Where to get Lure Balls in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon has had specialized Poké Balls for quite some time, and one of the oldest of these is the Lure Ball. As opposed to Great Balls and Ultra Balls, which just make all Pokémon easier to catch, or balls that rely on timing or location, there is only one situation where Lure Balls work better than any other Poké Ball in the game: fishing. And that pattern stays the same in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

While that’s a pretty narrow window, it can be very useful for players. Fishing has traditionally been a way to find rarer Pokémon and a wider range of Pokémon spawn than what will traditionally pop up just by surfing along a watery route. Since fishing is also more time-consuming than the standard method of searching for Pokémon, using a Lure Ball is worth it if you’ve found the Pokémon you were searching for all along and don’t want to lost it.

Lure Balls are also particularly difficult to find due to their small niche. Perhaps Game Freak thought about the fact that they’re not very useful in many situations, and didn’t want them polluting the game’s item pool or shop menus as such.

In any event, there are Lure Balls in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but you’ll have to follow some specific steps to get to them. Check out the guide below for everything you need to know about Lure Balls.

Where to find Lure Balls in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

There’s only one place to find Lure Balls in SV: Porto Marinada, the town on the map that doesn’t seem to hold much purpose if you’re simply looking at the map at the beginning of the game. There’s no gym there, there’s no major shops there, and there’s only one Titan mission relatively close by it.

Porto Marinada’s significance only becomes apparent when you try to take on the gym in Cascarrafa and its Water type leader, Kofu. When you first go to challenge the Gym, Kofu will hurriedly run out past you and make his way all the way across the Asado desert to Porto Marinada. Unfortunately, he forgot his wallet when he did so. And you’re going to have to give it to him.

Cascarrafa’s first portion of the gym test is getting to Porto Marinada, finding Kofu and his apprentice, and then battling his apprentice for the right to give Kofu his wallet. After that, Kofu will have you get into one of Porto Marinada’s auctions to try to outbid others for some pricey seaweed. Once you’ve officially passed this gym test, Porto Marinada’s auctions will be available to you—and so will Lure Balls.

You see, outbidding others at a Porto Marinada for Lure Balls is the only way to purchase them in the game. As such, they have no set price, but you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of Pokédollars in your wallet so that you can get them while you’re there.

The Porto Marinada auction items reset several times a day. If you don’t see any auctioneers selling Lure Balls and want one, just come back later. They should cycle through frequently.