: Mega Finale, which came up a bit short for some Trainers. While we all play this game differently, the lack of Field Research seemed to impact everyone. The event would have felt a bit more rounded if we had it. We also discuss the increased Shiny rate that was advertised as part of the GO Pass Deluxe, but didn’t feel real during the event. 

The event train continues to steam on, as we have Mega Squads this week and Gible Community Day Classic this weekend. The calendar is actually stacked for the rest of the month, including the Boston City Safari, that both Adam and I will be attending. Scopely released their map of the Eevee Stamp Rally and it is bonkers! We are ready for the challenge however and will be completing the entire thing on Saturday, 9/26! Stay tuned for details on out adventure if you would like to join us!

The big news this week has been about Scopely silently nerfing Rocket Balloons down to just one a day. While you would think this isn’t that big a deal, apparently all of X happens to be diehard balloon grinders. Ken mixes it up in the swamp and has some fun, but still managed to put together a nice blog that details his thoughts on why this could have happened. Could there be a silver lining in there somewhere?

Finally, our Professor’s Principle is about how easy it can be to confuse inconvenience for injustice. We find the parallel between life and Pokémon GO using the balloon situation as a palette. When things become so engrained in our daily routines, having that changed feels like a personal attack. We do our best to make sense of the situation and detail what could be the actual motivation behind the change. Will we ever get an official statement for Scopely about it? Probably not, so let’s inappropriately speculate on it instead!

Mega Finale

Mega Squads

Community Day Classic: Gible

City Safari: Boston

Rocket Balloon Madness

Stay up to date by adding our Google Calendar to your account!

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

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Lured Up Podcast 407 - You Can't Be Everywhere

Live Streamed on - 9/2/2026

The Mega Ascension is here which means it’s time for the Mega Finale! In typical Pokémon GO style, there is a massive lead in towards a big gameplay event. This means that you should have some awareness about the levels of your item inventory. Nothing will be worse than going into an event without the necessary supplies or bag space. Planning out and pacing your gameplay will be the way to go since we will have 16 hours of event gameplay this weekend!

San Francisco was jumping this weekend with the PokémonXP event and the World Championships! We had tons of updates including new Mega Levels, third attacks for Megas, and details on Mewtwo’s Adventure Effects. The announcement that really flipped the community on its head is the return of Armored Mewtwo, which will not be Shiny or Mega eligible! This obviously shocked the Community, and hilarity ensued online.

We also have a ton of September event details including Gible Community Day Classic, Phantump Catch Mastery, Mega Squads, Staraptor Super Mega Raid Day and the Pokémon Horizon’s Celebration! Re run through it all but make sure to keep the focus on the Ascension and Finale. Charge your devices!

Our Professor’s Principle this week covers how you can’t be everywhere at once. It was easy to get bummed out if you couldn’t make it to San Francisco. The flexibility of this game however, makes it possible to make the most of it wherever you are. Shifting mindsets from “What am I missing” to “What can I do” makes your action and motion part of the solution. The goal is to recognize the experiences that are available to you and be present enough to appreciate them.

KEEP TRAINING, TRAINERS!

Armwored Mewtwo

Best Tweet Ever

A Close Second

This One Is Fun

Mega Updates

Mega Finale

Savvy Games CEO Resigns

New World Champ

Twilight Trails GBL

Gibble Community Day Classic

Mega Ascension Global Challenge

Phantump Catch Mastery

Mega Squads

Staraptor Super Mega Raid Day

Horizon’s Celebration

Stay up to date by adding our Google Calendar to your account!

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

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Lured Up Podcast 406 - Happy Trails

Live Streamed on - 8/26/2026

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

When the pacing of the game is nonstop, even a slow down feels like a break. While we had the wrap up of the Water Festival, the kickoff of the Worlds event and Mega Starmie over the weekend, we still know that the road to the finale is upon us. We will be swimming in events and activity over the next few weeks, so it’s time to prepare both on and off screen.

The news cycle never cares about how exhausted we are with the announcement of the next season in Pokémon GO, Twilight Trails! While we have the key art and a few bits of information, it will likely be a few weeks before we can really start to get the vibe of things. It brings up the discussion of the importance of seasons, and if they are necessary to the game anymore. We don’t really see any narrative, and the events just flow into each other. We would love to hear what you think about seasons and what you want out of them.

Wayfarer is having a major update that moves it further to being an independent tool outside of Pokémon GO. Beginning on September 1st, you will be taken to the Wayfarer Website to manage nominations and all of Wayfarer, rather than remaining inside of Pokémon GO. The reaction is mixed, with more casual Wayfinders being reluctant to want to move, and the experienced map-makers loving the decision. 

