Pokemon Go – New Buddy Features

Hey, Trainers! Exciting news! Upgrades to the Buddy System are here and I thought I’d break them down for you.

But first… a little history.

Buddies in Pokemon

The first time we ever got to have a Buddy follow us around was in 1998s Pokemon Yellow Version.

This re-release of Pokemon Red and Blue had a few marked improvements. The sprites were cleaner and more in-line with character art from the other facets of the franchise for one. There was the inclusion of Jesse and James, the lovable goofs from the Pokemon Anime. The game was optimized for the Gameboy Color, with each area having its own distinct tint. Jynx was recolored to be way less insensitive! But the main addition was your Starter Pokemon was always Pikachu… and it was a special one. If in your party, it would follow along behind you. You could talk to it and it would respond with actual ‘Pika!’ sounds instead of the chiptune gargle of every other Pikachu. It had a cute little portrait that would let you know the Pikachu’s feelings and everything.

Fast forward to 2009 and the remakes of Generation 2. Heart Gold and Soul Silver took a similar route, with Pokemon that followed you everywhere. This time, though, it was always the first Pokemon in your party. Even if that Pokemon happened to be Arceus itself. Any Pokemon from Generation 4 and earlier was able to walk at your heel and communicate their feelings to you.

This game also saw the first iteration of Pokemon that gave you benefits for physical activity. The Poke-Walker was released with this set of remakes.

You’d load one of your Pokemon into this pedometer type device, clip it to your belt and you’d be off. It kept track of your steps and traded activity for bonuses – your Pokemon would go up levels, find items and allow you to engage and catch up to three Pokemon per session. These Pokemon varied by pre-programmed Routes you’d pick prior to loading your Buddy into the device. Even special Pokemon could be obtained this way, like Surfing Pikachu and a Munchlax with the Explosion move. If you ever spot this game and the associated hardware anywhere, I recommend picking it up.

In 2013s Pokemon X/Y Versions, while not strictly a Buddy System, you did have Pokemon Amie. This allowed you to raise your Team’s affection for you by petting them and feeding them Macaron inspired treats called Pokepuffs. This will be important later.

The next games to allow us to have a Buddy follow us around were the, again, Red and Blue remakes, Let’s GO Pikachu and Let’s GO Eevee.

These games were an attempt to tie Pokemon GO and the home console game experience together. With the Pokeball Plus accessory functioning like a cross between the Poke-Walker of Heart Gold/Soul Silver and the Pokemon GO Plus hardware for Pokemon GO. Load a critter into your Pokeball Plus and walk it to gain in-game bonuses as well as catch new Pokemon, spin Pokestops and clock kilometers for hatching Eggs and getting Buddy Candy.

While the gameplay of these entries might have fallen a tad flat (only catching wild Pokemon instead of battling them felt odd) there’s no doubt that these Pokemon Buddies were some of the more active and engaging versions of this mechanic. Instead of being static beside your feet, your buddy will gallop ahead, romp around, run off and find items hidden in bushes and even let you ride them. This game also tied into Pokemon GO by allowing you to download Generation 1 monsters into a series of empty fields and it was the only way to get additional Meltan.

Using a special item obtained in Fuchsia City, you could cause them to spawn in Pokemon GO like an Incense.

And now, we have Buddy 2.0 in Pokemon GO.

New Features

Buddy Adventure is rolling out as of today, December 18th, at about 2:00pm for Level 40 Trainers. As per usual with these massive updates, they are staggering the release based on Level so as to not overload the servers. So, for those of you not level 40 yet, hold on just a little longer!

New things include:

An updated Buddy screen with new infographics detailing walking distance, treats given, play together, battle together, snapshots and new place visited. Each of these categories has a heart rating beside it.

A Play button on this screen that allows you to interact with your Buddy to raise its affection towards you. You can do this by tossing Berries to it or by stroking it, very much like Pokemon Amie. (Told you Pokemon Amie would be important later.) You can also, for 100 Gold, buy your Pokemon a Poffin. These treats from Generation 3 will undoubtedly improve your Pokemon’s mood more than standard Berries.

Buddy affection levels. Like with your actual Human friends, this is divided into levels. Buddy, Good Buddy, Great Buddy, Ultra Buddy, Best Buddy. These levels unlock various in-game stuff that I’ll detail below.

Once you are Good Buddies, you will see your Buddy in the overworld beside you. It will follow you, wander around, point you in the direction of interesting things, and in general just be delightful to watch.

A new Badge is available for having Best Buddies.

Take Snapshots of your Buddy along with the Buddies of up to two other Trainers with AR+ on supported devices.

The benefits of raising your Buddy’s affection towards you increase by level:

Good Buddy: Your Buddy will be visible on the overworld map and you’ll know how it’s feeling by looking at the emoticon on the Buddy page.

Great Buddy: This level allows your Buddy to help you catch Pokemon. How it does this, I’m not sure. It also lets them bring you items.

Ultra Buddy: Your Buddy will alert you to interesting things nearby and bring you special items called Souvenirs that will show on its profile page. The use of these is unclear at this time, if any, beyond display purposes.

Best Buddy: The Pokemon will gain a Best Buddy Ribbon to show the world that it, is indeed, your Best Buddy. It will also get a CP Boost in Combat if it’s still assigned as your current Buddy Pokemon.

When your Buddy’s affection is maxed out and all the hearts are full, you will get additional rewards: Half distance for Buddy Candy and additional Hearts will fill, as well as Bonus Hearts.

Glitches

At this time there is one notable glitch that will cause your avatar to reset to its default appearance. This can be remedied by changing it back with the Style menu on your Trainer screen. Annoying, but not game-breaking.

Well, Trainers! I hope you have a lot of fun with these new features. Who’s going to be your first Buddy? Let me know in the comments. (Mine is Klingklang right now.)