Pokemon Go Orange Incense: What is different about it?

Pokemon Go Orange IncenseNiantic

If you’ve noticed an Orange Incense appear in your Pokemon Go inventory, you might be wondering what it does and what’s different about it. We’re here to explain that for you.

There are a number of handy items that trainers can use in Pokemon Go to assist them on their journey to catching ’em all, such as Potions to heal, Lucky Eggs to earn more XP, and Fast TMs to learn new moves.

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One of the most useful items is Incense, which spawns Pokemon near a trainer’s location for an hour, at an average rate of one per minute. This is especially useful when players can’t travel or leave the house.

However, as the game has progressed through the years, Niantic have added an orange version of Incense, and many players still don’t know what it’s used for. Fortunately, the answer is quite simple.

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Orange IncenseNiantic / The Pokemon Company
Incense can be green or orange, depending on which Pokemon it will attract.

What is Orange Incense in Pokemon Go?

If you have an Orange Incense in your Item Bag, that means there’s a Pokemon Go event going on, and using Incense will only attract Pokemon that have something to do with that in-game event.

For example, during 2021’s week-long Kanto celebration event, Orange Incense attracted a specific set of creatures from the Kanto region including Caterpie, Machop, and Krabby.

Similarly, in the Hoopa’s Arrival event, a rotating set of Psychic and Ghost-type Pokemon were attracted to Incense for just one day to help Trainers complete the event-exclusive Collection Challenge.

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The most common time for Trainers to notice Orange Incense, though, is the popular monthly Community Day event which puts the spotlight on a specific Pokemon during event hours.

So essentially, Green Incense and Orange Incense function in the same way. The only difference is that Orange Incense will attract specific types of Pokemon, while Green Incense has the potential to attract any Pokemon.

Screenshot of Pokemon Go Kanto Celebration.Niantic / The Pokemon Company
Orange Incense will attract specific ‘mon during in-game events.

How to get Orange Incense in Pokemon Go

There’s no special method required to get your hands on Orange Incense. Any existing Incense you have in your Item Bag will simply change color for the duration of events that feature unique Pokemon spawns.

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When it comes to stocking up on Incense, there are a few ways to get them:

  • As a reward for leveling up.
  • As a reward for completing Special Research tasks.
  • By purchasing them from the Item Shop for 40 Pokecoins.

If you don’t want to spend your hard-earned Pokecoins, Incense can be quite rare to come across, so make sure you’re only using it when you really need it, or when there’s an event-specific Pokemon you want.


That’s all you need to know about Incense and Orange Incense! For more tips to become the ultimate Trainer, visit our dedicated Pokemon page and check out the guides below:

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