Incense

Incense is an item that makes Pokémon spawn nearby a Trainer temporarily.

Incense, when activated, shows a pinkish cloud aura around the Trainer. The effect will follow a Trainer if the Trainer continues to travel, though part of the appeal is being able to keep catching while remaining in one place. Pokémon lured by the Incense will also have a pink cloud aura. Spawns are either based on the local biome the player is in or on the ongoing event.

Normally, activated Incense lasts for an hour and it spawns 1 Pokémon every 5 minutes if the Trainer is standing still, and 1 Pokémon every 1 minute or 200 meters (whichever happens first) while moving. Other Trainers are not affected by this item. The duration of the active Incense and the effectiveness can be changed by ongoing events.

When the ongoing event sets a specific pool of Pokémon to be spawned with an Incense the item changes color from green to orange everywhere in the game for the time of that event.

The Pokémon spawned by the Incense do not show up in the Nearby tab.

This item cannot be obtained from a PokéStop itself. However, it can be received by reaching certain levels, or by purchasing it from the Shop for. A bundle containing eight Incenses can be purchased for as well. It can be also rewarded for completing set of Special Research tasks.


 * In-game description
 * Incense with a mysterious fragrance that lures wild Pokémon to your location for 30 minutes.

Mystery Box
Mystery Box is a special kind of Incense available exclusively for players who linked their Pokémon GO game account with the Pokémon Let's Go game or Pokémon HOME and have transferred at least one Pokémon to that game.

Opening it releases a scent which attracts Meltan for 30 minutes. Once the box has been activated, the Trainer must wait 3 days to transfer Pokémon and receive another box. There is a visible countdown that starts at 3 and decreases by one each day, until it reaches zero.

Before April, 2019, the cooldown of Mystery Box was 7 days.

The connectivity to Pokémon HOME is available since November, 2020.


 * In-game description
 * A mysterious old box. Opening it causes a certain Pokémon to appear for a limited time.

Trivia

 * Trainer receives Incense as the reward for achieving specific levels:
 * at levels 5, 7, 10, 15, 25 and 35 they receive one Incense,
 * at level 20 two of them,
 * at level 30 three Incenses,
 * and at level 40 four Incenses.
 * In game files and code there are some data about other types of Incenses, although none of these was implemented to the gameplay yet:
 * there is data with picture of Ordinary Incense, that looks like jar of honey.
 * there is also some data about three types of Incense that supposed to lure specific types of Pokémon, like:
 * Spicy Incense that might attract and possibly  Pokémon,
 * Cool Incense that might attract and possibly  Pokémon
 * and Floral Incense that might attract and possibly  Pokémon.
 * Initially, Incense only lasted for 30 minutes. It is increased to 1 hour since the COVID-19 pandemic and was announced to be permanent on September, 2020.
 * Before worldwide adjustments, Incense in Japan, South Korea and Italy is 50% off, lasts for 60 minutes and attracts more Pokémon from March to, 2020.
 * Mystery Box is considered by the game to be an Incense due to attracting Meltan like how Incense attracts Pokémon as well as the changes to Incense due to the COVID-19 pandemic also applies to Mystery Box.
 * Before its release, Mystery Box was referred in game code as "BELUGA_BOX".
 * Trainer cannot use Incense and Mystery Box simultaneously.