GO Hub Guide to your Pokémon GO Inventory

Hi there Trainers! Every Pokémon Trainer has a backpack for essentials. A well-stocked inventory can aid you greatly in your quests and adventures but it can be confusing, what do all these things do? What do I keep? What do I toss? How do I get some of those items? It’s all here, so let’s dig in!

Poké Balls

Your basics. No balls equals no catching Pokémon.

Poké Ball – Your standard red Pokéball. Easy come, easy go, spin any stop or Gym and chances are you will get some more. Throw it for a chance to catch a Pokémon. Recommended for first forms and low CP Pokémon.

Great Ball – Next level up from a Poké ball, gives you a slightly higher catch rate. Not as easy to come by as red balls but not uncommon. Recommended for second evolution Pokémon and higher level/weather boosted Pokémon that are giving you trouble.

Ultra Ball – Your top tier ball with the highest base level catch chance.  Can take a while to build up a stash so use sparingly and as a last resort if something is being particularly tricky. Recommended for shiny Pokémon and final evolutions forms.

Tips

• When it comes to catching, pay attention to the colour of the circle around your Pokémon, it has a scale of green to red with red being the most difficult to catch and choose appropriately.
• Try to throw a curve ball whenever you can and land inside the smallest circle you can manage, it all adds not only to the amount of XP you get for the catch but also increases your chances of catching it.
• Pokémon become easier to catch the more you catch of that type, increases in chances are at 10, 50, 200 and 2500.
• Balls are available for free by spinning stops and Gyms, in field research quest rewards, in gifts, Poké Balls (but not Great or Ultra balls) are available in the shop if you get desperate.
• Fun fact: The colour schemes of the Great League, Ultra League and Master League match the colours of the Great, Ultra and Master Ball (Master Ball not in game)
• For more info around catch probabilities read further here https://pokemongohub.net/post/wiki/catch-mechanics/

Berries

Berries assist you and give you bonuses when catching Pokémon, but which to choose?

• Razz Berry – What Pokémon doesn’t like a razz? Makes it a little easier to catch, might reduce a catching circle down by a few shades towards green. Pretty easy to get hold of.
• Golden Razz Berry – Like a razz berry but super charged, will significantly change the catching colour circle for easy catching. More difficult to build a stash, use sparingly on rare Pokémon.
• Pinap Berry – Doubles the amount of candy you will receive when you catch the Pokémon. Easy to get, use at will.
• Silver Pinap Berry – Doubles the amount of candy a Pokémon will give you when you catch it and makes it easier to catch (not as easy as a Golden Razz will, but more effective than a Razz Berry). Pretty rare outside of raid rewards so use sparingly on something rare/new Pokédex entries.
• Nanab Berry – If you have a Pokémon jumping around, making itself a difficult target, this berry will make it stand still so it is easier to hit but not increasing the catch rate itself. Use as you need to, easily replaced!

Tips

• You can only use one berry at a time, if a Pokémon jumps out of the Pokéball after using a berry then you will have to use another to get the same effect again.
• If you have an excess of berries then you can feed them to your Pokémon or any of your teammates Pokémon in Gyms and receive 30 Stardust per berry, doesn’t sound a lot but it all adds up and 60 berries suddenly become 1800 dust or 2700 with a star piece active (star pieces covered further down)
• Standard Razz/Pinaps/Nanabs are all available from spinning stops and Gyms, the Golden Razz and Silver Pinaps can be quest items and are also given as raid rewards for beating a boss (Silver Pinaps more from Mega raids, Golden Razz from all other raids).
• Pinaps and silver Pinaps also stack with in-game catch candy bonuses to give you even more!
• If you are catching an evolved Pokémon you will naturally receive more candies for catching – base form is 3 candies, second evolution is 5 candies and third is 10 candies, these can all be doubled with a Pinap/Silver Pinap.

Potions and revives

Post battling you will need to heal and revive your fainted Pokémon, the stronger potions become available as you level up as a Trainer.

Potions

• Potion – your standard potion that will restore 20 HP
• Super potion – Will restore 50 HP
• Hyper Potion – Will restore 200 HP
• Max Potion  – Will restore all HP

Once you become strong enough to access the higher level potions and your Pokémon become stronger as a result, the lower level potions become less valuable. In terms of bag space 10 potions is the same as 1 hyper potion so if space is limited then consider letting go some of the lower level potions. In my mind hyper potions and max potions do the same job and are equally valuable so don’t feel like you have to bin those to make room for max potions.

Tips

• As the potions become stronger they become less likely to get from spinning stops and Gyms but any can drop.
• Gifts are a fairly reliable source of potions, they are quite often field research rewards and after any raid/team rocket battle you are likely to receive some to help you.
• Max potions are available to purchase from the shop but not the lower level ones.
• If you want to be strategic with your resources you can check each Pokémon that requires a potion, check how much HP needs restoring and then choose appropriately.

Revives

Revive – Any Pokémon that faints will need one. This item revives your Pokémon so you can use it again for battling. It will restore half of your Pokémons HP at the same time.

Max Revive – Perhaps no surprise that a Max Revive will revive your Pokémon at full health. These become available later on in your Pokémon journey. They are rarer to obtain over the regular revive. If you are overrun with max revives (lucky you) then you may not need a big stash of potions but if you have a healthy stash of potions and standard revives consider using those over max revives in my opinion just because they are more difficult to get hold of.

Tips

• Max revives are available to buy from the shop but they are expensive at 6 for 180 coins.
• Research around drop rates of items show revives and potions are more likely to drop from Gyms so if you are struggling, camp out at a concentration if Gyms and keep spinning.
• Otherwise both are available as field research rewards, in gifts and after battling team rocket/most raids.

The Community Day Trinity (Incense/Lucky Egg/Star Piece)

These items all complement your individual account with bonuses lasting 30 or 60 minutes mins, often used in conjunction on Community Days. All of these items can be stacked, meaning you can use as many as you want at one time so instead of having one incense active for 60 minutes you can use 4 and have four hours of spawny goodness!

Incense

Incense lasts 60 mins and will spawn a Pokémon every 90 seconds around you. They are not more likely to give you a shiny or a better IV, they just force spawns specific to you, no one else will be able to catch them (see Lures for items that benefit other players). During Community Days incense typically last 3 hours! 

NB: Incense effectiveness and length is boosted at the moment due to the ongoing in-game COVID-related bonuses, changes to these bonuses have recently been announced see here for more info

Lucky Egg

Lucky Eggs last 30 mins and double the XP you receive for any in-game action including levelling up friendships. These also usually stack with ongoing external bonuses available to everyone, so if there is an event going on with 3x catch XP, then a Lucky Egg will bump this to 6x catch XP.

Star Piece

So pretty…. these magnificent looking items will increase the Stardust you receive by 50%. For example, under normal circumstances a Pokémon will give you 150 dust instead of the usual 100.

These also stack with in-game events, so 2x catch dust becomes 3x catch dust and so on. With Stardust being the most valuable commodity in-game use these wisely to capitalize on those gains. Read more here: The Ultimate Stardust Guide: Farming, Trading, Second Charge Move, Powering Up

All these items are considered ‘premium’ so outside of Special Research and a reward for levelling up these items all need purchasing from the shop with Poké Coins. They can be purchased individually or as a bundle at a discounted rate.

Technical Machines aka TM’s

Not all movesets were created equal – some are better suited for raids, some for Trainer Battles, some moves were only available for a short period of time, and some Pokémon have a such wide variety of available moves that it can be tricky to get the one you want.

In any instance, if you want to change the moveset your Pokémon has you are going to need TM’s.

• Fast TM – Broadly speaking most Pokémon only have a choice of two fast moves to choose from, so it’s fairly straightforward to swap from one to the other.
• Charge TM – Charge moves can be a little more fiddly, as a Pokémon can have many charge moves, and using a charge TM chooses the move randomly from the currently available pool. You may find yourself pinging back and forth until you get the one you want.
• Elite Fast TM – With an Elite TM you have the privilege of choosing the move you want to have, including moves no longer usually available.
• Elite Charge TM – Same as Elite Fast TM except this obviously applies to charged moves. If you have unlocked the second charge move on your Pokémon then you need to confirm which move you want to change.

