Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards

What is Pokémon Buddy?

Pokémon Buddy is an interesting feature in Pokémon GO, it allows Trainers to choose a Pokémon from their collection and take it along on a Pokemon hunt. After a certain distance, you will collect Candy corresponding to the Buddy Pokémon.

The Pokémon selected as a Buddy will appear next to the Trainer's avatar on the profile screen. You can select and change your Buddy Pokémon at any time, but there is a limit of 20 per day. Pokémon selected as a Buddy cannot be sent to a Gym or transferred.

The Buddy Adventure feature was introduced on December 18, 2019, allowing Trainers to play with Buddy Pokémon and increase Buddy Level between training with Pokémon.

In the content below, let's learn more about Pokémon Buddy in Pokémon GO with QuanTriMang.

Buddy Pokemon Rewards

Candy

Each Pokémon assigned as a Buddy has a specific number of kilometers to travel, after which the trainer is rewarded with a Candy. There are currently four different distances that you can earn Candy with your Buddy Pokémon:

1. 1 km - the distance is mainly for common Pokémon.
2. 3 km - distance for most Pokémon.
3. 5 km - distance mainly for rare Pokémon.
4. 20 km - distance for Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.

Additionally, the distance requirement can be halved when the Buddy Pokémon becomes Excited. (See below for more information.)

Candy XL (Trainer Level 31 and above)

Once a Trainer reaches Level 31, their Buddy Pokémon has a chance to earn an XL Candy every time it finds one. The odds of a Buddy Pokémon finding an XL Candy increase with the Pokémon's Level.

Mega Energy

If the Buddy Pokémon belongs to a family that has had its Mega Evolution performed before (registered in the Pokédex), then in addition to the Candy reward, it will also find 5 Mega Energy per km (For example, any Charmander can earn Mega Energy as long as the Trainer has Mega Evolved any Charizard).

Types of Buddy Pokémon

Each Pokémon has a specific Buddy Pokémon type, which determines where it is placed relative to the Trainer's avatar on the profile screen. There are 5 Buddy size types:

1. Medium - The Buddy Pokémon is placed to the right of the Trainer and is smaller than or equal to the size of the Trainer.
2. Big - The Buddy Pokémon is placed to the right, behind the trainer, and it is larger in size than the trainer.
3. Shoulder - Buddy Pokémon are small enough to fit on the Trainer's right shoulder.
4. Baby - Buddy Pokémon small enough to be held in the Trainer's hand.
5. Flying - Buddy Pokémon fly or float behind their Trainer. Unlike the four Buddy Pokémon types above, this type does not have any set size range for the Pokémon, so their size can vary. Most Flying-type Pokémon can fly, but not all.

Buddy Adventure

Buddy Adventure is the new name for the Buddy Pokémon feature after the upgrade.

How to select and change Buddy

To select a Pokémon as a Buddy Pokémon for the first time, a Trainer needs to:

1. Tap on the Trainer avatar in the bottom left corner (in Map View)
2. On the Trainer Profile screen, tap the Buddy button to select a Buddy Pokémon.

Once you select your first Buddy Pokémon, you won't be able to completely remove it, but will be able to swap from one Buddy Pokémon to another.

To swap Buddy Pokémon you just need to do the following:

1. Go to Coach Profile section.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the profile page and tap the Swap Buddies button .
3. Then select the new Pokémon you want to assign as a Buddy.

You can also review the Pokémon you have previously set as Buddy Pokémon by: tapping the Buddy History button located below the Trainer Level progress bar on the Trainer profile screen. On this Buddy History page, you can also change your Buddy Pokémon if you want. However, you can only swap Buddy Pokémon up to 20 times per day.

Increase affection with Pokémon Buddy

Try to do daily activities with your Buddy to increase your Buddy's affection for you and earn more Affection Hearts. Today 's Activities lists the interactions you can do during the day.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 1

Each time Trainers participate in an activity listed here, the hearts will change from gray to pink, indicating a heart has been earned in the respective category.

When your Buddy's mood becomes Excited, the Affection Hearts that can be earned are doubled (except Bonus items). The extra Hearts earned remain even when your Buddy Pokémon is no longer excited.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 2

Items in Today's Activities will reset at midnight and include the following:

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 3 Walk together - Walk together

Your Buddy Pokémon will appear and accompany you from the moment you feed it until its energy meter is completely depleted. You earn 1 Heart for every 2km you walk with your Buddy Pokémon on the map.

The progress of this activity will be reset when Buddy swap or daily reset occurs.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 4 Give your buddy a treat - Give Buddy a treat

Feeding a Buddy will fill its energy meter. You will receive 1 Heart when the energy meter is filled with 3 random berries, or earn 6 filled Hearts with just one Poffin.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 5 Play together - Play together

Play with Buddy in AR mode by tapping on Buddy, until you see lights and heart bubbles coming out of Buddy.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 6 Battle together - Battle together

Use Buddy in Battle Party when fighting in Gyms, Raid Battles, Trainer Battles, Training, or against Team GO Rocket.

In Battles, Buddy doesn't have to be in the action (it just has to be in the battle party), and you don't have to win to get Hearts. When battling in Gyms, each defeated Pokemon is counted separately.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 7 Take a snapshot - Take a photo Buddy

As the name suggests, you simply take a photo of Buddy while in AR mode.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 8 Visit a new place - Visit a new place

Visit PokéStops or Gyms you've never been to before with your Pokemon Buddy.

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 9 Bonus - Bonus

There can be 3 Bonus Hearts and can only be earned once per day, which is when a Buddy gives a Present or Souvenir to a Trainer; or when a Trainer visits a PokéStop/Gym that the Buddy wants to go to.

This activity does not show up until you get an Affection Heart on this category. Also, this category is not affected by your Buddy's excitement, so you can only earn a maximum of 3 Hearts - one heart for each Bonus - not 6.

Play with Pokémon Buddy

To play with a Pokémon Buddy, players need to tap the PLAY! button below the Buddy on its profile screen. Playing with a Pokémon Buddy will require permissions to the device's camera, as it needs to play in the game's AR mode. Additionally, you'll need a large enough flat space to "drop" the Pokémon Buddy to play:

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 10

There are some gestures that can be played with Buddy as follows:

1. Tapping a Pokemon once will cause it to perform Charged Attack actions.
2. Double tapping a Pokemon will cause it to perform Fast Attack actions.
3. Quickly swipe the Pokemon left or right to make it spin in a circle.
4. Slowly swiping at a Pokemon in a certain area (varies by Pokemon) is considered a patting action and if done consistently, you will receive a Heart.

This Buddy Play feature also allows Trainers to take photos of their Buddy Pokémon, feed it Berries/Poffins, or open gifts given by their Buddy.

Feed your Buddy Pokémon

Buddy can be fed from the Buddy play screen, but you can also give it a quick treat by tapping the Quick Treat button - without having to switch Buddy to AR view. However, this feature only appears when Buddy's energy bar is completely empty.

Feeding a Buddy Pokemon is very similar to catching a Pokemon: Trainers simply select a Berry or Poffin, then throw it at the Pokemon. If the feeding item they throw misses the Buddy, it remains in the Item Bag.

Poffin

Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 11 Poffin is a special food for Buddy Pokemon because they will not appear when you catch wild Pokemon. Just feed Buddy 1 Poffin, Buddy's energy bar will be filled immediately, Buddy will fall into an excited state and the Heart will be doubled (minus Bonus) which means your chance of earning Heart is also doubled.

When a Buddy's energy bar is filled with Poffins, it will turn yellow instead of pink. This bar will last 6 hours (1 hour per bar), so the Buddy will be active on the map twice as long as if fed with Berries. During this time, you should not feed the Buddy any more because it will not fill the bar, and will waste Berries.

However, getting Poffin is not easy, it is available in the Shop but you probably won't want to waste money to buy it. You can get it from AR Mapping Field Research or Special Research missions.

Pokémon Buddy Affection Level

Earning Affection Hearts will help players increase their Buddy Level. Similar to Friendship Level, each Buddy Level will receive special privileges.

Unlike Buddy's mood, Buddy Level will not decrease over time and will not reset daily. Buddy's affection levels for the player are as follows:

Good Buddy

Describe : Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 12

Total Affection Heart : 1

Privilege:

Adventure Buddy

Buddy will appear on the map when it is fed enough and its energy meter is full. While on the map, Buddy will earn Candy based on the walking distance required for each Pokemon.

Read Buddy's Mood

Interacting with your Buddy will improve their Mood, but it will decrease over time. Switching a Buddy will reset it to Normal. Excited is the Buddy's most positive mood, doubling the amount of Hearts you can earn and halving the distance you can walk to earn Candy.

Once a Buddy reaches the Good Buddy level, the Mood section will appear on the Buddy Profile screen. If a Buddy appears on the map, players can tap on the Buddy to see their mood.

Icon	Mood	Required Points
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 13	Tired	0
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 14	Dull	1
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 15	Normal	2
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 16	Happy	4
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 17	Smile	8
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 18	Fun	16
Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 19	Excited	32

Great Buddy

Describe : Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 20

Total Affection Heart : 70

Privilege:

Buddy present

When your Buddy Pokémon reaches Great Buddy level, it will occasionally give you gifts: items inside a bag with flowers tied to it. To open the gift bag, go to your Buddy's profile and you'll see the gift bag in front of your Buddy. Tap the gift bag to open it and receive the gift. Items inside can include: Poké Balls, Potions, Berries, Revives, and stickers from Gifts.

Catch assist

When you reach the Great Buddy level, Buddy will sometimes help you catch wild Pokemon. Specifically: if you throw a ball at a wild Pokemon and it bounces back, it is very likely that Buddy will appear in a corner of the screen and bounce the ball back to the wild Pokemon. This is also true when you fight Team GO Rocket and catch a shadow Pokemon.

Ultra Buddy

Describe : Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 21

Total Affection Heart : 150

Privilege:

Souvenirs

After leveling up to Ultra Buddy, Buddy Pokémon can give Souvenirs to Trainers. The types of Souvenirs Buddy gives will depend on the Trainer's local environment, and each Souvenir will indicate the location where the Buddy found it. Each time you receive a Souvenir, you will receive the corresponding Bonus Heart.

Once you get your first Buddy Souvenir, you'll see its Heart points in the Buddy profile screen, right above the Swap Buddy button.

Location

Buddy can point Trainers to a nearby PokéStop that it finds interesting. If the Trainer goes to that PokéStop and spins its Photo Disk, the Trainer will receive a reward item and 1 Bonus Heart accordingly.

Best Buddy

Describe : Learn about Pokémon Buddy in Pokemon GO - Walk your pet and earn rewards Picture 22

Total Affection Heart : 300

Privilege:

CP Boost

After reaching Best Buddy level, a Pokémon will receive a CP Boost that makes it stronger in Raid Battles, Gym Battles, Team GO Rocket, and Trainer Battles. The CP Boost is equivalent to the CP after 2 Power Ups, so if a Buddy Pokémon is boosted at level 40, it will have the CP equivalent to level 41.

CP Boost will not be applied if the Pokémon is not set as a Buddy.

Best Buddy Ribbon

Best Buddy will wear a special ribbon to mark that it has reached the best friend status with the Trainer. Some Best Buddy ribbons may not be aligned properly with the Pokemon's body due to the different sizes of Pokemon.

This feature can be turned off in the game settings.

Buddy Gifts

No matter what your Buddy Level is, as long as the number of Gifts in your Item Bag is less than 10, your Buddy will give them to you. This feature was introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to allow players to still receive Gifts without having to visit a PokéStop.

Each time, a Buddy will send you 1-5 Gifts from nearby PokéStops. These Gifts do not count towards the 100-day limit for sending gifts to friends; this only applies to gifts received by spinning PokéStops. Unlike Presents and Souvenirs, receiving Buddy Gifts will not grant you Hearts.

Pokémon Evolution

There are some Pokémon that can only evolve if set as a Buddy Pokémon, for example:

1. To evolve into Sylveon, it requires at least 70 Hearts (Great Buddy). If an Eevee has already earned 70 Hearts before evolving, it still needs to earn 70 more Hearts while being placed as a Buddy before it can evolve into Sylveon.
2. To evolve Floette into Florges, it requires earning at least 20 Hearts.

Additionally, the following Pokémon require specific tasks to be performed while a Buddy Pokémon in order to unlock their evolution. If a trainer switches to another Buddy, progress will not be lost, but will not be carried over until it is set back as a Buddy Pokémon:

1. Galarian Slowpoke requires catching 30 Poison or Psychic-type Pokémon to evolve into Galarian Slowbro and Slowking respectively.
2. Galarian Farfetch'd requires 10 Excellent Throws to evolve into Sirfetch'd.
3. Hisuian Qwilfish requires winning 10 Raids to evolve into Overqwil.
4. Galarian Yamask requires winning 10 Raids to evolve into Runerigus.
5. Pancham requires catching 32 Dark-type Pokémon to evolve into Pangoro.
6. Spritzee requires 1 Incense to evolve into Aromatisse.
7. Swirlix requires being fed 25 Treats to evolve into Slurpuff.

The following Pokémon will need to walk a specific distance with their Trainer before they can evolve:

1. 1 km: Woobat
2. 7 km: Hisuian Sneasel (during the day)
3. 10 km: Eevee (unlocks Espeon or Umbreon, alternates based on whether the evolution is day or night)
4. 15 km: Mime Jr., Bonsly and Happiny
5. 20 km: Feebas

So with the detailed information about Pokémon Buddy above, you can definitely understand more about exploiting and developing relationships with Pokémon in the game. If you want to share or learn more information about Pokémon GO, please share with us in the comments below!

Kareem Winters

Update 09 December 2024