Do lure modules and incense cause new pokemon to spawn near you, or existing pokemon to be drawn to you?

Question

When a Lure Module is used on a PokéStop, do existing pokémon in the area get drawn to the PokéStop? Or rather do new pokémon spawn within the PokéStop area of effect? Or both?

When I head to a PokéStop with a lure module, it seems Pokémon appear from nowhere, and the Pokémon listed Nearby don't get any closer. So I am guessing it only causes random spawns.

Has anyone found the lure module to actually draw existing Pokémon to your location, or only spawn new pokémon? And does an individual's incense act the same way?

For an individual's incense, this could be an important question. If I see a rare pokémon 3 'steps' away, I would want incense to actually help draw that pokémon closer to me as I search for it. Whereas if the incense only spawns new pokémon, I'd rather use incense at other times.

Answer 1

jdero's comment is correct, while it may seem like Pokemon are drawn to the lure, they are definitely spawned on the lure. Areas have a list of Pokemon that are more likely to spawn there so you will see that nearby Pokemon are also the Pokemon that spawn at lures. A few factors make this very apparent. Firstly, in an area with multiple lures activated in close proximity a Pokemon will show up ever 5 minutes or so. The natural spawn rate of any are couldn't support this. Second, I have, while being in one such area, seen naturally spawning Pokemon appear every 20 or so minutes(about average) in addition to the ones spawned by the module. lastly, I have NEVER seen a rarer Pokemon move after using an incense or module near it (within 2 paws), and was able to go out and find said Pokemon after the lure was activated nearby in its original spot. Also incense works the same way as lures except instead of a proximity to spawn in, they spawn directly on top of you.

Answer 2

Alright, I don't have any data to back this up, nor can I make an accurate assessment considering the 3 step glitch that has not been fixed yet. But on two differant occasions I used incense and 1 very rare Pokemon spawned at each time (this is out of I estimate 20 uses of incense). However these Pokemon DID NOT show up on the nearby list at all and non of my fellow trainers saw them. So this led me to believe that the incense spawn them on my location exclusively for me. They were not drawn in closer. So I would say the incense has about a 1/10 chance of exclusively giving you a rare Pokemon not in the area. Further the rare Pokemon I recieved where evolutions of Pokemon I saw in the area naturally (i.e. I see a lot of slowpokes and the incense gave me a slowbro). I wouldn't expect anyone to see, say, a rapidash if you have never seen a ponyta, in the area. Again these are just observations, as i do not have a math or computer science degree to take apart the algorithm the game utilizes.

Answer 3

No I have used many incense and the rarity of pokemons is poor, mainly only pidgies or weevils which I'm not exactly thrilled about, especially as nearby there were better characters. Has nothing to do with nearby list just what's in your area

Answer 4

When deployed, any PokeStop under the influence can be seen on the map with a shower of pink petals around the stop. This can be seen by all players, as Pokemon attracted to the location can be found by any player at that location - making it a great item to use with friends.

Lure Modules can be purchased from the Shop either one for 100 PokeCoins, or 8 Modules for 680 PokeCoins. Additionally, when the trainer reaches certain levels - like level 8, they will also receive a free Lure Module.

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Incense can be used to attract more Pokemon to you. Its effects last for 30 minutes - but this can persist even when offline so be sure to make the most of it.

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Also, from the in game shop description,

Though none of descriptions explicitly say it, from personal experience, new Pokemon are simply spawned in during the time a lure or incense is active.