What is Orange Incense in Pokémon GO?

I’ve heard that some animals can’t stand the smell of strong citrus fruits like oranges and lemons. What smells pleasant and springy to us smells like concentrated acid to them. I don’t know what the incense in Pokémon GO actually smells like, but when it comes to orange incense, I’m guessing it doesn’t actually smell like oranges, since Pokémon probably wouldn’t be into that. Speaking of which, what is orange incense in Pokémon GO?

Despite my little riff a moment ago, orange incense isn’t actually differentiated by its scent, but the color of its container. Typical incense containers have a green top on them, but occasionally those green tops will switch to orange tops. Notice how I said “switch” there; orange incense isn’t a separate item from the regular green incense, but rather a variation that appears on its own. There’s no way to purchase orange incense separately from the regular ones, you just have to wait for them to appear. So when do they appear?

What is Orange Incense in Pokémon GO?

Orange incense only appears when there’s some kind of event going on in Pokémon GO, specifically one that affects that spawn rate of particular Pokémon. For example, during the Diá de Muertos back in November, spooky and festive Pokémon like Murkrow, Roselia, and Cubone were spawning in greater numbers. It was during this event that regular incense switched to orange incense. 

When orange incense is deployed during an event, only the Pokémon that the event is highlighting appear in greater numbers, as opposed to the normal incense which just attracts all Pokémon in general. The highlighted Pokémon will appear every minute in the wild, presumably to make it easier to catch those specific event Pokémon in greater numbers before the event ends. Once the event does end, orange incense will switch back to green incense and begin attracting general Pokémon again.