Introducing Buddy Pokémon, For Those Hard-to-Evolve Pokémon
Attention all Pokémon Go trainers! The next update for the massively popular new game will let you become best buddies with your favorite Pokémon.
Everyone has that one Pokémon that they just can’t evolve, whether because it’s rare or because there simply aren’t enough locally to get the necessary candies. (For most of us, it’s probably Magikarp. Seriously, 400 candies? That’s just ridiculous.) The next update for Pokémon Go will allow you to pick any of the Pokémon from your collection to become your Buddy Pokémon.
This news confirms a rumor that some programming enthusiasts discovered within the code of the game’s latest update. There is no official release date for this update, but it will be sometime this fall. Information on the new update is also scarce still, with Niantic mostly just confirming the rumor, but there are a few things we do know about it.
- Picking a buddy will open up unique in-game rewards and experiences
- Your buddy will appear alongside your avatar on your profile screen
- Your buddy will NOT walk with you on the map screen, but will get a little avatar circle next to your trainer’s
- One of the rewards is candy for walking together
- You can change your buddy at any time
This means that you can pick one of those hard-to-evolve Pokémon (like Magikarp, or that lone Pikachu I managed to catch while walking through Central Park) to be your buddy, and whenever you walk, you’ll get candies in order to help them evolve. You won’t have to rely on catching a bunch of them or transferring them to the Professor to get the candies needed to evolve them.
As I mentioned, we don’t know a lot about this new feature yet, but hopefully we’ll get more information soon. I’m intrigued by what other rewards you may get when you walk with a buddy. Do we get more XP? Does it help to power up your chosen Pokémon? Will Pokéstops include candies now? I want to know!
What do you guys think about this newest feature? What other features would you like to see included in Pokémon Go?
Author: Jamie Sugah
Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.
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My husband and I am so embarrassingly hype about this development. I am SO CLOSE to evolving SO MANY of my Pokes, but just CANNOT FIND THAT FINAL ONE. I also have a Vulpix that I adore, but she’ll never be a grown-up at this rate, because they just do not spawn in my town for some reason.