Pokémon Go developer Niantic continues to experiment with how players experience the game while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the world. Many players have had difficulty leaving their homes to walk around the world to play the game, preventing them from spinning PokéStops, obtaining gifts, or attending events. Niantic wants to try out daily guaranteed Pokémon encounters and offering free boxes for players who open up their Pokémon Go application.
At the time of this writing, Niantic is purely testing these concepts to see how they work with a small player base. If the testing succeeds and proves beneficial, within the next few months, more Pokémon Go players can expect these features added to their game.
What are the guaranteed Pokémon encounters?
Professor Willow will first appear to inform players he has been developing a unique new incense device. The chosen players will not find the item available in their bag, but it becomes active following the interaction with the Professor. Now, every day the trainer opens up the Pokémon Go application, a random Pokémon will be drawn to the incense and appear.
We don’t know what Pokémon have the chance of appearing with the incense, for instance, if they are from the trainer’s local choices or a much larger pool of available options.
What are the daily free boxes?
The daily free boxes will contain various items to add to a trainer’s inventory. These items will vary from potions to berries, Poké Balls, revives, and likely others. Much like the guaranteed Pokémon, the available items inside of the box will vary. Trainers who receive the free box will see a notification on the Pokémon Go in-game shop icon, where you can find the free box. The box refreshes each day.
These two upcoming daily activities are initially available to a small number of players in Pokémon Go. It will be several months before we see these features available to everyone.