Tips

• The thing is with TM’s, you can’t buy them. Regular TM’s are relatively straightforward to obtain – from Raids and as Go Battle League rewards – and usually given away with Special Research.
• Elite TM’s are much rarer. Generally speaking, one is given away at the end of each Go Battle League season by achieving a high enough rank, usually the type rotates between Fast and Charge TM.
• The only other way (at present) to obtain one is to buy a box that normally comes round every Community Day, usually contains an Elite TM of some sort depending on whether the Community Day exclusive move is Fast/Charge.
• The box always costs 1280 Poké Coins, and the rest of the contents of the box do vary greatly as to their value, so it can questionable whether the box is worth it or not to you.
• For a full list of legacy Fast and Charge Moves only available through an Elite TM follow this link.

Lure Modules

In a similar vein to Incense, Lure Modules attract Pokémon to a Pokéstop location but rather than specifically you being the only Trainer to benefit, anyone passing by can pick up the spawns they generate. There are still different types though, see below how they differ!

• Lure Module – Your standard lure. They will attract whatever Pokémon is in the general area. If there is an event going on for example Community Day then it will attract those. Gives a confetti look to a Pokéstop.
• Glacial Lure – In additional to having a greater chance of bringing in Ice-types you can also evolve an Eevee into a Glaceon by being near one. Gives a snowflake effect to the Pokéstop.
• Mossy Lure – This lure will bring Grass-types with greater frequency. You can evolve an Eevee into a Leafeon by being near one. Gives a falling leaves effect to the Pokéstop.
• Magnetic Lure – Most commonly brings Electric-type spawns. You can evolve a Magneton and Nosepass into Magnezone and Probopass as applicable by being near one. Gives you an unusual block effect to a Pokéstop.
• Rainy Lure – The newest addition the lure family, bring Water-types to the forefront. You can evolve a Sliggoo into Goodra by being near one. Gives a heavy rain shower effect to the Pokéstop. 

Tips

• All lure types are available to buy through the shop, special lures as single items at 200 coins each. Generic lures as a single purchase or as a bundle at a reduced rate.
• The only free way to obtain lures of any kind is through Special Research quest lines or by levelling up.
• There is a Trainer medal called ‘Picnicker’ that you can only progress in by placing lure modules on Pokéstops and having other Trainers catch the resulting spawns.
• Lures of all kinds, generally last only 30 mins and you cannot stack them like some other items. There is no way to tell at present how much longer is left on it.
• You can see who placed the lure module on the Pokéstop by clicking on the stop, the Trainer name will be given at the top of the screen, so you can in effect use this to let your fellow Trainers where you are through the -in-game map.

Evolution items

Some species of Pokémon can only be evolved by using a particular item as well as candies. See below for the species that need an item to help them on their way!

Johto evolution items

First introduced with the launch of the Johto pokédex in Pokemon Go.

• Kings Rock – Politoed, Slowbro (Kanto and Galarian)
• Dragon Scale – Kingdra
• Upgrade – Porygon2
• Sun Stone – Bellossom, Sunflora, Whimsicott, Lilligant
• Metal Coat – Onix, Scyther

Sinnoh stone

Modelled using a diamond and pearl and introduced with the launch of the Sinnoh pokédex bringing a list of previous generation Pokémon evolutions with it!

• Lickitung
• Rhydon
• Tangela
• Electabuzz
• Magmar
• Togetic
• Aipom
• Yanma
• Murkrow
• Misdreavus
• Nosepass (when near a Magnetic lure)
• Magnezone (when near a Magnetic lure)
• Gligar
• Sneasel
• Piloswine
• Porygon2
• Kirlia (into Gallade)
• Roselia
• Dusclops
• Snorunt (into Froslass)

Unova stone

A black and white stone introduced to coincide with the Unova pokédex launch bringing some previously unavailable evolutions too.

• The regional monkeys, Pansear/Pansage/Panpour
• Munna
• Minccino
• Lampent
• Eelektrik

Tips

• None of these special items can be bought in the shop.
• The Johto items can be dropped rarely from pokéstop spins and you are guaranteed one of them from your 7-day pokéstop spin streak.
• The Sinnoh and Unova stones can be dropped by battling Team Rocket leaders and also through the 7-day Research Box reward.

