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In mostPokemongames, Incenses are Held Items that have various effects. Some will increase the power of a Pokemon’s moves while others may lower the opponent’s accuracy. Incenses must be held by specific Pokemon in order to produce Baby Pokemon such as Azurill and Munchlax. However, Incenses serve a different purpose inPokemon GO.
Since the Held Items mechanic currently doesn’t exist inPokemon GO,and it’s debatable whether they will be included or not, Incenses are used to attract wild Pokemon. These can be useful when players want more Pokemon to catch. If Incenses are something that players want to use inGO, then they should learn everything there is to know about them.
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Types of Incense
Incenses will lure wild Pokemonto a player’s location for 60 minutes. Pokemon will appear every minute as long as players are walking. At the time of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Incense would spawn Pokemon every five minutes even if players were standing still. However, this has since been removed, requiring players to be walking in order for Incense to work.
To use an Incense, all trainers need to do is access the menu (Poke Ball icon at the bottom of the screen), go into their Items, and select Incense. Incense usage is indicated in-game by a pink mist surrounding the player’s character and any Pokemon that are summoned by it. Compared to regular spawns, Incense-spawned Pokemon might be trickier to catch since they’re more likely to dodge a Poke Ball.
There are a total of four different types of Incense inPokemon GOas of 2022:
Green Incense
The most common type of Incense that can bepurchased from the in-game Store. These will attract random Pokemon to a player’s location.
Orange Incense
These are special event Incenses that attract a certain Type of Pokemon. By using or buying an Incense during special events, the Incense icon may be orange instead of green. However, once the event ends, it will revert to its green-coloring.
Daily Adventure Incense
This is a new type of Incensethat was added to the game on July 17, 2025. Instead of a pink gas, Daily Adventure Incense is blue. This Incense has a15-minute effectand requires players to be walking for it to work. However, Pokemon are more likely to show up, appearing every 30 seconds as opposed to every minute when using the green/orange incense. Like Orange Incense, Daily Adventure Incense spawns event-Pokemon more than non-event Pokemon.
Mystery Box
The Mystery Box isn’t what some would consider a traditional Incense, but it functions like one anyway, and players can’t use regular Incense while this one is active. Players can get the Mystery Box by transferring a Pokemon toPokemon: Let’s go, Pikachu!/Eevee!orPokemon HOME. The Mystery Box is used the exact same way as Incense (i.e: selected from Items).
Using the Mystery Box ishow players can catch Meltan, since it will cause wild Meltan to spawn for 60 minutes. If the timer runs out, players will have to wait three days before the Mystery Box can be reopened. Unlocking the box requires transferring another Pokemon fromGOtoLet’s go, Pikachu!/Eevee!orHOME.
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Where to Get Incense
Players can buy one Incense for 40 PokeCoins, or get a bundle of 8 Incense for 250 PokeCoins. Remember that these are only Green (or Orange, during an Event) Incense. PokeCoins can be bought from the Store, but they can be earned for free by leaving Pokemon at a Gymwith the player’s team’s color. There’s a cap of 50 PokeCoins daily.
Alternatively, players can get Incense by leveling up. At level 5, players will receive their first Incense. They’lll receive another Incense at level 7 and level 10. After that, they’ll get one Incense every 5 levels. At level 20, they’ll receive two Incenses instead of one, three Incenses at 30, and so forth.
Incenses may be a part of a reward set for Special Research tasks.Unlike Timed Research tasks, Special Research tasks will remain a part of the player’s task list forever.A Mysterious Incense Part 1andA Mysterious Incense Part 2will rewardone Incensefor completing part 1 of both Special Research tasks. Purifying 5 Shadow Pokemon as a part ofProfessor’s Researchwill also give an Incense.
As for Daily Adventure Incense, these will appear in the top-right corner of the overworld mapas long as players don’t already have one. Unfortunately, this means Daily Adventure Incense cannot be stacked. Thus, players should make sure they use their Daily Adventure Incensebefore 12:00 local timeif they want to receive another the following day.
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