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Meet the Team

Three editors, one publisher, six years of Pokémon GO.

Meet the Team

Last updated: May 2026

The Pogodex editorial team is small and stable. We have intentionally kept the team small because Pokémon GO rewards depth of experience over breadth of bylines. Each member has a clear area of responsibility, an in-game track record, and a documented role in the editorial workflow. Detailed bios below; the underlying philosophy is on About Us.

Marcus K. — Editor-in-Chief & Senior PvP Analyst

Role: Sets editorial direction, leads PvP coverage, manages the raid-counter beat, final approval on all guides.

Experience: Marcus has been playing Pokémon GO since launch in 2016. He competed in the original Silph Arena tournament circuit before GO Battle League existed, and has played GBL every season since the format launched in 2020. He has reached Legend rank in multiple GBL seasons and has documented his ladder runs in our PvP feature archive. Outside Pokémon GO, his competitive Pokémon background goes back to the Game Boy Advance era.

Specialism: Move-set analysis, matchup math, league-specific team building, raid coordination logistics. Marcus also runs a regional raid Discord (~200 trainers) that organizes legendary raid hours, and the operational experience of running a community at that scale informs our raid-counter publishing schedule.

What Marcus writes: GBL tier lists for all three core leagues, seasonal Cup format breakdowns, raid counter lists for new Tier 5 bosses, Mega Evolution priority rankings, “is it worth investing” stardust analyses.

Aria T. — Data & Stats Editor

Role: Verifies every numerical figure on the site, maintains the Pokédex database, audits guide accuracy.

Experience: Aria’s background is in software engineering and data analysis. She has been playing Pokémon GO since 2017 and has spent the last four years systematically cross-referencing community datamining work against in-game observation. She maintains the internal database that feeds Pogodex’s Pokédex pages and writes the verification scripts that flag stat changes after each game update.

Specialism: Numerical accuracy. CP-at-level math, IV calculation logic, base stat verification, move base power and energy verification, weather boost mechanics, Best Buddy boost interactions, party play stat boosts. If a number is on Pogodex, Aria has signed off on it.

What Aria writes: Pokédex entries, IV calculator documentation, “the math behind” explainer pieces, post-update audits when Niantic changes mechanics, the long-form data deep-dives that take a week to produce.

Kai N. — Community & Events Editor

Role: Covers all Pokémon GO events, special research, Community Days, Spotlight Hours, raid hours, and ticketed events; manages reader correspondence on event-related questions.

Experience: Kai has played Pokémon GO since 2017 with a focus on event participation and community organizing. He has attended GO Fest as a player at five regional and global events, including in-person field testing in three different cities, and has documented the player experience at each. He has organized local Community Day meetups in his city since 2021.

Specialism: Event mechanics, ticketed-event value assessment, research-task tracking, regional event differences, real-world community organizing logistics. When we publish a “is the GO Fest ticket worth it” piece, Kai has been to one in person to find out.

What Kai writes: Community Day breakdowns, Spotlight Hour value assessments, GO Fest schedules and on-the-ground reports, special research walkthroughs, ticketed event reviews, season-launch summaries.

Giovanni Picaro — Founder & Publisher

Role: Founded Pogodex in summer 2020. Acts as publisher and the responsible legal entity. Handles business, technical, advertising, and operational concerns.

Experience: Giovanni’s professional background is in customer support and technical operations across content publishing and consumer technology. He is not a Pokémon GO PvP specialist, and the editorial voice of the site does not come from him — that work is done by Marcus, Aria, and Kai. Giovanni’s role is to make sure the site exists, the servers stay up, the legal compliance is current, and the editorial team has the resources to do their work without commercial interference. The editorial wall described on our Editorial Standards page exists in part because of how Giovanni structures the publication.

Guest contributors

From time to time we publish guest contributions on subjects beyond the core team’s expertise — regional event coverage outside the cities our editors live in, in-depth Silph Arena tournament reports, deep-dives on aspects of Pokémon GO mechanics requiring specialist insight (server-side raid coordination math, for example).

Guest contributions:

  • Are clearly bylined to the contributor with a one-paragraph bio at the bottom of the article.
  • Are edited by the relevant team member (Marcus for PvP/raids, Aria for stats and mechanics, Kai for events).
  • Are paid where they meet our editorial bar; we do not solicit unpaid guest content.
  • Cannot be sponsored. A contribution that is sponsored by an external party is sponsored content and is identified as such, not as a guest article.

If you would like to pitch a guest contribution, email info [at] pogodex [punto] space with the subject line Guest contributor pitch and a brief description of (a) what you would write about, (b) why you are qualified to write it, and (c) one or two paragraphs in your voice as a writing sample. We respond to legitimate pitches within 14 days.

Our hiring stance

The team is small by design and we hire rarely. When we do hire, we look for in-game track record over media background; for genuine specialism in some part of the Pokémon GO ecosystem (PvP at high rank, raid coordination, mechanics testing, regional community organizing); for clear writing in plain language; and for the willingness to defend a controversial recommendation with the math.

If your background fits and you are interested in writing for us in some sustained capacity, the same address as above (info [at] pogodex [punto] space) reaches the right person. We rarely respond quickly because we rarely have an open seat, but we read every legitimate inquiry.

Related pages: About Us · Our Mission · Editorial Standards · Work with Us · Contact Us