How to play with your buddy in Pokemon GO
If you've got a buddy in Pokemon GO, this guide will explain how to play with them and what kind of rewards you can get in the game by adventuring with them.
Highlights
- You can play with your buddy to earn rewards in-game
- Your buddy can follow you on the map and even help you catch Pokemon!
The buddy feature in Pokemon GO allows you to adventure alongside one of your Pokemon. You can feed them and earn rewards for playing with them.
Here's a rundown of everything you can do with your buddy, as well as how to play with them in the game in the first place!
How to play with your buddy
Before you can play with your buddy in Pokemon GO, you need to select one. You can do this by heading to your profile and simply choosing a Pokemon to be your buddy. You can swap your buddy afterwards.
Tap on your character/buddy on the main profile page and you'll be taken to the buddy page. From here you can tap on Play! to start playing with your buddy. You can also choose to give your buddy a quick treat instead.
To spawn your buddy you need to have enough room, and you'll need AR enabled. Slowly look around an open area with your camera and eventually, you'll be able to see your buddy. Whether you've got a cute little buddy or a big 'Mon like my Golisopod, you can play with them all the same.
Feeding your buddy & special rewards
You can feed your buddy Pokemon treats, and after eating three berries they'll join you on the game's map. They'll follow you around as you explore and catch Pokemon, and you can tap on them to trigger an animation. You can also take snapshots of your buddy while out and about.
When you increase your buddy's level by feeding them and travelling with them, you'll earn rewards like the following:
- Your buddy will find items
- Your buddy can help you catch Pokemon
- You can get extra CP for your buddy
The more hearts you earn, the more bonuses you can obtain. After earning 70 hearts with your buddy they'll give you extra chances to catch Pokemon with the same ball.
Be sure to always have a buddy selected as you'll gain Candy for them just by having one. You don't need to feed them every day to earn this extra Candy. After reaching level 31 you can obtain Candy XL this way too.
How to make your buddy "excited"
If you adventure with your buddy enough and do enough activities, your buddy will become excited. This means you'll earn more daily hearts and get halved walking distance to earn candy.
You can easily get to this point if you feed your buddy a Poffin. Otherwise, you'll have to do lots of activities with them, such as feeding them or catching Pokemon with them by your side.
You'll know your buddy is excited as they'll have a very happy emoji above them when you tap on them surrounded by love hearts.
That covers how to play with your buddy and what kind of rewards you can get by adventuring alongside them. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go feed my Golisopod before it gets angry.
For more Pokemon GO, check out our homepage. Additionally, check out the spotlight hour schedule here, or find out what to expect from the new biomes update. We've got a guide on how to catch Wiglett, a new biome-exclusive Pokemon.
About The Author
Dani Cross
Dani is a Guides Writer for GGRecon. She graduated from university with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, then worked as a freelance writer before joining the GGRecon team as a full-time writer in 2023. In her opinion, the best game of all time is Elden Ring – but her favourite is Halo: Reach, a game that created lifelong friendships and somehow started her down the path to a career in media. She’s also way too invested in Pokemon cards, and a big fan of guinea pigs, cats and other cute creatures.