Raid/battles passes

If you see a raid you want to tackle or fancy better rewards from Go Battle League then you are going to need a pass of some sort. Although they look and have similar uses they are different…

• Raid Pass (the orange one) – This is your free daily raid pass you get from Niantic. It can’t be used in Go Battle League for the Premium Battle Rewards or used remotely. You have to be within range of the Gym (ie close enough to spin it) to use it. If you start the day with your free raid pass and then use it, you will receive a new free daily pass from the next Gym spin/interaction.
• Premium Battle Pass (the green one) – These have two functions, battle in a raid same as the Raid Pass or use to unlock the high tier rewards in Go Battle League. Available to buy in the shop individually or as part of the box bundles (contents may vary) and occasionally in Special Research rewards.
• Remote Raid Pass (the blue one) – Introduced during the pandemic, you can click on any Gym you can see on the in-game map and raid at it, even if you aren’t close enough to spin it. If you are invited to a raid anywhere you will need a remote pass to take part. These passes cannot be used in Go Battle League for the higher tier rewards. These are bought in the shop individually or as a 3-pack, you receive one free remote pass a week in the 7-day research box.

Tips

• There is no distance limit that you remote raid at, you can raid in Taiwan, then New Zealand, then the USA, then Hungary and anywhere in-between, all from wherever you are.
• As part of the in-game COVID bonuses remote raiders do the same damage as Trainers physically at the Gym, this may change in the future when these bonuses come to an end.
• There is a limit of 10 remote raiders per raid and if you have been invited to a raid then you cannot then invite more people yourself.

Incubators

Hatching Eggs has been an integral part of the main series Pokémon games for a long time and a part of Pokémon GO since the beginning. Although I’m not going to go into the Eggs themselves here more info can be found in this article.

• Infinity Incubator – Niantic give you one Incubator that will never break and hatches at normal speed so you can always have at least one Egg on the go at all times.
• Standard Incubator – Just like the infinity Incubators but break and have to be replaced after 3 uses.
• Super Incubator – Reduce the distance required to hatch an Egg by one third. Also break after 3 uses. The reduction in walking distance also stacks with in-game events so if it is half distance you can really get cracking! (Sorry)

Tips

• Incubators are considered a premium item and are generally only available through the shop or as a levelling up reward.
• Both standard and Super Incubators are available to buy singly or as part of the box bundles.
• It is completely down to you which Eggs you place in what Incubator, but constantly replacing Incubators can be expensive, so I would personally reserve the 2km/5km for the infinity one.
• The Egg pool (what is available in each Egg tier) refreshes frequently but clicking on each Egg will reveal what could be inside it.

Miscellaneous

And the rest. We are almost at the end of our inventory journey, hold on for one more round…

Team Rocket items

Mysterious components are received from battling Team Rocket grunts, 6 components build a Rocket Radar so you can track down the Team Rocket Leaders. The radars can be bought in the shop at 200 coins each.

In Team Rocket Special Research quest lines you can earn a Super Rocket Radar to help you track down Giovanni and potentially catch a shadow Legendary!

Rare Candy / XL Candy

• Chances are, if you have access to Rare XL Candy you know what it does. Only available from level 40 onwards, what isn’t clear at the moment is how else to earn these other than by levelling up past level 40 so at the moment these are the only item that cannot be replaced once you reach level 50.
• Rare Candy is a Raid reward, through Go Battles League and the occasional field and Special Research. These are converted into a candy for whatever Pokémon species you like, so if you have a legendary you want to power up but are out of candy then you will need these as well as dust!

Poffins

Feed a Poffin to your Buddy to make it instantly excited and earn hearts for you and push it along to becoming your best buddy! This great feature has been covered in much more details here by Zeroghan.

Closing words…

Phew, what a journey! Every item mentioned has a place in Pokémon GO and is there to help you. Space in your bag is currently capped at 3,000 items (upgrade your bag space in the shop) and as with so many things in Pokémon it is down to you what to keep – raid and battle a lot? Keep more potions and revives. A keen collector? Focus on keeping a healthy stash of pokéballs. It is your adventure, do it your way!

Good luck, have fun and stay safe out there Trainers!