We wrap up with a Professor’s Principle about “Protecting your peace”. There are plenty of things within the game and community that can have an impact on your mental state. We see tons of anger and negativity online every day. That has a negative impact on your peace, as it drains some energy out of you that could have been used for something positive. We discuss how finding things that being you joy while letting go of things that drain you is a fantastic approach to shifting your energy. Rather than needing to find more energy (we are already exhausted), we talk about releasing energy that we are spending in a negative way, and reallocating it to something that supports your joy and peace.

Pokemon XP & Worlds Events

Starmie Super Mega Raid Day

Twitlight Trails

Wayfarer Update

GO Pass: September

Ken on Incensed

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lured Up Podcast 405:

Live Streamed on - 8/18/2026

Publish Date - 8/20/2026

We got back to basics last week, so we get back to gameplay this week. We start with a recap of the last week including having a week off of events, Nickit Community Day, and the kickoff of the Water Festival. Adam worked a card show but was able to squeeze in the final hour, and Ken was able to play in Red Bank with a solid group of Trainers. The Water Festival is a pretty awesome event, with new Pokémon, boosted Shinies, and some solid Tier 1 and 3 Raids. This week is also a great one to put in some grinding as we earn more and more XP and Stardust bonuses as we progress through the event.

That week off was a nice break but Lunala and Mega Starmie mean that it is time to get back to Raids.Lunala’s Shiny debut will be a popular one for sure, and a Super Mega Raid Day for Starmie will be 6 hours of Mega Raid goodness. We take a look at both Pokebattler and GO Hub to put a little Raid Guide and Battle Party together for them both. We will likely see plenty of Mega Mewtwo Y in the lobbies as it is a top counter for both bosses.

We have some time before the end of month push with XP, Worlds, Mega Ascension, and the Mega Finale take over our lives for a bit. This week is the perfect opportunity to perform your Pokémon storage and item maintenance. It has been a struggle for many to recover from GO Fest, so you should have awareness now if you want to make sure your GO Plus can run non stop during the events. Is buying box storage the answer? It is really only a short term solution because if you don’t have an inventory plan, you will end up out of space very quickly.

We wrap up with our Professor’s Principle of the week, which takes a look at how important it is to position yourself in a way to achieve small victories. From setting fun and unique personal challenges in the game, to letting Party play guide you, there are ways to keep momentum pushing forward to make a gameplay session more fun and engaging, without needing a big reward at the end. It parallels well with life too. Pride is an awesome feeling that is helped along when you feel accomplished. Finding a process that includes small and achievable goals is an awesome way to keep yourself feeling driven and motivated to press on.

Nickit Community Day

Water Festival

Starmie Super Mega Raid Day

Pokebattler Lunala Counters

GO Hub Lunala Counters

Pokébattler Mega Starmie Counters

GO Hub Mega Starmie Counters

Pokémon XP & Worlds Events

GO Fest Mega Ascension & Finale

Listen to this episode ad free on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/PokemonProfessor 

[email protected] | Voicemail and SMS: 732-835-8639 

Grab some merch: https://crowdmade.com/collections/professornetwork 

Connect with us on multiple platforms! https://linktr.ee/LuredUp 

Hosts

Ken Pescatore

Adam Tuttle

Writer and Producer

Ken Pescatore

Executive Producer 

Xander

Show music provided by GameChops and licensed through Creative Commons

▾ FOLLOW GAMECHOPS ▾

http://instagram.com/GameChops

http://twitter.com/GameChops

http://soundcloud.com/GameChops

http://facebook.com/GameChops

http://youtube.com/GameChops

http://www.gamechops.com

Intro Music

Lake Verity (Drum & Bass Remix) 

Tetracase

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/

https://soundcloud.com/tetracase 

https://soundcloud.com/MegaFlare0

Break Music

National Park

Mikel & GameChops

GameChops - Poké & Chill

http://smarturl.it/pokechill

https://twitter.com/mikel_beats

Outro Music

Vast Poni Canyon

CG5 & GlitchxCity (Future Bass Remix)

GameChops - Ultraball

http://gamechops.com/ultraball/ 

http://soundcloud.com/cg5-beats

https://soundcloud.com/glitchxcity

Pokémon And All Respective Names are Trademark and © of Nintendo 1996-2026Pokémon GO is Trademark and © of Scopely ExploreLured Up and the Pokémon Professor Network are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company, Game Freak or Nintendo.

#pokemon #pokemongo #podcast

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices