The new Buddy Adventure system has come to Pokémon GO, allowing you to team up with a special buddy Pokémon and increase your bond, unlocking powerful perks that give you extra rewards, or even make your best bud more powerful by increasing their total CP.
The Buddy Adventure feature lets you customize your favorite Pokémon more than ever before, and I’m going to explain how everything works — what activities you can take your Pokémon on, and what perks you’ll unlock for increasing your bond to max level.
There’s a lot you need to know about Buddy Adventures, so let’s delve into the deep end. Here’s how to set buddies, how to increase your Buddy Level, and what perks you’ll earn for earning Pokémon affection.
More Pokémon GO guides:
All The Shadow Pokémon You Can Catch (So Far!) | Full List | How To Catch (And Purify) Shadow Pokémon | Capture Guide | How To Fight Team Rocket GO | Invasion Event Guide | How To Fight Rocket Leader Giovanni | Legendary Shadow Pokémon Guide
How The New Buddy Adventure System Works | Increased CP, Bonus Rewards & More
The Buddy Adventure system allows your trainer to set a Buddy — a Pokémon Buddy appears on the map, follows you around, and unlocks special perks as you earn affection by completing special activities with your buddy.
- NOTE: You can only have a single Pokémon set as your buddy at a time. You can swap Buddy Pokémon up to 20 times a day.
To select a Buddy, go to the Map View and push the Buddy Button in the top-right corner. You can also select your Buddy Profile on your Trainer Profile menu.
With your Buddy selected, you’ll be able to complete daily activities to earn affection hearts — the more hearts you earn, you’ll be able to rank up. There are four Buddy Levels, and each one unlocks special extra perks for your Pokémon.
How To Increase Buddy Level
To increase your Buddy Level, you’ll need to complete a variety of daily activities. There are many, many different activities you can take part in — and you can earn more affection by temporarily increasing your Buddy Pokémon’s mood.
How Buddy Mood Works: The more you interact with your Buddy and complete activities, the more that Pokémon’s mood will increase. There are five levels of mood, and if you reach the Excited mood, you’ll earn more daily affection hearts and other rewards. Mood will slowly lower over time, so you’ll need to interact with your buddy often to keep their mood high.
To increase Mood and earn Affection Hearts, you’ll need to do different activities with your Buddy Pokémon. Here’s everything you can do.
- Give Your Buddy Treats: To walk with your Buddy, you need to feed them. Give Berry or Poffin to fill you Buddy’s Hunger Meter.
- Walk Together: Buddy will only appear on the map if their Hunger Meter is full. The Buddy will stay until the Hunger Meter is empty.
- Pet Your Buddy: Enter AR Mode and pet your Pokémon.
- Battle With Your Buddy: Fight in any battle with your Buddy — Gyms, Raids, Trainer Battles or Team GO Rocket Battles.
- Take A Screenshot: Enter AR Mode and take a picture with your Buddy.
- Visit New Places: In Map View, visit PokeStops or Gyms you’ve never visited before. Complete activities at new spots with your Buddy, and you’ll earn bonus Affection.
You can also access special Bonus Activities — check your Buddy Profile page to find Bonus items. Your Pokémon will give you a Souvenir or a Present for visiting Gyms / PokeStops they want to visit.
All The Perks You Can Unlock
Earn Affection Hearts will slowly increase your Buddy Level. There are four buddy levels, and each one earns you special perks for your Buddy! Here’s everything you can unlock.
- Buddy Level 1
- Adventure With Buddy: Your Buddy joins you on the map when their Hunger Meter is full.
- Readable Mood: Your Buddy unlocks the Mood Meter. You can increase your Buddy’s Mood for bonus rewards.
- Buddy Level 2
- Catch Assist: Your Buddy will re-throw a missed Pokeball when attempting to catch a Pokémon.
- Presents: While exploring, your Buddy might send you Berries or Potions as gifts. Open gifts in AR Mode.
- Buddy Level 3
- Souvenirs: Your Buddy will give you Souvenirs for different areas you visit. Souvenirs commemorate locations you’ve visited — so travel to as many places as you can!
- Bonus PokeStop: Your Buddy will highlight a PokeStop on your map. Visit and spin the PokeStop to earn Bonus rewards.
- Buddy Level 4
- CP Boost: Your Buddy Pokémon, while set as your buddy, will have an increase to their CP.
- Best Buddy Ribbon: Your Buddy wears a special ribbon, commemorating their Best Buddy status!
More Pokemon GO tips, tricks, and FAQs:
Perfect Pokeball Throws With AssistiveTouch | How to Become A Gym Leader | How to Earn Coins (Fast) & What They’re Used For | Where to Find (And Catch) Pokemon | Spawn Locations | iOS & Android Compatibility – Which Versions Work | Easy Ways to Earn XP & Level Up Fast | How to Take In-Game Screenshots | Is It Out In Your Country? | Availability List | All the Moves, Ranked Best to Worst | Complete List | 6 Essential Facts You Need to Know About the Buddy System
